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Light Pollution
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what studies his Department has carried out or commissioned in relation to minimising light pollution ; what information his Department has on the use in Spain of lighting designed to restrict light shining skywards ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : I have been asked to reply.
My Department is participating in the work of the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) to provide international guidelines to minimise light pollution from road lighting. The CIE is also considering light pollution from other sources of external light. We have no information on specific lighting schemes in Spain. Practices are being developed to curb light pollution as far as possible. Guidance will be published this year on the environmental aspects of good lighting practice ; this will be followed by the Department on its trunk roads, and I hope other highway authorities will do the same. Designs to minimise light pollution will be used whenever lighting is being planned for trunk roads in rural areas. Research has been commissioned into lighting at rural roundabouts to minimise light pollution.
EDUCATION
Voluntary-aided Schools
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many applications have been received for the building of new voluntary- aided schools in the last 15 years.
Mr. Forth : Full information in the form requested is not readily available. However, the Department's records show that since November 1988 the Secretary of State has considered proposals under section 13 of the Education Act 1980 to establish 33 new voluntary aided schools of which six would have required the provision of new school buildings.
Grant-maintained Status
Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much money has so far been spent by his Department on the promotion of grant-maintained status,
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including advertisements for the GM Helpline ; how much has been budgeted for future expenditure in this same area ; and if he will make a statement on the application of the rules on the use of advertising to promote Government policies.Mr. Forth : Information about expenditure on disseminating information about grant-maintained status is circa :
|£
--------------------------------------
Publications
(from 1 April 1991) |282,000
Conferences
Accommodation |57,000
Specialised support |52,000
Helpline
Advertising |200,000
Operation |25,000
Publication costs prior to 1991 and mailing costs, which form only part of a contract, cannot be dissagregated without incurring disproportionate costs.
For the future 10 further conferences are planned at a total cost of circa £136,000. The Helpline is a pilot scheme only. Expenditure on publications in 1993-94 has been planned on the basis of current demand. In issuing information about self-governing status, officials are subject to the guidelines sent to the Society for Education Officers on 3 March 1993 as a proposed code of conduct for local authorities.
Further Education Staff
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the effect of clause 10 in the proposed new contract for further education staff on the applicability of the Wages Act 1986 ; and what are the reasons for the inclusion of this clause in the contract.
Mr. Boswell : This is the responsibility of the college employers' forum which drew up the model contract to which the hon. Member refers.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Kashmir
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action the British Government are taking to ensure the implementation of the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Neither India nor Pakistan fully implemented the UN resolutions of 1948 and 1949, which Britain supported and they have, to some extent, been overtaken by events. We believe the Kashmir dispute can ultimately be solved only by peaceful agreement between India and Pakistan as provided for under the 1972 Simla agreement.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon) of 7 December, Official Report, column 461, what action the British Government have taken to encourage Pakistan and India to agree a
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means of settling their dispute over Kashmir as provided for in the Simla agreement ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have taken every opportunity in our discussions with the Indian and Pakistan Governments to encourage them to agree a means of settling their dispute over Kashmir as provided for under the 1972 Simla agreement.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Open Government
Dr. Wright : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the principles and criteria which will be used to determine to what areas and matters openness will apply in relation to his open government initiative.
Mr. Waldegrave : The aim of this initiative is to ensure that we reach the right balance between greater openness and the need to preserve confidentiality and privacy where this is justified. The Government will be publishing a White Paper later this Session with further proposals on these issues.
Release of Documents
Dr. Wright : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer of 18 February, Official Report, column 303, which specified retained documents mentioned in the representations to him by historians following his invitation of June 1992 are (a) now released, (b) to be released and (c) to remain closed.
Mr. Waldegrave : The following documents, mentioned in representations to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster following his invitation to historians in June 1992,
(a) have now been released :--
Papers relating to :
Shingle Street
German Occupation of the Channel Islands
Derek Bentley
John Christie and Timothy Evans
Suez (in addition to those released in 1987)
WM (40) 171, 172 (previously withheld extracts from Cabinet Minutes)
JIC papers and minutes 1939-41
CAB134--Future Policy Committee papers for 1959-61
CAB121--Cabinet Office papers on the Dieppe Raid
PR(56)3--Cabinet Committee paper--Policy Review
D(52)26--Cabinet Committee paper--Defence Policy and
Global Strategy
JIC(45)55--Resistance in Norway
JIC(45)76(0)--Resistance in Norway
FO371/72215--Foreign Office file relating to the murder of an American in Greece in 1948
JPS/COS--papers and minutes of the Joint Planning Staff
and Chief of Staff (38 out of 51 documents requested)
W071/1240--file relating to the court martial and execution of Josef Jakobs
F0800/256--previously withheld extracts relating to Austen Chamberlain
PES--advice from the Advisory Board for the Research Councils 1990-91
(b) Will remain closed :--
Court martial records containing sensitive personal information Domestic files of security and intelligence agencies
1 Joint Planning Staff paper 1948
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5 extracts from Chief of Staff minutes 1949- 50All other documents mentioned are under review for possible release.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Secure Units
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) pursuant to his oral statement of 2 March, Official Report, column 139, what consideration he has given to location of the secure units ; and what factors will be taken into account ;
(2) pursuant to his oral statement of 2 March, Official Report, column 139, how much he is setting aside in each of the next five years for the running costs of secure units.
Mr. Jack : As my right hon. and learned Friend indicated in his statement on 2 March, cols. 139-42, we are now working up detailed plans for the introduction of a new secure training order for persistent juvenile offenders between the ages of 12 and 15. At this stage, when the necessary discussions have not been concluded, it is not possible to provide the details sought by the hon. Member.
Prison Education
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria have been used in deciding to whom to award tenders for prison education.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Contracts have been and will be offered to those providers which offer the best combination of quality and price.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a condition of a successful bid for contracts for market- tested jobs in his Department that they comply with existing conditions which guarantee equal opportunities for women.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : All bidders will be required to comply with statutory obligations relating to equal opportunities for women.
Animal Experiments
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to investigate Wickham Research Laboratories in respect of the requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The Home Office inspectorate is investigating the allegations made by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection against Wickham Research Laboratories in respect of the requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department takes to ensure that non-animal alternative tests are available before he grants any licence for test on live animals for particular purposes.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The Home Office inspectorate, in considering applications for project licences under the
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Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, requires applicants to show that they have considered whether the purpose of the research programme could be achieved by methods not involving living animals.Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list each prosecution under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 since 1990, the organisation involved and the level of fine.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Since 1990 there has been one prosecution under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. In 1991 Chilham Rabbits Ltd. was prosecuted for supplying rabbits for use in scientific procedures, although not designated under section 7 of the Act as a breeding and supplying establishment. The company was fined £75 with £42 costs.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for an independent review of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 is kept under review by the independent statutory Animal Procedures Committee.
Hostels
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the reasons for the shortfall in income underlying the increase in class IX, vote I, sub-head B1, "probation and bail hostels", in the spring supplementary estimates.
Mr. Jack : Approved probation and bail hostels derive income from payments by, and on behalf of, residents.
The shortfall in income arises because industrial action by the National Association of Probation Officers from March 1992 until January 1993 reduced the numbers of residents in hostels for much of 1992-93.
Police Baton
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 March, Official Report, column 76, what information he has concerning trials outside the metropolitan area of an expandable baton and variants of a straight baton for use by the police service.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I will write to my hon. Friend.
Child Sex Abuse
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to allow the prosecution of British citizens who have committed child sexual abuse in Thailand.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 11 March 1993] : I refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill (Mr. Alton) on 18 February at column 296.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Contracting Out
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list all those services or functions that have been contracted out from his
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Department since November 1991 without market testing an in-house bid against external competition, with, in each instance, the successful contractor and the reasons for the decision to exclude an in-house bid.Mr. Mates : The services or functions contracted out from Northern Ireland Departments since November 1991 without market testing an in-house bid against external competition were :
Department of Health and Social Services
The Child Support Agency contracted out keyholding, catering and cleaning services in August 1992, October 1992 and August 1993 respectively in preparation for the launch of the agency. There was no in-house bid as these are new services and were contracted out in line with the White Paper "Competing for Quality : Buying Better Services".
Department of Economic Development
The facilities management of the Training and Employment Agency's computer systems for Transit, Training Centre Administration and MIS interface was contracted out in September/October 1992. The computer installation was damaged in the explosion at the Forensic Science Laboratories at Belfast and the tight timescale in restoring a full transit service from a contingency site precluded the necessary effort in mounting an in-house bid. Investment appraisal indicated that contractors would be able to find economies of scale which would not be matched in-house. There would also have been substantial additional costs attached to an in-house bid as the computer site had been seriously damaged in the explosion and would have required extensive and expensive refurbishing.
In the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland I would not wish to disclose the names of successful contractors.
National Insurance Inspectors
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many national insurance inspectors are employed in Northern Ireland ; and of these how many are trained for this task.
Mr. Hanley : Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alec Wylie. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Alec Wylie to Mr. Eddie McGrady, dated 12 March 1993. As I am responsible for Social Security operational matters your recent Parliamentary Question on the number of National National Inspectors has been passed to me for reply.
There are at present 52 National Insurance Inspectors in Northern Ireland. With the exception of a recently appointed Inspector who is currently undergoing training, all other Inspectors have been given the appropriate training.
I hope this is helpful.
WALES
Local Government Finance
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what are the amounts of revenue support grant to local authorities in Wales for each year from 1990-91 to 1992-93 ;
(2) what were the total amounts of rate support grant to local authorities in Wales for each of its last three years of operation.
Mr. David Hunt : The information available is shown in table 7.5 of "Welsh Local Government Financial Statistics 1992", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
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Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what were the figures for non-domestic rate payments to local authorities in Wales for each of the last five years ;
(2) what were the total amounts of central Government grants to local authorities in Wales for each of the last five years.
Mr. David Hunt : The information available is shown in table 1.3 of "Welsh Local Government Financial Statistics 1992", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the total amounts of central Government capital provision to local authorities in Wales for each of the last five years.
Mr. David Hunt : The information requested is given in the following table.
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Local authority capital
provision<1>
|£ million
------------------------------
1988-89 |416.1
1989-90 |450.1
1990-91 |474.9
1991-92 |527.9
1992-93 |630.7
<1> The figures shown from
1988-89 and 1989-90 are PES
provision. For 1990-91 to
1992-93 they are Assumed
Gross Expenditure (AGE) and
are not strictly comparable
to earlier years. This is the
sum of central government's
New Planning Total and that
expenditure which local
authorities are assumed to
finance from their own
resources.
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of Welsh local authority income was represented by central Government support, including the transfer of non-domestic rates in 1990 and the switch from local taxation to VAT in 1991, for each financial year since 1979-80 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : The information available is as follows.
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Outturn summary
Financing of rate/general fund revenue expenditure<1>
£ million
Source of Source of
financing financing as
percentage of
expenditure
Financial year |Revenue |Government grants<3>|Non-domestic |Domestic |Government grants<3>|Non-domestic |Domestic
|expenditure<2> |rates<4> |rates/community |rates<4> |rates/community
|charges<5> |charges<5>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1981-82 |1,244 |885 |232 |148 |71 |19 |12
1982-83 |1,339 |948 |240 |174 |71 |18 |13
1983-84 |1,418 |1,006 |243 |149 |71 |17 |11
1984-85 |1,481 |1,047 |255 |166 |71 |17 |11
1985-86 |1,543 |1,084 |276 |185 |70 |18 |12
1986-87 |1,665 |1,149 |308 |214 |69 |19 |13
1987-88 |1,797 |1,241 |338 |237 |69 |19 |13
1988-89 |1,956 |1,305 |369 |281 |67 |19 |14
1989-90 |2,122 |1,385 |407 |317 |65 |19 |15
1990-91 |2,228 |1,400 |443 |396 |63 |20 |18
<6>1991-92 |2,509 |1,810 |525 |156 |72 |21 |6
<6>1992-93 |2,684 |1,891 |536 |240 |70 |20 |9
<1>This table provides a general indication of the trend in the financing of revenue expenditure. Comparisons between the rates (prior to 1990-91) and community charge (1990-91 onwards)
systems must be made with caution since expenditure definitions and categories differ. For example specific and supplementary grants within Aggregate Exchequer Grant (included under
Government grants prior to 1990-91) are not comparable in coverage to those within Aggregate External Finance (included 1990-91 onwards). Also the split between domestic and non-domestic
rates (and rebates relating to each) prior to 1990-91 has been estimated.
The percentages do not add to 100 per cent. for technical reasons: these include rounding and authorities' use of balances.
<2>Local authority revenue expenditure is defined here (i) prior to 1990-91 as "relevant" expenditure plus expenditure on certain non-relevant items such as net expenditure on mandatory
student awards (ii) for 1990-91 onwards as revenue expenditure "on a Total Standard Spending basis".
<3>Prior to 1990-91 comprises Rate Suport Grant, specific and supplementary grants within Aggregate Exchequer Grant, domestic rate relief grant and rate rebate grants. For 1990-91 onwards
comprises Revenue Support Grant, specific and supplementary grants within Aggregate External Finance, Community Charge Benefit Grant, Transitional Relief/Community Charge Reduction Scheme
grants and Community Charge Grant (1991-92).
<4>Prior to 1990-91 estimated non-domestic rate income, net of rebates. For 1990-91 onwards the Distributable Amount.
<5>Prior to 1990-91 estimated domestic rate income, net of domestic rate relief grant and rate rebates. For 1990-91 onwards net of Community Charge Benefit Grant, Transitional
Relief/Community Charge Reduction Scheme grants and Community Charge Grant (1991-92) but including community council precepts.
<6>Provisional.
Local Government Employees
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total number of full-time equivalent local authority employees in Wales, in each financial year since 1979-80, stating separately how many of the total were teachers ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. David Hunt : The information available is shown in the following table.
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