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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 26 March 1993
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Legal Aid
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much was spent on legal aid in net terms in each year since 1988.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Net expenditure on legal aid in each year since 1988 was as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------
1988-89 |475
1989-90 |564
1990-91 |682
1991-92 |906
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much value added tax was collected as a result of charges on the properties of litigants who were legally aided in 1985, 1990, 1991 and 1992.
Mr. John M. Taylor : No additional VAT liability arises from placing a charge on property. The charge will relate to costs incurred which themselves will in the vast majority of cases bear VAT--this will have been reported as part of the total legal aid expenditure.
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much interest was accrued on charges on the property of litigants receiving legal aid in 1985, 1990, 1991 and 1992.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The scheme for accrual of interest was introduced with effect from 1 December 1988, so no interest accrued on charges on property before that date. A small amount of interest accrued on such charges during 1989-90, but no detailed figures are available. At the end of the financial year 1990-91, interest accrued to date on quantified charges was £824,311 less £26,174 received to date, leaving a balance of £798,137 outstanding. At the end of the financial year 1991 -92, interest accrued to date on quantified charges was £4,018,132 less £313,900 received to date, leaving a balance of £3,704,232 outstanding.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Uganda
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Ugandan authorities in respect of the state commission on the activities of Idi Amin when president ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are not aware of a commission specifically to look into the activities of former President Amin. The Ugandan Government have, however, set up a human rights commission to investigate human rights abuses which occurred prior to President Museveni coming to power in 1986. We welcome this in the context of Uganda's commitment to upholding better human rights standards ; its record in this respect is recently much improved.
Tanzania
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance he is currently giving to the Tanzanian authorities to reduce elephant poaching and illegal ivory trading in that country : and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are currently supporting the following conservation projects in Tanzania, which contribute directly or indirectly to elephant conservation :
Elephant conservation in the Rungwa-Kizigo research complex (£80, 000).
Integrated conservation programme for the Lake Manyara catchment basin (£42,000)
Conservation and management of the Selous game reserve (£100,000) Community-based conservation programme in the Serengeti national park (£33,800)
Ruaha ecosystem wildlife management project (£800,000)
Wages Councils
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many representations she has received since 5 November 1992 concerning abolition of wages councils ; and how many of these (a) favoured abolition and (b) opposed abolition.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : We have received 1,213 representations concerning abolition of wages councils, of which 144 are in favour of abolition and 1,069 are against, including prepared postcards.
Dock Labour
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many dock workers have been found to have been unfairly dismissed since 1989 ; how many have been reinstated ; how many dock workers are currently claiming unfair dismissal ; and in which ports they are employed.
Mr. McLoughlin : I regret that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Health and Safety
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment she has made of the implementation of the EC directive on health and safety in the workplace since 1 January.
Mr. McLoughlin : The directive was implemented in Great Britain by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. Although these came into force on 1 January 1993, they do not take effect in existing workplaces, until 1 January 1996 except where any modification is made to the workplace.
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In the meantime the Health and Safety Executive will be assessing the implementation of the directive on an informal basis through its day-to-day contacts with industry.Noise at Work
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many improvement notices were issued against employers in 1990-91 and 1991- 92 relating to the control of noise at work for each of the geographical areas
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of (a) the factory inspectorate, (b) the agricultural inspectorate and (c) the quarries inspectorate ; and what were the penalties in each case.Mr. McLoughlin : Improvement notices do not impose explicit penalties. They require action to be taken to comply with the relevant statutory provisions within a specified period of time. The following requirements were made on improvement notices issued during the period 1990 -91 and 1991-92.
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Requirements made under the Noise at Work Regulations on Improvement Notices issued against employers by
the Health and Safety
Executive's (HSE) Factory, Agricultural and Quarries Inspectorates during 1990-91 and 1991-92<1>
Health and Safety Factory Agricultural Quarries
Executive area inspectorate inspectorate inspectorate
|1990-91 |1991-92<2>|1990-91 |1991-92<2>|1990-91 |1991-92<2>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South West |52 |17 |0 |0 |2 |0
South |8 |14 |0 |1 |0 |0
South East |14 |11 |0 |3 |0 |3
Greater London |35 |35 |0 |0 |0 |0
East Anglia |16 |26 |0 |0 |3 |0
Northern Home Counties |9 |11 |0 |0 |1 |1
East Midlands |57 |25 |2 |1 |0 |0
West Midlands |25 |22 |0 |0 |0 |0
Wales |5 |5 |2 |10 |0 |0
Marches |23 |26 |0 |2 |0 |0
North Midlands |22 |20 |0 |0 |0 |0
South Yorkshire and Humberside |25 |31 |0 |0 |0 |0
West and North Yorkshire |39 |21 |0 |0 |0 |0
Greater Manchester |39 |36 |0 |0 |1 |0
Merseyside |13 |13 |0 |0 |0 |0
North West |17 |7 |0 |0 |0 |0
North East |38 |45 |0 |0 |1 |1
Scotland East |21 |27 |0 |2 |0 |9
Scotland West |31 |30 |0 |0 |0 |6
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |489 |422 |4 |19 |8 |20
<1> Years commencing 1 April.
<2> Provisional.
Unemployment Benefit Disqualification
Ms Eagle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list for each standard region and for the United Kingdom as a whole, for each month from January 1990, the number of claimants subject to unemployment benefit disqualification broken down on the same basis as in the answer to the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on 28 January, Official Report , columns 849-51 .
Mr. McLoughlin : Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Ms Angela Eagle, dated March 1993 :
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As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question about the number of claimants subject to unemployment benefit disqualifications listed monthly for each standard region and for the United Kingdom as a whole. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.Unfortunately, the information is not available in the form you have requested. Information on disqualifications is compiled on a quarterly and annual basis only. The statistical tables attached give the number of disqualifications imposed quarterly for each region and for Great Britain. Information for Northern Ireland is not collected.
I hope this is helpful.
As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report . I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.
The number of people disqualified in west midlands region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows :
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Quarter ending |L V |Misc. |R E |Neg. to Avail |Ref W I |T D |R T
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
March |3,501 |1,273 |43 |42 |- |- |15
June |3,167 |1,070 |46 |35 |1 |37 |12
September |3,653 |1,142 |47 |30 |- |10 |11
December |3,943 |1,281 |17 |27 |762 |- |3
1991
March |3,267 |1,233 |11 |29 |- |6 |-
June |3,082 |1,252 |9 |33 |- |12 |-
September |2,677 |1,007 |7 |31 |- |- |-
December |2,767 |1,000 |3 |27 |- |1 |-
1992
March |2,387 |1,051 |2 |34 |- |3 |-
June |2,014 |996 |2 |20 |- |12 |-
September |2,160 |909 |1 |48 |- |4 |-
December |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Code: L V-Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.-Misconduct; R E-Refusal of Employment; Neg. to Avail-Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of
Employment; Ref W I-Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D-Trade Disputes; R T-Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.
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The number of people disqualified in east midlands and eastern region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows :Column 721
Quarter ending |L V |Misc. |R E |Neg. to Avail |Ref W I |T D |R T
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
March |4,498 |1,439 |68 |110 |- |- |37
June |4,983 |1,691 |61 |97 |- |- |21
September |4,495 |1,400 |71 |119 |1 |- |10
December |5,049 |1,401 |44 |76 |1 |- |7
1991
March |4,007 |1,725 |24 |92 |- |- |2
June |3,530 |1,570 |6 |121 |- |1 |-
September |3,169 |1,328 |8 |88 |- |- |-
December |3,609 |1,607 |30 |110 |- |- |-
1992
March |3,084 |1,446 |8 |105 |- |- |-
June |2,842 |1,413 |8 |79 |- |- |-
September |3,122 |1,404 |2 |121 |- |- |-
December |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Code: L V-Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.-Misconduct; R E-Refusal of Employment; Neg. to Avail-Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of
Employment; Ref W I-Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D-Trade Disputes; R T-Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.
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The number of people disqualified in south western region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows :Column 721
Quarter ending |L V |Misc. |R E |Neg. to Avail |Ref W I |T D |R T
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
March |4,513 |1,477 |27 |66 |1 |34 |10
June |3,941 |1,156 |17 |62 |1 |- |7
September |3,836 |1,115 |18 |44 |- |- |5
December |4,841 |1,183 |16 |31 |1 |- |7
1991
March |3,442 |1,090 |5 |35 |- |- |1
June |3,937 |1,151 |6 |42 |- |- |-
September |3,275 |1,024 |2 |40 |- |1 |-
December |3,462 |1,035 |5 |59 |- |-
1992
March |2,841 |1,008 |4 |45 |- |- |-
June |2,459 |893 |3 |35 |- |- |-
September |2,649 |960 |3 |51 |- |- |-
December |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Code: L V-Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.-Misconduct; R E-Refusal of Employment; Neg. to Avail-Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of
Employment; Ref W I-Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D-Trade Disputes; R T-Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.
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The number of people disqualified in northern region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows :Column 721
Quarter ending |L V |Misc. |R E |Neg. to Avail |Ref W I |T D |R T
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
March |1,858 |560 |19 |35 |- |- |22
June |1,688 |498 |17 |24 |- |5 |6
September |1,774 |463 |17 |26 |2 |1 |9
December |1,923 |520 |16 |29 |- |- |1
1991
March |1,539 |592 |9 |52 |- |- |1
June |1,499 |536 |- |34 |- |25 |-
September |1,537 |526 |6 |49 |- |11 |-
December |1,444 |491 |4 |41 |- |- |-
1992
March |1,219 |511 |1 |32 |- |9 |-
June |1,227 |504 |1 |23 |- |1 |-
September |1,287 |491 |1 |44 |- |4 |-
December |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Code: L V-Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.-Misconduct; R E-Refusal of Employment; Neg. to Avail-Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of
Employment; Ref W I-Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D-Trade Disputes; R T-Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.
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The number of people disqualified in north western region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows :Column 723
Quarter ending |L V |Misc. |R E |Neg. to Avail |Ref W I |T D |R T
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
March |7,074 |2,508 |33 |52 |2 |22 |80
June |6,538 |2,247 |30 |19 |1 |46 |23
September |6,420 |2,114 |30 |32 |272 |1 |159
December |7,378 |2,258 |24 |23 |3 |25 |20
1991
March |4,852 |1,899 |14 |15 |2,064 |22 |-
June |5,523 |2,023 |20 |23 |- |12 |-
September |5,188 |1,960 |17 |40 |- |36 |-
December |5,026 |1,936 |25 |27 |1 |16 |-
1992
March |3,808 |1,930 |15 |32 |- |- |-
June |3,775 |1,672 |7 |23 |- |27 |-
September |3,938 |1,612 |16 |16 |- |31 |-
December |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Code: L V-Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.-Misconduct; R E-Refusal of Employment; Neg. to Avail-Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of
Employment; Ref W I-Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D-Trade Disputes; R T-Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.
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The number of people disqualified in Yorkshire and Humberside region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows :Column 723
Quarter ending |L V |Misc. |R E |Neg. to Avail |Ref W I |T D |R T
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
March |4,840 |1,549 |60 |48 |4 |7 |50
June |4,803 |1,546 |42 |35 |6 |16 |43
September |4,594 |1,314 |40 |22 |2 |- |47
December |4,350 |1,142 |20 |14 |17 |6 |30
1991
March |3,228 |1,163 |16 |49 |5 |- |9
June |3,026 |1,205 |14 |22 |- |1 |-
September |2,900 |1,052 |10 |19 |- |- |-
December |3,035 |1,145 |7 |29 |- |- |-
1992
March |2,409 |1,254 |6 |26 |- |- |-
June |2,581 |1,242 |3 |24 |- |1 |-
September |2,651 |1,140 |9 |29 |- |- |-
December |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Code: L V-Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.-Misconduct; R E-Refusal of Employment; Neg. to Avail-Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of
Employment; Ref W I-Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D-Trade Disputes; R T-Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.
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The number of people disqualified in Scotland office for each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows :Column 725
Quarter ending |L V |Misc. |R E |Neg. to Avail |Ref W I |T D |R T
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
March |4,184 |1,128 |17 |34 |1 |11 |7
June |4,207 |1,231 |25 |27 |8 |57 |25
September |4,110 |1,367 |25 |56 |1 |4 |6
December |4,680 |1,409 |12 |19 |9 |307 |31
1991
March |3,704 |1,158 |15 |27 |110 |3 |15
June |3,419 |1,062 |3 |16 |- |22 |-
September |3,231 |1,010 |11 |19 |- |32 |-
December |3,515 |1,032 |8 |14 |- |2 |-
1992
March |2,804 |934 |1 |12 |- |17 |-
June |2,836 |966 |4 |25 |- |15 |-
September |2,626 |986 |4 |21 |- |- |-
December |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Code: L V-Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.-Misconduct; R E-Refusal of Employment; Neg. to Avail-Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of
Employment; Ref W I-Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D-Trade Disputes; R T-Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.
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The number of people disqualified in office for Wales each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows :Column 725
Quarter ending |L V |Misc. |R E |Neg. to Avail |Ref W I |T D |R T
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
March |1,854 |589 |22 |15 |2 |1 |1
June |1,652 |549 |17 |3 |1 |5 |6
September |1,658 |539 |17 |3 |- |1 |4
December |1,843 |562 |13 |5 |1 |- |1
1991
March |1,540 |514 |3 |2 |- |1 |1
June |1,366 |546 |9 |3 |- |- |-
September |1,331 |526 |5 |2 |- |1 |-
December |1,399 |544 |2 |4 |- |- |-
1992
March |1,207 |498 |4 |7 |- |- |-
June |1,135 |512 |3 |4 |- |- |-
September |1,180 |454 |1 |8 |- |- |-
December |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Code: L V-Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.-Misconduct; R E-Refusal of Employment; Neg. to Avail-Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of
Employment; Ref W I-Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D-Trade Disputes; R T-Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.
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The number of people disqualified in London and south-eastern region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows :Column 725
Quarter ending |L V |Misc. |R E |Neg. to Avail |Ref W I |T D |R T
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
March |8,454 |2,726 |275 |68 |6 |1 |8
June |12,343 |3,931 |389 |54 |19 |1 |8
September |11,596 |3,211 |272 |33 |6 |- |7
December |11,929 |3,452 |235 |22 |7 |- |9
1991
March |11,647 |3,563 |89 |27 |175 |- |4
June |12,451 |4,923 |63 |27 |573 |145 |-
September |12,866 |5,049 |74 |25 |- |6 |-
December |11,936 |4,326 |38 |35 |- |- |-
1992
March |10,766 |4,507 |26 |34 |1 |- |-
June |9,327 |4,073 |25 |54 |1 |- |-
September |9,406 |4,004 |27 |47 |- |- |-
December |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Code: L V-Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.-Misconduct; R E-Refusal of Employment; Neg. To Avail-Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of
Employment; Ref W I-Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D-Trade Disputes; R T-Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.
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The number of people disqualified nationally each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows :Column 727
Quarter ending |L V |Misc. |R E |Neg. to Avail |Ref W I |T D |R T
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
March |43,032 |13,973 |646 |476 |16 |76 |230
June |43,322 |13,919 |644 |356 |37 |167 |151
September |42,496 |12,665 |537 |365 |284 |17 |258
December |45,936 |13,208 |397 |246 |801 |338 |109
1991
March |37,226 |12,937 |186 |328 |2,354 |32 |33
June |37,833 |14,268 |130 |321 |573 |218 |-
September |36,174 |13,482 |140 |313 |- |87 |-
December |36,193 |13,116 |121 |346 |1 |19 |-
1992
March |30,525 |13,139 |67 |327 |1 |29 |-
June |28,196 |12,271 |56 |287 |1 |56 |-
September |29,019 |11,960 |- |385 |- |39 |-
December |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Code: L V-Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.-Misconduct; R E-Refusal of Employment; Neg. to Avail-Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of
Employment; Ref W I-Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D-Trade Disputes; R T-Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.
Notes:
1. Decisions on absence from Great Britain; imprisonment or detention on legal custody; and, from April 1991, those relating to
training are not separately identified in the statistical summary of decisions made and have not been included above.
2. The figures for December 1992 are not yet published.
PRIME MINISTER
Public Appointments
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Prime Minister what steps he is taking to ensure that more posts on public bodies are advertised ; and if he will make it his policy to secure that the post of chairperson of each public body is advertised.
The Prime Minister : Responsibility for deciding how to fill the 40,000 ministerial appointments to public bodies rests with the individual Ministers and Departments concerned. Central guidance encourages the use of advertisement where appropriate, but it would not be cost-effective for all the 3,500 people chairing public bodies.
Security
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Prime Minister when he will reply to the letter of 3 February from the hon. Member for Darlington on security matters.
The Prime Minister : My office can find no trace of any such letter.
Pit Closures
Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Prime Minister whether he will list the membership of the ministerial and Cabinet committees which have considered the future of the coal industry and the pit closures.
The Prime Minister : The terms of reference of all ministerial committees of the Cabinet were given in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Mr. Hayes) on 19 May 1992 at columns 110-18 and my subsequent reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor and Maidenhead (Mr. Trend) on 1 February 1993 at columns 46-47. I do not propose to give details of the topics discussed by individual committees or their procedures.
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NATIONAL HERITAGE
Hospital Radio
Mr. Hutton : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on his policy towards assigning an FM frequency for hospital radio broadcasts.
Mr. Brooke : The Radio Authority is responsible for determining its own procedures and priorities for licensing services on the frequencies which have been assigned to it.
National Music Library
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his oral answer of 22 March, Official Report, column 597, if he will consider the creation of a national music library to take on the work and collection of Westminster city council.
Mr. Key : I shall certainly consider how national co-operation to meet users' needs can best be enhanced.
My Department is already jointly funding a study for a library and information plan for music. This study is investigating the provision of music scores and music information across the country and is expected to be completed this June. It will produce an action plan for improvements in services.
One of the current applications for funding from the Department's public library development incentive scheme is for the establishment of a national music lending service, based on the present collections of the Yorkshire Humberside joint library service and the British library. A final decision on this application will be taken in September.
Although Westminster city council plans to reduce the opening hours of the central music library and make commensurate staff savings, its service will remain exceptional. The library will still be open six days of the week, for a total of 37 hours ; the new opening hours will be tailored to match user demand and there are no plans to reduce the existing, extremely extensive, stock.
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Items in Lieu of Tax
Sir Gerard Vaughan : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if there have been any items accepted in lieu of tax or allocated since his last announcement on 16 February, Official Report, column 145.
Mr. Brooke : Since my last announcement on 16 February, Official Report, column 145, I am pleased to inform the House of the acceptance of two items offered in lieu of taxation. The items consist of the Corbridge Lanx Roman silver dish which will satisfy £1,832,000 tax, and a painting "Joseph and Potiphar's Wife" by Guido Reni which will satisfy £2,492,875 tax. The acceptance of both these items has been made possible by a call on the Reserve. The Corbridge Lanx will be allocated to the British museum in accordance with the condition on which the offer was made. As with previous "hybrid" offers, the recipient institution, in this case the British museum has agreed to pay the estate concerned the difference between the tax liability and the special price. The Reni painting will be allocated to the Fitzwilliam museum and will remain in situ at Holkham hall, in accordance with the condition on which the offer was made.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
EC Agri-environmental Regulation
Mr. Moss : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are his plans for implementing the EC agri-environment regulation 2078/92 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : I am today issuing for public consultation a major package of six new proposals for implementing the agri-environment regulation in England. My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are carrying out parallel consultations on their proposals.
The agri-environment regulation was agreed as part of last year's reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) and commits all member states to offering incentives to farmers to farm in environmentally beneficial ways going beyond normal good argicultural practice. This develops and extends the principle of environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs) which we pioneered in the United Kingdom. It is an important step in bringing environmental considerations to the heart of the CAP.
ESAs help farmers to conserve and enhance special habitats, landscapes and features of historic interest. They have been widely acclaimed by both farmers and environmentalists. The package being issued today includes proposals for a new incentive to build on the success of the ESA scheme by opening particularly suitable ESA farmland for new public access to create greater opportunities for public enjoyment of some of our most beautiful countryside. Secondly, I am now issuing proposals on the boundaries, aims and operation of six new environmentally sensitive areas in the Blackdown hills, the Cotswold hills, Dartmoor, the Essex coast, the Shropshire hills and the upper Thames tributaries. The areas proposed will add some 319,000 hectares to the 832,000 hectares already covered by ESAs in England and annual expenditure on the scheme is now set to rise to £43 million by 1995-96.
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Thirdly, I am proposing a new moorland scheme to encourage a targeted reduction in the number of livestock grazing moorland outside ESAs where this can result in improvements in heather, other semi-natural vegetation and associated wildlife habitats of moorland.Fourthly, I am proposing a new meadowland scheme to encourage the creation of new public access opportunities on particularly suitable set-aside land. At the same time, I am issuing comprehensive proposals for the management of rotational and non-rotational set-aside land from the 1993-94 crop year, in ways which would exploit the considerable potential for environmental gains from set-aside. The options proposed, subject to EC rules, include wildlife corridors along field margins and watersides, woodland planting and wild bird cover, as well as more specialist options aimed at particular species such as migratory geese, otters and rare ground nesting birds.
Fifthly, I am proposing a new habitat improvement scheme to encourage the creation or improvement of a range of valuable wildlife habitats such as coastal saltmarsh and water-fringes along particularly vulnerable watercourses, through the removal of carefully selected areas of land from agricultural production for 20 years.
Sixthly, I am making proposals for a new organic aid scheme to encourage organic farming, both to benefit the environment and to encourage a type of food production for which there is a clear consumer demand.
Proposals for new measures to help protect groundwater catchments affected by high nitrate levels will also be issued for public consultation shortly.
In addition to the increased expenditure on ESAs, a further £19 million per annum will be spent on the other measures by 1995-96. The proposals complement the range of environmental incentives already available to farmers and reflect the Government's continuing commitment to caring for the countryside and to integrating environmental objectives into agricultural policy. I am making copies of the consultation documents available in the Library of the House. Detailed arrangements for the new schemes will be finalised this summer after the results of the consultation have been analysed, and individual schemes will open for applications towards the end of this year or in 1994.
TRANSPORT
MV Derbyshire
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider holding a further formal inquiry into the case of the loss at sea of the MV Derbyshire in 1980.
Mr. Norris : I have no plans to order a further formal investigation into the loss of the MV Derbyshire.
Rail Passengers (Electrical Appliances)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the electrical appliances that passengers on British Rail trains are forbidden to use on safety grounds.
Mr. Freeman : Most modern InterCity passenger vehicles are fitted with a 13 amp socket outlet, for the use of cleaning staff only. The sockets are not designed for use while vehicles are in passenger service. Each socket has a sign warning "This plug socket is not for public use".
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There are no restrictions, on safety grounds, for portable devices driven by batteries.Crewe-Holyhead Rail Line
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the investment made in each of the last 10 years on maintaining and improving passenger services on the Crewe to Holyhead rail line.
Mr. Freeman : My Department does not hold this information. Investment and maintenance programmes for individual stretches of line are a matter for the British Railways Board.
Lyme Bay (Inquiry)
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set up a marine accident investigation branch inquiry to determine what lessons can be learnt following the canoeing disaster off Lyme bay on 22 March.
Mr. Norris : In light of the investigation into the whole incident by the police authorities, the marine accident investigation branch will not be starting its own investigation. However, the matter is being kept under review.
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the shortest times for trains to travel between London and the channel tunnel for the present proposals for a high-speed rail link and for all previous proposals.
Mr. Freeman : The information available is as follows :
March 1989 outline proposals
Southerly approach route terminating at King's Cross--around 40 minutes.
1990-91 comparison of route options
Southerly approach route terminating at King's Cross--35.5 minutes. Southerly approach route terminating at Stratford--35 minutes. Ove Arup route to an intermediate stop at Stratford--33 minutes. Ove Arup route terminating at King's Cross--40.5 minutes, including a stop at Stratford.
Rail Europe route terminating at Stratford--35.5 minutes. 1993 route for consultation
Easterly approach route terminating at St. Pancras or King's Cross--37 minutes.
Handsworth Driving Test Centre
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will make a statement about the future of the Handsworth driving test centre in Sheffield.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle [holding answer 23 March 1993] : Following discussions with the relevant landlords, the Driving Standards Agency's preferred option for reducing its capacity in the Sheffield area is to retain the driving test centre at Handsworth and to close the centre at Manor Top. The agency will now consult the Members of Parliament for the constituencies affected and representatives of approved driving instructors.
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