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Mr. Soames : The information requested is as follows :
Year |Applications |Licences issued
|received
----------------------------------------------------------------
1988 |3 |1
1989 |3 |1
1990 |2 |0
1991 |1 |1
1992 |6 |<1>4
|-- |--
Totals |15 |7
<1> In two of these cases the applications were received in
1992 but the licences were not issued until January 1993.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence of serious damage to fisheries is required before a licence under section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to permit killing of grey herons is issued.
Mr. Soames : Applicants are required to demonstrate that herons are causing serious economic damage to their fishery enterprise and that other methods of preventing or reducing that damage have been tried or are impractical.
Fishery Inspectors
Mr. Steen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fishery inspectors have been employed in total in the United Kingdom in each of the last three years ; and how many fishery inspectors or their equivalent have been employed in each of the other EC countries in each of the last three years.
Mr. Curry : The number of British sea fisheries officers employed by the fisheries Departments in the United Kingdom in each of the last three years is as follows :
|Number
---------------------
1990 |181
1991 |182
1992 |205
Comparable information is not readily available for other EC countries.
Comfrey
Ms Corston : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to meet in the near future representatives of the Action Group for the Relief of Pain and Distress or the Society for the Promotion of Nutritional Therapy to discuss the ban on the sale of comfrey products.
Mr. Soames : I met last month with representatives of a number of organisations, including the Society for the Promotion of Nutritional Therapy, in relation to the withdrawal of certain comfrey products. I have no plans for further meetings in the near future.
EC Agriculture Spending
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will set out the amounts of the five main EC agricultural spending programmes for the last
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year in which figures are available for each EC country, with the best available estimate in each case of the amount that has been fraudulently misapplied.Mr. Curry : It is not possible to estimate the extent of fraud in the common agricultural policy since, by definition, undetected fraud cannot be measured. However, all member states report cases of EAGGF guarantee-funded irregularity--the definition of which goes wider than fraud). Details of the number and value of cases reported in 1991 are given in annex 20 of the 21st financial report on the European agricultural guidance and guarantee Fund--1991--guarantee section and food aid accounts clearance, a copy of which was placed in the Library. Annex 2 of this report also contains details of expenditure charged by sector and by member state against the 1991 EC Budget.
Agricultural Land (Maps)
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to the Prime Minister's answer to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) of 20 April, Official REeport, column 181 on the integrated administration control system, what mapping documentation can be used as alternatives by farmers if they have difficulty obtaining maps of the right scale ; and what further advice on this he has issued to his Ministry's offices and farmers' organisations.
Mr. Curry : We made clear in the IACS explanatory booklet sent to all farmers the procedure to be followed if they could not obtain the required maps or field reference numbers by the 15 May deadline for submission of the IACS application form. The advice to such farmers was to make sure they submitted the application before the deadline, together with an explanation of why any supporting detail could not be supplied, and give details of each field area and its location. Full details would be required later. My right hon. Friend the Minister has since announced that where existing maps of forage areas do not give field sizes, we will accept estimates. The location could be identified through a 1 : 25,000 map which is readily obtainable. The advice we have given to the Department's offices and farming organisations is that we should be as reasonable as we possibly can, within the rules of the scheme, over the submission of mapping documentation.
Green Belt Farms
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what guidelines and advice his Department has published to encourage farms situated in the green belt to sell their own produce and that of their neighbours.
Mr. Baldry : I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given him today.
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SCOTLAND
Prison Stores
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (a) if he will make a statement on the costs so far of market testing in relation to the central prison stores at Fauldhouse, West Lothian and what is his policy in relation to the future operation of prison stores.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The best estimate of cost to date, including staff time and consultancy fees, in connection with the market testing of the central prison stores is approximately £92,000. The future operation of the stores will be determined by the outcome of the market test.
Hepatitis and Dysentery
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of hepatitis and dysentery there have been in each year since 1987.
Mr. Stewart : The number of cases of viral hepatitis and bacillary dysentery notified in Scotland since 1987 are as follows :
Year |Viral hepatitis |Bacillary dysentery -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1987 |511 |344 1988 |848 |196 1989 |831 |154 1990 |546 |235 1991 |556 |1,526 1992 |316 |3,506
Infertility Treatment
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the implications for the funding secured for in vitro fertilisation treatment centres of his decision to cancel the funding of such centres ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 23 April 1993] : No decision was ever taken to provide central funding for in vitro fertilisation services in Scotland. There are therefore no funding implications.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Deaths, Waco
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the deaths of 24 British citizens in the inferno at Waco, Texas, on 19 April.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The 51-day siege by the FBI of the Branch Davidian compound headquarters in Waco, Texas, ended tragically on 19 April with the reported deaths of more than 80 men, women and children, 24 of them British citizens, including a six-year-old girl. Two British men and one British women survived. Throughout the siege we maintained close contact with the United States authorities, including the FBI. The President of the United States has ordered an inquiry into these events.
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International Criminal Court
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy toward the establishment of an international criminal court.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : It is clear that there are substantial legal, political and practical obstacles to establishing an international criminal court. The International Law Commission has for the last three years been actively addressing many of them. At the General Assembly last year, we supported the commission's request to be granted a mandate to draft a statute of an international criminal court as a matter of priority. We now await that draft and will give it careful consideration.
Sellafield
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have received from (a) foreign Governments, (b) foreign parliamentarians and (c) foreign non-governmental organisations in regard to the proliferation and nuclear materials safeguards problems posed by the planned opening of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Since the THORP project was approved by Parliament in 1978 we have received a number of such representations from abroad, especially in categories B and C of the question. We recognise their non-proliferation responsibilities and would not permit any plutonium to be exported from THORP unless they were satisfied that the material would not be misused.
Nuclear Non-proliferation
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representation his Department had at the non- proliferation seminar at Rhodes house. Oxford on 21 April.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials attended the seminar.
Iraq
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will reconsider Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the imposition of restrictions on the supply of medicines to Iraq.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : There are no restrictions on the supply of medicines to Iraq and they have never been prohibited under the terms of the United Nations sanctions regime against Iraq.
China
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement regarding Lord Howe's visit to China to discuss human rights ; and if Lord Howe raised the matter of population control with the Chinese authorities.
Mr. Goodlad : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Atkinson) on 15
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March, Official Report, column 33. During his visit to China in December last year my right hon. and learned Friend Lord Howe raised a wide number of issues including questions relating to reducing China's population growth.EC Treaties
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the titles, dates signed and scope of each treaty unaffected by the Maastricht treaty in force between the United Kingdom and (a) France, (b) Germany, (c) Italy, (d) Spain, (e) Greece, (f) the Netherlands and (g) Portugal.
Mr. Garel-Jones : The information requested by the hon. Gentleman is not readily available and could only be provided at
disproportionate cost.
Yugoslavia
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of he will make a statement on his assessment of the British interest in the former Yugoslavia.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have an important interest in peace and stability in the Balkans. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs made clear in his statement to the House on 19 April, our objectives are to make the Bosnian Serbs and the Serb Government abandon the pursuit of their aims by the use of force ; to prevent the fighting from spreading to Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia or elsewhere ; to provide the wherewithal, through the Vance-Owen process, for a just political solution ; and to relieve the needs of the hungry and sick.
Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received regarding protection of those Bosnian Muslims in Sebrenica who have surrendered their weapons to the United Nations from subsequent attack by the Serbs.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : None. UN Security Council resolution 819 demands the immediate cessation of attacks against Srebrenica and that all parties treat the town and its surroundings as a safe area. We have called on all parties to comply fully with this resolution and to co-operate with UNPROFOR in its efforts to monitor the humanitarian situation.
EC Fraud
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which bodies and institutions can bring about investigations as to fraud in the European Commission ; and which institutions can initiate publicity on fraudulent activities within the European Commission.
Mr. Garel-Jones : It is open to any individual, company or other body to bring to the Commission's attention any perceived irregularities, and to publicise such changes as they wish. The Commission itself, like member states, has the main responsibility to ensure adequate controls are in place to prevent fraud and to bring to light any fraud that occurs. In addition to the Commission's internal controls, the Court of Auditors has a responsibility to examine all Community expenditure, including the Commission's
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administrative budget, and report to the Council of Ministers and European Parliament. Largely as the result of United Kingdom proposals, the Maastricht treaty would introduce measures aimed at improving the protection of the Community's financial interests. These include :(i) enhanced status for the Court of Auditors as a Community institution, emphasising the importance of the court's role (Art 4) ;
(ii) an explicit reference to the Commission's responsibility to implement the Budget with regard to the principles of sound financial management (Art 205) ;
(iii) a requirement for the court to provide the Council and European Parliament with a statement of assurance on the reliability of the Community's accounts and on the legality and regularity of underlying transactions (Art 206s) ;
(iv) appointment of an ombudsman, able to receive complaints from citizens of the union and others concerning instances of maladministration in the activities of the Community institutions (Art 138e) ;
(v) enhanced powers for the European Parliament in scrutinising the implementation of the EC Budget and the discharge procedure (Art 206b), and in setting up temporary committees of inquiry (Art 138c) ;
(vi) an explicit reference to the obligation on member states to counter EC fraud (Art 209a).
Nepal
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the latest situation concerning human rights in Nepal.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We welcome the considerable improvement in Nepal's human rights record since the restoration of democracy in 1990.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Public Sector Pensions
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the total unfunded liability of civil service and other public sector pensions and the amount by which that liability has increased or decreased in each of the last three years.
Mr. Portillo : The latest figures available for the liabilities of the main unfunded public service pension schemes in the United Kingdom relate to 31 March 1991. The estimated total liabilities of the present and former members accrued to that date are around £170 billion. The comparative figures requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Valuation Office
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what targets will be set for the Valuation Office executive agency for the year 1993-94.
Mr. Nelson : I have set the following key targets for the agency in 1993-94.
Operational Targets-- Council tax
To clear 280,000 appeals against the new council tax lists. Non-domestic rates
To clear 295,000 appeals against the 1990 rating valuation lists. Direct taxes
To undertake 112,000 valuation cases for the Inland Revenue concerning inheritance and capital gains taxes.
Other
To undertake 130,000 valuations for other government departments, public bodies and local authorities.
Financial performance and cost efficiency
To ensure that the agency's net operating costs are at least fully covered by receipts and to achieve efficiency savings of approximately 2.5 per cent. on its gross expenditure.
Citizen's charter
To reply to 90 per cent. of all correspondence within 28 days of receipt ; and to achieve continuing improvements in timeliness and valuation standards in connection with casework of 1 per cent. per annum.
Further details of the performance measures and targets are set out in the agency's business plan for 1993-94 and in its corporate plan, copies of which will be placed in the Library of the House on publication.
Public Servants
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the numbers and costs of public servants paid out of the Consolidated Fund and local authorities revenues by (i) each Government Department and agency, (ii) all local authorities and (iii) other public bodies in 1979 and at the latest available date.
Mr. Portillo : The information is set out in the table. Executive agencies did not exist in 1979 ; agency figures for 1991-92 are included within the relevant departmental total.
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Department |1 April 1979|1979-80 |1991-92 |1991-92
|Staff |Pay |Staff |Pay
|£ million |£ million
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Defence (including Armed Forces) |577,000 |3,917 |445,000 |8,921
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (including ODA) |12,000 |135 |10,000 |362
Agriculture |15,000 |93 |11,000 |236
Trade and Industry |19,000 |145 |12,000 |271
Employment |54,000 |300 |53,000 |778
Transport |14,000 |80 |11,000 |205
Environment |53,000 |450 |24,000 |673
Home Office |34,000 |225 |48,000 |938
Legal Departments |18,000 |100 |29,000 |504
Education |21,000 |143 |3,000 |67
Heritage |1,000 |62 |1,000 |192
Health (including NHS) |929,000 |5,023 |879,000 |11,880
Social Security |94,000 |443 |78,000 |1,199
Scotland |13,000 |600 |13,000 |1,872
Wales |3,000 |400 |2,000 |826
Northern Ireland |29,000 |175 |29,000 |524
Chancellor's Departments |128,000 |600 |105,000 |1,738
Cabinet Office and Other Central Government |56,000 |138 |50,000 |381
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Total Central Government |2,070,000 |13,029 |1,803,000 |31,568
Local Authorities |2,368,000 |12,843 |2,267,000 |34,311
Debtor Countries
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further plans he has to alleviate the burden of debt owed by developing countries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nelson : The United Kingdom has an excellent record of helping those developing countries with debt problems. It was a direct result of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's initiative for the poorest and most indebted countries following International Monetary Fund sponsored programmes of reform, that the Paris Club of major creditor Governments began implementing the Trinidad terms in December 1992. These provide for the equivalent of the cancellation of up to 50 per cent. of eligible bilateral official debt and a commitment on the part of creditors to examine the whole stock of such debt after a period of proven economic and financial responsibility. So far, 15 of the very poorest and most indebted countries have benefited, resulting in the equivalent debt cancellation of almost $1 billion. More will follow.
The Government are, however, aware that for some of the most desperate cases the terms as currently applied will not be enough. For this reason, we are pursuing with our creditor country colleagues improvements in the terms. Specifically, we would like to see the degree of concessionality increased for those countries that need it and quicker action on the stock of debt for those countries that already have a proven track record of reform.
The rationale for the policy is threefold : first, to protect as best we can the interests of taxpayers because their money is at risk when countries cannot repay their debts ; secondly, to reduce debt to realistically manageable levels and thereby increase the recoveries received ; thirdly, to promote development--for which simply writing off debt is not sufficient. Countries must practise sound social and economic policies to benefit from debt reduction as a catalyst for development.
Insider Dealing
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the number of (a) prosecutions and (b) successful prosecutions under insider dealing control legislation in the last 12 months.
Mr. Nelson : In the last 12 months the prosecution of nine individuals, under the Companies Securities (Insider Dealing) Act 1985, has been concluded. Five prosecutions led to conviction.
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Tax Refunds
Mr. Madel : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the annual interest paid by the Exchequer caused by delay in making refunds on excessive assessments made by the Inland Revenue ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The Inland Revenue aims to make repayments promptly as it recognises that hardship can occur if repayment is delayed whatever the reason. Interest on delayed repayments of overpaid tax--called repayment supplement--is added automatically where appropriate.
The total amount of repayment supplement paid for 1991-92 was £76, 116,026.51.
Maastricht Treaty
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether moneys paid through the EC cohesion fund in advance of ratification of the Maastricht treaty are repayable if the treaty is not ratified ; and if he will set out the relevant text.
Sir John Cope : The EC cohesion fund envisaged by the Maastricht treaty cannot be established before the treaty has been ratified. Accordingly, the Edinburgh European Council invited the Council to adopt, before 1 April 1993, a regulation to establish an interim cohesion financial instrument, based on article 235 of the present treaty. Since the regulation is based on the present treaty, the question of repayment of expenditure incurred under the interim instrument, if the Maastricht treaty were not to be ratified, does not arise.
Fuel Bills (VAT)
Ms Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the revenue raised from his proposal to charge value added tax on supplies of fuel and power for domestic, residential and charity non- business use will be attributable to the standing charges paid by customers in their gas and electricity bills.
Sir John Cope : Standing charges account for around 12 per cent. of total expenditure on domestic fuel and power.
Ms Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the revenues raised from his proposal to charge value added tax on supplies of fuel and power for domestic, residential and charity non- business use he expects to be paid (a) by charities and (b) by private households.
Sir John Cope : It is estimated that around 1 per cent. of the additional yield from extending VAT to all fuel and power is likely to be paid by charities. We expect almost all of the remaining additional yield will be in respect of private housholds, although there is no reliable information on the expenditure by non-private households on fuel and power.
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Ms Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Director General of Gas Supply or the Director General of Electricity Regulation on his proposal to charge value added tax on supplies of fuel and power for domestic, residential and charity non- business use.
Sir John Cope : My right hon. Friend has had no such discussions.
Ms Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has met representatives of organisations for elderly people to discuss his proposal to charge value added tax on supplies of fuel and power for domestic, residential and charity non-business use.
Sir John Cope : No such meetings have been held.
Football Pool Betting Duty
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the precise text of the terms of the agreement entered into by his Department with the Foundation for Sport and the Arts regarding the distribution of funds made available through the reduction in the football pool betting duty in 1991.
Sir John Cope : The conditions for the distribution of funds by the foundation are set out in its trust deed. My right hon. Friend's implementation of the reduction in pool betting duty from 40 per cent. to 37.5 per cent. indicated that he was content with these arrangements.
Income Tax
Ms Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals he expects to become liable for income tax as a result of his proposal to freeze allowances in 1993-94 ; how many individuals he expects to cease to be liable for income tax at the standard rate as a result of his proposal to widen the lower rate band of income tax by £500 in 1993-94 ; and how many individuals he expects to become liable for the higher rate of income tax as a result of his proposal to freeze the basic rate limit in 1993-94.
Mr. Dorrell : About 300,000 more people will pay tax in 1993-94 under Budget proposals compared with statutory indexation of personal allowances. Increasing the lower rate band by £500 brings about 700, 000 more taxpayers into the lower rate than if the lower rate limit had been indexed. Not changing the basic rate limit increases the number of higher rate taxpayers by 100,000 compared with indexation.
Public Sector Finance
Ms Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table setting out the value of the public sector borrowing requirement in 1991-92 and 1992-93 together with the forecasts of each of these made in the budgets of 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993.
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