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Mr. Hanley : I will write to the hon. Member.
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RD57 Site, Rosyth
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are his plans for the future of the RD57 site ; what would be the cost of reinstating the site if no alternative use can be made of it ; and what would be the cost of finishing work at the site to render it safe and useable for another purpose.
Mr. Aitken : Options for the future of RD57 remain under consideration. We estimate the cost of reinstating the site to be in the order of £15 million ; this was taken into account in the comparative assessment of the nuclear facility proposals. The cost of converting the site to another purpose would depend on the purpose.
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what volume and tonnage of material has been excavated from the site of the RD57 facility.
Mr. Aitken : The total volume of material excavated from the RD57 site amounted to 185,000 cu m of silt, clay and rock. We do not maintain records of tonnage.
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a summary of the costs incurred on the RD57 facility at Rosyth, showing expenditure in each year since the project started.
Mr. Aitken : This is as follows :
|£ million
-------------------------------
1985-86 |0.405
1986-87 |2.530
1987-88 |3.900
1988-89 |4.095
1989-90 |15.785
1990-91 |17.896
1991-92 |25.422
1992-93 |27.386
<1>1993-94 |0.507
|<2>3.657
<1> To end of June 1993.
<2> Committed but not yet
paid.
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cubic metres of concrete have been poured for the development of the RD57 site.
Mr. Aitken : A total of 105,415 cubic metres.
Army Personnel Centre
Mr. Brandreth : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will make an announcement about the proposed new Army personnel centre.
Mr. Hanley : The consultation period on our proposals for the establishment of an integrated Army personnel centre ended only on 9 July. I have seen a number of delegations about our proposals, including one last week, and a large number of representations and comments have been received. I shall be considering all these representations very carefully indeed. This will take a little time, but I hope to make a decision in the first half of September.
OSEX 93
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what live ammunition is being used during the OSEX 93 war games manoeuvres in mid-Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Hanley : The Offensive Support Exercise took place in mid-Wales from 12 to 16 July. Attacks against inflatable targets were simulated and therefore no ammunition was used. Sorties were conducted at the MOD ranges at Pembrey Sands where 3 kg practice bombs were used and at Sennybridge where 3 kg practice bombs and 30 mm practice ammunition was fired.
Low-flying Aircraft
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many representations he has received regarding low-flying aircraft in the mid-Wales area in each of the last five months ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : The numbers of representations about low-flying training which my Department has received in each of the last five months from addresses in the county of Powys are as follows :
Month |Number ----------------------- February |4 March |8 April |9 May |13 June |17
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many incidents of low-flying aircraft were recorded by the RAF in the area between Dolgellau and Llandovery in each of the last five months ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : The United Kingdom low-flying system is divided into 19 low-flying areas for administrative purposes. All military aircraft wishing to fly in the system must first book into each LFA in which they intend to operate. Records are not maintained, however, of the exact route flown.
Nimrod
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the number of Nimrod aircraft (a) in each of the three squadrons at RAF Kinloss, (b) in the Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Kinloss, (c) in 51 Squadron at RAF Wyton and (d) in store or in maintenance facilities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : The Royal Air Force currently has 33 Nimrod aircraft. At RAF Kinloss there are seven Nimrod MR2 aircraft in each of the three squadrons, three aircraft in the operational conversion unit, and two in- use-reserves. At RAF Wyton there are three Nimrod R1 aircraft. Four Nimrod aircraft are in store.
Yugoslavia
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what report he has received of an incident on Sunday 10 July involving British forces serving in Bosnia-Herzegovina being stopped by middle eastern mujaheddin ; how many mujaheddin were involved ; what action British forces took ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : I have received no report of any such incident.
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Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) pursuant to his answer of 16 July, Official Report, column 720, if he will detail the media reports he is aware of which indicate the presence of (a) Serbian regular forces and (b) Croatian regular forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina ;
(2) what reports he has received from British forces serving in Bosnia- Herzegovina of the sighting of (a) Serbian regular forces and (b) Croatian regular forces operating within the terrority of Bosnia-Herzegovina ; on how many occasions there have been sightings of (i) Serbian regular forces and (ii) Croatian regular forces ; and what estimates of the size of each of these forces have been made ; (3) what reports he has received from British forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina of atrocities having been carried out by Muslim forces within the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina ; and what representations have been made to the Bosnian presidency.
Mr. Hanley : There have been a wide variety of media reports. Information gathered by British and other UNPROFOR troops about force composition is passed on to the United Nations. The United Nations Secretary General forwards situation updates to the Security Council. Example copies are available in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 July, Official Report, column 720, what information he has received from UNPROFOR on the presence of (a) Serbian regular forces and (b) Croatian regular forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina ; if he will list what those reports have claimed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence will write to the hon. Member.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the number of sites of special scientific interest within his Department's estate which will cease to be operational within the next five years.
Mr. Hanley : It is my Department's policy to seek to maximise the return for the taxpayer when disposing of surplus sites. This is normally best achieved through open market competitive sale once the full planning potential of the property has been explored.
Service Units
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the approximate number of personnel deployed with each of the units listed in Cm. 2270, page 22, table 3.
Mr. Hanley : [holding answer 16 July 1993] : The exact number of personnel deployed at any time will depend upon the task being performed by, and the readiness state of, the unit in question. Approximate peacetime personnel establishments, which do not include the supporting and logistic units needed to sustain operational deployments, for the elements listed are as follows :
Force element |Number of personnel -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aircraft carriers |<1>680-1,200 Destroyers and Frigates |<2>163-260 Amphibious ships |<3>54-540 Mine countermeasures vessels |<2>30-42 Royal Fleet auxiliary vessels |<2>40-116 RM Commandos |<4>530-660 Strategic deterrent submarines |<2>124-147 Nuclear-powered fleet submarines |<2>129-137 Army Air Corps regiments<5> |119-309 Armoured and reconnaissance regiments |465-470 Artillery regiments (regular)<6> |172-589 Artillery regiments (TA) |495-512 Engineer regiments (regular)<7> |39-488 Engineer regiments (TA) |17-743 Infantry battlions (regular) |193-806 Infantry regiments (TA/Royal Irish Home Service) |508-1,156 Reconnaissance regiments (TA) |357-470 Transport, tanker and SAR aircraft |<8>2,630 Airborne early warning |<8>165 Canberra PR9 |<8>103 Harrier |<8>416 Jaguar |<8>446 Nimrod R & MR |<8>551 Rapier fire units |<8>500 Tornado F3 |<8>930 Tornado GR1 |<8>1,455 <1> 1,200 when the carrier's Air Group is embarked. <2> Numbers vary depending on class of vessel. <3> Excludes any embarked forces. <4> Includes Comacchio group. <5> Including sub-units in Northern Ireland. <6> Includes Kings Troop RHA. <7> Includes Military Survey, Military Works forces and Command Engineer Squadron. <8> Figures relate to squadron personnel for each aircraft fleet, but do not include Operational Conversion Unit/Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit personnel.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Machine Tools
Mr. Henderson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what were the sales of machine tools in the United Kingdom in (a) 1990 and (b) 1992.
Mr. Sainsbury : Sales of machine tools in the United Kingdom, estimated from CSO figures for sales by United Kingdom manufacturers minus exports plus imports, were (a) £1,304 million in 1990 and (b) £944 million (provisional estimate) in 1992.
However these figures include sales of machine tools, parts and associated equipment. The Machine Tools Technologies Association estimates that sales of machine tools alone were (a) £974 million in 1990 and (b) £675 million in 1992.
Warren Spring Laboratory
Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the reasons for the timing of the publication of the fact that he had called for a review of Warren Spring Laboratory in relation to his announcement of his decision to (a) review his Department's laboratories and (b) close Warren Spring Laboratory.
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Mr. McLoughlin : I have nothing to add to the earlier announcements which my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade made and to which the hon. Member refers.
Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the future of competition among environmental technology establishments following the closure of Warren Spring Laboratory.
Mr. McLoughlin : I expect competition amongst the many public and private sector environmental technology establishments to remain vigorous.
Hearing Aid Council
Mr. Hendry : To ask the President of the Board of Trade who may nominate candidates for appointment to the Hearing Aid Council.
Mr. McLoughlin : Anyone may make a nomination who has a genuine involvement whether as a dispenser, as a medical or audiological specialist, or as a hearing aid user. Nominations are also welcome from their representative organisations, relations and advisers. Those appointed as trade members must be capable of representing the interests of those registered with the Hearing Aid Council and either be so registered or directors or managers of a registered employer. Those appointed as medical/technical members must have specialised medical knowledge of deafness or audiological technical knowledge and must not be eligible for appointment as trade members. Those appointed as consumer members must be capable of representing the interests of persons with impaired hearing and must not be eligible for appointment as trade or medical/technical members. Nomination forms for the 1994 appointments are available from : Anne Scrope
Consumer Affairs Division 3b
Department of Trade and Industry
Room 411
10-18 Victoria Street
LONDON SW1H ONN
and should be returned by 26 August 1993.
Accounts Services Agency
Mr. Pickles : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what targets he has set his Department's Accounts Services Agency for 1993-94.
Mr. Sainsbury : I congratulate the chief executive amd his staff on the improvements in performance they have made since the agency was established. It is essential that the agency sustains these improvements and builds on them. I have therefore set the agency the following performance targets for 1993-94 :
to recover the full costs from income for customer work : to fulfil its operational commitments within a net cash requirements in Vote terms of £90,000 or less ;
to achieve a 4.8 per cent. unit cost reduction over last year based on a mix of services ;
to make 97 per cent. of all payments within three working days of receipt of the authorisation to pay ;
to bank all cheques within 36 hours of receipt by the agency, with at least 75 per cent. of them being banked within eight hours of receipt ;
at the end of each month to ensure that all notified transactions are properly recorded on the Departments
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financial management information system by the start of the fifth working day of the following month ; that operating statements are produced and despatched by the start of the sixth working day of the following month.In addition, I have set the chief executive of the agency the targets of replying within 10 working days to letters from Members of Parliament delegated to him for reply ; and producing auditable commercial-style accounts for the agency for 1993-94.
Insolvency Service
Mr. Pickles : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the future of the Insolvency Service.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The Insolvency Service became an executive agency of the DTI in March 1990. I am now undertaking a review to consider the scope for improving the way in which the Insolvency Service performs its functions, and achieving better value for money, by making more use of the private sector in the work currently carried out by the Insolvency Service and its official receivers. In particular, the review will look at ways in which official receivers can concentrate more on their important investigatory role by involving the private sector to a larger extent in mechanical processing work in insolvencies.
I will be asking independent consultants to consider : the extent to which official receivers' functions and tasks could be carried out in the private sector ; the extent to which official receivers could withdraw from these functions and tasks and the consequences of such withdrawal ; whether a market exists to carry out the work and what are the risks ; value for money ; how the division of work might be organised ; and quality control. A number of consultancy firms have been invited to submit proposals. Once the chosen firm has identified the options I shall decide which, if any, to pursue, and will report to the House on my conclusions.
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
Mr. Vaz : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he has received the report of the elections to the statutory committee of the creditors of BCCI ; and if he will publish the results.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : My officials have received a copy of Mr. Morris's letter of 23 June 1993 which was sent to all creditors of BCCI and which enclosed his report of the creditors meeting held on 27 May together with a report from Electoral Reform Ballot Services on the election of the liquidation committee.
Further publication is a matter for the liquidators.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he last met the liquidators of BCCI.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : There have been no meetings between my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade and the joint liquidators of BCCI.
Shipbuilding
Mr. Hutton : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his Department's estimate of the total EC expenditure on aid to the European shipbuilding industry
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under the seventh directive in each of the last three years ; and what is the United Kingdom's share of this expenditure.Mr. Sainsbury : The latest figures available from the European Community on aid to the European shipbuilding industry relate to 1991 and earlier and are incomplete, as shown in the table.
|1989 (Mecu)|1990 (Mecu)|1991 (Mecu)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total expenditure on aid to
european shipbuilding by EC
member states |<1>547.7 |<2>1,303.3 |<3>534.1
United Kingdom expenditure on
aid to shipbuilding |42.9 |50.5 |47.6
<1>Excluding Italy, Portugal and Greece.
<2>Excluding Greece.
<3>Excluding Italy and Greece.
Small Businesses
Sir Anthony Grant : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what help the Government are giving to small firms to recover debts due to them ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Government are actively addressing the problem of late payment to small firms. We have initiated a wide range of measures including :
(a) providing financial support for three trade associations to operate pilot prompt payment initiatives ;
(b) new Government contracting terms have been introduced requiring companies awarded Government contracts to pay their subcontractors promptly, normally within 30 days ;
(c) Government Departments are monitoring the percentage of their bills which are paid within the agreed contract period and we will publish performance ;
(d) promoting improvements to court procedures for debt recovery ; (e) in his spring Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Thames (Mr. Lamont), announced a reduction in the waiting time for VAT bad debt relief ; an increase in the threshold for VAT cash accounting and changes to the VAT penalties and surcharge regime ;
(f) consulting on proposals to require large companies to state in their reports and accounts how quickly they pay ;
(g) distributing the DTI publication : "Making the Cash Flow" which contains advice for small firms on credit management.
Furthermore, my noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Consumer Affairs and Small Firms has given her personal commitment to take up on their behalf complaints small firms have of experiencing late payment by large companies or public bodies.
Sir Anthony Grant : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what study his Department has made of the principle of statutory right to interest on debts due to small firms ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Government are very aware of the difficulties faced by small firms who suffer from late payments and has initiated a wide range of measures to help with the problem. My Department has examined information from other countries on the operation of legislation designed to effect prompt payment and keeps in close touch with the view of representative organisations in
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this country. We remain to be convinced that legislation to introduce a statutory right to interest would be effective in combatting late payment.We continue to be interested in views on how an effective legislative framework might operate while through action and example working to impress the message of prompt payment to businesses of all sizes.
Patent Office
Mr. Flynn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his latest estimate of the cost of the consultants' examination of the Patent Office that is now taking place.
Mr. McLoughlin : The consultants' contract for the Patent Office study is commercially confidential. It is not, therefore, appropriate to disclose the estimated cost.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out the timescale for the work of the consultants on the Patent Office, including the date when the consultants expect to (a) conclude and (b) publish their report.
Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer 20 July 1993] : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 20 July 1993, Official Report, column 136 , and the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Norwich, North (Mr. Thompson) on 30 June 1993, Official Report , column 512 .
Mr. Paul Flynn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade, if he will list those groups and individuals in the Patent Office who were offered assistance from consultancies in the current market testing exercise.
Mr. McLoughlin : Consultancy help was offered to, and accepted by, the in-house reprographics team, which received assistance from a firm of management consultants in formulating its bid.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out the arrangements he made for in-house bids for the market testing programme at the Patent Office.
Mr. McLoughlin : The terms of reference of the market test were set out in a notice to all staff on 6 November 1992, following consultation with the local trade unions. This drew specific attention to the opportunity for making in-house bids.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade which categories of work at the Patent Office are (a) currently being market tested and (b) being considered for future market testing.
Mr. McLoughlin : The current programme which is nearing completion, having entered the consultation phase, includes reprographics, messenger and post despatch services, file repository, stationery, trade marks data capture and trade marks referencing. Market testing will be applied in due course to other Patent Office work, but no decisions have been taken on the context of next year's programme.
Japanese Companies (Turnover)
Mr. Hunter : To ask the President of the Board of Trade, what has been the annual turnover of Japanese companies in the United Kingdom each year since 1983.
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Mr. Sainsbury : Estimates of turnover of Japanese manufacturing companies based in the United Kingdom for 1983-90 are shown in the table. No reliable information is available for Japanese companies outside the manufacturing sector.
Total value of sales and work done by
Japanese enterprises based in
the United Kingdom classified to
manufacturing 1983-90
|Value of sales
|£ million
---------------------------------------------
1983 |193.0
1984 |321.6
1985 |447.8
1986 |595.5
1987 |1,040.0
1988 |1,788.3
1989 |2,916.3
1990 |4,631.6
Source: Report on the Annual Census of
Production. PA 1002. Central Statistical
Office. Various issues.
Notes:
(i) The table refers to enterprises
controlled by companies incorporated in
Japan.
(ii) Manufacturing refers to activities in
Divisions 2 to 4 of the Standard Industrial
Classification.
(iii) 1990 is the most recent published
estimate.
(iv) All data are expressed in current
prices.
Home Contents Insurance
Mr. Bayley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate he has as to what proportion of state pensioners in (a) Great Briatin and (b) York have home contents insurance.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The Department does not collect data on the take -up of insurance policies. The latest Family Expenditure Survey indicates that 77.3 per cent. of those households in Great Britain whose heads are of pensionable age have household contents insurance. The equivalent figure for Yorkshire and Humberside is 76 per cent. The figure for the city of York cannot be isolated.
Nuclear Waste
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what discussions he is proposing to hold with foreign customers or Governments regarding the return of waste arising from the lifetime operation of THORP.
Mr. Eggar : The arrangements for the return of waste are primarily for British Nuclear Fuels plc and its customers in accordance with the contracts between them. These are supported by intergovernmental letters exchanged at the appropriate time.
Environmental Technology Centre
Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the reasons for preferring the creation of the National Environmental Technology Centre to the relocation of Warren Spring Laboratory to the Welwyn Garden City site acquired in July 1992.
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