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Overseas Staff and Premises
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the cost for the current financial year of his Department having (a) premises and (b) personnel overseas ; and what were the comparable figures for (a) 12, (b) 24, (c) 36 and (d) 48 months ago.
Mr. Boswell : No cost accrues to this Department. It has no overseas premises and no staff working abroad.
TRANSPORT
Transport Council
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the result of the Transport Council held in Brussels on 28 September.
Mr. MacGregor : The Transport Council met in Brussels on 28 September. My noble Friend Lord Caithness and I represented the United Kingdom.
Political agreement was reached on the text of the directive on road haulage taxation and charging, and the regulation on road haulage cabotage to give effect to the conclusions reached at the Council in June.
The Council reached agreement on the regulation amending the regulation on a code of conduct for computer reservation systems ; formal adoption will follow shortly. The regulation deals with a range of practical and competition issues which have become apparent since the original regulation was adopted. In particular it aims to remove the scope for anti-competitive behaviour which might result if an airline were allowed to run a commercially available CRS system in close conjunction with its own in- house computer.
The Council discussed the Commission's communication on road safety. We stressed the considerable success the United Kingdom had achieved by action at local and national level and argued that Community action should be directed at improving vehicle safety standards rather than at harmonisation of speed and blood alcohol limits which took no account of differing road conditions and national attitudes.
The Council agreed to a general discussion of relations with Switzerland at the October General Affairs Council prior to consideration of negotiating mandates on air and road transport at the Transport Council in November.
In view of the significant restructuring taking place in some member states the Council agreed that a debate on community rail policy should be held at the Transport Council in November. We explained that the reforms in the United Kingdom would separate rail infrastructure from services, and encourage the involvement of the private sector. We stressed the importance of implementation of the 1991 access directive by all member states, which the United Kingdom has implemented, and asked the Commission to examine the directive to consider how it would fit with the new industry structures. The Council reached political agreement on slight modifications to the guidelines for Community trans-European networks for combined transport, roads and inland waterways agreed at the Council in June. Formal adoption awaits the opinion of the European Parliament. There were no votes taken.
British Rail Telecommunications Ltd.
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in privatising British Rail Telecommunications Ltd.
Mr. MacGregor : The Government and British Rail intend to privatise British Rail Telecommunications Ltd. by the end of 1994. They wish to involve the private sector
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to the maximum extent possible in the management, maintenance and exploitation of the British Rail telecommunications network. The network provides two types of service to BR at present : operational--especially communications relating to signalling- -and business services. There is also some spare capacity on the network which could be exploited for external telecommunications customers. BRT is to be restructured by April 1994 with new management. BR will be devising appropriate commercial arrangements to be put in place between BRT and the railway before these activities are privatised. These matters and others will be detailed in an information memorandum which is expected to be issued during the first half of next year. Railtrack will have a major role to play because of its responsibility for safety and as a customer. The Government and BR believe that there are excellent opportunities for private sector involvement in railtelecommunications while safeguarding operational requirements. BR will consult the private sector about the details of the privatisation of BRT.
Transport Ministers' Meeting
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the outcome of the informal meeting of EC Transport Ministers on 27 September.
Mr. MacGregor : EC Transport Ministers met on the day before the September Transport Council at the request of the presidency to hear presentations from the European airline associations. In the ministerial discussion which followed, I stressed that the success of British airlines was founded on commercial, private sector management and emphasis on the customer. I emphasised that there should be no going back on the liberalising third aviation package and that Governments and the Community should limit themselves to areas where only they could take action, that the Community should tackle over-regulation and that urgent action should be taken on state aids and ground-handling monopolies. This was supported by much of the evidence given by the associations.
Given the informal nature of the meeting, no decisions were taken, but a useful discussion took place.
Biodiesel Trials
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been learnt from the emissions tests carried out on one of the buses used in the Reading Buses biodiesel fuel trial.
Mr. Freeman : The conclusions of tests carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory are that changes in most emission rates are small and not clearly attributable to the type of fuel. The exceptions are visible smoke which was significantly lower with biodiesel, and particulate which, contrary to the reported results of others, was substantially higher. A copy of the TRL report has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Motorway Service Areas (Disabled Persons)
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what surveys his Department has conducted of the provision of (a) night-time services and (b) 24-hour facilities for the disabled at motorway service areas ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Key : The Department requires the operators of all motorway service areas in England to provide a range of facilities, including free short-term parking, toilets, fuel and food anrequirements, but pursues any complaints received with the operators concerned. If the hon. Member has a particular difficulty in mind, perhaps he would write to me.
European Regional Development Funds
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of European regional development funds which have been allocated for transport initiatives in the last 12 months and which are proposed for the next 12 months.
Mr. MacGregor : European regional development fund resources are allocated to multi-annual regional programmes, and are administered locally by regional committees which decide priorities and assess potential schemes. For 1993-94 my Department estimate that transport schemes will attract £33 million in support from the ERDF. Plans for 1994 to 1996 have not yet been finalised.
Hazardous Goods
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the new labelling system for hazardous goods in transit published by the Health and Safety Commission.
Mr. Key : The Health and Safety Commission published in June a consultative document, CD63, on proposals for new regulations on the classification, packaging and labelling of goods for carriage by road and rail in preparation for the opening up of rail freight services to private sector operators and in order to harmonise the rules for the carriage of dangerous goods by rail and road in line with the United Nations recommendations. A copy of the consultative document is in the Library. The Health and Safety Executive is now considering responses to it and I expect to receive the Commission's recommendations and draft regulations at the end of the year.
Bus Deregulation
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all the local bus companies that operate services in south Yorkshire that replied to his consultation document in respect of how the 1985 deregulation of service arrangements are working ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The only bus company based in South Yorkshire that responded was South Riding. In total some 160 replies were received. I am considering these and expect to announce the results shortly.
London Underground
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he hopes to make a statement in respect of his quasi-judicial role in London Underground Ltd.'s intention to seek closure of the Central line service between Epping and Ongar ; and how far negotiations have proceeded to date.
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Mr. Freeman : Following receipt of objections to London Underground Ltd.'s proposed closure of the Epping to Ongar service, the London Regional Passengers Committee is to hold a public hearing at Ongar on Monday 8 November, in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Transport Act 1962. The committee will then report to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State will make his decision on the closure proposal once he has considered this report and any other material factors.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Health and Safety
Mr. Dobson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish dates of all meetings with outside persons or bodies and titles of all non-departmental briefing papers or any associated material concerning the possible amendment of sections 1(1), 1(2) or 15(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 ; what plans he has to amend sections 1(1), 1(2) or 15(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 in respect of matters relating to his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The seven deregulation task forces, established earlier this year by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, have all considered health and safety matters to varying degrees in sector specific or cross sectoral ways. Details of all task force meetings, consultations or papers could not be provided except at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a table listing (a) all regulations suggested by his Department to the Health and Safety Commission or by the Health and Safety Commission to his Department as candidates for revocation as part of the deregulation initiative, (b) the purpose and function of each of these regulations, (c) whether it is suggested that the regulations be (i) amended, (ii) abolished, (iii) replaced with self-regulation or (iv) replaced with other regulation ; whether, for each regulation, revocation without replacement or with self-regulation would require amendment of section 1(1), 1(2) or 15(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Possible sector-specific and cross-sectoral candidates for administrative simplification and reform by the Health and Safety Commission are currently being considered by the seven deregulation task forces, established earlier this year by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade. The task forces have not yet completed their work, but their proposals will be submitted to the Government in due course for consideration.
Further possible proposals for reform by the HSC may be identified by the HSC's own task groups which have been asked to complete their work by April next year.
Overseas Staff and Premises
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the cost for the current financial year of his Department having (a) premises and (b) personnel overseas ; and what were the comparable figures for (a) 12, (b) 24, (c) 36 and (d) 48 months ago.
Mr. Eggar : The costs to this Department of its personnel temporarily based overseas in 1993-94 are
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estimated to be in the region of £1.3 million, on the basis of expenditure in the first half of the current financial year. This Department does not have to meet the costs of any overseas premises. Precise figures for earlier years are not readily available, but are likely to have been broadly similar to the current year in real terms.EC Public Utilities
Mr. Cash : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken to ensure that public utilities in other EC countries actively encourage suppliers from the United Kingdom to participate in their contracts.
Mr. Needham : Under the Utilities Directive 90/531/EEC contracting bodies are, in most cases, obliged to publish calls for competition in the Official Journal of the European Communities, through periodic notices of planned procurement, notices of qualification systems or specific contract notices. These notices can also be accessed on the tenders electronic daily database. Since 1 January 1993 contract notices have been published in the Official Journal by utilities in all the major member states and even some by utilities in Greece, Portugal and Spain who do not yet have to implement the directives.
My Department actively supports United Kingdom suppliers in EC markets and I have appointed an export promoter on loan from industry to focus specifically in this area. My Department is also mounting a campaign to bring public procurement opportunities in the Community to the attention of United Kingdom industry, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.
Finally, I have just initiated a review to identify problems faced by United Kingdom businesses trying to sell to public purchasers in other EC member states, including those included within the scope of directive 90/531/EEC. My Department will ensure that everything possible is done to solve specific problems and will provide feedback to the EC Commission as necessary. This review is expected to be completed early next year and the results will be used in my Department's work supporting British exporters.
European Community Public Procurement Directive
Mr. Cash : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action he is taking to encourage the EC to ensure that European Community public procurement directive (90/531/EEC) is equally implemented by all relevant member states ; and with what results.
Mr. Needham : The European Commission continues to put pressure on all member states to eliminate any delays in implementing single market measures, including public procurement directive 90/531/EEC. It regularly produces a table showing the state of transposition of such measures by EC member states which it presents to ministers at meetings of the Internal Market Council. It also holds meetings as appropriate on a bilateral basis with the authorities of member states to discuss specific difficulties on transposition. In addition, the Commission has three advisory committees to discuss its proposals for monitoring the application and effectiveness of the public procurement directives.
Directive 90/531/EEC, which is designed to open up supplies and works contracts for utilities in the water, energy, transport, and telecommunications sectors to
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Community-wide competition, is required to have entered into force on 1 January 1993 with derogations for Spain--1 January 1996--and for Greece and Portugal--1 January 1998. The Commission's latest report indicates that six member states, including the United Kingdom, have so far implemented the directive, Belgium has drafted the necessary domestic legislation and Germany and Italy have yet to notify any implementation measures. The Government will continue to take a close interest in progress towards proper implementation by all member states.Atomic Energy Authority
Mr. Milligan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what financial target and capital expenditure limit have been set for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority for 1993-94.
Mr. Eggar : The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's financial target for 1993-94 has been set as a 12.1 per cent. return on average capital employed, calculated according to the current cost convention. The target is based on the profit earned on ordinary activities before long- term interest is payable. I have also approved the AEA's capital expenditure programme for the year at £18.9 million.
Reinsurance (Acts of Terrorism) Act 1993
Mr. Waterson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what agreements have been laid before Parliament under the Reinsurance (Acts of Terrorism) Act 1993 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The agreement with Pool Reinsurance Company Ltd. was concluded, with the consent of the Treasury, on 30 July and was laid before Parliament on 30 July. Updated versions of schedules 5, 6 and 7 to the agreement--the forms of the legal contracts between Pool Reinsurance Company and its members--were laid before Parliament today. The changes are not substantive but serve to simplify the administrative arrangements between Pool Reinsurance Company Ltd. and its members.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is also undertaking, with the consent of the Treasury, to guarantee a credit facility which has been obtained by Pool Reinsurance Company Ltd. from a group of banks to ensure the financing of the arrangements. The guarantee together with a copy of the credit facility was also laid before Parliament on 30 July.
Following the conclusion of the agreement, Pool Reinsurance Company Ltd. was authorised on 30 July to carry on reinsurance business in accordance with the Insurance Companies Act 1982.
The authorisation of the company, the conclusion of the agreement and the granting of the guarantee, together with the credit facility, mark the completion of the establishment of the arrangements announced by my right hon. Friend on 21 December. The arrangements established enable the Secretary of State to act as reinsurer of last resort are effective from 1 January 1993. Industry and commerce in Great Britain can now be confident that firm arrangements exist to provide for insurance against terrorist damage, provided they take out such insurance.
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Nuclear Exports
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he has taken to support the export activities of the United Kingdom nuclear industry since 1979.
Mr. Eggar : In association with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Embassies overseas, my Department provides general support for the export activities of the nuclear industry, subject to necessary regulation in the areas of non-proliferation, safety and environmental protection. Where specifically requested, umbrella co-operation agreements have been negotiated between Governments. In addition, the industry can make use of the comprehensive package of assistance offered to all exporters by my Department.
EC Law
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many responses he received to his consultation document reviewing the implementation and enforcement of EC law in the United Kingdom ; how many copies of the document were printed ; how many were (a) sold and (b) otherwise distributed ; and if he will place in the Library copies of the responses.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : To date, over 70 submissions have been received in response to the call for comments on the review of the implementation and enforcement of EC law in the United Kingdom. A total of 1,500 copies of the review were printed. Approximately 500 copies have been sold to date. A further 440 complimentary copies were distributed to those individuals, businesses, trade associations and representative organisations which assisted in the review and to the press, parliamentarians and others.
I am not at liberty to place copies of the responses in the Library of the House. Publications of respondents' comments is a matter for them. However, in line with recommendation 9 of the review and subject to the confidentiality which respondents have a right to expect, a summary of responses is being prepared for distribution to all those who contributed to the consultation exercise. I will place a copy of this, together with a list of respondents, in the Library of the House as soon as all the responses have been analysed.
Defence Industry Diversification
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out the criteria used by Her Majesty's Government in compiling the United Kingdom bid to the EC KONVER fund on defence industry diversification ; which regional organisations were consulted in preparation of the KONVER bid ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : The United Kingdom's proposal for a KONVER programme is based on the European Commission's letter of 28 May to the permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the European Communities which is available in the House of Commons Library. The United Kingdom programme proposes eight selection criteria to be used to select projects for grant assistance. Projects to be given priority are those which :
(i) accelerate diversification, where possible, so as to render such areas less dependent on this sector ;
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(ii) encourage the development of commercially viable businesses in any sector ;(iii) demonstrate good value for money and include quantifiable and measureable targets to be monitored ;
(iv) involve an integrated approach to regeneration which will benefit the whole of the area which is the subject uof the application ;
(v) involve a high degree of leverage, of finance from other public and private sector sources ;
(vi) are innovatory ;
(vii) complement existing schemes and services provided under relevant CSFs, Community initiatives and national measures. In compiling the programme the following bodies were consulted : Training and Enterprise Councils
Local Enterprise Companies
Association of Metropolitan Authorities
Association of County Councils
Association of District Councils
Association of Local Authorities of Northern Ireland
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
Council of Welsh Districts
Assembly of Welsh Counties
Scottish Enterprise
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Northern Ireland Industrial Development Board
Local Government International Bureau
National Council for Voluntary Organisation (England and Wales) Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
National Council for Industry Training Organisations
London Boroughs Association
Association of London Authorities
Rural Development Commission
Industrial Common Ownership Movement.
Mining Industry
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list for the past five years in both British Coal and United Kingdom private licensed mines (a) the fatality rate per 100,000 manshifts and (b) the total number of fatalities.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 20 October 1993] : The information requested, which has been provided by the Health and Safety Executive, is as follows :
British coal Private licensed
mines<1> mines
Year |Fatality per 100,000|Total fatalities |Fatality per 100,000|Total fatalities
|manshifts |manshifts
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<2>1992-93 |0.03 |3 |n/a |3
1991-92 |<3>0.07 |10 |n/a |2
1990-91 |0.07 |11 |n/a |1
1989-90 |0.10 |18 |n/a |1
1988-89 |0.08 |18 |n/a |2
<1>Covers injuries to British Coal Corporation employees and contractors.
<2>Provisional figures.
<3>Revised August 1993 to take account of contractors shifts worked.
n/a=Not available.
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what comparison his Department has made of the safety record of British Coal's deep mine operations with those in the United States of America and elsewhere.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 20 October 1993] : Meaningful comparisons are generally not possible because of the different mining conditions and the different bases on which such information is recorded in each country.
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Mr. Spearing : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a table showing the amount of deep-mined coal produced in the United Kingdom, from 1982 to 1992, distinguishing between categories used for household, coking, industrial boilers, and electricity power generation, which were produced, using domestically exported and imported coal, respectively, together with the comparable production and use of opencast-produced coal ; and what was the cost of imported coal at 1993 prices for each year shown in the table.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 18 October 1993] : The information readily available is as follows :
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Thousand tonnes
|1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deep-mined |106,161 |101,742 |35,243 |75,289 |90,366 |85,957 |83,762 |79,628 |72,899 |73,357 |65,800
Opencast |15,266 |14,706 |14,306 |15,569 |14,275 |15,786 |17,899 |19,442 |18,880 |19,356 |18,435
Other<1> |3,284 |2,806 |1,633 |3,253 |3,458 |2,790 |2,405 |1,535 |1,729 |2,208 |639
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total production 124,711 119,254 51,182 94,111 108,099 104,533 104,066 100,605 93,508 94,921 84,874
Exports |7,447 |6,561 |2,293 |2,432 |2,677 |2,353 |1,822 |2,049 |2,533 |1,672 |668
Stock changes<2> +10,124 +5,583 -21,412 -1,569 +3,502 -5,235 +2,920 +3,078 -1,484 +5,561 +3,886
Statistical
difference<3> |+205 |+91 |+1,886 |+594 |-1,760 |+1,302 |-489 |+34 |-1,014 |-214 |+50
Consumption of
UK coal |106,935 |107,019 |68,415 |92,654 |103,680 |106,113 |99,813 |95,444 |93,473 |87,902 |80,270
Of which:
Domestic |7,860 |7,199 |3,742 |6,299 |6,257 |5,679 |4,561 |3,504 |3,869 |3,323 |2,187
Coke ovens |7,827 |8,092 |2,774 |4,069 |4,865 |4,967 |4,612 |3,594 |2,238 |871 |646
Industry |7,152 |7,227 |6,944 |8,244 |7,575 |5,414 |5,184 |5,091 |4,983 |4,344 |3,356
Electricity
generators |79,422 |80,225 |53,359 |71,284 |81,465 |86,602 |82,285 |80,623 |80,059 |77,090 |72,422
Other |4,674 |4,275 |1,596 |2,758 |3,518 |3,451 |3,171 |2,632 |2,324 |2,274 |1,659
Imports<4> |4,063 |4,456 |8,894 |12,732 |10,554 |9,781 |11,685 |12,137 |14,783 |19,611 |20,373
Of which:
Domestic |553 |605 |1,667 |1,516 |1,164 |855 |1,180 |1,544 |370 |1,455 |1,991
Coke ovens |2,579 |2,356 |5,472 |7,053 |6,257 |5,892 |6,290 |7,198 |8,614 |9,140 |8,385
Industry |32 |33 |62 |67 |1,703 |1,410 |1,945 |1,139 |767 |1,607 |2,727
Electricity
generators |806 |1,340 |52 |2,656 |1,187 |1,358 |1,973 |1,963 |4,488 |6,927 |6,586
Other |93 |122 |1,641 |1,440 |243 |266 |297 |293 |544 |482 |684
|£ per tonne
Average cost of
imported coal<5> 78.61 80.26 85.42 80.47 61.01 52.20 46.47 46.96 46.77 38.43 35.57
<1> Estimates of slurry etc. recovered and disposed of other than by British Coal from dumps, ponds, rivers, etc.
<2> Stock fall (-), stock rise(+).
<3> Supply greater than (+) or less than (-) recorded demand.
<4> Though data is available on total imports and on consumption by fuel producers, there is only very limited direct information on consumption of imported
coal by final users. The allocation of imports to individual sectors has therefore been estimated.
<5> Cash figures adjusted to 1993 price levels by excluding the effect of general inflation as measured by the GDP deflator.
Source: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 1993.
My officials are seeing whether further information, which separately identifies the use of deep-mined coal and opencast coal, is available. If it is, I will write to the hon. Member when the details have been extracted.
HEALTH
Unemployment
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged (a) 16 or 17 years and (b) 18 to 24 years living in (i) York parliamentary constituency, (ii) North Yorkshire, (iii) Yorkshire and Humberside and (iv) Great Britain were unemployed according to the 1991 census.
Mr. Sackville : The information is shown in the table.
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@
Number of residents recorded in 1991 Census as unemployed
Area Age
|16 |17 |18-24
----------------------------------------------------------------
York Parliamentary Constituency |83 |87 |1,082
North Yorkshire |343 |471 |4,904
Yorkshire and Humberside |4,234 |5,413 |62,424
Great Britain |43,255 |61,494 |657,848
Source: 1991 Census for Great Britain (part 1), Table 8; and
County Report for North Yorkshire (Part 1), Table 8.
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