House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 Oct 1993

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(3) on what date the Overseas Development Administration became a member of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answers 25 October 1993] : We have participated regularly in IPPF annual donors meetings since these started in 1971, and have funded UNFPA's global activities since 1968. UNFPA and IPPF provide donors with full details of their budgets and programmes in China.

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent meeting between Dr. Halfdan Mahler and officials of his Department following the former's visit to China in February.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 25 October 1993] : Officials discussed with Dr. Mahler a range of issues, including the question of coercion in China's family planning programmes, the quality of reproductive health care in China, and the role of IPPF and the Chinese Family Planning Association.

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what information he has regarding the physical damage to Chinese who attempt to remove intra-uterine devices inserted by law ; and what information he has on the levels of fines levied on women who are found to have illegally removed IUDs or illegally avoided their insertion ;

(2) what information the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities provided to his Department regarding regional laws and

district-regional governing of Chinese population control.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 25 October 1993] : We have received a number of reports on family planning legislation in China and are aware that family planning regulations in some provinces stipulate the imposition of fines if IUDs are removed without prior approval.

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the factors taken into account by his Department in providing aid to organisations working in the field of population control.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 25 October 1993] : The Overseas Development Administration aims to promote the ability of women and men to exercise free choice about when to have children, and to improve reproductive health. Funds are provided to a number of non-government and international agencies which share these goals and which are categorically opposed to all forms of coercion in family planning programmes.

Tibet

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what information he has regarding the activities of the Chinese Family Planning Association in Tibet ; (2) what response he is making to the Campaign Free Tibet publication, "Children of Despair", a copy of which has been sent to him.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 25 October 1993] : We maintain a regular dialogue with the International

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Planned Parenthood Federation about the role and activities of the Chinese Family Planning Association. We will continue to raise with the Chinese authorities our concern about reports of human rights abuses in Tibet and elsewhere in China.

Infanticide, China and Tibet

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement regarding his investigation into the practice of infanticide, in China and Tibet, of babies born without state permission.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 25 October 1993] : We are aware of allegations of infanticide in China, but have obtained no further information which enables us to relate these allegations to Chinese Government policy.

PRIME MINISTER

Pensions

Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Prime Minister what recent representations he has from the north west assembly of the Pensioners Liaison Forum about retirement pensions ; what reply he is sending ; and if he will make a statement.

The Prime Minister : I have received a petition. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security will be arranging for a reply to be sent on my behalf.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Eurolunacies

Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide a full list of the developments referred to as Eurolunacies in page 3 of his booklet, "The European Community : Facts and Fairytales".

Mr. Goodlad : As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has said in the foreward to the booklet, everyone has their own favourite story about the European Community. We all have our own ideas of things that we think the Community should not be doing. We have set out in the booklet some genuine examples of apparently unnecessary or even ridiculous Community rules, which we describe as "Eurolunacies".

Sudan

Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what the British Government are doing to ensure that human rights are respected in Sudan and that the current violation of human rights is stopped ;

(2) what the British Government are doing to further the peace process in Sudan and to bring the fighting to an end.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 18 October at column 79 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Small Heath (Mr. Godsiff).

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Nuclear Non-proliferation

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications of the presentation on regional nuclear non-proliferation in south and east Asia made by the United States Secretary of State to the annual meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations and their dialogue partners in Singapore on 26 July for the security of Hong Kong ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The United States Secretary of State devoted part of his statement at the Association of South East Asian Nations post- ministerial conference in July to regional security issues. He stressed the United States commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and said that the United States would continue to work with the nations of the region to maintain a peaceful and secure Asia. The achievement of their objective is in the interests of the whole region, including Hong Kong.

Embassies

Mr. Jenkin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will estimate the savings made to his budget by establishing United Kingdom diplomatic representation to the former Soviet republics in the embassies of Germany instead of establishing completely independent representation.

Mr. Goodlad : British diplomatic representation is collocated with the German embassies in Kazakhstan, Almaty, and Belarus, Minsk. The fact of being collocated with another embassy does not circumscribe the independence of our missions.

In Almaty, the United Kingdom pays £35,000 per annum rent and our share of refurbishment costs will be around £55,000. If we had occupied separate accommodation, rental costs would have been up to £80,000 per annum excluding refurbishment costs, which would have been considerable.

In Minsk, our collocation in the existing accommodation is on a temporary basis as both embassies require additional space. A FCO estate surveyor is currently in Minsk and will assess the options. Savings cannot yet be estimated.

In addition to savings on rent, there should be further savings arising from collocation from the sharing of support staff and maintenance costs.

Subsidiarity

Mr. Jenkin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the EC directives that the Government believe should be (a) amended or (b) repealed as a result of the application of subsidiarity.

Mr. Goodlad : It is not our intention to publish such a list. We have, however, fed ideas into the Commission at several stages as a contribution to the report that it is preparing on subsidiarity for the Brussels European Council in December. The Commission report will, of course, be published.

Iraq

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many missions to Iraq have now been conducted by the United Nations

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Special Commission, pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolution ; if he will place in the Library copies of the published reports of the UNSCOM visits ; and if he will make a statement on progress made during the most recent visit to Iraq.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The United Nations Special Commission on Iraq has completed 62 missions to Iraq. The 63rd is at present in Iraq. Detailed reports of individual UNSCOM missions are not published. However, general accounts of progress on the location and elimination of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction are published by the United Nations every six months. The last of these (S/25977) was issued on 27 June. In addition, ad hoc reports are issued throughout the year covering significant developments, for example S/26571 on Ambassador Ekeus' recent trip to Baghdad. The same applied to reports of the IAEA, eg S/26584 on Iraqi obligations in the nuclear field. All these documents have been placed in the Library of the House.

The present mission to Iraq, UNSCOM 63, is proceeding so far without hindrance. Iraq however has still to satisfy the Security Council that it has provided

"full, final and complete disclosure of all aspects of its programme to develop weapons of mass destruction"

as required by United Nations resolutions.

Dr. John Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he has taken in the light of reports of recent chemical attacks by the Government of Iraq on its own population.

Mr. Hurd : We are trying to establish whether reports of the use of chemical weapons in Iraq are true.

Dr. John Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise in the United Nations Security Council the question of recent chemical attacks by the Government of Iraq on its own population.

Mr. Hurd : We are investigating reports that Iraq has used chemical weapons. We would raise in the Security Council any evidence of actions in contravention of Security Council resolution 687.

Dr. John Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence he has received in respect of recent chemical attacks by the Government of Iraq on its own population.

Mr. Hurd : An Iraqi opposition group, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) has told us that the Iraqi army has attacked villages in southern Iraq using chemical weapons. We as yet have no firm evidence of such attacks.

EDUCATION

Ethnic Minorities

Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has carried out of the educational implications in London of reductions in section 11 funding.

Mr. Robin Squire : Provision for the education of pupils from ethnic groups in London is primarily a matter for schools and local education authorities. Section 11

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funding supports existing projects in the 1993-94 financial year at the grant rate of 75 per cent. of salary costs. For the subsequent two years, section 11 grant is availaant makes to meeting the particular needs of ethnic minority pupils in London and will monitor the effects of the reduction in the rate of support for future years using the services of Ofsted.

Training

Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has had from the chairman of the Manchester training and enterprise council in regard to the future of work-based training for 16 to 19-year-olds ; what reply he is sending ; what action he is taking ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Boswell : The chairman of the Manchester TEC wrote about these matters on 4 October and I have already replied to him. The Government are committed to increasing the participation and attainment of young people in both education and training. That will be achieved through a combination of GCE/GCSE qualifications, national vocational qualifications and general NVQs, including the new vocational A-level. The Government want school, college or work-based routes to be available to young people so that individuals can choose the best route for them.

Dearing Report

Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will give details of the representations he has had from teachers' unions regarding the Dearing report ; and if he will list the unions which have declared a refusal to carry out the revised tests.

Mr. Robin Squire : My right hon. Friend has recently met representatives of the teachers' unions to discuss the Dearing report. While the declared policy of the National Union of Teachers, the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers is that a boycott is still in place, the unions have indicated that they wish to consider their position in the light of the sample tests and other guidance that have been sent to schools by the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority this month.

Grant-maintained Schools

Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many grant-maintained schools he expects to be operating by April 1994.

Mr. Robin Squire : We have never set targets for numbers of grant- maintained schools, nor do we intend to. Seeking self-governing status is a matter for parents at individual schools, and statutory proposals to my right hon. Friend are decided on their merits. There are currently 693 self -governing schools, and an additional 63 have been approved for incorporation by April 1994. A further 221 schools have applications in the pipeline, and a significant number of others may be expected to arrange ballots between now and April.

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Further Education Colleges

Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) to what extent the 1993-94 budget of each of the further education colleges with in excess of 4,000 full-time equivalent students, has been adversely affected by changes in local education authority policy on the level of funds devoted to discretionary awards ; (2) to what extent Sheffield college's 1993-94 gross budget has been affected by Sheffield city council's decision to cease paying the course fees of adult disadvantaged students ; and if he will take steps to ensure that the college's 1993-94 gross budget is protected against the consequences of Sheffield city council's decision.

Mr. Boswell : The allocation of funding to colleges in the FE sector is a matter for the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC). The council's aim in its allocations for 1993-94 is to secure stability of funding for colleges by comparison with their 1992-93 net budgets and to provide the opportunity for growth in student numbers in line with my right hon. Friend's initiative to encourage 25 per cent. growth in the further education sector over the three year period to 1995-96. The FEFC's allocations to individual colleges will not be affected one way or the other by local education authorities' decisions on discretionary awards.

Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what was the proportion of students in receipt of discretionary local education authority funded fee remission at each of the further education colleges with in excess of 4,000 full-time equivalent students, for the academic year 1992-93 ; and whether discretionary awards were included in the college's delegated budget or treated as income in each case ;

(2) how he intends to ensure that students enrolled on further education courses are not adversely affected by local education authorities' decisions to reduce their expenditure on discretionary awards.

Mr. Boswell : The information requested for 1992-93 is not collected centrally. Tuition fees paid by LEAs as part of discretionary awards would normally have been treated as college income. The provision of discretionary awards is a matter for local education authorities. The early results of a national survey of LEA discretionary awards--supported by the Department, and yet to be completed--show total numbers of awards continuing to rise : both numbers and total spending are above the levels of three years ago. Within that overall picture, some LEAs may be reducing their provision or altering their priorities : that is a matter for them.

Funding Agency for Schools

Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on the procedure adopted in the appointment of the head of the Funding Agency for Schools and the timetable for further appointments to the agency.

Mr. Robin Squire : The Education Act 1993 provides for the chairman of the Funding Agency for Schools (FAS) to be appointed by the Secretary of State. My right hon. Friend appointed Sir Christopher Benson, chairman- designate of the FAS on 14 October.

The post of chief executive was widely advertised nationally and a formal interview panel has met to consider

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short-listed candidates. My right hon. Friend expects to announce an appointment soon. He also expects to announce the full membership of the agency in the new year.

EMPLOYMENT

Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was (a) the total cost of the office of the Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members, (b) the numbers of staff employed, (c) the number of cases investigated during the past 12 months and (d) the cost per case investigated.

Miss Widdecombe : In the 12 months to 31 March 1993, the total net cost of all the commissioner's activities was £433,142. She employed five staff, whose costs are included within that figure. The commissioner has no powers to investigate cases, but deals with applications for financial assistance with certain court proceedings. During the 1992-93 year, the commissioner's office dealt with nearly 500 inquiries, and 50 formal applications for her assistance.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Parliamentary Works

Mr. Steen : To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission what has been the change in members of staff in the Parliamentary Works Directorate since January.

Mr. Beith : Since January there has been no net change in the number of staff in post in the Parliamentary Works Directorate, although a temporary chartered building surveyor has been brought in to cover for a member of staff on long-term sick leave.

Mr. Steen : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Commission if he will list the works started or completed during the summer recess in (a) the Palace of Westminster and (b) the parliamentary outbuildings together with the cost, or estimated cost of each item ; and if he will list the programme of works for the next six months.

Mr. Ray Powell : This is a matter for the Director of Works and I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.

Asbestos

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the right hon. Member for

Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission if he will make a statement on the discovery and programme of removal of asbestos in the main Library during the summer recess ; on how many occasions asbestos contamination has been identified in the Palace of Westminster ; and what risks to the health of the people working in the Palace are posed by asbestos.

Mr. Beith : Like most older buildings, the Palace of Westminster contains asbestos, which was used for

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insulation purposes. Since it became known that exposure to asbestos dust can be dangerous the Parliamentary Works Directorate, and its predecessors, have sought to follow strictly the guidelines and procedures laid down by the Health and Safety Executive. An asbestos register is maintained recording the locations both where asbestos is known to remain--usually because it is inaccessible--and from which it has been removed ; only firms on the approved list are used for asbestos removal work and the work is carried out in the approved manner.

It is the practice, whenever possible, to remove asbestos found when undertaking maintenance and other works services. As a result, the ceiling voids and floor spaces used for cables and other services are now clear of asbestos. The work carried out this summer, in connection with POLIS 3, was in areas which had not been cabled previously to any significant extent. Hence the discovery of a considerable amount of asbestos. The professional assessment is that the asbestos had not been disturbed for some considerable time, but should not therefore have presented any risks in the past or present any for the future. However, a full record has been made of the discoveries and will be kept on the register.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Invalidity Benefit

Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in Blyth Valley were receiving invalidity benefit in (a) 1991, (b) 1992 and (c) 1993 ; and if he will break down the figures by sex and standard age range.

Mr. Scott : The administration of invalidity benefit is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available, a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Ronnie Campbell, dated 26 October 1993 :

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions raised about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security, asking how many people in Blyth Valley were receiving Invalidity Benefit (IVB) in (a) 1991, (b) 1992 and (c) 1993 ; and if he will break down the figures by sex and standard age range.

The information you require is not available in the format requested. This is because statistics are not maintained by District/Benefit Offices for recipients of IVB broken down by sex and age range.

However, it is possible to state the number of claimants to IVB at the last working day of April 1991, April 1992 and April 1993 in the Blyth Benefit Office, which deals with Blyth Valley.

You should note that although I have provided statistics for the Blyth Valley Benefit Office, that office's boundaries do not correspond with county or borough boundaries and the figures provided include some customers living in areas other than Blyth Valley. (a) At the last working day of April 1991, there were a total of 4,106 people claiming IVB.

(b) At the last working day of April 1992, there were a total of 4,194 people claiming IVB.

I should explain that these figures include a small minority of customers who have claimed but are not receiving IVB. For

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instance, where customers have an underlying entitlement to IVB which has been extinguished by the payment of a higher overlapping benefit.

These figures were obtained from a 100 per cent. clerical count of cases in the Benefit office.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Mrs. S. E. Green

Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the case of Mrs. S. E. Green, national insurance No. TW 44 81 53 C ; and for what reasons she was not informed in time of the possibility of making additional contributions.

Mr. Hague : The administration of retirement pension is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Mr. Michael Bichard to Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 26 October 1993 :

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions raised about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security, asking for what reasons Mrs. S. E. Green, National Insurance No. TW 44 81 53 C, was not informed in time of the possibility of making additional contributions. I can confirm that Mrs. Green did not meet the minimum qualification for Retirement Pension. On 21 May 1951 she exercised here right as a married woman to pay reduced rate National Insurance contributions and she reaffirmed this choice on 22 August 1960 and 12 April 1962. Each time Mrs. Green notified the Department of her choice she would have completed form CF9 and signed the declaration that she had read leaflet NI1 or had had the contents explained to her. This leaflet sets out the position of married women with regard to National Insurance and explains the effect non payment of contributions has on title to benefit.

I should explain that whilst an election not to pay contributions is in force the woman has no right to pay any Class 3 contributions to improve her pension entitlement.

It is, of course, open to a woman to cancel her choice at any time, although having done so, she cannot later return to paying reduced rate contributions. An application to cancel a choice must be made in writing in advance of the date the change is to take place. As Mrs. Green attained age 60 on 12 September 1987/the last date for which contributions would count for pension purposes in her case was 5 April 1987. She would therefore have had to cancel her contribution choice before that date to allow any subsequent voluntary contributions to count towards her pension. However, the Department's records show that Mrs. Green did not make an enquiry until August 1987 at which time it was too late to change her choice of contribution.

The Department does all it can to ensure that contributors are aware of their responsibilities and pension rights through its leaflets, public notices, local radio, the press and the freephone advice line. However, the onus is on the individual to make sure that they have the information they need about the scheme to maintain their contribution records, protect their benefit rights and claim benefit at the proper time.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Benefits

Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in Blyth Valley are receiving income support, family credit and housing benefit ; and what percentage of the Blyth Valley population this represents.

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Mr. Burt : The administration of income support is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Ronnie Campbell, dated 26 October 1993 :

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many people in Blyth Valley are receiving Income Support, Family Credit and Housing Benefit ; and what percentage of the population this represents. The information you require is not available in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. This is because statistics relating to Family Credit and Income Support are collected by Benefits Agency Branch Office and for Housing Benefit by Local Authority, whose boundaries do not correspond exactly with those of parliamentary constituencies, as requested. To obtain all the relevant information it would be necessary to examine all records in the offices covering the Blyth Valley constituency. However, I can tell you that, as at 31 August 1993, there were 10, 309 recipients of income support and, as at 1 October 1993, 1,246 recipients of Family Credit in the area covered by the Benefits Agency's Blyth Branch Office.

The Blyth Valley constituency is served by Blyth Valley and Wansbeck Local Authorities. For 1992 the average number of Housing Benefits recipients for Blyth Valley was 7,177 and for Wansbeck 6, 302. The figures quoted are averages of the quarterly counts of Housing Benefits cases. It is not possible however to state what percentage of the Blyth Valley population this represents as the Office of Population and Censuses have advised that population estimates are not made by parliamentary constituency. The official census of 1991 showed that there were 79,584 people living in the county district of Blyth Valley.

The information has been obtained from the Family Credit Unit, the Analytical Services Division and the Income Support Management Information Statistics.

I hope this information is helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.

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