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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 3 November 1993
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Land Ownership
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps his Department is taking to prepare land ownership statistics for England and Wales which will identify the level of domestic ownership of England and Wales.
Mr. John M. Taylor : There are no plans to produce such statistics at the present time.
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when his Department intends to make the registration of land ownership in England and Wales compulsory.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Compulsory registration of title on sale was extended to the whole of England and Wales on 1 December 1990 under the provisions of the Land Registration Act 1925. The Government indicated in the citizens charter White Paper that they would explore options to complete the land register in the absence of a sale of title. Responses to the subsequent consultation paper issued by the Land Registry, "Completing the Land Register in England and Wales", are presently being assessed and will be taken into account in formulating future policy.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Annunciator
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee what facilities will be available to hon. Members on the new annunciator service.
Mr. Waller : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Bosworth (Mr. Tredinnick) on 13 July, Official Report, column 444.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee on which dates the new annunciator service will be operational for each building of the parliamentary estate.
Mr. Waller : The new annunciator equipment, which was demonstrated to the House on 22 July, is currently undergoing acceptance tests. If those tests are successfully completed, the equipment is expected to come into operation, serving screens throughout the parliamentary estate, early in 1994.
Data and Video Network
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee (1) by which date each building on the parliamentary estate will be cabled ;
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(2) when the Information Committee expects to report to the House on the provision of a parliamentary data and video network.Mr. Waller : The Information Committee hopes to report on the parliamentary data and video network early in the new year. It intends to deal with the timing of cabling as part of that study.
Word Processing Training
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee if he will undertake a questionnaire to gauge the demand from hon. Members for training courses in the use of word processors.
Mr. Waller : As part of its inquiry into the parliamentary data and video network the Committee has sent a questionnaire to all Members. The responses will be considered by the Committee as part of its deliberations which, it is hoped, will lead to a report to the House early in 1994.
Questions and Answers
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee what plans he has to include in the parliamentary on-line information system the full text of answers in entirety relating to parliamentary questions ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waller : The Library is in the process of upgrading the software and hardware for the parliamentary on-line information system (POLIS). When the upgrading is completed in spring 1994, the Library, in co-operation with the Department of the Official Report, intends to create a database containing the complete text of oral questions and debates.
Providing the text of written answers to parliamentary questions in the POLIS database is also in the Library's development programme, but this involves complications resulting from the format of some answers.
Vote Bundle
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee (1) if he will list the recommendations of the last report on the format of the Vote bundle that were (a) implemented and (b) not implemented ; and if he will consider a further review of the format and content of the Vote bundle ;
(2) what proposals he has to rationalise the content of the Vote bundle or otherwise reduce its cost.
Mr. Michael J. Martin : The Accommodation and Administration Sub- Committee of the Services Committee carried out a full investigation into the Vote bundle in 1991. Its three recommendations which have been implemented were : (a) the removal of Division lists (b) the removal of daily minutes of proceedings of statutory instruments Committees (c) the abolition of the Blue Order Book and its replacement by a White Order Book available on demand. I see no reason at present for a further review, but the Committee would of course consider carefully any specific new suggestions made by hon. Members.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chairman of the Finance and Services Committee (1) if he will examine the possibility of producing a one-page daily agenda for the front of the Order Paper ;
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(2) if he will take steps to separate the list of written questions from the Vote bundle and make them available only on request.Mr. Michael J. Martin : Both these suggestions were made by my hon. Friend to the former Accommodation and Administration Sub-Committee of the Services Committee which decided not to recommend their adoption. I see no reason to reconsider these specific proposals at this stage.
Rifle Range
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chairman of the Finance and Services Committee what is the cost of maintenance of the rifle range ; what is the rate of use of the rifle range ; and if he will conduct a cost-benefit assessment of its current usage.
Mr. Channon : I have asked the Director of Works to write to the hon. Member in respect of the maintenance costs of the range. The other points raised by the hon. Member are matters for the Houses of Parliament Sports and Social Club, which operates the range.
New Palace Yard (Filming)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if the Committee will consider introducing proposals to amend the rules relating to photography in the Palace of Westminster so as to prohibit filming in New Palace Yard after 12 noon.
Mr. Michael J. Martin : The Administration Committee has already agreed to review the regulations governing photography and filming in the Palace of Westminster. Consideration is expected to begin early in the new year, and I shall ensure that the issue raised by my hon. Friend is included in the Committee's deliberations.
Members' Services
Mr. Allen : To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will institute a survey of Members to ascertain what additional services they would like to have provided.
Mr. Beith : It is for the domestic committees to maintain an oversight of the needs of hon. Members in consultation with House Departments, and to make recommendations for additional services on the basis of a considered study. Their proposals are then considered as necessary by the Finance and Services Committee and the Commission, as well as the House in the case of a major new service. The Commission has no plans to undertake a survey of the kind suggested by the hon. Member.
Training for Members
Mr. Allen : To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will consider bringing forward plans for induction courses for new hon. Members and in-service training for existing Members in conjunction with the Civil Service college ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael J. Martin : I have been asked to reply.
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Departments of the House carry out a variety of introductions to their services for new Members. In addition, all Members receive a Members' Handbook describing the services provided by House Departments and other organisations such as the Transport Office, the Post Office and the Gymnasium. If the hon. Member has any specific proposals for induction courses or in-service training, he should bring them to the attention of the Administration Committee.NATIONAL HERITAGE
National Lottery
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what consideration he has given to the establishment of a charitable foundation to (a) operate the national lottery and (b) distribute the funds from the national lottery ; and what would be the financial effects of doing so.
Mr. Sproat : The question of a charitable foundation to operate the national lottery was debated extensively in both Houses during the passage of the legislation. (a) The licence to operate the lottery will be awarded by the Director General of the National Lottery after a competitive tender exercise designed to maximise the proceeds for good causes. There is no reason why a charitable foundation should not bid for the licence.
(b) Any new body established to assess applications for lottery funds would need expertise in the areas of art, sport and heritage. Statutory bodies with this expertise already exist. Duplication of the functions of these bodies would be inefficient and reduce the national lottery proceeds available for good causes.
Art Funding, London
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what has been the amount of art funding granted to projects covering the Greater London area in each of the last three years.
Mr. Brooke : Government funding for the arts in London is channelled through the Arts Council, and is provided both direct to clients and through the London Arts Board. The amount of Arts Council funding for the Greater London area--excluding national companies--in each of the last three years is as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------
1992-93 |27.93
1991-92 |23.39
1990-91 |19.31
In addition, aggregate funding for the national companies, most of which are based wholly or mainly in London, for each of the three years was : £62.64 million, 1992-93 ; £58.11 million, 1991-92 ; and £51.46 million, 1990-91.
Arts Council
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what percentage of the Arts Council's budget is spent on administration ; and what were the equivalent figures five and 10 years ago.
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Mr. Brooke : The percentage of the Arts Council's budget spent on administration in 1992-93, 1987-88 and 1982-83 is set out in the table :
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|1992-93 |1987-88 |1982-83
|£ |£ |£
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grant in aid |221,200,000|139,300,000|91,300,000
Administration of subsidies and services |7,611,522 |4,826,000 |3,455,716
Percentage spent on administration |3.44 |3.46 |3.79
Source: Audited accounts.
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many clients per head of staff were handled by (a) the Arts Council and (b) its music department (i) 10 years ago and (ii) now.
Mr. Brooke : The number of clients per head of staff handled by the Arts Council and its music department 10 years ago and in 1992-93 are set out in the table :
|1992-93|1982-83
------------------------------------------------------------------
Total number of individual clients |1,317 |923
of which music |303 |182
Total number of staff (excluding trading) |151 |214
of which music |8 |13
Total number of grants per staff member |8.72 |4.31
Number of music grants per staff member |37.88 |14.00
London Orchestras
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list the members of the committee to review the funding of the four London orchestras ; and if he will also list their relevant qualifications for this task.
Mr. Brooke : The membership of the committee, together with relevant background information, is as follows :
Sir Leonard Hoffman (chairman) :
A Lord Justice of Appeal and member of the board of English National Opera ;
Sir Brian Bailey :
Member of the board of the Bournemouth Orchestras ;
Anthony Camden :
Oboist and Dean of Music, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts ; Henry Fogel :
Executive Director, Chicago Symphony Orchestra ;
Ian Horsburgh :
Principal, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Vice Chairman of the London Arts Board ;
Tony Pender :
Chairman of the Northern Sinfonia.
Private Investment Projects
Ms Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list those public investment projects within his Department's responsibility which have attracted private capital and have been commenced since the 1992 autumn statement.
Mr. Sproat [holding answer 2 November 1993] : A number of projects are currently under consideration, but none has yet reached the stage where any details can be given. By their nature, such projects involve a long lead-time, but we will make announcements about any major projects as soon as we are in a position to do so.
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Many of the bodies sponsored by this Department--notably museums and galleries--have, for a number of years, sought and received private funding for building and other projects. In addition, the Department is involvedin a number of business sponsorship schemes which encourages matching funding from the public and private sectors.Remembrance Service, Cenotaph
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what plans there are to privatise the arrangements for the service of remembrance at the Cenotaph.
Mr. Sproat [holding answer 2 November 1993] : Provision of individual works services such as the cleaning and repair of the Cenotaph has for many years been managed and carried out by Building Management South East as part of the Property Services Agency. Now that Building Management South East Ltd. is in the private sector it is important that other firms have the opportunity to compete for its work. I will therefore be inviting competitive tenders in due course. There will be no change in the actual service of remembrance.
ENVIRONMENT
Biological Diversity Convention
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he now expects that the United Kingdom will ratify the biological diversity convention ; and what outstanding obstacles there are to the ratification.
Mr. Yeo : We intend, with our EC partners, to ratify the convention on biological diversity by the end of 1993, given satisfactory progress towards securing safeguards against our concerns on the financial provisions of the convention.
Housing, Liverpool
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money will be spent by housing action trusts in Liverpool over the next five years.
Sir George Young : The HATs' spending plans for the next three years will be finalised once the current public expenditure survey has been completed. An external financing limit for 1994-95 and indicative EFLs for the subsequent two years of this survey period will be set next month.
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Standard Spending Assessments
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if his Department takes into consideration EC objective 1 status when assessing levels of grant and standard spending assessment ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : Standard spending assessments are the Government's assessment of the appropriate amount of revenue expenditure by each local authority taking account of its physical, demographic and social characteristics. The calculation of SSAs take no account of the likely level of funding from European Community institutions. Under arrangements agreed with the European Commission, my Department will provide public expenditure cover, in the form of supplementary credit approvals, automatically and in full, for forecast European regional development fund receipts arising on projects which fall within the "other services block", my Department's urban initiatives and projects for which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for National Heritage has the policy responsibility. To the extent that an authority chooses to use part of its allocation of basic credit approvals to provide matching funding within a project using ERDF grant, then the revenue consequences of these credit approvals will have been reflected in SSAs in the usual way.
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria are applied for assessing spending on (a) refuse collection, (b) environmental health and (c) planning ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : Refuse collection, environmental health and planning control are among those services included in the standard spending assessment for "All Other Services" at the district level. The formula for the distribution of resources for "All Other Services" is set out in the Local Government Finance Report (England) 1993-94 approved by Parliament in February 1993.
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make it his policy to include (a) economic and (b) social deprivation indices in the standard spending assessment ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will make it his policy to base future standard spending assessments on research into the variations in spending needs between different authorities ; and if he will make a statement ; (3) if he will make it his policy to include in the additional needs index a disability indicator of need in both special and ordinary schools ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : We have recently completed a review of the system of standard spending assessments. As part of the review we have considered the inclusion in standard spending assessments of a wide range of indicators, including measures of economic deprivation and disability. The existing system of standard spending assessments is based on statistical evidence and research into the factors which lead to variation in the costs faced by local authorities. Proposals for standard spending assessments for 1994-95 will be announced later this autumn as part of the provisional revenue support grant settlement.
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Poor-health Areas
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria his Department applies when assessing the needs of areas of poor health ; whether age is a factor ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : We have recently completed a review of the system of standard spending assessments. As part of the review we have considered the inclusion of a range of health indicators, including standard mortality ratios, taking account of variations in the age structure of the local population.
Work on the review has now finished and my right hon. Friend will announce the outcome later in the autumn as part of his proposals for revenue support grant for 1994-95.
Local Government Reform
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates he has received from the Local Government Commission and the local authority associations of the transitional costs of local government reform in England.
Mr. Baldry : The Local Government Commission has included in its reports on each of the review areas in the first tranche, estimates of transitional costs associated with its recommendations. Neither the Association of District Councils nor the Association of County Councils has submitted estimates of any such costs. My officials have, however, been holding technical discussions with representatives of the ADC and ACC on the implications of local government reorganisation, including any potential transitional costs.
Council Tax
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the original estimate of the council tax base in Barnet and Wandsworth ; and what is the latest estimate.
Mr. Baldry : The council tax bases used for the 1993-94 local government settlement, derived from the proposed valuation lists sent to the authorities between 15 November and 1 December 1992, were 128, 281 and 105,392 band D2 adult equivalents for Barnet and Wandsworth respectively.
The latest estimates, derived from the valuation lists available to authorities on 7 June 1993, are 130,459 and 110,334 band D equivalents for Barnet and Wandsworth respectively.
Refrigerant Containers
Sir Cranley Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consultation his Department has undertaken with British aerosol manufacturers and users about the terms of the draft Environmental Protection (Non-Refillable Refrigerant Containers) Regulations.
Mr. Yeo : My Department issued a consultation paper in March 1992 setting out the proposals for these regulations. The British Aerosol Manufacturers Association (BAMA) was among the organisations consulted. Officials have since discussed the proposed regulations directly with representatives of BAMA.
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Housing
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table for the latest available year showing for each local housing authority in England (a) the total amount of capital receipts, (b) the reserve proportion thereof, (c) numbers in temporary accommodation and (d) the cost of temporary accommodation, with totals for London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs, shire districts, and England.
Mr. Gummer : I have today placed in the Library of the House tables giving final figures of (a) total receipts and (b) reserved receipts for 1991-92 and corresponding provisional figures for 1992-93 for each local housing authority in England.
My Department does not collect information on the total numbers of those homeless households which have been placed by local authorities in temporary accommodation having been accepted by them as homeless, nor on the costs of the various types of temporary accommodation other than bed and breakfast accommodation.
Data on the total numbers of households placed in temporary accommodation and some data on the costs are, however, collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. The latest information is for 1991-92 and is published in "Homelessness Statistics 1991-92 Actuals", a copy of which is in the Library.
Radiation
Dr. John Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what advice he has received from the National Radiological Protection Board on the annual collective dose of radiation worldwide from (a) background radiation, fallout and non-nuclear industry sources, (b) medical exposure and (c) the operation of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what advice he has received from the National Radiological Protection Board on the annual collective dose of radiation to the whole United Kingdom population from all sources now ; by what amount that dose would increase if THORP was operating ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : Details of the annual collective doses of radiation from all sources to the United Kingdom population are published in the National Radiation Protection Board's (NRPB) "Radiation Exposure of the UK Population--1993 Review". Information on the collective doses to the world's population from all sources is published in "Sources, Effects and Risks of Ionising Radiation UNSCEAR 1988 Report to the General Assembly, United Nations". At the request of the Chief Medical Officer's Committee on the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), NRPB has published estimates of the collective doses arising from proposed Sellafield discharges. These calculations indicate that the operation of THORP would increase the annual collective dose to the United Kingdom population by less than 0.003 per cent. and the world's population by less than 0.0006 per cent. I am arranging for copies of these publications to be placed in the House Library.
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Tower Blocks
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library a list of tower blocks erected in England by local authorities for housing purposes, (a) currently in occupation or (b) demolished or awaiting demolition with details in the year in which approvals for construction and/or financing was given by his Department, and the number of dwellings in each block, where this occurred in 1963 and thereafter.
Mr. Gummer : The information requested is not collected by this Department.
Rents
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing for each financial year since 1978 the average unrebated rent for (a) local authority tenants, (b) housing association tenants for each local housing authority in England, with sub-totals for London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs, and shire districts, and England, in current prices, constant prices, and with a constant price index where 1978 equals 100.
Mr. Gummer : I have today placed in the Library a table showing the average local authority weekly unrebated rent for each housing authority for each financial year from 1988-89 to 1992-93, both at current and constant prices with the latter also expressed as an index with 1988-89 equal to 100. This information could only be provided for years before 1988 -89 at disproportionate cost. From 1978 to 1989 the information for housing association tenants can be found in the publication "Statistical Note for Rent Officers : Statistics of Rent Registrations by Rent Registration Area and Rent Assessment Committee Determinations by Panel Area". From 1990 the information on registered fair housing association rents can be found in the publication "Rent Officer Statistics" ; information on new lettings by registered housing association can be found in the National Federation of Housing Associations' quarterly bulletin ; and information on rents for the whole housing association stock can be found in the report "Housing Associations in 1992" published by the Housing Corporation.
Copies of all these publications are in the Library.
Housing, Newcastle
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the present strategic guidance for the provision of new dwellings in Tyne and Wear ; what meetings have been held with the city of Newcastle upon Tyne on this matter ; and what allowance has been made for the need for more student accommodation in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.
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