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Mr. Jack : My right hon. Friend has received no such letters.
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what period she has allowed for consultation on the reorganisation of the milk marketing scheme ; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the consultation period for the collection of consumer views.
Mr. Jack : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Codex Alimentarius Commission
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on the accountability provisions to national Parliaments to be
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included in the Codex Alimentarius Commission to be established under the general agreement on tariffs and trade.Mr. Soames : The codex alimentarius is a set of world food standards that have been developed over the past 30 years, designed both to protect consumers and to facilitate world trade in foodstuffs. The Codex Alimentarius Commission, which is the Food and Agriculture Organisation-- World Health Organisation joint food standards programme, is an intergovernmental body and thus the decisions reached by it are those reached by Governments. GATT will bring with it a subsidiary agreement--the sanitary and phytosanitary agreement--whereby the international standards agreed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in the food area will be regarded as the international norm in cases of trade disputes that come forward for adjudication under the GATT procedure.
Commodity Storage Costs
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much was spent on public storage for each commodity in (a) the European Community and (b) the United Kingdom, in each year since 1987 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 1 November 1993] : I shall write to the hon. Member.
WALES
Cattle Identification Documents
Mr. Hanson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to simplify the cattle identification document scheme in Wales.
Mr. Redwood : I am considering the possibilities for simplifying the arrangements for cattle identification documents. My officials have asked the industry for its views.
Cardiff Bay
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the European Environment Commissioner in relation to their proposed visit to Cardiff bay and the Lower Severn estuary proposed special protection area as announced in the oral answer to question H952/93 of 27 October, of Hemmo Muntingh MEP to Commissioner Paleoskrasses.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what amount was granted to the Grant Maintained Schools Centre Ltd. in 1992-93 ; under what statutory powers ; and what services his Department received from the centre.
Sir Wyn Roberts : In 1992-93, my Department made a grant of £30,000 to the Grant Maintained Schools Centre. The grant was made pursuant to regulation 15 of the Education (Grant) Regulations 1990 (SI 1990-1989). The GMSC offers advice about grant-maintained status to schools in Wales both prior to and after the date of incorporation.
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Poverty
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received recently on poverty in the Principality.
Mr. Redwood : I have recently received a copy of the pamphlet entitled "Politics of Poverty in Blaenau Gwent" of which the hon. Gentleman is a co-author.
Consultants
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the cost of the consultants' merit award system in 1990-91 in Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : In 1990-91, financial returns shows a total of £4,105,000 paid in merit awards to consultants in the NHS in Wales.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the budget for each TEC in Wales in 1993-94.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The budgets currently contracted with each TEC in Wales are shown in the following table :
TEC budgets for 1993-94 as at 1 November 1993 TEC |£ million ------------------------------------- Gwent |16.832 Mid Glamorgan |19.679 North East Wales |11.002 North West Wales |13.648 Powys |4.264 South Glamorgan |12.079 West Wales |26.740
Cardiff Bay Development Corporation
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has completed the financial management and policy review into the Cardiff Bay development corporation ; and if he will make it his policy to place a copy of the review in the Library.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 28 October 1993] : I will write to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the number of people awaiting hospital treatment in each Welsh health authority in (a) March 1990, (b) March 1992, (c) June 1993 and (d) September 1993.
Mr. Redwood : I will write to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible.
Anthrax Spores
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has on the contamination of land by anthrax spores in South Wales.
Mr. Redwood : I will write to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible.
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Newspapers
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will refer the issues of pricing of loss-making newspapers and of ownership of national titles beyond 20 per cent. market share for review under fair trading and monopolies legislation.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : No. The Director General of Fair Trading, Sir Bryan Carsberg, announced on 14 October that, following preliminary investigations by his office into allegations that the reduction in the cover price of The Times was predatory pricing, he would not be initiating formal action under the competition legislation. The Director General is satisfied that on the basis of the information available the reduction in the cover price of The Times reflects a calculated commercial decision by News International which he would not be justified in treating as predatory.
One-stop Advice Shops
Mr. Colvin : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many one -stop shops for advice for businesses have been established and in which locations, in his pilot scheme ; and if he will make a statement on their future.
Mr. McLoughlin : Firm offers of grant have been made to three areas and one-stop shops are open in Birmingham and Leicester. They are now known as business links. Ten more areas are well advanced with their business plans and I anticipate around 40 business links will be open by April next year. Eventually a national network of around 200 business links will provide local access points for business support services.
Maggot Dying
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the continued use of the banned substance chrysoidine in the maggot dying process ; and what further proposals he has to enforce the ban.
Mr. McLoughlin : Chrysoidine is not a banned substance although the Department of Health has considered the potential risk, especially of cancer, posed to anglers by chrysoidine on a number of occasions in the past. When it was last reviewed in 1985, the Department of Health reaffirmed its earlier advice that it would be prudent for anglers who wanted to use chrysoidine to avoid skin contact with the dye by, for example, using gloves when handling the dye or when baiting hooks with dyed maggots. The Government conveyed this advice to the National Federation of Anglers and the angling press at the time.
Publishing
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the impact of industrial competitiveness of subsidies, direct or indirect, to publishing in other EC countries ; and what representations he has made to the European Commission on this matter.
Mr. Sainsbury : I have made no such representations about publishing, but my Department very regularly takes
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up complaints with the Commission on behalf of business in all sectors of industry. I am concerned that United Kingdom firms should not lose business unfairly to competitors in other member states and will pursue vigorously any cases brought to our attention.Mr. John Marshall : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received about the potential impact on industrial competitiveness from imposition of VAT on books.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : A number of representations have been received on this subject from organisations connected with the publishing industry. Taxation is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Landmines
Mr. Mullin : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will list the countries to which British companies have exported landmines in each of the last five years ;
(2) what estimate he has of the total output of landmines in United Kingdom factories during each of the last five years.
Mr. Needham : There has been no United Kingdom output or export of conventional anti-personnel ground mines in the last five years. In the time available I have not been able to obtain details of other forms of landmines. I am, however, making inquiries and I will write to the hon. Member.
Furniture and Clothing (Safety)
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many representations he has received urging that the policy of deregulation should not weaken existing consumer protection legislation in respect of fire risk and poisonous gases in furniture and clothing.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : My Department has received 31 representations that there should be no change to the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 and 72 representations that there should be no change to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 as amended.
EC Retex Scheme
Mr. Pike : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the current position with British schemes under the EC Retex initiative.
Mr. McLoughlin : In Great Britain, £4.4 million of RETEX grant is available. 66 applications were received, for over £9 million. Twenty-five projects have so far been approved by the programme monitoring committee, for over £3 million of grant. The programme is expected to be fully committed by December 1993.
EC Assistance
Mr. David Porter : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the status of the bids on behalf of (a) Lowestoft and (b) the Waveney valley for EC structural fund assistance ; and when he expects all details to be finalised.
Mr. Sainsbury : Lowestoft and the Waveney valley are included in the Government's proposals for areas to
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receive grants from the funds under objectives 2 and 5(b) respectively. The Government's proposals were fowarded to the European Commission on 7 October. The Commission is now considering all the proposals from all the member states concerned. The final decisions are expected in December.Mr. David Porter : To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his Department or local authorities will match pound for pound any structural funding forthcoming from the EC by the end of this calendar year.
Mr. McLoughlin : The European structural funds make grants at various percentage rates towards the cost of a wide variety of projects undertaken by various beneficiaries, including Government Departments, local authorities, and many others. That part of the cost of each project which is not met by the funds is the responsibility of the beneficiary, and will continue to be so.
Ms Quin : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will give a breakdown by standard planning region of the total amount of outstanding contracts and payments from the EC structural funds for the current allocation.
Mr. McLoughlin : This information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the relationship between objective 2 areas and assisted areas ; and what representations have been made by the Government to the European Commission on behalf of (a) non-assisted areas in Britain currently having objective 2 status and (b) assisted areas holding objective 2 status.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 4 November 1993] : There is no direct connection between the objective 2 and United Kingdom assisted areas maps.
I have made no representations to the European Commission since I sent to Brussels on 7 October the United Kingdom's list of proposed areas for designation under objectives 2 and 5b.
I published that list in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Dorset, South (Mr. Bruce) on 22 October, Official Report, column 723-24.
Multilateral Trade Organisation
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals have been put forward by Her Majesty's Government to increase the transparency of operation of the proposed multilateral trade organisation.
Mr. Needham : Proposals to increase the transparency of the proposed dispute settlement arrangement which will operate after the implementation of the Uruguay round in GATT have been made informally by a number of participants. The European Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the Community, is at present considering its response to these proposals, in consultation with the United Kingdom and other member states. In principle, the United Kingdom welcomes proposals which would increase the transparency of the dispute settlement system, particularly in view of the increasing level of interest shown in GATT dispute settlement procedures, especially where environmental questions are concerned.
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Cohesion Fund
Mr. Tyler : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the estimated total United Kingdom contribution to the European Community cohesion fund over the next seven years ; which member states are expected to benefit from it ; and what criteria will be used to determine the eligibility of infrastructure projects, with particular reference to schemes to meet bathing water quality and urban waste water directives.
Mr. Sainsbury : The estimated United Kingdom contribution to the European cohesion fund over the seven-year period 1993 to 1999, net of abatement, is 750 million ecu, about £575 million, at 1992 prices. The beneficiary member states are Spain, Portugal, Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
The governing regulation contains no specific reference to the bathing water quality and urban waste water directives, but grant-aided environmental projects are required to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of Article 130r of the Treaty.
Debts (Prompt Payments)
Ms Walley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will issue a code of practice regarding the payment of accounts by debtors within the stated period allowed and agreed.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Government already support the CBI prompt payers code, which is a code of practice to encourage prompt payment of debts. DTI also publishes a guide to cash flow management for small firms.
Postage Rates
Mr. Beith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish (a) the price of sending an addressed domestic first class ordinary letter within each OECD country and (b) the price of sending an addressed ordinary letter to any other OECD country from each OECD country in the form of three cross tables each showing the cost in (i) domestic currency, (ii) ECUs and (iii) pound sterling.
Mr. McLoughlin : The cost of sending a first class letter in the United Kingdom is 25p. The tariffs for sending letters to all other countries in the OECD are published in the leaflet "The Easy Way to Mail Abroad", a copy of which is freely available at the House of Commons Post Office.
No systematic information on tariffs between other countries is held by either the Department of Trade and Industry or the Post Office.
Mr. Mohammed Hashemi
Mr. Byers : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he or his officials last met Mr. Mohammed Hashemi.
Mr. Needham : I am unaware of any such meeting having taken place.
Post Office
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what expenditures have so far been committed in the 1993-94 year for consultancy work to (a) Kleinwort
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Benson and (b) others on the privatisation of the Post Office ; and what were the outturn costs of the review for consultants and others in 1992-93.Mr. McLoughlin : The Department has received advice on the Post Office Review and the sale of Parcelforce from Kleinwort Benson, KPMG Peat Marwick, Price Waterhouse and McKennas. The Department spent £922,010.59 in 1992-93 on such advice. Thus far in 1993-94, £213, 607.44 has been spent from within class IV, vote 1, subhead C3. Details of amounts paid to individual consultants are commercially confidential.
Konver Programme
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will place in the Library a document showing the allocation methodology for the Konver programme, and the overall score and rank of each country together with the percentages, scores and rank for each indicator.
Mr. McLoughlin : Yes. I have today arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mrs. Fatchett : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list, according to actions 1 to 6, and by region (a) the proposal submitted for the Konver programme and (b) those approved.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 4 November 1993] : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Offshore Safety
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list all grants awarded by the Offshore Supplies Office or the Marine Technology Support Unit to assist the development of escape systems following the Cullen report, together with the size and the year of approval for each grant ; and what moneys have been recovered from sales of grant-aided equipment and systems.
Mr. Eggar : To Telescape UK Ltd. grants of £11,820 in 1990 ; £19, 023 in 1991 ; £28,732 in 1991 ; and £13,558 in 1993 ; to Sir James Laing and Sons Ltd. a grant of £32,500 in 1990.
No moneys have been recovered from sales of these equipment and systems.
St. Helena
Mr. Cummings : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the level of exports to and imports from St. Helena to the United Kingdom during the last five years.
Mr. Needham : The information is given in the following table :
United Kingdom Trade with St. Helena
|United Kingdom|United Kingdom
|Imports |Exports
|£000 |£000
------------------------------------------------------------
1988 |205 |6,103
1989 |504 |7,208
1990 |555 |7,429
1991 |820 |6,980
1992 |691 |7,336
Source: Business Monitor MA20, Overseas Trade Statistics of
the United Kingdom.
Coal Mines
Mr. Cummings : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will commission an inquiry into the consequences of methane emissions from old mine workings in urban areas in County Durham where coal mines have closed.
Mr. Eggar : Procedures adopted for abandoning mine workings are a matter for British Coal. Where British Coal abandons a mine, it undertakes a detailed analysis of the most appropriate measures to be incorporated in the abandonment procedures, having regard to statutory requirements and the safety of employees and the public. As part of this process, consideration is given to the potential for methane emissions and appropriate action taken where necessary.
Mr. Cummings : To ask the President of the Board of Trade who will be responsible for the cost of pumping operations in County Durham when the remaining collieries are privatised or closed.
Mr. Eggar : The allocation of environmental responsibilities in the privatisation process is under consideration. The Government will ensure that British Coal's current role in respect of the physical legacy of historic mining will be continued after privatisation.
Electricity Generation
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if his Department's stated intention in its White Paper, "The Prospects for Coal" to work towards a figure of 1,500 MW of new electricity generating capacity from renewable sources for the United Kingdom as a whole by 2000, relates to declared net generating capacity.
Mr. Eggar : I will write to the hon. Member.
Renewable Energy
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if his Department has yet obtained final clearance from the EC Commission for the extension of non-fossil fuel obligation support for renewable energy beyond 1998 ;
(2) what plans he has to replace the system of band strike pricing for renewable orders under the third non-fossil fuel obligation plan.
Mr. Eggar : I will write to the hon. Member.
Energy Supplies
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his Department's latest estimate of (a) installed electricity generating capacity and (b) declared net capacity from renewable energy sources in the United Kingdom ; and what percentage of each of these totals received support under the non-fossil fuel obligation.
Mr. Eggar : I will write to the hon. Member.
Quality Assurance Certification
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what criteria have to be satisfied before companies which offer quality assurance certification are accredited by the National Accreditation Council for Certification Bodies.
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Mr. McLoughlin : The National Accreditation Council for Certification Bodies recommends certification bodies for accreditation by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade. Certification bodies are assessed by NACCB against the European standards EN 45011, 45012 and 45013, which lay down general criteria for bodies operating certification of products, quality systems, and personnel respectively. Bodies must in addition satisfy NACCB's criteria of competence and regulations governing accreditation or recognition. I have arranged for copies of these documents to be placed in the Library.
Mr. Alexander Schultz
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to complete his investigation into the business activities of Alexander Schultz.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : My Department does not investigate the affairs of individuals other than those subject to bankruptcy proceedings.
Atomic Energy Inspections
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what support was given to the rationalisation of inspection
responsibilities between the International Atomic Energy Agency and EURATOM, in the United Kingdom submission to the 37th IAEA general conference of 27 September.
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