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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 29 November 1993
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Marsh Arabs
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has had regarding the plight of the Marsh Arabs ; what discussions have taken place between his Department and the United Nations over their future ; what efforts his Department are making over their continued security ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received numerous representations about events in southern Iraq.
We frequently raise the plight of the Marsh Arabs at the United Nations, most recently during the review of sanctions on 18 November. We drew the attention of the United Nations weapons inspectors to reports that chemical weapons were used against civilians. We support the call of the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights for the deployment of monitors in Iraq.
In addition, British aircraft are deployed over southern Iraq in support of United Nations Security Council resolution 688.
BBC World Service
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations have been carried out between his Department and the BBC in respect of the BBC World Service lease at its headquarters in Bush house ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The current lease on Bush house was signed in 1990 and expires in 2005. Discussions with the BBC World Service have already taken place, and it has been agreed that the question of future location will be discussed again in due course.
Miss Patience Ikeazota
Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the refusal of a tourist visa for a limited stay in Britain to Miss Patience Ikeazota by the entry clearance officer in Lagos.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Following an interview at the high commission in Lagos on 9 April 1992, Miss Ikeazota's application for a visit visa was refused, as was her previous application in April 1991, because the entry clearance officer was not satisfied that she was genuinely seeking entry to the United Kingdom for the period of the visit stated by her.
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Azerbaijan
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action Her Majesty's Government are taking to assist in implementing United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Azerbaijan.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We maintain high-level contacts with the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis and urge them to adhere to United Nations Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884. We are actively supporting the efforts of the Minsk group whose efforts to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict have been fully endorsed by the United Nations.
In the past year we have provided almost £1.9 million of humanitarian aid to the region.
Correspondence
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence and minutes of meetings between his Department and Gerald Bull between 1987 and 1990.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : As far as we have been able to establish, there is no record of any correspondence or record of any meeting between this Department and Dr. Gerald Bull.
Endangered Species
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what exemptions have been sought by Norway under the EC convention on international trade in endangered species regulation and habitats directive.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The Norwegian Government are seeking exemptions from the habitats directive and the CITES regulation for a wide variety of species. These include several species of fish, terrestrial mammals, seals and whales.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what attempts Norway has made to secure opt-outs from EC regulations covering the killing and trade in whale and seal products ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The Norwegian Government are requesting exemptions from the EC habitats directive in respect of five seal and three whale species. We shall be discussing the Norwegian request with other member states.
Nigeria
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what current sanctions are being applied against the military Government of Nigeria ; and what new ones are being considered.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : On 24 June, we announced our decision to withdraw all offers of new military training courses provided for members of the Nigerian armed forces in the United Kingdom ; to suspend all assistance to
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the National War College in Lagos and withdraw the British military advisory team ; to suspend issue of visas for members of the Nigerian armed forces and their dependents ; to withdraw special treatment of visa applications from Nigerian officials ; and to consider all new aid to Nigeria on a case-by-case basis. These measures remain in force.Our response to the latest developments is currently being discussed with our partners in the European Union and the wider donor community.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to discuss the new military takeover in Nigeria with his European Union counterparts ; and what proposals he will be taking to that meeting.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The European Union issued a statement on 19 November condemning the fact that the democratic process in Nigeria has been interrupted through
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the resumption of power by a military dictatorship. It strongly urged the Nigerian military authorities to re- establish democratic institutions.As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary announced on 17 November, we are now consulting with our partners in the European Union on what further actions we should take in response to the new
military takeover.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Fire Calls
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of fire calls in (a) 1991 and (b) 1992 for each fire authority area and in total ; if he will identify the number of hoax calls in each year on a similar basis ; and if he will express hoax calls as a percentage of total calls.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The information for fire calls attended by local authority fire brigades is shown in the table.
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1991 1992<1>
|Total fire calls |Malicious false |Per cent. malicious|Total fire calls |Malicious false |Per cent. malicious
|alarms |of all calls |alarms |of all calls
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom |859,522 |148,112 |17.2 |874,343 |160,327 |18.3
England and Wales |726,015 |125,790 |17.3 |742,840 |134,421 |18.1
England |683,997 |118,388 |17.3 |697,720 |124,712 |17.9
England-Non-Met |349,015 |49,579 |14.2 |362,234 |53,580 |14.8
Avon |11,840 |1,643 |13.9 |12,737 |1,837 |14.4
Bedfordshire |5,245 |580 |11.1 |5,646 |724 |12.8
Berkshire |8,504 |1,170 |13.8 |9,097 |1,350 |14.8
Buckinghamshire |6,511 |840 |12.9 |6,636 |1,036 |15.6
Cambridgeshire |7,744 |1,091 |14.1 |7,954 |1,232 |15.5
Cheshire |13,053 |1,548 |11.9 |12,203 |1,457 |11.9
Cleveland |13,237 |4,418 |33.4 |14,150 |4,346 |30.7
Cornwall and Scilly |4,197 |305 |7.3 |4,817 |366 |7.6
Cumbria |6,029 |807 |13.4 |6,721 |1,013 |15.1
Derbyshire |9,570 |1,490 |15.6 |11,030 |1,920 |17.4
Devon |11,936 |1,749 |14.7 |12,484 |1,724 |13.8
Dorset |6,715 |825 |12.3 |6,476 |693 |10.7
Durham |9,827 |2,397 |24.4 |10,745 |2,574 |24.0
East Sussex |6,922 |780 |11.3 |7,472 |793 |10.6
Essex |15,872 |2,462 |15.5 |16,886 |2,957 |17.5
Gloucestershire |5,552 |804 |14.5 |5,666 |867 |15.3
Hampshire |14,423 |1,019 |7.1 |15,408 |779 |5.1
Hereford and Worcester |6,863 |962 |14.0 |6,862 |1,067 |15.5
Hertfordshire |9,346 |967 |10.3 |9,987 |989 |9.9
Humberside |14,773 |2,956 |20.0 |14,162 |3,104 |21.9
Isle of Wight |1,125 |94 |8.4 |1,147 |100 |8.7
Kent |15,783 |2,476 |15.7 |16,992 |2,678 |15.8
Lancashire |24,574 |4,305 |17.5 |25,271 |4,745 |18.8
Leicestershire |9,696 |1,722 |17.8 |9,904 |1,615 |16.3
Lincolnshire |5,829 |869 |14.9 |5,495 |862 |15.7
Norfolk |8,081 |714 |8.8 |7,626 |984 |12.9
North Yorkshire |7,145 |544 |7.6 |7,132 |555 |7.8
Northamptonshire |6,723 |619 |9.2 |6,493 |616 |9.5
Northumberland |4,021 |538 |13.4 |4,850 |688 |14.2
Nottinghamshire |13,559 |1,532 |11.3 |12,445 |1,446 |11.6
Oxfordshire |6,440 |790 |12.3 |7,011 |986 |14.1
Shropshire |5,199 |766 |14.7 |4,951 |701 |14.2
Somerset |4,752 |578 |12.2 |5,033 |555 |11.0
Staffordshire |11,312 |1,778 |15.7 |11,608 |2,164 |18.6
Suffolk |5,591 |408 |7.3 |5,951 |632 |10.6
Surrey |11,497 |1,215 |10.6 |11,885 |1,320 |11.1
Warwickshire |5,534 |502 |9.1 |5,684 |681 |12.0
West Sussex |8,035 |655 |8.2 |8,635 |687 |8.0
Wiltshire |5,960 |661 |11.1 |6,982 |737 |10.6
England-Met |334,982 |68,809 |20.5 |335,486 |71,132 |21.2
Greater Manchester |58,439 |13,191 |22.6 |57,306 |11,972 |20.9
Merseyside |39,689 |6,562 |16.5 |34,286 |6,451 |18.8
South Yorkshire |19,079 |3,853 |20.2 |19,527 |4,630 |23.7
Tyne and Wear |30,228 |6,891 |22.8 |32,628 |6,949 |21.3
West Midlands |41,727 |9,398 |22.5 |44,199 |10,747 |24.3
West Yorkshire |38,075 |7,164 |18.8 |41,521 |7,999 |19.3
Greater London |107,745 |21,750 |20.2 |106,019 |22,384 |21.1
Wales |42,018 |7,402 |17.6 |45,120 |9,709 |21.5
Clwyd |5,475 |733 |13.4 |5,677 |1,024 |18.0
Dyfed |3,816 |559 |14.6 |4,231 |806 |19.0
Gwent |6,033 |1,409 |23.4 |7,246 |2,109 |29.1
Gwynedd |3,268 |258 |7.9 |3,355 |309 |9.2
Mid Glamorgan |9,487 |1,843 |19.4 |9,467 |2,160 |22.8
Powys |1,061 |94 |8.9 |1,130 |120 |10.6
South Glamorgan |6,575 |1,279 |19.5 |7,222 |1,638 |22.7
West Glamorgan |6,303 |1,227 |19.5 |6,792 |1,543 |22.7
Northern Ireland |29,425 |3,844 |13.1 |26,568 |3,397 |12.8
Scotland |104,082 |18,478 |17.8 |104,935 |22,509 |21.5
Strathclyde |55,973 |11,370 |20.3 |58,295 |16,349 |28.0
Highland and Islands |4,932 |394 |8.0 |4,565 |346 |7.6
Grampian |6,400 |613 |9.6 |6,611 |616 |9.3
Tayside |7,619 |1,023 |13.4 |8,133 |1,136 |14.0
Lothian and Borders |17,245 |3,206 |18.6 |15,540 |2,107 |13.6
Fife |5,710 |997 |17.5 |6,011 |1,108 |18.4
Central |4,067 |592 |14.6 |3,869 |567 |14.7
Dumfries and Galloway |2,136 |283 |13.2 |1,911 |255 |13.3
<1>Provisional.
Police Equipment
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are laid down by his Department in respect of being informed of police equipment that is either lost or stolen ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The loss or theft of police equipment is a matter for individual police forces and authorities. The Home Office would not become involved unless the scale of such losses was such as to call into question management procedures or the efficiency of the force in question. Nor has the Home Office any plans to introduce monitoring of losses of police equipment.
Carl Bridgewater
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police inquiries into the Carl Bridgewater convictions and the outcome in each case.
Mr. Maclean : Since the conviction in 1979 of those concerned, there have been seven police inquiries into the case, involving four separate police forces, as follows :
|Police force
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1980 and 1981 |Cheshire Constabulary
1983, 1984 and 1985 |Greater Manchester Police
1986 |Warwickshire Constabulary
1991 |Merseyside Police
Following the inquiries by Warwickshire constabulary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd), then Home Secretary, decided in 1987 to refer to the Court of Appeal the convictions of Michael and Vincent Hickey and James Robinson. Their appeals were dismissed in 1989.
None of the other inquiries to which I have referred disclosed grounds to take action in respect of the convictions. As part of our consideration of the latest representations in this case, we are arranging for further police inquiries to be carried out into some of the matters raised.
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on which dates since 1988 he has received submissions from solicitors representing the men convicted of killing Carl Bridgewater and say what action he has taken in each case.
Mr. Maclean : Solicitors for those convicted of killing Carl Bridgewater have made a number of submissions to the Home Office since 1988. Those which relate most directly to the allegations of wrongful conviction were made on 17 Septemberr 1990, 7 June 1991, 2 August 1991, 13 August 1991, 17 October 1991, 26 May 1992 and 19 January 1993. The matters raised there were carefully considered but as my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke), then Home Secretary, announced on 3 February, they provided no grounds for action to be taken in respect of the convictions.
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Further submissions from the solicitors were made on 8 June, 13 July, 10 November and 15 November 1993 and we understand that more are to follow. As part of our consideration of these allegations of wrongful conviction we are arranging for further police inquiries to be carried out into some of the matters raised.Parish Constables
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the locations of the 20 pilot schemes for parish constables he intends setting up by Christmas ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : It is for police forces and local communities to decide--through consultation--where the pilot schemes for parish constables should be. A number of forces are currently engaged in such consultation. A further announcement will be made nearer the time about the pilot schemes which are being set up. I am pleased with the progress made so far.
Football Matches
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was received by the Metropolitan police from London's professional football clubs for policing services in the season 1992-93 and 1993 to date.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I understand that the Metropolitan police received £2,076,781 for the 1992-93 season. The amount received so far during the 1993-94 season is £424,515.
Racial Harassment
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation in his next criminal justice Bill that every tenancy for (a) homes and (b) shops contains a condition prohibiting racial harrassment, binding on landlords as well as tenants ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Current landlord and tenant legislation already gives local authorities powers to take action against tenants who racially harass other tenants. The Public Order Act 1986 created a new low-level offence of offensive conduct which is relevant to all forms of harassment. There are no plans to introduce additional legislation.
The Commission for Racial Equality has produced codes of practice for both rented and non-rented housing, which were approved by Parliament in 1990 and 1992 respectively. These include practical steps to deal with, and pre- empt, racial harassment.
Police Sirens
Sir Russell Johnston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he gives to the Commissioner of Police regarding the use of police sirens in the Metropolitan area.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I understand from the Commissioner that guidance on the use of sirens is included in the training given to drivers at the Metropolitan police driving school.
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Lunar House
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the backlog of work at Lunar house, Croydon.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Information for the end of October 1993 on the main areas of work is given in the table.
Immigration and asylum work items<1> in the Immigration and
Nationality Department at 31 October 1993
|Number
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Cases in the general immigration caseworking groups<2> |22,430
Cases in the EC caseworking group<2> |1,190
Cases in the asylum and special cases division |51,400
Items in the post room and registry<3> |12,420
<1>Including referred enty clearance applications and appeals
awaiting preparation of statements.
<2>The majority of these were under consideration or the subject of
further inquiries.
<3>Mainly passports and letters, being sorted and allocated to
caseworkers.
Wheel Clamping
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will being forward proposals to make it illegal to wheel-clamp orange badge holders on private car parks or other private land ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : In the consultation paper on wheelclamping on private land, issued earlier this year, we acknowledged the need to consider the particular position of orange badge holders. In the light of that consultation, we are still considering what action it might be appropriate to take.
Immigration Appeals
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current waiting time for consideration of immigration appeals by the immigration appeals tribunals and independent applellate authorities for nationals of each country ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. Taylor : I have been asked to reply.
The immigration appellate authorities--IAA--list cases for hearing once the parties have indicated readiness to proceed to a hearing. The nationality of the appellant does not affect when a case is heard. The first available hearing date at each of the IAA's centres as at 22 November 1993 is set out in the table :
P Centre |Long appointment |Short appointment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hatton Cross, West London |31 January 1994 |4 January 1994 Thanet House, London<1> |As Hatton Cross |26 January 1994 Birmingham |21 December 1993 |21 December 1993 Manchester |15 March 1994 |15 March 1994 Leeds |7 February 1994 |17 January 1994 Glasgow |March 1994 |February 1994 <1> Hearings are offered at Hatton Cross, but where this is not accepted by the appellant, cases are listed at Thanet House for May 1994.
In proceedings before the immigration appeal tribunal, if leave to appeal is granted, a hearing currently takes place within four weeks of the record of proceedings being prepared by the adjudicator who originally heard the case.
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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Wigs
Mr. David Evans : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the wearing of wigs by lawyers.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The standard of court dress requires wigs to be worn by barristers but not by solicitors.
Queen's Counsel
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many Queen's Counsel there are ; and how many are (a) women, (b) black and (c) Asian.
Mr. John M. Taylor : On 1 October 1993 there were 797 Queen's Counsel in private practice, of whom 41 were women. The ethnic origin of applicants for the office of Queen's Counsel was not recorded prior to the autumn of 1991, and the formal records in respect of ethnic origin are therefore incomplete. I believe that on 1 October 1993 there were three black and five Asian Queen's Counsel.
Justices of the Peace
Mr. Kinnock : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many justices of the peace fail to achieve attendance for the requirement minimum of 26 sittings of their respective benches a year.
Mr. John M. Taylor : This information can be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Kinnock : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is his policy on the continuation of a magistrate system which includes members of the public from a wide spectrum of occupations and experience ; and if he will make it his policy to encourage employers to co-operate with arrangements for their employees to meet the minimum requirements for justices of the peace.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Lord Chancellor remains wholeheartedly committed to the concept of summary justice provided by lay people drawn from their local community and from a wide spectrum of backgrounds. In the past, the Lord Chancellor has written to the chairmen of major firms and organisations to encourage them to make employees available to serve as justices ; on a local basis, his advisory committees from time to time make similar contacts.
Mr. Kinnock : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many of those justices of the peace who have been officially recorded as being unable to meet the annual minimum attendance have signified that their absences were due to pressures of work or inability to secure release from work for the purpose of fulfilling their duties as magistrates ; and how many of these people are civil servants.
Mr. John M. Taylor : This information can be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Mr Kinnock : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) how many civil servants are justices of the peace ;
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(2) how many civil servants who are justices of the peace are not allowed 18 days paid leave in order to permit them to fulfill their duties as magistrates ;(3) what are the civil service grades of those civil servants who are justices of the peace.
Mr John M. Taylor : This information can be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
High Court Judges
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many High Court judges there are ; and how many are (a) black, (b) Asian and (c) women.
Mr. John M. Taylor : As at 1 November there were 95 High Court judges including six women. The ethnic origin of those appointed as High Court judges has not been recorded in the past, but none is black or Asian.
Civil Servants
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list for each civil service grade in his Department (a) the total number of persons employed and (b) the total number of women employed.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Details of the numbers of staff employed in each civil service grade are set out in the table. In column two of the table the total number of staff employed in each grade appears ; column three shows the total number of women in each grade.
Civil Service Grades in Post as at 22 November 1993
Substantive Grade |Staff in Post |Number of Women in
|Grade
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade 1 |1 |0
Grade 2 |2 |0
Grade 3 |9 |1
Grade 4 |5 |0
Grade 5 |20 |3
Grade 5 Solicitor |14 |3
Grade 6 Senior Principal |36 |8
Grade 6 Legal |35 |13
Senior Legal Assistant |9 |2
Grade 7 Principal |143 |37
Grade 7 Legal |51 |33
Legal Assistant |2 |0
Legal Officer |2 |2
SEO |322 |108
Senior Assistant Statistician |2 |0
Senior Information Officer |1 |0
HEO |1,066 |550
Information Officer |2 |1
Assistant Statistician |1 |0
Chief Typing Manager |3 |3
Librarian |8 |4
HEO D |7 |5
Administration Trainee |6 |1
EO |2,060 |1,346
Assistant Information Officer |1 |1
Senior Personal Secretary |15 |15
Typing Manager |34 |34
Assistant Librarian |9 |9
Support Manager 1 |1 |1
Support Manager 2 |5 |0
Support Manager 3 |30 |20
AO |4,447 |3,933
Personal Secretary |66 |66
Interpreter |2 |2
AA |652 |466
Support Grade Band 1 |156 |95
Support Grade Band 2 |1,404 |827
Typist |754 |752
Specialist Typist |1 |1
Trainee Typist |4 |4
|--- |---
Total |11,388 |7,806
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District Judges
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many district judges there are ; and how many are (a) black, (b) Asian and (c) women.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The information requested, as at 1 November 1993, is as follows. Records are not held on the ethnic origins of all office holders, but the numbers relating to those of black and Asian origin are believed to be as given.
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|In office|Black |Asian |Women
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full time District Judges (County Court) |279 |- |1 |22
Full time District Judges (Principal Registry of the Family Division of the
High Court) |17 |- |1 |5
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Poland
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many British companies in the last two years have been refused permission by the Polish authorities to sell their products in Poland ; what products these British companies have been seeking to export to Poland ; what reasons the Polish authorities have given to justify refusal of permission ; and what efforts his Department has made on behalf of these companies to overturn the decision of the Polish authorities.
Mr. Needham : No comprehensive record has been kept in the last two years but my Department has received complaints from about half a dozen British companies concerning the application to their products of Polish technical specifications and health and safety regulations. In each case where the company has been unable to resolve the difficulties my Department has intervened in close collaboration with our embassy in Warsaw. One such case has recently been resolved entirely to the satisfaction of the British company concerned ; two others are under discussion.
If the hon. Member would like to discuss any individual case, I should be pleased to hear from her. She will, no doubt, be aware that British exports to Poland have increased very rapidly over the period in question and it would perhaps be surprising if we did not encounter a few difficulties with a legal framework for business which is still evolving.
Regional Industrial Policy
Sir David Knox : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much has been spent on regional industrial policy in each year since 1974-75 ; and what the expected expenditure will be in the current financial year, at constant prices.
Mr. Sainsbury : The exact amount spent on regional industrial policy since 1974-75 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Most of the expenditure under regional industrial policy was on regional development grants and regional selective assistance. Information on the spend of these two sch
schemes, regional enterprise grants and some residual spend on investment grants. The information is at 1992-93 constant prices.
FY |Total £ million ------------------------------------------------ 1974-75 |1,407.5 1975-76 |1,606.8 1976-77 |1,604.6 1977-78 |1,360.7 1978-79 |1,458.9 1979-80 |1,022.9 1980-81 |1,170.9 1981-82 |1,319.2 1982-83 |1,371.3 1983-84 |924.7 1984-85 |869.6 1985-86 |777.0 1986-87 |1,007.6 1987-88 |650.3 1988-89 |653.6 1989-90 |501.8 1990-91 |389.6 1991-92 |290.3 1992-93 |248.2 1993-94 |<1>325.7 <1> Estimates provision.
Statutory Instruments
Mr. Mullin : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many statutory instruments have been introduced by his Department in each year since accession to the EEC.
Mr. Heseltine : Records for statutory instruments introduced by the Department of Trade and Industry since accession to the EC are not readily available before 1979. Accordingly the information requested is provided from that year onwards and is as follows :
Number of SIs which came into operation Year |Number ---------------------- 1979 |153 1980 |201 1981 |141 1982 |118 1983 |94 1984 |69 1985 |130 1986 |92 1987 |77 1988 |114 1989 |132 1990 |137 1991 |161 <1>1992 |96 <2>1993 |91 <1> Figures from this year forward include SIs relating to the former Department of Energy. Figures for SIs introduced in earlier years by the Department of Energy are not readily available. <2> As at 24 November 1993.
Deregulation
Mr. Mullin : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the organisations consulted over his proposed deregulation Bill and indicate which were broadly in favour of greater deregulation and which were broadly satisfied with the status quo.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : A wide range of organisations are beign consulted on proposals for deregulation including those which will be dealt with in the deregulation Bill. Details of measures to be dealt with in the Bill will be announced when the Bill is published. Since consultations cover a large number of specific issues they cannot be classified as for or against deregulation in general.
Monopolies and Mergers Commission
Mr. Wigley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will review the terms of reference and the guidelines within which the Monopolies and Mergers Commission are required to operate and their operation following in the case of their recent decision on distribution arrangements for perfumes ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will institute an investigation into the workings of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in order to ensure that mechanisms exist to ensure that no sectional commercial interest is allowed to overrule consumers' interests.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : In reaching conclusions as to the public interest, the Monoplies and Mergers Commission are required by schedule 84 of the Fair Trading Act 1973 to take into account all matters which appear to them in the particular circumstances to be relevant. These matters include the desirability of maintaining and promoting effective competition in the United Kingdom and promoting the interests of consumers. My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has no plans to review these provisions in the Act.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of whether protectionist trade practices approved by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission fall within the regulations of the competitions policy of the European Union ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : In conducting its inquiries, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission takes account of the possible application of European competition law and discuss this with the EC Commission in specific cases where this seems appropriate. Enforcement of European competition law is a matter for the EC Commission or national courts.
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Overseas Visits
Mr. Vaz : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many visits abroad he has made during 1993 ; and what was (a) the cost of each visit to public funds and (b) the purpose of each visit.
Mr. Heseltine : I have made three visits abroad during 1993, one to Brussels, one to Argentina and Mexico, and one to Germany. The visit to Brussels was for discussions with EC Commissioners and cost £2,185. The visit to Argentina and Mexico was for trade promotional purposes and cost £27,901. The visit to Germany was to attend the Anglo-German summit and cost £1,071.
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