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Mr. Key : The Department has never carried out car crash tests using human corpses. Crash tests are a widely used techique to establish the safety of vehicle designs, but the United Kingdom always uses instrumented mannequins or dummies to measure the impact forces on the occupants. The Department is aware that tests using human corpses are carried out in a number of countries, but not in the United Kingdom. The information derived from them is available worldwide.
Rail Services (Cornwall)
Mr. Harris : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last discussed with the chairman of British Rail its plans for railway services in Cornwall.
Mr. Freeman : I discussed BR's proposals for services to Cornwall, among other things, with the chief executive
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of British Rail on 23 September. These are operational matters for BR and I have therefore asked the chairman to write to the hon. Member. However, I understand from British Rail that, from May 1994, it proposes to replace the 06.45 InterCity service from Penzance with a Regional Railways service to provide an 06.40 service from Penzance, connecting at Bristol with the InterCity service to Paddington. The May 1994 timetable will continue to include sleeper services. Discounted fares policy is, of course, a matter for British Rail, which has received representations on the applicability to the 05.19 service and is considering the matter.Catalytic Converters
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evidence he has of the effect on morbidity of catalytic converters fitted to cars.
Mr. Sackville : I have been asked to reply.
We are not aware of any epidemiological evidence that catalytic converters fitted to motor cars or any other vehicles with internal combustion engines influence morbidity. The converters reduce the emissions of pollutant gases and particles, which would be expected to be beneficial, but emit very low levels of the catalytic metals. The level of metals emitted are likely to be so low as to have minimal, if any, effect on morbidity.
Information Security
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the operation of his Department's sensitive documents unit ; how many staff are employed in its operation ; and approximately how many documents per annum come within its purview.
Mr. Norris : The Department's record service employs four staff to register and manage classified files. The total number of documents processed each year is not currently known, but the Department of Transport's file list is being computerised, which will enable analysis of files held.
Donaldson Inquiry
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date he expects the Donaldson inquiry to report its findings and recommendations.
Mr. Norris : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace) on 24 November, column 64 .
Klondyker Ships
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to publish the full marine accident investigation branch report into the Klondyker incidents in Shetland during October and November this year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris : The accidents are being investigated, and the marine accident investigation branch has issued five interim recommendations addressed to Lerwick harbour trust and the Department of Transport. When the investigations are complete, a report will be produced, but it is too early to say when it will be available.
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Borodinskoe Polye
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list, in respect of the Borodinskoe Polye the (a) salvage costs, (b) oil pollution recovery costs and (c) other costs incurred by his Department.
Mr. Norris : The salvage, oil recovery and counter pollution costs in respect of the Borodinskoe Polye are estimated to be in excess of £770,000 and other costs incurred are estimated at £12,000.
MV Braer
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date he expects to publish the marine accident investigation branch report into the sinking of the Braer.
Mr. Norris : It is hoped that the report will be published in January.
River Safety
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now reconsider the decisions made not to establish a public inquiry into the Marchioness disaster of comparable scope to those already conducted into the disasters at King's Cross and Clapham.
Mr. Norris : When the then Secretary of State considered the need for a public inquiry he concluded that the holding of a formal investigation was unnecessary given that a full, thorough and comprehensive inquiry had been carried out by the marine accident investigation branch-- MAIB. Subsequently, the view has remained that a formal investigation would be unlikely to add to the inspector's findings, or to the 27 safety recommendations made in the MAIB report. The position was not changed by anything said in the Hayes report, which made no suggestion that a further inquiry into the accident was needed. I therefore remain of the view that the case for a formal inquiry has not been made.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has anything to add to his answer to the hon. Member for Romford (Sir M. Neubert) of 19 July, Official Report , column 78 , concerning universal applications of all the recommendations of the Hayes report on river safety.
Mr. Norris : The Hayes report concerns river safety. The Department publishes an annual schedule, giving details of progress on each recommendation, copies of which are placed in the Library of the House. The next schedule is due to be published in July 1994. In the meantime, action continues on all of the 22 recommendations.
PRIME MINISTER
European Community Expenditure
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Prime Minister what was the level of EC expenditure in the United Kingdom disaggregated by parliamentary constituency and EC programme, in each year since 1988-89.
The Prime Minister : The information requested is not available. Details of public sector receipts by Government
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Department were published in table 11.4 of the 1993 Chancellor's departmental report. This table covers the outturn for the years 1987-88 to 1991-92, estimated outturn for 1992-93 and plans for 1993-94 to 1995-96. Departments' latest forecast of EC receipts will be published in the 1994 Chancellor's departmental report, early next year.Engagements
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime MinistePolitical Donations
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Prime Minister if he will introduce legislation to require all political parties to compile and publish annually comprehensive accounts showing the source of all donations and the extent of all expenditure; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : I have no plans to do so.
No. 10 Downing Street
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions he has used No. 10 Downing street premises for functions of the Conservative party; what is the cost to public funds; and what was the purpose of each occasion.
The Prime Minister : When charitable or other non-official events are held at No. 10 Downing street, the organisers are responsible for all catering and staff costs as well as other miscellaneous direct costs.
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Prime Minister in what circumstances the premises of No. 10 Downing street are available for hire by outside organisations; and at what cost.
The Prime Minister : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) on 30 November 1993, Official Report, column 420.
War Anniversaries
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Prime Minister what plans the Government have with its wartime allies to mark (a) the 50th anniversary of the D-Day operation and (b) the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe.
The Prime Minister : Plans for a series of events to mark the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings, both in the United Kingdom and in France, are now well advanced. These plans have been made in close co- operation with other Governments. An announcement will be made shortly.
Plans for events to mark the end of the second world war are being considered at present. An announcement will be made next year.
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Fireworks
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what measures his Department currently takes to ensure that fireworks manufactured abroad and imported into Britain meet British safety standards.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Health and Safety Executive--HSE--authorises the importation of fireworks only if they comply with British Standard 7114 : 1988 on firework safety. Also, local trading standards officers use BS7114 as a benchmark, in exercising their powers under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, to ensure that fireworks on sale to the public are safe.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the cost of firework accident advertising and the number of recorded accidents in 1993; and what was the comparable figure for each of the preceding 10years.
Mr. McLoughlin : The costs of firework accident prevention work falling on the Department's safety awareness budget and the numbers of fireworks accidents requiring hospital treatment were as follows :
|£000 |Accidents
----------------------------------------
1984 |35 |778
1985 |40 |968
1986 |51 |846
1987 |78 |960
1988 |57 |877
1989 |64 |800
1990 |111 |805
1991 |74 |723
1992 |84 |942
1993 |160 |n/a
The firework accident figures cover accidents occurring in the three weeks preceding 5 November and in the week immediately following it. This is the period of availability of fireworks under the voluntary agreement on retail supply with the fireworks industry. The 1993 statistics will not be available until spring 1994.
Imported Coal
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action he proposes to take to protect householders from the dangers of imported house coal.
Mr. McLoughlin : There is no reason to believe that imported coal is any more dangerous than that produced in the United Kingdom, although preparation is important. Information on quality standards and on the safe burning of solid fuel is available from the Domestic Coal Consumers Council and through the approved coal merchants scheme.
Post Office Users National Council
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the current members of POUNC for the south Yorkshire area ; what were their qualifications ; when their current term of office is due to expire ; and when nominations to this organisation will next be advertised.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Post Office Act 1969, under which the Post Office Users National Council--POUNC
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--was set up, provides for the appointment of persons likely to be concerned with matters within the competence of the council. At the same time, it stipulates that regard should be given to the desirability of having members who are familiar with the special requirements and circumstances of particular parts of the British islands.Within this framework, the interests of all users of post office services in the United Kingdom are represented on the council. There is no specific member for the south Yorkshire area. However, the interests of post office services users in the south Yorkshire area are also served by the appropriate non-statutory local post office advisory committees--POACs.
Several POUNC members' terms of appointment will expire at the end of 1994. In reviewing those appointments, consideration will be given to future representation in consultation, as appropriate. Details of council membership, together with post office advisory committees are listed in POUNC annual reports, copies of which are sent to Members of Parliament on an individual basis.
Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if the hon. Member for Don Valley may be sent a copy of the reply sent on 22 September on behalf of the Prime Minister, in answer to the letter handed to the Prime Minister on 15 June by a Japanese group in respect of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant.
Mr. Eggar : A copy has been sent to the hon. Member, and I have today also placed a copy in the Library of the House.
Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what consideration has been given to the possibility of contracts between British Nuclear Fuels plc and customers of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant being varied or annulled in his deliberations as to the start-up of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant.
Mr. Eggar : Details of reprocessing contracts are a matter for British Nuclear Fuels plc and its customers. For the Government's consideration of the possibility of changes being made to contracts, I refer the hon. Member to the statement of Government policy on reprocessing and operation of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield, paragraphs 62-68, which was made available as one of the public consultation documents on 4 August 1993. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what arrangements are made for him or officials from his Department to read signed contracts between British Nuclear Fuels plc and customers of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant.
Mr. Eggar : My Department is in regular contact with British Nuclear Fuels plc on a wide range of issues.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps the Government have taken to validate British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.'s estimate of costs of decommissioning the thermal oxide reprocessing plant.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 7 December 1993] : Estimates of decommissioning costs are a matter for British Nuclear Fuels plc.
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Car Boot Sales
Mr. French : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what information he has on the sale of counterfeit goods at car boot sales.
Mr. McLoughlin : My Department has no statistics concerning the sale of counterfeit goods at car boot sales, although it has received considerable evidence about the damage caused by the trade in counterfeit goods at such markets. The Trade Marks Bill, which has just been introduced, will help to combat counterfeiting, including at car boot sales.
Mr. French : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received about dangerous electrical items being sold at car boot sales.
Mr. McLoughlin : I have received representations on a number of issues concerning car boot sales, including the safety of second-hand electrical goods.
We have considered carefully all the issues relating to car boot sales and have concluded that the existing powers of enforcement authorities to address these concerns are sufficient. The safety of second-hand electrical equipment sold in the course of business, whether at a car boot sale or otherwise, is adequately regulated by the Low Voltage Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1989.
Fraud
Mr. Cryer : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many people are engaged in his Department on combating fraud in financial institutions ; and at what annual cost.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Responsibility for combating fraud in financial institutions is shared between a number of bodies. Within my Department, staff in the investigations division currently total 210. The division's direct costs in 1993-94 are £16 million, including the cost of private sector inspectors and investigators. The division carries out investigations under the Companies Acts and other legislation throughout the corporate sector, where there are grounds for suspicion of wrongdoing and it brings criminal proceedings in respect of a wide range of offences, mainly reported to it by the Insolvency Service or brought to light by its own investigations. It also takes other action to protect the public, including action to disqualify directors and to wind up companies. Cases involving fraud in financial institutions constitute only a small part of the work of investigations division and no statistics are maintained which would separately identify resources devoted to this work.
Telecommunications
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will place in the Library a copy of the detailed explanation given by the Director General of Telecommunications for the K value of telecommunications services.
Mr. McLoughlin : The latest relevant statement by the Director General of Telecommunications, entitled "Future Controls on British Telecom's Prices", was published in June 1992. A copy of this has been placed in the Library of the House.
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Satellite Launch Facility
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the initiative announced by AEA Technology to develop a satellite launch facility at the Dounreay nuclear establishment in Caithness.
Mr. Eggar : This is a matter for the Atomic Energy Authority.
Regional Development Organisations
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total budget allocated by his Department to regional organisations in 1992-93 in (i) the northern region and (ii) the United Kingdom as a whole.
Mr. Sainsbury : My Department's Invest in Britain Bureau paid £1, 410,000 in grant in aid to the Northern Development Company for inward investment purposes in the financial year 1992-93 from a total budget of £5 million for the five regional development organisations in England.
Local Enterprise Agencies
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total amount spent by his Department on local enterprise agencies in 1992-93 in (a) the northern region and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole.
Mr. McLoughlin : The total amount of DTI funding to local enterprise agencies in (a) the northern region and (b) the United Kingdom is not available.
Lloyd's
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent representations he has received as to the solvency of Lloyd's of London ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : A proportion of the letters that I receive from right hon. and hon. Members and from members of the public about Lloyd's touches on questions of solvency. The statement and certificates demonstrating Lloyd's solvency for the year ended December 1992, which are required by part IV of the Insurance Companies Act 1982, were received by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade at the end of August 1993. My Department monitors the solvency of Lloyd's closely, as it does for insurance companies to which the 1982 Act relates.
Small Firms
Mr. Dunn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the future of consultancy support for small firms provided by his Department.
Mr. Heseltine : Consultancy support for small and medium-sized businesses will continue beyond the life of the present enterprise initiative consultancy scheme in the form of a flexible consultancy and diagnostic service.
As I announced in the House on Tuesday, Official Report , columns 145-55, I shall publish a prospectus and guidelines for this service in January, inviting training and
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enterprise councils to submit proposals on behalf of business link partnerships to deliver the new service on a pilot basis in 1994-95. I expect the service to become nationally available from 1995-96, as the business link network is completed.This new service will provide businesses with high-quality support, available locally and tailored to their individual needs. It will build and improve on the existing and highly successful enterprise initiative consultancy scheme.
In addition, I intend to trial a new consultancy brokerage service from January 1994, for introduction nationwide later in the year. This will open up to all businesses the considerable wealth of data and project management experience which has been accumulated on UK business consultants for the EI consultancy scheme.
These new services will be developed and introduced alongside the present scheme to ensure a smooth transition from the old to the new.
I have decided therefore that the present EI consultancy scheme will no longer close on 31 March 1994. It will instead remain open until we have received another 10,000 applications. This means we shall be supporting 10,000 projects beyond the previously announced closure date.
At current rates of demand that should enable us to continue accepting applications until well into next year, by which time new arrangements for consultancy support through business links will be in place.
Supervisory Bodies
Mr. Dunn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the outcome of his review of the monitoring procedures of the recognised supervisory bodies.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : When the supervisory bodies for company auditors were granted recognition under the Companies Act 1989, it was agreed with them that they would review jointly with my Department this year the operation of their procedures for monitoring compliance by their members with their rules.
I have, therefore, asked the bodies to report to me on how their monitoring regimes have been operating, and to propose changes for the future.
I have also asked Professor Peter Moizer, Professor of Accounting at the university of Leeds, to provide me with an independent assessment of the state of monitoring.
I intend to publish the conclusions of the review early next year.
Plutonium
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what requirements his Department places upon Nuclear Electric to provide data on the isotopic composition of plutonium produced in its nuclear plants.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 3 December 1993] : For the purpose of compiling the annual plutonium figures published by my Department, Nuclear Electric plc provides, for each of its sites, in respect of reactor discharges and dispatches from site, estimated percentages of fissile plutonium. In addition, the company supplies information to Euratum on the isotopic composition of plutonium in spent fuel shipped from each of its sites. This information is supplied via my Department.
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Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what definitions his Department uses to describe different qualities of plutonium arising from civil nuclear reactors.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 3 December 1993] : As in the annual plutonium figures published by my Department, the quality of plutonium is normally described by reference to its fissile content. The estimated percentage of fissile plutonium is the sum of the masses of the plutonium 239 and 241 isotopes expressed as as percentage of the sum of the masses of all plutonium isotopes.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what information his Department is provided by (a) Nuclear Electric, (b) British Nuclear Fuels plc and (c) the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority on the amounts of plutonium produced in each of their respective reactors.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 6 December 1993] : For the information supplied by Nuclear Electric plc, British Nuclear Fuels plc, BNFL, and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, UKAEA, to meet the requirements of Euratom safeguards regulation 3227/76, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on 9 June 1993, Official Report, column 251. For the purpose of compiling the annual plutonium figures published by my Department, Nuclear Electric plc provides figures for plutonium production and reactor discharges for each of its stations.
Patent Office
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to make an announcement on the future of the Patent Office; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer 7 December 1993] : The current review of the role of the Patent Office is expected to be completed by the end of the year. I hope to announce our conclusions following that review shortly thereafter.
Regional Assistance
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will make a further statement on the progress towards establishing a RECHAR 2 programme from January 1994;
(2) what recent discussions he has held with the European Commission about (a) the objective 2 programme and (b) the RECHAR programme under the European regional development fund programme from January 1994.
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