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Overgrazing
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales before making hill livestock compensatory allowance payments, what steps are taken by the Welsh Agriculture Department to ascertain whether overgrazing is causing adverse effects on the growth, quality or species composition of vegetation.
Mr. Redwood : Between a quarter and one third of livestock subsidy claimants are visited each year by Welsh Office field staff who are trained to look out for evidence of overgrazing either from the sward or the general condition of the animals. Any complaints from individuals or bodies about possible overgrazing will be investigated by these field staff. The rules of the hill livestock compensatory allowance scheme contain stocking and financial limits per hectare which also militate against overgrazing.
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made in persuading the European Union to incorporate within the sheep annual premium scheme a requirement that payments should be withheld where overgrazing is causing adverse effects on the growth, quality or species composition of vegetation.
Mr. Redwood : The Council of Ministers agreed in December a regulation which provides that member states may apply to the annual ewe premium environmental protection measures appropriate to their particular situation.
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions since the introduction of a definition of overgrazing in the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1992, hill livestock compensatory allowances payments have been withheld because of adverse effects on the growth, quality or species composition of vegetation.
Mr. Redwood : Claimants for the hill livestock compensatory allowances are warned that if the land on
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which the stock is kept is found to be overgrazed the payment will be reduced. There have been no claims so far where this has been necessary. There are in the scheme regulations additional stocking rate safeguards which discourage overgrazing and these are applied quite frequently.National House Building Council
Mr. Hanson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what action his office has taken with regard to complaints about the performance of the National House Building Council following correspondence with Mr. C. Gavin of 15 Palace close, Flint, Clwyd ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will institute a review into the operation of the complaints procedure with regard to the National House Building Council in Wales ;
(3) if he will carry out an independent assessment of whether properties in Palace close, Flint, comply with Schedule 1 Part B of the Fire Building Regulations 1985 ; and if he will reconsider the approval given by the Inspector authorised by the National House Building Council to that effect.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : My right hon. Friend has no powers to intervene in individual cases involving approved inspectors. However, since Mr. Gavin first wrote in February 1992 my officials have made inquiries of the National House Building Council on a number of occasions.
Private Beds
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many private pay beds there are in each health authority in Wales ; and how many there were in each year since 1986.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information is as follows :
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Private pay beds in Welsh health authorities
|1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |12 |12 |12 |12 |12 |12 |12 |-<1>
East Dyfed |7 |7 |7 |7 |15 |15 |15 |-<1>
Gwent |6 |6 |6 |6 |6 |6 |6 |<2>3
Gwynedd |8 |8 |8 |8 |8 |8 |8 |8
Mid Glamorgan |3 |3 |3 |3 |3 |4 |4 |<2>3
Pembrokeshire |3 |3 |3 |3 |3 |3 |-<1> |-<1>
South Glamorgan |11+2Em<3>|11+2Em<3>|11+2Em<3>|11+2Em<3>|11+2Em<3>|11+2Em<3>|11+2Em<3>|11+2Em<3>
West Glamorgan |4 |4 |4 |4 |4 |4 |4 |<2>2
<1>Figure is not applicable as pay bed allocation is the responsibility of NHS Trusts.
<2>Figure does not include pay beds in NHS Trusts.
<3>To be used solely for emergency admissions and only when the basic number of beds is already occupied.
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Unemployment
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the unemployment levels in each travel-to-work area in Wales ; and what are the top 10 areas for people continuously unemployed for periods of (a) six months and (b) 12 months.
Mr. Redwood : The unemployment data requested are available from the NOMIS database, which can be accessed on line by the staff of the Library of the House.
Welsh Development Agency
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency concerning the advertisement in the "Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Communities" in relation to the property management services contract on offer for the marketing and negotiation of disposals of approximately £75 million of industrial property assets of the Welsh Development Agency ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : None. Public bodies such as the agency are required to advertise in the Official Journal of the European Communities for contracts over a certain threshold--currently £149,728. The sale of industrial property forms part of the agency's established and continuing strategy of disposals to the private sector thereby providing a welcome injection of private finance for reinvestment to the Welsh economy and reducing the burden to the taxpayer.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether the Welsh Development Agency is required to notify his Department over the engagement of lawyers.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he was informed of the plan by the Welsh Development Agency to offer for sale a large number of factories ; and what formal arrangements exist for the notification by executive agencies in Wales wanting to sell off their assets.
Mr. Redwood : The sale of industrial property forms part of the agency's established and continuing strategy of disposals to the private sector ; it provides a welcome cash injection for reinvestment in the Welsh economy. I have told Parliament of the need for a mixture of grant and asset sales to pay for new asset creation.
SSSIs
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many sites of special scientific interest in Wales have been damaged or destroyed in each year since 1982 ; whether each of these sites (a) was lost completely, (b) was partially lost, (c) suffered long term damage or (d) suffered short term damage ; whether the damage or destruction in each case was due to (i) agriculture, (ii) forestry, (iii) poor management, (iv) pollution, (v) third party activities, (vi) developments controlled through the planning system, (vii) road building or (viii) other activities ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Prior to the establishment of the Countryside Council for Wales in April 1991 the Nature
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Conservancy Council gave details in its annual report of all loss and damage to SSSI in Great Britain although not in the detail requested. Separate details for Wales are not available for this period. Since 1991 similar information has been included in the Countryside Council's annual reports. Copies of the reports are available in the Library of the House.Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many sites of special scientific interest in Wales have been denotified in each year since 1982 ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Between 1982 and April 1991 the Nature Conservancy Council approved 34 SSSI for denotification, although the procedure for two of them concluded after the Countryside Council for Wales was established. The Countryside Council has not approved any for denotification. The details are as follows :
|Number
---------------------
1982 |3
1983 |2
1984 |2
1985 |7
1986 |6
1987 |10
1988 |-
1989 |1
1990 |1
1991 |2
1992 |-
1993 |-
Wildlife and Countryside Act
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list the number of management agreements that have been entered into under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in Wales where payments have been in each band of £10,000 up to £60,000 or £60,000 and over ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) how much has been spent on management agreements in Wales under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 for sites of special scientific interest in each year since the Act came into force ; if for each year he will give the number of agreements, the hectarages involved, and what the threats of damage were ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Management agreements are negotiated with owners and occupiers of SSSI under the terms of the Countryside Act 1968. Information in the format requested is not available centrally. However, prior to the establishment of the Countryside Council for Wales in April 1991 the Nature Conservancy Council gave details in its annual reports of all management agreements in Wales. Since then the Countryside Council has continued to report such information in its annual reports. Copies of the reports are in the Library of the House.
Superannuation Funds
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which authority will administer the superannuation funds currently managed by the county councils in the event of the reorganisation of local government in Wales.
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Mr. Redwood : I will announce my decision as to which authorities will administer superannuation funds in due course.
Milk Marketing Board
Mr. Hanson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to make an announcement on the reorganisation scheme submitted by the milk marketing board in Wales under the provisions of the Agriculture Act 1993.
Mr. Redwood : When Ministers have finished studying it.
Superannuation Costs
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 16 December, Official Report, column 853 , if he will estimate the cost of superannuations transferred to his Department's running cost budget in the present financial year ; from which vote they were transferred ; and what was the estimated cost under that vote in 1992- 93.
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Mr. Redwood : The Department's running cost budget for superannuation is £5.4 million in 1993-94. These costs were previously met from class XVIII, vote 4 HM Treasury : civil superannuation. The estimated cost under that vote in 1992-93 was £6.1 million.
Public Appointments
Mr. Hanson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy that all appointments to non-departmental public bodies in Wales will be made from individuals resident in Wales.
Mr. Redwood : No, I wish to appoint the best people for the job, irrespective of where they live.
Health Authority Spending
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the forecast spending for each health authority in Wales for each of the last five years ; and what was the actual expenditure.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The following table--table 1--gives the total final cash allocations, as at 31 March of each financial year.
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Table 1 DHA final allocations 1988-89 to 1992-93 £000s Health Authority |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92 |1992-93 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clwyd |108,963 |115,683 |126,724 |164,941 |175,161 East Dyfed |67,268 |77,402 |87,398 |92,903 |108,854 Gwent |129,822 |138,892 |151,447 |169,075 |183,530 Gwynedd |64,496 |68,264 |74,496 |94,864 |110,865 Mid Glamorgan |151,922 |161,916 |180,235 |220,227 |240,599 Pembrokeshire |25,905 |29,045 |33,090 |46,440 |46,447 Powys |29,992 |32,568 |35,587 |54,702 |62,338 South Glamorgan |173,656 |188,941 |216,094 |196,050 |218,304 West Glamorgan |115,748 |123,695 |135,358 |147,062 |164,924 Source: Final allocation notified to individual authorities within period specified.
Table 2 shows the authorities' outturn expenditure--revenue plus capital-- as recorded in their annual accounts. These figures are in accruals terms and differ from cash
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allocations and cash expenditure due to the effect of movements in debtors, creditors, stocks and year-end cash balances.Column 99
Table 2 £000s Health Authority |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92 |1992-93 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clwyd |109,681 |116,075 |127,534 |164,826 |180,858 East Dyfed |66,501 |77,261 |86,017 |97,918 |107,747 Gwent |128,706 |138,995 |152,907 |175,195 |181,888 Gwynedd |64,715 |69,412 |75,156 |96,150 |111,199 Mid Glamorgan |149,941 |162,687 |182,452 |218,863 |237,265 Pembrokeshire |26,245 |29,846 |33,592 |45,087 |48,626 Powys |29,903 |32,378 |35,852 |55,988 |62,345 South Glamorgan |171,328 |190,563 |214,811 |198,689 |219,111 West Glamorgan |114,495 |125,600 |135,721 |151,432 |173,372 Source: Health Authority Annual Accounts.
Compulsory Purchase
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the occasions when his powers of compulsory purchase of land under section 17 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 have been used in Wales in each year since 1981 ; and if he will make a statement.
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Hedgerows
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many agreements have been made, how much has been spent and how many kilometres of hedgerow were restored under the hedgerow renovation scheme by his Department in (a) 1992-93 and (b) 1993-94 in each county in Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
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Sir Wyn Roberts : The information which is available only on a regional basis is as follows :
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|December 1992 |April 1993 to
|to March 1993 |December 1993
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North Wales (Clwyd/Gwynedd) |Agreements |4 |42
|Total spent |£2,926 |£119,410
|Length of hedgerow renovated|0.5 km |18.0 km
Mid Wales (Dyfed/Powys excluding Brecon Beacons NP) |Agreements |6 |82
|Total spent |£11,306 |£192,972
|Length of hedgerow renovated|2.0 km |44.0 km
South Wales (Gwent/Mid, South and West Glamorgan, Brecon Beacons NP) |Agreements |- |32
|Total spent |- |£77,131
|Length of hedgerow renovated|- |17.0 km
Total |Agreements |10 |156
|Total spent |£14,231 |£389,513
|Length of hedgerow renovated|2.5 km |79.0 km
Agreements are made with landowners covering a 10-year period, and additional funds are availble under the scheme from the Welsh Office Agriculture Department, although these are not included in the figures. A significant feature of the scheme is that the agreements bring under management all hedgerows on a landholding, not just those which are to be renovated.
NHS Public Relations
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidance his Department has issued to health authorities and trusts on staff relations with the media, public and hon. Members.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Guidance for staff on relations with the public and the media was issued to health authorities and NHS trusts in June 1993. General managers and chief executives were asked to ensure that all staff were made aware of the guidance and that all staff have access to a copy. A copy of the guidance is available in the Library of the House.
Wells Kelo
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to make a final decision on whether to (a) relocate or (b) extinguish Wells Kelo of Holyhead, Gwynedd ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 17 December 1993] : The decision on whether to relocate or extinguish the business at Holyhead is a commercial one for the directors of Guiness Brothers Group plc, the successors of Wells Kelo Ltd., to make.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with (a) the Welsh Development Agency and (b) the district valuer concerning the relocation of Wells Kelo of Holyhead, Gwynedd.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 17 December 1993] : None, although I have been kept informed of developments.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received in relation to the advice given by the district valuer that Wells Kelo of Holyhead, Gwynedd, be extinguished rather than relocated.
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Mr. Redwood [holding answer 17 December 1993] : No such advice has been given.
I have received 14 representations in respect of the land compensation negotiations between Wells Kelo Ltd., its successor company at Holyhead Guiness Brothers Group plc and the district valuer.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the total sums expended to date by (a) the Welsh Office and (b) the Welsh Development Agency, on the project to relocate Wells Kelo of Holyhead, Gwynedd.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 17 December 1993] : To date, the Welsh Office has made discretionary advance payments of compensation totalling £1.161 million. In addition, the Welsh Development Agency has spent £1.424 million on the provision of a new factory.
One-stop Shops
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects the report by the enterprise and business support working group on one-stop shops for business support to be completed.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 17 December 1993] : I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Clwyd, North-West (Mr. Richards) on 16 December 1993 at columns 854-55. In reaching my decision I took into account the work of the Enterprise and Business Support working group which gave advice to me last year.
EMPLOYMENT
Health and Safety Executive
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of new pieces of legislation, including regulations, which have been implemented, and which the Health and Safety Executive is required to enforce, since 1 April 1980.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Since 1 April 1980, 194 regulations have been introduced which the Health and Safety Executive is required to enforce. Of these 69 have subsequently been revoked as part of the Health and Safety Commission's on-going programme of rationalisation and modernisation of health and safety legislation and the need to implement European legislation.
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Youth Training
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many 16 and 17-year-olds in Kent have not been offered training, education or work under the Government's guarantee in the latest year for which information is available ; and what was the figure in the previous year.
Miss Widdecombe : Information on the number of young people who have not had an offer of training, education or work is not collected. However, in November there were 53 young people in Kent who were covered by the youth training guarantee and waiting for eight or more weeks and almost 5,700 in training. This is a significant improvement over March last year when there were 338 young people waiting for eight or more weeks. There is no reliable information available for November 1992 on eight-week queues.
Unemployment
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the levels of unemployment in (a) Dundee, (b) Scotland and (c) the United Kingdom in each year since 1979.
Miss Widdecombe : Seasonally adjusted claimant unemployment figures are available nationally from January 1971 and regionally from April 1974. For travel-to-work areas, only unadjusted unemployment figures are available and these go back to June 1983.
All this data can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the Library.
Public Bodies
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in respect of how many boards, authorities, committees, and other public bodies he is responsible, in whole or on part, for appointments ; what is the total number of such appointments ; and what is the total public spending by such boards, authorities, committees and other public bodies.
Miss Widdecombe : The non-departmental public bodies sponsored by the Employment Department are listed in the recently published book "Public Bodies 1993", a copy of which is available in the Library. In addition, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has recently appointed the Commissioner for Protection against Unlawful Industrial Action and the chief executive of Investors In People UK. My right hon. Friend is responsible for over 3,300 appointments.
The total gross expenditure for 1992-93 of the non-departmental public bodies is also listed in "Public Bodies 1993".
Social Affairs Council
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EC Social Affairs Council of 22 December, indicating the voting record of each member state on each item and where no formal votes were taken.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : There was no meeting of the Labour and Social Affairs Council on 22 December.
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Training and Education (Tenders)
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his policy in respect of independent companies other than existing training and enterprise councils tendering for public contracts to manage training, education and enterprise programmes.
Miss Widdecombe : Training and enterprise councils are strategic organisations which reflect the composition of local business and the wider community. I have a close relationship with TEC boards and I am satisfied with their performance to date. I have no plans to change this policy.
Training for Work
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of how positive outcomes from the training for work programme compare with those achieved under employment training programmes.
Miss Widdecombe : Training for work replaced employment training--ET --in April 1993 and it is still too early to say how many leavers have gained a positive outcome. The latest period for which figures are available is April 1992 to February 1993. In that period 41 per cent. of all ET leavers in Great Britain gained a positive outcome.
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average cost per job placement under the training for work programme.
Miss Widdecombe : There is no current information on the cost of job placements in training for work--TfW--which started in April 1993. The plans for the first three years of TfW do however include costs per positive outcome. A positive outcome is a job, further education or training. The planned costs which include the allowances paid to participants are as follows :
Year |Cost per
|positive
|outcome
|£
---------------------------
1993-94 |9,718
1994-95 |8,451
1995-96 |7,548
Labour Statistics
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what are the latest figures from the 1993 labour force survey for each standard United Kingdom region of the number and percentage of (a) all males, (b) all females and (c) total of those recorded as economically inactive and of working age ;
(2) what is the formal definition of "economically inactive".
Miss Widdecombe : Estimates from the labour force survey showing the number and percentage of economically inactive individuals of working age are given in the table. Estimates for regions in Great Britain are for summer 1993, while the latest available Northern Ireland results are for spring 1993.
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According to the guidelines recommended by the International Labour Office--ILO--economically inactive people are defined as :Column 106
"all those who are neither in employment (including those on Government employment and training programmes and unpaid family workers), nor unemployed on the ILO definition."Column 105
Economically inactive people of working age<1>. Not seasonally adjusted Thousands/percentage Standard regions |Males |Per cent. |Females |Per cent. |Total |Per cent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ South East |657 |11.6 |1,468 |28.0 |2,125 |19.5 Greater London |322 |14.6 |644 |30.7 |967 |22.5 Rest of South East |334 |9.7 |824 |26.3 |1,158 |17.6 East Anglia |67 |10.0 |158 |26.2 |225 |17.7 South West |168 |11.5 |340 |25.5 |508 |18.1 West Midlands |214 |12.8 |450 |29.7 |664 |20.8 East Midlands |156 |12.0 |321 |27.2 |477 |19.2 Yorkshire and Humberside |216 |13.7 |396 |27.6 |612 |20.4 North West |319 |16.0 |557 |30.3 |875 |22.9 North |172 |17.8 |263 |29.7 |435 |23.5 Wales |171 |19.1 |271 |33.2 |442 |25.8 Scotland |243 |15.1 |449 |30.1 |692 |22.3 Northern Ireland (spring 1993) |88 |18.0 |185 |40.0 |273 |28.7 United Kingdom |2,469 |13.5 |4,858 |28.9 |7,327 |20.9 <1>Percentages are of the total population of working age (for example men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59). Source: Labour Force Survey, summer 1993 and spring 1993.
Private Pits
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment under what authority TECs in coalfield areas are allocating money to private mineowners to reopen pits ; what sums of money are involved ; and whether the sums of money are paid for each miner employed.
Miss Widdecombe : The Department contracts with coalfield training and enterprise councils to implement business plans to help communities affected by pit closures. The plans cover labour market measures in line with TEC remits and provide job search, training and business start up programmes for those affected by the closures.
Hazardous Substances
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the total cost to the Health and Safety Executive of publishing guidance and otherwise promoting awareness and understanding of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations throughout Great Britain.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Health and Safety Executive--HSE--spent approximately £700,000 publishing control of substances hazardous to health--COSHH--guidance since the regulations were implemented in 1989. This includes the production and print costs of the COSHH approved code of practice and free leaflets for industry and employees. An advertising campaign aimed at promoting awareness and understanding of COSHH was mounted by HSE in 1989-90 at an additional cost of £270,000, plus £80,000 spent on fulfilment--distribution, handling, postage, etc.
Sales revenue from COSHH guidance published by HSE amounted to £650,000 to 30 September 1993.
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