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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have this month provided £100,000 to the appeal of the International Federation of Red Cross/Crescent Societies for relief assistance to Azerbaijan. This contribution is specifically tied to support of the Iranian Red Crescent Society's programme for the displaced people in the south of the country.
Oman
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid has been given to Oman in the last five years ; and how it was spent.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Gross bilateral aid to Oman over the last five years was as follows :
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|£
------------------------------
1988-89 |773,000
1989-90 |815,000
1990-91 |825,000
1991-92 |1,044,000
1992-93 |750,000
The bulk of this finance was spent by ODA on technical co-operation projects and training mainly in education and agriculture. Short consultancies on investment promotion, engineering safety, industrial diversification, and public administration were also provided. The figures also include a total of £211,000 over the five-year period provided under schemes administered by the diplomatic wing of the FCO, mainly in the form of scholarships.
Aid and Trade
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total aid and trade provision for each of the last five years ; and how it was spent.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Total expenditure under the ATP for each of the last five years was as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------
1988-89 |58
1989-90 |62
1990-91 |94
1991-92 |101
1992-93 |93
This was used to provide grants to support successful tied aid development projects through mixed credits, soft loans and technical co-operation. A full list of projects supported under the ATP is in the Libraries of both Houses.
Malaysia
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth affairs if he will publish in the Official Report a correction to his answer of 3 November, Official Report, column 239, in the light of the statement by the Overseas Development Administration permanent secretary before the Committee of Public Accounts on 17 January.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : No. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to the right hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) on 25 January.
Kenya
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what new British aid projects in the areas of (a) agriculture and wildlife, (b) education, (c) health and family planning, (d) police and (e) transport are now under consideration in discussions with the Kenyan Government.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Projects currently under discussion include support for the national agricultural research programme ; Kenya wildlife service ; the Kenyan trypanosomiasis research programme ; management training for head teachers ; the planning function in the Ministry of
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Education ; projects to increase the availability of family planning services ; an AIDS prevention project ; a project to strengthen health service management ; training for the police ; and possible further assistance for Kenya railways.Projects (Ministerial Decisions)
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on which occasions and what projects during his term of office he has overridden professional advice from the Overseas Development Administration that projects are not good value in aid terms and used Overseas Development Administration funds for that purpose.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has given a ministerial direction to ODA's accounting officer on one occasion, in respect of the Pergau hydro-electric project in Malaysia.
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Family Planning
Mr. Watson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many and which non-governmental organisations received support for family planning and related projects through the joint funding scheme in 1993 ; what these projects were and in which countries they took place.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : In the financial year 1992-93, the latest year for which figures are available, a total of eight non-governmental organisations received support through the joint funding scheme for projects which were primarily for family planning and related activities. The details are set out in the table.
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Agency |Country |Project Name |1992-93 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Africa Now |Gambia |Tanji Community Family Planning |26,187 CARE |Sudan |Maternal Health |9,515 Christian Aid |Thailand |Burma Ethnic Minority Refugee Programme |28,003 Health Aid Moyo |Malawi |Expanded Nurse/Midwife Training |84,180 Marie Stopes International |Bangladesh |Employment Based FP Programme for Workers |66,191 Marie Stopes International |Ethiopia |Condom Soc Marketing FP/Aids Prog Urban Couples |64,589 Marie Stopes International |Ethiopia |Maternal and Reproductive Health Clinic |45,738 Marie Stopes International |India |Contraceptive Social Marketing |77,335 Marie Stopes International |India |Family Life Education (Brass Tacks) Extension for Delhi and Lucknow|119,032 Marie Stopes International |India |Workplace FP and Prev HC-Employees and Dependants |73,382 Marie Stopes International |Lesotho |Creating a Corps of Village-based FP Ed/Motivators |5,402 Marie Stopes International |Malawi |Community Mch and FP-Blantyre, Lilongwe and Zomba |146,461 Marie Stopes International |Malawi |Man to Man-Male Orientated Child Spacing/Education |92,303 Marie Stopes International |Mexico |Factory Based Health Care and FP Programme |71,777 Marie Stopes International |Nicaragua |Workplace Preventative Maternal Health and FP |71,278 Marie Stopes International |Pakistan |Lahore Based Reproductive Health Ext Services |2,036 Marie Stopes International |Sierra Leone |Work Based Maternal and Child Health and FP |7,636 Population Concern |Bangladesh |FP Services for the Rakhaine Tribes |19,428 Population Concern |Ethiopia |FP Training for Rural Women Development Agents |17,364 Population Concern |Ethiopia |Jimma-Contraceptive Distribution by Comm Health Agents and TBAs |28,348 Population Concern |Ethiopia |Training of Health Assistants |19,955 Population Concern |Ethiopia |Yirgalem-FP Education and Outreach Services |25,773 Population Concern |Gambia |Youth to Youth Iec on Adolescent Reproductive Health Management |24,034 Population Concern |India |Mobile Education and Service Unit |48,235 Population Concern |India |Women's Development (Kulasekaram and Dindigul) |39,567 Population Concern |Pakistan |Community Leadership Training |16,132 Population Concern |Pakistan |Family Planning Through Community Institutions |28,864 United Kingdom Foundation for the |Vanuatu |Family Health Planning Project |33,771 Peoples of the South Pacific Urban Aid |Ghana |Family Planning Project |36,277 ------- Total 1,328,793
Mr. Watson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the Government have to encourage other member states in the European Union to start funding family planning and related projects within their development and co-operation budgets.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are playing a leading role in pressing for concrete action to follow up the 1992 EC resolution on population. Officials participate in regular expert meetings in Brussels to strengthen co-operation among member states and the Commission. We are also helping the Commission to organise a seminar for EC member states and Commission officials on 28 February.
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Natural Resources Institute
Mr. Waterson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has for the future status of the Natural Resources Institute ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The Government have decided that a study of options for the future ownership of the Natural Resources Institute--NRI-- should be carried out. Consultants will provide advice to Ministers on a range of possibilities for transferring the NRI to the private sector. These will be considered against the option of retaining the NRI within the public sector.
This work will be undertaken against the background of Government policy explained in the 1993 "Next Steps Review", Cm 2430. The results of the study will be taken
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into account in the wider scrutiny of public sector research establishments which is being undertaken by the Office of Public Service and Science.WALES
Back to Basics"
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the implications of the Government's "back to basics" policy for his Department during 1994.
Mr. Rendel : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what working definition of "back to basics" is used by his Department ; and what his Department has done in the past three months to implement the policy.
Mr. Redwood : I refer the hon. Members to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 January, Official Report, column 849.
Live Animals (Export)
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy concerning the export of live animals ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : The Government accept that animals can be transported provided proper welfare standards are met. The EC directive on transport sets welfare conditions for the transport of all types of animals in the Community. Agreement on a package of additional measures was blocked by the United Kingdom in December last year because they did not offer real improvements in standards of protection. In any further discussions we shall press the Community to adopt measures reflecting our own high standards.
Sheep Premium Scheme
Mr. Jonathan Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of claims for payment under the sheep annual premium scheme had been (a) processed and (b) paid by his Department by 17 January.
Mr. Redwood : The proportions are (a) 85 per cent. ; (b) 82 per cent.
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Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will announce the arrangements for leasing quotas under the sheep annual premium payments scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : The arrangements for the second transfer and lease notification period for sheep quota for the 1993-1994 scheme years will be announced once all the national reserve quota has been allocated. For the 1995 scheme year, it was announced, on 15 November 1993, that notifications of transfers and leases should be submitted between 15 November 1993 and 15 September 1994.
Integrated Administration and Control System
Mr. Jonathan Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements he has made for farmers to have access to Ordnance Survey maps of the appropriate scale for completion of the IACS forms for hill livestock producers.
Mr. Redwood : Those hill livestock producers to whom IACS applies for the first time in 1994 can obtain copies of maps of the scale 1 : 2,500 from OS agents or other recognised outlets. Maps of this scale generally contain the four-figure national grid reference number of each field and the area in hectares which is required for IACS purposes. Where this information is not printed on the map, or in other areas where maps of 1 : 2,500 scale are not available, farmers may wish to seek professional help. The detailed requirements relating to mapping and field data, are included in a guidance note which is being sent to producers this week.
Nurses
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many nurses were employed in NHS hospitals in each of the last five years for which figures are available ; and what are the figures for nurses employed in the community alongside family doctors.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Detailed breakdowns of nursing staff employed by health authorities and NHS trusts into hospital and community staff are not considered reliable. However information on the whole-time equivalent numbers of all hospital and community nursing and midwifery staff is shown in the table as well as numbers of nurses employed by general medical practitioners.
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|1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hospital and community nursing and midwifery staff<1>:
Learners<2> |3,118 |3,075 |2,934 |1,970 |1,033
Other staff<3> |24,913|25,008|24,956|25,377|25,129
Nurses employed by general medical practitioners<4> |268 |459 |524 |519 |544
<1> Staff in post as at 30 September. Excludes staff employed by the Welsh Health Common
Services Authority. Figures for 1989 and 1990 include
staff working in the Blood Transfusion Service but figures for subsequent years do not as these
staff then transferred to the Welsh Health Common
Services Authority.
<2> Since the autumn of 1991 student nurses have been classified as students and are no longer
included in the NHS staff figures. Staff included here
are students finishing courses begun before this date.
<3> The use of locally devised payscales from 1991 onwards may affect the comparability of
figures as these staff cannot be allocated centrally to a
specific staff group and are not, therefore, included above.
<4> Staff in post as at 1 October. Excludes some staff employed by GP Fundholders.
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NHS Hospitals (Admissions)
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many admissions to NHS hospitals there were in each of the last three years for which figures are available ; and how many of these admissions were re- admissions within a month of hospital discharge.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The available information, based on aggregate hospital returns of discharge and deaths from NHS hospitals, is given in the table :
|Numbers
------------------------
1990-91 |584,285
1991-92 |638,873
1992-93 |667,367
Information on how many of these cases were patients re-admitted within a month of hospital discharge is not available centrally.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to monitor the levels of private practice in national health service trusts in Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : It is the responsibility of each national health service trust in Wales to monitor any provision for private patients and ensure that this does not interfere with its obligations to national health service patients. Income generated from private practice will be monitored through audited accounts.
North Avon Training
Mr. Murphy : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if his Department has awarded any training contracts to North Avon Training ;
(2) What training companies have replaced North Avon Training for training contracts in Wales.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The Department has not awarded any training contracts to North Avon Training.
Welsh Language
Mr. Hanson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to allow A-level students to sit examinations in Welsh if they so request.
Sir Wyn Roberts : It remains our general policy that pupils taught through the medium of Welsh should be assessed through the medium of Welsh. Pupils entry to individual subject examinations is a matter of decision by the school governing body. The range of examinations offered by an individual examining body is a matter for the board itself.
Tai Cymru Budget
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much of the 1993 Tai Cymru budget was allocated to each Welsh constituency ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Housing for Wales does not allocate resources on a constituency basis.
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Job Clubs
Mr. Murphy : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those training companies which currently have job club contracts at Newport, Haverfordwest and Merthyr Tydfil.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Training contracts let by job clubs are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment.
Cereals
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the average cereal yields per hectare for each of the two cereals regionalisation proposed regions in Wales for each year since 1987 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 16 December 1993] : The information for 1989 to 1992 is shown in the table. Data for 1993 are not yet available. For the years 1987 and 1988, there is insufficient information available to produce reliable estimates.
Cereal yields in proposed cereals
regionalisation regions in Wales<1>
Average cereal
yield
(tonnes per
hectare)
Year |Region 1|Region 2
------------------------------------
1989 |4.50 |3.63
1990 |5.08 |4.39
1991 |5.58 |4.55
1992 |5.85 |4.68
Source Cereals Production Survey (
MAFF and Welsh Office)<2>.
<1>As announced in the letter of 5
November 1993 from the Welsh Office
to all cereal producers in Wales
which proposed two regions as
follows:
Region 1-All parishes containing
land classified as suitable for
growing winter cereals and having
an average of at least 50 hectares
of
wheat and winter barley during the
period 1989 to 1991.
Region 2-All parishes not included
in Region 1.
<2>A sample survey: the results
shown are accurate to within plus
or
minus 10 per cent.
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Tourism
Mr. David Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the funding of the English tourist board to each of the regional boards for 1994-95 and 1995-96.
Mr. Sproat : The allocation of this funding is for the English tourist board to decide, based on discussions with the regional tourist boards as to whether industry needs are better met by action at the centre or action at regional level. Funding levels for 1994-95 are due to be determined in the near future.
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what projections have been made of the potential expansion of overseas visitors to the United Kingdom over the next three years ; and what steps he is taking to guarantee adequate investment to ensure this is achieved.
Mr. Sproat : The British Tourist Authority, which receives grant aid from my Department, has forecast 5 per cent. average annual growth in visits by overseas tourists, and 6.5 per cent. growth in expenditure by overseas tourists, during the period 1992-97.
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The Government will continue to support the work of the British Tourist Authority in promoting Britain overseas ; indeed, an increase in planned support was announced in the recent budget. The authority's corporate plan, agreed by Ministers, also sets challenging targets for attracting non-Government funding for its promotional activities.Paintings and Photographs
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list those Departments that have acquired photographs or pictures for their rooms from sources for which he is responsible ; and if he will list the paintings and photographs concerned.
Mr. Brooke : The principal source of pictures on loan to Departments is the Government art collection, established nearly 100 years ago under the aegis of the office of works, and now a division of my own Department. Every major Government Department borrows works from the collection. Records are maintained of all the paintings and photographs in the Government art collection and their whereabouts throughout the world, but a written record would run to several hundred pages and could not be provided except at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list the photographs and paintings on the walls of his rooms, together with the cost of each.
Mr. Sproat : My right hon. Friend has the following paintings and photographs in his office on loan from the Government art collection :
Albatross, by Anthony Gross, cost : £37
Two Coster Girls, by W. R. Sickert, cost : £4,500
Ladder Painting No. 1, by Stephenie Bergman, cost : £1,035 In The Cellar Mirror, by Norman Blamey, cost : £2,925
The Red Cow, by John Armstrong, cost : £16,000
Citadel, Triptych, Bermondsey Street, by Harriet Mena Hill, cost : £3,500
In addition, I have two sculptures and two prints on loan from the Government art collection :
Study for "Standard Unique", by Elisabeth Frink, cost : £81 Study for "Hamstead Figure" 1/5, by Frederick E. McWilliam, cost : £135
Brenda 1984 180/200, and Saturday Morning Shopping 1984 180/200, by Glen Baxter, cost : £117 each.
The costs given are those at the date of purchase.
Finally, there is a work from my own collection and a picture presented to my office.
Sports and Arts
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will give details of the consultations he has had with (a) regional sports councils and (b) regional arts boards, including dates and the nature of those consultations.
Mr. Brooke : I have so far had no meetings with the regional councils for sport and recreation. However, as part of the review of the Sports Council, my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for National Heritage is currently meeting with the chairman of all 10 regional councils and is also visiting all 10 regions. I have occasional meetings with the chairman of individual regional arts boards. I also met the chairman of the English Regional Arts Boards, Sir Ernest Hall, on 20 January, when a range of matters was discussed.
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Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what proportion of expenditure by his Department, and previous responsible Departments, has been for the Arts Council, the Sports Council, tourist boards and the British library in each year since 1981-82 ; and what is his forecast for 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96.
Mr. Sproat : The information requested is as follows :
Percentage
|Arts |Sports |Tourist|British
|Council|Council|Boards |Library
------------------------------------------------
1981-82 |26.8 |7.0 |8.3 |13.2
1982-83 |30.3 |9.3 |9.5 |15.7
1983-84 |31.5 |9.0 |8.5 |16.7
1984-85 |33.3 |9.5 |8.8 |17.7
1985-86 |26.3 |7.5 |6.5 |13.8
1986-87 |33.9 |9.3 |7.9 |15.2
1987-88 |22.1 |5.9 |5.3 |11.5
1988-89 |22.2 |5.6 |5.3 |11.0
1989-90 |21.8 |5.9 |5.5 |13.3
1990-91 |22.4 |5.7 |5.4 |13.9
1991-92 |23.1 |5.3 |5.0 |13.8
1992-93 |21.9 |4.8 |4.7 |12.6
1993-94 |22.8 |5.1 |4.6 |11.0
1994-95 |19.1 |5.1 |4.6 |13.6
1995-96 |18.8 |5.0 |4.4 |13.1
1996-97 |19.3 |5.1 |4.6 |11.3
Notes:
1. The percentage of funding shown for the
bodies in question, is based
on the central government expenditure for all
those activities which now
fall within the DNH responsibility. It is not
possible to show these figures
as proportions of the expenditure of those
departments who had
responsibility for these functions previously.
2. From 1 April 1994 responsibility for the
Scottish and Welsh Arts
Councils will be transferred from the Secretary
of State for National
Heritage to the Secretaries of State for
Scotland and Wales respectively.
Whilst the above figures take account of all
three Arts Councils for the
years prior to 1994-95, from that year they
represent the Arts Council of
England only.
3. The figures are also distorted due to
changes in the spending coverage
of the Department now and in prior years, for
example the inclusion of
provision for funding the Welsh 4th Channel
with effect from 1992-93.
4. The British Library figures include payments
in relation to the building
of the new British Library, St. Pancras.
Christmas Cards
Mr. Hugh Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, how many official christmas cards were sent out in 1993 by (a) Ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) staff of Government agencies working in or to his Department ; and how much these cards cost (i) to buy, (ii) to post and (iii) in staff time to sign, address and place in envelopes.
Mr. Sproat [pursuant to his reply, 19 January 1994, c. 656] : The chief executives of the Historic Royal Palaces and the Royal Parks agencies have now written to the hon. Member.
Letter from David Welch to Mr. Hugh Bayley, dated 21 January 1994 :
As you know, I have been asked by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Mr. Iain Sproat, to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the number of Christmas cards sent by the Royal Parks Agency, and the cost of sending them.
The only christmas cards distributed by the Agency were from Richmond Park. The printing costs were sponsored locally.
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Envelopes cost £10 and they were sent at normal second class postal rate. It is not possible to quantify the cost of staff time involved in distributing them.Letter from David Beeton to Mr. Hugh Bayley, dated 20 January 1994 :
I have been asked by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for National Heritage, Mr. Sproat, to reply to your Parliamentary Question regarding Historic Royal Palaces Agency christmas cards. The Agency purchased 1,000 Christmas cards at a cost of £251.51. These, together with stocks (of about 650) remaining from the previous year, were supplied to me and my Palace and Specialist Directors and their staff, all of whom are civil servants. All cards were despatched at normal second class postal rate, or were sent via the Government Inter Departmental Service. It is not possible to quantify the cost in staff time to sign, address and envelope the cards.
D-Day Commemorations
Mr. David Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the assistance his Department is giving to the Southern tourist board for its D-Day commemorations in 1994 and what additional help he plans.
Mr. Sproat : The English tourist board has given the Southern tourist board a grant totalling around £11,000 for 1993-94. The British Tourist Authority has provided both financial and administrative support for the Southern board's marketing activities on the D-day commemoration in the United States. In addition, they have provided free office space and equipment and under a joint scheme have subsidised the board's costs by 25 per cent. To date, this amounts to around £25,000.
Plans are still being drawm up for the additional funds announced by the Prime Minister on 6 January for the promotion and co-ordination of events associated with the commemoration of D-day.
Sport Facilities
Mr. Hinchliffe To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what representations he has received about the effects of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 on the use of schools' and colleges' sports facilities by local sports clubs.
Mr. Brooke [holding answer 25 January 1994] : None. However, I and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education have a well -established joint policy of encouraging the community use of education premises when these are not required for the purposes of the school or college concerned.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage on how many occasions the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for National Heritage has been replaced by the right hon. Lady Baroness Trumpington on official engagements that he had agreed to attend.
Mr. Sproat [holding answer 24 January 1994] : Since her appointment, Lady Trumpington has carried out four official engagements, which circumstances prevented me from attending as originally scheduled.
Column 282
HOUSE OF COMMONS
No. 7 Millbank
Sir Nicholas Fairbairn : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what was the cost of converting No. 7 Millbank into offices for hon. Members ; and who was responsible for its design and arrangements.
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