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Mr. Stewart : Information relating to numbers of people paying the full cost of accommodation in residential care and nursing homes is not held centrally, nor is information about the numbers of residents who have had charges recovered from their estate following their death.
Information concerning the number of people who have sold their homes to meet the charges for their residential care is not held centrally, nor do I intend to conduct a survey on this.
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Hospitals (Car Parking)
Mr. Watson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the income from car parking charges implemented by hospitals for each health board in Scotland for each year since 1990.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 26 January 1994] : There are two health boards whose hospitals receive income from car parking. The information available is as follows :
Financial Year
|1990-91 |1991-92 |1992-93 |1993-94<1>
Health Board |£ |£ |£ |£
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greater Glasgow |- |- |1,750 |1,750
Lothian |- |- |- |65,000
<1> estimated.
New Towns
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the annual budget and turnover of each of Scotland's new towns for each year since their establishment.
Mr. Stewart : The information on development corporations' income and expenditure is contained in their annual reports, which are available in the Library of the House.
DEFENCE
Wormhoudt Murders
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the titles and general details of the 20 files released by his Department into the investigations of the murder of British service men on 28 May 1940 at Wormhoudt.
Mr. Hanley : The information requested is as follows :
BAOR War Crimes Group WO309/26-27 --Investigation papers (Wormhoudt)
WO309/28-31 --Investigation papers (Wormhoudt/Le Paradis) WO309/1801-1803-- Correspondence etc. on wanted persons
WO309/1804-1812--Statements, interrogation reports etc.
WO309/1813 --Lt. Col. Scotland's report on investigation WO309/1814 --As WO309/1813 (later, updated version)
Military Deputy Judge Advocate-General's Papers WO311/100 --MD/JAG file on Wormhoudt case
WO311/680 --Visit of survivors to scene, in connection with investigation
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what further records his Department retains following the release of his Department's records on the investigation of the murder of British service men at Wormhoudt on 28 May 1940 ; and whether they are covered by (a) the 75-year or (b) the 30-year rule ;
(2) if his Department retains any files which show the results of the requests to the Russian authorities in 1947 from British war crimes investigators for the return of General Willem Mohnke for questioning about the murder of British service men on 28 May 1940 at Wormhoudt.
Mr. Hanley : All surviving files on the original investigation of the killing of British soldiers at
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Wormhoudt on 28 May 1940 have now been released. Records created within the last 30 years are covered by the Public Records Act, including any raised on this subject since the case was reopened in 1988. These records are subject to the Department's normal review procedures and the revised criteria contained in the White Paper on openness, Cm 2290.Consultants
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on which occasions since 1979 his Department has employed the services of external consultants ; and if he will give details of the purposes for which they were employed and the cost of employing them.
Mr. Aitken : The Department's central contracts branch has placed in excess of 500 contracts with consultants in each of the last few years. In addition to this figure, consultancy contracts are placed as part of specific projects and as low value orders of under £10, 000. Under the Department's arrangements for the delegation of contractual authority, such contracts are placed without reference to the central contracts branch and so cannot be identified separately. In view of this and the large number of centrally placed contracts involved over the last 15 years, an answer to this question could be provided only at disproportionate cost and effort.
Tank Shells
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what date British tank regiments were supplied with shells fitted with fin stabilised discarding sabots.
Mr. Hanley : The Army was first supplied with armour-piercing fin- stabilised discarding sabot rounds in January 1982. The rounds are stored centrally, and issued to individual tank regiments only when they deploy on operations.
Boards of Inquiry
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what manner, and by whom, serving soldiers due to appear before a regimental board of inquiry are given verbal and written details of the procedure to be followed, including their right of representation ; and who is responsible for selecting any such representative.
Mr. Hanley : Witnesses or persons who, in the opinion of either the convening officer or the president of the board, may be affected by a board of inquiry or regimental inquiry are notified of the proceedings and are given the opportunity to be present and to be represented if they so wish. Such notification is not required to be in writing, but the convening order for all boards of inquiry and for most regimental inquiries will be published and displayed throughout the unit.
Such witnesses or persons may, if they wish, be present at the proceedings and give evidence, question witnesses, or produce witnesses to give evidence on matters affecting them. In addition, if represented, their representative may question witnesses and, with permission of the president, address the board of inquiry. Selection of a representative is a matter of choice for the witness or person concerned. That representative may be an officer, solicitor or barrister.
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Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide a figure for the number of staff in his Department covered by statutory sick pay.
Mr. Hanley : As at January 1994, just over 130,000 staff at the Ministry of Defence were covered by statutory sick pay regulations. This figure excludes some 1,500 casual staff, some of whom may be covered by these regulations.
South Africa
Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the British military personnel who have undertaken official visits to South Africa in each year since 1990.
Mr. Hanley : Since 1990, British Ministry of Defence personnel have made official visits to the South African authorities on three occasions as follows :
October 1993
1 Assistant Under-Secretary of State, 1 Assistant Secretary and 1 Principal (all civilian members of the MOD)
December 1993
1 Brigadier
January 1994
1 Rear Admiral, 1 Commander and 1 Principal (MOD civilian)
Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the forthcoming visit of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Norfolk to South Africa from 27 to 31 January ; and if the Transitional Executive Council of South Africa or the European Union were consulted over arrangements for the visit.
Mr. Hanley : HMS Norfolk, accompanied by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Grey Rover, is visiting South Africa from 27 January to 1 February. The purpose of the visit was to re-establish relations between the Royal Navy and the South African navy. The Transitional Executive Council and our European Union partners were fully aware of the visit and raised no objections. The visit has been welcomed by a broad range of opinion in South Africa.
Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretaryof State for Defence if he will make a statement on the appointment of the British military attache to the Republic of South Africa ; what are his functions, responsibilities and activities ; and how these are restricted by the European Union's criteria for the relaxation on the exchange of military attache s with South Africa.
Mr. Hanley : The British defence attache in Pretoria took up his post on 22 November 1993. His primary role is to establish contacts with the defence forces of the new South Africa and to advise Her Majesty's ambassador on defence issues. European Union sanctions concerning the exchange of attache s were lifted on 4 October 1993.
Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all South African defence force personnel who have made official visits to the United Kingdom in each year since 1990.
Mr. Hanley : Since 1990, South African defence force personnel have made official visits to the United Kingdom at the invitation of the Government as follows :
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May 1993--the Chief of the South African navy and the ship's company of the Drakensberg, a South African naval support vessel, to take part in ceremonies to mark the Battle of the Atlantic. July 1993--the South African Chief of Air Staff to attend celebrations marking the 75th annniversary of the RAF.Special exceptions to the embargo on defence contacts then in force were made in view of the particular historical circumstances of both visits.
Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) all visits by British military personnel to South Africa and (b) all visits by South African defence force personnel to the United Kingdom expected between 1 February and 27 April.
Mr. Hanley : On current plans, official visits by British Ministry of Defence personnel at the invitation of the South African authorities in the period between 1 February and 27 April will take place as follows :
Early February--1 Brigadier, 1 Lieutenant Colonel and 1 Principal (MOD civilian)
No visits to the United Kingdom by South African defence force personnel in that period are currently planned.
Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
Mr. Simpson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if there will be any co-reprocessing of military and civil materials in THORP at Sellafield.
Mr. Eggar : I have been asked to reply. No.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Animal Feeding Stuffs (Salmonella)
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many plants producing animal protein for incorporation into animal feeding stuffs which were found on first sampling in each year since 1981, to be salmonella positive (a) gave subsequent positive samples and (b) were prosecuted.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The numbers of plants producing animal protein for incorporation into animal feeding stuffs where salmonella was isolated both on the first official sampling of each year and subsequently during the year were as follows :
|Number
---------------------
1981 |<1>-
1982 |13
1983 |10
1984 |7
1985 |10
1986 |9
1987 |6
1988 |3
1989 |2
1990 |1
1991 |2
1992 |1
1993 |-
<1> Figures not
available.
Where salmonella contamination is found the serving of notices preventing the movement of material until it is shown to be free of salmonella contamination is considered the appropriate action rather than prosecution.
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Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many inspections were carried out by her officials of processing plants producing animal protein for incorporation into animal feeding stuffs in each year from 1981 ; and how many of the plants gave samples which were found to be salmonella-positive.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Details of inspections of plants producing animal protein for incorporation into animal feeding stuffs and the number of plants which gave samples positive for salmonella were as follows :
|Inspections |Number of plants
|where positive
|salmonella was
|isolated
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1981 |<1>- |<1>-
1982 |193 |35
1983 |250 |29
1984 |251 |30
1985 |224 |27
1986 |206 |22
1987 |185 |21
1988 |154 |15
1989 |315 |23
1990 |245 |18
1991 |230 |14
1992 |194 |8
1993 |189 |9
<1> Figures not available.
Inspections ranged between one and five days duration depending upon the type of plant.
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many samples were taken from processing plants producing animal protein for incorporation into animal feeding stuffs in each year from 1981 ; and how many in each year were found to be
salmonella-positive.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The number of official samples from processing plants producing animal protein for incorporation into animal feeding stuffs and the numbers found to be positive for salmonella were as follows :
|Number of |Number of
|official |official
|samples |samples found
|to be positive
------------------------------------------------------------
1981 |<1>- |<1>-
1982 |1,085 |114
1983 |1,410 |107
1984 |1,403 |115
1985 |1,253 |111
1986 |1,202 |111
1987 |971 |53
1988 |847 |44
1989 |1,673 |87
1990 |1,388 |40
1991 |1,360 |46
1992 |1,320 |22
1993 |1,274 |26
<1> Figures not available.
Column 557
Milk
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many gallons of milk were consumed in England in the most recent year for which figures are available ; and how many gallons of milk were produced in England in that year.
Mr. Jack : The volume of milk produced and sold through milk marketing schemes in England in 1992 was 9,743 million litres or 2, 143 million gallons.
Total liquid milk consumption figures are not separately available for England. However, for England and Wales as a whole the volume of milk produced and sold through milk marketing schemes and subsequently used for liquid milk was 5,857 million litres, or 1,288 million gallons, in 1992. Except for the effect of trade in liquid milk, this will equate closely to consumption as measured in whole milk equivalent. This represents 52 per cent. of the total sales through marketing schemes for England and Wales of 11,198 million litres, or 2,463 million gallons.
These figures exclude milk sold outside milk marketing schemes, milk consumed on-farm, wastage and milk fed to stock.
The consumption of milk in the form of all products is difficult to assess because of problems of double counting when milk is manufactured into more than one product. However, approximately 15, 880 million litres of milk were required to produce all the milk and milk products consumed in the United Kingdom in 1992. This figure is available only at the United Kingdom level. It should also be noted that some elements of this milk--for example, the skimmed milk by-products of imported butter production--are not consumed in the United Kingdom. Total United Kingdom production sold through milk marketing schemes in 1992 was 13,525 million litres.
Bovine Tuberculosis
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research her Ministry has carried out into the ways in which bovine tuberculosis is transferred from badgers to cattle.
Mr. Soames : Research is continuing at the Department's central science laboratory in Gloucestershire on the ways in which bovine tuberculosis is transferred from badgers to cattle. Detailed observations are made on the way in which badgers infected with bovine tuberculosis may contaminate the environment. This work has demonstrated the potential importance of badger excretory products in disease transmission to cattle, with field margins having been identified as areas of highest risk.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's badger culling in terms of the reduction of bovine tuberculosis.
Mr. Soames : There have been no cases of confirmed bovine tuberculosis in cattle in the areas of Steeple Leaze, Dorset and Thornbury, Avon, since the ending in 1979 and 1981 respectively of the experimental programmes under which badger control operations were carried out continuously. The incidence of bovine TB in cattle in those areas had previously been high.
Analyses at the Department's central veterinary laboratory suggests that the effect of the routine badger
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control operations carried out in other areas between 1975 and 1982 reduced the incidence of infection in cattle herds by around 60 per cent, compared with no control.Similar studies have shown that badger removal operations between 1986 and 1993 on farms which suffered a breakdown may have reduced the chances of a subsequent cattle breakdown by between 40 and 65 per cent.
The new strategy announced on 8 December will include a trial element to measure its effectiveness. Further details are set out in the background note in the Library of the House, a copy of which I have sent to the hon. Member.
Mr Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will declare a moratorium on the culling of badgers ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : I have no such plans ; I announced a new programme to control bovine TB in the House on 8 December, Official Report, columns 260- 61.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will give details of (a) the incidence of bovine turbercolusis and (b) the numbers of badgers culled on the authority of her Department in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Soames : The number of cattle herds experiencing new confirmed breakdowns of tuberculosis in Great Britain for each of the last 10 years for which figures are available were as follows :
Year |New |Badgers
|confirmed |culled
|breakdowns
--------------------------------------------
1983 |79 |1,239
1984 |73 |1,337
1985 |52 |1,119
1986 |82 |782
1987 |108 |711
1988 |122 |778
1989 |125 |727
1990 |143 |811
1991 |125 |993
1992 |155 |1,054
1993 |<1>273 |<1>1,093
<1>Provisional figures.
Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will provide a figure for the number of staff in her Department covered by statutory sick pay.
Mr. Jack : Approximately 11,000 of the staff employed by the Department and its agencies are eligible for statutory sick pay.
Meat Hygiene Service
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people there are in her Department's meat hygiene service.
Mr. Soames : The meat hygiene service will be an agency of MAFF and will be launched in April 1995, taking over hygiene and welfare responsibilities in fresh meat plants from 300 local authorities. It will employ up to 1,300 plant-based staff, a saving of some 5 per cent. on
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current numbers. Management and administrative support will total no more than about 70, which will be less than is currently required.At present approximately 230 man years are devoted to meat hygiene policy and its implementation within the core Department. This level of effort will be reduced significantly after the setting up of the meat hygiene service.
Food--a Fact of Life"
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total cost to her Department of the British Nutrition Foundation's "Food--a Fact of Life".
Mr. Soames : The total level of support provided by this Department since 1990 has been £796,000. This educative tool is held in high regard by teachers and others and the Department is therefore planning to provide a further £250,000 worth of support in the coming financial year to enable it to be extended to the 11 to 16-year-old age group.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice her Ministry gave to the British Nutrition Foundation in developing the material for "Food--a Fact of Life"; and what steps were taken to ensure the material was in line with the Ministry's policy.
Mr. Soames : This Department has been closely involved with the development of this programme since its inception. Officials currently participate in the group monitoring its progress where they seek to ensure consistency with departmental policy where relevant.
Food Surpluses
Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the total sum expended by member states and by the EC itself on the storage and disposal of food surpluses in the most recent annual period for which figures are available ; and if she will publish a table showing the relevant expenditure of the EC and by member states in each of the previous five years.
Mr. Jack : The guarantee section of the European guidance and guarantee fund--EAGGF--provides funding to member states for the costs of intervention storage, export refunds, and other disposal measures for products subject to the CAP. Information on expenditure on these measures for 1992 and for the previous five years can be obtained from the annual financial reports of the EAGGF guarantee section, copies of which have been deposited in the Library of the House of Commons. Annex 7 of these reports provides details of expenditure on intervention
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storage, and withdrawals and similar operations, and annex 5 on export refunds. The breakdown of expenditure by member state for these measures can be derived from annex 2 of these reports.Farm Incomes
Mr. Willetts : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on farm incomes.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Total income from farming is estimated to have risen by 40.7 per cent. in 1993 compared with 1992. This is welcome news for farmers and I hope will be recognised as such. Detailed estimates of income, output and productivity of United Kingdom agriculture in 1993 were published this morning and these have been placed in the Library of the House.
Whaling
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what exemptions from EC law governing whaling activities have been sought by the Norwegian Government in their submission to the Council of Ministers ; and what has been the outcome of the Norwegian demands.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I have been asked to reply.
The Norwegian Government have requested exemptions from the EC habitats directive annex IV (a) in respect of fin, minke and killer whales and from the EC convention on international trade in endangered species regulation in respect of fin and minke whales. The member states of the European Union have rejected these requests.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Customs and Excise (Searches)
Mr. McFall : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 3 December, Official Report, column 767, if he will list, for each United Kingdom port of entry, the breakdown by ethnic origin of persons stopped and searched by Customs and Excise officers during 1993.
Sir John Cope : The number of persons subject to search of persons of all kinds by Customs and Excise during 1993 distinguished by collection and ethnic origin is given in the table. Information for each port of entry is not held centrally and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Column 559
Search of persons by IC Division
1 January to 31 December 1993
Collection |IC1 |IC2 |IC3 |IC4 |IC5 |IC6 |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belfast |337 |2 |5 |- |1 |3 |348
Birmingham |328 |10 |35 |29 |5 |- |407
Dover |1,054 |45 |71 |42 |9 |7 |1,228
East Anglia |1,833 |99 |271 |77 |13 |13 |2,306
East Midlands |186 |- |11 |7 |- |- |204
Edinburgh |186 |- |2 |- |5 |1 |194
Glasgow |256 |8 |7 |5 |7 |3 |286
Leeds |335 |6 |15 |4 |- |1 |361
Liverpool |85 |5 |22 |3 |9 |1 |125
London Airports |6,200 |2,034 |8,243 |2,238 |493 |383 |19,591
London Port |370 |24 |49 |21 |6 |8 |478
Manchester |1,061 |24 |125 |248 |16 |1 |1,475
Northampton |574 |75 |19 |9 |2 |5 |684
Northern England |182 |15 |37 |13 |37 |15 |299
Southampton |684 |38 |40 |82 |15 |31 |890
South Wales and Borders |224 |5 |13 |6 |1 |2 |251
South West England |212 |31 |9 |- |- |1 |253
Thames Valley |11 |- |- |4 |- |- |15
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |14,118 |2,421 |8,974 |2,788 |619 |475 |29,395
Notes:
1. IC=Identification code for ethnic origin.
2. IC1 Northern European.
IC2 Southern European.
IC3 Afro/Caribbean.
IC4 Asian.
IC5 Oriental.
IC6 Middle Eastern.
3. London Airports includes Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
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