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Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage who are the members currently appointed to the Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites.

Mr. Brooke : The members currently appointed to the Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites are :

Dr. Basil Greenhill, CMG CB (Chairman)

Fergus Bateson

Dr. Margaret Rule, CBE

Alex Flinder

Andrew Saunders

Lt. Cmdr. John Pugh, MBE, RN

Tim Schadla-Hall

Professor Sean McGrail

Guy Wilson

Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage who are the members currently appointed to the Football Licensing Authority.


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Mr. Brooke : The current members of the Football Licensing Authority are :

Mr. Norman Jacobs, OBE (Chairman)

Mr. Albert Brannon, CBE, FIFireE

Mr. Keith Bridge, MA, IPFA, CBIM

Mr. Ronald Broome, OBE, QPM

Mr. Trevor Brooking, MBE

Dr. Judith Fisher, MB, BS, FRCGP

Mr. Simon Inglis

Mr. Christopher Lewis, BSc Econ, MSc, C Psychol, AFBPs Professor Sam Thorburn, OBE, FEng FICE FIStructE

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

War Crimes Act 1991

Mr. Winnick : To ask the Attorney-General what is the latest position regarding action under the War Crimes Act 1991 ; and whether any charges are likely to be brought during 1994.

The Attorney-General : The Metropolitan police war crimes unit is still actively pursuing its inquiries under the War Crimes Act 1991. Those inquiries are not yet complete and the question of a possible prosecution cannot be considered until they are concluded.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Deregulation

Mr. Heppell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which organisations were consulted by her Department, on each of the recommendations of the business deregulation task forces before they were agreed and action proposed in the DTI document, "Deregulation : Cutting the Red Tape".

Mr. Jack : Each of the task force recommendations agreed or agreed in principle by the Government has been or will be the subject of appropriate consultation with interested parties.

Milk Quotas

Mr. Fabricant : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the United Kingdom Government require a tenant farmer to obtain the consent of the landlord in order to dispose of the milk quota allocated to him.

Mr. Jack : The EC regulations establish a link between quota and land. Landlords therefore have a clear interest in any quota apportionment- -and its potential disposal--and are required to give their consent. A refusal to give this consent will necessitate the appointment of an arbitrator to decide the apportionment for the parties concerned.

Mr. Fabricant : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what account she has taken of the Advocate General's view expressed during the Herbert Wachauf case on milk quota 5/88 (1989) concerning the effect of article 40(3) of the EC treaty on the requirement for a tenant farmer to obtain the consent of his landlord, if the imposition of that requirement having regard to the particular situation of the tenant farmer, would result in discrimination between producers.

Mr. Jack : We have taken note of the judgment of the European Court in case 5/88-Herbert Wachauf. In our


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opinion this case does not give rise to any suggestion of discrimination in our implementation of the EC milk quotas regulations.

Foresty

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if she will list all land currently owned by the Forestry Commission in (a) Humberside, (b) North Yorkshire, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) West Yorkshire ;

(2) which of the Forestry Commission's holdings in (a) Humberside, (b) North Yorkshire, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) West Yorkshire are currently earmarked for sale.

Mr. Jack : The Foresty Commission is preparing a list of all its woodlands in Humberside, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, and this will identify those which the Commission is currently selling or planning to sell. I shall send a copy to the hon. Member and I shall also arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.

Executive Agencies

Mr. McMaster : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will list the subjects on which her Department formerly answered parliamentary questions but which are now referred by her to an executive agency.

Mr. Jack : Next steps agency chief executives are usually asked to reply to questions on day-to-day operational matters and on subjects for which they have delegated responsibility, as set out in the agencies' framework documents.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas

Mr. Butler : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements she is making in existing English ESAs to facilitate new public access to the countryside.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard : As part of our programme to implement the EC's agri-environment regulation--Reg. 2078/92 EEC--I have laid before Parliament today regulations to amend section 18 of the Agriculture Act 1986 to enable me--and, as appropriate, my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and for Scotland--to introduce arrangements to encourage farmers to provide new public access opportunities in ESAs.

I shall be laying before Parliament tomorrow orders introducing a new voluntary access tier into each of the first round ESA schemes--the Broads, Somerset levels and moors, Pennine Dales, West Penwith and South downs. In addition, I shall shortly be laying orders introducing parallel arrangements into the other existing English ESA schemes--Breckland, Clun, North Peak, Suffolk River valleys, Test valley, South West peak, Exmoor, Lake district, South Wessex downs, North Kent marshes, Avon valley. Information about the new access tier will be made available to farmers in all existing English ESAs from tomorrow and farmers will be able to enter into access agreements with the Minister after the orders come into force.


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Arable Areas Payments Scheme

Mr. Tipping : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many landowners in England are receiving annual payments under the arable area payments scheme in the latest financial year of (a) up to £100,000, (b) between £100,000 and £500,000, (c) between £500,000 and £1,000,000 and (d) over £1,000,000 ; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Jack : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 11 January 1994, Official Report , column 55 .

Mr. Tipping : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in how many cases payments to farmers and landowners under the arable area payments scheme have been withheld or recovered in England ; what is the amount of money withheld or recovered in each case ; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Jack : Every case in which payments may be withheld or recovered is examined very carefully and applicants have an opportunity to comment before a final decision is taken. This means that it is only possible to provide very provisional figures at this stage. Over 100 payments have so far been reduced or withheld entirely, but there are further cases still under consideration. These figures exclude penalties for late applications and adjustments made following corrections notified by the applicant under the special arrangements which applied in 1993 for dealing with genuine errors. It is not yet possible to give a precise figure for amounts of money withheld because individual cases vary considerably.

Fraud

Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is her Department's policy for dealing with employees found guilty of fraud.

Mr. Jack [holding answer 1 February 1994] : The Ministry has internal disciplinary procedures which provide a range of penalties applicable in cases of misconduct. These are subject to regular review. Dismissal would normally apply where the case amounts to gross misconduct. An officer found guilty of fraud could expect to be dealt with accordingly.

Identification of Animals

Mr. Butler : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how the Government intend to implement EC directive 92/102 on the registration of holdings and the identification of animals ; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Proper identification of animals and proper record keeping by farmers is essential if we are to protect our high animal health status and I am pleased to announce that I have decided on the best way forward on the identification and registration of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats.

The United Kingdom fought successfully in negotiations in Brussels for a commonsense approach to animal identification. We pressed hard for a system that would be the most efficient and at the same time the least burdensome to farmers and we achieved the best possible result.


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The EC directive requires brief details of all cattle, pig, sheep and goat holdings to be held on a central register. This has been completed for cattle, is under way for pigs and will be completed by the 1 January 1995 deadline for sheep and goats.

Each calf born on or after 1 July 1994 will have to have one ear tag inserted bearing that animal's unique number. The current requirement for inserting the tag in non-dairy calves within seven days of birth will be relaxed to the 30 days set in the directive. Officials are discussing, with the ear tag manufacturers, how to control the issue of tags to ensure there is no duplication of numbers and the least disruption to the way farmers buy their tags. The directive also allows each member state to devise its own arrangements for the movement of pigs within their own country. We have told the Commission that we shall base ours on the Movement and Sale of Pigs Order 1975. Pigs going for export will have to be ear tagged or tattooed to show the country and herd of origin. The arrangements for sheep and goats are not due to be implemented until 1 January 1995. However, the sheep industry representatives have already said they would like to see similar requirements introduced as for pigs. Agriculture Department officials will be consulting them shortly about the details.

The more detailed record-keeping requirements for cattle were implemented by the Bovine Animals (Identification, Marking and Breeding Records) (Amendment) Order 1993. The minor changes required will be introduced shortly and those for sheep and goats on 1 January 1995.

Agriculture Department officials will be writing to all those who took part in the consultation exercise setting out the new arrangements in more detail. Copies of this letter will be placed in the Library.

Mr. Butler : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the Government have reviewed the operations of the Movement and Sale of Pigs Order 1975 ; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We have been conducting a deregulatory review of the Movement and Sale of Pigs Order 1975. It is clear that the industry accepts the need for this order to protect the high health status of the national herd. However, we have decided to streamline its operation to reduce the burden on farmers. We will be allowing farmers to issue their own documents, currently issued by local authorities, for the movement of pigs off their own farms. The self-issued documents, which will replace the existing licences, will also act as the movement document required under the Animal Identification and Registration Directive, so that farmers will not have to fill in two pieces of paper to move one pig. We will also be scrapping the requirement to mark pigs going to slaughter, other than swill -fed pigs, where we will be simplifying the mark to a single red line to allow for easier marking on the farm.

I believe that these changes will enable the order to operate more efficiently while at the same time maintaining the high level of protection for the health status of our pig industry.

Agriculture Department officials will be writing shortly to all those who took part in the consultation exercise setting out the new arrangements in more detail. Copies of this letter will be placed in the Library.


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EMPLOYMENT

Labour Statistics

Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the latest figures for the percentage of young people aged 16 to 19 years who are (a) in full-time education, (b) in training schemes, (c) employed and (d) unemployed.

Miss Widdecombe : Latest estimates from the summer 1993 labour force survey for Great Britain show that of all 16 to 19-year-olds 50 per cent. were in full-time education ; 7 per cent. were employed in Government employment and training programmes ; 26 per cent. were otherwise employed and not in full-time education ; and 11 per cent. were ILO unemployed and not in full-time education.

Dock and Port Areas (Deaths)

Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many deaths in dock or port areas in each of the last five years have led to ongoing or completed prosecutions by the Health and Safety Executive ; what have been the outcomes of the completed prosecutions ; who were the named defendants in the cases ; and what were the penalties imposed in those cases where the defendants were convicted.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is as follows :


Fatal injuries occuring within the docks and harbours industry reported       

under the reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurences            

regulations 1985 (RIDDOR), between 1 April 1988 and 31 March 1993             

Year         |Number of   |Of which    |Total       |Convictions              

             |deaths      |leading to  |informations                          

                          |prosecution              |laid                     

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1988-89      |10          |-           |-           |-                        

1989-90      |11          |3           |6           |5                        

1990-91      |2           |-           |-           |-                        

1991-92      |7           |-           |-           |-                        

<1>1992-93   |8           |4           |5           |5                        

Details of prosecutions                                                       

(a) 1989-90                                                                   

1. One information laid against Michael Anthony Johnson-fine of £600 on       

conviction.                                                                   

2. One information laid against Watchet Marine Ltd.-fine of £1,000 on         

conviction.                                                                   

3. Two informations laid against Transit (Boston) Ltd.-total fines of £15,000 

on conviction.                                                                

Two informations laid against Port of Boston Ltd.-fine of £10,000 on one      

conviction; one case dismissed.                                               

(b) 1992-93                                                                   

4. One information laid against Northern Cargo Services Ltd.-fine of £1,500   

on conviction.                                                                

5. One information laid against Northern Cargo Services Ltd.-fine of £3,000   

on conviction.                                                                

One information laid against Robert Hodgins-fine of £520 on conviction.       

6. One information laid against Associated British Ports-fine of £3,500 on    

conviction.                                                                   

7. One information laid against Ardrossan Harbour Co. Ltd.-fine of £7,500 on  

conviction.                                                                   

Accident Figures

Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest annual figures for accidents in the building and manufacturing industries.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : Provisional figures for the year commencing 1 April 1992 are provided in the following table :


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Table 1: Occupational injuries (a) in the Construction industry (b) 1992-93p, as reported to all enforcement           

authorities.                                                                                                           

                              Severity of                                                                              

                              injury                                                                                   

Employment status            |Fatal            |Major            |over 3 day       |Total                              

                                               |(c)              |(d)                                                  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Employee (including trainee) |63               |2,062            |11,675           |13,800                             

Self-employed people         |24               |678              |1,278            |1,980                              

Member of Public (f)         |5                |100              |(e)              |105                                

                                                                                                                       

All people                   |92               |2,840            |12,953           |15,885                             


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#TCW94028053


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Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest annual accident figures for (a) Coventry and (b) the west midlands.


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Mr. Michael Forsyth : Provisional figures for the year commencing 1 April 1992 are provided in the following table :


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Table 1: Occupational injuries (a) in Coventry, 1992-93p as reported to HSE's Field Operations Division Inspectorates   

and Local Authorities  (f).                                                                                             

                               Severity of                                                                              

                               injury                                                                                   

Employment status             |Fatal            |Major            |over 3 Day       |Total                              

                                                |(b)              |(c)                                                  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Employee (including trainees) |0                |65               |824              |889                                

Self-employed people          |0                |4                |5                |9                                  

Member of Public (e)          |0                |70               |(d)              |70                                 

                              |-------          |-------          |-------          |-------                            

All people                    |0                |139              |829              |968                                


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Table 2: Occupational injuries (a) in the County of West Midlands,  1992-93p, as reported to HSE's Field Operations     

Division Inspectorates and                                                                                              

Local Authorities (f).                                                                                                  

                               Severity of                                                                              

                               injury                                                                                   

Employment status             |Fatal            |Major            |over 3 Day       |Total                              

                                                |(b)              |(c)                                                  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Employee (including trainees) |9                |712              |6,892            |7,550                              

Self-employed people          |1                |47               |150              |198                                

Member of Public (e)          |2                |440              |(d)              |442                                

                              |-------          |-------          |-------          |-------                            

All people                    |12               |1,199            |6,979            |8,190                              

Footnotes (Tables 1 and 2)                                                                                              

(a) Based on injuries reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, 1985 (  

RIDDOR).                                                                                                                

(b) As defined under RIDDOR, but chiefly amputations, serious fractures, and any other injury requiring hospitalisation 

for more than 24 hours.                                                                                                 

(c) Injuries causing incapacity from normal work for more than three days.                                              

(d) Not reportable.                                                                                                     

(e) Injured as a result of someone else's work activity.                                                                

(f) Table does not include injuries reported to HSE's Mines, Railways or Explosives Inspectorates which are not readily 

available.                                                                                                              

p=provisional                                                                                                           

Upper Limb Disorders

Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate his Department has made of the incidence of work-related upper limb disorders ; what


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discussions his Department has had with the TUC and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers about their work on these disorders ; what action he will be taking ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : Evidence from a supplementary questionnaire to the 1990 labour force survey indicates an


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annual prevalence of around 117,000 self- reported cases of upper limb disorders caused by work. Health and Safety

Executive--HSE--officials have attended meetings of a TUC working group to discuss work-related upper limb disorders, and a conference in July 1993 organised jointly by the TUC and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. Guidance for employers on prevention of upper limb disorders was published by HSE in 1990, and a four-year "Lighten the Load" campaign to raise awareness of musculoskeletal harm was launched in 1991. An action programme to tackle upper limb disorders agreed by the Health and Safety Commission in December 1993 is now underway.

Petrol Service Station Employees

Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what legal remedies are available to employees of petrol service stations whose employers deduct from their hourly wages the cost of stock or petrol stolen by third parties.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Wages Act 1986 makes it unlawful for an employer to deduct more than 10 per cent. from the gross wages of retail workers because of cash shortages or stock deficiencies. Where a deduction is in breach of the Wages Act workers may complain to an industrial tribunal ; where it is in breach of their contract of employment they may take action in the civil courts.

Health and Safety at Work

Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proposals he has for introducing new measures to improve the Health and Safety at Work etc., Act 1974.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : I have no such proposals. However, at the Government's invitation the Health and Safety Commission is currently undertaking a review, which builds on their long-standing work of rationalising and modernising all health and safety legislation. In response to a request from the Commission, the Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill includes a clause designed to facilitate the removal of outdated and unnecessary health and safety legislation. The aim is to achieve a more effective health and safety regime. The commission will report back on the findings of its review in April.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Electricity Interconnector

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place in the Library the heads of agreement between Northern Ireland Electricity and Scottish Power on the proposed

interconnector.

Mr. Tim Smith : No. The agreement forms the basis of a commercial arrangement between two private sector companies.

Water Executive Depot, County Antrim

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the future provision of a new water executive depot in Larne, County Antrim.


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Mr. Tim Smith : The Department of the Environment does not intend to proceed with a replacement of the Larne depot at this time.

Executive Agencies

Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the subjects on which his Department formerly answered parliamentary questions but which are now referred by him to an executive agency.

Sir John Wheeler : Next steps agency chief executives are usually asked to reply to parliamentary questions about the day-to-day operational matters of their agency and on subjects for which they have delegated responsibility, as set out in their agency's framework document.

Arable Area Payments

Mr. Tipping : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in how many cases payments to farmers and landowners under the arable area payments scheme have been withheld or recovered in Northern Ireland ; what is the amount of money withheld or recovered in each case ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Ancram : To date there have been four cases where payments were withheld under the arable area payments scheme. The amounts involved were £3,177.95, £3,444.25, £772.98 and £77.08. Further cases are under consideration.

One late application valued at £121.76 was also rejected and one payment totalling £361.92 was recovered.

PRIME MINISTER

Public Bodies

Dr. Wright : To ask the Prime Minister which appointments since 1979 to public bodies or posts for which he is responsible have included candidates nominated by the Chief Whip's Office ; if any nominees by this source have been appointed ; and if he will give details.

The Prime Minister : It is not the practice of Her Majesty's Government to answer parliamentary questions about discussions and consultations between Departments and offices of Government relating to public appointments.

Scott Inquiry

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman) of 25 January, Official Report, column 152, if he will now make it his policy to give substantive answers to parliamentary questions on his testimony given at the Scott inquiry on 17 January.

The Prime Minister : No. While Lord Justice Scott's inquiry continues, it would be inappropriate to comment substantively on any of the evidence which has so far been taken.

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister what powers Lord Justice Scott has to compel the attendance as witnesses before his inquiry of people who are neither civil servants nor ministers.

The Prime Minister : Lord Justice Scott does not have powers to compel people to appear before his inquiry. I


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have made it clear that if he feels a change in his powers or terms of reference is needed, the Government will be ready to consider that.


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