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(a) Operation CAULDRON : the pathogens that cause brucellosis and plague.
(b) Operation HESPERUS : the pathogens that cause brucellosis and tularaemia.
The results of these trials are as indicated in the Official Report, 27 January, column 396-97.
3. The safety aspects of handling, transport and packaging were all carefully addressed to ensure that there was no danger to any of those engaged in the trial whether on land or at sea. As indicated in the Official Report, 9 February, column 360, there is no cause to believe that there was any hazard to the public or the environment and there is no evidence to the contrary. Consequently, there is no reason to commission an independent inquiry into these trials.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Air Training Corps units there are in England, Scotland and Wales. Mr. Hanley : The information requested, as at 15 February 1994, is as follows :
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|Squadrons |Detached Flights|Volunteer |Air Experience |Gliding Schools |Flights ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ England |733 |68 |21 |11 Scotland |97 |13 |3 |1 Wales |76 |2 |3 |0
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy concerning the Air Training Corps.
Mr. Hanley : The Air Training Corps serves not only to foster a practical interest in the RAF and aviation, but to develop qualities such as leadership and self-disclipline. The Air Cadet Organisation is also an effective means of introducing the public to the RAF, particularly in areas where the adult service is not represented. The defence costs study--"Front Line First"--announced by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 1 December last year, is examining all aspects of support. The Air Training Corps is being studied as part of this process. It is as yet too early to speculate on the outcome of this work.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will allocate the Air Training Corps extra moneys to enable it to develop its youth work ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : There are no plans to provide extra moneys to the Air Training Corps for the purpose of developing its youth work.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will visit the Air Training Corps squadron located at Hawarden, Deeside, Clwyd.
Mr. Hanley : My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has no current plans to visit this Air Training Corps squadron.
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Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Air Training Corps squadrons he has visited in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) Wales.
Mr. Hanley : My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has not visited any Air Training Corps squadrons during his term of office.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which unit in his Department advises foreign Governments about which British arms manufacturers are suitable contractors ; and to whom this unit is accountable.
Mr. Aitken : The Defence Export Services Organisation, which is accountable to my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence, gives advice to foreign Governments on all aspects of procurement of defence equipment from companies in the United Kingdom. The choice of contractor is a matter for the purchaser.
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are working in the unit set up to oversee the defence contracts made between United Kingdom contractors and the Malaysian Government as a result of the 1988 memorandum of understanding ; and how many of these are based (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in Malaysia.
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Mr. Aitken : There are 22 people working in the Malaysian project office, of which 10 are based in the United Kingdom and 12 in Malaysia--of those, five are locally employed staff.
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has given advice to the Malaysian Government since September 1988 on the suitability of United Kingdom companies to carry out defence contracts ; and to what extent this advice has included the rating of companies by reliability.
Mr. Aitken : My Department frequently advises on the technical competence of companies, but does not make firm recommendations. The choice of contractors lies solely with the Malaysian Government, who have negotiated contracts directly with United Kingdom companies.
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total value of the loans made available to the Government of Malaysia since September 1988 to assist them in the purchase of defence exports from the United Kingdom ; when these loans will be repaid ; and on what terms.
Mr. Aitken : All the defence purchases by Malaysia under the 1988 memorandum of understanding have been made on a cash basis.
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts have been awarded to United Kingdom companies as a result of the 1988 memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian Government.
Mr. Aitken : Since the 1988 memorandum of understanding was signed defence contracts totalling over £1 billion pounds have been awarded to United Kingdom companies by Malaysia. These contracts cover radars and electronic equipment, training aircraft together with a flight simulator, frigates and associated equipment and air defence missile systems.
Mr. Wiggin : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the total operating costs of the RAF's Chinook helicopter fleet during the past 10 years ; how many aircraft have been in service on average at any one time out of the total available ; and how many hours of operational flying have been achieved in the same period.
Mr. Hanley [holding answer 26 January 1994] : The total number of hours flown during the past 10 years is 99,528. Records of operating costs are not available prior to 1989-90, since when costs have been approximately £232,000,000 and during which time some 44,200 hours have been flown. Operating costs include personnel costs and fuel and maintenance but exclude depreciation, interest on capital and station and administration costs.
On average, 18 of of 32 aircraft have been available for front-line service at any one time. These figures reflect the need for planned maintenance and servicing.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 30 November, Official Report, column 528, what value was placed by his Department on the piers prior to their sale.
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Mr. Hanley [holding answer 21 January 1994] : The information is commercial in confidence, but the sale prices represented the market value.
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those responsible for making appointments of (a) chairs and (b) members of the boards to each of the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department.
Mr. Hanley [holding answer 15 February 1994] : In respect of MOD executive NDPBs, appointments are made as follows :
(a) Chairmen--
Navy Museums
Except for the Fleet Air Arm Museum (ex-officio appointment) chairmen for all other Navy Museums are appointed by the respective Museum Board.
RAF Museum
Appointed by Secretary of State for Defence.
Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC)
Appointed by SSVC council.
Oil and Pipelines Agency (OPA)
Appointed by Secretary of State for Defence.
(b) Members--
Navy Museums
The Director for each Navy Museum is appointed by a special Board of the appropriate museum. All Trustees are appointed by the respective Museum Board.
National Army Museum (NAM)
The Director of the Museum is appointed by the council of the NAM and the Trustees are appointed by the Army Board.
RAF Museum
The Director of the Museum is appointed by the Trustees and the Trustees are appointed by the Secretary of State.
Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC)
The Board of Management is appointed by the SSVC council. Oil and Pipelines Agency (OPA)
Members are appointed by the Secretary of State.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many men have been killed while serving in the Merchant Navy in each year since 1964.
Mr. Norris : I have been asked to reply.
The number of Merchant Navy personnel reported as having been killed in, or who died as a result of an accident involving a United Kingdom registered merchant vessel of 100 gross tons and over since 1964 is :--
Year |Number of deaths --------------------------------------------------- 1965 |66 1966 |122 1967 |78 1968 |41 1969 |50 1970 |77 1971 |29 1972 |95 1973 |49 1974 |47 1975 |71 1976 |46 1977 |40 1978 |71 1979 |47 1980 |67 1981 |38 1982 |44 1983 |15 1984 |14 1985 |7 1986 |13 1987 |44 1988 |13 1989 |7 1990 |5 1991 |8 1992 |3 1993 |4
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer of 7 February, Official Report, column 107, if she will give details of the number of goosanders shot on the Duke of Devonshire's estates ; and what non-lethal scaring methods were first tried.
Mr. Soames : Between 1 October 1993 and 31 January 1994, seven goosanders have been shot on the Duke of Devonshire's estates. A range of non-lethal scaring methods including human presence, netting and scarecrows have been previously employed.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer of 7 February, Official Report, columns 108-09 , if she will give reasons in each case for the granting of licences to kill greenfinches, robins and blackbirds in 1990, and robins, blackbirds, thrush, blue tits and wrens in 1992.
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Mr. Soames : In each case, the birds were shot for the purpose of preserving public health when they had become trapped inside premises where food supplies were at risk of contamination and where non-lethal methods of removing the birds were ineffective or impractical.
Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when she expects to make a decision on the future of the Agricultural wages board.
Mr. Jack : I refer the hon. Member to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Minister gave to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang) on 11 January 1994, Official Report, column 50.
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence she has that bovine spongiform encephalopathy is vertically transmissible, from cow to calf, or horizontally transmissible, from cow to cow.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Laboratory-based studies and
epidemiological analyses have provided no unequivocal evidence of either vertical or horizontal transmission of BSE. Research is continuing to address these questions and the results will be published in due course.
A letter published in the veterinary record of 12 February stated that the Ministry is aware of 534 confirmed cases of BSE that were offspring of dams which were confirmed cases. This in itself does not prove that transmission was from dam to calf since interpretation of data has been complicated by the fact that most of the positive offspring had also been exposed to ruminant protein.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will list, by county, the number of cases of BSE in each month since January 1992.
Mr. Soames : The numbers of cases of BSE in Great Britain listed by month of confirmation and county from January 1992 to January 1994 inclusive, are as follows :
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Total number of cases by month confirmed and county County/Month: Year |Jan-92 |Feb-92 |Mar-92 |Apr-92 |May-92 |June-92 |July-92 |Aug-92 |Sept-92 |Oct-92 |Nov-92 |Dec-92 |Total --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avon |53 |37 |55 |59 |47 |87 |55 |41 |55 |36 |94 |57 |676 Bedfordshire |7 |6 |3 |12 |12 |7 |12 |3 |9 |10 |4 |11 |96 Berkshire |17 |14 |9 |15 |12 |22 |17 |16 |22 |7 |14 |17 |182 Borders |11 |8 |6 |5 |10 |4 |5 |9 |15 |9 |9 |9 |100 Buckinghamshire |18 |21 |20 |14 |31 |24 |28 |19 |24 |14 |24 |17 |254 Cambridgeshire |7 |14 |5 |6 |11 |7 |9 |7 |8 |5 |8 |4 |91 Central |4 |4 |1 |3 |1 |1 |4 |1 |5 |3 |6 |5 |38 Cheshire |86 |75 |111 |89 |174 |122 |209 |98 |182 |167 |118 |86 |1,517 Cleveland |5 |1 |4 |2 |4 |3 |4 |1 |6 |3 |6 |2 |41 Clwyd |31 |36 |31 |63 |51 |59 |38 |33 |47 |52 |45 |51 |537 Cornwall |200 |181 |180 |201 |260 |309 |170 |184 |166 |244 |185 |175 |2,455 Cumbria |92 |85 |54 |101 |103 |132 |86 |97 |102 |115 |107 |79 |1,153 Derbyshire |74 |64 |60 |58 |109 |72 |93 |62 |78 |55 |86 |65 |876 Devon |216 |263 |240 |253 |344 |427 |264 |236 |235 |337 |250 |200 |3,265 Dorset |185 |191 |174 |199 |165 |272 |145 |130 |148 |117 |205 |127 |2,058 Dumfries |67 |40 |36 |26 |22 |49 |54 |36 |52 |41 |51 |44 |518 Durham |9 |10 |12 |5 |19 |26 |13 |7 |21 |17 |14 |12 |165 Dyfed |144 |147 |159 |118 |199 |219 |146 |146 |155 |165 |121 |144 |1,863 Essex |7 |8 |15 |19 |9 |15 |22 |5 |10 |13 |18 |27 |168 Fife |3 |4 |6 |4 |5 |7 |0 |4 |3 |2 |5 |12 |55 Glamorgan Mid |7 |2 |1 |5 |2 |2 |1 |6 |4 |7 |6 |2 |45 Glamorgan South |10 |7 |13 |7 |11 |6 |9 |11 |10 |10 |11 |5 |110 Glamorgan West |2 |0 |1 |2 |2 |5 |2 |5 |5 |1 |2 |1 |28 Gloucestershire |53 |38 |46 |56 |49 |87 |46 |63 |69 |38 |61 |61 |667 Grampian |15 |14 |14 |26 |14 |26 |22 |22 |26 |27 |30 |31 |267 Gwent |15 |16 |30 |17 |21 |21 |18 |16 |15 |20 |27 |16 |232 Gwynedd |8 |6 |8 |13 |14 |14 |12 |14 |18 |13 |17 |18 |155 Hampshire |63 |60 |39 |59 |58 |77 |86 |54 |52 |41 |65 |75 |729 Hereford and Worcester |32 |26 |60 |38 |56 |65 |55 |26 |79 |46 |32 |32 |549 Hertfordshire |5 |4 |4 |9 |6 |12 |16 |6 |7 |15 |9 |6 |99 Highland |4 |2 |6 |5 |4 |4 |1 |4 |10 |6 |7 |7 |60 Humberside |8 |10 |12 |3 |15 |22 |7 |3 |11 |10 |12 |22 |135 Isle of Wight |14 |8 |9 |13 |10 |18 |11 |9 |19 |7 |9 |10 |137 Kent |46 |33 |20 |26 |44 |44 |39 |32 |21 |21 |32 |41 |399 Lancashire |70 |89 |70 |121 |104 |142 |107 |125 |86 |147 |124 |115 |1,300 Leicestershire |65 |45 |43 |35 |58 |59 |47 |59 |67 |41 |60 |36 |615 Lincolnshire |15 |15 |14 |19 |13 |20 |25 |16 |17 |13 |9 |21 |197 London |2 |2 |1 |2 |3 |3 |4 |1 |1 |1 |1 |2 |23 Lothian |6 |3 |0 |3 |7 |3 |1 |1 |3 |5 |7 |3 |42 Manchester |3 |5 |3 |5 |1 |5 |3 |4 |6 |7 |9 |6 |57 Merseyside |4 |3 |1 |5 |1 |4 |4 |2 |4 |1 |4 |1 |34 Norfolk |80 |64 |26 |55 |96 |109 |87 |59 |49 |33 |52 |86 |796 Northamptonshire |32 |26 |9 |20 |31 |17 |14 |29 |15 |20 |28 |28 |269 Northumberland |7 |11 |11 |21 |34 |31 |21 |8 |24 |19 |31 |22 |240 Nottinghamshire |14 |19 |7 |10 |24 |18 |31 |18 |14 |7 |28 |16 |206 Orkney |0 |3 |0 |2 |2 |0 |1 |1 |2 |3 |3 |3 |20 Oxford |60 |51 |28 |30 |54 |48 |56 |32 |34 |24 |28 |58 |503 Powys |29 |20 |25 |32 |59 |63 |51 |23 |45 |43 |37 |34 |461 Shropshire |49 |40 |82 |50 |81 |131 |73 |66 |91 |69 |64 |63 |859 Shetland |0 |0 |0 |2 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |2 Somerset |239 |239 |214 |249 |209 |361 |206 |187 |204 |164 |309 |126 |2,707 Staffordshire |39 |64 |70 |87 |95 |141 |81 |43 |116 |89 |76 |59 |960 Strathclyde |41 |34 |23 |18 |25 |31 |43 |25 |43 |46 |40 |29 |398 Suffolk |32 |32 |17 |19 |36 |37 |44 |35 |31 |24 |25 |24 |356 Surrey |20 |27 |15 |20 |30 |25 |27 |21 |22 |13 |17 |30 |267 Sussex, East |38 |35 |23 |30 |32 |46 |39 |19 |37 |11 |27 |37 |374 Sussex, West |70 |56 |43 |62 |62 |58 |52 |43 |57 |28 |46 |68 |645 Tayside |3 |11 |4 |7 |6 |8 |3 |6 |17 |18 |15 |14 |112 Tyne and Wear |2 |0 |1 |0 |1 |2 |0 |0 |2 |1 |1 |0 |10 West Midlands |1 |0 |4 |0 |3 |6 |4 |2 |3 |2 |2 |0 |27 Warwickshire |21 |19 |22 |18 |31 |47 |31 |11 |20 |18 |17 |39 |294 Wiltshire |124 |111 |127 |136 |103 |182 |154 |94 |119 |119 |69 |98 |1,436 Yorkshire, North |96 |97 |106 |95 |153 |175 |124 |85 |164 |115 |120 |141 |1,471 Yorkshire, South |4 |6 |11 |10 |6 |16 |12 |5 |12 |10 |16 |8 |116 Yorkshire, West |12 |9 |18 |11 |24 |24 |13 |3 |25 |19 |17 |20 |195
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Total number of cases by month confirmed and county County/Month: Year |Jan-93 |Feb-93 |Mar-93 |Apr-93 |May-93 |June-93 |July-93 |Aug-93 |Sept-93 |Oct-93 |Nov-93 |Dec-93 |Total --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avon |82 |63 |65 |55 |59 |53 |38 |37 |31 |57 |58 |37 |635 Bedfordshire |11 |8 |13 |7 |4 |11 |8 |6 |6 |2 |9 |13 |98 Berkshire |21 |14 |14 |8 |18 |9 |8 |13 |13 |15 |17 |7 |157 Borders |15 |20 |15 |11 |15 |15 |5 |9 |10 |10 |13 |16 |154 Buckinghamshire |46 |37 |30 |23 |33 |21 |19 |27 |19 |23 |34 |21 |333 Cambridgeshire |14 |15 |13 |7 |12 |16 |11 |7 |6 |9 |12 |8 |130 Central |3 |9 |10 |1 |5 |2 |11 |5 |3 |4 |9 |5 |67 Cheshire |166 |172 |136 |122 |115 |142 |98 |125 |100 |109 |166 |106 |1,557 Cleveland |6 |8 |7 |4 |4 |5 |0 |9 |2 |5 |3 |5 |58 Clwyd |48 |67 |54 |53 |39 |67 |51 |50 |48 |54 |49 |44 |624 Cornwall |145 |318 |222 |209 |129 |205 |156 |79 |151 |218 |135 |157 |2,124 Cumbria |149 |134 |117 |150 |88 |94 |79 |83 |104 |90 |145 |95 |1,328 Derbyshire |96 |84 |130 |75 |54 |103 |47 |64 |79 |63 |96 |50 |941 Devon |285 |330 |250 |242 |209 |218 |214 |281 |232 |208 |253 |190 |2,912 Dorset |180 |181 |162 |203 |107 |181 |110 |163 |124 |131 |178 |102 |1,822 Dumfries |72 |58 |68 |45 |66 |66 |36 |56 |22 |68 |68 |46 |671 Durham |23 |16 |14 |12 |13 |14 |3 |12 |12 |20 |16 |16 |171 Dyfed |190 |229 |179 |157 |151 |149 |136 |119 |133 |130 |194 |136 |1,903 Essex |20 |14 |21 |13 |19 |18 |14 |18 |11 |15 |22 |14 |199 Fife |13 |8 |7 |8 |10 |6 |3 |9 |10 |8 |9 |14 |105 Glamorgan Mid |5 |4 |5 |5 |3 |4 |4 |1 |4 |1 |10 |5 |51 Glamorgan South |8 |16 |11 |5 |9 |7 |7 |8 |9 |9 |10 |7 |106 Glamorgan West |6 |2 |1 |0 |6 |3 |3 |0 |2 |6 |4 |3 |36 Gloucestershire |95 |57 |82 |52 |50 |40 |31 |47 |41 |60 |63 |34 |652 Grampian |35 |43 |29 |36 |26 |34 |29 |21 |27 |36 |47 |33 |396 Gwent |27 |37 |31 |19 |25 |11 |16 |22 |13 |13 |23 |18 |255 Gwynedd |17 |20 |19 |11 |14 |12 |9 |12 |16 |17 |17 |22 |186 Hampshire |91 |39 |106 |51 |81 |63 |51 |49 |67 |40 |72 |29 |739 Hereford and Worcester 54 77 52 55 61 38 35 50 58 50 70 46 646 Hertfordshire |17 |9 |12 |6 |19 |22 |4 |15 |8 |14 |16 |14 |156 Highland |12 |7 |7 |5 |4 |9 |4 |11 |4 |6 |9 |11 |89 Humberside |31 |19 |19 |15 |20 |16 |12 |22 |17 |16 |13 |14 |214 Isle of Wight |14 |8 |24 |14 |13 |18 |3 |5 |8 |11 |13 |6 |137 Kent |64 |17 |34 |25 |63 |52 |23 |30 |48 |25 |35 |39 |455 Lancashire |158 |105 |130 |173 |103 |125 |78 |89 |104 |95 |120 |75 |1,355 Leicestershire |88 |38 |67 |59 |37 |68 |51 |39 |61 |38 |78 |40 |664 Lincolnshire |27 |5 |24 |13 |23 |31 |11 |16 |14 |34 |25 |29 |252 London |2 |1 |8 |3 |3 |4 |0 |4 |1 |3 |1 |4 |34 Lothian |8 |8 |5 |6 |3 |8 |3 |4 |3 |9 |3 |8 |68 Manchester |9 |3 |12 |8 |12 |12 |6 |4 |4 |8 |11 |5 |94 Merseyside |2 |1 |4 |5 |0 |1 |1 |1 |5 |0 |4 |1 |25 Norfolk |106 |25 |80 |29 |95 |107 |80 |111 |76 |64 |105 |88 |966 Northamptonshire |43 |15 |30 |17 |35 |23 |15 |20 |22 |19 |23 |20 |282 Northumberland |38 |18 |32 |13 |22 |20 |13 |23 |14 |33 |19 |35 |280 Nottinghamshire |19 |18 |26 |21 |27 |19 |13 |16 |19 |9 |19 |6 |212 Orkney |2 |4 |5 |3 |2 |1 |1 |2 |2 |5 |3 |3 |33 Oxford |66 |39 |44 |44 |33 |39 |21 |49 |20 |24 |46 |29 |454 Powys |56 |59 |46 |49 |33 |47 |45 |48 |56 |36 |66 |53 |594 Shropshire |98 |98 |80 |68 |74 |90 |59 |79 |61 |71 |101 |67 |946 Shetland |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 Somerset |287 |268 |270 |220 |110 |316 |163 |167 |216 |175 |227 |116 |2,535 Staffordshire |78 |113 |97 |67 |72 |118 |70 |96 |92 |66 |74 |49 |992 Strathclyde |59 |66 |47 |29 |47 |50 |19 |32 |26 |60 |61 |44 |540 Suffolk |56 |22 |33 |35 |48 |54 |22 |44 |28 |32 |47 |43 |464 Surrey |36 |11 |32 |17 |40 |24 |16 |13 |17 |16 |26 |21 |269 Sussex, East |50 |19 |36 |26 |48 |49 |13 |26 |22 |24 |50 |31 |394 Sussex, West |97 |36 |62 |51 |80 |66 |42 |58 |50 |40 |58 |62 |702 Tayside |19 |13 |11 |12 |13 |4 |12 |10 |10 |17 |11 |12 |144 Tyne and Wear |3 |3 |2 |1 |1 |2 |1 |1 |0 |1 |0 |1 |16 West Midlands |3 |1 |4 |5 |3 |1 |1 |3 |2 |0 |7 |5 |35 Warwickshire |34 |27 |43 |27 |34 |29 |22 |35 |27 |30 |35 |27 |370 Wiltshire |168 |163 |166 |108 |123 |127 |79 |93 |97 |85 |145 |81 |1,435 Yorkshire, North |181 |151 |164 |97 |160 |130 |106 |157 |97 |143 |93 |141 |1,620 Yorkshire, South |14 |16 |24 |8 |9 |7 |12 |13 |12 |15 |5 |10 |145 Yorkshire, West |29 |26 |20 |13 |21 |16 |17 |23 |12 |25 |18 |23 |243
Number of confirmed cases in January 1994 by county |Number ------------------------------------- Avon |19 Bedfordshire |5 Berkshire |8 Borders |20 Buckinghamshire |18 Cambridgeshire |6 Central |8 Cheshire |102 Cleveland |7 Clwyd |44 Cornwall |79 Cumbria |69 Derbyshire |78 Devon |93 Dorset |75 Dumfries |86 Durham |17 Dyfed |131 Essex |9 Fife |7 Mid Glamorgan |1 South Glamorgan |10 West Glamorgan |2 Gloucestershire |21 Grampian |29 Gwent |10 Gwynedd |10 Hampshire |90 Hereford and Worcester |21 Hertfordshire |5 Highland |13 Humberside |27 Isle of Wight |11 Kent |14 Lancashire |76 Leicestershire |49 Lincolnshire |11 London |1 Lothian |6 Manchester |4 Merseyside |3 Norfolk |38 Northamptonshire |13 Northumberland |40 Nottinghamshire |19 Orkney |3 Oxfordshire |20 Powys |55 Shropshire |70 Somerset |115 Staffordshire |62 Strathclyde |53 Suffolk |30 Surrey |9 East Sussex |31 West Sussex |40 Tayside |18 Tyne and Wear |3 West Midlands |1 Warwickshire |18 Wiltshire |41 North Yorkshire |161 South Yorkshire |19 West Yorkshire |30
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will list all grants and licences issued by her Department ; what is the target response time
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for applications for these grants and licences ; in what form this information is published ; and what was the comparable situation in April 1992.Mr. Jack : An extensive, but not exhaustive, list of grants and licences with relevant target times was published in the Ministry's regional service standard "Commitment to Service" in December 1992. A copy of that document is in the Library of the House. It is planned to publish a revision of "Commitment to Service", which will extend targets to other grant and licence schemes, in May this year. Comparative information on performance against targets will be published later in the year and copies will be available on request from Ministry regional service centres.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consultations she proposes to have with representatives of the fishing industry to discuss the EU proposal for a Council regulation fixing management objectives and strategies for certain fisheries or groups of fisheries for the period 1994 to 1997 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : This complex proposal has recently been published by the European Commission. It requires clarification and careful study, including by scientists. When Fisheries Departments have obtained fuller information from the Commission and have analysed its implications, discussion will be arranged with representatives of the fishing industry.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make it her policy to grant notifiable livestock disease status to sheep scab ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : Most of the detailed measures on the control of sheep scab were removed by the repeal of secondary legislation in July 1992. The Government have already announced that they intend to use the deregulation order making powers in the Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill, if enacted, to complete this process by amending the Animal Health Act 1981 to remove (a) the powers of Ministers to make orders under it on the periodic treatment of sheep scab and (b) the obligation on farmers to notify outbreaks of sheep scab. We propose to achieve the second point by removing sheep scab from the definition of "disease" in the Act.
I have no other plans to require the notification of sheep scab.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make it her policy to grant notifiable livestock disease status to bovine immunodeficiency virus ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : We have no such plans. I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for North Cornwall (Mr. Tyler), Official Report, 10 February column 430.
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Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many incidents of bovine immunodeficiency virus have been reported for each of the last five years ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : No cases of disease caused by bovine immunodeficiency virus have been identified by the Department in the last five years. I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Clwyd, South-West (Mr. Jones), Official Report, 18 February column 1057-58.
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions she has had with her ministerial colleague in Northern Ireland concerning the reinstatement of the agricultural development operational programme scheme ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Ancram : I have been asked to reply on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. She has not had any discussions with my noble Friend concerning the reinstatement of the ADOP scheme. The successor to ADOP forms part of the Northern Ireland structural funds plan that has been submitted direct to the European Commission. Officials from the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland are currently negotiating with the Commission on the detail of the new community support framework, which will implement the plan, and it is hoped that agreement will be reached by May with implementation following as soon as possible thereafter.
Mr. Etherington : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans she has to ensure that additional resources will be made available to (a) English Nature, (b) the Countryside Council for Wales, (c) the Nature Conservation Committee and (d) Scottish Natural Heritage for the designation and management of special areas of conservation in accordance with the EC habitants and species directive 43/92/EEC.
Mr. Atkins : I have been asked to reply.
Grant-in-aid to English Nature for the financial year 1994-95 will be £40.4 million, an increase of 6.5 per cent. over 1993-94. Scottish Natural Heritage will receive £39.9 million and the Countryside Council for Wales £20.6 million, increases of 10.4 per cent. and 3.8 per cent. respectively. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee receives its funding from the grants-in-aid made to the other nature conservation agencies, but the level of their funding for 1994-95 has not yet been determined. Resources made available to all the agencies responsible for countryside and nature conservation have increased by over 240 per cent. in real terms over the past 10 years. The Secretaries of State for the Environment, Scotland and Wales have asked nature conservation agencies to give implementation of the habitats directive the highest priority for available resources.
11. Mr. Willetts : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what priority the Government will give to competition in the future development of rail services.
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Mr. Freeman : One of the objectives of our railway policy is to increase competition. This will be achieved by, for example, the competitive letting of passenger franchises and by competition between rail freight operating companies.
15. Mr. Cyril D. Townsend : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the future route of the east London river crossing.
Mr. Norris : The way ahead for the crossing is being considered as part of the national review of the trunk road programme. An announcement will be made in due course.
16. Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make an announcement about the Blackwall third crossing.
Mr. Norris : We still need to give a good deal of thought to what we should do to respond to the public consultation exercise. Considerable concern was expressed about the environmental consequences of the bridge option. But I also recognise that development of the Greenwich peninsula and other areas of docklands could be hampered by ever-increasing congestion at the current Blackwall crossings. I will make an announcement in due course.
17. Mr. Whittingdale : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evidence he has from previous privatisations of transport industries that passengers will benefit from the privatisation of British Rail.
Mr. Freeman : British Airways has been transformed into one of the world's leading airlines since privatisation, with passengers benefiting from its innovative approach and commitment to high standards of service which regularly win international awards. The privatisation of bus companies has resulted in great efficiency, more choice, more bus miles, innovative services and lower cost to the taxpayer.
The best way to achieve our obective of improving the quality of service for rail users is to give the private sector similar opportunities to provide existing, and new, rail services.
18. Mr. Khabra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received about the current restrictions on night flights at Heathrow.
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