House of Commons Hansard Debates for 11 Mar 1994

Sites of Special Scientific Interest

Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the statutory basis for the requirement that landowners with sites of special scientific interest on their land enter into a management agreement with the Countryside Council for Wales.

Sir Wyn Roberts : Management agreements made under section 15 of the Countryside Act 1968 between the Countryside Council for Wales and owners or occupiers of sites of special scientific interest are voluntary, not mandatory.

Dentistry

Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the amount spent per child on general dental services, including in the calculation those not registered with a general dental practitioner.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information is shown in the following table.


(a)          |(b)         |(c)         |(d)         |(e)                      

Gross        |Number of   |Number of   |Cost per    |Cost per                 

expenditure  |registered  |children    |registered  |child in the             

             |children    |in the      |child       |population               

                          |population                                         

(£000)                                 |£           |£                        

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

15,554       |421,595     |666,664     |36.89       |23.33                    

Notes                                                                         

1. The gross expenditure on general dental services(GDS) in column (a)        

comprises capitation payments, weighted entry payments, child item of service 

payments for treatments given under capitation, and child item of service     

payments for treatments given on an occasional basis, for the financial       

year1992-93.                                                                  

2. Column (b) is the number of children registered with a general dental      

practitioner at 30 September 1992.                                            

3. Column (c) is for 30 June 1992, estimated home population under 18.        

4. Column (d) is calculated by dividing the figure in column (a), by that in (

b).                                                                           

5. Column (e) is calculated by dividing the figure of column (a), by          

that in (c).                                                                  

6. Children may also be treated in the Community and Hospital Dental Service  

as well as in the General Dental Service.

Local Authority Tenants

Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to lay regulations to give force to the new right to manage for local authority tenants.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : The Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 1994 which have been laid before Parliament today implement the citizens charter commitment to give local authority tenants' organisations a statutory right to manage their own homes.

The right to manage will allow properly constituted and representative tenants organisations to assume housing management functions. This is another part of the process of devolving control to the most local level and thus enabling people to have greater control over their own lives. The new right means that tenant management organisations can grasp the benefits of greater cost control, local accountability and responsive services. I hope to see an increasing number of tenant organisations in Wales managing council housing over the next few years.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Mr. Butler : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what changes she intends to make to the compensation arrangements for bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Mr. Soames [pursuant to the reply, 21 January, Official Report, col. 855] : An order which will modify the BSE compensation arrangements as outlined in the announcement of 21 January was laid before both Houses today. The order will come into force on 1 April 1994.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Philippines (Counter-trade Agreements)

Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what counter-trade agreements with the Philippines his Department has been involved in since 1986 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Needham : My Department has not been involved in any counter- trade agreements with the Philippines. That would be a commercial matter for the exporter.

Life Assurance

Mr. Darling : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will ask the Securities and Investments Board to publish guidelines on the investment of life assurance funds, with particular reference to investment of such funds in wholly owned subsidiaries of such institutions.

Mr. Neil Hamilton : The responsibilities of the SIB in relation to life insurance under the Financial Services Act relate primarily to marketing and the provision of advice to clients.

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has powers relating to the maintenance of adequate solvency in

Column 453

insurance companies. The regulations do not generally seek to limit the investments an insurance company may make, but may restrict the extent to which they are admissible as part of the required solvency margin.

Petrol

Mr. Dafis : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recommendations have been circulated within the Government from the DTI regarding altering the tax differential between leaded and unleaded petrol ; and what implications these recommendations have for the Government's commitment to sustainable development.

Mr. Neil Hamilton : No such recommendations have been made. I am, however, interested in the question of cost-benefit analyses of Government decisions, including the case of the excise duty differential in favour of unleaded petrol.

Gas

Sir Cranley Onslow : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the cost of gas supplied to his Department for heating purposes in each of the past two years.

Column 454

Mr. Eggar : The cost of gas for the year 1992-93 was £998,598. This figure is for all gas consumption, not only for heating. Information for 1991-92 is not available.

Sir Cranley Onslow : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of the gas used by his Department is now purchased from independent suppliers ; and what have been the consequent effects on public expenditure.

Mr. Eggar : Thirty-one per cent. of the gas used in DTI's nine headquarters buildings is purchased from independent suppliers producing an estimated saving in the first year of £7,700. Headquarters buildings account for about 20 per cent. of the Department's gas consumption. Information about supply arrangements outside the headquarters estate is not available centrally.

Rolls-Royce

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much Rolls-Royce has received in launch aid since 1979.

Mr. Sainsbury : Since 1979 the Department has provided £458.4 million in launch aid to Rolls-Royce.

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