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Fishery Protection
Mr. Butler : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether she will continue to use the Royal Navy to undertake fishery protection duties ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : The Fishery Protection Squadron of the Royal Navy has provided a tried, trusted and highly professional service for many years. It commands a great respect from both our fishermen and those from other
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member states. The use of the Royal Navy to enforce fisheries legislation has none the less been one of several services subject to detailed scrutiny by the Ministry as part of its contribution to the Government's "Competing for Quality" programme. Significant changes have been made to improve further the cost- effectiveness of the Fishery Protection Squadron. Consequently, a further contract has been negotiated enabling the Royal Navy to continue to undertake surface surveillance and fisheries enforcement for the next five years. During that period, the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the Royal Navy's execution of this task will continue to be subject to review.Column 373
Malaysian Airlines
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will list the dates Ministers or officials from her Department, including her Department's agencies, have used the Malaysian airline MAS for each year since 1985 including this year to date on official business ; and what was the cost of each flight to her Department.
Mr. Jack : Until a few years ago Ministry policy was to arrange all overseas travel for Ministers and officials on British airlines, or their reciprocal carriers, at commercial rates. We employ agents to place such bookings and, with the opening up of all Government activities to greater commercial exposure, they now have instructions to provide us, on each occasion, with the most suitable and economic route using the most appropriate airline.
No detailed records of airlines used are kept centrally, as outside agents are used to book seats using the most suitable and economic route with the appropriate airline.
Our agents are unable to provide us with the information required in the detail requested. Our overall impression is that the Malaysian airline MAS has been used very infrequently, if at all, for MAFF air travel in the period concerned.
Wine Standards Board
Mrs. Lait : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the remit of the Wine Standards Board ; and in what ways it has changed over the last 10 years.
Mr. Jack : The Wine Standards Board's remit is to enforce the European Community wine regulations at production, import, export and wholesale level within the United Kingdom. This function has not changed over the last 10 years.
Plant Health Campaign
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer of 10 March, Official Report, column 384, if she will place in the Library copies of any report prepared by the plant health and seeds inspectorate on the effectiveness of the plant health campaign.
Mr. Jack : Some 121,000 leaflets, posters and newsletters, dealing with plant health issues have been distributed. The plant health and seeds inspectorate has not prepared a formal report on whether recipients found this material effective or not. Our inspectors gauge its effectiveness from their knowledge of the general awareness of growers and the public about plant health issues. For example, the position was reflected by the good attendance at growers' meetings to discuss the single market plant health regime.
Ministerial Offices
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many bottles of (a) whisky and gin and (b) sherry and port were consumed by her private offices in 1993-94.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The cost of purchases of alcoholic drinks for use in entertainment by Ministers and
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their private offices is included in the overall administrative costs for the Department which is published in the departmental report.Deep-sea Fish
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research is being conducted into the habits of reproduction and spawning of the Grenadier and other very deep-sea fish ; and what assessment has been made of over-fishing of vulnerable deep-sea species.
Mr. Jack : Scientific advice collected by the European Commission in June 1993 suggested that deep-water species have slow rates of reproduction, high ages at first maturity and slow growth rates. These characteristics make them particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation. Experience elsewhere has shown that fishing can quickly reduce deep-water stocks to a low level.
Other work on the subject includes a NATO advanced research workshop on deep water fisheries of the north Atlantic which took place earlier this month and an International Council for the Exploration of the Seas study group on the biology and assessment of deep-sea fishery resources which will meet in August this year. The work is expected to provide a basis for advice on the management of such resources.
Angling
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what studies her Department has initiated to investigate the causes of the decline of fish catches by anglers over the last two fishing seasons.
Mr. Jack : The regulation and management of salmon and freshwater fisheries in England and Wales is primarily the responsibility of the National Rivers Authority. I understand that it has undertaken a number of local studies in response to concerns expressed by anglers in particular areas about the perceived decline in catches of fish.
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations she has received from angling organisations and fishery proprietors concerning the incidence of cormorants eating up freshwater fish stocks ; and what proposals she has to solve the problem.
Mr. Soames : The following bodies have expressed their concern to the Ministry about the predation of fish by cormorants :
Atlantic Salmon Association
British Field Sports Society
Kingfisher Angling and Preservation Society
Orpington and District Angling Association
Salmon and Trout Association
Wye Salmon Fishery Owners Association
Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the Ministry is a licensing authority for the killing of cormorants where evidence of serious damage to a fishery has been provided. The Ministry considers each application on its merits and is advised by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service, the Ministry's wildlife advisers. In addition, the Ministry consults English Nature. Together with other Government Departments and interested bodies, the Ministry is reviewing its research and development programme on piscivorous birds to inform policy better.
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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many confirmed cases of BSE cattle there have been on Ministry experimental farms in each of the last five years.
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Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 21 March 1994] : The information requested as at 22 March 1994 by year of report is as follows. For convenience, the animals involved in the study to determine whether maternal transmission of the disease takes place are shown separately.
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|1989|1990|1991|1992|1993
--------------------------------------------------------------
Confirmed BSE cases in maternal |0 |0 |2 |8 |11
transmission study<1>
Confirmed cases of BSE on other |4 |1 |0 |9 |7
experimental farms<2>
<1> The number of cases of BSE in this group reflects the age
of the animals and the peak age of onset of disease in the
epidemic. Due to the nature of the study the role played by
maternal transmission will not become clear until the study
is complete.
<2> These herds are run as commercial herds and have a
varying incidence of the disease according to the management
practices used and, where applicable, the history of the
animals before purchase.
Avian Piscivores
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will review her Department's policy on the licensed killing of fish- eating birds as a result of the report, on the basis for policy on avian piscivores, commissioned by the National Rivers Authority.
Mr. Soames [holding answer 23 March 1994] : The Ministry's policy on the licensed killing of fish-eating birds is kept under continual review. The report commissioned by the National Rivers Authority on avian piscivores will be taken into account as part of the process. The Ministry is reviewing its research and development requirements on piscivorous birds and the NRA is being invited to participate.
Agricultural Tenancies
Mr. Rendel : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when she will make a detailed response to the proposals for agricultural tenancy reform.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I welcomed the agreements reached by the industry last December on proposed reforms.
We are now finalising details so as to be ready to introduce legislation along those lines as soon as parliamentary time is available.
Forestry Commission
Mr. Andrew Robathan : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress she has made on reaching a conclusion on woodlands owned by the Forestry Commission in England ; and if she will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The report of the Forestry Review Group was submitted to Ministers on 28 February.
Ministers are considering the Forestry Review Group's report carefully and will make an announcement in due course.
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OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Aid and Trade Provision
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the guidelines used by his Department as to whether ATP should be paid directly to a foreign Government or a private firm.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : ODA grant aid goes to recipient Governments who then make it available both to public or private sector institutions on agreed terms. Guidelines on the terms on which aid funds are to be passed on--on-lent--by the central Government to such institutions are set out in a technical note. There are no specific guidelines for on-lending under the aid and trade provision scheme. Under ATP ODA has not routinely insisted that aid funds be on-lent on commercial terms to ensure the concessionality is captured by the recipient Government. Each project is considered individually. Account is taken of requests from the central Government for the concessionality to be captured by the central Government in some other way, or for it to be passed on to the institution concerned.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions in the last 10 years on which ATP provision has been made directly to a private company and not to the foreign Government concerned.
Ukraine
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many management training projects are currently being supported by the know-how fund in the Ukraine.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Management training is an important element in many know-how fund projects in Ukraine. A list of all current know-how fund projects there is being placed in the Libraries of the House.
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the current budget is for the know-how fund in the Ukraine ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : In 1993-94 the know-how fund is likely to spend about £3.5 million in Ukraine. We expect
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to continue to provide assistance, mainly but not exclusively, in the agricultural, financial services, small business, and energy sectors.International Tropical Timber Agreement
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the reduction in the rate of tropical deforestation which is likely to result from the new international tropical timber agreement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : It is not possible to make such an estimate. The international timber trade is only one of many factors which influence the rate of tropical deforestation. The new international tropical timber agreement contains enhanced provisions for working towards the target of the year 2000 for all internationally traded tropical timber to come from sustainably managed forests.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money from the United Kingdom Exchequer was spent on the renegotiation of the international tropical timber agreement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The Overseas Development Administration contributed £64,280 towards the costs of the second preparatory conference for the renegotiation in Quito in January 1992. The travel and subsistence costs of ODA staff attending meetings related to the renegotiation were £34,681. Details of other administrative costs could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Sleeping Accommodation
Mr. Steen : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what plans the Committee has to make bedrooms available to hon. Members on the occasion of all-night sittings following proceedings on Consolidated Fund Bills ; and how many bedrooms could be made available in this way.
Mr. Ray Powell : The Committee has no such plans. As was stated in the reply given on behalf of the Commission to the hon. Member on 15 December 1993 at column 640, there is no intention to alter existing arrangements.
Westminster Gym
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee, pursuant to his answer of 14 March, Official Report, columns 512 -13, if he will give details of space allocated and rent and other charges paid per annum by the Westminster gym.
Mr. Ray Powell : Some 350 sq m in the basement of 1 Canon row are allocated to the Westminster gymnasium. No rent or other charges are levied.
Disabled Visitors
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee, pursuant to the answer from the chairman of the Administration Committee to the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner)
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of 2 February, Official Report, column 61, if he will make a statement on his Committee's consideration of proposals relating to access to, and within, the Palace of Westminster for wheelchair -bound strangers.Mr. Ray Powell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 22 March, Official Report, column 168, to a similar question.
Exhibitions (Upper Waiting Hall)
Mr. Keen : To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if he has considered an application for an exhibition relating to district nursing awareness to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.
Mr. Michael J. Martin : I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Administration Committee, arrangements have been made for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from Monday 13 June 19 Friday 17 June.
Mr. Madel : To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if he has considered an application for an exhibition relating to Water Aid to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.
Mr. Michael J. Martin : I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Administration Committee, arrangements have been made for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from Monday 27 June to Friday 1 July.
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if he has considered an application for an exhibition relating to food-borne disease awareness to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.
Mr. Michael J. Martin : I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Administration Committee, arrangements have been made for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from Monday 23 May to Friday 27 May.
Rooms (Allocation)
Mr. Steen : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee how many rooms in the parliamentary estate for the use of (a) hon. Members and (b) hon. Members' staff are currently vacant ; and what steps are taken to allow their short-term use by hon. Members in inadequate accommodation pending their long-term allocation.
Mr. Ray Powell : The Committee has delegated day-to-day management of accommodation for Members and their staff to the Accommodation Whips and the Serjeant at Arms respectively. They seek to allocate rooms and desks as they become available ; and consider short-term use in that context. Such allocation is an ongoing process which makes difficult the estimation of the number of rooms vacant at any one time.
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SCOTLAND
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on how many occasions in the last five years he has knowingly provided incomplete information in answers to parliamentary questions other than on grounds of disproportionate cost ; and on what subjects.
Mr. Lang : In answering parliamentary questions I follow the guidelines set out in paragraph 27 of "Questions of Procedure for Ministers".
Correspondence
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many letters were received from, and written to, hon. Members by him and his ministerial colleagues in February.
Mr. Lang : My ministerial colleagues and I received 646 letters from and sent 392 letters to hon. Members during February.
Cautions
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cautions were issued by police forces in Scotland in each of the past five years for which figures are available ; and if he will list the categories of offences which are covered by such cautions.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Cautions are not issued by police forces in Scotland.
Fisheries Protection Agency
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about performance targets for the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency for 1994-95.
Mr. Lang : For the financial year 1994-95 I have set the following targets :
Aerial surveillance --per cent. of hours flown on task 85 Aerial surveillance --cost per aircraft sighting £90
Marine surveillance --number of boardings at sea 2,600
Marine surveillance --cost per boarding £2,607
Sea Fisheries Inspectorate --cost per log sheet check £63 50 per cent of cases for prosecution to be reported within 6 weeks of offence being detected and 90 per cent. within 8 weeks Number of cases where court proceedings are taken as percentage of offences reported to prosecuting authorities 75
In order to ensure that the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency uses its resources efficiently, I have set it a target to achieve cash-releasing efficiency gains of 2.0 per cent. over 1993-94. The chief executive will be directly accountable to me for the achievement of these targets, which will be reported in the agency's annual report.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the latest number of patients waiting for (a) in-patient and (b) day care treatment.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 21 March 1994] : At 30 September 1993 there were 55,518 on in-patient waiting lists and 26,728 on day case waiting lists.
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National Health Service Trusts
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the annual sum paid to each chairman of an NHS trust ; and what are the proposed payments for each chairman of trusts about to come into existence.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 21 March 1994] : The information requested is as follows :
NHS Trusts in |Chairman's
Operation
|Annual
|Remuneration
£
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Caithness and Sutherland |15,125
Ayrshire and Arran Community Health Care |17,145
Moray Health Services |17,145
Raigmore Hospital |17,145
Royal Alexandra Hospital |17,145
Royal Scottish National Hospital and Community |17,145
South Ayrshire Hospitals |17,145
Stirling Royal Infirmary |17,145
Aberdeen Royal Hospitals |19,285
Dundee Teaching Hospitals |19,285
Grampian Healthcare |19,285
Monklands and Bellshill |19,285
North Ayrshire and Arran |19,285
Southern General Hospital |19,285
Victoria Infirmary |19,285
West Lothian |19,285
Yorkhill |19,285
NHS Trusts Coming Into Operation on 1 April 1994
Edinburgh Sick Children's |15,125
Angus |17,145
Dumfries and Galloway Acute and Maternity Hospitals |17,145
East and Midlothian |17,145
Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary |17,145
Hairmyres and Stonehouse Hospitals |17,145
Highland Communities |17,145
Inverclyde Royal and Rankin Memorial Hospitals |17,145
Kirkcaldy Acute Hospitals |17,145
Law Hospital |17,145
Perth and Kinross Healthcare |17,145
Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline |17,145
Dundee Healthcare |19,285
Edinburgh Healthcare |19,285
Fife Healthcare |19,285
Glasgow Royal Infirmary |19,285
Greater Glasgow Community and Mental Health Services |19,285
Renfrewshire Healthcare |19,285
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh |19,285
Stobhill |19,285
West Glasgow Hospitals University |19,285
Western General Hospitals |19,285
National Health Service Staff
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff were employed in 1993 in the NYHS (a) in anciallary grades, (b) as nurses and midwives in training and (c) in administrator grades.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 21 March 1994] : The information requested is detailed in the table.
Selected NHSIS staff: at 30 September 1993
|Number |WTE
----------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Ancillary staff |20,583 |13,286.4
(b) Nurses in training |8,690 |8,681.4
Student midwife |301 |301.0
Health visitor/district nurse |36 |35.2
Other post registration/enrollment |885 |882.5
Basic student |3,816 |3,810.7
Pupil |35 |35.0
P2000 students<1> |3,617 |3,617.0
(c) Administrative Grades <3> |6,638 |6,459.8
General and Senior Management |1,162 |1151.6
A & C-Grade 7 and over<2> |983 |912.4
A & C-Grades 4-6 |4,543 |4,395.8
<1> At 31 October 1993.
<2> Includes protected grades.
<3> Administrators per se are not identified in the
occupational classification used in the NHS. The numbers of
senior managers and higher A & C grades are shown but include
many staff who are not administrators, such as computer
programmers and systems analysts.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many in- patients have been waiting (a) six months or more and (b) one year or more for operations.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 21 March 1994] : At 30 September 1993 there were 13,412 patients who had waited more than six months and 4, 347 patients who had waited more than one year on waiting lists for in- patient treatment.
NHS Management (Cars)
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how much was spent on cars for senior management by each health board in Scotland and in total in each of the past five years for which figures are available ;
(2) how much was spent on cars for senior management by each national health service trust in Scotland, in each year for which figures are available.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 21 March 1994] : This information is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Blood
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what quantity of blood donated through the Blood Transfusion Service in Scotland has gone to the private health sector in each of the past five years ; and what proportion this forms of total donations ; (2) to what extent Scotland has been self-sufficient in blood supplies in each of the past five years ; and how any surplus has been used or any deficit been met.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 16 March 1994] : The information available is as follows :
|Blood units |Percentage of
|issued |total issues in
|Scotland
----------------------------------------------------------------
1988-89 |3,301 |0.97
1989-90 |3,347 |0.94
1990-91 |3,361 |0.90
1991-92 |3,036 |0.79
1992-93 |3,250 |0.89
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In each of the past five years Scotland has been self-sufficient in supplies of fresh blood, plasma and fresh blood components, meeting all clinical demand. A small quantity of blood products of types not produced in Scotland is obtained from other suppliers as and when required for special clinical purposes.Red cell concentrate is the product most often in surplus and when requested in an emergency on humanitarian grounds any surplus available has been provided to blood transfusion services in other parts of the United Kingdom or to the World Health Organisation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
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