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Energy Savings Trust
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for funding the Energy Savings Trust.
Mr. Atkins : The intention is that funds for schemes sponsored by the Energy Saving Trust will continue to be derived principally from electricity and gas tariff consumers.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the proposed timetable for the promotion of energy conservation schemes by the Energy Savings Trust, as set out in paragraph 3.36 of "Climate Change, the UK Programme", Cm 2427.
Mr. Atkins : I understand that the Energy Saving Trust is to announce its strategic plan shortly.
County Hall, London
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 29 March, Official Report, columns 661-62 , what has been done with the balance of the capital receipt from the sale of county hall, London, which was not distributed to the London boroughs and the City of London.
Mr. Baldry : At the end of 1993, in accordance with the terms of the London Government Reorganisation (Capital Money) (Greater London) (Amendment) Order 1993, the London residuary body distributed to the London boroughs and the City of London all its capital money, including capital receipts received up to the end of November.
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 29 March, Official Report, columns 661-62, what reasons underlay his decision to refuse to disclose the sum received from the sale of county hall, London, on the grounds of commercial confidentiality.
Mr. Baldry : The Government are not party to the sale of county hall. The terms of the sale--including the sale price--were and remain confidential between the London residuary body and the purchasers.
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North Sea
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library the quality status report on the North sea.
Mr. Atkins : I am placing copies in the Library today. Copies of six reports produced by the United Kingdom on sub-regions of the North sea are also being placed in the Library.
HM Inspectorate of Pollution
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans have been made to close any of the regional offices of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.
Mr. Atkins : No plans have been made to close any of the regional offices of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.
Energy Savings Trust
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from the Director General of Ofgas about the funding of the Energy Savings Trust.
Mr. Atkins : I am aware of the Director General of Gas Supply's views about the use of the E factor arrangements to fund incentive schemes facilitated by the Energy Savings Trust, and officials from my Department and the Department of Trade and Industry are currently reviewing the position with the Office of Gas Supply.
Rent Levels
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library the average rent levels in local authority housing for 1994-95, broken down into separate authorities.
Sir George Young : This information is taken from local housing authorities' own returns, which are currently being sent to my Department. It will be placed in the Library at the earliest opportunity.
Radioactive Waste (Dumping at Sea)
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out an explanation for the inclusion at paragraph 14 of the description of vote 5 of class VII supply estimates for 1994-95 on central environmental services, of a potential expenditure arising from the indemnification by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority of certain ship owners in respect of third parties arising from dumping of radioactive waste at sea.
Mr. Atkins : Details of the potential expenditure were laid before the House in a minute dated 17 August 1978, Cmnd. 7316, a copy of which is in the Library. The liability, previously contained on a token subhead, has, since the minute was first presented, been replaced by the reference in paragraph 14 of the introduction to class VIII, vote 5. The reference relates only to potential claims form persons in countries which are not parties to the Paris convention on third party liability in the field of nuclear energy. The United Kingdom ceased sea dumping of radioactive waste in 1982.
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Single Regeneration Budget
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement setting out the purposes of the single regeneration budget and those constituent schemes which it encompasses.
Mr. Baldry : The single regeneration budget is intended to improve local areas and enhance the quality of life of local people by tackling need, stimulating wealth creation and improving competitiveness. It will encourage local partners to come together to plan a strategic approach to these needs and priorities. The programmes which are included in the budget are as follows : From the Department of the Environment
Estate Action
Housing Action Trusts
City Challenge/Urban Programme
Urban Regeneration Agency
Urban Development Corporations
Inner City Task Forces
City Action Teams
From the Employment Department
Programme Development Fund
Education Business Partnerships
Teacher Placement Service
Compacts/Inner City Compacts
Business Start-Up Scheme
Local Initiative Fund
TEC Challenge
From the Home Office
Safer Cities
Section 11 Grants (part)
Ethnic Minority Grant
Ethnic Minority Business Initiative
From the Department of Trade and Industry
Regional Enterprise Grants
(plus English Estates, to be subsumed into English Partnerships) From the Department for Education
Grants for Education Support and Training (part)
Lakes (Rescue Services)
Mr. Trimble : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what rescue facilities exist on large lakes ; and what support is offered by the Government to rescue services on large lakes.
Mr. Norris : I have been asked to reply.
Rescue facilities on large lakes vary locally. My Department does not provide support to rescue services but marine district safety committees, which cover the whole of the United Kingdom, have been carrying out a wide- ranging review of the way in which
responsibilities for safety, rescue and accident prevention are presently distributed.
Water Filtering Equipment
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what chemicals involved in the production of water filtering equipment, referred to in his letter of 22 March to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, may be diverted to military use.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 28 March 1994] : I have been asked to reply.
Possible military uses of the chemicals approved in the United Kingdom for addition to the water supply for the purposes of purfication are in the table :
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Chemical |Use in water |Possible military
|use
|purification
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calcium Hypochlorite |Disinfectant |None known
Chlorine |Disinfectant |Historically this has been used as
| a poison gas'.
Chlorine Dioxide |Disinfectant |None known
Hydrogen Peroxide |Disinfectant |If the concentration is greater
| than 85 per cent. then it may
| be used as a fuel additive.
Sodium Chlorite |Disinfectant |None known
Sodium Hypochlorite |Disinfectant |None known
DEFENCE
North Korea
17. Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his assessment of the impact of the situation in North Korea on British defence policy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : We are monitoring the situation in the Korean peninsula closely, and share the concerns of the international community over North Korea's nuclear programme.
Bosnia
18. Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received about the role of British forces in Bosnia.
Mr. Hanley : My right hon. and learned Friend and I continue to receive a wide range of representations from a variety of sources on this subject.
19. Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with General Sir Michael Rose regarding the situation in Bosnia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : During his visit to Bosnia last month, my right hon. and learned Friend met Lieutenant General Sir Michael Rose and was fully briefed on the situation in Bosnia, and again subsequently. The achievements of the United Nations and General Rose in securing a ceasefire in Sarajevo for the first time in two years, and the subsequent ceasefire in central Bosnia, are to be highly commended.
20. Sir Fergus Montgomery : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he next expects to visit Bosnia to discuss the need for the deployment of further forces.
Mr. Hanley : My right hon. and learned Friend announced the deployment of a further 900 troops to Bosnia in his statement to the House on 10 March, Official Report, column 397. He has since visited the former Yugoslavia and had discussions with United Nations commanders there about a variety of issues, including troop deployments.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many troops and backup forces are currently involved in the United Nations operation in Bosnia ; at what cost to public funds ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : There are currently some 3,300 British service men deployed on the ground in the former
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Yugoslavia, with a further 3,000 based offshore and in Italy, engaged in operations in support of UN Security Council resolutions. The additional cost of their deployment is estimated to be around £125,000,000 for the financial year 1994-95, some of which is recoverable from the UN.D-day Anniversary
21. Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what preparations are being made by his Department over the 50th anniversary of D-day.
Mr. Hanley : My Department is organising the official military commemorations of the 50th anniversary of D-day under the chairmanship of my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence. These commemorations were announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 6 January and brief details have been placed in the Library of the House.
Fleet Maintenance
22. Mr. Streeter : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the amount of fleet maintenance work available to HM royal dockyards over the next 10 years.
Mr. Aitken : As my hon. Friend is aware, fleet maintenance involves work carried out on front line units during operational time and does not include refitting. Little such work is, therefore, undertaken at the royal dockyards. There are no plans to change this arrangement.
23. Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to ban fox hunting in the defence forces.
Mr. Hanley : Although fox hunting is not a recognised sport in any of the three services, certain hunts have licences to hunt over MOD land.
Army (Size)
24. Ms Coffey : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to change the size of the British Army.
Mr. Hanley : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Mr. Thompson) on 8 February 1994, Official Report, column 134.
Defence Capability
25. Mr. Dickens : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of whether the United Kingdom defence capability is sufficient to safeguard the realm and to respond to NATO obligations and United Nations demands.
Mr. Hanley : The assessment of the balance between commitments, capabilities and resources is a continuous activity within the Ministry of Defence. "Defending Our Future", the 1993 statement on the Defence Estimates (Cm 2270), set out our assessment of the tasks our armed forces are called upon to undertake and the capabilities we deploy. The Government remain confident that the armed forces are able to carry out the broad spectrum of
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operations which they currently undertake : for our own protection, contributing to collective defence with our allies through NATO, and promoting our wider security interests through support for the maintenance of international peace and stability.26. Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to meet his Western European Union counterparts to discuss future policy relating to the middle east.
Mr. Hanley : Whilst my right hon. and learned Friend regularly meets his WEU counterparts, future policy relating to the middle east is not currently on the agenda for the next planned meeting.
Aero Engine Capability
27. Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect on national defence of maintaining an independent aero engine capability in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Aitken : A viable and effective aerospace industry makes an important contribution to the defence interests of this country. The implications of any proposed change in the ownership of any substantial defence industry capability would be considered if and when it arose.
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Dedicated Attack Helicopter
28. Dr. Goodson-Wickes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consultations he has had recently concerning the acquisition of a dedicated attack helicopter.
Mr. Aitken : When appropriate, I have discussed our current plans for the acquisition of the attack helicopter with colleagues and officials. The assessment of the bids received last November in reply to the attack helicopter invitation to tender is currently under way and detailed consultations would not be appropriate at this stage.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many, and what percentage of officers in each of grades 1 to 7 and overall, in his Department are (a) women, (b) from ethnic minorities and (c) disabled, respectively.
Mr. Aitken : The number of women, disabled and ethnic minority staff in grade levels 1 to 7, and overall, are given in the table. These figures exclude casual staff and our executive agencies, the Defence Research Agency and the Meteorological Office. I have asked the chief executives to write to the hon. and learned Member.
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Grade<1> |Registered |Per cent. of |Non-registered|Per cent. of |Ethnic minor- |Per cent. of |Women |Per cent. of
|disabled<2> |staff in grade|disabled<2> |staff in grade|ity<3> |staff in grade |staff in grade
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
2 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
3 |- |- |2 |4.4 |- |- |2 |4.4
4 |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |4.3
5 |- |- |4 |1.4 |13 |4.4 |16 |5.4
6 |- |- |9 |1.8 |<10 |<1.0 |20 |4.0
7 |3 |0.2 |63 |3.2 |32 |1.6 |123 |6.2
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total Staff<4> |1,352 |1.1 |2,986 |2.4 |1,956 |1.6 |39,173 |32.0
<1>Grades 1-7 and equivalent grades.
<2>Figures based on responses to voluntary disability surveys.
<3>Figures based on response rate of 93 per cent. non-industrial and 84 per cent. industrial to voluntary ethnic origin survey.
<4>Non-industrial and industrial staff.
Letter from J. C. R. Hunt to Mr. Greville Janner, dated12 April 1994 :
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The figures below give the information for the Meteorological Office, as requested in your recent Parliament Question :Column 141
|Grades |Grade 6 |Per cent.|Grade 7 |Per cent.|All |Per cent.
|2-5 |grades
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Women |0 |2 |(4) |9 |(6) |458 |(18)
(b) From ethnic minorities |0 |0 |- |1 |(0.7) |23 |(0.9)
(c) Disabled |0 |0 |- |2 |(1.4) |24 |(1.0)
Note:
Only those registered as disabled are included in line (c).
Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Greville Janner, dated 12 April 1994 :
Column 142
In his written reply to your Parliamentary Question on the numbers of women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people working in MOD, the Secretary of State for Defence informed you that I would be replying directly to you in respect of the Defence Research Agency. The information you request is as follows :Column 141
Grade |Registered |Percentage |Non- |Percentage |Ethnic |Percentage |Women |Percentage
|disabled<1>|of staff in|registered |of staff in|minority<2>|of staff in |of staff in
|grade |disabled<1>|grade |grade |grade
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
2 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
3 |1 |20.0 |- |- |- |- |- |-
4 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
5 |- |- |1 |2.5 |- |- |1 |2.5
6 |- |- |7 |3.2 |- |- |3 |1.6
7 |- |- |24 |2.7 |14 |1.6 |35 |4.0
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total non-industrial |53 |0.7 |187 |2.5 |108 |1.4 |2,054 |27.5
<1> Based on responses to voluntary disability surveys.
<2> Based on responses to voluntary ethnic origin surveys.
Statistics on the 1,878 Industrial staff cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost and administrative effort.
Nuclear Test Victims
29. Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he last met ex-British service personnel nuclear test victims to discuss compensation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : I met nuclear test veteran representatives on 17 January 1994. My Department would consider compensation for any British test veteran whose death or illness had been caused by radiation from the atmospheric nuclear tests. The report of the National Radiological Protection Board published in December 1993 did not however find any overall excess of death or malignant disease among test veterans, and concluded that participation in the nuclear test programme has had no effect on life expectancy or on the risk of developing cancer or other fatal diseases.
Defence Staff, Washington
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 11 February, Official Report, column 571, if he will place in the Library a detailed breakdown by grade and function of the support staff to the British defence staff, Washington ; and if he will give details of posts lost since April 1990.
Mr. Hanley : The information requested is as follows :
Annex A
British Defence Staff (Washington) Support Costs
Rank |Service |Posts |Function
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade 7 |CIV |1
PS |CIV |1 |Atomic Coordination Office
EO |CIV |1
AO |CIV |1
SQN LDR |RAF |1
WG CDR |RAF |2
CDR |Navy |1
SRO |CIV |1 |Defence Intelligence Liaison
SGT |RAF |1
CPL |RAF |1
AO |CIV |2
PS |CIV |1
CPL |Army |2
MAJ |Army |3
WO1 |Army |1 |British Army Staff
Typist |CIV |1
US3 |LEC |1
SGT |Army |1
CDR |Navy |7
CPL |MAR |1
PS |CIV |2British Navy Staff
AO |CIV |2
Typist |CIV |1
US4 |LEC |1
CPL |RAF |3
PS |RAF |1
SGT |RAF |1
Typist |CIV |1 |Royal Air Force Staff
US4 |LEC |1
WG CDR |RAF |4
WO |RAF |1
Grade 7 |CIV |13
CDR |Navy |2
WG CDR |RAF |1
FS |RAF |1
US4 |LEC |7
LT COL |Army |2
MAJ |Army |1 |Defence, Science and
PS |CIV |2 | Equipment Staff
Typist |CIV |1
LT CDR |Navy |1
AO |CIV |1
SEO |CIV |1
SEC |CIV |2
US4 |LEC |2 |Defence Sales
SPS |CIV |1
Driver |LEC |1
PS |CIV |2
LT CDR |Navy |1
SPS |CIV |1
SGT |RAF |2
PS |CIV |1 |Central Staff
LT COL |Army |1
LT COL |MAR |1
MAJ |Army |1
WG CDR |RAF |1
CAPT |MAR |1
AO |CIV |1
|Total |101
Posts Disestablished since April 1990
Rank |Serive |Posts |Function
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Typist |CIV |1 |Atomic Coordination Office
SPTO |CIV |1 |Atomic Coordination Office
EO |CIV |1 |British Navy Staff
SEO |CIV |1 |Defence Sales
US5 |LEC |1 |Defence Sales
Typist |CIV |1 |Central Staff
|Total |6
Belize
Mr. Wilkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when 2 Gurkha Rifles will leave Belize ; and where the battalion will be based when this regiment withdraws from Belize.
Mr. Hanley : 2 Gurkha Rifles completed its tour in Belize at the end of March 1994 as originally planned. The
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battalion has returned to Cassino Lines Hong Kong and will merge in June-July 1994 with 6 Gurkha Rifles to form 1 Royal Gurkha Rifles.Mr. Wilkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements he is making to maintain helicopter support from the Army Air Corps and the Royal Air Force for the jungle warfare training which will continue to be conducted by British Army units in Belize.
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