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Nutritional Therapy
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations she has received concerning the inclusion of nutritional therapy in the national health service ; what was the nature of these representations ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : Representations have been received from an organisation called the Society for the Promotion of Nutritional Therapy.
The availability of nutritional therapy within the national health service will depend--as with orthodox medicine--on the clinical judgment of the responsible clinician in respect of individual patients and on decisions taken locally by district health authorities, general practitioner fundholders and family health services authorities on how they should best use their funds to meet the health needs of the local population.
Transgenic Pigs
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on her Department's position on the use of transgenic pigs for human transplant operations.
Mr. Sackville : The modification of animal organs for transplantation into human beings has not yet been developed. Procedures of this kind would not be practised in the United Kingdom without the approval of the medical profession and with consideration of the ethical issues involved. Any clinical or medical research involving national health service patients would have to be referred to the appropriate local research ethics committee.
Disablement Grants
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment she has made of the operation of the provisions of the Children Act 1989 limiting disablement facilities grants to people aged 18 years or over ; what is the reason for these provisions ; and what representations she has received for (a) Coventry and (b) elsewhere on the subject ;
(2) what assessment she has made of trends in the number of people in Coventry who are eligible to receive disablement grants ; and how many people in Coventry are excluded for eligibility for the grant by the changes made in the Children Act 1989.
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Mr. Sackville : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 16 May at columns 323-24 . The number of people in Coventry eligible for disablement facilities grants is not available centrally.
Tobacco-related Deaths
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her estimate of the total number of tobacco-related deaths in each year since 1983-84.
Mr. Sackville : The only statistics available are for 1988, published in the Health Education Authority's report "The Smoking Epidemic", copies of which are available in the Library. It was then estimated that smoking-related diseases account for some 110,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom.
Sight Tests
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many national health service sight tests paid for by the family health service authorities took place in 1993-94 in each regional health authority.
Dr. Mawhinney : The figures for 1993-94 are not yet available.
GP Fundholders
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list, by region, the allocation for general practitioner fundholding for prescribing in (a) 1990-91, (b) 1991-92, (c) 1992-93 and (d) 1993-94.
Dr. Mawhinney : General practitioner fundholding commenced in April 1991 ; prescribing allocations for the years since then are shown in the table. Fundholding practices may vire between the prescribing elements of their budgets and those for staff costs and hospital and community health services.
Fundholding prescribing allocations
Cash
Region |1991-92 |1992-93 |1993-94
------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |15,934,291 |26,141,569 |47,885,444
Yorkshire |20,493,035 |40,091,223 |72,853,258
Trent |14,728,729 |33,489,726 |84,915,707
East Anglia |5,378,891 |9,201,810 |31,167,885
North West Thames |9,791,918 |21,828,519 |47,730,650
North East Thames |5,449,000 |10,991,000 |24,835,826
South East Thames |7,353,300 |15,792,100 |47,178,307
South West Thames |8,764,415 |20,177,992 |38,200,663
Wessex |8,732,605 |21,727,541 |37,730,212
Oxford |13,020,177 |26,606,056 |43,867,848
South Western |9,912,110 |22,241,703 |40,893,887
West Midlands |14,183,746 |34,587,254 |79,716,686
Mersey |11,626,278 |26,484,731 |53,510,834
North Western |9,476,185 |19,293,355 |43,645,118
|------- |------- |-------
Total |154,844,679|328,654,579|694,132,325
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of general practitioner non-fundholding practices in each region ; what percentage of regional total of general practitioner practices this represents ; and what percentage of the regional population they serve.
Dr. Mawhinney : The table gives the requested information as at 1 October 1993 when 75 per cent. of the
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population was served by non-fundholding general practitioners. On 1 April 1994 this was reduced to 65 per cent. as a further 805 practices joined the fundholding scheme.
Region |Number of |Percentage of |Percentage of
|non-fundholding |all practices<1>|population
|practices<1> |served<1>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |451 |86 |76
Yorkshire |553 |82 |67
Trent |693 |81 |69
East Anglia |248 |83 |75
North West Thames |723 |88 |73
North East Thames |853 |94 |86
South East Thames |688 |89 |79
South West Thames |449 |87 |76
Wessex |385 |87 |78
Oxford |306 |80 |66
South Western |496 |87 |80
West Midlands |925 |87 |74
Mersey |341 |77 |65
North Western |796 |91 |83
<1> The figures are based on numbers of practices at 1 October 1993.
Waiting List Initiative
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring she has undertaken regarding schemes financed by the additional funds for the waiting list initiative announced on 17 February; and if she will place the data obtained in the Library.
Dr. Mawhinney [holding answer 19 April 1994] : When the additional funding was allocated regional health authorities were asked to record the resulting activity. Initial returns show that at least 38,000 patients have benefited from earlier treatment as a result of the Government's initiative.
Health Visitors and Nurses
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) health visitors, (b) district nurses, (c) community psychiatric nurses and (d) school nurses were employed in the NHS for each of the last five years, broken down by regional health authority and expressed as whole-time equivalents.
Mr. Sackville [holding answer 13 May 1994] : The information available will be placed in the Library. The information shows an overall increase of 3.7 per cent. between 1988 to 1992. The number of practice nurses has increased by 162.1 per cent. from 3,480 in 1988 to 9,120 in 1992. This gives an overall increase of 22.7 per cent. for community nursing staff.
WALES
Dyslexia
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are his current policies to assist (a) adults and (b) children of school age who suffer dyslexia ; and what new measures he plans.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The Further Education Funding Council for Wales has responsibility for ensuring that adequate arrangements are in place to meet the needs of adult students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
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Since 1 April 1993 the funding council may fund courses which teach independent living and communication skills to adults who have learning difficulties so as to prepare them for vocational or academic courses ; courses which prepare them for entry to higher education courses ; courses for basic literacy in English ; or courses for proficiency or literacy in Welsh. The council supported over 2,100 students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities in 1993-94, including those with dyslexia.It is the responsibility of local education authorities and schools to make appropriate provision for children with special educational needs, including dyslexia. The code of practice on the identification and assessment of special educational needs, which has been approved by Parliament, and which comes into effect in September 1994, gives guidance to help LEAs and schools in those responsibilities. From that date also school governing bodies have the duty of preparing and publishing their policies for children with special educational needs, including those with dyslexia.
Under the grants for education support and training programme for 1994-95, the Welsh Office has made grant available to LEAs specifically for training of teachers of children with dyslexia in addition to more general training in special educational needs. The 1995-96 programme is currently under consideration.
Pollution Control
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many copies of the guide on the implementation of integrated pollution control, prepared
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with the Department of the Environment, have been distributed in Wales ; to whom it has been made available ; and at what cost.Mr. Gwilym Jones : The guide is a priced document at £5 a copy, available from Her Majesty's Stationery Office, its accredited agents and through certain booksellers. Around 2,700 copies have been sold to date, but no separate record exists as to the number of purchasers in Wales or their identity.
Prescriptions
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many prescriptions are dispensed in any one year in Wales ; and what is the number receiving exemptions from charges.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Wardell) on 10 May, c. 103.
Llangollen
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has had from individuals and organisations relating to the inclusion of Llangollen in a new unitary authority of Wrexham ; how many were in favour of this development ; and what dates they were received in his office.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : My right hon. Friend and I have received 19 representations about the implications of local government reorganisation for the community of Llangollen. The details are as follows :
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|In favour of |Against |No clear |Total
|including |indication of
|Llangollen in |views
|Wrexham
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Individuals (including MPs) |11 |3 |- |14
Organisations |3 |1 |1 |5
|--- |--- |--- |---
|14 |4 |1 |19
The dates of those representations received in favour of the inclusion of Llangollen in the
proposed Wrexham unitary authority are as follows:
31 March 1993
10 May 1993
28 June 1993
June 1993
1 July 1993
22 April 1994
29 April 1994
30 April 1994
3 May 1994
4 May 1994
5 May 1994
7 May 1994
8 May 1994
9 May 1994
Buckley Link Road
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will grant extra funds to Clwyd county council to enable it to build the Buckley town link road.
Sir Wyn Roberts : No. Under arrangements agreed with local authorities, road schemes costing less than £5 million are financed from unhypothecated resources.
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Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will ensure that the valuation of homes blighted by the proposed Buckley-Clwyd link road is satisfactory ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The scheme is the responsibility of Clwyd county council, which is obliged to pay the open market value of the homes required. Where the value is disputed home owners can refer the issue to the Lands Tribunal, an independent expert body appointed to deal with such disputes.
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Homes (Road Schemes)
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidelines are used by those who value homes due to be demolished or which are blighted as a consequence of road schemes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The Welsh Office employs the district valuer to negotiate the appropriate level of compensation which includes the open market value of the property being acquired under blight or compulsory purchase. In establishing the market value the district
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valuer will take into account comparable transactions in the locality and disregard any depreciating effect of the road proposals.Housing
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many council houses there were in each district council area and in Wales as a whole in each year since 1988-89, indicating the percentage change in each case between 1988-89 and the latest available year.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The numbers of local authority dwellings in each district council area in each year since 1989-90 are given in the following table.
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Local authority dwelling stock<1>
|<2>1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993 |<3>1994 |Percentage
|change
|1988-89 to
|1994-95
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aberconwy |2,936 |2,814 |2,577 |2,503 |2,461 |2,446 |2,414 |-17.8
Alyn and Deeside |5,317 |5,215 |4,981 |4,875 |4,861 |4,840 |4,797 |-9.8
Arfon |5,118 |5,033 |4,875 |4,820 |4,799 |4,764 |4,726 |-7.7
Blaenau Gwent |10,583 |10,425 |9,938 |9,757 |9,628 |9,536 |9,448 |-10.7
Brecknock |2,875 |2,791 |2,672 |2,609 |2,559 |2,532 |2,486 |-13.5
Cardiff |20,301 |19,773 |18,680 |18,345 |18,163 |18,013 |17,961 |-11.5
Carmarthen |3,600 |3,544 |3,441 |3,355 |3,274 |3,212 |3,133 |-13.0
Ceredigion |3,580 |3,521 |3,315 |3,207 |3,163 |3,075 |2,975 |-16.9
Colwyn |2,686 |2,623 |2,511 |2,459 |2,433 |2,401 |2,373 |-11.7
Cynon Valley |5,403 |5,355 |5,157 |4,916 |4,755 |4,697 |4,653 |-13.9
Delyn |4,807 |4,754 |4,603 |4,509 |4,454 |4,398 |- |-
Dinefwr |2,654 |2,591 |2,481 |2,418 |2,383 |2,360 |2,350 |-11.5
Dwyfor |1,479 |1,469 |1,438 |1,402 |1,399 |1,389 |1,379 |-6.8
Glyndwr |3,057 |2,978 |2,793 |2,745 |2,726 |2,706 |2,682 |-12.3
Islwyn |6,296 |6,125 |5,879 |5,831 |5,732 |5,658 |5,548 |-11.9
Llanelli |7,107 |6,894 |6,677 |6,514 |6,490 |6,376 |6,286 |-11.6
Lliw Valley |5,268 |5,195 |4,948 |4,843 |4,764 |4,706 |4,647 |-11.8
Meirionnyd |2,091 |2,064 |1,967 |1,934 |1,900 |1,879 |1,849 |-11.6
Merthyr Tydfil |7,003 |6,860 |6,568 |6,446 |6,378 |6,312 |6,240 |-10.9
Monmouth |5,116 |4,996 |4,765 |4,730 |4,637 |4,569 |4,467 |-12.7
Montgomeryshire |3,072 |2,995 |2,884 |2,832 |2,614 |2,581 |- |-
Neath |5,771 |5,618 |5,309 |5,270 |5,188 |5,126 |5,065 |-12.2
Newport |13,609 |13,449 |13,027 |12,889 |12,799 |12,720 |12,740 |-6.4
Ogwr |10,003 |9,744 |9,258 |9,041 |8,831 |8,736 |8,634 |-13.7
Port Talbot |6,318 |6,104 |5,649 |5,451 |5,285 |5,132 |5,033 |-20.3
Preseli Pembrokeshire |5,873 |5,726 |5,366 |5,231 |5,162 |5,060 |4,970 |-15.4
Radnorshire |1,184 |1,161 |1,116 |1,123 |1,106 |1,110 |1,100 |-7.1
Rhondda |4,889 |4,833 |4,706 |4,539 |4,505 |4,366 |4,302 |-12.0
Rhuddlan |2,779 |2,706 |2,650 |2,610 |2,604 |2,597 |2,579 |-7.2
Rhymney Valley |10,310 |10,132 |9,770 |9,503 |9,350 |9,210 |9,090 |-11.8
South Pembrokeshire |2,934 |2,878 |2,747 |2,677 |2,633 |2,608 |2,587 |-11.8
Swansea |17,711 |17,325 |16,493 |16,166 |15,697 |15,433 |15,121 |-14.6
Taff Ely |7,769 |7,513 |6,965 |6,726 |6,580 |6,465 |5,964 |-23.2
Torfaen |13,691 |13,502 |12,893 |12,604 |12,432 |12,229 |11,979 |-12.5
Vale of Glamorgan |6,423 |6,212 |5,866 |5,776 |5,702 |5,649 |5,560 |-13.4
Wrexham Maelor |16,290 |16,078 |15,152 |14,866 |14,717 |14,549 |14,373 |-11.8
Ynys Mon |5,842 |5,717 |5,395 |5,264 |5,206 |5,167 |5,125 |-12.3
Wales |241,745 |236,713 |225,512 |220,786 |217,370 |214,607 |- |-
Source: Housing Revenue Account Subsidy Claim Forms.
<1> At 1 April.
<2> Average number of dwellings 1988-89.
<3> First Advance Claim Forms for 1994-95 not received from Delyn or Montgomeryshire.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many homes were provided by housing associations (a) for rent, (b) for sale and (c) in total in each year since 1989-90 for (i) each district council and (ii) Wales.
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Mr. Gwilym Jones : The following tables show the number of homes provided by housing associations and the number of these homes which were intended for rent and for sale in each year since 1989-90.
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Provision of social housing by housing associations<1>
|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93
--------------------------------------------------------------
Aberconwy |71 |84 |84 |75
Alyn and Deeside |26 |8 |77 |136
Arfon |50 |145 |56 |89
Blaenau Gwent |47 |89 |236 |184
Brecknock |74 |52 |78 |51
Cardiff |172 |643 |360 |960
Carmarthen |73 |14 |68 |83
Ceredigion |10 |33 |105 |105
Colwyn |52 |44 |17 |107
Cynon Valley |95 |65 |52 |128
Delyn |17 |56 |101 |129
Dinefwr |23 |28 |14 |90
Dwyfor |4 |24 |37 |52
Glyndwr |26 |61 |63 |80
Islwyn |88 |49 |188 |37
Llanelli |44 |39 |33 |127
Lliw Valley |25 |66 |158 |85
Meirionnydd |10 |38 |36 |32
Merthyr Tydfil |59 |103 |116 |75
Monmouth |6 |68 |19 |226
Montgomeryshire |26 |25 |62 |138
Neath |52 |80 |88 |87
Newport |236 |93 |95 |277
Ogwr |121 |248 |86 |259
Port Talbot (Afan) |31 |73 |95 |55
Preseli Pembrokeshire |45 |18 |71 |117
Radnorshire |4 |4 |49 |62
Rhondda |168 |166 |144 |69
Rhuddlan |41 |37 |40 |104
Rhymney Valley |216 |54 |52 |186
South Pembrokeshire |11 |13 |15 |63
Swansea |267 |184 |292 |299
Taff-Ely |48 |105 |96 |168
Torfaen |67 |59 |146 |127
Vale of Glamorgan |76 |132 |49 |139
Wrexham Maelor |48 |39 |126 |234
Ynys Mon |13 |21 |144 |39
|-------|-------|-------|-------
Wales |2,442 |3,060 |3,548 |5,274
<1>Includes newbuild, acquisitions and rehabilitation of
self-contained units and special needs and other shared
housing bedspaces.
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Provision of social housing by housing association<1>
1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93
|For rent |For sale |For rent |For sale |For rent |For sale |For rent<2>|For sale
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aberconwy |71 |0 |77 |7 |60 |24 |53 |22
Alyn and Deeside |26 |0 |8 |0 |77 |0 |126 |10
Arfon |50 |0 |145 |0 |56 |0 |82 |7
Blaenau Gwent |47 |0 |89 |0 |236 |0 |184 |0
Brecknock |74 |0 |52 |0 |43 |35 |51 |0
Cardiff |172 |0 |643 |0 |330 |30 |890 |70
Carmarthen |73 |0 |14 |0 |62 |6 |75 |8
Ceredigion |10 |0 |33 |0 |85 |20 |105 |0
Colwyn |52 |0 |42 |2 |15 |2 |96 |11
Cynon Valley |95 |0 |65 |0 |52 |0 |128 |0
Delyn |17 |0 |39 |17 |97 |4 |88 |41
Dinefwr |23 |0 |28 |0 |14 |0 |86 |4
Dwyfor |4 |0 |24 |0 |37 |0 |47 |5
Glyndwr |26 |0 |51 |10 |58 |5 |70 |10
Islwyn |88 |0 |49 |0 |188 |0 |37 |0
Llanelli |44 |0 |39 |0 |33 |0 |127 |0
Lliw Valley |25 |0 |66 |0 |158 |0 |85 |0
Meirionnydd |10 |0 |38 |0 |36 |0 |30 |2
Merthyr Tydfil |59 |0 |103 |0 |116 |0 |75 |0
Monmouth |6 |0 |49 |19 |19 |0 |209 |17
Montgomery |26 |0 |25 |0 |56 |6 |138 |0
Neath |52 |0 |80 |0 |88 |0 |53 |34
Newport |236 |0 |66 |27 |78 |17 |277 |0
Ogwr |121 |0 |217 |31 |76 |10 |250 |9
Port Talbot |31 |0 |73 |0 |81 |14 |54 |1
Preseli |45 |0 |18 |0 |64 |7 |109 |8
Radnor |4 |0 |4 |0 |49 |0 |62 |0
Rhondda |168 |0 |166 |0 |144 |0 |69 |0
Rhuddlan |41 |0 |37 |0 |40 |0 |80 |24
Rhymney valley |216 |0 |42 |12 |52 |0 |156 |30
South Pembrokeshire |11 |0 |13 |0 |15 |0 |63 |0
Swansea |267 |0 |177 |7 |285 |7 |290 |9
Taff Ely |48 |0 |105 |0 |95 |1 |168 |0
Torfaen |67 |0 |59 |0 |135 |11 |127 |0
Vale of Glamorgan |76 |0 |112 |20 |49 |0 |139 |0
Wrexham Maelor |48 |0 |39 |0 |118 |8 |232 |2
Ynys Mon |13 |0 |21 |0 |144 |0 |39 |0
Wales |2,442 |0 |2,908 |152 |3,341 |207 |4,950 |324
<1>Includes newbuild, acquisitions and rehabilitation of self contained units and special needs and other shared housing
bedspaces.
<2>Includes 1,198 dwellings acquired through the Acquisition Initiative.
Sheep Farming
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the French Government's authorisation of an aid package to French sheep farmers, with regard to this action's effect on sheep farmers in Wales.
Mr. Redwood : The announcement of the French support for its sheepmeat industry was made comparatively recently and we do not, therefore, have sufficient details to be able to assess its impact on Welsh sheep farmers. However, under articles 92 and 93 of the treaty of Rome, national aid schemes are strictly controlled in order to prevent unfair competition. Member states must obtain the prior approval of the Commission for any new state aids or modification to existing aids. The Commission has the authority to require the abolition or amendment of any scheme including the repayment of any aid paid illegally.
We are making inquiries of the Commission to determine the status of this particular aid scheme.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food about sheep scab ; and what plans he has to make sheep scab a fully notifiable disease.
Mr. Redwood : Sheep scab is a disease which can be controlled readily by individual farmers, who are well aware of the preventive measures and procedures needed to deal with it. A recent official surveillance programme at markets and sales has indicated that the number of affected sheep has increased from the levels recorded before deregulation. Sheep scab can lead to serious welfare problems and has commercial implications for farmers and the leather industry. The Government therefore propose to carry out a publicity campaign to encourage farmers to treat their sheep. To ensure that farmers take their welfare responsibilities seriously, sheep suffering from scab will be required to be removed from markets for treatment and the vendor may be prosecuted.
Local Government Reorganisation
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 13 April, Official Report, column 48 , how many representations of the 13 he received in favour of the inclusion of Wick, St. Bride's Major and Ewenny in the proposed Vale of Glamorgan unitary authority were made by members of the public.
Mr. Redwood : Of the 13 representations I received since the publication of the White Paper in favour of the inclusion of Wick, St. Bride's Major and Ewenny in the proposed Vale of Glamorgan unitary authority, six were from members of the public.
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Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list the representations he has received (a) in favour of and (b) in opposition to the inclusion of Llanelly in the proposed new unitary authority of Powys since publication of his White Paper, "Local Government in Wales : A Charter for the Future" ;
(2) if he will list the representations he received prior to his White Paper, "Local Government in Wales : a Charter for the Future", and the dates he received them, which were opposed to the inclusion of Wick, St. Bride's Major and Ewenny in the proposed unitary authority of the Vale of Glamorgan.
Mr. Redwood : I will write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many parliamentary questions, in the period November 1992 to March 1993, were answered with the response that the information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost ; how many were referred to an agency chief executive ; and, in each case, what percentage of the total number of questions asked this constituted.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Seven parliamentary questions were answered during the period concerned using the answer in question. This represents 0.5 per cent. of the total questions answered. None was referred to an agency chief executive.
Hong Kong
Mr. Spellar : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current position on discussions regarding terms to be offered to expatriate civil servants currently based in Hong Kong.
Mr. Goodlad : We consulted the Association of Members of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service in Hong Kong in March on a proposed package of benefits. The association suggested a number of changes to the package. These suggestions will be carefully considered before the package is finalised.
Iraq
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Kuwaitis are being kept in Iraqi prisons as a consequence of the Gulf war ; and what representations he, or international bodies, have been making about these prisoners.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Kuwaiti Government estimate that 592 Kuwaitis are unaccounted for after the Gulf war.
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We raise the plight of Kuwaiti and other detainees with the Iraqi Government at every suitable opportunity, for example at the next Security Council review of sanctions on 17 May. We also fully support the International Red Cross in its efforts to persuade Iraq to respond to requests for information about the detainees.Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimates exist of the number of foreign nationals being kept in Iraqi prisons ; how many of these are British ; and what representations are being made about access to them and about their release.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have no record of any British citizens being held in Iraqi prisons at the moment. Records are not kept of detained foreign nationals.
Bulgaria
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's current relations with Bulgaria ; and when a senior Government Minister last visited that country.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We enjoy friendly relations with Bulgaria and strongly support Bulgaria's political and economic reforms. President Zhelev called on the Prime Minister in March. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs visited Bulgaria in June last year. He and I look forward to receiving Foreign Minister Daskalov on 19 May.
Human Rights
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government are supporting the proposal of the Belgian Government that the European Union accede to the European convention on human rights as a collective entity.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We see no need for the Community, as a collective entity, to accede to the convention when its principles are already applied and observed at all levels within the Community. All the member states are parties to the convention, and the European Court of Justice applies the principles and case law of the convention, as necessary, to cases before it. We do not see that accession by the Community would bring any extra benefit to the individual citizen, and are thus not in favour of a proposal which would have only symbolic value.
European Union
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the commitments made by chancellor Kohl to the European Parliament at the time it was voting on enlargement ; and in what way each of those commitments bind (a) the EU institution or (b) the United Kingdom.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Chancellor Kohl said that he would "endeavour to have a working group set up, composed of governments as well as European Members of Parliament, and which would work in association with the Commission."
Chancellor Kohl's commitment is not binding, since the precise terms of reference for the working group will be decided by member states at the Corfu European Council.
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South Africa
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when trade sanctions against the Republic of South Africa will be lifted ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The only sanctions remaining in force against South Africa are the UN arms embargo and related European Union and Commonwealth restrictions. The European Union has agreed that it will work for the earliest possible lifting of remaining UN sanctions and concurrently to withdraw related EU measures.
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the embargo on the sale of arms to the Republic of South Africa will be lifted ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : It is for the United Nations Security Council to decide when to lift the arms embargo. The European Union has agreed that it will work for the earliest possible lifting of remaining UN sanctions and concurrently to withdraw related EU measures. The President of the Security Council has promised President Mandela that, on receipt of a request from the new South African Government, the Council will urgently debate lifting the arms embargo.
TRANSPORT
Road Schemes
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from local authorities with designated assisted area status which are trying to progress necessary infrastructure schemes on the effect of the removal of automatic supplementary credit approval for road schemes under the Industrial Development Act 1982 ; and what plans he has to review this policy.
Mr. Key : The Department has received representations from three local authorities and a local authority association about recently revised arrangements for grants under section 13 of the Industrial Development Act- -IDA. Under the new arrangements grants are calculated on the total costs of schemes and deductions are no longer made for contributions from European regional development fund grants and from the private sector. The changes are intended to ensure that as many worthwhile schemes as possible can be supported and to provide incentives to maximise private sector involvement. Supplementary credit approvals--SCAs--have never been automatically available, but local authorities can continue to include bids for SCAs in their transport policies and programmes.
Contracts
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the companies with which his Department has had contracts since 1 September 1990 which have resulted in either financial or administrative problems and have consequently been either renegotiated or terminated.
Mr. Norris : The firms which have been identified are shown in the table. It does not include companies whose
Column 433
contracts have been subject to normal variations or those where novation is a purely technical matter resulting from a change of ownership and the contract is transferred to the new company. As a matter of policy the Department does not seek to renegotiate the terms of existing road scheme contracts in the event of a company getting into financial difficulties.Column 434
However, since September 1990 one consultant and four contractors have gone into receivership and their contracts have been novated to other firms. Some road construction contracts have also been terminated because of poor performance but information on these is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.Column 433
Name of Company |Description of
|problems
|encountered
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BCW Communications-1 Contract |The company went into receivership.
|The contract was novated to another company.
A. F. Budge (Contractors) Ltd-9 Contracts<1> |The company went into receivership.
|The contract was novated to another company.
Cooper MacDonald plc-3 Contracts<1> |The company went into receivership.
|The contract was novated to another company.
Eden Construction Ltd-2 Contracts<1> |The company went into receivership.
|The contract was novated to another company.
A. E. Farr Ltd-1 Contract<1> |The company went into receivership.
|The contract was novated to another company.
Lilley Construction Ltd-1 Contract<1> |The company went into receivership.
|The contract was novated to another company.
Colin Buchanan & Partners |The quality of the company's work was not satisfactory.
|The contract was terminated.
Peter Davidson Consultancy |The company found it could not undertake the requirement as they
|had proposed in their tender.
|The contract was renegotiated.
Ferranti International plc-3 Contracts |Ferranti Road Traffic Systems Ltd were sold to Peek Traffic Ltd,
|necessitating novations of the contracts.
G. & W. Energieanlagen |The company had supplier and other problems.
|The contract was extended.
Kingswinford Fuel Injection Services Ltd |The company failed to meet the requirement.
|The contract was terminated.
Precision Profiles |The company failed to deliver on time.
|The contract was terminated.
<1>Road schemes.
Northern Relief Road, Birmingham
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his latest assesment of the implications of the proposed Birmingham northern relief road on (a) traffic forecasts, (b) carbon dioxide emissions and (c) asthma ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert Key : The question relates to matters which are the responsibility of the Highways Agency ; the chief executive will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Ms Joan Walley, dated 17 May 1994. You asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is his latest assessment of the implications of the proposed Birmingham Northern Relief Road on (a) traffic forecasts, (b) carbon dioxide emissions and (c) asthma.
A Technical Update package was published by Midland Expressway Ltd., the Department's Concessionaire, and the Department at the beginning of February this year. This package includes an update of the traffic information as well as an update on air quality information. A set of the documents which comprise the package is being sent to the House of Commons Library so that you may study them if you wish. They are :
Column 434
Birmingham Northern Relief RoadTechnical Update and Summary
Noise Update Report
Air Quality Update
Local Model Validation Report
Model Development Forecasting Report
I expect you know that a public inquiry into this scheme opens in Walsall on 21 June. Proofs of the detailed evidence to be presented to that inquiry on traffic and air quality are being made available in advance of the inquiry opening. These will add detail to the information in the February Update and explain fully how it has been arrived at. The air quality evidence is available now ; the evidence on traffic is expected to be available at the end of this month. Copies of these two proofs can be sent to you if you require them. It is not possible to say what effect the Birmingham Northern Relief Road itself might have on asthma. The Highways Agency is aware that a large number of studies have been undertaken to investigate the medical effects of air pollution from many sources, including vehicle emissions. There is no evidence that vehicle emissions cause asthma but it is possible that existing asthmatics may have their symptons made worse.
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