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Rail Chiefs Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the current rates of pay to (a) the chairman of British Rail and (b) the chairman of Railtrack ; and what are the figures as a percentage of the 1993-94 salary rate.
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Mr. Freeman : The current rates of pay, which are at 1993-94 salary rates, are £131,663 to the chairman of British Rail and £121, 800 to the chairman of Railtrack.
However, the chairman of the British Railways Board's salary as from 1 April 1994 is 60 per cent. of his previous salary, reflecting his move to a three-day week from his previous full-time appointment.
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list details and costs of the services or benefits made available in addition to salary to (a) the chairman of British Rail, (b) the chairman of Railtrack, (c) the rail regulator and (d) the franchise director.
Mr. Freeman : Information in the case of the chairman of British Rail was given in note 5(c) to the "British Railways Board Annual Report and Accounts 1992-93". Disclosure will be made also in subsequent annual reports and accounts of the British Railways Board, and is to be expected for the chairman of Railtrack in the annual report and accounts of Railtrack plc.
The rail regulator and the franchise director each have a pension arrangement broadly by analogy with the principal civil service pension scheme, with no special enhancements, on salary up to the level of the pension schemes earning cap--£76,800 from 6 April 1994, normally increased annually in line with retail prices.
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the criteria, other than inflation, used to determine the percentage increase on 1993-94 salary rates for (a) the rail regulator and (b) the franchise director ; and what were the percentage increases in each case.
Mr. Freeman : Increases in the remuneration of the rail regulator and the franchise director are determined by my right hon. Friend in the light of the Government's decision on recommendations made by the Senior Salaries Review Body and the subsequent Treasury guidance on the consequential arrangements for chairmen and members of non-commercial public boards and holders of broadly similar appointments. The decision on the body's 1994 report was announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 3 February 1994, Official Report, column 848-50. As regards the percentage increases awarded to the rail regulator and the franchise director from 1 April 1994, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her on 9 May, Official Report, column 56.
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the criteria, other than inflation, that he is using to determine the 1994-95 salary increases for (a) the chairman of British Rail and (b) the chairman of Railtrack.
Mr. Freeman : Salary increases will be determined in the light of the Government's policy to pay no more than is necessary to retain and motivate suitably qualified board members and will take account of any 1994 -95 pay increases which may be agreed for the staff.
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secrtary of State for Transport when the salaries for 1994-95 for (a) the chairman of British Rail and (b) the chairman of Railtrack will be detemined ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : Salaries for 1994-95, which will require approval by Treasury, will be determined in due course.
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Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the cost in each case of the company cars available to (a) the chairman of British Rail, (b) the chairman of Railtrack, (c) the rail regulator and (d) the franchise director.
Mr. Freeman : The provision of company cars and the consequent cost for the chairman of British Rail and the chairman of Railtrack is a matter between them and the industry concerned.
The rail regulator and the franchise director head non-ministerial Government departments and are entitled, under their terms of appointment, to have the use of a car for official business, the costs of which are charged to their departments.
Night Flying
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those airports in England and Wales at which flights are allowed after (a) 12.30 am and (b) 1 am on a consistent basis.
Mr. Norris : Of the 28 airports in England and Wales subject to economic regulation--that is, those with an annual turnover in excess of £1 million--night operations are not prohibited at the following, although various restrictions apply :
Birmingham
Blackpool
Bournemouth
Bristol (Lulsgate)
Cambridge
Cardiff
Coventry
East Midlands
Exeter
Gatwick
Gloucestershire
Heathrow
Humberside
Leeds-Bradford
Liverpool
Luton
Manchester
Newcastle
Norwich
Southampton
Southend
Stansted
Teesside
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many weekly take-offs and landings there were at airports in England and Wales between midnight and 5 am.
Mr. Norris : The precise information requested is not available, and an approximation could be derived only at disproportionate cost.
Railtrack
Mrs. Beckett : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the cost of setting up Railtrack Headquarters in London; and what arrangements have been made for the provision of information and answering of queries concerning services now that the changeover has been made.
Mr. Freeman : Staff costs, legal fees and accommodation costs including refurbishment of Railtrack headquarters amounted to some £7 million in 1993-94.
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Information about train services is the responsibility of train operating companies. Railtrack is responsible for the production of a national train timetable and can provide information about that.School Transport
Mr. Roger Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many schoolchildren have been (a) injured and (b) killed while travelling to school on a school coach or minibus in each of the last five years.
Mr. Key : It is not possible to identify school coaches or minibuses in the road injury accident data collection system. However, it is possible to identify school pupil casualties in coaches and minibuses during journeys to and from school. Estimates of the information requested are shown in the following table.
School pupil<1> casualties: killed or injured in a
journey to or from
school: Great Britain 1988-92
Casualties
|Minibus/motor|Bus or
|caravan |coach
--------------------------------------------------------
1988
Fatal |3 |0
Serious |6 |23
Slight |92 |411
|--- |---
Total |101 |434
1989
Fatal |0 |1
Serious |5 |46
Slight |74 |503
|--- |---
Total |79 |550
1990
Fatal |0 |0
Serious |9 |37
Slight |85 |545
|--- |---
Total |94 |582
1991
Fatal |1 |0
Serious |4 |26
Slight |95 |403
|--- |---
Total |100 |429
1992
Fatal |0 |1
Serious |3 |23
Slight |105 |498
|--- |---
Total |108 |522
Note: Children are aged as 0 to 15 years of age, and
most school pupils within this category will be aged 4
to 15 years of age.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Child Support Agency
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington can expect a response to his letter of complaint about the Child Support Agency's treatment of his constituent, Mr. N. A. Leach, of Leamington Spa, about which he wrote to the Under-Secretary of State on 23 February.
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Mr. Burt : I replied to the hon. Member today.
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many appeals have been made to child support appeal tribunals to-date ; in how many of these cases the Child Support Agency has forwarded submissions and how many of these met the target of responding to the independent tribunal service within 18 days ; how many of these appeals have been heard to date ; and in how many of those the child support officer's decision has been overturned.
Mr. Burt : I am informed that the number of child support appeals received by the independent tribunal service to the end of April is 2,070. On these appeals, the Child Support Agency has forwarded a total of 521 submissions ; 184 within the 18 day target. By 30 April, 250 appeals had been heard, of which 221 have been finally decided. In 91 of the decided cases the child support officer's decision was overturned.
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the purpose of the Child Support Agency event at Abberley in Worcestershire from 9 May to 11 May ; which hotel was used ; how many people attended the event ; what was the estimated cost ; and from how many hotels quotations were sought.
Mr. Burt : The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Terry Davis, dated 16 May 1994.
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency's event at Abberley.
The event in question was a management training course for staff at the Child Support Agency Centre in Dudley. It was held at the Elms Hotel, Abberley and was attended by nine members of the Agency's staff. The total cost incurred was £1,515,40. Quotations were sought from nine hotels before making the reservation.
I hope this reply is helpful.
Health Insurance
Mr. Bradley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what percentage of invalidity benefit recipients are in receipt of payments from permanent health insurance schemes ; and what is the average amount paid per week.
Mr. Scott : This information is not available.
Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the most recent date before 6 May on which he met the Minister of State for Disabled People to discuss the progress of the Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill.
Mr. Lilley : I discussed a number of matters, including the Government's proposals on civil rights for disabled people, with my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State, on 4 May.
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Identity Cards
Mr. Spellar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to introduce identity cards for pensioners and other claimants.
Mr. Hague : We are currently looking at improved ways of confirming the identity of the recipients of benefit payments cashed at post offices.
Correspondence
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 17 March concerning a constituent ref. 6/3644/76.
Mr. Burt : I replied to the hon. Member today.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Alzheimer's Disease
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on his Department's funding for research into Alzheimer's disease.
Mr. Waldegrave : The Medical Research Council, which receives its funding from the Office of Science and Technology, spent £1.5 million on research directly related to Alzheimer's disease in 1992-93, and a further £3.4million on research of relevance to the condition. The MRC is always willing to consider soundly based scientific proposals in competition with other applications for research funding.
Executive Search Agencies
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer of 10 May, Official Report , column 134 , what was the total cost of the use of executive search agencies in 1992-93.
Mr. David Davis : No figures are held centrally for the costs of using search consultants in 1992-93 ; these costs are paid direct by the departments and agencies which use them.
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance is given by his Department to Government Departments and agencies regarding the use of executive search agencies and particularly regarding their cost to public funds.
Mr. David Davis : Advice on the use of executive search consultants is given in the "Guide on Public Appointments Procedures", produced in September 1992, by the Public Appointments Unit, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
More detailed information about the executive search process and what it involves is given in "Executive Searchlight", of which the third edition was issued by the unit in February 1994. This includes guidance on how and when to use executive search, and the need to ensure that this form of recruitment meets the requirements of the Department and provides value for money. I am arranging for a copy of this publication to be placed in the Library of the House.
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Mrs. Roche : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer of 10 May, Official Report, column 134, if he will name the six executive search agencies referred to as being used by the Civil Service Commission.
Mr. David Davis : The six search consultants used by Departments for 11 appointments approved by the commissioners at grade 5 level and above in 1992-93 were :
Korn Ferry International Ltd.
NB Selection Ltd.
Price Waterhouse Executive Selection
Russell Reynolds Associates
St. James's Management Recruitment
Saxton Bampfylde International PLC
Charterline
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the total cost to public funds of the Charterline ; and how many calls it received.
Mr. David Davis : Total costs, including set-up and operational costs to date were £2,463,190. The final figures will be published when final bills are received.
Charterline received 5,882 calls between 19 May 1993 and 6 May 1994.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Accountants
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Attorney-General whether he will provide a table showing the contracts currently being worked on for his Department by Coopers and Lybrand, Ernst and Young, Price Waterhouse, KPMG Peat Marwick, Grant Thornton, Robson Rhodes, Levy Gee, BDO Binder Hamlyn, Hacker Young, Pannell Kerr Forster and Stoy Hayward.
The Attorney-General [pursuant to his reply 31 March 1994, Official Report, column 953-54] : In addition to the contracts listed in my earlier answer, Price Waterhouse was on 31 March 1994 working on a contract for the Serious Fraud Office in relation to the case of Arrows plc.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Fishery Protection
Mr. Steen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will increase the level of surveillance by the Royal Navy to fishery protection duties in the English channel off the coast of Devon ; and if she will make a statement as to the level of activity that the Royal Navy is currently providing in this area.
Mr. Jack : Deployment of the Royal Navy's fishery protection vessels within British fishery limits takes account of the nature and level of fishing activity, as well as sightings information provided by fisheries surveillance aircraft on contract to the Ministry and local intelligence collected by the sea fisheries inspectorate. Deployment is flexible and is adjusted as and when necessary to take account of changing circumstances and the needs in particular areas. In the first four months of 1994 vessels on task to MAFF were present in ICES area VIIe, which includes the waters off south Devon, for 129 patrol days.
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Animal Welfare
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will set out all (a) British and (b) EC legislation governing the welfare of animals during transit.
Mr. Soames : British legislation governing the welfare of animals during transport is as listed.
Section 1(b) of the Protection of Animals Act 1911
Section 1(b) of the Protection of Animals (Scotland) Act 1912 Sections 40 to 42 and 44 to 47 of the Animals Health Act 1981 The Transit of Animals Order of 1927, S.R.&O.1927/289
The Animals (Sea Transport) Order of 1930, S.R.&O. 1930/923 The Horses (Sea Transport) Order 1952, S.I. 1952/1291
The Export of Horses (Veterinary Examination) Order 1966, S.I. 1966/507
The Export of Horses (Protection) Order 1969, S.I. 1969/1784 The Transit of Animals (General) Order 1973, S.I. 1973/1377 The Transit of Animals (Road and Rail) Order 1975, S.I. 1975/1024 The Importation of Animals Order 1977, S.I. 1977/1175
The Export of Animals (Protection) Order 1981, S.I. 1981/1051 The Welfare of Poultry (Transport) Order 1988, S.I. 1988/851 The Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1992, S.I. 1992/3304 At Community level the welfare of animals during transport is governed by Council directive 91/628/EEC (OJ No. L340, 11.12.91, p.17). This is implemented by the 1992 order as well as some of the earlier orders, as is set out in the explanatory note of the 1992 order. The directive permits certain national legislation to be retained pending the adoption of further detailed rules. The United Kingdom has taken advantage of this by maintaining certain national rules, in particular a maximum interval of 15 hours for feeding and watering animals in transport.
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