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Mr. Maclean: The latest estimate of total current and capital expenditure by the Hampshire police authority in 1994 95 is £150.6 million.
Mr. Karamjit Singh Chahal
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement regarding the case of Mr. Karamjit Singh Chahal, held in Bedford prison.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: The Proceedings in respect of Mr. Chahal's application to the European Commission of Human Rights concerning the decision to deport him from the United Kingdom are continuing. He will not be removed from the United Kingdom before completion of these proceedings. Mr. Chahal's detention is regularly reviewed, and my right hon. and learned Friend is satisfied that it continues to be fully justified.
Prison Population
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the prison population broken down by security category, at the latest date available, for (a) Doncaster prison, (b) The Wolds prison and (c) the female wing at Durham prison.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
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Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmand, dated 10 January 1995:The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the prison population broken down by security category, at the
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latest date available, for (a) Doncaster prison, (b) The Wolds prison and (c) the female wing at Durham prison.The information requested, as at 19 December 1994, is as follows:
Adults
|Not yet |Young
|Cat A |Cat B |Cat C |Cat D |categorised|offenders |Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doncaster |0 |10 |61 |39 |256 |368 |734
The Wolds |0 |16 |62 |35 |179 |0 |292
Young offenders are only given a security category when Category A is applicable.
Unless Category A is applicable, adult male prisoners are not given a security category until after conviction and sentence. There are 35 female prisoners held at Durham prison, including one Category A. Female prisoners are only given a security category when Category A is applicable.
ENVIRONMENT
Private Finance Initiative
Sir Fergus Montgomery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is now able to publish draft capital finance regulations relating to the measures under the Government's private finance initiative which he announced on 31 October 1994.
Mr. Curry: We have today issued for consultation to the local authority associations and to local authorities the draft of regulations which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment proposes to make under part IV of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. We have asked for comments to be submitted by 13 February 1995. I have arranged for copies of the draft order, together with an explanatory guide, to be placed in the Library of the House.
The regulations provide:
--for two major relaxations in the rules governing local authority leasing of non-housing property, extending the revenue treatment of leases from three years to 10 years and enabling capital finance cover to be transferred from one lease to another on surrender or assignment;
--that notional receipts from disposals of assets to companies in return for shares will no longer require set aside; and
--that the reserved part of capital receipts from disposals of shares will be reduced from 75 per cent. to 50 per cent. if they were acquired before 10 March 1988 or acquired for the purposes of economic development, or if they are in a company connected with waste disposal or the provision of entertainment facilities.
Housing Associations, Gateshead
Ms Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he has given to the impact of current and projected future housing association funding both on housing and job creation opportunities in the Gateshead metropolitan borough area.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: The Housing Corporation estimates that allocations from its approved development programme in 1994 95 for new scheme approvals in the Gateshead metropolitan borough area will total some £2.5 million in 1994 95. Allocations issued for 1995 96 also amount to some £2.5 million. This is expected to enable 126 new social lettings to be approved in 1994 95, and 145 in 1995 96 as a result of the more cost effective use
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of resources. Information on jobs created by the approved development programme is not available.Housing Corporation
Ms Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what analysis he has made of the consequences of changes to the Housing Corporation's approved development programme.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: The public resources for the Housing Corporation's approved development programme in 1995 96 will amount to almost £1.2 billion. This is expected to provide some 52,000 new social lettings in 1995 96. We estimate that Housing Corporation and local authority expenditure, and the private finance they will attract, will produce some 180,000 new social lettings over the next three years.
Ms Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what analysis he has conducted of the consequences to the construction industry resulting from changes in the Housing Corporation's approved development programme; and if he will make such information available.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: Modest and sustained growth in the construction industry is expected to continue. The next stage of the construction industry report, which is produced jointly by the Department of the Environment and representatives of the construction industry, will be completed very soon. Copies will be placed in the Library.
Ms Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the funding for the Housing Corporation's approved development programme in (a) 1993 94 and (b) 1994 95.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: The public resources for the Housing Corporation's approved development programme in 1993 94 totalled some £1.8 billion enabling the Housing Corporation to provide 56,500 new social lettings in 1993 94. In 1994 95 public funding for the approved development programme will amount to some £1.5 billion, which the Housing Corporation estimates will, with more cost-effective use of public resources, provide over 60,000 new lettings.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total expenditure in Hampshire by the Housing Corporation for the financial year 1994 95.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: The Housing Corporation estimates that some £26 million of the Housing Corporation's capital budget for 1994 95 will be spent in Hampshire.
Building Control Fees
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he received from the
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National House Building Council prior to his decision to increase local authority building control fees from 1 October.Mr. Robert B. Jones: Together with many other consultees, the NHBC responded with comments and suggestions on the Department's consultation letter of 30 March 1993 proposing changes to the fees regulations. It subsequently wrote three letters reinforcing points in its original submission.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what steps he took to consult on the level of local authority building control fees prior to their increase in 1 October; and what were the results of those consultations;
(2) what considerations led to the increase from 1 October of building control fees charged by local authorities.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: Preliminary discussions were held over a long period with local authority representatives. There followed a consultants' study into local authority fee income and costs. Based on the conclusions of the above discussions and on the results of the study, two public consultations were carried out into the form and fee levels for new regulations. The responses were considered by the building regulations advisory committee and by a working group made up of members of the committee and representatives of the local authority associations. In the light of these consultations, and the consideration of the responses, the Building (Prescribed Fees) Regulations 1994 were made.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received since announcing the increase in local authority building control fees.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: My Department has received 39 representations on local authority building control fees up to and including 6 January 1995. Twenty-four were principally about the level of increase in fees for new housebuilding, of which 20 were from local authorities. The remaining representations, largely from individuals, were about the size of the increase for all types of buildings or were concerned with the fee levels for house extensions or for commercial work.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what calculations he has made of the effect on local authority revenue of the increase in local authority building control fees in the light of the decision of the National House Building Council to freeze its fees.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: None. We propose to make arrangements to monitor the future levels of local authority fee income and costs without placing unnecessary burdens on local authorities. The level of fees charged by NHBC Building Control Services Limited is a matter for it.
Birds of Prey
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has consulted the National Council for Aviculture on the setting up of a DNA register for birds of prey; and if he will make a statement.
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Sir Paul Beresford: The Department has not undertaken any specific consultations on the setting up of a DNA register for birds of prey. However, I explained in reply to the question from the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) on 20 December, Official Report, columns 1115-1116, that the Department has established a working group to review the enforcement of wildlife controls. The future role of genetic testing in relation to the bird registration system is one of the issues being considered by this working group, on which the National Council for Aviculture is represented. I shall be making a further announcement about the use of DNA in the near future.
Electronic Mail
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to be able to receive and respond to communications via electronic mail.
Sir Paul Beresford: About a third of the staff in my Department already have available to them electronic mail facilities for internal communication. A fully advanced office support system project is now under way which will, amongst other things, provide full electronic mail links across all areas of the Department, and the ability to communicate via external networks, during the next three years.
Internet
Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the plans of his Department to make information available on Internet and the documents which he intends to be made available on Internet over the next year which will be accessible via the world wide web server "open.gov.UK" or any specific departmental server.
Sir Paul Beresford: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Cambridge (Mrs. Campbell) on 30 November, Official Report, column 728.
Water Companies
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what directives or advice have been given by his Department to the National Rivers Authority regarding non-prosecution of the privatised water companies; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins: None. The National Rivers Authority has full discretion in using its enforcement powers in order to fulfil its role of protecting the water environment and dealing with pollution. The effectiveness of NRA enforcement action has contributed to continuing progress in improving water quality.
Home Owners
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many families who bought a home in the last two years included (a) one, (b) two and (c) three or more earners.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: The available estimates are of numbers of households in England with two or more people in them who in 1993 94 had bought a home in the previous two years. Of these, 230,000 had one person in employment, 720,000 had two persons in employment and 80,000 had three or more persons in employment. There
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were also 290,000 purchasers who were one person households and were in employment.These figures are from the "Survey of English Housing" and are subject to sampling error.
Rural Development Commission
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Enviornment what was (a) the historic cost and (b) the cost at 1994 prices of the Rural Development Commission's (i) training workshops and (ii) total facility in Salisbury.
Mr. Atkins: The cost of the training workshops in 1994 prices is £40,612 with the total Rural Development Commission facility in Salisbury costing £207,816. This compares with the estimated cost of the workshops in 1988, the year in which the commission was established, of £37,420 against a total cost of £191,507.
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library a copy of the independent review of the Rural Development Commission'straining activities.
Mr. Atkins: The Rural Development Commission is required to carry out periodic value for money reviews of all its economic and social development programmes. As
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part of this process the commission engaged ECOTEC Research and Consulting Ltd to carry out a review of its training services which support economic development. I have today arranged for copies of ECOTEC's report of its review to be placed in the Library of each House.Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on what date officials were informed by the Rural Development Commission of the possible winding down of their direct training commitment; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins: Officials in the Department were informed that the rural development commissioners were considering various options for the future provision of training, including the possible winding down of the facilities at the commission's Salisbury offices, following the commissioners' meeting on 22 November 1994. A final decision has yet to be taken on the future of the direct training facilities. The commissioners are planning to discuss this issue further later this month.
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the (a) marginal cost and (b) total cost of training a craftsman in each of the skills offered on the various training schemes of the Rural Development Commission based in Salisbury.
Mr. Atkins: The marginal and fixed costs are as follows:
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Discipline New entrants Open courses
training scheme
|Marginal cost of |Total cost of
|training
|training per |per apprentice |Marginal cost per|Total cost per
|apprentice (NETS)|including fixed |student |student
|costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Woodwork |3,876 |4,956 |361 |771
Forgework |6,004 |8,178 |146 |360
Furniture |8,241 |9,969 |68 |303
Upholstery |3,030 |5,162 |386 |865
Saddlery |4,438 |6,998 |71 |364
Thatching (nets only) |3,500 |3,500 |0 |0
GRP plastics |3,129 |4,919 |165 |558
ENG fabrication (nets only) |3,042 |3,042 |0 |0
Farriery (nets only) |6,500 |6,500 |0 |0
Wheelwrighting |5,440 |5,440 |279 |553
Notes:
1. Marginal costs include salaries and other related costs of tutors.
2. Fixed costs include an apportionment of administration and other overhead costs.
3. For some disciplines the running of the courses has been contracted out and this is why there is no difference
between marginal and fixed costs.
4. For open courses the costs are net and take account of fees paid by students.
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library a copy of the Rural Development Commission's 1993 strategy document.
Mr. Atkins: I have today arranged for copies of the Rural Development Commission's document, "Rural Development Strategy for the 1990s", published in December 1993, to be placed in the Library of each House.
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on what date he was informed by the Rural Development Commission of the possible winding down of its direct training commitment; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins: My right hon. Friend has not been informed by the Rural Development Commission of a
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possible winding down of its direct training commitment. Department officials informed my hon. Friend the Under- Secretary of State, Sir Paul Beresford, on 14 December 1994 that the commissioners were considering various options for the future provision of the commission's direct training services which assist rural economic development.Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by skill the number of craftsmen trained by Rural Development Commission staff based in Salisbury for each year since the facility was built.
Mr. Atkins: The number of craftsmen and craftswomen who have had all or some of their training provided by Rural Development Commission staff based in Salisbury is as follows:
Table 1: Number of apprentices trained
NETS |1981-82|1982-83|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farriery |115 |113 |117 |118 |122 |119 |91 |94 |102 |115 |125 |105 |25
Thatching |33 |34 |30 |25 |29 |16 |24 |24 |28 |21 |29 |22 |25
Forgework |22 |27 |39 |40 |36 |38 |32 |38 |37 |44 |26 |19 |25
Saddlery |16 |17 |15 |14 |14 |14 |12 |13 |16 |14 |15 |15 |15
Furniture |16 |21 |28 |28 |35 |36 |32 |35 |49 |41 |26 |31 |24
Upholstery |4 |8 |11 |18 |12 |17 |18 |11 |13 |12 |7 |12 |24
Woodworking |12 |14 |27 |51 |54 |59 |50 |55 |64 |60 |53 |37 |36
Wheelwrighting |- |- |4 |4 |9 |3 |3 |2 |2 |7 |4 |9 |5
General Engineering/Fabrication |10 |19 |22 |18 |13 |13 |12 |13 |16 |20 |13 |12 |20
Agricultural Miscellaneous Repairs |12 |22 |27 |29 |18 |14 |17 |9 |5 |16 |- |- |-
Plastics |6 |12 |12 |11 |14 |11 |12 |7 |11 |16 |9 |9 |6
General Building |1 |8 |13 |14 |3 |1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Dry Stone Walling |6 |3 |9 |6 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Totals |253 |298 |354 |376 |359 |341 |303 |301 |343 |366 |307 |271 |205
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Table 2: Number of craftworkers attending open courses
Open courses |1981-82 |1982-83 |1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92 |1992-93 |1993-94
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farriery |- |- |- |- |21 |- |19 |- |21 |18 |4 |16 |-
Thatching |- |- |- |- |37 |24 |75 |27 |30 |2 |2 |8 |-
Forgework |20 |42 |55 |25 |9 |25 |42 |13 |28 |36 |23 |18 |18
Saddlery |25 |26 |24 |37 |18 |12 |28 |49 |67 |53 |48 |50 |50
Furniture |30 |35 |42 |38 |45 |99 |74 |61 |40 |37 |52 |53 |51
Upholstery |20 |30 |30 |25 |26 |28 |14 |21 |20 |25 |11 |16 |13
Woodworking |5 |7 |- |23 |39 |21 |33 |45 |67 |30 |27 |24 |14
Wheelwrighting |- |- |- |- |7 |- |5 |3 |- |5 |4 |- |14
Welding |12 |17 |8 |8 |7 |4 |7 |- |2 |2 |- |- |-
Microcomputers |- |206 |210 |99 |22 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Plastics |12 |20 |8 |18 |16 |11 |27 |16 |10 |6 |8 |10 |15
Pottery |- |- |- |5 |14 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Vehicle Electrics |12 |12 |12 |9 |19 |51 |11 |- |31 |- |- |- |-
Builders Estimating |25 |92 |22 |30 |123 |157 |97 |183 |22 |- |- |- |-
Wood Turning |6 |12 |8 |8 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Electrical Estimating |- |- |- |- |- |4 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Supervisors course |- |- |- |- |- |34 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Totals |167 |499 |419 |325 |403 |470 |432 |418 |338 |214 |179 |195 |175
CITES
Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement to the House on the outcome of the Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species meeting in Florida.
Mr. Atkins [pursuant to his reply 24 November 1994 column 241 42]: I regret that some of the factual information given in my answer was incorrect. The first paragraph of the answer should have read as follows:
The CITES conference of the parties agreed new measures to strengthen the operation and effectiveness of the convention. Thirty species presently included on appendix 11 and 111 will be uplisted to appendix 1, and five species will be uplisted from appendix 111 to appendix 11. Twenty-two species presently on appendix 1 or 11 will be downlisted, including six which will be deleted from the appendices altogether. The current listing of a further eight species will be unchanged, but attached conditions will be relaxed. Thirty-three species will be added to the convention for the first time. Additionally the number of parties given in paragraph 9 of my answer should have been 124 instead of 126.
Housing (HIV)
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what technical or economic reasons arose from the research commissioned from the Building Research Establishment by his Department to inform the review of part M of the building regulations on why all new housing could not be built with level thresholds as an essential element of independent living for people with HIV.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: The Government will shortly be consulting on proposals to revise the building regulations
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in England and Wales to make new housing more accessible to disabled people. One of the matters to be included in that consultation is the issue of level thresholds. A report on relevant research undertaken by the Building Research Establishment will be included in the consultation package.Rural Craftsmen
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if it is his policy to give financial support to the training of craftsmen in traditional rural industries including farriery, saddlery and wheelwrighting; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins: The Rural Development Commission is the Government's rural regeneration agency and has statutory responsibility for keeping under review and advising my right hon. Friend upon all matters relating to the economic and social development of rural areas of England. The commission may carry out, or assist others to carry out, measures to further such development. Such measures can include the training of craftsmen in traditional rural industries where these are of importance to the rural economy. However, it is for the commission to decide the most appropriate and cost-effective means of delivering this support.
National Rivers Authority
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total budget of the southern regions of the National Rivers Authority for the financial year 1994 95.
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Mr. Atkins: I am informed by the National Rivers Authority that the total budget of its southern region for 1994 95 was £43.6 million.
Telephone Dialling Codes
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment has been made as to the additional costs which will be incurred by his Department as a result of the changes in national telephone dialling codes next year; and how much this change will cost his Department in additional expenditure.
Sir Paul Beresford: For my Department costs directly attributable to the change in national dialling codes amount to less than £100. There will be no on-going additional expenditure.
DEFENCE
Low Flying
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the reciprocal arrangements between his Department and the Italian authorities concerning RAF low flying training over Italy and Italian air force low flying over the United Kingdom specify (a) the maximum number of sorties and (b) requirements for flight authorisation.
Mr. Soames: There are no formal agreements relating to low flying training by the RAF over Italy or by the Italian air force over the United Kingdom. Requests for use of the low flying systems of Italy and the United Kingdom are considered individually by officials of the Ministry of Defence of the country in which the sorties will be flown. Such requests include details of the numbers of aircraft and the duration of deployment. Approval of such requests, if granted, would be conditional on the aircrews receiving a comprehensive face-to-face briefing on the regulations governing the use of the respective low flying system.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy on conducting Royal Air Force police investigations of alleged breaches of low flying regulations which originate from sources other than witnesses on the ground.
Mr. Soames: The RAF police may be tasked to carry out an investigation in any case where it appears that a breach of low flying regulations may have occurred, regardless of the source of the complaint.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the RAF police investigations of alleged breaches of flying regulations during 1993 originated from (a) complaints from members of the public, (b) representations from hon. Members, (c) members of the armed forces and (d) other sources.
Mr. Soames: Of the 686 RAF police investigations in 1993, 39 originated from representations from hon. Members. A breakdown of investigations by the other categories listed could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the means employed to verify that non-United Kingdom based foreign aircrews conducting low-level flying training over
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the United Kingdom are observing low flying regulations during (a) the planning and (b) the execution of their sorties.Mr. Soames: Foreign aircrews using the United Kingdom low flying system are subject to the same monitoring as United Kingdom crews to ensure compliance with low flying regulations.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sums were paid by the Italian authorities for use of United Kingdom range and low-flying facilities in 1993.
Mr. Soames: It is not my Department's practice to release details of government-to-government payments of this kind.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) pursuant to his answer of 1 December, Official Report, column 907, what is the current radius of the Eshott microlight avoidance area (a) for foreign military aircraft and (b) for British military aircraft; and if the operators of Eshott airfield are provided with information on the dimensions of the avoidance area;
(2) in respect of which avoidance areas the diversions applying to foreign aircraft are different from those applying to British aircraft;
(3) if the radius requirements in respect of the Eshott microlight avoidance area apply equally to all foreign aircraft.
Mr. Soames: It is my Department's policy not to release specific details of flying restrictions in individual areas, although we understand that the operators of Eshott airfield are aware of the dimensions of their avoidance. The dimensions of all avoidances apply equally to both United Kingdom and foreign military aircraft.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what circumstances other than official NATO squadron exchanges or exercises he grants permission to foreign aircrew to conduct low flying over the United Kingdom.
Mr. Soames: Each request for foreign aircraft to fly in the United Kingdom low flying system is considered on its merits, taking into account the principle of reciprocity, the mutual benefit of such flying to the United Kingdom and our allies and the wider defence interest.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 2 December, Official Report , column 945 , what rank of RAF officer authorised the flight by Italian air force aircraft on 14 July.
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