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Exports
21. Sir Wyn Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has for stimulating Welsh exports in the coming months; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones: The Welsh Office's programme of trade missions and trade fair representation continues to give small and medium-sized companies in Wales the opportunity to join sales missions to markets throughout the world. Visits will be made to 13 markets over the next 12 months and some of these will be led by Ministers. Representations will also be offered at trade fairs in Dubai and Kuala Lumpar.
Welsh Office staff will continue to mount seminars, workshops and other events and visit new and existing exporters to provide advice and information.
Youth Training Expenditure
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what public funds he has devoted to training the people aged 25 years and under in order to get them out of unemployment in each of the last five years.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 9 March 1995]: Figures covering youth training, youth credits and modern apprenticeships are given in the following table. These programmes are specifically aimed at people under 25 years of age. In addition, adult training schemes are available to people over 18 but figures are not available for expenditure on those aged 18 to 25 within these schemes.
Provision has fluctuated over the period concerned in line with demand and changes to the programmes. Reductions in the numbers of 16-year-olds and increases in the proportion staying on at school or entering further education have caused demand to reduce since 1991 92.
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Funding has always been more than adequate to meet the youth guarantee by providing training and those young people up to the age of 18 who have required it; and 18 to 25-year-olds are treated as a priority group under the adult training for work programme.Youth training, youth credits and modern apprenticeships provision in Wales Year |£ million ------------------------------ 1990-91 |42.252 1991-92 |48.897 1992-93 |42.683 1993-94 |40.424 1994-95 |49.421 Notes: <1>Figures for first four years represent outturn expenditure; that for 1994-95 is the level of provision available. <2> Youth credits commenced in 1991-92 on a pilot basis and are now being progressively introduced by training and enterprise councils throughout Wales. Modern apprenticeships were introduced in 1994-95.
Cardiff Bay Advisory Committee
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Cardiff Bay development corporation concerning the setting up of the Cardiff Bay advisory committee: what representations he has had concerning the delays in (a) choosing the members of the committee and (b) commencing its activities; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 9 March 1995]: The establishment of the Cardiff Bay advisory committee is the statutory responsibility of the Cardiff Bay development corporation.
I understand that nominations have been received from the 12 organisations selected to be represented on the committee and that the first meeting will take place later this year.
Car Parking
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidance he has given to hospital trusts and health authorities in relation to charging for the provision of car parking for the disabled for both out-patients and emergency admissions; and when this guidance was last reviewed.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 9 March 1995]: None. Charging for car parking on hospital sites is an operational matter for local management.
NHS Trust Funding
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make increased funding available to Powys Health Care NHS trust for 1995 96 and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood: Responsibility for purchasing health service from NHS trusts rests with health authorities and GP fundholding practices.
Class Sizes
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the average class size in Wales for the
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school years (a) 1991 92, (b) 1992 93, (c) 1993 94, (d) 1995 96.Mr. Redwood: The following table shows the average class size in Wales for both primary and secondary schools. Data are not available for 1994 95 and 1995 96.
|September |September |January
Average class size |1991 |1992 |1994
as at (a)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary schools |25.0 |25.0 |25.6
Secondary schools |21.5 |21.4 |20.1
(a) Average class size is calculated as the number of pupils divided by the number of classes.
In the case of primary schools, the number of classes used is the number of registered classes
whereas for secondary schools it is the number of classes in which the pupils were taught
during a specified period on the day of the schools' census.
Source:
schools census.
Standard Spending Assessments
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the change, in real terms, of standard spending assessment per pupil for Wales in (a) 1990 91, (b) 1991 92, (c) 1992 93, (d) 1993 94, (e) 1994 95 and (f) 1995 96.
Mr. Redwood: There are no standard spending assessments for education, or per pupil, for Welsh authorities.
The standard spending assessments for county councils in Wales, published in "The Local Government Finance Report (Wales) 1995 96", include provision for education.
Waiting Times
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to issue figures relating to the waiting times for routine out-patient waits; longest in-patient waits and combined waits for South Glamorgan health authority as at 31 December 1994, comparable with the information given for all other health authorities in the waiting times information bulletin, February 1995 edition, issued by Welsh Health Common Services Authority.
Mr. Redwood: As reported in the bulletin, hospitals in south Glamorgan have agreed to provide information on all the medical procedures involved for the next edition.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many consultants have been omitted from the schedule published in the Welsh Health Common Services Authority waiting times information bulletin of February for reasons of inability to comply with the current patients charter guarantees on maximum in-patient waiting times.
Mr. Redwood: Three consultants were not included in the February edition of the waiting times information bulletin.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has for circulation of the operational guidance on the total waiting times guarantee, and what consultations he has had with the community health councils, local authorities and patient representatives
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concerning the form and circulation of the guidance document.Mr. Redwood: The operational guidance on total waiting times will be distributed widely within the NHS in Wales, with copies being sent to all general practices, hospitals, health authorities and community health councils.
Comments on the draft were sought from all community health councils in Wales, and community health council representatives attended workshops arranged to discuss practical aspects of the new approach to reducing hospital waiting times.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his current estimate of when the next issue of waiting times information, given 31 March waiting time, will be published.
Mr. Redwood: The next edition of the waiting times information bulletin will be distributed to general practitioners in the first week of May. It will contain information gathered from hospitals in the last week of March 1995.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidance he has given the chairman of the Welsh Health Common Services Authority concerning the inclusion of consultants in the waiting times information bulletin who are on extended leave of absence; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood: No specific guidance has been given on this point.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library a copy of the draft operational guidance relating to the total waiting time guarantee to be effective from April; what representations he has had from health authorities, family health service authorities and trusts in relation to the form of the final guidance; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood: A copy of the operational guidance on total waiting times will be placed in the Library. It incorporates helpful comments made by health authorities, hospitals, general practitioners and community health councils.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received in relation to the inclusion of consultants in the schedule published in the waiting times information bulletin, who cannot meet current patients charter guarantees on maximum waiting times.
Mr. Redwood: One representation from an NHS general manager has been received, and in the light of this we are considering including details of all consultants in future editions.
Cardiac Surgery
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions and for what length of time the contract tender period for the market-testing competition for the cardiac surgery unit to Morriston hospital was extended, and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood: The original contract tender period of 150 days was extended three times to 1 December 1994, 28 February 1995 and 14 March 1995.
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Valleys Initiative
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the schemes under way as part of his valleys private finance initiative.
Mr. Redwood: All 20 sites contained in the "Investment Opportunities in the South Wales Valleys" portfolio are actively being marketed by the Welsh Development Agency and the Land Authority for Wales.
Detailed development briefs for Victoria, Navigation park, Llantarnam, Penllergaer, Parc Hendre and South Llanelli will be available from the Welsh development agency at the end of March. Briefs for Hirwaun, Cwm Cynon, Mamhilad and the Merthyr Tydfil BR sites will be available in May or June.
Expressions of interest have been received from developers for the schemes at Brackla, Port Talbot, Ynysallan, Llantarnam, Mamhilad, South Llanelli and Merthyr Tydfil, and work is well under way at Victoria to create the new urban village.
NHS Staff Eating Disorders
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidelines he has issued to health authorities and trusts giving employment of nurses or nursing assistants who are, or have suffered from anorexia nervosa, bulimia or other eating disorders; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood: Guidance on such issues are included in occupational health service guidance letters which are sent out by the Department to all health authorities and NHS trusts in Wales. The most recent guidance letter, DGM(95)13, was issued in February this year and, as a result of the Allitt inquiry--Clothier report--included a paragraph about pre-employment health assessments of staff with a history of behaviour that might give cause for concern. I am placing a copy in the Library of the House.
Building Signs
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about his plans to make it a requirement of Welsh Office funding that signs are erected, or promotional material made available, publicising the source of funding; how much money he will make available to fund such publicity; and from what budget this money will come.
Mr. Redwood: I should like the Welsh dragon to appear on construction signboards where the Welsh Office has contributed significant funding, and have asked my officials to draw up proposals to give effect to this policy. Money is already spent on signboards at each site from project funds.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Dr. Strang: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many sites of special scientific interest have been (a) damaged and (b) destroyed by development and other means in Wales in each year since 1979.
Mr. Gwilym Jones.: The information is not held centrally in the form requested. However, since the establishment of the Countryside Council for Wales on1 April 1991 this data has been included in its annual reports. Prior to 1992 it was collated centrally for England, Scotland and Wales, by Nature Conservancy Council and was published in its annual reports. The
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annual reports of both organisations are in the Library of the House.Hedgerows
Dr. Strang: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what length of hedgerow has been lost in Wales in each year since 1979.
Mr. Gwilym Jones.: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Mr. Davies) on Monday 6 February Official Report, column 94.
Housing
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimates he has made of the extent of unmet housing need; and if he will make it his policy to collate figures on unmet housing need so as to qualify the requirements for (a) new housebuilding and (b) renovation activity.
Mr. Redwood: For the whole of Wales I have estimates of house condition, population growth and household formation. However it is the responsibility of local authorities to assess housing need in their areas. They are best placed to decide priorities, taking account of local factors, and to devise strategies drawing in developers, housing associations and others to meet housing need.
Prescriptions
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion and what number of prescriptions dispensed in Wales were written in Welsh in 1993 94; and what has been the change in the proportion of prescriptions written in Welsh in the last five years.
Mr. Redwood: This information is not available centrally. Prescriptions are communications between professionals in the NHS and may be dispensed in any part of the United Kingdom. For this reason the British National Formulary states that they should be completed in English, although some Latin abbreviations are acceptable.
TRANSPORT
Railway Track Maintenance
Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to ensure that Railtrack maintains the same level of maintenance on main and branch line track, including track renewal, re-sleepering and re-ballasting, for 1995 96 as for 1993 94 and 1994 95; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Watts: Railtrack operates within a regulatory and contractual framework, overseen by the rail regulator, which sets high standards of safety and performance for the rail network. Within that framework it is for Railtrack to determine the appropriate level of track maintenance and renewal necessary to meet the standards to which it is subject.
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US-UK Aviation Relations
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 20 February, Official Report, column 4, on what date he visited Her Majesty's ambassador in Washington; what was the purpose of his visit; and which officials accompanied him.
Dr. Mawhinney: I visited Her Majesty's ambassador in Washington, unaccompanied by officials, on September 23 1994 to discuss US-UK aviation relations.
Vehicle Emissions
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to encourage the use of particulate emission control in heavy goods vehicles and public service vehicles and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris: Particulate emissions control has been a requirement of all new heavy duty goods vehicles and PSVs since 1 October 1993 by virtue of directive 91/542/EEC. This same directive applies further restrictions to apply to all vehicles registered from 1 October 1996. The Department is also working with the Commission to develop yet further controls from 1 October 1999.
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what research his department is currently undertaking in respect of particulate pollution; and at what cost.
Mr. Norris: Research into air pollution is a matter for the Department of the Environment. Complementary research undertaken by the Department of Transport includes a £1 million joint study, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment and the motor industry, into means of identifying and analysing particulates by size and composition, and establishing typical levels emitted by petrol and diesel vehicles. A second £1.1 million departmental programme, aimed at improving control of particulate emissions from new heavy duty diesel vehicles, is developing an EC type approval test more representative of typical driving conditions. These programmes are in addition to others aimed at improved modelling--£225,000, and data collection-- £200,000 per annum on-going, for better forecasting of all transport fleet emissions, including particulates.
Radioactive Materials
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 1 March 1995, Official Report, column 597, if he will give reasons for the delay in introducing regulations arising from the Radioactive Materials (Road Transport) Act 1991.
Mr. Norris: The matters to be dealt with in the regulations are of a complex nature and it was necessary to resolve a large number of technical details.
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on vehicles carrying plutonium along the M6 and M40 on or around 23 February; if he will investigate them; and what assessment he has made of whether vehicle registration H254 FGM complied with road traffic regulations at all times.
Mr. Norris: I have received no such representations. If I receive any, I shall consider them. I have not made such an assessment of the vehicle referred to.
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 1 March, Official Report ,
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column 597 , what effect the deletion of a higher executive officer post in the radioactive material transportation division has had on the work of that division; and what reorganisation has taken place.Mr. Norris: The tasks of the post holder are being undertaken by other members of the division. The administrative branch of RMTD is now headed by an executive officer.
Orbital Motorway, Birmingham
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to make a further announcement on the progress of his plans for a tolled western orbital motorway around Birmingham; and whether he intends this road to be shadow-tolled.
Mr. Watts: There are no plans for a tolled wester orbital motorway around Birmingham. The Highways Agency is continuing preparatory work for a scheme which might prove suitable for private sector finance through the design, build, finance and operate initiative. I expect to make a further announcement about progress on the scheme in due course.
Diesel Fuel
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proposals he has to introduce incentives to increase the availability of sulphur-free diesel fuel.
Oceanic Programme and Scottish Centre
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he now expects to make an announcement in respect of the Oceanic programme; and on what date he expects the new capability to commence;
(2) when he expects to make an announcement in respect of the new Scottish centre; and on what date he expects the new facility to be available.
Mr. Norris: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Angus, East (Mr. Welsh) on
12 December 1994. There are no plans at present to make an announcement on the new Scottish centre, or on the new Oceanic flight data processing system.
M62 Relief Road
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to make a further announcement of the progress of his plans for the M62 relief road in northern Manchester.
Mr. Watts: On 22 June 1994, my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key) announced further studies of the M62, which are now in progress. The studies are expected to take about two years to complete and their estimated cost is between £3 million and £5 million.
London Underground (Safety)
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made into researching the potential development of the remote reversal of escalators to effect rapid evacuation of passengers from underground stations.
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Mr. Norris: I understand that Her Majesty's railway inspectorate has commissioned a research project into this subject from the health and safety laboratory in Sheffield.
Safer Cycling
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the research projects currently being funded by his Department to promote safer cycling; and what is the budget for each research project.
Mr. Norris: The Department is currently funding the following research projects to promote safer cycling:
Title |£'000 ------------------------------------------ Vulnerable Road Users |378 Innovative Cycle Schemes |240 Toucan Crossings and Cyclists |170 Cycle Helmets |137 Cycle Training |105
Illegal Operations Working Group
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what dates the illegal operations working group has met in the last 12 months; and what recommendations it has published.
Mr. Norris: The Department's illegal operations working group met on 25 August 1994 and 7 February 1995.
The working group's 1994 report is being drafted and will be circulated to those organisations with an interest in goods vehicle enforcement.
Train Skids
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cases of trains skidding while in the course of braking have been recorded in each of he last 10 years; and how many in each year involved turbo trains.
Mr. Watts: Train skids are not statutorily reportable occurrences unless they cause an accident or dangerous occurrence, such as a buffer stop collision. Statistics on reportable incidents are published in Her Majesty's railway inspectorate's annual report on the safety record of the railways, copies of which are placed in the Library of the House.
Vehicle Inspectorate
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many clerical staff within the Vehicle Inspectorate are currently undertaking traffic examiner duties on temporary promotion; (2) how many tachographs were examined by the Vehicle Inspectorate in each of he last 12 months; and how many prosecutions resulted from these checks;
(3) how many spot checks on vehicles were undertaken by the Vehicle Inspectorate at the ports of Dover, Hull, Felixstowe and Liverpool; and how many traffic examiners were stationed at each port in each of the last five years;
(4) how many vehicles were weighed by the Vehicle Inspectorate in each of the last 12 months; and how many prosecutions resulted from those checks;
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(5) how many vehicles were examined at vehicle spot checks by the Vehicle Inspectorate in each of the last 12 months; and how many prosecutions resulted from these checks.Mr. Norris: There are operational matters for the Vehicle Inspectorate Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ron Oliver to Ms Joan Walley, dated 13 March 1995: The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning various enforcement activities within the Agency for each of the last 12 months.
There are currently 2 clerical staff undertaking traffic examiner duties on temporary promotion. The posts are scheduled to be trawled and filled on substantive promotion in the near future. Details of the number of tachograph examined, total number of roadworthiness spot checks and number of vehicles weighed in each of the last 12 months are shown in the attached annexes. Current details for the information on prosecutions is not available in the form requested. However, for 1993/94 there were 4,422 successful prosecutions for drivers hours offences, 5,521 for overloading offences and 5,620 other traffic offences. We have recently centralised and refined the handling of prosecution work within the Agency. This will improve the collection and availability of data. The road transport enforcement work within the Inspectorate is broadly divided into 23 geographical "Areas" I have provided details of traffic examiner checks at or in the approaches of harbours for the areas in which Dover (Area 14), Hull (Area 21), Felixstowe (Area 17) and Liverpool (Area 6) are based. The figures include checks made at all harbours within the area, we do not have separate figures for each port. Traffic examiners are required to work throughout the area and are not "stationed" to work exclusively at the ports. The current numbers of traffic examiners for these 4 "Areas" are.
|Number of traffic
|examiners
------------------------------------------------------
Area 6 |7
Area 14 |10
Area 17 |6
Area 21 |5
Roadside spot checks February 1994 to
January 1995
|PSV |HGV |LGV
--------------------------------------
February |2,348 |9,740 |3,477
March |1,601 |6,520 |2,104
April |1,467 |11,505|2,522
May |2,140 |12,834|3,349
June |2,435 |10,578|3,375
July |3,821 |14,277|4,682
August |2,619 |10,982|4,153
September |2,673 |12,296|7,905
October |2,482 |12,080|4,645
November |2,758 |10,622|6,483
December |2,473 |8,860 |5,892
January |2,534 |6,773 |7,495
Monthly checking of tachographs and
weighing of vehicles
|HGV tachos|PSV tachos
--------------------------------------------
1994
February |138,153 |10,700
March |133,503 |32,294
April |107,742 |9,404
May |110,981 |13,620
June |107,256 |21,197
July |153,115 |34,037
August |123,186 |29,488
September |129,186 |28,430
October |123,170 |21,755
November |121,916 |16,204
December |110,818 |21,751
1995
January |94,882 |14,277
Total |1,454,570 |253,167
Total tachographs (12 months) = 1,707,737
Monthly weighing of vehicles
|HGV |PSV |Light goods
|weighings |weighings |weighings
------------------------------------------------------------
1994
February |8,549 |31 |411
March |9,594 |70 |580
April |6,905 |90 |428
May |6,797 |145 |487
June |6,904 |210 |467
July |9,183 |444 |576
August |7,573 |231 |523
September |10,474 |124 |642
October |18,863 |52 |584
November |22,907 |62 |561
December |18,371 |89 |674
1995
January |6,106 |12 |557
Total |132,226 |1,560 |5,690
Total weighings (12 months) = 140,476
Vehicle examination (including weighing) at harbours, within selected enforcement areas
|Total for 10
|April |May |June |July |August |September |October |November |December |January |months
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Area 6
HGV |104 |105 |74 |85 |203 |69 |220 |215 |57 |16 |1,148
Light goods |134 |136 |100 |120 |282 |85 |309 |280 |74 |19 |1,539
PSV |0 |0 |5 |14 |0 |6 |0 |4 |0 |0 |29
|238 |241 |179 |219 |485 |160 |529 |499 |131 |35 |2,716
Area 14
HGV |205 |282 |346 |428 |267 |503 |618 |917 |599 |664 |4,829
Light goods |327 |450 |500 |655 |381 |690 |791 |1,098 |707 |906 |6,505
PSV |55 |90 |72 |48 |37 |163 |81 |90 |86 |71 |793
|587 |822 |918 |1,131 |685 |1,356 |1,490 |2,105 |1,392 |1,641 |12,127
Area 17
HGV |958 |892 |776 |1,442 |814 |1,022 |1,676 |2,180 |515 |1,001 |11,276
Light goods |1,458 |1,410 |1,187 |1,972 |11,28 |1,104 |1,703 |2,193 |525 |1,348 |14,028
PSV |26 |31 |25 |36 |18 |17 |0 |3 |0 |0 |156
|2,442 |2,333 |1,988 |3,450 |1,960 |2,143 |3,379 |4,376 |1,040 |2,349 |25,460
Area 21
HGV |978 |705 |331 |467 |125 |200 |116 |41 |146 |5 |3,114
Light goods |1,150 |826 |397 |554 |132 |228 |118 |43 |147 |5 |3,600
PSV |210 |165 |0 |0 |29 |128 |17 |107 |16 |0 |672
|2,338 |1,696 |728 |1,021 |286 |556 |251 |191 |309 |10 |7,386
Night Flying Restrictions
Mr. Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what review he has carried out of the night restrictions which currently apply at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports following the recent judicial review; and if he will make a statement.
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