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Column 668
whether the milk quota leasing system is working in the interests of the British farmer; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Jack [holding answer 13 March 1995]: With the full support of the British dairy industry, the Government have sought to provide the most flexible conditions possible for producers to lease milk quota. The current leasing arrangements offer ready access to quota for those who do not have the resources to purchase quota outright or who want the flexibility to acquire extra quota as the need arises.
Marine Mammals Strandings Project
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many strandings of dolphins, porpoises or whales there have been in each year since 1990; what analysis was carried out of the carcasses; if the results are available; and how the carcasses were disposed of.
Sir Paul Beresford: I have been asked to reply.
The marine mammals strandings project has recorded strandings in England and Wales since 1990 and in Scotland since January 1992. The numbers of whales, dolphins and porpoises recorded as stranded were 144 in 1990; 191 in 1991; 418 in 1992; 320 in 1993; and 360 in 1994. Analyses of carcasses include tissue and stomach samples for studying viruses and dietary constituents. Post mortems also address contaminant levels and incidences of bycatch in fishing nets. Results are periodically published in scientific journals, and basic strandings information is recorded on a national database. Carcasses are disposed of by a variety of methods. The decision rests with the relevant local authority.
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HOME DEPARTMENT
Data Protection
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to reviewing the Data Protection Act 1984 to permit the emergency services direct access to the databases of British Telecom and Mercury.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: There are no plans for direct access by the emergency services to the British Telecom, Mercury and other telephone operator databases other than to the publicly available directory services.
Mrs. Sadetha Hafejee
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his letter of 6 March, ref: IMP H322601/3 (S); and PO 01835/95 to the hon. Member for Bradford West, concerning Mrs. Sadetha Mohammed Amin Hafejee, when Mr. Hafejee replied to the letter, dated 20 February, from Leeds/Bradford airport; when and where Mr. Hafejee is to be interviewed; and when is a decision to be taken on Mrs. Hafejee's application to enter the United Kingdom.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: Mr. Hafejee replied on 28 February to Leeds/Bradford airport's letter of 20 February. As a result, an appointment has been made for Mr. Hafejee to be interviewed at 12 pm on Tuesday 21 March 1995 at the immigration office at North Shields. A record of the interview will be reported to the entry clearance officer in Bombay in the normal way. I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs that a decision will then be made as soon as possible.
Mrs. Quereshian Bibi
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 26 January, Official Report, column 302 , if Mr. Rahgzeb has been interviewed, to date, in relation to the application by Mrs. Quereshian Bibi--BV100/25109 and when a decision is to be taken on her application to enter the United Kingdom.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: Mr. Rahgzeb was interviewed on 5 February. A report of the interview was sent to the entry clearance officer Islamabad on 1 March. I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs that a decision on the entry clearance application will be made as soon as possible.
Turkish Special Intelligence
Mr. Austin-Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what evidence he has received of links between Turkish Special Intelligence--MIT--and crimes of violence in London; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard: It has been the long-standing practice not to comment on stories about the purported activities of domestic or overseas security and intelligence agencies.
Mr. Zia Rahman Farooqi
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will arrange for Mr. Zia
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Rahman Farooqi to be removed from the United Kingdom on the grounds that his presence is not conducive to public order; and if he will make a statement;(2) when Mr. Zia Rahman Farooqi, leader of the Soldiers of God, based in Pakistan, entered the United Kingdom as a visitor; for how long his visa was endorsed; and how many representations he has received from individuals and organisation in the UK protesting at Mr. Farooqi's being allowed to visit the UK.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: It is not our normal practice to disclose information to third parties about an individual's immigration status. No representations have been received protesting against Mr. Farooqi's presence in the United Kingdom.
Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus
Mr. Austin-Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to seek the extradition of a Turkish citizen from Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus in connection with an attempted murder in London on 29 December 1994; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: The United Kingdom does not have any extradition arrangements with Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.
Baglinton Airport (Policing)
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost to date of the West Midlands police operation at Baglinton airport; and what is his policy on the payment for the costs of policing on private property.
Mr. Maclean: I understand that, as at 14 March, the total additional costs incurred in policing the demonstrations against live animal exports from Coventry airport were about £55,000.
Police officers are not being deployed on private property, and the question of charging does not arise since they are enforcing the peace and preventing breaches of the law.
Reconviction Rates
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the average rates of reconviction for (a) community (b) custodial sentences in each of the past 15 years.
Mr. Maclean: Comparisons between reconviction rates are affected by differences in age, sex, previous convictions and other characteristics of offenders receiving the sentences, as described in Home Office research study 136, "Explaining reconviction rates: a critical analysis". The decrease in the reconviction rate for those discharged from prison between 1987 and 1990 is partly due to the decrease in the number of young offenders discharged from prison, who have a relatively high reconviction rate.
The information is published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales and Probation Statistics, England and Wales", copies of which are available in the Library. The available information is as follows:
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Percentage of sentenced prisoners discharged from
prison or of
offenders commencing probation or community
service who are
reconvicted within two years of discharge or
commencement by
year of discharge or commencement
|Community
|Custody |Probation|Service
--------------------------------------------------
1976<1> |58 |- |-
1977<1> |59 |- |-
1978<1> |58 |- |-
1979<1> |58 |41 |51
1980 |59 |- |-
1981 |58 |- |-
1982 |59 |- |-
1983 |56 |- |-
1984 |54 |- |-
1985 |52 |- |-
1986 |50 |- |-
1987<2> |57 |53 |55
1988<2> |55 |52 |54
1989<2> |53 |54 |56
1990<2> |52 |56 |56
<1>Rates for those discharged from prison exclude
those discharged from prison sentences of 3
months or less.
<2>Figures for 1987 and after are not directly
comparable with those from earlier years due to a
change in methodology. If the old methodology had
been followed it is estimated that the
reconviction rates would be about 5 to 6
percentage points lower.
Prison Service
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Prison Service staff have been used for training private prisoner custody officers; at what cost; and at whose cost, giving figures for each year since 1991 and for the latest date available.
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.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 16 March 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about how many prison service staff have been used for training private prisoner custody officers; at what cost; and at whose cost, giving figures for each year since 1991 and for the latest date available.
The information is outlined below:
1991: No training provided
1992: No training provided
1993: A total of 135 trainer days employing 9 individual trainers for varying lengths of time, all in control and restraint skills.
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1994: A total of 234 trainer days employing 12 individual trainers for varying lengths of time, all in control and restraint skills. 1995: 4 prisoner custody officers attended courses run by the National Control & Restraint (Advanced) Training Centre alongside public sector colleagues.The companies employing the officers trained were charged aggregate amounts of £40,500, £87,000 and £4,000 in 1993, 1994 and 1995 respectively for this training. These charges fully recovered the costs incurred.
Water and Sewerage
Mr. Nicholls: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost of his Department's expenditure on water and sewerage in (a) the current year and (b) each of the three previous years.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Estimated expenditure on water and sewerage in the current financial year is about £8.3 million. Complete details of expenditure on these services in earlier years are not available.
Young Offenders
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many 15-years-olds have (a) been cautioned and (b) been found guilty of any offence in each year since 1980.
Mr. Maclean: Information on the number of 15-year-olds cautioned and found guilty is published in the annual Command Paper "Criminal Statistics England and Wales". Table 5.21 of the 1985 edition, table 5.23 of the 1991 edition and table 5.25 of the 1993 edition refer to it. Copies of these publications are available in the Library. The 1994 data will not be available until the autumn.
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many 15-year-olds have been sentenced to immediate custody on their first conviction in each year since 1990; and for which offence types.
Mr. Maclean: The information requested is not collected routinely. A special study of a sample of those convicted of indictable offences in 1991 revealed that of 319 15-year-olds in the sample, three, 1 per cent. were sentenced to immediate custody on their first conviction for an indictable offence.
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the disposals given to (a) 15-year-old boys and (b) 15 -year-old girls by the youth, magistrates and Crown courts in each year since 1990.
Mr. Maclean: The information is given in the following table. The 1994 data will not be available until the autumn.
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Number of 15-years olds sentenced for indictable offences by sex, type of disposal and type of court 1990-93
England and Wales
|Absolute and |Young
|Total |conditional |Supervision |Attendance |Offender |Otherwise
Year/Court |sentenced |discharge |Fine |order |centre order |Care order<1>|Institution |dealt with
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Males
1990
Juvenile courts |5,558 |1,946 |845 |1,173 |1,144 |38 |306 |106
Magistrates'
courts |396 |158 |103 |72 |42 |1 |10 |10
Crown Court |328 |25 |8 |125 |37 |14 |79
1991
Juvenile courts |4,896 |1,787 |563 |1,091 |1,005 |8 |355 |87
Magistrates
courts |378 |163 |64 |68 |47 |2 |27 |7
Crown Court |264 |23 |1 |98 |37 |4 |62 |39
1992
Juvenile/Youth
courts |4,421 |1,625 |470 |975 |915 |n/a |347 |89
Magistrates
courts |328 |150 |45 |62 |43 |n/a |17 |11
Crown courts |217 |19 |2 |83 |23 |n/a |69 |21
1993
Youth courts |4,703 |1,751 |338 |1,141 |964 |n/a |428 |81
Magistrates'
courts |298 |137 |33 |57 |46 |n/a |19 |6
Crown court |203 |13 |- |75 |18 |n/a |57 |40
Females
1990
Juvenile courts |696 |407 |96 |120 |51 |5 |3 |14
Magistrates'
courts |56 |34 |13 |5 |1 |1 |1 |1
Crown Court |29 |6 |1 |14 |1 |2 |3 |2
1991
Juvenile courts |670 |372 |83 |122 |58 |5 |10 |20
Magistrates
courts |46 |26 |8 |7 |3 |- |- |2
Crown Court |27 |5 |3 |14 |1 |1 |2 |1
1992<2>
Juvenile/Youth
courts |609 |354 |65 |125 |50 |n/a |3 |12
Magistrates
courts |46 |31 |8 |6 |- |n/a |- |5
Crown courts |22 |- |1 |14 |1 |n/a |1 |5
1993
Youth courts |673 |365 |55 |176 |55 |n/a |17 |5
Magistrates'
courts |36 |26 |5 |1 |3 |n/a |1 |-
Crown Court |17 |- |- |8 |- |n/a |5 |4
<1> Abolished under the Children Act 1989 (14 October 1991).
<2> The Youth Court was introduced from 1 October 1992.
n/a = Not applicable.
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many 15 year olds have received (a) one caution, (b) two cautions and (c) three or more cautions in each year since 1980.
Mr. Maclean: The information requested is not collected routinely. The following table shows results from special studies of those cautioned for indictable offences in one week in each of the years 1991, 1988 and 1985 in England and Wales.
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_
Fifteen-year-olds cautioned in study week, 1991, 1988 and 1985
England and Wales Percentages
Number of previous
cautions<1> Year
|1991 |1988 |1985
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
None |63 |77 |83
One |19 |16 |15
Two or more |18 |7 |2
<1>Not necessarily in the study year.
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the length of immediate custody to which 15-year-old boys and girls were sentenced by (a) magistrates courts and (b) Crown courts in each year since 1985 broken down by the type of offence.
Mr. Maclean: As the information for 1985 to 1993 is given in a large number of tables, I shall place them in the Library. The 1994 data will not be available until the autumn.
Prisons (Drug and Alcohol Programmes)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what drug or alcohol programmes are available in prisons; and what percentage of prisons have each type of programme.
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.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 16 March 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about what drug or alcohol programmes are available; and what percentage of prisons have each type of programme.
All prisons within England and Wales provide prisoners with access to education, treatment and counselling services for substance misuse via the prison health care centre, the probation service or outside agencies and visiting self help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. A survey in December 1994 of 130 prisons found that 119 prisons provide some form of additional treatment programme. Some but not all of these facilities are already used by both alcohol and drug misusers.
The main types of treatment programme currently on offer are one-to-one counselling, group therapy and intensive treatment programmes such as therapeutic communities or the Minnesota 12-Step Programme. 78 per cent of prisons provide one-to-one counselling, 72 per cent provide group therapy and seven per cent provide intensive treatment programmes.
As part of the new Prison Service drugs strategy, expected to be published in the spring, all prison governors will be required to develop and implement local drug strategies which will form part of their contract with their area manager. The local strategies will include provision for education, treatment and throughcare for prisoners who misuse, have misused, or are at risk of misusing drugs.
Next month the Prison Service is launching the first phase of a new range of enhanced treatment services for drug misusers including: detoxification units; therapeutic communities; 3-month treatment programmes; intensive counselling and education services; and community-linked throughcare programmes. The effectiveness of the different programmes will be independently evaluated and the findings used to develop treatment programmes available to all prisoners according to their needs.
Prisons (Absconders)
Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners absconded from open prisons in each of the last three years; how many have been returned to prison; and how many of the absconders were convicted of drug offences.
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.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Alan Williams, dated 16 March 1995:
Column 676
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many prisoners absconded from open prisons in each of the last three years; how many have been returned to prison; and how many of the absconders were convicted of drug offences.The information requested is given in the following table.
|Number of |Number of absconders
Year |absconders |convicted of drug
|offences
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1992 |1,427 |44
1993 |1,384 |41
1994 |1,300 |51
The number of absconders who are either recaptured by the police or who surrender to the prison is not recorded centrally.
Prisons
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the certified normal accommodation level, population and percentage overcrowding for each local prison for the latest date available; and how many assaults on (a) staff and (b) prisoners have occurred in each prison since 1st April 1994.
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.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Doug Hoyle, dated 16 March 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the certified normal accommodation, population and percentage overcrowding for each local prison for the latest date available; and how many assaults on (a) staff and (b) prisoners have occurred in each prison since 1st April 1994.
The information requested is given in the attached tables, copies of which have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Table 1: Certified normal accommodation, population and
percentage overcrowding in local prisons on 28 February 1995
|Percentage
|Certified |overcrowding
|normal |(per cent.
Establishment |accommodation |Population |Pop/CNA in use
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bedford |303 |298 |0
Belmarsh |792 |699 |0
Birmingham |567 |821 |45
Blakenhurst |649 |652 |0
Bristol |464 |470 |1
Brixton |484 |639 |32
Bullingdon |644 |596 |0
Canterbury |184 |267 |45
Cardiff |321 |441 |37
Chelmsford |251 |403 |61
Doncaster |771 |780 |1
Dorchester |147 |205 |39
Durham |448 |643 |44
Elmley |637 |627 |0
Exeter |260 |385 |48
Gloucester |202 |265 |31
Highdown |629 |605 |0
Holme House |649 |624 |0
Hull |328 |404 |23
Leeds |814 |1,066 |31
Leicester |192 |352 |83
Lewes |312 |318 |2
Lincoln |444 |625 |41
Liverpool |973 |1,274 |31
Manchester |830 |899 |8
Norwich |333 |348 |5
Pentonville |559 |731 |31
Preston |342 |488 |43
Shrewsbury |168 |281 |67
Swansea |151 |229 |52
Wandsworth |922 |968 |5
Winchester |261 |364 |39
Wolds |320 |330 |3
Woodhill |566 |524 |0
Wormwood Scrubs |714 |822 |15
Note:
<1>The certified normal accommodation figures used are the "in use"
figures. They do not include places which are temporarily out of use, eg.
because of refurbishment programmes, damaged cells, etc.
Table 2: Assaults proved at adjudication<1> on staff and prisoners in
local prisons in England and Wales between April 1994-February
1995<2>
|Assaults on |Assaults on
Establishment |staff/others<3>|prisoners |Total
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bedford |15 |11 |26
Belmarsh |68 |26 |94
Birmingham |52 |36 |88
Blakenhurst |75 |22 |97
Bristol |20 |8 |28
Brixton |51 |25 |76
Bullingdon |38 |16 |54
Canterbury |11 |0 |11
Cardiff |21 |16 |37
Chelmsford |22 |14 |36
Doncaster |120 |46 |166
Dorchester |2 |2 |4
Durham |23 |13 |36
Elmley |28 |21 |49
Exeter |5 |8 |13
Gloucester |10 |3 |13
Highdown |47 |18 |65
Holme House |26 |9 |35
Hull |55 |36 |91
Leeds |92 |44 |136
Leicester |25 |17 |42
Lewes |19 |10 |29
Lincoln |25 |14 |39
Liverpool |42 |27 |69
Manchester |44 |20 |64
Norwich |25 |13 |38
Pentonville |60 |26 |86
Preston |39 |17 |56
Shrewsbury |11 |19 |30
Swansea |6 |6 |12
Wandsworth |122 |12 |134
Winchester |24 |12 |36
Wolds |31 |15 |46
Woodhill |39 |34 |73
Wormwood Scrubs |38 |16 |54
Total |1,331 |632 |1,963
<1>Includes attempt, incite or assist in an assault.
<2> Provisional figures.
<3> Includes prison officer grades, other staff and persons not being a member
of staff.
Identity Cards
Mr. Renton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider again the question of the introduction of compulsory identity cards as a means, inter alia, of helping those entitled to social security benefits by more effectively clamping down on fraudulent and bogus claims.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: My right hon. and learned Friend announced on 13 October 1994 that the Government intend to publish a Green Paper on identity cards in the spring. The Green Paper will set out the options for a national identity card scheme, including whether an identity card should be voluntary or compulsory and the possible benefits of identity cards--for example in helping to combat crimes involving fraud and impersonation. Any decision on the introduction of identity cards will be made in the light of the comments we receive on this consultative document.
Pakistani Mullahs (Visas)
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visas have been issued since 1990 to Pakistani mullahs to preach in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: No information is available on Pakistanis citizens entering the United Kingdom as visitors who undertake preaching tours. However, since 1990, 130 visas have been issued to people applying in Islamabad, Pakistan to come to the United Kingdom for employment as ministers of religion.
Karens (Political Asylum)
Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Karens have been granted political asylum since 1990.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: Information on applications for asylum by Karens is not separately identified in the statistics. The available information relates to asylum applications by Burmese nationals and data on these, for the years 1992 to 1994, are given in the table. Figures for 1990 and 1991 are published in tables 4.1 and 4.2 respectively of the Home Office statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 1992", issue 19/93, a copy of which is available in the Library.
Decisions on applications for asylum<1> received from
nationals of
Burma in the United Kingdom, excluding dependents, 1992 to
1994.
number of principal applicants
|1992|1993|1994
-------------------------------------------------------------
Asylum applications<2> |20 |15 |20
Decisions<3> |45 |20 |5
Recognised as a refugee and granted
asylum |* |5 |0
Not recognised as a refugee but granted
exceptional leave to remain<4> |40 |10 |5
Refused<5> |* |5 |*
<1>Provisional figures rounded to the nearest 5, with `*' =
1 or 2.
<2> Figures exclude information on applications made
overseas.
<3>Decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made
in the same year.
<4>Usually granted for a year in the first instance, subject
then to further review.
<5>Refusals include those made after full consideration,
refusals under para 180F for failure to provide evidence to
support the asylum claim within a reasonable period, and
refusals on the grounds that the applicant had arrived from
a safe third country.
ENVIRONMENT
Local Government Finance
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make an appropriate allowance on capping limits for 1996 97 for metropolitan fire and civil defence authorities which had already set their budget for 1995 96 before the capping limits were raised on 17 February.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: The Secretary of State will carefully consider this point when he comes to announce his preliminary capping criteria for 1996 97 later in the year.
Coastal Pollution
Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the pupils of Canon Slade school, Bolton from whom he has received letters about pollution and the environment; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Paul Beresford: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received copies of 17 letters from pupils of Canon Slade school which my hon. Friend sent him. The letters are about coastal pollution and a full reply will be sent shortly enclosing literature which we hope they will find interesting and informative. The Government are concerned about coastal pollution and are committed to securing improvements to our coastal waters. The water industry's investment programme of some £2 billion is accomplishing a steady increase in the quality of our bathing waters--82 per cent. achieved the mandatory coliform standards of the bathing water directive last season. It is our firm intention that the programme should be completed as soon as practical constraints, such as planning procedures, permit. The bulk of the schemes will be complete by around the end of this year.
Dormice
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates have been made of the numbers and locations of the national population of dormice.
Sir Paul Beresford: The national population of dormice is estimated to be between 100,000 and 500,000. The dormouse is found in parts of England and Wales, with the strongest populations in the south of England. Counties with large populations include Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Avon, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, east and west Sussex, Kent, Gwent, Gloucestershire and Hereford and Worcester. Scattered populations exist in Wiltshire, Hertfordshire, Shropshire, the Glamorgans, Dyfed and Powys. Isolated populations occur in Cumbria, Northumberland, Clwyd and Gwynedd. The species is apparently absent from all other English counties.
Column 680
Dead Livestock
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what reports his Department has received in respect of dead livestock being washed up on the south coast of England in the last three years.
Sir Paul Beresford: No record can be traced of the receipt of any such reports by the Department of Environment or the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Overhead Powerlines
Mr. William O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what guidance his Department proposes to offer to regional electricity companies to lessen the impact of overhead powerlines; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what recent representations he has received on the impact of both health and visual matters on overhead powerlines, and if he will make a statement;
(3) what (a) code of practice and (b) other criteria have been established concerning the health and visual impact of overhead powerline as a result of planning inquiries; and if he will make a statement;
(4) what is the planning guidance to local planning authorities on planning applications for overhead powerlines; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Paul Beresford: Responsibility for authorising overhead power lines above 20kv capacity rests with the President of the Board of Trade under the Electricity Act 1989. Guidance on this authorisation procedure, which requires consultations with local planning authorities, is published in Department of the Environment circular 14/90--Department of Energy circular 1/90--"Electricity Generating Stations and Overhead Lines". Proposals which may have a significant impact on the environment must be accompanied by an environmental statement. Each case is considered on its own merits. The President of the Board of Trade is under a duty to take environmental considerations into account in deciding whether to authorise a proposal.
Responsibility for advising on health impacts of power lines rests with the National Radiological Protection Board. I refer to my written answer of 3 November 1994, Official Report, column 1265.
Atmospheric Pollution
Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list those district and metropolitan council areas in order of atmospheric pollution by (a) nitrogen dioxide, (b) sulphur dioxide and (c) particulates in the last five years in terms of annual average ground level concentrations in nanograms per cubic metre;
(2) if he will list those city and district council areas in order of atmospheric pollution by (a) nitrogen dioxide, (b) sulphur dioxide and (c) particulates in the last five years in terms of annual average ground level concentrations in nanograms per cubic metre.
Mr. Atkins: My Department makes measurements of NO2, SO2 and particulates using non-automatic methods in collaboration with local authorities at over 1,200 sites for nitrogen dioxide and 257 sites for sulphur dioxide and black smoke. Data from the non-automatic sites are
Column 681
published in a number of reports, as listed, which are available from the National Environmental Technology centre, Culham, Abingdon, Oxfordshire.National NO2 Diffusion Surveys
Cambell G. W, Stedman J. R, Stevenson K. J. A survey of NO2 Concentrations in the UK using Diffusion Tubes, July December 1991. Atmos Environ, 28 (3), 477 486, 1994.
Stevenson K. J, Bush T. UK Nitrogen Dioxide Survey Results for the First Year--1993 Report in preparation.
Smoke and Sulphur Dioxide Survey
UK Smoke and SO2 Monitoring Networks: Summary Tables for 1989/90. Stevenage: Warren Spring Laboratory, 1994, Special Publication Report LR 835 (AP).
UK Smoke and SO2 Monitoring Networks: Summary Tables for 1990/91. Stevenage: Warren Spring Laboratory 1994, Special Publication Report LR 889 (AP).
UK Smoke and SO2 Monitoring Networks: Summary Tables for 1991/92. Stevenage: Warren Spring Laboratory 1994, Special Report LR 960 (AP).
UK Smoke and SO2 Monitoring Networks: Summary Tables for 1992/93. Stevenage: Warren Spring Laboratory 1994, Special Publication Report LR 1007 (AP).
UK Smoke and SO2 Monitoring Networks: Summary Tables for 1993/94. Report in preparation.
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