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Mr. Eggar [holding answer 15 June 1995]: The full details of the sale have yet to be finalised. It is, however, the Government's intention to hold special shares in the holding company and in its two subsidiary companies, Scottish Nuclear and the successor to Nuclear Electric.
Land Mines
Mr. Hanson: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what considerations led to the exclusion of Smart mines from the Government's recent mine export ban. [28229]
Mr. David Davis: I have been asked to reply.
Our moratorium bans the export of non-self-destructing and non-detectable anti-personnel mines, which are the most dangerous to civilians. It also prohibits the export of any anti-personnel mines to countries which have not ratified the UN weaponry convention, thereby ensuring that even self- destructing mines are acquired only by responsible countries.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Civil Servants
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Attorney-General, pursuant to his answer of 2 May, Official Report , column 142 , if he will provide comparable details on civil service early retirement packages on grounds of inefficiency. [29293]
The Attorney-General: Inefficiency is a ground for dismissal. An immediate lump sum payment of up to two years' salary may be made where a Department judges payment of compensation to be appropriate. Where compensation is agreed and the person dismissed is over age 55, this may be forgone in favour of immediate payment of the accrued superannuation benefits, which would otherwise be preserved for payment at retiring age. There have been 15 departures on inefficiency grounds in the past five financial years in the Departments for which I am responsible. Of these, there were four cases when no compensation payment was made. The remaining 11 cases are shown in the table:
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Year |Compensation payment
|£
---------------------------------------------------------------
1991-92 |4,000
1992-93 |2,436
|3,220
|18,384
|19,798
|31,634
1993-94 |7,492
|9,608
|11,044
1994-95 |3,037
|10,403
Mr. Roger Levitt
Mr. Donald Anderson: To ask the Attorney-General if he has anything to add to his answer to the hon. Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) of 9 December 1993, Official Report , columns 332 33 , concerning the conduct of the case against Mr. Roger Levitt. [27886]
The Attorney-General: The Serious Fraud Office and prosecuting counsel have been asked to re-examine the events that led up to Mr. Levitt's plea in the light of recent media reports and questions from hon. Members.
Various counsel-to-counsel discussions about possible pleas, of the sort indicated to the hon. Member for Hendon, South in my answer on 17 December 1993, Official Report , column 1046 , took place before 22 November. Such informal discussions are not unusual and would normally be confidential. They were not fully noted and there is no agreed record of what took place. I am, however, informed by prosecuting counsel that the discussions were initiated by counsel for only one of the defendants--not Mr. Levitt--and, following a later approach by counsel for another defendant, not Mr. Levitt, were necessarily expanded by counsel for the Crown to cover the position of all the defendants by 2 November 1993.
The discussions consequential on these initial approaches from the defence included a discussion which is believed to have taken place between leading counsel for the Crown and for Mr. Levitt around 5 November and a discussion between junior counsel for the Crown and leading counsel for Mr. Levitt on 9 November 1993 stating what the Crown's attitude was likely to be if Mr. Levitt tendered particular pleas. Prosecuting counsel continues, however, to reject the notion that it at any stage "suggested" that Mr. Levitt plead guilty to only some of the charges.
The Serious Fraud Office was aware of the discussions that were taking place. The Director of the Serious Fraud Office and prosecuting counsel have now considered together a copy letter from the solicitor for Mr. Levitt to his client dated 5 November 1993, which was handed to the director in the course of his appearance before the Treasury and Civil Service Select Committee on 12 June 1995. They have recalled that the director and case controller had a meeting with prosecuting counsel on 5 November 1993. The joint recollection of all present is that the director was then informed of possible pleas which leading counsel for the Crown advised should, in the event that they were tendered, be accepted. The director and prosecuting counsel inform me that, although the director was minded to accept such pleas, he did not give instructions that the pleas should be accepted if tendered and would have needed to consider the position
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further in that event. He expected discussions on acounsel-to-counsel basis to continue. The director is writing to the Select Committee about this and to offer to give further evidence if requested.
The plea ultimately accepted from Mr. Levitt was in the judgment of prosecuting counsel and the Serious Fraud Office significantly different from those under consideration on 5 and 9 November in that it did not include Mr. Levitt's admitting knowledge of, and participation in, any of the false valuations sent to private investors in TLG Ltd.
Prosecuting counsel and the Serious Fraud Office have again assured me that the Crown did not know the sentence which the judge was minded to impose for the relevant offence at the time it committed itself to accepting this plea on 22 November, prior to the visit to the judge, and did not know whether or not Mr. Levitt intended to proceed with the plea if the judge indicated an intention to impose a custodial sentence. As was made clear by the director in his evidence to the Select Committee, it would not in any event have been open to the Crown to resile from its acceptance of the plea because the judge indicated an intention to impose a non-custodial sentence.
WALES
NHS Administration Costs
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the administration costs incurred by (a) NHS purchasers and (b) NHS providers in Wales in each year since 1990 91, in cash prices and real terms. [27776]
Mr. Redwood: The information is as follows:
Administrative costs of the NHS in Wales
£000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was (a) the total budget spent and (b) the total administrative budget spent for the environmentally sensitive area grants. [28305]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: (a) Total grants paid under the
environmentally sensitive area schemes in 1994 95 was £1,533,000; (b) precise administrative costs are not available, because staff combine work on this area and others schemes. However, the costs of relevant administrative work alone will have amounted to around £276, 000. In addition, professional ADAS staff provided scientific and technical advice at a cost of around £1,965,000. Most staff time was devoted to developing detailed rules and regulations for the new scheme, in preparing scheme literature, and in providing farmers with assistance in drawing up whole farm plans and preparing their management agreements.
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Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (a) what percentage of the total land area of Wales was designated as environmentally sensitive; (b) what financial provision his Department allocated to environmentally sensitive areas in the years 1993 94, 1994 95 and 1995 96; (c) what percentage of the total land area of Wales will be designated as environmentally sensitive; and (d) what financial provision his Department will allocate to environmentally sensitive areas in each of the years 1996 97 and 1997 98. [29327]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: The information requested is as follows: (a) 25 per cent.
(b) Total payments for years:
1993 94: £5.8 million
1994 95: £6.9 million
1995 96: £7.0 million
(c) 25 per cent. There are no plans at present to designate further areas of Wales as environmentally sensitive.
(d) 1996 97: £6.9 million
1997 98: £6.9 million
These are planned figures which may be subject to change.
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the (a) total annual budget (b) annual budget for administration and (c) number of administrative staff for the environmentally sensitive area grants. [28301]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: The total programme budget for 1995 96 is £6,971,000. Precise administrative staff figures and costs cannot be given, because staff combine work on this area and other schemes. However, relevant administrative work alone is likely to account for approximately 18 staff years at a cost of around £264,000. In addition, professional ADAS staff are expected to provide scientific and technical advice at a cost of around £1,798,000. Most staff time in 1995 96 will be devoted to advising farmers on the key habitats to be included in their agreements; in drawing up maps of their farms showing the relevant features; and in negotiating and preparing their written management agreements.
Housing
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many Welsh households are on local authority and housing association waiting lists. [28444]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: The information requested is not available centrally.
European Council of Ministers
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he now has to attend the Council of Ministers; on what occasions in the past he has planned to do so; and if he will make a statement. [28698]
Mr. Redwood: I shall be attending the next Transport Council meeting on 19 June for one day and previously, as a Department of Trade and Industry Minister, I have attended some 22 other Council meetings.
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School Meals
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the percentage and number of children receiving (a) free school meals and (b) parentally paid for school meals for the last 10 years. [28443]
Mr. Richards: The information requested is shown in the following table:
Percentage of Number of pupils
pupils
receiving<1> receiving<2>
|Free meals|Paid meals|Free meals|Paid meals
------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |22.8 |36.3 |97,437 |155,132
1985-86 |21.3 |33.0 |90,739 |140,416
1986-87 |22.1 |32.6 |92,416 |136,020
1987-88 |21.7 |33.1 |89,550 |136,290
1988-89 |14.6 |37.4 |59,802 |153,539
1989-90 |14.1 |38.0 |58,303 |156,675
1990-91 |14.4 |38.1 |59,338 |156,951
1991-92 |16.6 |34.6 |70,088 |145,938
1992-93 |18.5 |35.3 |79,934 |152,299
1993-94 |20.7 |35.8 |90,875 |157,481
<1>The number of pupils taking meals as a percentage of all
pupils present on enumeration day.
<2>On enumeration day.
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the net expenditure on school catering services (a) in total and (b) in respect of free school meals for each year since 1987 broken down by county. [28822]
Mr. Richards: The available information is given in the following tables. Separate information on the costs of free school meals is not held centrally.
Net current expenditure on school meals and
milk<1>
£ million
|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90
------------------------------------------------
Clywd |4.4 |3.0 |3.2
Dyfed |3.5 |3.1 |3.4
Gwent |5.7 |4.3 |4.9
Gwynedd |2.9 |2.8 |2.3
Mid Glamorgan |7.5 |5.8 |7.5
Powys |1.1 |1.1 |1.1
South Glamorgan |2.1 |1.9 |1.8
West Glamorgan |2.9 |2.9 |2.9
Total Wales |30.2 |24.7 |27.1
|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93
------------------------------------------------
Clywd |3.3 |3.8 |4.0
Dyfed |4.5 |6.3 |6.1
Gwent |5.3 |5.1 |5.5
Gwynedd |3.0 |3.6 |3.9
Mid Glamorgan |8.3 |9.2 |10.1
Powys |1.3 |1.5 |1.4
South Glamorgan |2.2 |2.9 |4.8
West Glamorgan |2.7 |3.2 |3.5
Total Wales |30.5 |35.6 |39.9
|<2>1993-94|<2>1994-95|<3>1995-96
------------------------------------------------------------
Clywd |2.2 |2.7 |2.7
Dyfed |5.7 |5.6 |5.7
Gwent |6.2 |6.0 |5.7
Gwynedd |3.5 |2.9 |2.9
Mid Glamorgan |9.8 |10.1 |10.2
Powys |1.3 |1.2 |1.2
South Glamorgan |3.9 |3.7 |3.8
West Glamorgan |3.4 |3.4 |3.3
Total Wales |35.9 |35.7 |35.4
Source: Local authority.
Notes:
<1> Excludes grant maintained schools.
<2> Revised Estimates.
<3> Budgets.
Countryside Council For Wales
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make available the results of the financial management policy review of the Countryside Council for Wales initiated in 1994, and if he will make a statement. [28477]
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 15 June 1995]: The financial management policy review of the Countryside Council for Wales was overtaken by the review of the council's functions which I announced in my response to the question by my right hon. Friend the Member for Conwy (Sir W. Roberts) on 3 November 1994, columns 1331 32 . The action plan resulting from that review has been placed in the Library of the House.
Charter Week
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what was the total cost to public funds to Charter Week in Wales in 1995; [28637]
(2) how many civil servants are engaged in preparations for Charter Week; what are their grades; and in which sections of his Department they are working; [29237]
(3) what was the total cost of Charter Week in Wales. [29229]
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 15 June 1995]: A number of public service events have been timed to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the charter programme, including the publication of NHS performance tables. In Wales there will be no significant staff or cost implications, apart from the work on NHS performance tables which would have taken place anyway.
Correspondence
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received regarding the length of time his office takes to reply to letters, what difference there is in the time taken to respond to letters written in the Welsh language, and if he will make a statement. [28479]
Mr. Redwood: From time to time my Department receives representations about delays in answering letters. The Welsh Office target for replying to letters to Ministers is 12 working days. The target for replying to all other correspondence is 15 working days. These targets apply to letters in Welsh and in English.
Welsh Assembly
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Ogmore (Mr. Powell) of 12 June, column 483 if he will list (a) the calculations and (b) the assumptions he has made in arriving at his estimated cost of the Labour party's proposed directly elected Welsh Assembly. [28879]
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Mr. Redwood: I refer the hon. Member to the information I put out in my press notice on Friday 16 June.
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Ogmore (Mr. Powell) of 12 June, Official Report , column 483, what information he has sought from the Labour party Wales concerning the detail of its proposed Welsh Assembly. [28878]
Mr. Redwood: I have seen a copy of the Labour party proposals for a Welsh Assembly, and have often asked the hon. Member to clarify matters.
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Ogmore (Mr. Powell) of 12 June, Official Report , column 483, if he will make a statement in the work carried out by his departmental officials on the likely cost of the Labour party's proposals for a directly elected Welsh Assembly. [28880]
Mr. Redwood: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on Thursday 15 June, column 660 .
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Ogmore (Mr. Powell) of 12 June, Official Report , column 483, if he will list those organisations in Wales he has consulted on the desirability of creating a directly elected Welsh Assembly. [28877]
Mr. Redwood: It is not Government policy to create an assembly.
Earnings
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the average wage for (a) full-time manual males, (b) full-time non-manual males, (c) full-time manual females and (d) full-time non-manual females in (i) Wales and (ii) each county in Wales for the last two years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [28720]
Mr. Redwood: Average gross weekly earnings in each of the requested categories and for each county of Wales are published in part E of the "New Earnings Survey", published annually by the Employment Department, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Council of Europe Chapter
Mr. Roy Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 17 May, Official Report , column 269 , if he will list the Government Departments with an interest in the Council of Europe charter for regional or minority languages which are involved in the consideration of its implications; and if he will make a statement. [28871]
Mr. Redwood: Apart from the Welsh Office, the Departments which have an interest in the charter are the Northern Ireland Office, the Scottish Office, the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Cardiff Bay
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the consultation with
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the members of the Cardiff bay coalition about proposals to acquire suitable land for the creation of wetlands in the Severn estuary to compensate for the loss of the Cardiff bay site of special scientific interest; and if all members of the coalition were consulted. [29254]Mr. Redwood: This is an operational matter for the corporation and I have asked the chief executive to reply.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made on the monitoring exercise of United Kingdom populations of the dunlin and redshank and their use of estuarine mud flat habitat as part of the compensatory measures agreed with the European Commission in respect of the Cardiff bay barrage project. [29232]
Mr. Redwood: The United Kingdom population of dunlin and redshank are constantly monitored under programmes coordinated by the wetland bird surveys which are endorsed by the Government. Good progress is being made by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology on its long-term study on wading birds and their use of estuarine mud flats.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much is remaining of the money allocated for the creation of wetland habitat in the Severn to compensate for the loss of the Cardiff bay SSSI; and if he will report progress on the acquisition of suitable coastal land and mud flats for this purpose. [29233]
Mr. Redwood: About £350,000 has been incurred on expenditure related to the bird compensation/mitigation measures for the loss of the Cardiff bay habitat out of the £5.7 million provision. On progress I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 22 May 1995, column 461 .
Welsh Development Agency
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 12 June, Official Report , col. 414 , if his Department received the application for authorisation from the Welsh Development Agency for the redundancy costs to be approved separately from the other elements of the package agreed by his Department on 27 March 1990. [29250]
Mr. Redwood: Separate agreement to elements of the transfer cost was not sought.
Education Expenditure
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of identifiable Government expenditure on education in Wales, including mandatory loans and awards to students, is devoted to (a) primary education, (b) secondary education, (c) further education and (d) higher education; and if he will make a statement. [29024]
Mr. Richards: Identifiable Government expenditure on education in Wales in 1993 94, the most recent year for which complete data are available was £1,688 million, of which £165 million was expenditure by Department for Education on mandatory student awards for further and higher education. I will write to the hon. Member with further details of the breakdown of Welsh Office expenditure between sectors, and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.
Column 76
NHS Performance Tables
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the arrangements for informing the media of (a) the publication of the 1995 NHS performance tables and (b) ancillary events during Charter Week. [29230]
Mr. Redwood: The media have been given the opportunity to receive advance embargoed copies of the performance tables on 30 June. A press release will also be issued by my Department. It will be for local service providers to publicise any events held during Charter Week.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has made to the chief executives of health authorities and trusts requesting the provision of good news stories about patients charter achievements in connection with the publication of the 1995 performance tables during Charter Week. [29236]
Mr. Redwood: Chief executives of health authorities and trusts have been asked to announce to the press and public what action they are taking to improve performance where this is needed and to take this opportunity to set out their successes, where this is merited. I have not asked them to spend extra money on publicity or advertising.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his current estimate of the total cost to public funds of the NHS 1995 performance tables publication and the media exercise connected with it during Charter Week. [29228]
Mr. Redwood: The total Welsh Office budget for the 1995 NHS comparative performance tables is £45,000.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his current estimate of the number of doctors and nurses to be involved in the press launches for the publication of the NHS patients charter 1995 performance tables during Charter Week; and how much time they will be required to spend (a) in total and (b) away from their regular medical duties. [29231]
Mr. Redwood: The degree to which health professionals are involved in publicising some of their achievements, as illustrated by patients charter comparative performance tables, is an issue for each NHS trust.
Dr. Audrey Giles
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) pursuant to his answer of 18 May, Official Report , columns 374 75 , what was the grade of the civil servant who signed the acknowledgement of receipt of the recorded delivery package of documents sent by Dr. Audrey Giles on 10 March 1992 to his Department for the purposes of the appeal hearing subsequent to her forensic examination of those documents; what record his Department still holds of acknowledgement of the receipt of the package sent by the forensic scientist; and if he will make a statement; [29252]
(2) if he will list the documents contained in the recorded delivery package sent to his Department by Dr. Audrey Giles on 10 March subsequent to her forensic examination of them; and on what date they were received in his Department. [29251]
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Mr. Redwood: I am advised that no such package was received by my Department on or around this date.
Higher Education
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the proportion of young people from Wales entering HE in (a) 1993 94 and (b) 1994 95; and if he will make a statement. [29012]
Mr. Richards: Information for Wales for 1993 94 and 1994 95 is not yet available. The most recent data show that in 1992 93 an estimated 26 per cent. of young persons from Wales entered higher education.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many students were studying at a Welsh higher education institution in (a) 1993 94 and (b) 1994 95; and if he will make a
statement. [29100]
Mr. Richards: Information on the number of students studying at Welsh higher education institutions in 1993 94 and 1994 95 is shown in the following table.
Students studying at Welsh Higher Education Institutions
|<1>1993-94|<2>1994-95
------------------------------------------------------------------------
University of Wales |36,390 |39,499
Open University |4,376 |n/a
Other publicly funded higher education
institutions:
higher education courses |30,538 |38,900
further education courses |4,205 |n/a
Sources:<1>Welsh Office Further Education Student Record, Universities
Statistical Record, Open University. At November for publicly funded
higher education institutions, December for University of Wales and
January for Open University. Data provisional pending publication.
Source: <2>Higher Education Statistics Agency. Data are provisional and
exclude students on further education and open university courses. At
December.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of Welsh higher education departments received a research rating of (a) three or above and (b) five during the recent research assessment exercise; and if he will make a statement. [29027]
Mr. Richards: Sixty-three per cent. of Welsh higher education departments assessed during the 1992 research assessment exercise received a research rating of three or above; 4 per cent. of the departments received the top rating of five. The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales has as one of its objectives to "double the units of assessment graded four and five in the research assessment exercise conducted every four years".
The HEFCW has been allocated an additional £2 million in support of this objective in each public expenditure survey round since 1992. The next research assessment exercise is to be undertaken in 1996.
Civil Servants
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 2 May, Official Report , column 139, if he will provide comparable details of civil service early retirement packages on grounds of inefficiency. [29294]
Mr. Redwood: Inefficiency is a ground for dismissal. An immediate lump sum payment of up to two years'
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salary may be made where a Department judges payment of compensation to be appropriate. Where compensation is agreed and the person dismissed is over age 55, this may be forgone in favour of immediate payment of the accrued superannuation benefits which would otherwise be preserved for payment at retiring ages. Three people have left the Welsh Office on inefficiency grounds during the last five years. Details are as follows:Compensation lump sum £ 1990-91 |1991-92|1992-93|1993-94|1994-95 ------------------------------------------------ - |6,926 |- |- |4,162 - |1,683 |- |- |-
Welsh Office Buildings
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total running cost of Gwydyr house in the last year for which figures are available. [29554]
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