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Royal Household Properties
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will list the properties currently lying vacant in the royal household and indicating in each case (a) its estimated value (b) whether it is in habitable condition and (c) its estimated maximum occupancy level. [7052]
Mr. Sproat [holding answer 9 January 1996]: It is the royal household's policy not to leave properties vacant unless they require refurbishment between occupations. At any one time, 15 to 20 properties used for providing self-contained residential accommodation are
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likely to be undergoing refurbishment. There is currently one property, whose ownership is vested in my Department, which is currently vacant and will be placed on the market. The property is a three-bedroom terrace house, in a habitable condition, with an estimated value of £100,000.
Royal Palaces
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what funding was provided by her Department for the management of property services for occupied palaces in the last year for which figures are available. [7046]
Mr. Sproat [holding answer 9 January 1996]: The grant-in-aid from my Department in 1994-95 was £20.541 million.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Veterinary Medicines
Mr. Patrick Thompson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the 1994 report of the appraisal panel for human suspected adverse reactions to veterinary medicines will be published. [9027]
Mrs. Browning: I am pleased to announce that this report has been published. It sets out the conclusions of the appraisal panel drawn from the 144 human suspected adverse reaction reports which it considered during 1994. Of these, 99 related to organophosphorus sheep dips and 45 to other veterinary medicines, including mineral oil based vaccines, flea collars and pour-on products for dogs and cats. They were mainly reports received since December 1990, 20 per cent. of which were regarded as historical reports where the exposure and symptoms had occurred more than a year before the reports were received.
In many cases, the panel had inadequate information on which to make its assessment and its conclusions are based on a balance of evidence. They should not be considered to be a definitive clinical diagnosis. Of the 99 reports related to OP sheep dips, one acute reaction was assessed as category 1--clinical signs and symptoms typical of exposure to OP sheep dips combined with corroborating medical evidence--the first time the panel has classified a case in this category. The veterinary products committee advised, when considering the report, that such a conclusion is not unexpected, since it is known that exposure to organophosphates can result in acute symptoms. It is for this reason that advice aimed at minimising operator exposure is provided on product labels and in the "Sheep dipping" booklet.
Copies of the report have been placed in the Library of the House.
Dr. Wright:
To ask the minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many meetings have been held by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee since its inception; what research it has commissioned; what reports it has made; and which of its papers have been (a) published and (b) not published. [7809]
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Mrs. Browning:
The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee has met on 29 occasions since its inception in 1990. Its responsibilities include advising MAFF and the Department of Health on research priorities, but it does not commission research itself. It has published two reports, the most recent in February 1995. A copy is available in the Library of the House. Papers for the committee are internal to the committee and are not generally published.
Mr. Hinchliffe:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many reports he has received from farmers alleging that when they have reported BSE symptoms to his Department's veterinary officers, they have not received advice as to the action they should take. [7988]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 9 January 1996]: We are not aware of any allegations. An advisory leaflet was sent to all registered cattle owners in 1990. The leaflet gives details of the action to be taken by farmers who suspect that an animal may be affected with BSE, and the action which will be taken by the Ministry when a suspect is notified.
Mr. Hinchliffe:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment his Department has made of the fatal toxicity levels of BSE in respect of (a) animals and (b) humans. [8096]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 9 January 1996]: It is not possible to quantify infectivity in any tissue in absolute terms because the agent itself has not been characterised, and it cannot be cultured or assayed in vitro. Quantification by bioassay provides an assessment of the amount of infectivity present in the source tissue, but it can be expressed only in relative terms specific to the experimental animal model used and the route of challenge. Quantification of the minimum amount of infective cattle brain needed to produce clinical disease in the challenged animal species has been carried out for mice, and is currently in progress in cattle in separate experiments by oral and intracerebral routes. Both experiments are incomplete and cannot yet be interpreted. No such assessment is possible for humans without deliberately exposing humans to BSE agent.
IRA
Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what communications he, his Ministers or his officials have had with the IRA or members of the IRA since 1 September 1994; on what dates; which individuals were involved; what was the medium used; and what were the subjects dealt with. [7361]
Mr. Ancram: Ministers and officials have neither had nor sought any contacts with representatives of the IRA over this period.
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Bryansburn Stream
Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the cost and length of culverting of the Bryansburn stream and its tributary in the Kilcoolley estate in Bangor. [7383]
Mr. Ancram: Culverting of the open sections of the Bryansburn stream and its tributary would extend over some 350 m. Without a full engineering survey of the watercourses and the ground conditions, it is not possible to provide an accurate costing. A preliminary estimate of costs is in the range of £300 to £350 per metre, excluding design, supervision and overhead costs. The total cost would be at minimum £110,000.
Fair Employment Commission
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what efforts have been made by the Fair Employment Commission to provide more accurate monitoring returns in respect of (a) Belfast City Hospital HSS trust, (b) Belfast education and library board, (c) British Broadcasting Corporation, (d) Craigavon area hospital group trust, (e) Department of Finance and Personnel, Northern Ireland civil service, (f) Eastern health and social services board, (g) Green Park Healthcare trust, (h) North Eastern education and library board, (i) Northern health and social services board, (j) Office of Public Service and Science, (k) Royal Group of Hospitals HSS trust, (l) South Eastern education and library board, (m) Southern health and social services board, (n) Ulster, North Down and Ards Hospitals trust and (o) Western health and social services board. [7748]
Mr. Ancram: I have been advised by the FEC that it has no evidence that the named bodies are submitting inaccurate monitoring returns. In common with all registered concerns, these bodies are required to submit annual monitoring returns to the FEC, in accordance with the provisions of the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989 and the Fair Employment (Monitoring) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989.
Unemployment
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the level of unemployment in each Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency (a) in July 1990, (b) in July 1995 and (c) at the latest available date. [8006]
Mr. Ancram: Information on the level of unemployment each Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency at these dates can be obtained from the NOMIS database, which can be accessed by the House of Commons Library.
Inward Investment
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much inward investment has come to (a) Belfast, East and (b) other Northern Ireland constituencies in the last 10 years. [8058]
Mr. Ancram: The information is as follows:
| Belfast East | Other constituencies | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projects | Jobs | Investment (£ million) | Projects | Jobs | Investment (£ million) | |
| 1985-86 | -- | -- | -- | 6 | 224 | 9.3 |
| 1986-87 | -- | -- | -- | 7 | 415 | 24.9 |
| 1987-88 | 1 | 15 | 0.2 | 10 | 835 | 21.3 |
| 1988-89 | -- | -- | -- | 7 | 1,856 | 105.8 |
| 1989-90 | -- | -- | -- | 10 | 1,577 | 114.8 |
| 1990-91 | -- | -- | -- | 9 | 258 | 9.9 |
| 1991-92 | -- | -- | -- | 3 | 80 | 1.6 |
| 1992-93 | 1 | 150 | 7.5 | 9 | 1,695 | 160.0 |
| 1993-94 | 1 | 70 | 5.8 | 12 | 2,239 | 253.3 |
| 1994-95 | -- | -- | -- | 10 | 1,969 | 130.3 |
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During the period 1985-86 to 1994-95 14 additional projects promising 1,903 jobs were secured without selective financial assistance. Although none of these projects located in the Belfast East constituency, 1,220 of the promised jobs were in projects located in Belfast city centre.
In addition to new inward investment projects a number of overseas-owned companies already located in Belfast, East benefited from further investment, towards which Government made a substantial contribution.
Dr. Hendron:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what were the locations of the inward investment projects promoted by the Industrial Development Board between 1 April and 30 November; and what was the cost involved in respect of each project. [7344]
Mr. Ancram
[holding answer 20 December 1995]: The inward investment projects secured by the Industrial Development Board between 1 April and 30 November 1995 are set out. The figures do not include one investment for which a formal announcement has still to be agreed with the company.
| Company | Location | Assistance (£ million) |
|---|---|---|
| BCO Technologies | Belfast West | 7.3 |
| Montupet | Dunmurry | 57.0 |
| Stream | Londonderry | 5.4 |
| Plastofilm Inc | Enniskillen | 0.9 |
| Burnside Engineering | Enniskillen | 1.0 |
| Aldiscon | Belfast North | 0.7 |
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