5 Dec 1995 : Column: 145

Written Answers to Questions

Tuesday 5 December 1995

WALES

Chiropody Services, Clwyd

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the adequacy of chiropody services provided in Clwyd; and if he will make a statement. [2664]

Mr. Richards: The provision of chiropody services in Clwyd is a matter for Clwyd district health authority. I have made no separate assessment of the adequacy of chiropody services provided there.

Departmental Targets

Ms Armstrong: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the published recommended response time within which his Department is expected to reply to letters from the public. [3001]

Mr. Hague: The target time for replying to letters from Members of the House is 12 working days. The target time for replying to all other correspondence is 15 working days.

North East Wales Training and Enterprise Council

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what level of funding has been made available to North East Wales TEC for work in townships which have lost steelmaking; and if he will make a statement. [2920]

Mr. Richards: In October 1990 the Welsh Office announced a substantial package of measures to mitigate the effects of the closure of the Brymbo steelworks. This included the allocation of an additional £260,000 to the North East Wales TEC. In addition, it has been able to utilise the resources made available each year by the Welsh Office to support the creation of new businesses and jobs in north-east Wales and to deliver training to enhance the skills of he local labour force. An example of this is the support which the TEC has been able to provide to local employers in establishing the new twin-sited engineering and manufacturing training centre at Yale college, Wrexham, and at Deeside college, Shotton.

Alltami Bypass

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will advance the date of construction of the Alltami bypass; and if he will make a statement. [4017]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: Proposals for an Alltami bypass form part of the A494 Mold-Ewloe improvement. This scheme is included in the "longer term consideration" pool of the forward trunk road programme published in

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the Welsh Office's departmental report, Cm 2815, on 9 March 1995. My right hon. Friend is to announce roads and transport expenditure plans for 1996-97 shortly.

Housing

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet the Resident's Association Western Park, Buckley, to discuss his allocation of housing moneys 1996-97 for the modernisation and repair of social housing. [4019]

Mr. Hague: I have no plans to do so. It is for local authorities to decide how to set spending priorities for their housing stock within the resources available to them.

Long-Term Unemployment

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many long-term unemployed there are in each of the constituencies in Wales. [3859]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: The data requested are available from the NOMIS database, which can be accessed by the staff of the Library of the House.

Buckley Inner Relief Road

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects the Buckley, Clwyd inner relief road to begin construction; what is its costs when it will be completed; and if he will make a statement. [4016]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: This scheme is the responsibility of Clwyd county council.

Cancer

Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people died of cancer in Anglesey, Gwynedd and Wales in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what are these figures as a proportion of average United Kingdom figures. [2354]

Mr. Richards: The figures for 1990 to 1994 are given in the table. Data for 1993 and 1994 are provisional. Deaths for 1992 and earlier years represent registrations in each year; from 1993 they represent occurrences in each year. New procedures adopted by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys for coding cause of death from 1993, and the absence of medical inquiries, mean that figures for 1993 onwards may not be exactly comparable with those for earlier years. For most conditions, however, including neoplasms, the effects of these changes are small. Further details may be found in OPCS series DH2 for 1993, No. 20, which was published in October 1995. A copy is available in the Library of the House.

The proportions given in the table have been derived by calculating the relevant standardised mortality ratios.

Deaths from malignant neoplasms (ICD(1) 140-208)

19901991199219931994
A: Number of deaths
Anglesey226230230224233
Gwynedd797805773793811
Wales8,4398,5558,7298,7478,671
B: Proportion of the United Kingdom (UK = 100)
Anglesey106106105104110
Gwynedd99999498102
Wales9999100102102

(1) International Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Death (9th

revision). Source: Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.


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Oil Spillage

Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number and the species of bird that have (a) been discovered oiled and (b) died as a result of the recent oil spillage in Carmarthen bay, south Wales. [4202]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: No complete data are available. Estimates based on information so far received by the Countryside Council for Wales show the following effects:

SpeciesNumber foundDead
Common Scoter323232
Guillemot137
Razorbill21
Total338240

Ministerial Visits

Mr Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many official school visits the Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Cardiff, North (Mr. Jones), has undertaken since 1 April; how and when in each case (a) the county council, where the school was non-grant maintained and (b) the hon. Member in whose constituency the school was located, was informed; and if he will make a statement. [4175]

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Mr. Gwilym Jones: Six. Arrangements are normally made direct with the school and the convention regarding constituency Members of Parliament is observed.

PRIME MINISTER

Lockerbie

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will discuss with the Secretary General of the Arab League the proposal by the Government of Libya to hold a trial in the Hague, under a Scottish judge, under Scottish rules of evidence, of the two Libyans accused of the bombing of Pan AM 103 over Lockerbie. [2208]

The Prime Minister: I have no plans to do so.

Engagements

Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 5 December 1995. [2558]

Sir Peter Tapsell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 5 December. [2559]

The Prime Minister: This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House I shall be having further meetings later today.

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Bayley: To ask the Prime Minister if he will break down the estimates given in his financial statement of the value of the private finance initiative schemes expected to be finalised in 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98 by sponsoring Government Department.[3780]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 4 December 1995]: The capital value of Departments' private finance initiative schemes expected to be agreed in (a) 1995-96 and (b) the three years 1996-97 to 1998-99 are set out in the table. These forecasts are based on departmental estimates. The actual sums involved and precise timing of schemes will depend on the nature of the contractual processes.

Illustrative table of capital element of projects
Agreed prior to 1995-96 Likely 1995-96 Likely 1996-97 to 1998-99 Total
Defence30160560750
FCO/ODA002828
Agriculture4083583
Trade and Industry(2)012930
Education and Employment00112112
Transport1,5603,8005805,940
Environment(3)(4)00130130
Home Office19212146350
Legal departments008989
National Heritage3117165213
Health1003001,8002,200
Social Security(2)0245118363
Scotland60862,0842,230
Wales022341363
Northern Ireland20778327612
Chancellor's departments3523178461
Total2,5724,7606,62213,953

(2) Joint Benefits Agency/Post Office Counters project recorded against Social Security.

(3) Docklands Light Railway.

(4) In addition about £4-5 billion pa of private investment is levered in through housing, urban regeneration and other programmes.


5 Dec 1995 : Column: 147

5 Dec 1995 : Column: 149


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