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Contamination

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the locations of all Ministry of Defence estates in Scotland where (a) radioactive, (b) fuel and (c) other types of contamination is at a level that is above the maximum allowable level for a civilian residential area. [4983]

Mr. Soames [holding answer 8 December 1995]: There are no Ministry of Defence sites in Scotland where land contamination has been identified as posing a significant risk to health and safety or the environment and therefore requiring decontamination. Remediation work at RAF Lossiemouth following an accidental oil fuel spillage in April is continuing and will be completed shortly.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Competitiveness

12. Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received on his policy on competitiveness. [3289]

The Deputy Prime Minister: The White Paper "Competitiveness: Forging Ahead" has been widely welcomed by industry. Major representative bodies such as the CBI, the Engineering Employers Federation and the Chemical Industries Association, as well as many major companies, have all expressed their support.

11 Dec 1995 : Column: 486

Deregulation

15. Mr. Steen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the progress of the deregulation initiative as it affects (a) legislation in the United Kingdom and (b) directives from Europe. [3291]

Mr. Freeman: Recent progress on deregulation includes the passing into law of the first two deregulation orders under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994. Many other deregulatory changes are being made by secondary legislation and administrative action. I have been pressing the case for deregulation in the European Community. There has been a significant decline in the number of new Commission proposals for legislation in 1996. I am urging the Commission to make a commitment at the forthcoming European Council to improve the quality of future legislation and review existing European legislation.

18. Mr. Matthew Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what analysis he has made of the likely effects of the Government's campaign of deregulation on United Kingdom competitiveness. [3305]

Mr. Freeman: As we made clear in our second White Paper on competitiveness, deregulation is central to improving United Kingdom competitiveness. Unnecessary requirements stand in the way of market entry, innovation, investment and jobs. We have a programme for repealing or amending well over 1,000 regulations and are on target to have dealt with over 500 by the end of the year. We are also taking action to ensure that new regulations are introduced only where really justified and are enforced in a business-friendly way.

22. Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to involve small firms in his campaign to reduce the burden of regulation. [3307]

Mr. Freeman: I have recently met a number of small firms representative bodies about deregulation. The deregulation task force includes a number of members drawn from the small firms sector. Small firms must also now be consulted as part of the compliance cost assessment procedure on new regulatory proposals to make sure they will not be disproportionately affected. The Prime Minister recently launched a series of seminars for small firms which is providing another channel for them to make their views known to us. I am also keen to hear direct from small firms about the problems they are facing and am issuing them an invitation to write to me.

25. Mr. Pike: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his Department's policy is on employee protection matters in co-ordinating the Government's deregulation policy. [3299]

Mr. Freeman: Deregulation is aimed at achieving better regulation and is not about removing necessary protection, whether for employees, or, for example, consumers or the enviornment. For deregulation orders made under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act, the responsible Minister must give details of how any necessary protection under existing legislation will be maintained.

11 Dec 1995 : Column: 487

26. Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what contacts he has had with industry about the Government's campaign on deregulation. [3309]

Mr. Freeman: The Government are advised by the deregulation task force about businesses priorities for deregulation and I have regular contact with the chairman, Francis Maude. The task force published its first report in September and of 52 recommendations the Government accepted 46 in whole or in part. In addition, I discuss deregulation with various representative bodies of industry and individual industrialists from time to time.

Mr. Butler: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects to discuss the Molitor report on deregulation with the European Commission. [3304]

Mr. Freeman: I discussed the Molitor report and the United Kingdom's objectives for European deregulation with the Commission on Monday 11 September and Thursday 23 November. I expect to continue these discussions next year.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many regulations which are now identified as suitable for repeal under the deregulation initiative were brought in by the Ministry of Defence between 1983 and 1986, the Department of the Environment between 1990 and 1992 and the Department for Trade and Industry between 1992 and 5 July 1995. [3781]

Mr. Freeman: The number of regulations for the dates in question are as follows:

Ministry of Defence: 0
Department of the Enviornment: 0
Department of Trade and Industry: 3.

Ministerial Priorities

16. Mr. Janner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what are his current priorities. [3292]

Mr. Denham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his priorities. [3287]

The Deputy Prime Minister: To promote the competitiveness agenda, the deregulation initiative and the effective administration on the services for which my Department is responsible.

Desk-top Diary System

17. Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when his new desk-top diary system will be ready for use; and what the final cost of introducing it will be. [3293]

The Deputy Prime Minister: The strategic diary is now operating; the infrastructure on which it runs has cost about £150,000 to set up. Additional costs will be incurred as it is developed.

Government Policy Cabinet Committee

19. Mr. Bayley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the objectives are of the Cabinet Committee on the Co-ordination and Presentation of Government Policy. [3294]

11 Dec 1995 : Column: 488

The Deputy Prime Minister: As the title suggests, the Committee considers matters relating to the co-ordination and presentation of Government policy.

Civil Service Morale

21. Mr. Hall: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of morale in the civil service. [3296]

Mr. Willetts: Morale in the civil service is best maintained by allowing staff to perform to the best of their abilities in the career they have chosen. This Government's civil service reforms enable staff to focus their attention on delivering high-quality public services: this is the best way of satisfying both them and the users of their services.

Government Policies

23. Mr. Dykes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his policy for the co-ordination of the Government's long-term strategies. [3297]

The Deputy Prime Minister: We are pursuing economic prosperity and security for all, based on an enterprise economy; creating a nation of opportunity reflecting the Government's values of choice, ownership and reward; upholding decent common-sense values in the pursuit of law and order and justice; providing the people of Britain with first class public services; and reflecting pride in our nation and its place in the world.

"Competing for Quality"

24. Mr. Congdon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what are the latest figures for efficiency savings resulting from the "Competing for Quality" programme. [3298]

Mr. Freeman: The results for the period April 1992 to March 1995 were published in the "Government Opportunities" special report in June. This report is available in the House of Commons Library.

Special Advisers

Dr. Goodson-Wickes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what reviews he has undertaken on the pay and conditions of service of special advisers. [3290]

Mr. Willetts: We are implementing the Nolan recommendation that special advisers should be subject to the same scrutiny as other civil servants in respect of business appointments which they propose to take up within two years of leaving service. We are also considering changes in their pay arrangements to take account of changes in the civil service pay structure.

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