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Wild Animals
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what inspection his Department has made of private residences within Omagh district council area where big cats, snakes and wild animals are in captivity; and if he will make a statement. [10076]
Mr. Moss: Under the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland has inspected two private residences in the Omagh district council area where wild animals are kept. The inspections have confirmed that the primary needs of the animals are being well catered for and the Department is continuing to monitor the situation.
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will seek to extend the provisions of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 to Northern Ireland. [10074]
Mr. Moss: This issue is currently under review and I shall write to the hon. Member in due course.
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what advice he has received from the Royal Ulster Constabulary about the captivity and security of big cats, snakes and other wild animals maintained in private residences within Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [10075]
Mr. Moss: The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland has recently received correspondence from the Royal Ulster Constabulary calling for the introduction of legislation equivalent to the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976. The question of the need for new legislation is under review.
SCOTLAND
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which sites of special scientific interest in Scotland will be affected by trunk road and motorway schemes for which preferred routes have been announced. [11230]
Mr. Kynoch:
In his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr (Mr. Gallie) on 19 December 1995, Official Report, columns 1061-62, on the programme for developing Scotland's trunk road network, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland announced that, subject to the usual criteria including satisfactory completion of the statutory procedures and the necessary preparatory work, it is intended to construct 17 new road schemes over the next three years. Preferred lines have been chosen for 16 of these schemes.
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Two sites of special scientific interest will be affected by these schemes. These are (a) Glen Beasdale, affected by the A830 Mallaig road improvement from Polnish bridge to Loch Nan Uamh (b) Calrossie, where the A9 Logie Easter to Garrick bridge scheme is proposed to be built along a boundary line of the SSSI.
Disturbance to SSSIs is avoided if possible. When sites are affected, every effort is made to minimise the impact of constructions.
Mrs. Ray Michie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will make a statement on the purchasing by health boards of speech and language therapy services required for children who do not have a record of needs; [11638]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
The information requested is not held centrally. Health boards are responsible for assessing the health care needs of their local populations and for purchasing services including speech therapy services, accordingly.
Mrs. Ray Michie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what measures he is taking to improve rural child care in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [11581]
Mr. Kynoch:
Provision and development of child care services are primarily matters for local service providers. The Government are mindful of the special problems for delivering these services in rural areas and have undertaken work to demonstrate how these problems can be addressed. The recently completed under-fives rural initiative demonstrated ways that the quality of child care services in rural areas can be enhanced by the use of special rural tutors.
The Government have also provided funding support of £45,000 over three years to the rural child care development programme run jointly by Children in Scotland and Rural Forum. This project is now in its third year with several long-term projects nearing completion including an employers guide, training information packs, a training needs analysis and an initial evaluation of out-of-school clubs. In North Uist, information is being provided to support a nursery project and in Ullapool a guidebook on children's services is being produced.
We have also funded research by Professor Mark Shucksmith of the Arkleton centre for rural development research. He is currently undertaking a scoping study on innovative approaches in rural service provision, which will include child care initiatives. The need for further research or demonstration projects will be considered on the basis of his findings.
Mrs. Michie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to expand the under-fives rural initiative; and what level of finance the scheme will receive in the next three financial years. [11582]
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
This initiative was a development project aimed at demonstrating methods for improving the quality of day care by introducing educational elements. It comprised 12 schemes run by voluntary organisations using peripatetic tutors in a number of day care settings in different parts of rural Scotland.
Grants totalling £500,000 were made available under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to support the project which ended in April 1995. There are at present no plans to extend it. We will, however, assess the lessons which can usefully be drawn for our new pre-school educational voucher initiative.
Mrs. Ray Michie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to provide financial assistance to rural local authorities for the collection of rates from water consumers after April [11584]
Mr. Kynoch:
My right hon. Friend will make an order under section 79 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 to require local authorities to demand and recover domestic unmeasured water and sewerage charges on behalf of the new water and sewerage authorities. That order will contain provision for the level of administrative costs to be refunded to local authorities. Consultation has taken place with local authorities about the terms of the order.
Mr. McAllion:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to ensure that private sector consultants retained by health boards and NHS trusts in Scotland in relation to private finance initiative contracts have no conflict of interest arising from a business, financial or personal relationship with private companies bidding for such contracts. [11612]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
There are no instances of a private sector consultant advising both the NHS and private sector on the same project. NHS trusts should follow relevant procurement rules and corporate governance guidance in avoiding situations where such a conflict of interest would arise.
Mr. Kirkwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what guidance he is proposing to issue to local authorities on the day care review duty in the current legislation relating to the registration of day care and other provision for young children; [12022]
(3) when he last issued guidelines to local authorities in Scotland regarding registration procedures governing premises for day care for young children; [12018]
(4) what plans he has to clarify the general purpose and application of guidance in the existing legislation relating to the registration of day care and other provision for young children. [12021]
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
[holding answer 26 January 1996]: Statutory provisions dealing with the registration and inspection of those who provide child minding and day care for children under eight are set out in part X of the Children Act 1989. That part of the Act which came into force in October 1991 extends to Scotland.
To assist local authorities in the discharge of their duties and responsibilities under that part of the Act, the Scottish Office issued guidance to local authorities in June 1991.
A minor amendment to the 1989 Act was made in the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. This and further detailed amendments are planned on supervised activities and holiday play schemes will make it necessary to modify current guidance.
Mr. Kirkwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what priority local authorities are obliged to accord to (a) their estimate of local need and (b) the official regulations when deciding whether to close existing local day care places for young children; what estimate he has made of compliance with the guidance; and what assessment he has made of the stringency of that guidance. [12113]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
[holding answer 26 January 1996]: Registration of day care for young children under eight is governed by part X of the Children Act 1989. Section 71 empowers local authorities to refuse registration if they are satisfied about certain things specified in that section. Section 74 gives local authorities a power to cancel registration in certain specified circumstances. Under section 77, authorities are required to give not less than 14 days notice of their intention to refuse an application or to cancel registration. The person receiving such a notice may object to the step being taken and may appeal against it to the court. Section 75 also gives local authorities a power to apply, in cases of emergency, to the court to cancel a person's registration forthwith. The Scottish Office guidance issued in June 1991 draws attention to the statutory powers available to local authorities in this respect.
Mr. Kirkwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the sanctions available to social work departments to refer matters to the procurator fiscal when they believe that registration requirements are being breached. [12103]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
[holding answer 26 January 1996]: Failure to comply with the requirements of registration by a local authority of facilities may be an offence under the relevant statute, for example, where day care of young children is concerned, under section 78 of the Children Act 1989. If a local authority believes that an offence has been committed it may report the matter to the police or to the procurator fiscal.
Mr. Kirkwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the provisions of the Department of Health local authority circular on the Children Act 1989 and day care for young children registration No. LAC(93)1 have been translated into similar guidance for local authorities in Scotland. [12017]
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
[holding answer 26 January 1996]: Circular LAC(93)1 was issued by Department of Health for local authorities in England. It does not apply in Scotland. The extant Scottish guidance entitled "Regulation and Review of Childminding, Day Care and Education Services for Children under 8--Guidance for Local Authorities" was issued here in June 1991.
Mr. Kirkwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy in respect of expansion of day care facilities for young people. [12019]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
[holding answer 26 January 1996]: The policy of the Scottish Office is to promote expansion of day care provision through public, private and voluntary agencies and individuals. The number of day care places for children under five in Scotland has increased by over 40 per cent.--from 92,000 in 1984 to 131,000 in 1994. The Scottish Office has assisted that expansion through its support under the urban programme and through grants under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. Local enterprise companies are also now funding child care projects for children under five and also for older children. Expansion of services is further assisted by the tax concessions which are available to employers providing work place child care facilities.
Mr. Kirkwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of day care facilities for young children which have been closed by local authorities in Scotland over the last three years because they have failed to meet the physical and staffing requirements set by local authorities. [12020]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
[holding answer 26 January 1996]: The data requested are not collected centrally. Local authority reviews under the Children Act 1989, which covered the period October 1991 to October 1994, indicated that very few registrations had been cancelled because of failure to meet the physical or staffing requirements set by local authorities.
Mr. Kirkwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if guidance currently available from his Department prescribes legally required standards for registration. [12112]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
[holding answer 26 January 1996]: Guidance issued by the Scottish Office to local authorities as registration authorities under various statutes advises local authorities on how the legislation should be implemented. The guidance may also suggest standards which should be adopted as a matter of good practice. If such standards or other standards are made a requirement of registration, failure to comply may be an offence.
Mr. Kirkwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in what ways specific requirements set unilaterally by local social work departments governing the registration of individual premises for day care facilities are enforceable. [12104]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
[holding answer 26 January 1996]: Under part X of the Children Act 1989, which deals with registration of day care for young children, local authorities must impose such reasonable
29 Jan 1996 : Column: 546
requirements as they consider appropriate when registering an applicant for registration. The requirements, set out in section 73 are concerned with the number of children who may be looked after, maintenance and safety of the premises and equipment, records and notification of changes. Authorities may also impose further requirements, provided these do not conflict with the requirements in that section. Section 78 makes it an offence where a registered person without reasonable excuse contravenes or otherwise fails to comply with any requirement imposed under section 73.
(2) what was the level of expenditure by each health board in Scotland for speech and language therapy services for (a) children with a record of needs and (b) children without a record of needs for (i) 1992, (ii) 1993 and (iii) 1994. [11639]
(2) what plans he has to amend existing guidance relating to registration standards and requirements relating to the registration of day care and other provision for young children; [12111]
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