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Tractors and Agricultural Trailers
Mr. Battle: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what safety guidelines govern the use of tractors and agricultural trailers; and what penalties exist for those who fail to adhere to these guidelines. [18430]
Mr. Norris: I have been asked to reply.
The regulations governing the use of agricultural vehicles and their trailers on the road are the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, as amended, unless they are specifically provided for under the Motor Vehicles (Authorisation of Special Types) General Order 1979, as amended, as well as the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, as amended.
The maximum penalty on conviction of an offence under these regulations of dangerous driving is currently a fine of £5,000 and disqualification. The Road Traffic Act 1991 allows the maximum penalty for causing death by driving, on conviction, could be five years' imprisonment.
The use of agricultural vehicles and machines off road is covered by the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974. Under these regulations, the penalty for an offence can, dependant upon its gravity, be a maximum of £20,000 if it is heard in a magistrates court or an unlimited fine if it is heard in a high court.
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Mr. Hall:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will place in the Library a list of all overseas visits made by all Ministers of his Department since 1990, including (a) details of the places visited and brief reasons for the visit, (b) details of the size, composition and cost to public funds of the delegation and (c) the names of non-ministerial members of each delegation and the capacity in which each was present. [17497]
Mr. Baldry
[holding answer 1 March 1996]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Knowsley, North (Mr. Howarth) on 18 July 1995, Official Report columns 1052-56, and will place in the Library a list updating this information accordingly.
Mr. Harris:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement in respect of the judgment by the European Court of Justice in case C48/93--Factortame III. [19554]
Mr. Douglas Hogg:
The judgment of the European Court of Justice in case 48/93 was delivered earlier today and runs to 22 pages. The court concluded that the principle that member states are obliged to make good damage caused to individuals by breaches of Community law attributable to the state is applicable where the national legislature was responsible for the breach in question and where the breach is sufficiently serious. The court also concluded that it will be for the national courts to decide whether such a breach has occurred and what damages if any are payable.
These conclusions and the court's judgment will be the subject of detailed scrutiny in the weeks ahead.
The judgment is a stage in the action brought by Factortame Ltd. and others in the UK divisional court against Her Majesty's Government for damages in respect of the losses incurred during the period they were excluded from the UK fishing vessel register and unable to fish. In considering this action the UK divisional court asked for guidance from the European Court as to whether in principle member states are liable to pay damages for losses arising from measures which were held in breach of treaty obligations. It will be for the Factortame applicants to decide whether and how to proceed with their action for damages before the UK courts.
Mr. Harris:
To ask the Minster of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action the Government plan to take at the intergovernmental conference to deal with quota hopping; and if he will make a statement [19555]
Mr. Hogg:
There is an inconsistency underlying the quota regime of the common fisheries policy in that the quotas allocated to each member state do not always benefit the fishing communities of that member state. This is because the eligibility for quotas and their administration by member states has to take full account of general treaty provisions, for example, on right of
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establishment and freedom of movement. This has undermined the benefit which the UK fishing industry has been able to secure from the fishing opportunities available to it under the common fisheries policy. We shall be pursuing this. In particular, we shall be exploring at the IGC whether there are treaty changes which could be made which would help to ensure that the fishing opportunities arising form national quotas provide real benefits to the fishing communities of the flag member state.
Mr. Allen:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what consultations he had with the Secretary to the Cabinet concerning the Government's response to the Scott inquiry; and where and when such consultations took place. [16601]
Mr. Lang
[holding answer 22 February 1996]: Successive Governments have not disclosed the nature of specific sources of the advice they receive from the civil service.
Mr. David Shaw:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out the procedures which have been obtained in his Department since 1974 to ensure that Parliament was informed of exports of military goods and services and dual-use goods and services to (a) the middle east, (b) Iran and (c) Iraq; and if he will indicate in which years changes took place. [17344]
Mr. Lang:
Details of the exports of goods to Iran and Iraq are published monthly in "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom".
No information is given for the middle east as a bloc, although each of the individual countries' data are published.
Information is given for goods only. Broad commodity details are given for all countries. Figures for military goods and dual-use goods are not given as identified blocks. However, the Ministry of Defence, in the annual publication "UK Defence Statistics", publishes identified military exports and imports, but only in relation to broad geographic areas. There are no figures for dual-use goods because the classification under which export statistics are collected does not refer to dual-use goods.
Until 1988, the DTI published the "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom". From 1989 to early 1995, they were published by the Central Statistical Office. Since April 1995, they have been published by HM Customs and Excise. Details of the exports of goods to Iran and Iraq are published monthly in "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom".
On 26 February, the Government placed in the Library of the House a document setting out the current position in relation to informing Parliament on the export of arms, with an explanation of how this practice has evolved.
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Mr. Nicholas Baker:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of total United Kingdom (a) exports, (b) imports and (c) total trade is represented by trade with EC countries according to the latest available figures. [17785]
Mr. Oppenheim:
Information on imports and exports is published by the Central Statistical Office in the "Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics", which is available in the Library of the House.
Mrs. Clwyd:
To ask the President of the Board of the Trade, pursuant to paragraph K8.1 of the Scott report relating to ministerial accountability, what additional measures he proposes to ensure his Department's compliance with paragraph 27 of "Questions of Procedure for Ministers". [17318]
Mr. Lang
[holding answer 26 February 1996]: I refer the hon. Member to the speech that I made on 26 February 1996, Official Report, columns 589-604.
Mr. Frank Field:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will estimate the percentage of endowment policy holders who may have insufficient funds on maturity to meet their full mortgage repayment liabilities expressing this data by year of maturity. [17472]
Mr. John M. Taylor
[holding answer 27 February 1996]: I regret that this information is not available.
Mrs. Helen Jackson:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much money has been spent on the process of contracting out the work of the Official Receiver, broken down to show (a) the cost of the consultancy work, (b) the cost of the legal advice, (c) the notional costs of Insolvency Service staff working on the contracting out process and (d) the costs of Department of Trade and Industry services provided to the Insolvency Service. [17462]
Mr. Oppenheim
[holding answer 27 February 1996]: The cost of the contracting-out exercise undertaken by the Insolvency Service, in the period beginning October 1994, when the Government announced their intention to pursue the preferred option identified by the then consultants, to the announcement on 28 February 1996 of the outcome, was as follows:
| Cost (£) exclusive of VAT where applicable | |
|---|---|
| Costs of external consultants | 668,201 |
| Costs of external legal advice | 54,122 |
| Estimated costs of Insolvency Service staff | 1,265,527 |
| Costs of DTI services provided to the Insolvency Service | 300,744 |
| Total | 2,288,594 |
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