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Meat Processing and Transport Industry
Ms Walley: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many people were employed in each sector of the meat processing and meat transport industry for each county of England as of 1 March. [24100]
Mrs. Angela Knight: I have been asked to reply.
Information at county level on employees in the "production, processing and preserving of meat and meat products"--SIC 1992 group 151--is available from the census of employment 1993 and can be accessed through the NOMIS database by the House of Commons Library. Employees in the meat transport industry are found across SIC 1992 divisions 60-63--land, sea, and air transport; supporting transport activities. However, it is not possible to identify these employees specifically.
SCOTLAND
BSE
Mrs. Liddell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cattle have been confirmed as being infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Scotland in each year from 1986 to 1995. [22934]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The information requested is as follows:
| Year | Number of confirmed cases |
|---|---|
| 1986 | 0 |
| 1987 | 7 |
| 1988 | 54 |
| 1989 | 208 |
| 1990 | 486 |
| 1991 | 808 |
| 1992 | 1,850 |
| 1993 | 2,208 |
| 1994 | 1,326 |
| 1995 | 660 |
| 1996 (to 25 March 1996) | 60 |
2 Apr 1996 : Column: 154
Mrs. Liddell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he plans to publish the initial conclusions of the experiments on transgenic mice being administered bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [22936]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: This research programme is being undertaken by Professor John Collinge of the prion disease group of Imperial college school of medicine with funding from the Wellcome Foundation. I have no information on when the initial findings will be published. I would, however refer the hon. Member to an article by Dr. Collinge which was published in "Nature" magazine--vol 378--on 28 December 1995.
Funicular Railway, Cairngorm
Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 22 March, Official Report, column 344, if a funicular railway built by the Cairngorm Chairlift Company with money from Highlands and Islands Enterprise can be (a) operated by, and (b) transferred to, the Cairngorm Railway Company.[24131]
Mr. Kynoch: The extent to which a private asset whose creation was assisted from public funds could be operated by or transferred to a company other than that to which the assistance was provided would depend upon the terms and conditions of that assistance. In the case of assistance provided by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, it is a standard condition that the onward transfer of assets in respect of which financial assistance has been provided may not take place without the consent of that organisation.
Deregulation
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the oral answer of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to the hon. Member for Colchester, North (Mr. Jenkin) on 26 February, Official Report, column 576, if he will list those statutory instruments and Acts of Parliament which have been gold plated in the past five years; and what steps he is taking to amend or repeal each piece of gold plating on existing legislation. [23630]
Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 1 April 1996]: The Scottish Office policy is not to add unnecessary burdens when implementing EC directives. We take every opportunity to review existing legislation in the light of this. Guidance to enable Ministers to see where implementing legislation goes beyond the underlying EC directive is currently being revised.
Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh
Mr. Darling: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the proposal to construct the new Royal infirmary in Edinburgh as a private finance initiative project will be open to public inspection before a decision is made to award any contract in respect of it; and if he will make a statement. [23910]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 1 April 1996]: At present, the PFI proposals for the new Royal infirmary in Edinburgh are being prepared by the shortlisted consortia which have been invited to tender. Once a preferred bidder is selected, the trust intends to place on public display, at the Royal infirmary, the plans
2 Apr 1996 : Column: 155
and designs for the proposal. Extensive information about the project is already available and can be viewed at the infirmary by arrangement.
Bids from the consortia are expected in May. The trust will assess these bids in detail before announcing the selected proposal in July. The trust will then compare this bid against a publicly funded option and present the outcome of this in a full business case, which will be submitted for approval to Ministers and the Treasury. Final contract negotiations will then take place, if the private sector bid offers superior value for money. A contract award is scheduled for the end of this year.
Health Boards
Sir David Steel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list his Department's contribution to local health boards to cover costs of changes in administration with particular reference to (a) signposting and (b) stationery. [23912]
Lord James Douglas Hamilton [holding answer 1 April 1996]: Funds were made available to health boards for them to distribute to NHS trusts to assist with their establishment. No information is held centrally on how these funds were used.
Sir David Steel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the management costs as a percentage of total expenditure in respect of each local health board in Scotland separately identifying the NHS trusts within each. [23911]
Lord James Douglas Hamilton [holding answer 1 April 1996]: The information for health boards is set out in the table. The percentages have been calculated using figures from the 1994-95 annual accounts. This is the latest year available. NHS trusts in Scotland did not separately identify management costs within the annual accounts for the financial year 1994-95.
| Health boards | Per cent. |
|---|---|
| Argyll and Clyde | 2.0 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 1.5 |
| Borders | 2.5 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 2.4 |
| Fife | 2.3 |
| Forth Valley | 2.1 |
| Grampian | 1.8 |
| Greater Glasgow | 2.0 |
| Highland | 2.4 |
| Lanarkshire | 1.5 |
| Lothian | 2.0 |
| Orkney | 3.9 |
| Shetland | 3.0 |
| Tayside | 1.3 |
| Western Isles | 3.0 |
| Scotland average | 1.9 |
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Darling: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much expenditure has been incurred in payments to consultants engaged in connection with PFI projects within the health service in Scotland. [23909]
2 Apr 1996 : Column: 156
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 1 April 1996]: Consultants are engaged to assist in PFI projects following a competitive tender run by the trust or health board. The resulting agreements are of a commercial nature and the value of each is not notified to the Scottish Office. It is estimated that 2 per cent. of the capital value of a scheme is incurred in fees on a PFI project. This compares favourably with the cost of a publicly-funded procurement, and is often less, chiefly due to the fact that detailed design work is done at the cost of the private rather than public sector.
Forestry Commission (Woodland Sales)
Mr. Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the number and size of Forestry Commission woodlands sold in total and for each year since 1981 in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland and the amount of income received in total and in each year since 1981 for the sales in each country; [23763]
- (2) if he will list the number, size and location of Forestry Commission woodlands sold since 1981 for which access agreements have been concluded. [23764]
Mr. Kynoch: The subject of the questions relates to matters undertaken by Forest Enterprise. I have asked its chief executive, Mr. Neil McKerrow, to arrange for a reply to be given.
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