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Buckley Hall Prison (Escapes)

Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Prison Service will carry out an investigation into the escape of four prisoners from Buckley Hall prison on 23 April; and if he will publish details of the investigation. [27291]

Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 1 May 1996]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. J. Butler to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 2 May 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the investigation into the escape of four prisoners from Buckley Hall prison on 23 April 1996.
An investigation into the escape began on 24 April 1996. Conclusions and recommendations will be submitted to the area manager on completion of the inquiry. In line with normal procedures, there is no intention to publish the report or the findings of the inquiry.

Television Licences

Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration has been given to the possible change in the number of people that might be imprisoned for the non-payment of a television licence fine following the introduction of a weekly cash instalment scheme for the payment of the television licence; and what discussions his Department has had with the Department of National Heritage on this issue. [26857]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 1 May 1996]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the National Heritage has given approval in principle for the BBC to introduce a cash instalment scheme for television licence payment. The scheme is expected to be piloted by the BBC later this year, and this will assist those who find it difficult to pay for a television licence by existing methods. Television licence evasion remains, however, a criminal offence punishable by a fine. It is the non-payment of such a fine that can result in imprisonment, but only where that default is the result of wilful refusal or culpable neglect.

My right hon and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor has established a working group, which includes representatives of the Magistrates' Association and Justices' Clerks' Society, to identify ways of improving the effectiveness of fine enforcement.

Small and Medium Businesses

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of his Department's budget was spent on procurement from small and medium enterprises in 1995-96. [27528]

Mr. Howard [holding answer 1 May 1996]: The information required to answer this question is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

2 May 1996 : Column: 600

ENVIRONMENT

Heating (Fuel Requirements)

Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the percentage difference in fuel required to heat identical houses in Nottingham and Derby. [26517]

Mr. Clappison: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend, the Minister for Construction, Planning and Energy Efficiency on 24 April, Official Report, column 147.

Sustainable Development

Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to extend the work carried out by his Department presented in "Indicators of Sustainable Development for the United Kingdom", by the construction of indicators at the level of individual businesses. [24697]

Mr. Clappison: The indicators published by the Department of the Environment are national in nature and, in many cases, relate to broad industrial sectors. Individual businesses should be able to construct their own indicators to compare their performance with the national sectoral norm.

Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will develop indicators to measure the contribution of United Kingdom international trade to sustainable development globally. [26516]

Mr. Clappison: The issue of international trade was flagged up in the report of indicators of sustainable development for the United Kingdom published on 12 March 1996. This area requires much further work as the issues involved are very complex. In the longer term, we will need to consider, in conjunction with other countries and international organisations, whether more appropriate indicators might be developed to illustrate the role of international trade in global patterns of consumption and production.

Biodiversity

Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much of the planned expenditure for 1996-97 on international biodiversity is devoted to (a) the administrative costs of the biodiversity convention secretariat and (b) contributions to developing countries for the implementation of their biodiversity action plans. [24699]

Mr. Clappison: In 1996-97, £433,000 has been allocated to the administrative costs of the biodiversity convention secretariat. In addition, the Government have set aside £167,000 principally to contribute towards the travelling costs of developing countries attending the convention meetings. Funding developing countries to produce biodiversity action plans is one of the priorities for the convention's interim financial mechanism, the global environment facility, to which the United Kingdom has committed some £130 million. National biodiversity projects are also funded under the bilateral aid programme.

2 May 1996 : Column: 601

Already this financial year, more than £0.6 million has been committed in addition to over £30 million in 1995-96. The Darwin initiative has so far funded over 110 projects costing £12 million to help almost 60 countries towards meeting their obligations under the biodiversity convention.

Environmental Pollution Reports

Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the average length of time between the publication of reports 1 to 17 of the royal commission on environmental pollution and the publication of the Government's response to those reports. [26515]

Mr. Clappison: The average length of time between the publication of reports 1 to 17 of the royal commission on environmental pollution and the publication of the Government's response to those reports was about two years five months.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Coal Privatisation

Mr. Byers: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many hours to date N. M. Rothschild has worked on the contract to give advice on the privatisation of the coal industry; and when the contract is expected to conclude. [27797]

Mr. Page: N. M. Rothschild has, to date, worked approximately 37,800 hours on providing advice on the privatisation of the coal industry. The contract will end once the privatisation, including the non-mining activities, is complete.

Atolls (Radioactivity)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to the answer of 3 April, Official Report, column 300, what progress has been made by the International Atomic Energy Agency in its assessment of the radiological situation of the atolls of Muroroa and Fangataufa. [27561]

Mr. Page: No formal progress report has yet been received from the International Atomic Energy Agency. We understand, however, that initial meetings have been held and that the necessary task groups and working groups have been established.

Business Innovation Centres

Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many business innovation centres are co-located with business links and which they are; what research his Department has commissioned on the relationship of business links to business innovation centres; and what is the remit of his research. [27189]

Mr. Page [holding answer 1 May 1996]: My Department has recently commissioned research into the relationship between business links and business and innovation centres. The remit of this study is to identify the services provided by each business and innovation centre, define the degree of formal and informal integration business links and business innovation centres

2 May 1996 : Column: 602

and make recommendation on how collaboration could be further enhanced. Two business and innovation centres, in Sunderland and Stafford, are currently co-located with business links.

Drug Alert

Mr. Flynn: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what research he has (a) commissioned into and (b) evaluated on Drug Alert. [26780]

Mr. Sackville [holding answer 25 April 1996]: I have been asked to reply.

The Government have not commissioned or evaluated any research on Drug Alert.

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