You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Hansard > Commons Debates > Commons Debates by date > Commons Debates - previous sessions > Bound Volume Hansard - Written Answers

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 561

Written Answers to Questions

Friday 7 June 1996

HOME DEPARTMENT

Conservation of Seals Act 1970

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to review the Conservation of Seals Act 1970; and if he will make a statement. [31299]

Mr. Sackville: The Government's policy on conservation of seals is kept under review. There are no plans to amend the 1970 Act.

Explosives

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to make it illegal to explain how to make explosives; and if he will make a statement. [31429]

Mr. Maclean: No. There are legitimate users of explosives who make them up themselves and require information on how to do so safely. A person who makes explosives for any unlawful purpose commits a serious offence under the Explosive Substances Act 1883. It is an offence under the Control of Explosives Regulations 1991 to acquire or keep explosives without a certificate from the police.

Clean Air Acts (Prosecutions)

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought in each year since 1979 for actions contravening the clean air legislation and regulations concerning smoke controlled areas. [31108]

Mr. Maclean: It is not possible from the information held centrally by my Department to identify offences relating to smoke controlled areas from other summary offences under the Clean Air Acts 1956 and 1968.

The table shows the number of prosecutions for air pollution offences under the two Acts from 1979 to 1994 (latest available).

It should be noted that the statistics of court proceedings are based on returns made by the police to the Home Office. Although they include offences where there has been no police involvement, such as prosecutions instigated by Government Departments--in this case local authorities--private organisations and individuals, the reporting of this type of offence is known to be incomplete.

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 562

Number of prosecutions for offences under the Clean Air Acts 1956 and 1968, 1979 to 1994 Clean Air Acts 1956 and 1968
England and Wales

Offences relating to public health as caused by air pollution
1979133
1980131
1981134
1982145
1983132
1984202
1985143
1986127
1987100
1988128
1989146
1990152
1991156
1992108
199395
199482

ENVIRONMENT

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1), pursuant to his answer of 28 March, Official Report, column 710, how much his Department estimated it would have cost to provide the information requested; [31453]

Sir Paul Beresford: More than £450, the current threshold above which answers are deemed to incur disproportionate cost.

Thamesmead Town Ltd.

Mr. Austin-Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received regarding service charges to tenants of Thamesmead Town Ltd.; and if he will make a statement. [31946]

Sir Paul Beresford: The Secretary of State received a letter from Greenwich council's housing (private sector) sub-committee on 17 May. The issues raised are under consideration and I will copy my response to the hon. Member in due course. I shall not be making a statement to the House.

Pennington Sewage Treatment Plant

Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure that the secondary biological treatment plant at Pennington is equipped with ultra violet disinfection equipment by Southern Water Services. [31770]

Mr. Clappison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 6 June 1996, Official Report, column 505-506.

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 563

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

SHL Software

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the contracts his Department and his agencies have with SHL software computer system; what is the current cost; when each contract ends; what are the penalties involved should he seek early termination of the contract; and if he will make a statement. [31438]

Mr. Willetts: My Department does not have any contracts with SHL software computer system.

State Papers

Mr. Livingstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made in his initiative to release blocks of state papers when requested by historians; how many records have been released under this initiative; what subjects the released records cover; if all these records have been released to the public record office; and if he will make a statement. [31320]

Mr. Freeman: Good progress has been made with the reviewing and releasing of records since my right hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, West (Mr. Waldegrave), then the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, announced on 25 June 1992, that he was inviting historians to suggest blocks of records withheld by the Government which should be considered for release as part of the Government's initiative on openness.

More than 53,000 records have been released in the Public Record Office, Kew as a result of the openness initiatives, including those released in response to historians' requests and the review by Government Departments of all over-30-year-old material in accordance with the provisions of the White Paper on open government, Cm 2290, published in July 1993.

The records that have been released over a wide variety of subjects. It would be disproportionately costly to list them all, but they include, for example, wartime Cabinet records, Joint Intelligence Committee minutes and memorandums, papers relating to the trial and execution of Roger Casement and the Invergordon mutiny, and previously withheld records relating to Suez.

In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has released four batches of records from the special operations executive--SOE--archive relating to SOE's activities in Scandinavia, the far east, the middle east and eastern Europe.

Government Departments continue to re-review withheld records and to respond to requests from historians and others. As a result of these initiatives, many more records are expected to be released in the coming months.

DEFENCE

Small-arms Weapons

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list for each of the armed services,

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 564

for each of the last four years, the number of small-arms weapons that have been declared surplus to requirements. [31426]

Mr. Soames: Our records are not maintained in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the total number of small arms declared surplus to requirements over the last four years is 235,200, of which 44,300 await disposal.

European Union Flag

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what instructions were issued to his Department's offices and agencies in respect of flying the European Union flag on 8 May; and if he will make a statement. [31502]

Mr. Soames: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 6 June by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Official Report, column 518.

NATIONAL HERITAGE

National Lottery Grants

Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will list for each parliamentary constituency, the organisations which have received grants from the national lottery and their amounts. [31218]

Mr. Sproat: This information is not held centrally. The Department of National Heritage is currently developing a lottery database that will make these figures available.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

UNESCO

Sir Russell Johnston: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the UK observer to UNESCO will attend the 12th meeting of the Secretaries-General of UNESCO Commissions in the European region in Stockholm from 8 to 12 June. [31623]

Sir Nicholas Bonsor: The UK observer to UNESCO will not be attending this meeting.

EU Council

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on forthcoming business in the Council of the European Union. [32173]

Mr. David Davis: The following Councils are scheduled:


7 Jun 1996 : Column: 565

The following subjects are likely to be discussed:

3 June: Economic and Finance--ECOFIN


3-4 June: Agriculture Council



    Adoption of the agenda;
    Approval of the list of "A" points (possible item);
    Beef and veal:
    --proposal for a Council decision amending Commission decision 96/239/EC on emergency measures to protect against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) 1
    --implementation of paragraph 7 of the conclusions of the Agriculture Council on 29 and 30 April 1996 (support measures in the beef and veal sector).
    Fruit and vegetables:
    --proposal for a Council regulation to the common; organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables 1 ;
    --proposal for a Council regulation on the common organisation of the market in processed fruit and vegetables 1 ;
    Any Other Business:
    --organisation of future work. 1 Denotes item on which a vote may be requested.

3-4 June: Social Affairs Council



    Approval of the agenda;
    Approval of the list of "A" points;
    Adoption of parental leave directive (likely "A" point);
    Adoption of posted workers directive (likely "A" point);
    Council recommendation on the balanced participation of men and women in decision-making (likely "A"point);

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 566


    Essen follow up: interim report in employment for Florence European Council;
    Follow up to Peking UN conference on women;
    Draft decision on a European year against racism (1997);
    Draft resolution on the transparency of training certificates (possible item);
    Orientation debate on the Commission communication on information and consultation (possible item);
    Commission report on the demographic situation;
    Commission information on the state of play on the two social protocol dossiers: burden of proof; and part-time, fixed-time and temporary work;
    Any Other Business:
    Presidency information on the French memorandum for a European social model;
    Joint lunchtime discussion with ECOFIN Ministers about the employment situation.

4-5 June: Justice and Home Affairs Council



    Draft external frontiers convention: progress report;
    Draft recommendation on combatting illegal employment of third country nationals;
    Eurodac: progress report;
    Europol drugs unit: report on 1995 budget, draft 1997 budget, computer system;
    Terrorism: draft joint action on directory of competences, threat assessment report, statistics of racist offences;
    International Law Enforcement Academy;
    Relations with third countries;
    Crime prevention: results of Stockholm seminar;
    Draft resolution on priorities for co-operation 1996 to 1998;
    Financing of title VI;
    European Court of Justice jurisdiction in Europol and other third pillar conventions;
    Draft extradition convention;
    Fraud: draft corruption convention and second protocol to convention on protection of Community's financial interests;
    Draft convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters: progress report;
    Draft convention on service of documents;
    Common position on draft Hague convention on protection of minors;
    Accession of a new member states to Brussels (and Rome) convention(s).

10-11 June: Fisheries Council



    Adoption of the agenda
    Approval of the list of "A" points (possible item)
    Proposal for a Council regulation laying down for 1996 certain conservation and management measures for fishery resources in the technical area of the convention as defined in the convention on future multilateral co-operation in the north-east Atlantic Fisheries (allocation of the NEAFC Redfish quota) 1 ;
    Proposal for a Council regulation amending for the second time regulation (EC) No. 3090/95 laying down for 1996 certain conservation and management measures for the fishery resources in the regulatory area as defined in the convention on future multilateral co-operation in the north west Atlantic fisheries (allocation of the NAFO 3M Redfish quota) 1 ;
    Proposal for a council regulation amending regulation (EC) No. 3074/95 fixing, for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, the total allowable catches for 1996 and certain conditions under which they may be fished (sprat fisheries in the Skagerrak and Kattegat) 1 ;

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 567


    European fisheries research: further discussions;
    Proposal for a Council regulation on technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources: presentation by the Commission;
    Multiannual guidance programmes 1997-99: communication from the Commission;
    Communication on the organisation of the second conference on the management of fishery resources in the Mediterranean (Venice, November 1996);
    Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on small-scale Coastal fishing (budget heading B2-521);
    Proposals for the conclusion of fisheries agreements with:
    -- Estonia;
    -- Latvia;
    -- Lithuania;
    (possible items)
    FAO: proposal for a Council decision on accession of the European Community to the agreement to promote compliance with international conservation and management measures by fishing vessels on the high seas 1 (possible item);
    Proposal for a Council decision on the signature of the agreement for the implementation of the provisions of the United Nations convention on the law of the sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the conservation and management of straddling stocks and highly migratory fish stocks 1 (possible item);
    Report from the Commission on the establishment of a system for monitoring community fishing vessels by satellite: presentation by the Commission (possible item);
    Proposal for a Council regulation amending regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy: presentation by the Commission (possible item);
    Proposal for a Council regulation amending for the 4th time regulation (EEC) No. 3699/93 laying down the criteria and arrangements regarding community structural assistance in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and the processing and marketing of its products (possible item);
    Commission report on the activities of third countries in Community waters
    Adoption in the language of the Community of:
    --a Council regulation amending Council regulation (EC) No. 3078/95 allocating, for 1996, certain catch quotas between member states for vessels fishing in Faroese waters 1 ;
    --a Council regulation amending Council regulation (EC) No 3077/95 laying down, for 1996, certain measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources applicable to vessels flying the flag of the Faroe Islands 1 ;
    adoption in the official languages of the community of a council regulation amending council regulation (EC) No. 3090/95 laying down, for 1996, certain conservation and management measures for fishery resources in the regulatory area as defined in the convention on future multilateral co-operation in the north-west Atlantic fisheries 1 ;
    Any Other Business:
    --situation on the salmon market (requested by the Irish delegation);
    --organisation of future work.
    1 Denotes items on which a vote may be taken.

10-11 June: General Affairs Council



    Provisional agenda is as follows:
    --Mediterranean policy:
    --follow-up to Barcelona;
    --decision to conclude Euro-Med association agreements;
    --MEDA regulation;

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 568


    Relations with Syria: common position for Co-operation Council (likely "A" Point);
    Preparation of Florence European Council;
    EEA: common position for EEA Council (likely "A" Point);
    Relations with Chile (likely "A" Point);
    Preparation of EU/Turkey Association Council (possible item);
    Former Yugoslavia;
    Agricultural GSP (possible item);
    Commercial questions;
    --Maritime transport;
    --Commission communication on market access (preparation for Singapore);
    Niger;
    EU/Africa summit;
    Relations with Canada;
    Middle east peace process;
    Relations with US;
    KEDO (possible item);
    New council building.
    11 June: Culture/Audiovisual Council
    Approval of the draft agenda;
    Approval of the list of "A" points;
    Proposal for a directive modifying directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 "Television without Frontiers": draft common position;
    Proposal for a Council decision setting up a European guarantee fund to encourage cinema and television production: state of work;
    Preparation of joint work between the Council and the PECO countries;
    Proposal for a Council decision establishing an action programme in the field of cultural heritage (RAPHAEL): draft common position;
    Cultural goods: proposal for a Council Regulation modifying the annex of Council Regulation No. 3911/92 on the export of cultural goods, and proposal for a EP/Council directive modifying the annex of directive 93/7/CEE on the return of cultural goods unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State;
    Access to culture for all: draft resolution;
    Electronic publishing and libraries: draft resolution;
    First report of the Commission on the consideration of cultural aspects in European Community action: general debate;
    Any Other Business:
    -- prize for politically persecuted authors (Austrian delegation);
    -- encouragement of access of the young to culture: lowering of VAT on records, CDs and tapes (French delegation).
    17-18 June: Transport Council
    Trans-European network transport guidlines (possible item);
    Aviation relations with the US: adoption of mandate;
    Negotiations with Switzerland on air and land transport: Commission report;
    Negotiations with EUROCONTROL and ESA on global satellite navigation: adoption of mandate;
    Commission White Paper on air traffic management: debate;
    Proposed amendment to driving licences directive: harmonisation of codes: political agreement on common position;
    Proposed directive on summertime: political agreement on common position;
    Commission Green Paper on fair and efficient pricing in transport: debate;

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 569


    Commission Green Paper on the citizen's network: debate;
    Commission document on maritime strategy: debate
    Proposed directive on safety rules for passenger ships: political agreement on common position.

21-22 June: European Council



    Agenda not yet available;

24-25 June: Agriculture Council



    Reform of the fruit and vegetable regime;
    Price fixing;
    Bananas (possible item);
    Set-aside rates for 1997-98 (possible item);
    Amending directive 64/432 on intra-community trade in bovine animals and swine;
    Plant health: solidarity and responsibility (possible item);
    Veterinary and fish fees;
    Italian memorandum on the single market in veterinary matters;
    BSE (possible item).

25-26 June: Environment Council



    Biocides: adoption of a common position;
    Emissions from off-road vehicles: adoption of a common position;
    5th action programme: orientation debate;
    Climate change: conclusions;
    Convention on biological diversity: state of play;
    Biosafety protocol: conclusions;
    Water policy: debate;
    Auto-oil programme proposals: presentation;
    Leghold traps (mandate): adoption (if not already done);
    Leghold traps: debate;
    CO 2 emissions: conclusions;
    Genetically modified organisms (revision of 90/219): state of play;
    Zoos: debate;
    Trade/Environment (at lunch);
    Mandates if necessary;
    2nd reading (landfill/air quality/PCB/IPPC/Vans/Logo "CE"/LIFE);
    Transfer of waste to non-OECD countries: state of play;
    Ant other business;
    --Structured dialogue (Cyprus/Malta): information by the presidency.

26 June: Research Council (to be confirmed)



    Proposals for decisions adapting the 4th RTD framework Programme (EC) and the EURATOM research framework programme (1994-1998): financial supplement;
    Green Paper on innovation: information from the Commission;
    S/T co-operation with Mediterranean third countries: information from the presidency;
    S/T co-operation agreement with USA: adoption of negotiating mandate (possible "A" point);
    Decision modifying the specific programme on RTD co-operation with third countries and international organisations (INTAS) (possible "A" point);
    Supplementary research programme on the high flux reactor (HRF) (possible "A" point).

27 June: Telecommunications Council



    Directive on a common framework for general authorisations and individual licences in the field of telecommunications services: common position;

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 570

    Directive on common rules for the development of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service: common position;
    Directive on the processing of personal data and protection of personal privacy in the telecommunications sector, in particular ISDN and digital mobile networks: common position;
    Directive amending ONP directives 90/387 and 92/44 to adapt them to a competitive environment in telecommunications: common position (possible item);
    Decision on the adoption of a multi-annual programme to promote linguistic diversity in the information society: decision (possible item);
    Council Resolution on the development of universal service for telecommunications in the EU.

Next Section Index Home Page