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Scientific Laboratories

Mr. Bayley: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on progress with market testing the first tranche of Government scientific laboratories. [1316]

Mr. Ian Taylor: My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade placed in the Library of the House on 26 January 1996, a copy of the guidelines on the conduct of prior option reviews. These confirmed that research establishments would have their functions rigorously tested to decide whether the function was required at all, and whether there was scope for privatising, contracting out (which could include market testing), merging establishments or transferring work between them.

11 Nov 1996 : Column: 16

Announcements have subsequently been made: (i) to privatise ADAS, the Building Research Establishment, and the Royal Observatories; (ii) to create as new executive agencies within the public sector, the Directorate of Fisheries Research, the Fisheries Research Services, and the Forestry Commission Research Division; and (iii) that the Central Laboratory for the Research Councils, the National Weights and Measures Laboratory, the Health and Safety Laboratory, and the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency retain their current status within the public sector.

Information on the market testing of individual functions of each establishment is not held centrally.

Opencast Coal Mines

Mr. Clapham: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many opencast coal mining sites are currently in operation; where they are situated; and what is the annual tonnage of coal extracted. [3306]

Mr. Page: There are 95 opencast coal mining sites currently in operation and their locations are given in the following table. The tonnage of coal extracted from opencast sites in 1995 was 16,369,000 tonnes.

Opencast sites

Site name	Location
Airdsgreen	East Ayrshire
Arden Quarry	Derbyshire
Arkwright Colliery Reclamation	Derbyshire
Bag Lane	Wigan
Ballochney	North Lanarkshire
Blairfordel	Perth and Kinross
Bleak House	Staffordshire
Blindwells Extension	East Lothian
Blinkbonny West Mine	Midlothian
Braehead	Fife
Brawds Level	Neath and Port Talbot
Birch Vale Quarry	Derbyshire
Broughton Lodge	Cumbria
Burnfoot Moor	East Ayrshire
Cairncubie	Fife
Candles	Shropshire
Carters Ford West	St. Helens
Castle Farm	Durham
Chalmerston	East Ayrshire
Chester House	Northumberland
Clarence Farm Extension	Durham
Colliersdean	Northumberland
Common Farm Phase III	East Ayrshire
Cynheidre	Carmarthenshire
Dalquhandy	South Lanarkshire
Damside	North Lanarkshire
Derlwyn 2	Neath and Port Talbot
Doe Hill House	Derbyshire
East Pit Extension	Neath and Port Talbot
Easter Balbeggie Farm	Fife
Easter Fortissat	North Lanarkshire
Edge Farm	South Lanarkshire
Fencehillhead	Falkirk
Ffos Las	Carmarthenshire
Gilfach Iago	Carmarthenshire
Glascoed	Wrexham
Greenside Farm	North Lanarkshire
Grove Farm	Leeds
Grove Farm (Extended)	Leeds
Hannahston Farm	East Ayrshire
Hare Hill Site	South Lanarkshire
Hawks Nest Wood	Leeds
Henllan Uchaf	Powys
Ireland Colliery	Derbyshire
Kidburngill	Cumbria
Kirk (revised)	Derbyshire
Laigh Riggend	North Lanarkshire
Lambhill Remainder	Perth and Kinross
Leadbrook Hall	Flintshire
Llanilid West Revised	Rhondda, Cynon and Taff
Lletty'r Crudd	Neath and Port Talbot
Lodge Coppice	Shropshire
Low Gordon	Durham
Lowca	Cumbria
Marks Quarry	Durham
Methley Park	Leeds
Moorgreen	Nottinghamshire
Mossband Farm	North Lanarkshire
Nadins	Derbyshire
Nant Helen	Powys
New Farm	Midlothian
Northwood	Durham
Norwood	Gateshead
Odd House Farm	Leicestershire
Orgreave Reclamation	Rotherham
Oxenfoord	Midlothian
Park Slip West	Merthyr Tydfil
Piperhill	East Ayrshire
Plenmeller	Northumberland
Prathouse Site	Fife
Priors Close North	Durham
Rainge	Derbyshire
Reedswood Reclamation	Walsall
Rockingham	Barnsley
Rosslynlee	Midlothian
Roughcastle North	Falkirk
Rye Hill	Sunderland
Sarn Helen Opencast	Neath and Port Talbot
Shellbrook and Wood Farm	Leicestershire
Shortrig Gorbachev	Falkirk
Smotherfly	Derbyshire
South Brandon Extension	Durham
Stanley Moss	Durham
Stobswood	Northumberland
Trecatti Landfill Opencast	Caerphilly
Trinity III	Derbyshire
Trinity III Deep Hard Opencast	Derbyshire
Wagtail	Durham
Waingroves III	Derbyshire
Wester Mosshat Farm	South Lanarkshire
Westfield Link	Fife
Whittington Sewage Treatment Works	Derbyshire
Whitwell Drift	Durham
Woodbine Opencast Site	Barnsley
Woodmuir	South Lanarkshire

Source:

The Coal Authority.

11 Nov 1996 : Column: 17

British Coal Land

Mr. Clapham: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much money British Coal's land sales have raised to date; and what acreage has been bought by coalmining companies. [3305]

Mr. Page: The sale of British Coal's property is a matter for the corporation.

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Enterprise Britain Initiative

Mr. Hoon: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 30 October, Official Report, column 154 if he will list the constituencies in which meetings have so far been arranged under the enterprise Britain initiative; and what is the projected cost to date. [2291]

Mr. Lang [holding answer 6 November 1996]: The programme of events is still being arranged. Events are being held in cities and smaller towns across Britain and are not being held for individual parliamentary constituencies. The first events will be in Luton and Lincoln on 11 November. The cost of these and future events will depend on the number of participants.

Biomass Plants

Mr. Clapham: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many biomass plants are operating in the UK under the non-fossil fuel obligation; where they are situated; and what is the potential output of each plant. [2975]

Mr. Page [holding answer 7 November 1996]: Two poultry--litter fuelled electricity generating stations are operating in the UK under the non-fossil fuel obligation, at Diss in Suffolk and Scunthorpe in Humberside. Each has a declared net capacity of 12.69 mw. In addition, an installation at Piddlehinton in Dorset, utilising pig slurry as a fuel, is currently generating under the NFFO. It has a capacity of 0.1 mw.

A further poultry-litter fuelled power station with a capacity of 38.5 mw is under construction at Thetford in Norfolk.

Manufacturing Investment

Mr. Corbett: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the presentation of the Government's policies relating to manufacturing investment. [1321]

Mr. Greg Knight: Manufacturing investment is primarily a matter for manufacturing companies. The role of Government is to encourage enterprise by providing a stable macroeconomic environment, making markets work better, and helping firms to help themselves through the provision of high quality business support services.

The Government set out their policies to achieve these objectives in "Competitiveness: Creating the Enterprise Centre of Europe", Cm 3300. My right. hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade and other Ministers are explaining these policies to business people and listening to their concerns at a series of business breakfasts being held in several towns and cities.

Launch Aid

Mr. Ingram: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the last project supported by his Department under the launch aid programme; when this took place; and what was the level of the support. [991]

Mr. Greg Knight [pursuant to the reply, 30 October, Official Report, column 152]: The hon. Member should be aware that part of the amount remaining to be paid has been allocated in 1996-97.

11 Nov 1996 : Column: 19

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Nuclear Weapons

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings (i) he, (ii) other Ministers and (iii) officials from his Department (a) have had and (b) plan to have with representatives of the Australian Government to discuss the report of the Canberra commission on the elimination of nuclear weapons. [2929]

Mr. David Davis: We have regular discussions with the Australian Government on nuclear non-proliferation and arms control issues. The Australian Government have made clear that the Canberra commission acted as an independent body.

Death Penalty

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he plans to make to the Governments of Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia concerning (a) the abolition of the death penalty and (b) resolution 1097 (1996) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; and if he will make a statement. [2745]

Mr. Hanley: The European Union made a demarche to Ukraine on 31 October, and to Russia on 4 November, encouraging them to fulfil commitments made to the Council of Europe to introduce moratoriums on the death penalty. The Presidents of Latvia and Lithuania have declared moratoriums on the death penalty pending parliamentary discussion of its abolition.

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