| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Turkey
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the measures he has taken to encourage the Turkish Government to honour their international human rights obligations. [7680]
Mr. David Davis: We regularly raise our concerns over Turkey's human rights record in our bilateral contacts with the Turks at all levels. My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary did so when he met the Turkish Foreign Minister in September and the subject
5 Dec 1996 : Column: 733
will of course be on the agenda at their next meeting on 5 December. We also take action with our partners through the European Union and in international forums such as the UN Commission on Human Rights in November.
Japanese Pupils (Visas)
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what type of visa is required by Japanese citizens intending to study at British boarding schools between the ages of 11 and 18 years. [7279]
Mr. Kirkhope: I have been asked to reply.
A national of Japan does not need to obtain a visa before travelling to the United Kingdom as a student. However, he may apply for an entry certificate should he wish to do so. The criteria for entry as a student are set out in paragraph 57 of the "Statement of Changes in the Immigration Rules", HC 395, as amended, a copy of which is in the Library.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Courts and Legal Services Act
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many representations he has received regarding the delay in implementing section 13 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. [6792]
Mr. Streeter: According to our records, six representations have been received by Ministers, two in the form of parliamentary questions and four letters from Members of Parliament. In addition, in the course of work on revising the administration order procedure and assessing the feasibility of implementing section 13, views have been sought and received from many bodies and organisations.
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the section 13 monitoring group last met; and what issues were discussed. [6793]
Mr. Streeter: The monitoring group last met on 29 November 1993. It discussed the objectives of the administration order procedure, secured and unsecured debts, and non-payment under an administration order.
ENVIRONMENT
River Thames (Nitrates)
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of changes in the (a) source and (b) quantities of nitrates in the River Thames over the last six years; and if he will make a statement. [6815]
Mr. Clappison: Nitrate concentrations in surface waters, including the River Thames, and in groundwaters are monitored by the Environment Agency as required by various European directives. The resulting data enable us to identify, and review as necessary, when action is needed to comply with the requirements of these
5 Dec 1996 : Column: 734
directives in relation to nitrate pollution. For example, in the context of the nitrate directive, assessment of 1992 data on nitrate concentrations in surface waters led to the designation of nitrate vulnerable zones covering nine river catchments. The River Thames did not meet the criteria for designation in the first round. We shall be reviewing the vulnerable zone designations in 1997, as required by the directive, based on monitoring data currently being collected by the agency and available on their public registers in the usual way. The latest data on trends in river nitrate concentrations in the Thames region and in other parts of Great Britain are presented in the Department's 1996 Digest of Environmental Statistics, No. 18.
City Pride Initiative
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the likely benefits to be received by the seven new areas challenged to join the city pride initiative. [7176]
Mr. Curry: Ministers have had a number of discussions with the partners involved to date in city pride. Birmingham, London and Manchester, the three cities invited to pilot the city pride initiative in November 1993, have demonstrated the benefits by forging partnerships and, after extensive local consultation, producing detailed prospectuses setting out clear and deliverable visions for the future of their cities. The pilot cities are now implementing the proposals set out in these prospectuses. The seven new areas challenged to join the city pride initiative have an opportunity to demonstrate they can achieve the same excellent results.
City Challenge
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many applications for city challenge funding in the last financial year were unsuccessful; and what estimate he has made of the cost of submitting the bids. [7175]
Mr. Curry: There were no applications for city challenge funding in the last financial year; 329 final bids were received in respect of the second round of the single regeneration budget challenge fund, for which the deadline was 18 September 1995. Some 172 bids were successful--over 52 per cent. of the total of final bids received. The Government have made no estimate of the cost of submitting bids. We have, however, commissioned independent research from the department of land economy, Cambridge university, into the single regeneration budget challenge fund. As part of that research, a report in the form of a working paper has been prepared on a sample of 10 unsuccessful SRB challenge fund bids. Copies of this paper have been placed in the Library of the House. This working paper estimated on page 28 that the cost of preparing unsuccessful bids varied from £10,000 to £23,000. The evidence from the unsuccessful bids studied in the report suggested that the challenge fund programme strengthened the formation and effectiveness of local partnerships, and that inter-agency co-operation had been enhanced. The report also concluded that there was no suggestion that the costs of preparing SRB bids were necessarily greater than preparing proposals under other funding regimes.
5 Dec 1996 : Column: 735
Offshore Installations (Pollution)
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library copies of all reports prepared by Government laboratories or consultants to his Department on the monitoring of pollution arising from offshore oil installations since 1979. [7021]
Mr. Clappison: The directorate of fisheries research of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food regularly produces reports in the aquatic environment monitoring reports series on this subject, which are placed in the Library. Similar reports are produced by the Scottish Office. My Department has commissioned no recent reports from consultants for this purpose.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his Department's proposals for the use of the private finance initiative in respect of local government expenditure. [7306]
Sir Paul Beresford: On 31 October we relaxed the capital finance rules to promote the private finance initiative in local government. We also issued guidance on those relaxations and associated arrangements for revenue support for PFI projects.
Development Land Values (Taxation)
Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on how many occasions in the past five years schemes have been brought forward by the Government for the introduction of taxes on development land values; in what years those schemes were brought forward; in what years they were abolished and for what reasons; and if he will make a statement. [7713]
Mr. Gummer: The Government have brought forward no such schemes in the past five years.
Mr. Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the advantages of imposing new taxes on the development for residential purposes of green-field sites; and if he will make a statement. [7712]
Mr. Gummer: I have not proposed such taxes, and have no intention of doing so.
Private Sector Housing Renewal
Mr. Booth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to give local authorities guidance on the private sector housing renewal provision in part I of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. [8088]
Mr. Clappison: DOE circular 17/96 "Private Sector Renewal: A Strategic Approach" is being sent to local authorities today. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library of each House.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |