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ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Personal Injury Actions
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Attorney-General how many representations he has received since 1993 urging the amendment of the Limitation Act 1980 so far as it relates to time limits for actions in respect of personal injuries; what proportion of these refer to allegations of sexual abuse of the complainant or litigant when the latter was a child; and if he will make a statement. [16990]
Mr. Streeter: I have been asked to reply.
Since 1993, my Department has received about 10 inquiries, including questions asked by hon. Members, about possible reform of the law of limitation as it applies to personal injury cases. These have related to the limitation period applicable when there is an allegation that an adult's illness is the result of intentional harm he suffered many years before. In 1995, the Law Commission undertook a comprehensive review of the law of limitation period s with a view to its simplification and rationalisation, and the commission expects to publish a consultation paper this summer.
Stubbing and Others v. the United Kingdom
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Attorney-General what (a) representations he has received on and (b) assessment he has made of the (i) dissenting and (ii) partly dissenting opinions of judges in the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Stubbing and others v. the United Kingdom. [16991]
Mr. Streeter: I have been asked to reply.
My Department has received no representations on any of the opinions expressed by the court in Stubbings and others v. United Kingdom. My Department has studied all
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the opinions closely, as has the Law Commission, which expects to publish a consultation paper on the law of limitation this summer.
Letters to Shareholders
Mr. Wilson: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what was the source of the information on shareholder identities which he used to send his letter of 28 January to shareholders in privatised companies; [17954]
- (2) under what statutory provisions he obtained the information on shareholder identities which he used to send letters to shareholders of privatised companies; and if he will make a statement. [17955]
The Prime Minister: The Government were not involved in obtaining the information which came from published sources.
Engagements
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 27 February. [16553]
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 27 February. [16638]
Sir Peter Tapsell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 27 February. [16639]
The Prime Minister: This morning, I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
Parliamentary Answers
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Prime Minister how many questions were tabled for reply by his Department in each Session since 1979-80; in how many instances in each year the reply has been that providing the information involved disproportionate cost; and in how many instances in each year questions have been given the reply that the information was not available centrally. [16794]
The Prime Minister: A list of the total number of oral and written parliamentary questions answered by Government Departments in the Sessions 1982-83 to 1995-96, as supplied by the parliamentary on-line information service unit, has been placed in the Library of the House.
Figures for 1979-80 to 1981-82 are not available. My Office estimates that over the past year approximately 1 per cent. of the total number of parliamentary questions were not answered because of disproportionate costs or because the information requested was not held centrally.
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Animal Feed
Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what dates action was taken to ban the feeding of ruminant remains to ruminant animals (a) in the United Kingdom, (b) in other European Union countries and (c) in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. [17661]
Mrs. Browning: The feeding of ruminant protein to ruminants was prohibited in Great Britain in 1988 and in Northern Ireland in 1989. Community decision 94/381 of 27 June 1994 required all member states to ban the feeding of mammalian protein to ruminants. In member states with a system which makes it possible to distinguish between protein from ruminant and non-ruminant species--such as Denmark--the ban is limited to the feeding of ruminant proteins to ruminants. We do not have detailed information on legislation in place in all of the member states but are aware that Ireland introduced a ban on feeding mammalian protein to ruminants on 13 August 1990, that is, before Community decision 94/381. We do not have information on the controls introduced by all OECD members. However, we do know that Switzerland prohibited the feeding of ruminant protein to ruminants in December 1990. Canada is proposing to introduce a ban on feeding mammalian proteins to mammals, and the USA is proposing a ban on feeding ruminant proteins to ruminants.
Salmon
Sir Cranley Onslow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent discussions he has had with the Irish authorities about the action the Irish Government are taking to secure the escape of early-running salmon. [17516]
Mr. Baldry: There have been no recent discussions with the Irish authorities on this issue.
Private Employment Agencies
Mr. Hall:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the private employment agencies used by his Department and its agencies in each of the last three years for which figures are available, indicating (a) the names of the agencies, (b) the numbers employed by the agencies in work for his Department, (c) the total cost to his Department of using employment agencies and
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the median cost paid to the agency per person recruited and (d) the average length of contract for persons recruited via such agencies. [16186]
Mr. Boswell:
From information held centrally, the answers to the questions are as follows:
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) | Manpower(14) Reed Employment Anne Pettengell CBR Group Country Bureau Hays Accountancy Anne Pettengell Pertemps Labstaff Office Angels Three Tees | Manpower(14) Kelly Services Adecco (formerly ECCO Employment) Reed Employment Hays Accountancy Anne Pettengell Pertemps Baxter Office Angels Labstaff Accountancy Personnel | Manpower(14) Kelly Services Adecco (formerly ECCO Employment) Reed Employment Hays Accountancy Back-up Baxter Office Angels Labstaff Plum Personnel Northern Recruitment |
| (b) | 362 | 689 | 995 |
| (c) | £530,801 | £845,564 | £2,414,067(15) |
| (d) | 4 weeks | 6 weeks | 6 weeks(16) |
Notes:
(14) A number of recruitment agencies have been used over the last three years. Those listed are the ones with significant expenditure. Some local agencies are used by MAFF and agency offices to recruit a small number of staff at different locations, making it impossible to extract the required information without disproportionate cost.
(15) It is not possible to show the median cost paid to each agency per person recruited as to do so would have involved disproportionate cost.
(16) The overall average length of contract shows an average of averages. Requirements across MAFF and its agencies vary. It is therefore impossible to identify any particular period of contract as being representative of the needs of MAFF and its agencies as a whole.
Equipment and Furniture
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the cost and number of items of equipment and furniture that (a) have been stolen and (b) are otherwise unaccounted for from his Department and its agencies during the past 12 months, listing by name any such items valued at £5,000 or more, and showing information technology material separately. [17074]
Mr. Boswell:
The table details the cost and number of items of equipment and furniture that (a) have been stolen and (b) are otherwise unaccounted for from MAFF and its agencies during the past 12 months, listing by name any such items valued at £5,000 or more, and showing information technology material separately.
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| MAFF | ADAS | CSL | VLA | VMD | PSD | MHS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT equipment | |||||||
| Number of items | 37 | Figures not available | nil | 22 | nil | nil | 3 |
| Cost of items (£) | 35,000.00 | -- | -- | Amount not available | -- | -- | 759.00 |
| Other equipment | |||||||
| Number of items | 7 | -- | nil | -- | nil | nil | nil |
| Cost of items (£) | 8,680.31 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Items over £5,000 | |||||||
| Ford Transit | 5,500.00 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
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