| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Proportional Voting
Mr. McWalter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce a proportional voting system for the 1999 European election. [10066]
Mr. Straw: Legislation will be brought forward this session to enable the 1999 European elections to be conducted by a regional list electoral system.
SCOTLAND
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Gorrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his Department's outturn expenditure was in 1996-97 under the headings Health, Other Central Government Services, Local Government Capital, Local Government Current, Total for Local Government, Miscellaneous and Overall Total; and what the planned overall change in expenditure is in (a) money and (b) percentage terms under each of these headings between 1996-97 and 1999-2000. [8129]
Mr. Dewar:
The information is not available in the form requested. However, The Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (Cm 3696) published on 3 July gives the provisional 1996-97 outturn figures on the Control
18 Jul 1997 : Column: 350
Total and includes information on individual Votes, cash limits, running costs limits and EFLs for nationalised industries, other public corporations and trading funds.
The Appropriation Accounts, to be published later this year, will contain a further analysis of voted expenditure.
Ms Atherton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list (a) in total and (b) by local authority the number of rat infestations recorded in each year since 1990. [8446]
Mr. Chisholm:
The available information, drawn from reports prepared annually by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland on a variety of environmental health matters, is set out below.
| Number of infestations | |
|---|---|
| 1990-91(4) | 12,714 |
| 1991-92 | 11,312 |
| 1992-93 | 10,997 |
| 1993-94(5) | Not collected |
| 1994-95(5) | Not collected |
| 1995-96(5) | Not collected |
| 1996-97 | Available December 1997 |
18 Jul 1997 : Column: 351
A1 (Lorries)
Mr. Home Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the average and maximum number of weekly lorry movements on the A1 road in East Lothian expected to be generated by the use of the new landfill facility at Oxwell Mains for rubbish from Edinburgh. [7698]
Mr. Chisholm
[pursuant to his reply, 14 July 1997, c. 65]: No lorry movements to transport land waste by road from Edinburgh will be permitted until such time as road improvements being carried out as part of the A1
18 Jul 1997 : Column: 352
Oswald Dean to Innerwick dualling scheme are completed later this year. Thereafter an average of 400 lorry movements per week are expected.
Mr. Galloway:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people have been sentenced to (a) community service orders and (b) custody in Scotland after having been convicted of stabbing offences involving (i) severe injury, (ii) permanent disfigurement and (iii) disfigurement and danger to life in the current year and in each of the previous four years. [8778]
Mr. McLeish:
Information collected centrally on assaults resulting in conviction does not indicate whether these involved stabbing. The following table sets out the available information for 1995 (the most recent year) and each of the previous four years.
18 Jul 1997 : Column: 351
| Main offence | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (a) | (b) | (a) | (b) | (a) | (b) | (a) | (b) | (a) | (b) | |
| Assault to: | ||||||||||
| (i) severe injury | 66 | 191 | 92 | 218 | 85 | 249 | 93 | 209 | 84 | 203 |
| (ii) permanent disfigurement | 33 | 91 | 32 | 115 | 34 | 123 | 29 | 128 | 32 | 132 |
| (iii) disfigurement and danger of life | 1 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 22 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 14 |
Offences are categorised under the most serious offence; for example a person convicted of "Assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement" will be included in category (ii) but not in category (i).
18 Jul 1997 : Column: 351
Devolution
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the proposals for devolving some social security matters to a Scottish Assembly.[9156]
Mr. McLeish [holding answer 17 July 1997]: The Government's proposals, including those for social security, will be set out in the White Paper to be published on 24 July.
Marine Cage Fish Farming
Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current financial budget of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for the regulation of marine cage fish farming; and what is the expected budget for the following financial year. [8214]
Mr. Chisholm: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency does not have specific budgets for individual regulatory functions.
DEFENCE
Baton Rounds
Mr. Sedgemore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many baton rounds were issued in 1994; how long they would have lasted at 1993 rates of usage; and what were the reasons for issuing this number. [8531]
Dr. Reid
[holding answer 14 July 1997]: Our records show that, in 1994, 33,000 baton rounds were issued to the Army in Northern Ireland and 51,000 were issued to the RUC.
18 Jul 1997 : Column: 352
The numbers of baton rounds held by the Army must be sufficient to cover both training and operational requirements, as well as the maintenance of an adequate reserve. It is not, however, possible to say how the rounds issued in 1994 would have lasted at 1993 rates of usage because records of training usage for that year are no longer available.
Details of RUC usage and operational requirements are matters for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of civil servants in each of grades 1 to 5 in his Department are of (a) Asian origin and (b) Afro-Caribbean origin. [9570]
Mr. Spellar:
The number and percentage of permanent civilian staff in my Department and its Agencies in each of the grades 1 to 5 who have indicated that they are of (a) Asian origin and (b) Afro-Caribbean origin in the MOD's ethnic origin survey are shown below:
| Grade level | Asian origin | Afro-Caribbean origin | Percentage of staff in grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 1-4 | Nil | Nil | Nil |
| Grade 5 | 6 | Nil | 3.2 |
Reserve Forces
Mr. Brazier:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenditure was on the reserve forces in (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98 and (c) is projected for 1998-99 in the categories (i) man training days, (ii) ammunition, fuel and other training expenditure,
18 Jul 1997 : Column: 353
(iii) equipment, purchase and spares, (iv) full-time military personnel costs, (v) NRPS/PSAO personnel costs, (vi) civilian personnel costs and (vii) buildings and building maintenance; and what was the expenditure in man training days by district command in the case of the TA. [8827]
Dr. Reid:
I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Brazier:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what mechanism exists for checking whether money allocated to the reserve forces by Ministers is spent on the reserves by districts and their formation councils. [8826]
Dr. Reid:
Responsibility for expenditure on all defence operating costs, including those related to the Reserve Forces, is delegated to top level budget holders to enable them to achieve the objectives required of them. They in turn delegate funds and responsibility to levels at which the priorities for expenditure can best be assessed. A fundamental principle is that operational and financial responsibility should be linked, which means that commanders must have flexibility over how they spend money. They are best placed to judge where priority should be given, so that they meet the objectives they have been set. Whether they have achieved their objectives is assessed regularly by means of formal performance reviews.
Sir Teddy Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the present manpower strength of Her Majesty's (a) Royal Air Force, (b) Navy and (c) Army; and what percentage of full manning these figures represent. [9202]
Dr. Reid:
The trained strengths of the regular Armed Forces as at 1 June 1997, the latest figures available, were as follows;
| Number | |
|---|---|
| (a) Royal Air Force | 53,769 |
| (b) Naval Service (RN and RM)(6) | 41,368 |
| (c) Army(6)(7) | 101,372 |
(6) Excludes Locally Entered Personnel.
(7) Includes trained Gurkha strength but excludes Royal Irish Regiment (Home Service).
These figures represent (a) 95 per cent.; (b) 97 per cent.; and (c) 95 per cent. of the trained requirement.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |