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Cataract Operations

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress he is making in tackling waiting lists for cataract operations for elderly persons in the Wrexham Maelor Hospital Trust area; and if he will make a statement. [57444]

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: The number of people waiting for ophthalmic surgery at Wrexham Maelor NHS Trust, which is largely cataract operations, has fallen from 1,496 in June 1998 to 1,307 in September 1998, a drop of 13 per cent.

North Wales Health Authority has agreed with the Trust that, by the year 2000, all patients requiring cataract surgery will be treated within 3 months.

Assisted Area Status

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to ensure the retention of assisted area status for Alyn and Deeside; and if he will make a statement. [57447]

Mr. Hain: The review of the Assisted Areas will be carried out for Great Britain as a whole. All parts of Great Britain will be assessed for inclusion against common criteria.

Welsh Industry

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met leaders of the (i) CBI and (ii) TUC to discuss the competitiveness of Welsh industry; and if he will make a statement. [57450]

Mr. Hain: I regularly meet representatives of the CBI to discuss all aspects of Welsh industry and I attended their recent conference in Birmingham. The last time I met the TUC was when I addressed their annual conference earlier this year.

Eco-village, Pembrokeshire National Park

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the impact of the eco-village in the Pembrokeshire National Park on the environment; and if he will make a statement on the implications for sustainable development of this project. [57393]

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: In the first instance this is a local planning authority issue. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority has resolved to take enforcement action in relation to this matter. In view of the Secretary of State's planning responsibilities I can make no further comment.

Gwent Tertiary College

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the current

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financial situation at Gwent Tertiary College; and how many members of staff are to be made compulsorily redundant. [57901]

Mr. Hain: Gwent Tertiary College's provisional financial statements for the year ended 31 July 1998 record an operating cost deficit of £946,000 and an historic cost surplus of £157,000 with a turnover of £34 million. The forecast for the current year is an operating cost deficit of £961,000 and an historic cost surplus of £243,000 with a turnover of £31.1 million. The College has no plans to make members of staff compulsorily redundant.

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the impact which the current situation at Gwent Tertiary College has had on the quality of education provided for full-time and part-time students. [57902]

Mr. Hain: The Further Education Funding Council for Wales is responsible for assessing the quality of education provided by Gwent Tertiary College. During the Council's first assessment cycle (1993-1997) provision in 14 programme areas was at or above the quality threshold. Areas assessed as below the quality threshold--Catering, Construction, General Education, Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy, and Independent Living Skills--are scheduled for reassessment in the current cycle. All the areas assessed in the current cycle thus far--Business and Management, Computing, Secretarial Studies and Office Technology, Art and Design, and Performing Arts--have been awarded grades at or above the quality threshold.

CABINET OFFICE

Anti-drugs Education

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of the recently announced moneys to tackle illegal drug mis-use will be used for anti-drugs education. [56856]

Dr. Jack Cunningham: I announced on 1 September a total of £217 million additional funding to tackle illegal drug misuse. Of this total, £3 million is specifically for drugs education and prevention activities. From 1999-2000, a total of £19 million per annum will support the development of effective drug education and prevention programmes across the country.

Autism

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will introduce a charter for persons with autism in line with the charter adopted at the fourth Autism Europe Congress in May 1992; and if he will make a statement. [57056]

Mr. Kilfoyle: We have no plans to introduce a specific charter for people with autism or any other disability. I am, however, determined that public services should be accessible to all, and that all users should be treated fairly, paying particular attention to those with special needs. That is why we have launched Service First--the new Charter programme. The new programme is underpinned

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by nine guiding principles that all public services should be striving to achieve. These include principles covering the accessibility of public services and fairness.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Pesticides

Mr. Baker: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to exercise his power under section 16(2)(j) of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (as amended by the Pesticides Act 1998) to make regulations for the provision of information relating to pesticides to be made available to the public. [57711]

Mr. Rooker: I am anxious to ensure that the public gains the greatest possible access to information on pesticides, taking advantage of the broader powers provided by the Pesticides Act 1998. My officials have just completed a public consultation exercise to explore how this objective might best be pursued. Full details of the consultation are available in the Library of the House. Following consideration of the responses received, Regulations will be drafted and further public consultation will take place. The draft Regulations will also be notified to the EC under the Technical Standards Directive. Subject to the outcome of these consultations, the Regulations will be put in place as rapidly as possible but at this stage it is not possible to give a precise date.

Agriculture

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on the present state of British agriculture; and if he will make a statement. [57664]

Mr. Rooker [holding answer 2 November 1998]: We have received a large number of representations from a range of sectors currently experiencing difficulties. We are listening to the concerns made in numerous meetings and in correspondence.

Farm Borrowing

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is (a) the total level of borrowing of British farmers and (b) the average level of borrowing per farm in the United Kingdom. [57504]

Mr. Rooker [holding answer 2 November 1998]: Information on the liabilities of UK agriculture is published in "Agriculture in the United Kingdom". The estimate of total liabilities at December 1996 was £9 billion. This represents about £69,000 per full time holding compared to average assets per holding of £570,000. Lending by banks to agriculture and fishing has, according to the Bank of England, increased by about 12 per cent. between the fourth quarter of 1996 and the second quarter of 1998.

Agricultural Land Sales

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the acreage and value of

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land sold by farmers for non-agricultural purposes for each of the last 10 years expressed (a) in current prices and (b) as a percentage of total land sales by farmers. [57502]

Mr. Rooker [holding answer 2 November 1998]: I regret that the information requested is not available. Information on sales of agricultural land does not distinguish between land used for agriculture and for other purposes. The official statistics on agricultural land sales include an analysis by type of purchaser (e.g. to individuals or various categories of corporate purchaser) but specifically exclude sales of agricultural land for development and non-agricultural purposes. The area of agricultural land on agricultural holdings is recorded in the annual June agricultural census. This area is shown to have declined by 429 thousand hectares (2.4%) in the UK since 1988 but there is no reliable information on the new use of this land.

Farm Incomes

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimates he has made of overall farm income in 1998 and 1999. [57661]

Mr. Rooker [holding answer 2 November 1998]: The 1998 forecast of Total Income from Farming will be published on 1 December. I will ensure that the hon. Member receives a copy of the Statistical News Release on that day.

Forecasts for the 1999 calendar year will not be published until December 1999.

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