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Multimedia: Regulatory Regime
Lord Dean of Beswick asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are their plans to restructure the current regulating regime to take account of the convergence of broadcasting, telecommunications and information technology.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: The Government are keeping the market situation under review as various aspects of convergence in broadcasting telecommunications and information technology begin to develop. Against a criteria of stable regulation so that investment is stimulated, the Government will consider adjusting the regulatory regime from time to time, if it appears necessary, to take account of these multimedia developments. In addition, the regulatory authorities will continue to develop the ways in which they work together.
Oftel Director-General: Role
Lord Dean of Beswick asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they think the role of the Director-General of Oftel helps or hinders open access to networks, fair pricing and provides a wider choice of networks.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: The role of the Director-General of Telecommunications is defined by the Telecommunications Act 1984, and in particular by the statutory duties placed on him in Section 3 of that Act. Prominent among these are his duties to promote the interests of consumers and to maintain and promote effective competition in telecommunications. The full benefits of competition will only be realised for consumers if effective competition is established in the provision of telecommunications networks as well as in services. The Government's policy on the most appropriate regulatory framework for promoting network infrastructure competition, and for providing access to networks, was set out in its Command Paper published in November 1994 entitled Creating the Superhighways of the Future Developing Broadband Communications in the UK (Cm 2734).
Oftel: Complement
Lord Dean of Beswick asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the projected complement of Oftel for each of the next five years.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: The Government's Expenditure Plans for Trade and Industry 1996-97 to 1998-99 Cm 3205, p. 121) give the following estimates for numbers of staff working in the Office of Telecommunications:
| Year | Number |
| 1995-96 (Estimated outturn) | 161 |
| 1996-97 (Plan) | 162 |
| 1997-98 (Plan) | 162 |
| 1998-99 (Plan) | 162 |
No projections have been made for subsequent years.
Polar, Antarctic and Arctic Research
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to their Answer of 16th April 1996 (WA64), what are the disproportionate costs that might be incurred in providing information about expenditure on polar research (other than under the auspices of the Natural Environment Research Council) and whether the establishment of an inventory of all British Arctic research activities and expenditure, including that undertaken with EU and non-United Kingdom bodies and in the public, academic and commercial sectors, might, if made publicly available, lead to wider appreciation and recognition, particularly among Arctic States, of the United Kingdom's contribution to Arctic affairs.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: Pursuant to the Answer I gave my noble friend on 16 April 1996, col. WA64, the cost of isolating and assembling the data he requested in order to provide a complete picture across Government departments and agencies would have significantly exceeded £450.
The establishment of an inventory such as my noble friend suggests might indeed have the effect which he anticipates, but the Government consider that the cost of creating and maintaining it would exceed the benefit.
Fish Landings: Quantities
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What proportion of the fish caught within (a) the United Kingdom's six mile limit; (b) the United Kingdom's 12 mile limit; and (c) the United Kingdom's 200 mile limit, was caught by genuinely British boats and landed in British ports in 1972, 1976, 1985 and 1995.
Lord Lucas: Information is not available in the form requested. Fisheries are managed on the basis of the areas in which there are biologically distinct stocks. Records of catches do not specify the territorial limits within which they are taken: rather they are accounted for on the basis of the sea areas defined by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
Landings by UK-flagged vessels into UK ports and abroad are given below. These figures relate to landings of all species, including those which are not subject to EU or third country quotas. (Figures for landings abroad are not available prior to 1988, and figures for 1995 have yet to be finalised. Figures for 1994 are given in terms of live weight equivalent of fish landed. For earlier years, the quantities are expressed in terms of the standard landed weight).
| UK Landings into UK | UK Landings Abroad | |||||||||
| Year | Quantity ('000 tonnes) | Value (£m) | Quantity ('000 tonnes) | Value £m | ||||||
| 1972 | 954.8 | 108.8 | n/a | n/a | ||||||
| 1976 | 932.8 | 209.8 | n/a | n/a | ||||||
| 1985 | 762.1 | 323.8 | n/a | n/a | ||||||
| 1994 | 687.6 | 454.5 | 187.3 | 107.0 | ||||||
Spongiform Encephalopathy Committee
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Who were the members of the bodies that provided them with evidence about BSE, and what were their commercial affiliations.
Lord Lucas: The Government obtain evidence about BSE from a wide range of sources. This evidence is evaluated by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) whose remit is to advise the Government on matters relating to spongiform encephalopathies.
The members of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Committee are:
- Chairman:
- Professor J. R. Pattison--Professor of Medical Microbiology and Dean of the University College, London Medical School
- Deputy Chairman:
- Dr. R. G. Will--Consultant Neurologist and Head of the National CJD Surveillance Unit
- Members:
- Professor Ingrid Allen--Professor of Neuropathology at the Queen's University of Belfast
- Professor J. W. Almond--A Virologist and Professor of Microbiology at the University of Reading
- Mr. R. Bradley CBE--A Veterinary Pathologist and Chairman of the BSE sub-group of the EC Scientific Veterinary Committee
- Professor F. Brown FRS--Deputy Director (Scientific) of the Animal Virus Research Institute, Long Island, New York, USA
- Professor J. Collinge--A Clinical Neurologist and head of the Prion Diseases Group at St. Mary's Hospital, London
- Dr. W. D. Hueston--Veterinary Epidemiologist, United States Department of Agriculture
- Dr. R. H. Kimberlin--Independent Consultant on Scrapie and related diseases
- Dr. M. Painter--A Consultant in Communicable Disease Control, City of Manchester
- Dr. D. B. Pepper--Private Veterinary Surgeon
- Professor P. G. Smith--An Epidemiologist from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Dr. W. A. Watson--Former Director of the Central Veterinary Laboratory
Animal Feeds: Nutrient Content
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether farmers were not permitted, on grounds of commercial confidentiality, to know the contents of the high protein feeds that had been licensed and whether they will now ensure that farmers and others may in future take their own decisions about what they feed their animals.
Lord Lucas: A long standing provision has required compounders to provide information on the nutrient content of feeds. In addition, the Feeding Stuffs Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1412) require the declaration of the ingredients of compound feeds, either by individual ingredient or category of ingredient. This has been a provision of regulations since 1991.
BSE: Confirmed Cases
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of confirmed cases of BSE by month and year of clinical onset from the date that such data was first collected.
Lord Lucas: The following table shows the distribution as at 3rd May of confirmed cases by month and year of clinical onset since July 1986:
| Date | Cases | Date | Cases | Date | Cases | Date | Cases |
| -- | -- | January 1989 | 525 | January 1992 | 3,433 | January 1995 | 1,529 |
| -- | -- | February 1989 | 542 | February 1992 | 3,104 | February 1995 | 1,283 |
| -- | -- | March 1989 | 532 | March 1992 | 3,145 | March 1995 | 1,344 |
| -- | -- | April 1989 | 505 | April 1992 | 2,663 | April 1995 | 1,112 |
| -- | -- | May 1989 | 514 | May 1992 | 2,464 | May 1995 | 1,001 |
| -- | -- | June 1989 | 515 | June 1992 | 2,694 | June 1995 | 1,045 |
| July 1986 | 1 | July 1989 | 584 | July 1992 | 2,925 | July 1995 | 1,053 |
| August 1986 | 1 | August 1989 | 708 | August 1992 | 3,242 | August 1995 | 1,060 |
| September 1986 | 3 | September 1989 | 694 | September 1992 | 3,132 | September 1995 | 970 |
| October 1986 | 3 | October 1989 | 748 | October 1992 | 3,365 | October 1995 | 1,009 |
| November 1986 | 3 | November 1989 | 788 | November 1992 | 3,252 | November 1995 | 933 |
| December 1986 | 1 | December 1989 | 972 | December 1992 | 3,505 | December 1995 | 878 |
| January 1987 | 5 | January 1990 | 1,180 | January 1993 | 3,499 | -- | -- |
| February 1987 | 5 | February 1990 | 1,251 | February 1993 | 3,094 | -- | -- |
| March 1987 | 8 | March 1990 | 1,131 | March 1993 | 3,099 | -- | -- |
| April 1987 | 15 | April 1990 | 1,001 | April 1993 | 2,641 | -- | -- |
| May 1987 | 14 | May 1990 | 998 | May 1993 | 2,394 | -- | -- |
| June 1987 | 29 | June 1990 | 974 | June 1993 | 2,418 | -- | -- |
| July 1987 | 40 | July 1990 | 1,071 | July 1993 | 2,701 | -- | -- |
| August 1987 | 35 | August 1990 | 1,174 | August 1993 | 2,751 | -- | -- |
| September 1987 | 75 | September 1990 | 1,258 | September 1993 | 2,768 | -- | -- |
| October 1987 | 71 | October 1990 | 1,258 | October 1993 | 2,837 | -- | -- |
| November 1987 | 66 | November 1990 | 1,371 | November 1993 | 2,575 | -- | -- |
| December 1987 | 98 | December 1990 | 1,704 | December 1993 | 2,796 | -- | -- |
| January 1988 | 132 | January 1991 | 1,706 | January 1994 | 2,713 | -- | -- |
| February 1988 | 94 | February 1991 | 1,659 | February 1994 | 2,180 | -- | -- |
| March 1988 | 107 | March 1991 | 1,882 | March 1994 | 2,254 | -- | -- |
| April 1988 | 142 | April 1991 | 1,791 | April 1994 | 1,987 | -- | -- |
| May 1988 | 165 | May 1991 | 1,609 | May 1994 | 1,778 | -- | -- |
| June 1988 | 253 | June 1991 | 1,602 | June 1994 | 1,675 | -- | -- |
| July 1988 | 259 | July 1991 | 1,870 | July 1994 | 1,746 | -- | -- |
| August 1988 | 280 | August 1991 | 2,414 | August 1994 | 1,734 | -- | -- |
| September 1988 | 354 | September 1991 | 2,628 | September 1994 | 1,592 | -- | -- |
| October 1988 | 370 | October 1991 | 2,579 | October 1994 | 1,704 | -- | -- |
| November 1988 | 422 | November 1991 | 2,772 | November 1994 | 1,642 | -- | -- |
| December 1988 | 494 | December 1991 | 3,132 | December 1994 | 1,700 | -- | -- |
Notes:
Table excludes cases where the date of clinical onset was not provided.
1995 figures are preliminary as cases are still being reported with a clinical onset in 1995.
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