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Lord Spens asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they have any details of share-price support operations or market stabilisation operations following the privatisation (or sale) of companies on the London Stock Exchange as part of the privatisation programme since inception, and, if so, which privatisations were they, and what was the number and cost of shares acquired in each case.
Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish: In line with developing market practice, the major government share sales since 1991, BT2, BT3, Genco2, Railtrack and British Energy have included provisions allowing the global co-ordinators to over-allot or effect transactions which stabilise or maintain the market price of the shares concerned. Details of the stabilisation arrangements are contained in the prospectuses issued in connection with these sales. Any stabilisation transactions are conducted by the global co-ordinators for the account of the managers.
In the share sales where stabilisation has been present, part of the government shareholding in the company was not sold outright to the managers, but the managers were instead granted an option to acquire that part of the shares from the Government. The managers could, if they had purchased shares in the market stabilisation operation, use the stabilisation shares to satisfy their commitments to customers rather than buying the shares under option from the Government.
The global co-ordinators announced that they had purchased all the relevant option shares from the Government in the case of BT3 (91.5 million shares) and Railtrack (65.2 million shares). In the other sales, the numbers of option shares purchased from the Government by the global co-ordinators were:
- BT2: 22.5 million
- Genco2: 9.2 million National Power and
- 6.1 million PowerGen
- British Energy: 80.9 million
Culture Council, 16th December
Baroness Flather asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the outcome of the Culture Council on 16th December 1996.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of National Heritage (Lord Inglewood): EU Ministers of Culture met on 16th December 1996 in Brussels. Ministers agreed a resolution on the integration of cultural aspects into other Community actions. The purpose of this resolution is to give effect to article 128(4) of the Treaty on European Union.
Ministers held an exchange of views on the proposal for a directive amending the Television Without Frontiers Directive and on the proposal to establish a European Guarantee Fund to promote cinema and
television production. The council held an exchange of views on the development of new audiovisual services and adopted conclusions welcoming the European Commission's Green Paper on the protection of minors and human dignity in the audiovisual and information services. Ministers held an exchange of views on the issue of violence in the media.Ministers noted that the conciliation process with the European Parliament on the Ariane and Raphael programmes would now be convened under the Dutch Presidency.
An exchange of views was held on a number of further issues, including music, book pricing and the European Cities of Culture. Plovdiv was selected to host the Cultural Month 1999. Ministers also touched on the issues of cultural funding, authors' rights and cross-media ownership.
UHF Relay Station Building Programme
The Earl of Kinnoull asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are the conclusions of the review of the UHF Television Relay Building Programme.
Lord Inglewood: The announcement made on 16th April 1991 by the then Home Secretary, my right honourable friend the Member for Mole Valley (Kenneth Baker) (House of Commons, Official Report, column 131). explained that the Government had agreed with the BBC and Independent Television Commission that the programme of building 25 UHF relay stations a year to extend UHF television coverage would be maintained until 1996, when its further continuation would be reconsidered. We have now undertaken that consideration in close consultation with the Independent Television Commission and the BBC, who have jointly administered the relay building programme to date.
We have decided, after careful consideration, in the knowledge that UHF television coverage now extends to 99.4 per cent. of the population, and in the light of plans for the introduction of digital terrestrial television, that the formal programme of building 25 relay stations a year should cease. The self-help television scheme, established by the Government in 1980 to assist those communities not eligible for assistance under the relay programme, will remain. The BBC and ITC will continue to give free technical advice to those seeking to establish such schemes in the future. In addition, the BBC and Independent Television Commission will continue to promote improvements in the quality and range of television transmission. They will provide free technical advice to the public on television reception and will in exceptional circumstances consider constructing new television relays to extend terrestrial services.
The Scarman Trust, formerly Charter 88 Trust
Lord Cocks of Hartcliffe asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the previous name of the Scarman Trust, how and when the name was changed, and when the Charity Commission was notified of the change and the reason given for the change.
Lord Inglewood: The Scarman Trust was formerly known as the Charter 88 Trust; its name was changed by a resolution of the trustees dated 29th January 1996. A copy of the resolution was sent to the Charity Commission and the register of charities was amended. A change of name is within the powers of the trustees. No reason needed to be given for this change, and none was given.
Charity Commission Investigations
Lord Cocks of Hartcliffe asked Her Majesty's Government:
- (i) how many of the 303 cases being investigated by the Charity Commission at the end of October 1996 were as a result of complaints of abuse; (ii) how many were from the Commissioners' own monitoring programme and the scrutiny of charity accounts; and (iii) what were the ratios between the 194 being evaluated to establish whether there was a prima facie cause for concern.
Lord Inglewood: The breakdown of cases requested by the noble Lord is not available for those cases which were under investigation at the end of October. The sources of the cases currently under consideration are given in the table below:
| External sources | Monitoring and accounts scrutiny | Other internal sources | |
| Investigations | 237 | 29 | 24 |
| Evaluations | 218 | 31 | 20 |
Charity Commission: Orders
Lord Cocks of Hartcliffe asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many orders have been made by the Charity Commission for (a) the removal and replacement of trustees; (b) the freezing of charity bank or building society accounts; and (c) for the production of documents and information for the years 1991 to 1996.
Lord Inglewood: Details of orders made by the Charity Commission's Investigations Division between 1991 and 1996 are as follows:
| Year | Orders appointing trustees(1) | Orders removing trustees(1) | Orders freezing accounts(2) | Orders or directions requiring information |
| 1991 | 16 | 12 | 34 | not available |
| 1992 | 9 | 3 | 24 | not available |
| 1993 | 23 | 3 | 51 | 145 |
| 1994 | 11 | 0 | 34 | 104 |
| 1995 | 3 | 9 | 45 | 130 |
| 1996 (to 12th December) | 8 | 9 | 58 | (3)286 |
(1) Each order may include more than one trustee.
(2) Each order may include more than one account.
(3) Current estimate.
Lord Colwyn asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Inglewood: Responsibility for the subject of this question has been delegated to the Royal Parks Agency under its Chief Executive, Mr. David Welch. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Colwyn from the Chief Executive,
The Royal Parks, Mr. David Welch, dated
18th December 1996.
I have been asked by the Under-Secretary of State for National Heritage to reply to your parliamentary Question about opening a temporary cycle lane in
St. James's Park while Horse Guards Road is closed.
I have given your suggestion careful consideration but I am afraid that it is not a practical proposition. We do not normally allow cyclists to cross St. James's Park because the paths, which are heavily used by pedestrians, are not wide enough to allow cyclists and pedestrians to mix safely. The same is true of the path parallel to Horse Guards Road, which is the main route for pedestrians while the road is closed. If cyclists wish to avoid the traffic on Whitehall, the may of course dismount and wheel their cycles across the Park or cycle via the Mall and Birdcage Walk, although that would certainly involve a long detour.
I am sorry that I cannot help further but major refurbishment of a large area like Horse Guards Parade, which involves road closures, will inevitably be disruptive. We try to keep the disruption to a minimum, but unfortunately we cannot guarantee that some park users will not be inconvenienced as a result. However, the work on Horse Guards Parade is due to finish in mid-February and the disruption will therefore be relatively short-term.
Whether, in view of the closure of the Horse Guards Road, they will take steps to open a temporary cycle lane through St. James's Park, to preserve the safety of cyclists who now, when travelling north/south or south/north have to negotiate either Hyde Park Corner or Trafalgar Square.
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