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Written Answers
Wednesday, 12th March 1997.
Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull Magistrates' Courts Committees
Lord Westbury asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will make an announcement regarding the continuing status of the Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull magistrates' courts committees.
The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern): While I continue to support the policy of amalgamating magistrates' courts committees where to do so would be likely to contribute to an overall increase in administrative efficiency for the committees concerned, a number of points have been raised in the recent consultation exercise which require further consideration. In order for full consideration to be given to these matters, I have decided that it would be appropriate to direct the Chief Inspector of Her Majesty's Magistrates' Court Service Inspectorate to report, by the end of July 1997, on whether the proposed amalgamation of Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull magistrates' courts committees, in accordance with the proposals set out in the consultation document, and in the light of the comments made in consultation, would be likely to contribute to an overall increase in the efficiency of the administration of the magistrates' courts for the area. In the circumstances, it is not appropriate that an immediate decision is reached at this time and the timetable proposed in the draft amalgamation order is therefore no longer appropriate.
Council of Europe: Charter on Minority Languages
Lord Hooson asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Why they have not ratified the Council of Europe's charter on minority languages.
Lord Lucas: The Government gave thorough consideration to the merits of signing this charter. We believe that, in the United Kingdom's case, the Government are better placed to assess the needs of and determine the level of support for indigenous minority languages. For this reason the Government decided not to sign the charter. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Wales announced his decision in another place on 3 April 1996.
Commercial High Resolution Optical Satellites
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are the implications for personal privacy and for national and commercial security of the
- commercial spy satellites that will be launched into orbit later this year, from which photography will be available for purchase.
Baroness Miller of Hendon: "Spy satellites" is a misnomer for the new generation of commercial high resolution optical satellites, the first of which are due to be launched later this year. These satellites have been developed as commercial ventures, mainly by US companies, to meet the needs of government and private sector users in a wide range of applications such as cartography and mapping, urban planning, precision farming, civil engineering and forestry management. Their resolution, defined as the size of the smallest feature that can be detected from their data, will vary from 5 metres down to 1 metre. This compares with 10 metres for the current French SPOT data, 6 metres for the Indian IRS data and 2 metres for some Russian data. The US satellites will be required to operate in a manner that preserves the national security of the US and observes the international obligations and foreign policy of the US. Although we do not believe that these satellites should pose any threat to personal privacy or national or commercial security, the British National Space Centre will be keeping these issues under review.
Annual Survey of Tenanted Land
Lord Carter asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are the results of the new Annual Survey of Tenanted Land.
Lord Lucas: The results of the Annual Survey of Tenanted Land were published today. Copies of a departmental statistical notice which gives a summary of the results of this survey have been placed in the Library of the House.
The first Annual Survey of Tenanted Land was carried out in October 1996 and replaces the previous Rent Enquiry. The new survey seeks details on rental agreements and on rents from a random sample of farmers who have rented agricultural land.
The survey indicates that in October 1996 the average rent paid for agricultural land in England was £116.99 per hectare. A total of 559 farm business tenancy agreements were recorded in the survey. That figure represents over 11 per cent. of all types of agreement; and in terms of the amount of let farmland recorded, farm business tenancies account for more than 7 per cent. of the agricultural rented area.
Although the Agricultural Tenancies Act came into operation on 1 September 1995, that is only a short time ago in farming terms. We are greatly encouraged by the interest shown in the new farm business tenancies. The survey results provide statistics on a wide range of types of agreement and illustrate that the flexibility available under the new legislation is already being used by the tenanted sector. Over 7 per cent. of farm business tenancy agreements in
the survey sample were for five years duration or more, and a number of landlords had sufficient confidence to offer lettings for 25 years or more.The new survey will be conducted each autumn. As well as collecting data on agricultural rents, it makes good the Government's commitment, given during the
passage of the Agricultural Tenancies Bill, to monitor uptake of farm business tenancies.In addition, an independent policy evaluation of the effect of the new legislation has been commissioned, and we intend to publish the results of that study later in the year.
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