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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 6 February 1991
ENERGY
Sellafield (Fire)
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement about the fire at the non-operational plant at the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing site in west Cumbria on Tuesday 29 January ; and if he will set up an inquiry into its cause.
Mr. Wakeham : I understand that during remedial maintenance work on a non-operational building at British Nuclear Fuels plc's Sellafield site, sections of asbestos were in the process of being removed and replaced by plastic coated metal cladding. Tarpaulins had been erected in order to make the building weatherproof. A contractor was using oxy-acetylene equipment to remove a metal rail when sparks from the equipment caused part of the tarpaulin to catch fire. The Sellafield site fire brigade successfully dealt with the fire. The Cumbrian county fire service also attended.
Although no radioactivity was involved monitoring checks were carried out purely as a precaution. They confirmed that no release of radioactivity had taken place.
I understand that an inquiry has been convened by BNFL which will involve staff and trades union representatives. The regulatory authorities and local liaison committee were informed of the fire and a press release was issued in accordance with incident reporting procedures.
Waste-derived Fuels
Mr. Ward : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what plans he has for further research into the development of waste-derived fuels.
Mr. Moynihan : My Department's plans for the development of renewable energy sources including waste derived fuel were laid out in energy paper 55 "Renewable Energy in the UK : The Way Forward", copies of which are in the Library of the House. I expect to review our strategy during the coming year.
Smoking
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) if he will make it his policy to ensure that every non-smoking employee in his Department has the right to work in a smoke-free area ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will make a statement on the progress in implementing a smoke- free policy throughout his Department.
Mr. Wakeham : The Department's policy in all the premises it occupies is to ensure that non-smokers have the opportunity to work in a smoke-free area. The operation of the policy is regularly reviewed in consultation with staff.
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Combined Heat and Power
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list, by constituency, existing combined heat and power schemes ; and if he will show whether they are (a) 0 to 500 kW, (b) 500 kW to 10 MW, (c) 10 MW to 100 MW, or (d) over 100 MW.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : My Department's current estimate is that there are about 500 sites in the United Kingdom using CHP plant with a total capacity of some 2,000 MW. Of this total 1,800 MW is comprised of schemes of over 500 kW, located on 120 sites in industry. The remainder comprises smaller schemes in public and commercial buildings.
The Director General of Electricity Supply has a duty under the Electricity Act 1989 to gather information on generating plant. The Office of Electricity Regulation--OFFER--is, in conjunction with industry, in the process of compiling a database of CHP projects operating in Great Britain. The detailed information requested by the hon. Member should be available from OFFER when the database is operational.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Katyn Massacre
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Attorney-General whether he will list the records available in the Public Record Office relating to the Katyn massacre ; and whether any public papers on this subject have been withheld for more than 30 years.
The Attorney-General : The main records in the Public Record Office relating to the discovery of the Katyn massacre in 1943 appear on a very large Foreign Office file of that year on the more general subject of Polish-Soviet relations. This file spans items which have the Public Record Office references FO 371/34563-34590. Eight of the 762 entered papers on this file have been identified as withheld. Identification and listing of all other records in the Public Record Office relating to the Katyn massacre and its aftermath could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost. The staff at the Public Record Office are able to advise readers on likely sources among records there of information on this subject.
Jurors
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Attorney-General what evidence was produced in the survey into the ethnicity of jurors on the distribution and percentage of black jurors being called for jury service.
The Attorney-General : The first stage of the survey into the ethnic composition of jurors has recently been completed and officials of the Lord Chancellor's Department are currently analysing the statistical data that have been collected. I will write to the hon. Member to inform him of the full results of the survey when the process of analysis and interpretation is complete.
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HOME DEPARTMENT
Single Market
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement regarding the effect of the EEC changes in 1992 on matters within his Department's responsibilities.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Home Office is taking part in discussions with our Community partners on a range of matters, mainly relating to free movement of people, which are relevant to the establishment of the internal market at the end of 1992.
In some areas measures have been agreed and therefore the effects are known. Recent examples are the rights of residence directives which were adopted last year, and the draft convention determining the state responsibility for examining asylum applications which was signed by 11 of the 12 member states last year. Documents on these measures have been deposited in Parliament.
In other areas measures are still under consideration. We shall continue to report progress following the six-monthly meetings of responsible Community Ministers.
Gipsies
Mrs. Maureen Hicks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish the conclusions of the review of the Public Order Act 1986 with regard to gipsies.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We hope to announce shortly the conclusions of our evaluation of section 39 of the 1986 Act.
Juvenile Remand Centres
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which juvenile remand centres are scheduled for inclusion in the privatisation programme.
Immigration
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of applicants for immigration from non-EC Europe, north America, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh were refused entry into the United Kingdom since January 1990 under primary purpose rules ; and what factors account for the differences in the percentages.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information on applicants for entry clearance for settlement in the United Kingdom from spouses and fiance (e)s in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh in the first three quarters of 1990 is given in the table. Corresponding information for other countries is not available centrally. The variation in refusal rates is thought to reflect differing patterns of applications and circumstances between the three countries.
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Spouses and fiance(e)s refused entry clearance for settlement in the
United Kingdom, January to September 1990
Proportion<1> of spouses and fiance(e)s
refused initially<2>
Country |Solely on primary|Partly on primary
|purpose grounds |purpose grounds
|(Per cent.) |(Per cent.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangladesh |12 |4
India |18 |2
Pakistan |13 |21
<1> Applications refused initially as a percentage of applications
decided.
<2> Some applications are subsequently granted after an appeal.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the expected time it takes for a sponsor interview for entry clearance applications to be completed.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : It remains our objective to carry out interviews within three months of receipt of papers in the United Kingdom.
Community Relations
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Commission for Racial Equality and with leaders of the Muslim community in the United Kingdom regarding the best ways of avoiding a disruption of community relations as a result of the Gulf war.
Mrs. Rumbold : I discussed these matters with Commissioners during a visit to the Commission for Racial Equality on 22 January. They were also discussed in the course of a meeting on the same day on other matters with the United Kingdom action committee on Islamic affairs. There are continuing and wide-ranging contacts with the Muslim community at official level.
Visas
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the countries whose nationals require visas to enter the United Kingdom as visitors.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The list is set out in the "Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules" Cm. 1220 which took effect on 1 October 1990, a copy of which is in the Library.
Smoking
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make it his policy to ensure that every non-smoking employee in his Department has the right to work in a smoke-free area ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will make a statement on the progress in implementing a smoke- free policy throughout his Department.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : Under the Home Office's present no-smoking policy, smoking is banned in conference rooms, corridors, lifts and toilets. This policy is currently under review.
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Squatters
Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to complete his review of the law on squatters and to announce any changes he proposes to make with regard to privately owned domestic properties ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : The Government's review of the present law relating to the unlawful occupation of property is proceeding and particular attention is being paid to the problem of squatting in privately owned domestic properties. We shall announce our conclusions as soon as possible.
Electoral Boundaries
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to lay orders which will arrange the movement of the polling district of the Longfield and New Barn ward of the Dartford borough council into the Dartford parliamentary constituency ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : The boundaries of the Longfield ward, which includes the New Barn residential area, were changed by the Kent (District Boundaries) Order 1987. A consequential change to parliamentary constituency boundaries can only be made following a review by the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England. This and other such anomalies throughout England will be resolved as part of the fourth general review of all constituencies which is expected to commence this year.
Braille
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria his Department uses in deciding what information should be published in (a) minority languages, (b) braille, (c) tape or (d) large print versions.
Mr. Kenneth Baker [holding answer 31 January 1991] : Our criteria are to target publicity material in minority languages, tape or large print according to need, within available funding. We have not produced any of this publicity material in braille.
Death Statistics
Mrs. Golding : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 22 January, Official Report, column 166, on causes of deaths in specified cities, if he will give such figures as are available for each year from 1984.
Mr. John Patten [holding answer 4 February 1991] : The information available from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys is given in the tables.
Table 1 Number of deaths registered due to
Malnutrition<1>
|1984|1985|1986|1987|1988
-------------------------------------------------
Greater London |9 |13 |9 |4 |4
Greater Manchester |1 |0 |1 |1 |1
Birmingham |0 |1 |1 |1 |2
Liverpool |0 |0 |0 |1 |0
England and Wales |70 |63 |68 |43 |59
<1>International classification 263.9.
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Table 2 Number of deaths registered due to
self-neglect<2>
|1984|1985|1986|1987|1988
-------------------------------------------------
Greater London |8 |1 |2 |1 |2
Greater Manchester |4 |1 |1 |0 |2
Birmingham |3 |1 |0 |1 |2
Liverpool |0 |0 |1 |1 |0
England and Wales |42 |30 |19 |13 |23
<2>International classification 994.9/E904.0.