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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 4 July 1991
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Family Law
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Attorney-General if he will state the composition of the family law administration working party ; and when it last met.
The Solicitor-General : The family law and administration working party is chaired by a senior official of the Lord Chancellor's Department and its membership consists of officials of the Department of Health, Home Office, Department of Social Security, the Treasury and the Lord Chancellor's Department. The family law and administration working party last met on 5 February 1991.
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the progress being made by the family law administration working party.
The Attorney-General : To date the working party has been primarily concerned with the very large number of arrangements necessary for the implementation of the Children Act 1989. The main parts of that Act are to take effect on 14 October 1991. Following implementation, the working party will proceed to review the other aspects of family law, as announced by my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor on the Second Reading of the Children Bill on 6 December 1988, including the role and organisation of the support services, the reform of divorce law following publication of the Law Commission report and the law relating to domestic violence.
British National Party
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Attorney-General what consideration the Director of Public Prosecutions is giving to prosecution of the British National party on grounds of incitement to racial hatred.
The Attorney-General : The Greater Manchester police have submitted a report to the Crown prosecution service concerning a meeting held by the British National party on 27 April 1991 at a school in Rochdale. This report is currently being considered by the Crown prosecution service with a view to determining whether any offence contrary to the Public Order Act 1986 or the Representation of the People Act 1983 has been committed by any individual.
TRANSPORT
Channel Tunnel
Mr. Prescott : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he intends to announce his decision to authorise investment in class 373 rolling stock to provide a daytime service from the channel tunnel beyond London ;
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(2) whether tenders have been received for the manufacture of class 373 rolling stock to provide a daytime service from the channel tunnel beyond London.Mr. Rifkind : British Rail is discussing with the manufacturers their recent proposals for the rolling stock to form the north of London day services. It is, therefore, not yet ready to submit an investment case.
A27
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he now expects to announce possible routes for the A27 Lewes to Polegate improvement scheme ; how many options he intends to publish ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : I hope that public consultation on possible routes for the A27 Lewes to Polegate improvement will begin around the end of this year. It is too early to say how many options will be published for comment.
M62 (Junction 13)
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when junction 13 on the M62 motorway at Worsley will be reopened ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : Junction 13 was reopened fully at 9 pm on Friday 28 June.
HGV Speed Limiters
Mr. Stevens : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will publish regulations requiring heavy goods vehicles to be fitted with speed limiters ; and when he will announce firm proposals for speed limiters to be fitted to existing vehicles.
Mr. Chope : I have signed regulations today that require that speed limiters must be fitted to all new heavy goods vehicles of over 7.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight as from 1 August 1992.
Consultations are also beginning on draft regulations that will require speed limiters to be fitted to certain classes of existing heavy goods vehicles first used after 1 August 1988. The regulations will apply to all vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight in excess of 16 tonnes, and, additionally in the case of rigid-bodied vehicles, where the gross train weight is more than 5 tonnes greater than the gross vehicle weight.
The regulations for new vehicles give vehicle manufacturers and operators plenty of notice of the change ; and I expect that regulations for vehicles that are already on the road will be laid before the House shortly.
Automated Weighbridges
Mr. Ward : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has concluded his consideration of the consultants' report on automated weighbridges referred to in his answer of 27 June 1990, Official Report, column 211 ; if he intends to extend the installation of automated weighing systems beyond the five points which already have this facility ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 17 April 1991] : The consultants found that certain automatic, self-weigh systems worked well technically, but were largely
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ineffective without the presence of enforcement officers. We have, therefore, concluded that the most effective deterrent to overloading continues to be weight checks carried out by traffic examiners. On the more general question of enforcement at weighbridge sites, at inland locations and at ferry ports, I have asked the vehicle inspectorate to review the Department's current programme. The review will be completed by the end of this year.M40
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to ensure that the carriageways of the M40 between junction 1 and Windsor road, Gerrards cross, which are currently under repair are resurfaced with pervious macadam rather than hot rolled asphalt.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 1 July 1991] : We are not able to justify the use of pervious macadam on this section of motorway. Pervious macadam costs more than conventional road surfacing and requires more frequent renewal maintenance. Further research is continuing on the use of this type of surfacing and it is hoped that in due course the causes of the additional costs will be overcome.
Ferry Safety
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he intends to take any action to impose higher standards of residual stability on existing roll on/roll off ferries using British ports as recommended by the steering committee of the roll on/roll off ferry safety research programme.
Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer 1 July 1991] : The higher standard of residual stability recommended by the steering committee of the roll on/roll off ferry safety research programme, will be applied to existing roll on/roll off ferries using British ports in accordance with procedures agreed by the International Maritime Organisation.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Public Expenditure
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report tables showing for the latest two years now available and for planned expenditure in 1991-92, identifiable general Government expenditure by function in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, expressed (a) in cash terms, (b) as a percentage of United Kingdom total identifiable general Government expenditure, (c) as an amount per capita and (d) as an amount per capita expressed as an index where United Kingdom identifiable Government expenditure=100.
Mr. Mellor : The data requested for the years 1988-89 and 1989-90, the latest years for which information is available, are given in tables E4 and E5 of appendix E of the "Statistical Supplement to the 1990 Autumn Statement"--Cm. 1520. Corresponding data for 1991-92 are not available.
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Car Allowances
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the proportions of private cars, or car mileage as a proportion of the respective totals, where the costs incurred by the vehicles are not wholly met by the taxable income of their owners or drivers.
Mr. Maude : About one third of cars available for use by members of private households are either supplied by employers, or qualify for tax relief against schedule D income tax liability, or attract some allowance for business mileage.
Inland Revenue
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the definition adopted by the Inland Revenue to identify large employers for the purposes of enforcing payment of remittances by the 19 of any month.
Mr. Maude : For the purposes of collecting PAYE and national insurance contributions remittances the Inland Revenue define large employers as those paying over £4,500 per month.
Value Added Tax
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the expected additional revenue in 1991-92 from value added tax resulting from the increase from 15 to 17.5 per cent.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The information is published in table 1.1 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1991-92".
THE ARTS
English National Opera
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will list for each of the last five years and for this year to date at today's prices, the amount of Government funding English National Opera has received ; and if he will make a statement as to what controls his Office has over the way it is used.
Mr. Renton : Grants to individual arts companies are made by the Arts Council of Great Britain and the regional arts associations. Arts Council grants to English National Opera for the period in question were as follows :
Year |Actual grant|1991-92 real
|terms
|equivalent
|£ |£
----------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |6,626,000 |9,197,043
1987-88 |6,748,000 |8,892,030
1988-89 |6,917,000 |8,482,962
1989-90 |7,056,000 |8,135,004
1990-91 |9,104,000 |9,741,238
1991-92 |10,432,300 |-
I set the overall financial framework within which the Arts Council operates ; the Arts Council, in turn, attaches conditions to its grants to individual companies relating to their artistic and financial performance.
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Grocery Retailing
Mr. Denzil Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will consider whether there are prima facie grounds for investigating whether there are scale and complex monopolies within the grocery retail sector.
Mr. Redwood : The Director General of Fair Trading continues to keep markets under review, but I understand that at present he has no evidence of abuse of market power that would justify a monopoly investigation of the retail grocery sector. Any evidence of abuse should be referred to the director general.
Telecommunications
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the telecommunications industry.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 3 July 1991] : Telecommunications is one of the most dynamic industries in the United Kingdom. The market has grown rapidly, stimulated by the Government's commitment to competition and increased customer choice. In mobile telephony we have the two largest cellular networks in the world. In March, I announced that we would be ending the duopoly policy in the fixed telephony market, and allowing new companies to enter the market. We have already received five formal applications for new licences and more than 20 strong expressions of interests. This is good for the industry and good for consumers.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Expenditure Shortfall
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what reasons account for the £12 million shortfall between planned and actual spending on capital building work in voluntary aided and special agreement schools in 1990-91 ; and whether he expects this shortfall to be repeated in 1991-92.
Mr. Fallon : The underspend of £12 million on total planned expenditure of £87 million 1990-91 resulted from the failure on the part of voluntary bodies and LEAs to spend up to the level allocated on a significant number of building projects. This resulted in an underspend of grant of some £10 million, which did, however, enable the Department to meet more requests for grant for external repairs to voluntary-aided schools therefore exceeding budget provision by some £7 million.
We hope to avoid a shortfall in 1991-92 by introducing the design list procedure whereby many of the named major projects have had preliminary plans approved and are therefore expected to progress according to schedule. None the less, the Department will be asking authorities to confirm current year expenditure plans in September so that any spare resources can be identified and reallocated.
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Nuclear Structure Facility
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will instruct the Science and Engineering Research Council to issue a correction of its report, "The Laboratories in the 1990s", in the light of its proposal to close the nuclear structure facility.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Publication of this report, presented to the SERC in July 1990, was a matter for the SERC. It is for the council to consider whether, in due course, it wishes to publish an updated report taking account of developments since that date.
Braille (Examination Papers)
Mr. Gale : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will discuss with examination boards the need for exam papers to be produced in braille ;
(2) what information he has concerning the cost of individually and mass- producing examination papers in braille.
Mr. Eggar : Officials from the Department have had discussions about the braille needs of visually impaired examination candidates with the Royal National Institute for the Blind, with the secretaries of the GCE examining boards for A-level and AS-examinations, and with the Joint Council for the GCSE. Figures provided by these bodies suggest that the cost of translating an average length examination paper into braille lies between £240 and £480 ; significant savings are possible where the same paper is used by several candidates.
Mr. Butterfill : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his Department's policy on ensuring blind and partially sighted higher and further education students have adequate access to the examination process.
Mr. Eggar : The Government are concerned to ensure that students with disabilities, including those who are blind or partially sighted, should have equal access to further and higher education. It is a matter for individual institutions, in consultation as appropriate with qualification awarding bodies, to ensure that suitable arrangements are made for the assessment of individual students.
Agricultural and Food Research Council
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the names and locations of all the AFRC establishments that have been closed since 1979 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The following AFRC research establishments have closed since 1979 :
Letcombe Laboratory, Wantage
Weed Research Organisation, Begbroke, Oxford
Meat Research Institute, Bristol
Unit of Animal Genetics, Edinburgh
Unit of Invertebrate Chemistry and Physiology, Sussex
Unit of Muscle Mechanisms and Insect Physiology,
Cambridge
The AFRC has also undertaken a programme of Institute restructuring which has involved some relocation of research establishments. This has been necessary to match the pace of scientific advance and opportunity and the shift in Government support from near-market to basic research. The concentration of AFRC's research base on to fewer sites will allow greater concentration of resources in its priority areas.
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Funding to the AFRC from the science budget has increased by 37 per cent. in real terms since 1979. The AFRC continues to fund excellent work at the frontiers of science.ENVIRONMENT
Community Charges (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1989
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether schedule 5 of the Community Charges (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1989 authorises a charge by a bailiff even where no visit has been made.
Mr. Portillo : No. Bailiffs cannot charge the debtor for work under schedule 5 of the Community Charges (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1989 if no visit is made. However, that does not preclude the bailiffs' charging the local authority for any work they have undertaken.
London
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he takes to ensure that London's position is fully represented within the discussions that affect it within government.
Mr. Heseltine : I take all appropriate steps to ensure fair representation of London's interest. Within my Department I have a London regional office to advise me on matters directly affecting London and I consult widely, particularly with London boroughs, their associations and many other bodies with London-wide concerns.
Uniform Business Rate
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of the money raised by the uniform business rate in London is spent in London.
Mr. Key : In total local authorities in London received £1.5 billion from the non-domestic rates pool in 1990-91, and provisionally paid £2.7 billion into the pool during 1990-91. The latter figure does not represent the amounts of non-domestic rates raised from properties in London, because, first, properties on the central and Crown lists make payments direct to the non-domestic rates pool--it is not known how much of the total yield from these properties relates to London--and secondly, the provisional contribution made by local authorities to the non-domestic rates pool is calculated on the basis of the rateable value of properties on the local rating list as at 31 December 1989. Information about the actual rates payable in respect of 1990-91 is not likely to be available until November 1991.
Urban Development Corporations
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the budget of each urban development corporation to cover the provision for training in each of the years 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. Key : The information is shown in the table.
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UDC |1989-90|1990-91|1991-92
|£,000 |£,000 |£,000
-------------------------------------------------
Black Country |150 |400 |900
Bristol |nil |nil |nil
C. Manchester |7 |35 |71
Leeds |5 |23 |25
London Docklands |2,400 |3,300 |2,200
Merseyside |315 |315 |260
Sheffield |58 |67 |100
Teesside |148 |100 |200
Trafford Park |22 |184 |446
Tyne and Wear |n/a |n/a |n/a
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish information giving details of the capital provided in the budget for all the urban development corporations for the provision of housing for the years 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. Key : The information is shown in the table.
UDC |1989-90|1990-91|1991-92
|£000 |£000 |£000
---------------------------------------------------
Black Country |0 |0 |0
Bristol |0 |0 |0
Central Manchester |620 |3,128 |3,012
Leeds |0 |0 |0
London Docklands |51,000 |19,500 |0
Merseyside |0 |0 |50
Sheffield |0 |0 |0
Teesside |716 |169 |2,752
Trafford Park |0 |0 |0
Tyne and Wear |1,057 |667 |2,012
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the initiatives promoted by each of the urban development corporations to assist tourism since their inception.
Mr. Key : The UDCs' programmes include a wide variety of projects which help to promote tourism. Examples are :
the restoration of Albert dock in Liverpool :
support for local festivals, such as those held in Manchester and Wolverhampton ;
visitor centres in Trafford Park and Teeside, and the Bede monastery museum in Jarrow ;
environmental works to rivers, canals and pathways in many UDCs, including Sheffield and Bristol ;
the London Docklands development corporation's six-year programme of funding for local tourist initiatives, including grants to local listed buildings such as St. Matthias church.
the development of hotel and leisure facilities in several UDCs.
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of houses provided by each of the urban development corporations for each year of operation to 31 March.
Mr. Key : The available information is contained in the tables.
Housing units completed in UDC areas
|1981-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87
--------------------------------------------------------------
London Docklands |<1>1,497|901 |1,832 |2,698
<1> Cumulative figure for 1981-84.
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UDC |1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91 ----------------------------------------------------------- Black Country |120 |168 |367 |289 Bristol |- |- |25 |97 Central Manchester |- |140 |115 |173 Leeds |- |0 |89 |0 London Docklands |1,854 |2,649 |2,019 |1,770 Merseyside |<1>339 |233 |206 |282 Sheffield |- |0 |0 |0 Teesside |0 |0 |241 |202 Trafford Park |- |0 |0 |0 Tyne and Wear |0 |0 |252 |105 <1> Cumulative figure to 1987-88.
UDC 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91
Black Country 120 168 367 289
Bristol -- -- 25 97
Central Manchester -- 140 115 173
Leeds -- 0 89 0
London Docklands 1,854 2,649 2,019 1,770
Merseyside 339 233 206 282
Sheffield -- 0 0 0
Teesside 0 0 241 202
Trafford Park -- 0 0 0
Tyne and Wear 0 0 252 105
Cumulative figure to 1987-88.
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment further to his answer to the hon. Member for Bristol, South of 10 June, Official Report, column 385, (1) what are the current arrangements with urban development corporations to fund the cost of unfinished projects ;
(2) whether suitable arrangements for the winding up of uncompleted projects begun by urban development corporations will involve the Government's meeting the full cost of completion, or part of the cost.
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