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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 15 January 1992
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Takeover Panel
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Attorney-General if he will bring forward legislation to remove liability of the takeover panel and its members in defamation proceedings arising from the publication of its bona fide reports.
The Attorney-General : No such legislation is contemplated.
European Court of Justice
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Attorney-General what steps he is taking to expedite a decision by the European Court of Justice on the cases referred to it by the House of Lords in May 1991.
The Attorney-General : I refer the hon. Member to the second answer that I gave the hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael) on 13 January 1992, at column 417 .
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Attorney-General if he has submitted evidence on behalf of the Government to the European Court of Justice on the cases referred to it by the House of Lords in May 1991 ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : I refer the hon. Member to the third answer that I gave the hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael) on 13 January 1992, at column 417 .
Shops Act 1950
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Attorney-General if he will make it his policy to take steps to give local authorities crown immunity in order to enable them to discharge their responsibilities under section 47 of the Shops Act 1950.
The Attorney-General : I have no plans to take the action suggested by the hon. Member. The question whether local authorities should be obliged to give cross-undertakings in damages when seeking, by means of an interlocutory injunction, to enforce the Shops Act 1950 was recently considered by the Court of Appeal in Kirklees borough council v. Wickes Building Supplies Ltd. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on this decision because it is shortly to be appealed to the House of Lords.
TRANSPORT
Tyres
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the implications for road safety of the new regulations on tyre tread introduced on 1 January.
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Mr. Chope : The new tyre tread regulations requiring a tread depth of 1.6 mm over three quarters of the width for passenger cars, light vans and light trailers should improve the general condition of tyres and hence have a beneficial effect on road safety.
A36 Bypass, West Wellow
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he will publish the collated results of the consultation survey carried out by MRM Consultants into people's preference for the route of the A36 bypass of West Wellow ;
(2) when he expects to announce the preferred route for the A36 bypass of West Wellow.
Mr. Chope : I hope to make a further announcement about the A36 West Wellow bypass later this year. The results of the poublic consultation will be announced at that stage.
High-speed Rail Network
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether Her Majesty's Government has responded to the proposals for a European high-speed rail network prepared by the EC working group ; when they will be considered by the Transport Council in the European Community ; whether the Government approve the proposals for the Belfast/Dublin/Holyhead/Crewe routes ; and what are the longer-term implications for the Belfast/Larne/Stranraer/Carlisle routes.
Mr. Freeman : The proposals of the EC working group were interim ones. The group is doing further studies which are now expected to be ready by the end of this year. I am sending the right hon. Gentleman a copy of the joint statement made on this subject on 2 December 1991 by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland and and Scotland.
Competitive Tendering
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether London boroughs will be required to subject their new services under the Road Traffic Act 1991 to compulsory competitive tendering from the inception of these services in 1992 ;
(2) what is the proposed date of the application of compulsory competitive tendering to the new responsibilities of local authorities under the Road Traffic Act 1991.
Mr. Chope [holding answer Tuesday 14 January 1992] : It is the Government's intention that local authorities should be required to subject their new services under the Road Traffic Act 1991 to compulsory competitive tendering. This proposal is included in the consultation paper "Competing for Quality". No decisions on timing can be taken until consultation has been completed.
ENERGY
Land Restoration (UKAEA)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what guidance is given in the most recent programme letters to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's
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various business groups in regard to the choice of contractors for independent evaluation of land restoration at each of the nuclear establishments operated by the authority.Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The relevant programme letters between the Department of Energy and AEA Technology assume that AEA nuclear sites will ultimately be cleared to a "green-field" state allowing unrestricted use without prior knowledge of previous use of the site. The extent to which independent evaluation may be required of the work needed to achieve this condition will be assessed at the appropriate time.
Nuclear-generated Electricity
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what policy statements have been made by Her Majesty's Government since 1987 concerning the identification by electricity companies in bills sent to consumers of the element that comprises costs from
nuclear-generated electricity ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The Government's policy is that the costs of nuclear electricity generation, and of the requirement on the regional electricity companies to contract for non-fossil generating capacity, should be fully transparent. These objectives are achieved through, respectively, the published accounts of Nuclear Electric and the duty on the Director General of Electricity Supply to publish the rate of the fossil fuel levy. However, how the regional electricity companies structure their bills is a matter for them.
Nuclear Industry
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has assessed the possibility of the United Kingdom nuclear reprocessors, British Nuclear Fuels plc and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority taking thermal oxide irradiated reactor fuel from countries of eastern Europe for safe management following the collapse of the organisation of the civil nuclear industry of the former Soviet Union.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The United Kingdom nuclear industry is offering a variety of services, on commercial terms, to potential customers both in eastern Europe and elsewhere. Any contract offered for reprocessing spent fuel would need to include options for the return of wastes.
Safeguards Agreement
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has received from the International Atomic Energy Agency on the comprehensive safeguards agreement establishing a joint Brazilian- Argentinian agency for accounting and control of nuclear materials.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : On 7 December 1991, the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency approved the text of a safeguards agreement for the accounting of nuclear material between Argentina, Brazil, and the IAEA. On 13 December, the agreement was signed at the IAEA in Vienna by President Menem of Argentina and President Collor of Brazil. The agency has publicly reported these events.
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ENVIRONMENT
Local Authority Chief Officers
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what provisions govern the amount of the salary of chief officers of local authorities ; and what information he has on the level of pay rises for chief officers for the forthcoming year.
Mr. Key : There are no statutory provisions governing the pay of local authority employees. In the case of most authorities, the pay of chief officers is related to a national pay spine determined by the joint negotiating committee (JNC) for chief officers of local authorities, although authorities decide for themselves the point within this context at which their chief officers' pay is set. About two dozen authorities have opted out of these national negotiations and set the pay of their chief officers locally. Salaries within the scope of the JNC were increased by 6.4 per cent. from 1 July 1991.
Fallen Animals
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will indicate the respects in which the provisions in England and Wales for the disposal of fallen and diseased animals diverge from the standards applying in the EC for the environment with particular reference to the possible pollution of water resources through on-farm burial and how it is monitored.
Mr. Baldry : The disposal of fallen and diseased animals from premises used for agriculture is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The disposal of such animals from other premises must comply with the provisions in the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990. These Acts meet the requirements of EC legislation on the disposal of waste. The National Rivers Authority is a statutory consultee for waste disposal licensing and is also responsible for monitoring water pollution in England and Wales in order to ensure compliance with EC legislation.
River Pollution, Rochdale
Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consultation he has had with the chairman of the National Rivers Authority regarding the level of pollution in the rivers and brooks in the Rochdale borough.
Mr. Baldry : The National Rivers Authority (NRA) has the duty to monitor pollution of watercourses and has wide powers to review discharge consents, and to prosecute those that breach their consents, or discharge pollutants without consent. It is the NRA that is responsible for taking action in individual cases. There have been no consultations with the chairman of the NRA on this case.
Community Charge
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance was given to councils to exempt from paying the community charge residents in residential care homes, nursing homes, mental nursing homes or hostels and sheltered dwellings.
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Mr. Key : Paragraph 9 of schedule 1 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988 provides that a person is an exempt individual on a particular day if at any time on the day he has his sole or main residence in a residential care home, nursing home, mental nursing home or hostel and is receiving care or treatment--or both--in the home or hostel. There is no exemption for residents of sheltered dwellings. A practice note prepared jointly between the Department of the Environment and the local authority associations convering the subject of exemptions was distributed to all local authorities in May 1989. A copy was placed in the Library of the House.Emergency Equipment
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, when implementing the EEC construction products directive interpretation document TC 2/020 "Safety in Case of Fire", he will require the independent certification of emergency equipment including emergency lighting and fire alarms to the appropriate European standard.
Mr. Yeo : The EC construction products directive, 89/106/EEC, has been implemented in the United Kingdom by means of the Construction Products Regulations 1991 (S.I. 1991, No. 1620). These regulations came into force on 27 December last year.
The subordinate requirements for the certification of those construction products within the scope of the directive will be established at EC level. The decisions on this will be taken by the European Commission and the Standing Committee of Member States' representatives set up under article 19 of the directive. The Department recognises the vital health and safety significance of construction products used to secure protection in case of fire. The line taken in EC negotiations on certification requirements will be determined in the light of negotiations with appropriate United Kingdom trade, professional and regulatory authorities.
Construction Industry
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next plans to meet representatives of the construction industry to discuss the effects of the recession in industry.
Mr. Yeo : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and his Ministers are engaged in a continuing round of discussions with representatives of the construction industry.
Gulf (Ecological Restoration)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom contribution to ecological restoration in the Gulf region in regard to (a) dugong habitats, (b) coral reef protection, (c) capping of oil wells, (d) oil pollution of the Kuwaiti desert, and (e) removal of Iraqi mines.
Mr. Baldry : The United Kingdom was the first and largest contributor to the International Maritime Organisation's special trust fund to assist environmental recovery in the Gulf. Our £1 million contribution has been successfully used with those of others to clean up some of the Gulf's most sensitive habitats, including salt marsh and
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mangrove. I understand that no floating oil remains at sea. A United Kingdom expert, flown out with Government assistance to survey important Kuwaiti coral islands, found little evidence of damage. All oil well fires are now out, some capped by a British group of companies which is continuing work on the reconstruction and repair of pipelines in the Sabriyah and Bahra fields. Other British consortia are bidding for recovery work to clear inland lakes of oil and the Natural Environment Research Council is helping to advise the Gulf states on pollution monitoring. Royal Ordnance plc is carrying out minefield clearance operations in Kuwait.UN Environment and Development Conference
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what financial or logistical support Her Majesty's Government have given to the organisers of the '92 global forum to be held in conjunction with the Earth summit at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in June in the current year.
Mr. Baldry : The Government are contributing to international funding to enable government experts and representatives of non- governmental organisations from developing countries to attend UNCED and its preparatory committees. It is also providing financial support to British NGOs to enable them to contribute to United Kingdom preparations. It is the Government's priority to concentrate effort on ensuring the widest possible participation of governments and NGOs in the United Nations conference itself rather than the other events that are being held in parallel in Rio de Janeiro.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if has has any plans to meet (a) the British chambers of commerce and (b) non- governmental organisations in regard to plans for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June.
Mr. Baldry : My hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside has held a number of meetings with environment and development non-governmental organisations and with representatives of the business community, including the United Kingdom section of the International Chamber of Commerce, on British preparations for UNCED. Further meetings are planned between now and the conference itself.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what preparations or proposals his Department has made for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June ;
(2) if he will make a statement on the progress made to date in preparing proposals and reaching agreement on international environmental protection protocols and conventions for the Earth summit at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in June.
Mr. Baldry : The Department of the Environment is responsible for co -ordinating the United Kingdom's preparations for UNCED in close consultation with other Government Departments and the
non-governmental community. A number of wide-ranging British proposals
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have been put forward in the preparatory committees and in the parallel negotiations for conventions on climate change and biological diversity which we hope will be signed in Rio de Janeiro in June. A booklet on the United Kingdom's overall approach to UNCED has been prepared by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and I am arranging for a copy to be placed in the Library.Environmental Protection Act 1990
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what draft guidance notes have been issued for consultation, pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to date this year ; and what further notes are expected to be issued this year.
Mr. Baldry : Consultation has already been undertaken in respect of all 50 process guidance notes for local authority air pollution control under part I of the Act which were published in February and July 1991. The following 27 such guidance notes have also been issued in draft for consultation :
PG1/10 -- waste derived fuel combustion processes less than 3MW. PG6/10 -- coating manufacturing.
PG6/11 -- manufacture of printing ink.
PG6/16 -- printworks.
PG6/17 -- printing of flexible packaging.
PG6/18 -- paper coating.
PG6/19 -- fish meal and fish oil.
PG6/20 -- paint application in vehicle manufacturing.
PG6/21 -- hide and skin processes.
PG6/22 -- leather finishing.
PG6/23 -- coating of metal and plastic.
PG6/24 -- pet food manufacturing.
PG6/25 -- vegetable oil extraction and fat and oil refining. PG6/26 -- animal feed compounding.
PG6/27 -- vegetable matter drying.
PG6/28 -- rubber processes.
PG6/29 -- di-isocyanate processes.
PG6/30 -- composting.
PG6/31 -- powder coating (including sheradizing).
PG6/32 -- adhesive coating.
PG6/33 -- wood coating.
PG6/34 -- respraying of road vehicles.
PG6/35 -- metal and other thermal spraying processes.
PG6/36 -- tobacco processing.
PG6/37 -- knackers yards.
PG6/38 -- blood processing.
PG6/39 -- animal by-product dealers.
A further draft note on reheat and heat treatment furnaces (PG1/11) is expected to be issued this year.
Consultation was also undertaken on the six guidance notes published during 1991 by the chief inspector of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution. The following draft guidance notes have so far been issued by him for consultation :
IPR1/2 -- gas turbines.
IPR1/3 -- compression ignition engines 50MW(th) and over. IPR1/4 -- waste oil burners 3MW(th) and over.
IPR1/5 -- refuse derived fuel burners.
IPR1/6 -- tyre burners.
IPR1/7 -- poultry litter burners.
IPR1/8 -- straw and wood burners.
IPR1/9 -- carbonisation and associated processes--coke ovens. IPR1/10 -- carbonisation processes--smokeless fuel plants. IPR1/11 -- gasification of solid and liquid feedstocks.
IPR1/12 -- refining of natural gas.
IPR1/13 -- refining of natural gas at liquefied natural gas sites. IPR1/14 -- the odorising of natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas.
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IPR1/15 -- crude oil refineries.IPR1/16 -- on-shore oil production.
IPR3/1 -- cement manufacture and associated processes.
IPR3/2 -- lime manufacture and associated processes.
IPR3/3 -- processes involving asbestos.
IPR3/4 -- glass and non-asbestos mineral fibres.
IPR3/5 -- glass frit and enamel frit.
IPR3/6 -- ceramic processes.
IPR5/1 -- merchant and in-house chemical waste incineration. IPR5/2 -- clinical waste incineration.
IPR5/3 -- municipal waste incineration.
IPR5/4 -- animal carcase incineration.
IPR5/5 -- burning out of metal containers.
IPR5/6 -- making solid fuel from waste.
IPR5/7 -- cleaning and regeneration of activated carbon. IPR5/8 -- recovery of organic solvents by distillation.
IPR5/9 -- regeneration of ion exchange resins.
IPR5/10 -- recovery of waste oil by distillation.
IPR5/11 -- sewage sludge incineration.
The chief inspector is expected to issue further draft guidance notes for consultation this year as follows :
IPR4/1 -- petrochemical.
IPR4/2 -- production and use of amines, nitriles, isocyanates and pyridines.
IPR4/3 -- production or use of aldehydes acids, anhydrides and phenols.
IPR4/4 -- production or use of organic sulphur compounds ; production, use or recovery of carbon disulphide.
IPR4/5 -- batch manufacture of organic chemicals in multipurpose plant.
IPR4/6 -- production and polymerisation of organic monomers. IPR4/7 -- manufacture of organo-metallic compounds.
IPR4/8 -- pesticide processes.
IPR4/9 -- pharmaceutical processes.
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