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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 29 June 1992
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
International Agreements
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Attorney-General if he will list all the bilateral and multilateral agreements directly or indirectly negotiated by his Department or a body acting on behalf of his Department with (a) Switzerland and (b) Liechtenstein.
The Attorney-General : No bilateral or multilateral agreements with either Switzerland or Liechtenstein have been negotiated directly or indirectly by departments for which I have responsibility.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
International Agreements
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all the bilateral and multilateral agreements directly or indirectly negotiated by his Department or a body acting on behalf of his Department with (a) Switzerland and (b) Liechtenstein.
Mr. John M. Taylor : A complete list of all bilateral and multilateral agreements between the United Kingdom and Switzerland or Liechtenstein could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Wheel Clamping
Sir Gerard Vaughan : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will ask the Law Commission to review the law on wheel clamping of vehicles on private land.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Lord Chancellor has no plans at present to ask the Law Commission to review the law relating to wheel-clamping activities. The recent ruling of the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland will, however, be examined carefully by the Government with a view to ascertaining its possible relevance to the position in England and Wales.
Child Abduction
Mr. Olner : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps he is planning to take to tighten up procedures whereby a single parent is able to take a child out of the country without the express consent of the other parent.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The removal of a child will in most cases constitute an offence under the existing law. The Government have no current proposals for changes in the law in this field, but are willing to consider any suggestions that are made. In addition, the operation of the Children
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Act 1989 is being monitored so that any changes which might be of assistance may be identified in the light of experience.HOUSE OF COMMONS
Sittings of the House
45. Mr. Tredinnick : To ask the Lord President of the Council when he expects to reply to the report of the Select Committee on Sittings of the House.
Mr. Newton : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner).
Lockerbie
46. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will set up a Select Committee on Lockerbie.
Mr. Newton : No. Lockerbie matters are regularly raised in the House and I see no need for such a Committee.
Top Salaries Review Body
47. Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Lord President of the Council when he will lay the Top Salaries Review Body's report into Members' allowances before the House ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Newton : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin).
Market Testing
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Lord President of the Council who has been appointed as a consultant to his office for market testing.
Mr. Newton : There are no activities carried out in the Privy Council Office of a suitable nature, or of sufficient scale, for market testing.
ENVIRONMENT
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to carry out new consultations with a view to revising the guidelines on compensation payments to owners of sites of special scientific interest.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what account he has taken of the size of awards to landowners made in respect of sites of special scientific interest in the past when planning the total of future public spending on nature conservation.
Mr. Maclean : Public expenditure plans for conservation are informed by the figures provided by English Nature in its corporate plan which takes account of the likely costs of payments to owners of SSSIs under management agreements.
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Landowners (Payments)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent assessment he has made of the accuracy of the forecasts made by his consultants, Laurence Gould Associates, of the level of payments to landowners under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Mr. Maclean : We will take account of the Laurence Gould report, together with advice from English Nature, on the actual level of payments made to landowners in the forthcoming review of the financial guideline.
Air Quality
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any plans to extend and improve the effectiveness of the monitoring of air quality in urban areas.
Mr. Maclean : Plans to expand the geographical coverage of the Department's urban air quality monitoring and the range of pollutants measures were announced in the White Paper "This Common Inheritance". The first phase of the expansion was implemented in January. Five new sites are now in operation : London Bloomsbury, Newcastle centre, Belfast centre, Birmingham centre, and Cardiff. Sites are to follow in Edinburgh, Bristol, Leeds and Liverpool.
Each of these sites monitors SO , CO, NO, NO , ozone and PM on a continuous basis. Air quality bulletins drawing on the results are now available on Ceefax page 196 and on a free telephone call line 0900 556677.
Urban Development Corporations
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table indicating for each urban development corporation (a) how much land each UDC has acquired in total, (b) how much land each UDC currently retains, (c) how much money each UDC has spent in land transactions, and (d) how much money each UDC has received from land transactions.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 25 June 1992] : This information is shown in the table.
LAND TRANSACTIONS
The table shows, at column ;
(a) how much land each UDC has acquired in total ;
(b) how much land each UDC currently retains ;
(c) how much money each UDC has spent in land transactions ; and (d) how much money each UDC has received from land transactions.
UDC |(a) |(b) |(c) |(d)
|hectares |hectares |£ million|£ million
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Black Country |399.000 |349.000 |68.000 |3.700
Bristol |16.190 |16.190 |24.371 |nil
Central Manchester |5.115 |5.115 |12.278 |nil
Leeds |41.210 |37.160 |17.525 |1.762
London Docklands |870.000 |594.000 |161.000 |302.000
Merseyside |382.000 |333.000 |29.000 |11.200
Sheffield |170.000 |73.000 |<2>22.700|<3>0.370
Teesside |417.730 |367.860 |<4>28.465|<4>6.129
Trafford Park |167.090 |145.790 |41.619 |9.258
Tyne and Wear |330.000 |280.270 |42.359 |5.814
Notes:
<1>All figures are up to the period ending 31 March 1992.
<2>Including estimate of land vested but still subject to
negotiation.
<3>A further £7.395 million is due under firm building agreements.
<4>These figures include expenditure on buildings.
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North Warwickshire Borough Council
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if the provisional cap on spending on North Warwickshire borough council takes into account all the individual circumstances of the council, including its RECHAR funding potential.
Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 26 June 1992] : North Warwickshire borough council is not one of the authorities which have been designated for capping by my right hon. and learned Friend.
Local Government (London)
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what review the Local Government Commission will be conducting of the pattern of local government in London ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 26 June 1992] : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 12 May, Official Report, column 59. We intend to ask the commission to look at cases for change to local government boundaries in London when it has completed its programme of structural reviews in the shire counties.
Local Government Officers
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the number of local government officers who have been (a) disciplined and (b) dismissed for political activities in contravention of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 26 June 1992] : This information is not collected by my Department.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what monitoring is undertaken by his Department in respect of the political activities of local government officers in contravention of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 26 June 1992] : My Department does not monitor the relevant provisions of this Act.
City Challenge
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about progress on Southwark council's bids under the city challenge scheme ; and how many other councils have submitted applications.
Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 26 June 1992] : Fifty-four local authorities, including the London borough of Southwark, have submitted bids in the current round of city challenge. All the bids have been assessed against the aims and criteria set out in the published bidding guidance. Ministers from the Department of the Environment have considered the bids and reports of the regional presentations to officials and have met each bidding authority. The successful authorities will be announced by the end of July 1992.
Empty Property
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what income was derived from rates on empty properties in the most recent period of 12 months ;
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(2) if he has any plans to introduce regulations to prevent property owners vandalising their own empty properties to avoid the payment of rates ;(3) what proposals he has to reduce the rate liability on empty buildings ; and if he will make a statement ;
(4) what information he has on the extent of building vandalisation in the City of London to avoid payment of rates.
Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 26 June 1992] : We have no plans to change the law governing the rating of empty property. Empty property benefits from local services and it is right that it should contribute to the costs incurred by local authorities. Property, whether occupied or not, is rateable if it is capable of beneficial occupation. If owners judge it commercially advantageous to render property unusable, that is a matter for them.
We are aware that five unoccupied properties in the City of London have been made unusable by their owners in order to avoid rates liability. We estimate the loss of rate yield at about £3 million. This has to be set against an estimated total rate income in England from empty property in 1992-93 of some £600 million.
We are already providing £1.25 billion of help to businesses over the next three years under the Non-Domestic Rating Act 1992.
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Disabled People
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what measures and aid his Department will make available to enable disabled people to take part in sporting activities.
Mr. Key : In 1991-92, nearly £1 million was spent by the Sports Council on promoting sport for people with disabilities. The council is also working closely with the disability sports organisations and the governing bodies of sport on the implementation of the recommendations of the ministerial review report on sport for people with disabilities, "Building on Ability". I shall be attending the paralympics in Spain in September.
Channel 5
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make it his policy to ensure that the headquarters and the base of operations of Channel 5 is located some distance from London.
Mr. Key : No. The location of Channel 5's headquarters and base of operations will be a matter for the licensee to decide.
London Zoo
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage (1) what representations he has received from (a) the public and (b) the Zoological Society in respect of the recent announcement of the likely closure of London zoo ;
(2) if he will provide such assistance, advice and resources to the Zoological Society as are required to safeguard the future of animals in the event of London zoo being closed.
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Mr. Key [holding answer 26 June 1992] : My right hon. and learned Friend and I have discussed with the Zoological Society of London the consequences of the society's decision to close London zoo. We have made it clear that no more taxpayers' money can be given to the zoo, but that we stand by the offer made last year to relieve the society of some of its obligations as lessees.
The Department has received several letters from members of the public.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Botswana
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the level of Her Majesty's Government's bilateral aid to Botswana.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Gross British bilateral aid, including Commonwealth Development Corporation investments, to Botswana was provisionally estimated to be £12.18 million in 1991.
Brazil
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement concerning the progress of Overseas Development Administration projects to protect the health of the Yanomami tribe.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : In 1990 we provided through Oxfam a grant of £90, 000 to the Campaign for the Creation of a Yanomami Park, a Brazilian non-governmental organisation, to fund the provision of equipment, salaries, communication and travel costs for a health care project in the Demini area of what is now Yanomami national park. The agreed activities have been successfully completed.
We have this year agreed a second grant through Oxfam, of £175,000, for a new phase of the project which will, among other things, help to support a team of medical staff in the reserve and establish a second health post in addition to that presently operating at Demini.
We have also indicated to the Brazilian authorities our willingness to consider support for government work to provide health services to the Yanomami.
Third World Debt
Mr. Hanson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will outline the Government's latest plans to assist in the reduction of third world debt for 1992-93.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Agreement to begin implementing the Prime Minister's Trinidad terms initiative to relieve the burden of official debt on the poorest countries was achieved in December. Seven countries have already benefited and we expect many more to do so over coming months. As these new agreements take effect, we can expect a significant reduction in repayments due to government creditors. None the less, the Government continue to press for even greater relief for the poorest, most indebted countries carrying out economic reform.
The Government have strongly supported and provided their share of resources needed to implement a 1989 agreement, known as the Brady plan, to help deal with the problem of commercial debt. Deals involving the
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effective cancellation of substantial portions of bank debts have been agreed, or are being negotiated, with most of the largest debtors. Most recently, Argentina agreed a deal which will involve an effective reduction of its $25 billion long-term debt to banks by around a third. Brazil is currently negotiating a similar deal with its commercial creditors.Know-how Funds
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of the know-how fund for central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union ; and if he will give details on the specific projects so far approved this year for each eligible country.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The know-how fund for central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union is going extremely well. Some £82 million has now been spent or committed to well over 400 projects. Other western Governments are using our know-how fund as a model for their own.
A list of the activities approved since the beginning of 1992 under the know-how fund has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Natural Resources Institute
Mr. Willetts : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will state the performance targets for the Overseas Development Administration's natural resources institute in 1992- 93.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : NRI's performance targets for 1992-93 are to break even on full economic costs ; to achieve an efficiency gain of at least 1.5 per cent. ; and to continue to expand the share of work undertaken for non- ODA clients.
Indian Ocean (Fishing Rights)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the actual and potential fishing rights surrounding (a) Diego Garcia and (b) other British Indian ocean territories.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 24 June 1992] : On 1 October 1991 Her Majesty's Government declared a 200-mile fisheries conservation and management zone around the British Indian ocean territory. We aim to play a full part in the sensible management and conservation of fishing stocks in that area.
Russia
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to increase medical, financial and technological aid to Russia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 25 June 1992] : Bilateral technical assistance to the former Soviet Union, including Russia, is provided through a know-how fund totalling £50 million. A further major contribution is made through our 18 per cent. share of the 450 mecu annual European Commission technical assistance programme, and we have also given £1 million to projects under the auspices of the European bank for reconstruction and development.
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In addition, in February of this year we provided £2 million worth of emergency medical assistance to the republics of the former Soviet Union, including major donations of drugs and equipment to the Russian cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Tyumen and Novokuznetsk.DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Market Testing
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster who has been appointed as a consultant to his Department for market testing.
Mr. Waldegrave : In line with the proposals in the "Competing for Quality" White Paper, Ernst and Young was employed to assist in the preparation of my Department's market-testing programme.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Civil Service
Mr. Trimble : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants there are in the Northern Ireland Office ; and how many are based in (a) London and (b) Northern Ireland, indicating in each case the number that are members of the Northern Ireland civil service.
Mr. Mates : As at 1 May 1992 there were 1,535 staff in the Northern Ireland Office. The breakdown between the home civil service and the Northern Ireland civil service and the two locations is as follows :
Civil Service
|Home |Northern Ireland
--------------------------------------------------------------------
London |102 |3
Northern Ireland |103 |1,327
|205 |1,330
Market Testing
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who has been appointed as a consultant to his Department for market testing.
Mr. Mates : Michael Willacy Associates.
Training and Employment Agency
Mr. Deva : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what targets have been set for the Training and Employment Agency for Northern Ireland for the period 1992 to 1995.
Mr. Atkins : The following are the targets which have been set for the Training and Employment Agency for the period 1992-95 : 1 To increase the number of companies developing their management and work force skills from 125 at April 1992 to 225 by March 1993 and to 500 by March 1995.
2 To increase by 10 per cent per year the proportion of potential entrants into employment with high levels of attainment as measured by qualification.
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3 In 1992-93 to place 30,000 people into jobs and 15,500 people into training and other agency schemes.4 To provide every inward-investment company referred to the agency by the Industrial Development Board with relevant information, advice and customised training.
5 To maintain customer satisfaction levels and where possible increase them.
6 To reduce administration costs by at least 2 per cent. yearly. 7 To establish by March 1993 an initial baseline of unit costs for agency programmes on a full economic cost basis.
Table file CW920629.003 not available
8 To meet for the agency the national Investors in People standard by 31 March 1994.
EDUCATION
Postgraduate Courses
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list those local education authorities which provide discretionary awards to cover (a) one-year postgraduate law courses and (b) two-year postgraduate courses for non-law graduates ; if he will list the average award made by those local education authorities in terms of maintenance grants and tuition fees ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forman : These data are not collected centrally.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools, and of what type, had (a) voted for and (b) voted against applying for grant-maintained status in the period (i) 1988 to 9 April 1992 and (ii) since 9 April ; and how many schools of each type have notified his Department of their intention to ballot on grant-maintained status.
Mr. Patten : The information requested by the hon. Member follows :
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