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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 11 February 1993
ENVIRONMENT
Attercliffe Study
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what alternative sources of funding are available for the initiation of the Attercliffe study, following the ending of the urban programme.
Mr. Robin Squire : Urban programme and urban development corporation resources have been used to fund the Attercliffe study. The study is now complete and the recommendations are being considered by Sheffield city council and its partners.
Derelict land grant, city grant--both to be absorbed into the proposed urban regeneration agency--urban development corporation and European regional development fund resources may be available for those schemes which meet the relevant grant criteria and also have sufficient priority when considered alongside other schemes. In addition, the recent relaxations on use of capital receipts should enable Sheffield city council to assist such schemes from its own resources.
Deposit Bond Bank Schemes
Ms. Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many deposit bond bank schemes are currently in operation in England and Wales ; and what is their location.
Mr. Baldry : This information is not held by the Department.
Refugees (London)
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each London borough the latest actual and budget figures he has for expenditure on (a) housing, (b) education and (c) social services resulting from the acceptance by that borough of refugees to the United Kingdom ; and if he will also list for each London borough the amount of specific grant allowed by his Department for this purpose.
Mr. Robin Squire : The information on actual and budgeted expenditure is not available centrally. Details of a special grant payable in 1992-93 to local authorities in respect of displaced persons from the former Yugoslavia are set out in the "Special Grant Report (No. 5)" which the House approved on 3 February.
Disabled People (Council Tax)
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what estimate he has made of the number of disabled persons in each council tax band B to H
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inclusive who are likely to be eligible for a disabled person's discount ; and what is the estimated cost of this discount for each band B to H, and in total for England ;(2) what estimate he has made of the number of disabled persons living in dwellings valued in council tax band A who would be eligible for a discount if their dwelling were valued in any other band.
Mr. Howard : Figures are not available for the number of dwellings in each band likely to benefit from the reductions for disabilities scheme.
Urban Priority Areas
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 4 February, Official Report, column 243, if he will name the external researchers referred to in his answer ; and if he will give a full timetable for consultations on the methodology to be used for the review of urban priority areas.
Mr. Robin Squire : The external researchers are the Centre for Urban Policy Studies, Manchester university. We will circulate shortly a paper by the researchers proposing a methodology to be used in analysing census data to the local authority associations and voluntary organisations. Given the technical complexity of the subject, we will seek to give as much time as possible for them to respond.
Special Needs Housing
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for the funding of special needs projects currently funded by the Housing Corporation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : Expenditure plans for 1993-94 include provision of £96.6 million for the revenue funding of special needs projects by the Housing Corporation. Most of this provision relates to projects which are currently receiving funding from the corporation.
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to ring-fence the current financial regime governing special needs projects ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : Revenue funding for special needs projects is provided by my Department through the special needs management allowance paid to housing associations by the Housing Corporation. Provision for this programme in 1992-93 is £95 million, specifically for supporting the housing management costs of associations operating in the field of special needs accommodation. Funding for 1993-94 will include provision for an additional 3,000 SNMA bedspaces, the majority of which will receive capital funding from the corporation's approved development programme. In addition, the ADP will provide funds for 1, 500 units of special needs accommodation not requiring support from SNMA.
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to encourage special housing authorities being formed and run by disabled people ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to encourage the formation of such organisations.
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The Housing Corporation currently supports about 250 housing associations which provide accommodation for a range of special needs, including the needs of disabled people.Council Tax
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the number of council tax payers eligible for a second homes discount in each band, and in total, for England ; and what is the estimated cost of the discount for each band and in total.
Mr. Howard : The table shows the estimated number of dwellings which may be subject to two council tax discounts. The majority of these will be second homes. Local authorities will not be setting their council taxes until the spring ; we have no estimate of the cost of the discounts that might apply to second homes.
Band |Number of dwellings
|('000s)
------------------------------------------------------------
A |126
B |78
C |88
D |59
E |40
F |25
G |25
H |9
|---
Total for England 450
Local Government Finance
Mr. David Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements he intends to adopt to allow local authorities continued borrowing during 1993-94 to cover the collection of outstanding arrears of 1990-91 and 1991-92 community charges ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : During this year community charge collection has improved significantly, and it is essential that authorities continue to make every effort to collect all outstanding unpaid community charges. To assist authorities we are prepared to consider, in response to an application by an authority, granting an increase in its aggregate credit limit for 1993-94 to cover those unpaid 1990-91 and 1991-92 community charges which it expects to collect during 1993-94. This will enable such an authority to continue to borrow to cover these debts pending their collection during the course of next year.
Mr. Channon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the 16 local authorities he referred to on 3 February, Official Report, column 342 which will receive a special grant to compensate them since their standard spending assessment is more than 5 per cent. lower than under the old basis of estimating ; and if he will quantify the money each of the 16 local authorities will receive.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 9 February 1993] : The "Special Grant Report (No. 5)", which was laid before the House on 28 January 1993, sets out the authorities to which population loss grants are to be paid, and the amount of each grant. These are listed :
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|£
---------------------------------
Bracknell Forest |690,257
Richmondshire |426,440
Wokingham |321,846
Rutland |189,768
West Oxfordshire |160,569
Three Rivers |139,901
Colchester |135,501
Purbeck |131,493
North Kesteven |118,575
North Shropshire |80,988
Milton Keynes |69,099
Tendring |66,819
City of Oxford |48,818
East Yorkshire |38,250
Wealden |35,790
Surrey Heath |20,050
Local Authority Housing Investment
Mr. Jenkin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what further conclusions he has reached following his consultation exercise on the development of the local authority housing investment programme process.
Sir George Young : Last May, my Department launched a major consultation exercise on the further development of the local authority housing investment programme process. The consultation paper made proposals designed to improve the way in which housing resources are used and to stimulate the involvement of local people in this process. It was suggested that local authorities should prepare new strategies covering the full range of housing activities in their area. It was also proposed that decisions on the initial allocation of Housing Corporation funding should be co-ordinated with local authorities' housing strategies for each area and recent trends in the allocation of HIP resources, designed to promote better value for the money spent through housing capital programmes, should be developed.
Interim decisions on these matters, covering points which it was necessary to settle in time for the 1992 HIP round, were issued in July, Official Report, 10 July 1992, column 384. We have now reached conclusions on the framework for the HIP process in 1993 and later years.
Our view is that the HIP process should develop progressively in a flexible manner, which allows scope for the differing circumstances of authorities and the developing housing policies of both local and central Government. To facilitate this, we intend to invite all housing authorities to draw up annual housing strategy statements in which each authority describes the needs and resources for housing in their area, and the plans and programmes which the authority has for addressing them. Housing strategies should be developed in consultation with the Housing Corporation, housing associations, the private housing sector, both rental and owner occupied, house builders, the voluntary sector, tenants groups and other interested parties. They should encompass all relevant functions and resources of the authority in a corporate approach.
Alongside this, we intend to build on this year's success in co-ordinating the arrangements for the HIP and the Housing Corporation's approved development programme processes. We have reaffirmed our view that there is a role for a significant element of discretion in the
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allocation of HIP resources, including a primary allocation criterion based on the efficiency and effectiveness of authorities in meeting housing need. And in particular we have reached the view that the statistical index used in the allocation of HIP resources-- the generalised needs index or GNI--should be comprehensively reviewed, with special reference to the year-on-year stability of the index. In the spring, the Department will issue guidance to local authorities on the preparation of housing strategy statements and the submission of HIP bids for 1994-95.I have now asked officials to take forward discussions on the practical implications of these decisions with the local authority associations, the Housing Corporation, the National Federation of Housing Associations and other interested parties, as appropriate. I have placed in the Libraries of the House copies of a note which gives more detail of the decisions we have taken.
Sheltered Housing
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received in respect of his Department's consultation document to local housing authorities proposing the transfer of the care element of the warden service in sheltered housing from housing revenue accounts to social service budgets ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry [holding answer 10 February 1993] : Last September my Department issued a consultation document proposing temporary legislation, to be included in the Housing and Urban Development Bill, enabling local housing authorities to provide welfare services for their tenants and to account for the costs in their housing revenue accounts if they wish. These powers would avoid disruption and uncertainty in the wake of the Ealing judgment. The consultation document explained that the powers were intended to be temporary because it is the Government's intention that the housing revenue account should be a landlord account, and that welfare services should be accounted for elsewhere.
My Department received approximately 130 representations widely welcoming these powers, but many suggested that welfare services should continue to be provided by housing authorities as part of the housing service, or at least until local government reorganisation was complete. We have made it clear that no decisions will be taken on whether or when to withdraw these powers until a further, full consultation exercise has taken place.
I am issuing this further consultation paper today, and I have arranged for copies to be placed in the House Libraries. The paper is being sent to all local authorities and other interested parties, setting out proposals for the longer-term funding and provision of welfare services for tenants of local housing authorities. The paper proposes that housing authorities should retain the temporary powers, at present being considered as part of the Housing and Urban Development Bill, to provide these services for their tenants, until the current review of local government is completed. It also sets out options on which services might be excluded from the housing revenue account and on timing. We will take no decisions until we have considered what consultees have to say. Whatever
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longer-term arrangements are then decided on, we will ensure that there will be no disruption to services for tenants.My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales will also be issuing a consultation paper on these issues shortly.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Blepharospasm
Mr. Conway : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what provision his Department makes for sufferers of the condition blepharospasm ; and of he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : A wide range of benefits is available to sick and disabled people, including sufferers of blepharospasm, provided that they meet the conditions of entitlement. Information about benefits is available from the Benefits Agency in leaflets and through confidential free telephone advice lines.
Pensions
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures estimating the cost of reintroducing earnings uprating for the retirement pension and other linked benefits beginning in April 1996, giving annual figures in 1992-93 prices over a 10-year period.
Miss Widdecombe : The information is not available in the form requested. However, a comparison between the cost of earnings uprating of benefits and that of prices uprating of benefits from 1990-91 to 2050-51 can be made by referring to tables 13 and 14 of the "National Insurance Fund Long Term Financial Estimates--Report of the Government Actuary on the Second Quinquennial review under Section 137 of the Social Security Act 1975" published in July 1990 as HC 582.
Disability Benefits
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take steps to ensure that the hon. Member for East Lothian receives a reply to his letter of 4 November 1992 about the case of Mr. Mark Moffat, which was subsequently referred by the Parliamentary Under -Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Bury, North (Mr. Burt), to the chief executive of the Benefits Agency.
Mr. Scott : The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. I understand that Mr. Bichard has already replied to the hon. Member about this case.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each housing authority, for the latest year for which figures are available, the number of housing benefit claimants who live in (a) council housing, (b) other public sector housing and (c) private rented accommodation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Burt : The information requested is in the table. "Other public sector housing" is taken to refer to
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accommodation provided by housing associations. The information relates to averages of the quarterly caseload counts, from the housing benefit management information system statistics for May and August 1992.
Claimants of Housing Benefit by type of accommodation.
Local authority |Local authority |Housing associations|Other private rented
|tenants
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aberconwy |1,733 |95 |1,331
Aberdeen |13,882 |636 |1,527
Adur |2,196 |48 |744
Allerdale |3,277 |2,489 |912
Alnwick |1,541 |261 |345
Alyn and Deeside |2,991 |304 |629
Amber Valley |4,024 |312 |1,202
Angus |5,402 |158 |1,055
Annandale and Eskdale |2,019 |42 |337
Arfon |3,253 |41 |1,478
Argyll-Bute |3,513 |534 |810
Arun |3,225 |627 |2,955
Ashfield |5,733 |328 |1,242
Ashford |4,606 |170 |995
Aylesbury Vale |4,998 |4 |1,387
Babergh |3,096 |108 |982
Badenoch |443 |75 |211
Banff and Buchan |4,597 |151 |506
Barking |14,118 |41 |1,075
Barnet |9,377 |515 |6,584
Barnsley |18,050 |787 |2,962
Barrow in Furness |2,957 |6 |1,713
Basildon |3,770 |40 |1,678
Basildon (DC) |6,928 |0 |0
Basingstoke |4,811 |549 |1,213
Bassetlaw |5,715 |217 |1,194
Bath |4,382 |483 |2,177
Bearsden and Milngavie |805 |22 |77
Berwickshire |970 |144 |195
Berwick-upun-Tweed |1,425 |59 |357
Beverley |2,618 |221 |831
Bexley |5,309 |387 |3,974
Birmingham |76,660 |8,754 |19,185
Blaby |1,244 |197 |420
Blackburn |8,661 |1,345 |1,422
Blackpool |5,039 |626 |6,293
Blaenau Gwent |6,696 |741 |787
Blyth Valley |5,390 |1,124 |697
Bolsover |4,226 |168 |1,075
Bolton |16,543 |1,386 |3,461
Boothferry |2,682 |106 |665
Boston |3,271 |80 |526
Bournemouth |4,635 |119 |8,751
Bracknell |3,974 |496 |864
Bradford |22,643 |7,264 |5,746
Braintree |6,283 |122 |1,219
Breckland |4,149 |277 |1,162
Brecknock |1,408 |143 |420
Brent |n/a |n/a |n/a
Brentwood |2,165 |125 |460
Bridgnorth |1,860 |56 |536
Brighton |8,194 |1,385 |7,451
Bristol |23,178 |2,277 |10,833
Broadland |12 |2,237 |1,138
Bromley |415 |11,164 |2,900
Bromsgrove |2,179 |85 |503
Broxbourne |2,780 |218 |692
Broxtowe |3,817 |301 |1,486
Burnley |4,654 |536 |1,752
Bury |6,897 |883 |1,818
Caithness |1,641 |65 |230
Calderdale |9,640 |656 |3,053
Cambridge |5,288 |822 |1,870
Camden |17,896 |4,166 |8,558
Cannock Chase |4,883 |132 |814
Canterbury |4,476 |621 |2,513
Caradon |2,557 |81 |1,293
Cardiff |14,232 |3,343 |7,464
Carlisle |5,728 |196 |1,538
Carmarthen |1,890 |190 |837
Carrick |3,050 |27 |2,023
Castle Morpeth |2,065 |133 |335
Castle Point |1,408 |99 |697
Ceredigion |1,759 |143 |1,443
Charnwood |4,321 |366 |1,233
Chelmsford |5,001 |303 |1,030
Cheltenham |4,209 |447 |2,043
Cherwell |3,981 |345 |1,581
Chester |4,926 |53 |2,102
Chester le Street |3,842 |114 |323
Chesterfield |7,218 |407 |1,392
Chichester |3,537 |290 |1,303
Chiltern |0 |776 |2,068
Chorley |2,396 |1,350 |782
Christchurch |0 |1,191 |619
City of London |994 |0 |101
Clackmannan |6,388 |195 |328
Cleethorpes |2,029 |99 |1,370
Clydebank |5,694 |319 |604
Clydesdale |4,101 |100 |194
Colchester |5,417 |482 |2,268
Colwyn |1,720 |365 |1,538
Congleton |2,502 |80 |422
Copeland |2,925 |513 |1,752
Corby |3,724 |0 |1,010
Cotswold |2,736 |149 |1,070
Coventry |16,214 |3,065 |6,212
Craven |1,194 |63 |703
Crawley |4,840 |401 |687
Crewe and Nantwich |4,343 |201 |1,238
Croydon |12,541 |2,374 |7,047
Cumbernauld |n/a |n/a |n/a
Cumbernauld (DC) |3,258 |0 |0
Cumnock & Doon |4,855 |87 |191
Cunninghame |11,320 |145 |1,384
Cynon Valley |3,649 |600 |1,074
Dacorum |6,168 |769 |648
Darlington |4,811 |486 |1,697
Dartford |3,174 |182 |878
Daventry |2,213 |0 |480
Delyn |3,050 |223 |727
Derby |11,077 |2,225 |4,331
Derbyshire Dales |1,931 |19 |624
Derwentside |7,737 |471 |832
Dinefwr |1,448 |96 |615
Doncaster |19,220 |357 |4,013
Dover |4,158 |535 |2,256
Dudley |20,713 |1,477 |1,487
Dumbarton |n/a |n/a |n/a
Dundee |18,557 |1,591 |2,613
Dunfermline |9,247 |1 |1,492
Durham |5,566 |331 |792
Dwyfor |843 |77 |591
Ealing |11,127 |2,926 |7,152
Easington |9,907 |763 |846
East Cambridgeshire |2,342 |76 |688
East Devon |3,079 |217 |1,914
East Dorset |15 |1,514 |987
East Hampshire |2,625 |135 |998
East Hertfordshire |3,696 |91 |757
East Kilbride |585 |29 |435
East Kilbride (DC) |5,230 |0 |0
East Lindsey |3,526 |142 |2,894
East Lothian |6,023 |311 |633
East Northampton |2,510 |81 |639
East Staffordshire |3,288 |269 |925
East Yorkshire |2,760 |130 |2,218
Eastbourne |3,333 |740 |2,801
Eastleigh |2,749 |204 |1,244
Eastwood |833 |49 |243
Eden |1,017 |129 |564
Edinburgh |25,236 |922 |13,432
Ellesmere Port |3,763 |248 |551
Elmbridge |2,985 |79 |1,557
Enfield |11,484 |813 |5,127
Epping Forest |4,903 |295 |872
Epsom and Ewell |1,093 |181 |567
Erewash |4,549 |290 |1,398
Ettrick and Lauderdale |1,494 |417 |263
Exeter |3,996 |974 |2,734
Falkirk |13,208 |254 |857
Fareham |2,035 |125 |829
Fenland |3,175 |96 |1,306
Forest Heath |1,965 |138 |532
Forest of Dean |2,675 |276 |503
Fylde |1,378 |70 |1,412
Gateshead |20,209 |1,123 |4,200
Gedling |2,744 |312 |1,690
Gillingham |2,442 |234 |1,608
Glanford |2,010 |205 |680
Glasgow |101,048 |5,599 |15,875
Glenrothes (DC) |3,253 |0 |0
Gloucester |4,209 |581 |2,048
Glyndwr |1,607 |198 |475
Gordon |2,104 |109 |368
Gosport |3,279 |328 |1,141
Gravesham |4,610 |165 |1,234
Great Yarmouth |4,574 |333 |2,011
Greenwich |16,658 |1,916 |4,107
Grimsby |5,386 |591 |2,299
Guildford |3,745 |29 |1,715
Hackney |23,875 |2,365 |8,914
Halton |5,491 |1,963 |4,532
Hambleton |2,293 |1 |755
Hamilton |10,602 |268 |324
Hammersmith |10,792 |3,247 |6,265
Harborough |1,637 |27 |459
Haringey |18,340 |2,822 |17,846
Harlow |6,644 |263 |731
Harrogate |3,209 |461 |2,280
Harrow |5,400 |326 |3,309
Hart |1,366 |93 |587
Hartlepool |7,272 |1,165 |1,712
Hastings |3,280 |965 |3,347
Havant |2,405 |283 |996
Havering |12,620 |157 |2,208
Hereford |2,645 |281 |1,163
Hertsmere |3,626 |189 |644
High Peak |3,091 |271 |1,060
Hillingdon |9,631 |313 |3,072
Hinckley and Bosworth |2,575 |68 |678
Holderness |1,385 |21 |637
Horsham |3,119 |57 |1,218
Hounslow |7,520 |719 |3,322
Hove |2,572 |660 |4,861
Huntingdon |4,243 |91 |1,491
Hyndburn |3,025 |168 |1,491
Inverclyde |9,796 |362 |840
Inverness |4,632 |184 |866
Ipswich |6,512 |1,230 |2,404
Irvine (DC) |1,904 |0 |0
Isles of Scilly |41 |9 |29
Islington |19,785 |1,547 |6,417
Islwyn |3,868 |467 |582
Kennet |2,623 |86 |738
Kensington and Chelsea |5,489 |4,662 |4,363
Kerrier |2,943 |51 |2,481
Kettering |3,196 |100 |1,045
Kilmarnock |7,927 |186 |648
Kincardine and Deeside |1,124 |129 |244
Kingston-upon-Hull |26,581 |2,017 |7,129
Kingston-upon-Thames |4,307 |1,042 |1,318
Kingswood |2,728 |311 |631
Kirkcaldy |n/a |n/a |n/a
Kirklees |19,804 |1,305 |4,745
Knowsley |18,373 |503 |3,234
Kyle and Carrick |8,145 |61 |1,180
Lambeth |23,729 |3,852 |8,773
Lancaster |3,365 |300 |4,396
Langbaurgh |9,905 |1,015 |1,985
Leeds |51,887 |3,855 |14,702
Leicester |20,671 |547 |7,270
Leominster |1,163 |78 |512
Lewes |2,481 |338 |1,465
Lewisham |20,435 |3,654 |8,324
Lichfield |2,917 |184 |615
Lincoln |6,342 |202 |2,230
Liverpool |40,991 |13,086 |17,041
Livingston (DC) |3,654 |0 |0
Llanelli |4,796 |297 |1,177
Lliw Valley |3,236 |261 |624
Lochaber |1,007 |82 |206
Luton |6,944 |619 |3,552
Macclesfield |4,007 |327 |1,447
Maidstsone |4,858 |265 |1,472
Maldon |1,460 |92 |646
Malvern Hills |2,937 |27 |883
Manchester |62,613 |6,413 |17,761
Mansfield |6,265 |690 |1,735
Medina |71 |2,303 |2,919
Meirionnydd |1,130 |62 |626
Melton |1,309 |0 |489
Mendip |3,310 |201 |1,668
Merthyr Tydfil |4,957 |12 |1,721
Merton |6,814 |1,216 |3,619
Mid Bedfordshire |3,467 |72 |672
Mid Devon |2,360 |218 |950
Mid Suffolk |2,523 |151 |612
Mid Sussex |52 |2,438 |1,308
Middlesbrough |12,793 |1,574 |3,096
Midlothian |3,645 |254 |893
Milton Keynes |8,220 |1,460 |2,154
Mole Valley |2,037 |41 |775
Monklands |12,986 |0 |319
Monmouth |2,820 |235 |594
Montgomery |1,426 |348 |622
Moray |4,181 |261 |803
Motherwell |16,944 |193 |654
Nairn |532 |32 |107
Neath |3,812 |505 |709
New Forest |4,560 |849 |1,654
Newark |4,238 |283 |1,446
Newbury |34 |3,274 |1,627
Newcastle under Lyme |5,681 |144 |1,193
Newcastle-upon-Tyne |28,697 |4,064 |5,927
Newham |18,921 |3,149 |12,328
Newport |9,317 |963 |2,797
Nithsdale |3,365 |177 |602
North Bedfordshire |0 |5,585 |1,850
North Cornwall |2,620 |290 |1,406
North Devon |2,330 |474 |2,310
North Dorset |1,688 |177 |516
North East Derby |5,803 |88 |629
North East Fife |2,927 |118 |594
North Hertfordshire |5,406 |725 |1,107
North Kesteven |2,875 |0 |769
North Norfolk |3,300 |89 |1,562
North Shropshire |1,750 |148 |613
North Tyneside |15,064 |2,284 |3,643
North Warwickshire |2,369 |110 |568
North West Leicester |2,954 |392 |679
North Wiltshire |3,850 |92, |1,042
Northampton |9,822 |401 |2,899
Northavon |3,335 |274 |940
Norwich |12,692 |912 |3,630
Nottingham |25,849 |1,729 |10,215
Nuneaton |5,460 |285 |1,454
Oadby and Wigston |920 |69 |437
Ogwr |6,825 |653 |1,843
Oldham |15,075 |1,459 |2,864
Orkney |571 |60 |240
Oswestry |1,423 |9 |584
Oxford |5,967 |652 |4,061
Pendle |3,317 |190 |1,385
Penwith |2,399 |82 |1,781
Perth and Kinross |5,938 |299 |1,745
Peterborough |8,176 |1,930 |3,700
Plymouth |12,231 |1,841 |7,948
Poole |3,778 |556 |2,378
Port Talbot |3,664 |325 |632
Portsmouth |12,888 |2,234 |4,647
Preseli |3,413 |227 |953
Preston |7,071 |2,017 |1,650
Purbeck |1,181 |178 |639
Radnor |529 |96 |592
Reading |5,879 |869 |3,421
Redbridge |6,794 |523 |4,804
Redditch |4,837 |193 |506
Reigate and Banstead |3,447 |287 |1,050
Renfrew |17,606 |578 |1,223
Restormel |2,664 |108 |2,307
Rhondda |3,851 |669 |1,317
Rhuddlan |1,711 |222 |2,095
Rhymney Valley |8,101 |852 |1,081
Ribble Valley |863 |66 |360
Richmondshire |1,275 |69 |317
Richmond upon Thames |5,002 |463 |3,125
Rochdale |12,447 |1,345 |2,637
Rochester on Medway |18 |0 |8,803
Rochford |1,483 |116 |819
Ross and Cromarty |2,939 |140 |399
Rossendale |3,569 |356 |697
Rother |2,196 |278 |1,540
Rotherham |17,853 |1,200 |2,617
Roxburgh |2,308 |536 |239
Rugby |3,043 |472 |890
Runnymede |2,215 |165 |862
Rural Wales |468 |0 |0
Rushcliffe |2,257 |190 |1,382
Rushmoor |2,793 |174 |1,160
Rutland |881 |12 |256
Ryedale |0 |2,006 |888
Salford |23,735 |2,628 |4,967
Salisbury |3,924 |68 |1,835
Sandwell |31,516 |2,037 |2,248
Scarborough |4,139 |24 |2,785
Scottish Homes |36,448 |0 |0
Scunthorpe |4,763 |133 |1,177
Sedgefield |8,173 |751 |491
Sedgemoor |3,691 |252 |1,758
Sefton |11,286 |3,053 |5,965
Selby |2,520 |181 |850
Sevenoaks |27 |3,348 |1,196
Sheffield |51,877 |4,835 |6,278
Shepway |2,902 |144 |3,351
Shetland |882 |50 |72
Shrewsbury and Atcham |3,618 |186 |1,183
Skye and Lochalsh |518 |49 |184
Slough |5,552 |234 |2,014
Solihull |9,347 |678 |956
South Bedfordshire |4,175 |323 |1,045
South Bucks |60 |2,005 |378
South Cambridgeshire |3,477 |173 |816
South Derbyshire |2,492 |33 |718
South Hams |2,338 |207 |1,288
South Herefordshire |1,298 |103 |586
South Holland |2,678 |11 |563
South Kesteven |4,844 |142 |1,637
South Lakeland |2,498 |64 |1,363
South Norfolk |3,161 |197 |928
South Northants |1,911 |40 |450
South Oxfordshire |3,331 |94 |1,297
South Pembrokeshire |1,835 |125 |982
South Ribble |2,372 |511 |514
South Shropshire |1,122 |134 |554
South Somerset |n/a |n/a |n/a
South Staffordshire |3,720 |331 |523
South Tyneside |16,860 |1,325 |2,542
South Wight |48 |1,717 |1,371
Southampton |11,797 |1,690 |6,762
Southend on sea |5,901 |945 |4,647
Southwark |26,969 |3,033 |3,598
Spelthorne |2,343 |7 |1,092
St. Albans |3,688 |238 |1,283
St. Edmundsbury |3,629 |168 |986
St. Helens |12,507 |2,002 |1,240
Stafford |3,868 |313 |938
Staffs. Moorlands |2,031 |141 |477
Stevenage |6,174 |288 |936
Stewartry |1,084 |67 |225
Stirling |5,798 |197 |525
Stockport |9,702 |1,944 |2,645
Stockton on Tees |11,410 |1,462 |1,754
Stoke on Trent |16,299 |905 |3,708
Stratford-on-Avon |3,514 |80 |1,097
Strathkelvin |3,711 |162 |287
Stroud |3,947 |21 |1,442
Suffolk Coastal |23 |2,480 |1,843
Sunderland |27,591 |2,703 |3,620
Surrey Heath |1,703 |83 |531
Sutherland |794 |63 |61
Sutton |6,441 |1,568 |1,445
Swale |19 |4,609 |2,043
Swansea |11,682 |1,074 |4,162
Taff-Ely |4,969 |264 |1,078
Tameside |13,282 |652 |3,430
Tamworth |4,319 |456 |537
Tandridge |1,768 |38 |506
Taunton Deane |3,951 |176 |1,844
Teesdale |651 |118 |395
Teignbridge |2,644 |126 |2,302
Tendring |2,822 |730 |2,972
Test Valley |3,756 |209 |823
Tewkesbury |2,200 |349 |647
Thamesdown |7,405 |701 |2,427
Thanet |4,588 |428 |5,366
The Wrekin |9,500 |787 |1,472
Three Rivers |3,009 |166 |516
Thurrock |7,680 |228 |1,138
Tonbridge and Malling |25 |3,728 |1,010
Torbay |2,551 |647 |5,442
Torfaen |8,067 |186 |736
Torridge |1,303 |128 |1,387
Tower Hamlets |24,736 |2,458 |2,775
Trafford |7,437 |1,390 |2,712
Tunbridge Wells |45 |3,206 |1,353
Tweeddale |585 |201 |142
Tynedale |2,038 |90 |555
Uttlesford |2,049 |26 |631
Vale of Glamorgan |3,961 |496 |2,394
Vale of White Horse |2,896 |64 |1,045
Vale Royal |4,498 |309 |571
Wakefield |24,687 |482 |3,595
Walsall |21,471 |1,653 |1,792
Waltham Forest |12,188 |1,211 |6,378
Wandsworth |15,818 |912 |12,247
Wansbeck |5,227 |267 |834
Wansdyke |2,629 |135 |524
Warrington |7,803 |0 |3,646
Warwick |4,298 |865 |1,361
Watford |3,321 |109 |1,615
Waveney |3,812 |239 |3,807
Waverley |3,561 |98 |1,068
Wealden |2,492 |210 |1,351
Wear Valley |4,846 |981 |650
Wellingborough |3,405 |37 |1,126
Welwyn Hatfield |5,479 |231 |632
West Devon |1,023 |160 |951
West Dorset |3,054 |171 |1,136
West Lancashire |6,514 |195 |859
West Lindsey |2,722 |125 |1,002
West Lothian |8,372 |536 |497
West Norfolk |5,530 |486 |1,843
West Oxfordshire |2,459 |137 |1,124
West Somerset |1,295 |142 |805
West Wiltshire |3,654 |55 |1,729
Western Isles |1,406 |54 |183
Westminster |9,082 |3,184 |7,271
Weymouth and Portland |2,336 |0 |2,088
Wigan |20,183 |1,097 |2,122
Wigtown |2,441 |144 |486
Winchester |3,392 |325 |1,051
Windsor and Maidenhead |3,778 |123 |1,169
Wirral |16,281 |3,018 |7,827
Woking |2,601 |301 |741
Wokingham |2,060 |200 |725
Wolverhampton |23,703 |1,612 |2,708
Woodspring |5,351 |359 |3,239
Worcester |3,773 |607 |1,317
Worthing |1,916 |155 |2,952
Wrexham Maelor |8,694 |425 |938
Wychavon |3,826 |81 |750
Wycombe |4,943 |204 |1,329
Wyre |2,127 |133 |1,373
Wyre Forest |4,379 |175 |957
Ynys Mon |3,893 |380 |1,203
York |5,803 |495 |2,023
N/a-No returns received from the authority.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Rape (War Crime)
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek to place on the agenda at the human rights conference in Vienna and the G7 meeting in Tokyo the violation of women as a war crime.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : No. Neither of these meetings would be the most appropriate forum in which to discuss the recognition of the violation of women as a war crime. The topic would be most suitably discussed under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross as guardians of the Geneva conventions. The ICRC plans to hold an international conference this summer which will review all aspects of the protection of victims of war.
Iraq (British Prisoners)
Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made recently towards the release of Paul Ride and Michael Wainwright from prison in Baghdad ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We continue to press for the release of Mr. Ride and Mr. Wainwright at every opportunity. The sentences imposed on the two men were grotesque. The Iraqi Government can be in no doubt that they stand to gain nothing from their continued detention.
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the possible release of Michael Wainwright and Paul Ride.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have urged the Iraqis at every opportunity to release Mr. Ride and Mr. Wainwright without further delay. Their continued detention is a manifest injustice.
Column 714
Yugoslavia
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Governments have submitted evidence to the United Nations Secretary-General of war crimes in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia ; and what proposals Her Majesty's Government now have to submit evidence.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : To date Bosnia Herzegovina, USA, Venezuela, Australia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Russia, Colombia, Croatia, France, Turkey, Belgium, Italy, Slovenia, Albania, Canada, Mauritania, Sweden, United Arab Emirates and Denmark have submitted. We propose to submit substantiated evidence in the near future.
Departmental Budget
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the percentage change in (a) real terms and (b) cash terms of his Department's budget from 1992-93 to 1993-94 (i) in total and (ii) separately for the diplomatic and aid wings.
Mr. Goodlad [holding answer 3 February 1993] : The figures are as follows :
|£ billion
------------------------------------
Aid wing
1992-93 |2.152
1993-94 |2.267
difference in cash terms+5.3 per cen
difference in real terms +2.5 per ce
Diplomatic wing
1992-93 |1.159
1993-94 |1.220
difference in cash terms +5.3 per ce
difference in real terms +2.4 per ce
Total for FCO
1992-93 |3.311
1993-94 |3.487
difference in cash terms +5.3 per ce
difference in real terms+2.5 per cen
International Events
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all the major international events in the United Kingdom and overseas in which Her Majesty's Government will participate in 1993 ; and which Minister will attend in each case.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [pursuant to his reply 29 January 1993] : I should like to add to the list of major international events in which Her Majesty's Government will participate, the world conference on human rights, attended by the Foreign Secretary or the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
Debt (Developing Countries)
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of developing country debt was scheduled to be cancelled at the outset of the Trinidad terms ; and what proportion of total debt has been cancelled to date.
Column 715
Mr. Nelson : I have been asked to reply.
At the Commonwealth Finance Ministers meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in September 1990, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, then Chancellor, proposed a reduction in the stock of eligible debt of two thirds. In December 1991, the Paris Club of creditor countries agreed to allow creditors to provide the equivalent of 50 per cent. cancellation of eligible debts consolidated under each agreement. These terms also include an undertaking by creditors to consider a reduction in the stock of eligible debt after a period of proven financial and economic responsibility of three to four years. For some of the most desperately indebted countries this may not prove sufficient, and we therefore take every opportunity to build consensus with our Paris Club colleagues to improve the terms on offer.
Specifically we are eager to see an increase in the amount of debt reduction available where necessary, and earlier action on the stock of eligible debt for debtors who already have a good track record.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what is the total amount of bilateral debt that has been cancelled to date under the Trinidad terms ; (2) if he will list the countries which have benefited to date from the cancelling of bilateral debt under the Trinidad terms, indicating the level of debt cancellation (a) in total and (b) as a percentage of each country's total level of foreign debt.
Mr. Nelson : I have been asked to reply.
Fourteen countries have so far benefited from the Trinidad terms. The countries are Benin, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Republic, Honduras, Mali, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. (a) Trinidad terms involve the equivalent of cancellation of up to half the eligible debt consolidated under the agreements. We estimate that the agreements so far reached will result in the equivalent of the cancellation of about US$ 1 billion of claims over the lives of the agreements. The agreements also commit creditors to take action on the whole stock of eligible debt after a period of three to four years financial and economic responsibility. The amount of debt cancelled will therefore increase as these agreements mature. Unfortunately, answering (b) would entail disclosing confidential details of debtor countries' obligations to their creditors, and is not in any event a useful comparison to make.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will estimate the value of the British output of unmanned aerial vehicles and the balance of payments for such products.
Mr. Sainsbury : Figures for unmanned aerial vehicles are not separately identifiable in official trade statistics.
Column 716
Aviation Committee
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the members of his Department's aviation committee and the number of times it has met since 10 April 1992.
Mr. Sainsbury : The Aviation Committee has met three times since 10 April 1992.
The current membership of the Aviation Committee is as follows : Chairman
Professor J. L. Stollery
College of Aeronautics
Cranfield Institute of Technology
Members
N. V. Barber Esq.
Chairman
Aerospace and Defence Group
Smiths Industries Plc.
D. L. Bernstein Esq.
Joint Managing Director
Monarch Airlines
R. H. L. Clark Esq.
Managing Director
Flight Refuelling Ltd.
K. H. Coates Esq.
Executive Chairman
Meggitt Plc.
A. C. D. Cumming Esq.
Engineering Director
British Airways Plc.
C. C. Gustar Esq.
Managing Director
Westland Aerospace Ltd.
L. A. Edwards Esq.
Chief Executive, Dowty
TI Group Plc.
Professor K. Hayward
Senior Course Tutor
School of Social Sciences
Staffordshire University
Mrs. L. Lynn
Vice President
Airlines and Aerospace Department
Citibank, NA
R. M. McKinlay Esq.
Chairman
British Aerospace
Airbus Ltd.
R. W. R. McNulty Esq.
President
Short Brothers Plc.
J. E. V. Rose Esq.
Director--Corporate Development
Rolls-Royce Plc.
B. G. S. Tucker Esq.
Director of Programmes
GEC-Marconi Avionics Ltd.
F. Turner Esq.
Managing Director
Lucas Aerospace Ltd.
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