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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 14 April 1993
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Contracting-out
Mr. Michael : To ask the Attorney-General whether he has sought external advice on whether the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 and the acquired rights directive apply to any central or local government businesses that have been contracted out during the last 10 years ; and whether any Department will be liable to compensation.
The Attorney-General : It is not the normal practice to disclose whether the Law Officers have advised on a matter. Likewise, the Law Officers would not normally disclose whether they had advised in conjunction with other counsel or had requested that external advice be obtained.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Court Listing
Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is his policy in respect of whether a company which is conducting a court listing field trial under the supervision of his Department should be allowed to sell dedicated computer software and equipment to trial participants as a condition of participation in the trial.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The role of the Lord Chancellor's Department is to co-operate in the court listing field trial through provision of listing information in electronic form. Overall supervision is the responsibility of the General Council of the Bar which is sponsoring the trial. The Department has no formal relationship with the trial participants.
Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether it is intended that one company only will be licensed to distribute court listing information after the current field trials of a computerised court listing system have ended.
Mr. John M. Taylor : At present the Lord Chancellor's Department has no plans for licensing companies to distribute court listing information. In the event of any such licensing being arranged, there is no reason in principle why this should be limited to a single company.
Legal Aid
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the amount of the legal aid budget (a) distributed to applicants and (b) spent on administration in the most recent year for which figures are available.
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Mr. John M. Taylor : The net amount paid to solicitors and barristers in 1991-92 in respect of work done for legal-aided clients was £906 million. The administrative costs incurred by the Legal Aid Board in the same year amounted to £40.7 million. In addition, some administrative costs will have been incurred by the courts in respect of those parts of the legal aid scheme--chiefly criminal legal aid--for which they are responsible. These costs cannot be identified separately.
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the application of his plans for legal aid to people on income support.
Mr. John M. Taylor : People receiving income support are presently eligible for free legal aid, advice and assistance and assistance by way of representation, and this will continue to be the case under the regulations which came into force on 12 April.
Public Bodies
Dr. Wright : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many of the appointments made by the Lord Chancellor as listed in "Public Bodies 1992" came within the categories set out in paragraphs 49 and 50 of "Questions of Procedure for Ministers" and required a submission to the Prime Minister.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Three of the current appointments made by the Lord Chancellor to public bodies listed under his Department in "Public Bodies" were made after a submission to the Prime Minister.
Landlord Mortgages
Mr. Battle : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether he has any plans to bring forward legislation as proposed by the Law Commission in its November 1991 report "Transfer of Land : Land Mortgages".
Mr. John M. Taylor : No. The Law Commission's report on "Transfer of Land : Land Mortgages", Law Com. No. 204, contains extensive proposals for reform, which are still being considered by the Government.
Child Abuse
Mr. French : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department in how many court proceedings concerning child abuse video-taped evidence has been admitted.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The provision for the giving in evidence of a video recording of an interview with a child witness in certain specified proceedings is contained in section 54 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991. This provision came into force on 1 October 1992. Since that date there have been nine cases in the Crown court where applications under section 54 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 to admit a pre-recorded video interview with a child witness have been granted. In two of these cases the defendant pleaded guilty and, therefore, the video tapes were not required in court.
Mr. French : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list those courts where video-taped evidence has been (a) admitted and (b) refused in child abuse cases.
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Mr. John M. Taylor : The provision for the giving in evidence of a video recording in certain specified proceedings is contained in section 54 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991. This provision came into force on 1 October 1992. Since that date pre-recorded video-taped interviews with child witnesses have been admitted and used in evidence in proceedings in the Crown court at Cardiff, Croydon, Newcastle and Wolverhampton. According to centrally collected statistics, no applications to admit video-taped evidence in child witness proceedings have been refused.
ENVIRONMENT
Caravan Sites
Mr. Temple-Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to make a statement on the response to his consultation paper, "Reform of the Caravan Sites Act 1968" ; when he expects to announce his conclusions ; and in what form he will announce them.
Mr. Baldry : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Woking (Sir C. Onslow) on 31 March 1993, Official Report, column 291.
Contaminated Land
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Halesowen and Stourbridge (Mr. Hawksley), Official Report, 24 March, columns 663-64, on contaminated land, what additional resources he will make available to local authorities in support of their statutory powers to locate and deal with contaminated land while the new interdepartmental review group he announced today conducts its study.
Mr. Maclean : Local authorities already receive general support through revenue support grant for their expenditure on environmental services. This includes expenditure in connection with their duties to identify contaminated land and to ensure that remedial measures are taken where necessary. The Government give additional support to authorities by means of supplementary credit approvals for investigation and remedial works on authorities' own sites or where it is impracticable to recover treatment costs from those responsible.
Home Insulation Grants
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many home insulation grants have been given in the last five years ; and what was their value.
Mr. Maclean : There have been several different grant schemes for home insulation over the last five years.
The home efficiency scheme provides grants for loft, tank and pipe insulation, draughtproofing and energy advice. Since its inception in January 1991, some 387,000 grants have been provided at a cost of £55.6 million. Under the house renovation grant system, minor works assistance grants are available for thermal insulation. Since their introduction in April 1990, 11,300 homes have been treated at a cost of £3.8 million. Insulation is also sometimes installed as part of wider works under house renovation grants.
The energy grant scheme provided for draughtproofing materials. Between April 1988 and December 1990 some
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360,000 homes were treated at a cost of £25.65 million. The homes insulation scheme provided some 185,800 grants at a cost of £19.4 million between April 1988 and March 1990.Enterprise Zones
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the total cost of the enterprise zone scheme in terms of rate relief and capital allowances in each year since 1981 at current prices.
Mr. Redwood : Approximate costs in 1992-93 prices are given in the table.
Year |Capital |Rates Relief<2>
|Allowances<1>
|£ million |£ million
----------------------------------------------------------------
1981-82 |35 |9
1982-83 |35 |19
1983-84 |25 |23
1984-85 |50 |33
1985-86 |85 |42
1986-87 |120 |57
1987-88 |95 |73
1988-89 |195 |82
1989-90 |160 |106
1990-91 |170 |90
1991-92 |- |80
Notes:
<1>The method of calculating capital allowance costs is
currently being reviewed by Inland Revenue and final estimates
will not be available until the summer. The estimated costs
incurred in 1991-92 are not yet known.
<2>The cost of rate relief in 1990-91 and 1991-92 has been
estimated, following the introduction of the Uniform Business
Rate.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what schemes for enterprise zones are in the process of preparation and adoption but not yet designated ;
(2) what plans he has to invite local authorities or corporations to draw up schemes for enterprise zones in the near future.
Mr. Redwood : Proposals for up to three new enterprise zones were announced by the President of the Board of Trade on Monday 29 March, Official Report, columns 30-31.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the planned winding-up dates of all current enterprise zone schemes.
Mr. Redwood : The information is as follows :
|Date
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Delyn |20 July 1993
Wellingborough |25 July 1993
Rotherham |15 August 1993
Londonderry |12 September 1993
Scunthorpe |22 September 1993
Wakefield (Dale Lane and Kinsley) |22 September 1993
Workington |3 October 1993
Invergordon |6 October 1993
North West Kent Nos. 1-5 |30 October 1993
Middlesbrough |7 November 1993
North East Lancashire |6 December 1993
Tayside |8 January 1994
Telford |12 January 1994
Glanford |12 April 1994
Milford Haven Waterway |23 April 1994
Dudley (Round Oak) |2 October 1994
Lower Swansea Valley No. 2 |5 March 1995
North West Kent Nos. 6 and 7 |9 October 1996
Inverclyde |2 March 1999
Sunderland |26 April 2000
Lanarkshire |31 January 2003
London Buses
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions his Department has had on the effect of the age of the London bus fleet on air quality in the capital.
Mr. Maclean : Emissions from heavy-duty diesel vehicles, including buses, were the subject of the 15th report of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (Command 1631) published in September 1991. The Government's response was published in October 1992. Among other things, this refers to measures already taken to improve the in-service testing of vehicles and the introduction of a telephone hotline to enable the public to report smoky vehicles. The response also stated that improvements would be made to the Department of Transport guide for maintaining roadworthiness. These would require operators to make regular engine management and maintenance checks in order to retain satisfactory emissions performance. Steps would also be taken to ensure that the public is made more aware of the existence of the telephone hotlines. These publicity measures will be implemented in the near future.
Homelessness
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his latest estimates of (a) the cost to a local authority of housing a homeless family for a year in a property which has been leased from a private owner, and (b) the average annual rent charged to homeless families for the occupation of a property which a local authority has leased from a private owner, (i) in London and (ii) in the rest of England.
Sir George Young : The information is not available centrally and my Department has no estimates.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of homeless people in the Greater London area on 31 March.
Mr. Baldry : Local authorities in England report the number of households for whom they accept responsibility to secure permanent accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985 in their quarterly P1 return.
The latest estimate for London appears in table 1 of "Households found accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the 1985 Housing Act 1985 : England. Statistics for the fourth quarter 1992", a copy of which is in the Library.
Mortgages
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what survey he has carried out of the extent to which mortgage lenders do not make loans available on property of a specific type or in a specified area ; and if he will make a statement.
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Sir George Young : No such survey has been carried out by my Department.
Rents to Mortgages
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures he has taken to prevent properties which are the subject of rent- to-mortgage arrangements being used as collateral for loans.
Sir George Young : Purchasing under rents to mortgages will normally be financed by borrowing and an advance from an approved lending institution to fund the purchase price will take priority over the charge which secures the landlord's share. The purchaser will be free to borrow for other purposes on the security of the property, but such advances will take priority only if the landlord consents. It will be required to consent if the advance is for works to the property or another approved purpose.
Rough Sleepers
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the responses he has received to the consultation paper on the future of the rough sleepers initiative.
Sir George Young : Recipients of this discussion paper were not advised that responses would be published and I have no plans to do so. We are considering carefully some 90 responses we have received, and I hope to announce a strategy for the rough sleepers initiative 1993-96 shortly.
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people were resident in the severe weather shelters at the point of closure ; and how many have (a) returned to sleeping on the street as a result of the closures and (b) been offered accommodation on 31 March.
Sir George Young : Under the Government's £96 million rough sleepers initiative we have provided funding of £1.5 million for this year's winter shelter programme, which at its height provided 400 extra bedspaces in nine winter shelters in central London. The purpose of the winter shelter programme was specifically to provide shelter for people in central London who would otherwise sleep rough over the winter months. The shelters closed, as planned, at the end of March.
At 31 march some 145 of the 400 places were still in use. Around 100 people had other accommodation to move on to and at least 10 people had refused offers of further assistance.
My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Planning undertook to make these figures available in the Official Report during the debate on affordable housing on 1 April.
Housebuilding, London
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the number of (a) council houses and (b) private houses built in the Greater London area in each of the last three years.
Mr. Baldry : Estimates are shown of the total numbers of housebuilding completions by sector in Greater London for 1990 to 1992. Housing associations are now the main providers of new housing for the social sector.
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Year |Private enterprise |Housing associations|Local authorities |Total ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1990 |13,100 |2,100 |1,900 |17,000 1991 |10,800 |2,500 |700 |14,000 1992<1> |10,100 |3,600 |100 |13,800 <1> Estimates for 1992 are provisional.
Regional Arts Boards
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will list by regional arts board areas the contributions made by each named local authority in England towards Arts Council spending in their areas.
Mr. Redwood : The information is not available centrally.
Council Rented Houses
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the present policy of the Government towards the building of local authority rented dwellings.
Mr. Baldry : The provision of new social housing is now mainly the responsibility of housing associations, with local authorities increasingly concentrating on the management of their existing stock and on their broad enabling role.
Sellafield
Mr. Gale : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many names were on petitions received from the United Kingdom during the public consultation period for the proposed new Sellafield discharge authorisation which were (a) in favour of the proposal and (b) opposed to the proposal ;
(2) how many letters were received during the public consultation period for the proposed new Sellafield discharge authorisation which were (a) in favour of the proposal and (b) opposed to the proposal ; and if he will detail in each case how many were from (i) the United Kingdom and (ii) overseas.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 1 April 1993] : My Department has received approximately 80,000 responses, including a number of petitions following the public consultation on the proposed new Sellafield discharge authorisation. Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food have not as yet finished their report on the consultation which provide the details the hon. Member requests. When the report is completed it will be made available to the public. I expect to receive the report by the end of April ; this is later than I reported to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) on 15 February.
Devon Structure Plan
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many months' delay there was in preparing the Devon county structure plan, third alteration ; how many months' delay there has been since the public consultation took place because of his Department's uncertainty ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry [holding answer 2 April 1993] : The consultation draft of the third alteration to the Devon
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county structure plan was published in October 1990 and the alteration was formally submitted to the Secretary of State in May 1991. An examination in public of selected matters arising on the alteration took place in March-April 1992. The panel which conducted the examination has since submitted its report and itsrecommendations are being considered. The report will be made public when the Secretary of State's proposed modifications are published.
Air Quality
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of times the hourly and daily averages of concentrations of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide and ozone in the atmosphere have exceeded the safety thresholds set by EC directives 92/72/EEC, 89/427/EEC, 88/76/EEC, 84/360/EEC and the Air Quality Standards Regulations 1989 in the cities of Belfast, Edinburgh, Cardiff, London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle upon Tyne, Leicester, Southampton and Kingston upon Hull since January 1991.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 2 April 1993] : Limits provided in EC air quality directives for smoke and sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide have been breached in the United Kingdom since January 1991 only in the case of smoke and sulphur dioxide in Belfast, for which there was a temporary derogation until 31 March this year. Directive 92/72/EEC sets public information levels rather than limit values, for ozone. Monitoring for ozone in cities other than London is at an early stage, but preliminary tests suggest that the levels specified are not likely to be exceeded in urban centres. EC legislation does not prescribe any limit values or thresholds for ambient concentrations of carbon monoxide.
Environment Council
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Reading, West (Sir A. Durant) of 26 March, Official Report, columns 737-39, what votes were taken and what was the position of each country in the European Community's Environment Council on 22 and 23 March.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 2 April 1993] : No formal votes were taken.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
School Leavers
Mr. Pope : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he has taken to promote the use of the records of achievement of school leavers in the recruitment policies (a) in his Department and (b) in other Government Departments.
Mr. Robert Jackson : The Cabinet Office in London, which includes the Office of Public Service and Science, is one of the employers involved in the Central London Education Business Partnership. Students of schools involved in the partnership are able to submit their London records of achievement when applying for jobs. The LRA, together with other information, is taken into account in the selection process.
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My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for recruitment policy, including educational qualifications, in other Government Departments.Equal Opportunities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he has taken to recruit women, members of ethnic minorities and disabled people, respectively, in top grades of employment at the Duchy of Lancaster and at the Office of Public Service and Science.
Mr. Waldegrave : The Duchy of Lancaster is an equal opportunities employer. Appointments are made on grounds of merit and of suitability for the post, regardless of an individual's sex or race. There are currently no members of ethnic minorities or disabled people holding senior positions. The Duchy has employed a disabled senior grade in the past.
Recruits to the senior grades of the civil service, as to any grade in the civil service, are selected on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, unless one of the exceptions permitted under the Civil Service Order in Council 1991 applies. Various steps have been taken by the Civil Service Commissioners to aid recruitment from all sectors of the community, including :
extending links with institutions of higher education ; equal opportunities training for all those involved in selection ;
using validated selection procedures.
The Office of Public Service and Science is part of the Cabinet Office, which has signed up domestically to Opportunity 2000, and is working towards achieving the civil servicewide benchmark of increasing the proportion of women in the top three grades to 15 per cent. or more by the year 2000. The Department continually seeks to encourage the employment of people from the ethnic minorities and those with disabilities.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the Duchy of Lancaster and the Office of Public Service and Science last conducted surveys of (a) ethnic origins and (b) the number of women among their employees ; when they next plan to do so ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Waldegrave : The Duchy of Lancaster employs only 37 people. Consequently, it is not necessary to ask employees to declare their ethnic origins, nor to conduct surveys of the number of women employees.
The Office of Public Service and Science is part of the Cabinet Office. A survey of the origins of all non-industrial civil servants was completed in 1988. The Cabinet Office introduced a computerised personnel database in 1991. All staff were given the opportunity to update their own entries, which include sections on ethnic origins. There are no firm plans to conduct further surveys. The sex of employees is identified in staff records.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what percentage of officers in each grade from 1 to 7 and overall in the Duchy of Lancaster and in the Office of Public Service and Science are (a) women, (b) from ethnic minorities and (c) disabled people.
Mr. Waldegrave : The Duchy employs a total of 37 people, of whom 15- -41 per cent.--are women. Of the 37 employees one is registered as a disabled person.
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The Office of Public Service and Science forms part of the Cabinet Office. The figures for women employed in the Cabinet Office, including its executive agencies, are as follows :Grade (and) |Women |Total |Per cent. Women equivalents) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 |0 |5 |0 2 |2 |8 |25 3 |1 |25 |4 4 |0 |3 |0 5 |16 |41 |39 6 |19 |45 |42 7 |63 |264 |24 Overall |1,330 |2,634 |50
The ethnic monitoring programme was carried out on a voluntary basis and did not extend to the Cabinet Office's agencies. Of those who responded, 62 people--2.3 per cent. of the total--chose to register as non-white. One of these people is at grade 7 level.
The Cabinet Office's figures on staff with disabilities include only those who have chosen to register as disabled. Twenty-eight people--1 per cent. of the total--are so registered. None is at grade 7 level or above. The Cabinet Office employs other staff with disabilities who have chosen not to register.
Travellers
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the application of the information provisions in the citizens charter to consultation with gipsy communities.
Mr. Waldegrave : The citizens charter calls on all public services regularly and systematically to seek customers' views about the quality of service provided and priorities for improvements. Consultation should involve all client groups, including, where appropriate, gipsy communities.
Public Appointments
Dr. Wright : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many of the appointments made by him as listed in "Public Bodies 1992" came within the categories set out in paragraphs 49 and 50 of "Questions of Procedure for Ministers" and required a submission to the Prime Minister.
Mr. Robert Jackson : The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster makes appointments to the following non-departmental public bodies included in "Public Bodies 1992" : the Civil Service Appeal Board ; Agricultural and Food Research Council ; Economic and Social Research Council ; Medical Research Council ; Natural Environment Researchters", the Prime Minister is consulted about the appointment of the chairman of the research councils, and about the appointment of the chairman and independent members of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils.
Appointments to the Civil Service Appeal Board do not come within the categories set out in paragraphs 49 and 50 and appointments are not required to be submitted to the Prime Minister.
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EC Science Funding
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the total amount of funding for science research coming to the United Kingdom from European Community sources in each of the last three years for which information is available ; and how much of these funds has gone to the research councils.
Mr. Waldegrave : The information on total funding for science research coming to the United Kingdom from European Community sources is not available in the form requested. I refer the hon. Member to the data given in tables C and D of my answer of 18 February, Official Report, columns 300-04. This gives the total funds awarded to United Kingdom research organisations over the period 1987-91 under the EC framework programme. These funds, which exclude sums relating to fusion and JRC, amounted to £444.62 million--586.90 mecu translated at the rate £1=1.32 ecu.
The funding of research council institutes from EC sources in the financial years 1989-90 to 1992-93 is as follows :
|1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92 |1992-93<3>
|£'000 |£'000 |£'000 |£'000
------------------------------------------------------------------
SERC |676 |1,756 |2,018 |3,274
NERC |1,641 |1,788 |2,655 |3,109
MRC<1> |700 |800 |1,500 |1,600
AFRC<2> |1,487 |1,083 |2,724 |4,200
ESRC |15 |25 |25 |19
|------ |------ |------ |------
Total |4,519 |5,452 |8,922 |12,202
<1> Excludes awards made directly to MRC units.
<2> Includes AFRC grant-aided institutes.
<3> Provisional.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Public Appointments
Dr. Wright : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the appointments made by him as listed in "Public Bodies 1992" came within the categories set out in paragraphs 49 and 50 of "Questions of Procedure for Ministers" and required a submission to the Prime Minister.
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