Written Answers
Pedlars Act 1871: Newspaper Sales
asked Her Majesty's Government:On whose authority two sellers of a newspaper were arrested on the Friary Estate, Peckham, on 3rd August 1983 and charged with "peddling without a licence" under the Pedlars Act of 1871, and whether Her Majesty's Government support this interference with the accepted right to sell newspapers.
The case involving the two people referred to in the noble Lord's Question was due to be heard at Tower Bridge Magistrates' Court on 22nd November. But I understand that because one of the defendants was ill they were both remanded on bail to appear on 14th December. While the matter is sub judice it would not be right for me to offer any comment on the case.
Cable Television: Licence Applications
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will name the successful applicants for cable pilot project licences.
Thirty-seven applicants for pilot project licences have been received and given careful consideration with the help of an evaluation carried out by EIU Informatics Ltd. based on the criteria set out in the White Paper on the Development of Cable Systems and Services (Cmnd. 8866) and on advice from an independent advisory panel appointed to consider whether the EIU report represented a sound and proper basis for decisions as to the grant of licences. We now propose holding discussions with 11 applicants to explore further some specific points in their applications. Provided that these discussions are concluded to our satisfaction we shall issue pilot project licences to them. Those applications are:
Aberdeen Cable Services Ltd. | Aberdeen |
CableTel Communications Ltd. | Ealing |
Clyde Cable Vision Ltd. | North Glasgow |
Coventry Cable Ltd. | Coventry |
Croydon Cable Television Ltd. | Croydon |
Merseyside Cable Vision Ltd. | South Liverpool |
Rediffusion Consumer Electronics Ltd. | Guildford |
Swindon Cable Services Ltd. | Swindon |
Ulster Cablevision Ltd. | Belfast |
Westminster Cable Company | City of Westminster |
Windsor Television Ltd. | Windsor, Slough and Maidenhead |
Rampton Hospital: Prosecution Of Nurses
asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the total costs of the prosecution of the nurses at Rampton Hospital in the magistrates' court and in the Crown court and who pays the cost.
The total cost to the public purse of any prosecution comprises several separate elements which are borne by different departments concerned with the administration of criminal justice. With the exception of the fees paid to prosecuting counsel, such costs form an integral part of the running costs of individual departments. It is not possible to evaluate the cost of the resources applied to individual cases. It is not the practice of the Director of Public Prosecutions to disclose the fees paid to prosecuting counsel in individual cases.
Iran: Human Rights
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will study the Amnesty International Reports on the ill-treatment of prisoners and other Human Rights Violations in Iran in 1982 and whether they have received information that those violations are continuing this year.
The allegations in the 1982 Amnesty International report on human rights violations in Iran are disturbing. We regret that reports of further violations continue to appear. We shall continue to take every suitable opportunity to remind the Iranian Government of its responsibility to respect the human rights of all its citizens.
Grenada: Aid
asked Her Majesty's Government:What are their intentions regarding the future of aid to Grenada.
My right honourable friend the Minister for Overseas Development is today informing the Governor General that we have agreed to provide up to a total of £750,000 on grant terms to help immediate development needs. This will be in the form of both capital aid and technical co-operation and will be used to meet specific requests mainly in the field of police training, advice and equipment and social and economic infrastructure, in particular in the power, water and public works sector.We would expect the bulk of this sum to be spent during the current financial year. Further capital aid and technical co-operation will be considered in the light of longer-term needs.
Steel: Comparative Output
asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the average output per man year in the British steel industry and what are the corresponding figures for the USA, Japan, West Germany and France for the years: 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82.
The following is the available information:
CRUDE STEEL OUTPUT PER MAN YEAR (a) TONNES | ||||
1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | |
USA(b) | 273 | 254 | 280 | 229 |
Japan(b) | 398 | 411 | 378 | 371 |
France(c) | 187 | 203 | 212 | 190 |
West Germany(c) | 226 | 218 | 217 | 198 |
UK(c) | 133 | 84(d) | 160 | 168 |
(a) Figures for USA and Japan are not comparable with those for UK, France and West Germany as the ECSC definitions are not followed for USA and Japan. In addition a high proportion of work is contracted out in Japan and this employment is excluded. | ||||
(b) Source United Nations: The Steel Market in 1981 and 1982. | ||||
(c) Source Eurostate: Quarterly Iron and Steel Statistics. | ||||
(d) Affected by the steel strike. |
Listed Buildings
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will tabulate for each of the 10 years preceding the latest convenient date the number of buildings statutorily listed as being of architectural or historic interest in England and Wales; the number of these which have been demolished with the consent of the local authority; the number of these which have been demolished with the consent
LISTED BUILDINGS AND LISTED BUILDING CONSENTS FOR TOTAL DEMOLITION | |||||
ENGLAND | |||||
No. of buildings for which consent for total demolition given | |||||
No. of listed buildings at 31 March | by local planning authority | by Secretary of State after call-in | by Secretary of Stale—local Authority applications | by Secretary of State on appeal | |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
1974 | 190,854 | 175 | 1925 | 58 | 4 |
1975 | 19219,388 | 173 | 1964 | 97 | 17 |
1976 | 19233,629 | 187 | 1956 | 151 | 23 |
1977 | 19250,052 | 119 | 1916 | 125 | 9 |
1978 | 19257,993 | 143 | 1930 | 144 | 4 |
1979 | 19265,219 | 269 | 1929 | 67 | 7 |
1980 | 19272,964 | 135 | 1917 | 113 | 3 |
1981 | 19279,712 | 84 | 1926 | 33 | 5 |
1982 | 19286,795 | 94 | 1917 | 44 | 6 |
WALES | |||||
No. of buildings for which consent for total demolition given | |||||
No. of listed buildings at 31 March | by local planning authority | by Secretary of State after call in | by Secretary of State—local authority applications | By Secretary of State on appeal | |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
1974 | 5,514 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
1975 | 6,278 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1976 | 7,144 | 6 | 0 | 76* | 0 |
1977 | 7,605 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
1978 | 8,194 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
1979 | 8,443 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1980 | 8,534 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
1981 | 9,085 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
1982 | 9,952 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
*One consent given for a row of terraced houses listed individually. | |||||
NOTES: | |||||
1. All private applications for the demolition of listed buildings which a local planning authority wish to grant are referred to the appropriate Secretary of State to enable him to decide whether or not he should call in the application for his own decision. The figures in column 2 of the above tables show the cases left to the local planning authority to decide, while column 3 refers to those applications which were called in and for which consent to demolish was subsequently given. | |||||
2.All applications made by local planning authorities are made direct to the Secretary of State and decided by him. |
of the Secretary of State after appeal against a refusal by the local authority; and the number which have been illegally demolished.
The table below shows consents given for total demolition of listed buildings in each of the nine calendar years for which figures are available. Previously total demolitions were not separately recorded. Statistics are not available for illegal demolitions.
Ships' Vhf Radio Stations
asked Her Majesty's Government:How many ships' stations are currently licensed to operate in the VHF marine band and how many of these have currently paid their licence fee.
Approximately 21,000 ships' VHF stations are currently licensed. That includes around 1,300 whose current licence fees have not so far been received but whose licences have not yet been revoked.
Canada: Customs Delays
asked Her Majesty's Government:What representations have been made regarding the deliberate attempts of the Canadian customs authorities to delay textile and clothing exports from the United Kingdom and other EEC countries, thus causing them to miss the all-important seasonal deliveries.
Her Majesty's Government have received complaints from the British Clothing Industry Association about the effect of the revised Canadian customs procedures, which apply to imports from all sources. The European Commission has made representations to the Canadian authorities about the new procedures on behalf of the European Community, which has competence in this matter. Her Majesty's Government support this action and our High Commission in Ottawa is monitoring the position closely. Further representations will be made if necessary. These are likely to be more effective if supported by detailed information from exporters about the delays caused by the measures to individual shipment