Written Answers
Northern Ireland: Uk Subvention
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will update the information about the United Kingdom subvention to Northern Ireland as stated in the
Official Report of 20th June 1984 (col. 427).
The revised figures for the subvention from the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland for 1983–84 and the provisional figures for 1984–85 are as follows:
| £ million 1983–85 revised outturn | £ million 1984–85 provisional outturn | |
| Grant in aid under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 | 775 | 905 |
| Expenditure by Northern Ireland Office | 372 | 400 |
| Expenditure by Northern Ireland Courts Service | 12 | 11 |
| Expenditure by Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food | 69 | 80 |
| Contribution from the Great Britain National Insurance Fund | 77 | 95 |
| Total Subvention | 1,305 | 1,491 |
The revised figures for the additional information listed in the previous Written Answer are as follows:
| £ million 1983–84 revised outturn | £ million 1984–85 provisional outturn | |
| The extra cost of the Army's task in Northern Ireland | 141 | 121 |
| Northern Ireland Departmental Receipts from European Social Fund | 38 | 38 |
| Northern Ireland Departmental Receipts from European Regional Development Fund | 14 | 17 |
| Receipts from the guidance section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund | 17 | 15 |
| Urban Renewal Regulation | 15 | 14 |
| Refunds of VAT | 27 | 25 |
Northern Ireland: Joint Stock Companies In Liquidation
asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the total number of joint stock companies, operating in Northern Ireland, which commenced liquidation, in each of the last five years for which figures are available, in each of the following categories (by size of nominal capital):
This information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
>Northern Ireland Companies In Receivership And Liquidation
asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the total number of companies registered in Northern Ireland which ceased to trade, in each of the last five years for which figures are available, because of (
a) the appointment of a receiver or liquidator, and ( b) members' voluntary winding up.
The number of companies incorporated in Northern Ireland which have gone into receivership in the past five years is shown below.The appointment of a receiver does not necessarily mean that a company ceases to trade; the company may continue in business under the control of the receiver until the debenture under which the receiver was appointed is satisfied, and then return to the control of the directors. No separate records are available to indicate the number of companies which resumed normal trading.
| 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | |
| Receivers appointed | 26 | 18 | 27 | 19 | 19 |
The table below gives, for each of the past five years, the number of companies incorporated in Northern Ireland which have gone into liquidation, divided into those in creditors' voluntary liquidation, court liquidations and members' voluntary liquidation.
| 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | |
| Creditors | 66 | 86 | 111 | 97 | 64 |
| Court | 8 | 16 | 10 | 15 | 19 |
| Members | 39 | 42 | 41 | 52 | 60 |
| Total | 113 | 144 | 162 | 164 | 143 |
>Northern Ireland: Companies Ceasing To Trade
asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the total number of companies incorporated outside Northern Ireland, carrying out a business undertaking within Northern Ireland, which have ceased to trade in Northern Ireland, in each of the last five years for which figures are available, because of (
a) the appointment of a receiver or liquidator; ( b) members' voluntary winding up, and ( c) decision to close down the Northern Ireland part of the business undertaking.
This information is not available.
>Hospital Beds: Occupancy Statistics
asked Her Majesty's Government:What, of the average daily number of available hospital beds (stated to be 343,000 in
Hansard, 12th June 1985, col. 1230), was the average percentage occupied; and in which hospitals and in which regions was the percentage of beds occupied substantially lower than the national average.
In 1983, the latest year for which information is available centrally, there were 343,091 beds available daily on average in NHS hopsitals in England. Of these, 276,429 or 80.6 per cent. were occupied. Regional figures were all close to the national average, ranging from 78.5 per cent. in Northern region to 84.3 per cent. in South-West Thames region. Percentage bed occupancy is not a good indicator of efficient bed use because figures are based on a midnight count and do not therefore inlcude the use of beds by patients who do not stay overnight. It is not possible to give a meaningful analysis of the variation in occupancy rates among individual hospitals, as much depends on the type of hospital and the types of cases with which it deals. For example, maternity hospitals have relatively low occupancy rates because of the need to cope with unpredictable admissions.
Priorities Board And Agricultural Research
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether decisions on future priorities for agricultural research are taken on the basis of advice from the Priorities Board, and whether, in view of current concern about the future of agricultural research, they will ask the Priorities Board—
The terms of reference of the Priorities Board are to advise the agricultural Ministers and the chairman of Agricultural and Food Research Council on priorities for research and development and on the allocation of research and development budgets. Although the board is advisory, it is expected that the advice which it gives will normally be accepted.The board operates under the chairmanship of Sir Kenneth Durham, chairman of Unilever plc, and its membership, though small, encompasses a wide range of expertise. It can also draw on the reports and recommendations of research consultative committees, whose membership comprises specialists from both industry and research. This enables the board to take a view of national needs over the whole range of agricultural and food research. In addition, I understand that the board has been assisted in its current work by a number of submissions from within the industry, all of which are considered most carefully.The board's advice on future priorities and resource allocations will be made available to agriculture
| 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | |
| Bankruptcies | 35 | 23 | 28 | 52 | 56 | 76 | 82 |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Liabilities | 812,304 | 550,783 | 1,276,124 | 2,259,313 | 2,171,097 | 4,650,124 | 4,010,218 |
| Assets | 224,781 | 154,320 | 252,424 | 478,758 | 497,587 | 1,376,149 | 942,166 |
Ministers and the chairman of the AFRC. When it is received we shall be considering how all those with an interest are to be kept informed.
>Steel: Uk Production And Imports
asked Her Majesty's Government:What proportion of the demand for steel in the United Kingdom is met by imports; what is the minimum number of exisitng steel plants required to produce 75 per cent. of total steel production capacity of the United Kingdom; and whether they will list those plants together with their rated production output, in descending order of output.
Imports amounted to 24.1 per cent. of total United Kingdom deliveries of steel in 1984. In crude steel capacity terms, six plants currently account for 75 per cent. of total United Kingdom installed capacity: they are Scunthorpe, South Teesside, Port Talbot, Llanwern, Ravenscraig and Rotherham, all owned by the British Steel Corporation. The products of these plants, however, are not in all cases interchangeable. Details of rated capacity for individual plants are commercially confidential.
Northern Ireland: Bankruptcies
asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the total of reported bankruptcies in Northern Ireland in each of the last seven years for which figures are available; and in each case what were the amounts of (
a) disclosed liabilities and ( b) disclosed assets.
The information is shown in the table below: