That this House welcomes the greater public access to meetings and information provided by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985; believes that such provisions are important for democracy; and hopes that they will be continued as part of the new arrangements for local government executives and directly-elected mayors envisaged under the current Local Government Bill.

That this House welcomes the greater public access to meetings and information provided by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985; believes that such provisions are important for democracy; and hopes that they will be continued as part of the new arrangements for local government executives and directly-elected mayors...

That this House notes with concern the continuing decline in the number of public conveniences provided by local authorities; notes that under section 87 of the Public Health Act 1936 local authorities have a discretionary power to provide public toilets but are under no statutory obligation to do so; further notes that vandalism and other forms of anti-social behaviour are restricting public access to many of the facilities still provided by local authorities, and that health and freedom of movement of women is especially liable to be adversely affected by the lack of readily accessible toilet facilities; notes that international research has shown that women require a least twice as many facilities as men to achieve equality of access; and requests Her Majesty's Government to require local authorities to provide an appropriate number of well-maintained public conveniences with attendants, ensuring equality of access for all women and men to appropriate public toilets.

That this House notes with concern the continuing decline in the number of public conveniences provided by local authorities; notes that under section 87 of the Public Health Act 1936 local authorities have a discretionary power to provide public toilets but are under no statutory obligation to do so; further...

That this House welcomes the 71.5 per cent. turnout in the ADT ballot for trade union recognition, resulting in a magnificent 67.3 per cent. Yes vote for recognition, given that it is the first ballot that has been conducted in Britain in line with the proposals of the White Paper 'Fairness at Work'; and congratulates the members, shop stewards and full-time officials of the AEEU on their efforts to ensure a successful ballot.

That this House welcomes the 71.5 per cent. turnout in the ADT ballot for trade union recognition, resulting in a magnificent 67.3 per cent. Yes vote for recognition, given that it is the first ballot that has been conducted in Britain in line with the proposals of the White Paper...

That this House deplores the attempts of Thorn ADT Modern to de-recognise its collective bargaining agreement with the AEEU, covering 1500 security engineers who are substantially AEEU members, who have enjoyed a 20-year strike-free relationship with the companies now forming Thorn ADT Modern; and calls on Thorn ADT Modern management to acknowledge present agreements and respect the right of their loyal staff to recognised trade union representation.

That this House deplores the attempts of Thorn ADT Modern to de-recognise its collective bargaining agreement with the AEEU, covering 1500 security engineers who are substantially AEEU members, who have enjoyed a 20-year strike-free relationship with the companies now forming Thorn ADT Modern; and calls on Thorn ADT Modern management...

That this House welcomes the announcement by the President of the Board of Trade in respect of British Aerospace's Launch Aid application for Airbus A340-500/600, once again demonstrating the Government's commitment to the United Kingdom manufacturing sector and its confidence in British Aerospace, its skilled workforce and its future role in the world market.

That this House welcomes the announcement by the President of the Board of Trade in respect of British Aerospace's Launch Aid application for Airbus A340-500/600, once again demonstrating the Government's commitment to the United Kingdom manufacturing sector and its confidence in British Aerospace, its skilled workforce and its future role...

That this House notes the continuing success of Airbus Industrie; welcomes the recently announced launch of the Airbus A340-500/600; congratulates the Government on its support for Airbus restructuring as set out in the Trilateral Declaration; notes and welcomes the launch aid investment given to Rolls-Royce for the Trent engine; and urges Her Majesty's Government to provide launch aid to British Aerospace in order to secure and create highs technology engineering jobs in the United Kingdom, strengthen the United Kingdom's and British Aerospace's negotiating position in the forthcoming industry restructuring and demonstrate that Britain is truly at the heart of Europe.

That this House notes the continuing success of Airbus Industrie; welcomes the recently announced launch of the Airbus A340-500/600; congratulates the Government on its support for Airbus restructuring as set out in the Trilateral Declaration; notes and welcomes the launch aid investment given to Rolls-Royce for the Trent engine; and...

That this House notes the long-established historical traditions which lie behind the ancient names of public houses and appreciates the special role which they play in community life; deeply regrets the growing trend towards theme pubs, with contrived names that have no relevance for the local community and which can cause embarrassment, ridicule and a sense of alienation for local people; accepts the right of the owners of public houses to change their names; but believes that this should only be done after due consultation with the local community, the planning authority, and the licensing magistrates.

That this House notes the long-established historical traditions which lie behind the ancient names of public houses and appreciates the special role which they play in community life; deeply regrets the growing trend towards theme pubs, with contrived names that have no relevance for the local community and which can...

That this House calls upon the Secretary of State for Transport to maintain the existing arrangements for the contribution by the utilities to costs for diversionary transport works which improve local passenger transport; considers that current cost sharing arrangements take into account the financial and customer benefits derived by the utilities as a result of diversionary works and safeguards the allocation of public money; and welcomes the security and stability provided by the maintenance of the utilities' modest financial contribution to new and existing passenger transport projects throughout the United Kingdom.

That this House calls upon the Secretary of State for Transport to maintain the existing arrangements for the contribution by the utilities to costs for diversionary transport works which improve local passenger transport; considers that current cost sharing arrangements take into account the financial and customer benefits derived by the...

That this House is mindful of the debt which is owed to all who served the United Kingdom in past wars and recognises the value of war and war disability pensions; notes that the first ??10 of such pensions is disregarded in calculations of housing and council tax benefit, but that the rest of any pension is counted as income and therefore reduces benefit available unless individual local authorities choose to allow a further disregard for which no Government subsidy is payable; and therefore expresses its belief that, as war pensions are a national payment for services rendered to the nation, the Government should amend the appropriate regulations so that the income from those pensions is disregarded for benefit purposes in total and that as a result the ensuing costs should fall on the national Exchequer.

That this House is mindful of the debt which is owed to all who served the United Kingdom in past wars and recognises the value of war and war disability pensions; notes that the first ??10 of such pensions is disregarded in calculations of housing and council tax benefit, but...

That this House utterly condemns the Prime Minister's unwarranted attack on the Sheffield City Council on answering a question from the honourable Member for Sheffield, Heeley when he accused the Sheffield Council of failing to collect ??558 million of debt that it is owed when in actual fact the ??558 million relates to the borrowing by the City Council for housing, schools, old people's homes, roads and other important investment, all undertaken with government approval; also condemns the Prime Minister for misleading the House by stating that Sheffield is rubbish, in that it does not collect its debts or make its interest payments and has massive council tax arrears when in truth the Council has paid its interest payments on time and has been praised by both the District Auditor and by the DOE for its collection record; and therefore calls on the Prime Minister to withdraw his remarks and apologise to the House and the people of Sheffield.

That this House utterly condemns the Prime Minister's unwarranted attack on the Sheffield City Council on answering a question from the honourable Member for Sheffield, Heeley when he accused the Sheffield Council of failing to collect ??558 million of debt that it is owed when in actual fact the ??558...

That this House views with dismay the Government refusal to activate the Bellwin Scheme of emergency financial assistance in respect of the costs of an estimated ??200,000 incurred by South Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority during the prolonged spell of dry weather last summer, the worst recorded for 800 years; and calls on the Government at this late hour to activate the Bellwin Scheme in order to avoid a shortfall of funds of some ??125,000 despite the transfer of all its pension reserves.

That this House views with dismay the Government refusal to activate the Bellwin Scheme of emergency financial assistance in respect of the costs of an estimated ??200,000 incurred by South Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority during the prolonged spell of dry weather last summer, the worst recorded for 800...

That this House notes that the latest official electoral figures show that there is an average of five per cent. of the eligible population missing from electoral registers in the United Kingdom; further notes that these figures under-state the problem and that as many as three to four million people may be absent from registers, a claim that is described as broadly correct by the OPCS Director of Statistics; believes that this continuing and high level of voter under-registration, particularly in inner city areas and among the homeless and rootless, black people and youth, should be of urgent concern to democrats in all parties and none as it undermines the quality of parliamentary democracy; further notes that Saturday 16th December is the deadline for people having their names included in the annual register of voters published in February; and encourages those who have not already done so to register by this deadline; further believes that reforming the current outdated voter registration system through the introduction of a rolling register will help to reverse the dramatic shortfall in electoral registration as this will allow people to register where they live, when they live there and will give extra duties for electoral registration officers, greater local and national publicity and increased access by disabled people to polling stations and to voting; and congratulates the Full Franchise umbrella group for seeking to bring all these matters to the attention of Parliament and the people during its week of activities from 3rd December.

That this House notes that the latest official electoral figures show that there is an average of five per cent. of the eligible population missing from electoral registers in the United Kingdom; further notes that these figures under-state the problem and that as many as three to four million people...

That this House calls for a world wide ban on the use, production, stockpiling, export and trade in all forms of anti-personnel ladnmines; urges Her Majesty's Government to condemn the possible or actual use of self-destruct or self-neutralising mines by any country and also to seek increased contributions for mine clearance programmes and greater support for programmes to help with rehabilitation of mine victims.

That this House calls for a world wide ban on the use, production, stockpiling, export and trade in all forms of anti-personnel ladnmines; urges Her Majesty's Government to condemn the possible or actual use of self-destruct or self-neutralising mines by any country and also to seek increased contributions for mine...

That this House expresses its sadness at the news of the arson attack on the stables at Heeley City Farm, Sheffield, which caused the death of Bella, the farm's beautiful black mare, put down straight after the fire, and Sam, the donkey, who was put down after losing his battle against agonising burns, leaving only Barney, the cart horse, surviving though badly injured, though hopefully he will make a speedy recovery; expresses sympathy to all the workers, helpers and supporters at the farm who are suffering profound shock and support their efforts to rebuild the damaged area; congratulates the estimated 15,000 people who attended the Heeley Festival in solidarity to raise funds to rebuild; and thanks the Sheffield Star and other organisations for their support in the fundraising campaign.

That this House expresses its sadness at the news of the arson attack on the stables at Heeley City Farm, Sheffield, which caused the death of Bella, the farm's beautiful black mare, put down straight after the fire, and Sam, the donkey, who was put down after losing his battle...

That this House recognises that those young people who leave the care of local authorities are among the most vulnerable groups in society; believes that post-care monitoring and support is essential for their full and successful integration into society; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to make such monitoring a statutory requirement for all local authorities and to collate and publish the results of such monitoring.

That this House recognises that those young people who leave the care of local authorities are among the most vulnerable groups in society; believes that post-care monitoring and support is essential for their full and successful integration into society; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to make such monitoring a...

That this House welcomes the progress made so far in the Northern Ireland peace process; congratulates the Prime Minister on his achievements to date and the Leader of the Opposition for his steadfast support; remembers the time when Downing Street was open to all members of the public; and suggests it is now an appropriate time to remove the security gates which disfigure Downing Street at present.

That this House welcomes the progress made so far in the Northern Ireland peace process; congratulates the Prime Minister on his achievements to date and the Leader of the Opposition for his steadfast support; remembers the time when Downing Street was open to all members of the public; and suggests...

That this House opposes any plans to close either of the accident and emergency departments in Sheffield, even with an improved paramedic service, given the lack of better alternative facilities; whilst supporting other actions to improve efficiency, insists that such facilities should be put in place as a first priority; and calls for the long term review of health services in Sheffield to recognise the necessity of both accident and emergency departments remaining open, and the restoration of the ??20 million development monies.

That this House opposes any plans to close either of the accident and emergency departments in Sheffield, even with an improved paramedic service, given the lack of better alternative facilities; whilst supporting other actions to improve efficiency, insists that such facilities should be put in place as a first priority;...

That this House believes that the British film industry has a proud history and the prospect of a successful future; regrets, however, that it is competing on an un-level playing field and that it is denied the opportunities which are created in other European countries by tax regimes which positively encourage financial investment in film production and systems of financial support which enable producers of commercially viable films to meet early development costs; notes that in many European countries these schemes appear to have the desired effect of encouraging the production of profitable and popular films at little or no net cost to the taxpayer; urges the Secretary of State for National Heritage to commission an independent report on the schemes of support which exist in other countries to see which are successful and which could be adopted by the United Kingdom; and suggests that he does so before it is too late.

That this House believes that the British film industry has a proud history and the prospect of a successful future; regrets, however, that it is competing on an un-level playing field and that it is denied the opportunities which are created in other European countries by tax regimes which positively...

That this House expresses its deep concern at continuing reports that citizens of developed nations travelling abroad may be encouraging the use of children in prostitution and pornography; reaffirms its commitment to the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which seeks to protect children from sexual exploitation; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to seek to play an active role in bringing about concerted international action to tackle this problem and in particular to examine ways of ensuring that individuals involved in such exploitation are brought to justice within the United Kingdom.

That this House expresses its deep concern at continuing reports that citizens of developed nations travelling abroad may be encouraging the use of children in prostitution and pornography; reaffirms its commitment to the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which seeks to protect children...

That this House notes that a child in the United States of America is likely to have seen 20,000 murders on television by the age of five; further notes that many homes in the United Kingdom are increasingly saturated by a growing culture of violence disseminated by television, video and computer, and that the father of one of the boys found guilty of the murder of James Bulger brought into his home videos, allegedly including the film, Child Play III which depicts a doll that turns into a child and which is subsequently killed by two boys on a ghost-train; further notes the evidence produced as early at 1972 by Elliot Aranson in The Social Animal that children copy the aggressive behaviour of adults; affirms that the depiction of murder and mutilation as entertainment is detrimental to the moral values of children exposed to violent films; calls on Her Majesty's Government to launch an immediate investigation into the role played by violent films in the psychological impulses that led to this murder; and further calls for the tightening of the controls on the broadcasting of violence on television and through videos.

That this House notes that a child in the United States of America is likely to have seen 20,000 murders on television by the age of five; further notes that many homes in the United Kingdom are increasingly saturated by a growing culture of violence disseminated by television, video and...