Written Answers of 16 January 1989

PRIME MINISTER

  Pre-school Education
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to amalgamate the activities for the education of the under-fives of the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Social Security; and if she will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  The Government will give careful consideration to the recommendations made by the Education, Science and Arts Committee in its report on educational provision for the under-fives, including those which have a bearing on this, and will make our conclusions known in our response to that report.

  Greenhouse Effect
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on inter-departmental co-operation and co-ordination on the greenhouse effect.

  The Prime Minister
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is responsible for Government policy on the greenhouse effect, in consultation with the other Ministers concerned. I am entirely satisfied with the arrangements for inter-departmental co-operation and co-ordination.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list the ministerial advisers appointed in her office for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in her office or in conjunction with other Departments; and if she will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  The ministerial advisers appointed in my Office since 1979 are as follows:

  Year and Name

  1979

  J. Hoskyns

  Mrs. C. Ryder

  N. Strauss

  1981

  Professor A. Walters

  1982

  C. W. Monckton

  W. R. F. Mount

  P. Shipley

  1983

  D. C. Hobson

  R. T. Jackling

  O. Letwin

  N. C. Owen

  Sir Anthony Parsons

  2

  D. L. Pascall

  J. Redwood

  R. Young

  1984

  V. E. Hartley-Booth

  Sir Percy Craddock

  P. T. Warry

  D. L. Willetts

  J. B. Wybrew1

  1985

  Professor B. Griffiths

  1986

  N. R. Blackwell

  G. R. J. Guise

  P. J. Stredder

  1987

  Mrs. T. Gaisman

  A. J. O'Sullivan

  1988

  G. D. Bourne1

  A. Dunlop

  Miss C. Sinclair

  I. K. Whitehead

  1 Salary paid to another employer. (Information prior to 1984 is not available).

  It is not our practice to reveal the salaries of advisers as they are individually negotiated in relation to previous outside earnings and are therefore confidential.

  Overseas Visits
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will make it her policy to close accounts relating to repayment of costs incurred by media organisations on her visits abroad within three months of the completion of the relevant visit.

  The Prime Minister
  I have nothing to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 10 January 1989 at column 495.

  Government Departments (Services)
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Prime Minister what is the general practice within Government Departments as to the time permitted for repayment by outside bodies of sums owing for services provided by Government Departments.

  The Prime Minister
  Government Departments are advised in "Government Accounting" that the full sums due must be calculated and collected promptly.

  BBC Today Programme
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Prime Minister which Departments of State were invited to send speakers to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Wednesday 11 January to discuss families rendered homeless by mortgage default; what response was made; and if she will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  Both the Department of the Environment and the Treasury were invited to send a speaker. The Minister for Housing, Environment and Countryside being unavailable on the date requested, discussed the issue on the following day. Mortgage repossessions are very distressing for those involved, but it is important to keep things in perspective: less than one
  3
  third of 1 per cent. of building society borrowers had their homes repossessed according to the most recent figures available.

  Disasters (Messages of Sympathy)
  Mr. Rooker
  To ask the Prime Minister what is her policy on redirecting to Buckingham Palace messages of sympathy received by her from Heads of State at times of disasters.

  The Prime Minister
  Appropriate action is taken on all the messages which I receive.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Mental Health
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultation takes place with a local health authority when mentally ill patients are to be released from prison; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Prison standing orders require that the discharge of a prisoner in need of skilled advice and attention on grounds of mental disorder should, if the prisoner consents, be notified to the district medical officer for the area in which the prisoner intends to reside.

  The desirability of further developing such arrangements was included in the recommendations of a joint Home Office/Department of Health working group and accepted by the Government. The Departments are in discussion about guidance to regional and district health authorities and also with the professions on how this ought to be given effect. Revised prison department instructions and a model letter for use by prison medical officers, both presently in draft, will provide an administrative framework for NHS medical staff to be invited to visit an inmate and to discuss his case with the responsible medical officer.

  AIDS
  Mr. Bermingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many male and female prisoners in England and Wales currently have the human immuno-deficiency virus; and in which prisons they are held.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  On 12 January 1989 the prison population of England and Wales included 50 male and seven female prisoners reported as having been identified as HIV antibody positive. For reasons of medical confidentiality it is not the Department's policy to disclose the number of such prisoners located at individual establishments.

  Mr. Bermingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to designate any prisons or parts of prisons in England and Wales as national HIV and AIDS centres.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  In the context of its contingency planning the directorate of prison medical services is identifying prison service establishments, with medical facilities which would be capable, when needed, of giving short or longer-term care and suppport to prisoners, with AIDS, AIDS-related illness or other infectious illness, whose condition does not require admission to the specialised facilities of the National Health Service.
  4
  A purpose-designed unit is planned for Brixton prison. Accommodation at Risley remand centre near Warrington is to be the main resource in the north. Hospital accommodation with suitable facilities at other establishments in each of the four regions will also be used to fulfil a care and support function as and when necessary.

  Scenes of Crime Officers
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report for each police force in England and Wales the number of scenes of crime officers in post; and what is the corresponding percentage of these which are civilian.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The latest available information is as follows:

  Police officers/civilians in scenes of crime department

  Provincial forces2

  Number

  Percentage civilian1

  Avon and Somerset

  40

  7·5

  Bedfordshire

  13

  38·5

  Cambridgeshire

  10

  20·0

  Cheshire

  22

  27·3

  Cleveland

  20

  —

  Cumbria

  26

  61·5

  Derbyshire

  25

  96·0

  Devon and Cornwall

  28

  35·7

  Dorset

  13

  —

  Durham

  22

  36·4

  Dyfed Powys

  10

  10·0

  Essex

  45

  4·4

  Gloucestershire

  12

  —

  Greater Manchester

  56

  1·8

  Gwent

  12

  —

  Hampshire

  44

  9·1

  Hertfordshire

  19

  —

  Humberside

  41

  39·0

  Kent

  35

  51·4

  Lancashire

  38

  —

  Leicestershire

  23

  34·8

  Lincolnshire

  15

  33·3

  Merseyside

  24

  —

  Norfolk

  20

  15·0

  Northamptonshire

  14

  78·6

  Northumbria

  44

  27·3

  North Wales

  11

  100·0

  North Yorkshire

  18

  16·7

  Nottinghamshire

  31

  70·1

  South Wales

  39

  7·7

  South Yorkshire

  35

  51·4

  Staffordshire

  19

  —

  Suffolk

  12

  —

  Surrey

  21

  52·4

  Sussex

  44

  50·0

  Thames Valley

  33

  12·1

  Warwickshire

  12

  41·7

  West Mercia

  34

  38·2

  West Midlands

  57

  31·6

  West Yorkshire

  54

  7·4

  Wiltshire

  20

  —

  City of London

  14

  35·7

  TOTAL

  1,125

  26·0

  Metropolitan Police3

  196

  100·0

  1 It should be noted that some of the civilian staff identified for provincial forces may be engaged in general administrative support duties.

  2 As at 31 December 1987.

  3 As at 31 December 1988.

  Police Grading
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the rationale and formulae used by his Department to establish the ratios of the different ranks of police officers in each force in England and Wales.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  My right hon. Friend is advised by Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary which, among other things, takes account of the rank ratios across the police service as a whole. At the end of 1987 these stood as follows:

  Per cent

  ACPO

  0·2

  Chief Superintendent

  0·4

  Superintendent

  1·3

  Chief Inspector

  1·8

  Inspector

  5·4

  Sergeant

  15·5

  Constable

  75·4

  Cumbria Police Force
  Mr. Martlew
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the review of police staffing levels carried out by his Department with regard to the Cumbria force.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The chief constable, not the Home Office, has carried out a review of police staffing levels in the Cumbria constabulary. Following that review the police authority has applied for an increase in the force establishments of 62 police posts. This will be considered along with applications which have been received from other authorities for increases in 1989–90. My right hon. Friend hopes to announce his decisions shortly.

  Prison (Banstead)
  Mr. Soley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the category C prison which is being built on the former Banstead hospital site is part of the previously announced programme of 26 new prisons to be opened between 1983 and 1995.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The previously announced programme made provision for 800 prison places on the Banstead site. In view of the urgent need for prison accommodation, these are being increased and provided in two phases. The first phase of converting existing accommodation to category C places is nearly complete. The second phase of building a local prison for 620 inmates will begin later this year.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the ministerial advisers in his Department for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in his Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hurd
  The special advisers employed in the Home Office since 1979 are as follows:6

  Name

  Period of appointment

  Mr. Robin Harris

  June 1983 to March 1985

  Mr. David Coleman

  April to September 1985

  Mr. Edward Bickham

  September 1985 to April 1988

  Mr. David Lidington

  December 1987 onwards

  Mr. John Godfrey (on secondment)

  July 1988 onwards

  They have provided advice on a wide range of Home Office subjects. It is not our practice to disclose the salaries of individual advisers as they are negotiated individually in relation to previous outside earnings and are therefore confidential.

  Community Radio Franchises
  Mr. Fisher
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what means he intends to sell community radio franchises.

  Mr. Renton
  The method of allocating community radio contracts is currently for the IBA to decide.

  Entry Refusals
  Mr. Darling
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received from hon. Members in connection with individuals refused entry to the United Kingdom since 3 January; in how many cases he agreed to defer removal as a result of those representations; and in how many cases he refused to defer removal.

  Mr. Renton
  The revised guidelines on the handling of representations by hon. Members in immigration cases, introduced with effect from 3 January 1989, require that, before approaching the Minister to request deferment of removal of a passenger refused leave to enter the United Kingdom, an hon. Member should first contact the immigration service and invite them to consider deferment. There are no central records of the total number of such requests by hon. Members nor of the number of cases in which deferment has been or has not been granted.

  Shotgun Licences
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is(a) the number of current shotgun licences, (b) the number of shotgun licences issued since the enactment of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, and (c) the number of (i) civilian and (ii) police staff dealing with the processing of shotgun licence applications and (d) the change in the number of such staff since the enactment of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Statistics on shotgun certificates are collected on an annual basis. A total of 861,300 shotgun certificates were on issue in England and Wales at 31 December 1987, the last year for which figures are available. Information is not collected centrally on the number of police and civilian staff dealing with shotgun certificate applications and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Immigrants Advisory Services
  Mr. Dunnachie
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he has any plans to locate a United Kingdom immigrants advisory service office on the east coast of Scotland;

  (2) if he has any plans to improve the provision of advice centres for ethnic minorities with regard to immigration, short-term visas and related problems.

  Mr. Renton
  Under the Immigration Act 1971 the Home Office makes a grant-in-aid to the United Kingdom immigrants advisory service, which offers a nationwide service to persons who have rights of appeal under the Act. We have no plans to make funds available for any other advice centres or organisations involved in these areas of work. The location of UKIAS offices is a matter for that organisation.

  Police (Tape Recordings)
  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will ask for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to whether as a matter of policy and practice Metropolitan police officers are allowed to tape record a telephone conversation between a person held at a police station and a solicitor, relative or friend.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The Metropolitan police, like other forces, are bound by the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the codes of practice made under the Act.

  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has given to chief constables about the tape recording by police officers of any telephone conversation between a person under arrest and a solicitor, relative or friend.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  No specific guidance about the tape recording of communications has been given, but general guidance to the police about the treatment of people under arrest is contained in code C of the codes of practice made under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. This provides, in accordance with section 58 of the Act, that communications between a suspect and his solicitor must be private except in certain circumstances when an arrest has been made under prevention of terrorism legislation. Telephone conversations between a suspect and anyone other than a solicitor may be listened to and used in evidence, for which purpose a record will need to be kept. The suspect must be informed beforehand that his conversation will be overheard.

  Greater Manchester Police
  My Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has receive about the establishment of Greater Manchester police and what assessment he has made of them.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Representations have been received from the Greater Manchester police authority and from hon. Friends and Members whose constituencies lie within the force area about the need for an increase in the establishment of the Greater Manchester police. My right hon. Friend will announce shortly his decision on this and other applications for increases in police establishments.

  Vietnamese Embassy (Incident)
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects that a reply will be sent to the letter from the hon. Member for Sunderland, South, referred to the Minister of State, the right hon. the Earl Ferrers, regarding the incident at the Vietnamese embassy on 4 September 1988.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  I am sorry that it has not yet been possible to provide a substantive reply. The correspondence raised a number of matters on which police inquiries were necessary and a report was requested from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. I understand from the Commissioner that this should be completed shortly. My right hon. and Noble Friend will reply as soon as possible after the report has been received and considered.

  Guildford Four
  Mr. Hind
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has reached a decision on whether to refer the case of the Guildford Four to the Court of Appeal; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hurd
  On 22 October 1975, Patrick Armstrong, Gerald Conlon, Paul Hill, and Carole Richardson were convicted of murder and other offences connected with the bombing of two public houses in Guildford on 5 October 1974, in which five people died. They were sentenced to life imprisonment. In addition, Patrick Armstrong and Paul Hill were convicted of two murders arising from the bombing of a public house in Woolwich on 7 November 1974. On 28 October 1977, after a hearing lasting 11 days, the Court of Appeal refused applications by all four for leave to appeal.

  Since then, considerable efforts have been made by many people to establish that these convictions were unsafe. A large number of arguments have been adduced and, in the last two years, much allegedly new evidence has been brought to light.

  In circumstances such as these a Home Secretary has, broadly speaking, three choices:

  (a) to take no action and allow the verdicts to stand;

  (b) to refer the case back to the Court of Appeal;

  (c) to recommend the use of the royal prerogative to pardon.

  The Home Secretary is an elected politician representing the Executive. The judiciary is and must be seen to be independent of the Executive. It follows that the power of the Executive over decisions of the judiciary needs to be exercised with very great care. Those who are seriously concerned about civil liberties in this country should be particularly chary of urging the Home Secretary to use these powers. I believe that the Home Secretary should only exercise the power of referral within stiff constraints. He should resist the temptation to substitute his view of the case for that of a court of law. The opinions of those who make representations to him, however distinguished, on whether the jury or the Court of Appeal dealt correctly with the evidence before them should not be decisive. Nor should his own personal opinions. This rules out at a stroke many of the matters raised in this case, because they were before the jury or the Court of Appeal. Those who were not in court are not well placed to challenge the decision of those who heard the evidence, except on the ground that there is new evidence or other consideration of substance which was not available at the original trial or

  9
  appeal hearing. In January 1987 I told the House that in the light of that constraint my view was that there had not been raised any new substantive points which justified action on my part.

  A large amount of further matter has been produced since then. The question, which I have examined with great care, is whether it is new and substantial, and now justifies my intervention.

  At this point I should refer to the argument, on law not fact, advanced by Lords Devlin and Scarman when they came to see me on 23 July 1987 and further developed in an article in The Times on 30 November last year. In brief, I understood them to argue that the Court of Appeal was wrong to dismiss as worthless without reference to a jury the confessions to the Guildford and Woolwich bombings by members of the Balcombe Street Gang. These confessions were made between the original verdict and the appeal hearing. Lords Delvin and Scarman believe that the jury should have been given the chance to reach a conclusion on the convictions of the Guildford Four by a previous jury in the light of these confessions, of which that jury knew nothing. I understand that a similar point of law was raised in the context of the Birmingham bombings. The Appeal Committee of the House of Lords, composed of three Law Lords, on 14 April 1988 refused leave to appeal on these grounds. Although I personally would be reluctant to contest an opinion held by Lords Devlin and Scarman, I do not think it would be sensible to base a reference to the Court of Appeal on a point of law which the Appeal Committee had recently declined to consider.

  I should, however, point out that when a case is referred to the Court of Appeal by the Home Secretary he may cite grounds for such reference but the subsequent hearing is not confined to those grounds. Once a case is referred, it is treated for all purposes as an appeal by the persons convicted, and the defence may thus seek to raise any matters of fact or law which they regard as pertinent.

  Against this background and after prolonged study and thought, I have decided to refer this case to the Court of Appeal. It is right that I make clear now that I do not feel justified in recommending the use of the royal prerogative to pardon or release them. But I am satisfied that amongst the many matters raised with me since January 1987 there are new and substantial points which clearly, and within the constraint set out above, are best considered by the court.

  There are three particular matters, to which my attention was drawn:

  (a) first, there is the matter of the use of drugs by Carole Richardson, and medical treatment given to her while in custody. There are two points here. Dr. Makos, the police surgeon who saw her in 1974, volunteered in August 1987, and repeated to the Avon and Somerset police in November 1987, that he had administered an injection of pethidine to Carole Richardson. Later, in December last year, in a letter and subsequent statement to officers of Avon and Somerset, he withdrew this admission. Dr. Makos' recollections may be uncertain or unclear, but it does appear that pethidine might not have been a suitable treatment for someone in Miss Richardson's apparent condition, that is suffering from withdrawal from barbiturates. Even if she was not given pethidine, at least some of her confessions would appear to have been made at a time when she was suffering from withdrawal to a greater degree than has hitherto been thought. The admitted administration of the drug tuinal to Miss
  10
  Richardson would appear, in medical opinion now, to have had the effect of prolonging and increasing withdrawal symptoms. The possible effects of these drugs on the reliability of her statements were not adequately exposed to the jury or the Court of Appeal;

  (b) second, the alibi given by Maura Kelly in March 1987 for Carole Richardson, alleges that during the afternoon of the Guildford bomb, 5 October 1974, she was visited at the baker's shop where she worked by Richardson and her friend Lisa Astin, at about 2.30 pm. The two left and returned to the shop some time later, when Richardson gave Maura Kelly a doll. When Maura Kelly closed the shop at around 5 pm, the two girls were still with her. She walked with them to the bus stop when they separated. Maura Kelly had left the country before the trial and the defence were unable to call her to give evidence. Neither a jury nor the Court of Appeal have therefore had the opportunity to assess the value of her evidence alongside the alibi presented by Carole Richardson, that during the course of the afternoon she had no opportunity to make any journey to Guildford;

  (c) third, the alibi by Mrs. Fox for Paul Hill, produced on 15 July 1987 states that on the evening of the Woolwich bombing, 7 November 1974, she was at the flat of Mr. and Mrs. Keenan, where Paul Hill was living. Mrs. Fox says she was with Mr. and Mrs. Keenan between 7 pm and 10.15 pm. During that period Paul Hill was present except for a period of about 2C minutes when he left to make a telephone call to his girlfriend. Mrs. Fox attended the trial but did not give evidence, and Mr. and Mrs. Keenan and Paul Hill, who did give evidence, made no mention of her. In statements of 15 July 1987, both Mr. and Mrs. Keenan now confirm that Mrs. Fox had been at their flat that evening.

  Paul Hill said he left Mr. and Mrs. Keenan's flat only to make a telephone call. This was supported by the Keenans in their evidence. The account Mrs. Fox offers appears to add weight to the alibi evidence, but neither the jury nor the Court of Appeal have had the opportunity to consider it.

  Little purpose would be served by setting out in detail here the other points put to me. The three main points I mention seem to me to bear directly on the safety of the convictions. These points were not available to the jury of the Court of Appeal. They need to be tested in court.

  I am grateful to all those whose genuine concern for justice had led them to take an interest in this case. Among many I would single out Cardinal Hume, with whom I have several times discussed the case and who led the delegation which came to see me in July 1987. I am also most grateful to the Avon and Somerset police, who conducted painstaking and invaluable inquiries into certain of the new matters submitted to me.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

  Members' Income and Allowances
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Lord President of the Council what was the cost to the public funds of the office and secretarial allowance for the last year for which figures were available; and what this is as a percentage of the total cost were each hon. Member to have claimed the full allowance.

  Mr. Wakeham
  The total expenditure from the House of Commons vote (class XX vote 8) during 1986–87 in respect of Members' office, secretarial and research
  11
  expenses was £11,673,156.50. This figure represents just over 89 per cent. of the total cost had all hon. Members claimed the full allowance during the year.

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

  Rain Forests
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any conveniently available figures for the volume of aid to(a) Brazil, (b) Malaysia, (c) Indonesia and (d) African states to help them preserve rain forest ecosystems over any convenient period.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  Available information on aid commitments to projects currently under way is as follows(a) £20,000, (b) £156,000 (a regional Asian project with special relevance to Malaysia), (c) £120,000 and (d) £21·9 million. In addition, over £575,000 has been committed to people from African countries undergoing rain forest-related training in the United Kingdom in 1987–89.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Attorney-General, if he will list the ministerial advisers appointed in the Lord Chancellor's and Law Officers Departments for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in that Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.

  The Attorney-General
  Neither my Department nor the Lord Chancellor's Department has appointed any ministerial adviser during the period to which the question relates.

  "The Guardian" (Prosecution)
  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Attorney-General what consideration he has given to the possible prosecution of Mr. Richard Norton-Taylor of The Guardian, and of its editor Mr. Peter Preston, arising from the publication on 4 January 1989 of the name and background of the new head of the Secret Intelligence Service.

  The Attorney-General
  Sufficient.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Falkland Islands (Geese)
  Dr. Marek
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he can make of the number of upland geese currently on the Falkland Islands; and what were the estimated numbers over the last decade.

  Mr. Eggar
  According to a 1987 report on geese grazing in the Falkland Islands, there are between 300,000 and 400,000 Upland geese on the Falkland Islands. In the late seventies, numbers were estimated at between 350,000 and 400,000.

  St. Helena (University Qualifications)
  Dr. Marek
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to the numbers of St. Helenians living in St. Helena with university qualifications; and what were the comparable figures five years ago.

  Mr. Eggar
  The number of St. Helenians living in St. Helena with university qualifications is nine (1 MEd, 3 BEd, 5 diplomas—postgraduate); the number five years ago was eight.

  St. Georgia (Fish Conservation)
  Dr. Marek
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will consider the introduction of a fish conservation zone for St. Georgia and its associated islands.

  Mr. Eggar
  Conservation in the waters around South Georgia is covered by the convention for the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources (CCAMLR). Under pressure from the United Kingdom and others CCAMLR recently banned all fishing around South Georgia for mackerel ice fish (the primary endangered species) until November 1989. The renewable resources assessment group of Imperial college is currently studying the fishery resources of the area on behalf of the South Georgia Government.

  Emperor Hirohito
  Mr. Amos
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why Her Majesty's Government decided to send an official representative to the funeral of Emperor Hirohito; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Eggar
  We have close and friendly relations with Japan. The late Emperor of Japan made a state visit to this country in 1971 and The Queen made a state visit to Japan in 1975. Members of successive Governments have been received by the late Emperor. In the light of all these factors we have decided it is right to be represented at the Emperor's funeral.

WALES

  Bus Companies (Privatisation)
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those municipal bus companies that will be privatised in the next six months.

  Mr. Wyn Roberts
  Inter-Valley Link is expected to be sold shortly by Rhymney Valley district council. Proposals to sell any of the remaining five companies in Wales are a matter for the local authority concerned.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the ministerial advisers appointed in his Department for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in his Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.
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  Mr. Peter Walker
  Mr. C. J. Butler was a ministerial adviser in the Welsh Office from 1983 to 1985. His salary was paid directly to him and since it was negotiated taking into account his previous income it would not be appropriate to reveal it. He did not work for any other Government Department in the period and his duties were set by my predecessor as Secretary of State for Wales.

  Home Improvement Grants
  Mr. Alan W. Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the amount spent on home improvement grants by(a) Carmarthen district council, (b) Dinefwr district council and (c) the total for all Welsh local authorities in each of the financial years from 1978–79 to the present at 1988 prices.

  Mr. Grist
  The amount spent on completed renovation grants in each financial year at 1987–88 prices is given in the table:

  (£000's)

  Wales

  Carmarthen

  Dinefwr

  1978–79

  17,427

  550

  369

  1979–80

  20,657

  739

  490

  1980–81

  20,442

  1,060

  442

  1981–82

  21,786

  735

  256

  1982–83

  41,927

  1,004

  121

  1983–84

  115,501

  6,576

  1,006

  1984–85

  99,149

  4,006

  1,511

  1985–86

  59,707

  1,840

  520

  1986–87

  62,063

  2,032

  410

  1987–88

  60,992

  1,889

  416

  Nursing Homes
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total cost, and from which Government Departments, of funding private and voluntary nursing homes in each year from 1982 to 1987.

  Mr. Grist
  We have no general powers to fund nursing homes, although project applications relating to their establishment may be considered under urban programme, urban development grant and joint finance schemes. However, the information requested of the Department is not readily available and I have no ready access to information about the costs to other Government Departments.

  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many places there were in local authority nursing homes in each year from 1982 to 1987 by district health authority; and what was the total cost of those places in each year.

  Mr. Grist
  There are no local authority nursing homes. The definition of nursing homes refers to those establishments in the independent sector which provide recognised nursing care.

  Pay Beds
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many pay beds were available in Welsh health authorities in each year since 1979; what was the percentage occupancy rate in each year; and how much money is still owed by pay bed users.

  Mr. Grist
  Available information is given in the table. Information on the money still owed by pay bed occupants is not centrally available.
  14

  Year1

  Number of pay beds authorised

  Percentage occupancy

  1979

  39

  35·8

  1980

  36

  58·9

  1981

  246

  33·6

  1982

  247

  29·8

  1983

  247

  29·5

  1984

  349

  26·8

  1985

  249

  30·0

  1986

  254

  34·5

  1987

  254

  31·4

  1 At 31 December for each calendar year.

  2 Excludes two beds for emergency use only.

  3 Excludes three beds for emergency use only.

  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many beds were available in private hospitals in Wales in each year since 1979.

  Mr. Grist
  Information which relates to each calendar year since statistics became available is given below:

  Number of beds

  1982

  255

  1983

  246

  1984

  246

  1985

  246

  1986

  212

  1987

  215

  Consultants
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many National Health Service consultants held full-time and part-time contracts in the Welsh health service in each year since 1979.

  Mr. Grist
  The information is given in the following table:

  Number of consultants—as at 30 September1

  Full-time

  Part-time2

  1979

  391

  307

  1980

  404

  300

  1981

  431

  299

  1982

  443

  300

  1983

  481

  290

  1984

  500

  289

  1985

  494

  319

  1986

  504

  334

  1 Excludes locums and community staff.

  2 Includes consultants with part-time, maximum part-time and honorary contracts.

  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many consultants were working part-time and full-time in the private health sector in Wales in each year since 1979.

  Mr. Grist
  The information requested is not available centrally.

  Hospitals (Contractors)
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many contracts have been awarded in the Welsh hospital service to outside contractors in each of(a) catering, (b) cleaning, (c) laundry, (d) engineering, (e)ill be privatised in the next six months.

  Mr. Wyn Roberts
  Inter-Valley Link is expected to be sold shortly by Rhymney Valley district council. Proposals to sell any of the remaining five companies in Wales are a matter for the local authority concerned.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the ministerial advisers appointed in his Department for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in his Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.
  15
  building and (f) gardening since 1985; and what percentage of those services are performed by outside contracts.

  Mr. Grist
  Of the 78 contracts let by competitive tendering since 1985 for catering, cleaning and laundry services, one domestic contract (4 per cent. of total service costs) and one laundry contract (2·5 per cent. of total service costs) were let to private contractors. All other contracts let so far for these services have been awarded to in-house teams. There is no doubt that cost-effectiveness has been greatly improved as a result of the tendering process. Information on engineering, building and gardening services is not held centrally.

  NHS Review
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will make a statement on the impact of the National Health Service review's proposed reforms on the Welsh health service;

  (2) whether an internal market in the Welsh Health Service will be backed by a subsidised transport service to allow all patients to benefit from empty beds in other areas.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he proposes to issue a White Paper on the future of the National Health Service in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  I shall be announcing shortly the results of my review of the NHS in Wales.

  Parc Beck Allotments Society
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet representatives of the Parc Beck allotments society accompanied by the right hon. Member for Swansea, West.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  No, since there is nothing that I can usefully add to the many exchanges which I have had with the right hon. Gentleman and with representatives of the Parc Beck allotment society. The matter is one for the West Glamorgan health authority to pursue in accordance with the relevant departmental guidance.

  Local Authorities (Capital Receipts)
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the amount of accumulated capital receipts held by local authorities at the end of 1987–88; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  The total amount of accumulated capital receipts held by local authorities at the end of 1987–88 was £472 million.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Post Office (Industrial Relations)
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many representations he has received regarding industrial relations in the Post Office from(a) Conservative and (b) other hon. Members.

  Mr. Forth
  My right hon. Friend and I have received 25 such representations since the beginning of 1988, 24 of which were from hon. Friends.

  Post Office (Letters Monopoly)
  Mr. Bowis
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he has any plans to seek to end the Post Office monopoly of letter delivery.

  Mr. Forth
  We have made it clear that the Post Office's monopoly over the conveyance of letters priced at below £1 is a privilege not a right. We keep the monopoly under review and have said that in the event of cessation or serious decline in the quality of the letter service, we would consider seriously suspending the monopoly. I have, however, no present plans to do so.

  Marketing and Research Consultancies
  Dr. Hampson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many marketing or market research consultancies based out of London have been invited to tender for Government contracts.

  Mr. Forth
  During the years 1987 and 1988 17 marketing or market research consultancies based out of London were invited to tender by my Department. I am unable to provide details for other Government Departments.

  Market Research
  Dr. Hampson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the total amount spent by Government Departments and agencies on market research was in 1987–88; and what proportion was contracted out to private companies.

  Mr. Forth
  My Department's records for that year do not separately identify expenditure on market research. The cost of extracting the information manually would be disproportionate. I am unable to comment on such expenditure in other Government Departments.

  Post Office (Letter Deliveries)
  Mr. Bowis
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on Royal Mail deliveries during December 1988.

  Mr. Forth
  The quality of the letter delivery service is an operational matter for the Post Office. I understand that despite the 24-hour closure of the Coventry sorting office as a result of a letter bomb and exceptionally high levels of staff sickness, almost all mail posted on or before the latest posting dates recommended by the Post Office was delivered before Christmas day. However, a less than full service was provided in the south-west London district as a result of unofficial industrial action in nine of the 20 sub-districts.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the ministerial advisers appointed in his Department for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in his Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Forth
  The files containing the information requested are not immediately available. Information from earlier years is being gathered and I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

  Post Office Counters
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will arrange to meet the managing director of Post Office Counters to discuss the effects of the current downgrading of main post offices.

  Mr. Forth
  My right hon. Friend and I meet the members of the Post Office board regularly to discuss matters of current interest relating to the Post Office businesses.

  Textiles (China)
  Mr. Knapman
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if the details of the bilateral agreements on trade in textiles within the People's Republic of China initialled by the EC Commission last month have yet been made public.

  Mr. Alan Clarke
  The quantitative limits for 1989 imports under the agreement were published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (OJL 367) dated 31 December, recently received. However no figures for member state shares of EC-wide limits are given. These are not expected for some weeks.

  A copy of the relevant extract from OJL 367 is being placed in the Library.

  I understand that a further part of the Official Journal for 31 December has just been published, reproducing the terms of the agreement. This will be placed in the Library as soon as it is received.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

  St. Anne's Hospital, Nottingham
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what assistance his Department will give the local education authority in meeting the needs of psychiatrically disturbed children and adolescents in the Nottingham area arising from the closure of St. Anne's hospital and its hospital school.

  Mr. Butcher
  Before any maintained special school, including a hospital school, can close, the local education authority must seek the Secretary of State's approval under section 14 of the 1981 Education Act. A copy of the Department's Circular 3/82 "Section 14 of the Education Act 1981: Discontinuance of Maintained Special Schools", which explains these procedures, is available in the Library. It is for local education authorities to specify the alternative provision they will be making for pupils affected by the closure of a special school.

  No proposal to close St. Anne's hospital school has been received by the Secretary of State.

  Natural Environment Research Council (Funds)
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the level of his Department's funding of the Natural Environment Research Council for each of the past 10 years in real terms at 1988–89 prices; if he will increase the planned level of funding for the 1989–90 financial year; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Jackson
  The information for the past 10 years is as follows:18

  £ million 1988–89 prices

  1979–80

  68·3

  1980–81

  73·6

  1981–82

  77·8

  1982–83

  77·7

  1983–84

  78·9

  1984–85

  79·6

  1985–86

  78·5

  1986–87

  78·7

  1987–88

  77·9

  1988–89

  91·9

  My right hon. Friend announced on 1 November 1988, at columns 605–10, that the Science Budget for 1989–90 would be £825 million and that he would be seeking the advice of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils on the allocation of this amount. In answer to questions from my hon. Friends the Members for Rutland and Melton (Mr. Latham) on 7 November 1988 at columns 2–3 and Derbyshire, West (Mr. McLoughlin) on 8 November 1988 at columns 134–35, my right hon. Friend has already announced that he has allocated in 1989–90 an additional £3 million for the British Geological Survey and an additional £10 million for the British Antarctic Survey. The ABRC advice is now being considered. We hope to announce the allocations to the individual councils (including NERC) shortly.

  Special Educational Needs
  Mr. Key
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is his timetable for making regulations under section 17 and section 19 of the Educational Reform Act 1988 regarding provision within the national curriculum for children with special educational needs; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) if he will make it his policy not to lay before this House draft orders for mathematics and science within the national curriculum until after he has published proposals for regulations under section 17 and section 19 of the Education Reform Act 1988 regarding provision for children with special educational needs; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  There is no need for regulations under section 17 regarding provision for children with special educational needs to be drafted before orders for attainment targets and programmes of study for mathematics and science are made. The National Curriculum Council has advised my right hon. Friend that these orders should apply to all pupils without modification, with every effort being made to facilitate access for all pupils including those with a statement of special educational needs made under the Education Act 1981. My right hon. Friend proposes that the mathematics and science requirements should not, however, apply to pupils with statements of special educational needs until autumn 1990. This will give time for statements to be revised to modify or disapply the requirements if necesary.

  If section 17 regulations are needed in respect of national curriculum requirements to be introduced in 1990 and subsequently, my right hon. Friend will ensure that the necessary consultations take place in good time.

  Regulations under section 19 about temporary exemptions to national curriculum requirements will not be specific to particular subjects. It is my right hon.

  19
  Friend's intention to consult on draft regulations shortly, so that the regulations can take effect from 1 August 1989 at the same time as the first statutory requirements relating to the national curriculum.

  Teachers (Statistics)
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many people aged 40 years or over have trained since 1980 to become teachers as an alternative to their former profession and are now employed in state schools; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  In March 1986 (the latest date for which figures are available) there were about 1,800 teachers full-time in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in England who had qualified since 1980 and were aged 40 or over at the time they did so.

  Mr. Straw
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what records are kept by his Department, or which are available to his Department, in respect of the names, current addresses, experience and occupations of persons who have qualified as teachers but who are not at present employed as a teacher by any local education authority in England.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  The database of teacher records (DTR) maintained by the Department to administer the teachers' superannuation scheme contains a record of every teacher who has either had reckonable service or completed a course of initial teacher training in England and Wales. However, for teachers not at present in service the DTR would not hold any of the details listed except for their name at the time of last leaving service or completing training.

  Secondary Education (Trafford)
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he has given to groups seeking to opt-out secondary schools in Trafford.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The Department issued general advice in its circular 10/88, "Grant-Maintained Schools", and in a booklet "School Governors: How to Become A Grant-Maintained School". These were sent to the chairmen of governors of all maintained schools in England, including secondary schools in Trafford, in autumn last year.

  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information has been given by his Department to interested groups about plans of the local authority to reorganise secondary education in Trafford.

  Mr. Butcher
  The Department has informed interested parties that, in view of my right hon. Friend's role in relation to statutory proposals, it is not possible for the Department to comment on the matter. Information on the procedure for rationalising school provision was given in the Department's circular 3/87.

  AFRC Bristol
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are his reasons for reducing the operation of AFRC Bristol in view of the need to conduct heart and related research.
  20
  Mr. Jackson
  The total resources available for science are distributed taking into account the needs of individual institutions, but that distribution is not determined by my Department.

ENVIRONMENT

  Council and New Town Properties
  Mr. French
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state the total spending by local authorities and new towns in England and Wales on repairs to council and new town properties in(a) cash and (b) real terms for such financial year for the most recent 20-year period for which figures are available.

  Mr. Trippier
  Available figures for English local authorities and new towns are given in the table. For Welsh figures, I refer the hon. Member to the Secretary of State for Wales.

  Capital and revenue expenditure on renovation1

  £ million

  Cash

  1987–88 prices

  1981–82

  1,550

  2,085

  1982–83

  2,025

  2,545

  1983–84

  2,360

  2,835

  1984–85

  2,550

  2,930

  1985–86

  2,640

  2,860

  1986–87

  2,860

  3,000

  1987–88

  23,060

  23,060

  1 Excluding estimates of revenue expenditure by Northampton, Redditch and Washington new towns.

  2 Provisional.

  Figures for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Public Sector Tenants
  Mr. French
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state, for the most recent 20 year period for which figures are available, the annual rate of transfer of public sector tenants from council and new town homes to (i) owner-occupation in the private sector, not including sales of council houses, (ii) private sector flats and (iii) housing association properties.

  Mr. Trippier
  Estimated numbers of local authority and new town tenants who had moved to other tenures in the previous 12 months, other than by purchase as sitting tenants, are available from two national movers surveys carried out in the 1970s and from the 1984 labour force survey housing trailer. Estimates for England and Wales in 1971 and for England in 1977–78 and 1984 are as follows:

  Present tenure and type of accommodation

  1971

  1977–78

  1984

  Owner occupier

  House

  66,000

  46,000

  32,000

  Flat

  5,000

  Private renter

  House

  12,000

  Flat

  25,000

  25,000

  5,000

  Housing association renter

  3,000

  Type of accommodation is not available for 1971 and 1977–78.

  Urban Development Corporations (Report)
  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to respond to the House of Commons Employment Committee's report on urban development corporations.

  Mr. Trippier
  I sent the Government's response to the Committee's chairman on 29 November 1988.

  Paid Appointments
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many paid appointments to official bodies were within his gift(a) in 1979 and (b) now.

  Mr. Ridley
  Paid appointments to public bodies for which my Department is currently responsible are shown in the HMSO publication " Public Bodies 1988". Since it went to print, urban development corporations have been established at central Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield and each has 10 paid members.

  Publications in the series did not start until 1982 and there was no comparable publication in 1979. However, appointments in the gift of the Secretary of State for the Environment in 1978 are listed in the HMSO publication "A Directory of Paid Public Appointments made by Ministers 1978".

  Housebuilding (Wakefield)
  Mr. Lofthouse
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by year for the last 15 years for which figures are available the annual number of completions within Wakefield metropolitan district council area of (i) private sector houses and flats, (ii) council arid new town houses and flats, and (iii) housing associations' housing and flats.

  Mr. Trippier
  Housebuilding completions as reported by Wakefield district council for 1986 and 1987 are as follows:

  Local authority

  Housing association

  Private sector

  1986

  59

  58

  251

  1987

  54

  —

  427

  Figures for 1980 to 1985 appear in table 1 of "Housebuilding in England by local authority areas: 1980 to 1987". For earlier years figures appear in the following issues of "Local Housing Statistics":

  Year

  Issue No.

  Table

  1974

  33

  5

  1975

  37

  5

  1976

  41

  5

  1977

  45

  5

  1978

  49

  5

  1979

  59

  4

  Copies of these publications are available in the Library. Comparable figures for 1973 are not available because of the reorganisation of local government in 1974.

  Channel Tunnel (Terminal)
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to call in any application to locate the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel at King's Cross.
  22
  Mr. Chope
  The usual means of proceeding with the development of new railway schemes is by private Bill procedure. It is British Rail's intention to use this procedure for the development of the second London terminus for the Channel tunnel at King's Cross. There would, therefore, be no planning application for my right hon. Friend to call in.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contribution has been made by his Department to the selection process for the site of the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  None. It is for the promoters to put forward proposals.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what environmental impact studies have been made by his Department on the siting of the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  None. However, I would expect any Select Committee to take the environmental aspects of a second London terminus at King's Cross into account when considering a private Bill.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations have been made to his Department against the possible location of the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel at King's Cross.

  Mr. Chope
  None.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will name the organisations which have expressed an opinion in favour of(a) Stratford, (b) King's Cross, and (c) another site, as the preferred location for the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel.

  Bristol Channel (Pollution)
  Mr. Speller
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Devon, North of 21 December 1988,Official Report, column 269, if he will now take steps to collect and publish the information relating to discharges of sewage into the Bristol channel.

  Mr. Moynihan
  The information sought is already available on the public registers which the water authorities concerned are required to maintain. Registers are open to inspection free of charge at all reasonable hours.

  Water (Privatisation)
  Mr. Rooker
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if any discussions have been held or arranged with the suppliers or manufacturers of those chemicals added to the public water supply at the request of health authorities in respect of any changes in liability for the effects of these chemicals following privatisation.
  23
  Mr. Moynihan
  No.

  Housing
  Mr. Marlow
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average length of time taken to construct a unit of accommodation, the average cost and the average interest costs arising during construction, assuming all construction costs throughout the construction period are based on borrowed money(a) for direct labour organisations pertaining to inner London authorities and (b) for the private sector in inner London.

  Mr. Trippier
  This information is not available.

  Football Clubs (Membership Scheme)
  Mr. Harry Barnes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether it is his intention to extend the proposed national identity scheme to non-league football clubs who have a record of football violence should the scheme operate successfully with Football League clubs.

  Mr. Moynihan
  I hope that it will not be necessary for the national membership scheme to be extended to non-league football but the possibility is one that the Government and the Football Membership Authority would need to consider if there was evidence of a serious problem of hooliganism at non-league football clubs.

  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the organisations which have made representations in favour of his proposed national membership scheme for football supporters.

  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 12 January 1989]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 22 December at column 433. I shall be writing to him very shortly.

  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations the Minister for Sport has received from the Bedfordshire police regarding identity cards for football supporters; whether they support his proposals for identity cards for football supporters; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: The acting chief constable of Bedfordshire police wrote to me on 16 December asking whether the national membership scheme for football supporters would preclude Luton Town football club from continuing to operate its home members only scheme. My present view is that the scheme should be a national one, allowing all members to attend any match, subject to the right of the owner or occupier of any ground to exclude people whom they do not wish to admit. The Football Membership Authority will wish to look at this issue in drawing up the scheme.

  Local Authorities (Economic Development)
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 21 December to the hon. Member for Battersea (Mr. Bowis) on local authority economic development, what is his policy with regard to the future funding by local authorities of support and advisory staff for new businesses.

  Mr. Gummer
  [holding answer 10 January 1989]: Local authorities have an important role in providing advice and
  24
  suitable back-up support for new businesses in their area. The new general economic development power will enable them to do this. We are discussing with the local authority associations the precise scope of the power which will be embodied in regulations in due course.

  Luton Town FC
  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the source of his information on the number of arrests during the 1987–88 football season at Luton Town football club which took place(a) outside and (b) inside the ground; and if he will seek to provide a similar breakdown of arrest figures for the other Football League clubs.

  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 10 January 1989]: I am aware from information provided by the club that the one arrest for a drugs-related offence, made at Luton Town's home Football League matches last season was outside the ground. Arrest figures for Football League clubs are collated by the Association of Chief Police Officers. They do not differentiate between arrests inside and outside grounds.

  Football (Statistics)
  Mr. Harry Barnes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment pursuant to his answer on football statistics in the Official Report on 19 December 1988, columns 55–60, whether there is any overlap in numbers between those arrested and those ejected from grounds.

  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 10 January 1989]: No. The figures for ejections are in respect of ejections other than those following arrest.

  Mr. Harry Barnes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment pursuant to his answer on football statistics in the Official Report for 19 December 1988, columns 55–60, if he will list similar tables for matches played to date in the 1988–89 season showing clubs according to the proportion of arrests at their grounds, with the clubs with the smallest proportion of arrests first.

  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 10 January 1989]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply from my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Mr. Marlow) on 10 January at column 492.

  Oil Pollution
  Mr. Atkinson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the recent pollution of the south coast by oil.

  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 12 January 1989]: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey, South-West (Mrs. Bottomley), in reply to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) on 10 January 1989 at column 510.

  Water Authorities (Land)
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total area of land disposed of by each of the water authorities in England since 1983.
  25
  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 12 January 1989]: I have nothing to add to the information which I gave to the hon. Member in my reply of 12 December at column 415.

  Mr. Pachett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will be in a position to provide information on water authority land which is designated as(a) of special scientific interest, (b) national parks and (c) areas of outstanding beauty; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: I have no plans to make such information available. I refer the hon. Member to the recent publication by the Countryside Commission, "Sites of Conservation and Recreation value currently in the ownership of Water Authorities", which provides most of the information he seeks.

  Local Authorities (Capital Receipts)
  Dr. Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the information he has collected on the accumulated capital receipts held by local authorities at the end of 1987–88.

  Mr. Ridley
  [holding answer 12 January 1989]: The information requested is not yet available. I shall write to the hon. Member when it is available and place a copy of the information requested in the Library at that time.

  Rates
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, using 1988–89 prices, for each charging authority area(a) the revenue support grant which would be payable to that area in the first year of safety netting if there was no upper limit to contributions from authorities to the safety net, (b) the revenue support grant which would be payable without safety nets, (c) the difference between (a) and (b) and (d) the average rate payment per adult in 1988–89, showing aggregates, or, where appropriate, averages, for each class of charging authority, for each county or metropolitan area and for each region, respectively.

  Mr. Gummer
  [holding answer 22 December 1988]: The information requested has been placed in the Library of the House.

  National Rivers Authority (Correspondence)
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish his correspondence with the chairman of the National Rivers Authority advisory committees.

  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: No.

  Radioactive Waste (South Yorkshire)
  Mr. Patchett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is yet in a position to name the sites identified by United Kingdom Nirex Ltd. for deep disposal facility for radioactive waste in south Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: We have asked Nirex to put forward proposals for a radioactive waste disposal facility. My right hon. Friend expects a report shortly.

  Water (South Yorkshire)
  Mr. Patchett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution last monitored south Yorkshire's drinking water; and what were the resulting findings.

  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution does not monitor drinking water as it has no responsibility for this subject. Yorkshire water authority is responsible for monitoring the quality of its supplies.

  Water Act 1973
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) on how many occasions since the coming into force of the Water Act 1973 disputes have been submitted to him for determination under the provisions of section 11(4) of that Act; and if he will specify the local authority area in which such disputes have arisen;

  (2) on how many occasions since the coming into force of the Water Act 1973 he has issued directions under the provision of section 4(10) of that Act to the National Water Council; and what was the purpose of each such direction;

  (3) on how many occasions since the coming into force of the Water Act 1973 he has issued directions under the provisions of section 17(5) of that Act, to water authorities; and for which estuary each such direction was made;

  (4) on how many occasions since the coming into force of the Water Act 1973 he has issued directions under the provisions of section 5(2) of that Act to water authorities; and for what purpose each such direction was made.

  Mr. Moynihan
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: So far as I am aware, none of these powers has been used.

  Water Pollution
  Mr. Rooker
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the form of the current undertakings as to liability regarding the effects of any additional chemicals added to the public water supply at the request of health or other authorities.

  Mr. Freeman
  I have been asked to reply.

  I have today placed in the Library a copy of the model agreement dated November 1987 which provides the basis for discussions between health authorities and water undertakers on the terms under which fluoridation of domestic water supplies may be carried out. This includes a copy of the terms of the indemnity which is provided for water undertakers operating fluoridation schemes.

DEFENCE

  Royal Air Force Exercises
  Mr. Fearn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Royal Air Force will continue to exercise its legal right under a supplement to the 1963 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation status of forces agreement to conduct exercises outside its normal bases; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Neubert
  The Royal Air Force will continue to exercise in the Federal Republic of Germany in accordance
  27
  with the provisions of the supplementary agreement to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation status of forces agreement.

  British Army of the Rhine (Drunkenness)
  Mr. Sean Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British Army of the Rhine personnel were convicted by courts martial of drunkenness offences in each year from 1979 to 1987.

  Mr. Neubert
  The numbers of British Army of the Rhine personnel convicted by courts martial of drunkenness offences in the period specified were as follows:

  Total

  Officers

  Servicemen/women

  1979

  24

  1

  23

  1980

  19

  1

  18

  1981

  14

  —

  14

  1982

  22

  —

  22

  1983

  18

  —

  18

  1984

  9

  —

  9

  1985

  5

  —

  5

  1986

  5

  —

  5

  1987

  6

  —

  6

  HMS Bronington
  Mr. Churchill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of HMS Bronington.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  Following a competitive tender, a consortia of business men have purchased HMS Bronington. They will be placing the vessel in the hands of a charitable trust, which will ensure its permanent preservation. HMS Bronington will be leased to the Trafford Park development corporation and it proposes to preserve, maintain and use the vessel as a floating museum, representing to the general public life on board one of the Royal Navy's mine hunters. The vessel will be sited for the foreseeable future within or adjacent to the corporation's most prestigious development area, Wharfside, Manchester Docks.

  Lockerbie Air Disaster
  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel, from which services and of what ranks, have been engaged in operations at Lockerbie, following the Pan Am aircraft crash.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  A total of 7,442 man-days of assistance were provided by the three Services during the operation at Lockerbie up to 12 January. The majority of this effort was directed towards the search for bodies and wreckage. A breakdown by Service is given below:

  Service

  Man-days

  Royal Navy

  357

  Army

  2,836

  Royal Air Force

  4,249

  This assistance included a considerable number of formed units; the precise number deployed for each rank
  28
  is not held. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, up to a dozen RAF and RN helicopters carried out daily salvage and transport tasks. This commitment was subsequently reduced to two helicopters, which continued operations until 12 January. A number of photo-reconnaissance flights have been flown by the RAF to assist in the difficult task of locating the remaining salvage and the Royal Engineers assisted with the removal of the cockpit wreckage. The RAF repair and salvage squadron will continue to support the air accident investigation branch and 100 service men are still assisting with the search for wreckage.

  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what additional payments are to be made to service personnel engaged in operations at Lockerbie following the Pan Am aircraft crash, specifying the amounts of such additional payments and the ranks to which they are to be paid.

  Mr. Neubert
  Service personnel are liable for duty at all times and do not receive extra pay for working overtime or on public holidays. The Armed Forces Pay Review Body takes account of this in recommending levels of service pay, which incorparate a 10 per cent. enhancement (9 per cent. in the case of service women) known as the X-factor, in recognition of the disadvantages of service life, including liability for duty at all times without extra pay.

  There is, however, provision for a small additional payment to be made where the work undertaken is of an objectionable nature. Those service men who were involved in the recovery of bodies at Lockerbie will be eligible for this payment which is set by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body at 90p a day. In addition, modest welfare payments have been authorised: service men may make free telephone calls up to £2 in value a week and units can claim the equivalent of 50p per man per week to provide recreational facilities.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Long-term Unemployed
  Mr. Mallon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many long-term unemployed there are presently in each of the 26 district council areas in Northern Ireland.

  Mr. Viggers
  The latest unemployment figures available relate to 10 November 1988. The numbers of claimants in each district council area of Northern Ireland, who had been continuously unemployed for more than one year at that date, are as follows:—

  District Council Area

  Total

  Antrim

  1,395

  Ards

  1,275

  Armagh

  1,845

  Ballymena

  1,450

  Ballymoney

  960

  Banbridge

  714

  Belfast

  15,967

  Carrickfergus

  760

  Castlereagh

  1,276

  Coleraine

  2,019

  Cookstown

  1,348

  Craigavon

  2,527

  Derry

  5,525

  Down

  1,162

  29

  District Council Area

  Total

  Dungannon

  2,087

  Fermanagh

  2,265

  Larne

  825

  Limavady

  1,458

  Lisburn

  2,626

  Magherafelt

  1,450

  Moyle

  779

  Newry and Mourne

  3,801

  Newtownabbey

  2,067

  North Down

  1,157

  Omagh

  1,720

  Strabane

  2,067

  Northern Ireland

  60,525

  Teachers (Premature Retirement)
  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list for the years ending 31 March 1978, 1983, 1987 and 1988 the total number of teachers in Northern Ireland who were granted premature retirement on grounds of ill health.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The information is as follows:—

  Number

  Year ending 31 March 1978

  23

  Year ending 31 March 1983

  47

  Year ending 31 March 1987

  58

  Year ending 31 March 1988

  82

  Further Education
  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proposals he has for the future development of further education in Newtownards and Bangor; and if he will make a statement.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The South-Eastern Education and Library Board has plans at an advanced stage for a major extension to North Down college of further education. It has been agreed with the board of governors that this should be at the Bangor campus.

  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many temporary classrooms there are at the further education colleges in Bangor and Newtownards.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  A total of 26 at Bangor and 10 at Newtownards.

  Youth Training
  Mr. Hume
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the numbers on the youth training programme by appropriate district unit in Northern Ireland.

  Mr. Viggers
  [holding answer 21 December 1988]: At 25 November 1988 some 14,306 young people were receiving training under the youth training programme. Statistics are not available by district but are collated on a job market area basis in respect of full-time training only. Details are as follows:

  Numbers in full-lime training

  Job market area

  Numbers

  Bangor

  367

  Lisburn

  443

  Newtownards

  97

  30

  Job market area

  Numbers

  Belfast South and East

  1,770

  Belfast North and West

  1,531

  Antrim

  181

  Carrickfergus

  117

  Larne

  153

  Magherafelt

  139

  Ballymena

  560

  Ballymoney

  126

  Coleraine

  206

  Limavady

  125

  Londonderry

  1,117

  Strabane

  158

  Armagh

  93

  Cookstown

  90

  Dungannon

  169

  Enniskillen

  228

  Omagh

  366

  Portadown

  319

  Ballynahinch

  50

  Banbridge

  105

  Downpatrick

  158

  Kilkeel

  1

  Lurgan

  283

  Newcastle

  85

  Newry

  632

  Total

  9,669

  In addition an estimated 4,637 young people were in receipt of employment with training under YTP work scheme throughout Northern Ireland.

ENERGY

  Electricity Sales
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what percentage of total sales of each of the 12 area boards in the electricity supply industry in England and Wales is accounted for by customers in each of the following categories of supply(a) 10 MW-50 MW, (b) 50 MW-100 MW, (c) 100 MW-200 MW and (d) over 200 MW;

  (2) how many customers each of the 12 area boards in the electricity supply industry of England and Wales currently have in each of the following categories of supply (a) 10 MW-50 MW, (b) 50 MW-100 MW, (c) 100 MW-200 MW and (d) over 200 MW.

  Mr. Michael Spicer
  This is a matter for the area electricity boards and I am asking the individual chairmen to write to the hon. Member.

  Fulmar Oilfield (Incident)
  Mr. Doran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement describing the sequence and timings of the events of 1 January involving the failure of the anchoring system of the floating storage unit on the Fulmar field, the consequent rupture of the pipeline connecting the Fulmar platform to the floating storage unit and subsequent shutdown of oil pumping through this pipeline.

  Mr. Parkinson
  My inspectors are currently investigating an incident on the Fulmar field of the kind described, which took place on 24 December. Full information on this incident will only be available once the investigation is complete.
  31
  Preliminary indications from the operator are that the Fulmar floating storage unit (FSU) and the single anchor point leg mooring (SALM) broke loose from the anchor base at approximately 04.45 hours on 24 December 1988.

  Failure of the sea bed latch released the SALM and caused rupture of oil feed pipes at its coupling. The main pipeline was undamaged. Consequent constriction of the feed pipes prevented low oil pressure cut-outs from closing down the main oil pumps on the Fulmar A platform. It was confirmed at 5.30 am that the FSU had moved off its mooring and pumping ceased at approximately 05.35 hours.

  Mr. Doran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what are the relative locations, in terms of compass bearing and distance, of oil production platforms on the Fulmar, Auk and Clyde fields to the normal position of the mooring of the Fulmar floating storage unit.

  Mr. Parkinson
  The information is as follows:

  Fulmar 4·2 nautical miles bearing 44°(true)

  Auk 5·2 nautical miles bearing 204° (true)

  Clyde 5·5 nautical miles bearing 106° (true)

  Mr. Doran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the submarine pipelines within a 50-mile radius of the normal position of the Fulmar floating storage unit with a description of their contents and operating pressures.

  Mr. Parkinson
  The information is as follows:

  Pipeline

  Contents

  Maximum allowable operating pressure1

  Fulmar A to SALM

  Crude oil

  183

  Auk to Fulmar

  Crude oil

  148

  Clyde to Fulmar

  Crude oil

  348

  Clyde to Fulmar

  Gas

  2,175

  Fulmar to St. Fergus

  Gas

  2,750

  Ekofisk to Teesside

  Crude oil

  1,680

  Argyll base manifold to pipeline end manifold

  Crude oil

  3,000

  1 Pounds per square inch gauge

  In addition, there are a series of pipelines to the Argyll base manifold for the recovery of crude oil from subsea completions in the Innes, Duncan and New Argyll fields. The maximum allowable operating pressures in these pipelines is 3,000 psig.

  Mr. Doran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if there was any danger of rupture of pipelines in the vicinity of the Fulmar field on 1 January caused by the drifting floating storage unit dragging the remains of its mooring system across them.

  Mr. Parkinson
  No. I understand the only pipeline in the vicinity was the Ekofisk-Teeside oil line which was crossed at 11.15 hours after the Fulmar floating storage unit was under partial control. I am advised that at no time did the unit drag on the sea bottom; clearance above the Ekofisk-Teeside line was approximately 15 metres.

  Mr. Doran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what route was followed by the Fulmar floating storage unit after it broke loose on 1 January and before it was fully in control again; what was its closest approach to any installation; and what was its approximate speed of drift.
  32
  Mr. Parkinson
  Information provided to my Department indicates that the Fulmar floating storage unit drifted at 3·3 knots for three hours on a bearing of 110° (true). After four hours the drift speed slowed and the bearing changed to 125° (true) when the unit came under control of tugs. The Clyde platform was passed at 06.34 hours at a distance of 0·7 nautical miles.

  Mr. Doran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what contingency plans existed for the situation in which the Fulmar floating storage unit broke its moorings on 1 January; and whether there was a secondary, emergency anchoring system on the tanker or propulsion and steering systems for this eventuality.

  Mr. Parkinson
  Emergency procedures prepared by the operator envisage that mooring failure would be dealt with by the use of heavy duty tow lines launched by rocket to the standby vessel and other available tugs. The sector club system involving neighbouring operators provides for additional heavy duty towing, a diving support vessel and aircraft, all of which were used on this occasion.

  There was no emergency anchoring system as this is considered to be impracticable for controlling or stopping a vessel of this size under emergency conditions.

  The Fulmar floating storage unit has no propulsion or steering systems.

  Oil and Gas Installations
  Mr. Frank Doran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what standards are set by his Department regarding the resistance of North sea oil and gas installations to impact by vessels; and what information he has on the standards set by the Norwegian petroleum directorate.

  Mr. Parkinson
  The Department's current guidance on design and construction of offshore installation recommends that they be designed to withstand the impact of a ship of 2,500 tonnes displacement travelling at 0·5 metres per second, assuming that all of the kinetic energy is absorbed by the installation.

  However, following a study by J. P. Kenny, consultant engineers, which was commissioned by my Department, a consultation document is to be issued shortly recommending an increase in the energy absorbtion value for offshore installations. J. P. Kenny's technical report was published on 10 January and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House. I will send a copy of the consultation document to the hon. Member once it is available.

  I understand the requirements of the Norwegian petroleum directorate are not expressed in the same way as the United Kingdom requirement. However, I am advised that the values of kinetic energy required to be absorbed in Norway are, in effect, comparable with those to be recommended in our proposed new guidelines.

HEALTH

  Births and Deaths Registration Act
  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place a copy of the report of the Registrar General of the application of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 to the case of the Carlisle baby in the Library; and if he will make a statement.
  33
  Mr. Freeman
  The Registrar General is a Crown appointee under section 1 of the Registration Service Act 1953. The Secretary of State has no responsibilities or powers as regards the day to day exercise by the Registrar General of her functions under the Act or under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953. The Registrar General's conduct may be the subject of review by the courts. The Registrar General does not make information public about individuals which has come to her knowledge through her duties under the Births and Deaths Registration Act which is not already in the public domain.

  The background note provided by the Registrar General on the Carlisle baby case was to enable the Secretary of State to respond to parliamentary inquiries and it is not appropriate for this document to be placed in the Library. It may however be helpful if I set out the legal position with regard to registration procedures.

  Section 2 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 places a duty, primarily on the parents of a child, to give information for birth registration. This information is required to be given within 42 days of the date of birth and failure to give it may result in the local registrar issuing a notice in writing requiring any person to attend to register who is qualified to carry out the registration under the legislation. If a parent, or the mother in the case of a child born outside marriage, continues to refuse to register then that person commits an offence under section 36(c) of the 1953 Act.

  Before issuing a formal requisition and pursuing the registration the local registrar has to establish that a birth which is registrable under the 1953 Act has actually taken place. In normal circumstances this information will come via the health authority under the provision set out in section 124(7) of the National Health Service Act 1977. This enables the registrar to have access to notices of births received by a medical officer. However, these notices are required by statute only in respect of births of more than 28 weeks gestation. In the absence of such a notice, the registrar must satisfy himself from other information that a birth has occurred which is registrable under the 1953 Act before issuing a formal requisition.

  After 12 months have elapsed the local registrar's immediate responsibilities come to an end and the Registrar General's authority for registration of a birth and also of a death is required under sections 7 and 21 of the 1953 Act. The Registrar General has no powers to require any informant to register a birth or death, and if application is made to her for late registration by a qualified informant she needs to be satisfied that a registrable live birth or death have occurred.

  Infant Deaths
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information his Department has on research in different countries on the links between infant deaths and a sudden fall or rise in body temperature;

  (2) what information his Department holds on research in foreign countries examining the results on human infant health of the use of early warning temperature monitors.

  Mr. Freeman
  Departmental officials are kept informed of research developments including those in other countries through articles in learned journals and through 34
  informal contacts with colleagues in those countries. No comprehensive list of such research is however held centrally.

  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will publish in the Official Report details of any grants that his Department administers or gives for the development of technical aids or equipment by private companies which prevents the death of human infants;

  (2) if his Department is giving financial or other assistance to any private company in the research or development of an early warning temperature monitor for human infants.

  Mr. Freeman
  The Department has made no grants or given any other form of financial assistance to private companies involved in research into such subjects.

  Royal National Orthopaedic (Country) Hospital
  Mr. Dykes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will agree to receive a deputation representing relevant interests groups, including the hon. Member for Harrow, East, to assess the importance of the long-term development of the Royal National Orthopaedic (Country) hospital at its present site in Stanmore, Middlesex.

  Mr. Mellor
  I would be happy to meet such a deputation once consultation about transfer of management responsibility from Bloomsbury to Harrow is under way.

  Health Index
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what conclusions he has reached about the feasibility of creating a health index; and what decision he has taken about its implementation.

  Mr. Kenneth Clarke
  I do not believe that the construction of a single index measure of the nation's health is feasible. The state of the nation's health is best gauged by looking at a large range of different measures. In July my predecessor announced the setting up of a new small multi-disciplinary unit in the Department in line with the recommendation in the Chief Medical Officer's report on public health in England. The major function of this new unit will be to monitor and analyse information about the health of the population.

  Cancer Screening
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras of 6 December 1988,Official Report, columns 130–31, if he will place a copy of the guidance notes for health authorities on equipment requirements for breast cancer screening in the Library; whether these recommendations also apply to screening units operated in the private sector; what steps are taken to inspect private mobile screening units; how many staff are employed to perform those inspections; how many such inspections were made in 1988; and how frequently each unit is inspected, on average.

  Mr. Freeman
  Health authorities are asked to make relevant advice and guidance available to locally registered hospitals and nursing homes but they have no power to
  35
  monitor private sector screening units. Copies of the guidance notes referred to by the hon. Member have been placed in the Library.

  Blood Transfusion Service
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give, for each year since 1978, the number of staff employed to collect blood from donors by each blood transfusion service; and if he will also give for each year and each blood transfusion service the number of staff vacancies for posts intended to collect blood from donors.

  Mr. Freeman
  The information requested is not held centrally.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the ministerial advisers appointed in his Department for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in his Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Kenneth Clarke
  Since 1979 up to the formation of two separate Departments in July 1988, the Departments of Health and Social Security appointed the following ministerial advisers.

  Name

  Date of Appointment

  Department

  Prof R. Dyson

  August 1979

  DHSS

  Mr. N. True

  May 1982

  DHSS

  Mr. A. J. Turner

  February 1987

  DHSS

  Mr. C. Hendry

  May 1988

  DHSS

  DSS from

  Miss M. Libby1

  May 1988

  July 1988

  Mr. J. Hill

  July 1988

  DH

  1 Since July 1988, Miss Libby has worked only to the Secretary of State for Social Services. Mr. Hill was appointed to advise the Secretary of State for Health.

  It is not our practice to reveal the salaries of individual advisers as they are individually negotiated in relation to previous outside earnings and conditions and are therefore confidential.

  Except for Professor Dyson who was seconded into DHSS for one day per week, all salaries were paid direct to the individual adviser. Professor Dyson's employer was reimbursed on a pro-rata basis for his services.

  With the exception of Professor Dyson, who was employed as a consultant adviser on industrial relations in the NHS, all advisers were employed solely on duties outside the Department laid down by the Minister they served.

  Hip Replacements
  Mr. Richard Shepherd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average waiting time for a hip replacement operation in National Health Service hospitals in each regional health area in England and Wales; and which district has the shortest waiting time.

  Mr. Freeman
  The available information for 1985, the latest year for which data are held centrally, is given in the 36
  table. Sample numbers in the Department's central data base are too small for reliable estimates to be made below regional level. Information for Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

  Estimated median interval in weeks between the time a patient was placed on a wailing list and admission to an NHS hospital in England for total hip replacement or other arthroplasty of hip operations, by region, 1985

  Region of treatment

  Median waiting time (weeks)

  Northern

  19

  Yorkshire

  20

  Trent

  25

  East Anglian

  21

  North West Thames

  13

  North East Thames

  18

  South East Thames

  23

  South West Thames

  26

  Wessex

  28

  Oxford

  18

  South Western

  22

  West Midlands

  24

  Mersey

  16

  North Western

  19

  Liver Transplants
  Mr. Terry Davis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money is given directly to liver transplant units by his Department; how many liver transplant units are funded in this way; how much money is given to each unit; and whether he intends to increase the total amount given to liver transplant units or the number of liver transplant units receiving grants from his Department.

  Mr. Mellor
  We provide supra-regional funding to the designated units through earmarked allocations given to regional health authorities. In the financial year 1988–89 the revenue allocation provided for the four liver transplant centres was £5,038,000.

  In 1988–89 the total sum provided for this service will be £7,031,000, a 40 per cent. increase in funding. Individual allocations will be as follows:

  1988–89 £

  1989–90 £

  Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge

  1,569,000

  2,398,000

  King's College Hospital, London

  1,133,000

  1,368,000

  Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham

  1,762,000

  2,452,000

  St. James' University Hospital, Leeds

  574,000

  813,000

  We will also be providing capital allocations to two units in 1989–90. King's college hospital will receive £21,000 and Addenbrooke's £331,000.

  We have no immediate plans to increase the number of designated centres, but the supra-regional services advisory group keeps the service under review and advises Ministers accordingly.

  Factor 8
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any batches of the blood product Factor 8 have had to be discarded due to viral hepatitis B infection of the plasma pool of the blood products laboratory.

  Mr. Freeman
  Yes, occasionally finished batches of Factor 8 have to be discarded for this reason following quality control checks.

  Junior Hospital Doctors
  Mr. McCrindle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any estimates of the average hours worked by junior hospital doctors in the four Thames regional health authorities as against other health authorities in the rest of the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  We do not hold this information in the form requested.

  Mr. McCrindle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to receive the study on health authorities' plans to reduce junior hospital doctors' working hours; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  I expect to receive reports from health authorities later this month and have agreed to consider them with representatives of the British Medical Association in February.

  Consultants
  Mr. McCrindle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide separate and additional funding for health authorities to employ more consultants in areas where need can be demonstrated; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  Generally, health authorities are responsible for determining the number of consultant posts required to fulfil their service objectives and for funding these posts. However, to give an initial impetus to the "Achieving a Balance" initiative we provided central funding for 100 additional posts in general medicine, general surgery and traumatic and orthopaedic surgery. Some authorities have also used the waiting list fund to provide additional consultant sessions to help tackle the problem of long waiting lists and times.

  Mr. McCrindle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Heath what is his target for the number of consultants in the National Health Service; when he expects this target to be met; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  Regional health authorities are responsible for planning the number of consultants they require to meet service needs. Their forward plans show an average rate of expansion similar to the historical rate of growth of some 2 per cent. per annum and I would expect this to be maintained. Regional health authorities are held to account annually, through the regional review procedure, for meeting the targets that they set in their plans.

  Wakefield Health Authority
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the composition of the appointment boards for each district general manager appointed for the Wakefield health authority.

  Mr. Mellor
  We do not hold such details centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of the health authority which is responsible for the appointment of its district general manager, for the information he is seeking.

  Bradford Health Authority (Chair)
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to conduct an election among the citizens of Bradford for the new Chair of Bradford health authority.

  Mr. Mellor
  No.

  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long the post of Chair of the Bradford health authority has been empty; and if he will now announce his new appointment.

  Mr. Mellor
  Since 8 November 1988. We hope to appoint a new chairman soon.

  Waiting Lists (Yorkshire)
  Mr. Lofthouse
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made in reducing hospital waiting lists in the Yorkshire region.

  Mr. Freeman
  The most recent figures show that, at March 1988, there were 49,000 patients on the in-patient waiting list in Yorkshire region. This is over 8 per cent. lower than at March 1979.

  Waiting Lists (Pontefract)
  Mr. Lofthouse
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the in-patient waiting list figures for the Pontefract district health authority in March 1988. 1987, and 1979.

  Mr. Freeman
  The information requested is give in the table.

  In-patient waiting list Pontefract District Health Authority1 31 March 1979, 1987 and 1988.

  Year

  Total

  1979

  3,007

  1987

  2,079

  1988

  21,701

  1 Eastern Wakefield District, prior to 1982

  2 on a comparable basis with previous statistics

  Pontefract Health Authority
  Mr. Lofthouse
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his latest estimate of the projected budget deficit of the Pontefract district health authority in(a) the current financial year and (b) the next financial year.

  Mr. Mellor
  We do not collect such information centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of Pontefract health authority for the information that he is seeking. The Yorkshire regional health authority received a recent 7·7 per cent. cash increase for 1989–90, and it must decide what allocation to give to the DHA to meet its approved plan next year.

  Aplastic Anaemia
  Mr. Lofthouse
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he has any evidence that pesticides, drugs, and toxic chemicals could be the cause of aplastic anaemia;

  (2) what evidence he has available on the cause of aplastic anaemia.
  39
  Mr. Freeman
  Different disorders are sometimes classified under the term appastic anaemia. In some cases the anaemia can be attributed to a chemical including some pesticides and some drugs. High doses of radiation can also give rise to this condition. In other cases, the cause cannot be determined, that is, it may occur as a disease of unknown aetiology.

  We are aware of published evidence that prolonged exposure to very high levels of the industrial solvents benzene, toluene and carbon tetrachloride has been associated with the development of aplastic anaemia in some people. There is more limited evidence also that exposure to certain pesticides, namely chlordane, DDT, heptachlor, lindane, pentachloraphenol and those based on arsenic or mercury might cause aplastic anaemia.

  The use of all these industrial solvents is controlled, and occupational exposures are well below those at which harm has been shown to occur. Of the pesticides, heptachlor and DDT are no longer approved for use in the United Kingdom, and the others are approved for restricted use under conditions which, as with all pesticides, should avoid harmful effects occurring.

  Aplastic anaemia is recognised as a possible adverse reaction to a number of drugs. The Committee on Safety of Medicines has received from doctors over 1,000 reports associated with almost 200 medicinal products.

  There is good evidence to suggest that the antibiotic drugs chloramphenicol and phenylbutazone, which are used in veterinary practice, cause aplastic anaemia in those humans sensitive to their effects. Chloramphenicol is only administered in life-threatening conditions where no suitable alternative exists.

  Health Authorities (Meetings)
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the district health authorities in(a) the north western region and (b) the Mersey region which meet on a bi-monthly basis.

  Mr. Mellor
  The following district health authorities meet formally on a bi-monthly basis:

  (a) north western region

  Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde Health Authority

  Bury Health Authority

  Tameside and Glossop Health Authority

  (b)Mersey region

  Southport and Formby Health Authority1

  South Sefton Health Authority

  Wirral Health Authority

  Chester Health Authority

  1This year the health authority will meet in both April and May.

  Regrading
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of(a) midwives and (b) nurses on different grades following the regrading exercise.

  Mr. Mellor
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply by my right hon. and learned Friend, the Secretary of State, to the hon. Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands (Mr. Knox) on 28 November 1988 at column 147–8.

  Health Authorities (Representatives)
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide details of the numbers of local authority representatives on each district health authority
  in England and Wales.

  Mr. Mellor
  This information is available in the National Health Service (Constitution of District Health Authorities) Order 1981 (as amended)—SI 1981:1838.

HEALTH

  Health Authority Funding
  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether he has any information concerning the amount of funding transferred by each regional health authority in the latest year for which figures are available from the mental health services budget to the acute services budget;

  (2) whether his Department has issued any guidelines to regional health authorities concerning the transfer of funds from the mental health budget to the acute services budget following the closure of mental hospitals as part of the community care programme.

  Mr. Mellor
  It is for health authorities to determine what proportion of their resources to devote to the various services that they provide. Within a national framework of health care priorities, they have to determine, in the light of local needs and circumstances, how their resources can best be used.

  No guidelines have been issued to regional health authorities concerning the transfer of funds between budgets and it is not possible to assess, from information available centrally, the extent to which such transfers may have taken place.

  Number of residential care homes in North Western Region, by local authority, as at 31 March 1987 (Provisional)

  Local authority

  Elderly and younger physically handicapped

  Mentally ill1

  Mentally handicapped1

  Other client groups2 3

  Cheshire

  138

  27

  32

  1

  Lancashire

  581

  17

  55

  0

  Bolton

  44

  2

  6

  0

  Bury

  25

  1

  4

  0

  Manchester

  102

  23

  45

  1

  Oldham

  49

  5

  7

  0

  Rochdale

  33

  2

  5

  0

  Salford

  36

  6

  8

  0

  Stockport

  59

  12

  17

  0

  Tameside

  34

  2

  5

  0

  Trafford

  60

  6

  6

  0

  Wigan

  32

  8

  9

  0

  Knowsley

  9

  3

  4

  0

  Liverpool

  75

  14

  10

  2

  Sefton

  151

  5

  15

  0

  St. Helens

  13

  1

  4

  0

  Wirral

  91

  13

  25

  1

  Total

  1,532

  147

  257

  5

  1 Includes unstaffed homes and hostels.

  2 Collected from 1987 onwards.

  3 Includes alcohol drug misusers.

  Test Census
  Mr. Rooker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the criteria used for selecting the parliamentary constituencies referred to in his answer of 10 January,Official Report, column 603, in respect of the test census in 1989.

  Mr. Freeman
  The main criteria in selecting areas for the 1989 census test were to ensure that they would cover varying circumstances that would be encountered in a full census in 1991 and provide a thorough test of the response of the public to a question on ethnic group.

  In order to make sure that the procedures for delivering and collecting census forms will be effective a test covering
  42
  Health authorities are required to ensure that receipts from the sale of land at mental illness and mental handicap hospitals are specifically used to develop services for the mentally ill and mentally handicapped.

  Residential Homes (North-West)
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of residential homes established in the north western region for each of the last four years, by local authority district.

  Mr. Freeman
  Information is not readily available in the form requested. The total number of residential homes for elderly and younger physically handicapped people in the north western region by local authority for the years ending 31 March 1984 to 1986 is published in "Residential Accommodation for Elderly and Younger Physically Handicapped People: All Residents in Local Authority, Voluntary and Private Homes year ending 31 March 1981 to year ending 31 March 1986 England". The total number of homes and hostels for mentally ill and mentally handicapped people is published annually in "Homes and Hostels for Mentally Ill and Mentally Handicapped People at 31 March England". Copies of these publications are available in the Library. Provisional information for 1987 is given in the table.

  a few relatively large areas is preferable to one including many small areas. Areas where recent census tests have been held were avoided.

  The precise areas selected were local authority wards as they existed at the time of the 1981 census. The parliamentary constituencies are those including the selected wards.

  Listeria
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what action he is taking following the publication of the survey by Bristol environmental department, a copy of which has been sent to him, which indicates that listeria monocystogenes affected one in every 15 samples of pre cooked-chilled chicken;
  43
  (2) what information he has as to the proportion of cook-chill food bought from supermarkets which is potentially fatal as a result of the presence of listeria, and what steps he is taking to reduce this proportion.

  Mr. Freeman
  At the request of the Department, the public health laboratory service has been undertaking a national survey of cooked and chilled foods. The results of this survey are expected shortly. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has commissioned studies into the temperature sensitivity of listeria monocytogenes and both the Department and the Ministry are working together with retail and manufacturing sectors of industry to consider optimal production methods for these foods.

  Where a product has actually been identified as contaminated the local environmental health officers will take appropriate action in the usual way.

  A statement was issued by the Department on 12 January and this has been copied to chief environmental health officers of local authorities. A copy has been placed in the Library.

  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, in the light of new evidence of the presence of listeria in a substantial proportion of cook-chill food, he will now order the immediate suspension of the implementation of cook-chill catering in hospitals.

  Mr. Freeman
  No. The recent survey by Bristol environmental health department did not find listeria in any hospital produced cook-chill food. The one positive result came from a purchased previously prepared product that would have been subjected to further testing and processing before being released for consumption.

  Children (Safety)
  Ms. Richardson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will introduce regulations for privately-run holiday schemes and privately run out-of-school schemes to provide for the safety of children.

  Mr. Mellor
  I have no power to make such regulations under present legislation but I refer the hon. Member to my reply to her question on amendments to the Children Bill today.

  National Health Service registered nurses1 30 September each year

  Whole-time equivalents2

  Region

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1. Northern RHA

  10,270

  10,500

  10,950

  11,260

  11,560

  2. Yorkshire RHA

  11,090

  11,460

  11,890

  12,110

  12,640

  3. Trent RHA

  13,050

  13,470

  14,200

  14,640

  15,340

  4. East Anglian RHA

  5,710

  5,960

  6,250

  6,350

  6,610

  5. North West Thames RHA

  11,760

  12,160

  12,150

  12,150

  11,700

  6. North East Thames RHA

  13,440

  13,460

  13,830

  14,000

  14,340

  7. South East Thames RHA

  12,600

  12,590

  12,820

  13,200

  13,370

  8. South West Thames RHA

  10,110

  10,090

  10,190

  10,130

  10,080

  9. Wessex RHA

  8,860

  9,090

  9,420

  9,610

  9,820

  10. Oxford RHA

  6,900

  7,330

  7,530

  7,650

  7,940

  11. South Western RHA

  10,190

  10,290

  10,700

  10,870

  11,200

  12. West Midlands RHA

  15,120

  15,400

  15,980

  16,570

  17,220

  13. Mersey RHA

  7,980

  7,940

  8,220

  8,350

  8,420

  14. North Western RHA

  14,090

  14,590

  15,170

  15,550

  15,640

  20. London PG(T)

  2,430

  2,200

  2,430

  2,400

  2,420

  London Ambulance Service

  —

  —

  —

  3—

  3—

  Other statutory authorities

  —

  —

  —

  —

  10

  Childcare
  Ms. Richardson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on his proposal to seek to amend the Children Bill so as to deregulate child care facilities; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  The Government proposed in the White Paper "The Law on Child Care and Family Services" that registration requirements should not extend to private arrangements where people look after children aged over five. The Government have announced that they will table amendments to the Children Bill to amend the Nurseries and Childminders Regulation Act 1948. These will rationalise the provisions regulating private and voluntary facilities for day care, short stay and holiday arrangements for children up to age 16.

  Present provisions relating to children aged five to 16 are not well understood or enforced. Following consultation in 1988 the intention is for registration and regulation to be retained only for certain residential facilities and for it to be clarified so that it can be more readily enforced. When the amendments have been published we will of course consider representations made on them.

  Ms. Richardson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from the Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission on his proposal to seek to amend the Children Bill so as to deregulate child care facilities.

  Mr. Mellor
  I received a letter on 10 January on this subject.

  Nurses
  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by health authority the number of state enrolled nurses, state registered nurses and auxiliaries(a) in post and (b) vacancies for each year since 1983.

  Mr. Mellor
  [holding answer 12 December 1988]: The numbers of registered and enrolled nurses and nursing auxiliaries in each regional health authority at 30 September 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987 are given in the tables.
  45

  Region

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  ENGLAND TOTAL

  153,610

  156,530

  161,730

  164,840

  168,310

  1 Includes district nurses and health visitors; excludes agency staff. Includes staff in "Other statutory authorities" (for example, Public Health Laboratory Service and the Health Education Authority) not previously collected in annual manpower censuses. Figures are therefore not directly comparable with those for earlier years.

  2 All figures are independently rounded to the nearest ten (10) whole-time equivalents.

  3 Figures less than 10.

  Source: Department of Health annual census of National Health Service non-medical manpower.

  National Health Service enrolled nurses 30 September each year

  Whole-time equivalents1

  Region

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1. Northern RHA

  5,460

  5,530

  5,640

  5,650

  5,670

  2. Yorkshire RHA

  5,740

  5,830

  5,980

  5,950

  5,880

  3. Trent RHA

  6,760

  6,920

  7,180

  7,190

  7,190

  4. East Anglia RHA

  2,330

  2,470

  2,570

  2,620

  2,670

  5. North West Thames RHA

  4,520

  4,690

  4,720

  4,580

  4,340

  6. North East Thames RHA

  5,770

  5,750

  5,760

  5,560

  5,510

  7. South East Thames RHA

  5,200

  5,180

  5,210

  5,220

  5,140

  8. South West Thames RHA

  4,080

  4,080

  4,080

  3,930

  3,790

  9. Wessex RHA

  3,290

  3,350

  3,390

  3,380

  3,370

  10. Oxford RHA

  2,430

  2,540

  2,580

  2,600

  2,600

  11. South Western RHA

  4,380

  4,390

  4,520

  4,590

  4,570

  12. West Midlands RHA

  7,470

  7,620

  7,840

  7,810

  7,870

  13. Mersey RHA

  4,570

  4,630

  4,710

  4,680

  4,490

  14. North Western RHA

  6,950

  7,230

  7,300

  7,260

  7,140

  20. London PG(T)

  1,060

  1,000

  930

  920

  820

  ENGLAND TOTAL

  70,020

  71,210

  72,400

  71,930

  71,050

  1 All figures are independently rounded to the nearest ten (10) whole-time equivalents.

  Source: Department of Health annual census of NHS non-medical manpower.

  National Health Service ancillary staff1 30 September each year

  Whole-time equivalents2

  Region

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1. Northern RHA

  5,880

  5,720

  5,810

  5,930

  6,090

  2. Yorkshire RHA

  6,790

  6,690

  6,790

  6,860

  6,800

  3. Trent RHA

  8,670

  8,630

  9,020

  9,170

  9,340

  4. East Anglian RHA

  3,900

  3,820

  3,940

  3,940

  4,020

  5. North West Thames RHA

  5,360

  4,980

  5,010

  5,250

  5,270

  6. North East Thames RHA

  6,430

  6,240

  6,280

  6,190

  6,420

  7. South East Thames RHA

  6,570

  6,220

  6,110

  6,050

  6,290

  8. South West Thames RHA

  5,710

  5,560

  5,590

  5,550

  5,580

  9. Wessex RHA

  6,150

  6,210

  6,400

  6,520

  6,620

  10. Oxford RHA

  4,140

  4,170

  4,070

  4,070

  4,110

  11. South Western RHA

  7,080

  7,090

  7,300

  7,420

  7,650

  12. West Midlands RHA

  10,360

  10,160

  10,480

  10,410

  10,610

  13. Mersey RHA

  5,740

  5,480

  5,610

  5,590

  5,570

  14. North Western RHA

  8,800

  8,620

  8,730

  8,810

  8,890

  20. London PG (T)

  620

  550

  520

  510

  720

  ENGLAND TOTAL

  92,200

  90,160

  91,640

  92,250

  93,990

  1 Includes all unqualified nursing staff but excludes agency staff.

  2 All figures are independently rounded to the nearest ten (10) whole-time equivalents.

  Source: Department of Health annual census of National Health Service non-medical manpower.

  Information about vacancies is not collected by the Department. However, a sample survey for the pay review body showed the proportion of nursing and midwifery staff posts at 31 March each year which had been vacant for three months or more as:

  Percentage

  1984

  2·5

  1985

  2·5

  1986

  3·2

  1987

  3·5

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Regional Organisation
  Mr. Norris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he is yet in a position to make a full announcement of his plans for implementing the recommendations of the report of the regional organisation scrutiny team.

  Mr. Moore
  In my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) on 12 December 1988, at column 458, I said that plans for moving some work from 21 local offices in London were under consideration. We

  47
  have now decided to go ahead with moving from those offices all work that does not need face-to-face contact with the public. All of these 21 offices will remain open and continue to provide a service to callers. Indeed, we intend to improve the network of offices by opening new offices in areas not previously served.

  New Social Security centres to handle the relocated work will be set up in Glasgow, Belfast and Wigan. This means that we shall be creating over 1,000 jobs in parts of the United Kingdom where they will make a major contribution to our stated policy of encouraging economic development outside London and the south-east.

  This project is a major initiative which allows us to address the serious problems that we face in London in delivering the standard of service that we would all like to see. Our staff in London do hard and dedicated work; but we have great difficulties over recruiting and retaining staff. Moving some work to areas of the country where we shall have a more stable workforce will allow us to offer a speedier and more accurate service. By relieving pressure on our London staff will also allow them to offer a better face-to-face service to our customers. I am therefore convinced that this initiative represents a major contribution to improving the service that we give our customers.

  The report made a total of 54 recommendations for improving the way the regional organisation delivers its service. An action plan covering all the recommendations has now been produced. Copies of the action plan, and of a detailed information pack on the relocation project, have been placed in the Library.

  Pensioners (Nottingham)
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners in Nottingham are in receipt of housing benefit transitional payments.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The information is not available in the form requested. The transitional payments unit can provide details of the number of recipients in certain groups only within the area of individual local authorities. As Nottingham is covered by more than one local authority, in various surrounding areas, we cannot provide these figures. Once the majority of payments have been made, we will publish national figures showing a breakdown of the numbers of payments made to people in each local authority.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the ministerial advisers appointed in his Department for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in his Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Moore
  Since 1979 special advisers were appointed to the Department of Health and Social Security as follows:

  Name

  Date of appointment

  Professor R. Dyson

  August 1979

  Mr. N. True

  May 1982

  Mr. A. J. Turner

  February 1987

  48

  Name

  Date of appointment

  Mr. C. Hendry

  May 1988

  Miss M. Libby

  May 1988

  Following the creation of two separate Departments of State in July 1988 Miss Libby was appointed to the Department of Social Security.

  It is not our practice to reveal the salaries of individual advisers as they are individually negotiated in relation to previous outside earnings and conditions and are therefore confidential. Except for Professor Dyson who was seconded into the Department of Health and Social Security for one day per week, all salaries were paid direct to the individual adviser. Professor Dyson's employer was reimbursed on a pro-rata basis for his services.

  With the exception of Professor Dyson who was employed as a consultant adviser on industrial relations in the National Health Service, all advisers were employed on duties laid down by the Minister they served, solely in the Department.

  Income Support
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will amend regulation 8(4) of the Income Support (Transitional) Regulations 1987 to make the higher pensioner premium or disability premium available to claimants who have ceased to be entitled to mobility allowance or invalidity pension solely on account of their age.

  Mr. Scott
  No-one has reached the upper age limit for mobility allowance. People in receipt of the higher pensioner premium when they reach the upper age limit for invalidity pension retain entitlement to that premium. We have no plans at the present time to extend this premium to people who were not in receipt of the higher pensioner premium when they reached the limit.

  Benefits and Allowances
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the average length of time from receipt of claim to issuing of a decision for the following benefits during the last year for which statistics are available and in what percentage of those claims the period in question exceeded four weeks; attendance allowance, child benefit, family credit, guardians allowance, industrial disablement benefits, invalid care allowance, mobility allowance, retirement pension, severe disablement allowance, war pensions and widows benefits.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Based on the latest available data Lie average time between the date of claim and when a decision on the claim is made is as follows:

  Time

  Attendance Allowance

  7.6 weeks

  Child Benefit

  New Claims

  straightforward1

  5.96 days

  non-straightforward2

  13.15 days

  Supplementary claims

  straightforward1

  4.91 days

  non-straightforward2

  10.84 days

  Family Credit

  22.9 days

  Invalid Care Allowance

  17.0 weeks

  49

  Time

  Mobility Allowance

  7.5 weeks

  War Pensions

  27.5 weeks

  1 Claims processed by computer.

  2 Claims processed clerically.

  I regret that information is not available for the other benefits mentioned nor about the percentage of claims cleared within four weeks.

  Family Credit
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by what date he expects family credit claims to be dealt with within the statutory time limit of 14 consecutive days.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I assume that the time limit to which the hon. Member refers is that contained in section 99(1) of the Social Security Act 1975. This provides that"99—(1) An adjudication officer to whom a claim or question is submitted under section 98 shall take it into consideration and, so far as practicable, dispose of it in accordance with this section, and with procedure regulations under section 115, within 14 days of its submission to him."

  A claim for family credit is not normally submitted to an adjudication officer until all the evidence about the claim has been gathered. Claims are then determined by the adjudication officer, on average, within five days.

  Pensioners (Second-hand Clothes)
  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the price of second-hand clothes bought at jumble sales by pensioners is taken into account in the setting of local social security payments.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The income support personal allowances and premiums are set nationally, at a level intended to provide for all normal day-to-day living expenses including the purchase and replacement of clothing. It is for individuals to spend their benefit as they see fit in the light of their personal needs and preferences.

EMPLOYMENT

  Training and Enterprise Councils
  Mr. Clelland
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what total annual budget he envisages for the 100 training and enterprise councils outlined in the White Paper "Employment for the 1990s".

  Mr. Cope
  "Employment for the 1990s" indicated that the annual budget to each TEC would range between £15 million and £50 million, depending on the size of the TEC. Most of the budget would be programme money but it also included costs of administration.

  Tourism Review Committee
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he will consider the final report of the Tourism Review Committee.

  Mr. Cope
  My right hon. Friend has received the report of the tourism review at the end of last year and is currently considering it.

  Opencast Coal Mines
  Mr. Batiste
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what action he is taking, in the light of the report of Her Majesty's principal district inspector of mines and quarries on the flooding of St. Aidan's opencast coal site to(a) identify other sites of potential risk and (b) implement the inspector's principal recommendation to establish a standard form of stability analysis.

  Mr. Nicholls
  The Health and Safety Executive's mines and quarrries inspectorate has carried out a survey of all sites nationally and identified those where working was planned in the vicinity of water courses. Where necessary preventive and advisory action has taken place. Work has already started to implement HSE's recommendations by drafting a code of practice incorporating best current technical procedures and also clearly identifying areas of responsibility.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the ministerial advisers appointed in his Department for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in his Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Fowler
  The following list shows the ministerial advisers appointed or on secondment to the Employment Department since 1979. It is not our practice to reveal the salaries of individual advisers as they are individually negotiated in relation to previous outside earnings and are therefore confidential. The duties of each adviser were as laid down by the employing Minister and were for Employment Ministers only.

  List of Ministerial advisers in the Employment Department since 1979

  1979 Mr. T. A. G. Davis

  Mr. R. J. Shepherd

  1982 Mr. M. J. Dobbs (on secondment)

  1984 Mr. R. A. Ehrman

  1985 Mr. H. James (on secondment)

  1986 Mr. J. H. Hill

  1987 Mr. W. M. Lightfoot

  Labour Statistics
  Mr. Lofthouse
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people under the age of 21 years are currently unemployed in the Pontefract and Castleford constituency.

  Mr. Lee
  Following is the available information, which is also in the Library. Unemployment figures are not available for the requested age group. However, in October 1988, the latest available date, the number of unemployed claimants aged under 20 in the Pontefract and Castleford parliamentary constituency was 416.

  Mr. Lofthouse
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of unemployment in the Pontefract and Castleford constituency.

  Mr. Lee
  The information is in the Library. In November 1988 there were 4,244 unemployed claimants in Pontefract and Castleford parliamentary constituency.
  51
  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the rate of change in the unemployment figures relative to the number of notified vacancies over the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lee
  The table shows seasonally adjusted unemployment and seasonally adjusted unfilled vacancies at jobcentres in the United Kingdom for November 1987 and 1988 with the percentage change over the period.

  November

  Seasonally adjusted

  1987 (thousands)

  1988 (thousands)

  Percentage change

  Unemployed claimants1

  2,604·4

  2,108·6

  -19·0

  Unfilled vacancies2

  265·1

  244·9

  -7·6

  1 Consistent with current coverage.

  2 Recent research shows that, nationally, only about a third of vacancies are notified to jobcentres.

  Health and Safety Executive Factory Inspectors
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many Health and Safety Executive factory inspectors have been employed(a) as a whole and (b) on factory visits for each year since 1979 (i) in the Nottingham area and (ii) in the east midlands; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Nicholls
  The Health and Safety Executive's factory inspectors operate through an area office network. The numbers of factory inspectors based at the north midlands and east midlands area offices since 1979 are as follows:

  Area location

  North Midlands (Nottingham)

  East Midlands (Northampton)

  1979

  29

  29

  1980

  31

  29

  1981

  30

  26

  1982

  29

  24

  1983

  26

  23

  1984

  25

  23

  1985

  27

  23

  1986

  23

  25

  1987

  23

  26

  1988

  21

  24·5

  19891

  21

  25

  All factory inspectors employed at the Health and Safety Executive's area offices undertake factory visits.

  For 1988–89 the Government increased provision to the commission by £6·7 million gross above the level previously planned. In 1989–90 planned provision will be enhanced by a further £8·8 million gross, allowing for gross expenditure of £118·3 million. The planned provision for 1989 to 1992 allows for real growth in the Health and Safety Executive's activities over the next three years. This will enable the executive to increase the number of inspectors including factory inspectors.

  Unemployment Benefit
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people(a) within South Shields and (b) nationally had their unemployment benefit stopped because they were considered to be not available for work in the period from January to September.
  52
  Mr. Lee
  [holding answer 22 December 1988]: Information is not available in the precise form requested. However, for the period 1 January 1988 to 30 June 1988, 2,424 cases were considered in the adjudication office area which includes the town of South Shields, because of doubts about availability. From 3 March 1988 not all cases of doubt led to benefit being withheld pending a decision. Between 1 July 1988 and 30 September 1988, 2,164 cases were considered.

  It is not possible to provide national figures up to September. However, for the period 1 January 1988 to 30 June 1988, the total number of cases considered due to doubts about availability was 123,606.

CIVIL SERVICE

  Agencies
  Mr. Evennett
  To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if there has been further progress in setting up Civil Service agencies; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Luce
  I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Field).

  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make a statement on current progress towards the setting up of agencies within the Civil Service.

  Mr. Luce
  Since I last spoke to the House on this subject on 5 December 1988, Her Majesty's Stationery Office has been launched as an agency bringing the total of agencies which have been set up to three. Around 30 other candidates for agency status have been announced as under active consideration, and I expect more to be announced.

  Civil Service Unions
  Ms. Quin
  To ask the Minister for the Civil Service when he last met representatives of the Civil Service unions; and what was the content of the discussions.

  Mr. Wareing
  To ask the Minister for the Civil Service when he last met the Civil Service unions; and what subjects were discussed.

  Mr. Favell
  To ask the Minister for the Civil Service when he last met leaders of the Civil Service unions; and what subjects were discussed.

  Mr. Luce
  I have meetings from time to time with representatives of Civil Service trade unions both centrally and during visits to Civil Service establishments. A wide variety of matters are raised.

  Child Care Facilities
  Mr. Gerald Bowden
  To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what steps he is taking to improve child care facilities for civil servants.

  Mr. Luce
  The Civil Service is developing child care facilities to help staff deal with work and domestic responsibilities, thereby putting it in a position to compete with other employers in recruiting and retaining skilled and experienced staff who will be in short supply as a result
  53
  of the demographic changes in the 1990s. Some nursery facilities for under-fives are among the schemes under consideration. A number of holiday playschemes for school age children are already in operation and more are planned. An interdepartmental scheme will start in central London in the spring. There are also some local departmental schemes to help parents find good childminders. My officials are providing practical advice to Departments where required.

  Environmental Policies
  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what action is being taken to ensure that the Civil Service uses recycled paper and does not use rare tropical timber; and if he will make a statement on his Department's environmental policies.

  Mr. Luce
  A working party representing the paper industry and public sector users is encouraging use of recycled paper where this is cost effective, and HMSO publicises its availability. However, supplies of good quality waste are limited and recycled paper can be up to 50 per cent. more expensive than general purpose paper produced from virgin pulp. Imported wood pulp includes only small amounts from tropical countries, mainly from specially planted eucalyptus.

  It is my Department's practice to participate in those environmental initiatives applicable to Government Departments in general.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Eggs
  Sir Eldon Griffiths
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what is his estimate of the loss to cereal farmers arising from reduced sales to chicken and egg producers as a result of the recent fall in demand for eggs; and what plans he has to compensate feed wheat growers for this loss.

  Mr. Ryder
  There is no evidence that the recent fall in demand for eggs has had a significant effect on the ex-farm price of wheat. The level of ex-farm prices is determined by the level of demand in the market as a whole, including demand for exports, and not by demand in any particular sector.

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take steps to introduce clearer markings on eggs or egg containers to indicate to consumers whether the egg was produced by battery or free range methods.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Eggs produced under alternative systems are already marketed in packs bearing the terms "free-range eggs", "semi-intensive eggs", "perchery eggs (barn eggs)" or "deep litter eggs". Consumers may reasonably assume that packs not carrying one of these terms contain eggs which have been produced in a battery.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the European Community has given approval for the introduction of the aid scheme to the egg industry announced on 19 December 1988; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. MacGregor
  Before introducing these measures, I explained to Mr. Andriessen (then Commissioner for 54
  Agriculture) the exceptional occurrences which necessitated them. I have since sent the Commission details of the schemes, which the Government consider to fall within the terms of article 92(2)(b) of the treaty of Rome.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many egg packers have received compensation under the scheme he announced on 19th December 1988; what have been the maximum and minimum levels of compensation; what has been the average compensation payment; and what is the total amount of compensation paid to date.

  Mr. Ryder
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: So far 221 payments totalling £482,450 have been made to egg packers in the United Kingdom. Payments ranged from £90 to £45,810 with an average of £2,183. A considerable number of applications have yet to be processed to the payment stage.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many inspections of poultry farms in each of the last five years revealed salmonella enteritidis in the laying stock; and how many revealed salmonella strains other than salmonella enteritidis.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: The Zoonoses Order 1975 requires isolations of salmonella including in laying flocks to be reported. During 1988 there were 20 reports of the isolation of salmonella enteritidis in commercial table egg producing flocks. It is not possible to identify separately how many isolations of salmonella in laying flocks other than salmonella enteritidis were reported in 1988.

  As regards comparable information for previous years it is not available without disproportionate cost.

  Civil Defence College
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the posts, ranks and responsibilities of those attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation central supplies agency study held at the civil defence college in June 1984.

  Mr. Ryder
  The arrangements for hosting the NATO study in June 1984 were undertaken by my Department. Details of the proceedings, including those attending are subject to NATO security classification and I am therefore unable to provide this information.

  Water
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on how many occasions his Department has after 31 March 1978 made an order under section 19(7) of the Water Act 1973, in relation to applications made to him for an option charges order. giving the date of any such order and the location to which it applied.

  Mr. Ryder
  The power was replaced by section 62 of the Land Drainage Act 1976 but nevertheless has not been used.

  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what directions he has issued to a water authority under the provisions of section 24(11) of the Water Act 1973, since the implementation of that Act, giving details of the date and circumstances of any such order.
  55
  Mr. Ryder
  No directions have been given.

  Deer (TB)
  Mr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the organisations which have been invited to nominate representatives to form an advisory group to consider controlling tuberculosis in deer; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  My officials have written to the following organisations inviting them to nominate representatives to form an advisory group to consider setting up a deer health scheme:

  British Deer Society

  British Deer Producers Society Ltd.

  British Deer Farmers Association

  National Farmers Union

  British Veterinary Association

  Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

  The purpose of the deer health scheme will be to establish a pool of tuberculosis-free herds in Great Britain. It is not the aim of the scheme to control tuberculosis in deer. Control will be by means of the new legislative measures I announced in my statement of 15 December 1988 at columns 674–675.

  Mr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the details of his proposals for an industry funded programme for the compulsory slaughter of tuberculosis infected deer.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  In response to calls from industry for compulsory slaughter I have suggested that it might consider the possibility of an industry funded programme. Whether to proceed with such a programme, and the details of it, would depend partly on the industry's response.

  Mr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from how many organisations he is awaiting a response about the possibility of his Ministry introducing an industry-funded compulsory slaughter programme for deer infected with tuberculosis; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  My officials have written to 13 organisations in England and Wales about the measures which the Government propose to introduce and also referring to the request to the deer farming industry to consider the possibility of an industry-funded slaughter programme. A similar letter has been sent to two organisations in Scotland. The letters invited comments from the organisations consulted. Four have replied so far; responses from the others are awaited.

  Ministerial Meetings
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many meetings he or his ministerial colleagues have had in 1988 with(a) the National Farmers Union, (b) the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, (c) the Council for the Protection of Rural England, (d) the Royal Society for Nature Conservation, (e) the World Wide Fund for Nature, (f) the Friends of the Earth, (g) the National Consumer Council, (h) Consumers in the European Community Group, (i) the London Food Commission, and (j) the United Kingdom Agricultural Supply Trade Association.
  56
  Mr. MacGregor
  Ministers in my Department have contact with a vast number of organisations and individuals. These contacts include many with similar interests to those listed in the question, but also inevitably go much wider than this.

  The number of identifiable formal ministerial meetings which Ministers had during 1988, which included the national representatives of the organisations listed was: (a) 37, (b) 4, (c) 2, (d) 0, (e) 0, (f) 0, (g) 2, (h) 0, (i) 1, (j) 7. However, these meetings form just a small part of the very wide ranging contacts which my Ministers and officials have all over the country with these and other organisations.

  Bovine Somatotropin
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects the field trials on bovine somatotropin, being conducted by two pharmaceutical companies, to cease; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  This is primarily a matter for the pharmaceutical companies involved who are responsible for generating the data needed to support applications for product licences.

  Meat Inspectors
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many meat inspectors he has employed in each year since 1980; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  None. Meat inspection is the statutory responsibility of local authorities (district councils) which are required to appoint sufficient meat inspectors to carry out the duties required of them by the regulations.

  Slaughterhouses (Hygiene)
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to improve hygiene standards in slaughterhouses; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  The maintenance of hygiene standards in slaughterhouses is the statutory responsibility of local authorities (district councils). Officials of the Ministry's state veterinary service visit all slaughterhouses to give advice on the standards to be achieved. In preparation for the single market after 1992 we are discussing with other EC member states the implementation of a single set of rules for all slaughterhouses throughout the European Community.

  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take steps to ensure that standards of hygiene, and the possibility of inspection, in British slaughterhouses are not adversely affected by increases in the rate of slaughter.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Enforcement of slaughterhouse hygiene and meat inspection legislation is the responsibility of local authorities. They have the duty to ensure that all meat sold for human consumption is produced under hygienic conditions and has been inspected and passed as fit for human consumption.

  Sheep (Radiation)
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if any restrictions are place on the movement of sheep in farms in north Yorkshire as a result of the Chernobyl accident under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Extensive monitoring of sheep in north Yorkshire in 1987 revealed two breeding ewes above the level of 1,000 Bequerrels of radiocaesium per kilogramme. The animals were not destined for the food chain, but as a precaution, I served a direction on the owner of the flock preventing the movement of sheep out of the flock without my express permission. The direction remains in force.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the ministerial advisers appointed in his Department for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in his Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. MacGregor
  The special advisers appointed in this Department since May 1979 are:

  Mr. T. Boswell (part-time)

  May 1984-November 1986

  Mr. R. Gueterbock

  February 1988-Date

  It is not our practice to reveal the salaries of individual advisers, as they are individually negotiated in relation to previous outside earnings and are therefore confidential. Special advisers in this Department assist the Minister and junior Ministers in the presentation of the Government's policies for which the Department is responsible.

  Aflatoxins
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he intends to introduce a legal limit on the level of aflatoxins permitted in food; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Ryder
  Following a recommendation by the Food Advisory Committee regulations are currently being drafted placing a limit of 10 microgrammes/kilogram on the level of aflatoxins in nuts and nut products.

  Butter (Storage and Sale)
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the cost to European Economic Community and to national Government funds, respectively, of the sale of 887,105 tons of butter from public storage and of the storage aid of 264,000 tons in private storage in the period from 1 November 1987 and 31 October 1988.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  The loss on the sale of 887,105 tonnes of butter from Community intervention between 1 November 1987 and 31 October 1988 is estimated at approximately 2,145 mecu. The cost of granting private storage aid to 264,000 tonnes of butter in 1988 is estimated at approximately 70 mecu, on the assumption that all butter remained in store for the maximum 180 days. Expenditure in both these areas is met from Community funds, partly on the basis of deferred reimbursement.

  Milk Quota Scheme
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the cost to the European Community and to national Governments of the sums paid to farmers for not producing milk, under the milk quota scheme, in each year since the commencement of the scheme.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Until the 1987–88 milk quota year there was no provision for the Community to finance withdrawal from milk production. Community provision for the cost of the outgoers scheme and permanent quota cuts agreed in 1986 and the United Kingdom share of tills provision to date are as follows:

  Total cost to EC budget

  Expenditure in the United Kingdom

  Mecu

  £ million

  Mecu

  £ million

  1987–88

  129

  82

  18·9

  12·0

  1988–89

  194

  123

  28·3

  18·0

  The provision made to compensate for the temporary suspensions of quota agreed at the same time is as follows:

  Total cost to EC budget

  Expenditure in the United Kingdom

  Mecu

  £ million

  Mecu

  £ million

  1987–88

  416

  264

  61·3

  39·0

  1988–89

  572

  381

  84·3

  56·1

  All the expenditure provided for is fully financed from the Community budget.

  Member states may make separate provision to compensate producers for total or partial withdrawal from milk production. Expenditure in the United Kingdom under these arrangements has been as follows:

  £ million

  1984–85

  5·0

  1985–86

  9·6

  1986–87

  9·5

  1987–88

  11·1

  11988–89

  11·7

  1 Estimated.

  Information on spending on national schemes by other member states is not available.

  Community measures to compensate for the reduction or cessation of milk production are an essential part of a programme to reduce the total amount of milk produced in the Community. The full cost of these Community measures over seven years will be some 1·4 billion ecu. At current disposal costs, the extra spending arising from the continued production of a corresponding amount of milk would be 3·6 billion ecu.

  Butter Sales
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the total amount of butter sold from EEC public intervention storage of butter in each of the five years previous to the period 1 November 1987 to 31 October 1988.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  The information requested is most readily available on a calendar year basis. The amounts of butter sold out of EC intervention stores in calendar years 1982–1987 were as follows:
  59

  Year

  Tonnes (to nearest 100 tonnes)

  1982

  49,600

  1983

  57,100

  1984

  357,200

  1985

  336,200

  1986

  367,300

  1987

  811,400

  Source: EC Commission

  Date and Commodity

  Quantity (t)

  Destination

  Price (p/lb)

  December 1988

  Beef

  46,000

  Eastern Europe

  15·31

  Wheat

  2,232,000

  USSR/Other destinations3

  3·32

  Barley

  1,665,000

  USSR/Other destinations3

  3·0–3·12

  Wheat

  1,350,000

  China

  3·22

  1 The price is the sale price that would have been obtained if the beef had been exported from the United Kingdom, which it was not.

  2 Price is calculated from the dollar equivalent of the price actually paid by the puchaser (including mcas) converted into sterling at spot rates at time of sale.

  3 It is not possible to identify quantities destined for the USSR, which benefited from an additional subsidy of 0·13p per lb.

  Food Surpluses
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the total amount spent on the disposal of food surpluses by Government funds in the most recent annual period for which figures are available; and what were the comparable figures in each of the previous five years.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Public expenditure in the United Kingdom on exports and subsidised disposals of commodities in surplus in this country (cereals, beef and milk products) is as follows:

  £ million

  1982–83

  547·3

  1983–84

  533·2

  1984–85

  491·5

  1985–86

  449·1

  1986–87

  340·5

  1987–88

  545·5

  Set-Aside Scheme
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the

  1973

  1974

  1975

  1976

  1977

  1978

  1979

  1980

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  11988

  France

  1·1

  7·1

  7·8

  5·0

  4·5

  2·0

  0·8

  0·9

  0·6

  0·6

  0·5

  0·8

  0·9

  0·8

  0·9

  1·0

  Belgium/Luxembourg

  1·3

  2·9

  2·4

  1·2

  1·3

  1·4

  1·0

  1·3

  1·0

  1·6

  1·8

  0·6

  0·6

  2·3

  2·2

  2·5

  Netherlands

  18·2

  22·3

  22·9

  21·6

  17·8

  13·2

  10·9

  6·6

  10·4

  6·2

  13·8

  7·9

  9·7

  6·3

  3·6

  4·9

  Germany

  0·0

  10·3

  13·2

  11·0

  9·0

  4·8

  3·9

  5·8

  4·5

  3·5

  0·5

  0·4

  0·8

  0·2

  0·2

  0·2

  Ireland

  11·5

  8·0

  11·1

  12·4

  9·7

  16·9

  17·5

  15·3

  14·7

  15·9

  11·5

  14·1

  10·0

  14·5

  10·4

  12·3

  Denmark

  22·0

  20·6

  17·0

  17·9

  19·4

  20·2

  18·0

  19·9

  20·5

  21·5

  21·7

  21·7

  22·7

  21·1

  22·7

  27·5

  New Zealand

  39·0

  28·8

  25·3

  30·8

  38·2

  41·4

  47·9

  50·2

  48·3

  50·7

  50·2

  54·5

  55·3

  54·8

  60·0

  51·5

  Other

  16·9

  0·0

  0·3

  0·1

  0·1

  0·1

  0·0

  0·0

  0·0

  0·0

  0·0

  0·0

  0·0

  0·0

  0·0

  0·1

  Total

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  100·0

  1 Mainly Australia, South Africa and Poland.

  2 January to October.

  Food and Wine Sales
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the sale prices, in pence per pound, of the sales of food and wine agreed by the management committee since he last reported on these to the House.

  Mr. MacGregor
  At any one time CAP arrangements provide for a number of sales schemes from intervention and from the open market. These tend to follow established patterns, but the following sales to non-EC countries, agreed since I last replied to my hon. Friend on this subject on 8 November at column 155, have distinguishing features;

  acreage of land which will be affected by the set-aside scheme in 1989; what reductions in the production of wheat will stem from the scheme; and what is his estimate of the sums to be expended by the United Kingdom Government and by the European Economic Council; respectively.

  Mr. Ryder
  We have received applications to set aside about 60,000 hectares of arable land in the United Kingdom in the current crop year, at an estimated cost of over £11 million in 1989–90. About 42 per cent. of this expenditure would be eligible for reimbursement from Community funds. It is too early to judge what the impact of set-aside will be on wheat or other arable crop production in this country.

  Butter Imports
  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list by country of origin the percentage of imports of packet butter consumed by United Kingdom households in each year since 1973.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  The percentage share of total butter imports into the United Kingdom by country of origin since 1973 is given in the following table.

  Veterinary Medicine (Research)
  Mr. Madel
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the total amount of money that his Department is providing in the current financial year on the funding of research into veterinary medicine; to what organisations this money is given; and what sum of money is planned for the financial year 1989–90.

  Mr. Ryder
  My Department is planning to spend £10·7 million on veterinary research in 1988–89 and £10·9 million in 1989–90. These figures do not include certain costs for Ministry staff, such as superannuation which is not borne on my Department's Vote.

SCOTLAND

  Ayrshire and Arran (Hospital Sales)
  Mr. Foulkes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what agreement he has reached with Ayrshire and Arran health board regarding the responsibility for spending and concerning the application of funds received from the sale of Heathfield, Ayr County and Seafield hospitals, or any part of the three, following the opening of the South Ayrshire hospital.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  None. The allocation of receipts will be made in accordance with the rules in force when the properties are sold.

  Ayrshire and Arran Health Board
  Mr. Foulkes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the waiting list and waiting times for orphopaedic operations within the Ayrshire and Arran health board area has been each month from January 1985 to the most recent available date.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  Information on waiting lists is collected centrally twice in each year. Data on waiting lists for orthopaedic operations are not held; but the number of people waiting for admission as in-patients to orthopaedic units in Ayrshire and Arran health board hospitals at 31 March and 30 September for the years requested is set out in table 1

  The mean waiting times for those admitted from the waiting lists for operations in orthopaedic units in Ayrshire for the years requesed, is set out in table 2.

  Table 1

  Orthopaedic in-patient waiting list

  Date

  Number

  1985

  31 March

  1,220

  30 September

  1,255

  1986

  31 March

  1,369

  30 September

  1,563

  1987

  31 March

  1,593

  30 September

  1,454

  19881

  31 March

  984

  1 This figures relates to the "in-patient true waiting list" and is based on a new system of data collection. It is therefore not fully comparable with those previously collected.

  62

  Table 2

  Mean length of wait in days for cases admitted from the orthopaedic waiting lists for operations

  Month

  Mean wait

  1985

  January

  128·5

  February

  96·5

  March

  104·2

  April

  106·7

  May

  97·7

  June

  94·1

  July

  163·9

  August

  115·5

  September

  134·3

  October

  109·0

  November

  102·8

  December

  105·4

  1986

  January

  108·4

  February

  115·1

  March

  120·3

  April

  118·9

  May

  105·8

  June

  103·0

  July

  100·8

  August

  150·7

  September

  143·2

  October

  135·4

  November

  132·3

  December

  139·3

  1987

  January

  150·6

  February

  152·2

  March

  152·2

  April

  135·0

  May

  113·2

  June

  159·2

  July

  138·2

  August

  261·5

  September

  248·3

  October

  204·4

  November

  182·9

  December

  170·8

  19881

  January

  109·1

  February

  121·4

  March

  119·9

  1These figures are provisional and are based on incomplete interim data.

  Electricity Boards
  Mr. Rhodri Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of total sales of the two Scottish electricity boards is accounted for by customers in each of the following categories of supply:(a) 10 MW-50MW, (b) 50 MW-100MW, (c) 100 MW-200 MW and (d) over 200 MW;

  (2) how many customers each of the two electricity boards currently have in each of the following categories of supply: (a) 10 MW-50 MW, (b) 50 MW-100 MW. (c) 100 MW-200 MW and (d) over 200 MW.

  Mr. Lang
  This is a matter for the South of Scotland Electricity Board and the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board and I am asking the chairman to write to the hon. Member.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the ministerial advisers appointed in his
  63
  Department for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in his Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Rifkind
  The first and only special adviser in the Scottish Office, whose appointment was made in August 1987 is Mr. Graeme Carter. It is not our practice to reveal the salaries of individual advisers as they are individually negotiated in relation to previous outside earnings and are therefore confidential.

  Mr. Carter is paid directly by my Department. His duties are undertaken solely in my Department. Primarily he assists me as Secretary of State; he contributes to the preparation of speeches and supports my ministerial and colleagues in the Scottish Office as far as time permits.

  Three and four year olds in education authority nursery schools

  1978

  1979

  1980

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1987

  1987

  three years old

  four years old

  Number

  Borders

  299

  313

  301

  363

  387

  394

  359

  390

  68

  322

  Central

  1,399

  1,512

  1,681

  1,858

  1,960

  2,166

  2,210

  2,492

  593

  1,899

  Dumfries and Galloway

  253

  257

  266

  247

  271

  287

  316

  428

  80

  348

  Fife

  3,192

  3,235

  3,280

  3,142

  3,439

  3,805

  3,993

  4,193

  805

  3,388

  Grampian

  2,233

  2,196

  2,222

  2,244

  2,235

  2,425

  2,433

  2,678

  610

  2,068

  Highland

  331

  455

  484

  519

  567

  580

  618

  617

  109

  508

  Lothian

  6,718

  6,529

  6,795

  6,799

  7,045

  7,477

  7,966

  7,965

  2,991

  4,974

  Strathclyde

  14,501

  14,768

  14,841

  15,406

  16,071

  16,793

  17,376

  17,551

  5,185

  12,366

  Tayside

  1,841

  1,933

  2,007

  2,014

  2,097

  2,112

  2,136

  2,344

  757

  1,587

  Orkney

  78

  96

  93

  74

  85

  89

  92

  83

  25

  58

  Shetland

  32

  86

  99

  91

  85

  82

  102

  110

  52

  58

  Western Isles

  160

  11

  162

  156

  169

  146

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Scotland Total

  31,037

  31,531

  32,231

  32,913

  34,411

  36,356

  37,601

  38,851

  11,275

  27,576

  Percentage of children in population

  Borders

  12·2

  12·8

  13·7

  17·1

  17·5

  16·6

  15·2

  16·6

  5·9

  27·0

  Central

  19·3

  21·4

  25·2

  28·8

  29·3

  31·2

  31·2

  37·8

  18·4

  56·4

  Dumfries and Galloway

  7·0

  7·4

  8·4

  8·0

  8·1

  7·9

  8·7

  12·7

  4·8

  20·6

  Fife

  35·4

  36·3

  38·3

  39·3

  40·8

  42·2

  42·8

  48·5

  18·7

  78·0

  Grampian

  18·2

  18·0

  18·7

  19·4

  18·3

  18·6

  18·6

  21·2

  9·7

  32·6

  Highland

  6·3

  8·5

  9·1

  10·2

  10·7

  10·3

  10·5

  11·6

  4·1

  19·0

  Lothian

  36·0

  36·6

  40·4

  43·0

  43·3

  43·8

  45·3

  47·8

  36·4

  59·0

  Strathclyde

  22·2

  23·2

  24·7

  27·7

  27·8

  27·7

  27·6

  29·6

  17·7

  41·2

  Tayside

  18·5

  20·4

  22·1

  23·2

  23·5

  23·0

  22·6

  25·1

  16·1

  34·3

  Orkney

  16·8

  19·4

  19·3

  14·9

  16·5

  17·9

  18·3

  18·3

  11·3

  24·9

  Shetland

  4·5

  11·7

  13·2

  12·1

  22·1

  11·1

  13·6

  17·7

  17·0

  18·4

  Western Isles

  19·2

  16·8

  18·4

  19·3

  19·7

  16·2

  0·0

  0·0

  0·0

  0·0

  Scotland Total

  22·9

  23·8

  25·6

  27·8

  27·9

  28·0

  28·2

  30·8

  18·1

  43·3

  Local Authorities (Capital Expenditure)
  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total amount of capital expenditure requested by local education authorities in each of the years from 1979–80 to the latest date for which information is available, in cash and real terms.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The following table gives the total value of capital expenditure provision requested by local authorities in Scotland for educational building of all kinds in each of the years from 1982–83 to 1989–90. Requests by authorities for capital expenditure provision in earlier years were not aggregated nationally.

  Provision requested by local authorities for capital expenditure on educational building

  Health Boards (Chairmen)
  Mr. Doran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which of the chairmen of the Scottish health boards are participants in the performance related pay scheme.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  None.

  Nursery Education
  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of children aged three and four years were in receipt of nursery education in each local education authority area for Scotland in each of the years 1978–79 to the latest date for which information is available.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The figures for nursery schools and departments at each September for which information is available are set out in the tables:

  Year

  At outturn prices

  At 1987–88 prices (£m)

  1982–83

  56·863

  71·618

  1983–84

  57·758

  69·576

  1984–85

  52·748

  69·576

  1985–86

  60·900

  66·252

  1986–87

  71·721

  75·505

  1987–88

  66·010

  66·010

  1988–89

  89·512

  84·247

  1989–90

  90·089

  80·752

  Note—The outturn figures have been converted to 1987–88 prices using the GDP deflator.

  Assisted Places Scheme
  Mr McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total number of children placed for
  65
  the assisted places scheme in non-maintained and independent schools as a percentage of the total number of children in each year since the scheme's introduction.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The information is as follows:

  School Year

  Number1 of Assisted Pupils as a Percentage of Total Pupils in Independent and Grant Aided Schools2 (per cent.)

  1981–82

  2·43

  1982–83

  4·6

  1983–84

  5·86

  1984–85

  6·92

  1985–86

  8·21

  1986–87

  8·15

  1987–881

  8·21

  1 Provisional figure

  2 Grant-aided Schools included in years 1981–82 to 1984–85 only

  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give an estimate of expenditure on assisted places scheme and of the number of children likely to benefit from the scheme in each of the years 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The estimate for expenditure on the scheme in the school year 1988–89 is £5·9 million covering about 2,670 pupils. It is planned that spending on the scheme will rise to £6·8 million and to £7·7 million in the respective school years 1989–90 and 1990–91 and that the number of children benefiting should rise to over 3,000 by the school year 1991–92.

  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what was the total amount of expenditure given under the assisted places scheme in each year since its introduction;

  (2) what was the total number of children in non-maintained independent schools financed by the assisted places scheme in each year since its introduction.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The information is as follows:

  School year

  Total expenditure £'000s

  Number of assisted pupils

  1981–82

  799

  790

  1982–83

  1,718

  1,450

  1983–84

  2,454

  1,900

  1984–85

  3,299

  2,270

  1985–86

  4,217

  2,620

  1986–87

  4,861

  2,626

  1987–881

  5,360

  2,672

  1 Provisional figures.

  Non-maintained Independent Schools
  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide a complete list of the non-maintained schools in Scotland for each of the years 1978–79 to 1987–88.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The information is as follows:

  INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS 1978–79

  Borders

  Garvald School

  St. Mary's School

  Central

  Beaconhurst Grange School

  Camphill (Blairdrummond) School

  Kindergarten School

  66

  Queen Victoria School

  Struan House School

  Dumfries and Galloway

  Crowfordton House School

  Kilquanity House School

  Merton Hall

  Orchardton House School

  Rickerby House School

  St. Kiaran's School

  St. Ninian' School

  The Monken Hadley School

  Warriston School

  Fife

  Craigflower School

  Inchkeith Private School

  New Park School

  St. Leonards and St. Katherines School

  Seaview Private School

  Highland

  East Sutherland

  Christian School

  Fort Augustus Abbey School

  Raddery School

  Lothian

  Algrade School

  Belhaven Hill School

  Cargilfield School

  Cliftonhall School

  Columcille School

  Compass School

  St. Denis and Cranley School

  Edinburgh Academy

  Fettes College

  Gillsland Park School

  Hillside School

  Holt School

  Lereto School

  Merchiston Castle School

  Murrayfield School for Spastics

  Murrayfield Kindergarten

  Oxenfoord Castle School

  St. Georges School for Girls

  St. Hilary's School

  St. Margaret's Convent School

  St. Margaret's School for Girls

  St. Serfs School

  The American School of Edinburgh

  The Rudolf Steiner School

  Grampian

  Aberdeen Waldorf School

  Aberlour House

  Blairmore School

  Blairs College

  Camphill Rudolph Steiner School

  Garden House

  Gordonstoun School

  Lathallan School

  Linn Moor

  Rosebrae School

  St. Marie's Convent School

  Templehill Community School

  The American School of Aberdeen

  Total Oil Marine's French School

  Strathclyde

  Atholl Preparatory School

  Barrowfield Community School

  Belmont House School

  Calderwood Lodge Jewish Primary

  Dairsie House School

  Dardenne School

  Deanhouse School

  Drumley House School

  Fernhill School

  Franciscan Convent School

  67

  Glasgow Academy

  Keil School

  Lomond School

  Our Lady and St. Ita's School

  Park Lodge School

  Regina Mundi Preparatory School

  St. Columba's College

  St. Francis Xavier College

  St. Francis Primary School

  St. Kevin's School

  St. Ronan's Preparatory School

  Springbank School

  Southannan School

  The High School of Glasgow

  Wellington School

  Tayside

  Ardvreck School

  Butterstone House School

  Centre 535

  Convent of the Sacred Heart (now known as Kilgraston School)

  Craigclowan School

  Croftinloan School

  Ochil Tower

  Rannoch School

  Strathallan School

  Trinity College (now known as Glenalmond)

  Changes since 1978–79

  Schools Opened

  Schools Closed

  1979–80

  Strathclyde

  Highland

  Muslim Mission School

  East Sutherland

  St. Francis Primary

  Christian School

  Strathclyde

  Barrowfield Community School

  Franciscan Convent School

  Tayside

  Centre 535

  1980–81

  Lothian

  Central

  Hillside School Co-operative

  Camphill (Blairdrummond)

  Kindergarten School

  Fife

  Craigflower

  Lothian

  Gillsland Park School

  Holt School

  1981–82

  Dumfries and Galloway

  Dumfries and Galloway

  Abercree House School

  Orchardton House School

  Lothian

  St. Kiaran's School

  Dunedin School Co-operative

  St. Ninian's School

  Lothian

  Hillside School Co-operative

  1982–83

  Fife

  Grampian

  Starley Hall School

  Templehill Community School

  Strathclyde

  Strathclyde

  Gask House School

  Calderwood Lodge

  Glasgow Christian

  Regina Mundi Preparatory School

  1983–84

  Lothian

  Lothian

  Hillside School

  St. Hilary's School

  Westerlea School for Spastics (Formerly Murrayfield)

  68

  Schools Opened

  Schools Closed

  Strathclyde

  Dardene School

  Dean House School

  Glasgow Christian Academy

  St. Columba's College

  1984–85

  Dumfries and Galloway

  Dumfries and Galloway

  Woodlands School

  Monken Haldey School

  Warriston School

  Fife

  Strathclyde

  Hillside School

  Our Lady and St. Ita's School

  Lothian

  St. Mary's Music School1

  Stathclyde

  Hamilton College

  Red Brae Residential School

  1985–86

  Central

  Dumfries and Galloway

  Dollar Adademy

  Abercree School

  Rickerby House School

  Dumfries and Galloway

  Lamachan School (formerly Abercree)

  Grampian

  Garden House School

  Eskdalemuir Childrens Workshop

  Lothian

  Algrade School

  Grampian

  Columcille School

  Albyn School1

  Glenmillan School

  Strathclyde

  Robert Gordon's College1

  St. Francis Xavier School

  St. Margaret's Aberdeen1

  Lothian

  Mary Erskine School1

  Daniel Stewart's and

  Melville College1

  George Watson's College1

  George Heriot's School1

  Strathclyde

  Craigholme School for Girls1

  Hutchesons' Grammar School1

  Kelvinside Academy1

  Laurel Bank School1

  Living Waters Christian School

  Park School1

  St. Aloysius College1

  St. Columba's School1

  Wesbourne School for Girls1

  Tayside

  High School of Dundee1

  Morrison's Academy1

  Parkview School

  Trinity School

  1986–87

  Central

  Grampian

  Snowdon House

  Glen Millan School

  St. Marie's Convent School

  Grampian

  Glen Morven Preparatory School

  Dutch School

  Causewayhead

  Lothian

  Moray Steiner School

  St. Margaret's Convent School

  Oakbank School

  69

  Schools Opened

  Schools Closed

  Lothian

  Strathclyde

  St. Joseph's School

  St. Kevin's School

  Wellington School

  Penicuik

  Strathclyde

  Loaningdale School

  Torass Emess Jewish Day School

  Balnacraig School

  1987–88

  Central

  Dumfries and Galloway

  Lendrick Muir

  Lamachan School

  Eskdalemuir Children's1 Workshop

  Fife

  Kingdom Christian School

  Grampian

  Blair's College

  Grampian

  The Hamilton

  Strathclyde

  Muslim Mission School

  Highland

  Scoraig School

  Lothian

  Regius School

  Mannafield Christian School

  Newtown Preparatory School

  Strathclyde

  Ballikinrain School

  Giesland School

  Glasgow Steiner School

  Goodshepherd Centre

  Kibble School

  at. Philip s school

  Springboig St. John's Wee Friends Primary School

  Tayside

  Redgorton School

  1 Former grant-aided secondary schools.

  Table 1: Expenditure per pupil on text and library books and on educational tools, equipment and materials at outturn prices

  (£)

  Books

  Educational tools, equipment and materials

  Year

  Primary

  Secondary

  Primary

  Secondary

  1978–79

  4·54

  8·31

  n/a

  n/a

  1979–80

  5·49

  9·61

  n/a

  n/a

  1980–81

  5·84

  9·29

  n/a

  n/a

  1981–82

  6·54

  9·77

  n/a

  n/a

  1982–83

  7·03

  10·03

  8·18

  27·33

  1983–84

  8·99

  13·35

  7·28

  25·36

  1984–85

  9·55

  13·83

  8·91

  30·09

  1985–86

  891

  13·47

  8·33

  30·26

  1986–87

  10·93

  16·67

  8·92

  33·85

  1987–88

  11·68

  18·26

  11·40

  42·39

  Table 2: Expenditure per pupil on text and library books and on educational tools, equipment and materials adjusted to 1987–88 prices using the GDP deflator

  (£)

  Books

  Educational tools, equipment and materials

  Year

  Primary

  Secondary

  Primary

  Secondary

  1978–79

  9·32

  17·05

  n/a

  n/a

  1979–80

  9·64

  16·87

  n/a

  n/a

  1980–81

  8·66

  13·77

  n/a

  n/a

  70
  Mr. Henry McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give(a) the number of children attending non-maintained independent schools and (b) that number as a percentage of the total number of children attending all schools for each of the local education authority areas.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  Information related to the areas of schools attended at September 1987 is given in the table:

  pupils us in independent schools

  pupils in independent schools as a percentage of all pupils

  Borders

  140

  0·9

  Central

  1,500

  3·2

  Dumfries and Galloway

  190

  0·8

  Fife

  750

  1·3

  Grampian

  3,690

  4·5

  Highland

  120

  0·3

  Lothian

  11,350

  9·7

  Strathclyde

  10,870

  2·8

  Tayside

  3,910

  6·3

  Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles

  —

  —

  Scotland

  32,510

  3·9

  Books and Equipment (Expenditure)
  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the expenditure per pupil on books and on equipment in(a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools at the end of each year since 1978–79 in cash terms and real terms using 1987–88 prices and using an index of 100 for 1978–79.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The information available is given in the following tables which have been compiled from local authority financial returns. Expenditure on equipment was not separately identified in these returns until 1982–83. There have been some variations from year to year in the recording of expenditure under these two headings. In particular some of the figures for expenditure on library books may include some expenditure on items of equipment.
  71

  Books

  Educational tools, equipment and materials

  Year

  Primary

  Secondary

  Primary

  Secondary

  1981–82

  8·83

  13·20

  n/a

  n/a

  1982–83

  8·85

  12·63

  10·30

  34·42

  1983–84

  10·83

  16·08

  8·77

  30·55

  1984–85

  10·95

  15·86

  10·22

  34·50

  1985–86

  9·69

  14·65

  9·06

  32·92

  1986–87

  11·51

  17·55

  9·39

  35·64

  1987–88

  11·68

  18·26

  11·40

  42·39

  Table 3: Expenditure per pupil on text and library books at outturn prices expressed as an index with 1978–79 = 100

  Year

  Primary

  Secondary

  1978–79

  100

  100

  1979–80

  120·9

  115·6

  1980–81

  128·6

  111·8

  1981–82

  144·1

  117·6

  1982–83

  154·8

  120·7

  1983–84

  198·0

  160·6

  1984–85

  210·4

  166·4

  1985–86

  196·3

  162·1

  1986–87

  240·7

  200·6

  1987–88

  257·3

  219·7

  Table 4: Expenditure per pupil on text and library books adjusted to 1987–88 prices using the GDP deflator, expressed as an index with 1978–79=100

  Year

  Primary

  Secondary

  1978–79

  100

  100

  1979–80

  103·4

  98·9

  1980–81

  92·9

  80·8

  1981–82

  94·7

  77·4

  1982–83

  95·0

  79·9

  1983–84

  116·2

  94·3

  1984–85

  117·5

  93·0

  1985–86

  104·0

  85·9

  1986–87

  123·5

  102·9

  1987–88

  125·3

  107·1

  Education (Capital Expenditure)
  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total capital expenditure for(a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) further education in each of the years from 1979 to the latest date for which information is available, in cash and real terms.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The information available is given in the following table, which has been compiled from local authority capital payment returns. Expenditure on primary and secondary schools is not separately identified in these returns. The reduction in expenditure in real terms during the period reflects a substantial and progressive decline in pupil numbers.

  Capital expenditure by local authorities

  £ million

  Primary and secondary schools

  Further education

  Year

  At outturn prices

  At 1987–88 prices

  At outturn prices

  At 1987–88 prices

  1979–80

  44·958

  78·936

  5·328

  9·355

  1980–81

  49·637

  73·580

  3·408

  5·052

  1981–82

  55·165

  74·443

  3·865

  5·216

  1982–83

  49·728

  62·631

  5·497

  6·923

  1983–84

  43·359

  52·230

  6·687

  8·055

  1984–85

  43·431

  49·798

  5·683

  6·516

  1985–86

  48·368

  52·618

  4·384

  4·769

  72

  Primary and secondary schools

  Further education

  Year

  At outturn prices

  At 1987–88 prices

  At outturn prices

  At 1987–88 prices

  1986–87

  43·011

  45·280

  4·339

  4·568

  1987–88

  44·340

  44·340

  9·388

  9·388

  Note

  The outturn figures have been converted to 1987–88 prices using th GDP deflator.

  Museums and Galleries (Attendances)
  Mr. Faulds
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will publish in the Official Report the attendance figures for 1988 reported by the national museums and galleries in Scotland, broken down into the individual institutions but including their outstations, with figures in each case of the percentage increase or decrease on the attendance figures for 1987.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The information is as follows:

  1988

  Percentage change since 1987

  National Galleries of Scotland

  510,547

  - 2·6

  National Museums of Scotland

  688,187

  + 25·7

  The national galleries of Scotland comprise the national gallery of Scotland, the Scottish national gallery of modern art and the Scottish national portrait gallery. The national museums of Scotland comprise the Royal museum of Scotland buildings at Chambers street and Queen street, Edinburgh, the Scottish agricultural museum, the Scottish united services museum, the Museum of flight and the Shambellie museum of costume.

  Ex-Members (Appointments)
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the appointments to public bodies which he has made in respect of(a) the Earl of Ancram, (b) Mr. Michael Hirst, (c) Sir Alex Fletcher, (d) Mrs. Anna McCurley, (e) Mr. John McKay, (f) Mr. Alex Pollock, (g) Mr. Barry Henderson, (h) Mr. John Corrie, (i) Mr. Albert McQuarrie and (j) Mr. Gerry Malone since June 1987.

  Mr. Rifkind
  [holding answer 19 December 1988]: I have made the following appointments:

  Michael Ancram:

  Member, Board of Scottish Homes

  Member, Board of Governors, Napier Polytechnic of Edinburgh

  Michael Hirst:

  Member of the Board of Governors, the Queens College, Glasgow

  73
  Sir Alex Fletcher:

  Member, Scottish Development Agency

  I have not appointed any of the other persons named to any public body.

THE ARTS

  Public Building Contracts
  Mr. Gregory
  To ask the Minister for the Arts if consideration has been given to a scheme whereby a proportion of the value of public building contracts would be awarded to the arts.

  Mr. Knapman
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what is his policy towards Per Cent for the Arts; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Luce
  I see the great potential of the Per Cent. for Art scheme on a voluntary basis. I welcome the Arts Council's appointment of a steering group to actively promote the scheme and await progress with interest.

  Travelling Exhibitions
  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what are the objectives of the travelling exhibition unit of the Museums and Galleries Commission.

  Mr. Luce
  I attach great importance to the lending of works of art and I am promoting this through my funding of the travelling exhibitions unit and through the Government indemnity scheme. I had the pleasure last week of visiting the unit to see its work of encouraging exhibition touring at first hand.

  I am glad to announce that I have agreed additional funding of £42,000 for the travelling exhibitions unit in 1988–89, to facilitate a touring exhibition drawing on material from the national collections, and to enable the MGC to appoint an adviser on environmental standards and controls.

  Victoria and Albert Museum
  Mr. Sedgemore
  To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he has met the board of trustees of the Victoria and Albert museum since March, to discuss the report of the National Audit Office.

  Mr. Luce
  I met Lord Armstrong, chairman of the Victoria and Albert museum trustees, and Mrs. Elizabeth Esteve-Coll, director of the museum in October last year. A number of important issues were discussed including points raised in the National Audit Office report.

  The Government are considering the report of the Public Accounts Committee on the management of collections of the English national museums and galleries, and will respond as soon as possible.

  Museums and Galleries
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what additional funds have been made available to English national museums and galleries, since March, in response to the report of the National Audit Office on the management of the collections of the English national museums and galleries.

  Mr. Luce
  Last November I announced the grant-in-aid allocations to the national museums and galleries, which I74
  sponsor, to the year 1991–92, rolling forward the three-year funding settlement introduced in 1987. The allocations were intended to help the national institutions in tackling their priority concerns in the management of their collections, including conservation, storage, documentation and building maintenance. An additional £13 million is allocated in 1991–92 for these purposes.

  The Government are considering the report of the Public Accounts Committee on the management of collections of the English national museums and galleries, and will respond as soon as possible.

  Mr. Haynes
  To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he plans to increase the level of staffing in English national museums and galleries.

  Mr. Wareing
  To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he plans to increase the staffing levels in English national museums and galleries.

  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what plans he has to increase the level of staffing in national museums.

  Mr. Luce
  On 3 November I announced increased funding for the National Museums and Galleries as part of the rolling forward of the arts settlement into a new third year, 1991–92. An additional £13 million has been allocated in 1991–92 to help institutions deal with their priority areas of concern. The allocation of these extra resources by institutions is, however, a matter for individual boards of trustees.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Minister for the Arts how many posts are currently vacant in English national museums and galleries.

  Mr. Luce
  The information is not available in the precise form requested. It is for the director and trustees of individual institutions to consider how the planned number of staff in post should compare with an institution's theoretical staffing complement.

  Mrs. Beckett
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what action he has taken since March 1988 in response to the National Audit Office report "on the management of the collections of the English national museums and galleries".

  Mr. Luce
  On 3 November I announced increased funding for the national museums and galleries for the new three-year settlement period. An additional £13 million has been allocated in 1991–92 to help institutions deal with their priority areas of concern, including conservation, storage and building maintenance.

  The Government are considering the report of the Public Accounts Committee on the management of the collections of the English national museums and galleries and will make their response as soon as possible.

  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Minister for the Arts when he expects to respond to the first report of the Public Accounts Committee on the management of the collections of the English national museums and galleries HC 28; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Luce
  The Government are considering the report's recommendations and will respond as soon as possible.

  Museums (Conservation)
  Dr. Marek
  To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he plans to increase the funds available for conservation in national museums.

  Mr. Luce
  In the new three-year allocations announced in November I responded to the priorities indicated in the institutions' own corporate plans and increased their provisions by £13 million in 1991–92 for the important work of conservation, storage, documentation, and building and maintenance.

  Museum of the Moving Image
  Mr. Gerald Bowden
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what figures he has for attendances at the museum of the moving image.

  Mr. Luce
  Over 150,000 people have visited the museum of moving image since it opened in mid-September 1988. This is an excellent start and well above the orginal target figure.

  Dance Companies
  Mr. Robert G. Hughes
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what is his estimate of the number of professional dance companies in Great Britain at the end of 1988, 1983 and 1978.

  Mr. Luce
  A total of 34 professional dance companies are funded by the Arts Council and regional arts associations. There are a number of companies existing solely on private funds. Figures requested for earlier years are not available.

  London Museums (Attendance)
  Mr. Bowis
  To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will give the latest figures for museum attendance in London.

  Mr. Luce
  I understand that the estimated number of visitors to museums and galleries in London during 1987 was over 23 million. This is based on the English Tourist Board's sight-seeing survey. The figures for 1988 are not yet available.

  Regional Arts Associations
  Mr. Maclennan
  To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he has any plans to alter the present autonomy of regional arts associations.

  Mr. Luce
  I refer the hon. Member to my recent announcement of a review of the structure and organisation for support of the arts in England at column 255 of 8 December.

  Arts (Devon)
  Mr. Speller
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what specific proposals he has for assistance to the arts in Devon for 1989.

  Mr. Luce
  Provision for the arts in Devon is a matter for the local authority and the south-west regional arts association. The latter invested £453,000 in the county in 1987–88. South-West Arts, together with Devon county 76
  council and eight district councils, have also commissioned a strategy review for the arts in Devon which should be concluded by March 1989.

  British Museum
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he has met the chairman of the trustees of the British museum since 22 March to discuss the state of his museum's collection.

  Mr. Luce
  I have met the chairman and director of the museum on a number of occasions in recent months, and my Department is in frequent touch on a wide range of matters with the British museum and with the other institutions which I sponsor. The management of the collections of the British museum is a matter for the trustees and the director.

  Arts Bodies (Secondments)
  Mr. Jack
  To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he is aware of any secondments to arts bodies by companies in the United Kingdom of employees possessing managerial or marketing skills.

  Mr. Luce
  There have been many valuable secondments and attachments to arts bodies over the years. Business in the Arts—an organisation set up by the business community expressly to provide this kind of support for the arts—aims to expand these. In addition, many business men and women sit on the boards of arts bodies and give freely of their time and skills in this way.

  National Film and Television School
  Mr. Greg Knight
  To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will make a statement as to the future of the national film and television school.

  Mr. Luce
  The school continues to play an important role in providing training for directors, camera staff and other specialists for the audio-visual industry. It is currently developing longer term plans which I shall be looking at with interest. Funding for the school will rise from £1·6 million in 1988–89 to £1·8 million in 1991–92.

  Arts (Funding)
  Mr. John Greenway
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what increases in private and corporate funds for the arts he expects to be generated following his recent arts settlement.

  Mr. Luce
  I am confident that the substantial and continuing provision of Government support for the arts, and the introduction of schemes of incentive funding, will generate growth in private and corporate funding for the arts activities which I sponsor. I welcome the Arts Council's initiative in its recently published five-year plan, to set targets for the private sector support which it seeks to encourage.

  Mr. Jessel
  to ask the Minister of the Arts if he will make a statement on Government support for the arts.

  Mr. Luce
  I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend for Warrington, South (Mr. Butler) on 3 November at column 705.

  Art Treasures (Preservation)
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what action he is taking to protect Britain's art treasures from deterioration because of poor storage conditions and the backlog of conservation work; what assistance he will be giving to museums so that an up-to-date stock record of treasures is made; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Luce
  Last November I announced the grant-in-aid allocations to the national museums and galleries which I sponsor, to the year 1991–92, rolling forward the three-year funding settlement introduced in 1987. I have made increases specifically to help the national institutions in tackling their priority concerns in the management of their collections, including their conservation, storage, and documentation, and building maintenance.

NATIONAL FINANCE

  Civil Service (Recruitment)
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government on the re-employment in the Civil Service of persons retired on grounds of invalidity by the European Economic Community Commission.

  Mr. Brooke
  The Community terms of service common to all its institutions do not recognise any form of secondment from national Civil Services for permanent staff; officers must therefore resign from the United Kingdom Civil Service on taking up a permanent appointment with the Communities. Departments have discretion to offer their staffs undertakings about re-instatement. An officer who has been absent for more than five years and is aged 55 or over has no right of return. The normal pre-appointment inquiries carried out by a Department before a reinstated candidate takes up appointment include a check on health.

  Civil Service (Dispersal)
  Mr. Beith
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a statement on progress towards the dispersal of more Civil Service posts from the London area to other regions.

  Mr. Brooke
  The centrally directed dispersal programme affecting 5,900 posts announced in 1979 is virtually complete, and over 6,000 further posts have been relocated from the south-east at departmental initiative.

  Departments are now observing Treasury guidelines to review their work locations, with a view to relocating at sites offering easier labour markets and increased cost-effectiveness. With regard to this phase of the Government's relocation policy, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 December 1988, at column 414, to my hon. Friend, the Member for Bolton, North-East (Mr. Thurnham).

  National Insurance and Income Tax
  Mr. Redwood
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all of the points on the income scale for a single man with the standard allowance at which the combined national insurance and income tax marginal rates alter; and if he will list those rates.
  78
  Mr. Norman Lamont
  Information for 1989–90 is given in the table. The calculations use the national insurance contribution rates for 1989–90 announced in chapter 3 of the Autumn Statement 1988 and assume indexed allowances and thresholds for income tax for 1989–90, shown in table 4.1 of the Autumn Statement.

  Levels of income at which the marginal rate of income tax and national insurance contributions1 of a single person2 changes, 1989–90

  Weekly income £

  Per cent.

  43·00

  5

  53·37

  30

  75·00

  32

  115·00

  34

  325·00

  25

  449·52

  40

  1 Class 1 national insurance contributions for an employee contracted-in to the state earnings-related pension scheme (SERPS).

  2 Assumed to be non-aged with no reliefs or allowances other than the single person's allowance.

  Single and Married Person's Allowance
  Mr. Redwood
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the single and married person's allowance against income tax can he raised for the loss of £2,000 million of revenue in a full year.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  It is estimated that all personal allowances could be increased by just over 9 per cent. for a full year income tax cost of £2,000 million at 1989–90 levels of income. The estimate is based on a projection of the 1986–87 survey of personal incomes and is provisional. It has been assumed that the indexed allowances and thresholds in table 4.1 of the Autumn Statement 1988 apply in 1989–90.

  Income Tax
  Mr. Redwood
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what size of band at 10 per cent. tax could be introduced before reaching the 25 per cent. income tax rate for the loss of £2,000 million of revenue in a full year;

  (2) what levels of income could be taxed at 15 per cent. instead of 25 per cent. for the loss of £2,000 million in a full year, if the 15 per cent. rate only applied to those with total incomes below the maximum qualifying level for the tax band at 15 per cent.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  It is estimated that a reduced rate band of 10 per cent. on the first £550 of taxable income would have an income tax cost of just under £2,000 million in a full year at 1989–90 levels of income.

  For the same cost all single people and married couples with taxable incomes of less than £4,750 per annum could be taxed at 15 per cent. instead of 25 per cent.

  Estimates are based on a projection on the 1986–87 survey of personal incomes and are provisional. It has been assumed that the indexed allowances and thresholds in table 4.1 of the Autumn Statement 1988 apply in 1989–90.

  Building Land
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to abolish the exempt ion from
  79
  capital gains tax on a person who owns a house with one acre and part of that acre is sold for building land, and replace it with a tax to be levied on the gain resulting from planning permission being obtained; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  I have noted the hon. Member's suggestion but cannot, of course, anticipate the Budget judgment.

  Ministers (Salary Arrangements)
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what financial arrangements for further salary payments ensue when a Minister resigns or is sacked.

  Mr. Brooke
  Subject to the provisions of section 13 of the Parliamentary Pensions etc. Act 1984, Ministers and paid office holders in the House of Lords are currently eligible to receive a severance payment of three months' final salary on ceasing to be a Minister. There is currently no similar scheme in place for Commons Ministers; they revert to receiving the full parliamentary salary providing they remain Members of Parliament. I would, however, refer the hon. Member to the 26th TSRB Report (Cm. 362), and the statement of my right hon. Friend the Lord President on 24 May 1988 at column 103 in response to the right hon. Member for Wythenshawe (Mr. Morris).

  Employee Share Schemes
  Mr. Gould
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the tax regime applicable in the case of share subscriptions is generally applied in the case of all employee share schemes, whereby income tax is payable on the difference between the discounted and market prices.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  Subject to certain qualifying conditions, employees acquiring shares through employee share schemes approved by the Inland Revenue (under legislation originally contained in the Finance Acts of 1978, 1980 and 1984) are exempt from the income tax liability which normally arises where shares are acquired below market value by reason of employment.

  Health Boards (VAT)
  Mr. Galbraith
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer under what statutory authority value added tax payments and refunds are made in relation to contracts between health boards and contractors for contracted-out services.

  Mr. Lilley
  Section 27(2A) of the VAT Act 1983.

  VAT
  Mr. Heddle
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he proposes to publish the Finance Bill 1989 draft clauses on value added tax changes resulting from the decision of the European Court of Justice of 21 June 1988 regarding the European Community sixth value added tax directive.
  80
  Mr. Lilley
  Soon.

  Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977
  Mr. Heddle
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will investigate the reasons why Her Majesty's Stationery Office has no stocks of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977; and, in view of the current review on the matter of homelessness, if he will ensure that adequate stocks are maintained.

  Mr. Lilley
  HMSO no longer maintains stocks of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 because it was repealed for England and Wales by the Housing (Consequential Provisions) Act 1985 (c. 71) s. 3, Sch. 1 Part I, and for Scotland by the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (c. 26), s. 339, Sch. 24. Its main provisions are covered, on consolidation, for England and Wales in the Housing Act 1980 (c. 51) and for Scotland in the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (c. 26), and HMSO holds adequate stocks of these Acts in both the Queen's Printer's and the Statutes in Force versions.

  Taxation (Families)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families with children are estimated to have taxable incomes below the income tax threshold; and what proportion this represents of all families with children.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  In 1988–89 it is estimated that some 1·6 million families, about 24 per cent. of the total number of families with children in the United Kingdom, have taxable incomes below the income tax threshold.

  Independent Schools (Scotland)
  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give an estimate of the value of tax concessions granted to non-maintained independent schools in Scotland in each of the years 1978–79 to 1987–88.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  I regret that information on the cost of tax relief available to schools with charitable status is not available.

  Revenue
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will tabulate in the Official Report the revenues, actual or estimated, that have been received by Her Majesty's Government, or are expected to be received, for each year from 1979–80 to 1988–89 in millions of pounds at 1987–88 prices derived from (a) revenue from North sea oil, (b) revenue from asset sales of privatisations and (c) other sales of land or property of central or local government or their agencies, showing the respective annual totals and the aggregate total for the period.

  Mr. Major
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: The figures requested are given in the table.
  81

  £ million at 1987–88 prices

  1979–80

  1980–81

  1981–82

  1982–83

  1983–84

  1984–85

  1985–86

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  Total

  outturn

  outturn

  outturn

  outturn

  outturn

  outturn

  outturn

  outturn

  outturn

  estimated outturn

  Revenue from North sea oil2

  4,061

  5,548

  8,761

  9,852

  10,598

  13,791

  12,340

  5,052

  5,305

  13,100

  78,408

  Privatisation proceeds3

  662

  600

  665

  615

  1,372

  2,489

  2,945

  4,695

  5,161

  15,600

  24,804

  Receipts from sales of land and building4

  1,543

  1,951

  2,823

  3,547

  2,934

  2,774

  2,733

  3,215

  3,989

  n/a

  n/a

  Total

  6,266

  8,100

  12,249

  14,013

  14,905

  19,054

  18,017

  12,963

  14,455

  n/a

  n/a

  1 Calculated from rounded figures published in the 1988 Autumn Statement.

  2 Oil royalties, petroleum revenue tax, supplementary petroleum duty and corporation tax before ACT set off attributable production.to United Kingdom oil and gas production.

  3 Consistent with 1988 Autumn Statement.

  4 Figures include sales by local authorities and new towns as well as central Government, and are consistent with the 1988 public expenditure White Paper.

  Tobacco Sales
  Mr. Sims
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in the Official Report figures showing sales to the consumer of (a) cigarettes, (b) hand-rolling tobacco,

  Current prices, seasonally adjusted

  Cigarettes

  Cigars

  Other tobacco1

  Total

  £ million

  £ million

  £ million

  £ million

  October 1987 to September 1988

  6,924

  398

  545

  7,867

  October 1986 to September 1987

  6,704

  379

  545

  7,628

  1 Estimates of expenditure on hand rolling tobacco and on pipe tobacco are not separately available.

  Cigarettes
  Mr. Sims
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the number of cigarettes sold to consumers in the United Kingdom during the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available; what estimate is available to him of what that figure would have been had tobacco duty been increased in each of the 1987 and 1988 Budgets by 10p more than the amount needed to adjust for the effects of inflation; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lilley
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: No direct estimate is available of the number of cigarettes sold to consumers. Information is, however, available on the quantity of cigarettes cleared from bond duty paid. During the 12 month period to October 1988 a total of 96,635·3 million cigarettes were cleared. It is estimated that had tobacco duty been increased in each of the 1987 and 1988 Budgets by 10p more than the amount needed to adjust for the effects of inflation the total above might have been around 6 per cent. lower.

  Stamps
  Rev. Martin Smyth
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration he has given to the implications for philatelists of the reorganisation of value added tax system in the European Community after 1992; whether he has considered a lower rate of value added tax for second-hand stamps and stamps purchased by collectors; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lilley
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: Discussions on the shape of the VAT system post-1992 are at an early stage but the Government have already made it clear that they consider the European Commission's proposals for the approximation of VAT rates to be
  82
  (c) cigars and (d) pipe tobacco for the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available, and for the preceding 12-month period.

  Mr. Lilley
  [holding answer 13 January 1989]: The latest estimates of consumers' expenditure on tobacco products for the 12 month period to September 1988 and for the preceding 12 months are as follows:

  unnecessary for the completion of the single market. If the hon. Member sees particular difficulties ahead for philatelists perhaps he would write to me.

TRANSPORT

  M1
  Mr. Illsley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to improve traffic flow on the M1 motorway.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  We are planning improvements to junction 1, a climbing lane at junction 9 and widening between junctions 23a and 24.

  Opening the M40 extension from Oxford to Birmingham will relieve the M1.

  Tees and Hartlepool Ports
  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next intends to visit the ports of Tees and Hartlepool.

  Mr. Portillo
  I visited Teesport on 26 October 1988. My noble Friend the Minister for Aviation and Shipping hopes to be able to take up later this year an invitation from the chairman of the Tees and Hartlepool port authority.

  Buses (Vandalism)
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the implications for the level of vandalism and violence on buses of the increase in the proportion of one-person operated buses.
  83
  Mr. Portillo
  While there is probably no simple correlation between vandalism and violence and the type of vehicle operated, recent research on assaults on bus crews indicates that there is less risk of violence on one-person operated buses.

  London Assessment Studies
  Mr. Bernie Grant
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his policy on whether boroughs should include references to options contained in the London assessment studies when responding to solicitors' inquiries on land searches.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley: Land search inquiries are a matter for the local authorities concerned. We understand that it is not their general practice to refer to possibilities being considered in their preliminary transport studies or ours.

  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make an announcement concerning the road assessment studies for London.

  Mr. Channon: I expect to receive the consultants' reports on the options in the summer and will make an announcement as soon as possible after that.

  Signposting
  Mr. Amos
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give more discretion to his regional directors of transport regarding the erection of signs in rural areas.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Traffic signs must be based on clear principles applied consistently throughout the country.

  We are currently consulting on changes to the regulations which will widen the choice of standard signs.

  Channel Tunnel
  Mr. Loyden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely impact on the port of Liverpool of the Channel tunnel.

  Mr. Portillo: I understand that the Merseyside chamber of commerce and industry and some other agencies in the north-west have agreed to co-operate in a study of the transport implications for that region of the single European market and the Channel tunnel. Government Departments are ready to assist with information and advice.

  I hope that other bodies in the region, especially in the private sector, will join in this initiative.

  Mr. Hind
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to meet the chairman of British Rail to discuss rail links to the Channel tunnel; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Portillo
  This topic is discussed from time to time in Ministers' regular meetings with the chairman.

  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will commission a study of the impact of the Channel tunnel on the port of Liverpool.

  Mr. Portillo
  I see no need to commission a study as I understand that the Merseyside chamber of commerce and 84
  industry and some other agencies in the north-west have agreed to co-operate in a study of the transport implications for that region of the single European market and the Channel tunnel.

  I hope that other bodies in the region, especially in the private sector, will join in this initiative, and Government Departments are also ready to assist with information and advice.

  Mr. Sumberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the need to provide a direct rail link between the Channel tunnel and the north-west of England.

  Mr. Portillo
  Direct rail links already exist between the site of the United Kingdom entrance to the Channel tunnel and the north-west, but we do receive representations from time to time arguing that additional infrastructure should be provided.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will commission a study of the regional impact of the Channel tunnel.

  Mr. McAvoy
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will commission a study on the regional impact of the Channel tunnel.

  Mr. Portillo
  No. The Government concluded at an early stage that such a study would not be a useful exercise. Of more practical benefit to the regions is the plan, which British Rail is required to publish by the end of 1989, for the dispersal of international passenger and freight trains throughout Britain. They are currently consulting widely and assessing demand.

  Mr. Evennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from residents of the London borough of Bexley concerning the proposed routes for the Channel tunnel rail link.

  Mr. Portillo
  We have received a number of representations from Bexley residents on this subject. It is British Rail's responsibility to decide on a preferred route and to justify its choice.

  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress on the Channel tunnel.

  Mr. Nigel Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress in the Channel tunnel.

  Mr. Portillo
  Construction progress is a matter for Eurotunnel. I understand that, following some early delays, better progress is being maintained.

  Mr. Hardy
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what initiatives he has taken to ensure that Yorkshire and other northern areas of England will have adequate connection with the Channel tunnel.

  Mr. Portillo
  I expect British Rail to address these questions in the plan which they will be publishing later this year in compliance with section 40 of the Channel Tunnel Act.

  Mr. Michael J. Martin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the progress of the Channel tunnel.
  85
  Mr. Portillo
  Construction progress is a matter for Eurotunnel. I understand that, following some early delays, better progress is being maintained.

  Mr. Clelland
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to increase the carrying capacity of the motorway system in the light of the Channel tunnel.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The Government announced in the White Paper "The Channel Fixed Link" (Cmnd. 9735) that the 23km gap between Maidstone and Ashford on the M20 would be filled with dual three lane motorway, and that the 10·8km Maidstone bypass section would be widened from two lanes to three to give good access to the tunnel terminal.

  In general, the impact of the Channel tunnel is one of many factors taken into account in planning the forward road programme and in the design of motorway and trunk road schemes.

  Mr. Litherland
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he is taking to encourage the development of freight handling facilities in the north of England and Scotland to take advantage of the Channel tunnel.

  Mr. Portillo
  I expect British Rail to address these questions in the plan which it will be publishing later this year in compliance with section 40 of the Channel Tunnel Act.

  Track Signalling Equipment
  Mr. Dykes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has held recent discussions with British Rail and London Regional Transport representatives on procedures and problems affecting safety and other checks on track signalling equipment.

  Mr. Channon
  The railways inspectorate meets British Railways Board officials twice a year to discuss various operational and safety issues, including signalling. It also meets officials from London Underground Ltd. whenever necessary to discuss signalling.

  Air Congestion
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will next meet the chairman of the Air Transport Users' Committee to discuss air congestion in the south-east.

  Mr. Channon
  I have no plans to meet the chairman of the Air Transport Users' Committee again in the near future. We attended the conference held recently at Lancaster house to consider air traffic control congestion problems.

  Network SouthEast
  Mr. Madel
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to meet the chairman of British Rail to discuss further improvements in Network SouthEast; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Channon
  I regularly meet the chairman of British Rail and the director of Network SouthEast to discuss a wide range of issues.
  86
  Mr. Key
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last met the senior management of British Rail's Network SouthEast to discuss the efficiency of their services.

  Mr. Portillo
  My right hon. Friend and I meet the senior management of Network SouthEast very frequently and often discuss efficiency, amongst other topics.

  British Rail (Chairman)
  Mrs. Margaret Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to meet the chairman of British Rail; and what matters he proposes to discuss.

  Mr. Portillo
  I shall be meeting the chairman of British Rail on 23 January to discuss a variety of rail matters.

  Mr. Skinner
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with British Rail; and what subjects were discussed

  Mr. Portillo
  I have regular discussions with the chairman of British Rail about a wide variety of railway matters.

  Mr. Patchett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will next meet the chairman of British Rail; and what matters he expects to discuss.

  Dr. Reid
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next plans to meet the chairman of British Rail; and what matters he expects to discuss.

  Mr. Portillo
  I shall be meeting the chairman of British Rail on 23 January to discuss a variety of rail matters.

  Aviation Liberalisation
  Mrs. Roe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when European Community Ministers will be reviewing the aviation liberalisation package agreed in December 1987.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The package of measures agreed in December 1987 contains a commitment that the Council will take a second, more radical, step in June 1990, on the basis of commission proposals to be submitted by 1 November this year.

  United Kingdom airlines and their passengers have benefited significantly from the December 1987 measures and we shall be seeking substantial further liberalisation in the next round.

  British Rail (Inter-city Services)
  Mr. Cran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the estimated change in the number of passengers using British Rail inter-city services between London and the north-east at peak times over the past five years; and what has been the passenger-seats ratio on those trains over the same period.

  Mr. Portillo
  My Department does not maintain this information: my hon. Friend should approach British Rail.

  Heathrow-Paddington Rail Link
  Mr. Wilshire
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the proposed Heathrow-Paddington rail link to be in operation.
  87
  Mr. Portillo
  In 1993, subject to parliamentary approval for the construction works needed.

  Motorways (North-West)
  Mr. Butler
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to extend the motorway network in he north-west.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Construction of the five mile M63–M66 extension from Portwood to Denton is approaching completion. There are three new motorway stretches in the current forward programme:

  Miles

  M66 Denton to Middleton (completing the Manchester outer ring road)

  11

  A6(M) Stockport North/South bypass

  5½

  M65 extension to M6 (Blackburn southern bypass)

  12

  We are considering the case for further schemes as part of the current review of the programme nationally.

  Motorways
  Mr. Wood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he is taking to build new motorways to a higher standard.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Standards for the construction of all truck roads are kept under continual review. Improvements are introduced wherever justified on grounds of safety or value for money.

  The new requirements for the structural design of road pavements published in December 1987 and several of the measures announced on 7 April 1988, following the motorway safety review, will improve the standard of new motorways.

  Mr. Allen McKay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his plans to improve traffic movements on the motorway system.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  We are continuing to improve and develop the motorway and trunk road network. Our road programme includes 36 improvement schemes designed to improve the flow of traffic on motorways. The majority of these are junction improvements and widening schemes on existing motorways.

  Motorway schemes in programme: at 1 December 1988 Under construction:

  NWRO

  M62 Eastbound, climbing lane, junctions 21–22

  M63 Stretford-Eccles, stages 1 and 2 (Barton Bridge opened 20 December 1988)

  M63 Stretford-Eccles, stage 4

  M63/66 Poortwood-Denton

  SERO

  M25 Widening junctions 11–13

  WMRO

  M5 Lobshill-Lydiate Arch and M42 north turn

  M40 Bonsbury BP

  M40 Warwick section

  YHRO

  M62 Westbound climbing lane, west of junction 25

  In preparation:

  ERO

  M1 Climbing lane, junction 5

  88

  M11 North facing slip road, junction 5

  M40 Widening junctions 4–5

  LRO

  M4 Junction 4 improvement and M1 junction 1

  NWRO

  M6 Widening junctions 20–21a

  M6 Widening junctions 30–31

  M6 Improvement junctions 31–32

  M62 Widening junctions 12–18

  M66 Denton-Middleton

  M65–M6 Blackburn Southern BP

  A74 Carlisle-Scottish Border

  A6(M) Stockport N/S By-pass

  SERO

  M2 Widening junctions 1–3

  M3 Bar End-Compton

  M3 Compton-Bassett widening

  M3 Widening junctions 2–3

  M4 Widening junctions 8/9—M25

  M4 Free flow links at junctions 8/9

  M20 Maidstone-Ashford

  M20 Maidstone BP widening

  M40 Waterstock-Wendlebury

  WMRO

  M5 Widening junctions 6–8

  M40 Gaydon section

  A446(M) Birmingham northern relief road

  YHRO

  M1 Junction 34 Roundabout improvement

  M18 Junction with B6094 Cockhill Lane

  Air Traffic Control
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he now expects the new air traffic control systems to be operating in the south-east sector in the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The Civil Aviation Authority has advised that the major reorganisation of the airspace over south-east England—known as the central control function—will be implemented in stages by the national air traffic services between 1990 and 1995, with some gains in capacity beginning to accrue from 1992.

  Trains (Overcrowding)
  Mr. Matthew Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received concerning overcrowding on British Rail and London Underground.

  Mr. Michael
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received about overcrowding on British Rail; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Portillo
  In the last three months I have received 30 representations from Members of Parliament about British Rail and four representations about London Underground, together with 173 letters from members of the public which make some reference to overcrowding.

  Autoguide Systems
  Ms. Abbott
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what involvement he expects local highway authorities will have in selecting road networks for use by autoguide systems.
  89
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  We are discussing with police representatives and the local authority associations how the police and highway authorities might be involved in the proposed pilot autoguide system in London.

  Traffic Congestion
  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what new technology is being introduced to alleviate traffic congestion.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  A wide variety of new technology is improving road safety and alleviating congestion.

  Motorway signalling, junction control techniques, variable message signs and traffic signal co-ordination systems for urban areas are available and incorporate the latest developments in micro-electronics and information technology.

  The Road Traffic (Driver Licensing and Information) Bill will facilitate the introduction of new driver information systems.

  Train Accidents
  Mr. Tom Clarke
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many significant train accidents per million train miles there were in 1986 and 1987; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Portillo
  A significant train accident is one that is actually or potentially most dangerous to passengers.

  In 1986 the significant accident rate was 0·69 per million train miles and in 1987 it was 0·71 per million train miles.

  Roads (London)
  Mr. Livingstone
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the capacity of the London road system to carry increased numbers of road vehicles.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Many main roads in London are already at or near capacity. Many minor roads are used as rat runs. Forecasts suggest that to the year 2001 road traffic could increase by the order of 1 per cent. to 2 per cent. per annum in outer and inner London, and by less than 1 per cent. per annum in the central area.

  The approach to accommodating this growth is based on improving trunk roads to take traffic around London, supporting borough road schemes, promoting new technology to improve traffic management, encouraging better parking controls and promoting efficient and attractive public transport.

  These steps are being supplemented by a series of major studies including the London assessment studies, which are looking at four areas with particularly severe transport problems.

  The alterations associated with low cost, high return casualty reduction measures affect capacity on roads and at junctions. Over 170 such sites have been identified trunk roads in London, including ex. GLC roads.

  West Coast Main Line
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the need for investment on the west coast main line by British Rail.
  90
  Mr. Portillo
  It is for British Rail, which manages the railway, to assess what investment is needed and put forward proposals. Deliveries are already under way of new class 90 locomotives and driving van trailers which will help to improve the reliability of services on the west coast main line.

  Rail Safety
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will next meet the chief inspecting officer of railways to discuss safety on British Rail.

  Mr. Portillo
  The Secretary of State meets the chief inspecting officer of railways regularly to discuss railway safety.

  Ports (Congestion)
  Mr. Rooker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement regarding congestion at the ports.

  Mr. Portillo
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave to his question on 28 November 1988,Official Report, columns 154–55.

  Road Deaths
  Mr. David Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road deaths there were in 1987.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  There were 5,125 people killed in road accidents in Great Britain during 1987. While welcoming the fact that this is a fall of 5 per cent. on the 1986 figures, it still represents too many road deaths during the year.

  Accidents
  Mr. David Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have been(a) killed and (b) injured in major transport disasters in (i) 1986, (ii) 1987, and (iii) 1988.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  There is no clear definition of what constitutes a major transport disaster. To attempt to classify a transport accident as a disaster by the number of deaths involved is an invidious exercise: each fatality is a disaster in its own right. The following accidents are those which have either occurred within Great Britain, or have happened to United Kingdom registered aircraft or United Kingdom registerea ships. They are accidents which have attracted particular attention by their severity.1986

  9 killed, 35 injured in a rail crash on a level crossing at Lockington.

  45 killed when Chinook helicopter went down in the north sea.

  1 killed, 15 injured in crash of twin Otter aircraft in Scotland.

  1987

  189 killed, 340 injured when the roll-on roll-off ferry `Herald of Free Enterprise' overturned off Zeebrugge.

  4 killed when a train ran off the rails after a bridge was washed away at Glanrhyd in Wales.

  31 killed, 29 injured in a fire at Kings Cross underground station.

  1988

  34 killed in a railway accident at Clapham junction.

  270 killed in Pan-Am air crash at Lockerbie. Of these,

  244 were passengers, 15 were crew, and 11 were on the ground.

  91
  Road accidents occur much more frequently, though they do not usually lead to such major loss of life in a single accident.

  In 1986, there were 248,000 accidents on public roads in Great Britain, leading to 5,382 deaths and 316,069 injuries. There were 18 accidents in each of which four or more people were killed.

  In 1987, 239,000 accidents led to 5,125 deaths and 306,350 injuries. In 17 of these accidents four or more people were killed. Complete figures for 1988 will not be available before the middle of 1989.

  Railway Closures
  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many proposals to close railway lines have been submitted to him since 1979 by British Rail; how many have been accepted; and how many stations and lines have been opened or reopened in the same period.

  Mr. Portillo
  Since 1979 British Rail has submitted 42 proposals to close railways lines. A total of 31 of these proposals have been accepted; one proposal has been withdrawn by British Rail; one proposal was unopposed and so did not require ministerial consent; nine proposals are still under consideration (apart from the Settle to Carlisle proposal, none of these concerns a major route or service).

  A total of 132 stations and 14 lines have been opened or reopened in the same period.

  Drink-Driving Campaigns
  Mr. Boyes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Christmas drink-driving campaign.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The coverage of this year's campaign in the media was impressive and helpful.

  We greatly welcome the contribution of the private sector to the campaign, especially the publicans, brewers, soft drink producers, clubs, supermarkets and off-licences.

  It is clear that more people are becoming aware of the dangers and that there is a long-term downward trend in the amount of drinking and driving. The test is whether fewer people are being killed and injured. It is too early for a full assessment. We shall publish figures when they are available.

  Preliminary police figures suggest that a substantial increase in their enforcement effort during the full holiday period resulted in 4 per cent. more drivers failing the road-side screening test.

  It has been reported that 53,000 drivers were tested during this period compared with 37,000 for the same period in 1987—an increase of 43 per cent.

  Within the higher numbers of drivers tested, the proportion of those found over the limit was only one in 10 compared with one in four over the year as a whole.

  A1 (Northumberland)
  Mr. Beith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the design standards applied to the A1 in Northumberland include provision for safety.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Safety aspects are included in all the design standards adopted by the Department for all roads in the region.

  British Rail (Investment)
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of the planned investment in British Rail will be used to replace out-of-date rolling stock and equipment; and how much will be used to raise capacity.

  Mr. Portillo
  The figures for planned British Rail investment cannot be split between investment to replace existing capacity and investment to raise capacity since most projects will include elements of both, However, about half of British Rail's planned investment in Network SouthEast over the next five years will be spent on buying new rolling stock and refurbishing some of the existing fleet. These investments are being planned to provide sufficient additional capacity to meet the load factor standards on all routes and to cope with forecast increases in peak hour demand.

  Clapham Junction
  Mr. Bowis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many trains, and how many passengers, travel through Clapham Junction(a) per day, and (b) per peak hour.

  Mr. Portillo
  The latest available data indicate that during a 24-hour period approximately 1,900 loaded passenger trains carrying 340,000 passengers pass through Clapham junction. During the peak hour (between 8 and 9 in the morning) approximately 94 London-bound loaded passenger trains carrying 62,000 passengers pass through Clapham junction. Data on trains and passengers from London passing through Clapham junction during the morning peak hour are not available.

  Buses (Deregulation)
  Mr. Ken Hargreaves
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport by how much bus mileage has changed since deregulation.

  Mr. Portillo
  Local bus mileage in Great Britain (outside London) rose by 14 per cent. between 1985–86 and 1987–88.

  Mr. Brandon-Bravo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what change there has been in the number of bus operators since deregulation.

  Mr. Portillo
  By 1 May 1988 there had been a net increase of 465 operators running local bus services since deregulation.

  Traffic (London)
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to receive the final report on the inquiry into traffic in London; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  We have not commissioned a report or inquiry on traffic for London as a whole.

  Assessment studies are being carried out in four areas of the capital where conditions for movement are particularly severe. We expect to receive reports on options to improve conditions in the summer.

  Road Traffic (Delays)
  Mr. McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the cost to industry of road traffic delays.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The Department estimates savings in delay when individual road improvements are considered. The Department has not made an assessment of the total cost of delays on all roads.

  Cycling
  Mr. Fishburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures his Department is taking to encourage cycling.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Our concern is with encouraging safer cycling, primarily by reducing the scope for conflict with other road users.

  Accidents involving vehicles towing caravans, trailers, etc. 1979–87

  Number of accidents

  Vehicle type

  1979

  1980

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  Cars/Minibuses

  1,065

  1,153

  1,138

  1,319

  1,231

  1,237

  1,152

  1,198

  1,130

  LGV

  246

  218

  233

  329

  216

  252

  292

  317

  281

  HGV

  319

  243

  254

  313

  281

  292

  365

  359

  319

  Other motor vehicles1

  567

  580

  560

  562

  564

  533

  527

  531

  475

  Total

  2,197

  2,194

  2,185

  2,523

  2,292

  2,314

  2,336

  2,405

  2,205

  Note:

  Data prior to 1979 is not readily available.

  1 Includes agricultural, service, and industrial vehicles but not 2/3 wheeled vehicles or PSVs.

  Dartford-Thurrock Crossing
  Mrs. Gorman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the financing arrangements for the Dartford-Thurrock crossing will be agreed.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The agreements between Dartford River Crossing Ltd. and the relevant banks and financial institutions were made on 8 April 1987. The concession agreement between Dartford River Crossing Ltd. and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport was signed on 9 April 1987.

  Parking
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to receive the report of the working party on parking enforcement.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Shortly.

  Motorways (Accidents)
  Mr. Irvine
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of road accidents occur on motorways.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  In Great Britain during 1987, 2 per cent. of all road accidents and 5 per cent. of fatal accidents, occurred on motorways. For comparison, motorways carried 15 per cent. of all traffic in 1987.

  Roads (Congestion)
  Ms. Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the
  94
  We are continuing our programme of research and application studies. Publications giving technical advice and engineering standards are available and more are planned. I shall arrange for a set to be sent to my hon. Friend.

  We are currently consulting local authorities and other organisations on a further local transport note on planning, design and legal aspects of providing for cyclists. This will give up-to-date guidance based on the results of our recent studies.

  Towing Vehicles (Accidents)
  Mr. Holt
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents involving vehicles towing caravans, horse boxes, and so on, have been recorded in each of the past 10 years.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The following is the information:

  level of congestion on roads in London and south-east England over the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Brent, East (Mr. Livingstone) on road conditions in London. Forecasts suggest that road traffic in the south-east outside London could increase by the order of 3 per cent. per annum to the year 2001.

  Priority is being given in the national trunk road programme to schemes aimed primarily at relieving congestion, providing environmental relief and reducing casualties. Since April 1986 10 major schemes costing approximately £235 million have been completed in London and the south-east. Another 94 schemes costing approximately £2 billion are in the forward national programme at various stages of preparation. A number of smaller schemes are included in my Department's regional programme and we are supporting the Local highway authorities' road building programmes through the transport supplementary grant. A review of the national road programme will be published in the spring.

  Disabled People
  Mr. Robert G. Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress his Department has made in assisting the disabled in their transport needs this year; and what progress he expects to make next year.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley: Measures in 1988 included the following:
  Announcement that from early 1989 all new London taxis must be wheelchair accessible;

  95
  Widespread introduction of design features to help elderly and disabled passengers use buses more easily, following guidelines drawn up by the Department and the disabled persons transport advisory committee;
  Tours of adapted demonstration bus lent by the Department to 36 operators around the country;
  Advice and information to nearly 6,000 disabled people by the Department's mobility advice and vehicle information service (MAVIS);
  Practical assessment and advice at the centre for some 400 disabled people on driving and car choice.

  The Department will continue to seek further improvements to help people with disabilities in the coming year. Particular priority will be given to encouraging further improvements in bus and coach design. The Department will be organising another mobility roadshow in June 1989.

  Motorways (Congestion)
  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to relieve traffic congestion in the motorway system; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  By carrying out the road improvements detailed in the roads White Paper "Policy for Roads in England: 1987" as quickly as possible and by aiming to minimise the delays at maintenance sites by careful programming, improved traffic management and by the use of lane rental contracts which give an incentive for early completion.

  Barnstaple-Exeter Railway
  Mr. Speller
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make funds available to British Rail to enable the Barnstaple to Exeter line to remain open.

  Mr. Portillo
  The public service obligation grant payable to British Rail is a block grant, not related to any individual line or service, and I have no powers to earmark funds.

  London Rail Study
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will publish the findings of the central London rail study.

  Mr. Portillo
  We expect to publish the findings of the central London rail study shortly.

  Trunk Roads
  Mr. Patrick Thompson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will carry out his next review of national trunk roads.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  A review of the trunk road programme is currently in progress. We expect to make an announcement in the spring.

  Roads (North-East)
  Mr. Jack Thompson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to improve the road system in the north-east region.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The northern region has 18 schemes in the national roads programme at a current 96
  projected cost of £170 million. Spending on all schemes, national regional and maintenance, in the current year is estimated at over £50 million. The Department is also contributing in this financial year over £12 million in transport supplementary grant to assist local authorities in the region of constructing roads of more than local importance.

  Ms. Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of his plans to improve the road system in north-east England.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The Department's plans for developing the road infrastructure in the northern region are concentrated on the provision of a new north-south bypass to the west of Newcastle; the systematic improvement of the A1 north of Morpeth and the two main east-west routes—the A66 and A69; and the improvement of the main national routes into the area from the south. Other important schemes planned to start during the next few years include a western bypass of Durham City on the A167 and a bypass of Kenton Bank Foot and Woolsington on the A696.

  Urban Traffic
  Mr. Jim Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has about the likely increase of traffic in urban areas.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The Department prepares forecasts for national traffic growth. Where a trunk road scheme is being assessed, local forecasts are made, reflecting local growth in population and economic activity.

  Factors such as availability of public transport, congestion and parking are also taken into consideration for urban schemes. The Department does not produce traffic forecasts for urban areas in general.

  London Transport (Safety)
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to meet the chairman of London Regional Transport to discuss standards of safety on London Buses and Underground services.

  Mr. Portillo
  My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has asked London Regional Transport to make regular reports to him on their progress in implementing the Fennell report. He and I will meet the chairman as necessary to discuss these matters.

  Bypasses
  Mr. Andrew Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bypasses have been built since 1979.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  A total of 95 bypasses and relief roads have been built since 1979, representing 40 per cent. of new national road mileage.

  Health and Safety Executive
  Mr. Janner
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many inquiries into accidents which came within his responsibility have been carried out by the Health and Safety Executive in the past 10 years for which records are available.
  97
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  None, although I understand that the Health and Safety Executive has provided assistance to my Department on at least 10 occasions when railway accidents were involved.

  Roadbuilding
  Mr. David Davis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he is taking to cut the time it takes to build roads.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  We have set targets for reducing the average time taken to progress a scheme from entering the road programme to opening for traffic by the order of a quarter. In introducing the changes we have taken care to ensure that the rights of interested parties will not be affected.

  Wildlife
  Mr. Nicholas Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what account he takes of the protection of wildlife when building new roads.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Protecting wildlife is carefully considered in our planning. We consult both national wildlife bodies such as the Nature Conservancy Council and local wildlife groups throughout the process.

  The effects of new roads are minimised by careful design. Special measures are taken to protect wildlife including deer runs and badger tunnels to provide for safe crossing, fencing and reflectors to discourage animals from straying onto roads.

  Tree and shrub planting, which is a major landscape activity of the Department, creates invaluable wildlife habitat. The Department's publication "Transport and the Environment", which is in the Library, gives further details of some of these measures.

  Pavements (Damage)
  Mr. Fearn
  to ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the figures for the last five years of the cost of pavement damage, caused by heavy goods vehicles.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  National data on the cost of pavement damage are not available. The total road track costs in the United Kingdom and the amounts allocated to heavy goods vehicles are as follows:

  £ million

  Year

  Total road costs

  Road costs allocated to heavy goods vehicles

  1984–85

  3,496

  950

  1985–86

  3,656

  1,035

  1986–87

  3,863

  1,060

  1987–88

  4,058

  1,095

  1988–89

  4,218

  1,165

  M42 (Extension)
  Mr. Anthony Coombs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he anticipates announcing the preferred option for the western orbital route extension to the M42 to the west of the west midlands conurbation.
  98
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The work of evaluating the large response to the public consultation is progressing well. We hope to achieve the spring 1989 target for an announcement.

  Clapham Train Accident
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the provision of compensation for the families of those who died, and for those who were seriously injured, in the Clapham train disaster.

  Mr. Portillo
  Compensation is a matter for the British Railways Board, whose policy is that all claims will be considered sympathetically and as quickly as possible. The Board has made immediate payments of £2,000 to next of kin who indicated that they required help, and has announced that it will pay £10,000 for a bereavement under section 1a of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 rather than the sum of £3,500 which the Act requires.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to enhance road safety for children and young people in urban areas.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Cutting child casualties is one of our top priorities. Local authorities, schools and parents all have key parts to play. Initiatives include co-operation with local authorities to foster low-cost engineering measures that have been shown particularly to benefit child cyclists and pedestrians; experiments in two local authority areas to develop effective methods of safety education in schools and the "Lessons for Life" campaign launched in September aimed at helping parents play a full role in enhancing their children's road safety. For older children we have worked with the road safety officers to produce a special highway code and teenagers will particularly benefit from our motorcycle training and testing proposals.

  We shall continue to pay particular attention to developing measures to reduce child casualties on the roads.

  Ms. Mowlam
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to improve road safety.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Glanford and Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley) earlier today.

  Mr. Henderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of local authority actions to improve urban road safety.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  We welcome the considerable enthusiasm and activity of many local authorities in carrying out their responsibilities for improving safety on their roads. Our aim is to encourage and assist all local authorities to follow the example of the best.

  Local authority initiatives are crucial to urban safety. We agreed last summer with local authority leaders a high priority and joint approach for tackling road casualties.

  We work closely with road safety officers and others on publicity campaigns and child safety measures. In co-operation with the institution of Highways and Transportation we plan to publish guidelines for local highway authorities on the application of area-wide urban safety techniques.

  Railway Inspectorate
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will initiate a review of the role of the railway inspectorate.

  Mr. Portillo
  A review of the railway inspectorate's role was commissioned by the Secretary of State in 1986. Its terms of reference included examination of the inspectorate's present role, and the formulation of recommendations as to how improvements could be made to ensure the most efficient and effective way of administering Government railway safety responsibilities in the longer term. A report was presented in 1987 which included numerous recommendations, many of which have already been implemented. A copy of the report is in the Library of the House.

  Air Services (Manchester)
  Mr. Favell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the progress of negotiations for increased air services between Manchester and New York.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  At the most recent negotiations on greater access for United States carriers to serve Manchester airport, held in London between 4 and 6 January 1989, the two sides could not reach a mutually acceptable conclusion.

  The Government recognise the importance of these additional services into Manchester airport and are therefore seeking further discussions.

  Manchester Air Disaster
  Mr. Callaghan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to publish the inquiry report into the Manchester air disaster in 1985.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  A copy of the report was submitted to the Secretary of State on 15 December. Copies have also been sent to the persons whose reputation might be adversely affected by the report, in accordance with the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations 1983.

  A period of 28 days is being allowed for affected persons to request a review board. Provided no review is requested, the report should be published in March.

  Bus Lanes
  Mr. Roger King
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any proposals to issue guidelines on the introduction of bus lanes in urban areas.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  We published a traffic advisory leaflet in March 1988 giving technical guidelines on the use of with-flow bus lanes. I shall send a copy to my hon. Friend. Further guidance is in course of preparation covering other kinds of bus priority measures.

  Braking Lights
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if his Department is aware of any evidence linking the dazzle of rear braking lights fitted on the rear windows of motor vehicles and serious injuries and deaths on British roads;
  100
  (2)if his Department has any information on the fitting as standard by manufacturers of rear braking lights in the rear windows of motor vehicles;

  (3)if he has any plans to introduce legislation to prohibit the installation of rear braking lights in the rear windows of motor vehicles.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  We are not aware of any serious injuries or deaths on British roads due to dazzle from brake lights fitted in the rear windows of cars.

  Volvo fit a centre brake light in the rear window of their cars as standard.

  We have issued for consultation revised vehicle lighting regulations which will prohibit the fitting of brake lights in the rear windows of new cars in future unless they are half as bright as normal brake lights. Such a lamp should provide the benefit which the centre brake light can bring without the dangers of unwanted dazzle to which the hon. Member refers.

  Crash Helmets
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to encourage the wearing of hard hats by cyclists; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The Department strongly encourages the voluntary use of pedal cycle helmets and will continue to do so.

  Over half of all pedal cycle casualties involve head injuries. It is sensible for cyclists to wear a good quality helmet made to the British Standard BS6863. Such helmets are now available nationwide.

  Concorde (West Cornwall)
  Mr. Mudd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many complaints he has received concerning Concorde's sonic boom from persons living in west Cornwall for each of the years 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The booms are normally heard during the winter. The figures for the whole of Cornwall for each winter season (November-April) are as follows:

  Number

  1984–85

  29

  1985–86

  12

  1986–87

  14

  1987–88

  14

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the ministerial advisers appointed in his Department for each year since 1979, the salary each person received, whether paid directly or to another employer, and the duties undertaken, whether solely in his Department or in conjunction with other Departments; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The following special advisers have been employed in the Department since 1979:I. Heggie—Special Adviser to the Minister of Transport on transport issues from 1 November 1979 to 31 January 1981. Paid directly.
  Sir John Hoskyns—Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for Transport on transport issues from 12 July 1982 to 21 June 1986. Paid directly.

  101
  Mrs. K. C. Ramsay—Special (political) Adviser to the Secretary of State for Transport from 1 September 1983 to 21 May 1986. Paid directly.
  Miss E. Buchanan—Special (political) Adviser to the Secretary of State for Transport from 1 September 1987 to date. Paid directly.

  It is not the practice to reveal the salaries of individual advisers as they are individually negotiated in relation to previous outside earnings and are therefore confidential. The salary spine covers rates from points 1 to 28, £13,975 to £40,520.

  Channel Tunnel (London Terminal)
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what degree of private sector involvement he anticipates will be involved in the construction of(a) the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel and (b) the fast rail link between the tunnel and terminal through Kent.

  Mr. Portillo
  This remains to be seen. But I would like to see a significant degree of such involvement in both projects.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his policy with regard to British Rail having sole determination of the location of the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Portillo
  Government subsidy to British Rail in connection with its Channel tunnel services is prohibited by section 42 of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987. British Rail cannot be expected to choose a location for its second London terminal which it does not consider to be in its best commercial interests based on passenger needs. British Rail's proposal will of course need my approval and that of Parliament.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what representations have been made to his Department against the possible location of the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel at King's Cross;

  (2) what representations he has received in favour of (a) Stratford and (b) King's Cross for the location of the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel.

  Mr. Portillo
  In addition to representations from the hon. Member, I have received a number of representations from local authorities and other interested bodies in favour of Stratford, and again King's Cross, as the site for a second London terminal. Equally, I have received a number of representations from hon. Members and others in the north of England who favour King's Cross as against Stratford on the ground that it will make possible better links to the north. I have explained to all those who have made representations that the choice is British Rail's responsibility.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the consultants were appointed to consider the feasibility of Stratford as a location for the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel; and when they are due to present their report.

  Mr. Portillo
  I am aware that British Rail has carried out such an assessment, but I do not yet have details.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has regarding the 102
  estimated cost of construction of a second London terminal for the Channel tunnel at (a) Stratford and (b) King's Cross.

  Mr. Portillo
  I understand that it is British Rail's view that a terminal at King's Cross would cost more than one at Stratford, but would be more commercially viable because of its more central location.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel to be operational; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Portillo
  It is too early to say.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what contribution has been made by his Department to the selection process for the site of the second London terminal for the Channel tunnel; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Portillo
  None, but the investment will need Government approval and Parliament will consider the necessary Bill.

  Channel Tunnel (Kent Link)
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to receive British Rail's decision in respect of the Channel tunnel preferred link through Kent.

  Mr. Portillo
  I understand that British Rail hopes to announce its preferred route corridor in the next few weeks.

  Carlisle-Settle Railway Line
  Mr. Martlew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a further statement on the future of the Carlisle to Settle railway line.

  Mr. Portillo
  I am not yet in a position to do so.

  Underground Stations (Radio)
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of London Underground stations use radio underground.

  Mr. Portillo
  Train radio is in operation throughout the underground network. London Underground Limited is implementing a programme for the introduction of police and staff radio at 42 deep-level stations representing a third of sub-surface stations. Police radio is now in use at 26 of these stations and staff radio at eight. London Underground Limited intends that police radio will be in use at all 42 stations by the end of February and staff radio by the end of April, and is preparing proposals to extend both facilities to all sub-surface stations.

  London Underground (Staff Training)
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many days safety training per year staff on London Underground receive.

  Mr. Portillo
  This is a matter for which London Underground Limited is responsible but I understand that all station and train staff will now receive one and a half days training in fire and emergency procedures a year.

  Rail Link (Manchester International Airport)
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on current progress on the rail link to Manchester International airport.

  Mr. Portillo
  I am awaiting a joint submission from the Greater Manchester PTE and British Rail on the financing of this link.

  Rail Services (Gloucester-London)
  Mr. French
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will discuss the need to improve the frequency of direct trains between Gloucester and London when he next meets the chairman of British Rail.

  Mr. Portillo
  This is a matter for the British Railways Board.

  Air Services (Manchester-Singapore)
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress he has made in negotiations to increase the number of air services between Manchester and Singapore; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Discussions were held in London this week between United Kingdom and Singapore civil aviation officials on arrangements for the provision of air services between the United Kingdom and Singapore. The discussions made useful progress and they are expected to continue in Singapore within the next two months.

  Fennell Report (Implementation)
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much extra funding has been provided so far to implement the findings of the Fennell report.
  104
  Mr. Portillo
  The external financing limit for London Regional Transport for the current financial year has been increased to allow for £28 million of additional safety-related expenditure following the fire at King's Cross. The Government's public expenditure plans for 1989–90 to 1991–92 make provision in full for the proposals put forward by LRT for spending on Underground safety totalling £266 million.

  London Underground (Fires)
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many call-outs the London fire brigade received in each of the last five years for fires on the London Underground.

  Mr. Portillo
  London Underground Ltd. do not have information available in the form requested for the period specified. I understand that the numbers of fire and smoke incidents recorded by London Underground for the past five years are as follows:

  Number

  1984

  520

  1985

  335

  1986

  505

  1987

  844

  1988

  1,248

  Changes in reporting arrangements within London Underground during the period mean that one year is not strictly comparable with another. These changes include the ones made after the King's Cross fire, as I indicated in the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) on 10 January.

  UNRULINESS CERTIFICATES
  UNRULINESS CERTIFICATES
  FEMALE REMAND PRISONERS: NATIONALITY
  FEMALE REMAND PRISONERS: NATIONALITY
  ASSAULTS ON PRISON OFFICERS
  ASSAULTS ON PRISON OFFICERS
  BOARDS OF VISITORS: PRESENCE OF JUSTICES' CLERKS
  BOARDS OF VISITORS: PRESENCE OF JUSTICES' CLERKS
  PRISON RULE 43: STATISTICS
  PRISON RULE 43: STATISTICS
  YOUNG OFFENDER INSTITUTIONS: 14 YEAR-OLD INMATES
  YOUNG OFFENDER INSTITUTIONS: 14 YEAR-OLD INMATES
  YOUNG OFFENDER INSTITUTIONS: SLEEPING OUT STATISTICS
  YOUNG OFFENDER INSTITUTIONS: SLEEPING OUT STATISTICS
  YOUNG OFFENDER STATISTICS
  YOUNG OFFENDER STATISTICS
  THE "GUILDFORD FOUR" APPEAL
  THE "GUILDFORD FOUR" APPEAL
  CARDIFF BAY BARRAGE: EFFECT ON BIRD LIFE
  CARDIFF BAY BARRAGE: EFFECT ON BIRD LIFE
  CARDIFF BAY BARRAGE: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
  CARDIFF BAY BARRAGE: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
  CARDIFF BAY: MINI-BARRAGE PROPOSAL
  CARDIFF BAY: MINI-BARRAGE PROPOSAL
  CHIEFTAIN TANK REPLACEMENT
  CHIEFTAIN TANK REPLACEMENT
  WIDOWS' PENSIONS: UPRATING PROPOSAL
  WIDOWS' PENSIONS: UPRATING PROPOSAL
  NUCLEAR ARMED SEA-LAUNCH CRUISE MISSILES
  NUCLEAR ARMED SEA-LAUNCH CRUISE MISSILES
  TRIDENT II PROGRAMME: UK CONTRACTS
  TRIDENT II PROGRAMME: UK CONTRACTS
  ORGANIC FARMING: ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT
  ORGANIC FARMING: ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT
  SALMONELLA ENTERITIDIS: RESEARCH FUNDING
  SALMONELLA ENTERITIDIS: RESEARCH FUNDING
  YATE SCHOOL, BRISTOL: RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
  YATE SCHOOL, BRISTOL: RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
  UNIVERSITIES FUNDING COUNCIL
  UNIVERSITIES FUNDING COUNCIL
  OZONE DEPLETION: ARCTIC STUDIES
  OZONE DEPLETION: ARCTIC STUDIES
  SDI: NATO BRIEFING
  SDI: NATO BRIEFING
  SDI: THATCHER/REAGAN FOUR POINT AGREEMENT
  SDI: THATCHER/REAGAN FOUR POINT AGREEMENT
  DEFENCE AND ARMS CONTROL POLICIES IN EUROPE
  DEFENCE AND ARMS CONTROL POLICIES IN EUROPE
  MARITIME CONFIDENCE: BUILDING MEASURES
  MARITIME CONFIDENCE: BUILDING MEASURES
  MAN-MADE DEBRIS IN SPACE
  MAN-MADE DEBRIS IN SPACE
  PRI VATISATIONS: LAND SALES BY PURCHASERS
  PRI VATISATIONS: LAND SALES BY PURCHASERS
  PUBLIC EXPENDITURE COMPARISONS
  PUBLIC EXPENDITURE COMPARISONS
  RENTED PROPERTY: SET-OFF OF TAX LOSSES
  RENTED PROPERTY: SET-OFF OF TAX LOSSES
  SALMONELLA OUTBREAKS
  SALMONELLA OUTBREAKS
  COMMUNITY CARE: HOSTEL AND HOME FUNDING
  COMMUNITY CARE: HOSTEL AND HOME FUNDING
  AYCLIFFE SCHOOL: SENTENCES ON REMANDED JUVENILES
  AYCLIFFE SCHOOL: SENTENCES ON REMANDED JUVENILES
  WATER COMPANIES: LAND SALES AFTER PRIVATISATION
  WATER COMPANIES: LAND SALES AFTER PRIVATISATION
  WATER COMPANIES: LAND VALUES
  WATER COMPANIES: LAND VALUES
  WATER PURIFICATION COSTS: RESPONSIBILITY
  WATER PURIFICATION COSTS: RESPONSIBILITY
  NORTH WEST WATER AUTHORITY: SUPPLY DISCONTINUATION NOTICES
  NORTH WEST WATER AUTHORITY: SUPPLY DISCONTINUATION NOTICES
  WEIL'S DISEASE: COUNTER-MEASURES
  WEIL'S DISEASE: COUNTER-MEASURES
  BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE: TRAINING
  BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE: TRAINING
  LONDON UNDERGROUND POLICING: FUNDING
  LONDON UNDERGROUND POLICING: FUNDING
  LONDON UNDERGROUND: ROBBERIES
  LONDON UNDERGROUND: ROBBERIES
  CHANNEL TUNNEL: LIVERPOOL LINK
  CHANNEL TUNNEL: LIVERPOOL LINK
  CHANNEL TUNNEL: LIVERPOOL PROPOSAL
  CHANNEL TUNNEL: LIVERPOOL PROPOSAL