Written Answers of 26 July 1989

NATIONAL FINANCE

  Civil Servants (Resignations)
  Mr. John Garrett
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many civil servants of assistant secretary level and above have resigned from the Civil Service in each of the last 10 years.

  Mr. Ryder
  Numbers of civil servants of unified grade 5 (assistant secretary equivalent) and above who have resigned from the Civil Service in each of the last 10 years are shown in the table. The numbers of resignations each year represent less that 2½ per cent. of the total staff numbers.

  Unified grades 1 to 5

  Numbers resigning

  1979

  18

  1980

  27

  1981

  25

  1982

  38

  1983

  31

  1984

  37

  1985

  39

  1986

  31

  1987

  37

  1 1988

  49

  1 Provisional.

  Import Penetration
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each industry listed in the tables given in replies to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby, 14 November 1988, Official Report, columns 401–2 and 412, concerning import penetration in certain industries, the increase in the volume of imports and exports to the four areas between 1979 and 1987 together with the gross and net fixed capital investments.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  I have been asked to reply.

  Constant price trade-by-industry data are not available on an area basis. Detailed information on fixed capital expenditure by individual sectors of industry may be conveniently found in the summary volumes of the annual census of production.

  Finished Manufactures
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing his best estimate of the value and increase in volume, based on 1985= 100, and United Kingdom output of finished manufactures in 1973, 1978, 1981, 1985, 1987 and the current year to date and the value and volume of (i) imports of intermediate goods, (ii) United Kingdom
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  output of finished manufactures less imports of intermediate goods and (iii) exports of finished manufactures.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  I have been asked to reply.

  A current price estimate for the value of United Kingdom output of finished manufactures is not readily available. An index at constant prices is provided in the table. Figures for imports of intermediate goods and exports of finished manufactures may be found in the latest annual supplement to the monthly review of external trade statistics and the latest balance of payments press notice, both of which are available in the Library.

  Estimated volume index of output of finished manufactures

  (1985 = 100)

  Year

  1973

  104·0

  1978

  103·9

  1981

  90·9

  1985

  100·0

  1987

  105·0

  1 1989

  115·4

  1 To date.

  Note: Finished manufactures have been taken to comprise consumer and investment goods.

  Exports
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing (i) for ratio 3 of the export sales ratio in the years 1975, 1979 and 1987 for manufacturing less divisions 21, 23, 24, 41/42, 46 and 47, (ii) the increase in the value of United Kingdom sales and exports for this group of industries less the value of imports of intermediate goods divided between them in the same ratio and (iii) the estimated increase in volume of net output and net exports for this group after this adjustment.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  I have been asked to reply.

  Figures constructed from current price data are estimated to be as follows. Comparable data at constant prices could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Exports as a proportion of manufacturers' sales

  Per cent.

  Manufacturing less divisions 21, 23, 24, 41/42, 46, and 47

  1975

  33

  1979

  34

  1987

  43

  Value of United Kingdom sales and exports less the total value of imports of intermediate goods divided between them pro-rata

  £ billion

  United Kingdom

  Manufacturing less divisions 21, 23, 24, 41/42, 46 and 47

  Home Sales

  1975

  38

  1979

  74

  1987

  120

  Exports

  1975

  141

  1979

  26

  1987

  49

  Earnings Rule (Abolition)
  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the implementation of the abolition of the earnings rule.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  I have been asked to reply.

  From 1 October 1989, existing pensioners who already have their pension reduced because of their earnings will be awarded the full pension to which they are entitled. Those who have deferred taking their pension will be offered the opportunity to claim it or to continue deferment. The Department's objective is that as many as possible of those who wish to do so will be able to draw their pension by Christmas. In any event, payments will be backdated to 1 October.

CIVIL SERVICE

  Senior Management Development Programme
  Mr. John Garrett
  To ask the Minister for the Civil Service, what has been the enrolment on the Civil Service senior management development programme for the last five years.

  Mr. Luce
  The senior management development programme was launched in September 1985. The approximate numbers of participants at 31 March of each year were:

  Participants

  1986

  2,600

  1987

  3,000

  1988

  4,300

  1 1989

  4,500

  1 Provisional figure.

  Next Steps Initiative
  Sir Hal Miller
  To ask the Minister for the Civil Service how the next steps initiative is progressing; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Luce
  The next steps initiative is taking firm root. There are now eight agencies set up and the project manager expects that by this time next year there will be 20 or more established. Over 30 areas of Government activity covering around one third of the Civil Service, have been announced as candidates for agency status. These are all listed. The candidates include the social security operations, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security announced in May that he intended to set up as two or three agencies covering virtually the whole of his Department. There is more to come; work is progressing in a number of other important areas of government.

  In support of this, a good deal of other work has been completed or is in hand, including work on accountability, appointment of chief executives, pay and personnel and recruitment flexibilities, financial regimes and delegation generally.

  The aim of next steps is better value for money and better service to the public. Accordingly agencies set up are being given performance targets and objectives in these areas. The first Agency is not yet a year old, but the signs are that targets will be achieved, and meanwhile that the
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  move to agency status has, as expected, released energies and enthusiasms of staff to tackle their tasks differently and better. I look to this to develop and progress. The success of next steps will be measured not simply by the number of agencies set up, but in the improvements in performance, for the benefit of taxpayers, customers and staff, that are expected to result. Arrangements are being set in hand to evaluate the project.

  Next steps has attracted considerable public interest and indeed general support, both at home and abroad. This House too has taken a close interest, and in the last six months both the Public Accounts Committee and the Treasury and Civil Service Committee have carried out their own inquiries. The Government welcome this interest and will be replying to their reports in due course.

  Executive Agencies Established at July 1989

  Vehicle Inspectorate (DTp)

  Companies House (DTI)

  Her Majesty's Stationery Office

  National Weights and Measures Laboratory (DTI)

  Warren Spring Laboratory

  Resettlement Units (DSS)

  Civil Service College (OMCS)

  QEII Conference Centre (PSA)

  Eight in number

  Executive Agency Candidates Announced at July 1989

  These are activities publicly announced by the responsible Ministers as under consideration for Agency status. Their progress towards Agency status varies, with some at a more advanced and certain stage than others.

  Building Research Establishment (DOE)

  Central Statistical Office

  Central Office of Information

  Central Veterinary Laboratory (MAFF)

  Civil Service Commission Recruitment Service (OMCS)

  Civil Service Occupational Health Service (OMCS)

  Crown Suppliers Fuel Branch (PSA)

  Defence non-Nuclear Research Establishments (MOD)

  Department of the Registers of Scotland (SO)

  Driver and Vehicle Licensing Directorate (DTp)

  Driver Testing and Training (DTp)

  Employment Service (DE)

  Forensic Science Service (HO)

  Historic Buildings and Monuments Directorate (SO)

  Historic Royal Palaces (DOE)

  Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce

  Insolvency Service (DTI)

  Laboratory of the Government Chemist (DTI)

  Land Registry

  Meteorological Office (MOD)

  National Engineering Laboratory (DTI)

  National Physical Laboratory (DTI)

  Passport Department (HO)

  Patent Office (DTI)

  Planning Inspectorate (DOE)

  Radiocommunications Division (DTI)

  Royal Parks (DOE)

  Social Security IT Services Agency (DSS)

  Social Security Benefits Agency (DSS)

  Training Agency (DE)

  Vehicle Component Approval (DTp)

  Veterinary Medicines Directorate (MAFF)

  Employment and Training Agency/Northern Ireland Civil Service

  Social Security Operations

  Rating Division

  Thirty-five in number

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

  Nepal
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Nepalese authorities about providing medical or other equipment and assistance to overcome shortages due to the dispute between Nepal and India.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  No specific request for medical equipment has been received. The flow of supplies into Nepal appears to have improved and this has been reflected in our own aid projects where the improved supply of fuel has enabled a sustainable level of operations. We are, however, engaged in a continuing dialogue with the Nepalese authorities on our aid programme and will consider any well-founded request carefully.

DEFENCE

  Anthrax
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Leyton of 19 July, if he will list the off-site activities of the chemical defence establishment at Porton Down involving detection, decontamination, treatment and protective systems involving anthrax other than on Gruinard island.

  Mr. Alan Clark
  All research work on anthrax undertaken by CDE scientists has been located at Porton Down and Gruinard island.

  Mine Warfare Exercise
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if consultations have taken place with local fishermen concerning the mine warfare exercise which is to take place in the firth of Clyde during August; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  There is no specific exercise taking place in the Firth of Clyde in August, but a dummy minefield is being laid during the month for evaluation purposes, as part of a continuing programme of mine countermeasures work. The co-ordinates of this were passed to the Clyde fishermen's association on 20 June 1989. A favourable response was received from the association on 10 July, and a Clyde warning message was issued on 20 July.

  Submarine Exercises
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the Royal Navy is considering the re-introduction of the practice of having a fleet tender in attendance when a submarine is submerged on exercise; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  I am advised that it has not previously been standard practice for fleet tenders to be present at submarine exercises and there are no plans to introduce such a measure. Tenders will, however, continue to be a present for specific trials such as an initial dive after build or refit.

  HMS Dreadnought
  Mr. Gordon Brown
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his future plans for HMS Dreadnought.

  Mr. Alan Clark
  I refer the hon. Member to the House of Commons Defence Committee's seventh report, published on 21 June 1989.

  Nuclear Submarines (Rosyth)
  Mr. Gordon Brown
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy that there be no further storage of nuclear submarines in the vicinity of Rosyth dockyard.

  Mr. Alan Clark
  The Government have made no decision about the method by which decommissioned nuclear submarines will be disposed of, nor where any submarines should be stored, should temporary storage afloat be necessary.

  Training
  Mr. O'Neill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Clackmannan of 19 July Official Report, column 232, what are the restrictions on the nature and extent of the training which apply in the two areas referred to in his reply; for what purpose he acquired long term rights over the two areas referred to; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Neubert
  The following restrictions apply to the nature and extent of training on the two areas in question:

  Forestry Commission Land in Galloway

  Under the terms of the licence, use of the area is permitted for adventure training, map reading, orienteering and small scale escape and evasion exercises. There are limitations on the number of men permitted to use the area at any one time and all buildings, lochs, SSS1s, low lying land and fields containing crops and hay are out of bounds. There are also limitations on the use of blank ammunition and pyrotechnics. vehicles and helicopters.

  British Aluminium Company Land at Kinlochleven

  The majority of the area is not available to MOD between 1 August and 21 October. With certain exceptions vehicles are not permitted other than on public roads. The use of live ammunition is prohibited and training must not interfere with or cause damage to any hydraulic or factory installation nor interfere with the landlord's use for all normal estate, sporting, agricultural or silvicultural purposes.

  We have acquired long-term rights over these two areas to secure the continuation of our present training activities.

  Training Land
  Mr. O'Neill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) to what percentage area of Ministry of Defence property holdings the public has(a) full access, (b) limited access and (c) no access;

  (2) to what percentage area of Ministry of Defence training land the public has (a) full access, (b) limited access and (c) no access.

  Mr. Neubert
  It is our policy to allow access to MOD-owned land where this is compatible with operational and safety considerations and with the interests of tenants and licensees. Records are not held in a form that would show the percentage of MOD land over which the public has access.
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  Mr. O'Neill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage area of Ministry of Defence training land is allowed to be used for live-fire training exercises.

  Mr. Neubert
  Records are not held in the form required and the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Live Ammunition (Exercises)
  Mr. O'Neill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the annual number of exercises involving the use of live ammunition for each of the last 10 years.

  Mr. Neubert
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Mr. O'Neill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the annual number of reported incidents of members of the public discovering live ammunition in areas that had recently been used for training purposes, for each of the last 10 years for which data is available.

  Mr. Neubert
  I will write to the hon. Member.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Police (West Midlands)
  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands as to whether any of the officers suspended or disciplined in the last five years in the west midlands police force were involved in investigating the murder of Carl Bridgewater.

  Mr. Hurd
  I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that no officer from that force who was involved in the Carl Bridgewater murder inquiry has been suspended in the last five years. Two such officers have been disciplined in that period.

  Crime Screening
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will direct the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to publish in his annual report the statistics relating to the screening of reported crimes for further investigation; if he will publish the figures for 1988; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hurd
  I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that detailed figures for 1988 are not available centrally, but that the commissioner is considering what information might be published in future annual reports.

  Prison Officers' Housing
  Sir John Farr
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cause of the hold-up by the Home Office in relation to the sale of 44 homes on the Gartree estate to prison officers; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hurd
  Of the 81 prison quarters on the Gartree estate, 46 were released for sale under the prison service discount sales scheme on 30 June 1988. A total of 21 applications for purchase were received and offers of sale have been made to 18 applicants. Valuations for the other three properties have yet to be received from the district valuer.
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  Five of the offers made were accepted and sales are going ahead in the normal way. The main reason for delay on the other sales is the unwillingness of prospective purchasers to accept the terms of the discount scheme. This requires that the properties should be offered for sale on the basis of a valuation made at the date of application to purchase or at the date on which the properties were released for sale, whichever is the later. I have no authority to sanction sales based on a valuation at the date on which the discount scheme first came into effect—June 1987—which is what these prospective purchasers are seeking.

  Cornfield Circles
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constables of Hampshire and Wiltshire on their investigations into the cornfield circles in Hampshire and Wiltshire; what is the estimated cost of these investigations; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hurd
  I understand from the chief constables of Hampshire and Wiltshire that there have been no investigations into the cornfield circles by their officers.

  Race Relations (Liverpool)
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will direct the Chief Inspector of Constabulary to inquire into those aspects of the findings of the first report of the Liverpool 8 inquiry into race relations in Liverpool which relate to the Merseyside police; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hurd
  No.

  Broadcasting (Deaf People)
  Sir Charles Morrison
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to ensure that the Independent Television Commission will have adequate representation of deaf people.

  Mr. Renton
  The Independent Television Commission will be a regulatory body rather than a representative one. Members will be chosen to cover a wide range of experience and knowledge, but we do not believe it would be right to appoint a member specifically to serve the needs of the deaf.

  Sir Charles Morrison
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he intends to lay down regulations that oblige the television broadcasters to ensure that whenever there is an emergency or urgent news flashes, the programme is broadcast so that deaf viewers can fully understand the message;

  (2) whether the proposed requirements for Channels 3 and 5 with regard to subtitling for the deaf will be applied to the BBC channels, Channel 4, cable and satellite channels; what reasonable target for the amount of subtitles in future years will be set by the Independent Television Commission; whether the proposed 10 per cent. increase in Teletest subtitles will be a minimum requirement; whether the proposal will include a requirement to provide a diverse service across all programming; and whether he is considering any inclusion in the proposal for sign language services and open-in-vision subtitles.
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  Mr. Hurd
  As I announced on 13 June, at column 715, we are proposing that Channel 3 and Channel 5 licensees should, in the first year of the new licences provide 10 per cent. more hours of subtitling than had been achieved on average by the ITV companies in the previous year. The licensees would, of course, be free to provide more hours than this if they so wished. The ITC would take this and other matters into account In judging a suitable target for future years. We envisage that the choice of which programmes should be subtitled should be left to the licence holder. The BBC and Channel 4 will continue to be bound by public service commitments and so can be expected to continue to provide subtitling.

  It will be for the broadcasters to determine how information is presented, beyond the requirement to be impartial and accurate in news reporting. Live subtitling is complex, and in some instances would be difficult to provide.

  With regard to the additional television channels, which are becoming available, we have always made it clear that we intend to impose on these channels a number of consumer protection requirements to safeguard the public on matters of taste and decency. Beyond that their success or failure will be determined by their ability to attract and retain viewers with their programme service.

  Services for the deaf should generally be provided by teletext, although by virtue of their public service obligations the BBC and Channel 4 can be expected to provide specialist services for those viewers without access to a teletext television set.

  Birmingham Pub Bombings
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands as to how many officers involved in the case against Keith Parchment were also involved in the case of the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings;

  (2) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands as to how many officers involved in the case against Paul Fitzsimmons were also involved in the case of the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings;

  (3) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands as to how many officers involved in the case against Hassan Khan were also involved in the case against the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings;

  (4) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands as to how many officers involved in the case against Ernest Callaghan, Anthony Waldron, Robert Burston and Alexander Davies were also involved in the case against the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings;

  (5) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands as to how many of the officers involved in the case against Paul Dandy were also involved in the case of the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings.

  (6) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands as to how many officers involved in the case against Vincent Palmer were also involved in the case against the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings;
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  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands Police that no officer involved in the cases of any of the individuals named was also involved in the case concerning those convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings.

  Detective-Sergeant Michael Hornby
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Police Complaints Authority as to the number of complaints made to them against Detective-Sergeant Michael Hornby; and what action was taken in each case.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  No. The Police Complaints Authority is not itself empowered to receive complaints against police officers. Any complaint that the authority may receive against an individual officer is passed to the chief constable of the force concerned, so that he may record it and have it investigated under the terms of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 where appropriate under the supervision of the authority.

  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, pursuant to his answer of 11 July,Official Report, column 425, he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands as to whether Detective-Sergeant Michael Hornby's personal file contains details of the offence for which he was disciplined in 1980.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 21 July, at column 403, pursuant to the answer given to the hon. Member on 11 July.

  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, pursuant to his answer of 11 July,Official Report, column 425, he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands as to how many complaints have been received against Detective-Sergeant Michael Hornby for each of the last seven years.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands Police that four complaints have been made against Detective-Sergeant Hornby in the last seven years, consisting of one in 1983, two in 1986 and one in 1987 which was subsequently withdrawn.

  Mr. Majid Agha
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what instructions are given to immigration officers about providing receipts for personal property which is retained by such officers;

  (2) what was the reason for the delay in responding to the letter from the hon. Member for Stretford about Mr. Majid Agha (HO Ref A429590);

  (3) what were the nature and length of the avoidable delays in arriving at a decision in the case of Mr. Majid Agha; and what steps have been taken to avoid repetition;

  (4) when the conclusion was arrived at that Mr. Majid Agha resides lawfully in Britain;

  (5) when the passports of Mr. Majid Agha were returned to him by immigration officers following their seizure;

  (6) why the visit to the home of Mr. Majid Agha by immigration officers took place without notice; why the immigration officers were accompanied by police officers on the visit to Mr. Majid Agha; and why Mr. Majid Agha's passports were taken by immigration officers.
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  Mr. Renton
  The case to which the hon. Member refers was the subject of a complaint about the conduct of the immigration officers involved in the particular inquiry. Following investigation I wrote to the hon. Member on 8 June. The answers to the additional specific questions are as follows:

  The reason why an unannounced visit by immigration and police officers took place was because information was available about the possible commission of immigration and other criminal offences. In the course of the inquiry two passports were taken away, against receipt, and with the consent of the person who was the subject of that inquiry. Instructions to immigration officers are that documents or other items taken during this kind of inquiry should have been provided voluntarily and that a receipt should be provided for any items retained.

  The visit took place on 31 January, the decision that the person in question was lawfully settled in the United Kingdom was made on 3 April and the passports returned on 20 April. There were two avoidable delays: one between 10 February and 21 March when the case received insufficient attention due to pressure of work, and one between 3 April and 17 April when the papers were temporarily mislaid in the immigration office at Manchester airport. Local procedures have been revised, aimed at avoiding a repetition of such delays.

  The reason for the delay in responding to the letter from the hon. Member for Stretford was, as explained in my interim reply of 13 March to his letter of 1 February, that investigation of the complaint and other inquiries at Manchester airport took some time to conclude.

  Breath Tests
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when the Government intend to respond to the request of the Association of Chief Police Officers for additional breath-testing powers; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) when the results of the Home Office consultation period on police breath-testing powers will he published; and in what form.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for East Lothian (Mr. Home Robertson) on 8 May 1989 at column 284.

  >Yashpal Singh
  Mr. Sedgemore
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why no Home Office representative was available to attend the case of Yashpal Singh (TH/1204/88) at Thanet house on 21 July, in which the entry certification officer, New Delhi, is the respondent; when a Home Office representative will be available to attend a hearing; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Renton
  The Home Office presenting officer allocated to the case was unfortunately admitted to hospital on that day. The case was complex and it was not, at short notice, possible to reallocate it. The adjudicator agreed to an adjournment and future listing of the case is a matter for my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor.

  Designated Custody Officers
  Mr. Shersby
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has received from chief constables in England and Wales concerning the extent to which they have designated custody officers having a rank other than that of a sergeant and having dual responsibilities within their police station in accordance with the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Chief officers are not required by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to provide my right hon. Friend with such information and he has not received any approaches from them on this point.

  Police Radio (Interference)
  Mr. Shersby
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations his Department has received from the Northumbria police concerning exceptional radio interference on both VHF and UHF radio channels resulting from the European Cellnet system; what information he has on the extent to which this is causing a breakdown of communications between the command and control systems and police officers on the street; and what action he is taking to remendy this problem.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I shall write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of the letter in the Library.

  Child Care Workers (Police Information)
  Mr. Michael Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will extend the arrangements for the disclosure of police information about those who apply to work with children, which are currently available to local authorities and to voluntary organisations.

  Mr. Hurd
  We have today announced that, with the agreement of the Association of Chief Police Officers and representatives of the voluntary sector, three pilot schemes are to be set up to allow voluntary organisations access to police information about those who apply to work with children. One of the schemes will cover, principally, national child care organisations, the other two will be based locally in Dudley and Lancashire.

  The national scheme will be hosted by the National Council of Voluntary Child Care Organisations and, although it will cover largely national child care organisations, it would not exclude other nationally based organisations.

  The two local schemes, hosted by the Dudley Council for Voluntary Service and the Community Council for Lancashire will aim to provide a service for locally organised voluntary groups.

  The three new schemes, which will be funded by the Government during the pilot phase, will extend to voluntary organisations the arrangements now available to local authorities and the health service which will allow them access to police information about those seeking to work in posts which would give them substantial and unsupervised access to children.

  Underground Railway Stations (Fire Precautions)
  Mr. Kirkhope
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposes to make regulations on fire precautions in underground railway stations.
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  Mr. Hurd
  The necessary consultation with railway operators, fire authorities and others has now been completed and it is my intention to lay regulations within the next two weeks. The first of them will come into effect in mid-September. The regulations will be made under section 12 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and will be subject to the negative resolution procedure.

  The regulations are part of the Government's response to Mr. Desmond Fennell's investigation into the King's Cross Underground fire and were announced to the House by my right hon. Friend, the Member for Southend, West (Mr. Channon) last November. They will incorporate the great majority of Mr. Fennell's recommendations concerning fire precautions in underground railway stations and some additional requirements amongst them those concerning the construction of stations.

  The regulations will include those requiring the installation of heat detectors and sprinklers in escalators and other areas of high fire risk, for the protection and maintenance of exits so that all of these, including ticket barriers, can he immediately opened in case of fire, and for the training and provision of staff so that in an emergency they will know what to do.

  They apply to all underground stations, not only to those in London, and will be enforced by the local fire authority for the area. Fire authorities will have discretion to relax some of these requirements when this is justified by the circumstances.

  Citizenship
  Mr. Wells
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for registration as British citizens made under the transitional provisions of the British Nationality Act 1981 are still outstanding; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Renton
  In the financial year 1987–88 some 190,000 such applications for registration were received. I announced to the House on 19 May 1988 at column 1080 that a new nationality office in Liverpool would be opened to assist with the processing of the applications and the new office opened on 22 August 1988. Excellent progress has been made and the number of registration applications now outstanding is less than 60,000. We expect to have taken decisions on the last of the outstanding applications during January 1990—significantly ahead of the target date of 1 April.

  The establishment of the Liverpool nationality office to process registration applications has allowed the rest of the nationality division in Lunar house to concentrate exclusively on other categories of application for citizenship. Furthermore, once the registration work is completed, the Liverpool nationality office will begin to process naturalisations, almost doubling the capacity available for that work. In this way, we hope to be able to improve the level of service given to applicants during 1990–91.

  The difficulties caused by the rush of applications at the end of 1987 are not yet over, but we are on course to improve the level of service to our customers. The staff of the nationality division, both in Croydon and Liverpool, are to be congratulated on the efforts made to achieve that aim.

  Immigration
  Mr. Fraser
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration inspectors have been involved in each of the last six months for which records are available in the authorisation of decisions of immigration officers to make deportation orders against people; and on what basis each decision for(a) overstaying, (b) breach of conditions or (c) otherwise was taken.

  Mr. Renton
  [holding answer 17 July 1989]: Fourteen immigration inspectors are authorised to take decisions relating to those liable to deportation under section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971. Other categories of deportation cases are dealt with exclusively by the deportation section. Decisions in all deportation cases are based on all the known relevant facts in accordance with the immigration rules.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Inner Cities
  Mr. Anthony Coombs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will report upon the progress of the Government's inner-city initiative.

  Mr. Forth
  Under the comprehensive range of measures, costing £3·5 million this year, which makes up the Action for Cities initiative, good progress continues to be made in the regeneration of our inner cities. In the 57 inner city target areas, unemployment fell by almost 24 per cent. in the 12 months to May 1989. Recorded crime in the Metropolitan police force areas fell by 6 per cent. in 1988. Involvement of private companies continues to grow—over the last six months the number of companies working with the Government's inner city task forces has increased from 450 to 500.

  Astra Satellite
  Dr. Woodcock
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will take steps to ensure that the financial assistance given to, and the tax incentives provided for, the Astra project by the Luxembourg Government are in accordance with the treaty of Rome and that these aids will not distort fair competition in the United Kingdorn satellite market.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  It is open to the Government to raise with the European Commission any cases in which EC rules on state aids are alleged to have been broken and where British companies have been put to competitive disadvantage. If my hon. Friend would like to give me any further information relating to the aid given to the Astra project by the Luxembourg Government, I would be happy to consider the matter further.

  Life Assurance and Pensions
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will publish in the Official Report figures for each year since 1979 showing the net increase in the amounts available for investment of life assurance and pension schemes to the nearest £1 million; and if he will provide a forecast for 1987 and for 1988

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Estimates of total net investment by the long-term funds of insurance companies and self
  711
  administered pension funds (excluding net investment by pension funds in insurance-managed funds) are as follows for the year 1979 to 1988.

  £ million

  1979

  10,100

  1980

  11,744

  1981

  13,533

  1982

  15,201

  1983

  15,957

  1984

  17,668

  1985

  18,089

  1986

  20,295

  1987

  21,035

  1988

  20,142

  Note: There are some breaks in the series due to definitional changes. The main ones are between 1983 and 1984 and between 1984 and 1985.

  Insurance Agents (Commissions)
  Mr. Fraser
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make proposals to amend the law to ensure that tied agents of insurance policies disclose their commissions.

  Mr. Redwood
  No. Tied agents are not providing independent advice on behalf of a client, but are acting as the agent of the company they represent. The Securities and Investments Board has produced further proposals for disclosure of the status of the intermediary and disclosure of expenses in sales of life assurance and unit trusts.

  Timeshare Developments
  Mr. McCrindle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what representations he has received concerning cancellation provisions in contracts for timeshare developments; and what conclusions he has drawn;

  (2) if he will introduce legislation to require timeshare developers to include cooling off periods in contracts and provide for independent arbitration in the event of disputes over timeshare contracts;

  (3) if he will take powers to ban the use of incentive awards and sales presentations by timeshare developers.

  Mr. Forth
  I receive a steady flow of complaints about timeshare problems mainly criticising the sales techniques used by some companies and the lack of a penalty-free cooling off period in many timeshare contracts. I announced on 2 June that I had asked the Director General of Fair Trading to carry out a review of the whole range of timeshare problems and to make appropriate recommendations in the early part of next year.

  China
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will withdraw financial assistance from those organisations which are presently receiving assistance to further trade with China.

  Mr. Redwood
  The maintenance of departmental financial support for missions to and exhibitions in China is being reviewed on a case by case basis.

  Internal Market Council
  Mr. Hayes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will report on the outcome of the Internal Market Council on 18 July; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Redwood
  The Council, at which my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office represented the United Kingdom, discussed several issues, including the proposed European company statute; the draft EC merger regulation; and draft directives relating to rights of residence, the legal protection of computer programmes, and the introduction of public purchasing rules into the energy, water, transport and telecommunications sectors.

  Life Offices
  Mr. Sayeed
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangemens have been made to provide guidance to life offices on the regulatory position as it affects broker funds.

  Mr. Redwood
  We have recently considered whether any regulatory issues arise from the operation of "broker funds", defined as "Any arrangement under which a broker (or a nominee of the broker) has rights, not available to individual policyholders, to advise or decide on matters which determine the benefits under policies issued by the life insurance company through the broker.

  We have consulted the Securities and Investments Board and other relevant self-regulating organisations. The Securities and Investments Board is today issuing a consultation paper on the marketing and competence issues involving broker funds.

  We have concluded that the operation of broker funds may in the past have exhibited some potential for unfairness although we have no firm evidence that there was any unfairness.

  Consequently the Department has today written to life offices and other relevant organisations providing guidance to life offices and their auditors on the regulatory position as it affects broker funds, and on certain other issues to which they should have regard in the appointment of brokers to manage funds and in the operation of those funds. I have arranged for a copy of the text of the letter to be placed in the Library of the House. The letter emphasises the importance of section 31A of the Insurance Companies Act 1982. This section requires insurance companies to ensure that adequate arrangements are in force for securing that transactions affecting assets of the company (other than transactions outside its control) do not operate unfairly between different funds of the company. In the Department's view any transaction between funds which is effected in the knowledge that it will, or is likely to, cause detriment to one of the funds must "operate unfairly". While section 31A is already in force we are considering introducing a new regulation later this year requiring companies to report on their arrangements to meet the duty imposed by the section. This regulation—which is the subject of separate consultation with the industry—would require a certificate to be signed by the directors, to be annexed to the annual report, which would state that for the past financial year the company has had in force arrangements to meet this duty. This certificate would be subject to audit. We have

  713
  considered the implications of section 31A for the operation of intermediaries funds, and in particular for the granting of rights to brokers which are not conferred on policyholders generally and detailed guidance is provided in the letter to assist insurance companies to comply with the section. Further, we consider that insurance companies should satisfy themselves as to the competence of any broker or nominee managing any of its funds and to monitor their performance on a regular basis. At all times companies should maintain tight controls on broker fund operations.

  Toys (Safety)
  Miss Widdecombe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he intends to make the regulations to implement in the United Kingdom the European Community directive on toy safety.

  Mr. Forth
  I am pleased to inform my hon. Friend that I made the Toys (Safety) Regulations 1989 on 25 July and they are being laid before the House today.

  Car Production Plant, Swindon
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he made to Rover Group, British Aerospace or Honda in relation to the location of the proposed car production plant at Swindon.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The location of Honda's proposed car production plant was a matter for the company, but the Government made clear their welcome for Honda's decision to develop its existing engine facility at Swindon to full vehicle manufacture.

  FIMBRA
  Mr. John Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter he received recently from the chairman of FIMBRA as referred to during the proceedings of the Standing Committee of the Companies Bill by the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith), column 619.

  Mr. Redwood
  [holding answer 25 July 1989]: It is not my right hon. and noble Friend's normal practice to place in the Library correspondence which he receives from third parties simply because it is referred to by an hon. Member in debate. However, since I understand that the chairman of FIMBRA provided copies of the letter in question to hon. Members serving on Standing Committee D at the time, I am, with the agreement of the chairman, placing a copy in the Library.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

  Birtenshaw Farm, Bolton
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Attorney-General if he has received any representations about the covenant on Birtenshaw farm, Bolton; and if he will make a statement.

  The Solicitor-General
  The Attorney-General has received an application for his consent to realtor proceedings in respect of a proposed development at Birtenshaw farm. This application is now being considered.

PRIME MINISTER

  Football Matches
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Prime Minister how many football matches she has attended in an official capacity in the past 10 years.

  The Prime Minister
  I have attended four matches in my official capacity over the past 10 years. In addition, since his appointment, my hon. Friend the Minister for Sport has attended 25 domestic and international matches.

  Foreign Visits (Gifts)
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list the numbers and types of gifts she has received on her official visits abroad; and where these gifts are currently stored.

  The Prime Minister
  No.

  Radioactive Waste
  Mr. Wallace
  To ask the Prime Minister how many representations she has received from(a) the United Kingdom and (b) Norway regarding Nirex proposals for radioactive waste disposal at Sellafield and Dounreay

  The Prime Minister
  I have so far received two representations from United Kingdom residents and approximately 2,400 from Norway.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

  Teachers (Pay)
  Mr. Jack
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he has taken to recognise above-average teacher performance in any plans he has for the future determination of teachers' pay.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Local education authorities can already award incentive allowances to teachers who have demonstrated outstanding ability in the classroom. It is important that any new pay arrangements continue to allow for classroom excellence to be rewarded.

  Teachers (Resignations)
  Mr. Straw
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Blackburn of 29 June,Official Report, column 536, what information or estimates he now has as to the number of resignations submitted by teachers as at 31 May;

  (2) what inquiries he has been able to make as to the number of (a) teachers and (b) head teacher resignations and the likely level of vacancies in September 1989; and with what result.

  Mr. Rumbold
  Comprehensive data are not available. My officials telephoned a number of local education authorities to ask about the level of teacher resignations. Separate information on head teachers was not collected. Information from those authorities suggests that the position is little changed from that in recent years. As local authorities and schools are still recruiting teachers to take up posts in September, it is too early to make estimates of likely vacancies.

  National Curriculum
  Mr. Key
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what will be the benefit to primary schools of the introduction of the national curriculum and pupil assessment.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The national curriculum will assist all primary schools to reach the standards currently found in the best. Its framework of targets with linked assessment will enable primary schools to judge their pupils' achievements against objective standards and to identify their needs accordingly. This will give pupils the best possible foundation for their future education.

  Student Grants
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science on what basis postgraduate grants will be calculated once the link with the undergraduate grant comes to an end; and what compensation postgraduate students, especially those in high rent areas, will receive for the removal of benefits.

  Calendar year

  Number of proposals decided

  Number of places to be taken out of use by proposals in column 2

  Number of proposals in column 2 approved

  Number of surplus places to be taken out of use as a result of approved proposals

  (1)

  (2)

  (3)

  (4)

  (5)

  19891

  84

  34,992

  73

  24,981

  1 1 January 1989 to 30 June 1989.

  Inspectors' Reports
  Mr. Straw
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in the Official Report the expected dates for the publication of any report of any committee of Her Majesty's inspectors and of other documents of significance, during the next six months, with brief details of each publication.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  There are no reports of Her Majesty's Inspectorate committees published. Her Majesty's Inspectorate publications are based on the findings and messages from inspections and as such are planned and produced by Her Majesty's inspectorate and it is the senior chief inspector who decides where and when what is to be put to the Secretary of State for his agreement to publish.

  GCSE
  Mr. Pawsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, whether he has yet an indication of the effect of the GCSE examinations on staying on in full-time education and on the attainments of those taking the examination; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  [pursuant to the reply, 10 February 1989,c. 846–48]: Provisional statistics collected by my Department indicate that in January 1989 there were some 382,000 pupils aged 16 and over in maintained and independent schools in England, an increase of 5 per cent. on the previous year. This represents a staying-on rate of 32·4 per cent. in all schools (29·5 per cent. in maintained schools alone) compared with 29·4 per cent. and 26·6 per cent. respectively in 1987–88. These are the highest-ever rates for staying on in school.

  Of these pupils, some 314,000 are following A-level courses, an increase of 8 per cent. on the previous year.
  716
  Mr. Jackson
  The levels of postgraduate studentships will in future be determined by the award-making bodies, consulting among themselves and with the Department as appropriate, in the light of all relevant factors, including the number and quality of applications for support and other claims on their resources. Students who face financial difficulties when they are no longer eligible for social security benefits will be able to seek supplementary assistance from their higher education institutions from the access fund for postgraduate students.

  School Closures
  Mr. Straw
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the latest information relating to school closures for the current year to date on a basis consistent with the table in his answer to the hon. Member for Blackburn,Official Report, of 29 June, column 536.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The information is given in the table.

  The proportion of the age group on first year A-level courses in schools has risen by 3 percentage points to just under 24 per cent.; again, the highest figure ever.

  These are encouraging figures, particularly given the decline in the age cohort. They represent a 10 per cent. increase in the staying-on rate, the highest increase ever. In particular they strengthen the earlier evidence that the GCSE has raised the sights of many pupils and encouraged them to stay on for more advanced study.

  Comparable figures for enrolments in further education are not yet available.

  The following tables set out the relevant information.

  Table 1

  Pupils aged 16 and over in maintained secondary and independent schools

  1987–88 actual

  1988–89 estimated

  Percentage change

  Pupils 16 to 18

  Boys

  182,138

  190,187

  +4

  Girls

  178,553

  189,686

  +6

  Total

  360,691

  379,873

  +5

  Pupils by age

  16

  212,427

  218,251

  +3

  17

  132,313

  145,150

  +10

  18

  15,951

  16,472

  +3

  16 to 18

  360,691

  379,873

  +5

  19 plus

  2,378

  2,497

  +5

  Total

  363,069

  382,370

  +5

  Pupils by course of study1

  'A' level

  291,474

  313,872

  +8

  GCSE

  53,556

  49,810

  -7

  AS' level2

  481

  968

  —

  All other

  17,558

  17,720

  +1

  Total

  363,069

  382,370

  +5

  717
  1 Pupils may be taking more than one course but they are only counted once at the highest level course.

  2 One year group in 1987–88. Two year groups in 1988–89.

  Staying on rates at maintained secondary schools1

  January each year

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989 (provisional)

  Pupils aged 16

  Boys

  25·4

  25·2

  25·5

  25·0

  25·4

  27·8

  Girls

  29·4

  28·3

  28·3

  27·5

  27·9

  31·2

  Total

  27·4

  26·7

  26·9

  26·3

  26·6

  29·5

  Pupils aged 17

  Boys

  16·6

  16·0

  15·9

  15·9

  15·7

  16·7

  Girls

  18·0

  17·2

  16·7

  16·8

  16·4

  17·9

  Total

  17·3

  16·6

  16·3

  16·3

  16·0

  17·3

  1 Ages at previous 31 August. The number of pupils aged 16 and 17 expressed as a percentage of the 15 year olds one and two years earlier.

  Table 3

  Participation of 16 year olds in full-time education 1983–84 to 1988–89—Place and type of study—Males and Females Percentage of estimated population aged 16

  England

  Academic year

  1983–84

  1984–85

  1985–86

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  Place and type of study

  A-level study

  Maintained secondary and independent schools1

  19·7

  19·4

  19·4

  19·4

  20·8

  23·8

  Tertiary colleges

  0·5

  0·7

  0·7

  0·8

  1·1

  n/a

  Total

  20·2

  20·1

  20·1

  20·2

  22·0

  n/a

  Other establishments

  1·6

  1·6

  1·6

  1·8

  1·8

  n/a

  All establishments

  21·8

  21·6

  21·7

  21·9

  23·7

  n/a

  O-level study2

  Maintained secondary and independent schools1

  7·8

  8·0

  7·9

  7·4

  6·6

  6·5

  Tertiary colleges

  0·3

  0·4

  0·4

  0·4

  0·5

  n/a

  Total

  8·0

  8·3

  8·3

  7·8

  7·1

  n/a

  Other establishments

  2·0

  1·8

  1·8

  1·9

  1·8

  n/a

  All establishments

  10·0

  10·2

  10·1

  9·7

  8·9

  n/a

  Other non-advanced study

  Maintained secondary and independent schools1

  2·0

  1·7

  1·9

  1·8

  2·0

  2·1

  Special schools3

  0·6

  0·6

  0·6

  0·6

  0·6

  n/a

  Tertiary colleges

  0·8

  1·2

  1·3

  1·3

  1·6

  n/a

  Total

  3·4

  3·5

  3·8

  3·7

  4·2

  n/a

  Other establishment

  12·6

  11·6

  11·8

  11·4

  11·6

  n/a

  All establishments

  16·1

  15·1

  15·6

  15·1

  15·8

  n/a

  All types of non-advanced study

  Maintained secondary and independent schools1

  29·5

  29·1

  29·2

  28·6

  29·4

  32·4

  Special schools

  0·6

  0·6

  0·6

  0·6

  0·6

  n/a

  Tertiary colleges

  1·6

  2·2

  2·4

  2·5

  3·2

  n/a

  Total

  31·7

  31·9

  32·2

  31·7

  33·2

  n/a

  Other establishments

  16·2

  15·0

  15·2

  15·1

  15·2

  n/a

  All establishments

  47·9

  46·9

  47·4

  46·8

  48·4

  n/a

  Population aged 16 (thousands)

  759·6

  742·7

  733·7

  713· 9

  722·6

  673· 2

  Notes:

  1 Estimated as no age split is available.

  2 Including those on CSE, GCSE and CEE courses.

  3 No details by type of course are available for special schools. n/a =Not available.
  718

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

  Clergy (Car Purchase)
  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, if he will publish the details of the scheme operated by the Church Commissioners, in conjunction with dioceses of the Church of England, to assist clergy with car purchase and operation.

  Mr. Alison
  The car loan scheme operated by the commissioners enables all serving clergy, deaconesses and licensed lay workers on the commissioners' payroll to apply, through their diocesan office, for an interest free loan towards the purchase of a car. The loan is normally repayable over four years and, for parochial clergy, has a current ceiling of £4,550.

  The scheme was introduced on 1 July 1988 and has proved extremely popular; to date 2,798 loans have been granted, the total sum involved being £9·9 million.

  Parochial church councils are expected to reimburse the clergyman in full for those expenses which relate to parochial duties. These include car expenses, which the commissioners recommend be met by a mileage rate which includes elements for running costs, insurance, tax and depreciation.

ENERGY

  Nuclear Programmes (Expenditure)
  Dr. Thomas
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair) of 10 July,Official Report, column 380, if he will set out a detailed breakdown of the expenditure listed for 1988–89 nuclear, under the column headed "Other"; and what are the reasons for the increase from 1987–88 to 1988–89.

  Mr. Michael Spicer
  The information requested is set out in the table. It should be noted that the figures are based on estimated outturn. Final outturn figures for 1988–89 are not yet available and will be published in the appropriate accounts in the usual way.

  The increase from 1987–88 is largely accounted for by decommissioning and radioactive waste management operations (Drawmops), the purpose of which is to enable the UKAEA to do the work needed to ensure that the Department's liabilities for radioactive waste management and decommissioning work are properly and safely met. The 1988–89 main estimates provision for Drawmops was some £10 million higher than in 1987–88. Drawmops is an operational programme where the work in any particular year is determined in the light of safety factors and the need to carry out work at least overall cost to the taxpayer. The Drawmops figure in the table also includes the provision of £51·4 million made in a spring supplementary

  Year

  Expenditure on energy by-final users

  Tax as a proportion of expenditure on energy

  Energy expenditure as a proportion of GDP1

  £ million

  Per cent.

  Per cent.

  1986

  37,950

  22·6

  10·0

  1987

  38,530

  23·4

  9·3

  1988

  38,910

  24·9

  8·5

  720
  Estimate for outstanding UKAEA liabilities to British Nuclear Fuels plc for decommissioning and radioactive waste operations.

  As explained in the Department's 1988 main Estimates (HC 339-vi), some £18 million of overall expenditure with the UKAEA in 1988–89 represented a technical adjustment to the timing of payments made by the Department (offset by a corresponding reduction in the UKAEA's external financing limit to leave no net change in public expenditure). This adjustment accounts for some £5 million of the expenditure in the "Other" column.

  The remainder of the increase on the 1987–88 total is accounted for by small increases in other programmes.

  Breakdown of Department of Energy 1988–89 expenditure under "Other" heading in table at column 380, Official Report 10 July 1989

  £ million

  General Nuclear Safety Research

  6·6

  Radiological Protection Research

  0·5

  Safeguards

  1·2

  Radioactive Waste Management Research

  2·4

  NIREX

  1·2

  Nuclear Materials Management

  4·5

  Decommissioning and Radioactive Waste Management Operations

  84·7

  Winfrith

  6·3

  Public Information

  3·0

  Advisory Services and Other

  3·9

  Contribution to UKAEA's Underlying Research Programme

  17·1

  Miscellaneous

  0·5

  Total

  131·9

  Civil Service (Relocation)
  Mr. Cran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what progress is being made in his Department's review, in line with Treasury guidelines, of the potential for the further relocation of Civil Service posts outside London and the South East; and when he expects the review to be completed.

  Mr. Wakeham
  As my predecessor told my hon. Friend on 15 February 1988 at column 513, there are no current plans for such relocation.

  The position will be reviewed at the end of 1990–91, when the Department has had some 18 months' experience of working in its new headquarters building.

  End Users (Expenditure)
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the total expenditure on energy in the United Kingdom by end users for each of the last three years; what proportion of that expenditure was tax; and what proportion that expenditure was of gross domestic product.

  Mr. Wakeham
  Figures for the United Kingdom for the years 1986 to 1988 are shown in the following table:
  721
  1Calculated using the average measure of GDP at current market prices.

  Source: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics and Central Statistical Office figures for GDP.

  Energy Efficiency Office
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the budget for the Energy Efficiency Office for each year since its inception.

  Mr. Peter Morrison
  The Energy Efficiency Office was established on 31 October 1983. Actual expenditure in each year has been as follows:

  Year

  £ million

  1984–85

  17·5

  1985–86

  22·5

  1986–87

  24·5

  1987–88

  18·6

  1988–89

  18·5

  Budget allocation for 1989–90 is £15 million.

  Childhood Cancer
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what research has been, and is being, undertaken to investigate the possible detrimental effects to health of overhead electricity power lines, specifically the alleged link between electromagnetism and childhood cancer; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Michael Spicer
  The Central Electricity Generating Board has been carrying out research into the health effects of power frequency electromagnetic fields produced by overhead lines since the late 1970s.

  Independent work has also been carried out under contract at hospitals and universities in the United Kingdom and has included a detailed case/control study to investigate any possible links with childhood cancer. So far, the results have revealed no association between childhood cancers and overhead power lines. Research is continuing.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Chief Electoral Officer (Report)
  Mr. Conway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the report of the chief electoral officer for Northern Ireland for 1988–89 will be published.

  Mr. Tom King
  The chief electoral officer's report was laid before the House today and is published as a House of Commons paper (No. 497). Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

  Short Brothers plc
  Mr. David Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the status, after the company is sold to Bombardier, of the Government's assurances to creditors of Short Brothers plc that Her Majesty's Government would, in the last resort, ensure that their claims were fully met.

  Mr. Tom King
  After the date of completion of the sale of Short Brothers plc to Bombardier, no new obligations incurred by the company will he covered by any such assurances which have been given on a number of 722
  occasions, most recently on 21 July 1988. Obligations incurred between the signature of the contract and the completion date will cease to benefit from the assurances on completion.

  Disabled People (OPCS Surveys)
  Rev. Martin Smyth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with organisations of and for disabled people on the findings of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys surveys.

  Mr. Needham
  [holding answer 24 July 1989]: None.

  Rev. Martin Smyth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on assessing the financial implications of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys surveys and of the Disabled Persons (N.I.) Act 1989.

  Mr. Needham
  [holding answer 24 July 1989]: As the hon. Member is aware, the findings of the OPCS surveys relate only to Great Britain. The financial implications of the comparable Northern Ireland surveys will be considered when the relevant information is available.

  As to the Disabled Persons (Northern Ireland) Act 1989, the Department of Health and Social Services is currently consulting health and social services boards about the financial implications of its implementation.

  Disability Benefits Review
  Rev. Martin Smyth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proposals he has formally, to consult organisations of and for disabled people about the overall structure of the disability benefits review.

  Mr. Needham
  [holding answer 24 July 1989]: Now that the sixth and final report of the OPCS survey of the disabled in Great Britain has been published, I understand that my hon. Friend the Minister for the Disabled will be announcing a timetable for further action once proper consideration of these surveys has been completed. The need for consultation with organisations of and for disabled people in Northern Ireland about any Government proposals arising from the exercise and from the parallel surveys now being conducted locally will be considered at the appropriate time.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Correspondence
  Mr. Cran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many letters were received from, and sent to, hon. Members by his Department in(a) January and (b) the whole of this session up to 1 July.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  The records show the following:

  (a)

  (b)

  Received

  1,149

  10,142

  Sent

  943

  8,883

  European Institute for Advanced Security Studies
  Mr. Hill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the present state of deliberations in the Western European Union Council of Ministers on the establishment of a European institute for advanced security studies as proposed by the Western European Union parliamentary assembly.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  The Permanent Council is continuing to study this question. A report will be made to the next meeting of the Council of Ministers.

  Conventional Arms Limitation
  Mr. Hill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what specific measures the Government considers are necessary to ensure the progress of negotiations on the limitation of conventional armaments, and to link all initiatives in regard to short-range nuclear weapons with their success, as recommended by the Western European Union Parliamentary Assembly.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  Alliance proposals for progress in the conventional armed forces negotiation were tabled in Vienna on 9 March and 13 July. The Alliance position on the relationship of SNF to conventional arms control was set out in the comprehensive concept issued by the NATO heads of Government summit meeting on 29–30 May.

  UN (British Delegations)
  Mr. Sillars
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the names of the British delegations to each meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations in the past two years.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  A list of accredited delegations to the United Nations General Assembly is published each year by the United Nations. I have arranged for copies of the list for 1987 (UNGA 42) and 1988 (UNGA 43) to be placed in the Library.

  Official Visits
  Mr. Sillars
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his Department's estimated expenditure in the current year on hosting official visitors from foreign countries.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  Since January there have been 15 guest of Government visits initiated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1989. These were:

  Number

  Presidential

  3

  Prime Ministers

  2

  Foreign Ministers/Minister of State

  10

  15

  Total expenditure to date=£215,000.

  Estimated total expenditure for 1989=£350,000.

  South Africa
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last made representations to the South African Government for the 724
  release of (a) Walter Sisula, (b) Elias Motsoaledi, (c) Andrew Mlangeni, (d) Ahmed Kathrada, (e)Wilton Mkwayi and (f) Nelson Mandela; what reply he has received; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  We have made frequent representations to the South African Government calling on them to release Mr. Mandela and all other political prisoners. Most recently, on 23 June, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister raised the subject with the new leader of the South African National party, Mr. F. W. de Klerk. We continue to look for a positive response from the South African Government.

  Grenada
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on relations between Her Majesty's Government and Grenada.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  Our relations with Grenada are close and friendly.

  Chemical Weapons
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has about the export of chemicals from India which may be used for the production of chemical weapons.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  India has a growing chemical industry and exports a number of chemicals. We understand that the Indian Government are reviewing the country's chemical export practices to ensure that chemicals exported from India cannot be diverted into the manufacture of chemical weapons.

  Colombia
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representations he has made complaining about the denial of human rights in the last five years in Colombia.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  We have made a number of representations about human rights to the Colombian authorities over the last five years. The precise information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Human Rights
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representations he has made complaining about the denial of human rights in the last five years in Bahrain.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  We have made a number of representations to the Bahraini authorities about human rights over the past five years but the precise information required is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representations he has made complaining about the denial of human rights in the last five years in French Polynesia.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  None.
  725
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representations he has made complaining about the denial of human rights in the last five years in Andorra.

  Mr. Maude
  None.

  Kenya
  Mr. Straw
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Kenya concerning that Government's practice that British nationals of Asian Kenyan origin require visas to enter Kenya while other British nationals do not.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  Immigration procedures for entry into Kenya are a matter for the Kenyan Government. However, our High Commission has made regular representations to the Kenyans on this subject since Kenya introduced revised visa regulations in 1986.

  Hong Kong
  Mr. Hayes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will announce a scheme of assurances to encourage Hong Kong people to remain in the territory.

  Mr. Major
  The Government are continuing their urgent work on the scheme and an announcement will be made as soon as this work is completed.

  CSCE (Implementation)
  Sir Geoffrey Finsberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress there has been in the implementation by the Soviet and eastern European countries of the provisions of the Helsinki final act and other conference on security and co-operation in Europe documents during the last six months; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  We have recently prepared a report on Soviet and East European implementation of their CSCE commitments for the period January to June 1989. Copies will be deposited in the Library of the House.

  Nepal
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has about the impact on British travellers of the present dispute between India and Nepal.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  There is no reason for British travellers not to visit Nepal. We understand that fuel supplies are no longer rationed, public transport is almost back to normal and most hotels are now operating normally.

TRANSPORT

  Channel Tunnel
  Mr. Gerald Bowden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has received any environmental impact study consequent on British Rail's proposals for a subsurface junction in Warwick gardens in connection with the Channel tunnel rail link.
  726
  Mr. Portillo
  Not yet. British Rail intends to produce in due course an environmental statement covering the whole of the proposed route for the Channel tunnel rail link.

  Docklands Light Railway
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has as to how many passengers per hour the Docklands light railway takes, and how many it will take when improved.

  Mr. Portillo
  The current capacity of the Docklands light railway on each of the Tower Gateway and Stratford branches is about 1,750 passengers per hour. The capacity of the railway between Tower Gateway and the Isle of Dogs will double early next year and increase further to some 6,500 passengers per hour at the beginning of 1991. On completion of the City extension and upgrading programme, the available capacity from Bank and Stratford respectively will be about 7,000 and 5,000 passengers per hour. The planned capacity of the Beckton extension from Bank is similar to that from Bank to the Isle of Dogs.

  Driving Tests
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the average waiting time for a driving test in(a) Doncaster, (b) Barnsley, (c) Rotherham, (d) Sheffield and (e) nationally; and what were the comparable figures (i) five years and (ii) 10 years ago.

  Mr. Atkins
  The table shows the waiting time for a test nationally and at each of the test centres, at present and at July 1985. No earlier figures are available.

  Centre

  Waiting times

  At present weeks

  July 1985 weeks

  Doncaster

  11

  18

  Rotherham

  12

  18

  Barnsley

  5

  17

  Sheffield

  8

  26

  Nationally

  11

  18

  Driving Examiners
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving examiners his Department employs in(a) Doncaster, (b) Barnsley, (c) Rotherham and (d) Sheffield; and what were the comparable figures

  (i) five years and (ii) 10 years ago.

  Mr. Atkins
  The table shows the examiners in post at each of the test centres (i) at present, (ii) in 1985 and (iii) in 1979.

  Examiners in post

  Centre

  At present

  1985

  1979

  Doncaster

  7

  6

  6

  Rotherham

  5

  5

  4

  Barnsley

  6

  5

  4

  Sheffield

  15

  11

  10

  Drink-Driving
  Mr. Higgins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on the number of countries which have reduced the level of drunken driving at a faster rate than the United Kingdom over the past five years; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Atkins
  The percentage of drivers and riders killed in road accidents in the United Kingdom over the past five years whose blood alcohol level was above the legal limit fell from 28 per cent. in 1983 to 21 per cent. in 1988.

  The number of drivers and riders involved in accidents over the same period who were breath-tested rose from 42,300 to 75,000, yet the number that failed the test fell from 12,400 to 10,200. We are not aware of any other country in which the level of drinking and driving has fallen at a faster rate than these indicators show.

  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the mean blood alcohol concentration of drivers and riders with illegal blood alcohol levels killed in road traffic accidents in total and by age groups in(a) England and Wales and (b) Scotland.

  Mr. Atkins
  The mean blood alcohol concentration of drivers and riders killed in road accidents can be calculated from coroners' reports. As we do not have complete reports for all such drivers or riders, the following figures are based on samples, and cannot reasonably be disaggregated beyond the levels given. The table shows the levels requested for England and Wales, Scotland, Great Britain, and an age breakdown for Great Britain.

  Mean blood alcohol concentrations of drivers and riders killed in road accidents with a BAC above the legal limit: 1987

  mean blood/ alcohol level (mgs per 100 ml)

  England and Wales

  180

  Scotland

  205

  Great Britain

  Age 16–24

  165

  Age 25–39

  185

  Age over 40

  200

  Total

  180

  Because of the small numbers involved, care must be taken in comparing these levels. In particular, the information for Scotland is based on a very small sample, and so is liable to a large degree of error.

  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are for repeating the 1988 breath test surveys of the frequency of drinking and driving; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Atkins
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply of 24 May to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Kent (Mr. Rowe) col.558. The surveys are now under way.

  Hedgerow Cutting
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has issued advice to British Rail about the timing of hedgerow cutting along railway lines to prevent the killing of hedgerow birds; and if he will make a statement.
  728
  Mr. Portillo
  No. These are management matters for British Rail, which has its own code of practice on railway linesides.

  Fishing Vessels
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many foreign-owned fishing vessels have been struck off the register of United Kingdom registered fishing vessels; and if he will make a statement:

  (2) how many foreign-owned fishing vessels have been refused (a) a full certificate or (b) a temporary certificate in respect of the new register of United Kingdom registered fishing vessels; and if he will make a statement;

  (3) how many foreign-owned fishing vessels or those which are partially owned by non-United Kingdom citizens have been warded (a) full certificates and (b) temporary certificates by the registrar general for shipping in respect of the new register of United Kingdom registered fishing vessels;

  (4) how many outstanding applications there are for (a) full certificates and (b) temporary certificates in respect of the new register of United Kingdom registered fishing vessels at the most recent date; and if he will make a statement.

  (5) if he will list the number of (a) full certificates and (b) temporary certificates granted by the registrar general for shipping in respect of the new register of United Kingdom registered fishing vessels; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  At 21 July 1989, 9,613 vessels had been registered. Thirteen of these were owned by individuals who are not United Kingdom citizens but who could prove long standing United Kingdom residence and involvement in the British fishing industry. No separate record is kept of vessels which are partly owned by non-United Kingdom nationals. Soome 3,500 temporary certificates were issued for three months, lapsing on 1 July 1989: most of these vessels have since been fully registered. About 150 formerly registered vessels have been refused registration because they failed to satisfy the requirements of the 1988 Act but fresh applications have been received in respect of the majority of them. In addition to these, the registrar general is currently processing 750 new applications for full registration.

  North Report
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he proposes to introduce legislation based on the North report; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Atkins
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 23 June to the hon. Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands (Mr. Knox) at column 269.

  Whaley Bridge Bypass
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the report by Allol and Lomax, consulting engineers, into the performance of the consulting engineers employed on the Chapel-en-le-Frith/Whaley Bridge bypass; and if he will place a copy in the Library.
  729
  Mr. Atkins
  I refer the hon. Member to the replies given by the then Minister for Roads and Traffic, my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley), on 2 and 9 March.

  Derailment (Harrow)
  Mr. Dykes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the derailment of the InterCity 125 express train at Harrow and Wealdstone which occurred at 8.50 pm on Thursday 20 July; and what decision he has reached on a public inquiry.

  Mr. Portillo
  Six coaches of the 1400 Glasgow to London express passenger train carrying about 300 passengers became derailed as the train approached Harrow and Wealdstone station.

  The train came to rest with the locomotive and leading four coaches standing on the rails in the station platform. The fifth coach was derailed and leaning over. The rear of the train had divided into two parts with a gap of 400m between the leading part and three derailed but upright coaches; and a gap of 35m between those three and the last two derailed but upright coaches. Twenty-six persons were injured, none seriously. Twenty were treated locally, and six taken to hospital. The emergency services were called by the senior conductor, using a passenger's cellphone, as the train came to rest.

  The independent railway inspectorate and British Rail are investigating the cause of the accident. My right hon. Friend will not decide on the need for a public inquiry until he has more information about why the accident occurred.

  East London Rail Study
  Mr. Arbuthnot
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made on the east London rail study.

  Mr. Parkinson
  The Department's consultants, Halcrow Fox and Associates (HFA), have today issued a report on the east London rail study. Their preferred option for a second line to the Docklands is an extension to the Jubilee line from Green Park via Waterloo, London Bridge and Canary wharf to Stratford. The line might be routed via either Greenwich point or Brunswick foreshore.

  No decisions have yet been taken on whether the proposed line should be built. HFA estimates that the total cost of the new line would be of the order of £900 million at late 1988 prices. We shall need to consider the findings of the report, and in particular how the line would be financed. As we have already made clear the line would only be built if sufficient contributions are forthcoming from property developers and other landowners who would benefit.

  LRT has already begun consultations with local authorities and other interested parties about these proposals. I have agreed that, in order that a Bill could be deposited this autumn to seek the necessary parliamentary powers, further work should concentrate on the recommended alignment running from Green Park via Waterloo to London Bridge rather than the alternative which might start from Charing Cross and run via Ludgate Circus.

  Salisbury Bypass
  Mr. Key
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make an announcement about the preferred route of the proposed Salisbury by-pass.

  Mr. Atkins
  We aim to announce a preferred route before the end of the year.

WALES

  Porpoises (Deaths)
  Mr. Geraint Howells
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures his Department has taken to identify the cause of the deaths of porpoises washed up in Cardigan bay in the current year.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  None. Welsh Water, in liaison with other interested parties, has carried out considerable research, but has concluded that none of the existing discharges in Cardigan bay has contributed to the problem.

  Anthrax
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many deaths of pigs in 1988 at Singrett farm, Llay, have been ascribed to anthrax; how many deaths were ascribed to matters other than anthrax; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  No deaths in 1988 at Singrett Farm, Llay, were ascribed to anthrax. It has not been possible to ascertain how many deaths were due to other causes but the mortality rate was well within the range experienced in other well-run units.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what action he took consequent upon the outbreak of anthrax at Singrett farm, Llay in April to establish the cause of previous deaths in 1989 at that farm; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  Prior to the outbreak of anthrax at Singrett farm, Llay on 19 April, 13 sows and gilts had died during 1989. Anthrax was not suspected in any except one which died on 9 April, for which tests proved negative.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when the production of vaccine in Britain was begun to combat the anthrax outbreak at Llay; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  Production of an emergency supply of vaccine to deal with the outbreak of anthrax at Llay began on 10 July 1989 at the MAFF central veterinary laboratory, Weybridge.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will establish a public inquiry into the 1989 anthrax outbreak in Clwyd; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  No.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what review he will undertake of(a) the anthrax regulations and (b) the Medicines Act consequent upon the current year's outbreak of anthrax in Clwyd; and if he will make a statement.
  731
  Mr. Peter Walker
  The decision to slaughter and offer compensation was taken on animal welfare grounds not because of any deficiency in the Anthrax Order 1938.

  Health Service Proposals
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he proposed to publish in Wales the equivalent to the Department of Health's, "Self Governing Hospitals: a Guide"; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  My officials will be making available copies of the Department of Health's documents "Self-Governing Hospitals: An Initial Guide" and "Self-Governing Hospitals: Briefing for NHS Managers" for the information of relevant NHS interests in Wales.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he proposes to publish papers concerning National Health Service reforms as they apply to Wales.

  Mr. Grist
  Chapter XI of the White Paper, "Working for Patients" (Cm. 555), set out the broad framework for further improving the NHS in Wales. My right hon. Friend and I have been having extensive discussions with a wide range of interests since the publication of the White Paper and we intend shortly to make a statement on the next steps in Wales.

  Welsh Development Agency
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library minutes of the meetings of the board of the Welsh Development Agency for 1989.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  No. It would not be appropriate for the Welsh Development Agency to make public a record of its board meetings.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on what occasions over the last 12 months, the finance director of the Welsh Development Agency met representatives of the National Freight Corporation; and what matters were discussed.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  I am advised by the agency that the finance director has met representatives of the National Freight Corporation once (on 13 July 1988) when a range of matters of mutual interest was discussed.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to his oral reply to the hon. Member for Carmarthen (Mr. Williams) of 17 July,Official Report, column 6, if he will list the names and positions of the Welsh Office officials, who knew of the rejection of the management buy-out from WDA West Wales; when those officials first learned of the proposals; and how they came to know of them.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  In November or December 1988 an official of the Welsh Office, Mr. Own Rees, head of the economic and regional policy group, was telephoned at home by a chartered accountant and informed that the regional managers of the west Wales office of the Welsh Development Agency had formulated proposals for a regional management buy-out which were not being favourably considered by the agency's management in Cardiff. Mr. Rees told the accountant that he was not the 732
  official with responsibility for the affairs of the WDA and that if he or those he was advising wished to pursue the question he or they should write in an official way to the director of the Welsh Office industrial department. In January 1989 the accountant wrote to Mr. Rees at his home making the same points and received the same response. Mr. Rees informed the industry department director of both approaches and of his reply. Nothing further was heard from the accountant.

  In May 1989 industry department officials made inquiries of the agency to enable me to answer the question put down by the hon. Member for Carmarthen (Mr. Williams). In that context, I was informed that the west Wales management had made proposals for contracting out certain services to the private sector but that these were regarded by the agency as premature. I knew nothing of management buy-out proposals until Mr. Wyn Pryce wrote to me and made his announcement to the press.

  Alcohl and Drug Abuse
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spends each year on counteracting(a) alcohol abuse, and (b) drugs abuse in Wales.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  The prime responsibility for providing advice and treatment facilities to deal with alcohol and drug abuse rests with individual health and local authorities. The Health Promotion Authority for Wales also has a major health educational role.

  On drug misuse in the current financial year my Department has earmarked nearly £1·5 million for health authorities and voluntary sector projects.

  On alcohol misuse, in addition to funds allocated to health authorities and the Health Promotion Authority for Wales, my Department has also funded the activities of Alcohol Concern Wales (ACW). In 1988–89, ACW received £48,000 and a bid for increased funding for 1989–90 is currently being finalised.

  Funds are also provided to finance specific publicity campaigns to warn of the dangers of drug and alcohol misuse.

  Quangos (Appointments)
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the quangos to which he appoints the chairpersons in Wales.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  I appoint the chairpersons to the following bodies:

  Advisory Group for Breast Cancer Screening

  Agricultural Advisory Panel for Wales

  Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committee Panel of Chairman

  Agricultural Valuation Committee (Wales)

  Agricultural Wages Committees:

  Clwyd

  Dyfed

  Glamorgans

  Gwent

  Gwynedd

  Powys

  All Wales Advisory Panel on the Development of Services for People with Mental Handicaps

  Ancient Monuments Board for Wales

  Cardiff Bay Development Corporation

  Committee on Opportunities for Volunteering

  Committee for the Welsh Scheme for the Development of Health and Social Research

  733

  Curriculum Council for Wales

  Development Board for Rural Wales

  District Health Authorities:

  Clwyd

  East Dyfed

  Gwent Gwynedd

  Mid Glamorgan

  Pembrokeshire

  Powys

  South Glamorgan

  West Glamorgan

  Family Practitioner Committees:

  Clwyd

  Dyfed

  Gwynedd

  Mid Glamorgan

  Powys

  South Glamorgan

  West Glamorgan

  Health Promotion Authority

  Historic Buildings Council for Wales

  Housing for Wales

  Land Authority for Wales

  Library and Information Services Council (Wales)

  Local Government Boundary Commission

  Place Names Advisory Committee

  Rent Assessment Panel

  Standing Working Group of the Wales Advisory Body for Local Authority Higher Education

  Teamcare Valleys Steering Group

  Training, Enterprise and Education Advisory Group

  Sports Council for Wales

  Urban Investment Grant Advisory Panel

  Wales Tourist Board

  Welsh Committee on Drug Misuse

  Welsh Development Agency

  Welsh Health Common Services Authority

  Welsh Industrial Development Advisory Board

  Welsh Language Board

  Welsh National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting

  Welsh Water Authority

  Lluesty Hospital, Clwyd
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a further statement concerning the future of Lluesty hospital, Clwyd.

  Mr. Grist
  I understand that when it met on 24 July, Clwyd health authority decided to propose the closure of Lluesty hospital, and to consult widely on the issue. The consultation period will end on 30 November 1989.

  If in the light of this exercise the authority decides to proceed with the proposal the issue would, in the normal way, be referred to my right hon. Friend. Given his potential role in this matter it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this stage.

  Drainage Works, Caergwrle
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make an additional cash allocation to the Welsh water authority to enable repairs and improvements to be made to the underground sewerage and drainage in the Derby road area of Caergwrle in Alyn and Deeside; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Grist
  No. Priorities within their expenditure programme are a matter for the authority to determine.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet Caergwrle community council to 734
  discuss the need for remedial action to be taken in the Derby road area of Caergwrle concerning underground drainage; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Grist
  No. This is a matter for the Welsh water authority which, I understand, has remedial action in hand.

  Clayform Shopping Development
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet residents of the Broughton and Bretton communities who object to the proposed Clayform shopping development project; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Grist
  No, but any written objections submitted by the Broughton and Bretton communities, or any other party, will be carefully considered by my right hon. Friend in reaching a decision on whether to call-in the Clayform Company's shopping development proposal.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to ensure that a public inquiry is held on the application of the Clayform Company shopping development project proposal at Broughton and Bretton, Clwyd; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Grist
  The application by the Clayform Company has now been referred to the Welsh Office by the Alyn and Deeside district council as a material departure from the approved Clwyd structure plan, under paragraph 4 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Plans) (Wales) Direction 1981. A decision on whether the application should be called in for my right hon. Friend's determination, normally after holding a public local inquiry, will be made as soon as possible.

  Mountain Lane CP School, Buckley
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet the parent-teacher association and school governors of Mountain Lane CP school, Buckley, Clwyd, to discuss with them the need for a mobile classroom in order to avoid overcrowding and the need to conduct classes in the school hall which is also a dining room: and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Wyn Roberts
  No. Responsibility for determining school provision rests with the Clwyd local education authority. I am currently considering a proposal by the LEA to cease to maintain Bistre nursery school and a nursery extension to Mountain Lane CP school forms part of that proposal.

  Cancer Treatment
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he proposes to make a statement on cancer treatment services for people in north Wales.

  Mr. Grist
  I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given to the hon. Member for Delyn (Mr. Raffan) on 17 July 1989 at column 36.

  Local Government Expenditure
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will state, for each district and county in Wales, for 1989–90 and 1990–91, the(a) spending need

  735
  assessment, (b) adult population, (c) community charge at need, (d) domestic contribution for spending at need, (e) share of the national non-domestic rate pool, (f) share of revenue support grant, (g) the total of (e) and (f) and (h) expenditure.

  (a) Standard spending assessment1

  (b) Adult population2

  (c) Community charge at standard spending

  (d) Domestic contribution for standard spending

  (e) Share of national non-domestic rate pool (NNDR)

  (f) Revenue support grant (RSG) 3

  (g) Total of RSG and NNDR

  (h) Assumed expenditure (Total rate income plus block grant) 4

  £000

  (000s)

  £

  £000

  £000

  £000

  £000

  £000

  Alyn and Deeside

  6,492

  54·2

  26·63

  1,443

  1,722

  3,327

  5,049

  6,288

  Colwyn

  4,895

  42·1

  26·63

  1,121

  1,337

  2,437

  3,774

  4,948

  Delyn

  6,109

  49·0

  26·63

  1,305

  1,556

  3,248

  4,804

  6,360

  Glyndwr

  3,423

  31·8

  26·63

  847

  1,010

  1,566

  2,576

  3,513

  Rhuddlan

  6,328

  43·9

  26·63

  1,169

  1,394

  3,765

  5,159

  6,260

  Wrexham Maelor

  11,089

  87·3

  26·63

  2,325

  2,773

  5,991

  8,764

  11,163

  Carmarthen

  4,984

  42·7

  26·63

  1,137

  1,356

  2,491

  3,847

  4,670

  Ceredigion

  6,748

  50·9

  26·63

  1,356

  1,617

  3,776

  5,393

  5,956

  Dinefwr

  3,454

  29·9

  26·63

  796

  950

  1,708

  2,658

  2,617

  Llanelli

  8,021

  57·6

  28·57

  1,646

  1,830

  4,546

  6,376

  8,239

  Preseli Pembrokeshire

  6,965

  53·7

  26·63

  1,430

  1,706

  3,830

  5,535

  5,880

  South Pembrokeshire

  4,450

  31·2

  26·63

  831

  991

  2,628

  3,619

  3,942

  Blaenau Gwent

  9,365

  59·4

  26·63

  1,582

  1,887

  5,897

  7,783

  10,556

  Islwyn

  7,232

  50·4

  26·63

  1,342

  1,601

  4,289

  5,890

  7,781

  Monmouth

  6,396

  61·0

  26·63

  1,624

  1,938

  2,834

  4,771

  6,396

  Newport

  14,941

  98·1

  28·57

  2,803

  3,116

  9,022

  12,138

  15,743

  Torfaen

  8,641

  69·0

  26·63

  1,838

  2,192

  4,612

  6,803

  9,539

  Aberconwy

  5,334

  42·4

  26·63

  1,129

  1,347

  2,858

  4,205

  5,443

  Arfon

  5,804

  41·4

  26·63

  1,103

  1,315

  3,387

  4,702

  5,830

  Dwyfor

  3,501

  21·1

  26·63

  562

  670

  2,269

  2,939

  3,546

  Meirionnydd

  3,537

  24·7

  26·63

  658

  785

  2,095

  2,879

  4,180

  Ynys Môn

  7,124

  52·6

  26·63

  1,401

  1,671

  4,053

  5,724

  7,423

  Cynon Valley

  8,405

  49·6

  28·57

  1,417

  1,575

  5,412

  6,987

  7,638

  Merthyr Tydfil

  7,783

  44·5

  28·57

  1,272

  1,413

  5,098

  6,511

  7,818

  Ogwr

  12,716

  103·4

  26·63

  2,754

  3,284

  6,679

  9,963

  13,529

  Rhondda

  11,289

  59·0

  28·57

  1,686

  1,874

  7,729

  9,603

  11,328

  Rhymney Valley

  10,384

  77·6

  26·63

  2,067

  2,465

  5,853

  8,318

  11,176

  Taff Ely

  9,127

  70·2

  26·63

  1,869

  2,230

  5,028

  7,257

  8,773

  Brecknock

  3,995

  31·6

  26·63

  842

  1,004

  2,149

  3,153

  3,879

  Montgomeryshire

  4,474

  39·2

  26·63

  1,044

  1,245

  2,185

  3,430

  3,743

  Radnorshire

  2,032

  17·3

  26·63

  461

  549

  1,022

  1,572

  1,827

  Cardiff

  34,929

  214·3

  26·63

  5,707

  6,807

  22,415

  29,222

  28,921

  Vale of Glamorgan

  10,663

  89·6

  26·63

  2,386

  2,846

  5,431

  8,277

  9,259

  Port Talbot

  5,723

  38·5

  26·63

  1,025

  1,223

  3,474

  4,697

  5,991

  Lliw Valley

  5,498

  47·3

  26·63

  1,260

  1,502

  2,736

  4,239

  5,370

  Neath

  6,174

  50·0

  26·63

  1,332

  1,588

  3,254

  4,842

  6,656

  Swansea

  22,775

  144·0

  26·63

  3,835

  4,574

  14,366

  18,940

  24,328

  Clwyd

  206,028

  308·3

  135·97

  41,918

  49,389

  114,721

  164,109

  214,596

  Dyfed

  186,966

  266·0

  135·58

  36,065

  42,612

  108,289

  150,902

  190,422

  Gwent

  232,151

  337·9

  135·42

  45,759

  54,130

  132,262

  186,392

  229,842

  Gwynedd

  131,096

  182· 2

  135·97

  24,773

  29,188

  77,136

  106,323

  130,092

  Mid Glamorgan

  290,088

  404·3

  135·29

  54,698

  64,767

  170,622

  235,390

  294,617

  Powys

  71,323

  88·1

  135·97

  11,979

  14,113

  45,231

  59,344

  70,111

  South Glamorgan

  207,951

  303·9

  135·97

  41,320

  48,684

  117,948

  166,631

  207,939

  West Glamorgan

  191,497

  279·8

  135·97

  38,043

  44,823

  108,631

  153,454

  200,871

  1 Standard spending (needs) assessments are under review for 1990–91.

  2 Population figures are based on the Registrar General's 1987 mid-year estimates.

  3 Excluding safety-net adjustments.

  4 Including community councils' precepts

HEALTH

  Low Birth Weights
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by year from 1979 to date for the Trent regional health authority, and by hospital, the number of low birth weight deliveries recorded.

  Mr. Mellor
  We do not collect information centrally in the form requested. However, statistics on low birth
  736
  Mr. Peter Walker
  Illustrative figures for 1989–90 are given in the table. Figures for 1990–91 are not available.

  weight deliveries are published annually in OPCS monitor DH3 "Infant and Perinatal Mortality" broken down into regions and districts but not hospitals.

  Health Care Demand
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate of the annual increase in demand for health care due to new drugs, new surgical techniques, improved diagnostic techniques, new monitoring and life support equipment and better after-care methods.
  737
  Mr. Freeman
  There is no precise measure of the annual increase in demand for health care as a result of medical advance which can both raise and lower costs of treatment and care.

  Operations (Waiting Times)
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current waiting time for the following operations:(a) kidney transplants, (b) hip replacement joints, (c) knee replacement joints and (d) cataract removal.

  Mr. Freeman
  Information on waiting times for kidney transplants is given in my reply to the hon. Member for 738
  Southport (Mr.Fearn) on 22 February at columns 674–75. For the other operations requested the latest information held centrally is for 1985 and is given in the table.

  Estimated median interval in weeks between the time an in-patient was placed on the waiting list and admission to an NHS non-psychiatric hospital, England 1985

  Operation

  Median Wailing Time (weeks)

  Total hip replacement and arthroplasty of hip

  21

  Arthroplasty of knee

  21

  Operation on eye lens (mainly cataract)

  16

  Dentists
  Mr. Illsley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the contribution that the transfer of responsibility for payment of general dental practitioners to the Dental Practices Board will make to strengthening the role of family practitioner committees as set out in the White Paper "Working for Patients";

  (2) whether he consulted the Society of Family Practitioner Committees or the Society of Administrators (Family Practitioner Services) on the transfer of responsibilities for payment of dental practitioners to the Dental Practices Board;

  (3) whether responsibility for payment of general dental practitioners has now been transferred from family practitioner committees to the Dental Practices Board.

  Mr. Freeman
  Officials have written both to the Society of Family Practitioner Committees and to the Society of Administrators (Family Practitioner Services) about the propsal to transfer responsibility for paying dentists to the Dental Practice Board. The transfer has not yet taken place. Meetings to discuss the implications of the change will be held soon. It will not detract from the management role of family practitioner committees in relation to the delivery, quality and availability of general dental services in their areas.

  CT Scanners
  Mr. Quentin Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many computerised tomography scanners are currently installed in England and Wales; how many are owned(a) by the private sector and (b) by the National Health Service; of the latter, how many were purchased by (i) health authorities and (ii) provided by private gift or public subscription; and if he will make available any information at his disposal on the number of such machines installed in other western countries at his disposal including the United States, Japan, Sweden, France and the Federal Republic of Germany.

  Mr. Freeman
  Latest information indicates that there are 198 CT scanners currently installed in England and Wales, of which 29 are owned by the private sector and 169 by the National Health Service. Our best estimates suggest that 61 per cent. of these scanners were purchased by health authorities and 39 per cent. by private gift or public subscription.

  Available information on the number of machines installed in other western countries is limited; estimates suggest a total of 3,600 in the United States of America, 3,000 in Japan, 450 in West Germany and 200 in France. We have currently no details of the number in Sweden.

  Kidney Dialysers
  Mr. Quentin Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many kidney dialysers are(a) currently installed in England and Wales; how many are owned (a) by the private sector and (b) by the National Health Service; of the latter, how many were (i) purchased by health authorities and (ii) provided by private gift or public subscription; and if he will make available any information at his disposal on the number of such machines installed in other western countries, including the United States, Japan, Sweden, France and the Federal Republic of Germany.
  740
  Mr. Freeman
  I regret that the information is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Magnetic Resonance Imaging Machines
  Mr. Quentin Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many magnetic resonance imaging machines are currently installed in England and Wales; how many are owned(a) by the private sector and (b) by the National Health Service; of the latter, how many were (i) purchased by health authorities and (ii) provided by private gift or public subscription; and if he will make available any information at his disposal on the number of such machines installed in other western countries, including the United States, Japan, Sweden, France and the Federal Republic of Germany.

  Mr. Freeman
  Available information indicates that there are 19 magnetic resonance imaging machines currently installed in England and Wales, of which four are owned by the private sector and 15 are operated partially or entirely within the National Health Service.

  The source of funding for the purchase of these 15 was as follows:

  Number

  Purchased by health authorities

  1

  Purchased by Department of Health and other Government agencies

  3

  Purchased by public appeal and the National Health Service

  1

  Purchased by public appeal and Government agencies

  1

  Purchased by public appeal and donation

  9

  Information on the number of machines installed in other western countries is only available up to September 1988 and is limited; estimates suggest a total of 1,300 in the United States of America, 275 in Japan, seven in Sweden and 85 in West Germany. We have currently no details of the number installed in France.

  Ultrasound Scanners
  Mr. Quentin Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many ultrasound scanners are currently installed in England and Wales; how many are owned(a) by the private sector and (b) by the National Health Service; of the latter, how many were (i) purchased by health authorities and (ii) provided by private gift or public subscription; and if he will make available any information at his disposal on the number of such machines installed in other western countries, including the United States, Japan, Sweden, France and the Federal Republic of Germany.

  Mr. Freeman
  I regret that the information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Cyclotron Machine
  Mr. Fearn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health from which budget the money used to purchase a cyclotron machine for St. Thomas's hospital was taken.

  Mr. Freeman
  The Government grant of £6 million to the Cyclotron Trust will be funded from the Department's
  741
  hospital and community health service budget. Details of the financial and operational arrangements for the proposed project have yet to be settled in consultation with those concerned.

  Withington Hospital, Manchester
  Mr. Sumberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will approve the decision of the South Manchester health authority to close a 24-bedded ward for the mentally ill at Withington hospital, Manchester; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Freeman
  The North Western regional health authority recently published an implementation frame-work, "Focusing on Care", which emphasises the development of district services and makes it clear that the closure of the four large mental illness hospitals in the North West region will be carried out only at a pace consistent with adequate provision for the mentally ill in the community. In addition to acute in-patient services in each district and a range of residential facilities designed to meet the needs of long term service users, the frame work envisages a range of day care facilities including more day hospital provision which all district health authorities will take forward within the annual capital spending programme for North Western region currently running at more than £90 million.

  Acute psychiatric in-patient services for central Manchester are currently based well outside the authority's boundary and are due for renewal in August 1991. Options for new provision have been submitted to the regional health authority who expect to be able to announce in the autumn a three-year capital programme from 1990–91. These options have been developed taking account of medical opinion that the services would best be provided nearer to patients and if possible attached to the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

  The South Manchester health authority announced on 13 July 1989 the temporary closure of ward P10 in Withington Hospital, Manchester from August 1989 when a refurbished ward P9 will become available for acute care in-patients in the psychiatric department of Withington hospital. As a result of discussions, I have been reassured that:
  —no patients will be discharged from Withington hospital without the responsible consultant being entirely satisfied that adequate arrangements exist in the community to assist the patient and ensure continuing medical surveillance;
  —no patient need be discharged from the Withington hospital as a result of the temporary closure of ward P10 which will not take place before the refurbished ward P9 becomes available;
  —there will be 165 beds available in the South Manchester district for acute in-patient care for mentally ill patients. The average monthly occupancy over the past 12 months has been 153.

  The South Manchester district health authority has been under acute financial pressure for a number of years and has had unfortunately to undertake a number of ward closures that have affected both Withington and Wythenshawe hospitals. There is an urgent need to re-appraise the duplicated provision of the whole range of district acute services in two major hospitals in the same district and situated within four miles of each other.

  I plan to visit in the autumn the North West regional health authority in Manchester and Withington hospital and Manchester Royal Infirmary.

  NHS Management
  Mr. McLoughlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will state the terms of reference of the National Health Service Policy Board, and the role and responsibilities of the National Health Service Management Executive.

  Mr. Kenneth Clarke
  At its first meeting on 7 July the NHS policy board, established as a result of the White Paper "Working for Patients", adopted the following terms of reference:"Key principles
  The NHS Policy Board advises the Secretary of State on policy formulation for the NHS and the strategic oversight of the NHS. It does not concern itself with management responsibilities and operational detail, which are delegated from the Secretary of State to the NHS Management Executive.
  Functions
  In the light of these principles, the Board's functions are to:

  1. support Ministers by bring both NHS and wider management perspectives to bear on the formulation of policy objectives for the NHS;

  2. advise Ministers on the determination of the strategy within which the Management Executive will operate;

  3. advise Ministers on the desirability and feasibility of operational objectives proposed for the Management Executive;

  4. monitor the Management Executive's stewardship and performance.

  Relationships with the Department of Health
  The Policy Board draws on the advice and support of all those Divisions in the Department of Health which have responsibility for the development of policies applied in and through the NHS. It is particularly concerned with the overall pattern and balance of policies for the NHS, and with assessing the effectiveness of their implementation, not with the detailed formulation of specific polices."
  It also agreed the Written Statement of the role and responsibilities of the NHS management executive, a copy of which I have placed in the Library.

  Infant Deaths
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many babies died within one year of birth in 1987 and 1988;

  (2) how many babies were stillborn in 1987 and 1988.

  Mr. Freeman
  The information is shown in the table:

  Number of infant deaths1 and stillborn babies, England and Wales, 1987 and 1988

  Infant deaths

  Stillborn

  1987

  6,272

  3,423

  1988

  6,270

  3,382

  1 Deaths under one year of age.

  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the total number of babies who died in 1987 and 1988, and to date in 1989 aged one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, six weeks, two months, three months, four months, six months, 14 months and 15 months;

  (2) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the total number of babies who died in 1979, 1980, 1987, 1988 and 1989 aged one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, six weeks, 14 months and 15 months by area health authority;

  (3) what was the total number of abortions performed at (a) 18 weeks, (b) 20 weeks, (c) 22 weeks, (d) 24 weeks,

  743
  (e) 26 weeks and (f) 28 weeks since 1968; how many were to save the life of the pregnant woman; and what percentage the latter represents of the former.

  Mr. Freeman
  The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Abortions
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women were admitted to hospital for failed attempted abortion in each year since 1959.

  Mr. Freeman
  The available information is shown in the table taken from the hospital in-patient inquiry, a 10 per cent. sample study of National Health Service hospitals in-patient records. The last data year for this study was 1985.

  The data shown are the number of patients recorded in this study with the principal diagnosis of failed attempted abortion, International Classification of Diseases (9th revision) code 638. There is no comparable code for earlier revision of the ICD, prior to 1979.

  Number of patients (10 per cent. sample) with principal diagnosis of failed attempted abortion, England and Wales 1979–81 England 1982–85

  Year

  Number in the sample

  1979

  15

  1980

  8

  1981

  6

  1982

  11

  1983

  14

  1984

  8

  1985

  11

  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received recently(a) supporting and (b) opposing the amendment of the Abortion Act 1967 to include the words "serious" and "substantially" in the criteria for an abortion; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Freeman
  None.

  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his Department's policy on the availability of abortions to minors under the age of 16 years without parental knowledge or consent; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Freeman
  Under the Abortion Act 1967 termination of pregnancy may be carried out if two registered medical practitioners are of the opinion, formed in good faith, that an abortion is justified in terms of the Act.

  Parental consent to treatment of girls under 16 years of age, whether for abortion or any other condition, is not essential if, in the judgment of the doctors concerned, the treatment is in the girl's best medical interest and she has sufficient maturity and understanding to appreciate what is involved.

  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received(a) supporting and (b) opposing the introduction of legislation requiring that the parent or guardian of a minor under 16 years of age is informed before an abortion is performed; what percentage the latter represents of the former; and if he will make a statement.
  744
  Mr. Freeman
  One representation has been received on this subject and this supports a change in the law.

  Embryo Research
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library his Department's response to the Glover report on embryo research, commissioned by the European Commission; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Freeman
  The Department has not responded as it was not involved in the commissioning or publication of the report. The Government do not in any case take a collective view on embryo research.

  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice and assistance was(a) sought by and (b) given to the Glover committee on embryo research; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Freeman
  Dr. Glover and his committee did not seek any advice or assistance from the Department of Health.

  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has held with other members of the Council of Europe on the issue of human embryo experimentation; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Freeman
  Officials of the Department of Health have taken part in discussions of this issue by the Council of Europe's ad hoc committee of experts on bioethical issues (CAHBI).

  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from the European Commission concerning his proposed Bill on embryo research; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Freeman
  I have not received any representations from the European Commission about this.

  Mental Health Act Commission
  Mr. Wareing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 are in hospitals covered by the Liverpool office of the Mental Health Act Commission.

  Mr. Freeman
  [holding answer 24 July 1989]: At 30 June 1989, the most recent date for which figures are available, there were 651 patients detained at the special hospitals at Moss Side and Park Lane. At 31 December 1986, the latest date for which a figure is available centrally for all detained patients in mental illness and mental handicap hospitals and the units covered by the Liverpool area of the Mental Health Act Commission there were 1,867 detained patients.

  NHS Indemnity Scheme
  Sir Michael McNair-Wilson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in introducing a National Health Service indemnity scheme.

  Mr. Mellor
  [holding answer 25 July 1989]: It remains the Government's intention to introduce new arrangements whereby health authorities would take financial responsibility for the negligent acts of their medical and

  745
  dental staff in the course of their NHS employment. However this is subject to a satisfactory resolution of the outstanding issues, including the financial arrangements and the handling and financing of existing liabilities. If this can be achieved, it is proposed that the scheme should come into operation on 1 January 1990.

SCOTLAND

  Trade Union Officials
  Mr. Bill Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to prevent district councils from paying the salary of a full-time trade union official; and if he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  No. Paid facility time for accredited trade union representatives is a matter for individual employers, subject to the requirements of section 27 of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 and the provisions of the ACAS code of practice on time off for trade union duties and activities.

  Police National Computer
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many accesses were made to each category of the stolen and suspect vehicle index of the police national computer over the last year; and what has been the percentage growth in use of these categories over the year;

  (2) how many accesses were made to each category of the wanted and missing persons index of the police national computer over the last year; and what has been the percentage growth in use of these categories over the year;

  (3) how many accesses were made to each index of the police national computer over the last year; and whether he will include in these statistics an indication of the number of access requests that could search more than one index;

  (4) whether he has information as to the number of accesses made to the police national computer by each constabulary over the last year; and whether he can give the proportion of access requests made to the vehicle indexes of the police national computer.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  This information is maintained on a Great Britain basis and I accordingly refer the hon. Member to the reply that he has received from my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office.

  YTS
  Mr. Ernie Ross
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many trainees there are in Scotland participating in YTS.

  Mr. Lang
  On 30 June 1989 there were 49,602 young people participating in YTS in Scotland.

  >Local Government
  Mr. Sillars
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will seek to amend section 24(7) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 to permit the commissioner to conduct investigations in respect of alleged maladministration affecting all or most people in a local government area.
  746
  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to do so.

  Well Woman Clinic, Glasgow
  Mr. Sillars
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on what grounds Greater Glasgow health board closed the well woman and family planning clinic at Berryknowes Road, Glasgow; and what local consultations they engaged in.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  This is a matter for Greater Glasgow health board but I will be replying to the hon. Gentleman's letter shortly.

  Owner-occupation
  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the trend in owner-occupation since 1979.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  One of the Government's principal housing objectives is to maximise the opportunities for home ownership. In Scotland, the proportion of houses in owner-occupation has increased from 35 per cent. in 1979 to over 45 per cent. at present, and over the 10-year period to 1988 the number of owner-occupiers has increased from 699,000 to 944,000. This substantial progress has been achieved largely by the introduction of the right to buy scheme for public sector tenants in 1980. Since then discount levels have been increased, and we have introduced a number of further improvements to the scheme to make it easier for tenants to purchase their homes.

  Many other measures are aimed at continuing the growth of home ownership in Scotland. A major initiative has been the establishment of Scottish Homes, which has a wide range of functions, including the promotion of owner-occupation, especially for first-time buyers. We have asked Scottish Homes to introduce a scheme for house purchase under which the tenants' financial commitments will be related to their current rentt. This rens to mortgages scheme will be available to tenants of Scottish Homes and the Scottish new towns later this year.

  There are other schemes which enable tenants of housing associations and local authorities to be offered cash incentives to purchase other properties; and the Scottish Homes low cost home ownership programme assists those who cannot purchase outright to make a first step towards owning their own homes.

  Ambulance Service
  Mr. Maclennan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of patients living in the Highlands and Islands conveyed to hospital by the Scottish ambulance service in hospital cars between 22 September 1987 and 21 December 1987.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The answer is 4,015.

  Register House
  Mr. Maclennan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to reduce the entry charge to those seeking to undertake research at Register house.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Both the Scottish record office, at Her Majesty's General Register house,
  747
  and the General register office (Scotland), at New Register house charge to recover the costs of various services they provide, but there is no entry fee as such to either.

  Mental Health Unit, Glasgow
  Mr. Galbraith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the regrading and restructuring of the mental health unit of the Greater Glasgow heaith board; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  Statistical information on the effects of the regrading exercise on the nursing staff of the mental health unit is not held centrally. I understand that the health board is attempting to resolve a dispute with trade unions representing nurses in the unit so as to secure the lifting of an interim interdict which prevents the board from continuing with their proposals for restructuring the unit.

  Mr. Galbraith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received concerning nurse regrading in the mental health unit of the Greater Glasgow health board.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  I have received one anonymous letter purporting to come from a nurse employed in the mental health unit of Greater Glasgow health board.

  School Meals
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if there has been a change in the take-up of school meals, resulting from the Social Security Act 1986, in(a) Greenock and Port Glasgow, (b) Strathclyde, (c) Scotland and (d) England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lang
  I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Tayside, North (Mr. Walker) on Wednesday 19 July at columns 199–200. Information about school meals in Strathclyde region is collected on an education division basis and is not available separately for Greenock and Port Glasgow. Information about the take-up of meals prior to 1989 can be found in the annual reports of the school meals census, copies of which are in the Library.

  Questions about school meals in England and Wales should be addressed to my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State for Wales.

  Taxi Drivers
  Mr. David Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many private hire taxi drivers in each Scottish local authority area have been(a) reported and (b) charged with illegal operating activities; how many of these have been prosecuted; and how many of these have been found guilty in each year since 1983.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  This information is not separately identifiable in criminal statistics, which are centrally compiled.

  Heather Burning
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will issue advice to farmers about the timing of heather burning in order to protect bird chicks; and if he will make a statement.
  748
  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The permitted dates for muirburn in Scotland are set out in the Hill Farming Act 1946. Advice on this legislation and on good management practice is contained in the "Guide to Good Muirburn Practice", jointly produced by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland and the Nature Conservancy Council and published for HMSO. A summary of this advice is contained in the leaflet "Muirburn—A Code of Practice" which is available free of charge from the Scottish agricultural colleges. In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland issues a press release each year to remind farmers and crofters about the date for the end of the muirburn season and the need to take proper precautions to prevent damage to wildlife and adjoining properties.

  Suicide
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many suicides there were in prisons and young offender institutions in each of the past 10 years.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
  The information is as follows:

  Year

  Suicides

  1979

  3

  1980

  1

  1981

  3

  1982

  3

  1983

  6

  1984

  5

  1985

  7

  1986

  7

  1987

  7

  1988

  7

  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the number of incidents defined as suicide attempts in prisons and young offender institutions in each of the past 10 years.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Statistics are not kept recording the number of suicide attempts.

  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland who has responsibility for deciding whether an accident is to be classified as a self-inflicted wound or an attempted suicide in prisons and young offender establishments.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Governors of establishments make this decision, based on the advice of their medical officers.

  Warrant Sales
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many warrant sales were carried out in(a) Greenock and Port Glasgow and (b) Strathclyde in each of the past 10 years.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The number of warrant sales reported to Greenock sheriff court (which has Port Glasgow within its jurisdiction) and the two sheriffdoms of north Strathclyde and of south Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway from 1979 to 1988 are set out in the table:
  749

  Greenock sheriff court

  Sheriffdom north Strathclyde

  Sheriffdom of south Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway

  1979

  7

  29

  30

  1980

  4

  15

  25

  1981

  1

  16

  30

  1982

  2

  34

  73

  1983

  1

  17

  79

  1984

  4

  41

  83

  1985

  4

  63

  86

  1986

  2

  83

  68

  1987

  —

  77

  110

  1988

  3

  123

  116

  Fishing Industry
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any proposals concerning the introduction of a quota system for the west of Scotland prawn fishery; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lang
  Landings of nephrops (prawns) by United Kingdom vessels from the west of Scotland in recent years have been, on average, between 70 and 80 per cent. of the United Kingdom's total allowable catch. Current indications are that this situation is unlikely to change markedly in 1989 and it is not therefore considered necessary to introduce a quota system for this stock at this time. Fisheries departments will, however, continue to monitor uptake of this stock closely and will take steps to control this fishery, if necessary.

  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has concerning the introduction of a de-commissioning scheme for fishing vessels; if such proposals contain a suggested regulation stating that any such vessel must have a pressure stock licence before being accepted for de-commissioning; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lang
  Fisheries Ministers are currently considering various issues concerning the structure of the fishing industry. A number of options, including decommissioning, are being considered as possible means of dealing with the present structural difficulties within the industry.

  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the weight and value of landings in each of the past 10 years; and what proportion of the total United Kingdom landings were for these years.

  Mr. Lang
  The information requested is given in the table:

  Fish landings by United Kingdom vessels into Scotland

  Percentage of Landings into the United Kingdom

  Standard landed weight1 (thousand tonnes)

  Value at first sale (£ million)

  weight percent

  value percent

  1979

  355·0

  122·2

  42·3

  48·1

  1980

  371·4

  113·6

  49·0

  51·2

  1981

  444·0

  127·5

  59·3

  55·7

  82

  498·2

  148·7

  64·4

  57·1

  1983

  499·1

  170·2

  67·0

  60·7

  1984

  543·3

  193·9

  74·1

  65·1

  1985

  592·6

  215·1

  77·9

  66·5

  1986

  551·3

  234·5

  76·7

  64·7

  1987

  574·9

  273·6

  72·7

  62·9

  1988

  554·9

  253·1

  274·8

  262·9

  750
  1 For demersal fish (excluding Norway pout and sandeels) this generally means gutted fish with head on; for other species (including shell fish) it usually means whole fish.

  2 Provisional

  Prisoners (Telephone Services)
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the maximum value of phonecard permitted for purchase by prisoners; and if he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  At Barlinnie and Perth prisons, where phonecards are in use, £1 cards are available for purchase by prisoners as necessary. Telephones for prisoners in other establishments accept coins.

  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the ratio of telephones to prisoners at(a) each prison, (b) Cornton Vale prison for women and (c) young offender institutions; and if he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The information is set out in the table. A range of factors bear on the number of telephones available for prisoners at establishments, including the level of demand for their use.

  Ratio of telephones to number of prisoners/young offenders

  Prisons

  (a) Aberdeen

  1:70

  Barlinnie

  1:113

  Dungavel

  1:53

  Edinburgh

  1:57

  Friarton

  1:73

  Glenochil

  1:39

  Greenock

  1:87

  Inverness

  1:91

  Low Moss

  1:64

  Noranside

  1:38

  Penninghame

  1:30

  Perth

  1:47

  Peterhead

  1—

  Shotts

  1:55

  (b) Cornton Vale

  1:44

  Young offenders institutions

  (c) Castle Huntley

  1:61

  Dumfries

  1:129

  Glenochil

  1:127

  Polmont

  21:391

  1 Telephones for prisoners have not been installed at Peterhead.

  2 Consideration is being given to the installation of additional telephones at Polmont.

  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which prisons with authority to install telephones for prisoners are still without telephones; and if he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Telephones for prisoners have not been installed at Peterhead prison.

  Drainage Scheme, Inverness
  Mr. Kennedy
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is satisfied that the independent environmental assessment into the proposed Inverness main drainage. scheme, agreed to by Highland regional council, will be of sufficient scope to satisfy his criteria in making a subsequent decision on the planning application; and if he will make a statement.
  751
  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  It is for Highland regional council to determine the most appropriate method of complying with my right hon. and learned Friend's direction to provide an environmental statement. The statement will require to follow the criteria as laid down in the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1988 and in particular the advice given in schedule 3 of these regulations. When he receives the statement my right hon. and learned Friend will consider whether he requires further information before reaching a decision on the council's notice of intention to develop.

  Fabrication Facilities, Lewis
  Mr. Macdonald
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the cumulative total of public investment in the development of the fabrication facilities at Arnish in Lewis.

  Mr. Lang
  for reasons of commercial confidentiality figures in the form requested are not available. However, figures published in British Business show that £1·37 million was offered to Lewis Offshore in 1975 by way of regional selective assistance. In addition, grants from the Highlands and Islands development board totalled £271,000.

  Child Care
  Mr. Sillars
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if statistics are held centrally of places and shortages, by region or travel-to-work area, of child care facilities for working mothers.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 20 July 1989]: Statistics of child care facilities provided by regional and islands councils are set out in periodic statistical bulletins entitled "Home Care Services, Day Care Establishments and Day Service" published by the social work services group, copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library.

  Dundee High School
  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much surplus European Community butter and meat was allocated to Dundee high school in the last year, and during each year since 1979.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 24 July 1989]: No surplus European Community food has been allocated to Dundee high school under the surplus food scheme, whereby butter and beef are made available for distribution free to people in receipt of income support or family credit, or of no fixed abode or living in welfare hostels.

  However, Dundee high school is registered under the surplus butter to non-profitmaking organisations scheme and since February 1989 has been entitled to receive a maximum of 1,316 kg of reduced price butter per month.

  Drugs (Ambulance Staff)
  Mrs Margaret Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report those prescription-only drugs which ambulance staff in Scotland were allowed to administer to patients in their care prior to 30 June, and those which have subsequently been withdrawn.
  752
  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  [holding answer 25 July 1989]: The statutory list of prescription-only medicines which can be administered by ambulance staff to patients in life-threatening circumstances is as follows:

  Adrenaline injection BP

  Atropine sulphate injection

  Chlorpheniramine injection

  Cobalt edetate injection

  >Dextrose injection strong BPC

  Diphenhydramine injection

  Hydrocortisone injection

  Mepyramine injection

  Promethazine hydrocholoride injection

  Snake venom antiserum

  Sodium nitrite injection

  Sodium thiosulphate injection

  Sterile pralidoxime

  The above medicines can be supplied to ambulance staff only on the instructions of the appropriate medical authority. The medicine for treatment of asthmatics, in use prior to 30 June, has now been re-established in ambulances.

  The list of prescription-only medicines which may be carried by ambulance staff who have had extended training in accordance with National Health training authority guidelines is now the subject of discussions between health boards and the ambulance service.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Cereals Levy
  Mr. Ralph Howell
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will express the figures relating to cereals co-responsibility levy payments in his answer of 18 July,Official Report, columns 97–98, in pounds sterling.

  Mr. Curry
  The figures can be expressed in £ sterling as follows:

  1986–87

  Amount of levy collected in £ million

  Levy collected divided by tonnes of national production

  Belgium

  13·39

  5·82

  Denmark

  6·97

  0·87

  Germany

  50·34

  1·97

  Greece

  2·81

  0·53

  France

  58·20

  1·16

  Ireland

  3·43

  1·91

  Italy

  25·37

  1·43

  Luxembourg

  0·23

  4·60

  Netherlands

  11·71

  9·01

  Spain

  17·75

  1·10

  United Kingdom

  39·40

  1·61

  1987–88

  Amount of levy collected in £ million

  Belgium

  12·48

  Denmark

  10·12

  Germany

  56·31

  Greece

  7·14

  France

  175·05

  Ireland

  4·49

  Italy

  29·49

  Luxembourg

  0·26

  Netherlands

  15·96

  Spain

  27·62

  United Kingdom

  56·20

  753
  These sums have been obtained by taking the average of Eurostat's monthly market exchange rates for each national currency, using a 12-month average for 1986–87 and a 13-month average for 1987–88. They do not, however, accurately reflect levy payment in the member states concerned because levy is not paid evenly throughout the course of the year. Information is not available on the monthly pattern of levy payments. This is why the figures originally provided were in national currency terms.

  Set-aside Land
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for East Lothian on 19 July, if he will give the average acreages of the whole farms which have been set aside in each county in England and Wales.

  Mr. Maclean
  The table shows county averages of the area set aside per farm by those participants in the scheme who in the crop year 1988–89 set aside the whole area used in the base year 1987–88 for relevant arable crops.

  Average area set-aside (Hectares)

  England

  Avon

  24·3

  Bedfordshire

  51·2

  Berkshire

  29·5

  Buckinghamshire

  33·8

  Cambridge

  36·6

  Cheshire

  12·3

  Cleveland

  15·1

  Cornwall

  29·7

  Cumbria

  153·1

  Derbyshire

  14·6

  Devon

  15·3

  Dorset

  29·4

  Durham

  26·0

  Essex

  31·5

  Gloucestershire

  31·3

  Hampshire

  36·0

  Hereford and Worcester

  28·6

  Hertfordshire

  46·3

  Humberside

  9·7

  Isle of Wight

  —

  Kent

  32·4

  Lancashire

  —

  Leicestershire

  26·7

  Lincolnshire

  76·0

  Greater London

  38·1

  Greater Manchester

  —

  Merseyside

  —

  West Midlands

  19·3

  Norfolk

  13·6

  Northamptonshire

  32·2

  Northumberland

  54·7

  Nottinghamshire

  55·1

  Oxfordshire

  26·5

  Shropshire

  —

  Somerset

  40·9

  Staffordshire

  28·1

  Suffolk

  18·6

  Surrey

  51·0

  East Sussex

  27·5

  West Sussex

  30·4

  Tyne and Wear

  —

  Warwickshire

  25·8

  Wiltshire

  54·0

  North Yorkshire

  17·5

  South Yorkshire

  13·7

  West Yorkshire

  16·4

  England average

  29·8

  754

  Average area set-aside (Hectares)

  Wales

  Dyfed

  18·7

  Gwent

  38·4

  Wales average

  24·6

  Brussels Agricultural Council
  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Brussels Agricultural Council held on 24 and 25 July.

  Mr. Gummer
  The major issue at this meeting was the completion of the nine-month long negotiations over reform of the Community sheep regime, in which changes are required as part both of the CAP reforms generally and of the completion of the single market. After long and difficult discussions, in which many conflicting interests had to be reconciled, the Council reached agreement on the main elements of a new regime. Our key objectives —fair competition and no limit on the number of ewes eligible for premium—have been achieved. Other major points are:the introduction by 1 January 1993 of a single system of ewe premiums applicable throughout the Community;
  the replacing of intervention buying by provision for private storage aid;
  arrangements for transition from the various arrangements which member states apply now—including the phasing out of the variable premium in Great Britain by 1993;
  phasing out of clawback charges on Great Britain exports; after 1990, the sensitive area arrangements which have protected
  French and Irish markets from New Zealand imports will end; the separate stabiliser for Great Britain will end along with the variable premium;
  a separate all-Ireland region while the variable premium is being phased out, to protect the returns and competitive position of producers in Northern Ireland.

  This was a very satisfactory outcome for the United Kingdom. The new regime will provide United Kingdom producers with a stable basis for the future and improve prospects for exporting. When the variable premium ends the new regime will be operating in such a way as to give our producers full and fair opportunities for trading within the Community. Flexibility will be allowed over the time table for phasing out the variable premium, and I shall be having discussions with the industry on this.

  The proposals for headage limit were very significantly improved at the end of the negotiations as a result of sustained pressure from my right hon. Friend. The Commission had, with the support of most member states, proposed setting ceilings on the number of animals on which each producer could claim premium. It has been agreed instead that the full rate of premium will be paid on up to 1,000 ewes in the less favoured areas and up to 500 ewes elsewhere, and producers will receive 50 per cent. of the premium on all additional ewes without limit. This is a significant benefit for producers compared with the original proposals.

  Some important details remain to be worked out and legal texts will come to the Council for consideration in the autumn. The Commission, however, has given clear assurances that it expects the measures to be budgetarily

  755
  neutral from the end of transition. The Commission is to make proposals before the end of this year on changes in the stabiliser for the sheep sector.

  The Council indicated willingness to adopt new arrangements for the import of mutton and lamb from New Zealand, on the terms negotiated some months ago by the Commission, when regulations on the new sheep regime are adopted, but was not—because of Greek opposition—able to achieve the required unanimity to pass new arrangements for the import of New Zealand butter. It was agreed instead to extend the present arrangements by a further two months.

  The Council reviewed at length the state of the cereals sector including the operation of set-aside and the impact of drought. Many member states argued that because of reduced yields the Commission should take early action to suspend the operation of the additional coresponsibility levy. My right hon. Friend was prepared to agree with this if the Agriculture Commissioner proposed action, on condition that it was accompanied by provisions for a correction when firmer information was available and that next year's levy should be adjusted to take account of any inaccuracy this year. The Agriculture Commissioner, however insisted that, with information about the Community harvest still being uncertain, such action would be premature. My right hon. Friend yet again pressed the case for a fundamental review of the coresponsibility levy system for cereals, urging the Commission to come forward with the report promised in the last price review.

  The Council had a first discussion of Commission proposals for changes in the milk quota system designed to bring down the volume of production in excess of quota, and to make additional quota available for certain groups of producers. These proposals will be considered further in September.

  Finally, to give effect to part of the programme of assistance for Poland on which the Community recently decided, the Council agreed the emergency supply to Poland of stocks of various foodstuffs.

  Potato Marketing Board
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many employees of the Potato Marketing Board are based at Between Towns road, Cowley.

  Mr. Curry
  A total of 125 employees are based at Between Towns road, Cowley.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will be in a position to make a statement on the future of the Potato Marketing Board.

  Mr. Curry
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Knapman) on 20 July.

  Straw and Stubble Burning
  Mr. Key
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about his assessment of the impact on the environment including the ozone layer, of the burning of straw and stubble.

  Mr. Maclean
  The effect of straw burning on the ozone layer or global warming is negligible. My Department will,756
  in 1990–91, be initiating research to measure dioxin emissions from straw burning. The careless burning of straw may cause nuisance, or damage trees, hedges or wildlife. This is why we have urged farmers to adopt alternative methods of disposal wherever possible; and to observe the local bye-laws and the NFU code of practice when burning has to be carried out.

  Fishing Vessels
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any proposals for the introduction of a de-commissioning system for fishing vessles which does not require any such vessel to be in possession of a pressure stock licence; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Curry
  The possible introduction, and scope, of a decommissioning grants scheme remains as one of a number of options under consideration for reducing fleet capacity.

  Food Irradiation
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will outline his Department's procedure for consultation with outside bodies, including representatives of the food industry, consumer groups and pressure groups, prior to formal announcements of Government policy.

  Mr. Maclean
  When I am considering regulations or the amendment of regulations relating to food, I am required by section 118(6) of the Food Act 1984 to consult such organisations as appear to me to be representative of the interests likely to be substantially affected by the proposals in question. On other food matters both my colleagues and I and the officers of my Department maintain an ongoing dialogue where appropriate with the food industry, consumer groups and enforcement interests on the issues of the day and the possible solutions thereto.

  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those outside bodies he consulted and met prior to the formal announcement of Government policy on food irradiation; and if he will list the dates and durations of the meetings.

  Mr. Maclean
  Formal consultations were not undertaken prior to the recent announcement of Government policy on food irradiation: such consultations will be appropriate when detailed proposals are made.

  Conservation
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields of 22 June,Official Report, columns 252–53, if he will list the year and the region in which the 20 conservation courses were held for agricultural development advisory service officers; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Maclean
  [holding answer 18 July 1989]: The following is the information:
  757

  1987

  1988

  1989 (to 22 June 1989)

  1989 (planned)

  Northern

  —

  1

  —

  1

  Midlands and Western

  2

  4

  3

  —

  Eastern

  3

  2

  1

  2

  South-Eastern

  1

  2

  —

  2

  South-Western

  2

  1

  1

  6

  Wales

  —

  1

  —

  1

  Taking ADAS as a whole, most front-line advisory officers will have received conservation training by the end of the year.

EMPLOYMENT

  Youth Training Scheme
  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give for Great Britain and each region the number of YTS trainees in training as at December 1987 and December 1988, showing for each gender the numbers in each training occupational group.

  Mr. Eggar
  Due to the length of the reply, I will write to the hon. Member with the information and place a copy in the Library.

  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest available information from the YTS leavers' survey showing the earnings of those who remain in employment following the completion of YTS for both male and female, by each ethnic group and for each United Kingdom region.

  Mr. Eggar
  The information requested is not available from the YTS leavers survey as the survey does not request earnings details.

  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the figures from the latest YTS leavers survey of the number of YTS leavers who recorded themselves as having some disability or handicap which affects the type of work they can do or the type of conditions they can work in, broken down to show whether they had been in YTS with (i) the private sector, (ii) the public sector, (iii) information technology centre, (iv) voluntary organisation and (v) for all types of providers.

  Mr. Eggar
  The latest period covered by the YTS leavers survey, March 1987 to February 1989, gives the results in the following table.

  Table to show the number of young people self certified as disabled or handicapped which affects the type/conditions of work

  Type of work

  Conditions can work in

  Private

  5,753

  7,095

  Public

  4,656

  4,875

  ITeC

  304

  350

  Voluntary

  1,728

  2,003

  All schemes

  12,441

  14,323

  European Social Fund Schemes
  Dr. Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if, pursuant to his written answer of 13 July to the hon. Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett) if he will 758
  list for the northern region the individual employment and training schemes receiving assistance from the European social fund for the current year.

  Mr. Eggar
  The following is the list of employment and training schemes in the northern region receiving assistance from the European social fund in the current year.

  Access for the Disabled

  Albright and Wilson Ltd.

  Artcare Workshops

  Blyth Star Enterprises Ltd.

  Blyth Valley Borough Council

  Cadcam Application and Training Ltd.

  Carnegie Centre for the Unemployed

  City Farm Byker

  Cleveland Co-operative Agency Ltd.

  Cleveland County Council

  Courtaulds Films, BCL Cellophane

  Cramlington Adult Information Technology Centre

  Cumbria County Council

  Derwentside District Council

  Durham Co-operative Development Association Ltd.

  Durham County Council

  Durham University Business School

  Electrolux Cookers

  Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council

  Grove Coles Cranes Ltd.

  Hartlepool Borough Council

  Haswell and District Society for Mentally Handicapped

  The House of Mayfair Ltd.

  Microelectronics Applications Research

  Middlesborough Borough Council

  Middlesborough Music Collective

  National Trust

  NEI Clarke Chapman Limited

  Newcastle Children's Adventure Group

  Newcastle City Council

  Newcastle Trades Council Centre Against Unemployment

  Newcastle upon Tyne Council for Voluntary Service

  Newcastle upon Tyne University

  Northern Regional Health Authority

  Northern Region Co-operative Development Agency Limited

  Northumberland County Council

  North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council

  Owners Limited

  Projects UK

  Scotswood Employment Project

  Sheltered Housing and Workshop

  Shildon and Sedgefield District Development Agency

  South Tyneside Borough Council

  St. Anthony of Padua Community Association

  Sunderland Common Ownership Enterprise Resource

  Sunderland Polytechnic

  Sunderland Youth Employment

  Teesside Polytechnic

  Tolag Products and Company Limited

  Torrens Maritime Trust

  Training Agency

  Tyne and Wear Enterprise Trust Limited

  Tyneside Economic Development Company

  Urban Craft Design Limited

  Washington Microtechnology Centre

  West Cumbria Open Learning

  Trust Workers Educational Association Northern

  759
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he now has information on how the 1989 European social fund allocation was divided in(a) actual cash, and (b) percentage terms between (i) central Government, (ii) local government, (iii) the voluntary sector and (iv) others.

  Mr. Eggar
  [holding answer 25 July 1989]: The United Kingdom has been allocated £418 million from the European Social Fund for 1989. The breakdown in cash and percentage terms are as follows:

  £ million

  Percentage

  Central Government

  236·0

  56·5

  Local Government

  116·5

  27·9

  Voluntary Sector

  25·9

  6·2

  Others

  39·6

  9·4

  Correspondence
  Mr. Cran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many letters were received from, and sent to, hon. Members by his Department in(a) January and (b) the whole of this Session up to 1 July.

  Mr. Eggar
  The number of letters received from hon. Members by departmental Ministers in January 1989 was 419; and 3,783 in the whole of this session up to 1 July 1989.

  The number of letters sent to hon. Members by departmental Ministers in January 1989 was 358; and 3,766 in the whole of this session up to 1 July.

  Information on the number of letters received from and sent to hon. Members by the rest of the Department is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Training
  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the revised numbers of approved places allocated under employment training, what are the area budgets for the programme, and what are the allocations of supplementary grant, for each training agency area.

  Mr. Nicholls
  Up to 265,000 employment training places have been allocated for 1989–90. Detailed regional and area plans are under consideration by the Training Agency head office.

  Liverpool City Council (Black Employees)
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the percentage of black people employed by the Liverpool city council at the latest date.

  Mr. Moynihan
  I have been asked to reply.

  This information is not separately distinguishable in statistics held centrally.

  Benefit Claimants
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many claimants in(a) Greenock and Port Glasgow and (b) Strathclyde were suspended from receipt of unemployment benefit during the period April 1988 to May 1989 for failing to demonstrate good cause for the termination of their last employment.
  760
  Mr. Nicholls
  Information is not available in the precise form requested.

  For the period 1 January 1988 to 31 March 1989, the number of persons in Scotland, who were disqualified for receiving unemployment benefit because they were considered to have left their employment voluntarily without just cause was 32,128.

  Figures on the number of persons disqualified for leaving their employment voluntarily without just cause in the Greenock and Port Glasgow and Strathclyde areas are not collected separately, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Race Relations (Liverpool)
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if, in the light of the report of the Liverpool 8 inquiry into race relations in Liverpool, he will initiate further Government measures in Liverpool 8 with a view to substantially reducing black unemployment in the area; and if he will give a report.

  Mr. Nicholls
  My Department operates a wide range of employment and training programmes designed to give unemployed people throughout the country the skills, confidence and motivation they need to compete for jobs. In many deprived areas these programmes are tailored to the needs of disadvantaged groups, including ethnic minorities, and we will continue to give a high priority to districts such as Liverpool 8. For example, Liverpool has been selected as one of the pilot areas for the new job interview guarantee which will give employers more incentive to recruit unemployed people from the inner cities. The pilot will be targetted on the Toxteth and Williamson square jobcentres.

  Labour Statistics (Liverpool)
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many black persons were unemployed in Liverpool 8 at the latest date; and what this represents as a percentage of the population;

  (2) how many young black people have been unemployed in Liverpool 8 for more than (a) two years and (b) five years respectively.

  Mr. Nicholls
  The information requested is not available.

  Small Businesses
  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department and his policies in helping small businesses over the last 12 months compared with the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.

  Mr. Eggar
  [holding answer 24 July 1989]: The Government's priorities in helping small businesses are to create a climate in which they can flourish and to provide measures that support and stimulate their development. An improved climate has been achieved primarily through the Government's measures to control inflation and to reduce both the rates of taxation and the level of unnecessary burdens placed on small firms.
  761
  Measures operated by my Department to assist small businesses include:

  The Small Firms Service which provides information and business counselling to new and established businesses. In the last financial year, the service answered over 281,000 enquiries (an increase of 6 per cent. on 1987–88), handled over 30,000 new counselling cases (an increase of 12 per cent. on 1987–88), and conducted over 43,000 counselling sessions (an increase of 10 per cent. on 1987–88);

  The loan guarantee scheme. Over the past 12 months usage of the scheme has greatly increased. Applications are currently averaging 240 a month compared with last year's average of 164 per month. This increase has been due in part to the introduction of simplified procedures for loans up to £15,000 and a re-launch of the scheme in April 1989 when it was extended and enhanced following a major evaluation exercise. Changes made included increasing the maximum loan size fom £75,000 to £100,000;

  The enterprise training element of employment training and the business enterprise programme. These help people set up in business through the provision of targeted training in all the basic aspects of business. The combined number of entrants to these programmes increased by 22 per cent. from 43,489 in 1987–88 to 53,003 in 1988–89. In addition, the graduate enterprise programme helps graduates take the first steps to setting up businesses on their own. The number of entrants to this programme rose from 155 in 1987–88 to 1,150 in 1988–89. Business growth training has now been introduced to provide help to established firms to develop their business and management skills.

  My Department also provides financial assistance through the enterprise allowance scheme and makes substantial grants available to "Business in the Community", local enterprise agencies and the Prince's youth business trust, among others.

  The Department monitors it's schemes with a view to assessing additionality, job creation, displacement and other relevant factors. Evaluation reports on particular schemes are published. Overall the success of these measures has been reflected in substantial and accelerating growth of the small business sector.

  Over the period 1980 to 1986 the net increase in the number of VAT-registered businesses averaged nearly 500 per week. The average figure increased to nearly 900 a week in 1987 and indications are that the rate of increase in 1988 has been even faster, perhaps as much as 1,200 per week. Between 1979 and 1989 the number of self employed people increased by 61 per cent. to approximately 3·1 million.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Social Fund Refusals
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in(a) Doncaster and (b) Mexborough areas of South Yorkshire, who were refused loans by social fund officers during the period April 1988 to the end of June 1989, on the basis that they had insufficient income to repay these loans, were advised to apply for community care grants; and, of this total, how many were granted.
  762
  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The guidance in the "Social Fund Manual" (a copy of which is in the Library), makes it clear to social fund officers that on receipt of an application for a loan, they should bear in mind the possibility that a community care grant may be appropriate. It is not necessary for the applicant to be advised to apply separately for a grant and therefore the information requested is not collected. However, statistical information is available which shows that between April 1988 and the end of June 1989, on 122 occasions in the Doncaster area covered by the Doncaster, East arid Doncaster, West local offices, and on 66 occasions in the Mexborough area covered by the Wath on Dearne local office, a grant was awarded instead of a loan for which an application was made.

  Mr. Redmond
  To ask, the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in(a) Doncaster and (b) Mexborough areas of South Yorkshire have been refused loans by social fund officers for the period April 1988 to the end of June 1989 on the basis that they have insufficient income to repay these loans.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  Information is not collected on the number of people refused loans or grants. The figures collected are based on applications. Between April 1988 and the end of June 1989, on 148 occasions in the Doncaster area covered by the Doncaster, East and Doncaster, West ILOs, and on 18 occasions in the Mexborough area, covered by the Wath on Dearne ILO, the social fund officer refused a loan application giving as a reason the applicants' inability to repay.

  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in(a) Greenock and (b) Port Glasgow who were refused loans by social fund officers during the period April 1988 to the end of June 1989, on the basis that they had insufficient income to repay these loans, were advised to apply for community care grants; and, of this total, how many were granted.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The guidance in the "Social Fund Manual" (a copy of which is in the Library), makes it clear to social fund officers that on receipt of an application for a loan, they should bear in mind the possibility that a community care grant may be appropriate. It is not necessary for the applicant to be advised to apply separately for a grant and therefore the information requested is not collected. However, statistical information is available which shows that between April 1988 and the end of June 1989, on 18 occasions in the Greenock area, and on 78 occasions in the Port Glasgow area, a grant was awarded instead of a loan for which an application was made.

  Family Incomes
  Mr. Lester
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will update his reply to the hon. Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett) of 30 March,Official Report columns 545–8, showing (a) net spending power for a lone mother with two children aged four and eight years when (i) not working, (ii) earning £20 a week for part-time work, (iii) earning £40 a week for part-time work and (iv) working full-time and earning £60 through to £200 a week in steps of £10, (b) net spending power for a single-wage married couple with two children aged four and six years,

  763
  (i) not working, (ii) earning £20 a week part-time, (iii) earning £40 a week part-time and (iv) working full time and earning £60 through to £200 a week in steps of £10.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The information requested is set out in the tables. It shoud be noted that the results are hypothetical because the results are based on average local authority housing charges and do not reflect the wide variety of rents and domestic rates that people actually pay.

  Lone mother with two children aged 4 and 8

  October 1989

  (assuming average local authority rent and rates)

  Gross earnings

  Tax

  National insurance

  Take home pay

  Family credit

  Child benefit

  Rent

  Rent rebate

  Rates

  Rates rebate

  Total net income

  Net income after housing costs

  60·00

  0·00

  2·39

  57·61

  46·23

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  123·54

  93·04

  70·00

  0·00

  3·29

  66·71

  39·86

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  126·27

  95·77

  80·00

  0·00

  4·19

  75·81

  33·49

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  129·00

  98·50

  90·00

  1·47

  5·09

  83·44

  28·15

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  131·29

  100·79

  100·00

  3·97

  5·99

  90·04

  23·53

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  133·27

  102·77

  110·00

  6·47

  6·89

  96·64

  18·91

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  135·25

  104·75

  120·00

  8·97

  7·79

  103·24

  14·29

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  137·23

  106·73

  130·00

  11·47

  8·69

  109·84

  9·67

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  139·21

  108·71

  140·00

  13·97

  9·59

  116·44

  5·05

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  141·19

  110·69

  150·00

  16·47

  10·49

  123·04

  0·00

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  142·74

  112·24

  160·00

  18·97

  11·39

  129·64

  0·00

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  149·34

  118·84

  170·00

  21·47

  12·29

  136·24

  0·00

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  155·94

  125·44

  180·00

  23·97

  13·19

  142·84

  0·00

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  162·54

  132·04

  190·00

  26·47

  14·09

  149·44

  0·00

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  169·14

  138·64

  200·00

  28·97

  14·99

  156·04

  0·00

  19·70

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  175·74

  145·24

  Tax and benefit system from April 1989—single wage married couple with two children aged 4 and 6 (assuming average local authority rent and rates)

  Not working 1 year on benefit

  Working part-time £20 earnings

  Working part-time £40 earnings

  Income Support

  70·30

  55·30

  35·30

  Gross Earnings

  0·00

  20·00

  40·00

  Tax

  0·00

  0·00

  0·00

  National Insurance

  0·00

  0·00

  0·00

  Rent

  21·50

  21·50

  21·50

  Single-wage married couple with 2 children aged 4 and 8, October 1989

  (assuming average local authority rent and rates)

  Gross earnings

  Tax

  NI

  Take home pay

  Family credit

  Child benefit

  Rent

  Rent rebate

  Rales

  Rate rebate

  Total net income

  Net income after housing costs

  60·00

  0·00

  2·39

  57·61

  46·23

  14·50

  21·50

  6·20

  9·00

  2·49

  127·03

  96·53

  70·00

  0·00

  3·29

  66·71

  39·86

  14·50

  21·50

  4·42

  9·00

  1·95

  127·44

  96·94

  80·00

  0·00

  4·19

  75·81

  33·49

  14·50

  21·50

  2·65

  9·00

  1·40

  127·85

  97·35

  90·00

  1·47

  5·09

  83·44

  28·15

  14·50

  21·50

  1·16

  9·00

  0·94

  128·19

  97·69

  100·00

  3·97

  5·99

  90·04

  23·53

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·55

  128·62

  98·12

  110·00

  6·47

  6·89

  96·64

  18·91

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  130·05

  99·55

  120·00

  8·97

  7·79

  103·24

  14·29

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  132·03

  101·56

  130·00

  11·47

  8·69

  109·84

  9·67

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  134·01

  103·51

  140·00

  13·97

  9·59

  116·44

  5·05

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  135·99

  105·49

  150·00

  16·47

  10·49

  123·04

  0·00

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  137·54

  107·04

  160·00

  18·97

  11·39

  129·84

  0·00

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  144·14

  113·64

  170·00

  21·47

  12·29

  136·24

  0·00

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  150·74

  120·24

  764

  Tax and benefit system from April 1989—lone mother with two children aged 4 and 8

  (assuming average local authority rent and rates)

  Not working 1 year on benefit

  Working part-time £20 earnings

  Working part-time £40 earnings

  Income Support

  49·10

  44·10

  24·10

  Gross Earnings

  0·00

  20·00

  40·00

  Tax

  0·00

  0·00

  0·00

  National Insurance

  0·00

  0·00

  0·00

  Rent

  21·50

  21·50

  21·50

  Rent Rebate

  21·50

  21·50

  21·50

  Rates

  9·00

  9·00

  9·00

  Rates Rebate

  7·20

  7·20

  7·20

  Child Benefit

  19·70

  19·70

  19·70

  Free School Meals

  2·70

  2·70

  2·70

  Free Welfare Milk

  1·83

  1·83

  1·83

  Net Income

  71·53

  86·53

  86·53

  After Housing Costs

  Not working 1 year on benefit

  Working part-time £20 earnings

  Working part-time £40 earnings

  Rent Rebate

  21·50

  21·50

  21·50

  Rates

  9·00

  9·00

  9·00

  Rates Rebate

  7·20

  7·20

  7·20

  Child Benefit

  14·50

  14·50

  14·50

  Free School Meals

  2·70

  2·70

  2·70

  Free Welfare Milk

  1·83

  1·83

  1·83

  Net Income

  87·53

  92·53

  92·53

  After Housing Costs

  765

  Gross earnings

  Tax

  NI

  Take home pay

  Family credit

  Child benefit

  Rent

  Rent rebate

  Rates

  Rate rebate

  Total net income

  Net income after housing costs

  180·00

  23·97

  13·19

  142·84

  0·00

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  157·34

  126·84

  190·00

  26·47

  14·09

  149·44

  0·00

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  163·94

  133·44

  200·00

  28·97

  14·99

  156·04

  0·00

  14·50

  21·50

  0·00

  9·00

  0·00

  170·54

  140·04

  Benefits (South Yorkshire)
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in(a) Doncaster and (b) Mexborough areas of South Yorkshire are in receipt of (a) retirement pensions, (b) widows' benefits, (c) unemployment benefit, (d) sickness benefit, (e) invalidity benefit, (f) industrial disablement benefits, (g) industrial death benefit, (h) maternity allowance, (i) non-contributory retirement pension, (j) war pension, (k) attendance allowance and (l) invalid allowance.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  I regret that information is not available in the precise form requested. Nor are local figures held of the numbers of people receiving(a) retirement pensions, (b) widows' benefits, (f) industrial disablement benefits, (g) industrial death benefit, (i) non-contributory retirement pension, (j) war pension, (k) attendance allowance and (l) invalid care allowance.

  With the exception of unemployment benefit the table shows, as at 30 June 1989, the latest date for which the information is available, the numbers of sickness/invalidity benefit and maternity allowance claimants at the Department's local offices at Doncaster, East, Doncaster, West and Mexborough which serve the Don Valley constituency although their boundaries are not conterminous.

  Doncaster East

  Doncaster West

  Mexborough

  Sickness/Invalidity Benefit1

  4,708

  6,099

  2,261

  Maternity Allowance

  29

  50

  4

  Unemployed claimants

  Doncaster Local Authority Area

  Mexborough Election Ward

  As at 8 June 1989

  14,158

  1,015

  Source:

  100 per cent count of cases in action. The figures quoted may include a number of cases not actually in receipt of benefit. Data are provisional and subject to amendment.

  Notes:

  1The local office count of cases in action does not distinguish between sickness and invalidity benefit.

  2Numbers shown are included in the figure for the Doncaster local authority area.

  Turkish Asylum-seekers
  Mr. Goodlad
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will ensure that asylum-seekers from Turkey who have entered the United Kingdom with a limited leave visa are eligible for income support.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  In cases where a Turkish asylum-seeker is given only limited leave to enter this country, income support at a reduced rate may be claimed.

  Residential Homes
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the current minimum and maximum difference in(a) Inverclyde and (b) Strathclyde between charges levied by private residential homes and the maximum weekly payment made by his Department; and how many elderly people have been removed from residential homes in Inverclyde and Strathclyde in each of the last three years.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The level of charges in a residential care home is a matter between the residents and the owners of the home. Information on the fees charged by individual homes and the numbers of people removed from homes is not collected centrally.

  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the maximum weekly payment made by his local offices in(a) Inverclyde and (b) Strathclyde to support elderly people in private residential and private nursing homes.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The maximum weekly payments from income support towards fees in residential care homes and nursing homes respectively are:

  £

  £

  For the elderly

  140

  190

  For the very dependent elderly

  155

  —

  For the terminally ill

  —

  230

  Attendance Allowance
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the latest figures for the number of people caring for another person who, because a claim for attendance allowance has not been determined within the 26 weeks allowed, either(a) are required to be available for work as a condition of getting income support, or (b) would not be treated as available for work but are paid reduced income support, with the voluntary unemployment deduction applied on grounds of hardship.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  I regret the information requested is not available.

  Family Support
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Sir I. Gilmour),Official Report, 18 July, column 39–40, if he will show the amount of support received in 1978–79 and 1988–89 by the following categories (a) single payments for maternity expenses and any other single payments identifiable as support for families such as beds, safety gates and high chairs: (b) expenditure on welfare foods for pregnant women and under-fives and (c) free school meals.
  767
  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  I regret that the information is not available in the form requested. The single payments scheme came into existence in November 1980—succeeding exceptional needs payments for which there is no information on maternity expenses. The first data collected were in the December 1981 "Annual Statistical Enquiry". This showed that single payments totalling £2·6 million has been made for maternity expenses. However, as the information relates to payments made in the 12 months preceding the inquiry to claimants in receipt of benefit at the time of the inquiry it does not record all the single payments made in the year.

  Social fund maternity payments replaced the single payments provision in April 1987. Payments totalling £15 million were made in 1988–89.

  Neither the single payments nor social fund data identify payments made as support for families.

  Responsibility for expenditure on welfare foods and school meals lies with my hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Health and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science, respectively.

  Income Support
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, West, of 4 July,Official Report, column 137, whether he will publish in the Official Report a table accounting for the differences between the illustrative income support rates in the technical annex to the 1985 White Paper and the rates introduced in April 1988, showing the effect of each of the factors contributing to those differences.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  As made clear in the document, the rates published in the technical annex to the 1985 White paper were purely illustrative. The actual income support rates were set taking account of the circumstances at the time.

  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what amount of deduction in the calculation of the April 1988 income support rates the adjustments to provide help towards the requirement to make a minimum contribution to domestic rates referred to in the reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, West, of 4 July,Official Report, column 137, was included for the purpose of meeting part of the cost of that help; and what were the amounts of the adjustments before and after such deductions.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  There were no deductions from the adjustments referred to.

  Mr. Robin Cook
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what continuing monitoring he is making of the effect of the reform of social security; and what is his latest estimate of the percentage of claimants on income support who are receiving less than they would have under the previous rules for supplementary benefit uprated for price inflation.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  We are continuing to monitor all aspects of the social security reforms.

  Estimates of the effects of the reforms on income support beneficiaries were set out in the booklet "Impact Of The Reformed Structure Of Income-Related Benefits" published in October 1987, a copy of which is in the Library.

  Social Fund
  Mr. Burt
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish the annual report of the social fund commissioner.

  Mr. Newton
  I am pleased to announce that I have today published the social fund commissioner's annual report for 1988–89. I have placed copies in the Library.

  The report describes, as required by statute, the standards of review achieved by social fund inspectors. I am grateful to the commissioner for this, for the advice and assistance she has given the social fund inspectors in undertaking their important role of independent review of social fund officers' decisions, and for setting up the organisation in this first and crucial year.

  Mr. Allen Adams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications were made for grants from the social fund in the year 1988–89 in the Paisley, North constituency.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The Paisley, North constituency is served by the Department's office at Paisley.

  Between 11 April 1988 and 31 March 1989, 1,308 applications for community care grants from the social fund were made to the Paisley office.

  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in(a) Greenock and (b) Port Glasgow have been refused loans by social fund officers for the period April 1988 to the end of June 1989 on the basis that they had insufficient income to repay these loans.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  Information is not collected on the number of people refused loans or grants. The figures collected are based on applications. Between April 1988 and the end of June 1989, on 112 occasions in the Greenock area, and on 87 occasions in the Port Glasgow area, the social fund officer refused a loan application giving as a reason the applicant's inability to repay.

  Mr. Robin Cook
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what independent research into the social fund he has commissioned.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  I refer the hon. Member to my hon. Friend the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State's reply to the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Mr. Wareing) on 24 May 1989 at columns 544–45.

  Community Care
  Mr. Allen Adams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many community care grants were refused by his Department's office in Paisley to people living in the areas of priority treatment known as Ferguslie, Shortroods and Moorpark, Renfrew; and if he will list the total number of clients refused in the Paisley, North constituency in 1988–89;

  (2) how many community care loans were made to constituents of Paisley North and how much was loaned to clients in areas of priority treatment in (a) Ferguslie, (b) Moorpark and (c) Shortroods in 1988–89.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications have been made for
  769
  community care grants at the social security offices in (a) Paisley, (b) Johnstone, (c) Port Glasgow and (d) Greenock.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The information for the period 11 April 1988 to 30 June 1989 is contained in the table.

  Office

  Applications for grants

  (a) Paisley

  1,899

  (b) Johnstone

  1,179

  (c) Port Glasgow

  1,169

  (d) Greenock

  1,461

  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people were refused community care grants at each Renfrewshire social security office.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The Department's offices in Renfrewshire are Paisley, Port Glasgow, Greenock, and Johnstone, but the boundaries are not conterminous.

  The information requested can be obtained from the data in the Library.

  Ministerial Visit (Crosby)
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on his official visit to Crosby.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  My right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State visited the Department's local office in Crosby on 30 June 1989. Crosby is one of 23 pilot offices which are rigorously testing three major computer systems in our computerisation programmeߞthe operational strategy—before it is extended to cover the rest of our local office network from October. The purpose of the visit was to meet the staff and to see how the operational strategy was performing in a pilot office. The office was open to the press on the day of the visit so that they could see the systems demonstrated. Despite industrial action by some staff my right hon. Friend was able to meet other members of staff and the visit was both informative and successful.

  Loans (Renfrewshire)
  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people received loans from each of his Department's offices in Renfrewshire since 1988–89.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The Department's offices in Renfrewshire are Paisley, Port Glasgow, Greenock, and Johnstone, but the boundaries are not conterminous.

  Details of loan applications processed and awards made for each of the offices are available in the Library.

  Local Government Finance
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list by each charging authority in Wales the income level at which(a) a single person aged under 25 years,(b) a single person aged over 25 years, (c) a single pensioner, (d) a pensioner couple and (e) a couple with two children, all with no savings, would lose entitlement to a community charge rebate assuming the safety-netted community charge figures for 1989–90 with the latest safety net arrangements.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the former Parliamentary 770
  Under-Secretary of State on 15 June at column 531–34 which gave the information requested using the assumption that the full safety net was in operation. The implications for the safety net of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales announcement on 20 July on local government finance in Wales in 1990–91 have yet to be determined.

  Lone Parents
  Mr. Lester
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much of benefit expenditure on lone parents including lone parent benefit, income support, family credit and housing benefit, is recouped from the absent parents; and what proportion of total outlay this amount represents.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  [holding answer 19 July 1989]: The Department has power to recoup benefit expenditure on lone parent families only where income support is in payment. Where parents are divorced or unmarried recovery applies only to benefit in respect of the children.

  Based on the latest available figures for May 1988, lone parents receive income support of £1,789 million per annum net of £88 million maintenance paid direct to the lone parent. The Department collects a further £43 million from the absent parents. It is also estimated that a possible further £25 million may be saved in cases where DSS takes action on maintenance and the need for benefit is removed altogether.

  Benefit expenditure saved therefore amounts to approximately 8 per cent. of what is estimated would have been spent on lone parent families but for the Department's action on maintenance. It is not possible to say how much of the total was recoverable.

  Pensioners
  Sir Ian Gilmour
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, further to his reply to the hon. Member far Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) of 3 July,Official Report column 43, if he will place in the Library his calculation showing that the living standards of pensioners have risen by 23 per cent. since 1979 in real terms; if he will break his calculation down by decile and quintile group, with and without housing benefits; and if he will use equivalised and non-equivalised figures in each case.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  [holding answer 24 July 1989]: In 1979 pensioners average total net income was £72·90; by 1986 this had risen to £89·80 (both at 1986 prices and rounded to 10p). This represents a real terms increase of 23 per cent.

  The real terms increase in pensioners average total net income by quintile is as follows:

  Per cent.

  Non-equivalised

  Equivalised

  Q1 (lowest)

  20

  17

  Q2

  23

  20

  Q3

  21

  20

  Q4

  20

  21

  Q5 (highest)

  27

  30

  All

  23

  23

  Source: Family Expenditure survey 1986.

  The real terms increase in pensioners average total net income by decile is as follows:
  771

  Per cent.

  Non-equivalised

  Equivalised

  Dl (lowest)

  18

  16

  D2

  21

  18

  D3

  23

  19

  D4

  23

  20

  D5

  21

  20

  D6

  21

  20

  D7

  21

  20

  D8

  20

  22

  D9

  22

  23

  D10 (highest)

  29

  35

  All

  23

  23

  Source: Family Expenditure Survey 1986.

  It is not possible to perform the calculation with and without housing benefits because until 1983 help with housing costs was provided partly through supplementary benefit.

ENVIRONMENT

  Private Tenancies
  Mr. Callaghan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has made any estimate of the increase in the number of private tenancies as a result of the provisions of the Housing Act 1988.

  Mr. Chope
  No. The provisions of part I of the Housing Act 1988 deregulating the private rented sector have been in force for only just over six months and it is too soon to evaluate their impact. We shall carry out a detailed evaluation as soon as practicable.

  Council House Sales
  Mr. Mans
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the level of council house sales in Lambeth at the latest date for which figures are available.

  Mr. Howard
  Lambeth sold about 520 dwellings in 1988–89.

  Mr. Page
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the level of council house sales in Tower Hamlets at the latest date for which figures are available.

  Mr. Chope
  Tower Hamlets has reported 1,276 sales under the right to buy, for the financial year 1988–89, this excludes May and June 1988 for which no monthly reports were made.

  Mr. Knox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council houses have been sold to sitting tenants in England since May 1979.

  Mr. Chope
  I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him on 28 June 1989 at column 480, by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Mr. Trippier).

  Housing Allocation (Leicester)
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the housing allocation made to Leicester city council for the years 1989–90.

  Mr. Chope
  Leicester's basic allocation of £8,955 million was the largest for any local authority of comparable size outside London.

  Local Authorities (Trading Practices)
  Mr. Patrick Thompson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take action against those local authorities which attempt to evade the provisions of the Local Government Act 1988 by unfair trading practices.

  Mr. David Hunt
  Yes.

  Local Government Finance
  Mr. Harry Barnes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the number of people, in percentage terms, who have complied with the community charge registration process in England and Wales.

  Mr. David Hunt
  We shall not have information on the total number included in community charges registers until December 1989. It is clear, however, that in most authorities the first stage of the registration process is proceeding well.

  Mr. Steinberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he has given to the possible options for need assessments under the new system of local government finance; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. David Hunt
  On 12 July we discussed a report by officials, which contains a range of options for standard spending assessments, with the Consultative Council on Local Government Finance. My right hon. Friend will not be taking any final decisions until the autumn.

  Mr. John Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the cost of introducing a system of local government finance based on capital value rates plus local income tax.

  Mr. David Hunt
  The Labour party's two-tax system could cost up to four times as much to administer as the existing rating system.

  Mr. Rooker
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the level of safety net for local authorities under Her Majesty's Government's new system of local government finance.

  Mr. David Hunt
  The safety net is the result of the old system of local government finance. I refer the hon. Member to the statement made to the House on 19 July by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for the Environment, which contained full details of the proposed safety net.

  Dr. Goodson-Wickes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he intends to take to ensure that tenants in the private rented sector are not put in the position of paying the community charge without a corresponding deduction in the rate element of their rent.

  Mr. David Hunt
  Protected tenants paying rents which include rates will have the normal protection of the Rent Act 1977 for tenancies entered into before 15 January 1989, and may register fair rents which are exclusive of rates. The Housing Act 1988 will apply to most tenancies entered into after that date, and any rents determined by the rent assessment committee under that Act will be
  773
  exclusive of rates. Any reductions in inclusive rents arising from the introduction of community charge should be settled on the basis of individual contracts. The Department will be producing shortly a booklet on the impact between the community charge and rents in the series "You and the Community Charge".

  Mr. Caborn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what medical advice he has considered in deciding to exclude severe dementia sufferers from community charge exemption.

  Mr. David Hunt
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Redcar (Ms. Mowlam) on 28 June at column 482.

  Ms. Mowlam
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from Professor Elaine Murphy of Guy's hospital, London as to the viability of assessing severe dementia for the purposes of community charge exemption; and what response he has made.

  Mr. David Hunt
  Professor Murphy wrote to my right hon. Friend the then Minister for Local Government on 6 July about this matter. I am now considering her letter and have agreed to meet professor Murphy to discuss it.

  Mr. McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what further consideration he has given to the impact of poll tax registration on the levels of electoral registration in the light of early experience of registration.

  Mr. David Hunt
  If there is any impact of community charge registration on electoral registration it can be connected only with the misleading use of the term "poll tax" for party political purposes.

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any illustrative figures to show the level of poll tax to be levied in Nottingham in 1990–91.

  Mr. David Hunt
  I have no illustrative comunity charge figures for 1990–91. Illustrative community charges published on 19 July reflect 1989–90 local authority responsibilities and levels of expenditure.

  Mr. David Nicholson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the criteria determining whether a local authority should be(a) a gainer or (b) a loser from the community charge safety net (i) in the estimates given for hypothetical community charges in 1988–89 and (ii) in the estimates given on 19 July for hypothetical community charges in 1989–90.

  Mr. David Hunt
  Areas which are shown as gaining from the safety net are those in which the total of community charges assumed to be raised from residents is higher than the total of domestic rates. Conversely, areas contributing to the safety net are those where the total of community charges are assumed to be lower.

  Details of the calculations for illustrative community charges for 1988–89 and 1989–90 were contained in the explanatory notes accompanying the tables placed in the Library on 23 June 1988 and 19 July 1989, respectively.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each charging authority the 774
  average rate per adult charged in 1989–90, showing also the averages for each region, inner London, outer London and the rest of the south east separately, and for England as a whole.

  Mr. David Hunt
  A rate per pound of rateable value was charged by each charging authority in 1989–90. There was no rate per adult.

  Mr. Bowis
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what a senior ward sister currently living in a flat in Battersea would pay for her local services under(a) the community charge, and (b) a system of capital value rates and local income tax allocated on an 80/20 basis.

  Mr. David Hunt
  In 1989–90 a ward sister earning £15,000 living alone in a flat Battersea worth £70,000 would pay a community charge of £375 (disregarding the transitional safety net) and £639 under a system of capital value rates plus local income tax.

  Homelessness
  Mr. Sedgemore
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has developed any fresh proposals to reduce homelessness.

  Mr. Chope
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given earlier today by my right hon. Friend to the hon. Member for Carlisle (Mr. Martlew) and for Leyton (Mr. Cohen).

  Mr. Boateng
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will seek powers to redirect the resources currently spent on bed-and-breakfast accommodation for homeless people towards the provision of purpose built accommodation for them.

  Mr. Chope
  I am currently reviewing the homelessness legislation and hope to announce conclusions soon. But it is for local authorities to determine how to direct resources to meet their local housing needs. My Department has consistently advised that the best use must be made of existing stock to house the homeless before recourse to temporary accommodation and that bed-and-breakfast hotels should be used only as a last resort, especially for families.

  New Town Housing (Warrington)
  Mr. Butler
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new town houses have been built in Warrington since the inception of the new town development corporation; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  A total of 13,126 owner-occupied and rented dwellings have been provided in Warrington under the new town development programme, an excellent achievement by the development corporation.

  International Initiatives
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps the Government are taking to develop international initiatives to conserve the world's environment.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  Global climate change represents the greatest threat to the world's environment and the
  775
  Government have called for the support of all nations in preparing an international framework convention. This call was endorsed by the governing council of the United Nations environment programme (UNEP) in June and by the economic summit in Paris on 16 July. The summit also supported the United Kingdom's proposals to phase out the use of chlorofluorocarbons, to give added momentum to international work on integrating environment and economic decision making, to safeguard tropical forests and to strengthen the United Nations environmental institutions, especially UNEP.

  Town Halls
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on expenditure by local authorities on the construction of new town halls.

  Mr. David Hunt
  In the financial year 1987–88, capital expenditure on new construction for general adminstration by local authorities in England was £123 million.

  Vacant Properties
  Mrs. Hicks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to ensure that local authority houses are not left vacant.

  Mr. Chope
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State awaits the results of a survey by our Department of local authority empty property and will then consider action, in consultation with the local authority associations.

  Housing Corporation
  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the expected level of provision of the Housing Corporation for 1991–92.

  Mr. Howard
  Current plans provide for gross capital expenditure by the Housing Corporation in 1991–92 of £1,328 million.

  Sir Fergus Montgomery
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the level of funding for the Housing Corporation in 1988–89.

  Mr. Howard
  The Housing Corporation's gross capital expenditure in 1988–89 was £791·3 million.

  Unified Business Rate
  Mr. Ian Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received on the transitional mechanisms to be introduced in connection with the unified business rate.

  Mr. David Hunt
  Some 150 initial responses have been received to our consultation paper and we have had many more representations subsequently.

  Sir John Hunt
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from the National Hairdressers Federation in respect of the likely impact of the unified business rate upon hairdressing salons; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. David Hunt
  The National Hairdressers' Federation's letter of 29 May was taken into account in settling the transitional arrangements announced by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State on 19 July.

  English Heritage
  Mr. Key
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last met the chairman of English Heritage; and what matters were discussed.

  Mr. David Hunt
  My right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State met Lord Montagu on 5 May when he opened English Heritage's new offices in Newcastle and discussed a number of heritage issues.

  Ivory Imports
  Mr. Harris
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he gave to the position of the legitimate ivory trade in imposing a unilateral ban on ivory imports.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  We recognised that the ban would affect the legitimate ivory trade, but this was outweighed by the need for immediate action to protect the African elephant pending decisions on a long-term strategy for its future survival.

  Mortgage Repayments
  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any plans to assist people getting into difficulties with mortgage repayment.

  Mr. Chope
  Any person who falls into difficulty with mortgage repayments should contact his or her lender as soon as possible. Responsible lenders will be sympathetic and willing to help.

  There are also independent organisations which offer advice to people in this situation. The Government give grants to 20 voluntary bodies which provide such a service.

  Environmental Safety (Symbols)
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has discussed for introducing a recognisable symbol for environment safety on consumer products.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  Officials, together with officials from the Department of Trade and Industry, have recently studied the issues raised by environmental labelling for consumer products and have spoken to a range of interested parties, including representatives of consumers, producers, retailers and environmentalists. This study has taken account of the experience of the Blue Angel environmental labelling scheme in the Federal Republic of Germany, and of developments in the European Community. We shall make known our conclusions on this study in due course.

  Information Office
  Mr. Hardy
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he proposes to establish an information office which will provide detailed evidence as to the state of the environment.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  The Government are considering how best to present the public with the facts about the quality of the environment.

  Unleaded Petrol
  Mr. Greg Knight
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of new cars are capable of running on unleaded petrol.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  Ninety six per cent. of new cars registered in May could use unleaded petrol. 70 per cent. could run on unleaded petrol straight away and the remaining 26 per cent. after adjustment.

  Rugby Union
  Mr. Canavan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next expects to meet representatives of the Rugby Union; and what subjects he expects to discuss.

  Mr. Moynihan
  I have nothing to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 22 June at column 202.

  Large Firms
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has had any recent discussions on environmental matters with the firms BP, Barclays Bank, Inchcape, BAT Industries or Shell.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  I meet representatives of the oil industry to help promote the use of unleaded petrol.

  I discuss environmental matters generally with individuals, local authorities, voluntary organisations and industry on all possible occasions.

  Local Government Services (Contracting Out)
  Mr. David Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of councils in England and Wales now contract out local government services; and how much has been saved since 1981 as a result of such contracting out.

  Mr. David Hunt
  Under part I of the Local Government Act 1988, all authorities in England and Wales are required to introduce competition for certain services, starting on 1 August 1989. Previous studies of voluntary competition indicate that savings of 20–30 per cent. have been achieved.

  Pollution
  Mr. Evennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment at what date part II of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 was implemented.

  Mr. Moynihan
  The main provisions of part II of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 were brought into force between July 1984 and October 1986. These provided for more effective protection of inland, surface and underground waters, the extension of controls to cover all coastal and estuarial waters and public involvement, for the first time, in the water pollution control system. These provisions are re-enacted and where appropriate strengthened in the Water Act.

  Toxic Waste
  Mr. Holt
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much toxic waste per annum is generated and treated or landfilled in the United Kingdom.
  778
  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  In 1987–88 the estimated arisings of special waste in the United Kingdom were 2,036,000 tonnes.

  Sewerage Charges
  Mr. Heddle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with the construction industry about the likely cost of sewerage and water connection charges following privatisation of the water industry.

  Mr. Howard
  I have had one meeting with representatives of the House Builders Federation, and my officials have held two meetings with them to discuss the detailed arrangements for introducing a charge at the time new connections are made to water mains arid public sewers under powers included in the Water Act 1989.

  Bathing Water
  Dr. Twinn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many years were given to member states to identify a full list of bathing waters for the purposes of the 1975 bathing waters directive.

  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many bathing waters complied with the 1975 European Community bathing waters directive in(a) May 1979 and (b) May 1989.

  Mr. Howard
  I refer my hon. Friends to the reply I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Mr. Bevan).

  Estate Action
  Mr. Fraser
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much estate action money will be allocated to Lambeth this year.

  Mr. Chope
  This largely depends on Lambeth's progress in finalising its proposals for estate action work. The Department's estimate is that some £1 million will be allocated to the borough.

  Open Spaces (Bristol)
  Ms. Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received concerning action by the Bristol urban district council to acquire land used by people of Bristol as open space for unscheduled development; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr Moynihan
  Bristol city council made representations, after it was consulted about the proposed vesting of land at St. Anne's road which is likely to be needed for a road junction improvement. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment decided not to proceed with the vesting order but to allow an opportunity for negotiation to see whether the development corporation can acquire the land by agreement.

  Merseyside Development Corporation (Jobs)
  Mr Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many jobs have been created within the area covered by the Merseyside development corporation since its inception.
  779
  Mr. Moynihan
  Since the Merseyside development corporation was established, 3,500 permanent jobs have been created in the designated area. The corporation's regeneration programme has also led to on site construction jobs of about 1,000 man years work annually.

  City Waterways
  Mr. Janner
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received concerning the cleaning and dredging of city waterways.

  Mr. Howard
  The Department has no record of any recent representations.

  Rents
  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department has made any assessment of the increase in rents in the private sector following the introduction of market rents for new tenancies in January of this year.

  Mr. Chope
  It is too soon to make such an assessment.

  Mr. Bradley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has made any assessment of affordable rent levels in the private and public rented sector.

  Mr. Chope
  Housing Benefit is intended to ensure that assistance is available to households whose rent might otherwise not be affordable.

  First-time Buyers
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any further plans to assist first-time buyers.

  Mr. Chope
  Under this Government the number of owner-occupiers has risen dramatically by over 3 million. More people now own their homes than ever before. We do not believe that further general incentives to owner-occupation are necessary.

  However, we are funding through the Housing Corporation shared ownership schemes run by housing associations which allow people to enter the housing market by purchasing part of the equity in their homes, and paying rent on the balance.

  Mr. Matthew Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider making changes to section 52 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 to help local first-time buyers along similar lines to those the Welsh Office has announced it is considering for Wales.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  My right hon. Friend's statement of 3 February at column 433 indicated the basis on which planning authorities in rural areas in England may wish to release small additional sites for development where there is evidence of a local need for low cost housing. The draft planning guidance issued by the Welsh Office on 30 June is on broadly similar lines, but with specific reference to conditions in Wales. It proposes no amendment of section 52.

  My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for Wales issued a consultation paper on 11 July (Official Report column 483) which invited
  780
  comments on separate proposals to amend section 52. In that context we shall consider any views on the need for changes to section 52 to facilitate the provision of low cost rural housing. Comments are invited by 11 September.

  Competitive Tendering
  Mr. Favell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to be able to publish figures showing the savings accruing to local authorities as a result of competitive tendering.

  Mr. David Hunt
  The Department will shortly be issuing a questionnaire to authorities seeking information about the outcome of the first round of competition under the Local Government Act 1988, which starts on 1 August of this year. The results of this survey should be available early next year.

  Chlorofluorocarbons
  Mr. Tredinnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress he has made in persuading aerosol manufacturers to ban the inessential use of chlorofluorocarbons.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 24 May 1989 to my hon. Friend the Member for Tayside, North (Mr. Walker) at column 584.

  Mr. Paice
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the United Kingdom to meet the 50 per cent. reduction in chlorofluorocarbons use laid down in the Montreal protocol.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 18 May 1989 to my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford (Dr. Clark) at column 262.

  Litter
  Mr. Patnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Gedling (Mr. Mitchell) of 28 June,Official Report column 485, when he now expects to make an announcement on fixed penalties for littering.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State on 20 July 1989 to my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) at columns 347–48.

  Building and Maintenance (Competition)
  Mr. Buckley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from organisations on his proposals to change the Local Government Planning and Land Act 1980, with respect to competition for building and maintenance work; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. David Hunt
  I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given to the hon. Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron) earlier today.

  Emergency Expenditure (Grant Penalty)
  Mr. Lofthouse
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received concerning clause 125 of the Local Government and
  781
  Housing Bill and the question of grant penalty being applied in the event of emergency expenditure; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. David Hunt
  I have received a number of representations concerning what is now clause 142 of the Local Government and Housing Bill. One of the features of the new local government finance system is that there will be no link between an authority's spending and the amount of revenue support grant it receives. Expenditure on emergency work will not, therefore, result in any grant penalty.

  Vacant Properties
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council properties in the London borough of Wandsworth were empty on 10 July.

  Mr. Chope
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 24 July 1989 by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Mr. Trippier).

  City Grant
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he takes to ensure that his discussions with developers and local authorities on city grant applications do not conflict with his position as the final authority on planning applications; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Moynihan
  City grant applications are not accepted for appraisal unless planning permission for the project has already been granted or is due to be considered shortly by the local planning authority. Projects are discussed and appraised only in relation to the criteria for City grant and, until there is a final determination of planning permission, I do not take a decision on the city grant application.

  Hostels
  Mr. Michael
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has developed any proposals to meet the permanent housing needs of residents of hostels and special needs housing projects in England and Wales.

  Mr. Chope
  The increased resources made available by the Government for capital expenditure on housing will enable more subsidised permanent accommodation to be provided, which can be used for residents of hostels and shared housing where appropriate. In addition, the future arrangements for Government support for special needs housing by housing associations are under consideration in consultation with the Housing Corporation, the National Federation of Housing Associations and representatives of the hostels movement.

  Countryside Commission
  Mr. Rathbone
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what meetings he has had recently with the chairman of the Countryside Commission; and what matters were discussed.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  I have met the chairman of the Countryside Commission, Sir Derek Barber, along with ministerial colleagues, on several occasions this year to discuss issues related to the work of the commission and the development of policies for the countryside.

  Landfill
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next intends to review the controls on landfill operations in England and Wales.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  A thorough review of legislation relating to waste management is nearing completion. New legislation, which will include many measures to improve the control of landfills, will be introduced at the earliest opportunity.

  Association of District Councils
  Mr. Oppenheim
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last met the Assocition of District Councils; and what matters were discussed.

  Mr. David Hunt
  My right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State met leaders of the Association of District Councils at the meeting of the Consultative Council on Local Government Finance on Wednesday 12 July. The consultative council discussed the terminology for the new system of local government finance; projections of local authorities' spending in 1990–91; proposals for new standard spending assessments; and arrangements for the future review of standard spending assessments.

  GREA (Barnsley)
  Mr. Illsley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received on the grant related needs assessment for Barnsley metropolitan district council; and whether he will provide extra resources to that authority.

  Mr. David Hunt
  My right hon. Friend the then Minister for Local Government met a delegation from Barnsley metropolitan borough council with the hon. Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. McKay) on 29 June. At that meeting, and in a letter subsequently received from the Leader of the council, Barnsley made representations on standard spending assessments, on the overall level of grant and on its own resources. Before taking any decisions on the grant settlement, we shall consider all respresentations made, including those by Barnsley.

  Electricity Generation
  Mr. Marlow
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his assessment of the long-term relative environmental friendliness of the main alternative means of electricity generation.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  No means of electricity generation are entirely free of environmental effects. Both nuclear power and renewable energy sources have a valuable contribution to make to the aim of limiting the emission of environmentally damaging gaseous pollutants and of greenhouse gases, which result from the burning of fossil fuels.

  Planning Appeals
  Mr. Colin Shepherd
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many planning appeals in the last 12 months for which figures are available have resulted in decisions which are contrary to local plans where these have been in place.
  783
  Mr. Chope
  I regret that this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Marine Nature Reserves
  Mr. Fearn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last discussed the status and numbers of marine nature reserves; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Ceredigion and Pembroke, North (Mr. Howells) on 28 June 1989 at column 492. Officials of the Department are in regular contact with NCC on these matters.

  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice he has received from the Nature Conservancy Council as to the difficulties experienced in progressing marine nature reserve designations; if he has any plans to review(a) the existing consultation procedure or (b) section 36 and 37 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  My Department is in close touch with the Nature Conservancy Council on all matters connected with the designation of marine nature reserves, including consultation procedures. There are no plans at present to revise sections 36 and 37 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

  Sports Council
  Mr. John Carlisle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last met the chairman of the Sports Council; and what matters were discussed.

  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next intends to meet the chairman of the Sports Council; and what subjects he intends to discuss.

  Mr. Moynihan
  My last formal meeting with the chairman of the Sports Council was on 3 July when we discussed the council's corporate plan. We meet at regular intervals to discuss issues relating to sport.

  Data Protection
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many poll tax registration forms have been referred to the data protection registrar for alleged breaches of data protection principles.

  Mr. David Hunt
  I understand that the data protection registrar has requested all community charges registration officers to provide him with a copy of the form they are using to compile the community charges register.

  White Paper
  Mr. Steinberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, for each of the last three White Papers issued by his Department, for which legislation has been started, he will state the time elapsed between their publication and the First Readings of any Bills connected with them; and if he will do the same for the last three White Papers issued by his Department prior to May 1979.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  The last three White Papers published by my Department, in which legislation was 784
  proposed and has been subsequently started or completed, were "Privatisation of the Water Authorities in England and Wales", "Housing: The Government's Proposals" and "The Conduct of Local Authority Business—The Government Response to the Report of the Widdicombe Committee of Inquiry". These were published in February 1986, September 1987 and July 1988 respectively; and the First Readings of the Water Bill and Local Government and Housing Bill which resulted from them took place in the record of the last Government in this matter, but the information requested should be available in the Library of the House and the Official Report.

  River Quality
  Mr. Raffan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of United Kingdom rivers are in class 1 of river water quality and what is the comparable percentage figure for the European Community as a whole.

  Mr. Howard
  The 1985 river quality surveys indicated that about 83 per cent. of river lengths in the United Kingdom were classified as being of class I (good) quality. Comprehensive information on a comparable basis for other EC member states is not available. However, a study published in 1988 by the water research centre, in reviewing classification schemes across member states, showed that on the basis of comparisons made using the United Kingdom river classification scheme, only 39 per cent. of rivers in the European Community as a whole were of good quality. Only one other member state—Ireland at 84 per cent.—had a greater proportion of "good" quality rivers. A summary of these results is published in the Water Authorities' Association publication "Water Facts 1988".

  97–107 Shaw Street, Liverpool
  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about the future of 97–107 Shaw street, Liverpool; and whether he will intervene to prevent the demolition of these properties.

  Mr. Chope
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is not aware of any representations following the then Secretary of State's decision on the Liverpool city council order. This decision was issued on 30 March 1989 and the city council has a five-year period within which it must take action.

  A total of five statutory and 102 non-statutory objections were received in response to the compulsory purchase order, all of which were considered by my right hon. Friend before he issued his decision.

  Civil Service (Relocation)
  Mr. Cran
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress is being made in his Department's review, in line with Treasury guidelines, of the potential for the further relocation of Civil Service posts outside London and the south east; and when he expects the review to be completed.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  Around 38 per cent. of the Department of the Environment's staff of approximately 6,000 (excluding the Property Services Agency) are already
  785
  located outside London, 24 per cent. outside the south east. All other posts have been assessed for relocation potential, and some 1,350 posts have been identified for detailed investigation. Studies covering 320 posts are complete, leading to proposals to move some 90 out of London, which are now being implemented. Studies covering the other posts will be carried out over the next two years or so, as operational requirements allow.

  Seventy per cent. of the PSA's staff of 22,800 (including the Crown Suppliers) are already located outside London, 45 per cent. outside the south east. The agency is being restructured to become a more commercial organisation, and the scope for further relocation is being examined through the business planning process.

  Aggregates (Demand)
  Mr. Couchman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the demand for aggregates.

  Mr. Chope
  When I announced the publication of MPG6 in March, I said that its purpose was to ensure that the construction industry continues to receive an adequate and steady supply of minerals at the best balance of social, environmental and economic costs; and that there was a need to apply the national and regional guidelines at the mineral planning authority level and that the Government believed that this should be treated as a priority task by the mineral planning authorities and the regional aggregates working parties.

  I have now been advised by the national co-ordinating group that the recent and current level of demand for construction aggregates is running at a level substantially higher than that envisaged when MPG6 was prepared. I am also advised that in some parts of the country, the guidelines contained in MPG6 have not yet been fully implemented.

  In these circumstances, the Government believe that it is very important that both industry and mineral planning authorities take positive steps to respond to the present situation. In particular both should ensure that the guidance given in MPG6 is implemented as a matter of priority. The following three points are of particular importance.

  First, for aggregate minerals the aim should be to provide for the release of land to maintain a stock of permissions (a landbank) for an appropriate local area, sufficient for at least 10 years extraction unless exceptional circumstances prevail. This is not the case in many areas and industry and mineral planning authorities should consider urgently what steps should be taken to make further provision.

  Secondly, the guidelines suggested how provision could be made for the period up to 2005. At present rates of consumption it will be needed over a shorter period than that. Authorities should recognise that to maintain landbanks in accordance with MPG6 and to ensure that future demand can be met, this provision may well need to be brought forward and made available at an earlier point in the period.

  Thridly, when preparing and altering development plans, mineral planning authorities should have regard to the current situation, and policies should be formulated with an appropriate degree of flexibility.

  The Department is making provision for an up-to-date survey of aggregates—AM89. It is important that this
  786
  should be completed by the end of 1990. At that time we shall also be in a position to take account of such important factors as the results of our current research projects into alternative sources of supply and the planning considerations which affect minerals extraction. In the light of changing circumstances work on a revised forecast will begin soon in order that the results can be taken into account for the next edition of the guidelines.

  Finally I would like to reiterate that the Secretaries of State attach importance to the speedy and effective implementation of the policies and guidelines contained in MPG6. These aim to ensure that the needs of society for minerals are satisfied with due regard to the protection of the environment. They look to mineral planning authorities and the industry to achieve this and they will have regard to this statement in considering development plans, planning applications and appeals.

  I am drawing this statement to the attention of all mineral planning authorities and to the planning inspectorate and I am asking that national co-ordinating group to monitor the situation and provide a progress report in six months' time.

  Landfill Sites (Harmful Gases)
  Mr. McLoughlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to issue further policy guidance about planning powers in relation to landfill sites which may be generating harmful gases; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for Wales have today published a circular "Landfill Sites: Development Control" (Doe circular 17/89, Welsh Office circular 38/89). Copies of which will be placed in the Library.

  The circular, which takes account of comments on a draft issued last December, gives further advice to local authorities about the use of their planning powers in relation to landfill sites in England and Wales which may be generating harmful gases.

  Polymer Modified Bitumens
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those city councils who specify polymer modified bitumens.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  This information is not collected by the Department.

  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what studies he has made of the environmental improvement to the atmosphere that would be achieved if county council surveyors specified polymer modified bitumens.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  Warren Spring laboratory, on behalf of the Department, is assessing the emissions of volatile organic compounds to atmosphere and the options for their control. Work on unmodified, thermal and blown bitumens is not yet complete.

  Water Authorities (Advertising)
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list the cost of the Yorkshire water board's advertising annually from 1979 to 1989;
  787
  (2) what is the cost of the water authorities advertising in the current financial year both in total throughout the country and by region.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  These are questions for the individual water authorities concerned.

  Noisy Parties
  Mr. Cartwright
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he plans to take any steps to strengthen the powers of the police to deal with complaints about noisy late night parties.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  The police have no powers to act against noise nuisance from premises. The Control of Pollution Act 1974 provides local authorities with adequate powers to control such nuisance.

  Shellfish Farms
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how shellfish structures or associated shore-based developments are classified under the planning system; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) what powers he has to control the siting of shellfish farms and associated shore-based structures; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  The breeding and keeping of livestock (which can include fish and shellfish) for the production of food falls within the definition of "agriculture" in section 290(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971. Class A of part 6 of schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1988 grants permitted development rights for the carrying out on agricultural land of building works or any excavation or engineering operations reasonably necessary for the purposes of agriculture, subject to a range of conditions. In national parks and some adjacent areas the exercise of some of these rights is subject to approval by the local planning authority.

  Class C of part 6 grants additional permitted development rights to carry out operations to construct fishponds or other engineering operations on agricultural land for the purposes of a fish or shellfish farming business registered under the Diseases of Fish Act 1983, again subject to a range of conditions. Any fish or shellfish farming development that does not satisfy the conditions of part 6 requires specific planning permisson. The Department's consultation paper on possible new permitted development rights in the countryside, issued on 8 May, invited views on whether it would be desirable to curtail permitted development rights for fish farming in national parks. Responses to this consultation paper are now being considered.

  Shooting Rights
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list(a) instructions, (b) advice or (c) requests he has given to the Nature Conservancy Council, or other bodies, concerning the prohibition of or making agreements regarding shooting rights in environmentally sensitive areas together with the relevant dates; what advice he sought or received from bodies with relevant interests; and if he will make a statement.
  788
  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  There is agreement between the Department and the NCC that traditional country rights and uses of land should be interfered with only where they are in conflict with conservation interests.

  Liverpool City Council (Employees)
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the number of black people employed by the Liverpool city council,(a) at the latest date and (b) in 1980.

  Mr. Moynihan
  This information is not separately distinguishable in statistics held centrally.

  Information
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the assembly and dissemination of environmental information.

  Mr. Patten
  I am concerned at the tendency for factual environmental information to he treated as political statements. I am therefore exploring ways of ensuring that objective assessments of environmental issues are taken out of political dispute.

  Environmental Risk (Advice)
  Mr. Boswell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will establish an independent and authoritative national agency for monitoring and advising on environmental risk and regulatory performance.

  Mr. Patten
  Effective pollution control is best promoted through organisations tailor-made to regulate specific issues such as the National Rivers Authority, Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution and local pollution control agencies. There is no need for a new national agency.

  Hazardous Waste
  Mr. Atkinson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the Government are going to respond to the fourth report of the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee on hazardous waste disposal.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  We are today publishing a full response to the Committee's report. We are pleased to note that there are many points on which the Committee support the Government's present policies and proposals for legislative change. In particular both the Government and the Committee have expressed concern over the waste disposal control framework, delays by local authorities in completing waste disposal plans, landfill gas management and the control of imports. These are all matters on which we have already made progress.

  We could not accept the Committee's recommendations on certain issues such as the registration of hazardous waste producers and statutory regional groupings of waste disposal authorities. Our response has included the reasons.

  We welcome the opportunity the Committee's fourth report has provided for discussing the important issues. The Government have made advance towards solving the problems and improving the system of control since the Committee last reported in 1981.

  Rate Support Grant (Calderdale)
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of the total rates in Calderdale was represented by the rate support grant in each year from 1979 to 1988.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  [holding answer 10 April 1989]: The percentage of Calderdale's expenditure, as defined for the purposes of calculating grant, which is represented by rate support grant in each year from 1981 to 1988 is as follows:

  Per cent.

  1981–82

  71

  1982–83

  65

  1983–84

  68

  1984–85

  67

  1985–86

  67

  1986–87

  56

  1987–88

  59

  1988–89

  56

  It is not possible to provide information for 1979–80 and 1980–81 in the form requested, as the rate support grant system used prior to 1981–82 did not separately identify grant paid in respect of districts and counties.

  Recycling
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to encourage the recycling of(a) used batteries, (b) household chemical wastes and (c) cloth; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  [holding answer 19 July 1989]: The Government encourage recycling whenever it makes economic and environmental sense.

  Many batteries are already recycled. For example, some 80 per cent. of all lead acid automotive batteries are fully reclaimed. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will be considering how to respond to the proposed European Community directive on batteries.

  Advice on the disposal of awkward household wastes was published in 1974 by HMSO. This includes guidance on chemical waste reclamation.

  The recycling of textiles is a matter in the first instance for industry, which will encourage the recovery of all textiles for which there is a viable market.

  Bottle Banks
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the ratio of bottle banks to head of population for all the European countries for which figures are available.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  [holding answer 20 July 1989]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 February 1989 to the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) at col. 518.

  Small Businesses
  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department and his policies in helping small businesses over the last 12 months compared with the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the 790
  performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  [holding answer 24 July 1989]: My Department contributes to the Government policy of creating a climate in which small businesses can flourish, in particular by simplifying and removing unnecessary controls on them. The major deregulation initiatives carried through and in progress are set out in the White Paper "Releasing Enterprise" (Cm. 512). They include substantial changes to the planning system, the development of integrated pollution control, and the reform of the building regulations, all of which simplify procedures and remove unnecessary burdens on businesses of all sizes. Separate information on small businesses is not available.

  Water Authorities
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to use those statutory powers available to him to prosecute water authorities which do not comply with EEC directives.

  Mr. Howard
  [holding answer 25 July 1989]: Where my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has enforcement powers relevant to implementation of EC directives, he will consider using them in appropriate circumstances.

  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will bring up to date the figures given in his written reply dated 16 December 1936,Official Report column 438, concerning the specified rate of return on net assets for each water authority, together with a forecast for 1990–91; and if he will include figures showing (i) the net assets in 1987–88 in each case, (ii) the realised profit in 1987–88 in percentage and cash terms, (iii) the corresponding forecast for the current financial year, (iv) the target rate of return after privatisation and (v) the estimated effect the target rate would have on the cash margin in the current financial year.

  Mr. Howard
  The water authorities' performance against their specified return on assets is set out in their published annual accounts for 1987–88, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.

  Copies of their unaudited accounts for 1988–89 were placed in the Library of the House on 6 July. Copies of their final reports and accounts, which will contain a statement of their performance against the specified return on assets will be laid before Parliament in August.

  No target rates of return have been set for 1989–90 or for subsequent years.

  Anti-abortion Rally, Westminster
  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the use of Abingdon street gardens, Westminster, for an anti-abortion gathering, for the purposes of filming and sound recording, on 27 and 28 June, was authorised under the appropriate byelaws: and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  [holding answer 21 July 1989] The Department's press office facilities officer granted written permission to the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children for a photocall with Members of

  791
  Parliament, at Abingdon street gardens, Westminster, on 27 and 28 June under the Royal and Other Parks and Gardens Regulations 1977, section 4, paragraph (7) and (16).
  792
  The permit generally covered filming, photography and sound recording.

  JOB APPLICANTS' BACKGROUND: ACCESS TO POLICE INFORMATION
  JOB APPLICANTS' BACKGROUND: ACCESS TO POLICE INFORMATION
  UNDERGROUND STATIONS: FIRE PRECAUTIONS REGULATIONS
  UNDERGROUND STATIONS: FIRE PRECAUTIONS REGULATIONS
  EAST SUTTON PARK PRISON: LIBRARY SERVICE
  EAST SUTTON PARK PRISON: LIBRARY SERVICE
  NATIONAL CURRICULUM: MARINE ENVIRONMENT
  NATIONAL CURRICULUM: MARINE ENVIRONMENT
  CONTINUOUS PLANKTON RECORDER SURVEY
  CONTINUOUS PLANKTON RECORDER SURVEY
  OZONE LAYER RESEARCH
  OZONE LAYER RESEARCH
  CTCs: PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS OFFERED
  CTCs: PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS OFFERED
  EAST LONDON RAIL STUDY: CONSULTANTS' REPORT
  EAST LONDON RAIL STUDY: CONSULTANTS' REPORT
  DoE PLANNING INSPECTORATE: OPERATION AS AGENCY
  DoE PLANNING INSPECTORATE: OPERATION AS AGENCY
  SEA LEVEL RISE: EFFECT ON ESTUARINE WADERS
  SEA LEVEL RISE: EFFECT ON ESTUARINE WADERS
  LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT DATA
  LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT DATA
  CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS: EC DIRECTIVE
  CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS: EC DIRECTIVE
  HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL REPORT: RESPONSE
  HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL REPORT: RESPONSE
  NCC: GRANT-IN AID 1986/89
  NCC: GRANT-IN AID 1986/89
  WILD BIRD SPECIAL PROTECTION AREAS
  WILD BIRD SPECIAL PROTECTION AREAS
  ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION: OFFICIAL SOURCE
  ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION: OFFICIAL SOURCE
  MERSEYSIDE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: NAO REPORT
  MERSEYSIDE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: NAO REPORT