Written Answers of 18 May 1989

NATIONAL FINANCE

  European Monetary System
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consequences would ensue for the United Kingdom economy and United Kingdom citizens in the event of sterling joining the exchange rate mechanism of the European monetary system and what would be the necessary changes in public policy.

  Mr. Lilley
  I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Mr. Soames) on 8 May, at column 318.

  Value Added Tax
  Mr. Conway
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether value added tax is charged on Ministry of Defence purchases from the United States of America which are delivered direct to British forces in Germany; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lilley
  United Kingdom VAT is not applicable to such purchases. By virtue of international agreements, German VAT is not charged.

  Advertising
  Mr. Grocott
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much advertising air time Her Majesty's Treasury purchased with each commercial television company in each of the last five years.

  Mr. Brooke
  [holding answer 15 May 1989]: None.

PRIME MINISTER

  Civil Service (Discipline)
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Prime Minister what assessment has been made of the effects on discipline in the Civil Service of the practice of officials sanctioning the unauthorised release of official information other than through conventional channels without prior explicit ministerial consent.

  The Prime Minister
  None.

  Court of Auditors
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the procedure for considering the annual reports of the Court of Auditors; and if she will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  The annual reports of the Court of Auditors are discussed each year at the Economic and Finance Council in line with a procedure which the United Kingdom was instrumental in securing.

  Engagements
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 May.

  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 May.

  Mr. Stern
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 May.

  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 May.

  Mr. Tredinnick
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 May.

  The Prime Minister
  This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

  Teaching Vacancies (Bolton)
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current number of teaching vacancies at educational establishments in the Bolton education authority area; and what categories of subject the vacancies fall into.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  In January 1989 (the latest date for which figures are available) there were 10 full-time teacher vacancies in nursery and primary schools maintained by bolton local education authority—one in the nursery, five in the infant and four in the junior age group.

  At the same date there was one full-time teacher vacancy (in English) in maintained secondary schools.

  No information is available regarding vacancies in other educational establishments.

  Open University
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the outcome of the latest meeting of the visiting committee of the Open university in terms of evaluation of the future course profile and financial stability of the university.

  Mr. Jackson
  At its latest meeting on 13 and 14 April the Open university visiting committee began its consideration of the university's programmes and financial forecasts. It will complete its assessment, and report to my right hon. Friend in the summer.

  Volunteer Youth Workers
  Mr. Nellist
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what response he has made to the letter of 7 March from the chairman of Warwickshire association of youth clubs, Mrs. B. E. Winstanley, about grant aid for the training of volunteer youth workers; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The Department sent a reply to Mrs. Winstanley on May 10. A copy of the reply has been sent to the hon. Member.

  Student Grants
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the total cost of
  247
  maintenance grants paid to part-time students in each of the past 10 years in (a) cash terms and (b) real terms with 1979 = 100.

  Mr. Jackson
  This information is not collected centrally.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the projected cost of maintenance grants to be paid to part-time students in each of the next five years.

  Mr. Jackson
  The information which would be required to provide such a projection is not collected centrally.

  College Lecturers (School Teachers)
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to encourage college lecturers to become school teachers.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Last October the Department published a discussion paper on the staffing implications of projected student numbers in LEA-maintained FE colleges in England. That paper suggested that local education authorities should consider redeploying suitably qualified surplus FE lecturers to teach shortage subjects in schools. Under the proposed licensed teacher scheme, FE lecturers with two years' experience will become eligible for qualified teacher status after one year's service as a licensed teacher instead of two as will be the case generally.

  Incentive Allowances
  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Bridgend of 5 May,Official Report, column 256, that no further information is at present available, what further information he intends to collect in relation to awards of incentive allowances, for each school or financial year since 30 September 1987; when and by what means he intends to collect such further information; if he will estimate the date or dates of publication of such further information; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The database of teacher records will provide detailed information on an annual basis about the numbers of teachers in receipt of incentive allowances. The first such data, showing the position in March 1988, are likely to become available early next year.

  University Statistical Record
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he collects information from, or has access to, the University Statistical Record.

  Mr. Jackson
  The Department has no direct access to the University Statistical Record. Given prior notice, the USR can on occasions supply information not available in published reports, although details of individual institutions normally remain confidential.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  British Citizens Imprisoned Abroad
  Mr. Wheeler
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the figures for 248
  each of the last five years for which records are available of the numbers of British citizens imprisoned abroad who returned to this country within that year.

  Mr. Eggar
  The information requested is not available.

  Mr. Wheeler
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will state for the last year for which figures are available how many British citizens imprisoned abroad received(a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) more than four visits from consular officials.

  Mr. Eggar
  The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Wheeler
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list in the Official Report all those consular posts which have a local benevolent fund or charity on which they can draw for buying extra food, soap, and so on for British citizens imprisoned abroad, stating against each (a) the total drawn for each of the last five years for which figures are available and (b) the total amount available from each source in this financial year.

  Mr. Eggar
  Many of our consular posts around the world have access to local benevolent funds. Such funds exist purely due to private donations. Since public funds are not involved we do not keep a central list. The funds also vary enormously in their extent and purpose as well as the degree to which consular posts may draw on them.

  Lorrain Esme Osman
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the issue in Hong Kong on 30 November 1985 of a warrant for the arrest of Lorrain Esme Osman, and the quashing of the warrant by the Hong Kong Court of Appeal on 4 May 1989 on the grounds that it was vitiated by bias.

  Mr. Eggar
  These are matters for the relevant authorities in Hong Kong and for the courts here.

  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from the Government of the Republic of Liberia in respect of Lorrain Esme Osman; whether Mr. Osman has diplomatic immunity; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Eggar
  There has been an exchange of notes with the Liberian Government through its embassy in London about Mr. Osman's appointment as Liberian ambassador-at-large to the European Community and his status in the United Kingdom. It is for the courts to decide whether Mr. Osman has any diplomatic immunity, in accordance with the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964 and the facts presented to them.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Gas Masks (Israel)
  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster why his Department is refusing an export licence to allow gas masks to be sold to Israel for purely defensive purposes.
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  Mr. Alan Clark
  No application has been received for a licence to export gas masks to Israel.

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

  Population Control
  Sir Charles Morrison
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications were received for 1989 for allocations through the

  Agency and country

  Project name

  Requested 1989–90 £

  Requested 1990–91 £

  Requested 1991–92 £

  Requested 1992–93 £

  Requested 1993–94 £

  Accepted

  Marie Stopes International

  Kenya

  Extension of Family Planning Education and Service Programme for National Youth Service

  96,957

  52,599

  101,490

  —

  —

  Lesotho

  Creating a Corps of Village-based Family Planning Educators and Motivator

  41,269

  33,205

  35,652

  —

  —

  Pakistan

  Lahore reproductive health extension services

  22,844

  24,270

  25,540

  —

  —

  Population Concern

  Bangladesh

  Chittagong Family Planning

  32,820

  36,360

  —

  —

  —

  Ethiopia

  Development of Manual for Training Rural Women Development Agents

  39,670

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Pakistan

  Family Planning through Community Institutions

  21,535

  23,565

  23,835

  —

  —

  Pakistan

  Training for Womens Development

  24,835

  25,985

  28,240

  —

  —

  Totals

  279,930

  195,984

  214,757

  —

  —

  Rejected

  Marie Stopes International

  Haiti

  Condom Social Marketing

  36,355

  44,110

  39,935

  —

  —

  Nigeria

  Combat Aids

  252,080

  352,835

  208,454

  —

  —

  Tanzania

  National Family Planning Radio Education/endorsement Programme

  53,793

  53,397

  53,882

  —

  —

  Totals

  342,228

  450,342

  302,271

  —

  —

  Under consideration

  Marie Stopes International

  Ethiopia

  Maternal and Reproductive Health Clinic

  114,473

  91,500

  91.476

  —

  —

  India

  Comprehensive Family Planning and Preventive Health Service for employees

  69,806

  73,382

  73,382

  —

  —

  India

  Contraceptive Social Marketing

  57,843

  63,627

  64,206

  —

  —

  India

  Marketing Educational Family Planning Materials

  85,000

  85,000

  85,000

  —

  —

  India

  Soap Drama

  26,500

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Sierra Leone

  Work based Maternal and Child Health and Family planning

  45,171

  33,668

  30,544

  —

  —

  Population Concern

  Caribbean

  Family Planning Motivational video Series

  40,158

  50,098

  44,374

  —

  —

  Nepal

  Newalparasi Womens Development Project

  36,880

  52,635

  42,555

  34,300

  29,590

  Totals

  475,831

  449,910

  431,537

  34,300

  29,590

  Application withdrawn by Agency

  Marie Stopes International

  Africa

  Health Education Family Planning film

  18,245

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Sir Charles Morrison
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which organisations received allocations from the joint funding scheme for population and family planning projects for each of the years 1987 and 1988; what amounts were allocated to each organisation; and for what purposes.

  Agency and country

  Project name

  Spent in 1987–88 £

  Spent in 1988–89 £

  Under offer for 1989–90 £

  Under offer for 1990–91 £

  Under offer for 1991–92 £

  Africa Now Marie Stopes International

  Kenya

  Chogoria Family Planning Programme

  —

  10,300

  9,213

  8,358

  11,182

  Bangladesh

  Family Planning, preventative health care

  23,550

  23,793

  52,868

  —

  —

  250
  joint funding scheme for population and family planning projects; what these applications were and from which organisations; how many and which were accepted; and what amounts were allocated to each organisation.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  This information is maintained by financial year rather than calendar year. Details of the population and family planning project applications which have been received under the joint funding scheme for the current financial year, 1989–90, and following years are:

  Mr. Chris Patten
  This information is maintained by financial year rather than calendar year. Details of the population and family planning projects which have been supported under the joint funding scheme in the financial years 1987–88 and 1988–89 are:
  251

  Agency and country

  Project name

  Spent in 1987–88

  Spent in 1988–89

  Under offer for 1989–90

  Under offer for 1990–91

  Under offer for 1991–92

  India

  Brass Tacks Family Planning Programme

  13,550

  39,537

  71,700

  —

  —

  Kenya

  National Youth Service

  11,000

  22,369

  41,950

  —

  —

  Malawi

  Health Programme for poor women and families

  —

  47,910

  42,550

  32,257

  —

  Mexico

  Family Planning Leon

  21,038

  13,525

  —

  —

  —

  Peru

  Provision of Maternal Health and Family Planning Services

  8,427

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Sierra Leone

  Youth Fertility Education Programme

  16,174

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Sri Lanka

  Family Planning Educators and Motivators

  —

  —

  37,244

  45,049

  45,049

  Swaziland

  Male Oriented Family Planning

  6,000

  23,772

  49,430

  —

  —

  Zimbabwe

  Training Programme Zimbabwe Association of Womens Clubs

  —

  23,793

  23,840

  31,650—

  —

  Oxfam Population Concern

  Pakistan

  Family Planning Project

  —

  2,825

  —

  —

  —

  Bangladesh

  Family Planning Health and Education

  15,876

  18,429

  —

  —

  —

  Caribbean

  Two workshops for Family Planning personnel Antigua

  —

  25,754

  30,928

  —

  —

  Caribbean

  Towards accreditation sex education in Caribbean schools

  —

  23,820

  51,861

  38,569

  —

  Caribbean

  Two workshops for teachers

  —

  41,592

  44,665

  —

  —

  Caribbean

  Three workshops Family Planning Fieldworkers

  —

  23,117

  24,784

  25,512

  —

  Ethiopia

  Training rural women development agents

  17,051

  55,027

  42,240

  —

  —

  Mauritius

  Construction of Mauritius Family Planning Association building

  —

  3,000

  —

  —

  —

  Nepal

  Three micro projects in Nepal

  6,150

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Nigeria

  Non Government Organisation Workshops on Population Policy

  34,682

  —

  —

  —

  —

  United Kingdom Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific

  Fiji

  Family Planning

  —

  5,500

  33,000

  —

  —

  Totals

  173,498

  404,063

  556,273

  181,395

  56,231

  Sir Charles Morrison
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contributions for 1989 are being made to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities and the World Health Organisation's special programme on human reproduction.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  We have made the following pledges for 1989:

  International Planned Parenthood Federation:
  £6·75 million (including £0·5 million for AIDS prevention programme);
  United Nations Population Fund:

  £5·5 million:
  World Health Organisation's special programme on human reproduction: £2·2 million.

  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list bilateral disbursements for population and family planning activities in each of the years 1987, 1988 and 1989, classified by project and country.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  The Overseas Development Administration funded the following population-related projects in 1987:

  Bangladesh
  World Bank Third Population and Family Health Project (825,000)

  Botswana
  Public Health and Primary Nurse Tutor (£20,000)

  Fiji
  Population Census (£15,000)

  The Gambia
  Provision of family planning materials (£2,000)

  India
  Orissa Family Welfare Project Phase I (£566,000) Integrated Family Welfare Gujarat (£8,000)
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  Assistance to the Registrar General's Office (£18,000)

  Kiribati
  Population Census (£4,000)

  Malawi
  Population Census (£62,000

  Malaysia
  Adviser in Demography (£52,000)

  Nepal
  ODA/UNFPA Project (Pilot Operational Research in Community Based Family Planning/Mother and Child Health Activities (£2,000)

  Pakistan
  Population Welfare Projects I and II (141,000)

  Tanzania
  Family Planning Study (02,000)
  Population Census (£6,000)

  In addition, the provision of family planning services formed part of a large number of primary health care projects and programmes in which we were involved. The Overseas Development Administration also provided £78,000 under its research and development programme for population-related work.

  Disbursement figures for 1988 and 1989 are not yet available. The following projects were under way or were approved in 1988 and 1989:

  Bangladesh
  World Bank Third Population and Family Health Project

  Botswana
  Public Health and Family Planning Tutor

  Fiji
  Assistance to Population Census

  India
  Orissa Family Welfare Project phases I and II
  Integrated Family Welfare Project Gujarat
  Population components in Slum Improvement Projects (Hyderabad, Indore and Vijayawada)
  Assistance to the Registrar General's Office

  Kenya
  World Bank Third Population Project
  Population Census
  253
  Kiribati
  Population Census

  Malawi
  Population Census

  Malaysia
  Adviser in Demography (Economic Planning Unit)

  Nepal
  Population Studies

  Pakistan
  Population Welfare Projects I and II
  Reproduction Health Services Project

  Tanzania
  Population Census

  In 1987, 29 trainees came to the United Kingdom on population-related courses. In 1988 a further 37 trainees began similar courses.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Pornography
  Mr. Lawrence
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received representations about the increase in pornographic books and magazines in circulation; whether he is giving consideration to a more effective definition of obscenity; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Renton
  We receive correspondence about a number of aspects of our controls on obscene material. The Government have supported recent attempts to strengthen the test of obscenity in the Obscene Publications Act 1959, and have strengthened the controls on child pornography. Attempts to change the 1959 Act have not yet commanded the support of Parliament.

  Car Pound (Metropolitan Police)
  Mr. Heddle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to whether maximum use and benefit is currently being derived from the Metropolitan police car pound at Calthorpe street, London WC1; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  I understand from the commissioner that although the car pound at Calthorpe street WCI has not yet been used to full capacity it is regarded as an important acquisition, allowing the Metropolitan police scope for expansion of their removal operations and providing additional space which may be required in the event of closure of other car pounds.

  Electoral Registration
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will update his Department's 1982 research into electoral registration entitled "Electoral Registration in 1981".

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The 1981 study was based on replies to questions included in the post-enumeration survey following the 1981 census. Parliament will be informed of any proposal, in the light of consideration in due course, to include similar questions in the post-enumeration survey following the 1991 census.

  Greyhound Racing
  Mr. Page
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated turnover of off-course betting on greyhound racing for 1989.
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  Mr. John Patten
  The Home Office is not in a position to make an estimate of the proportion of off-course betting attributable to greyhound racing.

  Mr. Page
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will announce if there will be an inquiry into greyhound racing finances;

  (2) how many representations he has received in favour of an inquiry into greyhound racing finances.

  Mr. John Patten
  Between November 1988, when the British Greyhound Racing Board launched a campaign for an inquiry into the finances of greyhound racing (and of horseracing) and their relationship to off-course betting, and 15 May, we have received 13 letters from Members of Parliament in support of or asking about such an inquiry. In addition, in that period there have been two earlier questions asking if such an inquiry is to be established, and early-day motion 185, which calls on the Government to undertake a"wider inquiry into off-course bookmaking and the feasibility of a levy for greyhound racing".

  In his reply on 22 March to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Langbaurgh (Mr. Holt), my right hon. Friend said that he would announce his conclusion on the recommendation from the Government-appointed members of the Horserace Betting Levy Board that there should be an inquiry into the long-term funding of racing when he had received and considered advice from Lloyds merchant bank as to the feasibility of privatising the Horserace Totalisator Board. Whether or not the financing of greyhound racing should be included in such an inquiry is among the considerations which my right hon. Friend is taking into account.

  Polling Stations (Access)
  Sir David Price
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give instructions to all electoral returning officers that every polling station should have reasonable access for disabled people, including those in wheelchairs.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Cox) on 6 April 1989, at column 738.

  Remand
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the longest period during the past 20 years for which a person has been held in custody on remand; and who currently on remand has been held for the longest time.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Information about the longest periods held on remand during the last 20 years is not available centrally. On 31 March 1989 one unconvicted prisoner had been held in Pentonville prison for more than three years having been committed to custody pending completion of extradition proceedings. An indication of the length of time spent in prison service establishments by persons received on remand is published annually in "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (tables 2.3, 2.4 of the latest issue, for 1987, Cm. 547), copies of which are in the Library.

  Lorrain Esme Osman
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long Lorrain Esme Osman, currently held in Her Majesty's prison, Pentonville, has been in custody; what grounds there are for Mr. Osman's continued detention; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Mr. Osman has been in custody since 7 December 1985. He was committed in custody by Bow street magistrates court on I June 1987 to await the Home Secretary's order for his surrender to the Hong Kong authorities under the provisions of the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967. Since then his surrender has been repeatedly deferred pending the outcome of applications for writs of habeas corpus and related appeals.

  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make available the request for extradition received from Hong Kong accompanying a warrant of arrest dated 30 November 1985 in respect of Lorrain Esme Osman.

  Mr. John Patten
  The request for Mr. Osman's extradition has been considered by the courts. The information provided to the courts in accordance with the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967 included the arrest warrant and supporting documents. It is not the practice to publish other communications about extradition cases.

  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy not to order Lorrain Esme Osman to be returned to Hong Kong until the English courts have completed their consideration of the effect of the decision by the Hong Kong Court of Appeal on 4 May 1989 quashing a warrant dated 30 November 1985 on the grounds that it was vitiated by bias; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. John Patten
  Under the provisions of the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967 my right hon. Friend cannot order the return of a fugitive until any proceedings challenging the committal for surrender by the Bow street magistrates, whether by way of an application for habeas corpus or an appeal arising from such an application, have been concluded.

  Police (Deaths)
  Mr. Shersby
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in England and Wales have lost their lives in the course of their duty in each of the past five years for which figures are available.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The number of police officers in England and Wales who were killed in the course of duty during each of the past five years is as follows:

  Number

  1984

  15

  1985

  7

  1986

  9

  1987

  11

  1988

  2

  In each of the years 1987 and 1988 one officer in addition to the above figures lost his life as a result of responding to criminal action while off duty.

  Passports
  Mr. David Howell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints he has received during 1989 about delays in the renewal of passports held by United Kingdom citizens.

  Mr. Renton
  We have received about 250 letters of complaint about delays at the passport offices since the beginning of the year. Not all of these related specifically to applications for renewal or replacement of an existing passport.

  Electronic Tagging
  Mr. Cran
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Beverley of 15 May, what he treats as legitimate uses to which electronic surveillance listening devices may be put as distinct from television-based devices.

  Mr. Hurd
  The Younger report on privacy referred to the use of equipment for aural surveillance in investigative and documentary journalism and in the observation of patients by hospital staff.

  Firearms (Amendment) Act
  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to implement the remaining provisions of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988.

  Mr. Hurd
  I signed a commencement order on 17 May 1989 which will bring into effect the remaining provisions of the Act as follows:

  Sections coming into force on 1 July 1989

  Section 2

  (Re-definition of exempted shotguns)

  Section 3

  (Grant and renewal of shotgun certificates)

  Section 4

  (Transfers of shotgun)

  Section 5

  (Restriction on sale of ammunition for smooth-bore guns)

  Section 6

  (Shortening of barrels)

  Sections 7(2) and 7(3)

  (Conversion of weapon to which section 1 of the 1968 Act applies not to affect classification)

  Section 11

  (Grant of co-terminous certificates)

  Section 13(1)

  (Firearms dealers)

  Section 15

  (Rifle and pistol clubs)

  Section 19

  (Firearms and ammunition in museums)

  Section 20

  (Removal of arms and ammunition to Northern Ireland)

  Section 23(4)

  (Minor and consequential amendments)

  23(5)

  23(6)

  Section 24(2)

  (Expenses and receipts)

  Sections coming into force on 1 October 1989

  Section 17

  (Visitors' permits)

  Section 18

  (Firearms acquired for export)

  Section 23(8)

  (Repeal of section 14 of the 1968 Act)

  Transitional arrangements have been made to allow owners of smooth-bore guns raised to section I control a period of seven months—from 1 July 1989 to 31 January 1990—in which to comply with the new controls. During this time they will have a number of options open to them. If they wish to retain the weapon in its existing condition they may apply for a firearm certificate, or a variation to an existing one, subject to the criteria laid down in the Firearms Act 1968 being met. They may continue to hold the gun on a shotgun certificate by adapting it so that it has

  257
  a non-detachable magazine incapable of holding more than two cartridges in the manner approved under section 2(3) of the Act. Or they may arrange to have it de-activated. Alternatively, the weapon may be sold to a registered firearms dealer or to the holder of a section 1 firearm certificate who is authorised to acquire it.

  Immigration
  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what decision he has made regarding allowing Fiore, an Italian citizen, to remain in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Renton
  [holding answer 17 May 1989]: In 1981 the Italian Government requested the extradition of Mr. Fiore for a number of offences, but the request failed in the courts because a prime facie case could not be established. No further request has been received from the Italian Government for his extradition. When the extradition provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 are brought into force later this year the United Kingdom will be able to ratify the European convention on extradition, which does not impose a prime facie requirement.

  Consideration has also been given to Mr. Fiore's deportation under section 3(5)(b) of the Immigration Act 1971. Under Community law, a Community national working here can be deported on grounds of public policy, public security or public health. In accordance with case law established by the European Court, however, it would be necessary to have evidence of personal conduct constituting a present threat to the requirements of public policy. Mr. Fiore has been interviewed by officers of the immigration department of the Home Office, but the evidence available does not meet the strict criteria for deportation required under European law.

WALES

  Administrative and Clerical Staff
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many letters he has received concerning the pay of administrative and clerical staff in Wales.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  None.

  Student Nurses
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what provision there is in Wales for student nurses, whose first language is Welsh, to study for nursing qualifications; and if he will list those schools of nursing in Wales who provide training for nurses whose first language is Welsh.

  Mr. Grist
  For individuals in Wales to register and practise as a nurse they must obtain qualifications prescribed by the United Kingdom central council for nursing, midwifery and health visiting. Registration enables nurses to practise anywhere in the United Kingdom. Student nurses in Wales are therefore trained solely through the medium of English.

  Polytechnic of Wales
  Mr. Murphy
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are his intentions regarding the future funding and status of the Polytechnic of Wales.
  258
  Mr. Wyn Roberts
  The Polytechnic of Wales will continue to be funded from the higher education quantum on the advice of the Wales Advisory Body for Local Authority Higher Education. If it acquires corporate status as a limited company it will become an assisted, rather than a maintained, institution, but its funding arrangements would not change. The question of the polytechnic acquiring corporate status in this way is a matter for Mid Glamorgan county council as the maintaining local education authority.

  Dental Services
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has for improvement of community dental services; what additional resources he is making available to district health authorities for this purpose; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Grist
  Welsh Office officials will be discussing community dental services with officers of district health authorities in order to assess the adequacy of current levels of provision in the light of the recently issued circular WHC(89)28 entitled "The Future Development of Community Dental Services".

  Housing Associations
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether there is any cash limit on the central Government resources available to housing associations in Wales for 1989–90; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Grist
  There is currently no technical cash limit on central Government resources available to housing associations in Wales, but I determine each year the allocation within which Housing for Wales must plan its development programme.

  Mental Health
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if the two recent changes in the staff of his Department responsible for mental health provision were post deletions; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  No.

  Regional Selective Assistance
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number and value of regional selective assistance applications in Wales in(a) 1987–88 and (b) 1988–89.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  The number and value of regional selective assistance applications received by my Department was as follows:

  Year

  1Number of applications

  Value of grant applied for (£ million)

  1987–88

  198

  68

  1988–89

  267

  135

  1 RSA project and training grants

  NHS (Complaints)
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many complaints he has received about the National Health Service in Wales in the calendar years of(a) 1986, (b) 1987, and (c)

  Mr. Grist
  This information is not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.

  Regional Development Grant
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number and value of regional development grant applications in Wales for(a) 1985–86, (b) 1986–87, (c) 1987–88 and (d) 1988–89.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  The number of applications received by my Department under the revised regional development grant scheme (RDG II) and the related project expenditure were as follows:

  Year

  1Number of applications

  2Related project expenditure (£ million)

  1985–86

  952

  169

  1986–87

  1,640

  351

  1987–88

  3,438

  1,567

  1 The RDG II scheme closed to new applications on 31 March 1988. Ineligible applications received subsequent to that date have been excluded from the answer.

  2 The related project expenditure represents the capital expenditure forecast to be incurred by applicants on projects toward which grant is sought. An RDG II applicant is not required to state the value of grant applied for.

  National Health Service (Expenditure)
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the inflation-adjusted expenditure on the National Health Service in Wales per year over each of the last 10 years up to the year ending March 1989.

  Mr. Grist
  The information requested is set out in the following table:

  Total National Health Service gross expenditure

  Year

  1£ million

  1979–80

  904·7

  1980–81

  982·0

  1981–82

  1,018·6

  1982–83

  1,048·9

  1983–84

  1,064·1

  1984–85

  1,096·1

  1985–86

  1,109·7

  1986–87

  1,154·3

  1987–88

  1,219·0

  1988–89

  1,273·7

  1 Actual expenditure has been adjusted for the effect of general inflation by using the gross domestic product market price deflator, brought to a 1988–89 price base.

  Perinatal Mortality
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the figures for perinatal mortality in Wales for each year since 1979, in a form statistically comparable to those produced elsewhere in western Europe.

  Mr. Grist
  The numbers of registered perinatal deaths and the perinatal mortality rates for Wales since 1979 are given in the following table:
  260

  Perinatal deaths in Wales

  Year

  1Number

  2Rate

  1979

  569

  15·6

  1980

  483

  12·8

  1981

  508

  14·1

  1982

  400

  11·1

  1983

  405

  11·3

  1984

  380

  10·5

  1985

  378

  10·2

  1986

  384

  10·3

  1987

  351

  9·2

  1 The number of registered stillbirths and deaths within the first week of life.

  2 Perinatal deaths per 1,000 total (ie live and still births).

  Source:OPCS.

  Precise data comparability with countries outside the United Kingdom are problematic as the legal requirements of the registration systems vary, as do the recording practices, particularly as regards stillbirth.

  Within the United Kingdom stillbirths of 28 weeks gestation and over should be registered. Lower gestation limits apply in some countries for example France (26 weeks). In other countries a physical measurement of the stillborn is the criterion. For example birthweight of 1,000g or more applies in Federal Republic of Germany and in some countries the criterion is either gestation or physical measurement.

  Talgarth and Crickhowell Bypasses
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will be able to publish the final line of route of(a) the Talgarth and (b) the Crickhowell bypass.

  Mr. Wyn Roberts
  Not for some time yet.

  Public consultation on alternative options for a bypass of Talgarth will be undertaken towards the end of the year and a fee competition for the appointment of consultants to undertake a bypass feasibility study for Crickhowell will be held shortly.

  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales during which year he expects work to commence on(a) the Talgarth and (b) the Crickhowell bypass.

  Mr. Wyn Roberts
  "Roads in Wales 1989—Progress and Plans for the 1990's" shows Talgarth bypass for possible start in the medium term period April 1991 to March 1994 and Crickhowell bypass as a long-term scheme unlikely to start before 1994–95. It is not possible to be more precise.

  NHS Hospitals
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number of National Health Service hospitals in each of the Welsh health authority areas for every year from 1979 to the end of 1988.

  Mr. Grist
  A list of hospitals in Wales, up to and including 1987, has been published annually in "Health and Personal Social Services Statistics for Wales" copies of which are in the Library of the House. During 1988, one hospital—Neath annexe in west Glamorgan—closed and one hospital—Minffordd in Gwynedd—reopened.

  Tai Cymru
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been allocated to Tai Cymru for its rural
  261
  housing initiative; and how much of this money will be allocated to each district and borough council area in Wales for 1989–90.

  Mr. Grist
  No specific allocation has been made to Housing for Wales-Tai Cymru for rural-housing, but I have asked it to maintain its investment in rural areas in line with previous years at around 25 per cent. of its development programme. With regard to detailed allocations by Housing for Wales to district and borough council areas, I have asked the chairman to write to the hon. Gentleman.

  Water Bill
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if his Department's water and environmental protection division will now reply to the letters sent on 14 December 1988 and 19 March 1989 to M. Mathews, R. H. Lockyear and P. M. Jones regarding the effects of the Water Bill on the Swansea City Council (Tawe Barrage) Act 1986.

  Mr. Grist
  A letter was sent on Wednesday 17 May.

  Farm Incomes
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the average farm income in Wales for each of the last five years for which figures are available and adjusted for inflation.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  Average net income for dairy and livestock farms in Wales for each of the five years since 1983–84 was as follows:

  Year

  Average net income £ per farm

  1982–83

  8,052

  1983–84

  7,562

  1984–85

  6,746

  1985–86

  7,914

  1986–87

  8,509

  On an index basis, and adjusted for inflation, the figures are as follows:

  Year

  1982–83

  100

  1983–84

  92

  1984–85

  79

  1985–86

  84

  1986–87

  81

  1982–83 = 100

ENVIRONMENT

  Rating Reform
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the additional powers poll tax registration officers have to the current rate collection system in terms of access and examination of personal details.

  Mr. Gummer
  The Government have no plans to introduce a poll tax and there will be no poll tax registration officers.

  World Habitat Day
  Dr. Hampson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what special steps are being taken by his Department to mark World Habitat Day.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  Following the United Nations General Assembly adoption, in December 1988, of a global strategy for shelter to the year 2000, the Department will be preparing regular national monitoring reports, to be presented on World Habitat Day, on progress towards implementing the global strategy.

  New Towns (Sale of Assets)
  Mr. William Powell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report the total sum realised by sale of assets by the Commission for the New Towns for each year since 1979–80.

  Mr. Trippier
  The sums realised by the Commission for the New Towns are as follows:

  Year

  £ million

  1979–80

  6·43

  1980–81

  29·61

  1981–82

  61·85

  1982–83

  51·18

  1983–84

  55·25

  1984–85

  57·59

  1985–86

  78·67

  1986–87

  169·31

  1987–88

  216·66

  11988–89

  334·00

  Total

  1,060·55

  1 Provisional.

  Figures are gross, before deduction of selling expenses.

  Chlorofluorocarbons
  Dr. Michael Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he now expects the United Kingdom to meet the Montreal protocol target of a 50 per cent. reduction in the use of chlorofluorocarbons.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  The Montreal protocol requires consumption of chlorofluorocarbons to he cut to 50 per cent. of 1986 levels by 1999. We expect this to be achieved within the United Kingdom by the end of this year, 10 years ahead of the protocol timetable.

  Water Pollution
  Mr. Speller
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will ban the discharge of raw sewage into the Bristol channel; when he expects these waters will meet EC bathing water standards; and if he will seek a clean water policy for this waterway on the part of both English and Welsh water authorities.

  Mr. Howard
  All the English and Welsh water authorities discharging into the Bristol channel have investment programmes to improve the quality of these waters, taking account of the best available technology. It is the Government's policy that all identified bathing waters should meet the standards set in the EC directive as soon as possible.

  Domestic Rates
  Mr. Hanley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing, in
  263
  descending order, the domestic rate in the pound set by the London boroughs for (i) 1983–84 and (ii) 1989–90, showing for each borough the political control at each date.

  Mr. Gummer
  The information requested is as follows:

  Domestic rate poundage and political control in London

  1983–84

  Poundage(P)

  Control at April 1983

  Haringey

  242·5

  Labour

  Southwark

  226·5

  Labour

  Brent

  223·5

  Labour

  Greenwich

  209·1

  Labour

  Islington

  204·6

  Labour

  Lambeth

  201·5

  Labour

  Lewisham

  197·5

  Labour

  Hackney

  196·5

  Labour

  Newham

  189·0

  Labour

  Camden

  188·4

  Labour

  Tower Hamlets

  177·5

  Labour

  Waltham Forest

  169·5

  No control

  Hammersmith and Fulham

  167·2

  No control

  Harrow

  157·0

  Conservative

  Hounslow

  155·5

  Labour

  Bexley

  145·7

  Conservative

  Hillingdon

  145·7

  Conservative

  Havering

  142·0

  Conservative

  Richmond-upon-Thames

  140·3

  No control

  Merton

  140·0

  Conservative

  Barking and Dagenham

  137·5

  Labour

  Barnet

  135·0

  Conservative

  Kensington and Chelsea

  134·4

  Conservative

  Ealing

  133·5

  Conservative

  Enfield

  133·0

  Conservative

  Wandsworth

  130·0

  Conservative

  Sutton

  130·0

  Conservative

  Westminster

  128·6

  Conservative

  Redbridge

  128·5

  Conservative

  Bromley

  127·5

  Conservative

  Kingston-upon-Thames

  122·5

  Conservative

  City of London

  117·0

  Independent

  Croydon

  108·5

  Conservative

  1989–90

  Poundage(P)

  Control at April 1989

  Haringey

  363·4

  Labour

  Brent

  344·5

  Labour

  Newham

  297·6

  Labour

  Hounslow

  253·4

  Labour

  Waltham Forest

  250·8

  Labour

  Greenwich

  247·3

  Labour

  Ealing

  235·0

  Labour

  Hammersmith and Fulham

  234·9

  Labour

  Islington

  224·4

  Labour

  Hillingdon

  223·8

  No control

  Hackney

  218·5

  Labour

  Enfield

  217·0

  Conservative

  Richmond·upon·Thames

  215·0

  Liberal

  Camden

  210·7

  Labour

  Lambeth

  209·4

  Labour

  Sutton

  209·0

  Liberal

  Lewisham

  207·2

  Labour

  Barking and Dagenham

  205·4

  Labour

  Kingston-upon-Thames

  203·2

  Conservative

  Harrow

  200·5

  Conservative

  Bexley

  197·0

  Conservative

  Barnet

  195·2

  Conservative

  Southwark

  193·5

  Labour

  Havering

  184·5

  No control

  Merton

  181·1

  Conservative

  Croydon

  165·0

  Conservative

  Tower Hamlets

  162·0

  Liberal

  Bromley

  161·8

  Conservative

  Redbridge

  159·0

  Conservative

  Westminster

  143·2

  Conservative

  Wandsworth

  142·6

  Conservative

  264

  1989–90

  Poundage(P)

  Control at April 1989

  City of London

  124·9

  Independent

  Kensington and Chelsea

  103·7

  Conservative

  Parkinson Houses
  Mr. Stern
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether an acceptable repair scheme for individual semi-detached Parkinson houses is in prospect.

  Mr. Trippier
  PRC Homes Ltd. licence No. 050 allows for the repair of individual semi-detached Parkinson houses, but access is needed to the adjoining property to carry out works to the party wall. It is for the individual owner of the property to decide whether this is acceptable.

  Homelessness
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make any changes to his review of the legislation on homelessness as a result of the report published on 8 May by the London Boroughs Association.

  Mr. Trippier
  The review of homelessness legislation is not yet complete: the recommendations in the London Boroughs Association's report will be taken into consideration in drawing up our conclusions.

  Water Authority Employees (Discussions)
  Mrs. Ann Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance has been given to(a) senior management and (b) other employees of water authorities about the application of the terms of the Financial Services Act to their right to discuss matters relating to the industry.

  Mr. Howard
  Detailed guidelines on the implications of the Financial Services Act 1986 have been given to water authority chairmen. Guidance to their employees is a matter for them.

  Mercury (River Yare)
  Mr. John Garrett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide in the Official Report the most recent sampling data for medium, mean and maximum values of mercury in fish and eels downstream of the Whitlingham sewage treatment works in the River Yare, Norfolk.

  Mr. Howard
  The most recent analyses of mercury in fish flesh carried out by Anglian water authority were in 1985 and 1986. The results were:

  December 1985

  December 1986

  Sample Fish

  Eels

  Roach and Pike

  Number of Samples

  28

  17

  Mean

  0·48

  0·43

  Maximum (mg/Kg wet flesh)

  1·21

  2·35

  The amount of mercury entering the river has been reduced considerably in recent years, and the concentrations in the water column of the river are now regularly below the limit of detection.

  The improvement can be illustrated by the decline in the concentration of mercury in sediment samples:
  265

  Year

  Mean (mg/Kg)

  1986

  6·5

  1987

  3·2

  1988

  0·5

  A further survey of eels and fish is planned for later this year.

  Bathing Waters
  Mr. John Garrett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why, contrary to the requirements of the EEC bathing water directive 76/160, no bathing waters in the United Kingdom are designated or monitored for directive compliance.

  Mr. Howard
  None of the United Kingdom's inland waters meet the criteria for identification set out in article 1(2)(a) of directive 76/464/EEC.

  Mr. John Garrett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many United Kingdom bathing waters passed the EEC standards for enteroviruses and salmonella in 1988;

  (2) how many bathing waters in the United Kingdom were monitored for salmonella in 1988; and how many failed the EEC standard for this parameter.

  Mr. Howard
  This information is contained in the reports on the 1988 survey of bathing water quality, which I placed in the Library. I also refer the hon. Gentleman to the answers given on 21 February 1989, column 572, and 14 April 1989, column 682.

  Integrated Development Operation Programme
  Mr. Duffy
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much allocated aid South Yorkshire and Humberside will lose if funds currently available under the integrated development operation programme of the European Community are shared with other parts of Yorkshire and the north midlands.

  Mr. Chope
  Under new Community regulations the Government are shortly to submit to the European Commission the eastern England regional conversion plan and a decision on this plan is expected from the Commission in October 1989. In the plan, the United Kingdom will be seeking adequate provision for all existing and proposed programmes. I cannot anticipate what the outcome will be.

  Mr. Duffy
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated cost of the eastern England plan by the European Commission; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which it will delay the projects already earmarked under the integrated development operation programme scheme and affect their financing.

  Mr. Chope
  The eastern England regional conversion plan is being finalised in consultation with the plan partners for submission to the Commission. This plan will propose provision for funding the Yorkshire and Humberside steel area IDO as well as all other existing and proposed programmes and other measures which are eligible for ERDF support.
  266
  I cannot anticipate what the Commission's decision on support will be.

  Pesticides
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research the Government are sponsoring into the effects of pesticide residues on British wildlife.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  A number of Government grant-aided bodies are undertaking or have commissioned research projects on the effect of pesticide residues on British wildlife. For example, a joint Nature Conservancy Council (NCC)/Vincent Wildlife Trust project on the effects of pesticide residues in otters is being undertaken by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE); the sea mammal research unit of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is conducting similar research on the effects on seals, and the NCC has commissioned research from NERC on the effects of pollution on birds.

  I am also advised that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is currently sponsoring a number of projects including:
  Methods of assessing the effects of pesticides on wildlife. Indirect effects of pesticides on wildlife.
  The economic and ecological effect of pest, disease and weed control in intensively produced cereals.
  The ecological and economic effects of pest, disease, weed control and fertiliser inputs in crop rotations.
  Deposition, activity and fate of agrochemicals applied to crops.
  Invertebrate fauna of cereal fields.
  Small mammal studies.
  Cereal pest—predator interactions.
  Spatial and temporal consequences of the effects of insecticides on the non-target invertebrate fauna of winter wheat.

  In addition, pesticides residues in wildlife are monitored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food working party on pesticide residues and all reported incidents suspected of involving pesticide poisoning in England and Wales are investigated under the wildlife incident scheme.

  Community Charge
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total cost of the delivery of the Government's information leaflet on the community charge; how many such leaflets were prepared for delivery; and what was the unit cost of production and delivery.

  Mr. Gummer
  The total cost of production and distribution of the information leaflet on the community charge delivered to households in England is some £950,000, including the cost of display in post offices. A total of 23 million leaflets were produced at a unit cost for production and delivery of 4·1p.

  Mr. Grocott
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated cost of storing the 21 million leaflets entitled "The Community Charge (The So-called Poll Tax): How It Will Work For You."

  Mr. Gummer
  [holding answer 17 May 1989]: The Central Office of Information is currently in negotiation with the Post Office, on behalf of my Department, in relation to any additional costs which may have been incurred as a result of the temporary suspension of the household distribution of the community charge leaflet.

  Warrington and Runcorn Development Corporation (Housing)
  Mr. Hoyle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much the Main Group, Warrington housing association, Manchester and District housing association and the Grosvenor housing association are being paid to manage the Warrington and Runcorn development corporation rented housing.

  Mr. Trippier
  The agency fee was negotiated between the development corporation and the housing associations. The size of the fee is commercially confidential information.

  Mr. Hoyle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much of the rent increase imposed on Warrington and Runcorn development corporation tenants will go towards paying the management costs of the housing associations involved in managing the Warrington and Runcorn development corporation rented housing.

  Mr. Trippier
  The rents of tenants of all the English new town development corporations have recently increased. The percentage change of the average rent has been similar in each town. There is no connection between this general increase and the particular decision of the Warrington and Runcorn corporation to change its arrangements for managing its stock.

  Mr. Hoyle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on what date Warrington and Runcorn development corporation tenants will be balloted about who their future landlords will be; and if Warrington and Runcorn development corporation will be one of the names on the ballot paper.

  Mr. Trippier
  I can assure tenants that they will be given the opportunity to choose their new landlord at the earliest appropriate time. The provisions in the Local Government and Housing Bill for the transfer of ownership of new town housing enable the local district council and approved landlords to be the new landlords. The development corporation, or its successor the Commission for the New Towns, will not be a choice available to tenants.

  Mr. Hoyle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to ensure that between now and when the ballot is held the Warrington and Runcorn development corporation tenants will not be approached by the consortium of housing associations operating in Warrington under the tenants' choice provisions of the Housing Act 1988.

  Mr. Trippier
  No.

  Kent Structure Plan
  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish his proposed modifications to the second review of the structure plan for Kent.

  Mr. Chope
  My right hon. Friend published his proposals today. Copies of his proposals and of the report of the panel which conducted an examination in public into selected matters arising from the review have been placed in the Library.
  268
  The review sets out the county council's policies for development in Kent up to the year 2001. My right hon. Friend supports its main objective, which is to stimulate economic developments in Kent without harming the environment; he also supports its proposals for the growth of Ashford and for increased development of Dartford. As recommended by the panel, he proposes to increase the housing provision for the county up to the year 2001 to more than 89,000 houses, including 57,000 in the 1990s.

  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he took the proposed high speed rail link from the Channel tunnel to London into his consideration of the second review of the structure plan for Kent.

  Mr. Chope
  No. As the review was submitted before British Rail put forward its proposals for a high-speed rail link from the Channel tunnel to London, the choice of route was not a matter for this review. It is for the county council to consider the strategic implications of any decision relating to the link and whether any further alterations to the structure plan to take account of this should be put forward in the future.

  Water Privatisation
  Mr. Mills
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the capital structure of water plcs to be created at flotation.

  Mr. Howard
  Subject to the approval by Parliament of the Water Bill, the Government will put in place new capital structures appropriate for the nominated holding companies in the private sector. This will be done in the run up to flotation and implemented by extinguishing all the national loans fund debt and taking new securities which may consist of both equity and new debt. The assets of the NLF will be reduced accordingly, but the Government will have new assets in the form of securities in the holding companies for England and Wales. The capital structure of each of the holding companies will be determined in the light of the circumstances of that company. It is too soon to say what the market value of the Government's securities in each holding company will be at the time of flotation. The total value of these securities implied by the share price of the equity sold, will depend on market conditions at the time. It may or may not cover the book value of funds now invested in each business. The Government will, however, choose a capital structure calculated to ensure a proper return to the Exchequer and hence the taxpayer and that the industry is in a position fully to meet its obligations. In the meantime the Government will continue to meet the industry's requirements for capital from the national loans fund.

  Rose Theatre
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to the answer of 21 February to the hon. Member for Caithness and Sutherland (Mr. Maclennan),Official Report, column 572, if he will take steps to ensure that the Rose theatre is available for the public to see as an interpretable monument.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  [holding answer 12 May 1989]: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in the House on Monday 16 May.

  Leaflets
  Mr. Grocott
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what method his Department uses to destroy redundant leaflets; and at what cost.

  Mr. Gummer
  [holding answer 17 May 1989]: Surplus copies of leaflets are sold to the paper industry for recycling.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Consultants
  Mr. Sean Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the cost to his Department of employing(a) computer consultants and (b) management consultants for each financial year from 1983 to date.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The estimated total cost of employing computer and management consultants on social security matters since 1984–85 is as follows:

  Year

  Computer £ million

  Management £ million

  1984–85

  6·589

  0·959

  1985–86

  10·223

  1·722

  1986–87

  11·971

  0·976

  1987–88

  21·930

  1·082

  1988–89

  42·099

  1·203

  Expenditure up to and including the 1988–89 financial year has been from a joint health and social security budget. Where appropriate the cost of projects has been apportioned when the work involved both social security and health aspects.

  Expenditure by the DHSS on computer and management consultancy in 1983–84 amounted to 0–623 million, but it is not possible to apportion this between the two Departments with any accuracy, or to differentiate between computer and management consultancy.

  Funeral Payments
  Mr. Turner
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many funeral payments were made in 1988–89 and at what cost; how much of this amount has been repaid; and how much is regarded as recoverable.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The information is as follows:

  Year

  Number of Payments

  Cost £

  Amount recovered £

  1988–89

  140,248

  119,744,925

  1659,930

  1 Provisional figures.

  Separate data are not held on the extent to which payments made are regarded as recoverable.

  Income Support and Housing Benefit
  Mr. Andrew Bowden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many women aged 70 to 75 years receive(a) income support and (b) housing benefit; and if he will state these figures as a proportion of the total number of women aged 70 to 75 years.
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  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The latest estimate is that there are some 249,000 women aged 70 to 74 (inclusive) dependent on income support. This represents 20 per cent, of all women in this age group.

  I regret that similar information is not available for housing benefit.

  Tax Statistics
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether, pursuant to his reply given to the hon. Member for Hornchurch (Mr. Squire) of 8 May,Official Report, column 309, he will give an estimate of the distribution of households facing marginal tax/benefit withdrawal rates of more than 40 per cent, in total and in each band stated by standard region.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Estimates of those working heads of tax units facing combined marginal withdrawal rates of over 40 per cent, are available only at national level.

  Transitional Payments
  Mrs. Margaret Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what guidance is given to adjudication officers by his Department as to eligibility for transitional payments; and what steps have been taken to ensure that adjudication officers do not treat as an increase in income the restoration of full retirement pension to pensioners who were in receipt of reduced rate pensions during their attendance at hospital.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Part 35 of the "Adjudication Officers Guide," a copy of which is in the Library, gives extensive guidance on the legislation which applies to income support transitional protection. Adjudication officers who follow the guidance will have no difficulty in handling these cases correctly.

  Transitional Housing Benefit
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many staff are(a) on the establishment and (b) in post, together with relevant gradings, at the transitional housing benefit unit, Glasgow.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The staff in post on 15 May were as follows:

  Number

  Grade 6

  1

  Grade 7

  1

  SEO

  1

  HEO

  12

  EO

  59

  AO

  169

  AA

  155

  Personal secretary

  1

  Typist

  4

  Messenger

  4

  Total

  407

  A detailed complement for the transitional protection unit—TPU—has not been laid down, but a budget of 160 man-years has been agreed for 1989–90 and reductions in staff during the year will ensure that the allocation is not exceeded.
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  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications have been(a) received, (b) processed and (c) outstanding for each month of transitional housing benefit.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The information requested is given in the table showing the cumulative position on the last working day of each month:

  Month

  Applications received

  Applications processed

  Applications outstanding

  July 1988

  135,433

  8,434

  126,999

  August 1988

  267,009

  69,498

  197,511

  September 1988

  316,473

  117,638

  198,835

  October 1988

  359,866

  235,753

  124,113

  November 1988

  390,942

  296,931

  94,011

  December 1988

  400,584

  333,254

  67,330

  January 1989

  415,065

  372,844

  42,221

  February 1989

  436,681

  397,669

  39,012

  March 1989

  463,751

  416,194

  47,557

  April 1989

  472,243

  433,002

  39,241

  NOTE: The majority of cases outstanding are where the TPU is awaiting the return of inquiry forms about housing benefit details from local authorities.

  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many cases transitional housing benefit was sent to the wrong local authority by the transitional housing benefit payments unit.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I regret that the information requested is not available.

  Family Income Supplement
  Mrs. Beckett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many decisions were made on new claims for family income supplement and family credit; and how many awards resulted in each month since April 1987.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  [holding answer 15 May 1989]: The available information for all claims is as follows:

  Claims dealt with2

  Awards

  Month1

  4New claims

  3Total

  4New claims

  3Total

  FAMILY INCOME SUPPLEMENT

  1987

  April

  20,337

  28,628

  8,868

  15,433

  May

  25,635

  37,195

  11,978

  21,308

  June

  21,907

  31,837

  10,143

  17,998

  July

  28,065

  39,814

  13,499

  23,007

  August

  20,387

  28,797

  9,830

  16,473

  September

  19,633

  28,534

  8,843

  15,893

  October

  21,217

  31,074

  10,281

  18,186

  November

  28,143

  42,004

  13,687

  24,598

  December

  19,332

  27,768

  9,199

  15,854

  1988

  January

  17,789

  27,432

  8,130

  15,619

  February

  21,245

  31,904

  9,132

  17,454

  March

  20,913

  31,516

  9,384

  17,345

  April

  13,327

  18,886

  6,380

  10,346

  May

  5,613

  7,677

  3,424

  4,928

  June

  2,171

  3,066

  1,258

  1,905

  July

  2,383

  3,208

  1,076

  1,637

  August

  409

  692

  308

  485

  September

  207

  438

  148

  275

  October

  108

  176

  87

  145

  November

  57

  100

  57

  100

  December

  1989

  January

  272

  Claims dealt with2

  Awards

  Month1

  4New claims

  3Total

  4New claims

  3Total

  FAMILY CREDIT

  1988

  April

  —

  64,269

  —

  40,213

  May

  June

  —

  52,867

  —

  36,145

  July

  —

  55,647

  —

  37,912

  August

  —

  58,275

  —

  40,249

  September

  —

  34,808

  —

  24,158

  October

  —

  62,838

  —

  44,944

  November

  —

  64,150

  —

  46,234

  December

  —

  50,947

  —

  35,797

  1989

  January

  —

  62,029

  —

  42,712

  February

  —

  63,908

  —

  45,180

  March

  —

  66,652

  —

  47,184

  April

  34,671

  62,465

  18,658

  43,300

  1 The figures are for the four or five weeks ending on the last Friday of the month.

  2 The figures for claims dealt with include awards, disallowances, renewal claims received more than four weeks before the expiry of an existing award (and therefore invalid) and withdrawn claims.

  3 Includes claims made to renew an existing award on its expiry.

  4 A breakdown of the family credit figures between new claims and renewal claims is not available for the period before April 1989.

DEFENCE

  UDR and TA (Vetting)
  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Royal Ulster Constabulary will be revising vetting arrangements for recruits to the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Territorial Army in Northern Ireland to prevent infiltration by paramilitary members.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  We seek to exclude members of paramilitary and extremist organisations from any form of service in the armed forces. The procedures for achieving this are well established and are kept under constant review.

  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action he is taking to ensure that defence-related confidential information acquired in Short Bros., Belfast, is not transferred to foreign powers.

  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures he is taking to ensure that confidential information relating to defence is not transferred from Short Brothers, Belfast, to Armscor, South Africa.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  It is the responsibility of firms which receive classified defence contracts to meet the security requirements specified by the Ministry of Defence and to facilitate inspection of their security arrangements. Given his general responsibilities for security, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland also maintains close contacts with the firm.

  Nuclear Submarines
  Mr. John Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the amount spent by the Ministry
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  of Defence in each year since the start of the nuclear submarine programme on repairs as a result of fire aboard nuclear submarines.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  While there have been occasional fires aboard nuclear-powered submarines, it is not possible to identify separately all the repair costs attributable to this cause. However, in the vast majority of cases the fires were so minor that the sums involved would have been minimal in relation to the overall expenditure on submarine repairs or refits.

  Mr. John Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the technical details on which his Department bases its evaluation of the consequences of a nuclear submarine accident in or near dock with regard to 550 m limits and radiation spread.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The predictions of consequences of accidents involving Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines are carried out by experts from both within and outside this Department, and are assessed by independent consultants. The technical information upon which the predictions are based cannot be released, since it would enable conclusions to be drawn about classified aspects of the design of submarine nuclear reactors.

  Mr. John Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list in the Official Report (a) all fires aboard nuclear submarines whilst in dock since the start of the nuclear submarine programme, (b) how these fires started, (c) the location of the fires within the submarine, (d) the time of day the fires started and how long they burned, (e) whether civilian police, fire services and ambulance services were informed, (f) under what conditions civil emergency personnel were allowed on board, (g) if there were any military or civilian casualties, (h) what inquiries were instigated into the cause and consequences of any fires, what subsequent recommendations were made, and which have been put into practice and (i) the guidelines governing the involvement of civilian fire personnel in fighting fires aboard nuclear submarines.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The majority of the detailed information requested is not readily available and could not be provided without disproportionate effort and cost. I shall write to the hon. Member about the guidelines for the involvement of civil fire personnel in fighting fires aboard nuclear submarines.

  Zirconium
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts have been placed with United Kingdom universities for the research on zirconium for fuel cladding for submarine nuclear fuel by the atomic weapons establishment at Aldermaston in the past five years.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  None.

  Arms Reduction
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the definition of(a) tanks and (b) artillery and (c) armoured personnel carriers adopted by the Western Alliance at the conventional force reduction talks in Vienna.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  I refer the hon. Member to the document "Conventional Forces in Europe: The Facts"274
  published by NATO in November 1988, a copy of which is in the Library. The NATO proposals tabled at the negotiation of conventional forces in Europe (CFE) deal with main battle tanks and artillery which fall within those categories in that document, and with armoured troop carriers. The latter include armoured personnel carriers and armoured infantry fighting vehicles.

  NATO
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has received any recent communication from the British American Security Information Council over its report on the comprehensive concept of defence and disarmament for NATO.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  As far as I can ascertain, the Ministry of Defence has received no recent communication from the British American Security Information Council.

  Defence Export Services Organisation
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the proceedings of the Defence Export Services Organisation's annual symposia with industry can be made available to(a) hon. Members and (b) the public.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  No. The proceedings of the DESO symposium are commercial in confidence and circulated only to those companies taking part.

  Nuclear Bomber (Emergency Landing)
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the emergency landing of a United States Air Force F111 nuclear bomber at Upper Heyford and the fireball caused by the jettisoning of fuel; and what implications this has for the safety of the local population.

  Mr. Neubert
  An F111E aircraft developed an engine problem shortly after take-off on a routine training mission from RAF Upper Heyford just after 7 pm on May. The pilot immediately decided to return to base. Shortly before landing he jettisoned excess fuel to reduce the weight of the aircraft and ensure a safe landing, the jettisoned fuel was ignited by the exhaust plume of the aircraft's engine, causing a brief flame. The pilot performed the routine operational procedures designed to cope with a problem of this sort exactly as he is trained to do and the aircraft ianded without further incident. At no time was there any danger to local residents. The incident is being investigated by the USAF authorities at the base to determine the cause of the problem.

  Victoria Barracks, Windsor
  Dr. Glyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what conclusions have been reached with regard to the rebuilding of Victoria barracks since the joint visit of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Armed Forces and the hon. Member for Windsor and Maidenhead, on 1 September 1988; if he will give an indication of the dates when the rebuilding will commence and finish; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Neubert
  Approval to proceed with the rebuilding of Victoria barracks on the site of the old barracks at
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  Windsor has now been given. Formal tenders will be invited shortly and it is hoped to start work on site towards the latter part of 1989. Work is expected to take about three years.

  Premature Voluntary Release
  Mr. Brazier
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the Army premature voluntary release figures for

  Army PVR figures for 1st and 4th quarters 1983–1st quarter 1989

  Male Officers

  Female Officers

  Service men

  Service women

  Total

  1983

  1st quarter

  69

  2

  417

  19

  507

  4th quarter

  130

  5

  563

  21

  719

  1984

  1st quarter

  83

  2

  569

  23

  677

  4th quarter

  155

  8

  700

  21

  884

  1985

  1st quarter

  128

  9

  730

  19

  886

  4th quarter

  190

  15

  779

  36

  1,020

  1986

  1st quarter

  128

  6

  686

  28

  848

  4th quarter

  136

  6

  807

  36

  985

  1987

  1st quarter

  116

  7

  618

  30

  771

  4th quarter

  178

  12

  839

  34

  1,063

  1988

  1st quarter

  120

  7

  861

  42

  1,030

  4th quarter

  154

  3

  1,024

  24

  1,205

  1989

  1st quarter

  103

  9

  1,042

  27

  1,181

ENERGY

  Coal Reclamation Scheme (Garw Valley)
  Mr. Ray Powell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish in the Official Report the estimated volume and value of coal to be extracted from the proposed reclamation scheme in the upper Garw valley.

  Mr. Michael Spicer
  The Welsh Development Agency and Mid Glamorgan county council are jointly responsible for the proposed reclamation scheme in the upper Garw valley. However, I understand that the British Coal Corporation retained mineral rights to the coal and that the landscaping proposals involve about 3 million cu m of colliery tips containing about 0·5 million tonnes of recoverable coal. The value of the coal is a matter for commercial negotiation and will reflect future market conditions.

TRANSPORT

  Air Transport (Belfast-Dublin)
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the level of passenger air transport between Belfast and Dublin.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  There is a small amount of charter traffic between Belfast and Dublin. In addition, the Irish airline Iona National Airways operated scheduled services on the route during the period May-September
  276
  the fourth quarter of each year from 1983 to 1988 and the first quarter of each year from 1983 to 1989; and if he will provide the information in the form as in his reply of 15 December 1988, Official Report, columns 685–86.

  Mr. Neubert
  The information that my hon. Friend has requested is set out in the table:

  1988. A total of 1,007 passengers were carried in 1988. Our liberal air services arrangements with the Irish authorities apply to this route, but there are currently no scheduled services.

  Airports
  Mr. Heddle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport further to his answer to the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire of 2 March,Official Report, column 291, what further steps he proposes to take to encourage local authorities to involve the private sector in the ownership, development, management and running of airports.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  A number of authorities are now involving the private sector. Before considering further steps, the Government need to assess how far the objectives of their policy are being achieved.

  A1 (North Yorkshire)
  Mr. Curry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to make an announcement about further improvements to the A1 in north Yorkshire.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  Schemes to improve the A1 for the majority of the length in north Yorkshire are already included in the national trunk road programme. The following announcements about these are expected before the end of the summer:

  (i) the joint decision by the Secretaries of State for Transport and the Environment on whether to make the published orders for the Wetherby to Dishforth section; and

  277

  (ii) the publication of draft orders for a new junction at Gatenby lane.

  The remaining lengths were considered as part of the review of the trunk road programme. My right hon. Friend announced the results of that review earlier today.

  Motor Accidents (Deaf Drivers)
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many motor vehicle accidents resulting in(a) death, (b) injury and (c) other have taken place each year since 1980 where deaf drivers have been involved and deafness has been (i) the main cause or (ii) a contributory cause.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The information requested cannot be obtained as the STATS19 road accident report form records neither cause of accident nor the incidence of deaf drivers involved in road accidents.

  There is no reason to believe that a deaf person is more at risk of causing, or being involved in, a crash than any other driver.

  Hazardous Materials (Transport)
  Mr. Rooker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement regarding the sealing off of part of the Corley service station area on the M6 motorway on Thursday 23 March in connection with a lorry carrying hazardous materials, and what information he has as to what consideration had been given to escort provision for this load.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  A lorry carrying explosives broke down on the M6 and was towed to the nearest service area for replacement of an alternator before continuing its journey. It was isolated from other vehicles and a fire engine was called to stand by as a precautionary measure.

  For the type and quantity of material involved an escort was not required. Pre-arranged routes have to be agreed with the police and followed where a vehicle carries large quantities of certain types of explosive material.

  Leeds-Bradford Airport
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will make a decision and an announcement on the Leeds-Bradford airport's application for an extension of operating hours.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  A joint decision by my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Transport and for the Environment will be made as soon as possible.

  Drivers (Eye Tests)
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total number of people required to take regular eyesight tests in order to retain their driving licences; and what proportion fail on average every year.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  There is no information about the number of people required to take regular eyesight tests. In 1988–89 the total number of people required to take a prescribed eyesight test to determine their fitness to drive was 2,981.

  Eyesight problems account for around 8 per cent. of the medical declarations on applications and notifications (during the currency of the licence), and around 8 per cent.
  278
  of referrals and revocations relate to eyesight. In 1987–88 there were 10,442 revocations/refusals in all and in 1988–89 there were 10,891 revocations/refusals in all, resulting in over 800 revocations/refusals on eysight grounds in each year.

  Road Improvements (North-East)
  Mr. Trotter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will summarise the progress made by his Department in(a) improving the A1 link to the north-east and (b) other major road improvements in the north-east.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The trunk road and motorway plans announced earlier today in the White Paper "Roads for Prosperity" provide for the conversion to motorway of the Redhouse to Hook Moor section of the A1 in Yorkshire, and for a comprehensive review of the route, including investigation of the possibility of full motorway status from London to Tyneside.

  The A1 between Newcastle and Morpeth and the A69 between Newcastle and Hexham are now dual carriageway throughout. The construction of the £88 million Newcastle western bypass is well advanced. Improvement schemes are in various stages of preparation for the A 1 north of Morpeth, the A69 west of Hexham, the A66 west of Bowes and the A19 at Peterlee.

  Coal Imports
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library details of the volume and value of(a) anthracite coal, (b) bituminous coal and (c) other coal, imported through the port of Cardiff for each month since January 1986, separately distinguishing the countries of origin.

  Mr. Portillo
  The data readily available are as follows:

  Imports of coal through the port of Cardiff

  Tonnes 000s

  Value £ million

  1986

  January to March

  47·0

  2·00

  April to June

  57·0

  2·37

  July to September

  78·0

  3·29

  October to December

  75·0

  3·36

  1987

  January to June

  96·0

  3·85

  July to December

  125·6

  4·81

  1988

  January to June

  145·6

  5·10

  July to December

  148·2

  7·72

  1989

  January to March

  99·0

  3·85

  For more detailed information the hon. Member should contact a marketing agent of Customs and Excise data. A list of these agents is given in Business Monitor MM20 "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom" or in "The Integrated Tariff of the United Kingdom", copies of which are in the Library.

  Special Constables
  Mr. Shersby
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish in the Official Report in tabular

  279
  form a list of those harbours, docks and piers which employ persons sworn as special constables in accordance with the provisions of the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 together with the name of the undertakers who are the employers in each case and the number of specials employed in each location.

  Mr. Portillo
  The harbour undertakings in Great Britain where there are special constables sworn in under the provisions of the 1847 Act, incorporated into local legislation, are:

  Harbour undertaking

  Number employed

  Port of Bristol Authority

  45

  Dover Harbour Board

  86

  A and P Appledore (Falmouth) Limited

  9

  Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company

  34

  Manchester Ship Canal Company

  29

  Milford Dock Company

  5

  Sealink Harbours Limited, Parkeston Quay1

  27

  Tees and Harlepool Port Authority

  21

  1 Employed by Protective Security Systems Limited on exclusive contract with Sealink.

  There are also two in Northern Ireland:

  Harbour undertaking

  Number employed

  Belfast Harbour Commissioners

  37

  Lame Harbour Limited

  16

  Two undertakings employ police under local legislation which is fuller than the 1847 Act provisions:

  Harbour undertaking

  Number employed

  Port of London Authority

  47

  Mersey Docks and Harbour Company

  102

  Air Traffic Distribution Rules
  Mr. Allan Stewart
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eastwood on 8 May,Official Report, column 343, when, and in what form, he intends to publish the new air traffic distribution rules for Scotland, and under what statutory authority.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  The new rules ("Traffic Distribution Rules 1989 for Prestwick and Glasgow" and "Traffic Distribution Rules 1989 for Prestwick and Edinburgh") were made on 9 May under section 31 of the Airports Act 1986. Copies were sent to interested parties, and have been placed in the Library.

  Lowland Airport Policy (Scotland)
  Mr. Allan Stewart
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those organisations he consulted representing(a) Scottish industry and commerce and (b) the airline and travel industries who were (i) for and (ii) against a review of Scottish lowland airport policy as requested by BAA plc.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  My right hon. Friend initiated no such consultations, but he received a variety of representations, both for and against a review of Scottish lowland airports policy.

  Road Schemes
  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the test discount rate for road schemes.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  In reply to a question on 5 April from the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell), my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a new required rate of return for nationalised industries of 8 per cent. As a result, British Rail intends to adopt a test discount rate of 8 per cent. for investment projects. In order to ensure that road and rail projects continue to be appraised on a comparable basis, the test discount rate for road projects will be increased from 7 to 8 per cent.

  Road and Rail Statistics
  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give figures for investment in British Rail for 1978–79 and 1989–90; investment in national roads in 1978–79 and 1989–90 and the figures for road deaths in 1978 and 1988.

  Mr. Channon
  The information is:

  1978–79

  1989–90

  outturn £ million

  plans £ million

  Cash

  Investment by British Rail in the railway

  1208

  740

  Capital expenditure on national roads in England

  327

  1,190

  Real terms (1987–88 prices)

  Investment by British Rail in the railway

  1425

  654

  Capital expenditure on national roads in England

  668

  1,052

  1 Calendar year 1978.

  Road deaths in Great Britain totalled 6,831 in 1978. The provisional figure for 1988 is 5,041.

  Cash Limits
  Mr. Haselhurst
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes he proposes to make to the cash limits on his votes.

  Mr. Channon
  Subject to parliamentary approval of a revised Estimate, the cash limit on class VIII, vote 2 is to be reduced by £800,000 from £235,013,000 to £234,213,000 to reflect the transfer to the Ministry of Defence of responsibility for the costs of royal flights in civil aircraft.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  South Africa (Arms Embargo)
  Mr. Wall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps is he taking to prevent Northern Ireland firms contributing inadvertently to the circumvention of the arms embargo on South Africa.

  Mr. Tom King
  Security arrangements are a primary responsibility of every company in Northern Ireland. Since the theft in October last year from a Short's factory there has been a review of security at all Short's establishments
  281
  and a number of additional measures have been, or are being, implemented. I maintain a close interest in such matters.

  NHS Review
  Rev. Martin Smyth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations expressing support for the proposals contained in "Working For Patients" he has received from individuals or organisations in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Needham
  I have had representations both orally and in writing. Many have supported aspects of the proposals. I welcome the constructive nature of most of the representations.

  Fair Employment
  Mr. Duffy
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consideration he is giving to a strengthening of the fair employment laws.

  Mr. Viggers
  The Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Bill, which was introduced in this House in December last year, has now completed its Committee stage and will be brought before the House for further consideration at any early date. The Bill will strengthen significantly the existing law in Northern Ireland relating to fair employment.

  Women (Pressure Groups)
  Mr. Fatchett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent meetings he has held with women's groups.

  Mr. Viggers
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Durham, North-West (Ms. Armstrong).

  Advertising
  Mr. Grocott
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent by his Department on advertisements on commercial television in each of the last five years, listed by each television company.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Information on television advertisements in the form requested is commercially confidential.

HEALTH

  Pain
  Mr. George Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision exists for research into the alleviation of pain for cancer sufferers as distinct from the research into the causes and cure.

  Mr. Jackson
  I have been asked to reply.

  The Medical Research Council, which receives its grant in aid from this Department, is the main agency through which the Government support medical research. The council supports a considerable amount of basic research into pain, some of which is of relevance to cancer sufferers. In 1987–88, the last financial year for which figures are available, the council's expenditure for research into pain was £398,000. The council is also conducting clinical cancer trials to evaluate the efficacy of new treatments not only in curing disease but in relieving symptoms, including pain.
  282
  In addition, university departments and medical schools support a range of the basic research from public funds, some of which may be relevant to the relief of pain of sufferers from cancer and other diseases.

  Agency Staff
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give for 1987–88, for each district health authority, regional health authority, and special health authority the total expenditure on agency staff, expressed at current prices, 1986–87 prices, and as a percentage of each health authority's budget.

  Mr. Mellor
  Information directly derived and revalued to 1986–87 prices from the 1987–88 annual accounts of district and regional health authorities in England and the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals has been placed in the Library.

  Computer and Management Consultants
  Mr. Sean Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost to his Department of employing(a) computer consultants and (b) management consultants, for each financial year from 1983 to date.

  Mr. Mellor
  Expenditure by the Department of Health and Social Security on computer and management consultancy in 1983–84 was £3·623 million. We cannot apportion this accurately between the two Departments or between computer and management consultancy.

  The estimated expenditure on health-related computer and management consultancy in 1984–85 was £0·613 million. It is not possible to separately identify the cost of computer consultancy.

  The estimated expenditure from 1985–86 onwards on fees and expenses for computer and management consultants on health matters is as follows:

  Computer consultants £ million

  Management consultants £ million

  1985–86

  0·880

  0·479

  1986–87

  2·067

  2·103

  1987–88

  1·950

  1·244

  1988–89

  1·792

  1·584

  The figures are approximate since expenditure up to and including the 1988–89 year was from a joint health and social security budget. In some cases expenditure has been apportioned where consultants have been engaged on both health and social security matters. The figures for management consultancy include social services consultancy and some computer consultancy where these cannot be identified separately.

  NHS (Pay)
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what have been the percentage increases in pay of administrative and clerical staff in the National Health Service in each of the past five years.

  Mr. Mellor
  Percentage settlements for administrative and clerical staff throughout Great Britain since 1984 are shown in the table. Pay increases have been effective from 1 April in each year.
  283

  Year

  Percentage

  1984

  4·5

  1985

  4·7

  1986

  6·0

  1987

  5·0

  1988

  5·5

  Community Care
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the contribution made to community care by the voluntary sector.

  Mr. Mellor
  The voluntary sector makes a very valuable contribution to the provision of health and personal social services, including community care. The Department encourages the complementary role of volunteers and voluntary organisations and has given practical assistance through central funding, including the "Helping the Community to Care" and "Opportunities for Volunteering" initiatives.

  Treatment Costs
  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the variations in cost of treatment between different health districts.

  Mr. Freeman
  There are often good reasons for variations in the cost of treatment between different health districts. It is for district and regional management to consider whether costs are reasonable and how performance could be improved.

  The Department publishes Health Service indicators and other costing information each year to assist local management in that task, It is hoped to publish performance indicators for 1988–89 at the end of this year or early next year. The proposals in the White Paper "Working for Patients" are designed to increase efficiency and should therefore have an additional impact on unjustifiable cost variations.

  Nurses
  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the number of nurses employed by the National Health Service.

  Mr. Mellor
  Provisional figures for September 1988 show the total number of nursing and midwifery staff (including agency) in the NHS in England as 404,000 whole-time equivalents, an increase of 45,000 (12·6 per cent.) since September 1979. The numbers of qualified nurses and midwives continue to increase and in 1988 the proportion was 60 per cent. of the total number of nursing and midwifery staff compared with 54 per cent. in 1979.

  NHS Reform
  Mr. John Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations he has received from general practitioners in favour of his proposals to reform the Health Service; and how many he has received against.

  Mr. Mellor
  I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, South (Mr. Morris) on 5 May, at column 265.
  284
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many letters he has received from the general public about his National Health Service reform proposals; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  We have received in excess of 4,000 letters from members of the public about the White Paper, "Working for Patients".

  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the pay will be for a general practitioner with 2,000 patients who achieves all the targets contained in the new general practitioner contract.

  Mr. Mellor
  The levels of fees and allowances payable from April 1990 under the new GPs contract will be determined in the light of the recommendations to be made by the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration in its next report. We have agreed with the general medical services committee's negotiators to submit joint evidence to the review body later this year.

  Mental Health Act Commission
  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any decision has yet been taken on the centralisation of the administration of the Mental Health Act Commission.

  Mr. Mellor
  No. We shall be giving further consideration to this in the light of the recommendations made in the report of the commission on its review of its functions, organisations, staffing and finance, which is expected shortly.

  Pharmacists
  Mr. Anderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, further to his answer of 19 April, what proportion of the amounts due to pharmacists from 1978 to 1988 was in respect of profits; and how much was in respect of reimbursement of costs.

  Mr. Mellor
  The total amounts due, and the amounts due for costs and profit for England and Wales as shown in the balance sheets prepared with representatives of the profession, are:

  £ million

  Total amounts due

  Amounts due for costs

  Amounts due for profit

  1978

  142·0

  121·8

  20·2

  1979

  170·9

  148·1

  22·8

  1980

  215·2

  177·9

  37·3

  1981

  238·9

  189·1

  49·8

  1982

  280·2

  225·9

  54·1

  1983

  324·8

  269·3

  55·5

  1984

  350·3

  291·2

  59·1

  19851

  96·6

  78·3

  18·3

  1985·86

  383·7

  313·5

  70·2

  1986·87

  415·0

  342·3

  72·7

  1987–88

  485·8

  407·2

  78·6

  1 1 January 1985 to 31 March 1985.

  Hospitals (Self-Government)
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals in the north-west have expressed interest in opting out; and if he will make a statement.
  285
  Mr. Mellor
  RHAs are currently considering expressions of interest in individual hospitals becoming self governing. They have been asked to send the expressions of interest to the Department, together with their comments, by 31 May.

  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if community health councils will be accorded the same rights in relation to proposals for the self-governing status of particular hospitals as they currently enjoy in relation to closure proposals.

  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultation rights Central Manchester community health council will have in any decision of the Central Manchester district health authority to seek self-governing status for its hospitals.

  Mr. Mellor
  Community health councils will be consulted on local applications for self-governing status and my right hon. and learned Friend will consider their views when deciding on applications.

  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health managers whose hospitals opt for self-governing status will qualify for incentive payments under the arrangements for performance-related pay.

  Mr. Mellor
  This will be for individual hospital trusts to decide.

  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to enable the local public to determine through secret ballots whether particular hospitals should have self-governing status.

  Mr. Mellor
  No.

  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) by what means he expects regional health authorities to gauge the views of local communities on proposals for particular hospitals to have self-governing status;

  (2) what advice he has given to regional health authorities in processing proposals for the self-governing status of particular hospitals when such proposals are strongly opposed by many of those deemed to have an interest in the hospitals concerned.

  Mr. Mellor
  Regional health authorities were given general advice in National Health Service review working paper No. 1—"Self-Governing Hospitals", published on 20 February 1989. Regional health authorities will determine precisely how they publicise applications and seek the views of those with an interest.

  Private Patients (Bolton)
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the revenue generated from private patients at hospitals in Bolton in 1988; and what were the comparable figures for each of the last five years.

  Mr. Mellor
  We do not hold this information centrally. My hon. Friend may wish to pursue his inquiry with Mr. T. Taylor, chairman of Bolton health authority.

  Immunisation
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have been immunised with the new measles, mumps and rubella vaccine since its introduction in October 1988.
  286
  Mr. Mellor
  Immunisation uptake figures for 1988–89 will not be available until later this year. However, from the launch of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine last October to the end of March, 1·4 million doses were distributed to health authorities. The number of children in the recommended priority groups (aged 15 months and four to five years) who became eligible for the vaccine in that period was 600,000.

  Harts Hospital (Sale)
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the proceeds of the sale of Harts hospital; and how much has been directly returned to Waltham Forest health authority.

  Mr. Freeman
  The net proceeds of the sale of Harts hospital were £29·3 million. Capital allocations are a matter for the regional health authority concerned.

  Ethnic Monitoring
  Mr. Janner
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has conducted monitoring exercises in compliance with the code of the Commission of Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunity Commission, respectively, separate from the Department of Social Security; whether his Department plans to do so; whether his Department plans to maintain records of the ethnic origins of its staff and officers separate from the Department of Social Security; and whether he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  The action taken by the then Department of Health and Social Security in support of its equal opportunities policy will continue in the Department of Health and will follow the guidance in the codes of practice of the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunity Commission. This action includes the monitoring of personnel policies and procedures.

  Work is in hand to ensure that the staff records, including ethnic origin data, of the Department of Health and the Department of Social Security can be separately identified. I shall write to the hon. and learned Member when this is completed.

  Departmental Staff
  Mr. Janner
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of officers in each of grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, respectively, in his Department are(a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities.

  Mr. Mellor
  We do not have the information in the form requested because records are held on combined basis with the Department of Social Security. I refer the hon. and learned Member to the information in the reply to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security on 22 March 1989 at column 679.

  Human Insulin
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the volume and value of human insulin imported into the United Kingdom in each year since 1983; what proportion this represents of the total human insulin used in the United Kingdom each year since 1983; and whether any checks are made as to whether this human insulin was purchased or donated voluntarily.
  287
  Mr. Mellor
  All "human insulin" is manufactured, either by modification of porcine insulin or using biotechnology to produce in the laboratory a product which has the same chemical characteristics as insulin occurring naturally in humans. For this reason it is commonly referred to as "human insulin", though it is not, as might be assumed, derived from human sources. All such human insulin sold in the United Kingdom is now imported, although there was some manufacture up to 1987. Information on amounts sold was given in my reply to the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair) on 21 December 1988, at column 325.

  Weil's Disease
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a table showing the number of deaths, by occupational category, and by region, from Weil's disease in each of the past 20 years; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Freeman
  The information requested is not wholly available: details of the deceased's occupation were not coded in some of the past 20 years.

  Number of deaths due to Weil's disease1 by standard region of usual residence and occupation, 1968–87.

  Year

  Total

  Region

  Occupation2

  1968

  8

  East Midlands

  n/a

  Yorks and Humberside (2)

  n/a

  South East (4)

  n/a

  East Anglia

  n/a

  1969

  6

  Yorks and Humberside

  n/a

  South East (2)

  n/a

  Wales

  n/a

  West Midlands

  n/a

  South West

  n/a

  1970

  3

  Yorks and Humberside (2)

  Agricultural machinery drivers aged under 15

  South West

  Food processors (nee)

  1971

  3

  South East (2)

  Labourers, others (nee)

  Labourers, building and contracting

  Wales

  Labourers, others (nee)

  1972

  9

  East Anglia

  Farmers, farm managers, market gardeners

  North

  Proprietors and managers, sales

  South West (2)

  Construction workers (nee)

  No occupation

  South East (4)

  Agricultural workers (nee) Fanners, farm managers, market gardeners

  Construction workers (nee)

  Farmers, farm managers, market gardeners

  North West

  Fanners, farm managers, market gardeners

  1973

  2

  Wales

  n/a

  Yorks and Humberside

  n/a

  1974

  1

  West Midlands

  n/a

  1975

  5

  South East

  Construction workers (nee)

  South West (2)

  Agricultural workers (nee) Farmers, farm managers, market gardeners

  East Midlands

  Aged under 15

  North Western

  No occupation

  1976

  2

  South Western

  n/a

  Yorks and Humberside

  n/a

  1977

  2

  East Midlands

  n/a

  North Western

  n/a

  288

  Year

  Total

  Region

  Occupation2

  1978

  3

  Northern

  n/a

  Yorks and Humberside

  n/a

  South East

  n/a

  1979

  3

  South East (3)

  Fanners, horticulturists, farm managers Labourers Teachers (nee)

  1980

  4

  South East (2)

  Fanners, horticulturists, farm managers Not stated including housewife

  South West

  Chefs, cooks

  Wales

  Sales representatives (property and service) other agents

  1981

  1

  South West

  Not stated including housewife

  1982

  2

  South East

  All other in farming and related

  Wales

  Gardeners and grounds-men

  1983

  1

  Wales

  Labourer, coal mines

  1984

  —

  —

  —

  1985

  3

  South West

  Other proprietors and managers (sales)

  West Midlands

  Butchers, meat cutters

  Yorks and Humberside

  Man-made fibre makers

  1986

  1

  East Midlands

  Refuse collectors, dustman

  1987

  1

  South East

  Farm workers

  1 International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes 1000 Leptospirosis icterohaemorrhagica plus 100.9. Leptospirosis unspecified.

  2 Occupations are coded using the 1970 and 1980 OPCS Classification of Occupations.

  n/a = Not available.

  (nec) = Not elsewhere classified.

  AIDS
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the projects undertaken by the Health Education Authority on AIDS since its inception; what the budget for each project was; whether each project was approved by his Department; and what projects suggested by the authority have not received departmental approval.

  Mr. Mellor
  Information is not available in exactly the form requested because the HEA's work on AIDS is not funded on a project by project basis. The procedure followed is that the HEA draws up an operational programme which is discussed with Ministers in the authority's annual accountability review. Once the operational programme and budget for AIDS have been agreed the Health Education Authority discusses with the Department (and for United Kingdomwide mass media work, with the other Health Departments also) detailed proposals for implementing the operational programme. These arrangements are intended to ensure that material which is distributed is consistent with overall Government policy on HIV prevention. The work on HIV/AIDS carried out the the HEA is set out in "AIDS Programme Paper 4: The First Annual Report: October 1987 to September 1988", a copy of which has been placed in the Library.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the advice received from the Health Education Authority regarding policy towards AIDS; and what has been his response to the advice received.
  289
  Mr. Mellor
  One of the functions of the Health Education Authority is to give advice to Government on health education issues, including those relating the HIV/AIDS. This can be given formally or informally, privately or publicly and at various levels and the Government take account of this in reaching decisions on aspects of policy on HIV infection and AIDS.

  Kreutzfeldt-Jacob Dementia
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to be able to announce his decision as to whether to introduce reporting procedures in respect of Kreutzfeldt-Jacob dementia.

  Mr. Freeman
  We have no plans to do so. Following the recommendation of the Southwood committee on bovine spongiform encephalopathy consideration is being given, however, to the most effective way of ensuring cases of this disease are monitored.

  Drugs (Quality)
  Mr. Michael Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department monitors the percentage of generic pharmaceutical supplies to hospitals which are rejected on the grounds of failing to meet quality standards.

  Mr. Mellor
  The Department does not carry out such monitoring centrally. It is for individual health authorities, as purchasers of medicines, to satisfy themselves as to the quality of those pharmaceuticals.

  Clinical Waste
  Mr. Hoyle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that health authorities are handling and disposing of clinical waste safely.

  Mr. Freeman
  I have recently called for all health authorities to carry out a special review of their arrangements for handling and disposing of clinical waste. Their reports confirmed that the vast majority of health authorities conform to the guidance set out in the Health and Safety Commission document, "The Safe Disposal of Clinical Waste."

  In the few exceptional cases where the guidance has not been fully implemented, the main principles of segregation in colour coded bags and incineration are followed. Where contractors are used, the contract is being closely monitored. The Department is taking action to ensure that the guidance is complied with in all respects.

  Shropshire league of friends
  Mr. Biffen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, in view of the continuing widespread concern over health care in Shopshire, he will now see a delegation of the Shropshire league of friends following its correspondence with him on 17 March; and what response he has made to its claim that it is statutorily entitled to such consideration.

  Mr. Kenneth Clarke
  [holding answer 17 May 1989]: I have told the Shropshire hospitals league of friends that I see little to be gained by discussion of the decisions taken last year, which are now settled and behind us. I have left open the possibility of receiving a delegation from the league of friends and other interested groups if any further
  290
  proposals concerning health care in Shropshire came to me for decision. Decisions about the financing of health care in Shropshire are of course for the West Midlands regional health authority and day-to-day management decisions are the responsibility of the Shropshire district health authority.

  I am aware of no claim by the leagues of friends that they are statutorily entitled to send a delegation to see me.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Brain Offal
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on steps being taken by his Department to ban brain offal from the food chain.

  Mr. Ryder
  Following publication of the Southwood report on bovine spongiform encephalopathy, I announced that I intend, as a precautionary measure, to introduce legislation prohibiting the sale of baby foods contaning brains or other specified offal. I hope to circulate draft regulations for public consultation shortly.

  Common Agricultural Policy
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what amount of the £155 million to be provided to United Kingdom farmers in consequence of the recent common agricultural policy price agreement will be provided by the EEC, Her Majesty's Government and the consumer respectively.

  Mr. MacGregor
  Approximately one half is expected to be financed by the Exchequer either directly, or indirectly from the European Community, with the remainder being borne by consumers. The total impact on the retail prices index (all items) is estimated to be very small, at most one twentieth of 1 per cent.

  Product Labelling
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has had any discussions with food manufacturers regarding the labelling of products with full ingredients and additives; and what is the Government's policy on the use of additives in food.

  Mr. Ryder
  I and my colleagues frequently meet food manufacturing and other interests to discuss a wide range of topics, including food labelling. Government policy on food additives is to ensure that additives are approved only after rigorous examination for need and safety in use by independent committees. Ministers are advised on this by the Food Advisory Committee and the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment.

  Milk
  Mr. Knapman
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on green top milk.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  I have nothing to add to the reply my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mr. Hunter) on 23 February, at columns 712–13.

  Sahnonella
  Mrs. Ann Winterton
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his reply of 10 May,Official Report, column 459, whether he will make it his policy to ban the import of consignments of eggs which are found to be contaminated with salmonella.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  For technical and legal reasons it is not feasible to detain consignments of imported eggs pending testing for salmonella, which takes a number of days. However, where any sample is found to be contaminated with invasive salmonella, the Commission is informed and follow-up action taken with the member state concerned, with a view to eradication of the problem at source.

  Mrs. Ann Winterton
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on how many occasions in the latest 12 months for which figures are available consignments of imported eggs have been(a) checked for salmonella infection and (b) found to be infected with salmonella.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  [pursuant to his reply, 10 May 1989, c. 459]: Two of the samples taken from consignments of eggs in the last month have now been shown to be positive for salmonella.

  In one of these cases, salmonella enteritidis PT4 was identified on the shells of eggs packed in the Netherlands. I have drawn this result to the attention of the Dutch Minister, so that measures can be taken to eradicate the problem at source.

  An invasive type of salmonella was not identified in the other sample.

  11988–89

  1989–90

  Service

  Band A

  Band B

  Band C

  Band D

  Total

  Total

  State veterinary service

  3

  32

  14

  25

  74

  90

  Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food animal health group

  2

  1

  1

  3

  5

  5

  Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food regional administration

  —

  0·5

  1

  12

  13

  14

  1 Grade bands:

  A—Grades 1 to 6.

  B—SEO-7 and equivalents.

  C—EO-HEO and equivalents.

  D—Clerical and industrial grades.

  2 Less than 0·5

  Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food MINIM.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy are being identified, on average, in each week by antemortem inspection; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  On average, 140 to 150 suspected cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy are being identified each week by antemortem inspection.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had in the European Council of Ministers on bovine spongiform encephalopathy and its transmission.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  None.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Caerphilly, 4 May,Official Report, columns 195–96, which animal species are involved in experiments
  292
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many man-years he estimates will be spent on salmonellosis in each of the field and veterinary investigation services, and at the central veterinary laboratory, in the next year.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  The information is as follows:

  Man years

  Field service

  28·5

  Veterinary investigation service

  85·0

  Central veterinary laboratory

  25·5

  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the latest figure he has available for the number of cattle in Britain infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Up to 12 May, 4,570 cases of BSE had been confirmed in Great Britain.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many man-years have been spent by his Department on bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the last year, by grade, and by service;

  (2) how many man-years he expects to be spent on bovine spongiform encephalopathy by his Department in the next year, by grade, and by service.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  The information is as follows. Manpower forecasts are not subdivided by grade for 1989–90.

  on the transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy; what have been the results to date; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Transmission experiments are taking place in hamsters, mice, calves, sheep, goats, marmosets and pigs. So far, only mice have been affected.

  Dutch Elm Disease
  Mr. Adley
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the research programme into Dutch elm disease; and if there are any prospects for the elimination thereof.

  Mr. Ryder
  The Forestry Commission continues to commit significant resources to research on Dutch elm disease, which complements research being carried out in other countries. There is no prospect of eliminating the disease, and the commission's research programme is
  293
  mainly aimed at finding ways of reducing its incidence. In addition, work is being conducted on the potential role of disease-resistant elms.

  Farm Diversification Scheme
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many applications his

  Period

  Applications received

  Applications approved

  Grant commitmerit (£'000)

  1 January 1988 to 30 June 1988

  682

  528

  2,635

  1 July 1988 to 31 December 1988

  405

  288

  1,572

  1 January 1989 to 30 April 1989

  308

  136

  660

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will provide a breakdown of the number of successful applications under the farm diversification scheme for each country if England and Wales.

  Mr. Ryder
  I regret that the information requested is only available by the divisional offices of Departments and not by counties. Approved applications for farm diversification capital grants for the period 1 January 1988 to 30 April 1989 were as follows:

  Division

  Number approved

  Beverley

  38

  Carlisle

  32

  Newcastle

  35

  Northallerton

  49

  Nottingham

  37

  Worcester

  39

  Preston

  20

  Crewe

  57

  Chelmsford

  34

  Huntingdon

  32

  Norwich

  43

  Lincoln

  23

  Guildford

  36

  Maidstone

  62

  Oxford

  36

  Exeter

  127

  Gloucester

  79

  Taunton

  87

  Truro

  87

  Caernarvon

  19

  Carmarthen

  70

  Llandrindod

  58

  Ruthin

  16

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will provide a breakdown of the number of successful applicants under the farm diversification scheme for each type of project eligible under the scheme.

  Mr. Ryder
  The number of enterprises in approved applications for farm diversification capital grants in England and Wales for the period 1 January 1988 to 30 April 1989 were as follows:

  Number of enterprises

  Manufacture of craft items

  12

  Food processing:

  Dairy

  77

  Meats

  25

  Vegetables

  8

  294
  Department has received under the farm diversification scheme for each six-month period since its inception; how many have been successful in each period; and what has been the cost involved.

  Mr. Ryder
  The information is as follows:

  Number of enterprises

  Fish

  9

  Drinks

  8

  Other

  12

  Timber processing

  8

  Non-food agricultural produce

  19

  Repair of agricultural machinery

  6

  Farm shops:

  Food

  98

  Other

  30

  Pick-your-own sales

  16

  Accommodation:

  Serviced

  151

  Self catering

  334

  Caravanning

  56

  Camping sites

  8

  Camping and bunkhouse barns

  4

  Catering:

  Restaurant

  22

  Other

  25

  Recreation and education:

  Fishing

  93

  Sports

  20

  Play areas

  21

  Leisure parks

  8

  Farm visitors

  46

  Environmental facilities (eg nature trails)

  23

  Other

  37

  Horses:

  Livery

  139

  For hire

  4

  Letting of farm units

  37

  Meat and Bone Meal
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of Friday 5 May,Official Report, column 279, what additional certification accompanying meat and bone meal exported from the United Kingdom is required by France, West Germany and Israel; what arrangements have been agreed for use by exporters of meat and bone meal to France; what requirements have been stipulated by Israel; and what assurances have been sought by West Germany.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  France and West Germany have requested confirmation of heat treatment in
  295
  accordance with their requirements. This certification can be provided. Germany and Israel have asked for clearance from BSE which can be supplied. Israel has also asked for freedom from scrapie and we are entering into discussions with the Israeli authorities on a form of assurances which would be acceptable.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Caerphilly, of 5 May,Official Report, column 279, whether he knows of any plans by the European Commission to introduce rules applying to the production of meat and bone meal.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Commission proposals for a Council regulation laying down veterinary rules for the disposal and processing of animal waste are currently being discussed in Brussels.

  1980

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1988

  l1989

  Chief veterinary officer

  1·0

  1·0

  1·0

  1·0

  1·0

  1·0

  1·0

  1·0

  1·0

  1·0

  Grade 3

  2·0

  2·0

  2·0

  2·0

  2·0

  2·0

  2·0

  2·0

  2·0

  2·0

  Grade 4

  8·0 (1)

  8·0 (1)

  70 (1)

  70 (1)

  70 (1)

  6·0 (1)

  7·0 (1)

  7·0 (1)

  70 (1)

  70 (1)

  Grade 5

  23·0

  23·0

  22·0

  21·0

  21·0

  21·0

  20·0

  17·0 (1)

  15·0 (1)

  17·0 (1)

  Grade 6

  15·0

  14·0

  14·0

  14·0

  15·0

  13·0

  11·0

  11·0

  11·0

  12·0

  Deputy regional veterinary officer

  24·0 (8)

  22·0 (6)

  22·0 (6)

  22·0 (6)

  21·0 (6)

  23·0 (6)

  13·0 (3)

  12·0 (2)

  13·0 (3)

  14·0 (3)

  Divisional veterinary officer

  128·0 (23)

  128·0 (22)

  125·0 (24)

  129·0 (23)

  129·0 (24)

  121·0 (22)

  115·0 (24)

  99·0 (19)

  93·0 (19)

  91·0 (19)

  Veterinary officer

  298·0 (58)

  286·0 (58)

  287·0 (61)

  285·5 (62)

  2820 (61)

  274·0 (57)

  274·0 (58)

  257·0 (53)

  244·0 (52)

  247·5 (49)

  Senior research officer grade II

  44·0

  43·0

  42·0

  39·0

  40·0

  36·0

  41·0

  40·0

  37·0

  33·0

  Veterinary research officer

  35·5

  36·5

  35·0

  28·5

  23·5

  30·5

  22·5

  18·5

  21·5

  14·5

  Senior animal health officer

  77·0

  74·0

  70·0

  71·0

  72·0

  71·0

  68·0

  49·0

  48·0

  45·0

  Animal health officer

  162·0

  150·0

  139·0

  129·0

  128·0

  127·0

  126·0

  120·0

  123·5

  122·5

  Note.—Figures in brackets relate to the veterinary investigation service, which is part of the state veterinary service.

  1 The 1989 figures include staff of the professional unit of the veterinary medicines directorate, who prior to 3 April 1989 belonged to the state veterinary service.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what additional resources have been provided for the state veterinary service in order to accommodate the increased workload resulting from bovine spongiform encephalopathy and salmonella.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Seventy four additional posts have been approved to deal with salmonellosis; consideration is still being given to the additional requirements for dealing with BSE.

  £'000

  1984–85

  1985–86

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  Pay

  1—

  1—

  19,644

  22,316

  21,823

  24,805

  Non-pay

  1—

  1—

  5,525

  7,343

  7,594

  9,565

  Capital

  1—

  1—

  605

  1,086

  775

  966

  1 DBC not applied: no separate date available.

  Note:

  Figures ar not comparable year by year because of changes in the coverage in the service's decentralised budget.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what are his estimates of the additional number of veterinary surgeons needed by his Department following the completion of the European Community internal market in 1992;

  (2) what steps he is taking to ensure that the state veterinary service is adequately staffed to deal with

  State Veterinary Service
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many veterinary officers he has employed in the state veterinary service, by grade, in each of the last 10 years;

  (2) how many veterinary officers he has employed in the state veterinary investigation service, by grade, in each of the last 10 years;

  (3) how many animal health officers he has employed in the state veterinary field service, by grade, in each of the last 10 years.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  The information is as follows:

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the annual budget of the state veterinary service for each of the last five years and for the financial year 1989–90, showing capital, pay and non-pay current cost votes.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  The information is as follows, in terms of initial allocations under decentralized budgetary control:

  emergencies and, in particular, to cope with additional workloads leading up to and following completion of the European Community internal market in 1992;

  (3) which areas of work in the state veterinary service are not being carried out as a result of the additional workload relating to bovine spongiform encephalopathy and salmonella.
  297
  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Priorities within the state veterinary service are continually reassessed to ensure that adequate resources are devoted to all essential tasks. Staffing requirements are also kept under review and recruitment drives are held regularly. It would however be premature to attempt an estimate of the manpower required as a result of the establishment of the single market as negotiations on the arrangements are still in progress.

  Farm Incomes
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the average farm income in the United Kingdom for each of the last five years for which figures are available and adjusted for inflation.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Indices of net farm income per farm at current prices and in real terms by type of farm in the United Kingdom for the years 1983–84 to 1988–89 are published in "Agriculture in the United Kingdom, 1988". A copy of this is available in the Library of the House.

  County Council Farms
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his policy on the sale of county council farms.

  Mr. Ryder
  It is the Government's policy to leave decisions on the sale of smallholdings to the smallholdings authorities concerned.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many county council farms there are in respect of each county of England and Wales.

  Mr. Ryder
  The 38th annual report to Parliament on smallholdings in England (1 April 1987 to 31 March 1988) is now available in the Library of the House. Table 3 gives details of the number of smallholdings provided by county councils. A similar report for Wales is also available.

  Blowfly
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether his Department has issued any advice on the technique of using pour-on products for the control of blowfly infestation in sheep.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Licences for such products require that the proper conditions of use are spelt out on the product labels and accompanying literature. My Department has not issued supplementary guidance.

  Co-responsibility Levy
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much was paid by British dairy farmers last year as co-responsibility levy; and what is his estimate of their liability in the current year.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  United Kingdom dairy farmers paid some £53 million in milk co-responsibility levy in 1988–89. Following the reductions in the levy agreed in this year's farm price negotiations, it is currently estimated that their liability will be reduced to about £32 million in 1989–90.

  Beef Premium
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures he intends to take to ensure that the beef special premium is paid to producers as an addition to, and not incorporated within, the market price of finished animals.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Payment of the beef special premium in Great Britain is made direct to the producer presenting the animals for slaughter or for sale For slaughter.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement indicating in full the documentary evidence required to be produced by claimants of the beef special premium; and which of these will be mandatory prerequisites.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  The mandatory prerequisites for those applying for the beef special premium in Great Britain are that they shall have registered, prior to application and on the form provided, details of all their production units and that they complete an application form for each claim made. In addition, they must keep records sufficient to verify the claims for premium and to substantiate the means of production. Applicants are also required to keep records of the purchases and sales of animals which have been marked for premium as follows:

  (1) The date of transaction.

  (2) Numbers and descriptions of animals, and the weight of each animal.

  (3) In the case of a purchase or sale by auction at an auction market, the name and address of the auctioneer, and in any other case the name and address of the other party to the transaction.

  (4) Where applicable the dates by which any marked animals bought or sold are to be slaughtered.

  (5) Where applicable, the dates of slaughter of marked animals in their possession at the time of slaughter.

  Most of these requirements are in fact met by the scheme documentation.

  Applicants are required to retain such records for a period of three years from the end of the calender year to which they relate and to produce them for inspection if so required by an authorised officer.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how he intends to enforce the headage limit of 90 in respect of the beef special premium.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  On each application form claimants for premium are required to declare that they have not exceeded the headage limit. Claims will be monitored by the computer program processing claims for payment and verification will he made on holding of claim details.

  Encephalopathies
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department was sponsoring prior to 1987 on transmissible encephalopathies in animals.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  The main centre for research on transmissible encephalopathies in animals has been the neuropathogenesis unit in Edinburgh, funded jointly by the Agricultural and Food Research Council and the Medical Research Council. My Department has been
  299
  maintaining a scrapie resistant flock of sheep for study at Redesdale experimental husbandry farm for many years and began an investigation of scrapies-associated fibrils in sheep in 1985–86. The central veterinary laboratory of MAFF studies new and emerging diseases continuously and identified bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle in November 1986 and has studied the pathology of cases ever since. The laboratory's main studies of bovine spongiform encephalopathy began in 1987.

  Set-aside Scheme
  Mr. Michael Morris
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the estimated cost of the set-aside programme.

  Mr. Ryder
  I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey) on 4 April 1989, column 45.

  Meat Imports
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what provisions exist for the inspection of imported meat products which originate outside the European Economic Community; and what is his estimate of the percentage of such imports which are so inspected.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  Port health authorities are responsible for the inspection of meat products imported from all countries under the Imported Food Regulations 1984. The authorities are diligent in ensuring that all consignments have the proper health certification and are inspected.

  Humber Estuary
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what monitoring is currently being undertaken in and around the Humber estuary on(a) the decline in marine life and (b) the effects of water pollution on fish for human consumption.

  Mr. Donald Thompson
  [holding answer 16 May 1989]: Concentrations of contaminants in fish and shellfish around the coasts of England and Wales including the Humber area are regularly monitored by scientists from my Department's directorate of fisheries research. Reports of this work are published and the latest such report, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food "Aquatic Environment Monitoring Report No. 16", is available in the Library of the House.

  Agricultural Research
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what agricultural research resources are currently being devoted to(a) organic farming and (b) bio-dynamic farming techniques.

  Mr. Ryder
  [holding answer 16 May 1989]: This year my Department is spending £198,000 on research directly related to organic farming. Other research funded by my Department is also relevant to organic and so-called bio-dynamic farming techniques because it is directed at reducing the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides or improving the use of organic wastes from animals and crops. Such work includes the integrated control of cereals pests using insect predators, parasitic fungi and behaviour-controlling chemicals and will cost £892,000 this year.

EMPLOYMENT

  Training
  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the estimated date for publication of the Manpower Services Commission studies into the funding of training in Britain; whether he will consider publishing the interim results of the study; and whether the studies include a breakdown by economic region of private industry's expenditure on training.

  Mr. Cope
  [holding answer 15 May 1989]: The studies will be published by the autumn. Interim results of the study were published a year ago and a copy is in the House of Commons Library, ("The Funding of Vocational Education and Training: Some Early Research Findings, Background Note 2, Training Commission, 1988). The studies do not include a breakdown by economic region of private industry's expenditure on training but will provide some indication of levels of training in different parts of the country.

  Mr. Nigel Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he has taken to ensure that employment training scheme management agencies and employers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland do not continue to receive an allowance from his Department after trainees have left the scheme.

  Persons aged 16–19 either in employment or undertaking full-time education or training —Great Britain

  Spring estimates, thousands

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  U988

  Full-time1 employees

  1,261

  1,230

  1,189

  1,187

  1,190

  Part-time1 employees

  386

  410

  432

  457

  525

  Self-employed

  43

  45

  44

  42

  44

  On Government employment and training programmes2

  227

  290

  262

  299

  316

  Undertaking full-time education or training and not in employment3

  986

  912

  863

  870

  786

  1 Based on respondent's own assessment.

  2 Includes all on YTS, CI, CP, VPP and their predecessors, together with those in training courses under JTS, Training for Enterprise and Wider Opportunities Training Programme (successors of Training Opportunities programme or TOPS) who said they did some paid work in the survey reference week.

  3 Includes all still in continuous full-time education or (i) on a sandwich course, (ii) studying at university, polytechnic or college full-time, or (iii) training for a qualification in nursing, physiotherapy, or a similar medical subject.

  4 Preliminary estimates (1988 only).

  Source: Labour Force Surveys.

  YTS
  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the numbers of fatal, major and minor accidents on YTS for the period January 1989 to March 1989; and how many YTS placements were closed or not accepted in the periods September to December 1988 and January 1989 to March 1989.

  Mr. Cope
  Table A provides YTS accident figures for the period I January—31 March 1989.

  Table A

  YTS accidents 1 January 1989 to 31 March 1989

  Accident1

  Period 1 January 1989 to 31 March 1989

  Fatalities

  1

  Major Injuries2

  150

  Minor Injuries

  716

  302
  Mr. Nicholls
  [holding answer 17 May 1989]: Claims for training fees submitted by training managers are subject to checks both within Training Agency area offices and at the training manager's premises.

  The checks include the comparison of claims with individual trainee records and information notified to unemployment benefit offices.

  Responsibility for Government programmes in Northern Ireland lies with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the managing and training agents operating in the North Tyneside travel-to-work area and the numbers of ET and YTS placements in each.

  Mr. Cope
  I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

  Labour Statistics
  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in the age group 16 to 19 inclusive were(a) full-time employees in employment, (b) part-time employees in employment, (c) self employed, (d) not included above and on YOP, YTS, CP, or JTS or (e) not included in the above and undertaking full-time education or training, from spring 1984 for each year to spring 1988.

  Mr. Cope
  Available estimates from labour force surveys are as shown in the following table:

  1 Training Agency accident figures include accidents to trainees in educational establishments and road traffic accidents which would not have been reportable to the Health and Safety Executive had the individuals been employed.

  2 Major injuries are classified according to the severity criteria laid down in the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1985.

  Table B provides the figures of YTS placements closed or not accepted for the quarters 1 October 1988 to 31 December 1988 and 1 January 1989 to 31 March 1989.

  Table B

  Closure and non acceptance of YTS placements 1 October 1988 to 31 December 1988 and 1 January 1989 to 31 March 1989

  1 October 1988 to 31 December 1988

  1 January 1989 to 31 December 1989

  Placements Closed

  36

  39

  Placements not accepted

  14

  19

  303
  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many YTS trainees had contracts of employment by Training Agency region, by male and female, at the most recent date, and at one year previously.

  31 December 1987

  31 December 1988

  Region

  Female

  Male

  Female

  Male

  Scotland

  1,451

  4,478

  1,759

  5,594

  Northern

  981

  2,055

  1,217

  2,672

  North West

  2,966

  6,690

  3,402

  8,822

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  2,503

  3,936

  3,543

  6,437

  West Midlands

  1,509

  3,696

  2,488

  6,261

  Wales

  412

  1,886

  720

  2,371

  South West

  1,202

  4,055

  1,560

  5,569

  South East

  1,846

  7,882

  2,553

  10,246

  London

  778

  4,210

  1,693

  5,630

  East Midlands and East Anglia

  2,280

  5,955

  3,189

  8,087

  TOTAL

  15,428

  41,147

  21,524

  61,689

  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list by male and female from the most recent YTS leavers survey those trainees leaving the scheme by destination classed as(a) full-time work with same employer, (b) full-time work with a different employer, (c) full-time education course, (d) another YTS, (e) other and (f) unemployment; and what is the percentage of early leavers.

  Mr. Cope
  The results of the YTS follow-up survey are available in the House of Commons Library.

SCOTLAND

  Community Charge
  Mr. Siliars
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to exempt from the poll tax seamen working and living on their vessels who have no other sole or main residence.

  Mr. Lang
  The question whether a person is solely or mainly resident in the area of a local authority and thus liable to pay the personal community charge is for community charge registration officers to decide in the light of the facts and circumstances relating to individual cases. There are no plans to make special arrangements for seafarers.

  Roads
  Mrs. Margaret Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the total percentages of the Scottish Development Department's road budget which were allocated to the following roads in each of the past five years: (a) A/M74, (b) A77, (c) A9, (d) A92 and (e) A96.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 16 May 1989]: The information is given in the following table:

  Expenditure as Percentage of Total Spend on Trunk Roads

  Financial Year/Route

  A/M74

  A77

  A9

  A92

  A96

  1984–85

  12·6

  2·2

  17·9

  11·5

  1·6

  1985–86

  19·2

  1·9

  18·3

  7·1

  1·4

  1986–87

  13·6

  1·7

  18·0

  4·4

  2·4

  1987–88

  13·6

  2·4

  15·1

  5·0

  7·3

  1988–87'

  9·9

  2·0

  9·9

  12·9

  4·8

  1 Estimate.

  304
  Mr. Cope
  The numbers of young people in training on YTS who were notified to the Training Agency as having contracts of employment as at 31 December 1987 and 31 December 1988 by region were as follows:

  Family Law (Scotland) Act
  Mrs. Margaret Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to amend section 8(1)(a) of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 in order to allow the court to make orders in an action for divorce, for the payment of a capital sum and for the transfer of property.

  Mr. Siliars
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any intention of bringing forward amending legislation in the light of Lord Morton's statement in the Court of Session in the case of Walker v. Walker that the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 would require amendment to permit an award of both transfer of property and a capital sum.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  A Court of Session judgment relating to this legislation was made on 9 May. The provision in question is in the terms suggested by the Scottish Law Commission. Until such time as the period during which an appeal may be made expires it would not be appropriate for me to comment.

  Weil's Disease
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the number of deaths, by occupational category, and by region, from Weil's disease in each of the past 20 years; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  Seven deaths from Weil's disease since 1968 have been recorded in Scotland. The information requested about these deaths is as follows:

  Year

  Number of deaths

  Occupation

  County or region

  1970

  1

  Not known

  Argyll

  1975

  1

  Not known

  Highland

  1979

  1

  Drawing office assistant

  Tayside

  1980

  2

  Farm worker

  Grampian

  Farmaer

  Central

  1983

  2

  University academic staff

  Tayside

  Farm worker

  Central

  Lowland Airports Policy
  Mr. Allan Stewart
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library a copy of the survey
  305
  of Scottish opinion which his office conducted in relation to the request by BAA plc for a review of Scottish lowland airports policy.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  No such survey of Scottish opinion has been carried out by the Scottish Office. In reaching his decision on BAA's request for a review of the Scottish lowlands airports policy, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport took into account the support for maintaining the present status of Prestwick airport which had been expressed by representatives of all political parties, as well as other considerations.

  Direct Labour (Competition)
  Mr. Allan Stewart
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has completed his consultations about the competition requirements relating to direct labour organisations; and if he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The overall response rate to the consultation paper issued in October 1988 was low with only half of local authorities submitting comment. My right hon. and learned Friend was grateful to all those who did respond and has carefully considered the comments received. He has now decided that all building and maintenance work, other than highways and water and sewage work, should be subject to competition and that authorities should be prohibited from renewing maintenance contracts without first going out to tender. Emergency work will continue to be exempt but further consideration is being given to the scope for restricting the kinds of emergency work which can be carried out by direct labour organisations without competition.

  In the light of the responses received, my right hon. and learned Friend has also decided to defer the implementation date by six months to 1 April 1990 and to increase the exemption for direct labour organisations proposed in the consultation paper from five to 15 employees.

  Trunk Road Programme
  Sir Hector Monro
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will increase resources for the trunk road programme in Scotland; and what proposals he has to alter his current policies and plans.

  Mr. Rifkind
  I refer to the statement made today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, announcing major developments in his motorway and trunk road programme. I particularly welcome his decision to place the main immediate priority in England on widening the M6, M1 and M25 motorways. These roads are Scotland's essential links to the major markets in the south and Europe.

  The road programme in Scotland will benefit substantially from the expanded programme announced today. As with England and Wales, of course detailed decisions about funding levels for particular years will be taken in the course of annual reviews of public expenditure. Under the normal formula arrangements the Scottish block will receive each year an equivalent share of the additional funds.

  I place major emphasis on improving inter-urban roads in Scotland. I have already announced that I am making additional funds available for national trunk roads over the current year and some 25 per cent. more for new
  306
  construction for the following two financial years. I now expect to be in a position to increase roads spending substantially further in future years reflecting the Government's commitment to improved roads infrastructure. Currently we have in preparation a formidable programme of schemes and studies.

  The financing of roads is no longer a matter solely for the Government. There is also a role for private finance to play in road provision in the future in Scotland as in England, where my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has said in his White Paper that he will be putting forward proposals on this question shortly.

  My right hon. Friend's White Paper also announced today new road traffic forecasts which are relevant to the standard of roads needed and to the estimates of their economic return. These new traffic forecasts will be applied similarly to planned Scottish road improvements.

  I shall outline how we are currently proposing to spend the available resources. Our largest single project is the planned M74 Glasgow to Carlisle motorway which will link with the M6, M1 and M25 routes. This project was announced in 1987: it alone expanded the trunk road programme by around 40 per cent. My Department has been working to a highly ambitious timetable to prepare this 100km of motorway and I now expect that advance works will start next year and, if progress continues will, even main works.

  To this end I am announcing today the first two schemes, one at either end of the A74 in Scotland. The northernmost scheme runs from Millbank to just north of Abington. The second scheme is the section from Gretna to Kirkpatrick Fleming. Development of these "fast-track" schemes will run ahead of the general development of the rest of the route. The consultants are finalising their reports for the whole length to be upgraded. Once these reports have been studied, we propose in the late summer or autumn to consult on a proposed preferred route for the whole road.

  A key issue is whether M74 schemes should be dual-two lane or dual-three lane standard. My Department has carefully assessed the two schemes that I have announced today in the light of the additional costs of dual-three lane over dual-two lane, the new higher traffic levels expected and the implications for disruption of traffic during the construction period. Following this full assessment, it is proposed that these two schemes will be built to dual-three lane standard. The standard to which subsequent schemes will be built will similarly be considered on their particular merits.

  A further motorway priority is completion of the central Scotland network. Some eight major motorway schemes are now being progressed rapidly. One is the M8 from Newbridge to the Edinburgh bypass. This is urgently required and I hope that firm proposals can be published this summer with a view to construction starting about two years thereafter.

  On the M80, advance works are well under way on the Stepps bypass, which will mark the start of three major schemes that will complete the motorway from Stirling to Glasgow. There are four other major motorway proposals at an advanced stage of preparation on the periphery of Glasgow. On the A77 several schemes are planned to complete the dual carriageway between Glasgow and Ayr.

  Important though the motorway network is to the economy of Scotland, the Government will continue to place equal priority on improving the whole 2,000 miles of

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  trunk road network throughout Scotland. In recent years this has meant, for example, the improvement of the A9 Perth-Inverness route, the Perth-Dundee-Aberdeen route, and the A75 Euro route to Stranraer.

  The top priority now for trunk roads is to make significant enhancements on the A96 Aberdeen-Inverness route to reduce accidents and journey times and to improve driving conditions on the route generally. The Government announced a six-point plan in December which set out a programme of work, current and planned, which will cost at least £70 million.

  One hundred miles of route cannot be re-engineered overnight. This programme therefore concentrates on addressing the priority problems first. It does so quickly and effectively. Where traffic flows are high, major schemes have been, are being or will be built. Where there are accidents occurring, remedial schemes are being implemented as a matter of urgency. Already, 30 sites for accident remedial treatment have been identified since the plan was announced and road markings are to be thoroughly overhauled. Where lack of overtaking opportunities are causing long queues of traffic, frustration and delays, we have instructed the regional council to plan to include regular safe overtaking stretches.

  The precise extent of further new schemes to improve the A96 and the speed with which they can now be implemented will depend in part on the actual amounts of new money which will become available from year to year following today's statement. I am pleased today however to be able to announce that major and early progress can be achieved. A key part of the six-point plan was to accelerate preparation of the major schemes so that they could be built if money were to become available from slippage elsewhere in the programme. I can now say that funds will be available for these major A96 schemes as soon as they are prepared. Further, in the light of both the new resources likely to be available and of the new traffic forecasts announced today, I will now be considering further significant improvements to the A96 which might be appropriate.
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  The trunk road programme now contains major schemes to improve almost all roads in the trunk road network. Further schemes will be added as studies identifying requirements are completed. In particular, my Department is about to recdeive final assessments from the "Routes South of Edinburgh" study. Before I make a final decision on the way forward in the light of the study, it is my intention to issue a consultation paper detailing the options which have emerged and inviting comment from a wide range of interests. I hope to be able to issue the consultation paper during the summer.

  I have also decided to instigate a further study to ensure that both trunk and other key principal roads, the vital links between major centres of Scotland, are in the best possible shape to meet the demands of the latter part of this century and into the next. No network wide general review of traffic flows, pressure points and potential to enhance development has been carried out for some time. If roads investment is to be substantially increased—and it is—it is critical to be sure that the money will be spent in the right places. It is particularly necessary, therefore, to review the situation now. The regional councils will have a role to play in this and my Department will be consulting them to discuss the way forward.

  Publicity
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library details of each major publicity campaign mounted by his Department in 1985–86 and each successive year, including in each case the objectives of the campaign, the intended audience and the outcome of the monitoring of the achievement of the intended objectives, and national research conducted for him by the Central Office of Information together with a note of the intended objectives in the campaigns in 1989–90.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 2 May 1989]: Details have been placed in the Library today.

  AIRLINES OVERFLYING THE GULF: SAFETY
  AIRLINES OVERFLYING THE GULF: SAFETY
  LEGAL PROFESSION: GREEN PAPERS
  LEGAL PROFESSION: GREEN PAPERS
  WATER PLCS: CAPITAL STRUCTURE PROPOSALS
  WATER PLCS: CAPITAL STRUCTURE PROPOSALS
  ENGLISH HERITAGE: LISTED BUILDINGS—ADVICE
  ENGLISH HERITAGE: LISTED BUILDINGS—ADVICE
  FIREARMS PROVISIONS: IMPLEMENTATION
  FIREARMS PROVISIONS: IMPLEMENTATION
  SCOTLAND: USE OF JUDICIAL TIME
  SCOTLAND: USE OF JUDICIAL TIME