Written Answers of 22 February 1990

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

  Churches (Subsidence)
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will list by location the number of churches waiting compensation from British Coal due to subsidence damage; and if he will show in his answer, when the claims were first submitted.

  Mr. Alison
  The Commissioners do not possess this information. I am, however, writing to the hon. Member.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

  City College for the Technology of the Arts
  Mr. Straw
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a timetable for(a) the appointment of teachers, (b) signing of a lease for the premises, (c) closing date for application by pupils, (d) projected opening date, (e) agreement on curriculum the school will pursue, (f) the announcement of the cost of the Exchequer's contribution for capital costs and (g) the announcement of the sponsors' contribution to capital costs at the Britschool city technology college Croydon; and if he will publish a full list of sponsors for the Britschool city technology college and their projected contributions (i) in cash and (ii) in goods and services.

  Mr. MacGregor
  The lease of the premises of the city college for the technology of the arts (CCTA) in Croydon is scheduled to be signed today. The opening date for the college will be September 1991. The British phonographic industry has undertaken to provide capital funding of 40 per cent. of an agreed £5·9 million, of which my Department will provide 60 per cent. It is for the project team appointed by the sponsor to decide appropriate dates for the appointment of teachers to the college, a closing date for applications by pupils, and the details of the college's agreed curriculum. The college's principal was appointed on 1 January this year.

  Further Education
  Mr. Wareing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish the expected staying on rate in full-time education for the 16 to 18 years age group in 1992–93.

  Mr. Jackson
  The projected participation rate for full-time students aged 16 and 17 in England for 1992–93 is 47 per cent. The ages are those at 31 August 1992.

  Pupils (Attendance)
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to remedy the poor attendance record of students in the later years of secondary schooling and in schools in deprived areas; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  The national curriculum and other educational reforms being introduced by the Government will increase opportunity and motivation for all pupils and thereby help to improve school attendance. In addition, a new category of education support grants, to raise attendance at designated schools, begins in April. The grants will support three-year projects in 35 English local education authorities at a total cost in 1990–91 of £2·34 million. Most of those grants are for projects in urban programme areas. Similar arrangements apply in Wales.

  The Department has recently published a survey report by Her Majesty's inspectorate which reviews school attendance and calls attention to examples of good practice in schools and local education authorities.

  Further Education Colleges
  Mr. Fatchett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set out the total sum of bids by local education authorities for capital spending on further education colleges for 1990–91.

  Mr. Jackson
  The bids by local education authorities for capital spending on further education colleges for 1990–91 totalled £186·1 million, as follows:

  £ million

  Major building works1:

  Started prior to 1990–91

  50·0

  To start in 1990–91

  36·8

  Minor works

  25·4

  Equipment and furniture

  53·1

  Other

  20·8

  TOTAL BIDS

  186·1

  1 Projects in excess of £200,000.

  Student Awards
  Mr. Fatchett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set out, in 1987 prices, the expenditure on discretionary student awards in(a) 1984–85, (b) 1985–86, (c) 1986–87, (d) 1987–88, (e) 1988–89 and (f)

  Mr. Jackson
  The available data are as follows:

  Real terms1 expenditure on section 1(6) and section 2 discretionary awards2 1984–85 to 1987–88

  England and Wales

  £ million

  1984–85

  156·8

  1985–86

  159·8

  1986–87

  169·0

  1987–88

  171·0

  1 Real terms expenditure at 1987–88 prices.

  2 Includes expenditure on fees and maintenance.

  Education Budget
  Mr. Cormack
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what percentage of the education budget will be met by local authorities in the next financial year.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  In the present financial year local authority expenditure on education is expected to account for some four fifths of the Department's total programme. Education budgets for 1990–91 are still being determined by local education authorities. As the bulk of central Government support for local authority spending is not hypothecated to individual services, it is not possible to determine on a service by service basis what percentage of those budgets will be met from local authorities' own resources.

  Community Charge
  Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what sum of money was added to higher education students' grants representing 20 per cent. of average community charge; and when the calculation from which that sum resulted was made.

  Mr. Jackson
  The increased main rates of mandatory student grant for the academic year 1990–91 were announced on 19 December 1989. As in previous years these broadly reflected both the resources available and the net impact of several factors upon students' living costs. These factors included students' discounted liability for the community charge and the abolition of domestic rates. The basic maintenance grant is not earmarked in respect of any element of students' living costs.

  Student Loans
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the number of students in further education who will take out student loans.

  Mr. Jackson
  Top-up loans will mean extra resources for students in higher education. If 80 per cent. of those eligible were to apply, some 455,000 higher education students would receive top-up loans in 1990–91.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Footwear Imports
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received regarding the Government's continued policy concerning footwear and leather imports from Taiwan and Korea; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Redwood
  We have received a small number of representations on this matter. The European Commision is still considering the way forward in the light of member states' views.

  Sir John Farr
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will indicate, or place in the Library, the details of the scheme Her Majesty's Government intend to deploy to enforce the European Commission decision on applying for a voluntary restraint agreement covering leather and synthetic footwear imports from the Republic of Korea and Taiwan;
  852
  (2) what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the recent decision by the European Commission to enter into a voluntary restraint agreement covering leather and synthetic footwear imports from Korea and Taiwan.

  Mr. Redwood
  [holding answer 19 February 1990]: The Commission has still to decide what action, if any, to take. We understand that it may be considering Communitywide restraints on trade in leather and synthetic footwear from South Korea and Taiwan. Any restraints would, of course, have to be fully and economically justified. If, however, the industry has any evidence of unfair trading practices it should be forwarded to the DTI or the Commission.

  Securities and Investments Board
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many of the specialists recruited for the development of the Securities and Investments Board and of its rule book are no longer required;

  (2) if he will give details of the steps taken in the preparation of the planned expenditure of the Securities and Investments Board for the year 1990–91 to contain expenditure to reflect the reduction in formation and development of the regulatory role of the Securities and Investments Board;

  (3) what are the premiums which the Securities and Investments Board will be required to pay in respect of salary and rental costs as a result of the decision to relocate within central London;

  (4) whether he has any plans to make available free of charge to the public in Scotland access to the Securities and Investments Board's Prestel system which holds details of all authorised firms;

  (5) whether the manpower levels within the Securities and Investments Board are intended only to reflect the minimum personnel required to maintain compliance standards;

  which locations outside London were considered for the possible relocation of the Securities and Investments Board.

  Mr. Redwood
  [holding answer 19 February 1990]: This is a matter for the Securities and Investments Board.

ENERGY

  Wave Power
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will review his Department's policy concerning funding for research into and development of electricity generation from offshore wave power devices; and if he will make a statement on his Department's assessment of the likely cost of such electricity per kilowatt hour.

  Mr. Peter Morrison
  A thorough review of the technical and commercial viability and prospects for wave energy in the United Kingdom is currently being undertaken, following which it will be possible to review the Department's policy concerning funding for research into and development of electricity generation from offshore wave power devices. Offshore wave energy is currently considered unlikely to be competitive, with estimated costs exceeding 10p/kWh, but reassessing these costs is fundamental to the review now taking place.

  Electricity Pylons
  Sir Trevor Skeet
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has any plans to require pylons to be moved away from urban settlements in view of the effect of the electrical fields generated beneath them on human health.

  Mr. Baldry
  I have no plans to require pylons to be moved away from urban settlements in view of the presence of electrical fields. All types of electrical conductor, whether overhead or underground, and whether forming a power transmission or distribution system or simply the wiring and appliances in the home, create electric and magnetic fields.

TRANSPORT

  Road Building Objections
  Ms. Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road building objections in the form of Valentine cards he has received this month.

  Mr. Atkins
  My right hon. Friend and I and officials on our behalf have received a number of road building objections in the form of Valentine cards. All those giving names and addresses will be taken into account in the consultation process.

  Motorway Service Areas
  Mr. Amos
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on his policy towards the location and development of motorway service areas by the private sector;

  (2) if he will make it his policy to allow the private sector to take responsibility for the location and development of motorway service areas; and if he will make a statement;

  (3) what representations he has received from the major oil companies regarding the development of motorway service areas; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Atkins
  Representations have been made by certain oil companies that the initiative should be left with them to identify, seek planning clearance for, and obtain ownership of sites for new motorway service areas. The current general policy is for the Department itself to identify sites, usually on the basis of a private consultant's study, and itself to seek planning clearance and ownership, and to market the right to provide services there by competitive tender. The aim of this policy is to ensure the satisfactory choice, development and continued operation of sites, primarily from the point of view of road safety and traffic management considerations, to promote competition between operators in the interests of consumer choice and satisfaction, and to ensure an adequate return to the Exchequer by way of premium for the right to provide services at key locations on the motorway network.

  There are no present proposals to change this policy. It will however be kept under review in the light of experience and representations made.

  Civil Aviation Authority
  Mr. Amos
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to consider the privatisation of the Civil Aviation Authority; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  My right hon. Friend has at present no plans to privatise the Civil Aviation Authority.

  Mr. Amos
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will meet the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority to discuss the shortage of Civil Aviation Authority examiners to test for the commercial pilot's licence and instrument ratings examinations; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  This is a matter for the Civil Aviation Authority. I have asked the chairman of the authority to write to my hon. Friend.

  Channel Tunnel
  Mr. Henderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he set down any ordering timetable before approving investment by British Rail in the trains necessary for the direct link from the Channel tunnel to the north of England and Scotland;

  (2) what is the number of trains for the direct link from the Channel tunnel to the north of England and Scotland for which he has given investment approval to British Rail; and what is the minimum number of such trains required.

  Mr. Portillo
  While BR has outlined its plans for through services, it has not yet submitted its investment proposals with its estimate of the cost of the trains.

  Mr. Henderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the types of trains for the direct link from the Channel tunnel to the north of England and Scotland for which he has given investment approval to British Rail.

  Mr. Portillo
  BR published its plans for through services on 14 December and I refer to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Lee) on that date,Official Report, column 767. It has not yet submitted its investment proposals.

  Mr. Henderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what parameters for the completion and delivery of the order for the trains which will run from London through the Channel tunnel to the continent he set down before approving British Rail's investment in the new rolling stock;

  (2) what requirements he imposed when giving his approval to investment in new rolling stock for British Rail about the companies to be invited to tender for the order to produce the trains necessary for the direct link from the Channel tunnel to the north of England and Scotland.

  Mr. Portillo
  None. These are commercial matters for the railways concerned.

  Mr. Henderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what will be the cost of the trains which will run from London through the Channel tunnel to the continent for which he has given investment approval to British Rail.
  855
  Mr. Portillo
  I refer to the answer my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Fulham (Mr. Carrington) on 11 December 1989 at column 486.

  Mr. Henderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when reaching his decision about investment in new rolling stock for British Rail what consideration he gave to the extent to which continental trains could run directly through the Channel tunnel to the north of England and Scotland;

  (2) when reaching his decision on whether to approve investment in new rolling stock for British Rail, what consideration he gave to the extent to which existing British Rail trains would be able to run directly through the Channel tunnel to the continent from the north of England and Scotland.

  Mr. Portillo
  Neither existing BR nor continental trains can use the Channel tunnel for a variety of safety and engineering reasons.

  Mr. Trotter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to receive from British Rail its investment proposal for the trains to be used for the through passenger services to be introduced from the continent to the north of Britain.

  Mr. Portillo
  I understand that British Rail proposes to submit its proposals in April.

  London Underground
  Mr. Maples
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the eastern alignment of the proposed Jubilee line extension.

  Mr. Parkinson
  Following further work and negotiations with property developers and landowners, I am pleased to be able to authorise LRT to seek the leave of the House for the deposit of an additional provision to re-route the Jubilee line extension, from Canary Wharf to Canning Town via Greenwich point.

  The east London rail study which I announced in July last year, identified two possible alignments for the Jubilee line extension between Canary Wharf and Canning Town either via Greenwich point, or via the Brunswick foreshore. The pressure of a November deadline for LRT to deposit a Bill, for the extension, made it necessary to take a decision as early as September to plan on the basis of the shorter and cheaper alignment via Brunswick. The Bill that I authorised in November was drafted on that basis. However, since then further discussions have been held with property developers and landowners whose interests would be affected by both alignments to ascertain whether they would be prepared to meet the additional costs of providing a station and changing the route, as necessary. Each of the interested groups has offered to contribute on this basis but the financial case for proceeding with the Greenwich alignment is more robust and offers a number of additional benefits. It is essential to secure the regeneration of the industrial wasteland in the Greenwich peninsula and above all, by providing two
  856
  further river crossings it will open up new areas in south London to the Underground network. I am sure this announcement will be welcomed in those areas.

  Mersey Docks and Harbour Company
  Mr. Thornton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to dispose of his shares in the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  I have concluded that it would not be appropriate for the Government to seek to dispose of their ordinary shares in the company now in view of the inquiries by inspectors appointed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. My hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and I have, therefore, decided that in accordance with the Government's general policy on Government shareholdings the ordinary shares should be transferred into the ownership of the Treasury. At the same time I intend to relinquish the right attaching to the special share which enables my right hon. Friend to appoint up to three directors of the company.

  Road Signs
  Sir Barney Hayhoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice or instructions are given by his Department as to the signs, illumination and positioning of warning signs at major road junctions or roundabouts when the traffic lights have failed.

  Mr. Atkins
  Current guidance on these matters is contained in paragraph 5.7 of Department of Transport advice note TA 24/81, copies of which have been placed in the Library.

  Traffic Lights
  Sir Barney Hayhoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what conditions are imposed on his traffic control systems units maintenance contractor as to the urgency and intensity of the efforts to restore normal working of failed traffic lights at the Hogarth roundabout on the A4 at Chiswick and at similar major junctions.

  Mr. Atkins
  The priority to be given to repairing traffic signals in London is detailed in the TCSU's contract with its maintenance contractor and varies according to the seriousness of the incident and when it occurs. Complete failure such as happened at the Hogarth roundabout is accorded top priority and the contractor is required, if it is possible, to effect a full repair within two and a half or five hours of the fault, for weekdays or weekend respectively. If, as was the case recently at Hogarth roundabout, major civil engineering works beyond the scope of the maintenance contract are necessary to effect the repair, the maintenance contractor is required to make the installation safe and to place warning signs on approach roads until the civil works can be put in hand.

  I can assure my right hon. Friend that all concerned are alert to the need to effect repairs as quickly as possible.

  Network SouthEast (Investment)
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of investment in Network SouthEast has to earn an 8 per cent. return; and what investment projects do not have to earn this return.

  Mr. Portillo
  The basic criteria for all replacement investment in BR's subsidised sectors such as Network SouthEast are that the existing service should be maintained and that the chosen project should be the least cost option. An 8 per cent. discount rate is used to compare the costs and benefits of options, but there is no requirement for replacement investment as a whole to earn a financial return of 8 per cent. It is only when an option for investment includes an element of enhancement, for example the provision of first-class accommodation, or air conditioning, or represents an addition to the asset base, that this additional expenditure must normally be justified by its ability to earn an 8 per cent. return. We have however made it clear in the new objectives set for BR in December that where, exceptionally, additions to NSE's asset base cannot meet an 8 per cent. financial return, it is appropriate to consider whether there is a case on cost-benefit grounds. Most investment projects include elements of both replacement and enhancement, so it is not possible to provide the percentages requested.

  Network SouthEast (Property Sales)
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the major items of property sold by Network SouthEast over the last 10 years.

  Mr. Portillo
  The sale of property and land no longer required for operational purposes is handled corporately by the British Rail Property Board. Its activities are covered on page 28 of the board's annual report and accounts for 1988–89, a copy of which is in the Library.

THE ARTS

  Arts Funding
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Minister for the Arts how many representations he has received concerning Government funding of the arts; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Luce
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr. Watts) on 12 February, at column 51. I have no immediate plans to make a statement on arts funding.

  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what information he has received on the number of organisations, regionally and nationally, which are planning to(a) cut their staff, (b) cut their operations or performances and (c) close down completely in the coming financial year, following changes in funding available to them from the Government; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Luce
  It is for the management of individual arts organisations to determine the level of their staffing and operations. Like any other organisation, they must set the scope of their operations within the limits of available resources. I am confident, however, that with an increase of 22 per cent. in the Arts Council's grant over the next three years, arts organisations will continue to build on recent successes.

  Book of Kells
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Minister for the Arts if his Department has any plans to assist in the acquisition for the national collections of one of the two new facsimiles of the Book of Kells.

  Mr. Luce
  No. Decisions on acquisitions are a matter for the trustees of the national collections. I understand that a new facsimile is available for academic research in the university of London library, and that the British Library holds an earlier facsimile.

  Museums and Galleries (Thefts)
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Minister for the Arts how many reported thefts from museums and art galleries in London there have been in each of the past five years.

  Mr. Luce
  Information on the number of reported thefts from museums and art galleries in London is not held centrally.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Parliamentary Questions
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the function of the official whose signature has been sent to the hon. Member for Linlithgow under the printed phrase cleared and approved for release in the answer to written question No. 164 of 19 February from the hon. Member for Linlithgow to which the Secretary of State said he would reply as soon as possible.

  Mr. Cope
  It is the administrative practice in the Northern Ireland Office for the Parliamentary Clerk to satisfy himself, before answers to parliamentary questions as approved by the Ministers are dispatched to right hon. and hon. Members, that they contain no textual inaccuracies or other errors and to confirm to those responsible for their dispatch that such a check has been carried out.

  Kincora Boys' Home
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will arrange for his officials to meet Sir George Terry to discuss the need for a wide inquiry into the affairs surrounding the Kincora boys' home.

  Mr. Brooke
  [holding answer 19 February 1990]: I have no plans to do so.

  Integrated Schools
  Mr. William Ross
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a list of all primary, secondary and grammar schools in Northern Ireland which have been granted integrated status, showing the number of pupils attending each school in each of the last three years.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  [holding answer 21 February 1990]: The table sets out the names of the seven integrated primary and secondary schools that have achieved voluntary maintained status, together with their pupil enrolments at January in each of the years 1988, 1989 and 1990:
  859

  Pupil Numbers

  January

  January

  January

  1988

  1989

  1990

  Primary

  Hazelwood (Newtownabbey)

  160

  199

  208

  Forge (Belfast)

  130

  171

  186

  All Children's (Newcastle)

  —

  86

  103

  Bridge (Banbridge)

  —

  107

  140

  Milstrand (Portrush)

  —

  83

  115

  Secondary

  Lagan College (Belfast)

  500

  558

  585

  Hazelwood College (Belfast)

  —

  215

  293

  Mr. William Ross
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what numbers of pupils presently attend an integrated school in Northern Ireland; what percentage of pupils this number represents, for(a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) grammar schools; what information he has as to how many pupils attend such schools in each education and library board area; and how many in each board area are (i) Roman Catholic, (ii) Protestant and (iii) other, or as much of such information as is available to him.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  [holding answer 21 February 1990]: The seven integrated schools that are grant-aided as voluntary maintained schools had an aggregate enrolment of 1,630 pupils at January 1990.

  Enrolment figures for all schools are not yet available for January 1990 but at the latest date for which comparable figures are available (January 1989) the five integrated primary schools had 646 pupils, representing 0·4 per cent. of all primary school enrolments in Northern Ireland and the two secondary schools had 773 pupils, representing 0·8 per cent. of all secondary school enrolments.

  In addition to the seven grant-aided integrated schools, there are three integrated primary schools operating as independent schools:

  Pupils

  Windmill Integrated Primary School

  59

  Enniskillen Integrated Primary School

  64

  Braidside Integrated Primary School (Ballymena)

  36

  The figures for the four education and library board areas in which these schools are situated are as follows:

  Numbers

  Belfast

  687

  South Eastern

  688

  North Eastern

  115

  Southern

  140

  Information as to the religious affiliations of pupils at schools in Northern Ireland is not readily available.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

  Paternity Leave
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Attorney-General what paternity leave is allowed to staff in his Department; and if he will make a statement.
  860
  The Attorney-General
  At present paternity leave is not available to civil servants. The Treasury is, however, finalising arrangements for the introduction of an entitlement to two days' paid paternity leave.

NATIONAL FINANCE

  >Business Expansion Scheme
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has for each of the years of the existence of BES on(a) the regional distribution of BES funds and the regional distribution of small firms, (b) the distribution of BES investments by two digit standard industrial classification, or as detailed as possible and (c) the average size of investment.

  Mr. Lilley
  Information on the companies receiving investments through the business expansion scheme is published in chapter 7 of "Inland Revenue Statistics 1989". Further information that is readily available is as follows:

  Companies receiving BES investments, 1987–88

  Industry

  Number of companies

  Amount of investment

  £ million

  Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry

  21

  9

  Fishing

  20

  6

  Manufacture of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals

  28

  3

  Mechanical Engineering

  26

  2

  Electrical and Electronic Engineering

  50

  5

  Manufacture of Transport Equipment

  20

  7

  Instrument Engineering

  20

  2

  Food and Drink Industry

  30

  2

  Textile, Clothing, Footwear Industry

  23

  1

  Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products

  38

  3

  Other Manufacturing Industries

  47

  4

  Construction and Real Estate

  45

  34

  Wholesale Distribution

  34

  6

  Retail Distribution

  87

  27

  Distribution and Repair of Motor Vehicles

  24

  3

  Hotels and Catering

  70

  38

  Transport and Storage Services

  27

  1

  Business, Professional and Technical Services

  68

  6

  Medical, Educational and Social Services

  36

  30

  Recreational, Hairdressing and Personal Services

  56

  4

  Others

  12

  2

  Total

  782

  195

  The average size of investment per company is as follows:

  £ thousand

  1983–84

  147

  1984–85

  183

  1985–86

  224

  1986–87

  226

  1987–88

  256

  11988–89

  180

  1 Provisional.

  Single Parents
  Mr. Frank Field
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for(a) 1960, (b) 1970, (c) 1980 and (d) the latest year, the number of single people with children who work and pay tax; and if he will estimate the numbers below the tax threshold.

  Mr. Lilley
  In 1989–90 an estimated quarter of a million working lone parents pay tax and about the same number are in work, but below the tax threshold. Estimates are based on the 1987 family expenditure survey and are provisional. Figures for the earlier years are not available.

  Personal Disposable Income
  Mr. Thornton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing annual consumers' expenditure and personal disposable income from 1979 to 1988 in(a) owner-occupier households and (b) other households.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  An analysis of consumers' expenditure and personal disposable income is not available in the form requested. Estimates by tenure of average weekly household expenditure and income are published annually in the report of the family expenditure survey.

  Civil Service Pensions
  Mr. Andrew Bowden
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what data would be required to enable a reliable assessment to be made of the cost of extending payment of Civil Service widows' pensions to the widows of post-retirement marriages of civil servants who retired before April 1978;

  (2) if he will estimate the numbers of surviving retired male civil servants who retired before 6 April 1978.

  Mr. Ryder
  I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave him on 9 January 1990, at column 575. I regret that the information requested could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

  Coins
  Sir John Wheeler
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake a review of the United Kingdom coinage so as to replace the present bronze 1p

  Property sales in 1988

  Range of consideration (lower limit)

  £0

  £10,000

  £20,000

  £30,000

  £50,000

  £100,000

  £250,000

  All values

  Region

  Number1

  Value2

  Number1

  Value2

  Number1

  Value2

  Number1

  Value2

  Number1

  Value2

  Number1

  Value2

  Number1

  Value2

  Number1

  Value2

  North

  21

  98

  21

  310

  21

  507

  24

  910

  10

  639

  2

  256

  1

  415

  98

  3,135

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  21

  80

  39

  606

  48

  1,227

  46

  1,745

  22

  1,448

  4

  513

  1

  994

  182

  6,613

  East Midlands

  21

  92

  25

  375

  33

  849

  50

  1,980

  36

  2,386

  6

  855

  2

  1,292

  173

  7,829

  East Anglia

  6

  15

  6

  93

  6

  149

  26

  1,111

  41

  2,785

  8

  1,058

  2

  1,371

  95

  6,581

  South East

  36

  67

  20

  315

  27

  662

  81

  3,381

  274

  19,262

  82

  11,751

  14

  10,181

  534

  45,618

  Greater London

  30

  42

  16

  231

  13

  326

  25

  1,035

  167

  11,934

  60

  8,773

  14

  13,684

  326

  36,025

  South West

  21

  45

  17

  252

  18

  455

  66

  2,704

  98

  6,782

  23

  3,277

  4

  2,849

  247

  16,363

  West Midlands

  26

  80

  22

  323

  18

  459

  47

  1,836

  38

  2,544

  9

  1,266

  2

  1,594

  162

  8,103

  North West

  40

  160

  42

  643

  58

  1,460

  57

  2,192

  31

  2,083

  5

  731

  2

  1,394

  234

  8,664

  Wales

  18

  69

  15

  220

  26

  654

  30

  1,171

  16

  1,026

  3

  416

  1

  498

  110

  4,053

  England and Wales

  240

  748

  224

  3,368

  268

  6,747

  452

  18,064

  733

  50,890

  203

  28,894

  42

  34,272

  2,162

  142,983

  1 Thousands.

  2 £ million.

  Source: Survey of Conveyancing 1988.
  862
  and 2p coins with copper-plated pieces; and if he will state the excess cost to the Treasury of providing these denominations in the current metal.

  Mr. Ryder
  I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Sumberg) on 6 February, at column 540. The excess cost to the Treasury of continuing to provide 1p and 2p coins in bronze as compared with copper-plated steel depends on metal prices and on the number of coins issued, but a reasonable estimate is between £2 million and £4 million a year.

  Sir John Wheeler
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the smaller size denomination of 5p and 10p to be issued by United Kingdom banks; if he has the coinage under review; if he will issue a £2 coin for circulation; what other plans he has for a redesign of the reverse of the coinage; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Ryder
  The new, smaller 5p coin will be issued by the United Kingdom banks in June 1990 and the new, smaller 10p coins will be issued in June 1992. These changes followed a general review of the coinage in 1987. The Royal Mint issued a pamphlet setting out various options for change and the public were invited to comment. The smaller 5p and 10p coins were the options preferred. Aspects of the coinage are always kept under review. £2 coins are issued for circulation from time to time only as commemorative coins. Two versions of the £2 coin were, however, issued last year to commemorate the Bill of Rights in England and the Claim of Right in Scotland. There are no immediate plans to issue a further £2 coin or to redesign the reverse of the coinage.

  Property Sales
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will provide a breakdown on a regional basis for the 1988 freehold and leasehold figures in table 15.1 of "Inland Revenue Statistics 1989".

  Mr. Lilley
  I regret that reliable information is not available at the level of detail requested. Available information is in the table:

  Rateable Values
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he will provide for the boroughs of Croydon, Merton and Hounslow the number and rateable value of houses and so on with a rateable value not exceeding £100 and by(a) £50 steps to £400, (b) £100 steps to £800, (c) £800 to £1,000, (d) £1,000 to £1,500 and (e) over £1,500;

  (2) whether he will provide for the boroughs of Ealing, Waltham Forest, Redbridge and Barking and Dagenham the number and rateable value of houses and so on with a rateable value not exceeding £100 and by (a) £50 steps to £400, (b) £100 steps to £800, (c) £800 to £1,000, (d) £1,000 to £1,500 and (e) over £1,500;

  (3) whether he will provide for the boroughs of Wandsworth, Greenwich and Lewisham the number and rateable value of houses and so on with a rateable value not exceeding £100 and by (a) £50 steps to £400, (b) £100 steps to £800, (c) £800 to £1,000, (d) £1,000 to £1,500 and (e) over £1,500;

  (4) Whether he will provide for the districts of Stafford, Cannock Chase and Staffordshire, South-East, the number and rateable value of houses and so on with a rateable value not exceeding £100 and by (a) £50 steps to £400, (b) £100 steps to £800, (c) £800 to £1,000, (d) £1,000 to £1,500 and (e) over £1,500;

  Mr. Lilley
  This information could not be produced without a disproportionate expenditure of time and resources.

  Corporation Tax
  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost in 1990–91 and in a full year of raising the lower limit for the reduced rate for corporation tax from £150,000 to £200,000; and how many firms would be affected.

  Mr. Lilley
  [holding answer 9 February 1990]: About 20,000 companies would be affected at a cost of £30 million in a full year and £20 million in 1990–91, assuming company incomes at 1989–90 levels and that the change took effect from 1 April 1989.

  Tax Relief
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the savings in a full year at 1989–90 rates of restricting all allowances and reliefs to the standard rate of tax; and if he will provide a breakdown of the category of allowances and reliefs.

  Mr. Lilley
  [holding answer 12 February 1990]: Estimates of the direct revenue yield in a full year at 1989–90 levels of income from restricting the main income tax reliefs and allowances to the basic rate are as follows:

  £ million

  a. Personal allowances

  1,350

  b. Mortgage interest relief

  430

  c. Employee's superannuation and personal pension contributions

  200

  d. Retirement annuity relief1

  110

  1 Including relief for retirement annuity payments made by employees.

  864
  It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for the effects of restricting other smaller reliefs to the basic rate. The direct revenue yield from restricting all reliefs and allowances simultaneously to the basic rate is likely to be in the order of £2¾ billion, somewhat more than the sum of the yields from restricting the reliefs and allowances separately; this is due to the cumulative effect of bringing more people into higher rate tax. About two thirds of those who would pay more tax as a result of this change are currently liable only at the basic rate. Estimates are based on a projection of the 1987–88 survey of personal income and are provisional. No account is taken of possible behavioural changes or the effect on receipts of capital gains tax.

WALES

  Local Government Finance
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report, now or as soon as the figures are available to him, a table indicating for each county and district authority in Wales, the budgeted spending for 1990–91, the corresponding grant-borne and community charge-borne aggregate sums, and the proposed personal community charge level.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  I will write to the hon. Gentleman when the figures become available and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.

  Waste Disposal
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the appeal procedure after the refusal of a grant of a waste disposal licence issued under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 in Wales.

  Mr. Grist
  Appellants are required to give notice of appeal on the form set out in schedule 7 to the Collection and Disposal of Waste Regulations 1988 and to provide the documentation as required by regulation 10(3).

  Schools
  Mr. Norris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table to show such information as he has to hand from the schemes of local management of schools submitted for his approval by local education authorities to show the relative values of the general schools budget, the mandatory exceptions, the discretionary exceptions and the aggregate schools budget, on a comparable basis to that published by his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science, in his reply of 5 February to the hon. Member for Epping Forest,Official Report, column 451.

  Mr. Wyn Roberts
  The following information has been taken from the local management of schools scheme submissions made by local education authorities to my right hon. Friend. The table gives the percentage figures requested; it is not possible to provide comparative cash figures because the information has been supplied using different price bases.
  865

  Local Education Authority

  Mandatory exceptions as percentage of general schools budget

  Total discretionary exceptions as percentage of general schools budget

  Aggregated schools budget as percentage of general schools budget

  Clwyd

  11·49

  24·35

  64·16

  Dyfed

  7·82

  23·43

  68·75

  Gwent

  10·13

  21·91

  67·96

  Gwynedd

  9·97

  24·87

  65·16

  Mid Glamorgan

  9·34

  23·37

  67·29

  Powys

  9·08

  23·50

  67·42

  South Glamorgan

  7·90

  16·91

  75·19

  West Glamorgan

  13·34

  18·43

  68·23

  Rateable Values
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for Wales and each major administrative division the number of (a) rateable domestic premises, (b) resident adults and (c) resident children together with (i) the

  Domestic rateable value at September 1989

  Resident Population1 (thousands)

  Local Authority

  Number of hereditaments

  Value £000

  Average Domestic Rate Poundage

  Yield £ million

  Aged 0–17

  Aged 18+

  Alyn and Deeside

  27,806

  4,440

  270·8

  12·02

  17·8

  54·8

  Colwyn

  23,584

  3,573

  281·6

  10·06

  11·6

  43·1

  Delyn

  25,618

  3,970

  269· 2

  10·69

  15·6

  49·5

  Glyndwr

  17,285

  2,206

  276·1

  6·09

  9·3

  32·2

  Rhuddlan

  22,262

  3,412

  269·5

  9·19

  11·8

  44·3

  Wrexham Maelor

  45,356

  6,126

  278·5

  17·06

  28·5

  88·5

  Carmarthen

  21,885

  2,269

  263·6

  5·98

  12·2

  43·6

  Ceredigion

  26,626

  2,957

  256·0

  7·57

  14·8

  52·2

  Dinefwr

  15,401

  1,417

  254·9

  3·61

  8·5

  30·3

  Llanelli

  30,619

  3,176

  282·1

  8·96

  16·0

  58·0

  Preseli Pembs

  28,825

  3,047

  252·3

  7·69

  16·7

  54·0

  South Pembroke

  16,854

  2,044

  258·1

  5·28

  9·8

  32·1

  Blaenau Gwent

  31,415

  2,998

  266·9

  8·00

  17·8

  59·5

  Islwyn

  25,756

  2,715

  258·5

  7·02

  15·5

  50·9

  Monmouth

  29,842

  4,482

  262·3

  11·75

  18·6

  62·7

  Newport

  52,787

  8,038

  257·4

  20·69

  30·9

  97·2

  Torfaen

  35,975

  4,519

  270·9

  12·24

  22·2

  70·1

  Aberconwy

  22,623

  3,233

  261·4

  8·45

  11·2

  42·9

  Arfon

  23,805

  2,410

  258·5

  6·23

  13·3

  41·9

  Dwyfor

  13,683

  1,519

  259·9

  3·95

  5·6

  21·4

  Meirionnydd

  16,265

  1,818

  263·0

  4·78

  6·6

  25·0

  Ynys Môn

  29,151

  3,727

  258·1

  9·62

  17·6

  53·5

  Cynon Valley

  26,710

  2,181

  273·1

  5·96

  15·0

  49·3

  Merthyr Tydfil

  23,679

  2,177

  282·6

  6·15

  13·8

  44·3

  Ogwr

  50,834

  6,213

  292·8

  18·19

  32·4

  105·1

  Rhondda

  32,123

  2,067

  286·5

  5·92

  18·0

  58·6

  Rhymney Valley

  39,172

  4,181

  292·0

  12·21

  26·8

  77·7

  Taff Ely

  36,414

  4,224

  283·9

  11·99

  23·4

  71·5

  Brecknock

  16,676

  1,929

  248·5

  4·79

  9·0

  32·1

  Montgomeryshire

  21,521

  2,497

  229·9

  5·74

  11·4

  39·8

  Radnorshire

  9,967

  1,135

  232·4

  2·64

  4·9

  17·7

  Cardiff

  111,753

  19,613

  222·1

  43·56

  68·0

  215·9

  Vale of Glamorgan

  43,548

  7,287

  230·0

  16·76

  28·6

  90·9

  Port Talbot

  20,457

  2,214

  301·5

  6·77

  11·0

  38·0

  Lliw Valley

  24,738

  2,481

  305·7

  7·62

  13·9

  47·9

  Neath

  26,115

  2,832

  307·2

  8·54

  15·0

  50·2

  Swansea

  73,859

  9,958

  315·0

  31·37

  42·8

  144·2

  Total Wales

  1,140,989

  145,085

  265·6

  385·14

  665·9

  2,190·9

  1 Registrar General; 1988 mid-year estimates

  Local Government and Housing Act
  Mr. Michael
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will make it his policy that the timetable for implementation of the subsidiary legislation giving effect to part V of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 in respect of Wales should allow adequate time for local
  866
  rateable value of the domestic premises, (ii) the yield from that rate and (iii) the estimated yield from a 1 per cent. levy on the capital value of the housing stock in 1988 and 1989.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  Information for Wales and each district for 1989 is shown in the following table. The estimated yield from a 1 per cent. levy on the capital value of the housing stock in 1988 and 1989 is not available.

  authorities to assess the nature of their relationship with companies and make necessary adjustments in the light of the subsidiary legislation;

  (2) whether he will make it his policy to allow a period of six months between the publication of the subordinate

  867
  legislation giving effect to part V of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 in Wales and the date from which such subsidiary legislation takes effect.

  Mr. Grist
  The implementation timetable will provide adequate time for local authorities to assess the implications of the controls on local authority companies. Part V of the 1989 Act defines a company and also specifies the tests which apply in establishing a local authority's relationship with companies for the purposes of the new regulatory system. The provisions are explained in greater detail in a consultation paper issued to local authorities in Wales last October.

  Nature Conservancy Council
  Mr. Gould
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which Welsh voluntary wildlife bodies have indicated to him support for the Government's proposals for splitting the Nature Conservancy Council.

  Mr. Wyn Roberts
  A number of other organisations in Wales have done so, including the National Farmers Union committee for Wales, the chairman and chief officers of the national parks and the committees for Wales of both the Nature Conservancy Council and the Countryside Commission.

  Channel Tunnel
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will respond to the Select Committee on Welsh Affairs report, "The Channel Tunnel: Implications for Wales," published on 21 June 1989.

  Mr. Wyn Roberts
  The command paper should be published next month.

  Ambulance Dispute
  Mr. Robert Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the cost of a settlement for ambulance personnel in Wales of(a) 6·5 per cent. from April 1989 to 1990, backdated to April 1989 with an additional 3 per cent. from April 1990 with an offer of further negotiations in October 1990 and (b) 9 per cent. from April 1989, backdated to April 1989 with an offer of further negotiations in October 1990.

  Mr. Grist
  The information requested is as follows:

  (a) £2·2 million

  (b) £2·7 million

  Welsh Language
  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish for each county education authority the number of teachers needed to(a) deliver Welsh language teaching at the primary and secondary levels as required by the national curriculum and (b) deliver all national curriculum subjects in Welsh secondary schools by teachers with the appropriate subject qualifications.

  Mr. Wyn Roberts
  The current estimate, based on 1988 pupil numbers, of the number of teachers required to deliver Welsh language teaching when the national curriculum is fully implemented is:
  868

  LEA

  Primary

  Secondary

  Clwyd

  498

  128

  Dyfed

  933

  119

  Gwent

  278

  128

  Gwynedd

  969

  97

  Mid Glamorgan

  560

  165

  Powys

  146

  38

  South Glamorgan

  290

  115

  West Glamorgan

  338

  105

  Wales

  4,012

  895

  These estimates are being revised and will take account of more recent information on pupil numbers.

  Estimates of the number of teachers required to teach subjects within the national curriculum will be available only when the results of the 1989 secondary schools staffing survey are available and have been analysed.

  Revenue Support Grant
  Sir John Stanley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether under the community charge system in Wales it is possible to identify the amount of revenue support grant attributable to each county council and to each borough and district council.

  Mr. Peter Walker
  I calculated the revenue support grant entitlements of all Welsh local authorities, under section 82(1) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, following the approval of the Welsh revenue support grant report 1990–91 on 24 January. Authorities were notified of their entitlements on 1 February. Those entitlements are listed in the following table:

  Welsh revenue support grant settlement 1990–91

  Revenue support grant

  £

  Alyn and Deeside

  3,596,953

  Colwyn

  2,725,742

  Delyn

  2,764,702

  Glyndwr

  1,721,119

  Rhuddlan

  3,178,226

  Wrexham Maelor

  5,893,988

  Carmarthen

  2,910,219

  Ceredigion

  3,673,507

  Dinefwr

  1,771,103

  Llanelli

  4,792,442

  Preseli Pembrokeshire

  3,854,649

  South Pembrokeshire

  2,743,440

  Blaenau Gwent

  6,435,008

  Islwyn

  4,976,825

  Monmouth

  3,031,576

  Newport

  10,154,847

  Torfaen

  5,646,991

  Aberconwy

  2,849,894

  Arfon

  3,692,376

  Dwyfor

  2,309,802

  Meirionnydd

  2,184,575

  Ynys Môn

  4,171,718

  Cynon Valley

  5,442,452

  Merthyr Tydfil

  5,561,740

  Ogwr

  8,624,883

  Rhondda

  8,295,768

  Rhymney Valley

  6,056,028

  Taff Ely

  5,803,832

  Brecknock

  2,202,866

  Montgomeryshire

  2,228,139

  Radnorshire

  989,607

  Cardiff

  17,925,825

  Vale of Glamorgan

  5,367,849

  Port Talbot

  3,988,218

  Lliw Valley

  3,180,384

  869

  Revenue support grant

  £

  Neath

  4,006,177

  Swansea

  15,570,241

  Clwyd

  124,120,279

  Dyfed

  117,851,755

  Gwent

  141,200,394

  Gwynedd

  82,423,396

  Mid Glamorgan

  191,709,234

  Powys

  48,371,125

  South Glamorgan

  135,014,799

  West Glamorgan

  118,903,306

  TOTAL DISTRICTS

  180,323,711

  TOTAL COUNTIES

  959,594,288

  TOTAL WALES

  1,139,917,999

SCOTLAND

  Salmon
  Mr. Wilson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what advice has been given to the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Trust regarding the acquisition of salmon netting rights in Scotland.

  Mr. Lang
  Acquisitions of salmon fishing rights in Scotland are private transactions. The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland does not advise on either the acquisition or sale of such rights.

  Advice is given by DAFS scientists to salmon interests including the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Trust (Scotland) on possible research or monitoring activities which they might fund or take part in. Discussions on this basis took place with the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Trust (Scotland) in March 1988 and in April 1989. Similar discussions are conducted with the Atlantic Salmon Trust, other research trusts concerned with particular river systems, individual district salmon fishery boards and the River Tweed commissioners. General discussions also take place from time to time with bodies representing the collective interests of district boards, anglers and netsmen.

  Mr. Summerson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to make a decision on the proposed scheme of salmon tagging being drawn up by the River Tweed commissioners.

  Mr. Lang
  On 26 January the River Tweed commissioners submitted formal proposals for a local scheme of tagging wild salmon in the Tweed area. The proposed scheme would be organised and financed locally but the River Tweed commissioners have sought my right hon. and learned Friend's views about possible new, local powers to support the scheme. These local powers would require primary legislation. I expect there to be further discussions with the River Tweed commissioners on these and other aspects of their proposals in the coming weeks.

  Local Government Finance
  Mr. Jack
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what evaluation his Department has made in 1990 of alternative methods of raising finance for Scottish local government other than the community charge.
  870
  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  A number of possible options for financing local government were evaluated before the decision was taken to abolish domestic rates and introduce the community charge. There has been no need since then for any study of alternative methods of finance. The Labour party's proposed roof tax is essentially a return to domestic rates and if introduced would mean a return to the many anomalies and unfairness of that system.

  Mr. Canavan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of people who have gained financially from the introduction of the poll tax.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  At the outset of the new system it was estimated that around 50 per cent. of households would benefit from the introduction of the community charge. Other changes in the local government finance system, introduced at the same time as the community charge, and the lack of information on what local authority budgets and rate poundages would have been under the previous system make it impossible to provide further information.

  Data Protection
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has any plans to introduce regulations that allow voters to opt out or opt in to the sale of their name and address from electoral registers; whether he has had discussions with the Data Protection Registrar concerning the sale of names and addresses from the electoral register; and whether he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  We have no plans to introduce such regulations. The operation of the electoral registration system requires that all the information in the register should be freely available to the public. The provisions of the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 1986 governing the publication and supply of the register reflect this fact and the conclusion that its use by commercial organisations could not effectively be prevented. The Data Protection Registrar was consulted before the introduction of the provisions in those regulations governing the sale of the electoral register in data form.

  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has any plans to introduce regulations to alert voters to the fact that their name and address are routinely disclosed from the electoral register for poll tax purposes; and whether he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  We have no plans to do so.

  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has any plans to introduce regulations to protect voters who may be vulnerable to attack if their name and address appeared on an electoral register that is available for sale or inspection by the public; and whether he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  We have no present plans to do so, but we shall continue to keep the position under careful review.

  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has provided guidance to electoral registration
  871
  officers concerning the privacy implications of the inspection or sale of the names and addresses from the electoral register without the knowledge or consent of the voter; whether his Department has studied the implications of linking copies of the electoral register information to that of the census or to other large databases; and whether he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The Scottish Home and Health Department has issued guidance to electoral registration officers on the electoral registration process, including the inspection and sale of the register, but not specifically on questions of privacy. Individual census records will not be available for linkage to the electoral register or other large databases.

  Region/Islands Area

  Number of domestic subjects at 1 April 1988

  Total rateable value at 1 April 1988 of domestic subjects

  Gross domestic rate yield 1988–89

  Adult population (18 and over) at June 1988

  Under 18 population at June 1988

  Borders

  46,209

  26,621,187

  15,120,834

  80,306

  22,286

  Central

  107,162

  68,128,907

  47,622,106

  207,278

  64,248

  Dumfries and Galloway

  61,855

  38,539,073

  22,314,123

  114,364

  33,118

  Fife

  141,111

  89,981,175

  62,446,935

  263,032

  81,685

  Grampian

  207,913

  131,750,260

  73,384,895

  383,216

  118,178

  Highland

  85,953

  45,603,970

  28,730,501

  151,663

  50,203

  Lothian

  312,045

  230,025,097

  169,988,547

  582,047

  159,132

  Strathclyde

  926,810

  611,761,080

  474,114,837

  1,766,910

  549,829

  Tayside

  170,187

  105,941,973

  73,523,729

  304,985

  88,763

  Orkney

  8,108

  2,621,357

  1,258,251

  14,822

  4,633

  Shetland

  9,076

  3,277,446

  3,310,220

  16,210

  6,154

  Western Isles

  13,295

  3,577,367

  2,575,704

  23,214

  7,725

  Population Statistics
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many households there are in Scotland with only one adult over the age of 18 years; how many of those are single-parent families with children; and how many are single people over pensionable age.

  Mr. Rifkind
  Information in the form requested is not available. However, it is estimated that at 31 December 1986, there were 564,000 households with one adult over the age of 16 (either living alone or with children under the age of 16) in Scotland; 70,000 of these are estimated to be lone-parent families, while 325,000 are estimated to consist of one person over pensionable age living alone.

  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide the most recent available breakdown of the Scottish adult population by household size in(a) total and (b) percentage terms.

  Mr. Rifkind
  Information in the form requested is not available. The estimates in the table are of the population in private households aged 16 and over, by the number of persons aged 16 and over in the household, at 31 December 1986:

  Estimated population aged 16 and over in private households 31 December 1986, Scotland

  Number of persons aged 16 and over in household

  Population

  Percentage

  One

  564,000

  14·4

  Two

  1,921,000

  49·0

  Three

  832,000

  21·2

  Four

  438,000

  11·2

  Rateable Values
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each region in Scotland the number of (a) rateable domestic premises before the poll tax came into effect, (b) resident adults and (c) resident children together with (i) the rateable value of the domestic premises, (ii) the yield from that rate and (iii) the estimated yield from a 1 per cent. levy on the capital value of the housing stock in 1988 and 1989.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The available information is set out in the table. Gross yield is calculated by applying poundages (net of domestic relief) to total rateable values. Figures on actual yield after allowing for reliefs, non-payment, and so on are not available separately for the domestic sector. Reliable estimates of the capital value of the housing stock are not available.

  Number of persons aged 16 and over in household

  Population

  Percentage

  Five or more

  163,000

  4·2

  TOTAL

  3,918,000

  100·0

  Incomes
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the most recent household income figures for Scotland.

  Mr. Rifkind
  The most recent family expenditure survey shows that in 1987–88 the average income per household in Scotland was £234·23 per week.

  Rating System (Costs)
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the cost of(a) administering the (i) domestic and (ii) domestic and non-domestic rate rebate system in Scotland in 1987–88, (b) administering the poll tax rebate system in Scotland in 1989–90 and (c) administering the poll tax transitional relief scheme in Scotland in 1989–90 and 1990–91.

  Mr. Rifkind
  No information is held centrally on the cost of administering non-domestic rate rebates in 1987–88. Neither is it possible to distinguish between the costs for administering domestic rate rebates and those for rent rebates and rent allowances from the information which is submitted by local authorities. The total cost of housing benefit administration in 1987–88 was £15·3
  873
  million. Similarly, it is not possible to separate community charge rebates from the other elements of housing benefit administration in 1989–90, but the local authorities' estimate of the total cost is £21·7 million. The cost of administering the proposed personal community charge transitional relief scheme in 1989–90 and 1990–91 has not yet been established.

  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the estimated cost of collecting non-domestic rates in Scotland in 1989–90.

  Mr. Rifkind
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 25 January.

  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the Government's most recent estimate of the(a) capital expenditure, (b) revenue costs and (c) extra staff employed by local authorities in connection with the establishment and maintenance of the poll tax register and with the administration and collection of the poll tax and poll tax rebate system in Scotland for 1988–89 and 1989–90.

  Mr. Rifkind
  Information on actual capital expenditure is not yet available centrally for 1988–89 or 1989–90 in respect of establishment and maintenance of the community charge system in Scotland. However, in order to assist local authorities in preparing for the introduction of the community charge, additional capital allocations were provided in 1987–88 and 1988–89 totalling £26 million. The administrative cost of community charge collection for Scotland in 1989–90 is estimated by local authorities at £23·3 million and the cost of registration work is estimated at £8·5 million. These figures are exclusive of the costs of operating the community charge rebate system. These costs are offset by the savings which local authorities made by no longer having to value domestic properties or collect domestic rates.

  It is not possible from the information collected to separate local authority expenditure on the administration of community charge rebates from that incurred on other housing benefits but local authorities have estimated the cost of administering housing benefits as a whole at £15·9 million in 1988–89 and £21·7 million in 1989–90.

  No information is held centrally on the number of staff employed by authorities on community charge work. The organisational arrangements for community charge collection are entirely a matter for the local authorities themselves.

  Health Service (Expenditure)
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total expenditure on the Health Service in Scotland in(a) gross terms and (b) net of pay costs in constant prices and indexed (1980=100) for each year since 1980 including estimated expenditure for 1990–91.

  Mr. Rifkind
  The information in the format requested is not fully available. Details of gross expenditure in both cash terms and adjusted by the gross domestic product deflator, are given in the table:
  874

  Total National Health Service Expenditure in Scotland

  £ million cash

  Adjusted by the GDP deflator to 1989–90 prices

  Index (1979–80 = 100)

  1979–80

  1,064

  2,143

  100·0

  1980–81

  1,343

  2,386

  106·7

  1981–82

  1,531

  2,374

  110·7

  1982–83

  1,660

  2,401

  112·0

  1983–84

  1,773

  2,450

  114·3

  1984–85

  1,901

  2,502

  116·7

  1985–86

  2,015

  2,517

  117·4

  1986–87

  2,144

  2,591

  120·9

  1987–88

  2,328

  2,672

  124·6

  1988–89

  2,591

  2,772

  129·3

  1989–901

  2,851

  2,851

  133·0

  1990–912

  3,064

  2,918

  136·1

  1 Projected outturn.

  2 Provisional allocation.

  Rate Arrears
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total number of summary warrants granted for domestic rate arrears in Scotland in each year since 1985–86.

  Mr. Rifkind
  Information is not held centrally on the number of persons subject to summary warrant procedure for non-payment of domestic rates.

  Debt Recovery
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of speculative bank account arrestments served in Scottish clearing banks for the recovery of outstanding debts to local authorities in each year since 1985–86; and how many were successful in(a) locating an account and (b) recovering the amount outstanding.

  Mr. Rifkind
  Information is not collected centrally on the use of bank account arrestments for the recovery of local authority debts.

  Lothian Health Board
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a further statement on his allocation of £319·217 million to Lothian health board for 1990–91, giving the percentage increase over the previous year in cash, real and volume terms.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The gross allocation to Lothian health board for 1989–90 is £295·956 million. The figure of £319·217 million which I have announced for 1990–91 is likely to be supplemented later in respect of breast cancer screening, waiting list initiatives and a number of minor services. The announced figure represents an increase of 7·86 per cent. in cash terms or 2·73 per cent. in real terms. No separate NHS pay and prices index is maintained for Scotland and it is not therefore possible to calculate the increase in volume terms.

  Ambulance Dispute
  Mr. Robert Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what costs have fallen to regional authorities in Scotland as a result of provision of services which otherwise would have been provided by the ambulance service during the current ambulance dispute.
  875
  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  Police costs will be reimbursed by the Common Services Agency. Regional authorities have not been asked to provide any other services.

  Mr. Robert Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the cost of a settlement for ambulance personnel in Scotland of(a) 6·5 per cent. from April 1989 to 1990, backdated to April 1989 with an additional 3 per cent. from April 1990 with an offer of further negotiations in October 1990 and (b) 9 per cent. from April 1989, backdated to April 1989 with an offer of further negotiations in October 1990.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  Based on the 1988–89 pay bill of £21·6 million for ambulance men and women in Scotland, the cost of a settlement would be £2·45 million in case(a) and £2·91 million in case (b).

  Revenue Support Grant
  Sir John Stanley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether under the community charge system in Scotland it is possible to identify the amount of revenue support grant attributable to each regional council and to each district council.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Yes. Details of the amounts of grant payable to each local authority in Scotland in respect of 1990–91 were specified in the Revenue Support Grant (Scotland) Order 1990.

  Civil Engineers
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many civil engineers are employed in Scotland in(a) the public sector and (b) the private sector; and if he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The figures requested are not recorded separately in Government employment statistics. Such information may be available from the Institution of Civil Engineers. Periodically it publishes details of its members and their employment.

  Grant-aided Colleges
  Mr. Allan Stewart
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will announce the allocations of grant in aid for recurrent expenditure to the grant-aided colleges in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lang
  I am pleased to announce that the Secretary of State has made the following offers of grant in aid for recurrent expenditure to the 17 grant-aided colleges for the financial year 1990–91. The offers, which are conditional on parliamentary approval of the supply estimates, are as follows:

  Offer 1990–91 £ million

  Central Institutions

  Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art

  3·844

  Dundee Institute of Technology

  7·273

  Edinburgh College of Art

  3·973

  Glasgow College of Technology

  12·588

  Glasgow School of Art

  3·557

  Napier Polytechnic of Edinburgh

  18·441

  Paisley College of Technology

  10·661

  Queen Margaret College

  4·603

  876

  Offer 1990–91 £ million

  Queen's College, Glasgow

  3·183

  Robert Gordon's Institute of Technology

  11·953

  Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama

  2·468

  Scottish College of Textiles

  2·403

  Colleges of Education

  Craigie College of Education

  1·555

  Jordanhill College of Education

  10·534

  Moray House College of Education

  7·906

  Northern College of Education

  6·337

  St. Andrew's College of Education

  3·803

  Comparisons of these grants in aid against those made in 1989–90 need to take account of the shift of public funding towards fees and other factors. The offers are designed to ensure that no college will receive an increase of less than 3 per cent. or more than 13 per cent over the initial allocations made in 1989–90. Because the colleges will also benefit from substantial savings as a result of higher rates relief for charities, this should allow expenditure to increase by at least 5 per cent. in 1990–91, and for most colleges by substantially more.

  Excluding the effect of the shift of funding to fees. which will be neutral in terms of public expenditure, but bringing into account the savings that will accrue to the colleges from changes in rates relief for charities, the overall level of public funding for the colleges will be some 11 per cent. higher than in 1989–90. I am pleased that we have been able to provide such an increase in funding, which should enable the colleges to further expand student intakes, notably for pre-service courses of teacher training.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Nuclear Arms
  Dr. Thomas
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek a meeting with his counterpart in Buenos Aires to discuss the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has no plans yet to meet the Foreign Minister of Argentina.

  UN Convention on Rights of the Child
  Mr. Cartwright
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Her Majesty's Government intend to sign and ratify the United Nations convention on the rights of the child; and what reservations Her Majesty's Government intend to enter on various articles of the convention.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  We intend to sign and ratify the convention on the rights of the child as soon as possible. We are currently considering what reservations, if any, may be necessary.

  Yanomani Indians
  Mr. Allan Stewart
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had any discussions through United Nations organisations on the Yanomani Indians in Brazil; and if he will make a statement.
  877
  Mr. Sainsbury
  We have not had discussions specifically through United Nations organisations, but my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for the Environment both raised this question with the Brazilian president-elect when he was in London on 8 February.

  Green Island, Hong Kong
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the total area of Green Island, the total area of the building in which the Vietnamese boat people are held and the total number of people so held.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  Green Island has a total land area of 13·4 hectares. The reception centre, where all asylum seekers arriving in Hong Kong are first taken for the normal port, health and immigration procedures before being transferred after a few days to one of the main detention centres, is situated on a site of 4,150 sq m. The two dormitories in the centre can normally accommodate 480 people but are currently being used to house 500 people. The combined floor area of the two dormitories is about 600 sq m.

  Refugees
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UNHCR lays down any minimum floor space standards for refugees pending examination of their cases.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  The UNHCR has not established any minimum floor space standards for asylum seekers held pending examination of their cases.

  Panama
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current state of Anglo-Panamanian relations.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  We now enjoy good and friendly relations with the Republic of Panama.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his reply of 9 January,Official Report, columns 581–82, what information he has now of the number of deaths and injuries among civilians arising from the invasion of Panama by the United States of America.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  The latest information available to us indicates that 203 Panamanian civilians and three American civilians were killed. No figures have been released on the number of civilians injured.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what current arrangements exist in the United Kingdom to represent the interests of the Panamanian Government.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  The Panamanian Government are represented by their chargé d'affaires at the embassy of the Republic of Panama in London.

PRIME MINISTER

  Press Office
  Mr. Ashton
  To ask the Prime Minister what is the estimated cost of her Department's press office in 1990.

  The Prime Minister
  The latest estimate of total expenditure by my press office in 1989–90 is £361,520.

  West German Railways
  Mr. Adley
  To ask the Prime Minister when she next intends to meet Chancellor Kohl; and if she will raise with him his Government's railway investment policy.

  The Prime Minister
  I next expect to meet Chancellor Kohl at the annual Konigswinter conference on 29 March. I do not expect to raise the question of his Government's railway investment policy with him.

  Blaby
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Prime Minister what plans she has to visit Blaby.

  The Prime Minister
  I have at present no plans to visit Leicestershire.

  German Unification
  Sir David Price
  To ask the Prime Minister what is the Government's current policy towards the pace and scope of reunification between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

  The Prime Minister
  The Government, in common with the other western allies have always supported German unification provided that it comes about as a result of the freely expressed choice of the people of the two German states. It must respect the relevant agreements and treaties and all of the principles of the Helsinki final act. The Government's aim has been to see a framework within which the full implications of Germany's unification could be properly worked out. We very much welcome the achievement of that framework with the agreement at the open skies conference in Ottawa to start meetings of the four powers and the two German states.

  Barley Mow Estate, Limehouse
  Ms. Gordon
  Q.171 To ask the Prime Minister whether she will visit the Barley Mow estate in Limehouse.

  The Prime Minister
  I have at present no plans to do so.

  Environment (International Co-operation)
  Mr. Hunter
  Q.183 To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a further statement on the United Kingdom's contribution to international co-operation on environmental issues.

  >The Prime Minister
  The Government work to protect the global environment through a wide range of international organisations including the European Community, the United Nations and the OECD. Our £3 million annual contribution to the United Nations environment programme is the third highest in the world. In my speech to the United Nations General Assembly last
  879
  November I drew attention to the problem of global climate change, one of the greatest threats to the world environment. I also reiterated our call for an international framework convention on climate change which has been widely supported. We are playing an active part in the intergovernmental panel on climate change and we have committed an additional £100 million over the next three years to help conserve tropical forests.

  Downing Street Services
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Prime Minister what services at 10 Downing street are contracted out; what is the cost per service per year to public funds, respectively; and if she will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  The contracted-out services regularly used by my office include the following:

  Service

  Estimated Annual Cost

  £

  Window Cleaning

  3,000

  Catering

  24,570

  Laundry and Dry Cleaning

  4,800

  Taxis

  7,420

  Switchboard

  223,000

  In addition, in the current year, my office has made use of other contracted-out services for minor maintenance and redecoration and the management of refurbishment of the state rooms. The costs of all these contracted-out services are met from moneys voted by Parliament.

  Downing Street (Security)
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Prime Minister what level of public scrutiny exists over the provision of security expenditure associated with Downing street.

  The Prime Minister
  Expenditure associated with 10 Downing street is carried on the Cabinet Office (OMCS) class XX, vote 1 and is brought to account in the annual appropriation account which is audited and certified by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

  Engagements
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 February.

  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 February.

  Mr. Stern
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 February.

  Mr. Lofthouse
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 February.

  Mr. Hayes
  To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 22 February.

  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, including one with the German Defence Minister and one with the National Pensioners Convention.

HEALTH

  Food Safety
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what legislation to safeguard health is being considered in respect of blood gel plasma meat products; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Freeman
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food gave the hon. Member for Truro (Mr. Taylor) on 16 February at columns 444–46. As with any other food, fitness for human consumption is subject to the Food Act 1984 and regulations made under that Act. There is no need to legislate separately on safety grounds.

  Hospital Trusts
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department plans the contracting out of any additional services; and whether self-governing trusts will be allowed to contract out nursing or medical services.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  There are no plans for another central initiative for additional specific NHS services to be subject to mandatory competitive tendering. Competitive tendering does, however, offer scope for increasing effectiveness and value for money across a wide range of services. We shall continue to support and encourage its extension. NHS trusts will be free to decide how best to provide services in order to fulfil the contracts that they make with health authorities and other purchasers.

  Abortions
  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the number of mentions of rape or incest in certificates for abortions performed on pregnancies of 18 weeks' or more gestation, but excluding any mention of statutory grounds 1, 4, 5 and 6.

  Mr. Freeman
  There was one abortion notification form received for England and Wales during 1988 for an abortion performed at 18 weeks' or more gestation, under either grounds 2 or 3 of the Abortion Act 1967, on which rape was mentioned. There were no mentions of incest in the same categories.

  It should be noted that neither rape nor incest are in themselves statutory grounds for performing an abortion, and are not required to be specified on the notification form by the certifying doctor. The available data, therefore, can be compiled only from occasions on which such information is volunteered on the notification form.

  Toxic Shock Syndrome
  Ms. Richardson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether he has any evidence as to whether women are at risk of contracting toxic shock syndrome through using tampons;

  (2) whether his Department has evidence to confirm or deny the United States Federal Drugs Agency's list assessment of contracting toxic shock syndrome at one to 17 per 100,000 women and that there is a risk of death.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  Information received from the public health laboratory service (PHLS) suggests that
  881
  in recent years there has been on average one death per year from toxic shock syndrome (TSS) associated with tampon use in the United Kingdom. The public health laboratory service intends to publish data on the incidence of toxic shock syndrome shortly—which will include data on tampon-related toxic shock syndrome.

  Tampons
  Ms. Richardson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to introduce standardised absorbency regulations for tampons.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  This Department and the Department of Trade and Industry have asked the industry to show the grades of absorbency of tampons clearly on the packets.

  Ms. Richardson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he is aware of any research which has been conducted to ascertain whether tampon usage may be linked to the incidence of cervical cancer.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  We are not aware of evidence of a causal link between sanitary protection products and cervical cancer.

  Ms. Richardson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will conduct research into the health effects of tampon usage including toxic shock syndrome, vaginal ulcerations and the possibility of tampon fibres becoming attached to vaginal membranes.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  There are no present plans to do so.

  Ms. Richardson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has conducted any research into links between tampon absorbency and the incidence of toxic shock syndrome.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  No, but there has been such research in the United States.

  NHS Reform
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish of 12 February,Official Report, column 26, relating to arrangements for patients in Denton and Reddish, if he will make a statement on the implications for these arrangements of the proposed reforms of the National Health Service.

  Mr. Freeman
  Stockport and Tameside, in common with other district health authorities, will soon be making arrangements to discuss with general practitioners treating residents in their areas what future arrangements should be made for contracts for hospital treatment in a wide range of hospitals, including NHS trust hospitals, hospitals they manage themselves and those managed by other district health authorities. The reform of the National Health Service will provide for better treatment and better value for money leading to more treatment for more patients as the standards achieved by the best hospitals are rewarded by the flow of additional resources.

  Tranquillisers
  Mr. Fearn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the new tranquilliser Flucto-Trazepan has yet been submitted for approval; and whether it is being tested to ensure that it is not addictive and does not have dangerous side effects.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  For reasons of commercial confidentiality it is not usual practice to disclose information about whether or not an application for a product licence has been received or the progress of any such application.

  Nursing Staff, Leeds
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing staff have yet to have their regrading resolved or are currently awaiting appeals in(a) Leeds Western health authority and (b) Leeds Eastern health authority.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  This information is not collected centrally.

  Wythenshawe Hospital
  Mr. Alfred Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his reply of 7 February,Official Report, column 706, if he will seek a further assurance from the chairman of the North Western regional health authority about expediting a reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe of 16 January to the chairman of the North Western regional health authority about the urgent problems facing the regional cardiac unit, raised with the right hon. Member by all the consultant cardiologists and cardiac surgeons at Wythenshawe hospital.

  Mr. Freeman
  I understand that Mr. Bruce Martin, chairman of the North Western regional health authority replied on 21 February 1990 to the letter of 16 January 1990 from the right hon. Member.

  Mr. Churchill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will open discussions with the South Manchester and Trafford health authorities to explore the possibility of a rationalisation of Wythenshawe hospital's services in conjunction with Trafford general hospital rather than Withington hospital.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  It is for the North Western regional health authority to consider, with South Manchester district health authority and other district authorities affected, the proposals made by the South Manchester authority to rationalise acute and priority services at the Wythenshawe and Withington hospitals. The regional health authority is well aware of the contribution that Wythenshawe hospital makes to the hospital care of residents in South Trafford, and it should certainly take account of this in considering any proposals for significant change made by the South Manchester district health authority.

  Ambulance Dispute
  Mr. Robert Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate of the cost of a settlement for ambulance personnel in England of(a) 6·5 per cent. from

  883
  April 1989 to 1990, backdated to April 1989 with an additional 3 per cent. from April 1990 with an offer of further negotiations in October 1990 and (b) 9 per cent. from April 1989, backdated to April 1989 with an offer of further negotiations in October 1990.

  Mr. Kenneth Clarke
  The increase in employers' pay costs for ambulance personnel in England for each of the proposed 18-month settlement options is as follows:

  Option (a): £25·5 million

  Option (b): £30·3 million

  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what has been the total cost of using private ambulances during the current ambulance workers' dispute;

  (2) what has been the total cost of using taxis in lieu of ambulances during the current ambulance workers' dispute.

  Mr. Kenneth Clarke
  We do not collect this information centrally.

  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the total cost for items other than labour

  Food Poisoning

  Salmonella

  S. Enteritidis

  S. Enteritidis PT41

  S. Typhimurium

  Campylobacter

  Listeriosis2

  OPCS Formally Notified

  Otherwise Ascertained

  1980

  10,318

  —

  10,806

  816

  n/a

  3,509

  8,956

  75

  1981

  9,936

  —

  10,600

  1,110

  n/a

  3,691

  12,168

  86

  1982

  9,964

  4,289

  12,051

  959

  n/a

  5,337

  12,797

  77

  1983

  12,273

  5,462

  14,288

  1,537

  n/a

  6,741

  17,278

  115

  1984

  13,247

  7,455

  14,094

  1,554

  n/a

  6,369

  21,018

  115

  1985

  13,143

  6,099

  11,765

  2,520

  n/a

  4,780

  23,572

  149

  1986

  16,502

  7,446

  14,800

  4,001

  2,271

  5,885

  24,809

  137

  1987

  20,363

  8,968

  17,552

  5,784

  3,861

  6,400

  27,310

  259

  1988

  27,826

  11,887

  23,821

  13,051

  9,062

  5,566

  28,761

  291

  1989 (prov)

  39,125

  15,588

  25,188

  13,232

  9,749

  6,182

  32,590

  251

  1990 To week 06 (prov)

  2,656

  1,216

  2,227

  1,168

  898

  459

  2,969

  8

  1 Data on S. Enteritiosis PT's was collected from 1986 onwards.

  2 From 1983 Laboratory reports to CDSC and DMRQC data were pooled resulting in increased ascertainment.

  n/a Not available for this year.

EMPLOYMENT

  Private Security Firms
  Mr. George
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the names of all the private security firms currently employed by his Department, the number of employees for each firm on the contract, the total value of each contract and the total value of all contracts for each financial year since 1984–85.

  Mr. Eggar
  At present the following firms provide security for the Department:

  Reliance Security Services

  Compass Security

  Group 4 Security

  High Peak Security Services

  Chubb Wardens Ltd.

  Securicor Ltd.

  Securiguard Ltd.

  Armaguard

  Century Security

  Stirling Guards

  Securisystem Ltd.

  Dagenham Motorsecurity Ltd.

  Mint Security

  884
  arising from the current ambulance workers' dispute in the following regions: (i) Nottingham, (ii) Manchester, (iii) Essex, (iv) West Yorkshire and (v) Northumbria.

  Mr. Kenneth Clarke
  This detailed information is not collected centrally.

  Food Poisoning
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the number of cases notified to him of the following for each year since 1980 until the latest date for which figures are available:(a) food poisoning in general, (b) salmonella, (c) salmonella enteritidis, (d) salmonella enteritidis P4, (e) salmonella typhimurium, (f) campylobacter and (g) listeriosis, respectively;

  (2) if he will list the number of cases notified to him of the following for January: (a) food poisoning in general, (b) salmonella, (c) salmonella enteritidis, (d) salmonella enteritidis P4, (e) salmonella typhimurium, (f) campylobacter and (g) listeriosis.

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

  £000s

  1984–85

  300

  1985–86

  331

  1986–87

  427

  1987–88

  502

  1988–89

  444

  1989–90

  540

  Total

  2,544

  Health and Safety
  Mr. Bill Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many newly established factory premises were registered with each of the Health and Safety Executive's area offices in each of the last five years.

  Mr. Nicholls
  The information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Hong Kong
  Mr. Hanley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when the annual allocation of work permits for unskilled applicants from Hong Kong will be completed.

  Mr. Eggar
  An announcement about the arrangements for the 1990 dependent territories quota will be made soon.

  Work Permits (Domestic Servants)
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many work permits were granted in 1989 to foreigners described as domestic servants.

  Mr. Eggar
  A total of 36 work permits were granted for employment in this category under the provision of the dependent territories quota which allows a limited number of overseas nationals from the remaining dependent territories to come for work below the normal occupational skills criteria of the work permit scheme.

  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what employment regulations govern persons brought into the country as domestic servants by(a) foreigners and (b) agencies based in the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Eggar
  Such people, once they have established that they ordinarily work in Great Britain, are covered by the employment protection legislation in the same way as British employees.

  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what regulations govern the establishment of agencies in the United Kingdom which import domestic servants from abroad.

  Mr. Eggar
  Employment agencies, including those which recruit domestic servants from abroad, must be licensed under the Employment Agencies Act 1973. Regulations made under the Act (SI 1976 No. 715) set standards of conduct to protect the interests of workers and clients.

  Further Education
  Mr. Fatchett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will set out, in 1987 prices, the expenditure on work-related further education in(a) 1986–87, (b) 1987–88, (c) 1988–89, (d) 1989–90 and (e) the projected expenditure for 1990–91.

  Mr. Nicholls
  The total expenditure on work-related further education by the Employment Department Group Training Agency (and its predecessors, the Training Commission and the Manpower Services Commission) is as follows:

  £ million

  1986–87

  110·0

  1987–88

  106·7

  1988–89

  106·3

  1989–90

  93·1

  1990–91

  89·8

  The figures shown are at constant 1986–87 prices and were calculated by use of the GDP deflator index.

  Action for Jobs
  Mr. Terry Davis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much of the total expenditure on the action for jobs campaign in 1988–89 was attributed to printed material; how much was attributed to television advertising; and how much was attributed to other expenditure.

  Mr. Eggar
  Expenditure on action for jobs printed material in 1988–89 was £287,000; expenditure on action for jobs television advertising in 1988–89 was £123,000; and other expenditure relating to the action for jobs campaign in 1988–89 was £190,000.

  Training
  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number and percentage of(a) people who started training with a training manager from the guarantee group and (b) people who started training with a training manager from the aim group between September 1988 and December 1989 inclusive for Great Britain.

  Mr. Nicholls
  [holding answer 12 February 1990]: A total of 79,000 people (14 per cent. of all entrants) entered employment training from the guarantee group and 173,000 (32 per cent.) from the aim group between September 1988 and December 1989.

  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total number in employment training of(a) people aged 18 to 25 years who have been unemployed for between six to 12 months and (b) people aged 18 to 50 years who have been unemployed for over two years in each of the months September 1988 to December 1989 inclusive for Great Britain.

  Mr. Nicholls
  [holding answer 12 February 1990]: The information is provided in the table:

  Employment training aim and guarantee group entrants September 1988 to December 1989

  Month

  Guarantee group

  Aim group

  September 1988

  3,600

  7,900

  October

  5,100

  11,300

  November

  5,400

  12,700

  December

  4,600

  10,600

  January 1989

  5,500

  13,000

  February

  6,700

  15,200

  March

  6,600

  13,600

  April

  5,700

  11,400

  May

  4,800

  9,100

  June

  5,600

  10,800

  July

  4,700

  9,800

  August

  4,100

  8,300

  September

  5,400

  13,200

  October

  4,400

  10,400

  November

  4,400

  10,800

  December1

  3,100

  7,600

  1 Provisional.

ENVIRONMENT

  Association of District Councils
  Mr. Lofthouse
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last met the Association of District Councils; and what issues were raised.
  887
  Mr. Chris Patten
  My hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Inner Cities addressed the Association of District Councils national symposium on 23 January. He spoke about the revenue support grant settlement.

  Local Government Finance
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the proposed rate of poll tax for all councils and districts which have declared a rate, together with the average rate per head payable in the current financial year.

  Mr. Leadbitter
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the number of charging authorities which have community charges higher than the Government estimate and how many are less than that estimate; and if he will list the authorities.

  Mr. Chope
  I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on 21 February.

  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how the figure of £2,280·12 in paragraph

  Standard spending assessments

  Education

  Personal social services

  Highway maintenance

  Other services

  Capital financing

  Total

  £ per adult

  £ per adult

  £ per adult

  £ per adult

  £ per adult

  £ per adult

  Waltham Forest

  510

  170

  36

  193

  93

  1,002

  Enfield

  452

  110

  38

  134

  82

  816

  Redbridge

  414

  99

  36

  136

  65

  751

  Haringey

  561

  230

  35

  251

  104

  1,181

  Hackney

  701

  344

  40

  359

  124

  1,569

  Barnet

  389

  103

  35

  128

  52

  707

  Mr. Gould
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what gain or loss has resulted for Brighton borough council as a consequence of the reduction in the standard spending assessment for the borough; what was the comparable grant in the previous four financial years; and on what basis the assessment was reduced.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  Brighton borough council's standard spending assessment (SSA) for 1990–91 reflects a 2·7 per cent. increase over the comparable figure for 1989–90 grant-related expenditure (GRE). It is not possible to determine what grant gain or loss has resulted for an authority as a consequence of a variation between its adjusted 1989–90 GRE and its 1990–91 SSA, because the methodology for calculating grant entitlement under the community charge system is different from that used under the domestic rating system. Brighton borough council's SSA was calculated on the same basis as that used for all other district councils, that is, the basis set out in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England).

  Mr. Mills
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the detailed criteria leading to the standard spending assessment for Solihull borough; and what assessment he has made of the resultant effect of his calculations.

  Mr. Chope
  The details of the method of calculating the standard spending assessments for all local authorities are set out in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report
  888
  3.1a of the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England) was arrived at; and what effect the choice of this figure has on standard spending assessments arrived at for Grimsby.

  Mr. Chope
  The figure referred to was arrived at by my right hon. Friend after full consultation with local authority respresentatives. It has no effect on the standard spending assessment for Great Grimsby since, as a non-metropolitan district, Great Grimsby is not responsible for social services for children.

  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will set out the reasons for the variations in the standard spending assessment on a per capita basis between the London boroughs of Waltham Forest, Enfield, Redbridge, Haringey, Hackney and Barnet.

  Mr. Chope
  The standard spending assessments have been calculated according to the formulae set out in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England). The results of these calculations for each service element are listed in pounds per relevant adult for the London boroughs requested:

  (England) approved by the House on 18 January. The result of the calculations for Solihull is an assessment of £103·664 million.

  Mr. Shersby
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make an estimate of the total number of households in the London borough of Hillingdon that will be eligible for relief under the community charge transitional relief scheme.

  Mr. Chope
  I estimate that about 6 million individuals will be entitled to transitional relief in England. No estimates have been made of the number of persons eligible at the level of individual local authorities, but I understand that the London borough of Hillingdon has estimated that residents of more than 33,000 properties in the borough are potentially eligible for transitional relief.

  Mr. Shersby
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what financial assistance the London borough of Hillingdon will receive under the community charge transitional relief scheme; and what estimate he has made of the amount of transitional relief available on a notional charge of £359, excluding any overspending by the council to(a) a single occupier whose rateable value does not exceed £94 and (b) two occupiers whose rateable value does not exceed £257.

  Mr. Chope
  For the proposed arrangements for reimbursing local authorities for the costs of the community charge transitional relief scheme, I refer my
  889
  hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Central (Mr. Lord) on 15 February, Official Report, column 405. In general, the transitional relief scheme provides assistance where the assumed community charge next year is more than £156 above the assumed rates bill (defined as the rateable value times the assumed rates poundage) this year. In the examples quoted, however, the assumed charge or charges is less than £156 above this year's rates bill and no relief would therefore be payable.

  Mr. Cormack
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the estimated yield for the community charge in the year beginning 1 April 1990.

  Mr. Chope
  It is not possible to make an estimate of the actual yield until charging authorities have set their charges. However, if authorities spend in line with the assumptions used for the settlement, charge payers will have to find about £7·55 billion, after rebates and transitional relief, towards spending of £32·8 billion. If authorities increase their spending, the burden on charge payers will be higher.

  Sir Trevor Skeet
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the elements which make up the standard spending assessment relevant to local authorities for the purpose of the community charge.

  Mr. Chope
  The details of the method of assessing standard spending assessments are set out in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England) approved by the House on 18 January.

  Sir Trevor Skeet
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the rate of inflation assumed for local authorities for the purposes of standard spending assessments.

  Mr. Chope
  There is no specific assumption about inflation incorporated in standard spending assessments. However, total standard spending for 1990–91, from which standard spending assessments for 1990–91 are derived, is 11 per cent higher than the equivalent figure for 1989–90.

  Sir Eldon Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has about local authorities requiring community charge payers to make their payments by direct debits, standing orders or cash but not by cheques drawn on their bank accounts.

  Mr. Chope
  It is for local authorities to agree with charge payers which method they will use to make payment. I should expect the local authority to have regard inter alia to convenience for charge payers and the cost-effectiveness for the authority of particular methods of payment. I am not aware of any authority that is refusing to accept cheques in payment of the community charge.

  Mr. Holt
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) for calculation purposes to determine rate support grant in(a) Middlesbrough, (b) Stockton and (c) Langbaurgh, how many (i) one-parent families and (ii) black families were assessed as resident in the relevant areas;

  (2) how much Langbaurgh would receive under the new grant scheme for local council support following the introduction of the community charge if (a) 2,000, (b) 5,000 and (c) 10,000 of its residents were black; and how much it is currently expected to receive;
  890
  (3) what weighting is given in calculating the rate support grant to the proportion of immigrants in the population from (a) the West Indies, (b) Pakistan, (c) Bangladesh, (d) Nigeria, (e) India, (f) Hong Kong, (g) Israel, (h) Australia, (i) New Zealand, (j) Canada, (k) Eire, (l)EEC countries, (m) Turkey, (n) Greece and (o) the United States of America;

  (4) which are (a) the five local authorities which receive most support in cash terms and (b) the five authorities which receive the least support in cash terms under the current rate support grant scheme by virtue of the number of black heads of households.

  Mr. Chope
  I have today written to my hon. Friend.

  Mr. Favell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) in real terms what was the annual local government net current expenditure per head of population in Stockport during each of the last three years for which figures are available;

  (2) in real terms what was the annual local government net current expenditure per head of population in (a) Manchester and (b) Trafford during each of the last three years for which figures are available.

  Mr. Chope
  The information is as follows:

  Net current expenditure per head in real terms (1989–90 prices)

  £

  Manchester city council

  1987–88

  804

  1988–89

  676

  1989–90

  704

  Trafford borough council

  1987–88

  493

  1988–89

  503

  1989–90

  494

  Stockport borough council

  1987–88

  475

  1988–89

  487

  1989–90

  466

  Notes:

  1. The GDP deflator has been used to convert cash values to constant prices.

  2. Population figures used to derive per capita values are Office of Population Censuses and Surveys mid year estimates of total population.

  3. Polytechnics were transferred from the local authority sector in April 1989.

  Homelessness
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a breakdown of the amounts of the additional £250 million given to local authorities to deal with homelessness according to(a) explicit or earmarked purposes, (b) region and (c) money to tenants to enter owner-occupation.

  Mr. Michael Spicer
  My Department is currently considering bids for the £112 million to be made available to local authorities for schemes to relieve homelessness in 1990–91. The Housing Corporation is also considering bids for the £36 million to be allocated to housing associations for similar schemes. Announcements on the projects to be supported will be made as soon as possible.

  Water Companies
  Mrs. Ann Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people who applied for shares in the privatised water companies have not yet received their shares despite having their cheques cashed.

  Mr. Trippier
  At the end of last week the receiving banks for the water share offers were dealing with about 970 outstanding requests for replacement interim share certificates.

  Archaeology
  Mr. Gerald Bowden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now publish guidance on archaeology and development.

  Mr. Trippier
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has issued today, for public consultation, draft guidance aimed at providing local planning authorities in England, developers, archaeologists, amenity societies, property owners and the general public with advice on Government policy on ancient monuments and archaeological sites and on the handling of archaeological remains and discoveries in the planning process. Its key message is that developers and local planning authorities should discuss outline development proposals at an early stage so that the needs of archaeology and development can be reconciled. A copy of the consultation paper has been placed in the Library.

  Nature Conservancy Council
  Mr. Gould
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment in which years before 1 April 1989 the number of members of the Nature Conservancy Council has exceeded 18.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  Before 1 April 1989, the number appointed to serve on the Nature Conservancy Council rose to 19 only during the year April 1981 to April 1982.

  Mortgage Interest Rates
  Mr. Gould
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the average gross mortgage rate of the building societies from March 1974 to May 1979; and what was the corresponding figure for June 1979 to January 1990.

  Mr. Chris Patten
  The estimated average gross mortgage interest rates of building societies for the periods March 1974 to May 1979 and June 1979 to December 1989 are 10·8 per cent. and 12·5 per cent. respectively.

  River Rother
  Mr. Barron
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans for a major review of consent procedures in relation to discharges into rivers.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  The NRA is already conducting a review of the way in which discharge consents for all types of discharge are set, and the way in which compliance with the terms of consent is assessed, to ensure that the consent system can effectively protect water quality and enable pollution control standards to be enforced. I await the NRA's conclusions with interest.
  892
  Mr. Barron
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will instigate an official inquiry into all discharges into the River Rother; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State does not consider that it would be appropriate for him to institute such an inquiry. This is a matter for the National Rivers Authority, which is under a statutory duty to review, from time to time, all consented discharges, and is responsible for securing such improvements as it considers will be needed to meet new statutory water quality objectives to be set up by the Secretary of State. I understand that major improvements to sewage and industrial discharges are already planned or under way which are designed to raise the quality of the River Rother.

  Mr. Barron
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the breaches of consent relating to the discharges into the River Rother, and the number of prosecutions, since 1980 to the present time.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  Details of all breaches of consent are available on the public register maintained by the National Rivers Authority. For information on prosecutions, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) on 18n January 1990, at column 360.

  National Rivers Authority
  Mr. Barron
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the ability of the National Rivers Authority to test for any substances that it considers may endanger health.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  The National Rivers Authority is responsible for maintaining and improving the quality of controlled waters. The most up-to-date analytical techniques are used to test for a wide range of substances. The authority has commissioned three additional laboratories which will be in operation during 1991.

  Ambulance Dispute
  Mr. Robert Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what costs have fallen to local authorities in England and Wales as a result of provision of services which otherwise would have been provided by the ambulance service during the current ambulance dispute.

  Mr. Chope
  Information is not held centrally about the cost of any arrangements which may have been made between local authorities and health authorities for the provision of assistance during the ambulance dispute. The cost of assistance provided by military, police and other organisations will be met by the relevant health authorities.

  Chlorofluorocarbons
  Mr. Tom Arnold
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress is being made to reduce the level of chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  Stratospheric chlorine levels are expected to start falling when the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) is cut by 85 per cent. In the current
  893
  renegotiation of the Montreal protocol, the European Community position, based on our own proposals, is to require this by 1995, earlier than any other proposal. British consumption of CFCs has already been cut by over 50 per cent., 10 years earlier than the protocol currently requires.

  Drinking Water
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what level of benzene contamination is acceptable in drinking water; and what are the standards required in Britain, the rest of the European Economic Community and the United States of America, respectively.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989, which incorporate the requirements of the EC drinking water directive, set a standard of 10 microgrammes per litre for dissolved or emulsified hydrocarbons, which includes benzene; however, the regulations do not contain a specific standard for benzene. The World Health Organisations guideline value for benzene in drinking water is 10 microgrammes per litre and the United States maximum contaminant level is 5 microgrammes per litre.

  Transferred Property (Sales)
  Mr. Leigh
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy relating to requests for his consent under section 105 of the Housing Act 1988 to sales of transferred property, where a disposal cost was attributable to that property on transfer.

  Mr. Chope
  Subject to certain exemptions, notably sales under the right to buy, section 105 of the Housing Act 1988 provides that new landlords under part IV of the Act—tenants' choice—may not dispose of property acquired by them under part IV from a public sector landlord, except with the consent of the Secretary of State.

  Mr. Chope
  Subject to certain exemptions, notably sales under the right to buy, section 105 of the Housing Act 1988 provides that new landlords under part IV of the Act—tenants' choice—may not dispose of property acquired by them under part IV from a public sector landlord, except with the consent of the Secretary of State.

  The statutory arrangements for valuation of property transferring under part IV take into account the cost of any works needed to bring property up to the state of repair required by the public sector landlord's repairing obligations. Where there is a disposal cost—"dowry"—however, the valuation cannot make provision for any additional works of improvements going beyond repair. Tenants may wish these to be carried out, particularly where the properties are below current accepted standards of amenity, as may be the case where dowries are payable. Disposals of some transferred assets may offer a prospect

  My right hon. Friend will consider applications made to him for disposal consent on their merits, having regard to all the circumstances of the case. However, in instances where a dowry was attributable to the property under section 99 of the Act, he will, in principle, be prepared to entertain such applications, where proceeds from the disposals are to be used to fund improvements to, or demolition and replacement of, other acquired dwellings, for continued letting at rents within the reach of those in low-paid employment.
  894
  My right hon. Friend is also required, by section 105(4) of the Act, before giving consent to satisfy himself that appropriate steps have been taken to consult any tenants of the property to be disposed of, and to have regard to their responses.

  Under section 105(4) as amended, my right hon. Friend may impose conditions on his consent, requiring the new landlord to make a payment to the public sector landlord from whom he acquired the property. Again, he will consider individual cases on their merits. However, it is his general intention that the new landlord should be required to pay to the public sector landlord the excess of any proceeds of the disposal over the amount reasonably required to fund works appropriate to the circumstances, after allowing for any contribution which might he made from projected rental income, dowry payments, or right-to-buy sale proceeds in excess of those assumed in determination of the dowry.

  House Renovation Grants
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the new system of house renovation grants provided in part VIII of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 will be brought into effect in England and Wales.

  Mr. Chope
  With my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, I have considered very carefully requests by the local authority associations and others that introduction of the new system should be deferred to allow further consultation on the rest of resources regulations and to give local authorities more time to prepare for implementation.

  In the light of these representations we have therefore decided that the main provisions of part VIII of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 should be brought into effect on 1 July 1990 and not from 1 April as originally planned. From April to June the existing system of home improvement grants will remain in force.

  We have, however, decided to bring into effect the new assistance for minor works on 1 April. This will enable local authorities to continue to provide help for insulation measures for those on certain state benefits, and also for certain other purposes such as repair work for the elderly.

  Part VII of the 1989 Act, introducing renewal areas in place of housing action areas and general improvement areas, will also be brought into force on 1 April, together with a number of provisions in part IX of the Act dealing with unfit housing.

  My Department and the Welsh Office are writing to all local housing authorities with further details of how these provisions in respect of the repair and improvement of private sector housing are to be implemented. Advice on all those provisions coming into force on 1 April will be issued shortly before then, and further advice on the new grant system will be published well before 1 July.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the leaflet for the public on the new grants legislation will be available; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  [holding answer 19 February 1990]: A new edition of "Housing Booklet 14" describing grants for the repair and improvement of private sector housing will be published before the new system is brought into force on 1 July 1990.
  895
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the prescribed form for application under the new grants system will be available.

  Mr. Chope
  [holding answer 19 February 1990]: We are still considering whether to prescribe an application form for the new grants system.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the regulations on the new test of resources for assessment of housing renovation grants will be issued; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  [holding answer 19 February 1990]: Officials wrote to the local authority associations with a draft of the test of resources regulations on 19 January, and consultations are continuing. The regulations will be laid before Parliament as soon as possible after consultation has been completed, and will be issued to local authorities thereafter.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will delay the date of implementation of the new housing renovation grants system; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  [holding answer 20 February 1990]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave today to my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, North-East (Mr. Thurnham).

  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when his Department intends to publish guidelines to parts VII and VIII of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

  Mr. Chope
  [holding answer 15 February 1990]: I have announced today that part VII of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 will be implemented on 1 April, and the new grant system in part VIII on 1 July. My Department will issue advice to local authorities in advance of those dates, as well as publishing a booklet for the general public on the new grant system.

  Buildings (Cleaning)
  Mrs. Ann Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any information on the annual cost of cleaning urban buildings blackened by smoke in the United Kingdom; and what his Department estimates to be the relative contributions to such blackening from the combustion of(a) coal, (b) smokeless fuel, (c) fuel oil, (d) gas oil, (e) motor spirit, (f) derv, and (g) other sources.

  Mr. Trippier
  [holding answer 19 February 1990]: My Department does not collate information on the specific costs of removing black smoke deposits from urban buildings. However, it is estimated that the total United Kingdom stone-cleaning market is of the order of £75 million.

  There are no figures available for the relative contributions of fuel combustion to blackening. However, estimates of the percentage contribution of the combustion of different fuel types to black smoke emissions in the United Kingdom will be published in the next air quality statistical bulletin 90(1) of the digest of environmental protection and water statistics.

  The two major sources of black smoke are domestic coal combustion and diesel fuel. Since the introduction of
  896
  the Clean Air Acts (Great Britain 1956 and 1968, Northern Ireland 1964) emissions of smoke from all sources have fallen by over 85 per cent. The United Kingdom Government have long recognised the need to curb emissions from diesel engines and are pressing the European Commission to produce proposals for an EC directive providing strict standards for emissions, including particulates, from HGVs and buses. In 1988, the EC Environment Council agreed a directive setting tight particulate emission standards for cars.

  New Grants System
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many civil servants have been assigned to prepare the regulations and procedures for the new grants system; what legal assistance they have; and when the work will be completed.

  Mr. Chope
  [holding answer 19 February 1990]: I have been asked to reply.

  If the hon. Member cares to say in which new grants system he is interested, we shall write to him.

DEFENCE

  Nuclear Submarines
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list by year for the last 10 years, the number of service men serving on(a) Valiant and (b) Churchill class nuclear submarines, who have been diagnosed as suffering from radiation contamination.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  No personnel in any class of Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine have received a radiation dose from radioactive contamination during the last 10 years.

  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the results of the inspections carried out on the five Royal Navy Valiant and Churchill class nuclear submarines, in respect of suspected reactor faults.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  It is not our practice to comment on specific features of the Royal Navy's nuclear-powered submarines. The programme of inspections of all the Royal Navy's nuclear-powered submarines is continuing.

  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the expected service life of(a) Valiant and (b) Churchill class nuclear submarines.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  We expect Valiant and Churchill class submarines to remain in service for their design lives of about 25 to 30 years.

  NATO Exercises
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contributions his Department will make to the NATO exercises due to be held in Norway during March.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  There are no NATO exercises due to be held in Norway during March. A Norwegian national exercise, designated "Cold Winter", is planned to take place in which several members of the Alliance, including the United Kingdom, have been invited to take
  897
  part. Three Commando Brigade Royal Marines together with several Royal Navy ships and RAF aircraft will form the British contribution.

  Colin Wallace
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy in regard to the appearance of Ministers and civil servants from his Department before the Defence Select Committee inquiry into the Colin Wallace affair.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  My right hon. Friend's policy will be to respond as helpfully as possible, in accordance with normal conventions.

  Ambulance Dispute
  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the total man hours performed by Army personnel involved in ambulance duties in the United Kingdom during the current ambulance workers' dispute.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  A total of 960,234 service man hours were deployed in the period to 20 February.

  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the total number of man hours performed by Army personnel during the current ambulance workers' dispute in the following regions; and how many of these hours were paid at overtime rates:(a) Nottingham, (b) Manchester, (c) Essex, (d) West Yorkshire and (e) Northumbria.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  Military ambulances have not operated in Nottingham, West Yorkshire or Northumbria during the current dispute. In Manchester and Essex the number of service man hours deployed up until 20 February were 4,600 and 19,740 respectively. Service personnel are not eligible for overtime payments.

  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the average hourly rate of pay for Army personnel employed on ambulance duties during the current ambulance workers' dispute.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  Rates of pay vary according to a number of factors, such as rank and qualification. An average hourly rate of pay could be calculated only at disproportionate cost.

  Officer Courses
  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make arrangements for hon. Members to visit courses for prospective officers of the armed forces and higher courses for serving officers.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  If the hon. Member would care to write to my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces with details of what he has in mind, my noble Friend will be glad to consider his request.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Income Support
  Mr. Lester
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much of the April 1990 income support allowances for(a) single people and (b) married couples
  898
  represents compensation for the 20 per cent. community charge contribution; and if he will consider increasing the community charge element within the allowances if the average community charge payable in 1990–91 is higher than anticipated.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) on 5 February at column 524.

  The level of income support is reviewed each year as part of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's obligations under section 63 of the Social Security Act 1986.

  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are in receipt of income support in(a) west Leeds, (b) Leeds, (c) west Yorkshire and (d) England as a whole; and what are the corresponding figures for those in receipt of supplementary benefit for each year since 1979.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The information requested is in the table:

  Supplementary benefit/income support live load

  Leeds West

  Leeds

  West Yorkshire

  England

  1985–86

  11,744

  69,972

  198,797

  4,240,546

  1986–87

  11,939

  71,146

  200,432

  4,308,787

  1987–88

  12,545

  71,917

  199,886

  4,251,651

  1988–89

  11,054

  63,634

  177,182

  3,651,273

  11989–90

  10,538

  62,374

  175,827

  3,602,366

  1 Data are provisional and subject to amendment.

  Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action, which include a number where benefit payment has ceased but other action is continuing.

  Note: Data for earlier years are unavailable.

  Mr. Frank Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will make it his policy, when considering claims for income support and family credit, that the same methods are used in respect of each benefit for calculating the number of hours worked by claimants;

  (2) if he will set out in the Official Report the detailed methods used to calculate the numbers of hours worked by claimants when determining eligibility for (a) income support and (b) family credit;

  (3) why different methods of calculation are used in determining the numbers of hours worked by claimants when considering claims for income support or family credit.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The method used to calculate the number of hours worked is the same in both income support and family credit. The rules are set out in regulation 5 of the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 and in regulation 4 of the Family Credit (General) Regulations 1987. The application of these rules in individual cases is a matter for the independent adjudicating authorities.

  Occupational Deafness (Refusal of Benefit)
  Mr. Frank Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he has taken to identify those claimants who were wrongly refused disablement benefit for occupational deafness in the light of the Court of Appeal judgment in McKiernon's case.

  Mr. Scott
  The implications of this judgment are still being considered.

  Students (Benefits)
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a chart or table showing for each academic year since 1979 the average amount of benefit or support, of each kind, received by a student in full-time higher education.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  Information about the amount of benefit claimed by students is not routinely collected and is not therefore available in the form requested. However, details of students' income from all sources are contained in surveys carried out by Research Services Limited on behalf of the Department of Education and Science. Copies of the surveys, which cover the 1986–87 academic years, are available in the Library.

  Disability
  Mrs. Beckett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will take steps to ensure that people in the areas covered by the Derby social security offices who were entitled to a severe disablement premium prior to the amendment of regulation 3(2)(c) of the Income Support (General) Regulations on 9 October 1989 receive appropriate arrears of benefit at the earliest possible date.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  Entitlement to the severe disability premium is a matter for the independent adjudicating authorities, including social security appeal tribunals. In some cases, awards of this premium by such tribunals have been suspended pending appeal, by the adjudication officer, to the social security commissioners. We are not aware of any delay in paying arrears of other awards of this premium by tribunals, but if the hon. Member has a particular case in mind perhaps she will write to me.

  Unemployment Benefit
  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of people, in the period 10 December 1989 to 11 January 1990, who have been excluded from unemployment benefit by the new £43 weekly earnings rule.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) on 21 December 1989 at columns 404–5 which gave our estimate of the numbers who will lose unemployment benefit. Figures of the number of disallowances of unemployment benefit are not yet available.

  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of people between 10 December 1989 and 11 January 1990 who have been excluded from the unemployment total by the new £43 limit on weekly pay introduced on 10 December 1989.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  Anyone working and earning in a week at least the amount of the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions will have any claim to unemployment benefit in that week disallowed. Such people are not excluded from the unemployment count and will be included in it if they continue to register as unemployed.

  Family Credit
  Mr. Lester
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the cost to his Department to date of advertising family credit.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  In the financial year1988–89 the following amounts were spent on advertising family credit:

  Amounts spent in 1988–89 financial year

  £

  TV

  2,304,617

  Press

  587,667

  Radio

  173,052

  Total

  3,061,336

  Amount spent in 1989–90 financial year

  TV

  4,047,612

  Posters

  1,313,333

  Press

  475,000

  Total

  5,835,281

  GRAND TOTAL

  £8,897,281

  All sums include VAT, production and COI 1 per cent. commission.

  Attendane Allowance
  Mr. Wareing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to ensure that full advantage is taken of the extension of attendance allowance to children under the age of two years; and if the entitlement will be on the same basis as children under the age of 16 years currently receiving attendance allowance.

  Mr. Scott
  Information about the extension will be included in a new edition of the attendance allowance leaflet to be published in April. This will be supported by information for doctors, health visitors and others who may be advising parents. The publicity will be timed to coincide with the extension and will be maintained thereafter to inform the parents or guardians of newly eligible children of their entitlement. The regulations which I will be laying before the House will extend attendance allowance to children under two satisfy the entitlement conditions which currently apply to children up to the age of 16.

  Social Fund
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he intends to alter the social fund budget allocation for 1990–91 in the light of the release of £3 million to supplement 1989–90 social fund expenditure; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Scott
  We are currently considering the amount to be allocated to individual local offices for 1990–91 and will make an announcement in due course.

  Relocation
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement regarding the changes in the timetable of the London Department of Social Security relocation programme.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  Experience in relocating the first group of offices was that conversion of cases to the income
  901
  support computer system took longer than expected because of the number of cases requiring information or action to resolve errors. Therefore we have decided to adjust the timetable of the next group of offices, all of which have large income support loads.

  The eight-week conversion period in the second group has been extended to 13 weeks as follows:

  Euston—17 April 1990 (no change)

  Paddington—16 July 1990

  Highgate—15 October 1990

  Finsbury Park—28 January 1991

  The timetable for the transfer of income support cases to other social security centres remains unaltered.

  It has also been decided that pensions and incapacity benefits cases will now be relocated simultaneously on the dates published for the transfer of the latter.

  Pensioners
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in the light of the abolition of the earnings rule for retirement pensions what guidance his Department now gives to those approaching retirement as to the financial benefit of either claiming or deferring their retirement pension especially for those who have a deficient contribution record.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  It is the Department's policy to make information available to help individuals make informed choices and plan for their retirement.

  Information on deferring retirement and contribution conditions for retirement pension is in leaflets produced by the Department. The retirement pension forecast advisory service provides individuals with a valuable forecast of their entitlement based upon their existing and forecast future contributions record.

  Also, as part of the retirement pension claims package, which is sent to individuals four months before they are due to reach pensionable age, there is information on the effect on their pension of deferring their claim and the contribution conditions for retirement pension.

  Computers
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what hardware and software packages relating to social security have been sent out for tender.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The Department has a large number of contracts with the private sector for the supply of hardware and the development of software in support of the social security operational strategy and other programmes of computerisation.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what software packages relating to social security have so far been developed with regard to benefits and especially incapacity benefits.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  Most social security benefits have some form of automated assistance; we are at present in the process of developing a computer application for incapacity benefits.

  Contingency Reserves
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what process was used to determine the allocation to local Department of Social Security offices of the £3 million released from the social security contingency reserves.
  902
  Mr. Scott
  The additional allocations to local offices were made from money recovered during 1989–90 from social fund loan repayments. I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle) on 31 January 1990 at columns 194–95 regarding the basis on which those allocations are made.

  Community Charge
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether foster parent allowances will be treated as income when calculating entitlement to community charge benefit.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The community charge benefit scheme will not treat as income any fostering allowance made to a claimant.

  Mr. Jopling
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost of applying individually to a husband and wife the £8,000 limit on assets which cause a community charge payer to be ineligible for rebates.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  Information on the individual capital holding of members of couples is not available.

  Mr. Marlow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the likely cost of community charge rebate for 1990–91; and how much that would increase if savings were to be disregarded.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  [holding answer 8 February 1990]: Expenditure on community charge benefit in England, Wales and Scotland in 1990–91 is currently forecast to be £1·75 billion. Information is not available to make precise estimates but it seems probable that expenditure would increase by between £250 million and £300 million if the capital limit was abolished and no income was assumed to be derived from capital holdings.

  Correspondence
  Mr. Michael
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will make it his policy that when a woman writes a letter to his Department in respect of her entitlement to benefit his offices will reply to the writer of that letter rather than her husband.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  It is already the policy for officers of the Department to reply direct to the writer of any letters rather than to a third party. I am aware of a particular case of a letter having been sent in error to the husband of one of the hon. Member's constituents, for which the local office manager has now apologised.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Mink Farms
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many mink farms are currently in operation in each county and region in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; and what were the equivalent figures 12 months ago.

  Mr. Maclean
  Fifty mink farms (premises) are currently in operation in the United Kingdom, compared with 61 a year ago, as follows:
  903

  As at 31 March 1989

  As at 20 February 1990

  England

  Northern

  16

  13

  Humberside

  2

  2

  Northumberland

  1

  1

  North Yorkshire

  1

  1

  South Yorkshire

  1

  1

  West Yorkshire

  11

  8

  Midlands and West

  18

  15

  Cheshire

  2

  1

  Lancashire

  14

  12

  Staffordshire

  1

  1

  Greater Manchester

  1

  1

  Eastern

  7

  7

  Herefordshire

  1

  1

  Lincolnshire

  1

  1

  Norfolk

  1

  1

  Suffolk

  4

  4

  South Eastern

  5

  4

  Buckinghamshire

  1

  1

  Hampshire

  2

  2

  Isle of Wight

  1

  1

  West Sussex

  1

  —

  South Western

  6

  4

  Cornwall

  2

  2

  Dorset

  1

  1

  Gloucestershire

  1

  —

  Wiltshire

  2

  1

  Total England

  52

  43

  Scotland

  8

  6

  Northern Ireland

  1

  1

  Total United Kingdom

  61

  50

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will instruct his officials to reinspect all mink farms to ensure that after the recent storms they continue to comply with current regulations;

  (2) if he will revoke the licence of the mink farm in Stansted, Essex, following the recent large-scale escape of mink into surrounding countryside and buildings;

  (3) what information he has on the escape of farmed mink following damage to their cages in the recent storms;

  (4) whether he has revoked the licences of any mink farms following damage during the recent storms;

  (5) whether he intends to review the conditions of the Mink Keeping Order.

  Mr. Maclean
  On 25 January very severe winds damaged a mink farm at Stansted and several animals escaped when their pens broke open after being blown through the perimeter fence. The owner fulfilled his statutory duty by notifying MAFF immediately, and as soon as the storm subsided the damage was repaired. Most of the escaped mink have been recaptured or accounted for, but eight are still missing. The licence of the farm has not been revoked. The circumstances of the escapes were wholly exceptional and the pens and fence have been made secure. This was the only notification of escaped mink following the storm.

  All farms are visited at least annually by MAFF inspectors to check that the conditions of their licences are being respected. The Mink Keeping Order expires at the end of 1992 and its renewal will be reviewed well before then.

  North Sea Dumping
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's definition of inert or harmless as a description of substances permitted to be dumped in the North sea by the 1987 North sea agreement.

  Mr. Curry
  Her Majesty's Government accept the definition of"inert materials of natural origin"

  contained in Oslo Commission decision 89/1 of 14 June 1989. This is
  "solid, chemically-unprocessed geological material whose chemical constituents are unlikely to be released in the marine environment".

  They include such materials as sand, gravel, stones and rock material originating on land as well as colliery waste; none of which have been contaminated by anthropogenic processes.

  No comparable definition has been adopted for "harmless". This is a quality which has to be assessed on a case by case basis in the light of careful scientific assessment.

  I can give some examples of characteristics of liquid industrial wastes which the Government consider harmless. They include wastes which are very rapidly neutralised in the sea into substances which are naturally present in the sea, such as salts and water. Organic constituents at trace levels are rapidly biodegraded and so can have no effects on marine life. No trace of wastes can be found by the most sensitive means of analysis within five minutes of dumping. Constituents of the wastes are tested on oyster embryos to ensure that they have no effects on particularly sensitive life forms in the sea.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under which section of the 1987 North sea agreement is the authorisation being granted by the Government for the dumping of paracetamol in the North sea.

  Mr. Curry
  The issue of licences for the deposit of substances from the United Kingdom in the sea is subject to the provisions of part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. In considering whether to grant such licences we take into account paragraphs 21 and 22 of the 1987 North sea conference declaration which permit the dumping of harmless industrial waste until practical land-based alternative means of disposal are available.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department is undertaking or planning to investigate the increase of detritus and domestic rubbish being entrapped in commercial fishing nets in the North sea.

  Mr. Curry
  The directorate of fisheries research is planning to monitor the incidence of litter in commercial fishing nets in the course of forthcoming cruises of fisheries research vessels.

  Mr. Mans
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he intends that dumping at sea of industrial waste covered by the 1987 North sea declaration will cease.

  Mr. Gummer
  Ever since the 1987 North sea declaration we have been working hard to identify acceptable land-
  905
  based means of disposal for the industrial wastes which we have licensed for disposal at sea. I am very glad to be able to announce that we intend that none of these wastes will continue to be dumped at sea after the end of 1992. In two cases, however, it might not be technically feasible to meet this deadline. We will extend the licences for these two last wastes into 1993 only if absolutely necessary on technical grounds and for the shortest possible part of that year.

  I am also glad to emphasise that we have already stopped the dumping at sea of more than half the industrial wastes which were licensed in 1987. Only nine wastes covered by the 1987 North sea declaration remain and some of these will cease to be dumped at sea in the course of this year.

  The identification and implementation of acceptable land—based disposal alternatives on this times scale requires a high degree of commitment by the companies concerned. However, although the 1987 North sea declaration accepted that wastes such as ours which do not harm the sea could continue to be disposed of at sea as long as no practicable land-based means of disposal was available, the Government have been determined to ensure that these wastes ceased to be dumped at sea as soon as possible. I am extremely pleased that we have now been able to set a firm timetable for ending all these disposals at sea.

  Bottled Water
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if any representations were made by his Department to the importers of Perrier water about traces of benzene identified in tests by the food safety directorate since August 1989; and when such contamination was first identified in Perrier water in Britain.

  Mr. Maclean
  Preliminary results from the food safety directorate's tests of United Kingdom supplies of Perrier water became available on 14 February. My officials made clear to the company that, although the levels detected here and in the United States posed a negligible risk to health, the Government were concerned at what appeared to be adventitious contamination by benzene.

  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what guidelines govern the quality and safety of bottled water sold in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Maclean
  The European Community directive on the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters (80/777) requires, inter alia, that all natural mineral waters must be officially recongised and monitored by a competent authority and that certain chemical and microbiological criteria must be met.

  Other types of bottled drinking water are covered by the EC directive relating to the quality of water for human consumption (80/778). If the Food Safety Bill is passed, I would intend to use powers therein to make regulations specifically covering such bottled water. In the meantime advice to local authorities on the type and frequency of sampling water intended for bottling is contained in Department of the Environment circular 25/84 (Welsh Office circular 51/84).

  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cattle confirmed as bovine spongiform encephalopathy sufferers have, immediately prior to notification, been the subject of bovine somatotropin experimentation; and what percentage these constitute of the total number of bovine somatotropin-treated cows.

  Mr. Maclean
  I am not aware that any animal in which BSE has been confirmed has previously been the subject of bovine somatotropin experimentation. Epidemiological studies conducted by the Ministry have not found any connection between the incidence of BSE and the use of pharmaceutical products.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those species of animals known to him as having a vertically transmitted form of spongiform encephalopathy.

  Mr. Maclean
  Scrapie, which occurs naturally in sheep and goats, is the only spongiform encephalopathy which is definitely known to be transmitted maternally. It is likely that the lamb or kid may become infected at birth or soon after being born, but whether true vertical transmission—i.e. infection contracted in utero before the lamb or kid is born—can occur is not certain.

  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, in the light of recommendations of the British Cattle Veterinary Association, he intends to act by prohibiting surgical interference with suspect bovine spongiform encephalopathy cases.

  Mr. Maclean
  No. The Ministry does not encourage unnecessary surgical interference with bovine spongiform encephalopathy suspects, but the decision as to whether or not surgery is appropriate in any particular case is a matter of veterinary judgment and professional ethics in the light of individual circumstances.

  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy were reported in Lancashire from August 1988 until 14 February 1990.

  Mr. Maclean
  From 1 August 1988 to 14 February 1990, 218 suspected cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy were reported in Lancashire.

  Wild Birds (Poisoning)
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce measures to prevent the use of alphachloralose for the purpose of the illegal poisoning of wild birds.

  Mr. Maclean
  Alphachloralose is widely available, not just as a pesticide. The Government seek to deter illegal poisoning of wildlife by investigating every notified incident and pursuing those where the evidence suggests that pesticides have been abused. The cost of this is defrayed from the levy on holders of pesticide approvals.

  Fishing Vessels (Decommissioning Grants)
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has about decommissioning grants available to fishing vessels
  907
  and the amount put in by European Community sources for decommissioning for (a) Holland, (b) France, (c) Denmark, (d) the United Kingdom and (e) Spain.

  Mr. Curry
  There is provision under EC regulation 4028/86 for decommissioning grants over the period 1987 to 1991. They are available to all member states.

  The information requested on EC funding is not centrally available, but I will supply the information as soon as I have obtained it from the commission.

  Carbadox
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about his reasons for banning the feed additive carbadox.

  Mr. Gummer
  Carbadox is an active ingredient used in growth-promoting feed additives. It is not banned in the EC but is authorised, subject to strict conditions by the Community directive governing feed additives. This is binding on all member countries although no product containing carbadox is currently licensed in the United Kingdom.

  Bananas
  Mr. Andy Stewart
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the plans by the Dominican Republic to export bananas to the European Community.

  Mr. Curry
  Our policy on the import of bananas permits the United Kingdom to fulfil its long-standing commitment to provide preferential access for bananas from our traditional suppliers, Jamaica and the Windward Islands.

  During the negotiations last autumn on the renewal of the Lomé Convention and on the accession to it of new members, the Dominican Republic gave certain undertakings to Caribbean members of the group of ACP countries with respect to exports of bananas. We consider that it is important that the DR should abide by its undertakings and hope that it and the ACP will be able to discuss and resolve their differences.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Violent Crime
  Mr. Buckley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what, in each of the last five years, has been the increase in reported incidents of violent crime.

  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what in each of the last five years has been the change in reported incidents of violent crime.

  Mr. John Patten
  Between 1984 and 1988 the average annual percentage increase in recorded crimes of violence was 7·9 per cent. Full-year figures for 1989 are not yet available.

  Prison Recidivism
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to reduce prison recidivism within the 15 to 22 years age groups; and if he will make a statement.
  908
  Mr. Mellor
  Our proposals for punishing more young offenders in the community should help to reduce reoffending. When young people receive custodial sentences, our aim is to help to prepare them to lead law-abiding and useful lives on their release, with greater emphasis on the development of personal responsibility.

  Concessionary Television Licences
  Mr. Canavan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received over the last 12 months about concessionary television licences for pensioners.

  Mr. Mellor
  In my reply to the hon. Member's question of 22 January I confirmed that in 1989 we received 212 letters and four petitions about reduced-price or free television licences for pensioners. Since 1 January 1990 we have received a further 46 such letters, 23 of them from hon. Members.

  Birmingham Pub Bombings
  Mr. Clay
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on the Birmingham pub bombings case.

  Mr. Waddington
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Mansfield (Mr. Meale).

  Mr. Sedgemore
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands showing on what date and on whose initiative Assistant Chief Constable Tom Meffen interviewed the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin).

  Mr. John Patten
  No report from the chief constable is called for because the facts are well known to my right hon. and learned Friend. On 2 September 1986 the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin), after discussing the contents of his book with officials of the Home Office criminal department, agreed to meet officers of the West Midlands police. But when the hon. Member was seen by the assistant chief constable on 23 September 1986, and was asked to provide information supporting his claim to have interviewed people who had committed the Birmingham pub bombings, he declined to do so, and has refused to do so subsequently.

  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands as to how many hours his force devoted in(a) 1986, (b) 1987, (c) 1988 and (d) 1989 to investigating the claim of the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) to have traced and interviewed all the persons responsible for the Birmingham pub bombings.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) on 25 January at column 1036. My right hon. and learned Friend referred to the failure of the hon. Member for Sunderland, South to disclose the names of those whom he states are responsible for the Birmingham pub bombings. A considerable amount of time, particularly in 1986, was spent by West Midlands police in attempting to identify those persons whom the hon. Member has in

  909
  mind. The results of the research were discussed with him, but he neither confirmed nor denied the possible identifications which had emerged.

  No records were kept of the specific number of hours dedicated to this research.

  Mr. Galloway
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on the Birmingham pub bombings case.

  Mr. David Young
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on the Birmingham pub bombings case.

  Mr. John Patten
  My right hon. and learned Friend is considering very carefully the further material which has been presented to him by a solicitor acting on behalf of the six men convicted of the Birmingham public house bombings, and will decide as soon as possible whether it justifies any intervention on his part.

  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has completed his consideration of the new evidence in the case of the Birmingham pub bombings.

  Mr. Martlew
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has completed his consideration of the new evidence in the case of the Birmingham pub bombings.

  Mr. John Garrett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has completed his consideration of the new evidence in the case of the Birmingham pub bombings.

  Mr. John Patten
  My right hon. and learned Friend has not yet completed his consideration of the further material which has been presented to him by a solicitor acting on behalf of the six men convicted of the Birmingham public house bombings. He will decide as soon as possible whether it justifies any intervention on his part.

  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department first became aware of the claim by the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) to have traced and interviewed the persons responsible for the Birmingham pub bombings; and what action was taken.

  Mr. John Patten
  The Home Office first became aware of the claims of the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) in May 1986, when extracts from his forthcoming book "Error of Judgement" were passed to my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd) by my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Sir J. Farr). We later obtained a full copy of the book shortly after publication in July 1986. These claims were made before the decision of my right hon. Friend on 20 January 1987 to refer the whole case to the Court of Appeal. The hon. Member for Sunderland, South has been repeatedly asked to make available any relevant material to substantiate his claims. He has not done so.

  Wapping Dispute
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has had concerning the publication of the report by the Northamptonshire police into the policing of the industrial dispute at Wapping.
  910
  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  None.

  West Midlands Police
  Mr. Mullin
  (18) To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has anything to add to his answer of 1 February,Official Report, column 304, concerning DS Brian Morton.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Mr. Flannery).

  Parole
  Mr. Sayeed
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on his proposals to retain his discretion to refuse parole in the most serious cases.

  Mr. John Patten
  The White Paper "Crime, Justice and Protecting the Public" (Cm. 965) makes it clear that the Home Secretary will continue to consider the release of those offenders serving determinate sentences of seven years or more. These will have committed the most serious crimes and may be a serious risk to public safety.

  Mr. Stevens
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on his proposals for the supervision of prisoners released on parole and the liability of such prisoners committing further offences to recall to prison, and to serve all the outstanding sentence in addition to any new sentence imposed.

  Mr. John Patten
  Chapter 6 of the White Paper "Crime, Justice and Protecting the Public" (Cm. 965) sets out the Government's legislative proposals on parole. All prisoners serving imprisonment of more than one year will he supervised on release until three quarters of their sentence. All released prisoners will be liable, if convicted of another imprisonable offence committed before the end of the original sentence, to recall to prison to serve up to the rest of their sentence.

  "Error of Judgement"
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department first received a copy of the book "Error of Judgement"; and what action was taken.

  Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department first received "Error of Judgement"; and what action was taken.

  Ms.Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department first received a copy of the book "Error of Judgement"; and what action was taken.

  Mr. John Patten
  The Home Office obtained a copy of the book "Error of Judgement" shortly after publication in July 1986. On 2 September 1986, the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) discussed the content of his book with officials of the Home Office criminal department, and subsequently discussed a number of the points raised in the book with an assistant chief constable
  911
  of the West Midlands police. The book was considered by my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd), among a number of representations which had been made to him about the safety of the convictions of the Birmingham Six, before his decision on 20 January 1987 to refer the whole case to the Court of Appeal.

  Fines
  Mr. Andy Stewart
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on his proposals to ensure that fines more closely reflect an offender's ability to pay.

  Mr. John Patten
  The White Paper "Crime, Justice and Protecting the Public", published on 6 February, sets out our proposals for ensuring that fines are more closely related to an offender's means. We have invited comments by 30 April.

  Neighbourhood Watch
  Mr. Lord
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the latest figures for the number of neighbourhood watch schemes now operating in England and Wales.

  Mr. John Patten
  At the end of December 1989 there were estimated to be over 81,000 neighbourhood watch schemes in England and Wales, covering over 4 million households.

  Mr. Sumberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has as to the number of neighbourhood watch schemes now operating in the north-west of England.

  Mr. John Patten
  At the end of December 1989 there were estimated to be 19,500 schemes in the area covered by the Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside police forces.

  Bail Hostels
  Mr. Alexander
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what initiatives he plans to involve the private sector in providing bail hostel places.

  Mr. John Patten
  We have a programme to create 1,000 new bail places at approved hostels between April 1988 and April 1993. About 160 of these places are already on stream and some 500 more are at various stages of development. Although there are no plans for privately managed bail hostels at present, we believe that there is scope now for further private sector involvement in this programme in terms of planning, building, delivery and contracting out of services.

  Tyneside Metro
  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration was given to the cost of policing the Tyneside Metro when establishing manpower levels for the Northumbria police force.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  My right hon. and learned Friend approved 38 extra police posts for the Northumbria police as from April 1990. Twenty of these are to deal with general problems of rising crime in the areas in which the 912
  metro operates. The cost of a further 10 posts, specifically for policing the metro system, is reimbursed by the passenger transport executive.

  Electronic Tagging
  Mr. John P. Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on electronic tagging.

  Mr. Bell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on electronic tagging.

  Mr. John Patten
  I refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave earlier today to a question from the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen).

  Crime Prevention
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will next meet the Association of Metropolitan Authorities to discuss crime prevention initiatives.

  Mr. John Patten
  My right hon. and learned Friend has at present no plans to meet the AMA to discuss crime prevention. However, the association has been kept closely in touch with the preparation of fresh interdepartmental guidance on crime prevention and it and others have been invited this week to comment on a new draft circular on crime prevention issued on 19 February. Comments should be submitted by 3 April.

  Prisons (Vegan Diets)
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when regional catering officers last met representatives of the Vegan Society to discuss vegan diets in prisons in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  The principal catering manager for the prison service met the prison liaison officer for the Vegan Society on 9 October 1989. The prison liaison officer was also invited to speak to "in charge" catering officers at the prison service national catering school on 13 December 1989 about the vegan philosophy and diet.

  Criminal Injuries Compensation Board
  Mr. Ashley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what future steps are being taken to reduce the time taken by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board to deal with applications for compensation.

  Mr. John Patten
  We authorised the board in December to recruit 10 extra staff. We have now agreed that 50 more staff may be recruited as soon as possible. This meets in full the recent request of the chairman and the recommendation of the Home Affairs Select Committee (Second Report, Session 1989–90-HC92), for 60 more staff to help the board deal with the expected level of new applications and to reduce arrears.

  The reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler) on 8 December at columns 409–17, set out the revised criminal injuries compensation scheme and described other steps

  913
  already take to improve the board's performance. The first phase of the board's major computer project referred to in that answer will begin in March. The board proposes to use the discretion conferred under the new scheme to delegate to staff decisions on a limited range of cases from 1 April 1990.

  Mr. Ashton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to inform the social services departments of all local councils that criminal injuries compensation is available to all victims of child abuse or marital violence.

  Mr. John Patten
  The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board wrote to all social services departments in Great Britain in October 1989 giving details of the application of the scheme to victims of violence, and in particular to child victims of such crimes.

  Mr. Clelland
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce computers into the offices of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

  Mr. John Patten
  Portable computers have been in use at the board since 1987. A major computer project—case location and information management system—was approved in December 1989. This is a centralised database system using the mainframe Home Office computer. Training has begun on the first phase of the project, which will go live in March and provide for the registration and acknowledgement of all new claims and the issue of medical and police inquiry forms. Subsequent phases will allow for monitoring of case progress, the issuing of reminder and other letters and accounting and statistical facilities.

  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many victims in the years 1987, 1988 and 1989 received compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board for sums between £550 and £750; and what percentage this represented of the total number of awards in those years.

  Mr. Murphy
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many victims in the years 1987, 1988 and 1989 received compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board for sums between £550 and £750; and what percentage this represented of the total number of awards in those years.

  Mr. John Patten
  The breakdown of awards by size of award is given in paragraph 8.1 of the board's annual report for the year ended 31 March 1989 (Cm 900). These figures indicate that the number of awards of between £550 and £750 in the three years ended 31 March 1987, 1988 and 1989, were about 3,800, 3,700 and 5,700, a percentage of the total awards in these years of 17·3, 17·7 and 20·6, respectively.

  Special Constables
  Mr. Pawsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will consider the payment of a bounty or other remuneration to encourage recruitment of special constables.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  This has been considered a number of times by the Police Advisory Board, most recently in 914
  October 1988, and the conclusion each time was that an incentive award (bounty) was not necessary. However we are asking the board to consider the option of running pilot schemes on an experimental basis in some forces when it discusses further initiatives to strengthen the special constabulary on 27 February.

  Football Exclusion Orders
  Mr. Loyden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the number of exclusion orders imposed on football supporters for the years 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The exclusion order provisions of the Public Order Act 1986 came into force on 1 August 1987. The number of exclusion orders recorded by the Football Association since then is as follows:

  Number

  1987

  1320

  1988

  1,029

  1989

  1,038

  1 Five months.

  Central European Time
  Mr. Dunnachie
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he proposes to publish the responses he received in respect of the Green Paper on central European time; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Boateng
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received with regard to central European time; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. McFall
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received with regard to the proposed changes in British summer time.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  My right hon. and learned Friend will be announcing a breakdown of the responses to the consultation exercise in the near future.

  Electoral Systems
  Mr. Maclennan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he is giving to the reform of electoral voting systems in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  None.

  Pornography
  Sir Michael McNair-Wilson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with his EEC opposite numbers about harmonising the laws relating to the display and sale of pornographic films and magazines.

  Mr. Mellor
  My right hon. and learned Friend has had no personal discussions on this topic, but the Department has contributed to the work of the Council of Europe in encouraging its members to strengthen controls against the distribution of videograms having a violent, brutal or pornographic content, and to the work of the Council and the European Community in securing international
  915
  agreement on minimum standards in broadcasting. We shall continue to stress to our European partners the need to maintain high standards in published and broadcast material. Within the European Community, article 36 of the treaty of Rome allows member states to prohibit or restrict imports on grounds of public morality, provided that there is no arbitrary discrimination or disguised restriction on trade between member states. We intend to maintain strong controls over the display and sale of pornographic material within the United Kingdom.

  All-seater Football Grounds
  Dr. Goodson-Wickes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has considered the financial implications of the proposed installation of all-seater stadia for football grounds; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. John Patten
  I understand the football authorities provisionally estimate the cost to be £130 million for clubs in the English football league. But, as set out by Lord Justice Taylor in his final report, the cost could be lower. The Football Trust has indicated that about £75 million should be available to the professional game over the next 10 years. This is in addition to any income from television and pools companies which currently amounts to about £26 million each year.

  Prison Officers Association
  Mr. Fearn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met officials of the Prison Officers Association; and what subjects were discussed.

  Mr. Mellor
  My right hon. and learned Friend met members of the Prison Officers Association on 18 December. The terms and conditions of service for prison officers, resources, the possibility of agency status for the prison service and the possible use of the private sector to escort prisoners and to run remand centres were discussed.

  Permanent Residents
  Mr. Hanley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the net inflow or outflow of permanent residents of the United Kingdom for the last full year for which data exist.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The available data on net migration to or from the United Kingdom are the estimates produced by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys from the international passenger survey. This defines a migrant as a person leaving one country where he has been resident for more than a year with the intention of residing in a new country for a year or more. The 1988 estimates were of a net outflow from the United Kingdom of 21,000 migrants, resulting from an inflow of 216,000 and an outflow of 237,000. These figures include British citizens and are on a different basis from the figures of people subject to immigration control accepted for settlement in the United Kingdom. More detailed information on these migration estimates is published by OPCS in "International Migration 1988".

  Welsh Broadcasting
  Dr. Kim Howells
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the heads of BBC Wales and HTV; and what matters were discussed.
  916
  Mr. Mellor
  My right hon. and learned Friend has not yet met the heads of BBC Wales and HTV, either jointly or separately, but he may have the opportunity at some time in the future.

  Taylor Report
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations his Department has received following the publication of the Taylor report and his statement on 29 January, regarding proposals contained within the report.

  Mr. John Patten
  We have received 13 letters from hon. Members and 52 letters from members of the public. In addition, the Football Supporters Association has requested a meeting to discuss the role that supporters can play in implementing the report.

  Distress Warrants
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of persons against whom distress warrants were issued in 1987, 1988 and 1989 were dependent on state benefits.

  Mr. John Patten
  The information requested is not available.

  Mr. George Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of distress warrants issued by magistrates courts in 1987, 1988 and 1989.

  Mr. John Patten
  Around 185,000 distress warrants were issued by magistrates courts in 1987 and 560,000 in 1988. Information for 1989 is not yet available.

  Metropolitan Police Commissioner
  Mr. Evennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis; and what was discussed.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  My right hon. and learned Friend last held a meeting with the Commissioner on 21 December 1989, when the Commissioner's strategy statement for 1990 was discussed.

  Crime Detection
  Mrs. Maureen Hicks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the crime detection rate in the west midlands in 1989.

  Mr. John Patten
  Incomplete information for the West Midlands police force area for 1989 indicates the detection rate could be slightly lower than the 42 per cent. for 1988.

  Vagrancy
  Mr. Nellist
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to repeal sections 3 and 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. John Patten
  The Government have no present plans to repeal sections 3 and 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824, as amended.

  Victim Support Schemes
  Mr. Hayward
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many victim support schemes there are in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. John Patten
  Three hundred and fifty-five.

  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the level of Government funding for victim support.

  Mr. John Patten
  For this year £3·7 million has been granted for victim support schemes in England and Wales. Subject to parliamentary approval, around £4·5 million will be granted for 1990–91. This represents a 200 per cent. increase over four years.

  Senior Police Officers
  Mr. Cyril D. Townsend
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's plans to improve the selection and training of senior police officers.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The Government's response to the Home Affairs Select Committee's report on higher police training and the police staff college outlined their plans to identify at an early stage those officers with the ability to reach chief officer ranks and to provide them with the training they need to perform their jobs effectively.

  Assaults on Police
  Dr. Thomas
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of serious assaults committed against police officers in the north Wales area during 1989; and what were the comparable figures for(a) 1979, (b) 1983 and (c)

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the chief constable of North Wales that there were 308 assaults on members of his force in 1989. There were 109 assaults in 1979, 81 in 1983 and 91 in 1986. Information on the number of serious assaults is not readily available.

  Dogs
  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dogs are kept as domestic pets in the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The Home Office collects no statistics on the numbers of domestic pets. A report prepared by the London School of Economics for the RSPCA in 1988 estimated the United Kingdom dog population to be 7·3 million.

  Prisoners
  Mr. Knox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many were in prison at the most recent count.

  Mr. Mellor
  On Friday 16 February there were 47,103 people held in prison service establishments in England and Wales. This represents a fall of 2,288 people since the same time last year.

  Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received calling for an increase in the staffing level at the Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I am not aware of any such representations. The staffing ceiling of the Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory is set by the Commissioner, within the total ceiling for civil staff set by my right hon. and learned Friend as the police authority.

  Mr. Bermingham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current establishment at the Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory; and in how many months in each of the past three years the numbers in post reached full complement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the Commissioner that the current complement of the Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory is 297, of which 279½ posts are currently filled. The numbers in post have not reached full complement during the last three years.

  Mr. Caborn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the performance of the Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the Commissioner that no systematic management information about the performance of the laboratory is available, but that the time taken to deal with some types of case, particularly the less serious, has increased in the last year or so. We are discussing with the receiver a case for pay improvements to help deal with staffing problems, and we shall be looking at other management issues and their effect on performance.

  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the change in the workload of the Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory in each of the last three years.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the Commissioner that no management information system exists to provide data on workload, as opposed to the cruder measure of caseload. However, the available figures show that cases dealt with by the laboratory fell from 27,985 in 1987 to 18,053 in 1989, a fall of 35 per cent. I understand that this reduction reflected in part a decision not to carry out forensic examination in certain types of low priority case, such as possession of cannabis cases where a guilty plea is expected.

  Mr. Alan W. Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the operation of the Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory.

  Mr. Watson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the operation of the Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the Commissioner that no systematic management information about the performance of the laboratory is available, but that the
  919
  time taken to deal with some types of case, particularly the less serious, has increased in the last year or so. A factor affecting performance is difficulty in retaining scientific staff, though I understand that the staffing position has recently improved and that the laboratory is now within 5 per cent. of its authorised complement for forensic scientists. We are discussing with the receiver a case for pay improvements to help deal with staffing problems. However, it is important that we look at all the management issues which may have a bearing on performance—not just pay.

  Prisons (Fire Inspections)
  Mr. Turner
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to lift Crown immunity in relation to fire inspections in prisons.

  Mr. Mellor
  Although prisons are exempt from the arrangements for fire certification under the Fire Precautions Act 1971, governors are instructed to arrange periodic fire surveys by the local fire brigade, and the advice of Her Majesty's fire service inspectorate is taken if necessary, with the aim of meeting the joint objectives of fire safety and prison security. I see no compelling need to alter these arrangements.

  Pregnant Prisoners
  Mrs. Golding
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider setting up an independent inquiry into the treatment of pregnant women in Holloway prison.

  Mr. Mellor
  No.

  Criminal Justice White Paper
  Mr. Tim Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he has received to his criminal justice White Paper.

  Mr. John Patten
  We have invited comments on the proposals in the White Paper "Crime, Justice and Protecting the Public" (Cm 965) by 30 April. The initial reaction has been favourable and my right hon. and learned Friend's statement of 6 February received widespread support in both Houses.

  South Yorkshire Police
  Mr. Duffy
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the current manning levels in the South Yorkshire police.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  At the end of December 1989 there were 2,946 police officers on the strength of the South Yorkshire police matched against their establishment of 2,978.

  My right hon. and learned Friend has approved an increase of 20 posts for the force establishment subject to the police authority's confirmation of its willingness to meet its share of the cost.

  Police (Operational Duties)
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the additional police posts announced for 1990–91 will be deployed on operational duties.
  920
  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for chief officers of police. Of the 1,008 extra police posts for provincial forces announced for 1990–91, however, 953 were intended for deployment to operational duties.

  The deployment of the 150 posts approved for the Metropolitan police has yet to be decided, although the great majority will go on operational duties.

  Coach Parking
  Mr. Adley
  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 on the level of observance of "no coach parking" signs.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the Commissioner that no separate figures are recorded for non-compliance with "no coach parking" signs. Police and traffic wardens take action against instances of illegal coach parking whenever possible, which may include the removal of offending coaches to police car pounds. The Metropolitan police will be conducting a special coach parking advice and enforcement campaign during the summer months in the central London area.

  Disturbances, Granby
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has received a report from the chief constable of Merseyside police concerning the recent disturbances in the Granby area of Liverpool; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  We are informed by the Merseyside police that at about 8.20 pm on 5 February a police inspector and a sergeant responded to a report of youths, armed with bricks, gathering in Granby street, Liverpool 8. The officers were driving along Granby street when their car was rammed by a stolen vehicle. Bricks were thrown at the police vehicle. The sergeant suffered minor facial injuries.

  Two police vehicles summoned to assist the two officers were also attacked.

  Three other vehicles were later set on fire. When the Merseyside fire service arrived they were attacked with missiles and withdrew. Police reinforcements and a police helicopter were then deployed. The youths dispersed and order was restored by 11 pm. The police estimate that about 200 people were involved in the disturbances. Following the disturbances one person was arrested and charged with violent disorder and criminal damage to a police vehicle.

  Prisons (Education and Training)
  Mrs. Currie
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for increasing the educational and training opportunities for prison inmates.

  Mr. Mellor
  It is estimated that between 1989–90 and 1992–93 expenditure through LEAs for educational provision in prison service establishments will rise from £19·152 million to £27·387 million. Between 1987·88 and 1988–89 student hours rose by 23 per cent. and attention will continue to be paid to both efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of education in prisons. The prison service is exploring the implications of the national vocational
  921
  qualifications initiative and progress on this and other developments will be contained in the annual reports of the prison service.

  Immigration and Nationality Department
  Mr. Robert Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any proposals to further disperse the immigration and nationality department to the regions; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler) on 31 January at column 205.

  NACRO
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met representatives from the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders; and what was discussed.

  Mr. John Patten
  My right hon. and learned Friend and I met the chairman, director and an assistant director from the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders on 23 January. The meeting provided an opportunity for the representatives of NACRO to give a presentation of their work and to discuss their ideas about criminal justice issues.

  Visas
  Mr. Fraser
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in respect of implementing a common visa regime for the European Economic Community after 1992; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to questions from the hon. Members for Ashfield (Mr. Haynes) and for Caerphilly (Mr. Davies) on 25 January 1990 at columns 1037–39.

  Football Hooliganism
  Mr. David Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce his decision on whether to implement the recommendations of Lord Justice Taylor to create three new specific offences to tackle football hooliganism.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Waterside (Mr. Colvin) earlier today.

  Crime (Devon and Cornwall)
  Mr. Matthew Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the latest figure for recorded crime in Devon and Cornwall.

  Mr. John Patten
  Information for 1988 was published in tables 2.5 and 2.7 of "Criminal statistics England and Wales, 1988", Cm. 847, a copy of which is available in the Library. Further detailed figures for the 12 months to the end of September 1989 for local police areas have also been placed in the Library. In the 12 months to September 1989, Devon and Cornwall police recorded 74,905 offences, 1,046 more than in the previous 12 months.

  Mr. Kenneth Carter
  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now reply to the questions tabled by the hon. Member for Stockton, South about. Mr. Kenneth Carter, a prisoner in Durham prison.

  Mr. Mellor
  I have today replied to the questions tabled by my hon. Friend.

  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why deductions are being made from Mr. Kenneth Carter for association expenses in Durham prison.

  Mr. Mellor
  [holding answer 8 February 1990]: It has been common practice in all Her Majesty's prisons for a small deduction to be made from inmates' earnings as a contribution to the establishment's general purposes fund. This practice has been reviewed and instructions are to be issued for it to cease.

  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will arrange for Mr. Kenneth Carter, prisoner No. AD3434, to be transferred from Durham to another prison;

  (2) on how many occasions Mr. Kenneth Carter, prisoner No. AD3434, has moved cell in Durham prison; and what was the reason in each case;

  (3) what complaints he has received concerning harassment of Mr. Kenneth Carter, a prisoner in Durham prison, following the death of his former cellmate; and if he will make a statement;

  (4) when a representative of the board of visitors of Durham prison last met Mr. Kenneth Carter, prisoner No. AD3434;

  (5) why Mr. Kenneth Carter, prisoner No. AD3434, has been recategorised as category A in Durham prison.

  Mr. Mellor
  [holding answer 8 February 1990]: Mr. Kenneth Carter has been charged with the murder of a former cellmate at Durham prison on 5–6 January 1990. For this reason his prison security status is now category A and he will stay at Her Majesty's prison Durham until his trial.

  No record is kept of cell movements, but immediately after the death of his former cellmate, Mr. Carter was moved to the prison hospital to which members of the board of visitors make regular visits. Mr. Carter saw a member of the board of visitors on 11 February 1990.

  Other than a letter which my hon. Friend forwarded to me on 16 January 1990, no complaints about harassment of Mr. Carter have been received.

  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement about the allocation of shoes to Mr. Kenneth Carter, a prisoner in Durham prison;

  (2) why Mr. Kenneth Carter, a prisoner in Durham prison, was denied an exercise period on 29 and 30 January; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  On 29 January 1990, inclement weather prevented Mr. Carter from taking exercise. On 30 January 1990 he took no exercise as he had been refused a request to wear slippers while on exercise. There are no medical reasons why Mr. Carter should not wear the prison shoes with which he has been issued.

  Rottweiler Dogs
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps he is taking to prevent further attacks in the light of recent attacks by rottweiler dogs on children; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) whether he has any proposals to restrict the domestic ownership of rottweiler dogs; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. George Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in the light of recent incidents involving rottweiler dogs, he will seek powers to introduce a total ban on such breeds of animal.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I have been asked to reply.

  The law concerning attacks by dogs was strengthened only last year by the Dangerous Dogs Act 1989. We are studying recent incidents closely and will consider whether the law would benefit from further revision.

  Police Rent and Rates Allowances
  Mr. Ian Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes in police rent and rates allowances have been made to coincide with the abolition of domestic rates.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  My right hon. and learned Friend expects shortly to lay regulations changing the police rent allowance arrangements with effect from 1 April. The main changes will be that the new housing allowance for each force will no include an element for the reimbursement of rates; the community charge will not be reimbursed; the new housing allowance will be updated biennially in line with movements in the retail prices index; and compensatory grant will be abolished. Special arrangements will, however, be made to ensure that police officers who are in receipt of rent allowance and compensatory grant on 31 March will receive no less than they were receiving on that date.

  Immigration (Domestic Servants)
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many Kuwaitis entering the United Kingdom in 1989 were permitted to bring with them domestic servants;

  (2) how many Saudi Arabians entering the United Kingdom in 1989 were permitted to bring with them domestic servants.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The information requested is not available.

  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if all persons described as domestic servants brought into the United Kingdom by foreigners require entry visas; and what steps are taken to ensure that such persons are treated in accordance with United Kingdom law;

  (2) if all persons described as domestic servants brought into the United Kingdom by foreigners require work permits; and what steps are taken to make sure such people are treated in accordance with United Kingdom law.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Under exceptional arrangements outside the immigration rules and the work permit scheme 924
  a domestic servant who has worked abroad for at least the previous 12 months for an employer who comes to the United Kingdom will normally be admitted to continue working for that employer here. Prior entry clearance is necessary if the servant is a visa national or if the employer is coming in a capacity for which he needs an entry clearance. While in the United Kingdom domestic servants are entitled to the normal protection of our law.

  Homosexuality
  Ms. Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information is held centrally relating to discrimination against lesbians and homosexual men; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. John Patten
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Ms. Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what proposals he has to deal with discrimination against lesbians and homosexual men with regard to(a) the age of sexual consent, (b) the right to serve in the armed forces and (c) legal recognition of long-term homosexual partnerships;

  (2) what proposals he has to improve the legal rights of lesbians and homosexual men; and if he will make a statement;

  (3) what provision exists in the European social charter on the rights of homosexuals; whether he has any proposals for legislation arising from Britain's obligations under the charter; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. John Patten
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang) on 1 February 1990 at columns 304–06.

  Drug Command Informant Scheme
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the drug command informant scheme;

  (2) if he will require the drug command informant scheme to publish an annual report describing the general nature of cases handled and the level of reward given; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  I understand that the Community Action Trust, a registered charity, intends to launch in the near future an informant reward scheme entitled drug command. The scheme will be funded entirely by the trust but will be operated in close consultation with the enforcement agencies. Publication of reports about the operation of the scheme is a matter for the Community Action Trust.

  Prisons
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the minimum permitted space per prisoner.

  Mr. Mellor
  The prison design brief for training establishments published in 1989, which will form the basis for the design of other categories of establishments, lays down the standards for new prison buildings. The brief requires an area of 6·8m2 to be provided for a single-person cell with integral sanitation. The area of a cell without integral sanitation in existing establishments built to earlier standards varies.

  Armley Prison, Leeds
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the prison officers' dispute at Armley prison, Leeds.

  Mr. Mellor
  Officials of the local branch of the Prison Officers Association at Armley prison, Leeds have advised the governor that they are in dispute over staffing arrangements. A meeting between management and union representatives under the agreed disputes procedure has been arranged for 23 February.

  Ambulance Dispute
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has issued guidelines to police authorities on charging for cover during the ambulance dispute; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Waddington
  Guidance was issued in October to chief officers and police authorities on the arrangements which might be made for reimbursement by regional health authorities when the police were called upon to assist in providing an ambulance service.

  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the total man hours performed by police personnel involved in ambulance duties in the United Kingdom during the current ambulance workers' dispute.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand that the total number of man hours which forces have provided in assisting ambulance services in England and Wales up to and including 13 February has been about 1·1 million.

  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the total number of man hours performed by police personnel during the current ambulance workers' dispute in (i) Nottingham, (ii) Manchester, (iii) Essex, (iv) West Yorkshire and (v) Northumbria; and how many of those man hours were paid at overtime rates.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The information requested readily available up to 13 February is shown in the table:

  Approximate number of man hours

  Number

  Nottinghamshire

  1,130

  Greater Manchester

  14,930

  Essex

  28,930

  West Yorkshire

  53,300

  Northumbria

  66,000

  All these man hours were paid at overtime rates.

  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the average hourly rate of pay for police personnel employed on ambulance duties during the current ambulance workers' dispute;

  (2) what is the hourly overtime rate of pay for police constables involved in ambulance duties in (i) Nottingham, (ii) Manchester, (iii) Essex, (iv) west Yorkshire and (v) Northumbria;

  (3) what is the hourly overtime rate of pay for police personnel of ranks other than constable involved in ambulance duties in (i) Nottingham, (ii) Manchester, (iii) Essex, (iv) west Yorkshire and (v) Northumbria;
  926
  (4) what is the hourly rate of pay for police constables involved in ambulance duties in (a) Nottingham, (b) Manchester, (c) Essex, (d) west Yorkshire and (e) Northumbria;

  (5) what is the hourly rate of pay for police personnel of ranks other than constable involved in ambulance duties in (a) Nottingham, (b) Manchester, (c) Essex, (d) west Yorkshire and (e) Northumbria.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Police pay for each rank is on a scale connected to number of years' service. It is not, therefore, possible to give an hourly or overtime rate per officer for each force or nationally.

  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost of(a) converting a police van for use in ambulance duties and (b) reconverting a police van after use in ambulance duties.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand that in converting vehicles some forces have simply removed seats but others have done more work including the installation of some special equipment. The costs range, therefore, from minimal to several hundred pounds per van.

  No vans have yet been reconverted.

  Art Galleries (Thefts)
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of theft have been reported to the Metropolitan police by museums and art galleries in each of the last three years.

  Mr. John Patten
  Information in the detail requested is not collected.

  Metropolitan Police (Damages)
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much in compensation, both in court and in out-of-court settlements, the Metropolitan police has paid to members of the public who have brought civil cases for damages since 15 December 1988.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the amounts paid by the Metropolitan police under awards made by the courts and in settlements out of court arising from allegations of wrongful acts by Metropolitan police officers are as follows:

  Awards made by the courts

  Settlements out of court

  £

  £

  1988(16–31 December)

  5,500

  18,831

  1989

  252,904

  266,850

  1990 (to 21 February)

  65,000

  160,050

  Downing Street
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the cost in each year since 1979 arising from the presence in Downing street of police officers from the Metropolitan police.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  It is not the practice to give details of security costs.

  Community Penalties
  Mr. Jacques Arnold
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the development of community penalties for offenders.

  Mr. John Patten
  The White Paper "Crime, Justice and Protecting the Public" (Cm 965) sets out our proposals for providing a wider and more flexible range of strengthened community penalties to reduce reliance on custody for less serious offenders.

  Sentencing
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on his proposals to enable sentencers to sentence above the normal for the particular crime where the offender's record is such that he is a danger to the public.

  Mr. John Patten
  The White Paper "Crime, Justice and Protecting the Public" sets out our proposals for empowering the Crown court to give custodial sentences longer than would be justified by the seriousness of the offence alone to persistent violent and sexual offenders, if this is necessary to protect the public.

  Durham Prison
  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing the number of suicides in Durham prison in each of the last 15 years.

  Mr. Mellor
  [holding answer 8 February 1990]: The table gives the numbers of deaths at Durham prison since 1975 for which a suicide verdict was returned at the inquest:

  Number

  1975

  —

  1976

  —

  1977

  —

  1978

  2

  1979

  —

  1980

  —

  1981

  —

  1982

  1

  1983

  —

  1984

  1

  1985

  2

  1986

  —

  1987

  3

  1988

  1

  1989

  2

  11990

  —

  1 To 8 February 1990.

  An inquest has yet to take place on a death in Durham prison in January 1990.

  MR. DORAJ ASGOR
  MR. DORAJ ASGOR
  ARCHAEOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT: GUIDANCE
  ARCHAEOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT: GUIDANCE
  LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND HOUSING ACT 1989, PART VIII: IMPLEMENTATION
  LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND HOUSING ACT 1989, PART VIII: IMPLEMENTATION
  JUBILEE LINE: EASTERN EXTENSION
  JUBILEE LINE: EASTERN EXTENSION
  MOTORWAY HARD SHOULDERS; ACCIDENTS 1984/86
  MOTORWAY HARD SHOULDERS; ACCIDENTS 1984/86
  DISABLED PEOPLE: TRANSPORT
  DISABLED PEOPLE: TRANSPORT
  DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: BANANA EXPORTS TO EC
  DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: BANANA EXPORTS TO EC
  STUDENTS LIVING IN HALLS OF RESIDENCE
  STUDENTS LIVING IN HALLS OF RESIDENCE