Written Answers of 22 April 1991

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

  Birmingham Pub Bombings
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Attorney-General when he last discussed the Birmingham pub bombings case with the Director of Public Prosecutions.

  The Attorney-General
  I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer to the hon. Member for Dumbarton (Mr. McFall).

  Lord Chief Justice
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Attorney-General what was the salary of the Lord Chief Justice in(a) 1987 and (b) January 1991 in current prices.

  The Attorney-General
  The salary of the Lord Chief Justice in January 1987 was £77,400, and in January 1991 £95,750. Had it kept pace with prices, it would now be £102,454·38.

  Social Security Appeals
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Attorney-General from what area appeals to the social security commissioners are heard at the Cardiff Docks venue; and whether he is satisfied that it is suitable for disabled claimants.

  The Attorney-General
  The social security commissioners hear appeals from the whole of Wales at the Crown Court in Cardiff which is situated at Williams way, Curran embankment on Penarth road, although claimants in north Wales may opt for the hearing of their cases in Liverpool. The Cardiff venue has been used since March 1987 and is considered well suited to the needs of disabled claimants.

  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Attorney-General how many appeals were made to the social security commissioners in each year from 1980 to 1990 in England, Scotland and Wales, respectively.

  The Attorney-General
  This information is available only from 1985. The number of appeals made to the social security commissioners for each year from 1985 to 1990 in England, Scotland and Wales is given in the table.

  Social Security Commissioners

  Year

  Number of Appeals

  Total

  England

  Scotland

  Wales

  1985

  1,982

  590

  104

  2,676

  1986

  11,860

  406

  —

  2,266

  1987

  2,878

  654

  76

  3,608

  1988

  4,015

  779

  55

  4,849

  1989

  4,435

  716

  38

  5,189

  1990

  2,356

  394

  20

  2,770

  1 Including Wales.

  Mr. Usman Khalid
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Attorney-General when the appeal of Mr. Usman Khalid (TH 9455/90) against refusal to grant entry clearance to the United Kingdom will be heard in Leeds; and if he will make a statement.

  The Attorney-General
  Once Mr. Khalid's representatives in this country have indicated to the immigration appellate authorities—IAA—that they are ready to proceed to a hearing, the IAA will aim to list the case at Leeds within five months.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  South Atlantic (Oil Exploration)
  Mr. Foulkes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Governments of the Falkland Islands and Argentina regarding oil exploration in the South Atlantic.

  Mr. Garel-Jones
  The Falkland Islands Government have passed a draft of their revised minerals legislation to us. My right hon. Friend has not held discussions with either the Government of the Falkland Islands or that of Argentina regarding oil exploration in the south Atlantic.

  International Atomic Energy Agency
  Mr. McFall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his Department's policy towards informing the International Atomic Energy Agency of any information his Department has regarding possible breaches of the non-proliferation treaty by other state parties.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We would draw the attention of the IAEA to any such information as appropriate.

  Mr. McFall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what powers are vested in the International Atomic Energy Agency to prevent the diversion of nuclear materials from civil to military use in the time between its regular inspections.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  If there were reason to believe that materials were being diverted from civil to military uses, the IAEA could request a special inspection.

  Mr. McFall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what communications took place between Her Majesty's Government and the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding Iraqi efforts to operate a covert nuclear weapons programme prior to 15 January 1991.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We have made known on a number of occasions in various ways our concerns that Iraq appeared to be pursuing a covert nuclear weapons programme in contravention of its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

  Mr. McFall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions took place at the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding the movement of Iraqi safeguarded materials away from Tuwaila.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Any formal discussion of this matter would have to take place in the IAEA board of governors. There has been no discussion of this kind.

  Iraq (Uranium)
  Mr. McFall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his Department's assessment as to the quantity of highly-enriched uranium that is still in Iraqi hands.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  This is a matter for verification by the IAEA and the special commission to be established in accordance with Security Council resolution 687.

  Turkey (Human Rights)
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement concerning abuse of human rights in Turkey.

  Mr. Garel-Jones
  Since the return to civilian rule in 1983, the Turkish Government have taken a number of steps to improve their human rights record. We support those efforts and continue to encourage the Turkish Government to respect and abide by the international human rights conventions to which they are a party.

  United Nations
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will initiate a study of the evolution or development of the United Nations organisation to enable it better to attain the objectives of its charter in conditions of east-west rapprochement.

  Mr. Garel-Jones
  The end of the cold war has enhanced the prospects of having the United Nations function as its founding fathers intended. We are considering ways in which it might do so.

  Israel
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government are making to the Israeli Government to reopen educational institutions in the occupied territories; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The Israelis are well aware of our belief that the continuing closure of educational institutions, and in particular four universities, in the occupied territories is damaging—whether to Israel's reputation, the Palestinian community or the prospects for peace. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs urged the Israeli Foreign Minister to look again at this problem the last time he saw him, in London on 5 March.

  Visa Arrangements
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reciprocal arrangements exist for British citizens to have two-year working visas and in which Commonwealth countries; and whether he has any proposals for renegotiating these arrangements.

  Mr. Garel-Jones
  There are no reciprocal arrangements between the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries on two-year working visas. There are no plans to negotiate such arrangements.

  Gulf War
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the latest figures for the total contributions to Her Majesty's Government, and from which countries, to the cost of the United Kingdom's involvement in the Gulf war.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Cash contributions paid and pledged so far include about £660 million from Kuwait, £565 million from Saudi Arabia, £275 million from Germany, £250 million from the UAE, £183 million from Japan, £15 million from Belgium, £15 million from Hong Kong and £8 million from Denmark. We have also received assistance in kind worth about £250 million from some 16 countries.

  United Nations Disaster Relief Organisation
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his oral answer of 15 April,Official Report, column 35, what refugee movements were anticipated by the United Nations Disaster Relief Organisation, what requests were made to member states, and on what specific dates.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  On 11 January the office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator launched a regional plan of action in anticipation that a large number of people would be displaced by a conflict in the Gulf. This plan was based on 100,000 refugees arriving in each of Jordan, Turkey, Iran and Syria. UNDRO, on behalf of the United Nations humanitarian agencies and the International Organisation for Migration, made an urgent appeal for United States $38 million, 25 per cent. of their anticipated costs. Pledges from the international community quickly totalled some United States $58 million. The United Kingdom donated United States $1 million.

  On 5 April UNDRO asked donors for the remaining 75 per cent. of its 11 January appeal. On 11 April, as the full scale of the exodus in the north of Iraq became clear, UNDRO launched an updated plan covering assistance to 1·5 million refugees in Turkey and Iran. UNDRO estimated the cost of its programme at United States $400 million, subsuming its original appeal for United States $152 million. UNDRO is appealing to donors for United States $300 million immediately.

  As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced on 5 April, the United Kingdom will be contributing up to £20 million to the appeals by the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies.

  Bombs
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals he has for new international protocols on the use of fuel air explosive weapons and daisy cutter bombs in warfare.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  None.

  The Gulf
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the latest estimate of humanitarian assistance given to Kuwaitis and Iraqis.
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  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development gave the hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Mrs. Clwyd) on 19 April.

  I understand that since the launch of their appeals, the international donor community has given at least US$86 million to the UNDRO/UNHCR appeals and at least £33 million to the International Committee of the Red. Cross appeal. I am not able to provide complete information on the many other humanitarian agencies and NGOs who are providing assistance to the Kuwaitis and Iraqis either financially or at the practical level.

  Incendiary Weapons
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to ratify the United Nations weaponry convention; and what is his policy towards accepting the optional protocol No. III, on the use of incendiary weapons in certain circumstances.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We are still considering ratification of the UN weaponry convention. When we have reached a decision, we shall make clear our policy towards protocol No. III.

  Kuwait
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence Her Majesty's ambassador in Kuwait has concerning the allegations about the carrying out of reprisals against Palestinians in Kuwait.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  A number of Palestinians have approached Her Majesty's embassy in Kuwait about relatives who had been detained. The embassy is also in touch with international humanitarian agencies and human rights organisations monitoring the position of vulnerable groups.

  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 15 April,Official Report, columns 106–7, to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what response he has had to his repeated expressions of concern about ill-treatment of Palestinians in Kuwait.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The Crown Prince of Kuwait has assured my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister that Palestinians will be dealt with in accordance with the law.

  German Reunification
  Mr. Denzil Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the reunification of Germany has cost the EC budget.

  Mr. Garel-Jones
  The gross additional cost on the EC budget during 1991 as a result of German unification will be about 1,915 mecu. That will be partly offset by higher German contributions which will total 1,230 mecu, making the net additional cost some 685 mecu.

PRIME MINISTER

  Parliamentary Questions
  Mr. Harry Barnes
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will list by Government Department those subject areas that were previously open to answer via parliamentary 294
  questions, but which since June 1979 have been excluded as a consequence of legislation and changes in administrative arrangements.

  The Prime Minister
  Legislation and changes in administrative arrangements do not generally change the accountability of Ministers to Parliament except where the Government's successful programme of privatisation has removed a particular function from the public sector. In respect of "next steps" agencies, ministerial accountability is unchanged and parliamentary questions relating to executive agencies remain in order, although Ministers may arrange for chief executives to write to Members on matters which have been delegated to an agency in its framework document. I would encourage members to approach chief executives direct in the first instance on such matters, their aim is to provide a response which is as full and as helpful as possible on a timescale similar to that for a ministerial response to a parliamentary question.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  St. John Ambulance Brigade
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what facilities he has made available to staff in his Department to contribute to the appeal that has been launched for people with the name of John to help raise £5 million for the St. John Ambulance Brigade.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  No request for assistance with this appeal has, to my knowledge, been received, but arrangements could be made to draw it to the attention of Home Office staff.

  Emergency Planning College
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the cost of running the Emergency Planning college in each of the past 10 years.

  Mr. John Patten
  Expenditure on the Emergency Planning college was not separately identified in the Appropriation Accounts prior to 1984 and details could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. For 1984–85 onwards the information requested is as follows:

  £

  1984–85

  1,058,000

  1985–86

  1,159,000

  1986–87

  1,516,000

  1987–88

  1,368,000

  1988–89

  1,468,000

  1989–90

  1,685,000

  1990–911

  1,517,000

  1 Estimated.

  In addition, £226,000 and £670,000 were spent in 1989–90 and 1990–91 respectively on various capital projects in relation to the college buildings.

  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when was the last independent evaluation of the Emergency Planning college; and when the next such inquiry will take place.

  Mr. John Patten
  A study was carried out by management consultants between March 1990 and January this year into the ways in which the Emergency
  295
  Planning college might best discharge its wider remit to address questions of peacetime emergency planning, irrespective of any wartime connections, which was announced by the then Home Secretary in June 1989. There are no plans at present for any further external reviews.

  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to whom the management of the Emergency Planning college is accountable.

  Mr. John Patten
  The Emergency Planning college is part of my right hon. Friend's fire and emergency planning department and, as such is accountable through the normal management structure to him.

  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what increase has taken place in the staff of the Emergency Planning college since the expansion of its title and role.

  Mr. John Patten
  Since June 1989 when the Emergency Planning college's change of name and expansion of its role were announced an increase in staff amounting to 2·5 additional posts has been approved. These have not yet been filled. In addition, two posts on the college's original complement have been regraded at a higher level.

  Crime Statistics
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what has been the percentage of crimes in the London borough of Wandsworth that have not been cleared up in each of the last five years;

  (2) how many sexual offences were reported in the London borough of Wandsworth in each of the last three years;

  (3) how many burglary offences were recorded as committed in the London borough of Wandsworth in each of the last three years;

  (4) how many crimes were recorded in the London borough of Wandsworth in each of the last three years;

  (5) how many cases of physical assault against a person were reported in the London borough of Wandsworth in each of the last three years.

  Mr. John Patten
  The requested information is contained in the Metropolitan police district annual borough tables, copies of which are available in the Library.

  Crime Statistics
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many car thefts were reported in the London borough of Wandsworth in each of the last three years.

  Mr. John Patten
  The available information is for all thefts and is placed in the Library quarterly. Separate information for car thefts is not available centrally.

  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the percentage of increase or decrease in crimes in the London borough of Wandsworth in each of the last five years.

  Mr. John Patten
  The information requested is given in the table. Tables giving numbers of offences recorded by the police in each borough of the Metropolitan police district are placed in the Library quarterly.
  296

  Notifiable offences recorded by the police in the borough of Wandsworth

  Year

  Number of offences

  Percentage change from previous year

  1986

  28,030

  –2

  1987

  27,423

  –2

  1988

  25,308

  –8

  1989

  27,955

  +10

  1990

  32,679

  +17

  Policing Costs
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list those sporting activities which are required to pay for policing costs;

  (2) if he will make it his policy for fox hunts to pay for the costs of policing their activities; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Police functions are carried out at public expense under the Police Act 1964; where special policy services—outside their normal functions—are provided, a charge may be made under section 15 of the Act, but this is at the discretion of the police authority concerned. Eligibility for charging depends on the nature of the police function, not the sport or other activity concerned.

  Mauritius
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from the island of Mauritius have been deported from the United Kingdom in each of the last five years.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The number of Mauritian citizens removed from the United Kingdom in each year since 1986 under the deportation process is as follows:

  Year

  Number

  1986

  14

  1987

  6

  1988

  6

  1989

  12

  1990

  8

  Stockton Borough Council
  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations have been made to him by Stockton borough council concerning the extension of a ban on drinking in public places to Yarm and Thornaby.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  In March, Stockton-on-Tees borough council applied to renew its existing byelaws for prohibiting the consumption of intoxicating liquor in the same areas which were designated during the two-year experimental period. Officials wrote to the council on 26 March, giving provisional approval to the byelaws. We have not received any proposals to extend the byelaws to additional areas, but we understand that the council is considering making such an application at a later date.

  Prison Education Budgets
  Mr. David Porter
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on why the budgets for education in prison establishments for 1991–92
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  were not allocated on a full-year basis; and what plans are being made for the future budgeting of education, establishment by establishment.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Following the reorganisation of the prison service, prison establishments were advised in February of an interim allocation of funds for education purposes to cover their first quarter's expenditure in 1991–92. This was to enable the new area managers to obtain further specialist advice to ensure that full year's budgets, to be notified to establishments in June, make the most effective use of overall educational provision for the prison service. In future, area managers will be involved at an earlier stage in the budget-setting process and the agreed overall provision will be allocated between establishments by area managers at the beginning of the financial year, following consultation with governors and the relevant specialists.

  Prison Education
  Mr. David Porter
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy on the future of the financing of education in prison establishments currently funded through local education authorities; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  I would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science on 21 March at columns 432–34. Future arrangements for the funding of education in prison establishments will be determined in the light of the Government plans for the reorganisation of further education as a whole, on which a White Paper is to be published shortly.

  Kurds
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to make special provision to grant Kurds political asylum in United Kingdom.

  (a)

  (b)

  (c)

  (d)

  (e)

  Year

  Free Pardons

  Remission of imprisonment

  Remission of Borstal training. Youth custody, detention in a Young Offender Institution

  Remission of detention

  Remission of fine

  1980

  13

  2

  —

  —

  2

  1981

  12

  1

  —

  —

  1

  1982

  9

  —

  —

  —

  1

  1983

  8

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1984

  14

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1985

  6

  —

  —

  —

  2

  1986

  5

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1987

  11

  —

  —

  —

  4

  1988

  8

  —

  —

  —

  2

  1989

  9

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1990

  16

  —

  —

  —

  —

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

  Nigeria and Ghana
  Mr. Speller
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance in commerce and in education is being provided for Nigeria and Ghana.
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  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  We do not consider that the large-scale resettlement of Iraqi Kurds in Western countries is an answer to the current problem. All asylum applications made in the United Kingdom are considered in accordance with the United Nations convention on refugees.

  Lewes Prison
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the maximum security alert at Lewes prison on 27 March; and if he will list for the last 12 months the number of times Lewes prison has been put on maximum security alert; and for what reasons.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Following the discovery of live ammunition at Lewes prison, the governor made arrangements for a full scale search of the prison buildings and grounds. This search took place on 26 and 27 March. Investigations are in progress. There were full alerts called to carry out extensive searching at Lewes on the following occasions during the last 12 months: 22 November 1990; 2 to 6 December 1990.

  Royal Prerogative of Mercy
  Mr. Sedgemore
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list separately for each year from 1980 to 1990 the number of cases in which the royal prerogative of mercy was exercised to grant(a) a free pardon, (b) a remission of imprisonment, (c) remission of Borstal training, youth custody and detention in a young offenders' institution, (d) remission of detention and (e) remission of fine, on grounds affecting the original conviction, in cases other than those involving road traffic offences.

  Mr. John Patten
  [holding answer 18 April 1991]: The information requested is as follows:

  Mrs. Chalker
  Assistance to education in Nigeria in 1990–91 covered nine separate projects at a total cost last year of some £1·37 million. There is no aid currently specifically to commerce. In Ghana total education costs amounted to about £0·9 million in 1990–91, including training in Britain. In commerce, a United Kingdom training award is available in 1991 to the Ghana Export Promotion Council. These figures do not include our wide-ranging programmes of United Kingdom training in
  299
  other sectors amounting to a further £2·5 million for Nigeria and £1·4 million for Ghana. Both countries have better developed education systems than many others in Africa.

  Famine, Africa
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance his Department is currently giving to relieve famine in Africa; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Chalker
  We have committed £152 million in emergency assistance to Africa since the beginning of 1989. On 15 April, I announced a new pledge of assistance worth £33 million. Most of this will go to the Horn of Africa, where the famine is most acute. It will be in addition to the £33 million we have already provided to the region since last September.

  The Gulf
  Mr. McFall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial assistance the Government are providing for Jordan and other neighbouring states affected by the Gulf war.

  Mrs. Chalker
  As our share of the EC special allocation to countries affected by the Gulf crisis we are providing £20 million to Jordan, £23 million each to Egypt and Turkey, £8 million to the occupied territories and £21 million to Israel. Since the invasion of Kuwait the United Kingdom has provided £18·65 million in humanitarian assistance through bilateral and EC channels. In addition we have committed £21·7 million to alleviate the plight of the Iraqi refugees. In the current financial year we expect our normal bilateral assistance to amount to £5·25 million for Jordan, £11 million for Egypt, £5 million for Turkey and some £1·5 million for the occupied territories.

  Alternative Crops
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what approaches have been made to the Overseas Development Administration in respect of alternative commercial crops in Commonwealth countries whose economies rely significantly on the export of sugar and bananas, respectively.

  Mrs. Chalker
  We are helping the eastern Caribbean countries—Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent—whose economies rely heavily on banana exports, with a number of agricultural diversification projects.

  Environment Conference, Brazil
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial support will be made available by Her Majesty's Government to(a) delegations from less-developed nations and (b) non-governmental organisations based in the United Kingdom, to assist their attendance at the United Nations conference on environment and development, to be held in Rio De Janeiro in June 1992.

  Mrs. Chalker
  We have offered £32,000 to the voluntary fund established to help finance participation by developing countries in the conference and its preparatory 300
  process. The United Nations General Assembly has not yet decided on the participation of non-governmental organisations in the conference.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

  Victoria Tower
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Lord President of the Council what is his most recent estimate of the cost of the scaffolding erected at the Victoria Tower.

  Mr. MacGregor
  £1·5 million.

NATIONAL FINANCE

  Building Societies
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list(a) the building societies which will not be repaid and (b) the amounts of tax involved, under the proposals referred to in paragraph 4.22 of the 1991 Financial Statement.

  Mr. Maude
  It would not be appropriate to provide information about the tax affairs of individual taxpayers.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) to what extent the view of Inland Revenue that the disputed extra tax paid by building societies does not in fact involve the payment of extra tax, is based on the ground that building societies account on an accruals basis while government accounts on a cash basis;

  (2) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham of 15 April Official Report, columns 9–11, about the way building societies account for tax, whether his answer was based on the premise that the Inland Revenue would not receive extra tax or that building societies would not pay extra tax.

  Mr. Maude
  The 1986 change from the old basis on which building societies accounted for tax annually on interest accruing in their accounting year to the present system under which they account quarterly for tax on interest and dividends paid does not mean societies have paid extra tax. The change affected the time of payments, not their amounts. Interest and dividends paid during transitional periods have been subjected to a single charge to tax.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the occasions on which the Government publicly acknowledged the effect that a judgment adverse to the Inland Revenue in the Woolwich Equitable building society case might have on other building societies; and what the likely effect was judged to be on each such occasion.

  Mr. Maude
  My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer referred to this matter in this year's Budget statement. There has been no previous occasion of a similar Government statement on this matter.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of where the £250 million for 1986 transitional provisions: building societies, shown in table 4.1 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" 1991–92, comes from.
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  Mr. Maude
  The figure is the estimated amount, net of corporation tax, which will not be repaid to various building societies following my right hon. Friend's Budget proposal contained in clause 50 of the Finance Bill.

  Separate Taxation
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is a requirement for the tax affairs of a wife and a husband to be dealt with by separate tax offices when one does not earn money outside the home.

  Mr. Maude
  The tax offices dealing with the tax affairs of a wife and a husband are, following the introduction of independent taxation, determined separately by reference to the nature of their respective incomes.

  Interest Rates
  Mr. David Nicholson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has on reduced interest rates in European Community countries which discriminate in favour of(a) small businesses and (b) farming businesses; whether such arrangements will be permitted in the single European market; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Maude
  Information on state aids in the Community, including in the small firms and agricultural sectors, is published in the European Commission's reviews of state aids in the Community. All state aid schemes are notifiable by member states to the Commission; the Commission then decides whether they are compatible with the treaty of Rome.

  Judicial Review
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many times in the last three years the Inland Revenue has experienced judicial review; how often it lost; and how often building society tax was involved;

  (2) whether he has decided that all future potential gainers from judicial reviews of Inland Revenue decisions must make their own applications concurrently.

  Mr. Maude
  There have been 15 applications for judicial review involving the Inland Revenue in the last three years, of which four have been granted. Only one application involved building society interest. It is for individual taxpayers to decide whether or not to apply for judicial review of an Inland Revenue decision.

  Foundation for Sport and the Arts
  Mr. Ken Hargreaves
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the £40 million to be collected by the Pools Promoters Association for the proposed Foundation for Sport and the Arts will be taken from the total money now allocated to the payment of prize.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  This is a matter for the pools promoters, but I understand that the proposal is that a proportion of the total remittance submitted by clients will be held in trust for the foundation.

  Gross Domestic Product
  Mr. Denzil Davies
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the European Community total gross domestic product was, at the latest available date, accounted for by(a) the United Kingdom, (b) France, (c) Germany and (d) Italy.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  Data for GDP in the European Community are published by the OECD in "Main Economic Indicators".

  Mr. Denzil Davies
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of gross domestic product was accounted for by interest expenses in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) France and (c) Germany, respectively, in the last three years.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  Data for interest payments for these countries are not available. Data for receipts and payments of investment income are published by the IMF in "Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook".

  Value Added Tax
  Mr. Denzil Davies
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the rates of value added tax charged in(a) France and (b) Germany.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  The value added tax rates charged are:

  France

  Germany

  Per cent.

  Per cent.

  Standard

  18·6

  14·0

  Increased

  22·0

  —

  Reduced

  2·1, 5·5

  7·0

  Earnings
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time, part-time, male and female workers earn below the PAYE threshold in the northern region and in each of the counties within the region.

  Mr. Maude
  The information requested is not available.

  Services Sector
  Mr. Denzil Davies
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the total amount of the wages and salaries of the economies of(a) the United Kingdom, (b) France and (c) Germany is accounted for by the wages and salaries of the services sector, respectively, in the latest available year.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  The latest available figures for these countries analysed by industry of employment are shown under the heading "Compensation of employees" in the annual OECD publication "National Accounts Detailed Tables Volume II (1976–1988)" of which copies are available in the Library of the House—see pages(a)(b)(c)

DEFENCE

  Aldermaston and Burghfield Housing
  Mr. Rogers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what refurbishments and repairs are being carried out to Ministry of Defence houses at the AWE, Aldermaston and
  303
  Burghfield common estate; and when he anticipates these houses to be up to the standards set down for council and housing association properties.

  Mr. Kenneth Carlisle
  The current ongoing maintenance programme at AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield covers both refurbishment and repair. The cost of maintaining the stock of the 775 civilian houses and flats at these locations will be £1,400,000 in the financial year 1991–92.

  On the matter of standards, the Ministry of Defence is not a housing authority and not in consequence bound by the standards of the authorities referred to. Housing is provided at AWE for both essential Ministry of Defence police staff and to facilitate recruitment and retention of other staff. The houses are all maintained to an acceptable standard.

  Main Battle Tanks
  Mr. Clelland
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many new main battle tanks he will be ordering to replace Chieftain tanks.

  Mr. Alan Clark
  No decision on numbers of equipment for our future main battle tank fleet has yet been taken.

  MV Antares
  Mr. Foulkes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he received the draft report on the sinking of the Antares; for what reasons he has not yet been able to publish the findings; when he expects to publish the report or its findings; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The report of the Royal Navy board of inquiry is being considered as a matter of priority. However, the report is very comprehensive and we have an obligation to all those concerned to ensure that the full legal and other implications of its findings are thoroughly studied. A summary of the findings will be released as soon as this process has been completed.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Clothing Manufacturing Industry
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures he intends to take to assist the clothing manufacturing industry in the Easington constituency during the present recession.

  Mr. Leigh
  There are no plans to introduce assistance measures for the clothing manufacturing industry in the Easington constituency. Firms in the constituency are eligible for assistance under the regional selective assistance scheme as well as the Department's R and D and enterprise initiative consultancy measures.

  Trade Descriptions Act
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will bring forward proposals to implement the recommendation of the Office of Fair Trading concerning bringing under the Trade Descriptions Act the claims made in letters from timeshare companies.

  Mr. Leigh
  The amendments to the Trade Descriptions Act proposed as a result of the current review, including 304
  those arising from the Director General of Fair Trading's report on timeshare will be implemented as soon as parliamentary time is available.

  Tootal Group
  Mr. Brandon-Bravo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Office of Fair Trading is considering the practice of companies capitalising pension fund surpluses in order to establish a higher rating or obtain higher funding on its consideration of the takeover bid for the Tootal Group plc; and whether he will make a statement.

  Mr. Redwood
  In reaching his decision on whether to refer the proposed acquisition by Coats Viyella of Tootal Group to the MMC my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will take into consideration the advice of the Director General of Fair Trading. The director general's advice takes all relevant issues into account.

  Iraq
  Mr. Wilshire
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he was asked to approve British entries on the list of specially designated nationals of Iraq issued by the United States Government on 1 April.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  No.

  Chlorofluorocarbons
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in what ways he has monitored and encouraged the progress of the refrigeration industry to move away from CFCs; and what study he has made of acoustic refrigeration.

  Mr. Leigh
  My Department regularly meets producers and users of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting substances to discuss alternative options for when production of these substances is phased out over the next few years. These contacts include the development and use of substitutes in refrigeration. My Department participates in relevant United Kingdom conferences and international fora and last year published through HMSO a study commissioned from independent consultants "CFCs and Halons: Alternatives and the Scope for Recovery for Recycling and Destruction".

  The Department offers support to industry for development of environmentally cleaner technologies, for example through the enterprise initiative and the environmental technology innovation scheme, the environmental management options scheme and Euroenviron. It has made no formal study nor received any project proposal relating to acoustic refrigeration. However, I understand that while this technique may be being developed for use in space, the view of the refrigeration industry is that the high engineering standards it requires currently render it economically unviable for more general application.

  Manufactured Goods
  Mr. Denzil Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the total output of manufactured goods of the EC was, at the latest available date, accounted for by(a) the United Kingdom, (b) France, (c) Germany and (d) Italy.
  305
  Mr. Sainsbury
  The information is in the table.

  EC output1 of manufacturing2 products in 1987

  Output (ecus million)

  Percentage of total EC output

  United Kingdom

  135,306

  15·3

  France

  153,449

  17·4

  Federal Republic of Germany3

  287,196

  32·5

  Italy

  152,287

  17·2

  1 Output is defined as gross value added at market prices.

  2 NACE classification—section 3.

  3 Federal Republic of Germany as in 1987.

  Data source: EUROSTAT.

  Environment Conferences
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department was represented at the expert seminar on packaging and the environment held in Sweden on 7 to 8 February.

  Mr. Leigh
  Yes, my Department was represented and presented a paper to the seminar which was arranged in the framework of the United Nations Environment Programme/International Energy Office cleaner production programme.

  Clean Production Technologies
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether Her Majesty's Government will undertake a collaborative initiative with the Industry and Environment Office of the United Nations environment programme on clean technologies for production.

  Mr. Leigh
  Her Majesty's Government are already participating in the United Nations Environment Programme/International Energy Office's cleaner production programme. In September 1990, the Government hosted a United Nations Environment Programme seminar at Canterbury on the subject of "Cleaner Production". The seminar was opened by my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment; officials both from my Department and the Department of the Environment also participated.

  Foundries
  Mr. Crowther
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what complaints he has received since the beginning of 1990 about state subsidies to companies in the foundry industry in other European Community countries and in Japan; and what action has been taken in connection therewith.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  One complaint has been received from a British company about alleged state subsidies to the iron foundry industries in France, Italy and Spain. My Department raised the matter with the European Commission which is responsible for monitoring state aids in the Community. I understand the Commission is pursuing the matter and is in contact with the company concerned.

  Cornish Tin Mining
  Ms. Quin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department had any discussions with Carnon Holdings about the effect of the withdrawal of his 306
  Department's funds for tin mining on the holding of a 90-day consultation period between the company and the work force employed in the tin mines.

  Mr. Leigh
  The content of the numerous discussions with Carnon Holdings Limited is confidential. The terms and conditions of employment in Carnon, including redundancy payments and pension rights, are a matter for the company.

  Petroleum Coke
  Mr. Speller
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints he has received about the use of petroleum coke in domestic fireplaces; whether the sulphur emissions of this fuel conform to the recommended levels; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 18 April 1991]: My Department has received representations from 13 organisations seeking controls on the supply of petroleum coke for domestic use. We have received very few complaints from users of this fuel.

  The maximum sulphur content of fuels authorised for use in smoke control areas is 2 per cent. I understand that some varieties of petroleum coke have a higher sulphur content.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

  Evening Standard
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will obtain for his Department's library a copy of the Evening Standard "London Life" article by Keith Dovkants and Bruce Kemble of 16 April.

  Mr. Eggar
  The Department regularly purchases the Evening Standard, including the edition referred to. Relevant articles are placed in the Library.

  Special Education
  Ms. Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will list for each of the years from 1984 to 1990 the number of special classes or units in(a) primary schools in each local education authority and express this as a proportion of all primary schools in the local education authority and (b) secondary schools in each local education authority and express this as a proportion of all secondary schools in the local education authority;

  (2) if he will list for each of the years from 1984 to 1990 the number of pupils with statements on the register of special classes in each local education authority (a) spending at least 70 per cent. of their time there and (b) spending less than 70 per cent. of their time in special classes, and express these figures as percentages of children registered in special classes in the local education authority;

  (3) if he will detail for each year from 1984 to 1990 the number of children in each local education authority in England newly receiving special educational provision under a statement in ordinary schools and express this (a) as a percentage of all new statements made by the local education authority in that year and (b) as a percentage of all current statements maintained by the local education authority;
  307
  (4) if he will detail for each of the years from 1984 to 1990 the number of children under the age of five years with a statement of special educational need in each local education authority in England and express this as a percentage of all children of pre-school age in the local education authority;

  (5) if he will detail for each local education authority in England the number of pupils with statements of special educational need recorded as attending maintained and non-maintained special schools and express this (a) as a percentage of all school children in the local education authority and (b) as a percentage of children with a statement in the local education authority, for each of the years from 1983 to 1989;

  (6) if he will list for each year from 1984 to 1990 the number of children with statements of special educational needs newly placed in special or independent schools by each local education authority in England and express this as a proportion of the total number of new statements made by each local education authority;

  (7) if he will list for each year from 1984 to 1990 the number of children in each local education authority in England transferred from special schools to mainstream schools and express this (a) as a proportion of the special school population in each local education authority and (b) as a proportion of children with statements in the local education authority;

  (8) if he will detail for each of the years from 1984 to 1990 the number of children with statements on the register of ordinary classes in each local education authority in England and express this (a) as a percentage of all children with statements in the local education authority and (b) as a percentage of all pupils in the local education authority;

  (9) if he will list for each year from 1984 to 1990 the number of children in each local education authority in England awaiting the provision specified in their statement and express this (a) as a percentage of all new statements made in that year by the local education authority and (b) as a percentage of all statements maintained by the local education authority.

  Mr. Fallon
  This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  School Heads
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his policy on the appointment of school heads without the use of inspectors' reports.

  Mr. Eggar
  The selection of head teachers is a matter for local education authorities and governing bodies in schools without delegated budgets, and for governing bodies, after considering any advice from the chief education officer, in schools with delegated budgets. In reaching decisions the Government would expect LEAs and schools to take account of all relevant considerations.

  Pupil-Teacher Ratios
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report pupil-teacher ratios for primary and secondary schools in England and Wales.

  Mr. Fallon
  The pupil-teacher ratios within maintained primary and secondary schools in England in January 308
  1990 were 22·0 and 15·3 respectively. Similar information for Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

  Adult Education
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list figures for(a) recurrent and (b) capital spending by the Government on adult education for each year since 1978–79 in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100.

  Mr. Eggar
  Central Government expenditure in respect of adult education bodies, REPLAN and PICKUP, is given in the tables. It is not possible to express expenditure in real terms, indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100. Instead the figures are given in cash terms and at 1978–79 prices.

  Recurrent expenditure—£ million

  Year

  Cash terms

  1978–79 prices

  1978–79

  1—

  1—

  1979–80

  1—

  1—

  1980–81

  1—

  1—

  1981–82

  1—

  1—

  1982–83

  11·207

  6·909

  1983–84

  13·458

  7·930

  1984–85

  14·635

  8·208

  1985–86

  18·079

  9·616

  1986–87

  23·470

  12·–67

  1987–88

  23·614

  11·530

  1988–89

  27·612

  12·551

  1989–90

  22·485

  9·605

  1990–912

  25·357

  10·050

  1Expenditure on adult education not separately identified.

  2Provisional.

  Notes:

  1. From 1986–87 onwards, the figures include grants allocated for continuing education related to the development of PICKUP-type provision by the UGC/UFC and the NAB/PCFC.

  2. Expenditure on REPLAN and PICKUP includes grants to the FEU.

  3. From 1989–90 onwards, responsibility for payment of grants to English universities' extra-mural departments was transferred from the Department to the UFC.

  4. The expenditure in 1990–91 takes account of the transfer from the Department to local education authorities of some of the responsibility for funding the English districts of the WEA.

  Capital expenditure

  £ million

  Cash terms

  1978–79 prices

  1978–79

  1—

  1—

  1979–80

  1—

  1—

  1980–81

  1—

  1—

  1981–82

  1—

  1—

  1982–83

  0·029

  0·018

  1983–84

  0·015

  0·009

  1984–85

  0·052

  0·029

  1985–86

  0·074

  0·039

  1986–87

  0·044

  0·023

  1987–88

  0·014

  0·007

  1988–89

  0·041

  0·019

  1989–90

  0·043

  0·018

  1990–91

  0·018

  0·007

  1Capital expenditure not separately identified.

  309

  Expenditure supported through education support grants

  Expenditure supported through local education authority training grants scheme

  £ million

  £ million

  Cash terms

  1978–79 prices

  Cash terms

  1978–79 prices

  1978–79

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1979–80

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1980–81

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1981–82

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1982–83

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1983–84

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1984–85

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1985–86

  3·011

  1·602

  1·224

  0·651

  1986–87

  5·512

  2·834

  1·224

  0·629

  1987–88

  4·878

  2·382

  2·030

  0·991

  1988–89

  2·646

  1·203

  2·155

  0·980

  1989–90

  5·078

  2·169

  3·300

  1·410

  11990–91

  3·917

  1·553

  2·682

  1·063

  1 Provisional.

  Student:Staff ratios

  England

  Academic years 1978–79 to 1988–89

  1979–80

  1980–81

  1981–82

  1982–83

  1983–84

  1984–85

  1985–86

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  Polytechnics

  Higher education

  8·4

  8·9

  9·7

  10·3

  11·1

  11·5

  12·0

  12·4

  12·9

  13·7

  Further education

  8·3

  7·6

  9·1

  10·7

  11·1

  13·0

  11·6

  12·2

  12·8

  12·3

  All

  8·4

  8·8

  9·7

  10·3

  11·1

  11·6

  12·0

  12·4

  12·9

  13·6

  Other establishments (Note 1)

  Higher education

  7·3

  7·6

  8·4

  8·7

  9·0

  9·6

  9·7

  10·2

  10·5

  12·3

  Further education

  9·4

  9·1

  9·2

  9·6

  9·5

  9·8

  10·3

  10·6

  10·8

  11·3

  All

  8·8

  8·8

  9·0

  9·3

  9·4

  9·8

  10·2

  10·6

  10·8

  11·4

  Universities (Great Britain)

  9·3

  9·4

  9·6

  10·1

  10·2

  10·3

  10·3

  10·5

  10·7

  11·4

  Notes:

  1. Excludes voluntary and direct grant colleges in all years up to and including 1987–88. 1988–89 includes those former voluntary and direct grant colleges now funded by the PCFC.

  Source: Annual Monitoring Survey for polytechnics and other establishments, University Statistical Record for universities.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what number of higher education academic and non-academic staff have(a) taken early retirement and (b) accepted redundancy in each year since 1978–79; and what was the total cost to the Government for higher education academic and non-academic staff taking early retirement or accepting redundancy for each year since 1978–79 in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100.

  Academic year

  Academic and related staff

  Non-academic staff

  Number

  Cost

  Index

  Number

  Cost

  Index

  £ million

  £ million

  1981–82

  1,600

  35

  100

  —

  —

  —

  1982–83

  1,100

  31

  83

  1,800

  19

  100

  1983–84

  1,000

  30

  77

  400

  6

  30

  1984–85

  700

  23

  56

  550

  9

  43

  1986–87

  335

  10

  22

  385

  4

  18

  1987–88

  775

  29

  61

  370

  6

  25

  1988–89

  1,225

  49

  97

  360

  8

  31

  11989–90

  1,080

  25

  46

  295

  3

  11

  1 21990–91

  815

  15

  26

  65

  1

  3

  1 Figures for 1989–90 and 1990–91 are at 50 per cent, reimbursement rate.

  2 Figures for 1990–91 are for year to date.

  Information on the numbers of staff in polytechnics and higher education colleges who took early retirement before the creation of the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council is not collected centrally.

  Higher Education
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what were staff-student ratios at(a) universities, (b) polytechnics and (c) colleges of higher education in each year since 1978–79.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  Data are not available in the form requested for 1978–79. Student-staff ratios are given in the table for universities, polytechnics and other establishments. Data are given for higher education (HE) and further education (FE) separately and together (ALL) for polytechnics and other establishments.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  Available information for universities is shown in the table. This relates to claims met by the University Grants Committee and the Universities Funding Council for reimbursement of premature retirement and redundancy compensation since 1978–79. Information is not collected centrally about premature retirements and redundancies funded from universities' own resources.

  Costs of early retirement and redundancy in polytechnics and higher education colleges were met, up to1988–89, from the redundancies/premature retirement

  311
  compensation schemes advanced further education open pool. Available information for the years 1982–83 to 1987–88 is as follows:

  Academic year

  Cost

  Index

  £ million

  1982–83

  3

  100

  1983–84

  6

  191

  1984–85

  6

  182

  1985–86

  8

  230

  1986–87

  10

  278

  1987–88

  9

  238

  From 1989–90, claims met by the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council have been as follows:

  Academic year

  1989–90

  1990–91

  Academic staff

  271

  411

  Non-academic staff

  272

  349

  Cost (£ million)

  3

  4

  Index

  100

  124

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will list figures for the average salary of full-time lecturers at(a) universities, (b) polytechnics and (c) colleges of higher education for each year since 1978–79 in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms, indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100;

  (2) if he will list figures for the average rise in salary of full-time lecturers at (a) universities, (b) polytechnics and (c) colleges of adult and continuing education for each year since 1978–79 in (i) absolute cash terms, (ii) real terms and (iii) in terms of the rise in average earnings indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100;

  (3) what was the cost of salaries to (a) academic staff and (b) non-academic staff at (1) universities, (2)

  Table 2: polytechnic and adult education institutions salary bills1 in cash and real terms (£ thousands)

  Polytechnics

  Adult education institutions

  Year: April to March

  Academic staff

  Non-academic staff

  Academic staff

  Non-academic staff

  cash

  real terms

  cash

  real terms

  cash

  real terms

  cash

  real terms

  1978–79

  153,926

  100·0

  67,442

  100·0

  36,986

  100·0

  8,186

  100·0

  1979–80

  174,988

  97·4

  81,002

  102·9

  43,256

  100·2

  10,208

  106·9

  1980–81

  221,217

  104·1

  94,543

  101·5

  52,680

  103·2

  11,632

  102·9

  1981–82

  242,479

  104·0

  106,096

  103·9

  60,829

  108·6

  13,363

  107·8

  1982–83

  256,406

  102·7

  114,534

  104·7

  68,971

  115·0

  14,365

  108·2

  1983–84

  267,821

  102·6

  118,963

  104·0

  77,089

  122·9

  16,058

  115·6

  1984–85

  276,787

  100·9

  126,915

  105·6

  82,231

  124·7

  17,152

  117·5

  1985–86

  292,421

  101·1

  132,840

  104·8

  88,159

  126·8

  18,236

  118·5

  1986–87

  309,669

  103·5

  144,724

  110·3

  94,308

  131·1

  20,875

  131·1

  1987–88

  336,601

  106·8

  155,058

  112·2

  100,986

  133·3

  23,218

  138·5

  1988–89

  362,987

  107·1

  168,748

  113·7

  105,878

  130·1

  22,457

  124·6

  1Source: Handbook of Education Unit Costs.

  Table 3: University Full-time Lecturer: Average Salary Comparisons

  Cash

  Percentage change

  Real terms

  Percentage change

  Index relative to average earnings

  Percentage change

  Index relative to average professional earnings

  Percentage change

  1978

  7,253

  —

  100·0

  —

  100·0

  —

  100·0

  —

  1979

  8,486

  17·0

  99·8

  –0·2

  103·2

  3·2

  106·7

  6·7

  1980

  10,012

  18·0

  102·3

  2·5

  99·1

  –4·0

  99·9

  –6·4

  1981

  11,224

  12·1

  102·3

  0·1

  98·0

  –1·1

  94·9

  –5·0

  1982

  11,962

  6·6

  103·5

  1·1

  95·5

  –2·5

  93·8

  –1·1

  1983

  12,579

  5·2

  103·3

  –0·2

  92·5

  –3·2

  91·0

  –2·9

  1984

  13,392

  6·5

  105·2

  1·8

  91·1

  –1·5

  90·7

  –0·4

  312
  polytechnics and (3) colleges of higher education each year since 1978–79 in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms, indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100;

  (4) if he will list figures for the average rise in salary of full-time lecturers at (a) universities, (b) polytechnics and (c) colleges of higher education for each year since 1978–79 in relation to the rise in average professional earnings.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  The information is not available in the form requested, but the following tables should be useful. In each case, the real-terms series for average salaries are derived on the basis of movements in all items RPI, and those for salary bills on the basis of movements in the GDP deflator. The figures for academic staff pay shown do not include any non-salary earnings: comparable information is not available on such earnings. The university figures relate to Great Britain and those for local authority maintained institutions to England and Wales.

  Table 1: University salary bills1 in cash and real terms

  (£ thousands)

  Academic staff

  Non-academic staff

  Cash

  Real terms

  Cash

  Real terms

  1978–79

  330,615

  100·0

  103,474

  100·0

  1979–80

  409,159

  105·5

  122,936

  101·3

  1980–81

  522,157

  117·0

  164,227

  117·6

  1981–82

  546,235

  112·5

  170,144

  112·0

  1982–83

  557,383

  108·1

  171,480

  106·2

  1983–84

  592,988

  109·7

  179,808

  106·3

  1984–85

  622,885

  109·6

  185,756

  104·4

  1985–86

  677,611

  113·8

  193,933

  104·1

  1986–87

  734,848

  118·5

  202,416

  104·3

  1987–88

  801,421

  121·9

  210,798

  102·4

  1988–89

  861,820

  122·4

  222,754

  101·1

  Year: August to July.

  1Source: Universities' Statistical Record. The figures used relate to staff in academic departments.
  313

  Cash

  Percentage change

  Real terms

  Percentage change

  Index relative to average earnings

  Percentage change

  Index relative to average professional earnings

  Percentage change

  1985

  14,005

  4·6

  104·1

  –1·1

  88·8

  –2·6

  88·8

  –2·1

  1986

  14,294

  2·1

  102·4

  –1·6

  83·9

  –5·5

  82·6

  –6·9

  1987

  16,643

  16·4

  115·0

  12·3

  90·7

  8·1

  88·7

  7·4

  1988

  17,656

  6·1

  114·2

  –0·7

  87·6

  –3·4

  84·6

  –4·6

  Average salaries as at December. Taken from Universities' Statistical Record.

  Average earnings and average professional earnings drawn from the New earnings Survey and relate to April of same calendar year.

  Table 4: Local authority F&HE maintained sector full-time academic staff: average salary comparisons

  Cash

  Percentage change

  Real terms

  Percentage change

  Index relative to average earnings

  Percentage change

  Index relative to average professional earnings

  Percentage change

  1979

  7,020

  —

  100·0

  —

  100·0

  —

  100·0

  —

  1980

  7,573

  7·9

  90·1

  –9·9

  87·8

  –12·2

  85·6

  –14·4

  1981

  9,806

  29·5

  103·6

  15·0

  100·3

  14·3

  93·9

  9·7

  1982

  10,541

  7·5

  100·9

  –2·6

  98·6

  –1·7

  93·6

  –0·3

  1983

  11,189

  6·1

  102·4

  1·5

  96·3

  –2·3

  91·7

  –2·0

  1984

  11,728

  4·8

  102·0

  –0·4

  93·4

  –3·0

  90·0

  –1·9

  1985

  12,317

  5·0

  100·9

  –1·0

  91·4

  –2·2

  88·5

  –1·7

  1986

  13,212

  7·3

  103·9

  2·9

  90·8

  –0·7

  86·5

  –2·2

  1987

  13,966

  5·7

  105·6

  1·6

  89·1

  –1·8

  84·4

  –4·7

  1988

  15,346

  9·9

  112·1

  6·2

  89·2

  0·1

  83·3

  –1·2

  1989

  16,340

  6·5

  110·6

  –1·3

  86·5

  –3·0

  79·4

  –4·7

  Average salaries as at March. Provided by Local Government Management Board.

  Average earnings and average professional earnings drawn from the New Earnings Survey and relate to April of same calendar year.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many students aged(a) over 25 years, (b) 30 years and (c) 40 years were enrolled in (i) undergraduate and (ii) graduate higher education in the United Kingdom in each year since 1978–79; and what proportion these represented of the total;

  (2) what number of (a) academic staff and (b) non-academic staff were employed at (i) universities, (ii) polytechnics and (iii) colleges of higher education in each year since 1978–79;

  (3) what number of (a) full-time students and (b) part-time students attended (i) universities, (ii) polytechnics and (iii) colleges of higher education in each year since 1978–79;

  (4) what proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds secured (a) a non-degree place and (b) a degree place in (i) universities, (ii) polytechnics and (iii) colleges of higher education in each year since 1978–79;

  (5) what number of women students (a) attended (i) universities, (ii) polytechnics and (iii) colleges of higher education and (b) attended (1) undergraduate and (2) graduate higher education in the United Kingdom in each year since 1978–79; and what proportion these represented of the total;

  (6) how many (a) overseas students, (b) Commonwealth students, (c) non-Commonwealth third world students and (d) European Community students were enrolled in (i) undergraduate and (ii) graduate higher education in the United Kingdom in each year since 1978–79; and what proportion these represented of the total.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  Information is contained in the Department's statistical publications.

  Data on mature students are given in Statistical Bulletin 2/91—"Mature Students in Higher Education". Numbers of academic staff are shown in table 9 of "Education
  314
  Statistics for the United Kingdom"; details of non-academic staff are not available centrally. Statistical Bulletin 11/90—"Student Numbers in Higher Education" contains details of full and part-time students, by sector, level of study, age and sex. Statistical Bulletin 11/89—"Students from Abroad in Great Britain" and table 30 of "Education Statistics for the United Kingdom" give details of students from abroad, by country and sector.

  All those publications are available in the Library.

  The total numbers of young home initial entrants in full-time higher education expressed as a percentage of the averaged 18 to 19-year-old Great Britain population—the Age Participation Index (API)—were:

  Academic year beginning

  per cent.

  1979

  12·3

  1980

  12·6

  1981

  13·1

  1982

  13·4

  1983

  13·2

  1984

  13·7

  1985

  13·9

  1986

  14·0

  1987

  14·6

  1988

  15·1

  1989

  17·1

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much has been spent on discretionary awards to higher education students in each year since 1978–79 in(a) cash terms and (b) real terms, indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  The table shows expenditure on discretionary awards made by local education authorities in England and Wales using their powers under section 1(6) of the Education Act 1962.
  315

  Academic Year

  Cash expenditure

  At 1978–79 Prices

  £ million

  £ million

  Index

  1978–79

  8·3

  8·3

  100

  1979–80

  8·5

  7·3

  88

  1980–81

  8·7

  6·4

  77

  1981–82

  9·4

  6·3

  76

  1982–83

  9·3

  5·8

  70

  1983–84

  9·9

  5·8

  70

  1984–85

  10·1

  5·7

  69

  1985–86

  10·7

  5·7

  69

  1986–87

  11·1

  5·7

  69

  1987–88

  12·7

  6·3

  76

  1988–89

  11·4

  5·3

  64

  Awards made under section 1(6) are made at LEA's discretion to students attending courses designated for mandatory awards purposes who are personally ineligible for a mandatory award. The cash expenditure includes both fees and maintenance paid as part of the award. The constant price and index figures have been calculated using the retail price index. The reduction in expenditure in 1982–83 reflected a change in the level of fees payable as part of the award.

  Central Government's own expenditure

  £ million

  1978–79

  1979–80

  1980–81

  1981–82

  1982–83

  1983–84

  1984–85

  1985–86

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  UNIVERSITIES FUNDING COUNCIL (formerly UGC)

  Current

  Cash

  602

  728

  943

  968

  1,176

  1,222

  1,253

  1,283

  1,320

  1,468

  1,585

  Real terms

  1,409

  1,461

  1,599

  1,497

  1,698

  1,686

  1,646

  1,598

  1,589

  1,678

  1,686

  Index (1978–79 = 100)

  100·0

  103·7

  113·5

  106·2

  120·5

  119·7

  116·8

  113·4

  112·8

  119·1

  119·7

  Capital

  Cash

  70

  88

  98

  103

  107

  103

  107

  118

  130

  129

  141

  Real terms

  164

  177

  166

  159

  154

  142

  141

  147

  157

  147

  150

  Index (1978–79 = (100)

  100·0

  107·9

  101·2

  97·0

  93·9

  86·6

  86·0

  89·6

  95·7

  89·6

  91·5

  OTHER HIGHER EDUCATION

  Current

  Cash

  98

  123

  156

  165

  171

  172

  174

  177

  181

  194

  197

  Real terms

  229

  247

  265

  255

  247

  237

  229

  220

  218

  222

  210

  Index (1978–79 = 100)

  100·0

  107·9

  115·7

  111·4

  107·9

  103·5

  100·0

  96·1

  95·2

  96·9

  91·7

  Capital

  Cash

  12

  20

  18

  18

  17

  19

  19

  20

  22

  22

  25

  Real terms

  28

  40

  31

  28

  25

  26

  25

  25

  26

  25

  27

  Index (1978–79 = 100)

  100·0

  142·9

  110·7

  100·0

  89·3

  92·9

  89·3

  89·3

  92·9

  89·3

  96·4

  Libraries
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list figures for(a) recurrent and (b) capital spending by the Government on (i) university libraries and (ii) polytechnic libraries and colleges of further education libraries, for each year since 1978–79 in (1) cash terms and (2) real terms indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  There is no earmarked public funding for book provision through either the higher education funding councils or specific grants for further education. It is for individual institutions to determine their expenditure within the total resources at their disposal.
  316
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list figures for(a) recurrent spending and (b) capital spending by the Government on (1) universities and (2) polytechnics and colleges of higher education for each year since 1978–79 in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms, indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  Data from 1985–86 to 1990–91 are available from the departmental report (CM 1511) available in the House Library. Grants distributed on the advice of the Universities Grants Committee (UGC) for 1978–79 through to 1988–89 are given in the table along with central Government expenditure on other higher education.

  Included under other higher education are those voluntary and direct grant colleges that became the responsibility of the PCFC from 1989–90, the Open university, Cranfield Institute of Technology, the Royal College of Art, British Academy postgraduate state studentships and other higher education grants.

  Student Grants
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will estimate the cost of increasing the level of student grants by(a) 1 per cent., (b) 5 per cent. and (c) 10 per cent.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  I have already announced the intention for 1991–92 to hold the main rates of grant payable under the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations steady in cash terms at their current values. Increases in student support are now provided primarily by increases in the student loan facility. Total full-year support from grant and loan combined in the current academic year is 25 per cent. higher than grant alone last year.

  The cost in the 1992–93 financial year of raising the main rates of grant, assuming that parental contributions would continue to be held steady in cash terms, would be as follows:
  317

  raise by 1 per cent.—£13 million

  raise by 5 per cent.—£58 million

  raise by 10 per cent.—£116 million.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of students have been assessed for the maximum parental contribution student maintenance grant; and what proportion of students in receipt of awards have received the maximum grant in each year since 1978–79.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  Data are not available in the form requested. The maximum parental contribution was introduced for the 1985–86 academic year and applies in aggregate if the parent has more than one child who holds an award. The maximum parental contribution has been set as follows:

  £

  1985–86

  4,000

  1986–87

  4,300

  1987–88

  4,600

  1988–89

  4,900

  1989–90

  5,300

  1990–91

  5,800

  The maximum parental contribution will be held steady in cash terms for 1991–92 in line with our new arrangements for student support.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average parental contribution of those assessed for a contribution for each year since 1978–79 in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms, indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  It is not possible to give the average parental contribution only for those parents assessed as being liable for a contribution. The table shows the average parental contribution assessed under the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations for all award holders, including those whose contribution was assessed at nil.

  At 1978–79 prices

  Academic year

  Contribution cash (£)

  £

  Index

  1978–79

  275

  275

  100

  1979–80

  256

  220

  80

  1980–81

  288

  213

  78

  1981–82

  352

  234

  85

  1982–83

  414

  257

  93

  1983–84

  437

  258

  94

  1984–85

  587

  331

  120

  1985–86

  720

  383

  139

  1986–87

  764

  394

  143

  1987–88

  817

  405

  147

  1988–89

  860

  403

  146

  The constant price and index figures have been calculated using the retail prices index.

  Postgraduate Awards
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the level of postgraduate awards for each year since 1978–79 in(a) cash terms and (b) real terms, indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  The levels of postgraduate awards, as at October each year, since 1978–79 in cash and real terms are given in the table:
  318

  DES/Research Council/British Academy studentships

  Value of basic maintenance allowances 1978–88

  Elsewhere

  London

  At 1978–79 prices

  At 1978–79 prices

  AC year

  cash

  cash

  Index

  cash

  cash

  Index

  £

  £

  £

  £

  1978–79

  1,610

  1,610

  100

  1,990

  1,990

  100

  1979–80

  1,820

  1,553

  96

  2,250

  1,921

  97

  1980–81

  2,090

  1,546

  96

  2,570

  1,901

  96

  1981–82

  2,245

  1,487

  92

  2,770

  1,834

  92

  1982–83

  2,335

  1,447

  90

  2,880

  1,785

  90

  1983–84

  2,430

  1,434

  89

  2,995

  1,768

  89

  1984–85

  2,585

  1,453

  90

  3,170

  1,782

  90

  1985–86

  2,665

  1,421

  88

  3,265

  1,741

  87

  1986–87

  2,756

  1,427

  89

  3,366

  1,743

  88

  1987–88

  2,859

  1,416

  88

  3,492

  1,730

  87

  1988–89

  2,975

  1,385

  86

  3,630

  1,690

  85

  Research Council studentships 1989–90

  Elsewhere

  London

  At 1978–79 prices

  At 1978–79 prices

  AC year

  cash

  cash

  Index

  cash

  cash

  Index

  £

  £

  £

  £

  1989–90

  3,725

  1,616

  100

  4,690

  2,035

  102

  1990–91

  3,725

  1,457

  90

  4,690

  1,835

  92

  DES/British Academy studentships 1989–90

  Elsewhere

  London

  At 1978–79 prices

  At 1978–79 prices

  AC year

  cash

  cash

  Index

  cash

  cash

  Index

  £

  £

  £

  £

  1989–90

  3,125

  1,356

  84

  3,970

  1,722

  87

  1990–91

  3,725

  1,457

  90

  4,690

  1,835

  92

  DES state bursaries

  Value of basic maintenance allowances 1978–90

  Elsewhere

  London

  At 1978–79 prices

  At 1978–79 prices

  AC year

  cash

  cash

  Index

  cash

  cash

  Index

  £

  £

  £

  £

  1978–79

  1,100

  1,100

  100

  1,315

  1,315

  100

  1979–80

  1,245

  1,063

  97

  1,485

  1,268

  96

  1980–81

  1,430

  1,058

  96

  1,695

  1,254

  95

  1981–82

  1,535

  1,016

  92

  1,825

  1,208

  92

  1982–83

  1,595

  988

  90

  1,900

  1,177

  90

  1983–84

  1,660

  980

  89

  1,975

  1,166

  89

  1984–85

  1,725

  970

  88

  2,050

  1,153

  88

  1985–86

  1,775

  947

  86

  2,110

  1,125

  86

  1986–87

  1,846

  956

  87

  2,191

  1,134

  86

  1987–88

  1,915

  949

  86

  2,273

  1,126

  86

  1988–89

  1,990

  926

  84

  2,365

  1,101

  84

  1989–90

  2,090

  907

  82

  2,585

  1,122

  85

  1990–91

  2,195

  859

  78

  2,775

  1,086

  83

  Open University
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what the Government have spent in grants for(a) current expenditure and (b) capital expenditure to the Open university in each year since 1978–79 in (a) cash terms and (b) real terms, indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  The tables give recurrent and capital grants to the Open university since 1978–79 in cash terms and also expressed as an index1 using 100 as a base for the financial year 1978–79. The figures for capital grant reflect a decline in the number of capital projects after the initial development of the Walton Hall site.

  (a) Recurrent grant:
  319

  Cash terms

  Index

  £ million

  1978–79

  29·96

  100

  1979–80

  36·71

  105

  1980–81

  47·13

  114

  1981–82

  51·27

  113

  1982–83

  55·21

  114

  1983–84

  56·42

  111

  1984–85

  59·05

  111

  1985–86

  60·93

  108

  1986–87

  60·39

  104

  1987–88

  64·25

  105

  1988–89

  66·39

  101

  1989–90

  72·77

  104

  1990–91

  80·94

  107

  1991–92

  87·98

  109

  (b) Capital grant:

  Cash terms

  Index

  £ million

  1978–79

  2·9

  100

  1979–80

  4·7

  139

  1980–81

  4·63

  116

  1981–82

  3·69

  84

  1982–83

  2·03

  43

  1983–84

  0·7

  14

  1984–85

  1·4

  27

  1985–86

  0·87

  16

  1986–87

  2·08

  37

  1987–88

  1·43

  24

  1988–89

  2·37

  37

  1989–90

  2·41

  36

  1982–83

  1983–84

  1984–85

  1985–86

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  Cash figures (£ million)

  614

  634

  657

  703

  748

  810

  887

  Real terms (£ million—1989–90 Prices)

  886

  875

  863

  876

  900

  926

  944

  Index

  100

  98·7

  97·3

  98·8

  101·6

  104·4

  106·4

  Higher Education
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was total Government spending on higher education student support in each year since 1978–79 in(a) cash terms and (b) real terms, indexed so that 1978–79 equals 100; and what was expenditure per student over the same period.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  The table shows the expenditure made by local education authorities in England and Wales in bestowing mandatory awards under the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations:

  Academic Year

  Expenditure Cash

  At 1978–79 Prices

  Expenditure per student

  £ million

  £ million

  Index

  cash £

  1978–79

  468·9

  468·9

  100

  1,466

  1979–80

  550·0

  472·1

  101

  1,705

  1980–81

  679·3

  503·0

  107

  2,031

  1981–82

  783·4

  520·9

  111

  2,210

  1982–83

  680·6

  421·9

  90

  1,837

  1983–84

  719·1

  424·0

  90

  1,870

  1984–85

  706·6

  397·9

  85

  1,788

  1985–86

  696·1

  370·1

  79

  1,783

  1986–87

  724·7

  374·1

  80

  1,838

  1987–88

  765·4

  379·3

  81

  1,893

  1988–89

  825·7

  386·4

  82

  1,988

  The cash expenditure includes both fees and maintenance paid as part of the mandatory award. The
  320

  Cash terms

  Index

  £ million

  1990–91

  2·13

  29

  1991–92

  2·13

  27

  1 Indexed figures result from adjusting the cash outturn figures for past years using the deflator for gross domestic product at market prices.

  Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what the Government have allocated to the National Advisory Body, and subsequently for the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council, each year since 1982 in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms, indexed so that 1982 equals 100.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  With the creation of the PCFC sector in 1989–90, direct comparisons with earlier years are not possible. Funds allocated to the PCFC amounted to £1,114 million in 1989–90 and an estimated £1,108 million in 1990–91.

  Prior to 1989–90, funding of colleges now in the PCFC sector was not directly through NAB. Figures from 1982–83 through to 1988–89 therefore cover not only those institutions currently in the PCFC sector but the other higher education establishments maintained by the local authority sector. Total allocations to these establishments for higher education plus capital expenditure by LEAs amounted to:

  constant price and index figures have been calculated using the retail prices index. The reduction in expenditure per student in 1982–83 reflected a change in the level of fees payable as part of the mandatory award.

  Oxford Polytechnic
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the subject areas at Oxford polytechnic for which Her Majesty's inspectors were not able to give advise on the quality of provision to the programme advisory groups of the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council when they were considering bids for 1991–92.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  Oxford polytechnic claimed outstanding quality in eight of the nine Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council programme areas as part of its bid for funds in 1991–92. Her Majesty's inspectorate had sufficient recent inspection evidence to offer advice to the appropriate PCFC programme advisory group on the majority of these claims. The exceptions were some aspects of programme area 2 (built environment) and programme area 9b (in-service education).

  Correspondence
  Mr. Mudd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne may expect a reply to his letter of 18 January regarding a funding matter concerning the Falmouth school of art and design.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 19 April.

  Haberdashers' Aske's Schools
  Ms. Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many applicants and how many acceptances there were for places for the Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Wood boys and girls schools for the years beginning September 1990 and September 1989, respectively; and what is the ethnic breakdown of these figures for boys and girls, respectively.

  Mr. Eggar
  The recorded intake for the boys' and girls' schools were, for the boys, 96 and 99 and, for the girls, 96 and 97 in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Intake statistics by ethnic background are not held centrally for these years. However, I understand that the girls' school has produced such statistics for its own purposes for 1990.

  Ms. Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford,Official Report, 28 March, columns 485–86, if he will give the ethnic breakdown for applications and acceptances by the Haberdashers' Aske's city technology colleges for the year beginning September 1991 for boys and girls, respectively.

  Mr. Eggar
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to her on 28 March,Official Report, columns 485–86. It is not possible to identify the sex of all initial applicants (830); of those interviewed 302 were boys and 265 girls.

  Global Youth Summit
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether his Department will make available resources to assist the attendance of British young environmentalists at the Global Youth Summit planned to be held in Rio De Janeiro from 2 to 8 June 1992.

  Mr. Atkins
  The Department has no plans to do so.

  Cambridge Regional College
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he proposes that the existing sites on which Cambridge regional college is located, to be vacated on completion of the college capital project, should be transferred back to the local education authority or whether they should be regarded as the property of the college.

  Mr. Eggar
  My right hon. and learned Friend made clear in his statement to the House on 21 March,Official Report, columns. 432–48, that he intends to vest colleges with the land, buildings and plants which they currently use. The disposal of such assets will require his specific consent. Each case will be considered on its merits and he will listen to any reasonable proposals that LEAs wish to make. My right hon. and learned Friend looks forward to
  322
  receiving details of Cambridgeshire LEA's proposals for the transfer of assets currently used by Cambridge regional college.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will provide the necessary assurances to enable tendering to be completed and work to begin as scheduled on the capital project to provide new purpose-built accommodation for the Cambridge regional college;

  (2) what evaluation he has made of the effects of his statement on the future of further education on the tendering process for phase one of the capital project to provide new accommodation for Cambridge regional college.

  Mr. Eggar
  LEAs are required to gain the consent of college governing bodies for all contracts that endure beyond 31 March 1993 and will, additionally, require the Secretary of State's consent for contracts valued in excess of £50,000. My right hon. and learned Friend intends that these requirements should not unnecessarily impede the tendering process. He looks forward to receiving details of Cambridgeshire LEA's contract proposals for phase 1 of the regional college's building project.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make it his policy to provide a guarantee that the debt charges on capital expenditure to provide new accommodation for Cambridge regional college will not remain the responsibility of the local education authority should the college be accorded corporate status.

  Mr. Eggar
  My right hon. and learned Friend is considering the treatment of debt charges arising after 31 March 1993 from capital spending on colleges and will announce his intentions shortly.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received from Cambridgeshire county council about the impact of his statement on the future of further education on the project for new purpose-built accommodation for the Cambridge regional college.

  Mr. Eggar
  My right hon. and learned Friend has received a representation about the impact of his statement on Cambridge regional college about debt charges and capital funding after 31 March 1993 for the building project at Cambridge regional college. Officers of the authority have also been in touch with DES officials.

  Environmental Research Database
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the role of the global environmental research office and database established at the Science and Engineering Research Council headquarters in Swindon.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  The United Kingdom global environmental research office, which is jointly funded by the five research councils and housed by the Natural Environment Research Council in Swindon, acts as a focal point for the provision and dissemination of information on United Kingdom and international GER science and policy developments, and as a contact point for equivalent offices in other countries. It provides the secretariat for the
  323
  United Kingdom inter-agency committee on global environment change and maintains a database of United Kingdom GER research activities.

  Female Circumcision
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will provide guidance for teachers on female circumcision and the symptoms of children at risk and recent victims.

  Mr. Fallon
  Where teachers are concerned about the health and welfare of pupils, they should make their concerns known to the relevant agencies under the arrangements for inter-agency co-operation for the protection of children. There is existing central guidance on these arrangements, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health is planning to issue revised guidance later this year, which will draw attention to the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985.

  Schools (Local Management)
  Mr. Bowis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will announce his plans for further delegation and increased independence for schools under schemes of local management; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Fallon
  Today we are publishing departmental circular 7/91, which sets out new guidance for local education authorities on the local management of schools. The measures contained in the circular reflect our determination to ensure that schools become more independent of their LEAs.

  Local management of schools will be extended as follows:
  any school may apply for delegated management from April 1992;
  all schools must have delegated management by April 1994;
  by April 1993, 85 per cent. of the potential schools budget must be delegated to the school level which, on 1990–91 figures, will release a further £140 million to our schools;
  by April 1993, 80 per cent. of those delegated funds must be linked directly to pupil numbers, weighted for age and special needs;
  special schools will be able to apply for delegated management from April 1994, by which time local authorities must have introduced formula funding for all special schools.

  To ensure that schools have the necessary flexibility efficiently to manage their budgets, we intend to require local education authorities to allow all secondary schools to operate their own bank accounts.

  Copies of the circular are today being placed in the Library of the House.

WALES

  Prehistoric Sites
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he intends any initiatives to vary the extent of excavations on prehistoric sites in Gwent and Glamorgan.

  Mr. David Hunt
  No. The extent of archaeological excavations funded by my Department and the particular approach for specific sites is kept under constant review. This ensures the most effective archaeological response to threatened sites.

  Nursery Schools
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number of local authority nursery school places provided by every Welsh education authority, expressed as a percentage of the eligible children in each area.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  The proportion of three and four-year-olds in nursery schools in September 1990 is shown in the following table. Data on the number of places in nursery schools are not held centrally.

  Percentage of 3 and 4 year old population1

  Per cent.

  Clwyd

  1·4

  Dyfed

  2·5

  Gwent

  8·8

  Mid Glamorgan

  7·4

  South Glamorgan

  6·9

  West Glamorgan

  2·3

  1 There are no nursery schools in Gwynedd or Powys, although, as in all counties, a significant number of other 3 and 4-year-olds attend schools either in nursery classes or in ordinary classes.

  New House Building
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total of new house and flat construction by Welsh local authorities in each of the past 12 years.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  Annual data from 1975 to 1989 was published in table 2·3 of Welsh Housing Statistics No. 10, 1990, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. In 1990, 551 dwellings were completed by local authorities.

  Labour Statistics
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the percentage of total unemployment in(a) the area covered by the valleys initiative and (b) Wales during each of the past 24 months for which details are available.

  Mr. David Hunt
  Unemployment rates for Wales and the valleys area are given in the following table:

  Unemployment rate percentage

  Wales

  Programme for the valleys area

  1989

  April

  7·9

  11·3

  May

  7·5

  10·8

  June

  7·1

  10·4

  July

  7·1

  10·4

  August

  7·0

  10·2

  September

  6·9

  10·3

  October

  6·6

  9·5

  November

  6·5

  9·2

  December

  6·7

  9·4

  1990

  January

  7·0

  9·8

  February

  6·8

  9·6

  March

  6·7

  9·4

  April

  6·5

  9·3

  May

  6·3

  9·1

  June

  6·1

  8·9

  July

  6·4

  9·2

  August

  6·5

  9·2

  September

  6·6

  9·4

  October

  6·6

  9·3

  November

  6·9

  9·5

  December

  7·4

  10·1

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  Wales

  Programme for the valleys area

  1991

  January

  7·8

  10·7

  February

  8·1

  11·0

  March

  8·3

  11·5

  Note:

  The rates are calculated by expressing the unadjusted number of unemployed claimants as a percentage of the estimated total work force (the sum of unemployed claimants, employees in employment, self-employed, HM forces and participants on work-related Government training programmes). Mid-year estimates of the relevant total work force are used in calculating the unemployment rates. The Welsh figures for 1989 use 1989 mid-year estimates of the total work force in Wales; the Welsh figures for 1990 and the first three months of 1991 use mid-1990 estimates of the total work force. Unemployment rates calculated for the programme for the valleys area use mid-1989 estimates of the total work force in the area throughout.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Social Security
  Mr. Nellist
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the main rate of supplementary benefit or income support available in Northern Ireland in 1979 for (i) a single person and (ii) a couple with two children; and what the value would be today if it had been raised in line with(a) the RPI and (b) average industrial wages.

  Mr. Hanley
  [holding answer 15 April 1991]: The available information is as follows:

  Single1 householder

  Couple1 with two children under 5

  £

  £

  Supplementary benefit

  Scale rate—November 1979

  18·30

  40·10

  Value if raised in line with:

  (a) RPI2

  37·99

  83·26

  (b) average earnings3

  46·86

  102·68

  The figures are not comparable with any current income support rates; supplementary benefit was structured and assessed in a completely different manner.

  1 Under pension age and unemployed.

  2 To April 1990.

  3 New Series Index (Whole Economy) seasonally adjusted to April 1990.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Local Offices
  Ms. Gordon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are receiving family credit in the areas covered by the Poplar, Stepney and Shoreditch DSS offices, respectively; and how many people in 'Tower Hamlets as a whole are receiving family credit.

  Mr. Jack
  The number of families receiving family credit who were living in the areas covered by the local social security offices in Tower Hamlets at the time their award was made is as follows:
  326

  Number

  Poplar

  568

  Stepney

  1,156

  Shoreditch

  282

  Total

  2,006

  Note: Number of awards actually in payment on 8 February 1991 i.e. excludes awards on claims made before that date but not decided at that stage.

  Poll Tax Rebates
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many poll tax payers in the Easington district council area will lose rebate arising out of the proposed reduction in the poll tax.

  Miss Widdecombe
  This information is not available.

  Adjudication Regulations
  Mr. John Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a detailed estimate of the annual savings that would be made by the abolition of regulation 72 of the Adjudication Regulations in relation to supplementary benefit and national assistance.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Estimates of the impact of amending the regulation to exclude supplementary benefit and national assistance are uncertain and no estimate of savings is therefore possible.

  Child Benefit
  Sir Ian Gilmour
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing the age distribution of the first children for whom £2 a week extra child benefit will be payable from next October, distinguishing between children aged 0 to 4 years, 5 to 10 years, 11 to 15 years and 16 years or over.

  Mr. Jack
  The latest available estimates are based on June 1990 figures. They show that the number of children for whom the higher child benefit rate of £9·25 a week will be payable from October 1991 will be:

  Million

  Aged 0 to 4 years

  1·7

  Aged 5 to 10 years

  2·0

  Aged 11 to 15 years

  2·2

  Aged 16 years or over

  0·9

  Total

  6·8

  Sir Ian Gilmour
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will tabulate figures showing the annual costs of each extra £1 a week child benefit for(a) first children, (b) second children, (c) third children and (d) fourth and subsequent children.

  Mr. Jack
  We estimate that the costs in 1991–92 would be(a) £355 million, (b) £205 million, (c) £60 million, and (d) £20 million.

  If such increases were offset in national insurance and income-related benefits, the net costs would be (a) £250 million, (b) £150 million, (c) £40 million, and (d) £10 million.

  Mr. Meacher
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the annual cost(a) gross and (b) after

  327
  deduction of income support of uprating child benefit from its present level (i) by £1 a week for the first child only, (ii) by a further £1 a week for the first child plus 25 pence a week for the second and subsequent children and (iii) by £2·30 a week for each child; and what would be the comparable figures for uprating child benefit from its proposed October 1991 level by an extra 30 pence a week for the first child and an extra £2·05 a week for second and subsequent children.

  Mr. Jack
  [holding answer 28 March 1991]: On the basis of our latest estimates, the gross full year costs in 1991–92 of uprating child benefit from the 1990–91 rate of £7·25 per week would be (i) £355 million, (ii) £425 million, and (iii) £1,475 million.

  The equivalent net costs, after the normal adjustments to national insurance and income-related benefits, are (i) £250 million, (ii) £300 million and (iii) £1,045 million.

  The full year costs in 1991–92 of increasing child benefit by 30p per week for the eldest eligible child in the family and by £2·05 for each other child are estimated to be £695 million gross and £490 million net.

  National Insurance Pension
  Sir Ian Gilmour
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing the April 1991 value of the category A national insurance pension, at uprating dates each year since 1978, using the general index of retail prices, including housing costs.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Information on the real value of the state retirement pension in previous years at April 1991 prices will not be available until the RPI figure for that month is known. Figures on the value of the state retirement pension at April 1990 prices are set out in table 5 1(a) of the October 1990 edition of the DSS "Abstract of Statistics", a copy of which is available in the Library.

  Pensioner Couples
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list those benefits and their average value which are available to pensioner couples on basic pensions who are in receipt of income support.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The benefits listed in the table are available to pensioner couples on income support with basic pensions. They are also available to pensioner couples who do not receive income support.

  Housing benefit

  Community charge benefit

  Mobility allowance1

  Invalid care allowance2

  Severe disability allowance

  Invalidity benefit3

  Sickness benefit3

  Industrial injury benefit

  War disablement pension

  Attendance allowance

  Help with NHS charges and payments from the social fund4

  Notes:

  1 Mobility allowance continues to age 80 but cannot be claimed after age 66 (but mobility conditions must have been met before age 65).

  2 Invalid care allowance continues but cannot be claimed after age 60 for women and 65 for men.

  3 Invalidity benefit and sickness benefit can be paid up to five years beyond pension age.

  4 Crisis loans and payments for certain specific items are possible if customers are not on income support.
  328
  Whether or not any of these would actually be payable to any one couple would depend on their particular circumstances.

  Information on the average amount of each benefit in payment to pensioner couples is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Social Fund
  Mr. Norman Hogg
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish the financial allocation to the social fund for each local office in Scotland and the actual sum spent in each case for the financial year ended 31 March 1991.

  Mr. Scott
  Information on allocations for 1991–92 and monthly expenditure up to February 1991 are available in the Library. The March 1991 figures will be available shortly.

  Long-stay Patients
  Mr. Andrew Bowden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the costs incurred by his Department from the discharge of patients from long-stay hospital beds to private nursing homes; and if he will make a statement.

  Miss Widdecombe
  No such assessment has been made as information about a claimant's previous place of residence is not collected.

  Family Credit
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of new claims for family credit were unsuccessful in each of last 24 months for which records are available; and what was the spending on advertising family credit during those months.

  Mr. Jack
  Of the new claims for family credit cleared during each of these months the percentage which was unsuccessful was as follows:

  Per cent.

  April 1989

  46·2

  May 1989

  64·6

  June 1989

  60·0

  July 1989

  52·2

  August 1989

  48·6

  September 1989

  48·4

  October 1989

  47·0

  November 1989

  48·4

  December 1989

  52·8

  January 1990

  53·4

  February 1990

  49·1

  March 1990

  49·5

  April 1990

  47·8

  May 1990

  45·0

  June 1990

  46·2

  July 1990

  47·0

  August 1990

  47·5

  September 1990

  49·5

  October 1990

  46·6

  November 1990

  45·1

  December 1990

  45·5

  January 1991

  49·4

  February 1991

  47·6

  March 1991

  48·4

  During the same period the percentage of renewal claims which were unsuccessful ranged from 11·6 per cent. to 18·6 per cent.
  329
  Notes

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

  2.Unsuccessful claims includes those which were withdrawn or were invalid, as well as those where it was decided there was no entitlement to benefit.

  It is not possible to express the spending on advertising on a month by month basis. The spending on each of the advertising campaigns during the period was as follows:

  Advertising campaign

  Expenditure (£)

  April-June 1989

  3,635,000

  October 1989-January 1990

  2,200,000

  June-August 1990

  2,394,000

  February-March 1991

  1,500,000

  Income Support
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are in receipt of income support in Scotland at the latest date for which figures are available.

  Miss Widdecombe
  [pursuant to the answer, 15 April, c. 89]:I regret that the hon. Member's question was incorrectly linked for answer. It should have received the following answer.

  In May 1989, the latest date for which information is available, some 486,000 people in Scotland were in receipt of income support. This information is drawn from the May 1989 Annual Statistical Enquiry, a copy of which is in the Library.

SCOTLAND

  Industrial Premises
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what evidence he has of the trends in investment by the private sector in new industrial and warehousing premises in Scotland.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  There is no clear statistical evidence from which trends in the volume of private sector industrial investment can be drawn. There are, however, encouraging signs of increased activity in this area.

  During 1990, consistent: with the Government's policy of encouraging the private sector to take a greater role in the development and management of industrial property in Scotland, the Scottish Development Agency disposed of property holdings valued at almost £140 million. The disposals included sites with development potential and we are aware that the new private sector owners have undertaken or plan to undertake industrial developments on a number of these.

  It seems likely that owner-occupiers whose businesses are prospering will continue to invest in new units and extensions and that other businesses will follow as the economy recovers. Interest in speculative building, which has been constrained by low rents and recent high interest rates, is expected to revive as interest rates fall and rents increase to match building costs.

  Household Statistics
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many adults over 18 years of age there are in Scotland at the latest date for which figures are available.
  330
  Mr. Lang
  The population of Scotland aged 18 years and over at 30 June 1990 is provisionally estimated to have been 3,940,000.

  Training Organisations
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many approved training organisations there are in Scotland; and what are their names.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  There were 305 approved training organisations in Scotland as at 31 March 1991.

  Information about the names of these approved training organisations is set out in the table.

  Information about additions or deletions from this list after 31 March 1991 is a matter for Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and local enterprise companies.

  Employment training

  Workstart Ltd.

  Grampian Regional Council

  Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Board

  JHP Training Ltd.

  Aberdeen Enterprise Trust

  Angus Training Group

  Tayside Training Services

  Balloch Trust Enterprise Ltd.

  Highland Perth Development Co.

  St. Andrew's Business Association Ltd.

  Grampian Regional Council

  Moray District Council

  Voluntary Services Aberdeen

  Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce

  Hotel and Catering Training Board

  Mid Grampian Employment Training Ltd.

  Sullivan Ltd.

  Adult Community Training (Dundee) Ltd.

  Dundee Skill Centre

  Dundee and Tayside Chamber of Commerce Industry

  Hotel and Catering Training Board

  Agricultural Training Board

  Tayside Training Company

  Workstart Ltd.

  Angus District Council

  Dundee Cyrenians Wishart Centre

  Dundee Enterprise Trust

  Heat Development (Dundee) Ltd.

  Wigtown District Council

  Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council Education

  Department

  Garnock Workspace Ltd.

  Best Ltd.

  Radix Training Ltd.

  Training Service Ayrshire Ltd.

  Care Ayrshire Training Ltd.

  Employment Training Sponsors (Scotland) Ltd.

  Dumfries and Galloway R.C. Consortium

  Galloway Training Organisation

  Ardrossan, Saltcoats, Stevenston Enterprise Trust

  Scottish Maritime Museum Trust

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council

  May-Tag Ltd.

  Phoenix Employment Training Agency Ltd.

  Skills Training Agency Irvine Skill Centre

  Lanarkshire Training Agency Ltd.

  RDL Professional Services Ltd.

  East Kilbride Energy Project Ltd.

  OSCC Training Services

  Midscot Training Services

  LAGDT Ltd.

  Lanarkshire Enterprise Training Ltd.

  Anne Rodger Training Salon

  Springboard Lanarkshire Trust

  Grand Metropolitan Commission Service Trust

  RRW Association (Hamilton) Ltd.

  Clydesdale District Council

  Hamilton District Council

  East Kilbride District Council

  331

  Scottish National Council of YMCA's

  VAMW (VAMW) Training Ltd.

  Bellshill Skill Centre (Astra Training Service)

  Queens College Glasgow Enterprise Ltd.

  Employment Training Scotland Ltd.

  Hillington Skill Centre

  Cobalt (UK) Ltd.

  Strathclyde Training Agency (Grand Metropolitan)

  Mill Training Ltd.

  East End Management Agency Co. Ltd.

  Henry Boot Training Ltd.

  Glasgow Training Group (Motor Trade) Ltd.

  MDS Management Services Ltd.

  RRW Associates Ltd.

  John Lawrence (Glasgow) Ltd.

  Whiteleys College

  Scottish Society Mentally Handicapped

  University of Glasgow

  Epilepsy Association of Scotland

  Glasgow Zoo

  Glasgow College Enterprise Ltd.

  MI Technologies Ltd.

  GRTA Training Ltd.

  Poldrait Community Development

  Sumlock Business Service (JHP Sumlock)

  Fife Regional Council

  Central Training

  Oriel Training Services

  Fife Chamber of Commerce

  Fife Transport Training

  Gangforth

  JHP Training Ltd.

  Skills Training Agency (ASTRA)

  North East Fife District Council

  Dunfermline District Council

  Hotel and Catering Training Board

  Central Scotland Chamber of Commerce

  Agriculture Training Board

  Kirkcaldy District Council

  Newstart (Dunfermline) Ltd.

  Training Craft Ltd.

  Metcom Training Ltd.

  Falkirk AT Enterprises (FATE) Ltd.

  Tektra Management Agency Ltd.

  Stirling Heatsave (Prospects)

  Scottish Training Foundation

  In Training Ltd.

  Strathkelvin Enterprise Trust

  RDL Professional Services Tell Training Ltd.

  Cumbernauld Development Corporation (TEC)

  Prospects (Strathclyde) Ltd.

  Intec (Inverclyde) Ltd.

  RRW Associates (RDA) Ltd.

  Business and Employment Skills Training (BEST)

  Argyll and Bute District Council

  Microcomputer Training Centre

  The Training Agency Ltd.

  Greater Edinburgh Training Association

  Borders Regional Council

  Grand Metropolitan Community Services Trust

  Edinburgh District Engineering Training Association

  Ness Training Ltd.

  Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures

  Training and Development (Edinburgh) Ltd.

  Community and Business Training Ltd.

  South of Scotland Group Training (Edinburgh) Ltd.

  Royal Zoological Society of Scotland

  Scottish Centres

  Instand Muscle (Scotland) Ltd.

  Reid Consultants Ltd.

  Trust Training

  Apex Scotland

  Borders Training Services

  Livingston Development Corporation

  University of Edinburgh

  Wester Hailes Management Agency

  Craigmillar Festival Society

  Scottish Council for Spastics

  Scottish Association for Mental Health

  332

  Cobalt (UK) Ltd.

  Scottish Wildlife Trust

  Community Industry

  Orkney Islands Council

  Support Training

  Highland Training and Development

  Caithness District Council

  Westwood Training Services

  McDermott Scotland Ltd.

  Moray Firth Group Training Association

  Simpson Dalgarno Partners

  Support Training

  Highland Training Ltd.

  Ross and Cromarty District Council

  Orkney Island Council

  Highland Regional Council

  Youth Training

  Royal Bank of Scotland

  Strathkelvin District Council

  Stakis Hotels and Inns

  Scottish Fish Merchants Joint GTA

  University of Glasgow

  Dunvegan Equestrian Training

  Grampian Health Board

  Cumbernauld College

  Stanley Stores (Strathclyde) Ltd.

  Grampian Pig Industry Training Group

  Argyll and Bute District Council BP Chemicals

  Greater Glasgow Health Board School of Chiropody

  Co-operative Wholesale Society Scottish Retail Group

  Mackays Stores Ltd.

  Cheynes

  Renfrew District Council

  Western Scottish Omnibuses

  Eastern Scottish Omnibuses

  Bluebird Northern

  Lothian Health Board

  Grampian Meat Processors Training Association

  Legal Staff Training Centre

  Angus District Council

  Dumbarton District Council

  Bearsden and Milngavie District Council

  R. D. Locke

  Suliven Ltd.

  Angus Training Group

  IBM (UK) Ltd.

  Robson Associates

  St. Andrews College

  Glenrothes Development Corporation

  Highland Youth Training

  Huntly Rotary Club

  Atholl Palace Hotel

  Dundee Football Club plc

  Agricultural Training Board

  Radix Training (Scotland) Ltd.

  Burr Brown Ltd.

  Ethicon Ltd.

  Lothian Regional Council

  Edinburgh District Engineering Training Association

  West Lothian ITEC

  North East Fishermens Joint Group Training Association

  Dundee College of Technology

  TEKTRA

  Bonnybridge Co-operative Society

  Jaegar Tailoring Ltd.

  Kenmore Riding School

  Edinburgh District Council

  Livingston Development Corporation

  Scottish Business Services

  Strathclyde Regional Council

  Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council

  Victor Harris (Gentswear) Ltd.

  Mackay Wilson Ltd.

  Reid Consultants

  NEI International Combustion

  D. and M. Clark Ltd.

  LETA Ltd.

  West Lothian District Council

  333

  Safeline (Scotland) Ltd.

  Napier College

  Belford Travel Ltd.

  S. M. Bayne and Co.

  Buckhaven Parish Church

  Marconi Instruments

  Drumbrae Riding Centre

  Ashbank Veterinary Centre

  Anderson Strathclyde plc

  City of Dundee District Council

  Holms Greenock Ltd.

  St. Brycedale Church

  Aberdeen ITEC

  GMCST Strathclyde Training Agency

  Cumbernauld YMCA/YWCA

  Heriot Watt University

  Mentor Management Agency

  Lander Alarms (Scotland) Ltd.

  John McCormick and Co. Ltd.

  Glasgow Retailers Training Association

  Leyland Vehicles Ltd.

  Charles McCrea

  Irvine Development Corporation

  G. and J. Johnston (Wemyss) Ltd.

  J. Howden

  The Post Office—Royal Mail Letters

  Highland Association of Training Groups

  Brown and Root—Wimpey Highland Fabricators

  Motherwell District Council

  Jack and Irving Professional Hair Design

  Post Office (Aberdeen Letters District Office)

  Post Office (Counters) Ltd

  North Lanarkshire ITEC

  Monklands Personnel Services

  British Aerospace plc

  Kyle and Carrick District Council

  Westwood Training Services

  Digital Equipment (Scotland) Ltd

  Safe Group Training Ltd

  University of Edinburgh

  Highland Health Board

  Edinburgh Young Mans Christian Association

  Canonmills Community Care

  Scottish and Newcastle Breweries plc

  Hamilton District Council

  Hughes Microelectronics Ltd.

  Cumming (Leven) Ltd.

  Wm. Stephen (Bakers) Ltd.

  Kirkcaldy and District Chamber of Commerce

  John Brown Engineering Ltd.

  Cumbernauld ITEC

  Lomonside Stud

  Mugdock Nursery School

  Polaroid UK Ltd.

  Eastwood District Council

  SCOTMID Co-Op

  Pasolds (Sunchild) Ltd.

  Economic Forestry Ltd.

  Link Scotland Ltd.

  Forth Valley Health Board

  Imperial Chemical Industries plc

  Rolls Royce plc

  John Smith and Son (Glasgow) Ltd.

  Pointer Alarms Ltd.

  Ferranti plc

  Sterling Cars (Glasgow) Ltd.

  City of Glasgow District Council

  Strathclyde Catering Agency

  Speyside Management Agency

  Scottish Development Agency

  United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

  Tayside Road Transport Group Training

  Shell Expro Technician Training

  Link (Scotland) Ltd.

  Roche Products Ltd.

  Ayrshire and Arran Health Board

  Tayside Training Services

  Golfing and Outdoor Sports Training Association

  Ayrshire Road Transport Group Training Association

  Jaeger Tailoring

  334

  Ayrshire ITEC Ltd.

  Nobels Explosives Company Ltd.

  Haxton and Lang Ltd.

  Cunninghame District Council

  Kirkwood and Co.

  Kramer Managing Agency

  John M. Petson

  McLellan Rubber Ltd.

  TVEI
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland at 1990–91 prices, what is the expenditure on technical and vocational education initiative per school pupil in every year from 1985–86 to 1991–92.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  TVEI can extend to every 14 to 18-year-old undergoing full-time education; it therefore includes students aged 16 to 18 attending colleges as well as school pupils in this age group. The education authorities have entered into and extended their participation in TVEI at varying rates over the years. Expenditure on a per school pupil basis would be available only at disproportionate cost. But spending is not necessarily geared to the number of students and any unit costs derived would not be meaningful. Total expenditure in Scotland on TVEI at 1990–91 prices is as follows:

  Financial year

  £ at constant (1990–91) prices

  1985–86

  3,087,131

  1986–87

  3,642,028

  1987–88

  7,624,724

  1988–89

  11,437,628

  1989–90

  12,631,256

  1990–91

  12,052,557

  11991–92

  13,018,868

  1Budget.

  Employment Training
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of employment training trainees gained qualifications in Scotland in each year since employment training started.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  The information is not available in the form requested. Information about leavers is obtained through a survey which started in July 1990. Returns from leavers are incomplete. Data provided by this survey about the percentage of employment training trainees gaining a qualification or a credit toward one is set out in the table:

  Percentage of leavers between July 1980 to March 1990

  Percentage of leavers between April 1990 to October 1990

  Obtained qualification or credit

  22

  30

  Awaiting results at time of survey

  5

  4

  Public Drunkenness
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his policy in respect of the decriminalisation of public drunkenness.

  Mr. Lang
  The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 gave the police power to take a drunken offender to a
  335
  designated place, as an alternative to arrest. The Government remain prepared to designate places as suitable for the care of drunken persons if the local statutory bodies so wish, and will in addition consider assisting with the capital costs of such projects. We have no proposals for further change to the criminal law in this regard.

  Electoral Statistics
  Mr. David Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland further to his answer of 25 February,Official Report,column 385,when he expects to be able to publish the total electorate for each parliamentary constituency in Scotland, as at 16 February 1991; and when he intends to write to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Shettleston.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The total electorate for each parliamentary constituency in Scotland, as at 16 February 1991, is as follows:

  Parliamentary Constituencies

  Number of electors as at 16 February 1991

  Number

  Scotland

  3,914,590

  Aberdeen North

  60,219

  Aberdeen South

  58,681

  Angus East

  62,769

  Argyll and Bute

  48,068

  Ayr

  66,126

  Banff and Buchan

  64,136

  Caithness and Sutherland

  31,120

  Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley

  55,999

  Central Fife

  56,307

  Clackmannan

  49,140

  Clydebank and Milngavie

  47,861

  Clydesdale

  62,325

  Cumbernauld and Kilsyth

  46,895

  Cunninghame North

  55,390

  Cunninghame South

  49,728

  Dumbarton

  57,730

  Dumfries

  61,235

  Dundee East

  58,935

  Dundee West

  60,218

  Dunfermline East

  50,369

  Dunfermline West

  51,186

  East Kilbride

  64,365

  East Lothian

  67,223

  Eastwood

  64,276

  Edinburgh Central

  56,048

  Edinburgh East

  46,800

  Edinburgh Leith

  57,415

  Edinburgh Pentlands

  56,453

  Edinburgh South

  61,682

  Edinburgh West

  60,556

  Falkirk East

  52,307

  Falkirk West

  50,479

  Galloway and Upper Nithsdale

  54,855

  Glasgow Cathcart

  45,835

  Glasgow Central

  48,862

  Glasgow Garscadden

  42,270

  Glasgow Govan

  46,720

  Glasgow Hillhead

  56,003

  Glasgow Maryhill

  48,393

  Glasgow Pollok

  47,206

  Glasgow Provan

  37,838

  Glasgow Rutherglen

  53,777

  Glasgow Shettleston

  52,129

  Glasgow Springburn

  45,873

  336

  Number

  Gordon

  78,438

  Greenock and Port Glasgow

  53,267

  Hamilton

  62,543

  Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber

  68,848

  Kilmamock and Loudoun

  62,513

  Kincardine and Deeside

  65,660

  Kirkcaldy

  52,419

  Linlithgow

  61,812

  Livingston

  62,070

  Midlothian

  60,875

  Monklands East

  49,226

  Monklands West

  50,132

  Moray

  63,357

  Motherwell North

  58,215

  Motherwell South

  51,236

  North East Fife

  53,399

  North Tayside

  55,252

  Orkney and Shetland

  31,355

  Paisley North

  47,770

  Paisley South

  49,091

  Perth and Kinross

  65,135

  Renfrew West and Inverclyde

  58,460

  Ross, Cromarty and Skye

  55,174

  Roxburgh and Berwickshire

  43,758

  Stirling

  58,296

  Strathkelvin and Bearsden

  61,806

  Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale

  39,608

  Western Isles

  23,073

  Drink Driving
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how long it usually takes for information to be made publicly available as to whether a driver had been drinking alcohol before driving and being killed.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Information about whether a driver killed in a road accident had consumed alcohol would become publicly available only if evidence to that effect was led at subsequent court proceedings, including any fatal accident inquiry.

  Alcohol-related Crime
  Mr. Hood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to include the specific statistical data of young persons under 18 years in each category of criminal convictions where alcohol was directly or indirectly involved in the crime.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Statistics on the age of persons convicted of drink-related offences such as drink driving, drunkenness and liquor licensing offences are already available. It is not feasible to collect regular statistical information on convictions for offences where alcohol was indirectly involved.

  Scottish Enterprise
  Sir Russell Johnston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cost of launching Scottish Enterprise and its associated local enterprise companies.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and I have asked the chairman to write to the hon. Member.

  Child Abuse
  Mr. Hood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many criminal convictions there have been for offences against children where children were abused by a parent in each year since 1979.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Information on the relationship between offenders and their victims is not collected centrally.

  Crime Statistics
  Mr. Hood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all crime statistics in each Scottish police authority, indicating each police division in order of crimes recorded for each category and give the percentage of increase in each category for every year since 1979.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The information requested is not held centrally. Information for police authority areas is given in the annual reports of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland, copies of which are available in the Library.

  Planning Procedures
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland why he called in the planning consent for housing development at Fishers road, Port Seton; when he expects to announce his decision; and if he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  These applications were notified to my right hon. Friend by East Lothian district council, the local planning authority, because the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department had objected to the use for housing of prime quality agricultural land which had not been allocated for development in the relevant development plans. My right hon. Friend called in the applications to allow him to examine more closely the arguments for releasing the land put forward by the district and regional councils, which both supported the proposal. The protection of prime quality agricultural land from development that could be satisfactorily accommodated elsewhere remains an objective of Government policy.

  I expect my right hon. Friend to issue his decision shortly and will ensure that the hon. Member receives a copy of the decision letter.

  Self-employed People
  Mrs. Margaret Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the total number of people registered as self-employed in each Scottish parliamentary constituency.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  The latest information available on the number of self-employed by parliamentary constituency comes from the 1981 census of population. This 338
  information is available from the NOMIS database in the House of Commons Library. Library staff are ready to assist in accessing the information if necessary.

  NHS Trusts
  Mr. Robert Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the cost to date of the public affairs department of Grampian health board in preparing and issuing press releases giving publicity to NHS trust status for Aberdeen royal infirmary, Foresterhill site; and whether any costs will be charged directly to the group of senior managers and consultants who have decided to submit an application for NHS trust status.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The work involved is a small part of the activities of the public affairs department of Grampian health board, the cost of which is not separately identifiable. Health boards have a clear duty to provide assistance to trust candidates and it is quite appropriate for Grampian health board to issue press releases on behalf of the Foresterhill project manager and his team.

  Steel Industry
  Mr. Salmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has submitted additional evidence to the Select Committee on Trade and Industry on British Steel since 25 March.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  On 27 March my right hon. Friend sent the Chairman of the Select Committee a copy of the final report on the Arthur D. Little study on the prospects for the steel industry in Scotland. My right hon. Friend has not submitted any evidence as such to the Committee since 25 March.

  Mr. Salmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) when he last met the European Commissioner, Sir Leon Brittan, to discuss the steel industry; and if he will make a detailed statement on those discussions;

  (2) if he will publish a minute of his meeting of 25 March with Sir Leon Brittan in so far as it concerns the Scottish steel industry;

  (3) what information he received from Sir Leon Brittan on 25 March with regard to the European Commission's attitude to a potential sale of the Ravenscraig and Clydesdale steel works; and if he will make a statement;

  (4) what information he has received from the European Commissioner, Sir Leon Brittan, relating to statements made by Sir Robert Scholey concerning the attitude of the Commission to a possible sale of Ravenscraig and Clydesdale steel works.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  My right hon. Friend met Sir Leon on 25 March. It was a private meeting at which a number of subjects were dismissed and my right hon. Friend does not intend to make a detailed statement. But one of the subjects was steel; Sir Leon was able to confirm the Commission's view that any refusal by British Steel to offer the Ravenscraig hot strip mill for sale to a European competitor did not amount to abuse of a dominant position. The Commission was not able to take a view on any proposed sale of the mill until it received a specific application. However, as my right hon. Friend indicated to the Select Committee on 12 December, he is not aware of
  339
  any powers that the Commission has to prevent the mill from being sold and continuing in production within the Community.

  Manufacturing Jobs
  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many manufacturing jobs have been lost in Scotland in each year since 1989.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  In December 1990, the latest available date, there were 401,100 employees in employment in manufacturing in Scotland. This represents a small fall of 1,300 (0·3 per cent.) compared with December 1989. Over the same period the number of manufacturing employees in Great Britain fell by 130,000 (2·5 per cent.).

  Quarries
  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the quarries in Scotland.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The information requested is contained in the British Geological Surveys publication "Directory of Mines and Quarries", a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.

  Firearms
  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people have been fined for illegal possession of firearms in Scotland in each year since 1985.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  In 1989, 36 people were fined for offences under section 1 of the Firearms Act 1968 340
  of illegal possession of a firearm. This figure excludes cases where illegal possession was not the main charge. Statistics for earlier years are not available.

  Motorway lighting
  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what criteria are used to decide whether any part of a motorway in Scotland should be provided with lighting.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Lighting on motorways is normally provided when cost benefit calculations show that the benefits of a reduction in the number of night-time injury accidents would exceed the cost of its installation and subsequent maintenance. White-lining, cats' eyes and other markings are considered adequate in ordinary circumstances and generally, on motorways, lighting would afford only marginal road safety benefits which would not justify the cost.

  The detailed criteria are set out in the Scottish Office Technical Memorandum SH6/89 ("Appraisal of New and Replacement Lighting on Trunk Roads and Trunk Road Motorways"), a copy of which I am arranging to be placed in the Library.

  Environmental Health Officers
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many environmental health officers have been employed by local authorities in Scotland for each year since 1980.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  [holding answer 28 March 1991]: This information is not held centrally.
  341

SCOTLAND

  Opencast Mining
  Mr. Canavan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will list all those areas in Scotland for which planning permission has been granted for opencast mining.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 19 April 1991]: Under current legislation my right hon. Friend deals only with applications for opencast coal operations which come before him on appeal. Up to 29 February 1984 opencast coal site applications were the concern of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy. Thereafter, under transitional arrangements, they transferred to my right hon. Friend until the local planning authorities assumed responsibility on 11 December 1987. I understand from British Coal (Scotland), which holds central records, that the details requested are as follows:

  Other Sites

  Site name

  Location

  Planning authority area

  1. Licensed and operational

  Colinshiel

  Armadale

  West Lothian District

  Common Farm

  Lugar

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District

  Craigmad

  California

  Falkirk District

  Crawick

  Crawick

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District

  Croftangreen

  East Kilbride

  Hamilton District

  Easter Baton

  Shotts

  Motherwell District

  Humbug

  Crossgates

  Dunfermline District

  Kitleyknowe

  Carlops

  Borders Region

  Laigh Riggend

  Wattston

  Monklands District

  Legbrannock Farm

  Newhouse

  Motherwell District

  Nether Longford

  Stoneyburn

  West Lothian District

  North Rhodens

  Armadale

  West Lothian District

  Oakerdykes

  Slammannan

  Falkirk District

  Parkwood West

  Dollar

  Clackmannan District

  Sherriff Faulds

  Hamilton

  Hamilton District

  South Landridge

  Salsburgh

  Monklands District

  South Roughcastle

  Falkirk

  Falkirk District

  Tippetcraig North

  Slamarman

  Falkirk District

  Venture

  Newmains

  Motherwell District

  Waterloo

  Wishaw

  Motherwell District

  West Kelt

  Banknock

  Cumbernauld and Kilsyth District

  Woosethead

  Newhouse

  Motherwell District

  2. Sites believed to have planning permission but no licence

  Harehill

  Climpy

  Clydesdale District

  Garlaff Farm

  Cumnock

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District

  North Monkland Junction

  Slamannan

  Falkirk District

  Earnockmuir

  Hamilton

  Hamilton District

  Airth Mains

  Airth

  Falkirk District

  All information as at April 1991.

  Police Operations
  Mr. Strang
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people have been killed in police pursuits in Scotland(a) excluding and (b) including police officers in each of the last five years.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 19 April 1991]: Figures have been collected centrally only for the past four years. Since 1987 there have been six deaths—four in 1987, one in 1988, one in 1989 and none in 1990. All arose from incidents where a police vehicle was in direct or indirect pursuit of a fleeing suspect vehicle, or responding to an emergency call; none of those killed was a police officer.
  342

  British coal sites

  Site name

  Planning authority area

  1. Operational

  Darnconner

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District

  Roverhill

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District

  Chalmerston

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District

  Horsecleugh

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District

  Airdsgreen

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District

  Libry Moor

  Nithsdale District

  Dalquhandy

  Clydesdale District

  Damside

  Motherwell District

  Blindwells

  East Lothian District

  Keirsbeath

  Dunfermline District

  Lambhill

  Perth and Kinross District

  2. Sites with planning permission

  (not operational)

  Westfield Link

  Kirkcaldy District

  Piperhill

  Cumnock and Doon Valley District

  Polkemmet

  West Lothian District

HEALTH

  Cancer Screening
  Mr. Jopling
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects a breast cancer screening programme to become operational in the South and East Cumbria health authorities' areas.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  Screening will begin in South Cumbria at Barrow in June 1991 and in East Cumbria at Carlisle in September 1991. All eligible women should have received their first screening invitation by 1993.

  General Practitioner Targets
  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of general practitioners in Cleveland have achieved their targets for child immunisation, pre-school boosters and cervical cytology.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  On 31 March 1991 the following percentage of GPs in Cleveland qualified for target payments in respect of their achievements on 1 October 1990:

  Percentage of GPs achieving targets

  Higher

  Lower

  Total

  Childhood immunisation

  61

  32

  93

  Pre-school booster

  41

  37

  78

  Cervical cytology

  83

  17

  100

  I congratulate all those concerned on this excellent achievement.

  Immunisation (Children)
  Mr. Jopling
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of children are immunised against diphtheria, whooping cough and measles in the South and East Cumbria health authorities' areas together with the corresponding averages for the Northern region, England, the United Kingdom as a whole and the World Health Organisation's target percentage.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Provisional figures for 1989–90 are as follows:

  Diphtheria

  Whooping Cough

  Measles (MMR)1

  South Cumbria DHA

  96

  85

  93

  East Cumbria DHA

  93

  83

  90

  Northern RHA

  90

  79

  86

  England

  89

  78

  84

  1 A combined vaccine against measles mumps and rubella (MMR) replaced measles-only vaccine from 1 October 1988.

  It is not possible to provide an average percentage for the United Kingdom as a whole because of differences in methods of collecting the figures. The World Health Organisation's target for its European region was 90 per cent. coverage by 1990. More recent estimates, by the COVER—Cover of Vaccination Evaluated Rapidly—programme, managed by the communicable disease surveillance centre, show that by February 1991 the percentages for England had reached 90 for diphtheria (and tetanus and polio), 89 for MMR and 85 for whooping cough.

  Speech Therapy
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was spent by health authorities on the provision of speech therapy in the last year for which figures are available.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Health authorities spent £43·4 million on speech therapy services in 1989–90. This represents an increase in real terms of 138 per cent. since 1978–79.

  Appointments
  Mr. Atkinson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what way appointments to health authorities are considered and made.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State appoints the chairman and non-executive members of regional health authorities and the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals. My right hon. Friend also appoints the chairmen of district health authorities and family health services authorities. Regional health authorities appoint the non-executive members of district health authorities and family health services authorities.

  There is no statutory requirement to consult. Nominations of suitable people willing to serve on a health authority from various sources are always welcome and considered.

  Hearing Therapists
  Mr. Ashley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his assessment of the future role of the hearing therapist profession; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  Hearing therapists play an important role in the rehabilitation and after-care of people with a hearing loss. Officials are in discussion with the British Society of Hearing Therapists and the national health service training directorate about the possibility of developing a national vocational qualification in hearing therapy.

  Hearing Aids
  Mr. Ashley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how often the range of NHS hearing aids is reviewed; and what steps are taken to ensure that this range is updated in line with technical developments.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Contracts for the standard range of NHS hearing aids are normally awarded for one or two year periods and are then subject to review and re-tender. Technical developments are kept under continuing review, having regard to clinical suitability, reliability and cost.

  Mr. Ashley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is given by his Department to regional health authorities to assist them with drawing up their budget allocation for hearing aids and for setting their staffing levels within the audiology service.

  Mr. Dorrell
  None. It is for health authorities to allocate resources for the purchase of hearing aids and audiology services in the light of local needs.

  Norwich DHA
  Mr. John Garrett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the expenditure by Norwich district health authority for the latest available year on the general practitioner contract, general practitioner fund holders, the hospital's internal market and the resource management initiative.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The information is not held centrally in the form requested.

  In 1989–90 the total revenue expenditure on hospital and community health services within Norwich district health authority was £122,580,000 of which expenditure on hospital services amounted to £95,948,000.
  345
  The East Anglian regional health authority received £158,000 of central funds in 1990–91 to support resource management projects within Norwich district health authority.

  The hon. Member may wish to contact Sir Colin Walker, the chairman of East Anglian regional health authority, for details of expenditure on general practitioner contracts and general practitioner fund holders.

  Long-stay Patients
  Mr. Andrew Bowden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has any plans to prevent the transfer by district health authorities of financial responsibility for the long-stay care of frail, elderly patients which occurs when such patients are discharged from long-stay hospital beds to private nursing homes; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The Department's guidance on hospital discharge procedures requires a patient who is to be discharged to a private nursing home to be notified in writing whether or not the health authority will meet the fees of the home under a contractual arrangement. It also makes it clear that no one should be unwillingly discharged to such care if it means that he, she or a relative will be personally responsible for the home's charges.

  United Kingdom Residents from Mauritius
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people from the island of Mauritius resided in the United Kingdom at the last available date.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The estimated number of people born in Mauritius but resident in the United Kingdom is 22,000. This estimate has been derived by averaging the results of the 1987, 1988, and 1989 labour force surveys.

TRANSPORT

  Fenchurch Street Rail Service
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has received any proposals from 'British Rail to reduce the load factor on peak-time trains on the Fenchurch Street line to 100 per cent.

  Mr. Freeman
  The load factor objective for rolling stock of the type operated on the Fenchurch Street line is 110 per cent. with no standing over 20 minutes except through choice. Journeys to Fenchurch Street from Basildon take more than 20 minutes, so the load factor objective is, therefore, already 100 per cent. from there. We have received no proposals from British Rail to reduce the target to 100 per cent. throughout Network SouthEast.

  Motorways
  Mr. Cran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to extend the motorway network.

  Mr. Chope
  Our plans for extending the motorway network were set out in "Trunk Roads England into the 1990s" published in February last year. Subsequent proposals to upgrade the Al to motorway status from the M25 to Tyneside were announced in July 1990.

  Road Improvements, Devon
  Mr. Speller
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what major road improvements he plans for north Devon in co-operation with Devon county council during the next five years.

  Mr. Chope
  The 47-mile long north Devon link road was completed in 1989 at a cost of £47 million and the Barnstaple and Bideford bypasses were completed in 1987 and 1989 at a cost of £21 million and £17 million respectively.

  The level of investment in roads in north Devon in the next five years will not be as great, but schemes put forward by Devon county council for transport supplementary grant will be considered on their merits.

  London Assessment Studies
  Mr. Bowls
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give starting dates for the public transport schemes in the London assessment studies that he intends should proceed.

  Mr. Freeman
  Subject to the passage of relevant legislation, we hope that construction of the Lewisham extension of the Docklands light railway will begin in 1992 and construction of the east-west crossrail in 1993.

  Other schemes recommended in the assessment studies may be brought forward later. The alignment of the Chelsea-Hackney underground line has already been safeguarded.

  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what was the total cost to his Department of the work involved in the western environmental improvement route assessment study;

  (2) what was the total cost to his Department of the work involved in the South London assessment study; and if he will make a statement;

  (3) what was the total cost to his Department of the work involved in the South Circular assessment study; and if he will make a statement;

  (4) what was the total cost to his Department of the work involved in the west London assessment study; and if he will make a statement;

  (5) what was the total cost to his Department of the work involved in the east London assessment study; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  The cost of the four London assessment studies was:

  £ million

  South Circular

  2·9

  South London

  3·4

  West London

  2·7

  East London

  3·0

  The western environmental improvement route was a scheme in the national road programme. It had reached the public consultation stage, at a study cost of £1·1 million. The announcement of decisions on the assessment studies indicated that a number of the most important public transport schemes identified in the studies were under active consideration, that it had been decided not to proceed with any of the major road schemes recommended by consultants, but that the limited road improvements

  347
  specified would be pursued. Since then Bills to authorise east-west crossrail and the extension of the Docklands light railway to Lewisham have been announced, and the line of the Chelsea-Hackney line has been safeguarded. The limited road improvements specified have been subject to initial appraisal and an announcement will be made shortly.

  Prestwick Airport
  Mr. Foulkes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with BAA about the future of Prestwick airport.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  Prestwick airport is one of a number of subjects which my right hon. and learned Friend has discussed with the senior management of BAA in recent months.

  London Orbital Motorway
  Mrs. Gorman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for an additional outer London orbital motorway.

  Mr. Chope
  None.

  Buses, London
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the projected trend in bus usage in London over the next two years.

  Mr. Freeman
  I understand that London Transport expects little overall change in bus usage in London over the next two years. The Government have issued a consultation paper on the deregulation of the provision of bus services in London and believe that such deregulation offers the best opportunity for increasing patronage in the longer term.

  Rail Privatisation
  Mr. Roger King
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to meet the chairman of British Rail to discuss privatisation.

  Mr. Freeman
  My right hon. and learned Friend meets the chairman of British Rail regularly, to discuss a variety of issues.

  British Rail Investment
  Mr. Eastham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it is policy to make approval for any BR investment proposals conditional upon orders being placed in the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Freeman
  British Rail's purchasing policy is to obtain the best overall value for money through competition. About 95 per cent. of British Rail's requirements for supplies and services are currently ordered within the United Kingdom. Decisions on the placing of railway orders are commercial matters for British Rail and it would be inappropriate for Government approvals of British Rail investment proposals to be conditional on orders being placed in the home market.

  Mr. Wray
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the 1991, 1992 and 1993 amount of public funds 348
  given to British Rail to improve passenger and goods access from Scotland to the continent via the channel tunnel.

  Mr. Freeman
  British Rail plans to invest up to £1·4 billion on works linked to the channel tunnel in this financial year and the next two. BR's investment is financed from a combination of internal and external finance, including borrowing. Section 42 of the Channel Tunnel Act forbids Government subsidy for international rail services.

  Mr. Gregory
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out figures for rail investment, in cash and real terms, for the last 20 years, and the estimate for next year.

  Mr. Freeman
  Actual figures up to 1990–91 are listed in the table:

  Rail Investment

  Year

  Cash

  1990–91 Prices

  £ million

  £ million

  1970

  48

  329

  1971

  59

  371

  1972

  73

  424

  1973

  81

  440

  1974

  103

  468

  1975

  157

  568

  1976

  176

  561

  1977

  193

  541

  1978

  208

  526

  1979

  248

  537

  1980

  304

  556

  1981

  277

  462

  1982

  243

  379

  1983

  252

  375

  11984–85

  280

  397

  1985–86

  399

  536

  1986–87

  399

  519

  1987–88

  526

  648

  1988–89

  545

  626

  1989–90

  696

  752

  1990–91

  2822

  822

  112 month equivalent.

  2Estimated outturn.

  The definition of rail investment includes investment in Freightliners, British Rail Maintenance Ltd. and British Rail Engineering Ltd. but excludes the laying of continuous welded track which BR do not now classify as investment.

  Plans for this financial year and the next two—1991–92, 1992–93 and 1993–94—are given in the departmental report 1991 (Cm. 1507).

  Motorway Lighting
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for improving and extending the lighting on the M4 and other motorways.

  Mr. Chope
  The lighting requirements on all motorways in England, including the M4, are kept under continuous review. Plans are in hand for more lighting on the Ml, M5, M20, M40, M56 and on the M62. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales is responsible for the M4 motorway in Wales.

  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his most recent estimate of the potential safety improvements and increased capacity of motorways resulting from the installation of lighting.
  349
  Mr. Chope
  Research in this country and elsewhere has shown that the average reduction in night-time accidents attributable to road lighting is about 30 per cent. There is, however, substantial variation between locations, depending on type of road and other factors. Evidence is not available on the effect of lighting on motorway capacity.

  Rail Services (South-East)
  Sir Michael Neubert
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to meet the chairman of British Rail to discuss rail services in the south-east.

  Mr. Freeman
  My right hon. and learned Friend and I frequently discuss NSE services with the chairman of British Rail.

  London Regional Transport
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will increase the funding for London Regional Transport for 1991–92.

  Mr. Freeman
  The Government are reviewing the level of funding required by London Transport in 1991–92. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.

  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers travelled on London Transport on average(a) in 1990, (b) five years ago and(c) 15 years ago; and if he will make a statement.

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

  Passenger journeys on London Transport

  million

  Year

  Underground

  Buses1

  Docklands Light Railway

  1975

  601

  1,455

  Nil

  1985

  740

  1,154

  Nil

  1990

  775

  1,220

  8·2

  1Including tendered services.

  London Underground (Crime)
  Mr. Carrington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the latest figures for violent crimes on the London Underground.

  Mr. Freeman
  I was pleased to announce on 20 March that violent crime on London Underground has been reduced for the third successive year. In 1990, there were 1,341 violent crimes recorded on the underground—a reduction of 23 per cent. on the previous year—while passengers made some 800 million journeys.

  A2 Roadworks
  Mr. Jacques Arnold
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the interruption of traffic during the roadworks on the A2 from the M2 to London, since 1990.

  Mr. Chope
  The roadworks concerned are part of a phased programme of contracts to carry out essential major maintenance and provide hard shoulders along the whole of the A2 trunk road in north-west Kent between the London boundary and the M2 Motorway.
  350
  I regret that works of this magnitude on such a heavily trafficked road inevitably cause some degree of disturbance. But my Department will continue to take all practicable measures to keep inconvenience and delay to a minimum, compatible with the safety both of the public and the road operatives.

  Channel Tunnel
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has received from British Rail any proposals on the location of the recent London terminus for the channel tunnel, in the light of the Government's declared commitment to the Chelsea-Hackney crossrail.

  Mr. Freeman
  British Rail's study of alternative routes for a high-speed rail link to the channel tunnel includes the siting of a second London terminal. We expect to receive the board's proposals soon.

  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to meet the chairman of British Rail to discuss a channel tunnel freight terminal in Greater Manchester.

  Mr. Freeman
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer 1 gave him on 11 March.

  East Coast Motorway
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to consider the possible environmental consequences of the construction of the proposed east coast motorway.

  Mr. Chope
  Proposals for an east coast motorway were the subject of a feasibility study commissioned by a consortium of local authorities and private sector organisations. This Department was not involved.

  Airlines
  28 Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the Government's policy towards maintaining a multi-airline industry in the United Kingdom.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  The Government's policy is to promote free and fair competition in aviation, so that there remains a healthy, competitive airline industry in the United Kingdom which meets the needs of users. The market is diverse enough to sustain a variety of United Kingdom-based carriers as well as their foreign competitors.

  Drink Driving
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many awards have been won by the advertising campaign to reduce drink driving.

  Mr. Chope
  The Christmas 1990 campaign won two major awards last week in the British television advertising awards 1991. Twelve other major awards have been won by the "Drinking and Driving Wrecks Lives" campaign since 1987.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how long it usually takes for information to he made publicly available as to whether a driver had been drinking alcohol before driving and being killed.
  351
  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I have been asked to reply.

  It is possible for information about whether a driver killed in a road accident had consumed alcohol to become publicly available in a variety of circumstances, for example, during criminal proceedings against someone else involved in the same accident. But such information is most likely to emerge from any publicity given to a coroners' inquest into the death of the driver if the coroner, who is an independent judicial officer, admits evidence of this nature at the hearing. The date of any inquest is a matter for the coroner to decide and the length of time between the death and the inquest will vary according to the circumstances of each individual case.

  A66
  Mr. Jopling
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give a time scale for all the improvements to the A66 Scotch Corner-Penrith road which he had in mind.

  Mr. Chope
  There are three schemes in the road programme for the A66 between Scotch Corner and Penrith with a current timetable as follows:

  Bowes to County Boundary

  Under construction

  Expected completion—Autumn 1992

  Stainsmore to Banksgate

  Order Publication—Summer 1991

  Start of Works—Spring 1993

  Stainburn to Great Clifton

  Improvements to A13 trunk road

  Nature of improvement

  A13/Butcher Row

  Junction improvement

  —

  A13/West India Dock Road (Interim)

  Junction improvement

  —

  A13/West India Dock Road (Final)

  Junction improvement

  Side Roads/CPO

  A13/Blackwall Tunnel Cotton Street

  Junction improvement

  CPO

  A13/Leamouth Road

  Junction improvement/Widening

  —

  A13/Ironbridge/Canning Town Flyover

  Widening/New Junction

  Line/Side Roads Orders/CPO

  A13/A112 Prince Regent Lane

  Junction improvement

  Line/Side Roads Orders/CPO Exchange Land Certificate

  A13//A117 Woolwich Manor Way

  Junction improvement

  Line/Side Roads Orders/CPO Exchange Land Certificate

  A13/Movers Lane

  Junction improvement

  Line/Side Roads Orders/CPO

  A13/West of Heathrow to Mar Dyke

  New Trunk Road

  Line/Side Roads Orders/CPO/ Detrunking

  Ms. Gordon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will tabulate in the official Report all road works under way and which will be undertaken on the A13 Commercial road and East India Dock road between Aldgate and Canning Town until the end of 1991; and what are the estimated consequential minimum flows of traffic in each direction in passenger car units per hour for each phase of the works.

  Mr. Chope
  The A13 Commercial road from Aldgate to Butcher Row is the responsibility of the London borough of Tower Hamlets. The Department has two schemes under way this year on the A13 between Butcher Row and Canning Town. One is at the junction with West India Dock road where there are five remaining works phases. A minimum of one lane in each direction will be kept open, widening to two lanes at the approaches to the traffic signals. The second is at Leamount road which has two remaining works phases with a minimum of two lanes in each direction. The capacity of a lane under these
  352

  order Publication—Summer 1992

  Start of works—Summer 1994

  Environmental Assessment Studies
  Ms. Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are to update the manual of environmental appraisal to include the issues raised by the European Community's directive on environmental assessment; and if he intends to consult outside organisations on this matter.

  Mr. Chope
  It is a measure of the comprehensiveness of the manual of environmental appraisal that no changes were necessary to implement in full the European Council directive on environmental assessment (85/337/EEC).

  A13
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are for changes to the Al3 highway; and whether there will be an opportunity for the public to object and a public inquiry held into any of its stages.

  Mr. Chope
  A number of improvements are under way or planned for the Al3 trunk road. These are listed in the table. Where there is a need for orders under the Highways Act or legislation relating to compulsory purchase the public will have the opportunity to object after draft orders are published. Depending on the status, number and content of those objections the Secretary of State will decide whether to hold a public inquiry.

  circumstances is about 1,500 passenger car units per hour, although these figures are likely to be constrained by the junctions. There will be three areas of resurfacing with renewal of footways and other essential maintenance works including work by statutory undertakers which may affect traffic flows from time to time.

  Tolls
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all tolls charged on roads within the responsibility of his Department, and the recipients of the income.

  Mr. Chope
  The only tolled facility for which the Department is entirely responsible is the Severn bridge on the M4. Tolls are 1 for cars and £2 for HGVs. The income accrues to the Exchequer.
  353
  There are other tolled crossings, for which the Department is not responsible, which link trunk roads or motorways. They are:

  Tolls

  Location

  Car

  HGV

  Recipient of toll income

  Dartford Tunnels (A282/M25)

  80p

  £2·10

  Dartford River Crossing Ltd.

  Humber Bridge (A 15)

  £1·60

  £6·50—£10·90

  Humber Bridge Board

  Tyne Tunnel (Al)

  50p

  £1·00

  Tyne and Wear PTA

  Tamar Bridge (A38)

  40p

  £1·35—£1·80

  Tamar Bridge and Torpoint

  Ferry Joint Committee

  Selby Bridge (A19—A63)

  7p

  16p

  Company of Proprietors of Selby Bridge

  Dunham Bridge (A57)

  15p

  lOp per axle

  Dunham Bridge Company

  1per tonne (gross weight)

  Jubilee Line
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total level of grant from his Department to London Transport for the Jubilee line extension; if he will list its distribution by year; and for each year what percentage it is of the total London Transport grant allocation.

  Mr. Freeman
  In Common with other public expenditure, the grant to be paid to LT is determined only for a three-year forward period. Figures have therefore only been settled for the years up to 1993–94. These are as follows:

  1990–91

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  £ million

  40

  121

  251

  376

  Percentage of total grant to LT

  7

  18

  33

  36

  Trunk Roads
  Ms. Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whom he intends to consult on the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment report before formulating policies to implement any recommendations.

  Mr. Chope
  The Department will consult interested parties before implementing major changes to the values or underlying principle of the inputs to trunk road scheme appraisal. SACTRA itself has already consulted widely in preparing its report on environmental assessment.

  Ms. Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment to report on its review of environmental evaluation; and if he will give the working title and the anticipated title of the report.

  Mr. Chope
  The report from SACTRA is now not expected until late summer. The title of the report has not been decided.

  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he is taking in respect of the report of the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment on the prospect of nature conservation in the appraisal of trunk roads.

  Mr. Chope
  The report from SACTRA has not yet been received and is now not expected until late summer.

  M66
  Sir Thomas Arnold
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether there will be a further public inquiry into the M66 line order at the M66/A664 interchange; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  Yes. While the route of the motorway is fixed a new connecting roads order for the M66/A664 junction was published last January. The inquiry will provide an opportunity for interested persons to comment on or object to those proposals.

  Drivers (Qualifying Age)
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to change the qualifying age to enable people to drive a motor vehicle in the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Chope
  No.

  St John Ambulance Brigade
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what facilities he has made available to staff in his Department to contribute to the appeal that has been launched for people with the name of John to help raise £5 million for the St. John Ambulance Brigade.

  Mr. Chope
  My Department is in contact with the St.John Ambulance Brigade and will be giving publicity to the "Over to you, John" appeal through its in-house journal.

  Disabled People
  Mr. Hannam
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what reports he has received recently from the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee; and what response he has made to them.

  Mr. Freeman
  I have received two reports this year. "Information and Mobility" presents the findings of a public hearing held by the committee in March 1990 on the importance of information and communications in enabling disabled people to travel. The second report, "Mobility for Britain's Entire Population", develops the committee's views on future policy direction towards achieving a public transport system which is fully accessible to disabled people.

  These latest reports, together with earlier reports from the committee, are being studied and will contribute significantly to my Department's thinking in this area.

  Highway Code
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he plans to introduce to inform drivers of the contents of the Highway Code.

  Mr. Chope
  It is the responsibility of all road users to be aware of the contents of the Highway Code. The code is already widely available through HMSO, booksellers and an increasing number of other retail outlets. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency also supplies copies on request to applicants for provisional driving licences. My Department takes every opportunity to promote increased public awareness of the safety measures in the code.

  Severn Bridge
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on the basis of the toll assumptions in the table in clause 9 of the Severn Bridges Bill, when payment for the present Severn bridge will be completed and what will be the assumed gross income in the final year; and on the basis of the same table, what is the assumed income of the present bridge in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995.

  Mr. Chope
  I very much regret that due to an administrative error there was a delay in responding to the right hon. Member's earlier questions on this subject. I can now refer him to the answer I gave him on 18 April, columns 214–15.

  Learner Drivers
  Mr. Burt
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what steps he is taking to raise the level of public awareness of the changes to the law resulting from regulations coming into force on 1 October 1990 concerning the supervision of learner drivers;

  (2) what steps he is taking to monitor public awareness of the changes to the law resulting from regulations coming into force on 1 October 1990 concerning the supervision of learner drivers.

  Mr. Chope
  [holding answer 16 April 1991]: The regulations were drawn up after extensive consultation, and three separate press notices were issued to publicise their introduction, which were widely reported.

  In addition, details of the new qualifying conditions for supervising drivers are set out in a leaflet which is issued with all new provisional driving licences. The leaflet stresses that it is the responsibility of the learner driver to ensure that the supervising driver is appropriately qualified and points out that it is an offence for both parties if those conditions are not met.

  The new requirement is also set out on the provisional licence itself, and described in the guide for learner drivers, "Your Driving Test", published by the Driving Standards Agency.

  M20
  Mr. Speed
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he now has an opening date for the M20 motorway Ashford to Hollingbourne section.

  Mr. Chope
  [holding answer 19 April 1991]: The M20 motorway between Maidstone and Ashford is being built
  356
  under two contracts. The first is due for completion this month, but cannot be opened until the second contract is ready. The second contract is due for completion in July, but work is ahead of programme and I now hope that it will be possible for the road to be opened before July.

  I shall inform my hon. Friend as soon as an opening date is fixed.

ENVIRONMENT

  Lambeth Council
  Mr. Fraser
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what are the current debts for rent and rates owed to Lambeth council which have not been written off;

  (2) what part of the budget of Lambeth council of £315·5 million for 1991–92 represents payment of interest on moneys borrowed against (a) rent arrears and (b) rate and poll tax arrears;

  (3) how much money is currently borrowed by Lambeth council against (a) rent arrears and (b) rate and poll tax arrears and exclusive of the additional sums which he has permitted Lambeth to borrow.

  Mr. Key
  On the latest information provided to my Department by the council, Lambeth is owed £28·9 million in respect of rents, £28·0 million in respect of domestic rates and £13·7 million in respect of business rates.

  It is not possible to provide the further information requested by the hon. Member since local authority debt is managed corporately and loans are not raised against particular assets.

  Emissions
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to press for existing EC directives on sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide to be revised to reflect World Health Organisation guidelines.

  Mr. Baldry
  The preambles to the present directives make it clear that the limit values for which they provide are based on work by the World Health Organisation.

  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many nitrogen oxide monitoring stations there are in the United Kingdom; what is the average number of such stations amongst the EC nations; and how many such stations there are in(a) Holland and (b) Japan.

  Mr. Baldry
  My Department funds 12 nitrogen oxide samplers in the United Kingdom, seven of which are for the purposes of the European directive on nitrogen dioxide. The number of directive sites in other EC countries is as follows

  Number

  Belgium

  21

  Germany

  200

  Denmark

  11

  Spain

  15

  France

  85

  Greece

  33

  Ireland

  6

  Italy

  34

  Luxemburg

  4

  357

  Number

  Netherlands

  53

  Portugal

  17

  I understand that in 1989 there were 1,337 nitrogen oxide monitoring sites in Japan.

  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the sites used for the monitoring of sulphur dioxide(a) in 1982 and (b) in 1991.

  Mr. Baldry
  I am arranging for a list of these sites to be placed in the Library.

  Estate Action Schemes
  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment h ow much money has been spent each year since 1987 under the estate action scheme in(a) Stockton, (b) Middlesbrough and (c) Hartlepool; and how many dwellings have been improved or created.

  Mr. Yeo
  The table shows the amounts approved by the Department under the estate action scheme in each financial year since 1986–87 in respect of Stockton, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool.

  Stockton £

  Middlesbrough £

  Hartlepool £

  1986–87

  341,243

  424,500

  562,271

  1987–88

  186,895

  181,118

  842,240

  1988–89

  472,000

  810,117

  1,546,107

  1989–90

  1,593,549

  272,026

  2,069,192

  1990–91

  764,019

  221,189

  1,059,150

  Total

  3,357,706

  1,908,950

  6,078,960

  As a result of these approvals a total of 2,212 dwellings have been improved in the three local authority areas concerned.

  The figures in the table represent a high proportion of the total expenditure on estate action schemes. They were supplemented by resources from the authorities' mainstream housing investment programme. It will take a little time to establish the total expenditure on these schemes and I will write to my hon. Friend when I have full details.

  Smoke Control Areas
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many successful prosecutions there have been of suppliers of unauthorised petroleum coke in smoke control areas throughout the United Kingdom in each year since 1987; and if he will identify the local authority area and the name of the supplier.

  Mr. Baldry
  This information is not available to my Department.

  Advice Services
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether standard spending assessments take account of the provision of advice services and section 38 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

  Mr. Portillo
  Provision for these services up to a standard level is covered by the all other services element of standard spending assessments.

  Trade in Wildlife
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures are currently being examined in order to impose and extend the controls on the import of species which are unlikely to survive in captivity.

  Mr. Baldry
  Discussions are taking place in the European Community on a proposed regulation to improve and extend the controls on trade in wildlife. This includes provisions that would enable restrictions to be imposed on the import of species which are unlikely to survive shipment or captivity. A draft of the regulation is expected to be published for consultation early in the summer.

  Travelling Fairs
  Mr. Atkinson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make a statement on the outcome of his consultations with local authorities on travelling fairs;

  (2) what recent representations he has received from the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain on problems associated with travelling fair grounds; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Yeo
  I have received no representations from the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain about the problems associated with travelling fair grounds, nor have I consulted local authorities about travelling fairs. However, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Waterside on 20 December, column 273, about sites from which travelling showpeople base their activities. My officials have prepared some draft planning policy guidance about these sites, and invited comments from the Showmen's Guild. When we have these comments we intend to issue a revised draft for public consultation, involving the local authority associations.

  Poll Tax
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will examine all outstanding poll tax cases currently the subject of prosecution before the courts with respect to reviewing continuation of the prosecutions.

  Mr. Key
  No. Community charge payers are under an obligation to pay their charge and local authorities must make all reasonable efforts to recover the charge from those who have not paid.

  Parks Conference
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contribution he is making to the fourth international parks conference in Caracas in 1992.

  Mr. Baldry
  The Government's statutory advisor, the Countryside Commission for England, intends to submit a number of papers to the organisers, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, for possible inclusion in the programme of the fourth world congress on national parks and protected areas. It is for the IUCN to determine the final programme.

  Kuwait (Pollution)
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the results to be available of the UNEP environmental assessment in relation to the effect of hydrocarbons in the food chain and elsewhere in Kuwait; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Baldry
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 17 April,Official Report, c. 183. UNEP estimates that the completion date for its survey and assessment work is on environmental damage generally likely to be 15 July 1991.

  UN Conference on the Environment and Development
  Mr. Harry Barnes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for consultations in the preparatory process to the United Nations conference on the environment and development which is due to be held in Brazil in 1992.

  Mr. Baldry
  [holding answer 13 April 1991]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside on 10 December to the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce), c. 266.

  Water Supplies
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to require the water companies to enable customers who wish to do so to spread their payments over monthly periods of at least 10 months.

  Mr. Baldry
  [holding answer 19 April 1991]: No. Companies are already required by condition G of their individual instruments of appointment to submit to the Director General of Water Services for approval a copy of a code of practice for customers, describing arrangements for the payment of bills by domestic customers including information about payment by instalments and budget plans.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Milk
  Miss Emma Nicholson
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to seek a reduction in, or removal of, the EC co-responsibility levy on milk.

  Mr. Curry
  The Government have always opposed the co-responsibility levy and will continue to press for its abolition provided that the cost is offset by price cuts on a sufficient scale.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether there is a minimum retail price per pint for the sale of liquid milk to the consumer.

  Mr. Gummer
  No. Statutory controls over the retail price of milk ceased with effect from 1 January 1985.

  Whaling
  Sir John Farr
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take steps to promote within the European Economic Community a total ban on commercial and scientific whaling.
  360
  Mr. Curry
  The European Community has not assumed responsibility for policy on whaling, but no whaling. whether commercial or scientific, is believed to take place in Community waters. Further, the Community prohibits trade in whale products through its implementation of the convention on international trade in endangered species. We will continue to press within the International Whaling Commission for the conservation of whales and for scientific research to be carried out by non-lethal methods wherever possible.

  Honey
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a study of the problem of residues, brought about by the use of acaracides in the treatment of honey bees, in imported and home-produced honey, and the related effect of herbicides.

  Mr. Maclean
  Supplies of imported and home-produced honey are sampled for analysis for the presence of the antimicrobial compound fumagillin and for various pesticides. We have no plans at present to extend this testing to include acaracides and herbicides but will keep the situation under review.

  Farm Waste
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he hopes to introduce regulations to control the disposal of farm wastes, to replace the code of good agricultural practice.

  Mr. Curry
  We have no plans to do so. The unconsented pollution of controlled waters, whether from farm wastes or any other cause, is already an offence under section 107 of the Water Act 1989. The Government recently increased from £2,000 to £20,000 the maximum fine applicable in magistrates courts for such offences. The forthcoming new code of good agricultural practice for the protection of water will give detailed practical advice to farmers on how to avoid pollution. Failure to comply with it could be taken into account in any legal proceedings for a pollution offence.

  Water Pollution
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the long-term damage to wildlife of lochs, streams, and rivers caused by chronic pollution from agricultural runoff, after slurry has been spread on fields.

  Mr. Curry
  Land run-off accounts for approximately 10 per cent. of serious pollution incidents caused by agriculture, and about 2 per cent. of serious incidents from all causes. The Department is helping to support a research project designed to provide detailed information on the effect of land use on river quality and fish populations in the River Torridge catchment. We share the concern to reduce farm pollution of watercourses and the Government have introduced a wide range of measures designed to help achieve this.

  Organophosphorous Sheep Dip
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many sheep carcases were tested in the past five years for organophosphates residues, expressed as a percentage of all sheep slaughtered.
  361
  Mr. Curry
  In the five years 1986–90, 889 sheep carcases were tested for organophosphate residues which represents a little over 0·001 per cent. of the number slaughtered but about 1 per cent. of the number of sheep flocks in the United Kingdom. No levels hazardous to human health have been found, but should that situation change a more intensive sampling regime would be introduced.

  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what investigations he is conducting into possible contamination by organophosphates of water supplies, sheepmeat and farm and market workers.

  Mr. Maclean
  Organophosphorus pesticides generally decompose rapidly within the environment and are not normally expected to reach water. All water companies have been asked to consult ADAS about the use of all pesticides within their water supply areas. Companies have drawn up lists for monitoring purposes of those pesticides which are likely to reach water supplies. In some areas this list includes organophosphorus pesticides. The results of monitoring have not indicated problems with these pesticides.

  Monitoring for organophosphorus residues in United Kingdom-produced sheepmeat is carried out under the national surveillance scheme. The results for 1989 are included in the recently published annual report of the veterinary medicines directorate. No residues were found above the advisory maximum limit.

  The Health and Safety Executive has commissioned a three-year research project into the frequency and severity of acute pesticide poisoning incidents, including organophosphorus and whether they can result in long-term health effects. The executive also surveyed 25 sheep dipping sites during 1990 to ascertain the health effects of exposure to sheep dips and in particular to those containing organophosphorus.

  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is planning to introduce new regulations or recommendations on the use and disposal of sheep dip.

  Mr. Maclean
  It is already an offence under the Water Act 1989 to pollute a watercourse. In 1988 and 1989 four farmers were prosecuted for sheep dip pollution incidents. No further regulations are planned.

  Under the Medicines Act 1968, sheep dip products must be licensed before they can be marketed. Existing licensed sheep dip products are currently subject to review by scientists in the veterinary medicines directorate to ensure that the most up-to-date safety standards apply. The review must be completed this year under EC rules. Any sheep dip products which fail to meet these standards will have their licences revoked.

  New guidance notes on disposal are currently being prepared by the VMD and will be available in July. A code of good agricultural practice for the protection of water is also being prepared by the Ministry, which will include advice about use and disposal of sheep dip. This will also be published in July.

  Animals (Live Exports)
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what further steps are being taken to improve the conditions of animals who are sent to the continent as live exports; and if he will make a statement.
  362
  Mr. Maclean
  Discussions are continuing on Commission proposals for a new Community regulation on protection of animals during transport. The Government are pressing for the adoption of high welfare standards for all transport of animals in the Community.

  Fishing
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fishing vessels in each port in England have been put up for sale since the introduction of the EC fishing regulations that came into force this year.

  Mr. Curry
  I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on 23 January at column 245

  Fisheries Council
  Mr. Harris
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Fisheries Council held in Luxembourg on 18 April.

  Mr. Curry
  I attended the EC Council of Fisheries Ministers in Luxembourg on 18 April 1991 with Lord Strathclyde, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Scottish Office.

  The Council had an exchange of views on the Commission's communication about the common fisheries policy. There was general recognition that fishing effort against many stocks needs to be reduced. I made it clear that the basic framework of the common fisheries policy is sound, but some improvements are needed. In particular total allowable catches and quotas, together with the principle of relative stability, are a central element, but need better support from improved technical conservation measures and enforcement. The Commission will now prepare by the end of this year the report provided for in the basic CFP regulation 170/83.

  The Council had a further discussion of the Commission's proposals for technical conservation measures. The Council will return to this issue at its next meeting in July.

  Biodiversity Convention
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his policy on the Biodiversity convention being prepared for the United Nations conference on Environment and Development being held in Rio De Janeiro in June 1992.

  Mr. Baldry
  I have been asked to reply.

  I refer the hon. Member to paragraph 4.26 of the Environment White Paper, "This Common Inheritance", (Cmnd. 1200), confirming the Government's support for international efforts led by the United Nations Environment Programme to agree a global convention for the conservation of biological diversity. It is intended that the convention should be ready for signing during the 1992 conference.

  flooding
  Mr. David Porter
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what local authority representations he has had in the last two years about the way his Department funds and administers sea defence, coast protection and river flooding schemes; what changes he has made to his policy in the past two years; and if he will now reconsider his current policy.
  363
  Mr. Curry
  During the past two years, we have received 40 representations from local authorities about the funding and administration of sea defence, coast protection and river flooding schemes. These were primarily about the availability of capital allocation or supplementary credit approvals for schemes; changes to the method of calculating the grant rate for coast protection work which was made necessary because of the changes to the system of financing of local authorities; general questions about the approval and progress of schemes; and about the level and availability of grant. There have been no changes in the policy over the last two years with regard to either the funding or administration of such schemes and we have no plans to make changes in the foreseeable future. We have continued to increase the grant available for flood and coastal defence work, and over the period from 1989–90 to 1993–94 provision will have increased by nearly 80 per cent. from £35·9 million to £63·4 million.

  Mr. David Porter
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now bring forward proposals to enable one authority to be responsible for sea defence and coast protection and river flooding prevention to replace the existing multi-authority system; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Curry
  The present arrangements, which take full advantage of local knowledge, are well understood by the authorities concerned. The arrangements have worked well over time and I see no reason to change them.

  Artificial Reef
  Mr. David Porter
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evaluation his Department has made of the National Rivers Authority scheme to build an artificial reef off the shore off the north Norfolk coast; and what lessons he expects from the scheme proposals to be applicable to the remaining Norfolk and whole of Suffolk coastlines.

  Mr. Curry
  The National Rivers Authority's proposals to build an offshore reef to protect the Happisburgh to Winterton frontage of the north Norfolk coast are expected to be submitted to our engineers early in May. The Department has been kept fully informed of developments on the scheme as the NRA's consultants have progressed the design of the scheme, in the light of the knowledge generated by the east coast management study. Our normal technical appraisal of the proposals for grant purposes can be carried out only once the scheme has been received, so it is too early to reach any firm conclusions about the proposals, or to make an assessment of whether it would be possible to apply a similar approach to the remaining Norfolk and Suffolk coastline.

EMPLOYMENT

  Ex-offenders (Training)
  Sir John Wheeler
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he is reconsidering the methods of funding to voluntary organisations to ensure the provision of sufficient special needs training for ex-offenders; and whether he intends to make more funds available for such training.
  364
  Mr. Jackson
  I will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

  Clerical Work, London
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has of the change in employment opportunities in the central London clerical field(a) over the past two years and (b) over the next two years.

  Mr. Jackson
  In January 1991, at jobcentres in inner London, there were 668 unfilled job vacancies in the clerical and machine operators occupational class. This compares with 2,943 in January 1989. The Department does not forecast vacancy figures.

  Long-term Unemployment
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many long-term unemployed are registered in the Peterlee and Seaham areas; and what the numbers were year by year since 1987.

  Mr. Jackson
  The information is available in the Library, and is shown in the table which gives the number of claimants in the Peterlee and Seaham jobcentres areas who were unemployed for at least a year as at January 1987 and each subsequent January.

  Date

  Total

  Peterlee jobcentre area

  January 1987

  1,454

  January 1988

  1,326

  January 1989

  892

  January 1990

  446

  January 1991

  331

  Seaham jobcentre area

  January 1987

  1,000

  January 1988

  907

  January 1989

  758

  January 1990

  412

  January 1991

  331

  Employment Training
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many trainees in employment training are(a) under 25 years and (b) in each five year age range between 26 and 65 years.

  Mr. Jackson
  Thirty-five per cent. of trainees in employment-training were under 25 years of age at 31 October 1990, the latest date for which data are available. The other information is not available in the form required, except at disproportionate cost.

  Unemployed Claimants, London
  Mr. Leighton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of unemployed claimants in(a) London Docklands, (b) the London borough of Newham, (c) the London borough of Southwark and (d) the London borough of Tower Hamlets in each year since 1981, as a percentage of unemployed claimants in Greater London.

  Mr. Jackson
  The information, available from June 1983, can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the House of Commons Library.

  Training Schemes
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will ensure that persons on Government training schemes will continue to enjoy the conditions applicable at the time of their embarking on the courses; and if he will take steps to restore the travel allowance to Mrs. P. Horsley of 9 Byron avenue, Southend on Sea, Essex for the final four weeks of her course at the Manor college, South Benfleet.

  Mr. Jackson
  The Essex training and enterprise council is responsible for Mrs. Horsley's training. Essex TEC is contractually obliged to ensure that employment training and youth training trainees already in training in its area immediately prior to the start of the financial year 1991–92 should remain in training, be offered an individual training plan identical, or closely similar to that formerly being pursued, and should be offered terms and conditions of training, remuneration and assistance towards support costs at least as good, item by item, as those previously available to those trainees. My officials are looking into Mrs. Horsley's situation in these terms, and I will write to my hon. Friend shortly when I have their findings.

  Youth Employment
  Mr. Ronnie Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people under 18 years there are in the borough of Blyth valley who are not employed and have not had a youth training opportunity offered to them.

  Mr. Jackson
  Blyth Valley is part of the area covered by the North Tyne training and enterprise council. The TEC has a clear contractual duty to ensure that every young person under 18 not in school or a job who is seeking YT entry should have the offer, and if necessary re-offers, of a suitable training place. No particular problems have been reported concerning the YT guarantee for young people in Blyth Valley. The TEC and the Employment Department are jointly committed to maintain the guarantee.

  St. John Ambulance Brigade
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what facilities he is making available to staff in his Department to contribute to the appeal that has been launched for people with the name of John to help raise £5 million for the St. John Ambulance Brigade.

  Mr. Jackson
  The Department encourages all staff to contribute to a whole range of charities by means of payroll giving.

  Regular reminders are issued to staff about this facility, but, in view of the large number of competing charities, it would be invidious to single out any particular case.

  Open College
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what the Government have allocated to the Open college for each year since its establishment in(a) cash terms and (b) real terms, indexed so its first year equals 100; and what was spent in start-up costs for the Open college.

  Mr. Jackson
  The Government have provided pump priming funding to the Open college since its launch in 366
  September 1987 with the aim of improving the skills of the work force by making open learning opportunities more widely available. To date the college has received £26.9 million. No separate funding has been supplied to the college in respect of start up costs.

  The allocations made to the college each year are as follows:

  Cash terms £ million

  Real terms1 £ million

  Index

  1986–87

  2·0

  2·0

  100

  1987–88

  10·0

  9·5

  474

  1988–89

  5·7

  5·0

  252

  1989–90

  3·8

  3·1

  156

  1990–91

  5·4

  4·2

  209

  11986–87 prices.

  Wages Councils
  Mr. Nellist
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will update his answers to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East,Official Report, 14 March 1990, columns 252–56 and 2 April 1990, columns 460–62, concerning wages councils.

  Mr. Jackson
  As the information requested is contained in a large number of tables, I will write to the hon. Member enclosing the information and place a copy of my reply in the Libraries.

  Young Workers
  Mr. Denzil Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of the total annual wage bill for the latest available year in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) France and (c) Germany is accounted for by the local annual wage bill of those under the age of 18.

  Mr. Jackson
  The information requested is not available.

  Motor Components
  Mr. Denzil Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons are employed in the motor components industry in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) France and (c) Germany.

  Mr. Jackson
  Information on the motor components industry for France and Germany is not readily available.

  Information at United Kingdom level is available only from the census of employment. At September 1989, the latest available date, there were 100,000 employees in the motor vehicle parts industry—activity heading 3530 of the standard industrial classification 1980. This covers the manufacture of motor vehicle parts made wholly or mainly of metal. Those engaged in the manufacture of other types of motor vehicle parts are classified elsewhere and are not separately available.

  Wages
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many male and female workers earn non-adult rates in the Northern region and in each of the counties in the region.
  367
  Mr. Jackson
  The information available from the New Earnings Survey is provided in the following table:

  Numbers of employees in the NES sample, April 1990

  Total

  Of which: on non-adult rate

  Number

  Percentage of total

  Northern region

  Male

  4,962

  169

  3·4

  Female

  4,194

  85

  2·0

  Tyne and Wear

  Male

  1,870

  63

  3·4

  Female

  1,687

  23

  1·4

  Cleveland

  Male

  867

  34

  3·9

  Female

  704

  20

  2·8

  Cumbria

  Male

  939

  39

  4·2

  Female

  700

  23

  3·3

  Durham

  Male

  888

  23

  2·6

  Female

  733

  12

  1·6

  Northumberland

  Male

  398

  10

  2·5

  Female

  370

  7

  1·9

  Note: Since the NES sample is mostly drawn from PAYE records, many of those with earnings below the income tax threshold are not covered. This may be expected to affect employees on non-adult rates more than other employees, and so the proportions in the sample who are in this category may not accurately reflect the proportions in the working population as a whole.

  Labour Statistics
  Sir Ian Gilmour
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his latest estimate of the number and proportion of families with four or more children where neither parent is in full-time paid work.

  Mr. Jackson
  It is not possible to distinguish between full-time and part-time paid work for the spouse of the head of the family unit. The answer relates to single and two-parent families with four or more children where neither parent has paid employment. Preliminary estimates from the GB Labour Force Survey for spring 1990 indicate that there were 76,000 such families, representing 28 per cent. of the total number of families with four or more dependent children.

  Quarries
  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many companies have been charged for failing to keep quarries safe in(a) Scotland and (b) England and Wales, in each year since 1985.

  Mr. Jackson
  Since 1985 in Scotland there has been one prosecution of a quarry company and two prosecutions of quarry owners, all in 1989. Since 1985 in England and Wales, one company was prosecuted in 1988; four in 1989 and one in 1990; two owners were prosecuted in 1989; and one manager in 1988.

  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many quarries in Scotland were visited and inspected by Health and Safety Executive officials in each year since 1985.

  Mr. Jackson
  The information in the form requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, in 1989-90, Health and Safety Executive quarry inspectors made 870 inspection visits to quarrying activities in Scotland.

  Wheal Jane Mine, Cornwall
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what development of tourism grants have been(a) applied for by and (b) granted to the Wheal Jane mine, Cornwall; and what was the amount of each application and grant.
  368
  Mr. Jackson
  No applications for grant assistance have been received by the English tourist board, nor have any offers of assistance been made, in respect of the Wheal Jane mine.

  Bishopton ROF
  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment on how many occasions British Aerospace have been prosecuted for safety offences at the former royal ordnance factory, Bishopton, Renfrewshire; and what was the result of each case.

  Mr. Jackson
  Royal Ordnance plc, Bishopton, a subsidiary of British Aerospace, has been prosecuted once for a breach of health and safety legislation since taking over the Royal Ordnance factory at Bishopton in 1985. The company pleaded guilty and was fined £1,600.

  Quarries
  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average time spent each year on quarry inspections by the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland; and what is the average time taken for each quarry inspection.

  Mr. Jackson
  Information is not available on the time spent each year on quarry inspections by the Health and Safety Executive before 1 April 1989.

  However, between 1 April 1989 and 31 March 1990 HSE spent 2,543 hours inspecting all quarrying activities in Scotland. The average time taken for each quarry inspection in Scotland in 1989–90 was three hours.

  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many officials are employed by the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland to visit and inspect quarries.

  Mr. Jackson
  On 1 April 1991 HSE employed one full-time quarries inspector in Scotland. However, other HSE staff, including factory and specialist inspectors and staff from the employment medical advisory service, may visit quarries to carry out investigations or surveys or for other reasons, as part of the planned programme of workplace visits of HSE's field operations division.
  369
  In addition, a senior inspector of quarries based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne has responsibilities for quarries in Scotland and will also make visits as necessary.

  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will propose legislation to make it a criminal offence in Scotland to leave detonation cord and detonators on the surface land in and around a quarry 370
  without supervision

  Mr. Jackson
  The Quarries (Explosives) Regulations 1988 already require quarry managers to ensure that explosives and detonators are kept securely. In particular the manager is required to ensure that at all times explosives and detonators are either in a locked explosives

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