Written Answers of 19 February 1991

ENERGY

  Electricity
  Mr. Salmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the amount of electricity generated in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years; what proportion was generated from(a) coal, (b) oil, (c) gas, (d) nuclear and (e) renewable energy sources; and what proportion of the electricity from each of these sources was (1) generated and (2) consumed in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  The amount of electricity generated by the major generating companies in the United Kingdom in each of the past five years was as follows:

  Percentage share by country of fuels used2

  Fuel3

  Coal

  Oil4

  Nuclear

  Renewable energy sources5

  per cent.

  per cent.

  per cent.

  per cent.

  1986

  Scotland

  6

  12

  22

  95

  England and Wales

  94

  65

  78

  5

  Northern Ireland

  0

  22

  0

  0

  1987

  Scotland

  7

  7

  22

  94

  England and Wales

  92

  65

  78

  6

  Northern Ireland

  1

  27

  0

  0

  1988

  Scotland

  6

  20

  23

  95

  England and Wales

  94

  53

  77

  5

  Northern Ireland

  0

  27

  0

  0

  1989

  Scotland

  5

  6

  26

  95

  England and Wales

  94

  71

  74

  5

  Northern Ireland

  1

  23

  0

  0

  The amount of gas used to generate electricity accounted for less than 0·1 per cent. of the total.

  The proportion of United Kingdom electricity sales in Scotland, England Wales, and Northern Ireland was as follows. Data for 1990 are not yet available.

  per cent.2

  Sales of electricity6

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  Scotland

  10

  10

  10

  10

  England

  82

  82

  82

  82

  Wales7

  6

  6

  6

  6

  Northern Ireland

  2

  2

  2

  2

  Sales of electricity cannot be linked to fuels used in generation.
  70

  Electricity generated1

  Year

  GWH

  1986

  282,272

  1987

  282,696

  1988

  288,543

  1989

  292,911

  1990

  2299,712

  2estimate

  The proportion of electricity generated by the major generating companies in the United Kingdom from coal, oil, gas, nuclear and renewable sources was:

  Percentage share of fuel used in electricity generation2

  Fuel3

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  Coal

  72

  76

  72

  69

  70

  Oil4

  9

  7

  8

  8

  10

  Nuclear

  17

  16

  18

  21

  19

  Renewable energy sources5

  2

  2

  2

  2

  2

  The amount of gas used to generate electricity accounted for less than 0·1 per cent. of the total.

  The proportion of electricity generated by the major generating companies in the United Kingdom from each of the previous sources in Scotland, England Wales, and Northern Ireland for 1986 to 1989 was as follows. Data for England and Wales are not available separately and data for 1990 are not yet available.

  (1) Information published in Energy Trends Table 15 and in Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (1990 Table 53). Coverage is for the major generating companies in the United Kingdom formerly comprising the public supply system: National Power, PowerGen, Nuclear Electric, National Grid Company, Scottish Power, Scottish Hydro, Scottish Nuclear, Northern Ireland Electricity Service, Midlands Electricity and South Western Electricity.

  (2) Due to rounding the sum of the constituent percentage may not equal 100.

  (3) Information published in Energy Trends Table 16 and in Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (1990 Table 49). Coverage is for the major generating companies in the United Kingdom formerly comprising the public supply system (see note 1).

  (4) Includes oil used in gas turbines and diesel plant, for lighting up coal fired boilers, and Orimulsion.
  71
  (5) Includes natural flow hydro, wind and refuse-derived fuel.

  (6) Information published in Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (1990 Table 58).

  (7) Relates to sales in Wales by MANWEB and South Wales Electricity.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

  Solicitors
  Mr. O'Hara
  To ask the Attorney-General if he will describe the current arrangements for senior solicitors to become judges in respect of(a) the procedures that are followed when solicitors put themselves forward as potential candidates for judicial office and (b) the measures he is taking to invite solicitors to apply for judicial office; and if he will make a statement on future proposals in this area.

  The Attorney-General
  The Lord Chancellor's general policy is that before being considered for a full-time judicial post a candidate must first have served in a part-time capacity for long enough to establish his or her competence and suitability. Those wishing to become judges usually serve initially as assistant recorders or deputy district judges. All applicants are considered on their merits, having regard to the numbers of appointments required.

  Views are sought from those able to comment on an applicant's practice, professional standing and other qualities. Interviews are also held.

  Applications from suitably qualified solicitors for judicial appointment are welcomed. The Lord Chancellor has taken steps to encourage more solicitors to put themselves forward for consideration. Such measures include continuing discussion with the Law Society, public speeches, meetings with solicitors' groups and the publication and wide distribution of a booklet explaining the judicial appointments system. In 1988 a special pilot scheme was set up, involving senior solicitors on local review committees, with the aim of testing a further method for identifying solicitors for potential appointment: the results of this scheme are currently being evaluated.

  Innocent Dissemination
  Mr. John Garrett
  To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on his consultations on the Faulks committee's proposal that the defence of innocent dissemination should be available to printers.

  The Attorney-General
  In a consultation paper published in July 1990 the Lord Chancellor invited views on whether the defence of innocent dissemination should be made available to printers. The Lord Chancellor is now concluding his consideration of the responses received and hopes to make a statement in the near future.

  Bailiffs
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Attorney-General what representations he has received calling for bailiffs to be certificated; what plans he has to introduce legislation making such a requirement; and if he will make a statement.

  The Attorney-General
  The recently published National Consumer Council report on private bailiffs recommended that the Community Charges (Administration and 72
  Enforcement) Regulations 1989 be amended to require all bailiffs to be certificated. That is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.

  The Government have no plans at present to introduce legislation requiring all bailiffs to be certificated.

  Leybucht Bay
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Attorney-General when he expects the decision to be reached by the European Court of Justice on the Leybucht bay case: European Commission v. the Federal Republic of Germany.

  The Attorney-General
  The Advocate General gave his opinion in ECJ Case C57/89 Commission v. Germany on 5 December 1990, and it is expected that the European Court of Justice will deliver its judgment on 28 February 1991.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Refugees
  Mr. Fraser
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have taken place with other European Community states about a common approach to refugees.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Asylum policy has been discussed in a wide range of meetings at both ministerial and official level between member states of the European Community. The Dublin convention, signed by 11 member states last June, seeks to clarify responsibilities for considering individual asylum cases.

  Racial Equality
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  My right hon. Friend met the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality on Thursday 14 February to discuss current issues affecting community relations.

  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what resources at 1990 prices have been allocated by the Government to the Commission for Racial Equality for each year since its creation.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The information is as follows:

  Actual grant (£)

  At 1989–90 prices (£)

  1977–781>

  3,150,000

  8,172,266

  1978–79

  4,900,000

  11,464,938

  1979–80

  5,900,000

  11,831,234

  1980–81

  7,000,000

  11,862,396

  1981–82

  7,475,000

  11,552,073

  1982–83

  8,287,000

  11,957,462

  1983–84

  8,629,000

  11,900,591

  1984–85

  9,359,000

  12,283,441

  1985–86

  9,447,322

  11,759,029

  1986–87

  10,583,000

  12,737,251

  1987–88

  10,845,000

  12,378,300 "

  1988–89

  11,256,000

  11,973,449

  1989–90

  11,805,000

  11,805,000

  1990–912

  13,512,400

  12,511,481

  73
  1Part.

  2Based on latest GDP deflator available in November 1990.

  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many magistrates there are in Britain; and of these how many are(a) black, (b) Asian and (c) women.

  The Attorney-General
  I have been asked to reply.

  As at 1 January 1991 there were 29,062 lay magistrates in England and Wales. Of these, 12,964 were women. Records are not kept of the racial origins of magistrates. However, surveys in 1987 indicated that 528 were members of an ethnic minority and an informal count since has shown that the number of such appointments has exceeded the proportion in the population age groups from which appointments are normally made.

  Animal Experiments
  Mr. Lawrence
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the numbers of, or trend in, the numbers of animal experiments since the implementation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The number of scientific procedures performed on living animals since the introduction of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 is given in table 23 of "Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain I989"—Cm. 1152—a copy of which is in the Library. The table shows that the use of living animals in scientific procedures has been declining steadily for many years. The 1986 Act has given further impetus to this encouraging trend.

  The Gulf
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many meetings he has had with representatives of the Asian community in Britain to discuss the Gulf war; and if he will list the organisations concerned.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  My right hon. Friend recently attended the annual banquet of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. A visit to the Glasgow central mosque, planned for 18 January, had to be postponed and rearranged for a date in May. However, I met representatives of the United Kingdom action committee on Islamic affairs on 23 January. Such meetings reflect continuing contacts at ministerial and official level.

  North Yorkshire Police
  Mr. Caborn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many additional uniformed police officers, excluding special constables, have been authorised to be added to the strength of the North Yorkshire police in each year from 1975 to 1990.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  It is not possible to distinguish between increases in uniformed and non-uniformed police officers as such information is not held centrally. The establishment of the North Yorkshire police has been increased in the following years between 1975 and 1990:74

  Year

  Police Posts

  1975

  111

  1979

  40

  1989

  15

  1990

  25

  The police authority did not request establishment increases in the years 1980–81 to 1987–88 inclusive.

  Mr. Caborn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were(a) recorded and (b) detected by North Yorkshire police in each year from 1975 to 1990.

  Mr. John Patten
  The requested information for 1975–1989 is published in the annual reports of the chief constable of North Yorkshire for the years 1976, 1978 and 1989. Copies of these publications are available in the Library. Statistics for 1990 are not yet available.

  Electoral Registers
  Mr. Darling
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by parliamentary constituency the number of electors listed in the draft electoral register for 1991–92 and the number listed in the register for 1990–91.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Figures on the number of electors included in draft electoral registers for England and Wales are not held centrally. Figures on the number of local government electors included in the register for 1991–92 will be published by the Office of Population Censuses arid Surveys in the spring; parliamentary constituency electorates will be published in the summer in the OPCS annual reference volume on electoral statistics. Figures relating to the electoral register for 1990–91 were published in the last year's annual reference volume, a copy of which is in the Library.

  Immigration
  Mr. Darling
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the average cost in 1990–91 of processing each application for(a) registration as a British citizen, (b) naturalisation on grounds of marriage and (c) other naturalisation;

  (2) what is the average cost in 1990–91 of processing applications for (a) registration as a British citizen, (b) naturalisation on the grounds of marriage and (c) other naturalisations where the application is withdrawn or abandoned.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The average cost of processing applications in each of these categories during the period April 1990-January 1991 is shown in the table. Average cost of withdrawn applications is not computed separately:

  Category of application

  Average cost of processing

  Successful

  Unsuccessful

  £

  £

  Registration

  79·51

  58·00

  Naturalisation of a person married to a British citizen

  143·95

  135·95

  Naturalisation on grounds of residence in the United Kingdom

  175·50

  140·16

  Iraqi Nationals
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is his estimate of the number, to the latest available date, or Iraqi nationals and other nationals, required to register under the Immigration (Variation of Leave) Order 1991, who, to date, have failed to register; what are the requirements of registration; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) how many Iraqi nationals are currently registered with the police; what fee is charged for registration; and how many such registrations since the coming into force of the Immigration (Variation of Leave) Order 1991 have been made.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  On 21 January 1991, a total of 3,484 Iraqi nationals were registered with the police. Information is not yet available centrally showing the number who have registered since coming into force of the Immigration (Variation of Leave) Order 1991 which required all Iraqi nationals with a limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom to register with the police. The requirements of registration are to supply within seven days of the requirement being imposed certain details to the police, such as name, date of birth, address, together with a recent photograph and to keep the police informed of changes in circumstances. The fee for registration is currently £36.

  Metropolitan Police
  Sir John Wheeler
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what will be the total cost to public funds of the Metropolitan police in 1991–92; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  As police authority for the metropolis, I have approved estimates which provide for net revenue expenditure of £1,415·167 million in 1991–92. There will be a cash limit on current expenditure of £1,370·423 million. Capital expenditure is subject to separate control.

  I have also approved the issue of a precept of £123·74 per head of relevant population for Metropolitan police purposes. This is not the sum levied on individual community charge payers, but will be levied on local authorities' collection funds which include income from revenue support grant and national non-domestic rates as well as the community charge.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

  Sports Facilities
  Mr. Higgins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has on sports facilities provided by local authorities at community charge payers' expense which are not being used because contracts for their operation have not been put out to tender.

  Mr. Atkins
  I am unaware of any cases where local authority sports facilities are not being used because contracts for their management have not been put out to tender. SI 1990 No. 1564 specifies that competition in the management of sports and leisure facilities should be phased in by steps from 1 January 1992 to 1 January 1993.
  76
  Mr. Higgins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether it is his policy that contracts for the operation and maintenance of sports facilities provided by local authorities must be put out to tender if there is no possibility that the revenue from them will cover costs.

  Mr. Atkins
  The Government are introducing compulsory competitive tendering in the management of local authority sports facilities because they believe it will result in better value for money from local authority expenditure.

  Data Protection Act
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has made an estimate of the total cost of registration of all schools under the Data Protection Act; and whether he has any plans to increase grants in order to cover these costs.

  Mr. Fallon
  No information is available on the extent to which schools make use of personal data held on computer which would make registration necessary.

  West Midlands (Minister's Visit)
  Mr. Terry Davis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what official engagements were undertaken by the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Mr. Howarth) during his visit to the west midlands on 30 January.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  As sponsor Minister for the Birmingham city action team and the East Birmingham task force, I visited the Hodge Hill access centre, based at Hodge Hill girls' school in Birmingham, and attended a special meeting of the Birmingham city action team at the Birmingham area office of the Employment services in New street. In the afternoon, I visited Coventry polytechnic, particularly the department of health sciences and the department of mechanical engineering and held meetings with academics and students.

  Teachers (North Yorkshire)
  Mr. Caborn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the full-time equivalent number of teachers employed in North Yorkshire secondary schools in each year from 1974 to 1990, in each of the following subject areas(a) English, (b) mathematics, (c) physics, (d) chemistry, (f) technology, (g) history, (h) geography, (i) economics, (j) French, (k) German, (l) Spanish, (m) Italian, (n) Russian, (o) other modern languages, (p) religious education, (q) art, (r) music and (s) physical education.

  Mr. Fallon
  Information on the deployment of teachers within individual local authorities is not centrally available.

  Mr. Caborn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many(a) heads and deputy heads and (b) other teachers in North Yorkshire infant and primary schools, and North Yorkshire secondary schools, have (i) left the profession, (ii) sought early retirement and (iii) taken early retirement in each year from 1974 to 1990.

  Mr. Fallon
  The table gives information on teachers leaving the profession and those retiring before age 60, for
  77
  the years 1985–86 to 1987–88. Information for earlier years

  Full-time teachers in maintained schools in North Yorkshire

  Number leaving teaching

  Number retiring before 60

  Heads and deputies

  Other teachers

  Heads and deputies

  Other teachers

  Nursery and primary Year to 31 March

  1986

  4

  49

  18

  37

  1987

  8

  52

  22

  31

  1988

  5

  42

  17

  22

  Secondary Year to 31 March

  1986

  0

  108

  7

  72

  1987

  0

  100

  7

  43

  1988

  1

  106

  2

  35

  Note: "Leaving teaching" excludes those who were barred, died or moved into service in special or further education or in independent schools. Some of those leaving may have since returned to teaching.

  Mr. Caborn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the full-time equivalent number of teachers employed in(a) North Yorkshire infant and primary schools, and (b) North Yorkshire secondary schools in each year from 1974 to 1990.

  Mr. Fallon
  The number of full-time equivalent qualified teachers employed within maintained primary and secondary schools in North Yorkshire were as follows:

  January each year

  Primary1 schools

  Secondary2 schools

  1975

  2,661

  2,805

  1976

  2,718

  2,945

  1977

  2,744

  3,059

  1978

  2,727

  3,126

  1979

  2,698

  3,160

  1980

  2,648

  3,219

  1981

  2,529

  3,197

  1982

  2,402

  3,178

  1983

  2,304

  3,205

  1984

  2,282

  3,197

  1985

  2,271

  3,073

  1986

  2,274

  3,017

  1987

  2,322

  2,938

  1988

  2,356

  2,852

  1989

  2,411

  2,814

  1990

  2,450

  2,795

  1 All types of primary school including infant schools.

  2 Includes middle schools deemed secondary.

  Data for 1974 are not readily available.

  ILEA
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of staff numbers in his Department involved in full or part-time work arising from abolition of the Inner London education authority.

  Mr. Fallon
  The DES has an inner London unit with 14 staff. Most of the work of the unit is in connection with schools in the new inner London education authorities. There is however still some residual business arising from the abolition of ILEA.
  78
  is not readily available, and for later years is not yet available. The number of teachers seeking early retirement is not centrally available.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his current estimate of the financial and staff savings arising from the abolition of ILEA; and when the figures were last assessed.

  Mr. Fallon
  There are already encouraging signs that many of the new inner London LEAs are seeking to increase efficiency in their education service; it is too early to assess precise savings.

  Special Schools
  Ms. Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will list, for those local authorities for which numbers are available for the latest date available, how many pupils with statements of special educational needs are recorded as attending maintained special schools under arrangements made by the authority;

  (2) if he will list, for those local authorities for which numbers are available, and for the latest date available, how many pupils with special educational needs are recorded as attending non-maintained special schools and independent schools under arrangements made by the authority.

  Mr. Fallon
  The number of pupils in maintained special schools, non-maintained special schools and the number of pupils with statements of special educational needs in independent schools in each local education authority in England in January 1990 is given in the table.

  Pupils with statements of special educational needs January 1990

  Special schools1

  Independent schools

  Maintained

  Non-maintained

  City

  0

  0

  0

  Camden

  421

  0

  1

  Greenwich

  744

  0

  0

  Hackney

  663

  0

  4

  Hammersmith

  481

  0

  2

  Islington

  336

  0

  0

  Kensington and Chelsea

  98

  0

  1

  Lambeth

  958

  0

  0

  Lewisham

  505

  0

  1

  Southwark

  578

  0

  0

  Tower Hamlets

  484

  0

  0

  79

  Special schools1

  Independent schools

  Maintained

  Non-maintained

  Wandsworth

  740

  0

  3

  Westminster

  219

  0

  21

  Barking

  190

  0

  0

  Barnet

  345

  0

  26

  Bexley

  268

  0

  0

  Brent

  372

  0

  0

  Bromley

  384

  43

  3

  Croydon

  488

  0

  12

  Ealing

  442

  0

  37

  Enfield

  416

  0

  1

  Haringey

  329

  0

  0

  Harrow

  245

  0

  1

  Havering

  268

  0

  0

  Hillingdon

  381

  101

  0

  Hounslow

  495

  0

  0

  Kingston upon Thames

  255

  0

  0

  Merton

  254

  0

  0

  Newham

  479

  0

  0

  Redbridge

  409

  16

  69

  Richmond upon Thames

  177

  0

  0

  Sutton

  299

  0

  67

  Waltham Forest

  755

  0

  0

  Birmingham

  2,864

  56

  12

  Coventry

  860

  0

  1

  Dudley

  546

  0

  0

  Sandwell

  889

  0

  0

  Solihull

  246

  0

  2

  Walsall

  577

  0

  0

  Wolverhampton

  501

  0

  0

  Knowsley

  668

  0

  0

  Liverpool

  1,560

  155

  0

  St. Helens

  479

  0

  99

  Sefton

  452

  178

  122

  Wirral

  790

  83

  0

  Bolton

  456

  41

  0

  Bury

  285

  0

  1

  Manchester

  1,731

  0

  0

  Oldham

  627

  0

  0

  Rochdale

  540

  0

  0

  Salford

  666

  0

  1

  Stockport

  397

  322

  7

  Tameside

  417

  0

  0

  Trafford

  389

  0

  0

  Wigan

  795

  0

  0

  Barnsley

  220

  0

  0

  Doncaster

  731

  317

  129

  Rotherham

  613

  0

  32

  Sheffield

  868

  0

  0

  Bradford

  965

  0

  0

  Calderdale

  232

  87

  33

  Kirklees

  652

  39

  0

  Leeds

  1,132

  200

  22

  Wakefield

  635

  0

  1

  Gateshead

  415

  0

  0

  Newcastle-upon-Tyne

  638

  153

  5

  North Tyneside

  425

  137

  0

  South Tyneside

  305

  0

  0

  Sunderland

  644

  0

  53

  Isles of Stilly

  0

  0

  0

  Avon

  2,047

  0

  225

  Bedfordshire

  1,123

  0

  1

  Berkshire

  1,497

  240

  58

  Buckinghamshire

  1,512

  0

  68

  80

  Special schools1

  Independent schools

  Maintained

  Non-maintained

  Cambridgeshire

  1,035

  0

  88

  Cheshire

  1,430

  173

  1

  Cleveland

  1,379

  0

  1

  Cornwall

  313

  0

  34

  Cumbria

  425

  0

  334

  Derbyshire

  1,453

  136

  271

  Devon

  1,713

  348

  458

  Dorset

  1,117

  86

  148

  Durham

  1,010

  0

  2

  East Sussex

  1,361

  445

  377

  Essex

  2,592

  168

  112

  Gloucestershire

  1,241

  67

  89

  Hampshire

  3,820

  287

  415

  Hereford and Worcester

  1,326

  164

  242

  Hertfordshire

  1,907

  67

  85

  Humberside

  1,269

  0

  0

  Isle of Wight

  273

  47

  0

  Kent

  3,346

  483

  174

  Lancashire

  3,238

  192

  25

  Leicestershire

  1,114

  0

  61

  Lincolnshire

  1,163

  0

  64

  Norfolk

  884

  0

  215

  North Yorshire

  1,067

  209

  15

  Northamptonshire

  1,169

  32

  65

  Northumberland

  542

  0

  50

  Nottinghamshire

  2,156

  79

  40

  Oxfordshire

  820

  141

  50

  Shropshire

  611

  89

  177

  Somerset

  592

  62

  252

  Staffordshire

  2,001

  0

  164

  Suffolk

  747

  0

  111

  Surrey

  1,775

  638

  92

  Warwickshire

  1,383

  0

  10

  West Sussex

  1,214

  101

  254

  Wiltshire

  698

  62

  26

  England

  93,051

  6,244

  5,623

  1 All pupils in special schools.

  Ms. Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will place responses to his circular regarding the application of local management of schools in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Fallon
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: It is not our normal practice to publish responses to consultation on draft circulars. We are considering the responses carefully and will take full account of them in drawing up the final version of the circular.

  Ms. Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps his Department is taking to monitor the effect of(a) retention of funds for special needs by the local education authority in the LMS formula and (b) delegation of special needs funds to maintained schools in the LMS formula.

  Mr. Fallon
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: We are monitoring and reviewing all aspects of the effects of local management—with the help of LEAs, the local authority and head teacher associations, and Her Majesty's inspectorate. Close attention will be paid to the effects of different ways of managing provision for pupils with special educational needs within the context of LMS—local management of schools.

  Ms. Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what account he has taken
  81
  regarding the responsibilities of local education authorities under the Education Act 1981, when considering the application of LMS to (a) special schools and (b) children with special needs in mainstream education.

  Mr. Fallon
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: Circular 7/88, which guided the preparation of LMS schemes for mainstream schools, stated that the Secretary of State expected LEAs to include within schemes provision for taking into account pupils with special needs as defined under the 1981 Act, including both pupils with and without statements made under that Act. Where provision for pupils with statements of special needs is delegated to schools under schemes of local management, the Secretary of State expects to see LEAs place conditions on governors of schools with delegated budgets, binding them to deliver the provision required by the statements.

  My right hon. and learned Friend is currently consulting on proposals to extend local management to special schools.

  Sport and Physical Education
  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he will publish the interim report of the working group on sport and physical education in the national curriculum.

  Mr. Atkins
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. and learned Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey) on 18 February,Official Report, column 23.

  School Premises
  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science on what date the public consultation stage of the review of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981 will commence; what time scale has been decided for the completion of the consultation stage; and if he will list the organisations invited to take part in the public consultation.

  Mr. Fallon
  We expect consultation to begin within the next week. Comments will be invited by Friday 22 March. We shall be writing to the following organisations:

  Local Authority Associations:

  Association of Metropolitan Authorities

  Association of County Councils

  Local Education Authorities

  Chief Education Officers—England

  School Governors

  National Association of Governors and Managers

  GM Schools

  Grant Maintained Schools Trust

  City Technology Colleges

  CTC Trust

  Religious Bodies

  Catholic Education Council

  General Synod of the Church of England

  London Board of Jewish Religious Education

  Methodist Church Division of Education and Youth

  Teachers Associations

  National Union of Teachers

  Secondary Heads Association

  82

  Professional Association of Teachers

  National Association of School Masters/Union of Women Teachers

  National Association of Head Teachers

  Assistant Masters and Mistresses Association

  Special Educational Needs

  Local Authority Social Services Departments

  Centre for Studies of Integration in Education

  National Council for Special Education

  Royal National Institute for the Blind

  Royal National Institute for the Deaf

  The Spastics Society

  Special Educational Needs National Advisory Council

  National Association of Independent and Non-Maintained Special Schools

  Local Authority Professional Associations

  Society of Education Officers

  Society of Chief Architects in Local Authorities (SCALA)

  Association of Heads of County Property Departments

  Society of Chief Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

  Society of Chief Building Surveyors

  Ethnic Minority Organisations

  Afro-Caribbean Teachers Association

  Asian Teachers Association

  British Association of Muslims

  Board of Deputies of British Jews Education Office

  Federation of Bangladeshi Associations

  Caribbean Teachers Association

  Greek Cypriot Teachers Association

  National Association of Hindu Associations

  National Muslim Education Council for U.K.

  Sikh Education Council

  Standing Conference of Asian Organisations U.K.

  The Islamic Academy

  The Council of Mosques: U.K. and Eire

  The Islamic School Trust

  Muslim Educational Trust

  Muslim Educational Services

  Muslim Education Co-ordinating Council U.K.

  Other

  The Chartered Institute of Building

  National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations

  Association of Community Councils in Rural England (ACRE)

  Organisations maintaining non-maintained special schools

  Royal National Institute for the Blind

  Barnardo's

  National Children's Home

  The Shaftesbury Society

  Invalid Children's Aid Nationwide

  Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Essex)

  Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Merseyside)

  The English Province of the Daughters of the Cross

  The Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul

  Order of the Dominicans

  Royal London Society for the Blind

  Christian Service Union

  Boys' and Girls' Welfare Society

  The Royal Eastern Counties Schools Ltd.

  Mind

  Henshaw's Society for the Blind

  The Birmingham Royal Institute for the Blind

  The Smith Foundation

  The Royal Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton

  Other bodies

  Local authority social services departments

  Other organisations or individuals are of course welcome to write to the Department offering their views. The Welsh Office will, I understand, be consulting separately with organisations in Wales within the same time scale.

HEALTH

  Hospital Food Purchases
  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total cost of food purchased by NHS hospitals in each region in the last year for which figures are available.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Information derived from the annual accounts of regional and district health authorities in England is shown in the table.

  Revenue expenditure on Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS)—Provisions—1989–90

  Region

  £000 (cash)

  Northern

  14,487

  Yorkshire

  15,718

  Trent

  17,945

  East Anglian

  8,566

  North West Thames

  14,784

  North East Thames

  19,886

  South East Thames

  15,917

  South West Thames

  13,676

  Wessex

  11,527

  Oxford

  8,668

  South Western

  12,950

  West Midlands

  21,548

  Mersey

  10,805

  North Western

  18,596

  Regions total

  205,073

  Notes:

  1. The expenditure relates to provisions purchased for patients and staff and is incurred predominately in hospitals; elements included for other services covered by HCHS—for example, community health—are not separately identifiable in the annual accounts.

  2. The table excludes expenditure by the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals. Expenditure incurred by regional and district health authorities under contract catering arrangements, totalling some £14·1 million in 1989–90, is similarly excluded.

  Departmental Achievements
  Mr. Pawsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the principal achievements of his Department since June 1987.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  The principal achievement since June 1987 has been the enactment of the reforms of the health service set out in the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990. The reforms build on the fundamental principles of the national health service and on the achievements of the last 40 years, to secure the best possible use of the record level of resources now available for health care and to give patients, wherever they live in the United Kingdom, better health care and greater choice of services. Improved organisation and management of the national health service through clearer definition of responsibility between those purchasing health services in line with the needs of their local population and those providing and managing those services will be key elements.

  The national health service has made a positive response and welcomed the greater devolution and delegation of responsibility. Fifty-seven hospital trusts have already been announced and will come into effect from next April along with a substantial number of general practitioner fund holders. Considerable interest has been
  84
  expressed by others wishing to follow in subsequent waves. These changes mean putting quality and responsiveness to the patient at the top of the agenda.

  Since 1987, and throughout their period of office, the Government have remained firmly committed to the national health service as a service free to all regardless of means and funded primarily from central taxation. Gross United Kingdom spending has increased from £21·8 billion in 1987–88 to a level of planned expenditure of £32·6 billion in 1991–92. United Kingdom per capita expenditure on the health service will have risen from £383 in 1987–88 to £567.

  The numbers of patients receiving treatment has continued to rise each year. Targets set in 1986 for cataracts and bone marrow transplants have been met and the target for hip replacements is close to being achieved. There has been a 23 per cent. increase in the total number of heart and lung transplants and a 72 per cent. increase in the number of liver transplants.

  Besides the increases in the number of direct care staff, doctors and nurses are better paid. The Government have responded positively to the recommendations made by the respective independent review bodies. Last December, broad agreement was reached with the medical profession to reduce to 72 hours per week the long hours worked by junior hospital doctors in hard-pressed posts.

  The NHS and Community Care Act 1990, also provides the framework for the development of domiciliary day and respite services to enable people to live in their own homes wherever feasible and sensible. This programme will have a phased introduction to avoid overburdening the agencies involved.

  Since 1987, the Government have placed particular emphasis on the importance of health promotion and disease prevention. In 1990, immunisation and vaccination targets were set under the terms of the new contract for GPs. These have already led to improvements, particularly in the inner city areas where rates were generally low. Since 1988 all English health authorities have had a computerised call and recall system for cervical cancer screening. All women aged between 20 and 64 are expected to be brought into the programme by 1993. The first nationwide breast cancer screening programme in the European Community has been established, and important initiatives have been taken on teenage smoking, alcohol misuse, drug misuse, diet, food safety and coronary heart disease. In January 1988, the world summit of Ministers of Health was held in London, to look at programmes for combating the spread of AIDS. More than £10 million has been made available annually to health authorities and voluntary organisations to continue this work. Further progress has been made towards the WHO European region's 38 "Health For All" targets with many of those relating to health trends, lifestyles and healthy environment having been achieved. With the support of the leading health professions, the Government expect to produce a consultative document in the early part of 1991, which will form the first stages of a health strategy for England and provide the means for measuring improved health outcomes.

  Other developments since June 1987 include the improved approach to child care practice under the Children Act 1989. Close working between magistrates courts, the higher courts and local authorities with the need for understanding new court processes will be

  85
  important factors. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 addresses the complex legal and ethical issues surrounding embryos and embryo research.

  Newmarket Hospital
  Sir Eldon Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to receive the Eastern regional health authority's proposals to run down Newmarket hospital to a community facility.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  The West Suffolk district health authority is currently consulting widely on the future of Newmarket hospital. The consultation period will end on 28 February. The district health authority will then make proposals to the East Anglian regional health authority. The regional health authority will consider these findings within the wider context of its proposed strategy for acute services in the south western part of the region. If the scheme preferred by the region and the district is formally opposed it will be referred to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

  The Gulf
  Ms. Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate of the cost to the NHS arising from increased prescription of tranquilisers to those service men and women and their families who are suffering from trauma, stress and long-term mental illness consequent upon the war in the Gulf.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  There is no information available on which to base any such estimate.

  Ms. Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the Chief Medical Officer is proposing to issue guidance to general practitioners in regard to the treatment of servicemen and women and their families suffering from trauma, stress and long-term mental illness following upon war in the Gulf with regard to the cost implications and avilability of psychotherapeutic treatment and drug-based treatment.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The Chief Medical Officer does not intend to issue guidance on what is a clinical matter. General practitioners regularly deal with people suffering from stress and mental illness using psychotherapeutic methods and drug treatment. Previous major incidents have given an increased understanding of the approaches which are most helpful.

  Service men and women will be treated primarily by the services medical organisations. Families will in the main receive care from their general practitioners, in the usual way under national health service arrangements.

  NHS Hospitals (Re-admissions)
  Mr. Wray
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to collect central data of the number of patients in England and Wales who, having been discharged from national health service hospitals, required subsequent hospitalisation for(a) the same complaint or (b) a different but related complaint.

  Mr. Dorrell
  There are no plans to do so. Decisions about discharge are a matter for clinical judgment. Such decisions will be informed by medical audit but not by central collection of data.

  Food Hygiene Regulations
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether Scotland will be exempted from the Food Hygiene (Amendment) Regulations 1990; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The Food Hygiene (Amendment) Regulations 1990 apply to England and Wales only. Separate food hygiene regulations apply in Scotland, and amendments are under consideration in the Scottish Office.

  Haemophilia
  Mr. Bellotti
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the bio products laboratory has to import unlicensed high purity Factor VIII products from abroad for the treatment of haemophilia A patients; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The bio products laboratory—BPL—is responding to the demand from clinicians for high purity Factor VIII made from plasma provided by United Kingdom unpaid voluntary donors as recommended in World Health Organisation and EC guidelines. It has licensed the appropriate manufacturing technology and is modifying its production facility to manufacture the product locally. For a limited period while those modifications are carried out, and in the interest of meeting the demands as quickly as possible, the BPL has contracted Kabi of Sweden to undertake part of the manufacturing process from an intermediate material supplied by the BPL. This work will be undertaken under the supervision of BPL staff.

  The BPL is not at present covered by the licensing requirements of the Medicines Act because of Crown immunity. However, some of its products and facilities are already so licensed and it will be seeking licences for other products, including high purity Factor VIII, under the arrangements leading to the removal of Crown immunity. For many years the BPL has been inspected by the medicines inspectorate and its product have been tested by the National Institute of Biological Standards and Control, as are similar licensed pharmaceutical products.

  Mr. Bellotti
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent guidelines he has issued with regard to treatment of haemophilia A patients; and what representations he has received.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Several representations have been received concerning the use of high purity factor VIII for the treatment of haemophilia A patients. The Department has not issued guidance on this matter; decisions whether this treatment is appropriate for individual patients rest with the clinicians within the arrangements and protocols set locally for determining priorities among patient services, including prescribing costs.

  NHS Trusts
  Mr. Robin Cook
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the estimated level of(a) capital repayments, (b) interest payments, and (c) public dividend payments by national health service trusts to the Treasury in 1991–92.

  Mr. Dorrell
  We estimate that the level of capital repayments and interest payments to be made by NHS
  87
  trusts in 1991–92 will be £70·2 million and £189 million respectively. Dividends payable on public dividend capital will not normally be declared or paid until after the end of the financial year once audited accounts are received.

  Depreciation
  Mr. Robin Cook
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health by how much hospital and community health services revenue plans have been enhanced in 1991–92 to meet the provision in national health service trust prices for depreciation.

  Mr. Dorrell
  HCHS revenue plans have been enhanced by £164 million in the 1991–92 financial year to take account of depreciation provided for in NHS trust prices.

  Junior Doctors
  Mr. Terry Davis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reduction has taken place in the number of junior hospital doctors with a rota commitment greater than 1:3 in the west midlands region since 18 January 1989.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  This information is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of the West Midlands regional health authority for details.

  Hormone Drugs
  Mr. Pendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what timetable, agency and funding has been agreed for his Department's survey into the use and misuse of hormone drugs; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The Government have decided in principle that a survey should be carried out into the prevalence of the misuse of steroid drugs. We are urgently considering the best way to take the survey forward. We hope to be able to give further details shortly and I will write to the hon. Member when these are available.

  Food Poisoning, Preston
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he is investigating the source of the outbreak of food poisoning caused by E. coli in the Preston area; what other action he is taking in respect of this; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Dorrell
  This outbreak is the subject of ongoing investigation by the public health laboratory service. The Department's Chief Medical Officer has issued a statement about the need for beefburgers and similar minced meat products to be thoroughly cooked before they are eaten. All local authority environmental health departments were notified of the outbreak and asked, through the Department's hazard warning system, to remind food businesses of the need to ensure beefburgers are properly cooked. Both the CMO's statement and the hazard warning notice have been placed in the Library.

  The Government will consider the need for additional action in the light of the PHLS findings on the outbreak and other cases of human illness due to E.coli 0157 phage type 31 (variant) which have been reported around the country.

  Women in the National Health Service
  Mrs. Maureen Hicks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether he has any plans to encourage job sharing in the NHS;

  (2) what plans he has to ensure that full use is made of women's contributions to the NHS; and if he will make a statement;

  (3) how many women work in the NHS.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  [holding answer 8 February 1991]: The latest available information, which relates to 1989, indicates that there were 770,300 women working in the national health service in England, representing 76·6 per cent. of the total work force. We are firmly committed to ensuring that the best possible use is made of their valuable contribution.

  We take every opportunity to stress to health authorities the importance of flexible working arrangements, including job sharing, which allow women to successfully combine their family responsibilities with those of working in the NHS.

  To encourage authorities in the development of good personnel policies and practices which enable them to recruit and retain the services of women staff, we have endorsed a wide range of initiatives, including:
  Publication of a comprehensive guidance manual and summary report sent to all health authorities by the national steering group on equal opportunities for women in the NHS.
  Many health authorities operate their own independent day nursery and holiday play schemes, while others have entered into collaborative arrangements with separate organisations.
  Launch of two new schemes in December last year for "Keeping in Touch" and "Getting Back to Practice" to replace an existing dentists' retainer scheme, enabling dentists who take career breaks from their practices to keep up to date with their skills and experience.
  The introduction of a maternity payments scheme for general dental practitioners who intend to return to general practice after having a child.
  Publication in January this year of the report and recommendations of a special departmental working group on "Women Doctors and their Careers" aimed at promoting greater equality of opportunity for women in the medical profession.
  Publication of a special report by the Department's social services inspectorate "Women in Social Services—A Neglected Resource" giving guidance on how social services departments can benefit from making full use of womens skills and experience.
  Launch of a new scheme providing special leave arrangements for a range of family and domestic needs, agreed in January this year between NHS management and staff representatives. This scheme complements one agreed in July last year under which authorities may grant career breaks.
  Departmental funding for a number of projects aimed at encouraging the return of nursing, health visiting and midwifery staff to the NHS.

  Additionally, the new GP contract recognises explicitly that women GPs often want to combine a career in general practice with bringing up their family. It does so by formally introducing new opportunities to work part time and to job share. We have also removed the list size criterion for a locum allowance while a woman GP is absent from the practice having a baby—so the practice will not lose out while she is away.

  Implementation of some of these schemes is a matter for the individual employing authorities. We shall continue to seek ways of encouraging them to effect improvements where necessary.

PRIME MINISTER

  Senior Civil Servants (Degrees)
  Mr. Page
  To ask the Prime Minister how many permanent secretaries have engineering, science or mathematics degrees; and what percentage that is of the total.

  The Prime Minister
  Four permanent secretaries—12 per cent. of the total—have degrees in these subjects. Two have science degrees and two have mathematics degrees. There are in addition a further 12 permanent secretaries—35 per cent. of the total—with social science degrees, including economics and statistics, and one with a professional accountancy qualification.

  Mr. Page
  To ask the Prime Minister how many under-secretaries have engineering, science or mathematics degrees; and what percentage that is of the total.

  The Prime Minister
  This information is not held centrally and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.

  Defence Quality Assurance Unit
  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will seek to co-ordinate the activities of the Departments of Environment, Trade and Industry and Transport with regard to the proposed relocation of the Ministry of Defence quality assurance unit to Stockton on Tees.

  The Prime Minister
  The Ministry of Defence has been in contact with the Departments mentioned during the course of their studies into the relocation of the directorate general defence quality assurance.

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Prime Minister how many political advisers to Ministers are currently employed in the civil service; in which Departments they work; and on what grades they are paid.

  The Prime Minister
  There are currently 26 special advisers to Ministers employed in the civil service. The number in each Department is as follows:

  Number

  Cabinet Office (including No. 10)

  6

  Department of the Environment

  4

  Foreign and Commonwealth Office

  2

  Department of Health

  2

  Her Majesty's Treasury

  2

  Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

  1

  Department of Education and Science

  1

  Department of Energy

  1

  Department of Employment

  1

  Home Office

  1

  Lord President of the Council

  1

  Scottish Office

  1

  Department of Social Security

  1

  Department of Trade and Industry

  1

  Department of Transport

  1

  90
  Special advisers are not graded and are not therefore paid on civil service salary scales. They are normally paid on a special advisers salary spine comprising 30 points, as follows:

  Scale point

  Salary (inclusive)

  30

  54,184

  29

  52,100

  28

  50,096

  27

  48,924

  26

  47,757

  25

  46,264

  24

  44,771

  23

  42,731

  22

  41,144

  21

  39,563

  20

  37,908

  19

  36,239

  18

  34,571

  17

  32,909

  16

  30,927

  15

  29,667

  14

  28,664

  13

  27,666

  12

  26,617

  11

  25,660

  10

  24,873

  9

  23,771

  8

  22,931

  7

  22,185

  6

  21,449

  5

  20,697

  4

  19,595

  3

  18,925

  2

  18,353

  1

  17,280

  The two most senior special advisers are paid personal salaries above the spine limit of £54,184. It is not our practice to reveal the salary of any adviser, as it is negotiated individually in relation to previous earnings and is, therefore, confidential.

  Greater London Council
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Prime Minister which departments of state are still carrying out functions and responsibilities arising from the abolition of the GLC.

  The Prime Minister
  The Home Office, the Department of the Environment, the Department of Transport and the Office of Arts and Libraries.

WALES

  Mental Illness
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many mental illness hospital beds were available in Wales in 1978, 1982, 1986, and during each of the last three years.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  Information on mental illness beds and other psychiatric beds, excluding mental handicap, is given in the table:
  91

  Average daily available NHS hospital beds

  Specialty

  1978

  1982

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989–90

  Mental illness

  5,352·4

  4,526·7

  4,200·4

  3,956·1

  3,808·9

  2,586·1

  Child and adolescent psychiatry

  84·0

  69·0

  62·1

  61·0

  61·0

  75·0

  Forensic psychiatry

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  9·5

  Old age psychiatry

  189·0

  298·0

  468·2

  488·5

  525·7

  1,473·4

  Total of above

  5,625·4

  4,893·7

  4,730·7

  4,505·6

  4,395·6

  4,144·0

  A487, Gwynedd
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the outcome of his feasibility study undertaken for his Department, by Gwynedd county council, on possible options for improving the A487 road in the vicinity of Penygroes and Llanllyfni, and of providing a bypass for these two villages; and what is the expected time scale of these improvement schemes.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  The study report on the A487 trunk road from Caerau to Pont Seiont, which includes Penygroes and Llanllyfni has not yet been received by the Welsh Office. However the outcome of preliminary consideration of the case for road improvements will be covered in a supplement to "Roads in Wales", to be published next week.

  South Wales Traffic Study
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the remit for the south Wales area traffic study; what is its estimated cost; who is undertaking it; when it will be completed; and if he will make a statement.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  The study is a review of traffic patterns over most of the south Wales trunk road network. It identifies sections likely to exceed their recommended traffic flow levels in the foreseeable future and evaluates possible solutions. It was undertaken by JMP Consultants Ltd in association with Veryard and Partners for £350,000. Their summary report was submitted last December and it is currently receiving careful consideration. No public statement is likely before the spring.

  Roads
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he proposes to issue the revised supplement on "Roads in Wales"; and if he will make a statement.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  We plan to publish a 1991 supplement to "Roads in Wales" on 25 February.

  Castle Cement Works
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will indicate the action he has taken since the announcement of redundancies at the Castle cement works, Clwyd.

  Mr. David Hunt
  As the hon. Gentleman knows from my reply of 15 January, the Welsh Development Agency is taking these redundancies into account in planning its activities. The agency's small firms service have been in Castle Cement recently advising people who are considering self-employment and will continue to play an active role in helping those made redundant.

  Brymbo Steelworks
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will indicate the action he has taken since the announcement of redundancies at the Brymbo steelworks, Clwyd.

  Mr. David Hunt
  Since United Engineering Steels' announcement on the 14 May 1990 that Brymbo steelworks was to close, I have met, on several occasions, all the parties involved to discuss the future of the steelworks.

  At my request, the Welsh Development Agency made extensive, worldwide efforts, throughout last summer to find a buyer for the site who would continue steelmaking in some form without success.

  The Welsh Development Agency is still in consultation with United Engineering Steels over possible future uses for the site.

  On 30 October 1990, I announced a support package designed to mitigate the effects of the steelworks closure on the area. The package entails the government matching United Engineering Steel's contribution of £260,000 to the North East Wales training enterprise council pound for pound; an extra urban programme grant of £0·5 million this financial year, as well as the revenue appointment of a Brymbo village liaison and advice worker for three years, and an extra £0·5 million for Wrexham Maelor borough council for its Redwither project as part of its 1991–92 credit approvals announced on 10 December. In addition, the Welsh Development Agency has commenced work on £5·5 million programme of works based at the Wrexham industrial estate which should create job opportunities for 500 people. European regional development fund aid of £2,229,345 has been granted towards projects in the Wrexham travel-to-work area under the Clwyd integrated development operational programme.

  I will be meeting again the hon. Member for Wrexham (Dr. Marek) and representatives of the county and district councils later this week to review the situation and I will be taking further action as and when I consider it necessary.

  Clwyd Furniture Industry
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will indicate the measures he proposes in Clwyd consequent upon the announcement of redundancies in the furniture industry.

  Mr. David Hunt
  These job losses are very much regretted. The Welsh Development Agency takes all job losses into account in planning its future activities and reviews its plans in the light of continuing developments.

  Glendale Company
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement of the action he has taken consequent upon the placing of the Glendale company in the hands of the receiver.
  93
  Mr. David Hunt
  While the company is in the hands of the receiver it would be inappropriate for me to intervene. I have however asked the WDA to alert possible purchasers and both the agency and the Welsh Office stand ready to give every possible assistance to any potential purchaser.

  Effluent
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report a list of the trade effluent consents that have been granted for the discharge of pesticide waste to sewers, giving for each, the eight figure Ordnance Survey grid reference number for the point of discharge.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  This information is not held centrally. Copies of trade effluent consents are available for public inspection at the offices of the sewerage undertaker.

  Drinking Water
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report the information available to his Department on the incidence of faecal material in drinking water.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  Water undertakers are required by the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989 (SI 1989 No. 1147) to record on a public register the results of the analysis of samples taken. In addition the chief inspector of the drinking water inspectorate will publish in the summer a full report upon the quality of drinking water supplied in England and Wales during 1990.

  Wetlands
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those estuaries and wetlands with nature conservation protection designations, currently facing urban/recreational or industrial development proposals.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  The information is not held centrally. The Nature Conservancy Council must be consulted about all development proposals in sites of special scientific interest and has undertaken a review of the nature conservation interests of the estuaries of Great Britain. I understand that the full report is due to be published on 25 March 1991.

  Cardiff Bay Development Corporation
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the duties he has prescribed for the Cardiff Bay development corporation in the field of vocational training.

  Mr. David Hunt
  Neither I nor my predecessors have prescribed duties for Cardiff Bay development corporation in the field of vocational training. The corporation has, however, been actively involved in the development of a training initiative in co-operation with local authorities and government agencies, with the full support of the Wales TUC and CBI. The initiative will provide training opportunities for unemployed local people so that they can benefit from the regeneration of the area.

  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has had any consultations with the chairman of the 94
  Cardiff Bay Development Corporation regarding the setting up of a centre of excellence in the vocational training field at Cardiff bay.

  Mr. David Hunt
  I have had no such consultations. My officials were, however, involved in discussions with officers of the corporation about its involvement in the development of a centre of excellence for vocational training within the bay area. These discussions took place in the context of the normal project approval arrangements for the corporation.

  Local Plans
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report a list of those local authorities in Wales that have no local plan.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  No local plans have been placed on deposit or adopted in the areas of the following local authorities:

  Alyn and Deeside district council

  Carmarthen district council

  Ceredigion district council

  Glyndwr district council

  Montgomeryshire district council

  Neath borough council

  Preseli Pembrokeshire district council

  South Pembrokeshire district council

  Vocational Courses
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will provide transitional funding assistance to vocational part-time courses at higher education colleges due to be directly funded after April 1992.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 11 February 1991.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Fair Employment
  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many companies have been prosecuted to date in Northern Ireland for failing to make monitoring returns to the Fair Employment Commission.

  Mr. Needham
  Fifteen.

  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will seek to ensure that small companies in Northern Ireland are not threatened with disqualification by the Fair Employment Commission following minor breaches of the fair employment legislation.

  Mr. Needham
  It is for the Fair Employment Commission to decide how to use its power under the fair employment legislation, including when to take action against those who fail to comply with its provisions.

  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many companies have been prosecuted to date after making a late return of monitoring records to the Fair Employment Commission.

  Mr. Needham
  Of the 15 concerns that were pbhzcuted for failing to make a monitoring return to the commission within the prescribed time, 14 made a late return before the hearing in the magistrates court.

  Hazardous Waste
  Mr. Hume
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what regulations or guidelines govern the transportation of hazardous waste into and within Northern Ireland.

  Mr. Needham
  Incoming consignments of hazardous waste must conform with the Transfrontier Shipment of Hazardous Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989 which govern the import of hazardous waste from outside the United Kingdom into Northern Ireland for disposal. Controls on the disposal of hazardous waste within Northern Ireland are provided by the Pollution Control (Special Waste) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1981.

  The transport of hazardous cargoes by sea is regulated by the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1990 and the Merchant Shipping (Control of Pollution by Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) Regulations 1987 as amended in 1990.

  The transport of dangerous substances by road within Northern Ireland is regulated by the Dangerous Substances (Conveyance by Road in Road Tankers and Tank Containers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988 and the Road Traffic (Carriage of Dangerous Substances in Packages etc) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988 as amended in 1990.

  The following Great Britain documents have been approved for use in Northern Ireland in relation to the transport by road of dangerous substances:

  1. Approved Code of Practice—Operational Provisions of the Road Traffic (Carriage of Dangerous Substances in Packages etc.) Regulations 1986. ISBN 0 11 883898 9.

  2. Approved Code of Practice—Operational Provisions of the Dangerous Substances (Conveyance by Road in Road Tankers and Tank Containers) Regulations 1981. ISBN 0 11 883728 1.

  3. Approved Code of Practice—Classification and Labelling of Dangerous Substances for Conveyance by Road in Tankers, Tank Containers and Packages (Revision 1). ISBN 0 11 885518 2.

  4. Approved Code of Practice—Road Tanker Testing. ISBN 0 11 883811 3.

  5. Authorised and Approved List—Approved substance identification numbers, emergency action codes and classifications for dangerous substances conveyed in road tankers and tank containers. (Third edition) ISBN 0 11 885477 1.

  Further guidance is contained in:—

  1. Health and Safety booklet HS(G)26—Transport of dangerous substances in tank containers. ISBN 0 11 883843 1.

  2. A guide to the Road Traffic (Carriage of Dangerous Substances in Packages etc.) Regulations 1986. Booklet HS(R)24 ISBN 0 11 883899 7.

  Mr. Hume
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what routes for the transportation of hazardous waste to Maydown have been identified in the context of the proposed siting of a hazardous waste incinerator at Du Pont's Maydown complex.

  Mr. Needham
  No routes for the transportation of hazardous waste to Maydown have been identified in the context of a proposal to site an incinerator for the disposal of toxic waste at Du Pont (UK) Limited, Maydown, Co. Londonderry.

  Petrol Prices
  Mr. Mallon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the average retail price of petrol at the pumps(a) on 16 January and (b) currently.
  96
  Mr. Needham
  At 16 January four-star leaded petrol was 45·4p per litre and unleaded was 42·4p per litre. Currently they are 43·7p and 40·7p per litre respectively.

  Environmental Improvement Schemes
  Mr. Mallon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the environmental improvement schemes(a) carried out and (b) under consideration, to date, by the Department of Environment, Northern Ireland.

  Mr. Needham
  To provide details of individual works completed or contemplated would involve disproportionate cost. Details of the expenditure for the 1988–89 and 1989–90 financial years, the expected outturn for 1990–91 and programmed expenditure for 1991–92 under the three main categories of bodies involved in environmental improvement schemes are as follows:

  Year

  Departmental schemes

  Voluntary sector schemes

  District councils and other public bodies

  Total

  '000s

  '000s

  '000s

  '000s

  1988–89

  2,164

  118

  1,995

  4,277

  1989–90

  4,210

  198

  2,431

  6,839

  1990–91

  2,904

  199

  1,785

  4,888

  1991–92

  3,796

  132

  1,155

  5,083

  Total

  13,074

  647

  7,366

  21,087

  A breakdown of individual bodies within the three categories is listed:

  Environmental Improvement Schemes

    Bodies which have received environmental improvement grants within the three categories of eligibility
    Category and Organisation/Division
    Departmental

    Belfast development office

    Belfast action teams

    Roads service

    Planning divisions

    Londonderry development office

    Voluntary Sector

    Better Belfast

    Conservation Volunteers

    NI Amenity Council

    Connswater environmental committee

    Ligoniel Improvement Association

    Rathcoole community group

    Belfast civic trust

    District Councils and Public Bodies

    Belfast city council

    Castlereagh borough council

    Newtownabbey borough council

    NI railways

    Northern Ireland Housing Executive

    Derry city council

  Deaf Schoolchildren
  Mr. Mallon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children from Northern Ireland are at present receiving grant aid from the Department of Education, Northern Ireland, to attend specialist schools for the deaf in the Republic of Ireland.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Twenty-three children from Northern Ireland presently attend specialist schools for the deaf in the Republic of Ireland and have their costs met by education and library boards, with the approval of the Department of Education, Northern Ireland.

  Common Agricultural Policy Payments
  Mr. Denzil Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the total payments received by the agricultural industry in Northern Ireland were under the common agricultural policy in each of the last three years.

  Mr. Hanley
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: Total expenditure in the United Kingdom under the common agricultural policy in the last three years was:

  £ million

  1987–88

  1,611·1

  1988–89

  1,362·9

  1989–90

  1,230·5

  Although it is possible to identify some of the payments which have been made to the agricultural industry in Northern Ireland—details of which are held in the Northern Ireland Appropriation Accounts 1987–88, 1989–90—it is not possible to disaggregate all United Kingdom common agricultural policy expenditure in this way.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Low-energy Light Bulbs
  Mr. Cartwright
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage the use of low-energy light bulbs in his Department's offices and other buildings.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Throughout the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including the Overseas Development Administration, high-efficiency tubes are being installed under a rolling maintenance programme. Standard light bulbs are being replaced wherever possible by compact fluorescent tubes.

  Soviet Union
  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made in respect of Mikhail Ziskind of Leningrad and Demitri Yakubovsky of Kiev who have been unsuccessfully applying to leave the Soviet Union.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We can certainly raise these cases with the Soviet authorities. We have details of the case of Mr. Yakubovsky, but in order to make our representations most effective we shall need further details of Mr. Ziskind's case.

  UN Security Council
  Mr. Wray
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Provan of 8 February,Official Report, columns 280–81, if he will give the dates of United Nations Security Council meetings held since 16 January at which the situation in the Gulf was discussed.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The United Nations Security Council met in informal consultations to discuss the situation in the Gulf on 17, 22, 24, 28, 30 and 31 January; and on 6, 8 and 13 February.
  98
  The council held a formal session on 13 February at which it was decided talks should take place in private. On the 14, 15 and 16 February the council met in closed session and will resume discussions on 19 February.

  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals were put forward by the United Kingdom at the most recent meeting of the Security Council of the United Nations; and how they were received.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: At the meeting of the Security Council on 14 February, the United Kingdom representative proposed that in accordance with rule 48 of the provisional rules of procedure, the council should meet in private session to discuss the Gulf crisis. The British proposal was adopted by 9 votes in favour two against—Cuba and Yemen—and four abstentions. The council met in closed session on 14, 15 and 16 February and will resume discussions on 19 February.

  Iraq
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library details, including copies of any letters, of the Iraqi offer to withdraw from Kuwait as discussed by United States officials on 2 January.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We are aware of no discussion by United States officials on 2 January of an Iraqi offer to withdraw from Kuwait.

  Mr. Brian Angel
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information, in addition to that referred to in his answer of 3 July 1990,Official Report, column 381, he has received about the outcome of the investigation conducted by Zimbabwean authorities into the murder in Harare of Mr. Brian Angel.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The British high commission in Harare has received a copy of the police report on the death of Mr. Brian Angel. An inquest is due to be held in Harare on 1 March 1991. We expect that the police report will form part of the evidence presented at the inquest. A member of the British high commission will be present as an observer.

  Antarctica
  Mr. Mallon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures he will take to prevent any mineral mining in Antarctica.

  Mr. Garel-Jones
  The United Kingdom will take no unilateral action concerning mineral activities in Antarctica. We believe that decisions on such activities must be agreed by consensus amongst the Antarctic treaty consultative parties before they are implemented. A consensus on mineral activity has yet to be achieved. However, at the XIth special consultative meeting in Chile in November, the Antarctic treaty parties renewed their agreement to a voluntary restraint on mineral activity in the absence of any formal agreement. The United Kingdom will abide by this voluntary restraint.

  Conventional Forces in Europe
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress being made on negotiations on the reductions of conventional forces in Europe.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The first plenary meeting of the resumed CFE follow-on negotiations took place on 14 February. NATO and other delegations underlined the problems created for the follow-on negotiations by doubts over the Soviet Union's intention to comply with certain provisions of the CFE treaty. No new proposals were tabled.

  Iran
  Mr. Latham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the meeting between the Minister of State and the Iranian chargé d'affaires in London on 12 February; what assurances were given about possible Iranian assistance to bring about the release of Mr. Roger Cooper and also of the British hostages held by Arab terrorists in Lebanon; and what response was made to the allegations made by Mr. Khare Qani relating to the fairness of a trial of an Iranian citizen in Britain.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The Iranian chargé told me that Iran continued to do its best to secure the release of the hostages in Lebanon. I pressed for but received no assurances about Mr. Roger Cooper. It would be improper for me to comment on the trial to which my hon. Friend refers, as it is still before the court.

  Romania
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those voluntary organisations giving aid to Romania, of which his office is aware.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Since I wrote to the hon. Member on 16 January enclosing a list of British voluntary organisations giving aid to Romania—a copy of which is available in the Library—we have added to the list three more: Caring for Life International, Feed The Children, and Romanian Children's Aid. I shall write to my hon. Friend with full details.

  Cash Limits
  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he proposes to make any further changes in his Department's diplomatic wing cash limits for 1990–91.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Subject to parliamentary approval of the late spring supplementary estimate the cash limit for class II, Vote 2—other external relations-will increase by £2,500,000 from £187,421,000 to £189,921,000. This is to take account of a contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross for its humanitarian work in the Gulf. This increase is within the forecast outturn for the planning total published in the statistical supplement to the 1990 autumn statement.

TRANSPORT

  Heathrow Airport
  Mr. Wilshire
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to(a) shorten the hours when night-flight restrictions apply at Heathrow airport and (b) to increase the night-flight quota.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  No.

  Traffic Commissioners
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will state the numbers of staff of the metropolitan and south eastern traffic commissioners, respectively, and the number he expects to staff the proposed south eastern and metropolitan traffic commissioners; how many posts will be eliminated over the range of their functions; and if he will give a breakdown of the expected sum of annual saving in public expenditure.

  Mr. Chope
  There are 96·5 and 77 complemented staff posts respectively in the metropolitan and south eastern traffic area offices. The planned complement for the new combined south eastern and metropolitan traffic area office is 68 staff. This will reflect the transfer of work between traffic area offices in London, Eastbourne, Bristol and Cambridge. It will also take account of the transfer of staff and responsibility for road traffic enforcement to the Vehicle Inspectorate executive agency on 1 April 1991, and also the transfer of responsibility for vocational driver licensing to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency—DVLA—on the same date.

  The savings arising from the redistribution of work in the TAOs should amount to about £650,000 per year of which some £380,000 comes from the closure of the metropolitan traffic area office.

  Trunk Roads, Hereford
  Mr. Colin Shepherd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of total traffic is formed by trunk road through traffic on the western side of the Hereford ring road south of the A49/A438 roundabout.

  Mr. Chope
  Approximately 13 per cent., based on 1986 traffic surveys.

  Mr. Colin Shepherd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current annual spending on maintenance of the trunk road in Hereford that is proposed to be de-trunked; whether he has been asked by Hereford and Worcester county council to undertake any repairs found necessary to the Greyfriars bridge before it is de-trunked; and whether it is his policy that any sum thus incurred will be included in the total cost to his Department of the Hereford bypass for economic evaluation purposes.

  Mr. Chope
  It is not possible to identify separately details of current expenditure on maintenance for particular lengths of A49 and A465 within Hereford and Worcester proposed for detrunking. Discussions with the Hereford and Worcester county council on the need for repairs to Greyfriars bridge prior to proposed detrunking are yet to be held.
  101
  Repairs will be necessary to Greyfriars bridge at some stage and investigations are currently underway to assess the extent of works required. Such costs do not form part of the cost of the Hereford bypass.

  Mr. Colin Shepherd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the additional distance between the A49 (north) and the A465 (south) using the proposed bypass as against using the present inner ring road.

  Mr. Chope
  Approximately 6·1 km or 3·7 miles.

  Mr. Cohn Shepherd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of traffic on the proposed Hereford bypass between the A4103 and A438 and between the A438 and B4399 Holme Lecy road would be trunk road through traffic.

  Mr. Chope
  The details are as follows:

  Average annual daily flows projected

  1986

  1990

  1995

  2010

  A49(N)—A49(S)

  1,020

  1,300–1,350

  1,400–1,550

  1,800–2,250

  A49(N)—A465(S)

  810

  1,000–1,050

  1,150–1,250

  1,450–1,700

  Separate estimates for the morning peak hour are not readily available.

  Vehicle Registration
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will arrange for all relevant vehicle registration or licence application forms to carry a statement informing applicants of the items of personal data that will be transferred to the new police national computer; whether he has any estimate of the cost of redesigning such forms so that future reprints carry such a statement; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Chope
  The DVLA registrations under the Data Protection Act 1984 indicate that details from both the vehicle and driver registers are given to the police. Copies of the registrations are freely available from the Data Protection Registrar. There is no requirement under the Data Protection Act to include additional references on application forms to inform individuals and, at present, the DVLA has no plans to do so.

  Traffic Penalties
  Mr. Batiste
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he proposes to take to ensure that penalties for the offence of failure to provide information under the Road Traffic Bill take account of the different circumstances of companies and individuals.

  Mr. Chope
  Companies should have the same responsibility to provide information about drivers alleged to be guilty of road traffic offences as a private individual and it is right that a negligent director or other officer should share in that responsibility. Licence endorsement is not appropriate, however, where the connection with driving is remote. I shall today be tabling an amendment at the Report stage of the Road Traffic Bill to provide that in these cases the penalty should be restricted to a financial penalty.
  102

  Approximate proportion of trunk road through traffic

  Low growth Per cent.

  High growth Per cent.

  (i) Between A4103 and A438

  22

  24

  (ii) Between A438 and B4399

  25

  27

  The proportion of total through traffic on these sections of the bypass is expected to be approximately 30 per cent. of total flow.

  Mr. Colin Shepherd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report the volume of trunk road through traffic passing through Hereford in 1986 and 1990 and projected for the years 1995 and 2010 between (a) the A49 (north) and the A49 (south) and (b) the A49 (north) and the A465 (south) for the whole day and for the morning peak hour.

  Mr. Chope
  Using the results from the 1986 surveys and the current range of national traffic growth predictions the details are as follows:

  Motor Sports
  Mr. Bowis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he proposes to take to respond to concerns about the effects of the new serious driving offences in the Road Traffic Bill on the organisation of motor sports.

  Mr. Chope
  I am very much aware of the importance of the motor sports industry nationally and of the need to ensure that sporting events which take place off the road are not jeopardised by the risk that the manner of driving might be judged by criteria more appropriate to driving on the public highway. I shall today be tabling amendments to deal with this point at the Report stage of the Road Traffic Bill.

  GLC
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his estimate of staff numbers in his Department involved in full or part-time work arising from responsibilities transferred from the Greater London Council.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  The Department assumed the powers of the former Greater London council in respect of 70 miles of roads which are now trunk roads. The Department deals with 215 miles of trunk roads in London. It is not practicable to estimate the number of staff whose work involves the ex-GLC roads. On abolition of the GLC the Department also assumed responsibility for traffic signals and urban traffic control and for running the Woolwich ferry. The Corporation of the City of London acts as the Department's agents for the former and the London borough of Greenwich for the latter, and employ the staff involved.

  Transport Commissioners
  Mr. Bellotti
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give consideration to moving the Transport Commissioners to Eastbourne.

  Mr. Chope
  The traffic commissioner for the present south eastern traffic area is already based in Eastbourne. Under the reorganisation of the traffic areas, which will take effect on 1 June 1991, the traffic commissioner will assume responsibility for the new south eastern and metropolitan traffic area, which will comprise London, Sussex, Surrey and Kent. He will continue to be based in Eastbourne.

  Network SouthEast
  Mr. Speed
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the current constraints on investment in respect of the investment proposals by British Rail to introduce the Networker 471 train on Kent coast lines in Network SouthEast.

  Mr. Freeman
  Proposals for the introduction of class 471 Networkers on Kent coast routes are still being assessed by British Rail and my Department has not yet received a detailed investment submission. I understand that British Rail is examining whether the project might be brought forward in the light of other investment priorities and its overall financial situation.

  Station Platforms
  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether he will call for a report from the railways inspectorate on the number of stations in British Rail north-east region that do not meet new regulations on platform length; and whether he will make a statement;

  (2) whether he will defer any deadline for closure of stations which do not meet the new regulations on platform length in order to allow British Railway to meet new standards.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: British Rail has no plans to close stations on safety grounds. There are no new regulations on platform length but Her Majesty's railway inspectorate, has asked British Rail to consider a strategy for improving platforms which fall short of the long-established safety standards. Discussion between British Rail and the inspectorate will be resumed when British Rail has identified the stations in need of improvement and quantified the cost of remedial work.

  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will provide the additional funding needed to bring stations up to the standard on platform length specified in the new regulations.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: British Rail is quantifying the work that would be needed to make all existing stations comply with the standard. Only when this study is complete will it be possible for British Rail, in consultation with Her Majesty's railway inspectorate and the Department, to develop a strategy for any necessary station improvements. Overall safety expenditure on the subsidised railway will be supported by means of the public service obligation grant in the normal way.

  Airline Companies
  Mr. Hoyle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he is making to the US Secretary of State for Transportation about his refusal to accept British Airways reduction of fares on flights to the United States of America; if he will discuss this with the other members of the European Community; and whether any counter-measures are being taken against US airlines flying to Britain.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State made it clear immediately after British Airways' fares proposals were turned down that he was surprised at the decision, particularly since it would disadvantage customers. He urged the US authorities to reconsider but we have just learnt that they are not prepared to do so. We are considering with those involved how best to respond. In the meantime British Airways have put alternative proposals to the US authorities. There are no plans for formal discussions with other members of the European Community.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Severe Weather Payments
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the limit of savings a person can have to qualify for the emergency cold weather payment.

  Mr. Scott
  Savings over £500—£1,000 for people aged 60 or over—are taken into account on a pound-for-pound basis.

  Mr. Meacher
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many persons received severe weather payments in the week beginning 4 February in each of the weather station areas; how many were(a) pensioners, (b) disabled persons, (c) families with young children, and (d) other groups; what was the total cost to the Exchequer; and what plans he has to ease the eligibility condition requiring a temperature for seven consecutive days on average below 0 deg. C in further weeks beyond the first when this condition was lifted.

  Mr. Scott
  Information is not yet available regarding the number of cold weather payments made in the week beginning 4 February. With regard to the temperature criterion for eligibility, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) on 15 February at column 630.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether a child with asthma over the age of five years in a family receiving income support, but receiving no invalidity or other additional benefits, is entitled to cold weather payments.

  Mr. Scott
  Cold weather payments are payable to people in receipt of income support, who either have a child under five or whose benefit includes a pensioner or disability premium. Savings over £500—or £1,000 for people aged 60 and over—are taken into account. A family with a child with asthma over the age of five years would be eligible for a cold weather payment if these conditions are satisfied.

  Mr. Beith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for what reason the Berwick upon Tweed offices
  105
  of his Department indicated to claimants on 14 February that it did not have instructions enabling it to approve payments of severe weather allowance and did not know when such instructions would be received.

  Mr. Scott
  Instructions concerning the recent changes were issued to all local offices on 8 February and 14 February. Berwick upon Tweed office has confirmed that the first payments under those instructions were made on 14 February.

  Departmental Staff
  Mr. O'Hara
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the number of liable relative officers at present in his Department; and if he will give a breakdown of their civil service grades and their location in England and Wales.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The information is not readily available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Residential Homes
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to make the report drawn up by Price Waterhouse surveying residential and nursing borne running costs more generally available to interested parties and the general public.

  Miss Widdecombe
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State placed copies of the report in the Library on 24 October last year and officials of the Department have made copies widely available to major interested organisations which are welcome to copy the report to their members.

  Backdated Claims
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many backdated claims for social security have been received since April 1988 in England and Wales.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at the disproportionate cost.

  National Insurance
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, West on 6 February,Official Report, column 191, if he will show the main changes to national insurance benefits and the savings or expenditure which accrued from each change since 1979 showing the cumulative effect at 1991 prices.

  Mr. Jack
  Calculating the cumulative cost over a period of years of the changes listed in my earlier reply would require a detailed year-by-year analysis of many factors, including movements in expenditure on benefits, in prices and earnings indices, and in additional pension and occupational and personal pension entitlements. This calculation could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.

  Retirement Pensions
  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the net additional cost of increasing the basic retirement pension for a single person 106
  by £5 per week and for a married couple by £8 per week more than the planned uprating for April 1991 assuming (a) no corresponding increase in means-tested benefits and (b) a corresponding increase in means-tested benefits.

  Miss Widdecombe
  [holding answer 21 January 1991]: The net additional cost of increasing the basic retirement pension in this way would (a) around £1·6 billion with no corresponding increase in income-related benefits and (b) around £2·5 billion with such a corresponding increase.

ENVIRONMENT

  Rating Valuation
  Mr. Gregory
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish, by valuation office, the number of appeals received relating to rating valuation assessments under the uniform business rate; from what date he expects the first appeals to be held at the North Yorkshire tribunal; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Key
  The table shows the number of proposals by ratepayers to alter their 1990 rating assessments, to insert new entries in the rating list and to alter assessments which have been revised by the valuation officer for each valuation office in England in respect of the period from 1 April to 31 December 1990.

  The North Yorkshire valuation and community charge tribunal is currently completing hearings of residual appeals against the 1973 valuation list. It expects to commence hearings of appeals against the 1990 rating list from May.

  Numbers of proposals received for alteration of 1990 rating lists

  Office

  (1)

  (2)

  (3)

  Alnwick

  3,429

  1

  195

  Aylesbury

  6,323

  1

  82

  Barking

  2,703

  2

  36

  Barnet

  3,041

  1

  7

  Barnstaple

  2,603

  32

  183

  Basingstoke

  4,406

  —

  96

  Bath

  2,774

  2

  9

  Bedford

  4,477

  —

  52

  Birmingham

  13,745

  22

  44

  Bolton

  4,376

  2

  112

  Boston

  2,746

  22

  60

  Bournemouth

  5,646

  66

  55

  Bradford

  5,442

  2

  102

  Brighton

  5,893

  12

  51

  Bristol

  6,612

  13

  102

  Bromley

  6,835

  10

  44

  Burnley

  5,750

  1

  70

  Cambridge

  4,654

  6

  75

  Camden

  5,433

  11

  16

  Carlisle

  3,736

  276

  37

  Chatham

  3,972

  —

  142

  Chelmsford

  6,920

  —

  11

  Chester

  4,692

  2

  23

  City of London

  10,099

  5

  448

  Colchester

  6,344

  32

  55

  Coventry

  4,751

  —

  61

  Crewe

  4,559

  —

  45

  Darlington

  4,153

  1

  62

  Derby

  4,472

  —

  88

  Doncaster

  4,490

  —

  45

  Dorchester

  3,045

  248

  40

  Durham

  3,523

  —

  29

  Ealing

  5,068

  6

  69

  Eastbourne

  3,381

  2

  52

  Enfield

  4,438

  1

  63

  Exeter

  5,465

  186

  89

  Folkestone

  4,153

  67

  47

  107

  Office

  (1)

  (2)

  (3)

  Gloucester

  5,361

  25

  229

  Greenwich

  5,276

  4

  42

  Grimsby

  2,467

  2

  129

  Guildford

  5,310

  —

  29

  Halifax

  5,916

  —

  188

  Hammersmith

  5,235

  13

  29

  Harrogate

  4,465

  2

  123

  Harrow

  4,661

  1

  116

  Hull

  4,861

  15

  140

  Ipswich

  4,669

  109

  23

  Islington

  6,660

  46

  79

  Kensington & Chelsea

  4484

  8

  45

  Kidderminster

  5,709

  —

  132

  Lambeth

  2,854

  9

  23

  Lancaster

  6,286

  29

  44

  Leeds

  8,941

  —

  88

  Leicester

  4,645

  —

  45

  Lichfield

  5,630

  2

  42

  Lincoln

  3,402

  —

  78

  Liverpool

  10,083

  1

  80

  London Support Unit

  6,333

  12

  77

  Loughborough

  3,484

  5

  25

  Manchester

  7,655

  11

  116

  Mansfield

  3,269

  —

  55

  Matlock

  3,695

  16

  51

  Merton

  4,656

  4

  113

  Middlesbrough

  7,634

  1

  74

  Newcastle

  7,288

  7

  22

  Northampton

  5,254

  —

  36

  Norwich

  6,782

  18

  157

  Nottingham

  5,164

  —

  69

  Oxford

  7,111

  20

  26

  Peterborough

  5,491

  19

  128

  Plymouth

  3,815

  325

  28

  Portsmouth

  4,956

  77

  72

  Preston

  4,596

  1

  90

  Reading

  7,602

  —

  146

  Redbridge

  3,530

  —

  21

  Reigate

  6,078

  1

  117

  Richmond-upon-Thames

  3,447

  6

  110

  Rochdale

  4,188

  4

  22

  St. Albans

  5,518

  2

  199

  St. Austell

  5,498

  1,826

  70

  Salford

  5,500

  —

  31

  Sandwell

  3,833

  2

  46

  Sheffield

  5,947

  —

  53

  Shrewsbury

  4,202

  6

  60

  Southampton

  6,581

  2

  147

  Southwark

  3,603

  1

  21

  Stevenage

  5,245

  —

  49

  Stockport

  4,316

  8

  16

  Stoke-on-Trent

  5,691

  1

  29

  Sunderland

  7,530

  14

  351

  Swindon

  3,596

  4

  34

  Taunton

  4,642

  5

  129

  Tower Hamlets

  3,549

  —

  59

  Tunbridge Wells

  5,105

  3

  159

  Ulverston

  3,637

  476

  26

  Wakefield

  5,263

  —

  99

  Warrington

  6,315

  —

  145

  Warwick

  4,554

  12

  140

  Westminster

  15,503

  47

  85

  Wolverhampton

  4,919

  5

  41

  Worcester

  6,071

  —

  123

  Worthing

  5,104

  52

  106

  York

  5,224

  216

  74

  Central List

  17

  —

  —

  1Proposals made against the 1990 rating lists.

  2Proposals to insert a new entry into the 1990 rating lists.

  3 Proposals made against VO notices to alter the 1990 rating lists.

  Homelessness
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, as a matter of urgency, he will contact the Lambeth health authority to discuss the use of the South 108
  London hospital for women as a hostel for homeless people on the streets of London; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Yeo
  I understand that the health authority is unable to make the hospital available for use by homeless people, or for other purposes, mainly because ownership of part of the site is at present the subject of an unresolved legal dispute. The Government have funded the provision of 700 additional bed spaces in emergency shelters in London during the very cold weather of the past 10 days. Most of the shelters have been full, but some still have a few spaces for rough sleepers to use. We are providing £96 million over three years to provide sufficient accommodation in hostel places and longer-term housing to ensure that it is unnecessary for anyone to sleep rough.

  Community Charge
  Sir Eldon Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his statement on the community charge reduction scheme, how this affects the provision of compensating grant to help make up loss of revenue from United States air force personnel who previously paid rates but are exempt from the community charge.

  Mr. Portillo
  The statement of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State about the community charge reduction scheme does not affect the payment of grant to local authorities in respect of members of the United States air force who are exempt from the community charge.

  Mr. Critchley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to reimburse local authorities for community charge income forgone from service personnel normally resident in their areas who have been posted to the Gulf; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Key
  We propose to introduce a scheme under section 146 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 to compensate local authorities for the income forgone where service personnel normally resident in their area have been posted to the Gulf.

  Under the proposed scheme, a special grant will be paid to local authorities in respect of service personnel who have ceased to be liable for the personal community charge because they have been posted to the Gulf. The grant will be paid if the income lost to the authority amounts to more than 0·25 per cent. of the total income from personal community charges for the period. Grant will be payable on the excess above this threshold, but will assume that the charge set by the authority was equal to the community charge for standard spending. Grant will be paid for the period beginning on 1 January 1991.

  It will not be possible to calculate the full amount of the grant, or the precise amounts to be paid to individual charging authorities, until the duration of the absences of service personnel is known. When those details are available a report will be laid before the House setting out the purpose of the grant, the amount to be paid to each authority and an explanation of how the amounts were calculated

  The Department of the Environment is writing today to notify local authorities of the proposed scheme. The local authority associations are being invited to join in urgent discussions on the arrangements in detail. Local authorities should take these proposals into account when drawing up their budgets and setting their community charges for 1991–92.
  109
  My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and for Scotland intend to make similar arrangements for local authorities in Wales and Scotland.

  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many cases are currently before the courts as a result of failure to pay the community charge; and if he will estimate the costs involved in pursuing those who fail to pay their community charge.

  Mr. Key
  Information on community charge cases currently before the courts is not held centrally. Figures are not available for the costs of community charge enforcement.

  Rent Arrears
  Mr. William Powell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the number of public sector tenants in arrears with their rent in each district of Northamptonshire; and if he will give it as a percentage of all tenants in each authority.

  Mr. Yeo
  The available information about the numbers of local authority tenants in arrears with their rent in Northamptonshire is in the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy publication, "Housing Rents Statistics at April 1990", a copy of which is in the Library.

  Date

  PPG9

  Regional Guidance for the South East

  February 1989

  PPG10

  Strategic Guidance for the West Midlands

  September 1988

  PPG11

  Strategic Guidance for Merseyside

  October 1988

  RPG1

  Strategic Guidance for Tyne and Wear

  June 1989

  RPG2

  Strategic Guidance for West Yorkshire

  September 1989

  RPG3

  Strategic Guidance for London

  September 1989

  RPG4

  Strategic Guidance for Greater Manchester

  December 1989

  RPG5

  Strategic Guidance for South Yorkshire

  December 1989

  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff in his Department are involved in drawing up and issuing planning policy guidance notes.

  Mr. Yeo
  There are some 30 staff in the Department's development plans and development control policy divisions who will have some involvement with drawing up or issuing planning policy guidance notes from time to time. Staff in other policy divisions may also be involved, depending upon the subject of the note.

  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment who he consults before issuing planning policy guidance notes.

  Mr. Yeo
  It is departmental policy to seek the views of a wide range of national bodies, including, for example, local authority associations, professional bodies and conservation and amenity groups, when issuing draft planning policy guidance notes for public consultation. They are publicised and are available to anybody on request.

  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many planning policy guidance notes have been issued since 1985; and at what cost.

  Mr. Yeo
  The planning policy guidance note (PPG) series was introduced in 1988. There are currently 16 titles.

  Nine Elms
  Mr. French
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received about the land occupied by the former Nine Elms cold store.

  Mr. Yeo
  No representations have been received. Since 1988 my Department has had five letters, all from one individual, asking whether there are any current proposals to develop the site.

  Planning Policy
  Mr. Brandon-Bravo
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a further statement on the strategic guidance which he gives to local planning authorities in former metropolitan counties.

  Sir George Young
  The Secretary of State has given strategic guidance for London and all the former metropolitan county areas to assist the London borough and metropolitan district councils in the preparation of their unitary development plans. The strategic guidance has been published in Department of the Environment planning policy guidance notes (PPGs) and regional policy guidance notes (RPGs) as follows:

  Three give regional planning guidance, more recent regional planning guidance can be found in the regional planning guidance (RPG) series begun in 1989 which now has five titles. The total publication cost to the Department is £49,509 for the 16 PPGs and £11,553 for the five separate RPGs.

  Local Authority Companies
  Sir Eldon Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a list of the local authority-controlled and local authority-influenced companies, indentifying each by name.

  Mr. Portillo
  Part V of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, which establishes these definitions, is not yet in force. Even when it is, my Department has no plans to collect this information.

  Planning Enforcement
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff in his Department deal with planning enforcement; and at what cost.

  Mr. Yeo
  The numbers of staff and estimated expenditure, including overheads, for the current financial year are as follows:

  Policy issues arising under Part VII of the Town and Country

  Planning Act 1990

  111
  1·25 staff units: £49,500

  Processing and deciding appeals to the Secretary of State under section 174 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
  92 staff units: £2·5 million

  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the local authorities in England and Wales and the estimated cost of planning enforcement in each.

  Mr. Yeo
  This information is not available centrally. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy compiles annual planning and development statistics. At present, planning enforcement costs are aggregated within estimates of total expenditure on development control by planning authorities. For 1991–92, the institute will be requesting authorities to show estimates of enforcement expenditure separately.

  EC Directives
  Mr. Janman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) under what circumstances his Department would decline to exercise the power of derogation from EC directives which had been granted; and if he will set out those circumstances;

  (2) if he will make a statement on his understanding of the difference between the power of derogation from EC directives and the implementation of derogation from EC directives.

  Mr. Baldry
  We exercise the right to seek and apply derogations from environmental directives when necessary and justified. We would seek a derogation only where we foresaw a clear possibility that it would need to be used.

  Local Government Finance
  Mr. Caborn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the amounts in cash terms for the York city council area(a) received from non-domestic rates in 1989–90, (b) due to be paid in uniform business rate in 1990–91 and in 1991–92 and (c) due from the non-domestic rate pool to York as a receiving authority in 1990–91 and in 1991–92.

  Mr. Key
  The information for York city council is as follows:

  Year

  £ million

  (a) Receipts from non-domestic rates

  1989–90

  18·3

  (b) Estimated receipts from non-domestic rates in

  1990–91

  16·6

  1991–92

  21·7

  (c) Receipts from non-domestic rate pool in

  1990–91

  23·1

  1991–92

  27·7

  Figures for receipts of non-domestic rates in 1989–90 and the following years are not on a comparable basis because of extensive changes to the system of local government finance.

  Mrs. Peacock
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the standard spending assessment for highways for Kirklees metropolitan council for 1991–92: and what it was for 1990–91.
  112
  Mr. Key
  [holding answer 15 February 1991]: The standard spending assessment for highway maintenance for Kirklees metropolitan council is £14·767 million for 1991–92. In 1990–91 it was £13·583 million.

  Mr. Ashley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply of 1 February,Official Report, column 662, if he will outline why the proposed capital financing element of the standard spending assessment for Stoke-on-Trent was reduced by £407,000.

  Mr. Portillo
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: The final capital financing SSA was £406,568 lower than the provisional figure issued at the time of consultation as a result of using later estimates of credit approvals for Stoke-on-Trent and all other authorities.

  Mr. Rooker
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement showing how the central Government increase of 23 per cent. in the standard spending assessment for personal social services is affected by the national inflation factor of 9 per cent. in the poll tax capping rules.

  Mr. Key
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: The increase in the standard spending assessments for personal social services reflects the Government's view of the amount of spending which is appropriate taking account of the pressures facing local authorities from service developments, demographic pressures and inflation and of what the country can afford. Under the intended criteria for charge capping, no authority would be capped if it spends at or below its SSA. The intended criteria do not depend on any "national inflation factor".

  Mr. Fearn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the effects of the community charge on private tenants' housing costs.

  Mr. Key
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: No such information is available.

  County Hall, London
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what offers have been received by his Department and the London residuary body for the purchase or rental of county hall, London SE1.

  Mr. Key
  Such matters are for the London residuary body and prospective purchasers. No offers have been received by the Department.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will review his decision not to allow the London residuary body to consider the use of county hall, London SE1 for public sector purposes.

  Mr. Key
  It is the task of the London residuary body to dispose of surplus property. County hall is surplus. The residuary body is free to consider any means of disposal consistent with its obligation to London's community charge payers.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider the use of county hall, London SEI for temporary accommodation of the homeless.

  Mr. Yeo
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave yesterday to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen),Official Report, Vol. 186, column 2.

  Greater London Council
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his current estimate of the financial and staff savings arising from the abolition of the GLC; and when the figures were last assessed.

  Mr. Key
  It was estimated in 1987 that some 6,300 posts had been saved immediately following abolition of the GLC and the metropolitan county councils. The projected long-term annual savings were of some £100 million per annum resulting from staff reductions. Because of the difficulty in disaggregating data relating to functions inherited by successor authorities it is not practicable to produce revised estimates.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the functions and responsibilities currently undertaken by the City of London as a result of GLC abolition.

  Mr. Key
  Apart from those which fell to London boroughs and the City of London at GLC abolition, responsibilities which have since been transferred by the London residuary body to the City are those in relation to Hampstead Heath and ex-GLC and ex-LRB records.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of staff numbers in his Department involved in full or part-time work arising from responsibilities transferred from the GLC.

  Mr. Key
  No functions were transferred directly from the GLC to the Department of the Environment, but the Department has sponsorship responsibilities for certain bodies with functions arising wholly or partly from the abolition of the GLC. The equivalent of eight full-time staff are estimated to work on these matters.

  Estuaries and Wetlands
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those estuaries and wetlands covered by sites of special scientific interest or other nature conservation designations, which are threatened by development proposals.

  Mr. Baldry
  The information is not held centrally. The Nature Conservancy Council is, however, required to be consulted about all development proposals in sites of special scientific interest. The NCC has undertaken a review of the nature conservation interests of the estuaries of Great Britain. I understand that the full report is due to be published on 25 March.

  Vacant Houses
  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the number of houses and flats which have been unoccupied for a period longer than six months for each London borough.

  Mr. Yeo
  Local authorities report the number of their dwellings which have been vacant for over six months but not more than one year and the number that have been vacant for over one year in their annual housing investment programme returns (HIP1). The latest available figures are for 1 April 1990 and appear in "1990 HIP1 All Items Print," in columns A178 (over six months but not more than one year) and A188 (over one year). A copy of the document is in the Library.

  House Condition Survey
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the forthcoming English house condition survey will include a study of insulation levels and the potential for energy conservation and fuel-efficient heating in the housing stock.

  Sir George Young
  Yes.

  Gulf Oil Slicks
  Dr. Hampson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a further statment on environmental impact studies by the Natural Environment Research Council related to the Gulf oil spill.

  Mr. Heseltine
  Two studies have been carried out by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to assist international efforts which are under way to minimise the environmental damage caused by the deliberate release of oil into the Gulf by Iraq. The first study, an assessment of the biological effects of the oil spill on the ecosystem of the Gulf, including its marine wildlife, has been sent to the relevant Government Agencies in Saudi Arabia and in the other Gulf states. The report includes a brief assessment of response options and makes recommendations.

  The second study carried out by NERC is concerned with modelling the movement, dispersion, evaporation and solution of the oil released, using tidal and weather data.

  I am today placing copies of both the report and a description of the modelling work completed by the NERC in the Library and I am also arranging for this to be presented to the appropriate authorities in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states.

  Drinking Water
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the information available to his Department on the incidence of faecal material in drinking water; and if he will indicate any significant regional variations in such incidence.

  Mr. Baldry
  The chief drinking water inspector will publish, in the summer, a full report on the quality of drinking water supplied by water companies in England and Wales during 1990

  Vacant Land
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to the amount of vacant, dormant, derelict, unused and underused land owned by each Government Department.

  Sir George Young
  [holding answer 14 February 1991]: Holdings of unused and underused land in England at 31 March 1990, the latest available date, as reported by the Departments concerned, are shown in the table. Information about health authorities' land is not available. No unused or underused land is held by any other major Departments.

  Individual departments are responsible for monitoring and managing their own property holdings. The rationalisation of holdings, the disposal of surplus land and the improvement of systems are encouraged through the public expenditure survey discussions and in other ways.
  115

  Unused and underused land held by Departments

  Acres

  Ministry of Defence

  2,527

  Department of the Environment

  164

  Home Office

  299

  HM Land Registry

  18

  Lord Chancellor's Department

  9

  Department of Transport

  1,606

  Local Government Review
  Mr. Gould
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the job titles and grades, in full-time equivalents, of staff working on his local government review, including and identifying staff seconded from other Government Departments; and if he will calculate the annual cost of this exercise.

  Mr. Heseltine
  [holding answer 15 February 1991]: A team was established within the Department in December 1990 to undertake a thorough review of local government functions, structure and finance. The review team is headed by a grade 4 (director) supported by 22 staff, made of the following grades:

  Four at grade 5 (assistant secretary)

  Five at grade 7 (principal)

  One higher executive officer (development)

  Three higher executive officers

  Two executive officers

  One senior personal secretary

  Two administrative officers

  Four personal secretaries

  Of these staff, one grade 5 and one grade 7 are seconded from the Department of Social Security.

  Annual expenditure by the review team is estimated at some £1 million, which breaks down broadly as follows:

  £

  Basic salary costs

  616,000

  Other costs

  391,000

  Mr. Gould
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if any external work has been commissioned for his review of local government; and if any external advisers have been appointed to the review.

  Mr. Heseltine
  [holding answer 15 February 1991]: I have not appointed external advisers or commissioned external work in connection with the review. We are, however, consulting widely about the review and have made clear our desire to discuss the issues with local government and opposition parties and our willingness to consider views put to us by individuals and organisations outside Government.

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

  Namibia
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will offer aid programmes to help deal with the high rates of maternal death, disability and miscarriage suffered by Namibian women.

  Mrs. Chalker
  The Namibian Government plan to develop a primary health care system which will place much greater emphasis on maternal health. We have 116
  offered to assist in a project to train primary health care trainers, currently being designed by the Ministry of Health with the assistance of Oxfam UK. We are exploring the scope to provide further help in this sector.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will offer special aid to the Government of Namibia to set up institutional retraining programmes for procedures in dealing with cases of murder, rape, and assault of Namibian women.

  Mrs. Chalker
  The objective of our current assistance to the Namibian police service is to enable it to respond more effectively to the needs of all sections of the community. Training courses developed by British police advisers, in which local civil and women's rights organisations participate, reflect this objective.

  Tamils
  Mrs. Ann Winterton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid is being made available by Her Majesty's Government to assist Tamil refugees fleeing from persecution in Sri Lanka and India.

  Mrs. Chalker
  Help is available in a number of ways. We are providing technical co-operation grants totalling £4 million over three years in support of Save the Children Fund and Oxfam projects in the north and east of Sri Lanka, much of whose effort is directed to refugee relief.

  We have also provided emergency relief totalling £445,000 through UNICEF, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross for their programmes in Sri Lanka.

  Forest Charter
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made on the forest charter for UN conference on environment and development, as outlined in the speech of the Minister for Overseas Development to the World Wide Fund for Nature on 11 December.

  Mrs. Chalker
  A world forest charter remains one of the options for UNCED in 1992, but the international community has yet to agree for which international forest instruments to aim and in what forum negotiations should proceed. We hope that progress will be made at the second meeting of the UNCED preparatory committee, 15 March to 5 April, in Geneva.

  Botswana
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the income of commercial cattle farmers in Botswana derived from the beef protocol of the Lomé agreements.

  Mrs. Chalker
  Under the provisions of the Lome convention, Botswana receives a quota of 18,916 tonnes of beef exports per annum to the community. It is not possible to estimate the effects of these exports on the incomes of the cattle farmers.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance is given by his Department to the Botswana authorities in achieving ecologically sound development.
  117
  Mrs. Chalker
  We ensure that all projects with which we are involved are environmentally sound in line with procedures laid down in our environmental appraisal manual. We also provide direct assistance to help the Government of Botswana in this area, for example by helping to fund the Government of Botswana's deputy director of wildlife.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how many staff members from the ODA are working in Botswana;

  (2) if he will specify the position and responsibility of all ODA staff and consultants funded by the ODA currently working in Botswana;

  (3) how many ODA staff and consultants funded by the ODA are currently seconded to the Botswana authorities.

  Mrs. Chalker
  The following positions in Botswana are held by staff fully or partly funded by ODA:

  Ministry of Agriculture

  1 Deputy director—veterinary Services

  6 Senior veterinary officers

  1 Veterinary research officer

  2 Agricultural research officers

  1 Weed research officer

  1 Agricultural economist

  Ministry of Education

  1 Principal—Botswana polytechnic

  1 Head of department science

  1 Head of department electrical engineering

  1 Head of department civil engineering

  1 Head of department vocational training

  4 Lecturers—technical education

  1 Lecturer—civil engineering

  2 Lecturers—mechanical engineering

  1 Lecturer—mathematics

  1 Lecturer—telecommunications

  1 Lecturer—electrical engineering

  1 Lecturer—computing

  1 Lecturer—science

  3 Headmasters

  3 Deputy headmasters

  1 Curriculum development officer

  1 Inservice maths teacher trainer

  4 Inservice technical education teacher trainers

  3 Inservice English teacher trainers

  1 Finance officer

  1 Scientific instruments technician

  Ministry of Health

  1 Orthopaedic surgeon

  1 Specialist physician

  1 Gynaecologist

  2 Nurse tutors

  1 Paediatrician

  Ministry of Finance

  3 Computer programmers

  2 Training officers

  1 Finance officer

  1 Customs officer

  1 Internal auditor

  1 Statistician

  Ministry of Lands and Local Government

  1 Director—department of wildlife

  3 Senior surveyors

  1 Senior lands use planning officer

  3 Senior lands officers

  Ministry of Works & Communications

  1 Director

  1 Deputy director—roads department

  3 Senior roads engineers

  1 Quantity surveyor

  2 Architects

  1 Senior mechanical engineer

  118

  1 Electrical engineer

  1 Mechanical engineer

  1 Design technician

  Ministry of mineral resources and water affairs

  1 Hydrological engineer

  2 Hydrogeologists

  1 Water engineer

  1 Geologist

  1 Economist

  1 Finance officer

  Police and legal assistance

  3 Assistant Police Commissioners

  1 Assistant Registrar

  1 Privy state counsel

  Computer bureau

  1 Micro-computer specialist

  1 Training specialist

  University of Botswana

  1 Professor of Biology

  1 Chemistry Lecturer

  1 Engineering Lecturer

  1 Computer services manager

  Consultants

  "Makoro Ltd."

  2 Consultants assisting in the preparation of National Development Plan 7

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which projects in respect of dredging the Boro river ODA staff members or consultants have been involved.

  Mrs. Chalker
  None.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what ODA staff or consultants working in Botswana have been involved in developing plans to cull elephants in that country;

  (2) in what projects relating to buffalo control ODA staff members or consultants have been involved in northern Botswana;

  (3) if any ODA staff or consultants have been involved in developing plans for the disposal of elephant ivory; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Chalker
  The deputy director of wildlife in Botswana is employed by the Government of Botswana. His post is partially funded by the ODA, but we have no power of direction over policies adopted by the Government of Botswana. The department of wildlife covers all aspects of wildlife planning and management in Botswana.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has regarding veterinary advice given to the Botswana authorities by the United Kingdom and the EC regarding the need to construct a steel fence in the Okavango delta in Botswana.

  Mrs. Chalker
  None. The alignment of fences surrounding parts of the Okavango delta has been determined by the Government of Botswana themselves, following close consultation between the interested Government departments including the department of wildlife, and the department of animal health, and with local communities. Great care has been taken to minimise the impact on wildlife.
  119
  While neither the ODA nor the EC has provided veterinary advice on the need to construct fences, the ODA part-funds members of staff in the departments of wildlife and of animal health.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice was given by the Overseas Development Administration or EC aid agencies in respect of the case for, or environmental impact of, the construction of a steel fence in the Okavango delta in Botswana.

  Mrs. Chalker
  None.

  South African Development Bank
  Sir Eldon Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Overseas Development Administration works with the South African Development Bank in promoting economic and social enhancement projects in southern Africa; if he will publish examples of the activities in which both these agencies have been and are jointly engaged; and what information he has on links between German, Dutch and French Governments' overseas development agencies and the South African Development Bank.

  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contact and co-operation currently exists between the Overseas Development Administration and the Development Bank of South Africa.

  Mrs. Chalker
  My officials from ODA have held discussions with those from the Development Bank of Southern Africa on a number of occasions. The two organisations have not engaged in any joint activities. We do not have information readily available on links between the Development Bank of Southern Africa and other overseas development organisations.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

  Stationery
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will list the number and quantities of chlorine-free and recycled paper products bought for the use of the House in 1990.

  Mr. MacGregor
  The number and quantities of recycled paper products bought for the use of the House in 1990 by HMSO were:

  Quantity

  Pre-paid white envelopes

  (23–146)

  250,000

  Pre-paid buff envelopes

  (HC 130)

  322,500

  Pre-paid buff envelopes

  (HC 131)

  66,000

  Various buff stock envelopes

  1—

  Compliment slips

  20,000

  Printed memos

  (HC 91B)

  3,000

  Printed memos

  (HC 92B)

  3,000

  Printed memos

  (HC 93B)

  3,000

  A4 die-stamped letterheadings

  (19–116)

  250,000

  A4 typing topsheets

  (19–30)

  30,000

  A5 typing topsheets

  (HC 66)

  20,000

  File covers

  (6–59 and 6–56)

  l—

  Ruled writing paper

  (18–165)

  1—

  Toilet tissue

  (13–22 and 13–34)

  1—

  1 Quantities of these items are not available without incurring disproportionate cost.

  120
  Because of the unknown origins of waste materials used for recycled papers, it is not possible to give accurate guidance on the presence of chlorine in the listed products.

  European Organisations
  Sir Geoffrey Finsberg
  To ask the Lord President of the Council what decisions have been reached concerning the improvement of communications facilities between the House, the Western European Union and the Council of Europe.

  Mr. MacGregor
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: The Select Committee on House of Commons (Services) last week approved in principle the provision to Members of free postage and telephone calls to certain European institutions.

  These will largely comprise the main institutions of the European Community, but, as I have already indicated in correspondence with my hon. Friend, it is intended that direct dialling facilities should also be made available from the start to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and the assembly of the Western European Union in Paris, and it is my hope that the new postage arrangements will similarly extend to these institutions.

  Subject to the approval of the House of Commons Commission, which has financial responsibility for the provision of postal and telephone services, it is hoped that the new arrangements can be brought into effect early in the next financial year. A further announcement will be made in due course.

SCOTLAND

  Jordanhill College
  Mr. Sillars
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will show the number of places available at Jordanhill College of Education for the BEd degree course in the present academic year and for next year.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  In the current academic session there are 671 funded places in the primary BEd course at Jordanhill college of education. In session 1991–92 the number of funded places will rise to 711.

  House Revaluation
  Mr. Bill Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what arrangements he intends to make for 1991–92 to continue phasing in the effects of the 1990 revaluation.

  Mr. Lang
  We are committed to limiting annual increases in non-domestic rate bills resulting from revaluation to a maximum of 20 per cent. in real terms, and to only 15 per cent. for those ratepayers occupying properties with rateable values of less than £10,000. These arrangements will continue, but I intend to provide additional protection next year in the case of part-residential properties such as small hotels and guest houses with rateable values of less than £10,000. The increase in notional rateable values for these properties in 1991–92 will be limited to 10 per cent.

  In order to maintain the level of non-domestic rate income to authorities this year we arranged to limit decreases in non-domestic rate bills resulting from revaluation to 11·5 per cent. in real terms, and to 16·5 per

  121
  cent. for those ratepayers occupying properties with rateable values of less than £10,000. The limits for those who benefited from the revaluation will reduce by a further 11·5 per cent. and 16·5 per cent. in real terms in 1991–92.

  These changes will be set out in regulations which I shall lay before Parliament in the near future. The regulations will prescribe the multipliers to be applied to the rateable values of properties in the valuation roll on 31 March 1990 to determine the upper and lower notional rateable values for the purpose of calculating non-domestic rate bills for 1991–92. The multipliers for the upper limits will be 1·936 for properties with rateable values as at 1 April 1990 of £10,000 or more, 1·778 for those with rateable values of less than £10,000 and 1·701 for part-residential properties with values of less than £10,000. The multipliers for the lower limits will be 1·052 for properties with rateable values as at 1 April 1990 of £10,000 or more and 0·937 for those properties with values of less than £10,000.

  Assisted Places
  Mr. Bill Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has decided on the level of fee remission grant which will be available to parents under the assisted places scheme in school session 1991–92.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  My right hon. Friend is making £8·492 million available for fee remission in 1991–92. As in 1990–91, 59 schools across Scotland will participate in the scheme. The funding now available should increase the number of pupils benefiting towards the planned level of about 3,000 by the end of the session.

  Local Health Councils
  Mr. Nigel Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to ensure that members of local health councils fully reflect the views of the community they serve.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: Health boards have been advised to ensure that council members are drawn from throughout their area and that selection is made after consultation with all appropriate bodies.

  Health Records
  Mr. David Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total sum paid by the Scottish Home and Health Department to the firm GPASS for computerising health centre records; and how many general practitioners and how many sites are covered by the work done.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  GPASS is an NHS-managed and funded computerised administration system for general practitioners and is in direct competition with commercial suppliers of GP computer systems. The cost of developing and maintaining the system is therefore commercially confidential and it would be inappropriate to divulge this information. The latest figures available indicate the GPASS software is used by 2,212 GPs in 622 practices which equates to nearly 66 per cent. of GPs and 55 per cent. of practices in Scotland.

THE ARTS

  School Libraries
  Mr. Flannery
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what plans he has to update his survey into school libraries

  Mr. Renton
  School libraries are the responsibility of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science.

  "School Libraries: the Foundations of the Curriculum" was a report of a working party set up by the Library and Information Services Council for England to consider the future of school library services. There are no plans to update this, but the council maintains a regular interest in school libraries and associated services.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  New Forest
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what restrictions are placed on the holding of cash collections in the New Forest by Forestry Commission byelaws; and under what circumstances and by what authority these byelaws may be waived.

  Mr. Curry
  The Forestry Commission byelaws do not place any restrictions on the holding of cash collections in the New Forest.

  Battery Farms
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many battery hen farms were visited by his Department's veterinary inspectors in each of the last five years; and what other efforts are made by his Department to monitor compliance with the code of recommendations for the welfare of domestic fowl.

  Mr. Maclean
  The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Officers of the state veterinary service monitor welfare whenever they visit livestock farms and will advise farmers on the welfare codes whenever necessary.

  Tobacco
  Mr. Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total sum devoted by the EC to tobacco production in the most recent annual period for which figures are available; and how much was expended by the community in the storage and export of such EC produced tobacco.

  Mr. Curry
  I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave him on 11 February,Official Report, col. 376.

  Low-energy Light Bulbs
  Mr. Cartwright
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to encourage the use of low-energy light bulbs in his Department's offices and other buildings.

  Mr. Curry
  As part of the Department's campaign to save energy by all practical means, more energy-efficient lighting has been installed in our regional office at Reading
  123
  and is currently being installed in the headquarter offices in Whitehall and Whitehall place and in the central science laboratory at Slough. In other locations similar measures are under consideration and these will be carried forward wherever practicable.

  Botswana (Beef Imports)
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much beef on average is imported into the United Kingdom from Botswana each year.

  Mr. Curry
  Imports into the United Kingdom of fresh, chilled and frozen beef and veal from Botswana over the most recent three years for which figures are available are as follows:

  (tonnes product weight)

  Year

  Quantity

  1989

  4,848

  1988

  2,600

  1987

  2,499

  Source: Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has on the import by the EC of beef from Botswana

  Mr. Curry
  Under the Lomé convention the Community provides a reduced levy annual import quota for 18,916 tonnes of beef from Botswana. In the last three years for which figures are available the following quantities of beef have been imported into the Community:

  Tonnes

  1989

  9·988

  1988

  6·118

  1987

  8·322

  Source: Eurostat.

NATIONAL FINANCE

  Income Tax
  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest forecast collection of receipts from the higher rate of income tax in 1990–91; and what was the comparable figure for the collection of receipts from the higher rates of income tax in 1978–79.

  Mr. Maude
  In 1978–79 income tax liability at the higher rate was about 9 per cent. of total income tax liability. In 1990–91 it is estimated that liability at the higher rate will be about 20 per cent. of total liability.

  TESSAs
  Mr. French
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many financial institutions known to him have introduced tax-exempt special savings accounts.

  Mr. Maude
  A total of 150 so far.

  Mr. French
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the level of savings deposited in tax-exempt special savings accounts.

  Mr. Maude
  It is too early to make a firm estimate.

  Banks (Loans to Employees)
  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has concerning the number of employees who currently receive loans at non-commercial rates from employers in the banking and financial sectors.

  Mr. Maude
  [holding answer 15 February 1991]: I have no firm data on the number of banking and financial sector employees currently receiving cheap loans from their employers.

  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the influence on the effectiveness of his interest rate policy of the current policy of many banks in making reduced-rate loans to their employees.

  Mr. Maude
  [holding answer 15 February 1991]: I have made no such assessment.

  Reduced-rate Mortgages
  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he would make of the annual value to an employee with an average-sized mortgage on his home of a reduced-rate 5 per cent. loan from his employer compared to a similar employee borrowing a similar amount at commercial rates.

  Mr. Maude
  [holding answer 15 February 1991]: The value for 1990–91 for a basic rate taxpayer is just over £2,000 after taking account of mortgage interest tax relief.

  Reduced-rate Loans
  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any plans to treat reduced-rate employee loans as a taxable perk; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Maude
  [holding answer 15 February 1991]: The benefit of interest free or cheap loans provided for employees by employers is already taxable as a benefit-in-kind.

  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he makes of the potential revenue to the Exchequer if reduced-rate employee loans were treated for tax purposes in a similar manner to company cars.

  Mr. Maude
  [holding answer 15 February 1991]: The estimated yield for 1990–91 from the existing tax charge on loans made to employees by their employers is £65 million.

  Married Women's Income Tax
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the annual income tax payable under the new arrangements by married women with a gross daily income of(a) £0·5 million, (b) £1 million and (c) £1·8 million.

  Mr. Maude
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: If all the income were subject to tax and the only relief available were the personal allowance, the income tax liability for 1990–91 would be:

  (a) £72,995,693

  (b) £145,995,693

  (c) £262,795,693

  Wine Imports
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the quantity of wine imported into Britain from non-EC countries, giving the country, and also the import levy paid for each of the last five years.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: Wine from non-EC countries has not been liable to import levy during the last five years although an import duty may be payable.

  I regret that the detailed breakdown which the hon. Member requests would be available only at disproportionate cost. But the "Overseas Trade Accounts", copies of which are in the Library, show that the total quantities of wine imported from non-EC countries in each of the last five years were as follows:

  Imports of Wine from Non-EC Countries

  Year

  Quantity

  Value

  (Tonnes)

  (Litres)

  (£000s)

  1986

  54,183

  47,992,883

  31,245

  1987

  66,014

  56,942,130

  41,361

  1988

  74,302

  63,360,450

  59,037

  1989

  78,316

  67,262,938

  68,427

  1990

  94,883

  79,006,661

  89,054

EMPLOYMENT

  Disabled People
  Mr. McMaster
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employers employed at least five per cent. of their workforce from people who are registered as disabled in 1990 in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) Scotland, (c) Strathclyde region and (d) Renfrew district.

  Mr. Jackson
  The information requested is not collected centrally. It could be obtained—in respect of employers in Scotland, Strathclyde region, Renfrew district and separately in Great Britain and Northern Ireland—only at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Ashley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the names of all the organisations which submitted a response to the consultative document, "Employment and Training for People with Disabilities".

  Mr. Jackson
  My Department has received responses from 333 organisations. My noble Friend Lord Ullswater will write to the right hon. Member with a list of the organisations and place a copy of his reply in both Libraries.

  Mr. Dunnachie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he intends to introduce to allow people with disabilities to participate fully in the work force.

  Mr. Jackson
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: My Department already operates an extensive range of measures designed to help people with disabilities to participate fully in the workplace. These services and schemes were recently reviewed, following which we invited comments on a number of issues and proposals from a wide range of interested parties. We are presently considering responses to these consultations and will decide what changes to the existing measures are required in the light of comments received.

  Fit-for-Work Awards
  Mr. McMaster
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many fit-for-work awards were given to employers in the last year in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) Scotland, (c) Strathclyde region and (d) Renfrew district.

  Mr. Jackson
  Questions on operational matters in the Employment Service executive agency are the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the agency's chief executive, to whom I have referred this question for reply.

  Public Sector Pay
  Mr. Higgins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the public sector pay negotiations he expects to be concluded in the next six months.

  Mr. Forth
  The timing of the conclusion of public sector pay negotiations is a matter for the employing organisations and the unions concerned.

  Euratom
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when and where European Community directives 80/836 Euratom and 84/467 Have been implemented in United Kingdom law.

  Mr. Forth
  European Council directive 80/836/ Euratom, as amended by European Council directive 84/647/Euratom, was implemented in the United Kingdom in 1985. The bulk of the requirements were covered by the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985 and supporting approved code of practice. The residual requirements were covered by existing legislation:

  The Radioactive Substances Act 1960.

  The Food Act 1984.

  The Medicines (Administration of Radioactive Substances) Regulations 1978.

  Vocational Training
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what consultations he has had with the chairman of South Glamorgan TEC regarding the setting up of a centre of excellence in the vocational training field in Cardiff.

  Mr. Jackson
  My department has had no consultations with the chairman of the South Glamorgan TEC about the establishment of such a centre.

  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will institute a study jointly with South Glamorgan TEC into the most convenient location or locations for vocational training activities dependent on public funds.

  Mr. Jackson
  TECs contract with my Department to meet the training needs of their local communities. It is for the TEC and their providers to determine the most convenient locations for training.

  Training and Enterprise Councils
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what duties training and enterprise councils have in the field of urban regeneration.
  127
  Mr. Jackson
  TECs contract with my Department to meet the training and enterprise needs of their local communities, including urban areas where relevant.

  Astra Training Services
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what consultations he has had with the chairman of the South Glamorgan TEC concerning the cessation of Astra Training Services activities at the skill centre, Western avenue, Galbalfa, Cardiff, and any alternative arrangements to accommodate Astra at premises owned by Cardiff Bay development corporation.

  Mr. Jackson
  I have had no such consultations.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Paper Industry
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make it his policy to restrict the import of chlorine-bleached pulp into the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Leigh
  Pulp mills in Sweden are going over to other methods of bleaching and those in north America are refining their methods to produce much lower levels of dioxins. United Kingdom industry is voluntarily going over as quickly as possible to wood pulp bleached by other methods, or to unbleached pulp. So there is no need to restrict imports.

  Trust Ports
  Ms. Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list and place in the Library copies of all the reports which his Department's marketing initiative has requested relating to trust ports, including that by GP Wild International Ltd. in February 1990.

  Mr. Leigh
  No. All consultants' reports produced as a result of projects carried out under my Department's consultancy initiatives scheme are commercially confidential in nature. It would not be appropriate therefore for me to list or place in the Library copies of such reports.

  1851 Exhibition
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the holder of his office last attended a meeting of the royal commissioners for the exhibition of 1851

  Mr. Leigh
  According to the royal commissioners' records, neither the current Secretary of State for Trade and Industry nor the holder of his office has attended commissioners' meetings in the past five years.

  Software Directive
  Miss Emma Nicholson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will reconsider the proposed language of the EC software directive to ensure that legitimate activities, hitherto legal under United Kingdom law, do not become inadvertently violative of copyright;

  (2) what work his Department has undertaken to study the legislative implications in the United Kingdom of the draft EC software directive.
  128
  Mr. Leigh
  My Department has kept legislative implications continually under review during negotiations on the directive. The Department's 'assessment of those implications was set out in the explanatory memorandum submitted to the Scrutiny Committee on 20 November 1990. The directive will require member states to give copyright protection to computer programs as literary works, which is already the case in the United Kingdom. The protection affordable and the legality of current activities will not change to any significant degree.

  Bottled Gas
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will publish in the Official Report the percentage increase in the price of bottled gas since the beginning of the Gulf crisis;

  (2) what representations he has received regarding recent changes in the price of bottled gas.

  Mr. Redwood
  My Department does not collect information on price changes for bottled gas. I have received a number of representations about increases in the price of liquefied petroleum gas following recent developments in the Gulf. Copies of all correspondence received have been passed to the Director General of Fair Trading who is making some inquiries into recent changes in the price of LPG. His purpose is to establish whether action is warranted under the competition legislation.

  Low-energy Light Bulbs
  Mr. Cartwright
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to encourage the use of low-energy light bulbs in his Department's offices and other buildings.

  Mr. Leigh
  The Department's energy efficiency unit is tasked with promoting energy efficiency awareness in all the Department's accommodation management teams, including awareness of the benefits to be gained from energy-efficient lighting.

  The Department incorporates energy-efficient lighting schemes in all its building modernisation projects.

  FIMBRA
  Mr. French
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any plans to review the role, responsibilities and funding of FIMBRA.

  Mr. Redwood
  These are matters for the Securities and Investments Board.

  Insolvency
  Mr. Janner
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many directors were disqualified under the Insolvency Act 1986 during each of the years 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990, respectively; and how many individual and how many corporate insolvencies there were in each of those years.

  Mr. Redwood
  There are no provisions in the Insolvency Act 1986 which disqualify directors but every individual who is declared bankrupt by the courts is prohibited from acting in the management of a company for the duration of the bankruptcy, usually three years.

  There were provisions relating to director disqualification in the Insolvency Act 1985 and the Companies Act

  129
  1985. However, these were consolidated into the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. The number of directors disqualified under these Acts and the number of individual and corporate insolvencies from 1987 to 1990 are as follows:

  Corporate insolvencies

  Individual insolvencies

  Disqualification orders

  1987

  15,030

  7,427

  193

  1988

  14,226

  8,507

  333

  1989

  16,305

  9,365

  352

  1990

  23,630

  13,987

  382

  There were 561 disqualification applications against directors awaiting hearing by the courts as at 31 December 1990.

  Kuwait (Reconstruction)
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the 168 firms mentioned in his letter to hon. Members on 12 February concerning the reconstruction of Kuwait; and if he will explain the basis on which these firms have been selected.

  Mr. Lilley
  Details of these companies are set out in the prospectus on "Restructuring Kuwait", copies of which are in the Library of the House. They were selected as providing good examples of United Kingdom industry's experience and capabilities in the areas likely to be of greatest importance for the reconstruction of Kuwait, in close consultation with the six Government-industry sectoral sub-groups which are co-ordinating the United Kingdom's proposals. The prospectus recognises that there are many other British companies capable of assisting Kuwait.

  Major Shareholdings Directive
  Mr. Butler
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to publish a consultative document on implementation of the EEC major shareholdings directive.

  Mr. Redwood
  My Department has today published a consultative document on proposals for implementing the EC directive on the information to be published when a major shareholding in a listed company is acquired or disposed of. Copies are being placed in the Library. The closing date for comments on the proposals is 15 April.

  Citizens Advice Bureaux
  Mr. Tom Clarke
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the funding over the next three years of DTI grant in aid to the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and Citizens Advice Scotland.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 11 February 1991]: Details of the DTI grant in aid to NACAB and CAS for the next three years are not available. Expenditure plans for 1991–92 will be published next month in the supply estimates.

  Mr. Tom Clarke
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last met representatives of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux to discuss Department of Trade and Industry grant in aid.
  130
  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 11 February 1991]: Ministers from my Department meet NACAB from time to time to discuss matters of mutual concern, including funding. The last such meeting was on 11 October when the then Minister for Consumer Affairs, Lord Hesketh, met the chairman and some of the members of the NACAB council.

  Secondment of Staff
  Mr. Tom Clarke
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many secondments there are in his Department from(a) the Confederation of British Industry and (b) the Trades Union Congress.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 11 February 1991]: None.

  Export Credits
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what were the total amounts of the cover provided, and expenditure incurred, by the insurance services division of the ECGD and what proportion of these sums relates to the export of services through the years 1983 to 1990.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 12 February 1991]: In the financial years 1983–84 to 1989–90, ECGD insurance services covered short-term exports worth £82·5 billion of which 1·6 per cent. related to the export of services.

  ECGD's published annual trading accounts include an analysis of the costs of operating ECGD as a whole but do not separately identify the costs of operating the insurance services group.

  EC Consumer Policy
  Mr. Wray
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress the Council of Ministers and the European Commission have made in securing common policies at EC level to protect consumer interests.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 12 February 1991]: The Government's White Papers on developments in the European Community, which are published every six months, list measures which have been agreed by the Council of Ministers. A Council resolution on future priorities for relaunching consumer protection policy was adopted in November 1989. Draft directives on general safety, unfair terms in consumer contracts and liability for services have been submitted to the Council by the Commission.

  Inward Investment
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his best estimate of the percentage of United Kingdom inward investment projects going to(a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) the northern region of England as measured by jobs promised in the period (i) April to October 1989, (ii) October to March 1989–90 and (iii) April to October 1990.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 14 February 1991]: The table sets out the number of investment decisions known to the Invest in Britain Bureau for the periods 1 April 1989 to 30 September 1989, 1 October 1989 to 31 March 1990 and 1 April to 30 September 1989 and the jobs anticipated for each of the regions specified as a proportion of total inward investment known for the United Kingdom during those periods.
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  The decisions recorded include the establishment of new business, expansion or acquisition of an existing business and involvement in joint venture. The figures are

  Inward Investment decisions and expected new jobs from April 1989—October 1990, broken down into 6 month periods for Wales, Scotland and North East England as a proportion of the total

  Wales

  Scotland

  North East

  Total numbers of

  Projects

  Jobs

  Projects

  Jobs

  Projects

  Jobs

  Projects

  Jobs

  1 April to 30 September 1989

  12·4

  15·6

  10·6

  19·2

  10·6

  15·9

  161

  17,030

  1 October 1989 to 31 March 1990

  22·8

  7·6

  9·3

  29·0

  9·8

  6·4

  193

  15,661

  1 April to 30 September 1990

  16·9

  9·5

  10·4

  31·8

  13·0

  8·9

  154

  12,028

  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his best estimate of the percentage of United Kingdom inward investment projects going to(a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) the northern region of England as measured by capital investment in the period (i) April to October 1989, (ii) October to March 1989–90 and (iii) April to October 1990.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 14 February 1991]: The information requested by the hon. Gentleman is unavailable.

  Departmental Purchases
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of(a) the furniture and (b) office equipment and computers purchased by his Department since 1979 was made in the United Kingdom; and what is his Department's policy towards purchasing foreign goods where a British supplier is available.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: Details of the British-made proportion of DTI purchases since 1979 in the categories listed are not maintained centrally.

  The Government's policy is that Departments should base all procurement of goods and services on value for money, including quality (or fitness for purpose) and delivery against price. In accordance with that policy, goods and services are acquired by competition unless there are convincing reasons to the contrary. Under EC rules, and the GATT Government procurement agreement where appropriate, my Department is obliged to award relevant contracts in accordance with prescribed procedures aimed at avoiding discrimination on grounds of nationality.

  Bankruptcies
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the bankruptcies or receiverships in industry, by sector, specifying in particular coal mining, ship building, iron and steel, and agriculture, for each year from 1979 until the latest available date.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: The available information on company insolvencies in England and Wales and in Scotland is published in the annual reports on companies; that on personal insolvencies in England and Wales is in the annual report on bankruptcy up to 1987, and for 1988 and 1989 in the annual report on insolvencies. Copies of these publications are available in the Library of the House of Commons.
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  based on information provided by the companies themselves at the time of the investment and take no account of subsequent developments.

  Consumer Protection
  Mr. Nigel Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give figures for forecast outturn for 1990–91 and planned expenditure for 1991–92 to 1993–94 for(a) consumer and investor protection, including separately (i) nationalised industries consumer councils, (ii) miscellaneous consumer protection and advisory services, (iii) investor protection and (b) regulation of trade and consumer protection grants in aid including separately, (1) the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and the Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, (2) consumer groups councils and (3) the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 18 February 1991]: For each of the services mentioned, the forecast outturn for 1990–91 was reflected in the winter supplementary estimate for class IV vote 2, and planned provision for 1991–92 will be set out in the supply estimates to be published in March. The Department's overall plans for expenditure on statutory and regulatory work, including technological support, and consumer protection are set out in "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1991–92 to 1993–94: Trade and Industry" (Cm. 1504).

DEFENCE

  The Gulf
  Mr. David Nicholson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the development of and support given to groups assisting the families of those serving in the Gulf.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The services have a well-established structure which combines the work of official and voluntary organisations in the support of personnel and their families. Since deployment to the Gulf began, steps have been taken to provide increased welfare support to families and we are particularly grateful for the many offers of help we have had from groups and individual people. We have encouraged the establishment of local Gulf support groups and contact points for them have been set up in the Ministry of Defence.

  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are his estimates of the cost of replacing equipment lost in the Gulf war to date.

  Mr. Tom King
  To date the value of equipment lost and ammunition consumed since hositilities began is approaching £250 million. No decisions have yet been taken on the replacement of lost equipment.
  133
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has on the level of civilian casualties in the Gulf war.

  Mr. Tom King
  Allied policy is to attack only military targets and facilities supporting Iraq's occupation of Kuwait. Great care is being taken to minimise the risk of injuring civilians and we greatly regret any that occur. Iraq has made various claims, but we have no way of checking them.

  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his latest estimate for the cost of the British contribution to the Gulf operation; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Tom King
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith) earlier today.

  Mr. Litherland
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to monitor radioactive fallout following air strikes on nuclear installations in Iraq.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Darling) on 29 January, at column 504. We have no evidence of any release of radioactivity from Iraq's nuclear installations.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his latest estimate of the number of persons killed on both sides in the Gulf war.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Members for Vauxhall (Miss Hoey) and for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 18 February at column 62.

  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will review his "Options for Change" proposals in the light of experiences in the Gulf conflict.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The Gulf conflict does not invalidate the work done so far on "Options for Change", which reflects the need to retain the capability to react to such emergencies. However, we will ensure that lessons learnt in the Gulf are incorporated in our planning.

  Mr. Speed
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans to deploy fixed-wing naval aircraft in the Gulf.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The Ministry of Defence has no plans at present to deploy fixed-wing naval aircraft to the Gulf.

  Mr. Strang
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many qualified plastic surgeons are available in the middle east to deal with burns and soft tissue injuries.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  It is not our practice to give details of support provision for the Gulf operation. Sufficient plastic surgery facilities are available in theatre to deal with burns and soft tissue injuries before medical evacuation of casualties to the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Fisher
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether the tour of duty of television correspondents currently with British troops in the Gulf has been extended;
  134
  (2) whether he will publish a table showing the proposed dates of rotation for television correspondents attached to allied troops in the Gulf.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The Ministry of Defence has not established a fixed programme for rotation of TV correspondents attached to British units in the Gulf.

  Atomic Weapons Establishment
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received recently about the Government's proposed contractorisation of AWE.

  Mr. Kenneth Carlisle
  Recently I have received a number of written questions from right hon. and hon. Members which have, in the main, raised various concerns, in particular the future of pensions and other conditions of service for AWE personnel. There have also been similar letters from individual members of the AWE staff.

  Brawdy Defence Establishment
  Mr. Alan W. Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he would make a statement on the future of the defence establishment at Brawdy in Dyfed.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  We are continuing to examine the scope for rationalisation across the range of defence activities. Any decisions will be announced in the normal way.

  Defence Review
  Mr. Cran
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any further progress has been made in his Department's review of Britain's defence commitments.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State indicated on 21 January,Official Report, column 103, we are continuing to study the proposals in "Options for Change" which were announced last July. We intend to proceed with rationalisation and other support changes where these do not affect our efforts in the Gulf.

  The Gulf conflict does not invalidate the approach we took last summer, which foresaw the need to retain the capability to react to such emergencies. However, the lessons learnt in the Gulf will be incorporated in our planning in due course.

  Holy Loch Base
  Mr. Andrew Welsh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a further statement on the reduction of United States navy personnel at the Holy Loch submarine base at Faslane.

  Mr. Salmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a further statement on the reduction of United States navy personnel at the Holy Loch submarine base at Faslane.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence said on 5 February, the United States navy will, by the end of this year, no longer have a requirement for its submarine support facility at the Holy Loch and this facility will therefore close. The exact
  135
  date of closure has yet to be determined, but is likely to be some time in 1992. The Royal Navy base at Faslane is unaffected by the United States decision to withdraw from the Holy Loch.

  European Co-operation
  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans to meet the Secretary General of NATO to discuss European co-operation; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  My right hon. Friend has regular meetings with the Secretary-General of NATO. Their next scheduled meeting is in the spring. A range of defence issues will be discussed.

  Staff Relocation
  Mr. Holt
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions in the past five years Defence Department Ministers have made parliamentary statements concerning the relocation of MOD staff subsequently to renege on the promises given.

  Mr. Kenneth Carlisle
  None. Of course, during the planning stages all relocation proposals are kept under review to ensure that they continue to meet the requirement to be operationally and economically viable.

  Departmental Achievements
  Mr. Pawsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the principal achievements of his Department since June 1987.

  Mr. Tom King
  The Ministry of Defence has continued its work, in concert with other Government Departments, to sustain national security, principally through a resolute commitment to the North Atlantic alliance. We have played a full part in NATO's response to changing security circumstances in Europe, as outlined in the London declaration of July 1990.

  We are looking at "Options for Change" in our own armed forces to reflect the improved security situation in Europe, which should allow us to maintain strong defences with lower levels of armed forces.

  Following Iraq's unprovoked invasion of Kuwait, British forces are now engaged in the international effort to secure Iraqi withdrawal and to restore international peace and security in the area, in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions.

  We have supported and contributed to NATO's efforts to establish closer relations with the Soviet Union and the countries of eastern Europe, and have been actively engaged in European arms control talks. We have worked to strengthen the European pillar of the alliance, and through our chairmanship of the independent European programme group have helped to promote closer European co-operation in defence.

  We continue to seek greater efficiency in the management of defence and are implementing a number of
  136
  programmes to safeguard and build upon the Department's generally good record of protecting the natural environment.

  British Aerospace plc
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what conditions Her Majesty's Government places on its contracts with British Aerospace plc concerning the locations where consequential manufacturing and employment occurs.

  Mr. Alan Clark
  As a general rule, my Department does not, in its contracts with British Aerospace or any other company, stipulate where work is to be carried out.

  Ceremonies
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current estimated annual cost of ceremonial horses and soldiers in the defence budget; what percentage of the whole budget this represents; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  Members of the Household Division and King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery are required to perform both military and ceremonial duties and therefore it is not possible, without disproportionate effort and cost, to separately identify the personnel costs of each of these roles. However, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery have approximately 400 horses which are used for ceremonial duties at an estimated cost of £0·47 million for financial year 1990–91. This represents 0·0022 per cent. of the defence budget.

  Iraqi Nationals
  Mr. Darling
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the status of Iraqi nationals held at Roleston; and by what authority they are held there.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The Iraqi nationals at Rollestone are considered to be members of the Iraqi armed forces and, as such, are being held in accordance with the provisions of the 1949 Geneva convention relating to prisoners of war.

  British Airways Tristars
  Mr. Speed
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department is having with British Airways about purchasing its redundant Tristar aircraft.

  Mr. Alan Clark
  None.

  HMS Endurance
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether HMS Endurance will end active duty at the end of her current cruise.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  No such decision has been taken.

  TOURIST ATTRACTION ROAD SIGNS
  TOURIST ATTRACTION ROAD SIGNS
  ARMS SALES
  ARMS SALES
  MR. KONDA NSATA PINDI
  MR. KONDA NSATA PINDI
  VETERINARY INVESTIGATION CENTRE, BANGOR
  VETERINARY INVESTIGATION CENTRE, BANGOR
  EC SUBSIDIES
  EC SUBSIDIES
  HOMELESS PEOPLE
  HOMELESS PEOPLE