Written Answers of 29 November 1991

TRANSPORT

  Bus Companies
  Mr. Steinberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will state the number of bus companies in the United Kingdom for each year since 1985 and the number of mergers and takeovers of bus companies for each year since 1985.

  Mr. Freeman
  The approximate numbers of bus and coach operators in Great Britain are given in the table. The Department of Transport does not collect this information for Northern Ireland.

  Number

  March 1986

  5,800

  March 1987

  5,900

  March 1988

  5,900

  March 1989

  6,000

  March 1990

  6,200

  March 1991

  6,400

  These figures are based on the total number of PSV operators' licences issued by the traffic area offices. There is considerable uncertainty about the number of smaller operators because of the high rate at which such operators enter and leave the industry.

  A comprehensive register of mergers and takeovers is not maintained by the Department. However, table 10.3 in the recently published transport statistics report "Bus and Coach Statistics Great Britain 1990/91" illustrates the increasing importance of consortia in the provision of local bus services.

  Light Railways
  Mr. Steinberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many light railways or tramways are now under construction or planned in the United Kingdom; and what funding and grants are available for constructing them.

  Mr. Roger Freeman
  Light railways are under construction in Manchester and Sheffield and some 40 other light rapid transit schemes have been proposed or are being considered. We are prepared to grant-aid worth while schemes under section 56 of the Transport Act 1968 subject to the availability of resources.

  Community Transport
  Mr. Fearn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last met representatives of the Mobility Alliance to discuss the development of community transport projects.

  Mr. Freeman
  My Department works closely with the Mobility Alliance on all aspects of community transport operations.
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  In addition, we fund the Community Transport Association's information and advice service which provides valuable advice to many community transport groups around the country.

  Northern Line
  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what investment proposals London Regional Transport has for improving the Northern line.

  Mr. Freeman
  I understand that improvements to stations at the southern end of the Northern line costing around £45 million are likely to be in London Underground's investment programme over the next three years, as are major track and structural renewals throughout the system, amounting to some £55 million. During 1992–93, London Underground intends to spend around £10 million on escalator refurbishments, including those at Clapham North, Clapham South, Tooting Broadway and Tooting Bec. The modernisation of the Northern line remains London Underground's next major line improvement priority after the Central line scheme is completed in 1995.

ENVIRONMENT

  Local Government Commission
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to publish the terms of reference for the Local Government Commission.

  Mr. Portillo
  Clause 13 of the Local Government Bill provides for the Local Government Commission to recommend the structural, boundary or electoral changes which appear to it desirable, having regard to the need to reflect the identities and interests of local communities and to secure effective and convenient local government.

  A paper on the Government's draft guidance to the Local Government Commission for England was issued for consultation on 25 November. Copies were sent to the local authority associations and other interested organisations and placed in the Library.

  European Charter
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to ratify the European charter for local government.

  Mr. Portillo
  The Government do not intend to sign the European charter of local self-government. Local government is not a suitable subject for regulation by an international convention.

  Estate Action, Hackney
  Mr. Norris
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what bids he has received from the London borough of Hackney for the estate action programme 1992–93; what estates were covered by the bid and at what cost to each; and what order of priority was identified by Hackney council in the bid.

  Mr. Yeo
  Hackney has set its estate action bids for 1992–93 in the context of the strategy of its comprehensive estates initiative, which covers five of its worst large panel system-built estates.
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  The 1992–93 bids are for three of those estates, as follows:

  £

  Clapton Park

  2,750,000

  Trowbridge

  4,427,000

  New Kingshold

  600,000

  The bids are not individually prioritised. They will be considered in competition with other bids made to my Department by other authorities and, if they progress, they will do so subject to progress being achieved on a number of factors which are set out in the estate action guidelines. Regard will also be had to the progress of the wider comprehensive estates initiative, which is the subject of continuing discussions between my Department and the council.

  Underwater Archaeological Sites
  Mr. Onslow
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress his Department is making with the management of underwater archaeological sites since taking over responsibility for administering the relevant sections of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894.

  Mr. Yeo
  The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 remains the responsibility of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, but in April this year my Department took over responsibility for the operation of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 in English waters.

  Since then we have taken a number of steps to ensure that important underwater archaeological sites are adequately protected.

  In May we moved quickly to protect a site in the Erme estuary, south Devon and have licensed archaeological work on that and a further eight protected sites this season.

  Since the majority of protected sites were discovered by amateur divers, it is important that they should understand the basics of archaeology and to that end we have granted the Nautical Archaeology Society almost £30,000 in 1991–92, with similar levels likely in the following two years, to expand its training and education programme.

  Protection can be effective only for known sites. We have therefore expanded the programme of our contractors, the archeological diving unit of St. Andrews university, to examine further sites which might merit protection and increased the resources of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England for the preparation of a central record of historic wrecks, as proposed in the environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance".

  My Department has also been working in conjunction with the joint nautical archaeology policy committee on an explanatory note for divers to remove misconceptions about the operations of the legislation affecting wrecks and a draft code of practice for seabed developers whose operations might affect archaeological sites.

  Elm Energy and Recycling Project
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the eligibility of the Elm energy and recycling project, Wolverhampton for a city grant; when he expects a final 652
  decision on the project's eligibility to be made; what procedures have been used in assessing the project; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Key
  No formal application for city grant has been made to the Department. Representatives of the firm will be meeting my officials to discuss their proposals next week. Following that meeting the Department will be able to advise Elm Energy on whether an application for city grant is likely to be successful.

  Drought Orders
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many drought orders his Department has granted in each year since records began.

  Mr. Baldry
  Since 1976, when the Drought Act 1976 brought in the present drought order powers, the Secretary of State for the Environment has made the following numbers of drought orders:

  Number

  1976

  116

  1977

  nil

  1978

  17

  1979

  nil

  1980

  2

  1981

  nil

  1982

  13

  1983

  5

  1984

  82

  1985

  nil

  1986

  nil

  1987

  nil

  1988

  1

  1989

  74

  1990

  65

  11991

  28

  1To date.

  This table corrects a misprint in my answer to the hon. Member of 7 November 1991, Official Report, Vol. 198, column 1. The number of drought orders made by the Secretary of State in 1984 was 82, not 92 as shown in that answer.

  Declaration of Financial Interests
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to make new regulations about declaration of financial interests by councillors and senior officials of local authorities; and when such regulations will come into operation.

  Mr. Key
  Regulations will be made and will come into operation as soon as possible; they will not concern officials' financial interests.

  Local Government Finance
  Mr. Gould
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the 1989–90 rates bill and his estimate of the 1991–92 council tax bill for a couple and two 1991–92 community charges for a two bedroom flat in a council tower block and a two-bedroom turn-of-century terraced house in(a) Barnet, (b) Brent, (c) Croydon, (d) Hackney, (e) Harrow, (f) Havering, (g) Kensington and Chelsea, (h) Lewisham, (i) Southwark and (j) Waltham Forest.
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  Mr. HeseRine
  [holding answer 26 November 1991]: The information requested is not available.

  Housing Expenditure
  Mr. Fearn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of gross national product is accounted for by public spending on housing.

  Mr. Yeo
  [holding answer 28 November 1991]: The latest available outturn figure for gross expenditure on housing in Great Britain, including spending from receipts and on housing benefits, relates to 1989–90 when it accounted for 2·2 per cent. of gross domestic product.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Intergovernmental Meetings
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out to date the conclusions and agreements he has reached in the Trevi series of intergovernmental meetings.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  Ministers of Interior/Justice of the member states of the European Community are scheduled to meet on 2 and 3 December. At the present time, therefore, no conclusions have been reached or agreements made following the intergovernmental meetings which have taken place during the Dutch presidency.

  Brixton Prison
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he was informed of the recent Staffordshire police operation in Brixton gaol;

  (2) if the involvement of Staffordshire police inside Brixton prison was made known to Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons when preparing his report.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  The allegations on which the questions appear to be based fall to be considered by Mr. Colin Bailey, whose appointment was announced by the chief constable of Staffordshire on 20 November. As I made clear in my reply to the hon. Member on 21 November at column 265, information relating to the prisoners' intention to escape was not reported to Ministers until after the escape. It was made available to prison service headquarters and to the governor of HM prison Brixton in February 1991 and to HM chief inspector of prisons in the context of his inquiry into the escape.

  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate the alleged break-in to Brixton prison three days prior to the escape of two suspected IRA terrorists.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The allegations have been looked into. There is no evidence to substantiate them.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what facilities exist in Brixton prison to screen incoming packages.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Primarily x-ray facilities and metal detectors.

  Wandsworth Prison
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 22 November,Official Report, column 330, if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the reason for the presence of 24 police officers in the vicinity of Wandsworth prison on 7 July 1991.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  On 7 July 1991 the governor at Wandsworth received information that an escape attempt might be made from the prison. In accordance with standard procedures, the governor informed the Metropolitan police. A decision was made by the police to attend.

  Young Offenders
  Mr. Terry Davis
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young offenders were transferred from Hewell Grange to the young offender institution at Finnamore Wood camp during September 1991.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Twenty-one.

  Winchester Magistrates Court
  Mr. John Browne
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if, when considering whether to approve the closure of the magistrates court in Winchester, he will take into account the extra transport costs which such closure would impose on the inhabitants of Winchester;

  (2) what information he has on the specific information, including details of the accountancy formula used, on which Hampshire magistrates court committee has based its proposed decision to close Winchester magistrates court.

  Mr. John Patten
  These questions do not arise because I understand that the Hampshire magistrates courts committee has as yet taken no decision about the Winchester courthouse. The Home Secretary's approval for the closure of any magistrates courthouse is required only if there is an appeal to him by the paying local authority concerned under section 56 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1979 against a courts committee's decision to close it. If there were to be an appeal in the case of Winchester full account would be taken of all the relevant arguments including the circumstances of court users.

  Correspondence
  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 22 October to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State regarding an application by a citizen of Sudan.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 27 November.

  Criminal Intelligence Service
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes are proposed to the executive powers of the executive co-ordinator of the
  655
  regional crime squads; and whether the executive co-ordinator is to be given overall control of the regional criminal intelligence offices and the technical support units.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  When the new national criminal intelligence service is established in 1992, the executive co-ordinator of the regional crime squads will become one of its two deputy directors. There will be no change to the existing situation in which the executive co-ordinator has no executive authority in relation to either the regional criminal intelligence offices or the technical support units.

  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will(a) list the titles of the branches and squads for the Metropolitan police specialist operations department, and (b) state how the creation of the national criminal intelligence service will affect these units.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The information requested is as follows:

  SO1

  International and Organised Crime Branch

  1 Squad. Major investigation pool

  2 Squad. National office for the suppression of counterfeit currency

  3 Squad. Extradition, passport and illegal immigration-deportation

  5 Squad. Central cheque squad

  6 Squad. Stolen motor vehicle investigation squad

  SO2

  Crime support branch

  SO3

  Scenes of crime branch

  SO4

  National identification bureau

  SO5

  Miscellaneous force indexes

  SO6

  Metropolitan and City police company fraud squad

  SO7

  Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory

  SO8

  Serious crime branch (flying squad)

  SO9

  Regional crime squad

  SO10

  1Crime operations group

  SO11

  1 Metropolitan police criminal intelligence branch

  SO12

  Special branch

  SO13

  Anti-terrorist branch

  SO14

  Royalty protection branch

  SO15

  Royal palaces division

  SO16

  Diplomatic protection group

  SO17

  PNC bureau

  SO18

  Palace of Westminster

  1 It is presently intended that parts of these units will become part of the national criminal intelligence service.

  2 The commercial criminal intelligence bureau (presently part of SO6) will become part of the national criminal intelligence service.

  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the transitional and full "cut over" date for users of the integrated national criminal intelligence system;

  (2) which existing databases will form the basis for the integrated national criminal intelligence system;

  (3) if he will list the location of all the regional criminal intelligence offices; and indicate which offices (a) are fully computerised, (b) have an interfacing capacity with national intelligence units and (c) have been earmarked for closure in the proposed reorganisation of the national intelligence gathering system;

  (4) if he will detail which, if any, national intelligence units are using new computing facilities provided as part of the integrated national criminal intelligence system.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  There are currently nine regional criminal intelligence offices, none of which is fully computerised and all of which interface with the police national computer. Their locations are:
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  Regional criminal intelligence offices

  Location

  1

  Manchester

  21

  Durham

  3

  Wakefield

  4

  Birmingham

  5, 6 and 9

  London

  7

  Bristol

  81

  Cardiff

  1 Earmarked for closure on 31 March 1992.

  A computer system is being developed to support the new national criminal intelligence service and it is intended that the system will be introduced in 1994. It will incorporate selected data from the national drugs intelligence unit database and will replace the crime pattern analysis facility presently provided by the police national computer.

  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if there are any plans to create a DNA database as part of the national criminal intelligence system or on the new PNC 2 computer.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  There are no such plans. The question of establishing a DNA database has been put to the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice.

  Metropolitan Police Computer
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give details not involving national security of the Metropolitan police C department computer, including(a) a description of the indexes held and number of entries, (b) the number of terminals attached to the system, and (c) the number of officers qualified to use the system.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the Commissioner that C Department of the Metropolitan police ceased to exist with the reorganisation of the service in 1987.

  Following reorganisation, a number of C department branches amalgamated with other branches to form specialist operations department.

  There are 123 separate computer systems in specialist operations department. Information regarding the indexes held, the number of entries, the number of terminals attached to the systems and the number of officers authorised to use them is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will give brief details of the computer systems in use and those planned for the Metropolitan police force;

  (2) if he will give details of the new computer facilities that are planned for all users of the Metropolitan police specialist operations department computer.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I understand from the Commissioner that the Metropolitan police service uses computer systems for criminal intelligence, financial management, equipment management, word processing, desk top publishing, computer-aided dispatch messages, and management and personnel information. In addition, the service uses the PNC and HOLMES systems.

  There are plans to bring into operation within the next few years a crime report and information system (CRIS), a computer-based accounting system (FINESSE) and a system for the police estate (PREMSYS).

  Police National Computer
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will detail which indexes have migrated from the police national computer on to the new facilities of PNC 2, and if he will list, and give the projected size of, the indexes planned for PNC 2.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The following information is now on PNC2:

  Criminal names

  Fingerprints

  Wanted and missing persons

  Disqualified drivers

  Convictions

  Cross references

  Vehicle owners

  Vehicle reports

  Stolen property

  Police directories

  Further applications are being planned for PNC2 including a national criminal records system and a national criminal intelligence system. The sizes of the databases for these applications have not yet been decided.

  Winson Green Prison
  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he received a complaints form from Mr. Terry Foster of Winson Green prison; and on what date an official acknowledgement was sent in reply.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Mr. Foster submitted a request/complaint to the governor of Birmingham prison on 30 October. On the following day a member of staff explained matters to Mr. Foster orally and on 4 November he was sent an acknowledgement. A written reply was given on 20 November.

  Citizenship Applications
  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what were the ages of people applying for citizenship, in each of the last five years, who were born in the United Kingdom but not registered at the time;

  (2) how many applications he has received in each of the last five years for citizenship from people born in the United Kingdom whose birth was not registered at the time.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  This information is not available. Registration of a person's birth is not directly relevant to their entitlement to British citizenship.

  Regional Crime Squads
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the establishment and present strength of each regional crime squad in England and Wales; and whether any decision has been made on the proposals of the executive co-ordinator of regional crime squads for their restructuring made in his report of January 1990;

  (2) if the Metropolitan police's squads for serious crime are to be integrated into the south-east England regional crime squad.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The information requested is as follows:
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  Establishment

  Present strength

  No. 1 RCS

  239

  233

  No. 2 RCS

  102

  102

  No. 3 RCS

  172

  167

  No. 4 RCS

  181

  176

  No. 5 RCS

  148

  148

  No. 6 RCS

  128

  127

  No. 7 RCS

  117

  115

  No. 8 RCS

  59

  59

  No. 9 RCS

  238

  238

  The proposals of the executive co-ordinator to restructure the regional crime squads are being considered in consultation with the police authorities. No decision has yet been reached on the geographical boundaries of the proposed new squads or on what functions might be integrated in a south-east England regional crime squad.

  Machine-readable Passport
  Mr. Tredinnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to introduce a new machine-readable jumbo passport.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  I am pleased to announce that the computerisation of the Passport Agency's regional offices is now complete. We are therefore introducing a new machine-readable jumbo passport, for use by frequent travellers. The Privy Council has approved an Order in Council, the Consular Fees (Amendment)(No. 3)Order 1991, which gives authority for the issue of a machine-readable 48-page jumbo passport at a fee of £22·50, compared with a fee of £15 for a standard 32-page passport. The order will come into effect on 2 December, and the Passport Agency will begin to issue the new passport once stocks of the old blue jumbo passports are exhausted.

  Staffordshire Police
  Mr. Leadbitter
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Staffordshire on how many police officers in his force have been removed from normal duties in the past two years and the reasons for such removals.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  We understand from the chief constable that two police officers were required to resign in 1989 for criminal conduct and neglect of duty and one in 1990 for neglect of duty. We understand that a further nine officers in 1989 and eight in 1990 were charged with offences against the discipline code. The chief constable does not publicly discuss the offences with which the individual officers were charged.

  Dangerous Dogs
  Mr. Wallace
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has put in place to keep under review the breeds of dog on which he might wish to exercise his powers under section 2 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Home Office officials closely monitor the nature and circumstances of dog attacks brought to their attention by a variety of means. My right hon. Friend and I receive regular reports from them both about specific incidents and more generally about the operation of the existing measures to deal with dangerous dogs.

  Directorate of Telecommunications
  Mr. Mills
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will privatise the office of the directorate of telecomunications; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  The Government's objective is to achieve better quality and value for money in the delivery of Government services by introducing competition. In line with this objective, the directorate now charges police forces and others for its services in direct competition with the private sector. DTELS, as it is now called, is also implementing a programme of extensive management change aimed at producing a viable commercial operation. Its position in the public sector will then be reviewed.

  Small Shops
  Mr. David Nicholson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures Her Majesty's Government are taking to ensure that in any reform of the Shops Act 1950, the position of small shops is protected.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  As I indicated in my reply on 26 November to an earlier question from my hon. Friend at columns 446–47, proposals that small shops should be allowed legally to trade longer into the evenings, and in the full range of their goods on Sundays, are being taken fully into account in our consideration of the reform of the Shops Act.

  Recording of Information
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will instigate a system of reporting and recording information from the health services, coroners' courts, and the police on the scale of fatalities among the homeless and itinerants.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  No.

  Sunday Trading
  Mr. David Nicholson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had with Outlets Providing for Everyday Needs about the small shops' campaign for Sunday trading.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  I met representatives of OPEN on 30 May, in my programme of discussions with a wide range of interest groups on possible ways of reforming the law on Sunday trading in England and Wales; and on 7 August, when at their invitation I visited a typical small convenience store. OPEN have since corresponded with me about their proposals for reform.

  Motorcycle Equipment
  Mr. Mills
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate proposed competition with private sector manufacturers on the production of sonic motorcycle repeater equipment by the directorate of telecommunications; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  The provision of equipment for police forces is the responsibility of police authorities. Versions of the motorcycle repeater unit, which is available from DTELS, have been in use by forces for some years. It is for police authorities, advised by chief constables, to decide whether to purchase these or any other units.

  Charities Bill
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the Charities Bill[Lords].

  Mr. John Patten
  Since publication of the Bill we have received one letter from an hon. Member forwarding correspondence from his constituent; about 10 from Peers; and a dozen letters from charities and professional bodies. The majority of correspondents have expressed general support for the aims of the Bill.

  Life Sentences
  Mr. George
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the number of life-sentenced prisoners, excluding terrorist cases, held in British prisons for each year since 1979.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Information on offences committed by terrorists is recorded centrally only for prisoners sentenced to life for homicide. The readily available information is given in the table.

  Population of life sentence prisoners in prison service establishments in England and Wales on 30 June: by year, 1979–90

  Year

  Number1

  1979

  1,431

  1980

  1,569

  1981

  1,660

  1982

  1,773

  1983

  1,807

  1984

  1,902

  1985

  2,032

  1986

  2,174

  1987

  2,320

  1988

  2,484

  1989

  2,656

  21990

  2,778

  1 Excluding terrorists sentenced for murder or manslaughter.

  2 Provisional figures.

  Mr. George
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give details of the number of mandatory and discretionary life-sentenced prisoners, excluding terrorist cases, that have been released from British prisons for each year since 1979.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Information on offences committed by terrorists is recorded centrally only for prisoners sentenced to life for homicide. The readily available information is given in the table.

  Persons1 released from prison service establishments in England and Wales on life licence, 1979–90

  Year of release

  Murder2

  Manslaughter2

  Other offence3

  1979

  62

  6

  3

  1980

  33

  10

  6

  1981

  57

  10

  10

  1982

  79

  5

  17

  1983

  83

  5

  14

  1984

  52

  7

  7

  1985

  51

  3

  6

  1986

  37

  3

  4

  1987

  46

  2

  3

  1988

  54

  8

  3

  1989

  62

  4

  1

  41990

  48

  9

  7

  1Excluding persons released following a recall.

  2Excluding terrorists.

  3Including terrorists.

  1Provisional figures.

PRIME MINISTER

  Classless Society
  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will list those measures brought in since December 1990 which are aimed at bringing about a classless society.

  The Prime Minister
  Government policies are designed to improve society by the removal of barriers to choice and by the provision of opportunity.

  A key element in our approach is the citizens charter, which is intended to ensure that everyone, whoever and wherever they are, will have access to the same high-quality public services. This approach is reflected in our legislative programme and other measures that we are taking.

  Our education policies will raise standards and improve parental choice. We have introduced legislation to provide parents with more information about the performance of schools; to improve school inspection; to widen access to an expanded higher education system; to abolish the distinction between universities and polytechnics; and to raise the status of vocational education and of further education colleges.

  Our health policies are designed to achieve a more efficient health service with higher quality of health care for all, underpinned by a new approach of setting targets for the improvement of health in key areas, as proposed in the recent consultative document "The Health of the Nation" and its Scottish and Welsh equivalents. Legislation has been introduced this Session aimed at improving the standards of local government services with increased powers for local authority auditors and provision to extend competition to a wider range of services.

  In the housing field we have introduced pilot rent-to-mortgage schemes to extend tenants' present opportunities to buy their own homes. We are preparing a revised tenants charter for local authority tenants and a new right to repair. We have brought in new arrangements to ensure that tenants are actively consulted in local authorities' housing plans.

  We are providing more effective training opportunities and better help for the unemployed in obtaining new jobs. Our policies continue to provide strong support for people in the inner cities, and the new initiative of city challenge announced earlier this year gives the whole community an opportunity to bring imaginative and innovative approaches to regenerating their cities.

  We attach particular significance to support for families through the provision of increased child benefit, and the establishment of the Child Support Agency, for which legislation was introduced and enacted earlier this year, to improve the enforcement and collection of child maintenance. We are continuing to improve the opportunities for disabled people to play an independent part in society. This year we enacted legislation to introduce two new social security benefits for disabled people.

  We have taken steps, through support of Opportunity 2000 and in other ways, to increase opportunities for women and people from the ethnic minorities to play their full part in public and national life.

  These policies, and many others, will contribute to the development of a society with fewer divisions, in which talent and initiatives are rewarded.

  Members' Letters
  Mr. Onslow
  To ask the Prime Minister what is his normal practice for dealing with mail addressed to him by right hon. and hon. Members; and if he will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  I receive an enormous number of letters every week—currently some 5,000—from Members of Parliament and others. It is not possible for me to deal with all these letters personally and I must accordingly refer most of them to the Minister and the Department with the responsibility for the policy in question.

HEALTH

  Community Health Councils
  Mr. Andrew Bowden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will amend his Department's guidance to health authorities on appointment to community health councils to remove the advice that appointing bodies should not appoint people over the age of 70 years without special reasons.

  Mr. Dorrell
  We have no plans to amend the Department's advice on the eligibility and criteria for appointment to community health councils.

  Salmonella
  Mr. Martlew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the dangers to public health in the United Kingdom from the sale of creamed coconut contaminated with salmonella.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Properly produced creamed coconut poses no danger to public health in the United Kingdom. However, there have been a small number of instances recently where either the raw dessicated coconut or the processed product itself has been shown on routine testing to be contaminated with salmonella organisms. The Department has been actively involved in ensuring affected products have been withdrawn from the food chain. No cases of human illness associated with consumption of creamed coconut have been identified.

  Manufacturers of this product should purchase raw materials only from reliable sources and take the necessary precautions in accordance with good manufacturing practice.

  Dental Statistics
  Mr. Robin Cook
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a table showing both the number and the percentage of the potential population of children registered as national health service patients with dentists in each family health service authority.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  The information is shown in the table. Since the new dental contract was introduced in October last year, almost 6 million children in England have been registered with a dentist.
  663

  FHSA

  Number of Capitation Registrations 30 September 1991

  Child Registrations as a percentage of child population1

  Northern

  Cleveland

  79,471

  59

  Cumbria

  61,502

  58

  Durham

  66,256

  50

  Northumberland

  36,547

  54

  Gateshead

  22,336

  50

  Newcastle-upon-Tyne

  29,236

  47

  North Tyneside

  23,370

  56

  South Tyneside

  16,542

  48

  Sunderland

  29,985

  42

  Yorkshire

  Humberside

  108,371

  54

  North Yorkshire

  93,123

  60

  Bradford

  55,703

  46

  Calderdale

  25,483

  56

  Kirklees

  46,794

  52

  Leeds

  92,137

  57

  Wakefield

  37,545

  52

  Trent

  Derbyshire

  110,043

  53

  Leicestershire

  115,439

  55

  Lincolnshire

  71,022

  56

  Nottinghamshire

  130,616

  57

  Barnsley

  24,694

  49

  Doncaster

  42,071

  60

  Rotherham

  30,952

  52

  Sheffield

  62,497

  57

  East Anglia

  Cambridgeshire

  85,971

  55

  Norfolk

  112,448

  71

  Suffolk

  86,954

  58

  North West Thames

  Bedfordshire

  46,599

  36

  Hertfordshire

  144,657

  64

  Barnet

  31,394

  45

  Brent and Harrow

  46,043

  44

  Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow

  52,113

  36

  Hillingdon

  23,149

  43

  Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster

  15,697

  27

  North East Thames

  Essex

  182,199

  53

  Barking and Havering

  37,229

  44

  Camden and Islington

  22,807

  31

  City and East London

  41,170

  28

  Enfield and Haringey

  47,243

  46

  Redbridge and Waltham Forest

  49,613

  50

  South East Thames

  East Sussex

  83,304

  59

  Kent

  179,773

  52

  Greenwich and Bexley

  48,577

  48

  Bromley

  32,878

  53

  Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham

  57,035

  36

  South West Thames

  Surrey

  130,779

  59

  West Sussex

  98,767

  68

  Croydon

  34,780

  48

  Kingston and Richmond

  33,586

  56

  Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth

  51,900

  42

  Wessex

  Dorset

  86,755

  66

  Hampshire

  200,743

  56

  664

  FHSA

  Number of Capitation Registrations 30 September 1991

  Child Registrations as a percentage of child population1

  Wiltshire

  71,492

  54

  Isle of Wight

  15,162

  58

  Oxford

  Berkshire

  94,082

  52

  Buckinghamshire

  90,293

  58

  Northamptonshire

  71,343

  52

  Oxfordshire

  74,100

  54

  South Western

  Avon

  128,834

  61

  Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

  60,349

  61

  Devon

  138,019

  63

  Gloucestershire

  71,922

  61

  Somerset

  64,984

  64

  West Midlands

  Hereford and Worcester

  89,603

  58

  Salop

  56,510

  60

  Staffordshire

  129,089

  55

  Warwickshire

  60,355

  56

  Birmingham

  110,653

  45

  Coventry

  31,285

  43

  Dudley

  32,436

  49

  Sandwell

  26,214

  38

  Solihull

  22,535

  48

  Walsall

  27,161

  44

  Wolverhampton

  21,037

  35

  Mersey

  Cheshire

  127,551

  57

  Liverpool

  53,339

  48

  St. Helens and Knowsley

  40,291

  48

  Sefton

  38,959

  59

  Wirral

  40,305

  52

  North Western

  Lancashire

  176,462

  55

  Bolton

  33,957

  53

  Bury

  22,863

  56

  Manchester

  55,022

  51

  Oldham

  29,833

  56

  Rochdale

  26,463

  50

  Salford

  38,720

  71

  Stockport

  43,149

  66

  Tameside

  28,663

  57

  Trafford

  33,484

  70

  Wigan

  42,193

  58

  Footnote:

  1 Population estimates for 1991 are not yet available. Population estimates as at 30 June 1989 have been used to be consistent with the patient registration data published by the Dental Practice Board.

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

  Aid and Trade Provision
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to which United Kingdom companies money under the aid and trade provision has already been allocated in the current financial year.

  Mrs. Chalker
  Aid agreements involving aid and trade provision funds have been concluded with Governments of developing countries in the current financial year for projects for which the following companies are lead United Kingdom contractors.
  665

  Country

  Project

  Lead United Kingdom company

  China

  Cotton mill machinery

  Platt Saco Lowell

  China

  Duck processing unit

  APV Baker

  China

  Shanghai telephone equipment

  GPT International

  China

  Xinjiang ethylene plant

  Snamprogetti

  China

  Yue Yang power station training

  GEC Alsthom Turbine Generators

  Ghana

  Fifth power project

  Hawker Siddeley Power Engineering

  Ghana

  Kotoka airport

  Siemens Plessey Radar

  Indonesia

  Airport security systems

  International Aeradio

  Indonesia

  Flight simulator

  Aeronautical Systems Designers

  Indonesia

  Jambi diesels

  Mirrlees Blackstone

  Indonesia

  Steel bridging phase II

  Mabey & Johnson

  Indonesia

  Toll road design study phase II

  Trafalgar House

  Indonesia

  Western universities equipment

  Gallenkamp & Phillip Harris

  Malaysia

  Pergau hydro electric

  Balfaur Beatty Construction

  Philippines

  Small islands electrification Phases II and III

  Dale Electric

  Turkey

  Equipment for Turkish state Universities

  Tecquipment

  UN Aid Target
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the United Kingdom accepted the United Nations official aid target; and when the Government expect to meet that target.

  Mrs. Chalker
  We accepted the 0·7 per cent. target in principle in 1974. Successive Governments have declined to set down a timetable for meeting the target. The levels of aid depend upon our economic circumstances and on other calls on public resources. The aid programme has grown by 10 per cent. in real terms since 1987–88 and is planned to continue to do so. It is of high quality, well targeted and effective.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Environment Minister
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what achievements his Department has recorded in the environmental field since the appointment of a666
  Minister with special responsibility for the environment was nominated for the social security team; and if he will make a statement.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The Department is committed to making the fullest possible contribution to achieving the aims of the Environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance".

  My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State was appointed the Department's environmental Minister in September 1990 and has established an environment steering group within the Department to undertake a comprehensive review of the environmental implications of all areas of departmental business and administration. This steering group is now being taken forward by the Benefits Agency.

  The Department is participating in the Government's campaign to reduce its energy consumption by 15 per cent. by April 1996. Additional staff have been appointed and trained to offer specialist advice on energy savings and over £0·5 million has been made available for investing in energy efficient measures. This has enabled offices to introduce water saving devices, high-frequency, low-energy fluorescent lighting and more effective lighting controls.

  To raise energy awareness issues among departmental staff, the April 1991 edition of the staff magazine featured a centre page spread on the environment. A further article covering environmental issues will appear in the February 1992 edition of the DSS quarterly journal.

  Since January 1991 officially acquired vehicles have either been propelled by diesel fuel or petrol engines with catalytic converters fitted. The number of vehicles operating on leaded fuel has been reduced to 4·8 per cent. of the fleet and replacement policy aims to reduce this figure to zero by mid-1992.

  In March an "unleaded petrol" only card was introduced for the purchases of fuel for appropriate cars.

  Families (Income Levels)
  Sir Ian Gilmour
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will update to 1988 his reply to the right hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham,Official Report, 1 February 1990, column 348–50, showing the numbers of working and out-of-work families with children at different levels of income, according to the family size, distinguishing between one-parent and two-parent families and between one-earner and two-earner families; and showing the benefits on which the out-of-work families depended.

  Mr. Jack
  The information requested is set out in the following tables.

  These tables should be used only as free-standing income analyses and not for any time series or trend analyses.

  Some of the sample sizes in the tables are too small to be statistically reliable and robust conclusions cannot be drawn.
  667

  Table 1

  Number of working families with children at various income levels: Great Britain 1988

  thousands

  Gross weekly income excluding state benefits

  Number of dependent children

  £

  Total

  One parent family

  Two parent family

  One wage family

  Two wage family

  1

  2

  3

  34

  Under 80

  120

  30

  90

  90

  30

  60

  40

  10

  10

  80–89

  40

  10

  30

  20

  10

  20

  10

  2

  10

  90–99

  30

  2

  20

  30

  1

  10

  20

  2

  1

  100–109

  50

  10

  40

  40

  10

  30

  10

  2

  10

  110–119

  70

  10

  60

  30

  40

  30

  30

  2

  2

  120–129

  60

  10

  50

  50

  10

  40

  20

  10

  2

  130–139

  90

  10

  70

  70

  20

  50

  30

  10

  2

  140–149

  90

  20

  70

  60

  20

  40

  30

  10

  2

  150–159

  100

  10

  90

  80

  30

  50

  30

  20

  10

  160–169

  130

  10

  120

  80

  50

  70

  60

  10

  1

  170–179

  140

  10

  130

  70

  70

  60

  60

  20

  10

  180–189

  130

  10

  120

  70

  60

  40

  50

  30

  10

  190–199

  160

  10

  150

  90

  70

  70

  60

  20

  10

  199–219

  330

  10

  320

  200

  130

  130

  130

  40

  30

  220–239

  400

  10

  380

  160

  230

  190

  170

  30

  10

  240–259

  340

  10

  330

  160

  180

  120

  160

  50

  10

  260–279

  260

  10

  250

  120

  140

  90

  110

  50

  10

  280–299

  320

  20

  300

  100

  220

  120

  150

  40

  10

  300 and over

  2,430

  40

  2,390

  640

  1,800

  970

  1,090

  320

  50

  Total

  5,280

  250

  5,020

  2,150

  3,120

  2,180

  2,240

  670

  190

  1 Denotes nil cases in sample.

  2 Denotes less than 5,000 cases.

  3 Or more.

  Notes:

  1. The figures are derived from the 1988 Family Expenditure Survey and are subject to sampling error. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 and so rows and columns may not sum exactly to the totals shown.

  2. Gross weekly income is the income reported in 1988 without any updating.

  3. A "working family" is defined as one where at least one parent is in full-time (30 hours or more) employment or self-employment.

  4. The figures exclude any families not living in private households.

  Table Two

  Number of non-working families of working age with children at various income levels: Great Britain 1988

  Thousands

  Gross weekly income including state benefits

  Under 50

  50–59

  60–69

  70–79

  80–89

  90–99

  100–109

  110–119

  120–129

  130–139

  140–149

  150 and over

  Total

  Total

  80

  60

  70

  140

  180

  190

  200

  110

  70

  80

  50

  180

  1,410

  One parent family

  60

  50

  60

  120

  150

  120

  90

  40

  40

  40

  10

  50

  830

  Two parent family

  30

  10

  10

  20

  30

  70

  110

  70

  30

  40

  30

  130

  580

  Number of dependent children:

  One

  60

  40

  60

  100

  100

  60

  60

  30

  20

  20

  10

  60

  640

  Two

  20

  20

  10

  30

  80

  100

  100

  40

  20

  40

  10

  80

  540

  Three

  —1

  —1

  —1

  10

  10

  30

  30

  30

  20

  10

  10

  20

  160

  Four or more

  —2

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —2

  10

  10

  10

  10

  20

  70

  National Insurance benefits being received:

  None (a)

  50

  20

  10

  10

  20

  20

  20

  20

  10

  20

  10

  80

  270

  (b)

  20

  40

  50

  120

  140

  150

  140

  80

  30

  30

  20

  50

  880

  UB (a)

  —1

  —1

  —2

  —2

  —1

  10

  20

  —2

  —

  —2

  10

  10

  50

  (b)

  —1

  —1

  —2

  —1

  10

  —1

  10

  10

  10

  —2

  —1

  —2

  40

  SB/SSP (a)

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —2

  —

  —2

  —1

  —11

  10

  10

  (b)

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —2

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —2

  IVB (a)

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —2

  —2

  10

  10

  —2

  10

  10

  10

  10

  60

  (b)

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —1

  —2

  —1

  —1

  —1

  10

  —1

  —2

  10

  Other (a)

  10

  —1

  —2

  10

  10

  —2

  —1

  10

  10

  10

  —2

  10

  60

  (b)

  —1

  —1

  —2

  —1

  10

  —1

  10

  —2

  —2

  —2

  —1

  10

  30

  (a) Without supplementary benefit.

  (b) With supplementary benefit.

  1 Denotes nil cases in sample.

  2 Denotes less than 5,000 cases.

  Notes:

  1. The figures are derived from the 1988 Family Expenditure Survey and are subject to sampling error. All figures have been rounded to the
  668

  669
  nearest 10,000 and so rows and columns may not sum exactly to the totals shown.

  2. Gross weekly income is the income reported in 1988 without any updating.

  3. A "non-working family" is defined as one where neither is in full-time (30 hours of more) employment or self-employment.

  4. The figures exclude any families not living in private households.

  5. "Other" National Insurance Benefits include industrial disablement and widows benefit

  Residential Care Homes
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each local authority the number of residents(a) in part III homes and (b) transferred from local authority homes to trust status homes and therefore in receipt of income support.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Information on the number of residents in part III homes (for England only) by local authority is contained in "Residential Accommodation for Elderly and Younger Physically Handicapped People: Local Authority Supported Residents Year Ending 31 March 1990 England" (RA/90/1), a copy of which is available in the Library. Information on the number of residents affected by the transfer of local authority part III homes to the private or voluntary sector is not collected centrally. Entitlement to income support for residents of such homes is a matter for the local adjudication officer, but since 12 August 1991 has been restricted to the part III rate for those people resident at the time of transfer.

  State Pensions
  Mr. Ron Brown
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received from(a) the Scottish Old-Age Pensioners Association or (b) community organisations about the level of state pensions; and if he will make a statement.

  Miss Widdecombe
  A letter has been received from the Scottish Old-Age Pensioners Association which covered all aspects of provision for elderly people. We have also received a number of representations from community organisations.

  Social Fund
  Mr. Terry Davis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many social fund inspectors were employed on 1 July;

  (2) how many applications for review by a social fund inspector were outstanding for more than one month on 31 July.

  Mr. Scott
  I am informed by the Social Fund Commissioner that on 31 July 1991 there were 54 social fund inspectors employed and 1,941 review applications outstanding for more than one month.

  Cold Weather Payments
  Mr. Ron Brown
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received from(a) the Scottish Old-Age Pensioners Association or (b) cornmunity organisations about cold weather payments; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Scott
  On 29 October I wrote to the right hon. and learned Member for Monklands, East (Mr. Smith) about representations from the Airdrie branch of the Scottish Old-Age Pensioners Association. Other organisations have also made representations on this subject.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

  Further Education Costs
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the total administration costs attributable to local education authority further education and adult education management for each local authority in England and Wales.

  Mr. Eggar
  In 1989–90, the latest year for which information on actual spending is available, the net recurrent expenditure on overall administration of education by each local education authority in England was as shown in the following table. Information on authorities' administration spending on further education and adult education is not collected centrally. Matters of education in Wales are the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Wales.

  Net recurrent expenditure on education administration1 1989–90

  £000

  ILEA

  78,934

  Barking

  3,642

  Barnet

  5,103

  Bexley

  4,716

  Brent

  6,735

  Bromley

  4,634

  Croydon

  5,960

  Ealing

  8,296

  Enfield

  5,897

  Haringey

  n/a

  Harrow

  4,652

  Havering

  4,608

  Hillingdon

  5,050

  Hounslow

  n/a

  Kingston-upon-Thames

  3,503

  Merton

  3,938

  Newham

  6,285

  Redbridge

  4,606

  Richmond upon Thames

  3,571

  Sutton

  5,547

  Waltham Forest

  4,567

  Birmingham

  18,903

  Coventry

  8,333

  Dudley

  4,909

  Sandwell

  4,974

  Solihull

  2,628

  Walsall

  3,711

  Wolverhampton

  5,505

  Knowsley

  3,359

  Liverpool

  8,137

  St. Helens

  1,890

  Sefton

  5,644

  Wirral

  6,277

  Bolton

  4,968

  Bury

  3,192

  Manchester

  n/a

  Oldham

  4,371

  Rochdale

  3,529

  Salford

  6,105

  Stockport

  1,980

  Tameside

  2,878

  Trafford

  2,830

  Wigan

  4,330

  Barnsley

  2,961

  Doncaster

  3,996

  Rotherham

  3,470

  Sheffield

  9,727

  Bradford

  7,926

  671

  £000

  Calderdale

  3,857

  Kirklees

  8,588

  Leeds

  10,068

  Wakefield

  n/a

  Gateshead

  3,800

  Newcastle Upon Tyne

  5,996

  North Tyneside

  n/a

  South Tyneside

  3,460

  Sunderland

  3,594

  Isles of Scilly

  57

  Avon

  15,675

  Bedfordshire

  8,297

  Berkshire

  12,901

  Buckinghamshire

  11,506

  Cambridgeshire

  11,919

  Cheshire

  14,595

  Cleveland

  10,430

  Cornwall

  7,326

  Cumbria

  10,551

  Derbyshire

  14,659

  Devon

  11,052

  Dorset

  7,945

  Durham

  6,074

  East Sussex

  6,931

  Essex

  25,756

  Gloucestershire

  8,032

  Hampshire

  16,545

  Hereford and Worcester

  7,729

  Hertfordshire

  9,743

  Humberside

  12,799

  Isle of Wight

  2,465

  Kent

  18,742

  Lancashire

  21,051

  Leicestershire

  11,261

  Lincolnshire

  8,185

  Norfolk

  9,234

  North Yorkshire

  8,901

  Northamptonshire

  8,868

  Northumberland

  4,250

  Nottinghamshire

  16,261

  Oxfordshire

  7,451

  Shropshire

  4,858

  Capital allocations and spending by authority on schools (£000 cash)

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1990–91

  1991–92

  Notional schools allocation

  Outturn

  Notional schools allocation

  Outturn

  Notional schools allocation

  Outturn

  Notional schools ACG

  Notional schools ACG

  Barking

  437

  775

  605

  1,253

  245

  1,604

  459

  547

  Barnet

  640

  1,930

  832

  2,616

  972

  1,894

  788

  803

  Bexley

  1,593

  2,656

  1,210

  3,152

  832

  3,690

  1,197

  1,845

  Brent

  2,421

  5,362

  2,081

  4,848

  331

  8,705

  610

  1,110

  Bromley

  1,564

  2,505

  370

  6,590

  653

  5,640

  1,664

  3,656

  Croydon

  2,337

  3,474

  1,565

  5,048

  488

  7,818

  932

  1,859

  Ealing

  1,205

  4,753

  839

  n/a

  300

  4,151

  654

  1,128

  Enfield

  1,152

  1,910

  1,287

  3,967

  1,106

  5,028

  1,263

  1,840

  Haringey

  1,088

  1,754

  2,246

  n/a

  1,696

  3,989

  755

  844

  Harrow

  301

  887

  572

  2,565

  394

  3,817

  736

  940

  Havering

  393

  2,447

  692

  3,398

  1,306

  5,105

  5,836

  1,876

  Hillingdon

  1,043

  5,423

  900

  7,774

  638

  12,787

  1,115

  995

  Hounslow

  1,157

  3,719

  1,152

  5,461

  482

  7,948

  491

  1,476

  Kingston

  221

  898

  243

  1,672

  171

  2,541

  165

  180

  Merton

  1,019

  2,502

  985

  2,408

  4,527

  6,949

  3,370

  1,243

  Newham

  1,101

  3,977

  3,061

  5,917

  3,393

  8,416

  5,520

  8,477

  Redbridge

  1,730

  2,553

  3,698

  n/a

  2,002

  5,689

  1,548

  737

  Richmond

  66

  363

  253

  n/a

  480

  1,671

  738

  438

  Sutton

  227

  1,296

  606

  3,080

  649

  5,001

  2,885

  3,335

  Waltham Forest

  2,445

  3,191

  5,462

  n/a

  7,965

  11,837

  6,450

  3,328

  City

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  0

  2

  Camden

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1,044

  832

  Westminster

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  379

  573

  Greenwich

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1,608

  650

  Hackney

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  982

  1,930

  Hammersmith

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  674

  1,140

  Islington

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  306

  885

  Kensington

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  2,145

  1,834

  Lambeth

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  536

  1,068

  672

  £000

  Somerset

  8,095

  Staffordshire

  12,252

  Suffolk

  9,981

  Surrey

  18,626

  Warwickshire

  7,796

  West Sussex

  11,547

  Wiltshire

  8,039

  Notes to table:

  (1) Net recurrent expenditure on education administration, both by education departments and recharged from central departments, shown by local authorities in their spending returns to the Department of the Environment. Net recurrent expenditure includes all expenditure other than capital financing costs, less income other than from specific Government grants.

  (2) n/a indicates that a spending return is not available.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of the standard spending assessment in each of the metropolitan district councils is attributable to adult education; and how much is spent in cash terms.

  Mr. Eggar
  It is not possible to identify what proportion of standard spending assessments is attributable to further education for adults. Nor do LEAs' routine expenditure returns separately identify their spending on this.

  School Buildings and Repairs
  Mr. Straw
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing for each local education authority in England(a) its authorised capital guideline and (b) its actual capital expenditure, in respect of school buildings and repairs, with totals for England, for 1987–88 to 1990–91, and with an estimate for 1991–92.

  Mr. Eggar
  The information readily available is shown in the table:
  673

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1990–91

  1991–92

  Notional schools allocation

  Outturn

  Notional schools allocation

  Outturn

  Notional schools allocation

  Outturn

  Notional schools ACG

  Notional schools ACG

  Lewisham

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1,175

  2,201

  Southwark

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1,367

  1,220

  Wandsworth

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  742

  1,197

  Tower Hamlets

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  7,778

  12,329

  ILEA

  12,316

  23,003

  14,882

  21,298

  11,255

  40,325

  n/a

  n/a

  Birmingham

  3,494

  5,339

  4,175

  4,164

  5,096

  9,200

  10,287

  10,734

  Coventry

  4,135

  6,184

  5,015

  8,174

  2,562

  16,349

  1,693

  1,647

  Dudley

  1,250

  2,968

  1,492

  3,556

  2,206

  3,826

  2,031

  5,745

  Sandwell

  482

  1,147

  638

  634

  1,837

  3,179

  1,604

  1,243

  Solihull

  475

  1,940

  677

  2,111

  692

  2,612

  809

  1,318

  Walsall

  824

  3,105

  907

  2,781

  856

  475

  392

  767

  Wolverhampton

  1,173

  1,239

  1,202

  1,865

  492

  2,092

  719

  1,982

  Knowsley

  825

  1,906

  608

  1,174

  1,799

  1,678

  1,580

  1,141

  Liverpool

  1,141

  1,610

  1,894

  9,662

  541

  2,953

  8,262

  5,425

  St. Helens

  810

  351

  1,156

  1,476

  778

  1,363

  1,613

  2,145

  Sefton

  1,790

  1,837

  1,450

  1,704

  1,713

  2,734

  2,976

  3,661

  Wirral

  1,240

  3,151

  2,287

  4,681

  2,327

  3,456

  3,245

  3,310

  Bolton

  487

  734

  981

  2,227

  1,237

  2,735

  760

  785

  Bury

  320

  762

  467

  953

  605

  1,560

  672

  1,073

  Manchester

  7,538

  5,648

  7,506

  n/a

  4,773

  10,492

  2,524

  4,002

  Oldham

  2,750

  1,578

  2,793

  2,196

  2,139

  3,639

  3,148

  8,477

  Rochdale

  2,195

  2,351

  1,399

  3,463

  2,111

  3,505

  3,272

  5,976

  Salford

  1,768

  3,009

  3,235

  3,329

  3,737

  3,939

  3,870

  3,368

  Stockport

  1,135

  2,303

  2,844

  2,791

  1,496

  4,556

  1,212

  1,799

  Tameside

  364

  1,458

  681

  2,405

  727

  2,305

  1,380

  1,734

  Trafford

  992

  1,191

  434

  1,370

  2,645

  6374

  9,269

  2,869

  Wigan

  2,636

  3,335

  3,358

  3,734

  1,337

  2,178

  3,942

  6,740

  Barnsley

  447

  709

  314

  1,715

  251

  2,462

  1,751

  729

  Doncaster

  324

  449

  301

  792

  684

  1,222

  780

  375

  Rotherham

  237

  1,820

  655

  2,248

  624

  2,197

  1,314

  924

  Sheffield

  2,080

  5,455

  2,991

  9,022

  1,850

  7,998

  1,734

  1,114

  Bradford

  6,121

  9,445

  10,289

  10,599

  7,897

  11,677

  8,549

  6,284

  Calderdale

  1,863

  1,464

  3,494

  3,255

  2,398

  4,596

  1,171

  1,643

  Kirklees

  650

  2,326

  931

  2,865

  733

  2,422

  1,001

  2,840

  Leeds

  2,220

  10,789

  4,411

  15,125

  3,236

  10,128

  2,484

  16,022

  Wakefield

  1,977

  2,692

  3,307

  5,614

  2,816

  5,409

  3,124

  2,177

  Gateshead

  1,112

  1,304

  1,878

  3,005

  951

  4,729

  939

  2,114

  Newcastle

  1,737

  2,402

  2,683

  4,408

  1,428

  4,364

  755

  2,196

  North Tyne

  1,907

  2,987

  2,129

  2,765

  1,557

  1,671

  1,238

  702

  South Tyne

  874

  1,343

  2,247

  2,539

  3,087

  4,022

  1,818

  1,894

  Sunderland

  1,733

  2,430

  3,295

  4,947

  2,096

  5,293

  1,453

  2,017

  Isles of Scilly

  30

  23

  39

  56

  149

  143

  221

  16

  Avon

  3,474

  6,337

  3,630

  6,507

  3,739

  7,265

  3,647

  4,559

  Bedfordshire

  1,105

  5,142

  1,492

  4,432

  1,931

  5,876

  2,309

  1,833

  Berkshire

  3,299

  11,070

  5,111

  16,901

  5,574

  15,502

  4,283

  3,001

  Bucks

  5,846

  5,254

  5,946

  6,315

  7,735

  9,129

  4,459

  5,805

  Cambridgeshire

  3,255

  9,665

  4,250

  15,373

  5,540

  20,925

  8,405

  5,531

  Cheshire

  4,693

  8,723

  4,544

  21,876

  3,283

  11,215

  5,594

  4,951

  Cleveland

  3,883

  4,326

  3,398

  5,061

  5,125

  4,654

  3,178

  2,851

  Cornwall

  5,115

  5,822

  6,274

  6,531

  6,004

  8,308

  5,557

  5,616

  Cumbria

  2,280

  3,201

  4,651

  5,218

  5,198

  6,238

  5,665

  9,179

  Derbyshire

  8,595

  7,930

  9,917

  11,533

  8,383

  15,340

  11,143

  20,735

  Devon

  4,211

  7,696

  5,527

  11,336

  13,645

  18,649

  11,140

  7,135

  Dorset

  3,423

  3,935

  2,633

  3,458

  2,845

  3,650

  3,707

  2,412

  Durham

  937

  1,415

  1,317

  3,710

  2,116

  5,212

  4,402

  6,384

  East Sussex

  4,089

  6,574

  7,527

  10,225

  7,783

  12,581

  8,403

  16,574

  Essex

  10,904

  15,961

  15,992

  16,939

  14,499

  15,869

  12,703

  19,291

  Gloucestershire

  6,383

  5,442

  4,295

  5,797

  5,792

  7,815

  6,934

  6,202

  Hampshire

  9,222

  19,156

  13,233

  24,584

  7,524

  22,513

  11,647

  15,122

  Hereford and Worcester

  2,474

  3,878

  2,761

  6,158

  2,443

  7,144

  6,091

  6,001

  Hertfordshire

  2,643

  9,695

  3,548

  10,692

  4,219

  11,603

  6,257

  6,419

  Humberside

  10,008

  12,495

  6,443

  11,105

  7,160

  8,740

  7,382

  7,795

  Isle of Wight

  1,354

  2,102

  1,623

  1,755

  1,628

  1,768

  1,515

  2,225

  Kent

  6,464

  8,937

  6,724

  11,432

  8,407

  17,136

  15,410

  19,931

  Lancashire

  4,603

  7,435

  11,410

  10,589

  13,363

  15,353

  17,624

  18,751

  Leicestershire

  4,099

  8,635

  6,585

  10,246

  6,655

  10,485

  9,554

  6,813

  Lincolnshire

  4,457

  6,513

  3,763

  6,739

  3,010

  6,107

  6,598

  9,827

  Norfolk

  4,847

  6,633

  3,916

  6,835

  3,529

  6,447

  2,547

  2,301

  North Yorks

  1,892

  3,281

  3,164

  6,127

  2,181

  3,977

  3,947

  4,365

  Northants

  1,460

  5,033

  2,823

  4,849

  3,676

  8,673

  5,218

  7,887

  Northumberland

  610

  950

  926

  1,736

  889

  2,511

  1,924

  3,491

  Nottinghamshire

  1,817

  3,582

  2,077

  2,848

  3,128

  6,850

  3,276

  3,563

  Oxfordshire

  1,330

  2,224

  4,128

  6,068

  3,175

  7,186

  3,581

  6,355

  Shropshire

  5,119

  4,090

  4,419

  4,203

  4,826

  5,015

  5,029

  6,454

  674 675

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1990–91

  1991–92

  Notional schools allocation

  Outturn

  Notional schools allocation

  Outturn

  Notional schools allocation

  Outturn

  Notional schools ACG

  Notional schools ACG

  Somerset

  2,488

  3,907

  2,696

  3,951

  2,974

  6,873

  4,691

  3,438

  Staffordshire

  6,841

  6,140

  6,810

  7,749

  4,913

  10,332

  5,918

  7,019

  Suffolk

  5,954

  7,930

  6,521

  10,108

  5,841

  8,976

  7,330

  8,149

  Surrey

  3,570

  15,813

  4,545

  18,442

  5,593

  20,029

  3,459

  5,425

  Warwickshire

  1,005

  2,687

  1,269

  3,259

  1,462

  4,291

  1,260

  1,183

  West Sussex

  1,612

  5,225

  2,304

  7,219

  1,858

  9,836

  3,501

  3,333

  Wiltshire

  3,047

  3,840

  3,104

  3,668

  2,656

  6,165

  5,863

  4,590

  Total

  254,000

  432,836

  319,000

  545,026

  311,380

  690,376

  390,655

  462,000

  Notes:

  1. Expenditure is given in cash terms, rounded to the nearest £1,000; it includes provision from within the Department of the Environment's urban programme, and covers nursery, primary, secondary and special education.

  2. Outturn information for 1990–91 and forecast outturn for 1991–92 is not available.

  3. Expenditure column totals are not necessarily the same as grossed outturn totals.

  4. The allocation figures for all years represent the initial allocations only. However, supplementary allocations were also given as follows:

  £000s

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  9,350

  17,700

  10,689

  The above figures include supplementary allocations to both schools and FE. Most of the allocations would have been in respect of schools work but it is not possible to separately identify the schools figure for each LEA.

  1990–91

  1991–92

  £24,097

  £10,000

  From 1 April 1990 there was a change in the system of the distribution of capital resources for education buildings. LEAs now receive annual capital guidelines. The above figures represent the schools component only of supplementary credit approvals issued after the ACG announcement in December.

  Music Tuition
  Mr. Batiste
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many local education authorities make charges for the provision of tuition in musical instruments to school children.

  Mr. Eggar
  The information requested is not available. The Department does not keep records of which local education authorities make charges to parents for children's individual tuition on musical instruments.

  Special Educational Needs
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many students with SEN in each local education authority are pursuing local education authority-funded further education training courses in specialist colleges; and what was the total number of students with SEN aged 18 years or older receiving local, education authority assistance to follow further education/training courses in specialist colleges.

  Mr. Eggar
  Information on local education authorities' use of the specialist colleges is not collected centrally.

  School Meals
  Mr. Ron Davies
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on proposals by the London borough of Camden to end the supply of all school meals.
  676
  Mr. Fallon
  The London borough of Camden may not end the supply of all school meals. The borough has a statutory duty to continue to provide free school meals to children whose parents are in receipt of income support or who themselves receive income support

  Schools Budget
  Mr. Hind
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will tabulate for each local education authority the amount of money retained by the central administration that could have been delegated in the potential schools budget to meet the 85 per cent. requirement; and whether he will estimate how much this would have been for each primary and secondary school in each local education authority.

  Mr. Fallon
  The information requested is given in the following table.

  Amounts which would have been delegated to Schools if 1993–94 85 per cent, requirement had been met in 1991–92

  (1)

  (2)

  (3)

  LEA

  Totals £ million

  Amount per school £

  Avon

  4·9

  11,400

  Barnet

  1·0

  9,000

  Bedfordshire

  2·6

  8,900

  Bexley

  2·1

  24,200

  Birmingham

  4·3

  10,400

  Brent

  1·0

  12,200

  Bromley

  0·1

  800

  Cleveland

  2·7

  10,300

  Cornwall

  1·1

  3,700

  Coventry

  1·8

  14,100

  Croydon

  3·3

  26,600

  Derbyshire

  2·4

  4,700

  Doncaster

  0·8

  5,100

  Dudley

  0·4

  3,700

  Durham

  4·5

  13,000

  Ealing

  1·5

  14,700

  Enfield

  0·2

  2,700

  Gateshead

  0·6

  5,300

  Gloucestershire

  0·6

  2,000

  Haringey

  0·7

  8,000

  Harrow

  1·2

  19,400

  Hereford/Worcester

  1·6

  4,300

  Hillingdon

  11·7

  7,300

  Hounslow

  1·1

  13,500

  Humberside

  1·0

  2,300

  Isle of Wight

  0·4

  5,600

  Isles of Scilly

  0·02

  3,400

  Kingston

  0·2

  4,700

  677

  (1)

  (2)

  (3)

  LEA

  Totals £ million

  Amount per school £

  Kirklees

  0·04

  200

  Knowsley

  0·8

  10,600

  Lancashire

  7·9

  11,100

  Leicestershire

  1·8

  4,200

  Liverpool

  3·0

  10,700

  Merton

  0·1

  900

  Newcastle

  1·9

  17,300

  Newham

  4·1

  48,000

  Norfolk

  1·1

  2,400

  North Tyneside

  0·2

  2,700

  North Yorkshire

  1·4

  3,100

  Nottinghamshire

  2·8

  5,400

  Oldham

  1·2

  10,600

  Oxfordshire

  0·4

  1,500

  Redbridge

  1·0

  13,600

  Richmond

  0·8

  16,200

  Sandwell

  2·0

  14,200

  Staffordshire

  0·4

  800

  St. Helens

  0·2

  2,500

  Surrey

  0·8

  1,800

  Tameside

  0·7

  6,600

  Trafford

  0·5

  5,200

  Wakefield

  0·6

  3,400

  Waltham Forest

  2·9

  37,100

  Westminster

  0·05

  1,000

  Wigan

  1·7

  11,200

  Wiltshire

  2·3

  6,800

  Wolverhampton

  2·5

  20,200

  Total and average

  85·8

  7,400

  Notes:

  1. The local education authorities (LEAs) listed are the 56 which are currently delegating less than 85 per cent. of their potential schools budget (PSB).

  2. A new requirement from April 1993 is that the proportion of the PSB delegated to schools should be a minimum of 85 per cent. Column 2 gives the amount extra which would have been delegated this year if the LEA had reached the 85 per cent. minimum.

  3. Column 3 gives the amount in column 2 expressed as an average amount per school for each LEA, rounded to the nearest £100.

DEFENCE

  SSN Submarine
  Mr. O'Neill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will place an order for the SSN-20 submarine.

  Mr. Franks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to place a contract for the studies into the design of a new SSN to replace the Swiftsure class.

  Manpower

  4.17 Outflow of United Kingdom Regular Forces: by Service1

  Number

  Financial years

  1 April–31 December

  1985–86

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1989

  1990

  All Services

  36,521

  36,961

  36,938

  39,278

  42,567

  31,987

  30,338

  Male

  33,881

  34,194

  34,054

  36,556

  39,485

  29,711

  28,035

  Officers

  3,388

  3,528

  3,374

  3,369

  3,646

  2,865

  2,627

  Servicemen

  30,493

  30,936

  30,680

  33,187

  35,839

  26,846

  25,408

  Female

  2,640

  2,767

  2,884

  2,722

  3,082

  2,276

  2,303

  Officers

  351

  334

  328

  335

  331

  251

  248

  Servicewomen

  2,289

  2,433

  2,556

  2,387

  2,751

  2,025

  2,055

  Royal Navy

  6,915

  6,919

  6,224

  5,970

  6,792

  4,951

  5,220

  Male

  6,356

  6,295

  5,603

  5,382

  6,137

  4,466

  4,710

  Officers

  648

  620

  671

  653

  714

  538

  537

  Servicemen

  5,708

  5,675

  4,932

  4,729

  5,423

  3,928

  4,173

  Female

  559

  624

  621

  588

  655

  485

  510

  678
  Mr. Alan Clark
  As I told the House on 15 October at column 173, we are evaluating designs for a further class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines based on the existing Trafalgar class. A design study contract has been placed with Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. today. If the studies are successful, an order for the design and build of the first of class submarine could be placed in the mid-1990s.

  Trident
  Mr. Salmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if any further scientific assessments will be carried out in order to ascertain or improve the safety of British Trident warheads; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Alan Clark
  The British Trident nuclear warhead has been subject to stringent safety scrutiny throughout its design process; this scrutiny will continue during production and deployment.

  Ex-Service Personnel
  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have left each of the armed services in each year since 1987; how many of them have been entitled to assistance with resettlement; and what information he has on the employment experiences of ex-members of Her Majesty's forces after they leave the service.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  I refer the hon. Lady to table 4.17 of the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1991.

  Eligibility for resettlement training is determined primarily by length of service and the circumstances of discharge. About half those who leave the services each year are eligible for the 28 days pre-release vocational training.

  A survey of the resettlement of ex-service personnel commissioned by the Ministry of Defence earlier this year revealed that more than a third of respondents were unemployed immediately after leaving the services; of these, more than half gained employment within three months. A fifth have had other periods of unemployment since leaving.
  679

  Financial years

  1 April—31 December

  1985–86

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1989

  1990

  Officers

  55

  46

  49

  48

  43

  36

  34

  Servicewomen

  504

  578

  572

  540

  612

  449

  476

  Royal Marines

  1,088

  1,068

  1,007

  1,095

  1,242

  905

  1,026

  Male

  1,088

  1,068

  1,007

  1,095

  1,242

  905

  1,026

  Officers

  68

  46

  44

  50

  61

  54

  50

  Servicemen

  1,020

  1,022

  963

  1,045

  1,181

  851

  976

  Army

  21,301

  21,761

  22,749

  24,056

  25,061

  18,917

  17,875

  Male

  19,999

  20,473

  21,393

  22,834

  23,778

  17,979

  16,927

  Officers

  1,790

  1,654

  1,651

  1,549

  1,809

  1,438

  1,322

  Servicemen

  18,209

  18,819

  19,742

  21,285

  21,969

  16,541

  15,605

  Female

  1,302

  1,288

  1,356

  1,222

  1,283

  938

  948

  Officers

  195

  167

  161

  138

  152

  114

  123

  Servicewomen

  1,107

  1,121

  1,195

  1,084

  1,131

  824

  825

  Royal Air Force

  7,217

  7,213

  6,958

  8,157

  9,472

  7,214

  6,217

  Male

  6,438

  6,358

  6,051

  7,245

  8,328

  6,361

  5,372

  Officers

  882

  938

  1,008

  1,117

  1,062

  835

  718

  Servicemen

  5,556

  5,420

  5,043

  6,128

  7,266

  5,526

  4,654

  Female

  779

  855

  907

  912

  1,144

  853

  845

  Officers

  101

  121

  118

  149

  136

  101

  91

  Servicewomen

  678

  734

  789

  763

  1,008

  752

  754

  1 Comprises all those who left the regular forces and includes deaths.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Iraq
  Mr. Lawrence
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what undertakings have been given by the Iraqi regime that the money released back to that country in exchange for Ian Richter's release will be used for humanitarian purposes.

  Mr. Hurd
  The Iraqis were told that, after the release of Mr. Richter, we would exceptionally be prepared to unfreeze £70 million of Iraqi assets for humanitarian purposes as permitted by United Nations Security Council resolutions 661 and 687. We do not plan to release further tranches of assets for this purpose. The Iraqis have been told that we remain firmly committed to the United Nations sanctions regime: the Iraqi Government have not yet met the requirements laid on it by the UN Security Council. Details of the purposes for which the assets are released will be passed to the UN sanctions committee and other interested organisations.

  Mr. Lawrence
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Iraqi regime has yet taken advantage of the UN resolutions allowing it to sell oil provided that the money is used for humanitarian relief.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We remain hopeful that the regime will see the advantage to be gained by the Iraqi people from implementing Security Council resolutions 706 and 712.

  Lockerbie Air Crash
  Mr. Stanbrook
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the names of the Libyan citizens accused of the Lockerbie murders, the law under which they are charged, the precise wording of the charge and the legal authority under which their extradition is sought.
  680
  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 14 November 1991 at column 1227. The text of the warrant which has been placed in the Library of the House contains the precise wording of the charges which have been brought under the law of Scotland against two Libyan nationals, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah. The demand which has been made is for surrender of the accused persons by exercise of executive power.

  Treatment of Kurds
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to Turkey about the use of napalm, death squads and torture against Kurdish civilians in the south-east of Turkey and inside northern Iraq; and if he will make a further statement on the Government's position on the Kurds.

  Mr. Garel-Jones
  We fully recognise the right of the Turkish Government to combat the terrorist threat in south-east Turkey. The previous Turkish Government were, however, well aware of our concern about human rights violations. We note with satisfaction the undertaking of the new Turkish Government to combat the terrorist campaign by legal and democratic means and to eliminate torture.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Turkish authorities about the death cells at Eskisehir prison for Kurdish political prisoners and the incompatibility of such use with the United Nations legal charter on stipulated minimum standards of conduct towards prisoners.

  Mr. Garel-Jones
  We are in regular contact with the Turkish authorities on human rights questions and have
  681
  noted the decision by the Minister of Justice to move prisoners presently held in Eskisehir prison to other installations.

  EC Majority Voting
  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will list those decisions made by majority voting within the European Community since the entry into force of the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1986; and on each occasion which way the United Kingdom voted.

  Mr. Garet-Jones
  A detailed list of all decisions made by majority voting since the entry into force of the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1986, including a record of which way the United Kingdom voted in each case, could be produced only at disproportionate cost. Between entry into force of the Single European Act on 1 July 1987 and 30 June 1991, 259 majority votes were held. The United Kingdom voted against on 36 occasions. On decisions taken under the provisions of the Single European Act itself, the United Kingdom has been outvoted only three times in 99 decisions taken during the same period.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

  "Spyeatcher" Costs
  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Attorney-General if he will state the total amount (i) in legal costs and (ii) otherwise spent out of public funds on proceedings involving the book "Spycatcher" and including the costs awarded against the Government by the European Court of Human Rights.

  The Attorney-General
  The total amount paid out in respect of legal fees to date over five years and in several countries is £506,000. It will not be possible to specify for some time the total cost of the litigation, which will include costs of £200,000 awarded against the Government by the European Court of Human Rights this week.

WALES

  Departmental Projects
  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will list those projects, managed by bodies or agencies outside his Department, for which his

  European Social Fund (ESF) contribution

  Percentage of total expenditure

  1989 £ million

  1990 £ million

  1989 Per cent.

  1990 Per cent.

  Action for Community Employment

  7·584

  Nil

  17·1

  Nil

  Youth training programme

  24·648

  17·262

  43·1

  30·1

  Job training programme

  0·418

  2·385

  9·3

  37·2

  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the latest information he has about the number of people who are participating in(a) Action for Community Employment, (b) the youth training programme, (c) the job training programme, (d) the
  682
  Department is currently funding an operational deficit; how much of the deficit his Department is carrying; and for what period.

  Mr. David Hunt
  My Department does not directly fund the operational deficits which arise from projects managed by non-departmental bodies. Such projects are financed by the non-departmental bodies themselves usually, but not always, from their grant-in-aid.

  Careers Service
  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to privatise the local authority careers service.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  The Government's proposals for the future management of the careers service are set out in volume 1 of the White Paper, "Education and Training for the 21st Century", Cm. 1536, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. We propose to legislate to enable a range of options to be introduced, including contracting out the careers service to the private sector.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Training
  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at the latest available date how many(a) men arid (b) women were employed on Action for Community Employment; and how many of them were employed (i) part time or (ii) full time.

  Mr. Needham
  At 25 October 5,511 men and 4,888 women were employed on Action for Community Employment. Of these 4,685 men and 1,808 women were in full-time employment and 826 men and 3,080 women were employed part time.

  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what sums of money have been contributed from the European social fund towards(a) Action for Community Employment, (b) the youth training programme and (c) the job training programme for each year since 1989; and what percentage contribution to the total costs of Action for Community Employment, the youth training programme and the job training programme this represents for each year.

  Mr. Needham
  The information requested is as follows:

  enterprise allowance scheme, (e) job clubs and (f) restart courses; if he will publish the comparable information for each year since 1987; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Needham
  The information requested is as follows:
  683

  ACE

  YTP

  JTP

  EAS

  Job clubs

  Restart courses

  1987–88

  6,200

  11,619

  1393

  2,422

  767

  2,329

  1988–89

  8,600

  13,328

  2,562

  1,695

  1,576

  673

  1989–90

  10,000

  12,229

  6,509

  1,093

  3,320

  2nil

  1990–91

  10,273

  13,825

  7,426

  815

  3,674

  nil

  1 April to 31 October 1991

  10,399

  16,010

  4,726

  659

  2,346

  nil

  Notes:

  ACE—Action for community employment.

  YTP—Youth training programme.

  JTP—Job training programme.

  EAS—Enterprise allowance scheme.

  1Pilot job training programme.

  2 Restart courses ceased in March 1990.

  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much expenditure, excluding administration costs, at cash and constant prices, has been spent in each year since 1983–84 on(a) Action for Community Employment, (b) the youth training programme, and the earlier youth opportunities programme, (e) the job training programme, and the earlier programmes it replaced, (d) the enterprise allowance scheme, (e) job

  ACE1

  YTP2

  JTP3

  Year

  £ million

  £ million (1990)

  £ million

  £ million (1990)

  £ million

  £ million (1990)

  cash price

  constant price

  cash price

  constant price

  cash price

  constant price

  1983–84

  10·6

  15·9

  35·2

  53·1

  —

  —

  1984–85

  13·6

  19·4

  36·6

  52·5

  —

  —

  1985–86

  17·8

  24·2

  40·9

  55·6

  —

  —

  1986–87

  28·5

  37·9

  48·8

  64·8

  0·013

  0·017

  1987–88

  28·8

  36·2

  49·8

  62·5

  0·213

  0·267

  1988–89

  41·1

  48·2

  54·1

  63·5

  1·4

  1·6

  1989–90

  50·7

  55·7

  58·5

  64·3

  5·6

  6·1

  ACE1

  YTP2

  JTP3

  Year

  £ million actual

  £ million planned

  £ million actual

  £ million planned

  £ million actual

  £ million planned

  1990–91

  51—2

  —

  56·8

  —

  8·3

  —

  1991–92

  —

  51·3

  —

  53·0

  —

  11·5

  1992–93

  —

  50·4

  —

  51·2

  —

  16·8

  1993–94

  —

  51·0

  —

  53·2

  —

  22·5

  EAS4

  Jobclubs5

  Restart courses6

  Year

  £ million cash price

  £ million (1990) constant price

  £ million cash price

  £ million (1990) constant price

  £ million cash price

  £ million (1990) constant price

  1983–84

  1·7

  2·5

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1984–85

  2·7

  3·9

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1985–86

  2·8

  3·8

  0·007

  0·009

  —

  —

  1986–87

  3·8

  5·0

  0·044

  0·058

  0·035

  0·046

  1987–88

  4·7

  5·9

  0·121

  0·152

  0·143

  0·180

  1988–89

  4·3

  5·0

  0·193

  0·227

  0·055

  0·064

  1989–90

  2·5

  2·7

  0·284

  0·312

  —

  —

  EAS4

  Jobclubs5

  Restart courses

  Year

  £ million actual

  £ million planned

  £ million actual

  £ million planned

  £ million actual

  £ million planned

  1990–91

  1·5

  —

  0·452

  —

  —

  —

  1991–92

  —

  1·5

  —

  0·387

  —

  —

  1992–93

  —

  1·5

  —

  0·481

  —

  —

  1993–94

  —

  1·5

  —

  0·484

  —

  —

  Notes:

  1ACE—Action for community employment.
  684
  clubs and (f) restart courses; what is the planned expenditure in each of the years 1991–92 to 1993–94; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Needham
  The information requested is set out in the following tables. The constant prices have been calculated on the basis of the published Treasury GDP deflator.

  2 YTP—Youth training programme.
  685
  3 JTP—Job training programme commenced in 1986–87.

  4 EAS—Enterprise allowance scheme.

  5 Jobclubs commenced in 1985–86.

  6 Restart courses commenced in 1986–87 and ended in 1988–89.

  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the annual expenditure on the job training programme from the start of the programme to the estimated outturn for 1991–92; how much of each year's budget in cash terms was used to pay(a) the trainee's training allowances and (b) the trainee's training premium; and what was the average trainee allowance in each year.

  Mr. Needham
  Training premium is paid as part of the training allowance at a fixed rate of £10 per week. Records are maintained only in respect of gross training allowances (inclusive of the training premium) and are tabulated below together with information about annual expenditure and average training allowances.

  Annual expenditure

  Total training allowances (inclusive of training premium at £10 per week)

  Average training allowances (inclusive of training premium at £10 per week)

  £ million

  £ million

  £

  1986–87

  0·013

  1—

  1—

  1987–88

  0·213

  1—

  1—

  1988–89

  1·364

  1—

  1—

  1989–90

  5·564

  2·911

  40·23

  1990–91

  8·338

  4·463

  42·59

  1991–92

  211·492

  26·307

  246·00

  1 Not available.

  2 Estimate.

  Youth Programme
  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information he has on the destination of youth training programme leavers for each year since 1989–90; and, of those who found employment, how many were with the employer who provided their training.

  Mr. Needham
  Information on YTP leavers from full-time training provision whose destinations are known is as follows:

  1989–90

  1990–91

  Number of leavers

  10,914

  8,768

  Employment

  6,767

  4,223

  Full-time education

  649

  1,227

  Unemployed

  3,498

  3,318

  Figures are not available for YTP leavers who found employment with the employer who provided their training.

  Ms. Short
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have attended restart interviews in 1990–91 and since 1 April 1991; and what were the results of those interviews broken down to show how many interviewees were placed in either(a) Action for Community Employment, (b) the job training programme, (c) the enterprise allowance scheme, (d) job clubs, (e) restart courses and (f) jobs; and if he will make a statement.
  686
  Mr. Needham
  In 1990–91 75,025 people attended restart interviews. In the period April–September a further 35,371 attended. Placements were as follows:

  1990–91

  April to September 1991

  Action for community employment

  896

  567

  Job training programme

  1,712

  912

  Enterprise allowance scheme

  231

  114

  Job clubs

  507

  240

  Restart courses

  —

  —

  Jobs

  1,235

  590

  Ex-gratia Payments
  Mr. William Ross
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many times in each of the last three years for which figures are available the Department of Health and Social Security in Northern Ireland has not made an ex-gratia payment recommended by an appeal tribunal.

  Mr. Hanley
  While this is a matter for the chief executive of the Social Security Agency, I understand that statistics on the number of ex-gratia payments recommended by an appeal tribunal that were not paid by the Department are not readily available and that the answer to this question could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Computers
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangements he now proposes for the provision of(a) computer software services and (b) computer maintenance for the Export Credits Guarantee Department subsequent to any sale of the Insurance Services Group, Cardiff, to NCM of Amsterdam; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lilley
  The arrangements for the sale of the Insurance Services Group include a provision for ECGD to obtain mainframe computer processing services, application development services and maintenance for mainframe-based application systems from the privatised company for a period of two years following vesting. Information concerning the terms of sale will be made public after privatisation.

  Racal Electronics
  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he intends to refer to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission the bid by Williams Holdings for Racal Electronics; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Redwood
  [holding answer 28 November 1991]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary for State for Trade and Industry announced on 20 November that the proposed acquisition by Williams Holdings plc of Racal Electronics plc will be referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission unless suitable undertakings are offered by Williams to remedy the expected adverse effects of the

  687
  proposed acquisition. He has asked the Director General of Fair Trading to open negotiations immediately with Williams Holdings with a view to obtaining such undertakings. Representations on what undertakings would be appropriate to remedy the adverse effects should be made in writing to the Office of Fair Trading by 29 November 1991.

  Distillers
  Ms. Mowlam
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will now publish in full his Department's inspectors' report into the contested takeover of Distillers by Guinness.

  Mr. Lilley
  [holding answer 28 November 1991]: No.

  Ms. Mowlam
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the status of the report by DTI inspectors into the contested takeover of Distillers by Guinness.

  Mr. Lilley
  [holding answer 28 November 1991]: The inspectors have submitted an interim report under the provisions of section 437(1) of the Companies Act 1985 which remains unpublished.

  Ms. Mowlam
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will now make available in the Library those parts of his Department's inspectors' report into the contested takeover of Distillers by Guinness which have been made available to(a) Argyll and Guinness or (b) otherwise made public.

  Mr. Lilley
  [holding answer 28 November 1991]: No. Reports are made available to Parliament on publication.

SCOTLAND

  Police National Computer
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what computer links exist, or are planned, between the Scottish criminal records office and the new police national computer, PNC2.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The Scottish criminal record office has an established link with all current PNC2 applications.

  Criminal Intelligence Service
  Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what computer links exist, or are planned, between the National Crime Intelligence Unit (Scotland) and the existing national police intelligence databases or the proposed integrated national criminal intelligence system.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The extent to which the Scottish police service will be involved with the proposed national criminal intelligence service is still under consideration and at this stage no decisions have been taken about a computer link.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Milk Quotas
  Mr. Martlew
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his policy on the transferring of milk quotas across national borders in the European Community.

  Mr. Curry
  I am in principle in favour of allowing milk quotas to be freely traded between milk producers anywhere in the Community. The EC Commission has not included any such proposal in its CAP reform package.

  Scottish Salmon Industry
  Mr. Martlew
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effect on the Scottish salmon industry of the recent trade agreement between the EC and EFTA countries.

  Mr. Curry
  The agreement establishing the European economic area from 1 January 1993 makes no change to tariff levels for salmon. The contracting parties are committed to taking action to ensure there is no distortion of competition.

EMPLOYMENT

  Training
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of adults on adult training have relevant workplace experience with employers.

  Mr. Jackson
  The information is not available centrally.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment(i) how many unemployed people are unable to enter adult training because training in their preferred area is not available in their local training and enterprise council area;

  (2) how many training and enterprise councils allow unemployed people access to training in areas other than their own if training is not available locally; how many training and enterprise councils have a budget for this; and how this is decided.

  Mr. Jackson
  The information is not available in the format requested.

  Training and enteprise councils are allocated sufficient funds to meet the Government's guarantee of providing a training place on youth training or employment training for unemployed people who wish to enter these programmes. All young people over statutory school leaving age are eligible to enter and have a guarantee to receive YT training in Great Britain up to their 18th birthday.

  The Government's guarantee to adults is for everyone aged 18 to 24 who has been unemployed between six and 12 months to receive an offer of employment training, a job interview guarantee, an enterprise allowance, a place in a job club or on employment action.

  The Government aim is for everyone under 50 who has been unemployed for more than two years and all people with disabilities, to receive an offer of employment training, job interview guarantee, an enterprise allowance and a place in a job club or on employment action.
  689
  TECs are encouraged to be as flexible as possible in order to meet individual training needs. This can include funding training in other TEC areas if a TEC feels this is appropriate. It is for the individual TECs to liaise with each other when this situation arises.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if administration of training vouchers will be the responsibility of the TECs, what funds will be available and what is the predicted financial impact on organisations which currently make no charge for guidance.

  Mr. Jackson
  TECs will be responsible for the administration of vouchers for adult guidance issued under the "Gateways to Learning" pilots. The funding will be made available to TECs which successfully bid under the gateways to learning initiative to pilot improvements to the local provision of adult guidance and assessment and to test the use of vouchers for these services. The funds will also be used for central support to the pilots and for an external evaluation of the initiative.

  Financial arrangements will be for local negotiation between the TECs and other local organisations involved in the pilots, including organisations currently offering guidance to adults without charge.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the changes in funding from 1989–90, 1990–91 and 1991–92 for high technology national training courses for adults; and what effect changes in funding for training have had on provision at this level.

  Mr. Jackson
  The funding for HTNT for the three years is as follows:

  £ million

  1989–90

  17

  1990–91

  20

  1991–92

  18

  Provision has been maintained at broadly similar levels throughout the period.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of trainees on adult training are finished early from schemes because there are no relevant work experience placements available.

  Mr. Jackson
  This information is not available.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of how the £2 million for guidance and training voucher schemes will be spent.

  Mr. Jackson
  The funding will be made available to TECs which successfully bid under the "Gateways to Learning" initiative to pilot improvements to the local provision of adult guidance and assessment and to test the use of vouchers for these services. The funds will also be used for central support to the pilots and for an external evaluation of the initiative.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the reduction in employment training and youth training places over the last three years.

  Mr. Jackson
  The average number in training on employment training over the last three years and youth training scheme in 1989–90 and youth training in 1990–91 and 1991–92 are given in the table.
  690

  Average in training: 000s

  Year

  ET

  YT

  1989–90

  203

  367

  11990–91

  196

  325

  21991–92

  149

  326

  1 Estimated.

  2 Planned.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of people entering adult training gain national vocational qualifications; and at what level.

  Mr. Jackson
  Twenty-seven per cent. of all people leaving employment training gained a qualification or credit towards one. There is no information available about the proportion which are national vocational qualifications.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many unemployed people are refused adult training places because there are no relevant national vocational qualifications in place either in a particular vocational area or at an appropriate level.

  Mr. Jackson
  There is no justification for denying an unemployed person a training place on the grounds that no national vocational qualification is available. National vocational qualifications covering 40 per cent. of the employed work force at levels 1 to 4 are currently available. In order to fill the current gaps in NVQ provision, this Department issues listings of existing vocational qualifications which are accepted for use in adult and youth training until the appropriate NVQ becomes available.

  TECs
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the salaries of the chief executives of the training and enterprise councils in England and Wales.

  Mr. Jackson
  Chief executives who are on secondment to training and enterprise councils from the Employment Department are paid the civil service salary appropriate to their grade. The salary of a directly employed chief executive is a matter for the TEC itself to decide.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the running costs of administration excluding money spent on programmes of training and enterprise councils; and what are the total administration costs of the training and enterprise councils.

  Mr. Jackson
  The total Government contribution to the running costs of training and enterprise councils for England and Wales in 1991–92 is £124·342 million.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the private sector financial contribution to the running costs or programme costs of the training and enterprise councils.

  Mr. Jackson
  The private sector does contribute to the costs of training, enterprise and education programmes in a variety of ways, for example, either direct to a TEC by contributions to a specific project or by meeting some of the costs of individual trainees. Information on these contributions is not available centrally.
  691
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff are employed by the training and enterprise councils in total.

  Mr. Jackson
  We do not hold figures for the staff TECs employ in posts which are not publicly funded. On 1 November training and enterprise councils had 3,456 in publicly funded posts, 532 direct and 2,924 secondees.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total cost of training and enterprise council board members expenses; and how many(a) women and (b) members of ethnic minorities there are.

  Mr. Jackson
  Reimbursement of expenses incurred by training and enterprise council board members is a matter for each TEC and central records are not maintained. Currently 122 board members are women. Information collected in summer 1991 showed that 40 board members were from an ethnic minority background.

  Training, Enterprise and Education Directorate
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the reduction in the Training, Enterprise and Education directorate administration—not programme—budget since training and enterprise councils were set up.

  Mr. Jackson
  Precise comparison of Training, Enterprise and Education Directorate administration/ running costs with the period prior to the setting up of TECs is not possible. Area offices which preceded TECs were part of the Training Agency which was responsible for a different range of functions to those administered by TEED.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff are employed by the TEED in areas relating to training; and what do they cost.

  Mr. Jackson
  Setting aside staff seconded to TECs, a total of 2060·5 staff are employed in regional and Head Offices at a cost of £52·9 million for salaries and general administrative expenses on a broad range of functions covering training education and enterprise.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the reduction in the TEED programme-provision budget since TECs were set up.

  Mr. Jackson
  Total expenditure in Great Britain on TEED programmes in 1990–91 during which the first

  Non-Industrial Staff (all grades)

  16–19

  20–24

  25–29

  30–34

  35–39

  40–44

  45–49

  50 and over

  Total

  Men

  Women

  Entrants to the Inland Revenue

  1986–87

  1,616

  1,574

  580

  361

  336

  255

  145

  177

  5,044

  1,899

  3,145

  1987–88

  1,631

  1,898

  696

  443

  435

  409

  207

  247

  5,966

  2,202

  3,764

  1988–89

  2,250

  2,223

  917

  581

  574

  535

  353

  418

  7,851

  2,949

  4,902

  1989–90

  1,702

  1,523

  740

  536

  532

  466

  279

  344

  6,122

  2,141

  3,981

  1990–91

  1,460

  1,216

  506

  392

  430

  410

  222

  244

  4,880

  1,651

  3,229

  Entrants to the Home Civil Service

  1986–87

  15,264

  16,115

  6,400

  4,078

  3,873

  3,002

  1,710

  2,515

  52,957

  21,098

  31,859

  1987–88

  13,720

  16,199

  6,470

  3,900

  3,682

  3,431

  2,054

  2,947

  52,403

  21,711

  30,692

  1988–89

  9,615

  12,914

  6,120

  3,910

  3,621

  3,686

  2,396

  3,786

  46,048

  20,026

  26,022

  692
  TECs were established was £2·8 billion compared with planned provision for 1991–92 of £2·9 billion and for 1992–93 of £2·8 billion.

  Child Care
  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the employment training child care budget; and whether its level has been maintained over the period 1989–90 to 1991–92.

  Mr. Jackson
  The proportion of the adult training budget used to provide child care support is the responsibility of individual training and enterprise councils.

  From April 1991, the scope to support the child care costs on trainees of ET was extended, from the original provision for lone parents to all trainees.

  Mrs. Mahon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many child care places were funded from the employment training budget in 1989–90, 1990–91 and 1991–92.

  Mr. Jackson
  The Employment Department does not collect information on the number of ET trainees receiving child care support.

NATIONAL FINANCE

  Job Applications (Civil Service and Inland Revenue)
  Mr. Illsley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is(a) the total number of applicants for employment within (1) the civil service and (2) the Inland Revenue broken down by age and sex over the last five years, (b) the total number of applicants interviewed for employment within (1) the Inland Revenue and (2) the civil service over the last five years and (c) the total number of applicants for employment actually appointed by (1) the civil service and (2) the Inland Revenue over the last five years.

  Mr. Maples
  No information is held centrally about the total number by age and sex of either applicants for employment or the number of applicants interviewed. This information could not be obtained without disproportionate cost. However, some data for selected grades are available for the civil service as a whole in the Civil Service Commission annual reports. Copies are available in the House of Commons Library.

  Data on entrants to the non-industrial home civil service and Inland Revenue are given in the tables.
  693

  16–19

  20–24

  25–29

  30–34

  35–39

  40–44

  45–49

  50 and over

  Total

  Men

  Women

  1989–90

  9,600

  12,335

  6,293

  4,275

  3,810

  3,873

  2,438

  3,832

  46,456

  19,356

  27,100

  1990–91

  6,780

  9,490

  5,332

  3,584

  3,034

  3,245

  1,991

  2,872

  36,328

  15,527

  20,801

  Source: MANDATE

  Fiscal Transfers
  Mr. Butler
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the Government's policy as to whether economic convergence in the EC and European monetary union will require increased regional fiscal transfers.

  Mr. Maude
  Economic convergence requires sound economic and monetary policies. If economic and monetary union is subject to proper convergence decisions, it should create the conditions for the growth by all member states; there is no reason why it should justify further expenditure on the structural funds, which will double in real terms between 1987 and 1993.

  Knives
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many illegal knives have been seized at ports over the last two years; and what plans he has to tighten up controls on imports of knives as offensive weapons.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The numbers of knives seized at ports, airports and other points of entry are as follows:

  Year ending 31 March

  Number

  1990

  903

  1991

  2,082

  Customs are continually seeking to improve the effectiveness of their controls in this and other areas, principally by better, risk-based targeting of resources.

  Intergovernmental Conference
  Mr. Burns
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the meeting of the intergovernmental conference on economic: and monetary union on 25 November.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  I attended a meeting of the intergovernmental conference on economic and monetary union on 24–25 November. Four main issues were discussed: the role of the Commission and the European Council in EMU, exchange rate policy in stage 3, the procedure for investigating member states' budget deficits, and the transitional provisions in the draft statute of the European system of central banks.

  On institutional issues, I argued that the treaty provisions should be considered on a case-by-case basis to achieve a workable solution; the Commission should not always have the exclusive right of proposal of legislation.

  The discussion of exchange rate policy was brief and the issue was remitted to personal representatives for further work.

  In the discussion of the procedure for investigating budget deficits I argued that market forces and Council recommendations were the most appropriate discipline on member states and that the procedure should be concerned only with gross errors of budgetary policy. On the transitional provisions in the draft statute, the conference discussed a number of issues concerning the arrangements for non-participants in stage 3.
  694
  In a discussion of the Soviet Union, I argued for the earliest possible disbursement of the Community's food credits to meet genuine humanitarian needs. Agreement was reached on the mandate for the Commission's negotiations with the Soviet Union on the 500 mecu loan already agreed by the Community.

  Civil Servants (Loans)
  Mr. Robert B. Jones
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will set out in tabular form the official rates of interest on loans provided to civil servants by their employers by category of loan.

  Mr. Maples
  Departments as employers do not normally make loans to their staff. They may provide advances of salary for travel costs, including season tickets and bicycle purchase, for house purchase where a member of staff is being compulsorily transferred in the public interest, and to assist with car purchase and miscellaneous additional expenses on posting overseas. No interest is paid on these advances. Departments and agencies also have discretion to take over any excess bridging loan after sale charging nominal interest rates in circumstances where staff face financial hardship following a move in the public interest if they have a bridging loan in excess of the sale value of their old property. Information on the use of the discretion is not held centrally.

  Oil (VAT)
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the VAT rules for oil deliveries to domestic premises (i) below and (ii) above 2,300 litres.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  All supplies of 2,300 litres of oil or less are always considered to be for domestic use and thus zero-rated for VAT purposes to all customers. However, where the quantity of oil delivered is more than 2,300 litres, the supply will still be zero-rated if the oil is indeed for domestic use, although the supplier may ask for a certificate from the customer to that effect.

  Child Care Costs
  Sir Ian Gilmour
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the information he has for each of the member states of the European Community, and for Norway, Sweden and Finland, on the tax treatment of work-related child care costs.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  The latest available information is given in the table. To make a valid comparison between countries it would be necessary to take into account the standard tax allowances and tax reliefs given to parents and the level of child benefits given through the social security system.

  All amounts have been converted to sterling using the latest available purchasing power parities.
  695
  Country and treatment of work-related child care expenses

  Belgium

  Up to 80 per cent. of expenses are deductible in respect of children under three years old, subject to a maximum of £4·94 per child per day of care.

  Denmark

  No tax relief is given.

  France

  There is a tax reduction equal to 25 per cent. of expenses limited to £1,293 per year (1990 figure) for each child under seven years old. The tax reduction is available to single, widowed, divorced or separated taxpayers who work outside the home and to a couple where each spouse either works or attends a full-time course of higher education.

  Germany

  Expenses are deductible up to £1,064 per year for the first child and £532 for each additional child. A minimum lump-sum deduction of £128 (without proof of expenditure) is allowed. The deductions apply to single parents and couples if one spouse (or partner) is sick or disabled.

  Greece

  Taxpayers are exempt from income tax on 50 per cent. of the annual cost of sending a child to a nursery or kindergarten, up to a maximum of £549 per child per year.

  Ireland

  No tax relief is given.

  Italy

  No tax relief is given.

  Luxembourg

  Childcare expenses (apparently whether work-related or not) are deductible for single persons, and persons with a child under 14 years old in the household. The total deduction for childcare expenses and domestic help may not exceed £270 per year.

  Netherlands

  Expenses are deductible, but part of the costs (which must be proved) must be borne by the parent(s). The amount to be borne by the parent(s) ranges from 10 pence per hour for those with an annual combined income of less than £9,091 to £1·18 per hour for those with an annual combined income of over £29,091. If the expenses relate to more than one child, the amount to be borne by the parent(s) is increased by 10 pence per hour for each additional child.

  Portugal

  A deduction is allowed for educational expenses (including creches and nurseries, and apparently whether work-related or not) to a maximum of £700 (for single taxpayers) and £1,400 (married). These maximum amounts are cumulative with deductions allowed for other expenses eg life insurance, medical expenses.

  Spain

  With effect from 1 January 1992 a deduction is allowed for 15 per cent. of expenses incurred to a maximum of £137 in respect of each child under three years old if the parents work away from home and the taxpayer's net income does not exceed £10,966.

  United Kingdom

  Employees are exempt from income tax on the benefit of a workplace nursery place provided by their employer. No other tax relief is given.

  Finland

  No tax relief is given.

  Norway

  No tax relief is given.

  Sweden

  No tax relief is given.

  Corporation Tax
  Mr. Day
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the consultations on tax returns under corporation tax pay and file.

  Mr. Maude
  The Inland Revenue published proposals earlier this year on tax returns under corporation tax pay and file. These were generally well received, although there were comments on various points of detail. The Inland Revenue has revised the draft return form to take account of these comments. Companies and their advisers will be invited early next year to complete the revised return form on an experimental basis, to help them to familiarise themselves with the new procedures and to help to identify and correct any mistakes and misunderstandings before the start of pay and file.

  There was one criticism which could not be dealt with at this stage as it would involve a change in the law. A number of respondents were concerned that the requirement for returns to be signed by the company secretary could put burdens on companies. The Inland Revenue will be discussing this with bodies representing businesses and their advisers to see whether a solution can be found which would not put undue burdens on the Inland Revenue or risks on the Exchequer. Any legislation needed could be introduced before the start of pay and file.

  Exchange Rate Mechanism
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the changes in exchange rates with the ERM for each currency since the start of the system, the date of each realignment and the exchange rate between the ecu and the US dollar on each occasion.

  Mr. Maples
  [holding answer 28 November 1991]: The table shows the changes in each ERM currency's central rate against the ecu since the start of the system (or its entry to the system):

  Ecu central rate1

  Currency

  1979 (or entry date)

  Now

  Deutschemark (DM)

  2·5106

  2·0559

  French Franc (FFC)

  5·8552

  6·8951

  Sterling (UKL)

  (0·6969)

  0·6969

  Dutch Guilder (HFL)

  2·7208

  2·3164

  Belgian Franc/Luxembourg

  39·458

  42·403

  Franc (BFR/LFR)

  —

  —

  Italian Lira (LIT)

  1148·2

  1538·2

  Danish Krone (DKR)

  7·0859

  7·8420

  Irish Punt (IRL)

  0·6626

  0·7674

  Spanish Peseta (PTA)

  (133·80)

  133·63

  1 the method of calculation of central rates against the ecu in the ERM is such that they all adjust if there is a realignment. Bilateral central rates between any two currencies that have not realigned remain unchanged.

  There have been 12 realignments since the ERM started in 1979. The dates, the currencies that realigned their bilateral central rates, and the ecu/$ exchange rates at the time of realignment are listed below. Information on ecu/$ exchange rates in 1979 is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
  697

  Date of realignment

  Currencies that realigned

  ecu/$ rate at time of realignment

  1979

  13 March

  start off ERM

  —

  24 September

  DM, DKR

  —

  30 November

  DKR

  —

  1981

  23 March

  LIT

  0·8243

  5 October

  DM, DHL, FFC, LIT

  0·9159

  1982

  22 February

  BFC, DKR

  0·9678

  14 June

  DM, DFL, LIT, FFC

  1·0220

  1983

  21 March

  DM, DFL, DKR, BFC, FFC, LIT, IRL

  1·0612

  1985

  22 July

  BFC, DKR, DM, FFC, IRL. DFL, LIT

  1·2856

  1986

  7 April

  DM, DFL, BFC, DKR, FFC

  1·1109

  4 August

  IRL

  0·9850

  1987

  12 January

  DM, DFL, BFC

  0·9204

  1989

  19 June

  entry of Peseta

  0·9578

  1990

  8 January

  LIT (to narrow band)

  0·8264

  8 October

  entry of sterling

  0·7405

  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received for a realignment of currencies within the ERM; what representations he has made on this to other member states; and what consultation procedures are required before any realignment can be made.

  Mr. Maples
  [holding answer 28 November 1991]: Adjustments of central rates within the ERM are subject to mutual agreement by all countries participating in the ERM. Discussions between member states in this respect are confidential.

  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what help is available from other ERM 698
  members to support currencies falling to the bottom of their range; and whether more is available to currencies in 2·5 per cent. bands than to those in 6 per cent. bands.

  Mr. Maples
  [holding answer 28 November 1991]: If one currency is at its limit against another in the ERM, the central banks of both currencies each have an unlimited obligation to buy or sell at the limiting rates during European business hours. The EMS provides for a very short-term facility (VSTF) under which credit is automatically available in unlimited quantities to finance such obligatory intervention at the limiting rates.

  If intervention is undertaken when one currency is not at its limit against another in the ERM the VSTF can be made available, but not automatically.

  The amounts that can be made available do not differ between wide band and narrow band currencies. VSTF credits have to be repaid within a period of three months.

  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what notification is required to members of the ERM of interest rate changes in member countries; and what advance warning he was given of the last French rate increase.

  Mr. Maples
  [holding answer 28 November 1991]: National monetary authorities are not required to notify other ERM participants in advance of interest rate changes. I cannot reveal the content of consultations with the monetary authorities of other member states.

  National Insurance Contributions
  Mr. Beith
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue which would be raised by applying 9 per cent. national insurance contribution to(a) all non-pensioners' investment income received by basic rate taxpayers and (b) all investment income received by basic rate taxpayers disregarding the first £3,000 investment income in each case.

  Mr. Maude
  [holding answer 28 November 1991]: A charge of 9 per cent. on investment income in excess of £3,000 for individuals aged under 65 who are liable to tax only at the basic rate would yield about £220 million in a full year at 1991–92 levels of income. The corresponding yield from basic rate taxpayers aged 65 and over would be about £270 million.