Written Answers of 13 February 1992

TRANSPORT

  Eurocontrol
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the future of Eurocontrol.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  I believe that Eurocontrol has an increasingly important role as the key organisation in Europe for co-ordinating the planning of air traffic management and related research and development, and the collection of enroute air navigation charges. In particular, Eurocontrol will continue to be responsible for building and operating the central flow management unit; for the management of the European air traffic control harmonisation and integration programme, which is likely to be expanded shortly to include air traffic control systems at airports; and for the operation of the European co-ordination team to identify measures to improve air traffic control capacity in the short term.

  Eurocontrol will be opening negotiations on an agreement on strengthened co-operation with the EC Commission. It will also be considering whether its convention is appropriate to meet its future needs.

  Twelve states have signed the Eurocontrol convention to date, and 15 states are members of the Eurocontrol route charges system. A number of other states attend Eurocontrol meetings as observers. Transport Ministers of the European Civil Aviation Conference have encouraged those member states which have not yet applied for membership of Eurocontrol to do so at the earliest opportunity.

  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he is taking to improve co-ordination and the work of Eurocontrol and the European Commission in respect of a pan-European air traffic control system, in order to avoid duplication.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  As the result of a United Kingdom proposal at the meeting of the permanent commission of Eurocontrol on 3 December 1991, Eurocontrol, in co-operation with both the EC Commission and member states of the European Civil Aviation Conference, will formulate an outline plan for the future air traffic management system of its member states. This initiative provides a valuable opportunity to avoid duplication of work. During the forthcoming United Kingdom presidency of the EC the Government will encourage the Commission to support fully Eurocontrol's work on the future system by providing increased support for research and trials.

  Air Traffic Control
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the European air traffic control harmonisation and inspection programme; and what is the financial contribution by member states.
  572
  Mr. McLoughlin
  Following a United Kingdom initiative, Transport Ministers of the member states of the European Civil Aviation Conference agreed in April 1990 a strategy under the title of the European air traffic control harmonisation and integration programme, and invited Eurocontrol to manage the programme. The first phase of this strategy, which has just been completed on time, consisted of a comprehensive assessment of the present arrangements for air traffic control in Europe. The second and third phases will comprise programme development and acquisition and implementation of new equipment. The final phase will consider the air traffic management system needed in the longer term.

  On 17 March my right hon. and learned Friend will be chairing a meeting in London of Transport Ministers of ECAC member states, to consider further measures to reduce flight delays and cope with growth in air traffic. We expect the meeting to reach agreement on a major extension of the current strategy for air traffic control.

  The programme's management costs are met by Eurocontrol, who estimate that these will be 5·8 million ecu per annum for 1992 onwards. Investment in the equipment necessary to implement the programme will be made by the participating ECAC member states.

  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the work being done by the Atlas study group on air traffic control in Europe, and on the costs incurred and how they are funded.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  The Atlas study is being carried out for the EC Commission. Its objective is to define and provide specifications for the creation of a single unified air traffic management system for European airspace. I understand that the cost of the study, which will be fully met by the Commission, is likely to be some 7·5 million ecu.

  British Rail
  Mr. Gregory
  To ask the Secretary of State for transport if he will give a breakdown of British Rail's funding in 1990–91 and an estimate on the same basis for the current year.

  Mr. Freeman
  The information requested is as follows.

  British Rail sources of funds

  £ million cash

  1990–91

  1991–921

  Requirements

  Investment

  850

  1,125

  Operating losses

  350

  575

  Interest

  50

  75

  Total

  1,250

  1,775

  Sources

  Borrowing

  375

  600

  PSO grants

  600

  900

  Level crossing grants

  25

  25

  PTE Grants

  100

  125

  Asset sales

  125

  75

  Working capital

  25

  50

  Total

  1,250

  1,775

  1 Estimate.

  Notes:

  1. All figures rounded to the nearest £25 million.

  573

  2. Operating losses exclude depreciation.

  3. The external finance limit comprises borrowing and grants (other than PTE grants).

  Speed Limits
  Mr. Evennett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will be consulting on proposals to revise the criteria for setting speed limits.

  Mr. Chope
  We have today begun consultation on proposals to make more flexible the criteria used for setting speed limits. The new criteria put greater weight on the local environment and should result in speed limits more closely reflecting local conditions. Copies of the consultation document have been placed in the Library of the House.

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visit)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in November 1988, the then Secretary of State took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  The then Secretary of State's schedule does not indicate that he took part in any such activities.

ENVIRONMENT

  Tyre Recycling
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the result of his monitoring of current initiatives to tackle the stockpiles of used tyres; whether he proposes to introduce tyre recycling targets; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Baldry
  A survey of licensed and unlicensed tyre dumps is now being conducted by a consultant on behalf of the Departments of the Environment and of Energy. It is hoped that results, which will be available later this year, will give a clearer indication of what action needs to be taken. No plans for tyre recycling targets exist at present but the United Kingdom is participating in a working group organised by the European Commission as a part of its priority waste stream exercise to examine the issue in a harmonised European manner.

  Housing
  Mr. Fearn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the sources of referral to housing associations and the percentages that these nominations take up of housing associations stock for(a) the whole of England and Wales, (b) the north-east region and (c) Greater London.

  Mr. Yeo
  The latest available information relates to housing association lettings made in the first nine months of 1991:

  Percentage of lettings

  England

  1North

  Greater London

  Source of referral

  Local authority nomination

  35

  30

  46

  Statutory agency

  2

  1

  1

  574

  England

  1North

  Greater London

  Voluntary agency

  3

  1

  9

  Direct application

  35

  50

  11

  Mobility scheme

  1

  2—

  2

  Within the housing association

  19

  15

  25

  Other housing association

  1

  2—

  2

  Other

  4

  3

  4

  Total

  100

  100

  100

  Notes:

  1 North: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham, and Cleveland.

  2 Less than 0·5 per cent.

  Source: National Federation of Housing Associations.

  For information on the position in Wales I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

  National Parks (Transport)
  Ms. Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what appraisal he has made of transport needs to and within each of the national parks.

  Mr. Baldry
  None. The appraisal of transport needs to and within the national parks falls to my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and to the relevant local and highway authorities.

  Noise
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the number of complaints regarding excessive noise made to local authorities in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Baldry
  Information is not available in the form requested. The Institution of Environmental Health Officers monitors the number of noise complaints received under the statutory nuisance procedures and records the number of remedies informally achieved or prosecutions carried out. This information appears in the "Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics"—No. 13 of 1990—a copy of which has been placed in the Library. The statistics do not define "excessive noise".

  Litter
  Mr. Summerson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many members of the public have made and are making use of the anti-litter provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

  Mr. Baldry
  The most recent information on intended or actual prosecutions was given in my answer to the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) on Friday 8 November 1991,Official Report, column 305. The Tidy Britain Group, which receives grant in aid from my Department, is undertaking further surveys of local authorities to monitor the implementation of part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. We await the results of its latest survey.

  Parish Councils
  Mr. Roger King
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the results of Aston business school's survey of parish councils.
  575
  Mr. Key
  We have today published Aston business school's report entitled "Parish and Town Councils in England: A Survey". Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. A survey of the report has been sent to all the parish and town councils which took part in the research.

  Bypasses
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment at what stage of the planning process his Department is consulted over new bypasses.

  Mr. Yeo
  In the cases of trunk road bypasses, the Department of Transport would invariably consult my Department at the earliest stages of developing route proposals.

  Where the bypass is a proposal of the local highway authority, it should be subject to the statutory development plan procedures, and shown in the structure and local plan for the area. This is made clear in PPG 12, "Development Plans and Regional Guidance", published on 10 February 1992. My Department must be consulted at each stage in the process leading to the adoption of the plan. The Secretary of State intends to make a direction shortly, to ensure that he is notified of any local highway authority road scheme which has not been subject to local plan procedures, or is in conflict with the development plan.

  Bristol Development Corporation
  Ms. Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by date created, firm and number of jobs, the jobs established by the Bristol development corporation.

  Mr. Key
  [holding answer 11 February 1992]: This information is not available in the form requested. The corporation's estimate of total employment in the Bristol urban development area, based upon consultants' surveys, was 14,000 jobs in January 1989 and 18,000 jobs at March 1991.

  West Yorkshire Transport Museum
  Mr. Cryer
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he considered the application by the West Yorkshire transport museum for city grant; whether it has been approved; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Key
  [holding answer 12 February 1991]: An application for city grant was received on 9 January and is currently under appraisal. A decision on the application will be made as soon as possible.

  Stretton Magna Park
  Sir John Farr
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will declare the whole of Stretton Magna park in Leicestershire a conservation area to protect the local flora and fauna.

  Mr. Trippier
  I am advised by English Nature that this area does not meet the criteria necessary for it to be notified by it as a site of special scientific interest. I understand that the area contains a number of species that are protected in their own right under the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

  Farmland Hedges
  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what further steps he is taking to prevent the removal of hedges from farmland.

  Mr. Baldry
  [holding answer 2 December 1991]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on Tuesday 3 December 1991, Official Report, column 79.

  Departmental Achievements
  Mr. Gregory
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the expenditure and achievements of his Department in north Yorkshire during 1991; and what was the comparable position between June 1979 and May 1980.

  Mr. Yeo
  [holding answer 11 February 1992]: The main expenditure of the Department in north Yorkshire is through the revenue support grant system. In 1991–92, the total external support for local councils in north Yorkshire is just over £260 million. In addition the Department has allocated over £12·6 million to local housing authorities in north Yorkshire to support capital programmes expected to total about £24 million this year. The Department also provided revenue support for housing, funding for an estate action scheme of £2·75 million and energy efficiency schemes. Substantial sums are also available from the Housing Corporation funded directly by the Department. Comparable figures for 1979 are not readily available.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

  Data Information Systems
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Attorney-General what data information systems the Lord Chancellor's Department has(a) agreed and (b) been consulted about with a view to taking part in; what are the criteria for inclusion in such systems; whether they will be linked to (i) the police national computer and (ii) other computer systems; what data protection provisions apply to them; and if he will make a statement.

  The Attorney-General
  The Lord Chancellor's Department is currently developing and installing a computerised case management system for Crown court offices. No direct links from this system to other systems are planned, but data on court appearances currently provided to the Home Office on paper will in future be produced on magnetic media.

  Other systems still in the planning stage are for a computerised database of statute law, and case management and accounting systems for the county courts, companies courts, and bankruptcy court.

  All computer systems within the Lord Chancellor's Department comply fully with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1984, as will all future systems.

  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Attorney-General what data information systems his Department has(a) agreed and (b) been consulted about with a view to taking part in; what are the criteria for inclusion in such systems; whether they will be linked to (i) the police national computer and (ii) other computer systems; what data protection provisions apply to them; and if he will make a statement.

  The Attorney-General
  The legal secretariat to the Law Officers operates a file-tracking system, but does not
  577
  participate in external data information systems and has not been consulted with a view to such participation. There are no plans for any link with the police national computer or with any other computer system.

  The Treasury Solicitor's department operates personnel, case-tracking and billing systems and has use of the LEXIS external data information system. There are no plans to link any of these systems to the police national computer or any other computer system.

  The Crown prosecution services operates personnel, finance and a number of case-tracking systems. It has also agreed a new standard case-tracking system which is under development. The Crown prosecution service has subscribed to the LEXIS legal data base for a trial period. The criteria for inclusion in information systems are that the data should be necessary for operational, administrative or management purposes. The Crown prosecution service has no plans to link to the police national computer, but is discussing with other criminal justice agencies the possible automated exchange of the case data already passed in paper form for essential operational purposes.

  The Serious Fraud Office operates personnel, case-tracking and document-controlled systems. There are no plans to link the systems to the police national computer or to any other external computer system.

  The systems operated by each Department comply with the Data Protection Act 1984 and each Department is registered with the Data Protection Registrar.

  Mortgage Repossessions
  Mr. Soley
  To ask the Attorney-General if he will give the figures for county court orders for mortgage repossessions for 1990 and 1991, including the percentage increase, according to(a) standard economic region and (b) county.

  The Attorney-General
  The figures for the number of repossessions are not collected. The only information available on mortgage possessions is the number of actions entered and orders made in each county court. The table gives the information for 1990 and 1991 for each county and standard economic region and shows the respective percentage increases. These figures do not indicate how many houses have been repossessed through the courts as not all of the orders made will have resulted in the execution of warrants of possession. At this stage the 1991 figures are provisional and therefore liable to revision in the future.

  County Court mortgage possession actions entered

  1990

  1991

  Percentage change

  Cleveland

  1,149

  1,578

  37·3

  Cumbria

  700

  965

  37·9

  Durham

  1,165

  1,661

  42·6

  Northumberland

  219

  413

  88·6

  Tyne and Wear

  1,710

  2,300

  34·5

  North

  4,943

  6,917

  39·9

  Humberside

  2,422

  3,006

  24·1

  North Yorkshire

  1,030

  1,430

  38·8

  South Yorkshire

  2,513

  3,375

  34·3

  West Yorkshire

  4,469

  6,335

  41·8

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  10,434

  14,146

  35·6

  578

  1990

  1991

  Percentage change

  Derbyshire

  1,589

  2,276

  43·2

  Leicestershire

  2,098

  2,569

  22·4

  Lincolnshire

  1,466

  1,869

  27·5

  Northamptonshire

  2,603

  2,991

  14·9

  Nottinghamshire

  3,280

  3,763

  14·7

  East Midlands

  11,036

  13,468

  22·0

  Cambridgeshire

  2,443

  2,650

  8·5

  Norfolk

  1,631

  1,829

  12·1

  Suffolk

  1,484

  1,758

  18·5

  East Anglia

  5,558

  6,237

  12·2

  Bedfordshire

  2,089

  2,930

  40·3

  Berkshire

  3,284

  3,789

  15·4

  Buckinghamshire

  2,429

  3,002

  23·6

  Essex

  5,520

  6,401

  16·0

  Greater London

  29,291

  35,416

  20·9

  Hampshire

  5,026

  6,801

  35·3

  Hertfordshire

  2,304

  3,076

  33·5

  Isle of Wight

  319

  408

  27·9

  Kent

  6,273

  7,727

  23·2

  Oxfordshire

  1,154

  1,528

  32·4

  Surrey

  2,024

  2,673

  32·1

  Sussex

  5,251

  6,275

  19·5

  South East

  64,964

  80,026

  23·2

  Avon

  2,393

  3,459

  44·5

  Cornwall

  1,165

  1,749

  50·1

  Devon

  2,927

  4,061

  38·7

  Dorset

  2,248

  2,716

  20·8

  Gloucestershire

  1,050

  1,379

  31·3

  Somerset

  808

  1,199

  48·4

  Wiltshire

  1,618

  2,131

  31·7

  South West

  12,209

  16,694

  36·7

  Herefordshire and Worcestershire

  1,480

  2,152

  45·4

  Salop

  897

  1,309

  45·9

  Staffordshire

  2,505

  3,224

  28·7

  Warwickshire

  1,605

  1,809

  12·7

  West Midlands

  7,109

  9,199

  29·4

  West Midlands

  13,596

  17,693

  30·1

  Cheshire

  1,842

  2,696

  46·4

  Greater Manchester

  6,211

  9,444

  52·1

  Lancashire

  3,504

  4,841

  38·2

  Merseyside

  3,417

  4,403

  28·9

  North West

  14,974

  21,384

  42·8

  Clwyd

  689

  1,054

  53·0

  Dyfed

  706

  983

  39·2

  Gwent

  1,419

  1,686

  18·8

  Gwynedd

  720

  807

  12·1

  Mid Glamorgan

  1,820

  2,388

  31·2

  Powys

  91

  229

  151·6

  South Glamorgan

  1,198

  1,626

  35·7

  West Glamorgan

  993

  1,462

  47·2

  Wales

  7,636

  10,235

  34·0

  County court mortgage possession suspended orders

  1990

  1991

  Percentage change

  Cleveland

  414

  758

  83·1

  Cumbria

  359

  487

  35·7

  Durham

  430

  906

  110·7

  Northumberland

  66

  150

  127·3

  Tyne and Wear

  728

  1,067

  46·6

  579

  1990

  1991

  Percentage change

  North

  1,997

  3,368

  68·7

  Humberside

  605

  1,330

  119·8

  North Yorkshire

  287

  447

  55·7

  South Yorkshire

  840

  1,208

  43·8

  West Yorkshire

  1,270

  2,118

  66·8

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  3,002

  5,103

  70·0

  Derbyshire

  512

  883

  72·5

  Leicestershire

  917

  948

  3·4

  Lincolnshire

  532

  557

  4·7

  Northamptonshire

  802

  893

  11·3

  Nottinghamshire

  847

  1,199

  41·6

  East Midlands

  3,610

  4,480

  24·1

  Cambridgeshire

  558

  695

  24·6

  Norfolk

  441

  754

  71·0

  Suffolk

  421

  542

  28·7

  East Anglia

  1,420

  1,991

  40·2

  Bedfordshire

  720

  1,034

  43·6

  Berkshire

  793

  1,497

  88·8

  Buckinghamshire

  492

  1,425

  189·6

  Essex

  1,179

  1,989

  68·7

  Greater London

  12,076

  12,842

  6·3

  Hampshire

  2,291

  3,431

  49·8

  Hertfordshire

  711

  961

  35·2

  Isle of Wight

  156

  221

  41·7

  Kent

  2,027

  3,061

  51·0

  Oxfordshire

  436

  476

  9·2

  Surrey

  511

  1,083

  111·9

  Sussex

  1,796

  2,045

  13·9

  South East

  23,188

  30,065

  29·7

  Avon

  642

  1,292

  101·2

  Cornwall

  414

  814

  96·6

  Devon

  683

  1,270

  85·9

  Dorset

  605

  697

  15·2

  Gloucestershire

  378

  463

  22·5

  Somerset

  165

  395

  139·4

  Wiltshire

  519

  855

  64·7

  South West

  3,406

  5,786

  69·9

  Herefordshire and Worcestershire

  416

  615

  47·8

  Salop

  324

  622

  92·0

  Staffordshire

  725

  1,341

  85·0

  Warwickshire

  530

  826

  55·8

  West Midlands

  2,461

  3,071

  24·8

  West Midlands

  4,456

  6,475

  45·3

  Cheshire

  775

  1,073

  38·5

  Greater Manchester

  2,136

  3,590

  68·1

  Lancashire

  1,121

  1,735

  54·8

  Merseyside

  1,297

  1,714

  32·2

  North West

  5,329

  8,112

  52·2

  Clwyd

  221

  388

  75·6

  Dyfed

  270

  328

  21·5

  Gwent

  401

  533

  32·9

  Gwynedd

  338

  313

  -7·4

  Mid Glamorgan

  593

  779

  31·4

  Powys

  32

  65

  103·1

  South Glamorgan

  357

  577

  61·6

  West Glamorgan

  170

  474

  178·8

  Wales

  2,382

  3,457

  45·1

  580

  County Court mortgage possession orders made

  1990

  1991

  Percentage change

  Cleveland

  410

  589

  43·7

  Cumbria

  176

  258

  46·6

  Durham

  297

  598

  101·3

  Northumberland

  91

  111

  22·0

  Tyne and Wear

  575

  636

  10·6

  North

  1,549

  2,192

  41·5

  Humberside

  891

  1,400

  57·1

  North Yorkshire

  335

  558

  66·6

  South Yorkshire

  750

  1,220

  62·7

  West Yorkshire

  1,816

  2,563

  41·1

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  3,792

  5,741

  51·4

  Derbyshire

  645

  845

  31·0

  Leicestershire

  694

  984

  41·8

  Lincolnshire

  581

  797

  37·2

  Northamptonshire

  905

  1,233

  36·2

  Nottinghamshire

  1,003

  1,365

  36·1

  East Midlands

  3,828

  5,224

  36·5

  Cambridgeshire

  987

  1,273

  29·0

  Norfolk

  684

  921

  34·6

  Suffolk

  628

  866

  37·9

  East Anglia

  2,299

  3,060

  33·1

  Bedfordshire

  821

  1,163

  41·7

  Berkshire

  1,325

  1,401

  5·7

  Buckinghamshire

  1,225

  1,240

  1·2

  Essex

  2,289

  2,864

  25·1

  Greater London

  11,146

  14,312

  28·4

  Hampshire

  2,306

  2,697

  17·0

  Hertfordshire

  1,214

  1,359

  11·9

  Isle of Wight

  121

  220

  81·8

  Kent

  2,804

  3,171

  13·1

  Oxfordshire

  393

  756

  92·4

  Surrey

  782

  1,111

  42·1

  Sussex

  2,142

  2,579

  20·4

  South East

  26,568

  32,873

  23·7

  Avon

  839

  1,258

  49·9

  Cornwall

  442

  681

  54·1

  Devon

  1,341

  1,707

  27·3

  Dorset

  897

  1,055

  17·6

  Gloucestershire

  295

  423

  43·4

  Somerset

  250

  452

  80·8

  Wiltshire

  748

  892

  19·3

  South West

  4,812

  6,468

  34·4

  Herefordshire and Worcestershire

  566

  994

  75·6

  Salop

  295

  488

  65·4

  Staffordshire

  898

  1,364

  51·9

  Warwickshire

  661

  759

  14·8

  West Midlands

  2,162

  3,335

  54·3

  West Midlands

  4,582

  6,940

  51·5

  Cheshire

  497

  947

  90·5

  Greater Manchester

  2,005

  2,976

  48·4

  Lancashire

  1,168

  1,940

  66·1

  Merseyside

  1,038

  1,449

  39·6

  North West

  4,708

  7,312

  55·3

  Clwyd

  172

  365

  112·2

  Dyfed

  201

  502

  149·8

  Gwent

  521

  645

  23·8

  Gwynedd

  249

  311

  24·9

  Mid Glamorgan

  577

  846

  46·6

  581

  1990

  1991

  Percentage change

  Powys

  26

  76

  192·3

  South Glamorgan

  417

  681

  63·3

  West Glamorgan

  417

  532

  27·6

  Wales

  2,580

  3,958

  53·4

  Crown Prosecution Service
  Mr. Shersby
  To ask the Attorney-General (1) if he will arrange for decisions by the Crown prosecution service as to whether or not criminal proceedings are to be brought to be communicated to any police officer under investigation as quickly as possible;

  (2) in how many cases the Crown prosecution service has received files for consideration in connection with the West Yorkshire police inquiry into the West Midlands serious crime squad;

  (3) when he expects the Crown prosecution service to have reached a decision in all cases submitted to it as a result of the West Yorkshire police inquiry into the West Midlands serious crime squad;

  (4) in how many cases the Crown prosecution service has decided whether criminal proceedings are to be brought against any police officer under investigation arising from the West Yorkshire police inquiry into the West Midlands crime squad.

  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Attorney-General when he received the West Yorkshire police report on the West Midlands serious crimes squad; and when he expects to reach a decision.

  The Attorney-General
  Between 16 March 1990 and 16 October 1991 the Crown prosecution service has received from the West Yorkshire metropolitan police a total of 73 files relating respectively to complaints about individual officers and investigations unto practices of the West Midlands serious crime squad. Consideration of these cases is well advanced, but a final decision will not be taken in any particular case until it has also been reviewed in the context of the cumulative evidence available from all the cases under consideration.

  It is not at present possible to say when final decisions will be taken, but this will be as soon as possible and it is hoped in the near future. In accordance with normal practice in this type of case, the decisions will be communicated to individual officers by a senior officer and not directly by the Crown prosecution service.

  Bailiffs
  Mr. Carrington
  To ask the Attorney-General what action the Lord Chancellor proposes to take in relation to the lack of regulation over some private bailiffs who enforce judgments and orders by the seizure and sale of property.

  The Attorney-General
  The right of a creditor to seize and sell a debtor's property to enforce a judgment or order is an important remedy which requires a difficult balance to be struck between the interests of creditors and debtors. This is not easy to achieve, whether enforcement be by sheriffs, county court bailiffs, certificated bailiffs, or other private bailiffs. My noble and learned Friend is currently conducting a review of the organisation and management 582
  of these civil enforcement agents and he hopes to publish a consultation paper later this year. The terms of reference of the review are, to consider:

  (a) whether changes should be made to the organisation and management of agents involved in the civil enforcement process;

  (b) the part which the state should play in the organisation and management of enforcement agents;

  (c) the ways in which any changes to the organisation and management of enforcement agents could be achieved;

  (d) whether any changes to the law governing the work of enforcement agents are necessary or desirable.

  My noble and learned Friend envisages a three-month consultation period during which he hopes to obtain a wide spectrum of views. Any changes the Government decide to make as a result of the review are likely to involve legislation.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Young Prisoners
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many 15-year-old boys and girls in prison received a punishment for a disciplinary offence in 1990 and in 1991; and for what offences they were punished.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The age of prisoners punished for a disciplinary offence was not recorded centrally up to 1990. Such information will be available for 1991 but the data will not be complete until the second half of this year.

  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many 15-year-old prisoners have been held in police or court cells in 1991; and in which ones they have been held.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Information on the total number and location of 15-year-old prisoners held in police cells is not collected centrally. When a 15-year-old prisoner is received into police cells the police inform the local liaison governor and priority arrangements are set in hand for the prisoner to be transferred immediately to a prison service establishment.

  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which prisons 15-year-old girls were held in 1990 and in 1991.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  According to the records held centrally, 11 girls aged 15 were received into prison service establishments in England and Wales in 1990 and all were held only under sentence. They were initially received into Holloway prison, New Hall prison or young offender institution or Risley prison or remand centre. One girl was recorded as having been held subsequently in Askham Grange prison but information about all such transfers was not retained centrally. Data for 1991 are not yet complete.

  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many 15-year-old girls were received into prison in each year of the past decade; for what offences they were convicted, and how long were the prison sentences.
  583
  Mr. Rumbold
  The number of 15-year-old females received under sentence is published annually in "Prison Statistics England and Wales"—table 3.10 of the volume for 1989, Cm. 1221—copies of which are in the Library.

  Females aged 15 received under sentence: by offence, 1981–1990

  Persons

  Offence

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  Violence against the person

  6

  2

  11

  7

  8

  8

  9

  7

  3

  —

  Sexual offences

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Burglary

  4

  9

  10

  11

  7

  3

  5

  2

  —

  1

  Robbery

  2

  2

  2

  4

  4

  3

  2

  4

  3

  4

  Theft and handling

  6

  3

  4

  10

  7

  4

  4

  10

  4

  —

  Fraud and forgery

  —

  —

  1

  1

  2

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Drugs offences

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Other

  —

  —

  3

  4

  4

  —

  3

  3

  5

  2

  Not recorded

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  4

  All Offences

  18

  16

  31

  37

  32

  18

  23

  26

  15

  11

  Females aged 15 received under sentence: by length of sentence, 1981–1990

  Persons

  Length of sentence

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  Up to 3 months

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  —

  Over 3 months up to 6 months

  —

  —

  19

  35

  24

  15

  17

  19

  10

  5

  Over 6 months up to 12 months

  —

  —

  6

  2

  5

  1

  6

  4

  2

  3

  Over 12 months up to 3 years

  1

  —

  —

  —

  3

  2

  —

  1

  3

  1

  Over 3 years

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  2

  Borstal training

  17

  16

  6

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  All sentences

  18

  16

  31

  37

  32

  18

  23

  26

  15

  11

  Women Prisoners
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women prisoners were held in police or court cells during 1991; where they were held; and for how long.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The average number of women prisoners held in police cells throughout 1991 was two. At various points during the year women prisoners were held in police cells by the Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Metropolitan, Staffordshire, Surry and West Midlands police forces. It is not possible from the information available to say how long individual prisoners were held.

  Police Cells
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who is responsible for ensuring that the correct medication as prescribed by the doctor is given to a night prisoner held in a police cell.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  Paragraph 9·5 of code of practice C issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 provides that where a detained person is required to take or apply any medication in compliance with medical directions, the custody officer is responsible for its safekeeping and for ensuring that he is given the opportunity to take or apply it at the appropriate time.

  Road Deaths
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the number of deaths of drivers and pedestrians caused by cars taken without the owner's consent in each year since 1980.

  Mr. John Patten
  The information is not available centrally.
  584
  The information requested for the years 1981–90 is given in the tables. Data for 1991 are not yet available.

  National Lottery
  Mr. Lawrence
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to obtain the views of interested parties on the subject of a national lottery since 17 January; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  We are considering carefully how best to consult interested parties about the issues raised by a national lottery; an annoucement will be made as soon as possible.

  Refugees
  Sir Russell Johnston
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many refugees were accepted from Yugoslavia in each of the years 1989, 1990 and 1991.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The information is given in the table. At end-January 1992, around 430 asylum applications by Yugoslav nationals, mainly made in the last three months of 1991, were still under consideration.

  Grants1 of asylum in the United Kingdom to Yugoslav nationals

  Grants of asylum

  1989

  —

  1990

  1

  2 31991

  1

  1Excluding dependants.

  2 Information for 1991 may understate because of delays in recording: information for October to December is not yet available.

  3 January to September.

  Heroin
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure that prospective importers of heroin—diamorphine—keep standards of transport security and site security equal to those maintained by the current United Kingdom supplier.

  Mr. John Patten
  No decision has yet been taken to license the commercial importation of diamorphine. A precondition for the grant of any licence to deal in diamorphine is that the drugs inspectorate is satisfied on the arrangements proposed by the prospective licensee for transport and site security.

  Marriages of Convenience
  Sir John Wheeler
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in each of the last 10 years his Department has been notified by the registrar general that a proposed marriage is purely one of convenience.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Statistics of such notifications are not maintained.

  Begging
  Mrs. Golding
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were(a) prosecuted for begging, (b) convicted of begging, (c) prosecuted for sleeping rough and (d) convicted of sleeping rough in the Metropolitan police district in 1990 and 1991.

  Mr. John Patten
  Information for 1989 and 1990, which is provisional, is given in the table. 1991 data are not yet available.

  Number of persons prosecuted and convicted for offences of begging and sleeping out under the Vagrancy Act 1824 in the metropolitan police district 1989 and 19901

  Begging

  Sleeping out

  Prosecutions

  Convictions

  Prosecutions

  Convictions

  Metropolitan police district

  1989

  1,251

  1,188

  12

  10

  11990

  1,445

  1,308

  12

  11

  City of London

  1989

  5

  5

  —

  —

  11990

  3

  3

  1

  1

  1Provisional.

  DNA Samples
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will discuss with chief constables the need for DNA samples to be taken from all those convicted of violent crimes; if he will maintain a national register of such DNA information; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  There are practical, legal and ethical issues in the collection of samples for DNA profiling and in the development of a national DNA database. My right hon. Friend has asked the Royal Commission on criminal justice to consider this subject and we await its recommendations.

  Vagrancy
  Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests have been made under the Vagrancy Act 1824 in Wales in each of the last five years.

  Mr. John Patten
  Information on the number of people who are arrested is not collected centrally. The data given in the table relate to the number of persons prosecuted and convicted for offences under the Vagrancy Act 1824 in Wales from 1986 to 1990, information for which is provisional.

  Number of persons prosecuted and convicted of offences under the Vagrancy Act 1824 in Wales—1986 to 19901

  Year

  Prosecutions

  Convictions

  1986

  114

  82

  1987

  96

  72

  1988

  127

  88

  1989

  88

  65

  19901

  111

  77

  1 Provisional.

  Local Government, Hampshire
  Sir David Price
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give consideration to deferring his determination of the proposed new parliamentary constituencies for Hampshire until such time as the Local Government Commission has brought forward its recommendations for the future structure of local government in Hampshire.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  No. A general review of all parliamentary constituencies in England is currently being undertaken by the Boundary Commission, which is under a statutory duty to make a report to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary within the time scale laid down in the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986. As part of that review process, the commission publishes provisional recommendations—in the case of parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire, these were published on 6 February—and then considers any resulting representations, together with the outcome of any local inquiry which it may hold, when making its final report. My right hon. Friend will consider that report when it is submitted.

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visit)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in March 1990, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  During my visit to Hong Kong I had a number of official engagements and meetings. I also had a private engagement with representatives from Conservatives Abroad.

  Hillsborough Family Support Group
  Mr. Frank Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date he received the letter from the Hillsborough Family Support Group sent to him on 22 October 1991; and when he expects to reply.
  587
  Mr. John Patten
  The letter from the Hillsborough Family Support Group was received in my office on 23 October 1991. A reply has now been sent by my officials. I apologise to the group for the delay in replying.

  Credit Reference Agencies
  Mr. Michael
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent investigations he has undertaken into the current operation of credit reference agencies; and what information came out of those investigations.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  The operation of credit reference agencies is a matter for the Director General of Fair Trading and the Data Protection Registrar. I understand that they keep this matter under review.

  Mr. Michael
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the operation of credit reference agencies; and what response he has made.

  Mrs. Rumbold
  I have received 15 written representations on the operation of credit reference agencies since the beginning of 1991. Enforcement of the law bearing on the operation of credit reference agencies is a matter for the Data Protection Registrar, the data protection tribunal and the Director General of Fair Trading.

  Departmental Achievements
  Mr. Gregory
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the expenditure and achievements of his Department in north Yorkshire during 1991; and what was the comparable position between June 1979 and May 1980.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  [holding answer 11 February 1992]: The readily available information is as follows. The Home Office pays specific grant on a proportion of the county council's expenditure on the police, magistrates courts and probation services and on civil defence. The proportion varies according to the service. My Department also pays grant under section 1I of the Local Government Act 1966 to enable the county council to employ additional staff to meet the special needs of local communities of Commonwealth origins. Information on the payment of these grants, and on Home Office expenditure on Her Majesty's prison service establishments in north Yorkshire, and on the emergency planning college at Easingwold, is as follows.

  Specific grant paid in respect of expenditure in financial year

  £000s

  1979–80

  1991–921

  Police2

  8,322

  28,869

  Magistrates courts3

  6

  2,478

  Probation3

  6

  2,185

  Civil Defence4

  6

  368

  Section 115

  0

  16

  1Estimated.

  2Rate of Grant: 50 per cent. in 1979–80, 51 per cent. in 1991–92

  3 Rate of Grant: 80 per cent.

  4 Rate of Grant: mainly 100 per cent.

  5Rate of Grant: 75 per cent.

  6 Not available.

  Net operating costs of the two prison service establishments in north Yorkshire in 1990–91: £6·169 million.
  588
  Estimated expenditure on emergency planning college in 1991–92: £2·758 million.

  Illegal Drugs (Import)
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what new measures he plans to introduce to combat the importation of illegal drugs into the United Kingdom.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  I have been asked to reply.

  Her Majesty's Customs and Excise is the Department with the primary responsibility for combating the importation of illegal drugs into the United Kingdom. The Department is engaged in a number of initiatives both at home and on the international scene.

  Her Majesty's Customs and Excise chairs the mutual assistance group 1992 on customs co-operation within the European Community which is working towards greater co-operation and the strengthening of the external border of the Community. An important feature is the sharing of intelligence and arrangements are in hand to implement a computerised intelligence system—to be known as the customs information system—early in 1992. A new protocol to the Naples convention is also under discussion with the aim of improving co-operation between customs administrations in criminal matters covering such areas as cross border surveillance and controlled deliveries.

  Her Majesty's Customs and Excise is also participating in plans for the new European drugs unit, which will help to co-ordinate the intelligence resources of law enforcement agencies across the European Community. The Department, with its wide experience in anti-smuggling work, will be fully represented in the new agency alongside the police.

  Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, in conjunction with the Customs Co-operation Council, is taking a leading role in an international initiative to promote co-operation between customs authorities and international carriers. A major objective is to secure advance information about suspect persons or consignments, so as to enable customs to target its anti-drugs operations more effectively. Through the ratification of the 1988 Vienna convention on drugs, Customs and Excise is also engaged in developing international working arrangements under the Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990 for the boarding of vessels in international waters and under the same legislation has also implemented, in July 1991, the arrangements for the seizure of cash suspected of being the proceeds from, or for use in, drug smuggling.

  Her Majesty's Customs and Excise is also about to increase its capability in aerial surveillance and is co-operating in extended international surveillance exercises. It is extending its network of drugs liaison officers overseas and is actively pursuing its training programme for overseas customs and drugs law enforcement officials. The programme is targeted primarily at drug source and drug transit countries.

  Her Majesty's Customs and Excise is also alive to the dangers of the illicit trade in the precursor chemicals used to manufacture drugs. The United Kingdom has been to the fore in encouraging the development of effective measures to counter this trade and we are currently working with our EC partners on a revised regulation to ensure consistent and effective action across the Community.
  589
  On the domestic front Her Majesty's Customs and Excise is extending its use of memoranda of understanding with trade organisations in order to improve the flow of drugs information and to assist organisations to develop security arrangements. The Department is also entering into a new training programme in 1992 to assist flexible anti-smuggling teams—FASTS—to make use of advance intelligence and advance targeting of drugs suspects. The implementation of the review of anti-smuggling controls continues with the setting up of FASTs and co-operation between regional collections and their opposites in Europe through joint memoranda is being developed. In addition, research and development for enhanced scientific and technical aids continues to take place. On 30 January 1992, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced the allocation of assets seized from international drugs traffickers to anti-drugs work in the United Kingdom. Her Majesty's Customs and Excise received over £600,000, which will be used at operational level to assist in the fight against drug trafficking.

ENERGY

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visits)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in September 1988, the Minister of State took part in party-political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mr. Wakeham
  My right hon. Friend the Member for Chester (Sir. P. Morrison) met fellow Conservatives in the margins of official duties on his visit to Hong Kong in September 1988.

  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in June 1988, he took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Table 1: Coal imports by port of entry, 1979 to 1991 Value of imports

  £ million

  Port of entry

  1979

  1980

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  Immingham

  3

  4

  0

  1

  0

  13

  32

  47

  22

  31

  47

  85

  112

  London (including Tilbury)

  16

  37

  15

  18

  34

  12

  72

  20

  22

  31

  34

  80

  101

  Port Talbot

  20

  20

  36

  49

  36

  91

  90

  63

  69

  65

  87

  112

  93

  Middlesbrough

  28

  36

  41

  29

  27

  63

  113

  103

  86

  79

  96

  104

  95

  Medway

  7

  24

  10

  11

  12

  6

  32

  29

  23

  24

  29

  41

  79

  Greenock

  0

  12

  19

  22

  36

  46

  85

  47

  41

  35

  38

  37

  39

  Liverpool

  12

  30

  16

  —

  1

  2

  17

  6

  6

  1

  13

  36

  35

  Belfast

  1

  3

  6

  7

  9

  32

  37

  13

  10

  12

  14

  21

  23

  Cardiff

  4

  12

  0

  —

  0

  0

  5

  11

  9

  13

  9

  17

  20

  Swansea

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  —

  0

  0

  4

  7

  6

  16

  Hull

  —

  —

  —

  —

  0

  0

  1

  1

  1

  —

  2

  4

  14

  Trent

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  34

  17

  15

  14

  12

  11

  Other ports

  46

  36

  16

  46

  60

  228

  195

  69

  63

  107

  78

  52

  66

  Total

  138

  215

  158

  182

  215

  493

  678

  443

  368

  418

  469

  605

  703

  Table 2: Coal imports by country of origin, 1979 to 1991 Value of imports

  £ million

  Country

  1979

  1980

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  U.S.A1

  35

  106

  72

  81

  48

  160

  166

  139

  105

  148

  183

  255

  290

  Australia1

  60

  77

  57

  45

  85

  84

  253

  149

  115

  106

  89

  152

  171

  Colombia1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  3

  2

  12

  21

  34

  44

  71

  South Africa

  1

  3

  4

  3

  3

  16

  39

  12

  7

  12

  14

  14

  26

  Canada

  0

  0

  —

  0

  —

  6

  19

  16

  12

  16

  26

  38

  26

  590
  Mr. Wakeham
  My right hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Parkinson) did not take part in any political activities on his visit to Hong Kong in June 1988.

  Major Energy Users Council
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions he has had with the Major Energy Users Council relating to electricity prices; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  My right hon. Friend and I met representatives of the Major Energy Users Council—MEUC—on 12 February to discuss electricity prices for large consumers, and listened carefully and sympathetically to their concerns. My right hon. Friend asked the MEUC to provide detailed information about past and present electricity prices for MEUC members, on an individual site or company basis, as well as about other options to reduce energy costs which companies may have investigated, such as on-site generation or energy efficiency measures. It agreed to do so. Although my right hon. Friend and I fully appreciate the concerns of the MEUC about the levels of its electricity prices, it was made clear to it that the Government would not provide public subsidies. The Government remain fully confident that they have set in place adequate safeguards to protect the interests of all consumers in the electricity market.

  Coal Imports
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give by year for each year from 1979 the value of coal imported(a) in cash and (b) in real terms into the United Kingdom showing in his answer (i) the port the coal was unloaded at and (ii) the country of origin of the coal.

  Mr. Wakeham
  [holding answer 4 February 1992]: The figures for coal imports, including the costs of insurance and freight, are shown in the tables:
  591

  Country

  1979

  1980

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  Poland

  19

  13

  5

  13

  20

  69

  76

  50

  41

  42

  38

  41

  26

  Soviet Union

  3

  2

  1

  1

  2

  1

  2

  2

  2

  10

  6

  17

  26

  Germany2

  12

  6

  11

  29

  44

  90

  74

  44

  26

  18

  24

  24

  21

  China

  2

  2

  —

  1

  1

  2

  4

  2

  11

  16

  23

  3

  13

  Other countries1

  6

  6

  8

  10

  13

  65

  41

  26

  37

  28

  33

  16

  32

  Total

  138

  215

  158

  182

  215

  493

  678

  443

  368

  418

  470

  605

  703

  Table 3: Coal imports in real terms3 by port of entry, 1979 to 1991 Value of imports

  £ million (base year 1990)

  Port of entry

  1979

  1980

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  Immingham

  7

  7

  0

  1

  1

  18

  42

  60

  27

  36

  50

  85

  105

  London (including Tilbury)

  34

  68

  24

  28

  49

  16

  95

  25

  27

  36

  37

  80

  94

  Port Talbot

  44

  37

  59

  75

  52

  127

  119

  80

  84

  74

  93

  112

  87

  Middlesbrough

  62

  65

  67

  44

  39

  87

  149

  132

  105

  90

  103

  104

  89

  Medway

  16

  44

  17

  17

  18

  8

  42

  37

  28

  28

  31

  41

  74

  Greenock

  0

  23

  32

  34

  52

  64

  111

  59

  50

  40

  40

  37

  37

  Liverpool

  26

  56

  26

  —

  2

  3

  22

  8

  7

  1

  14

  36

  32

  Belfast

  3

  5

  10

  11

  14

  45

  48

  17

  12

  13

  15

  21

  21

  Cardiff

  9

  23

  0

  —

  0

  0

  6

  14

  11

  15

  10

  17

  19

  Swansea

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  —

  0

  0

  5

  8

  6

  15

  Hull

  —

  —

  —

  —

  0

  0

  1

  1

  1

  —

  2

  4

  13

  Trent

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  43

  21

  17

  15

  12

  10

  Other ports

  101

  66

  26

  71

  87

  319

  258

  88

  76

  122

  83

  52

  62

  Total

  303

  395

  261

  280

  313

  688

  894

  564

  447

  476

  501

  605

  658

  Table 4: Coal imports in real terms3 by country of origin, 1979 to 1991 Value of imports

  £ million (base year 1990)

  Country

  1979

  1980

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  United States of America1

  78

  195

  120

  125

  69

  223

  219

  177

  128

  168

  195

  255

  271

  Australia1

  132

  141

  94

  69

  123

  118

  333

  190

  140

  121

  94

  152

  160

  Colombia1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  4

  3

  15

  24

  37

  44

  67

  South Africa

  3

  5

  6

  5

  5

  22

  52

  15

  8

  13

  15

  14

  25

  Canada

  0

  0

  —

  0

  —

  8

  25

  21

  14

  18

  27

  38

  24

  Poland

  43

  24

  9

  20

  29

  96

  101

  64

  50

  48

  41

  41

  24

  Soviet Union

  6

  4

  2

  2

  3

  2

  3

  2

  2

  11

  7

  17

  24

  Germany2

  27

  11

  18

  44

  64

  125

  97

  57

  31

  20

  25

  24

  20

  China

  3

  3

  —

  1

  1

  3

  5

  3

  13

  19

  24

  3

  12

  Other countries1

  11

  11

  12

  15

  19

  90

  55

  33

  45

  32

  35

  16

  29

  Total

  303

  395

  261

  280

  313

  688

  894

  564

  447

  476

  501

  605

  658

  1 Some imports previously recorded by Customs and Excise as originating in the Netherlands have been re-allocated to the other countries indicated or, where revised country of origin data is not available, included in the residual entry, "Others". This re-allocation has been carried out for 1991 and estimates of such imports previously classified to the Netherlands have been included for 1990. Figures for earlier years have not been re-allocated to individual countries.

  2 Includes imports previously recorded separately for the German Democratic Republic.

  3 Real terms is defined as cash figures adjusted to 1990 price levels by excluding the effect of general inflation as measured by the Gross Domestic Product deflator. An estimated value for the Gross Domestic Product deflator has been used for 1991.

  Due to rounding the sum of the constituent items may not equal the totals.
  — = Less than £0·5 million.

  Source: Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.

THE ARTS

  British Library
  Ms. Gordon
  To ask the Minister for the Arts when the shelving at the British Library development at St. Pancras will be in usable condition; and when he expects the official opening to take place.

  Mr. Renton
  Problems have been experienced with the mechanical movement and paint treatment of the basement bookshelving. A solution to the mechanical problem has been factory tested and the British Library is carrying out its own tests in the basements at St. Pancras. Tests on the paint, however, have shown there may be 592
  inadequate paint protection in places. A number of options are under discussion with the contractor concerned. Until the outcome of these discussions is known it is not possible to say when the library can start to move its collections into the new building. The bookshelves are a small, albeit important, part of the overall project. The rest of the project is essentially unaffected by the bookshelving and is still progressing within the cash budget set for it in 1988. An announcement about the official opening will be made as soon as uncertainties have been resolved.

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visit)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Minister for the Arts whether on his visit to Hong Kong in September 1990, the then Minister took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mr. Renton
  The visit to Hong Kong in October 1990 of my predecessor, my right hon. and learned Friend the present Chief Secretary to the Treasury, involved official duties only.

  European Arts Festival
  Mr. Patrick Thompson
  To ask the Minister for the Arts what funding he proposes to make available for the European arts festival to mark the United Kingdom's presidency of the European Community in the second half of 1992; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Renton
  We will be making £6 million available for the European arts festival over the two financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93.

  Parliamentary approval for this new service in the current financial year will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the Office of Arts and Libraries vote—class XII, vote 2. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £100,000 will be met by repayable advances from the Contingencies Fund.

NATIONAL FINANCE

  Child Poverty
  Mr. Bradley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met representatives of the Child Poverty Action Group to discuss the effects of the Government's economic policy on child poverty.

  Mr. Mellor
  My right hon. Friend last met representatives of the CPAG in June 1990.

  Denationalisation
  Mr. Gregory
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the increase in share ownership in Yorkshire as a result of denationalisation.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  The number of adults owning shares in the Yorkshire and Humberside region has increased by over 50 per cent. since 1987. The privatisations of nationalised industries have played a significant role in introducing the benefits of share ownership to an increasing proportion of the public.

  Growth Rates
  Mr. McFall
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the annual growth rate between 1988 and 1992 in(a) Germany, (b) France, (c) Italy and (d) the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Maples
  On the basis of the figures in the December 1991 edition of the OECD's economic outlook for Germany, France and Italy and of the autumn statement for the United Kingdom:(a) 3·3 per cent.; (b) 2·5 per cent.; (c) 2 per cent; (d) 0·8 per cent.

  Planning Total
  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the planning total in 1990–91 prices(a) in 1987–88 and (b) 1988–89; and what it is for the current year.

  Mr. Mellor
  The outturn for the planning total, in 1990–91 prices, was £176·6 billion and £168·2 billion in 1987–88 and 1988–89, respectively. Outturn in 1991–92 is forecast to be £191·6 billion, in 1990—91 prices.

  Gross Domestic Product
  Ms. Ruddock
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of non-oil gross domestic product was represented by non-oil taxes and national insurance contributions in(a) 1978–79 and (b) 1991–92.

  Mr. Mellor
  35 and 37 per cent. respectively.

  Citizens Charter
  Mr. Michael Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the purpose of the citizens charter and how it will affect the working of government.

  Mr. Maude
  The citizens charter is the most comprehensive programme ever for raising standards in the public sector. It will not affect Ministers' responsibilities for setting standards and allocating resources, but it will have a profound effect on the way Government services are delivered: increasing choice, quality, value and accountability to the customer. The charter mark scheme will recognise and reward those who achieve excellence in meeting the charter standard.

  The citizens charter will maintain pressure on organisations to improve quality of service; increase efficiency and offer greater value for money to the taxpayer. It will remain at the very heart of the Government's programme over the next 10 years.

  Investment
  Mr. Harry Barnes
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of business investment manufacturing investment represented(a) in 1979 and (b) the third quarter of 1991.

  Mr. Maples
  Manufacturing investment at constant market prices represented 30 per cent. of total business investment in 1979 and 21 per cent. in the third quarter of 1991.

  National Insurance
  Mr. Patrick Thompson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received about the upper earnings limit on national insurance contributions.

  Mr. Mellor
  Only one recent representation about the upper earnings limit on national insurance contributions has been received. The TUC wrote advocating the abolition of the upper earnings limit on employees contributions.

  Public Sector Borrowing Requirement
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give an estimate of the public sector borrowing requirement for the end of the current financial year.

  Mr. Mellor
  The 1991 autumn statement forecast a PSBR in 1991–92 of £10½ billion. The next forecast will be given in the Budget.

  Car Taxation
  Mr. Beaumont-Dark
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the motor industry about the taxing of cars.

  Mr. Maude
  My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations from a wide crosssection of the motor industry. Both I and my right hon. Friend have also met a number of delegations from the industry.

  Mr. Roger King
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total tax take in the last year for which figures are available of special car tax and VAT levied on the sale of a new car.

  Mr. Maples
  In 1990–91 car tax raised £1·5 billion, and an estimated £2·7 billion was raised from VAT levied on new cars.

  Money Supply
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the average annual increase in the real money supply(a) from 1970 to 1973, (b) from 1973 to 1979 and (c) since 1979.

  Mr. Maples
  The information is as follows:

  Money supply average annual increase in real terms1 Percentage growth

  M0

  M4

  1 January 1970 to 31 December 1973

  -0·l

  8·4

  1 January 1974 to 31 December 1979

  -2·7

  -2·6

  1 January 1980 to 31 December 1991

  -1·9

  7·0

  1 Based on the retail prices index as the deflator.

  Overseas Investment
  Mr. Pawsey
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current amount of Britain's overseas investment; and what was the comparable figure 10 years ago

  Mr. Maples
  The estimated level of overseas direct and portfolio investment by United Kingdom residents at the end of 1990 was £312 billion, compared with £52 billion at the end of 1980. Figures for 1991 are not yet available.

  Privatisation
  Mr. William Ross
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table to show the publicly owned assets which are still to be privatised, the 596
  Government's estimated value of each of these assets and the total value and the liability of each such asset and how much public money would be required to write off such liabilities before sale to the private sector.

  Mr. Maude
  The major privatisation candidates are British Technology Group, Northern Ireland Electricity, British Coal and British Rail. The proceeds likely to be obtained depend on market conditions at the time of sale and decisions yet to be taken. The cost to the Exchequer of recapitalisation prior to sale for any privatisation candidate will depend on future decisions and will be announced in due course in the usual way.

  Engineering Products
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table showing for each year since 1970 the relative profitability of exports of engineering products on a similar basis to column 6 of the table F3 of the "Money Review of External Trade Statistics."

  Mr. Maples
  No. The measure of profitability to which the hon. Member refers requires compatible indices of export unit values and producers' output prices, which are available for manufacturing as a whole but not for its components.

  Ambassadorial Limousines
  Mr. Roger King
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will outline Treasury policy in connection with the remittance of moneys received on the sale by one of Her Majesty's embassies of an ambassadorial limousine;

  (2) if he will consider allowing Her Majesty's embassies to retain the proceeds of Rolls-Royce motor cars sold out of service in order to facilitate the purchase of a new one.

  Mr. Mellor
  Receipts from the sale of official vehicles are retained by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. They are appropriated in aid of the vote—class II, vote 1.—along with other similar receipts. Any receipts above the level shown in the estimate have to be surrendered as Consolidated Fund extra receipts.

  EC Finance
  Mr. William Ross
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what sums were paid to the EC by each of the member states for each of the last six financial years; what is the projection for the current financial year; and what sums were received by each state from the EC for the same years.

  Mr. Maude
  Total contributions to the EC budget by each member state for the years 1986–1990, together with an estimate of contributions for 1991 and 1992 are in the table. Outturn information on member states' contributions in 1991 will be given in the 1991 Court of Auditors' report due for publication in December 1992.
  597

  mecu

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  1992

  Belgium

  1,448

  1,703

  1,835

  1,806

  1,764

  2,207

  2,513

  Denmark

  791

  845

  956

  871

  775

  1,012

  1,153

  Germany

  8,730

  9,385

  11,535

  11,110

  10,358

  15,402

  17,580

  Greece

  632

  340

  430

  566

  564

  790

  878

  Spain

  2,321

  1,709

  3,119

  3,135

  3,671

  4,314

  5,381

  France

  6,885

  7,330

  9,096

  8,623

  8,090

  10,819

  11,903

  Ireland

  344

  338

  328

  371

  368

  494

  493

  Italy

  4,718

  5,192

  6,626

  6,406

  6,098

  8,431

  9,297

  Luxembourg

  66

  74

  82

  73

  74

  102

  116

  Netherlands

  2,232

  2,366

  2,796

  2,701

  2,615

  3,289

  3,619

  Portugal

  279

  342

  400

  458

  502

  717

  851

  United Kingdom

  4,825

  5,728

  5,324

  6,568

  6,534

  5,077

  7,658

  Source: 1986–1990; Court of Auditors Report, 1991; Supplementary and Amending Budget No. 3, 1992; Adopted Budget.

  Complete information on receipts by each member state from the EC budget is not available. However partial

  mecu

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  Belgium

  1,164

  985

  838

  683

  990

  Denmark

  1,212

  1,144

  1,286

  1,045

  1,198

  Germany

  4,988

  4,542

  5,428

  4,580

  4,807

  Greece

  1,905

  1,877

  1,922

  2,597

  3,034

  Spain

  2,416

  1,985

  4,012

  4,951

  5,383

  France

  6,324

  6,744

  7,315

  5,676

  6,285

  Ireland

  1,574

  1,438

  1,488

  1,712

  2,261

  Italy

  4,523

  5,256

  5,551

  6,177

  5,681

  Luxembourg

  6

  12

  14

  8

  14

  Netherlands

  2,450

  2,890

  3,946

  3,830

  2,984

  Portugal

  498

  731

  915

  1,114

  1,103

  United Kingdom

  3,387

  3,122

  3,254

  3,214

  3,147

  Source: Court of Auditors' Report.

  Charities
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated annual cost of exempting all registered charities from liability for value added tax.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  Information about the amount of value added tax borne by charities is not collated centrally but it is estimated that charities pay between £180 million and £250 million in value added tax each year.

  Value Added Tax
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of(a) the additional revenue accruing in 1991–92 and in 1992–93 respectively, from the increase in value added tax to 17½ per cent. and (b) the total additional expenditure incurred in each year from the change in the rate of value added tax.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  (a) The increase in VAT from 15 to 17½ per cent. will produce an estimated additional £3,900 million in receipts in 1991–92 and £5,515 million in 1992–93.

  (b) The VAT rate was increased in the 1991 Budget as part of a switch from local to central Government taxation. The overall effect on purchasing power and consumer demand of this switch is broadly neutral so we do not expect the level of total expenditure to have changed significantly.

  Mr. Alfred Morris
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the cash amount paid in value added tax by a family with two children on average earnings in 1979; and what is his latest estimate for the amount now.
  598
  information, published in the Court of Auditors' report, is given in the table for the years 1986 to 1990. Estimates for 1991 and 1992 are not available.

  Mr. Norman Lamont
  A married couple with two children on average male earnings is estimated to have paid £6·55 a week in VAT in 1978–79 at 1991–92 prices. It is estimated that a similar family will pay £17·65 a week in 1991–92.

  CBI Manufacturing Council
  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has yet received any representations from the newly established manufacturing council of the CBI; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Mellor
  I have not received any representations from the manufacturing council of the CBI.

  Inflation
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the average inflation rate (i) from 1974 to 1979 and (ii) since 1979; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Maples
  Between December 1973 and December 1979 the average annual rate of inflation, as measured by the retail prices index, was 16 per cent. per annum. This compares with 6·9 per cent. for the period December 1979 to December 1991.

  Output
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the output figures used in CSO press notice CSO(92)14 for November using current instead of 1985 weights.
  599
  Mr. Mellor
  Information, using weights later than 1985, is not available and could not be provided without disproportionate cost.

  Trade Figures
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the sets of trade figures for 1991 and for the latest quarter as a percentage of 1985, in the form used in CSO press notice CS0(92)15, using 1991 weighting.

  Mr. Mellor
  No. The press notice referred to by the hon. Member gives trade volume and unit value indices using 1985 weights and, following well-established procedures, will be rebased on 1990 in the course of 1993.

  Customs Office, Dartmouth
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the proposed closure of the customs office in Dartmouth, south Devon; and what steps are being taken in response to the increase in drug trafficking in the south-west.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The completion of the single market on 1 January 1993 will mean that fiscal and customs formalities at internal EC frontiers will be removed permitting the freest movement of legitimate traffic and passengers. However anti-smuggling checks will remain and these will be focused on major dangers to society such as drugs, instruments of terrorism and child pornography.

  The effects of the single market on staffing in the Customs and Excise department are particularly significant in ports and airports that deal predominantly with traffic arriving from other EC countries, which is the case in Dartmouth. Consequently the department has had to examine carefully both the numbers and location of staff in such areas.

  In determining future customs anti-smuggling resources, the aim has been to provide a service which is better equipped and targeted at areas of highest risk. A further consideration is the more flexible approach being adopted in the way the controls are organised; this moves away from the static controls previously used.

  This approach has been adopted nationally as a result of the review of anti-smuggling controls completed by the department in 1989. The changes in no way reduce the effectiveness of controls against drug trafficking. Customs is also taking steps to ensure provision of more timely and adequate intelligence.

  A flexible anti-smuggling team is based in Plymouth which covers the south Devon area and additionally it is proposed to retain a Customs presence at both Brixham and Salcombe.

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visit)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in November 1990, the Economic Secretary took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mr. Maples
  No.

  Income Tax
  Mr. Tom Clarke
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue effect in(a) 1992–93 and (b) a full year if (i) all personal tax allowances except the single person's allowance, (ii) employee contributions to occupational pensions, (iii) contributions to personal pensions, (iv) reliefs other than those listed at (i) to (iii) above, (v) a combination of (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv), (vi) a combination of (i), (ii) and (iii), (vii) a combination of (ii) and (iii), (viii) a combination of (ii), (iii) and (iv), (ix) a combination of (ii) and (iv) and (x) a combination of (iii) and (iv), were restricted to the basic rate, giving the numbers affected in each case, distinguishing between (1) basic rate taxpayers and (2) higher rate taxpayers and giving the number who are brought into higher rate tax in each case for the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Maude
  Estimates of the increase in liability to income tax in a full year at 1991–92 levels of income are given in the following table:

  Yield following restriction of specified allowances and reliefs to the basic rate

  £ million

  (i)

  All allowances except the personal allowance

  300

  (ii)

  Occupational pension contributions

  250

  (iii)

  Personal pension contributions

  150

  (iv)

  All reliefs other than pension contributions

  150

  (v)

  A combination of (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)

  900

  (vi)

  A combination of (i), (ii) and (iii)

  750

  (vii)

  A combination of (ii) and (iii)

  400

  (viii)

  A combination of (ii), (iii) and (iv)

  550

  (ix)

  A combination of (ii) and (iv)

  400

  (x)

  A combination of (iii) and (iv)

  300

  About 1·8 million taxpayers would be affected by the restriction of all allowances, except the personal allowance, and reliefs to the basic rate of whom 1·5 million are currently liable at the higher rate and 0·3 million at the basic rate.

  The estimates of revenue yield do not take account of any behavioural effects which might result from such restrictions.

  I regret that it is not possible to provide estimates for 1992–93.

  EC Economic Convergence
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how he proposes to measure convergence between the economies of European Community member states.

  Mr. Maude
  The Maastricht treaty emphasises four criteria for assessing economic convergence. These criteria concern the levels of inflation and interest rates; membership of the narrow band of the ERM; and avoidance of excessive budget deficits.

  ECOFIN
  Mr. David Porter
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outocme of the latest meeting of the European Community's Economic and Finance Council.

  Mr. Maples
  The Economic and Finance Council of the European Community met in Brussels on 10 February. I represented the United Kingdom.
  601
  The Council discussed the Irish Government's programme for economic convergence, and welcomed their achievement to date in reducing inflation and putting their public finances on a sound basis. The Council encouraged Ireland to continue with its policies to reduce its very high level of unemployment through tax reform, improved flexibility, adaptation of industrial policy and wage moderation. The Irish commitment to reduce its public debt to 89 per cent. of GDP in 1993 was also noted as a sign of its Government's determination to continue budgetary consolidation. The Council invited the Commission and the monetary committee to monitor the implementation of the programme and to report back to the Council before the end of 1992.

  The Council also carried out its biannual examination of the Community's economic situation, noting the current low growth and high unemployment in the Community and focusing on the need for greater convergence especially in the areas of inflation, labour market flexibility and savings. The Council noted that structural rigidities, especially labour market inflexibility, were major obstacles to price stability, catching up and lower unemployment. It was also agreed that an adequate level of savings is required to maintain investment and economic growth, to support capital accumulation in poorer regions and to allow the Community to meet its external commitments. The Council invited the Commission, the committee of governors and the monetary and economic policy committees to examine these issues further in time for the next multilateral surveillance exercise.

  The annual economic report for 1991–92 was adopted without discussion.

  The Commission confirmed to the Council that the problems which had delayed the disbursement of a 500 mecu food credit for Russia appeared to have been solved. It was agreed that the first tranche of the separately agreed 1·25 becu loan should also be made available to those other states of the former Soviet Union who had signed a memorandum of understanding with official creditors about the debts of the former Soviet Union. It was also agreed that EC members would work to ensure that the states of the former Soviet Union can become members of the IMF as soon as possible.

  The Council accepted the presidency proposals to resolve the outstanding issues in respect of the adoption of the 1992 Community budget. A revision to the financial perspective was agreed which would meet the Council's particular concerns over research and make available up to 450 mecu for technical assistance to the former Soviet Union.

  Agreement was also reached on the outstanding detailed issues surrounding the draft directive on the arrangements for the holding, movement and control of goods subject to excise duty, which had been agreed in principle by the Council on 16 December. The directive can now be formally adopted at a future Council meeting without further discussion. The Council also emphasised the importance of adopting the directives on excise duty structures and rates which are currently under discussion and set targets for doing so at the end of April and the end of June respectively.

  The presidency outlined an ambitious programme for making progress in the single market and the Commission drew attention to the need to make progress in agreeing directives in the field of company taxation.

  Profit Margins
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the reduction in profit margins in manufacturing industry since the end of 1989 as a percentage of sales and the effect that that has had on(a) the rate of inflation, (b) the export price of manufactured goods and (c) the value and volume of imports and exports of manufactured goods.

  Mr. Mellor
  [holding answer 12 February 1992]: The rate of inflation, trade prices and trade volumes depend on a wide range of interrelated factors and it is not possible to isolate the effects of changes in profit margins.

  Exchange Rate Mechanism
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the effect to date of membership of the exchange rate mechanism on the profitability of United Kingdom manufacturing industry; what is his forecast for 1992; and what effect membership has had and is expected to have on output and employment in manufacturing industry.

  Mr. Mellor
  [holding answer 12 February 1992]: Profitability, output and employment depend on a range of factors. ERM membership has reinforced anti-inflationary policy and brought greater exchange rate stability, thereby enabling businesses across the United Kingdom to plan and invest with greater certainty. Since joining the ERM, we have been able to reduce interest rates on eight occasions by a total of 4½ percentage points.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Personal Information
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to allow a consumer to consent to, or be aware of, those uses and disclosures of personal information not obvious at the time the consumer provides the information; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Leigh
  Existing legislation provides for individuals in certain circumstances to be aware that information which they disclose about themselves may be used for marketing and other purposes and give them the opportunity to object. I have no plans to introduce any further controls in this area.

  RECHAR Grants
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what applications have been made for RECHAR grants in relation to Nottingham; what payments have been made; and when he expects the European Commission to make the outstanding payments.

  Mr. Leigh
  The United Kingdom made applications for 11 coalfield areas, including Nottingham, in July 1990. The European Commission has yet to approve them, and no RECHAR money has so far been released to the United Kingdom. We hope that the Commission will approve these applications very soon.

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make it his policy to allow local
  603
  authorities to negotiate and conclude agreements for RECHAR grants without any involvement of central Government; and what information he has on current practice in this regard in each of the other EC countries.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 11 February 1992]: No. I understand that such is not the practice in any member state.

  Departmental Achievements
  Mr. Gregory
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the expenditure and achievements of his Department in north Yorkshire during 1991; and what was the comparable position between June 1979 and May 1980.

  Mr. Leigh
  [holding answer 11 February 1992]: The table lists grants offered to firms in north Yorkshire under the regional selective assistance, regional enterprise grants and the small firms merit award for research and technology schemes, together with the number of cases where terms of reference were agreed under the enterprise initiative subsidised consultancy scheme. Figures for regional development grant in 1979 are not available.

  June 1979 to May 1980 (£)

  January to December 1991 (£)

  Regional selective assistance1

  927,716

  4,920

  Regional enterprise grants2

  —

  41,375

  Small firms merit award for research and technology3

  —

  330,000

  Enterprise initiative consultancies4 (number)

  —

  107

  1Following the review of the AA map in November 1984 only Whitby remained eligible for regional aid in north Yorkshire.

  2 Scheme started April 1988.

  3 Scheme started June 1988.

  4 Scheme started January 1989.

HEALTH

  Drugs
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what ACE inhibitor drugs are licensed for use in the United Kingdom; what guidance has been issued to family health service authorities and general practitioners on the use of such drugs; and what was the expenditure per head in each NHS region on such drugs during the period April to October 1991 in the PACT data system.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  The information requested is given in the tables.

  1. ACE inhibitor drugs licensed for use in the United Kingdom:

  Drug Name

  Capoten

  Capozide

  Innovace

  Staril

  Carace

  Coversyl

  Accupro

  Tritace

  Vascace

  Zestril

  2. Net ingredient cost (£) per head for ACE inhibitors April 1991 to September 1991 inclusive.
  604

  Regional Health Authority

  Net Ingredient Cost per head

  (£)

  Northern RHA

  0·82

  Yorkshire RHA

  0·85

  Trent RHA

  0·81

  East Anglia RHA

  0·73

  North West Thames RHA

  0·75

  North East Thames RHA

  0·78

  South East Thames RHA

  0·84

  South West Thames RHA

  0·85

  Wessex RHA

  1·03

  Oxford RHA

  0·83

  South Western RHA

  0·99

  West Midlands RHA

  0·85

  Mersey RHA

  1·00

  North Western RHA

  0·91

  England

  0·86

  Note: The expenditure data used are the net ingredient cost of ACE Inhibitors for the period April to September 1991 inclusive and have been obtained from the Prescription Pricing Authority. The data are actual and take account of all prescriptions dispensed including dispensing doctors. The population figures used are based on the OPCS estimate of resident population for mid-year 1990.

  3. Although no specific guidance has been issued to FHSAs and GPs on the use of ACE inhibitors, guidance is contained in the British National Formulary which is distributed by the Department, free of charge, to all prescribing doctors and in the data sheets supplied by the companies which market these drugs.

  Home Care Agencies
  Mr. leuan Wyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to arrange for the registrations of all private and voluntary home care agencies; and how many representations he received advocating this move during 1991.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on 24 January at column 396. During 1991 representations were received from a small number of organisations.

  Respite Care (Children)
  Mr. Bellotti
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to amend the Children Act 1989 to prohibit local authorities charging parents for the provision of respite care.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  No. The Children Act continues the longstanding provision for a contribution to the maintenance of a child looked after by the local authority. It makes no distinction between the provision of short term pre-planned placements—respite care—and longer-term provision of accommodation. Both fall within the range of services for which local authorities have discretion as to charging. In exercising that discretion, local authorities are required to have regard to the means of the child concerned, where the service is provided to a child aged 16 or over, or his parents, where the child is under sixteen. Local authorities cannot charge for services where the child—or his/her parents depending on the child's age—is on income support. Where there is disagreement as to what is a "reasonable" charge there are provisions within the Children Act enabling the matter to be referred to the courts for resolution.

  Leighton Hospital, Crewe and Mid-Cheshire Hospital Trust
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the changes in senior nursing staff which are taking place at Leighton hospital, Crewe;

  (2) what information he has received from the Mid-Cheshire hospital trust of the re-grading of senior nurses, the numbers involved and the specialties which will no longer have the same ratio of trained staff of G grade level and above available for patient care.

  Mr. Dorrell
  This information is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Richard F. Lawrence, the chairman of the Mid-Cheshire hospital trust, for details.

  HIV
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that dental care is readily available to people who are HIV positive.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  Dental care of HIV positive patients as with any other patient is provided by general dental practitioners. Any individual who has difficulty in obtaining dental treatment is advised to contact his family health services authority.

  GP Practices
  Mr. Janman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners practices there are in the Thurrock parliamentary constituency with(a) more than 9,000 patients, (b) between 7,000 and 9,000 patients, (c) between 5,000 and 7,000 patients, (d) between 3,000 and 5,000 patients, (e) between 1,000 and 3,000 patients and (f) fewer than 1,000 patients.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  Information is not available centrally in the form requested.

  Prescription Charges
  Mr. David Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on NHS prescription and other charges and the value of optical vouchers from 1st April 1992.

  Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
  I shall shortly lay before the House regulations providing for increases in prescription charges in the National Health Service in England and Wales which will take effect on 1 April 1992. The prescription charges will increase by 35p from £3·40 to £3·75 for each quantity of a drug or appliance dispensed. Spectacle vouchers—which are available to people on low incomes—go up by 9·5 per cent.

  Concurrently regulations are being laid by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland to increase the charges in Scotland by the same amount. Similar arrangements will apply in Northern Ireland.

  The new charge will continue to represent less than half the average total cost of a single prescription item to the NHS. The existing wide-ranging exemption arrangements will remain unchanged. Rates for prepayment certificates will rise in line with the increase in prescription charges. A prescription charge is now paid on about one item in six dispensed in the NHS. When the Government took office,
  606
  one item in three attracted a charge. In 1990–91. the drugs bill was nearly £2·1 billion. The increase will raise about £240 million for the NHS.

  Charges for elastic stockings and tights, fabric supports and wigs supplied through the hospital service will also be increased from 1 April 1992 by a similar percentage to the rise in the prescription charge.

  There is no change to the proportional charge—75 per cent.—for general dental services. However the maximum charge will be raised to £225 with effect from 1 April 1992.

  I am pleased to announce that as from 1 April 1992 the overall value of optical vouchers will increase by 9·5 per cent. I have also, in response to representations increased the number of voucher bands from six to eight so as to reflect more accurately the range of manufacturer's wholesale prices.

  The result of these changes will be that the majority of voucher holders will find themselves considerably better off. In particular, the value of voucher A, the commonest voucher, will increase by 20·3 per cent.; voucher B will increase by 20·1 per cent.; and users requiring complex single vision lenses will find the value of their voucher increased by 104·1 per cent.

  I am also pleased to announce that from 1 April 1992 charges made to patients for the use of oxygen concentrators in the home will be discontinued.

  Extra-contractual Referrals
  Ms. Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state for each district health authority, and the national total, the amount of money still remaining at January 1991 in budgets which have been set aside for extra-contractual referrals in 1991–92.

  Mr. Dorrell
  [holding answer 30 January 1992.]: Information about individual district health authorities reserves for extra-contractual referrals is not held centrally. Our most recent information based on the regional returns made in January 1992 shows that nationally around £53 million—26 per cent.—of the reserves set aside for extra-contractual referrals remains for the last quarter of the year.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Kurds
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will take steps to instigate a debate in the United Nations on the massacre of Kurd civilians in 1988, with a view to establishing a United Nations investigation into allegations of genocide related specifically to those atrocities.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Iraq's appalling human rights record is already under scrutiny at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. The United Nations has appointed a special rapporteur to report on human rights in Iraq. He has our full support. These latest reports simply underline Saddam Hussein's total disregard for international norms of behaviour.

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visits)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Ministers of State took part in party political activities in addition to official
  607
  duties during each of their visits to Hong Kong in (a) February and June 1988, (b) January and September 1989 and (c) April, July and September 1990.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  My noble Friend Lord Glenarthur saw fellow Conservatives in June 1988 and my hon. Friend the Member for Warwickshire, North (Mr. Maude) in April and July 1990. My noble Friend the Minister of State also met them in September 1990.

  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, on each of his visits to Hong Kong in(a) May 1988, (b) July 1989 and (c) January 1990, he took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mr. Hurd
  My right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Surrey, East (Sir G. Howe) saw fellow Conservatives briefly during his visit to Hong Kong in May 1988, but not in July 1989 and neither did I in January 1990.

  Mr. and Mrs. Orton Chirwa
  Mr. Jopling
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the conditions of the imprisonment of Mr. and Mrs. Orton Chirwa in Malawi; if he will make renewed efforts to seek their release; and whether he will set a date beyond which all aid to Malawi will be suspended, unless they are released.

  Mr. Chalker
  We have received reports that Mr. and Mrs. Chirwa's health has deteriorated because of the conditions under which they are held. We have therefore asked the Malawian Government for their release on humanitarian grounds. The Malawian Government have been informed that future aid levels will be influenced by their performance on human rights.

  Human Rights
  Mr. Ashley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all outstanding cases against the United Kingdom at the European Commission on Human Rights which have been declared admissible by the Commission but have not yet been considered by or referred to either the court or the Committee of Ministers, giving their names, application numbers and their subject matter.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  There are nine cases outstanding against the United Kingdom at the European Commission on Human Rights which have been declared admissible by

  Date

  Rate of SSP

  Equivalent value at April 1991 Prices

  Gross average weekly earnings1

  Net weekly earnings

  Percentages

  Single

  Married

  B as percentage of D

  B as percentage of E

  B as percentage of F

  A

  B

  C

  D

  E

  F

  G

  H

  I

  (£. p)

  (£. p)

  (£. p)

  (£. p)

  (£. p)

  6 April 1983

  40·25

  63·56

  164·70

  110·80

  116·60

  24·4

  36·3

  34·5

  33·75

  53·30

  164·70

  110·80

  116·60

  20·5

  30·5

  28·9

  27·20

  42·95

  164·70

  110·80

  116·60

  16·5

  24·5

  23·3

  6 April 1984

  42·25

  63·44

  178·80

  120·60

  127·30

  23·6

  35·0

  33·2

  35·45

  53·23

  178·80

  120·60

  127·30

  19·8

  29·4

  27·8

  28·55

  42·87

  178·80

  120·60

  127·30

  16·0

  23·7

  22·4

  6 April 1985

  44·35

  62·28

  192·40

  130·10

  137·30

  23·1

  34·1

  32·3

  37·20

  52·24

  192·40

  130·10

  137·30

  19·3

  28·6

  27·1

  608
  the Commission but have not yet been considered by or referred to either the European Court of Human Rights or the Committee of Ministers:

  Number, name and subject matter

  15767/89 Clarke—discretionary life sentence

  16632/90 Colman—doctors' advertising restrictions

  15058/89 Darnell—length of medical disciplinary proceedings

  14778/80 Higgins—provision of legal aid

  15861/89 M—provision of legal aid

  14310/88 Murray and others—entry and search of the family home

  13195/87 P and others—discretionary life sentences

  16212/90 R—provision of legal aid

  14830/89 Yousef—immigration

  Syria
  Mr. Dunnachie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the release of Mu'taz Qutlabi, held in Fir Amnal-Dawa, Damascus, and of the imminent release of other political prisoners in Syria.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We have no specific information on the individual mentioned. We are trying to obtain verification and further details of the recently reported release by the Syrian authorities of 2,864 political prisoners.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
  Mr. McGrady
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps will be taken to ensure that those who suffer from myalgic encephalomyelitis will be entitled to invalidity benefit.

  Mr. Scott
  Entitlement to invalidity benefit does not depend on the nature of a person's incapacity for work. People suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis may qualify if they satisfy the entitlement conditions. We have no plans to make special provision for people suffering from this particular condition.

  Sick Pay
  Sir Ian Gilmour
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing the different rates of statutory sick pay at current and at 1991 prices, and as percentages of gross average earnings and average earnings net of income tax and national insurance contribution, in each year since statutory sick pay replaced national insurance sickness benefit.

  Mr. Scott
  The information requested is in the table.
  609

  Date

  Rate of SSP

  Equivalent value at April 1991 Prices

  Gross average weekly earnings1

  Net weekly earnings

  Percentages

  Single

  Married

  B as percentage of D

  B as percentage of E

  B as percentage of F

  A

  B

  C

  D

  E

  F

  G

  H

  I

  (£. p)

  (£. p)

  (£. p)

  (£. p)

  (£. p)

  30·00

  42·13

  192·40

  130·10

  137·30

  15·6

  23·1

  21·8

  6 April 1986

  46·75

  63·71

  207·50

  141·70

  149·00

  22·5

  33·0

  31·4

  39·20

  53·42

  207·50

  141·70

  149·00

  18·9

  27·7

  26·3

  31·60

  43·06

  207·50

  141·70

  149·00

  15·2

  22·3

  21·2

  6 April 19872

  47·20

  61·71

  224·00

  155·90

  163·00

  21·1

  30·3

  29·0

  32·85

  42·95

  224·00

  155·90

  163·00

  14·7

  21·1

  20·2

  6 April 1988

  49·20

  61·90

  245·80

  174·80

  182·00

  20·0

  28·1

  27·0

  34·25

  43·09

  245·80

  174·80

  182·00

  13·9

  19·6

  18·8

  6 April 1989

  52·10

  60·67

  269·50

  191·30

  198·90

  19·3

  27·2

  26·2

  36·25

  42·21

  269·50

  191·30

  198·90

  13·5

  18·9

  18·2

  6 April 1990

  52·50

  55·86

  295·60

  212·80

  221·10

  17·8

  24·7

  23·7

  39·25

  41·76

  295·60

  212·80

  221·10

  13·3

  18·4

  17·8

  6 April 1991

  52·50

  52·50

  318·90

  230·00

  238·30

  16·5

  22·8

  22·0

  43·50

  43·50

  318·90

  230·00

  238·30

  13·6

  18·9

  18·3

  Notes:

  1 Earnings shown are the average for full-time adult male employees.

  2 Middle rate of SSP abolished from 6 April 1987.

  Child Benefit
  Mr. Clelland
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to increase child benefit for all children to the level it would have been if it had been uprated in line with inflation since 1987.

  Mr. Scott
  As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made clear on a number of occasions, we are committed to increasing the current level of child benefit in line with inflation. Child benefit is and will remain a strong element in our policies for family support. From 1988 we have introduced extra help for families on income-related benefits which will amount to over £600 million in 1992–93. This, together with last year's increases in child benefit,

  A

  B

  C

  D

  E

  Uprating date

  Rate of Child Benefit plus Child Dependency Increase

  Equivalent value of benefit at April 1991 prices

  Gross male weekly average earnings with amounts in column B as percentage

  Equivalent net week earnings with amounts in column B as percentage

  Single person

  Married couple

  £

  £

  £

  Per. cent

  £

  Per cent.

  £

  Per cent.

  November 1979

  11·10

  24·52

  114·10

  9·7

  79·90

  13·9

  83·60

  13·3

  November 1980

  12·25

  23·47

  135·10

  9·1

  93·40

  13·1

  97·80

  12·5

  November 1981

  12·95

  22·16

  149·50

  8·7

  101·00

  12·8

  105·40

  12·3

  November 1982

  13·80

  22·22

  160·60

  8·6

  107·40

  12·8

  112·50

  12·3

  November 1983

  14·10

  21·65

  172·40

  8·2

  115·50

  12·2

  121·30

  11·6

  November 1984

  14·50

  21·22

  187·40

  7·7

  125·90

  11·5

  132·50

  10·9

  November 1985

  15·05

  20·88

  199·50

  7·5

  134·40

  11·2

  141·60

  10·6

  July 1986

  15·15

  20·68

  210·90

  7·2

  143·80

  10·5

  151·20

  10·0

  April 1987

  15·30

  20·00

  224·00

  6·8

  155·90

  9·8

  163·00

  9·4

  April 1988

  15·65

  19·69

  245·80

  6·4

  174·80

  9·0

  182·00

  8·6

  April 1989

  16·20

  18·86

  269·50

  6·0

  191·30

  8·5

  198·90

  8·1

  April 1990

  16·90

  17·98

  295·60

  5·7

  212·80

  7·9

  221·10

  7·6

  April 1991

  117·95

  17·95

  318·90

  5·6

  230·00

  7·8

  238·30

  7·5

  1 Where the new higher rate of Child Benefit for the eldest qualifying child applied, the Child Dependency Increase was adjusted so that the total level of support remained the same for all children.

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

  Egypt
  Ms. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much all donors are contributing to the World bank and social fund to mitigate the social impact of economic reform in Egypt.
  610
  means that the current level of overall expenditure on families with children is now greater than it would have been if we had simply uprated child benefit each year after 1987 in line with inflation.

  Sir Ian Gilmour
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing child benefit plus the national insurance long-term addition for children of(a) widows and (b) invalidity pensioners, at current and at 1991 prices, and as percentages of gross average earnings and average earnings net of income tax and national insurance contributions, in each year since 1979.

  Mr. Scott
  The figures, which are the same for widows and invalidity pensioners, are in the table:

  Mrs. Chalker
  We understand that the following pledges have been made to the social fund project in the Arab Republic of Egypt, in addition to an International Development Association loan of SDR105 million—$140 million—approved in June 1991:

  Donors

  $ million

  European Community

  140

  USAID

  55

  Arab Fund

  50

  611

  Donors

  $ million

  Kuwait Fund

  50

  Aub Dhabi Fund

  50

  Switzerland

  30

  Germany

  30

  Denmark

  10

  Canada

  10

  France

  10

  Sweden

  10

  Netherlands

  6

  Austria

  5

  UNDP

  4

  Norway

  2

  Total (including IDA)

  602

  Tropics (Biodiversity)
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list each programme supported by the Overseas Development Administration for research and development of the biodiversity of the tropics since 1987, with the funds allocated to each in each year and the annual totals.

  Mrs. Chalker
  We funded 62 projects on biodiversity from central research and development funds in 1987–88, 58 projects in 1988–89 and 43 projects in 1989–90. I am placing in the Library a list of projects in each year, including the total cost of each project and the cost to ODA in each financial year. Information relating to 1990–91 will be contained in ODA's report on research and development for that year, which is in preparation. ODA is one of the largest contributors to the International Board for Plant Genetics Resources.

  Biodiversity Programmes
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what priority the Minister of Overseas Development has given to the forestry discipline within the Overseas Development Administration's biodiversity programmes.

  Mr. Chalker
  We made it clear in the ODA's publication "Biological Diversity and Developing Countries: Issues and Options", June 1991, that tropical forests, which may contain over 90 per cent. of species, have a very high priority within our support to biodiversity programmes in developing countries.

  ODA Staff (Qualifications)
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff of the Overseas Development Administration have qualifications in forestry.

  Mrs. Chalker
  Three advisers in the Overseas Development Administration's London headquarters and 17 staff at the ODA's agency, the natural resources institute, have qualifications in foresty. In addition, there are 15 similarly qualified people serving overseas on technical co-operation assignments.

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visit)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in September 1988, the Minister for Overseas Development took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mrs. Chalker
  No.

  Summit on the Advancement of Rural Women
  Mrs. Heal
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department will be sending a representative to the summit on the advancement of rural women to be held in Geneva later this month.

  Mrs. Chalker
  Representation will be provided by the United Kingdom mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

  Horn of Africa
  Mr. Andrew Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what Her Majesty's Government's contribution will be to the SEPHA appeal for the Horn of Africa for the period February to July 1992.

  Mrs. Chalker
  I have this week approved a British contribution of £23 million to the appeal. The contribution is made up as follows:

  £ million

  Food Aid

  (i) Ethiopia, including Eritrea 20,000 tonnes

  112

  (ii) Sudan 25,000 tonnes

  Non-food Aid

  (i) UNHCR activities in the Horn

  5

  (ii) British NGO humanitarian activities in the Horn

  6

  23

  1 Approximate.

  This pledge is additional to the £107 million, including 185,000 tonnes of food aid and our share of EC emergency aid, which we have committed for humanitarian relief in the Horn of Africa since the present crisis began in September 1990. The food aid total included £2·2 million for Somalia which I announced in January this year.

  International Fund for Agricultural Development
  Mrs. Heal
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why it has been decided not to contribute funds to the special famine relief programme run by the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Dunnachie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will reconsider his decision not to make available funds to assist the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development's special programme for Africa; and if he will make a statement.

  Mrs. Chalker
  I refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on 12 February.

PRIME MINISTER

  Engagements
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 February.

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

  Press Freedom
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Prime Minister what is his policy on the freedom of the press; and what steps have been taken to implement his policy since 1979.

  The Prime Minister
  The Government are committed to safeguarding the freedom of the press. They consider this is best secured by responsible journalism and effective self-regulation. In pursuit of this policy the Government have supported the recommendations of the Calcutt committee for a non-statutory Press Complaints Commission. We are committed to reviewing the effectiveness of the new arrangements later this year.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

  Durham Education Authority
  Mr. Hague
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much was spent per pupil by Durham education authority in(a) current expenditure and (b) capital expenditure in 1979 and 1990.

  Mr. Fallon
  Spending per pupil in nursery schools, primary schools and secondary schools in Durham is shown in the table. The table shows actual spending in 1979–80 and in 1989–90, the latest year for which the information is available, at both current and 1989–90 prices.

  Current prices

  1989–90 prices3

  Year

  Net institutional expenditure1 per pupil2

  Capital expenditure per pupil

  Net institutional expenditure1 per pupil2

  Capital expenditure per pupil

  (£)

  (£)

  (£)

  (£)

  1979–80

  505

  30

  1,010

  60

  1989–90

  1,430

  55

  1,430

  55

  1 Net institutional expenditure covers the direct costs in schools of salaries and wages, premises and certain supplies and services. It does not include the cost of school meals, home to school transport. LEA central administration, and financing costs of capital expenditure.

  2 The figures are derived from Durham Local Education Authority's returns of its spending to the Department of the Environment and of its pupil numbers to the Department of Education and Science.

  3 Figures for 1979–80 have been repriced to 1989–90 prices using the GDP (market prices) deflator index.

  Taxonomic Research
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his Department's policy on the funding of taxonomic research in the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  The Department funds research through its grants from the science budget to the research 614
  councils and through the higher education funding councils which provide block grants to higher education institutions.

  In deciding the overall level of funding to be made avaialble, and the allocation of the science budget to individual research councils, the Government take account of advice from the funding councils and from the Advisory Board for the Research Councils. It is then for individual research councils and higher education institutions to decide how to deploy the resources made available to them, including the level of funding for taxonomic research.

  Student Grants
  Sir Ian Gilmour
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing mandatory grant levels for students pursuing first degree courses, at current and at constant 1991 prices in each year since 1979; and if he will also show net maximum parental contributions as percentages of average earnings in the same years.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  The table shows the value of the mandatory grant1, in cash terms and at 1991 prices, and the maximum assessed parental contribution as percentage of average earnings for 1979–80 to 1991–92. The contribution assessed for parents on average earnings in any year would be considerably less than the maximum contribution figure shown in the table. Further, the assessed contribution for any parent cannot exceed the maintenance grant to which the student is entitled.

  Stautory maximum contribution

  Academic year

  Grant in cash terms

  1991 value of grant

  In cash terms

  As per cent. of average earnings

  £

  £

  1979–80

  1,245

  2,832

  n/a

  n/a

  1980–81

  1,430

  2,807

  n/a

  n/a

  1981–82

  1,535

  2,705

  n/a

  n/a

  1982–83

  1,595

  2,620

  n/a

  n/a

  1983–84

  1,660

  2,593

  n/a

  n/a

  1984–85

  1,775

  2,648

  n/a

  n/a

  1985–86

  1,830

  2,578

  4,000

  45

  1986–87

  1,901

  2,600

  4,300

  45

  1987–88

  1,972

  2,589

  4,600

  44

  1988–89

  2,050

  2,543

  4,900

  43

  1989–90

  2,155

  2,485

  5,300

  42

  1990–91

  2,265

  2,355

  5,800

  42

  1991–92

  2,265

  2,265

  5,800

  39

  n/a=Not applicable. Between 1979–80 and 1984–85 there was no statutory maximum parental contribution.

  Note:
  Rate applicable to students living away from the parental home and studying at an institution outside London. From 1990–91 student loans were available of up to £420 in 1990–91 and £580 in 1991–92 (at the outside London rate).

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Circaprint NI Ltd.
  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date Circaprint NI Ltd. went into receivership; which company was appointed as receivers; what action has been taken to date by the appointed receivers to enable redundant workers to receive moneys
  615
  to which they are entitled; and if he will seek to expedite settlement of outstanding claims lodged by former employees.

  Mr. Needham
  Joint administrative receivers were appointed to the parent company Circaprint Holdings Plc on 5 April 1991. No receiver was, however, appointed to Circaprint (NI) Ltd. and the Department of Economic Development has therefore undertaken, under article 47 of the Industrial Relations (NI) Order 1976, to discharge such of the functions of a receiver as are necessary to ensure that former employees of the Northern Ireland company receive payment of holiday pay, pay in lieu of notice and redundancy payments to which they are entitled.

  It is anticipated that qualifying claims will be paid not later than the end of February 1992.

  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the total value of grants paid towards the cost of all plant and equipment including installation costs from start up until closure of Circaprint NI Ltd.

  Mr. Needham
  £949,721.

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visit)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in December 1989, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Wiltshire, North (Mr. Needham) took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mr. Needham
  No.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Agricultural Development Advisory Service
  Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish figures showing the total budget of the Agricultural Development Advisory Service in Wales in each year since 1978–79.

  Mr. Curry
  The budgetary costs for the Agricultural Development Advisory Service, as currently constituted in Wales for the last three years and the current year to date are as follows:

  £000's

  1988–89

  15,950

  1989–90

  15,878

  1990–91

  15,780

  21991–92

  3,541

  1 Includes costs of Trawsgoed experimental husbandry farm transferred to the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research on 31 March 1991.

  2 To end December 1991.

  Prior to this separate delegated budgets for Wales are not identifiable, and figures could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people are currently employed by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service in Wales; and if he will publish the total numbers employed within each experimental husbandry farm.
  616
  Mr. Curry
  There are currently 177 permanent staff employed by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service in Wales and 12 of these staff are employed at Pwllpeiran experimental husbandry farm.

  Mink Farming
  Mr. Andrew Mitchell
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure that mink farms do not release mink into the wild.

  Mr. Maclean
  All mink farms are inspected annually by Ministry officials to ensure that they meet the security standards required by the Mink (Keeping) Regulations 1975, as amended.

  Dietary Supplements
  Mr. Fearn
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements his Department has made to consult interested parties before preparation of a draft EC directive on dietary supplements.

  Mr. Maclean
  I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Falkirk, West (Mr. Canavan) on 6 February,Official Report, column 450.

  Pollution Control
  Miss Emma Nicholson
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures the Government intends to introduce to enable United Kingdom farmers to meet new pollution control requirements.

  Mr. Curry
  As my right hon. Friend the Minister announced on 21 January, a pilot study will be set up to see if farmers can reduce water pollution by preparing and implementing plans for the safe disposal of animal manure, slurry and other organic wastes. Later this year the Department will issue a code of good agricultural practice for the protection of air. These will supplement existing measures including 50 per cent. grant aid for waste storage facilities and free general advisory visits by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service on pollution avoidance.

  Tropical Forest Resource Group
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the work programme of the tropical forest resource group at the royal botanic gardens, Kew.

  Mr. Curry
  The tropical forest resource group, which was launched on 29 January 1992, is a consortium of 11 organisations including the royal botanic gardens at Kew. Its aim is to provide information and expertise to project and policy developers worldwide in the areas of forest management and conservation, agroforestry and related land use. Kew's role will be to provide support in its special fields of taxonomic research on plants and fungi, with additional capabilities in experimental research, seed storage and horticulture.

  Agricultural Land
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food to how many consultations from local planning authorities relating to individual planning
  617
  applications for non-agricultural development his Department responded in each six months since January 1988; if he will provide for each period the number of objections, conditional objections, appraisals, no objections and cases which were either withdrawn or in which

  1 January 1988 to 30 June 1988

  1 July 1988 to 31 December 1988

  1 January 1989 to 30 June 1989

  1 July 1989 to 31 December 1989

  1 January 1990 to 30 June 1990

  1 July 1990 to 31 December 1990

  Total number of consultations

  775

  715

  648

  648

  692

  747

  Objections

  17

  14

  19

  14

  16

  10

  Conditional response

  114

  96

  59

  53

  76

  77

  Appraisal

  344

  282

  305

  360

  401

  470

  No objection

  238

  215

  89

  80

  67

  44

  Withdrawn

  24

  12

  15

  13

  15

  19

  Wrong referral

  38

  96

  161

  128

  117

  127

  Hectares

  Grade 1

  172·9

  870·3

  802·4

  154·6

  252·4

  226·5

  Grade 2

  1,171·7

  1,183·0

  1,600·9

  1,729·0

  2,442·9

  2,739·6

  Grade 3a

  2,733·2

  2,911·2

  3,025·3

  2,715·9

  2,992·9

  2,395·9

  Grade 3b

  4,897·4

  4,666·3

  4,396·1

  2,632·7

  4,568·2

  4,337·8

  Grade 3 (no sub-division)

  1,509·5

  1,520·2

  1,757·3

  3,857·2

  5,623·9

  6,155·0

  Grade 4

  947·2

  859·9

  939·8

  1,042·0

  1,243·3

  2,108·7

  Grade 5

  190·1

  374·4

  143·5

  215·2

  427·3

  192·5

  Other land

  4,249·1

  3,671·9

  6,321·1

  5,218·8

  5,188·4

  8,506·9

  Note:
  "Conditional response" includes both conditional acceptances and objections.

  Revised guidelines and criteria introduced for grading the quality of agricultural land provided for two subgrades of grade 3 land: 3a and 3b. the latter being a combination of the previous 3b and 3c.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 27 January,Official Report, colums 445-46, if he will list for each year since 1980 the number of applications which were rejected by his Ministry and were subsequently refused by the local authorities concerned; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Gummer
  The records do not show this information.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the amount of agricultural land in England in each grade. including 3a and 3b, in(a) 1986 and (b)

  Mr. Gummer
  The published agricultural land classification maps and data are based on strategic planning work carried out in the 1960s and do not sub-divide grade 3 land. The original survey showed the proportion of land in each grade in England to be as follows:

  per cent.

  Grade 1

  3·3

  Grade 2

  16·7

  Grade 3

  54·0

  Grade 4

  15·7

  Grade 5

  10·3

  The agricultural land classification maps and data provide only a very general indication of the distribution of land quality. Resurveying at a larger scale is necessary to obtain a definitive grade for individual sites.
  618
  the referal was inappropriate; and how many hectares of each grade of agricultural land, including 3a, 3b and 3c, were involved in each period.

  Mr. Gummer
  The information requested for England and Wales is as follows:

  Agriculture Council
  Mr. Andy Stewart
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Agriculture Council on 10 to 11 February.

  Mr. Gummer
  I represented the United Kingdom at this meeting of the Council together with my hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry), Parliamentary Secretary in my Department, and my noble Friend Lord Strathclyde, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland.

  Discussion concentrated on the Commission's proposals for CAP reform. The Portuguese presidency presented a new compromise paper which may have moved matters forward by a small amount, but major divergencies of view remain. I was one of several Ministers who said that they would not be able to come to final decisions until the outcome of the current GATT round were known. Otherwise I maintained the United Kingdom position on the lines I have explained to the House on several occasions. Discussion will resume at the next meeting of the Council starting on 2 March.

  The Commissioner said that he would bring forward a package of structural proposals, which were intended to help the Community's soft fruit industry. This follows the representations I have made about the difficulties caused for the United Kingdom industry by low-priced imports from eastern Europe.

  Bananas
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the consequences of the proposal in the draft general agreement on tariffs and trade text, that import controls on bananas should be converted into a tariff on African, Caribbean and Pacific banana producers.

  Mr. Gummer
  The draft general agreement on tariffs and trade text calls for all border measures other than
  619
  ordinary customs duties applying to agricultural products to be converted into tariff equivalents and for current access opportunities to be maintained on terms at least equivalent to those existing. The tariff equivalent would in principle be applied to all dollar banana imports above current access volumes. It is unclear whether the tariff equivalent would have to be paid on African, Caribbean and Pacific sendings above their current level; nevertheless, fruit up to that volume would continue to enter the Community duty free.

  Common Agricultural Policy
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the amount in pounds sterling spent on the common agricultural policy in 1991; what are the current forecasts of expenditure for 1992, 1993 and 1994; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Gummer
  The amount spent on the common agricultural policy in 1991 was £24,105 million1. The common agricultural policy budget for 1992 is £27,836 million1—which includes £697 million1 for the monetary reserve. It is not normal practice to forecast anticipated expenditure for subsequent years, which depend on decisions yet to be taken.

  1 Converted at £:1·435 ecu.

  Food Imports
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the amounts and types of fruit, vegetables and meat with country of origin for food imported into the United Kingdom in(a) 1990 and (b)

  Mr. Gummer
  Volumes and values of imports are published in the monthly CSO Business Monitor "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom"—MM20—which is available in the Library of the House. Table III of this monitor gives both monthly and year-to-date data at the five-digit SITC level, classified by main country of consignment, not necessarily the country of origin. Figures for the first 11 months of 1991 are available in the November 1991 edition; the December 1991 edition, which will contain provisional figures for 1991, will be available later this month. Final annual figures are published in Business Monitor MA20; the 1990 edition is available in the Library of the House and the 1991 edition will be available by the end of 1992. Country of origin figures are not published but are available from Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, normally through its appointed marketing agents.

  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 20 January,Official Report, column 24, on BSE deaths, if he will give a month by month breakdown of the figures given for the cattle dying at age two and three.

  Mr. Maclean
  The information requested is as follows. The figures differ from those in the previous answer as further cases with a date of onset during 1991 have been confirmed.620

  Age at Onset

  Month of onset 1991

  2 to 3 years

  3 to 4 years

  January

  10

  205

  February

  6

  228

  March

  5

  315

  April

  6

  351

  May

  6

  344

  June

  4

  362

  July

  5

  394

  August

  3

  437

  September

  3

  247

  October

  0

  173

  November

  0

  87

  December

  0

  20

  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest information as to the age at death of cattle diagnosed as suffering from BSE so far this year.

  Mr. Maclean
  Only five cases of cattle suffering from BSE have so far been confirmed in Great Britain which have a date of clinical onset in 1992. Their ages were one each at three, five and six years, and two at four years.

EMPLOYMENT

  Older Workers
  Mr. McGrady
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will introduce special measures to help unemployed older workers re-enter the work force.

  Mr. Jackson
  A wide range of unemployment and training measures is already available to help older unemployed people back to work. We are also keen that all employers should give proper recognition to the qualities that older workers possess. We are therefore, setting up an advisory group on older workers, as announced by my right hon. and learned Friend on Tuesday 11 February,Official Report, columns 809-21. The group will have an important role to play in the identification and dissemination of good practice in the employment of older workers.

  Mr. McGrady
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps have been taken to formulate new legislation to prevent unfair dismissal for all on grounds of age, to provide job security for older workers and to prevent age discrimination in job advertisements and in recruitment, in-service training, promotion and education.

  Mr. Jackson
  None. We do not believe that legislation is the way to tackle these issues.

  Health and Safety
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was(a) the number of health and safety inspectors employed, (b) the number of visits made, (c) the number of incidents investigated and (d) the number of prosecutions for health and safety offences, for each year since 1979.

  Mr. Forth
  The total number of inspectors in post in the Health and Safety Executive for each year since 1979 is as follows:
  621

  Year

  Total inspectors1

  1 April 1979

  1,426·5

  1 April 1980

  1,444·5

  1 April 1981

  1,404·0

  1 April 1982

  1,323·5

  1 April 1983

  1,276·5

  1 April 1984

  1,239·0

  1 April 1985

  1,266·0

  1 April 1986

  1,231·5

  1 April 1987

  21,204·5

  1 April 1988

  1,165·0

  1 April 1989

  1,182·5

  1 April 1990

  1,239·0

  1 April 1991

  31,342·0

  1 February 1992

  31,421·0

  1 Includes inspectors on non-inspection duties eg line management, contributing to policy or technical standards.

  2 Industrial Air Pollution Inspectorate transferred to the Department of the Environment on 1 April 1987.

  3 Includes inspectors in Railway Inspectorate and Offshore Safety Division who transferred to HSE in December 1990 and April 1991 respectively.

  Information on the total numbers of visits made and incidents investigated since 1979 is either not available on a consistent basis or could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The available information on the number of visits made and incidents investigated by HSE inspectors since 1983–84 is as follows:

  Year

  Number of visits

  Number of incidents investigated1

  1983–84

  230,078

  710,153

  1984–85

  3209,058

  710,449

  1985–86

  4227,637

  77,061

  1986–87

  5241,436

  79,877

  1987–88

  231,436

  810,742

  1988–89

  229,429

  912,335

  1989–90

  234,389

  1011,556

  1990–91

  6229,079

  610,862

  Notes:

  1 Incidents investigated are included in the total number of visits.

  2 Data for HSE's Agricultural Inspectorate (AI) only.

  3 Data for HSE's Factory Inspectorate (FI) and AI only.

  4 Data for FI, AI, and HSE's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and Inspectors in HSE's Technology Division.

  5Data for all Inspectorates, including HSE's Mines and

  Table A: Fatal and major injuries reported (a) to HSE's factory inspectorate, 1981 to 1990–91 (provisional) by HSE administrative area (b) Fatal injuries

  HSE administrative area

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  11990–91

  01 South West

  12

  21

  25

  21

  20

  20

  21

  6

  25

  18

  02 South

  13

  10

  20

  18

  12

  14

  24

  21

  26

  18

  03 South East

  24

  26

  27

  26

  27

  19

  39

  29

  28

  27

  04-06 Greater London

  44

  38

  46

  36

  56

  46

  60

  61

  47

  47

  07 East Anglia

  14

  17

  14

  20

  19

  16

  18

  19

  21

  10

  08 Northern Home Counties

  6

  14

  11

  21

  16

  15

  12

  10

  16

  6

  09 East Midlands

  13

  18

  14

  11

  14

  13

  14

  11

  13

  17

  10 West Midlands

  16

  17

  21

  14

  15

  9

  19

  18

  6

  11

  11 Wales

  25

  31

  22

  31

  21

  26

  34

  20

  28

  27

  12 Marches

  14

  13

  15

  15

  8

  9

  7

  19

  14

  15

  13 North Midlands

  17

  17

  19

  20

  19

  13

  13

  17

  24

  16

  14 South Yorkshire and Humberside

  13

  19

  20

  16

  17

  18

  13

  19

  6113

  18

  15 West and North Yorkshire

  26

  24

  25

  28

  783

  24

  13

  27

  17

  21

  16 Greater Manchester

  15

  14

  18

  17

  20

  14

  13

  26

  24

  22

  17 Merseyside

  12

  13

  18

  22

  21

  12

  16

  10

  15

  11

  18 North West

  11

  18

  22

  27

  6

  12

  17

  13

  16

  15

  19 North East

  22

  24

  12

  20

  18

  19

  17

  14

  32

  11

  622
  Quarries Inspectorate (MQI).

  6 Excluding Railway Inspectorate.

  7 Accidents and incidents investigated by FI only.

  8 Accidents, incidents and dangerous occurrences investigated by FI and AI and cases of disease/ill health investigated by AI.

  9 Accidents, incidents and dangerous occurrences investigated by FI, AI, MI and QI; and cases of disease/ill health investigated by AI.

  10 Accidents, incidents and dangerous occurrences investigated by FI, AI, MI and QI.

  Information on the total number of prosecutions for health and safety offences since 1979 can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The available data on the number of informations laid by HSC/E enforcing authorities (excluding local authorities) since 1979 is as follows:

  Date of hearing1

  Number of informations laid2

  19793

  2,427

  19803

  2,624

  19814

  1,892

  19824

  2,351

  1983

  2,238

  1984

  2,209

  1985

  2,321

  1986–87

  2,199

  1987–88

  2,337

  1988–89

  2,328

  1989–90

  2,653

  1990–915

  2,292

  1 From 1979 to 1985, based on calendar years. 1986–87 onwards, based on year commencing 1 April.

  2 Includes, for Scotland, charges preferred.

  3 Data for FI and AI only.

  4 Data for FI, AI, and MQI only.

  5 Provisional figure.

  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many fatal and major injuries were reported to the factories inspectorate in each year since 1979 in each(a) region and (b) sector.

  Mr. Forth
  The available information is provided in the tables. Prior to 1981, the only analysis available is of fatal injuries to employees by industry sector.
  623

  HSE administrative area

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  11990–91

  20 Scotland East

  29

  27

  36

  27

  22

  23

  20

  32

  26

  25

  21 Scotland West

  36

  36

  19

  26

  22

  14

  20

  26

  19

  22

  Unclassified

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Total

  362

  397

  404

  416

  7436

  336

  390

  408

  6510

  357

  Table A: Fatal and major injuries reported (a) to HSE's factory inspectorate, 1981 to 1990–91 (provisional) by HSE administrative area (b) (continued) 8Major injuries

  HSE administrative area

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  11990–91

  01 South West

  1,218

  1,411

  1,338

  1,383

  1,354

  1,757

  1,421

  1,329

  1,438

  1,328

  02 South

  482

  335

  803

  825

  980

  1,636

  1,724

  1,615

  1,805

  1,782

  03 South East

  825

  1,044

  1,137

  1,154

  1,189

  1,879

  1,834

  1,482

  1,500

  1,448

  04-06 Greater London

  992

  1,274

  1,428

  1,491

  1,448

  3,184

  2,728

  2,522

  2,128

  1,873

  07 East Anglia

  803

  959

  806

  385

  891

  1,772

  1,995

  1,880

  1,344

  982

  08 Northern Home Counties

  446

  411

  602

  668

  562

  778

  735

  939

  881

  729

  09 East Midlands

  403

  668

  722

  699

  703

  1,508

  1,215

  1,303

  1,339

  1,287

  10 West Midlands

  941

  925

  970

  1,017

  1,067

  1,703

  1,525

  1,619

  1,519

  1,482

  11 Wales

  788

  638

  669

  820

  936

  1,452

  1,393

  1,521

  1,413

  1,423

  12 Marches

  569

  484

  551

  707

  507

  1,236

  973

  936

  1,003

  1,035

  13 North Midlands

  723

  852

  834

  896

  917

  1,892

  1,835

  1,868

  1,955

  1,182

  14 South Yorkshire and Humberside

  1,014

  763

  881

  919

  808

  1,793

  1,509

  1,501

  62,142

  1,342

  15 West and North Yorkshire

  781

  767

  866

  960

  1,205

  1,422

  1,421

  1,401

  1,582

  1,584

  16 Greater Manchester

  909

  776

  907

  766

  860

  1,476

  1,312

  1,426

  1,373

  1,250

  17 Merseyside

  1,083

  893

  1,048

  1,202

  1,214

  1,969

  1,200

  1,196

  1,088

  1,082

  18 North West

  656

  824

  761

  882

  709

  1,236

  1,486

  1,436

  1,244

  1,076

  l9 North East

  1,062

  556

  548

  595

  656

  1,706

  1,664

  1,596

  1,443

  1,481

  20 Scotland East

  724

  647

  612

  755

  710

  1,603

  1,634

  1,606

  1,443

  1,352

  21 Scotland West

  661

  660

  539

  546

  515

  958

  946

  1,090

  1,010

  1,138

  Unclassified

  1

  58

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Total

  15,081

  14,945

  16,022

  16,670

  17,231

  30,960

  28,550

  28,266

  627,650

  24,856

  Table B: Fatal and major injuries reported (a) to HSE's factory inspectorate, 1979 to 1990–91 (provisional) by industrial sector Fatal injuries

  Industry sector4

  51979

  51980

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  11990–91

  Agriculture, forestry and fishing

  0

  0

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  1

  0

  Energy and water supply industries

  12

  13

  12

  17

  13

  38

  26

  12

  14

  13

  14

  5

  Manufacturing industries

  149

  122

  116

  130

  126

  132

  109

  99

  86

  93

  113

  85

  Construction

  149

  165

  128

  131

  151

  124

  139

  138

  155

  150

  160

  125

  Service industries

  89

  87

  104

  119

  114

  122

  7162

  87

  135

  151

  6222

  142

  Unclassified

  0

  0

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  TOTAL

  399

  387

  362

  397

  404

  416

  7436

  336

  390

  408

  6510

  357

  Table B: Fatal and major injuries reported (a) to HSE's factory inspectorate, 1979 to 1990 –91 (provisional) by industrial sector (continued) Major injuries8

  Industry sector4

  1981

  1982

  1983

  1984

  1985

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  11990–91

  Agriculture, forestry and fishing

  3

  4

  3

  4

  2

  6

  11

  11

  11

  16

  Energy and water supply industries

  226

  229

  219

  242

  239

  587

  503

  443

  418

  435

  Manufacturing industries

  4,078

  4,066

  4,255

  4,686

  4,805

  7,230

  7,100

  7,244

  7,239

  6,677

  Construction

  1,763

  2,032

  2,298

  2,431

  2,430

  3,312

  3,455

  3,757

  4,195

  3,877

  Service industries

  8,912

  8,583

  9,224

  9,288

  9,755

  19,707

  17,253

  16,661

  615,623

  13,607

  Unclassified

  99

  31

  23

  19

  0

  118

  228

  150

  164

  244

  Total

  15,081

  14,945

  16,022

  16,670

  17,231

  30,960

  28,550

  28,266

  627,650

  24,856

  Footnotes to tables (A) and (B):

  1 Provisional.

  2 Injuries at work to employees and self-employed persons and members of the public injured as a result of someone else's work activity reported under various pieces of legislation, but chiefly the 1961 Factories Act for the calendar years prior to 1981, under the Notification of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrencies Regulations (NADOR) for the calendar years 1981 to 1985, and under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) for the subsequent financial years commencing 1 April 1986.

  3 The analysis is provided by Health and Safety Executive administrative area.

  4 Standard Industrial Classification 1980 divisions, aggregated to sector level.

  5 Fatal injuries to employees only.
  624 625
  6 Data include the 95 fatalities and 766 major injuries to members of the public arising from the Hillsborough Stadium disaster.

  7 Data include the 56 fatalities to members of the public in the Bradford City Football Club fire disaster.

  8 Introduced under NADOR on 1 January 1981. Definition extended under RIDDOR, 1 April 1986.

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visit)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in September 1990, he took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mr. Howard
  No.

  Job Losses
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has issued on action taken by training and enterprise councils, the Employment Service and others in response to job losses, with particular reference to the Isle of Wight.

  Mr. Jackson
  The Department has recently published an information pack entitled "Local Action for Employment—Tackling Job Losses", which contains information on the help available from training and enterprise councils—TECs—and the Employment Service—ES—when redundancies occur, and on the part local action groups can play in responding to job losses. The pack contains specific examples of best practice by TECs, the ES and local action groups in redundancy situations.

  The pack will be made available to companies incurring job losses and to other agencies and individuals interested in local action in response to job losses. The pack should be of assistance in helping respond to job losses on the Isle of Wight, as elsewhere. The pack may be of interest to hon. Members and copies have been placed in the Library.

  Wages Councils
  Mr. Blair
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many workplaces were covered by wages councils in the northern region in 1981 and 1991; how many were visited by wage council inspectors; how many were found to be paying below wage council rates; and how many were prosecuted.

  Mr. Forth
  The information for the northern region is as follows:

  Workplaces covered

  Workplaces visited

  Workplaces paying below rate

  Number of employers prosecuted

  1981

  21,848

  1,281

  1na

  1

  1990

  21,529

  1,547

  455

  2

  1991

  1na

  1na

  1na

  2

  1 Not available.

  The information for 1981 relates to the Wages Councils Act 1979and information for 1990 and 1991 to the Wages Act 1986. Figures are included for 1990 because the full information for 1991 is not yet available.

WALES

  Farm Investment
  Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the level of investment in plant and machinery on farms in Wales for the last year for which full figures are available; and what are the corresponding figures both at outturn and real prices for each since 1987.

  Mr. David Hunt
  Investment in plant and machinery on Welsh farms, in current terms and at constant 1985 prices, for 1991 and in each year since 1987 is shown in the table.

  Investment in Plant and Machinery

  Current terms

  Current 1985 prices

  £ Million

  £ Million

  1991

  21·0

  16·0

  1990

  23·0

  18·0

  1989

  26·0

  21·0

  1988

  27·0

  23·0

  1987

  26·0

  24·0

  Home Helps
  Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of the population over the age of 75 years currently receive home help in each county in Wales.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  The provision of home helps for households where at least one person is aged 75 or over and the rate per 100 households is given in the following table:

  Number1

  Rate per 100 household2

  Clwyd

  4,801

  25·2

  Dyfed

  3,297

  20·4

  Gwent

  7,227

  41·8

  Gwynedd

  2,934

  22·7

  Mid Glamorgan

  11,205

  57·7

  Powys

  918

  16·6

  South Glamorgan

  5,628

  35·5

  West Glamorgan

  4,853

  31·2

  Wales

  40,863

  33·6

  1 As at 31 March 1990.

  2 Number of households where the head of household is aged 75 or over as estimated by the Welsh Inter Censal Survey 1986.

  Day Care Places
  Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many day care places per 10,000 population under the age of five years are currently available in each county within Wales; and what the equivalent figures were for each from 1979 to date.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  The numbers of full-time day care places provided in day nurseries and by childminders are given in the tables:
  627

  Day care places provided by local authorities and other registered premises/persons for children aged under five

  as at 31 March

  Clwyd

  Dyfed

  Gwent

  Gwynedd

  Mid Glamorgan

  Powys

  South Glamorgan

  West Glamorgan

  Wales

  1979

  Number

  178

  —

  153

  —

  127

  10

  492

  40

  1,000

  Rate

  76·4

  —

  59·8

  —

  36·6

  16·1

  213·9

  18·3

  60·0

  1980

  Number

  178

  —

  154

  —

  127

  10

  447

  10

  926

  Rate

  77·1

  —

  59·2

  —

  36·0

  16·1

  191·8

  4·5

  55·2

  1981

  Number

  205

  —

  93

  40

  127

  10

  385

  44

  904

  Rate

  85·8

  —

  33·9

  30·5

  35·8

  15·4

  160·4

  19·6

  52·5

  1982

  Number

  221

  —

  116

  60

  127

  —

  366

  44

  934

  Rate

  90·6

  —

  42·6

  44·8

  35·8

  —

  148·8

  19·5

  53·8

  1983

  Number

  236

  —

  116

  60

  145

  —

  338

  130

  1,025

  Rate

  97·1

  —

  41·9

  43·5

  40·1

  —

  132·5

  56·8

  57·8

  1984

  Number

  253

  —

  116

  60

  260

  —

  397

  140

  1,226

  Rate

  102·4

  —

  41·9

  43·5

  71·6

  —

  152·1

  61·7

  68·9

  1985

  Number

  327

  —

  116

  66

  157

  —

  427

  150

  1,243

  Rate

  133·5

  —

  41·6

  47·5

  43·6

  —

  163·0

  66·4

  70·1

  1986

  Number

  332

  —

  116

  77

  136

  30

  466

  129

  1,286

  Rate

  135·5

  —

  40·7

  56·6

  37·5

  46·2

  175·8

  56·6

  71·9

  1987

  Number

  383

  —

  116

  89

  210

  50

  488

  135

  1,471

  Rate

  153·2

  —

  40·0

  64·0

  57·4

  75·8

  178·1

  59·0

  80·8

  1988

  Number

  425

  —

  131

  67

  184

  76

  538

  135

  1,556

  Rate

  165·4

  —

  44·3

  46·9

  49·9

  111·8

  190·1

  58·2

  83·7

  1989

  Number

  688

  56

  131

  189

  117

  81

  609

  305

  2,176

  Rate

  261·6

  25·9

  43·2

  128·6

  31·1

  115·7

  210·7

  130·9

  114·8

  1990

  Number

  911

  44

  374

  208

  228

  85

  766

  318

  2,934

  Rate

  345·1

  20·5

  122·6

  140·5

  60·5

  119·7

  263·2

  135·9

  153·9

  All rates refer to rate per 10,000 population under 5 years.

  Day care places provided by registered childminders for children aged under five

  as at 31 March

  Clwyd

  Dyfed

  Gwent

  Gwynedd

  Mid Galmorgan

  Powis

  South Glamorgan

  West Glamorgan

  Wales

  1979

  Number

  279

  142

  117

  218

  255

  45

  378

  58

  1,492

  Rate

  119·7

  77·2

  45·7

  160·3

  73·5

  72·6

  164·3

  26·6

  89·6

  1980

  Number

  402

  191

  151

  231

  289

  59

  499

  45

  1,867

  Rate

  174·0

  103·2

  58·1

  171·1

  81·9

  95·2

  214·2

  20·5

  111·2

  1981

  Number

  362

  219

  172

  149

  489

  50

  632

  110

  2,183

  Rate

  151·5

  112·3

  62·8

  113·7

  137·7

  76·9

  263·3

  49·1

  126·7

  1982

  Number

  271

  266

  232

  187

  587

  83

  695

  175

  2,496

  Rate

  111·1

  137·1

  85·3

  139·6

  165·4

  125·8

  282·5

  77·4

  143·7

  1983

  Number

  376

  232

  283

  185

  886

  95

  696

  196

  2,948

  Rate

  154·7

  114·3

  102·2

  134·1

  244·8

  146·2

  272·9

  85·6

  166·4

  1984

  Number

  634

  269

  357

  248

  1,667

  114

  869

  314

  4,472

  Rate

  256·7

  133·2

  128·9

  179·7

  459·2

  178·1

  333·0

  138·3

  251·4

  1985

  Number

  634

  287

  415

  307

  980

  135

  1,006

  436

  4,200

  Rate

  258·8

  144·9

  148·7

  220·9

  272·2

  214·3

  384·0

  192·9

  237·0

  1986

  Number

  894

  309

  468

  268

  1,157

  157

  1,013

  511

  4,777

  628 629

  Clwyd

  Dyfed

  Gwent

  Gwynedd

  Mid Glamorgan

  Powis

  South Glamorgan

  West Glamorgan

  Wales

  Rate

  364·9

  153·0

  164·2

  197·1

  318·7

  241·5

  382·3

  224·1

  267·0

  1987

  Number

  849

  344

  494

  330

  1,309

  193

  1,230

  553

  5,302

  Rate

  339·6

  167·0

  170·3

  237·4

  357·7

  292·4

  448·9

  241·5

  291·3

  1988

  Number

  1,002

  331

  572

  292

  1,272

  231

  1,636

  613

  5,949

  Rate

  389·9

  156·1

  193·2

  204·2

  344·7

  339·7

  578·1

  264·2

  319·8

  1989

  Number

  1,315

  595

  777

  450

  1,582

  293

  1,992

  748

  7,752

  Rate

  500·0

  275·5

  256·4

  306·1

  420·7

  418·6

  689·3

  321·0

  408·9

  1990

  Number

  1,318

  684

  931

  449

  2,101

  327

  2,361

  830

  9,001

  Rate

  499·2

  318·1

  305·2

  303·4

  557·3

  460·6

  811·3

  354·7

  472·2

  All rates refer to rate per 10,000 population under 5 years.

  Agricultural Holdings
  Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the change in the average size of agricultural holdings in Wales in each year from 1988 to 1991, inclusive.

  Mr. David Hunt
  The average area of main holdings in Wales for the years requested is as follows:

  Average area per holding (hectares)

  1988

  49·7

  1989

  49·0

  1990

  50·4

  1991

  50·2

  Immunologist (College of Medicine)
  Mr. John Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what action his Department is now taking regarding the establishment of a consultant immunologist at the University of Wales college of medicine.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  The Department is seeking expert guidance on the possibility of establishing a post of consultant immunologist with appropriate staff at the University of Wales college of medicine.

  Elderly and Disabled People
  Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what level of funding will be made available by his Department in 1992–93 in response to local authority bids in relation to Welsh Office circular 56/91 on central funding for elderly people and those with physical and/or sensory disabilities.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  I will make an announcement soon.

  Set-aside Scheme
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 13 December,Official Report, columns 573-74, how much money was withheld or recovered each year under the set-aside scheme in Wales since 1988: and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. David Hunt
  The information is as follows:630

  Set-aside year

  Amount withheld (£)

  1988–89

  2,015·40

  1989–90

  2,015·40

  1990–91

  23,283·20

  Agricultural Land
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the amount of agricultural land in Wales in each grade, including 3a and 3b, in(a) 1986 and (b)

  Mr. David Hunt
  The published agricultural land classification—ALC—maps and data are based on strategic planning work carried out in the 1960s and do not sub-divide grade 3 land. The original survey showed the proportion of land in each grade in Wales to be as follows:

  Per cent.

  Grade 1

  0·2

  Grade 2

  2·3

  Grade 3

  17·5

  Grade 4

  44·2

  Grade 5

  35·8

  The ALC maps and data provide only a very general indication of the distribution of land quality. Resurveying at a larger scale is necessary to obtain a definitive grade for individual sites.

  Rail Services
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the effect of the citizens charter on British Rail's operations in Wales.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  I expect Wales to fully share the benefits, along with the rest of the United Kingdom, of British Rail's passengers charter which will be published shortly.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will pay an official visit to Shotton, Clwyd, using the rail service provided from Crewe.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  My right hon. Friend visited Shotton in November. There are no plans for any further visits at present.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what meetings he has had with local authorities and
  631
  British Rail to discuss the upgrading of the Crewe, Holyhead and Paddington, Swansea lines including electrification.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  My right hon. Friend and I have had several meetings with British Rail. My right hon. Friend last met Sir Bob Reid on 30 September. On 29 October my hon. Friend the Minister for Public Transport and I met senior British Rail executives and local authority representatives in Holyhead.

  A wide range of Welsh rail issues have been discussed including upgrading of lines and electrification.

  Roads
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give details of his plans to improve road communications between north and south Wales.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  The Government's policy is to continue to upgrade the A470 and A483 by means of selective improvements. Those in progress or planned on the north-south network are:

  A470

  1 Pentre Bach—Cefn Coed

  2 Crew Pitch

  3 Storey Arms Phase II

  4 Storey Arms Phase III

  5 Felinfach By Pass

  6 Builth Wells By Pass/Llanelwedd Junction (is also part A483)

  7 Smithfield Bends

  8 Diversion East of Llangurig—Wern Villa

  9 Carno Road Caersws

  10 Commins Coch By-Pass

  11 Improvements at Bwlch Oer Ddrws

  12 Maes yr Helmau—Cross Foxes Phase I & II

  13 Gelligemlyn—Llanelltyd Diversion Phase I & II

  14 Ty Nant—Maentwrog Road Railway Station

  15 Salem Place—Ty Mawr

  16 Lledr Valley Improvements

  17 Llanrwst By-Pass

  18 Penloyn—Tanlan

  19 Pentrefelin—Croesau

  20 Llanbrynmair

  21 Ffridd Fawr

  22 Pentre Mawr

  23 Tanyard Pitch

  24 Irfon Bridge Bends (S of Newbridge on Wye)

  25 Llandinam Village

  26 Clatter Village

  27 Caersws River Bridge

  A483 (North of Builth Wells)

  1 Brynsadwrn Bends and Bridge

  2 Maes yr Abad—Wern Bridge

  3 Welshpool Relief Road

  4 Croesfoel Roundabout—Grade Separation

  5 Newtown By Pass

  6 Pant—Llanymynach By Pass (Welsh Section)

  7 Side support, Llythddu

  8 Glascoed and Bends

  9 Howey Village By Pass

  Health Authorities (Deficits)
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which health authorities in Wales have reported current and expected year-end deficits.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  Discounting inter-year brokerage and planned movements in balances which can distort an authority's true financial position, only Mid Glamorgan HA has indicated that its overall expenditure in accruals terms, including that of its managed units in providing services for other authorities, will exceed its 632
  overall income in 1991–92. However, the scale of variance above planned expenditure is marginal, amounts to £0·5 million or 0·2 per cent. of its projected overall income. This will be covered either by a short-term cash loan from another authority or by a small movement in balances which I would expect to be rectified in 1992–93.

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visit)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether, on his visit to Hong Kong in September 1988, the Minister of State took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  No.

  Cancer Screening
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on cervical smear tests in Wales.

  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  The all-Wales advisory group on cervical screening was established in March 1990 with the aim of formulating a unified policy for the cervical screening programme in Wales. The advisory group report was recently submitted to my right hon. Friend and will shortly be issued for consultation.

  Assisted Places Scheme
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many children in Wales use the assisted places schools scheme giving(a) the numbers for each of the schools operating the scheme, (b) the amounts received by each of the schools and (c) estimating the numbers for the next school year.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  The information requested is as follows.

  School

  Overall totals of APS pupils September 19911

  Payments to schools for fees remitted 1990–91

  £

  Christ College, Brecon

  76

  244,081

  Howell's School, Denbigh

  69

  231,442

  Howell's School, Llandaff

  159

  358,798

  Llandovery College

  48

  140,381

  Monmouth School

  147

  303,951

  Monmouth School for Girls

  73

  140,618

  Penrhos College

  50

  183,500

  Rydal School

  39

  153,508

  Total

  661

  1,756,279

  1 Form APO school returns to Department.

  Numbers of pupils in the assisted places scheme from September 1992 will depend on the number of new entrants and those who have left school in the previous year. However, we estimate that there will be some 685 APS pupils in the next academic year.

  Housing Association (Empty Properties)
  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many Housing Association properties were empty on the last date for which figures are available; and for how long.
  633
  Mr. Nicholas Bennett
  [holding answer 7 February 1992]: Information collected by Housing for Wales shows that at 31 March 1991 the position was as follows:

  Vacant and available for letting

  Vacant and not available for letting le undergoing or awaiting works1

  Awaiting Sale

  Less than six months

  163

  197

  60

  Six months to one year

  14

  132

  8

  Over one year

  7

  247

  0

  Total vacant

  184

  576

  68

  1 Largely rundown properties purchased for renovation.

  Local Government Reorganisation
  Mr. Livsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to announce his decision on local government reorganisation in Wales.

  Mr. David Hunt
  [holding answer 11 February 1992]: At the appropriate time, following further consideration of the issues.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

  Office Costs Allowance
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Lord President of the Council when he now expects to receive the Top Salaries Review Body report on the office costs allowance.

  Mr. MacGregor
  I expect to receive the report on the office costs allowance from the Top Salaries Review Body shortly.

DEFENCE

  HMS Bristol
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when HMS Bristol was paid off; and which ship will replace her as the Dartmouth training ship.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  HMS Bristol was paid off on 14 June 1991. Her replacement for the period 15 June 1991 to 14 December 1991 was HMS Fearless. Until initial sea training is introduced in the spring, sea-going training is being provided by HMS Ariadne, HMS Broadsword and HMS Brazen.

  Devon Training Squadron
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are his future plans for the Dartmouth training squadron; how trainees will gain seagoing experience; and what effect these arrangements will have on the effectiveness of operational Royal Navy ships.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The sea going training provided in the Dartmouth training squadron will be replaced by initial sea training—IST—with effect from spring 1992. Young officers will undertake IST in type 22 batch I frigates which have been modified to provide the extra 634
  accommodation required. The operational effectiveness of the ships will be maintained in between officer training periods by their normal ships' companies.

  RNR Port Diving Branch
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if it is his intention to make the services of Royal Navy clearance divers available to assist civil authorities following the disbandment of the Royal Naval Reserve port diving branch.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  Royal Navy clearance diving teams can provide assistance to the civil authorities on a repayment basis when this can be done without detriment to their operational tasks. There are no plans to change this policy.

  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the requests for assistance made by civil authorities to the Royal Navy Reserve port diving branch in each of the last seven years; giving the occasions on which such services were rendered;

  (2) what payments have been received by his Department in each of the last seven years from civil authorities for services rendered by the Royal Naval Reserve port divers branch;

  (3) under what arrangements the services were rendered to civil authorities by Royal Naval Reserve port divers for (a) the search in the Thames following the sinking of the Marchioness, (b) the search of the berth of the Queen Elizabeth II in Southampton, (c) the survey of Her Majesty's customs vessel in Newcastle, (d) inspections following hurricane damage in Dover harbour and (e) the search of Glencorse reservoir in Midlothian to assist a police murder inquiry.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will write to the hon. Member.

  Suicides
  Ms. Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers who have served at Fallingbostel in the last three years have committed suicide during that time.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  A driver in the Royal Corps of Transport committed suicide in Fallingbostel on 11 October 1991. Additionally, a private in 1 Cheshires stationed in Fallingbostel committed suicide on 10 January 1992 while on leave in the United Kingdom.

  Information is not held centrally to identify whether those soldiers who committed suicide in other places during the past three years may have been attached, or temporarily posted, to units in the Fallingbostel area.

  Fallingbostel
  Ms. Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers have gone absent-without-leave from Fallingbostel since January 1989; and how many of those have been granted a full discharge.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will write to the hon. Member.

  Terrorists (Compensation)
  Mr. A. Cecil Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims have been made against the MOD in respect of fatalities and injuries which have occurred from activity by the security forces against terrorists in each of the last five years; and what sums have been paid in compensation.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  Claims data are not kept in the format requested. While a number of claims are received each year, the recorded data do not distinguish between terrorists and other parties.

  Data Information Systems
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what data information systems his Department has(a) agreed and (b) been consulted about with a view to taking part in; what are the criteria for inclusion in such systems; whether they will be linked to (i) the police national computer and (ii) other computer systems; what data protection provisions apply to them; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The Ministry of Defence currently has no data information systems physically linked to any external systems. Discussions are now taking place between the Department's security branches and the national identification bureau to allow direct access to the police national computer, PNC. Such access would not permit the exchange of information or the interrogation of an individual's criminal record and would, as now with manual inquiries, be governed by the PNC procedures which comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1984.

  Al-Yamamah Project
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will publish the size of receipts, and payments, and end-year balances, on the handling accounts operated by him as part of the Al-Yamamah I project;

  (2) if he will list the quantities and values of items acquired by the British Government under the buy-back provisions of the Al-Yamamah I project.

  Mr. Alan Clark
  It is not the Government's practice to comment on detailed matters concerning individual defence export sales.

  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how the handling accounts of the Al-Yamamah I project are audited; and whether these accounts have been the subject of audit reports.

  Mr. Alan Clark
  All accounts of the Ministry of Defence are subject to normal audit arrangements, the results of which are reported as appropriate.

  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department seeks the recoup of any handling charges on departmental costs from the handling accounts forming part of the Al-Yamamah I project.

  Mr. Alan Clark
  Yes.

  RAF Greenham Common
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has received notification of United States intentions in respect of the future of RAF Greenham Common; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The United States Department of Defence announced on 30 January 1992 the decision to withdraw from RAF Greenham Common in autumn 1992, returning the station to full Ministry of Defence control. We are now considering options for the future use of the base, including scope for other defence uses. Our studies are at an early stage, however, and no decisions have yet been taken.

  NAAFI
  Mr. Hoyle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will underwrite the NAAFI to ensure that funds are available to meet staff redundancy payments and rehousing costs in case of any financial difficulties.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The financial implications of the reductions in force strengths on NAAFI are currently being considered.

  Mr. Hoyle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give NAAFI staff who lose their accommodation under the options for change process the same options on rehousing as those being offered to ex-service personnel.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  No. NAAFI staff are not Ministry of Defence employees and not subject to the practical constraints on entering the housing market that apply to service personnel.

  Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich
  Mr. Cartwright
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current approved staffing level for the Queen Elizabeth military hospital, Woolwich; and how many posts remained unfilled in each main specialty at the most convenient recent date.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  The peacetime establishment of the Queen Elizabeth military hospital, Woolwich, is 175 officers, 395 other ranks and 147 civilians. On 11 February 1992, 127 posts were unfilled in the following specialties:

  Posts

  Anaesthetics and Resuscitation

  2

  Ear, Nose and Throat (Otology)

  2

  General Medicine

  1

  General Surgery

  4

  Ophthalmology

  2

  Orthopaedics

  2

  Plastic Surgery (and Burns)

  2

  Rheumatology and Rehabilitation

  1

  Urology

  2

  Supporting Staff

  109

  Mr. Cartwright
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the estimate operating costs of the Queen Elizabeth military hospital, Woolwich, for the current financial year together with the actual costs for the preceding five years.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will write to the hon. Member.
  637
  Mr. Cartwright
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the latest available figures of bed occupancy at the Queen Elizabeth military hospital, Woolwich, for each of the main specialties.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  Records are not kept of bed occupancy by specialty. The occupancy rate for 1990–91 for the hospital was 65·6 per cent., excluding bedded day patients.

  Armed Services (Medical Support)
  Mr. Cartwright
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the current review of medical support for the armed services to be completed.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces expects to receive the conclusions and recommendations within the next few months.

  Hong Kong (Ministerial Visits)
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether, on their visits to Hong Kong in January and March 1988, the Ministers of State took part in party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  Ministers at the Ministry of Defence meet fellow Conservatives from time to time in the margins of public duties both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

  23 Base Workshop, Wetter
  Mr. Riddick
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of 23 base workshop, Wetter, Germany; and when it will he closed.

  Mr. Archie Hamilton
  A study into the Army's requirements for static workshops is now in progress. No decisions have yet been taken.

  Trident
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the fourth Trident submarine to(a) be ordered and (b) begin construction.

  £ million

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1990–91

  Tariff rebate subsidy for P and O services to Orkney and Shetland

  3·5

  3·8

  4·2

  4·3

  5·0

  Tariff rebate subsidy to Coastal Shippers

  0·9

  1·0

  1·04

  1·0

  1·6

  Deficit subsidy for Caledonian MacBrayne

  7·4

  6·2

  5·3

  5·5

  5·5

  Capital grant for pier works undertaken by Caledonian MacBrayne

  0·4

  0·44

  0·71

  0·61

  0·17

  Capital grant for local authority piers and harbours

  1·84

  0·47

  1·05

  2·7

  2·32

  Capital grant for independent harbour trusts, piers and harbours

  0·012

  0·006

  —

  —

  0·043

  Capital grant to British Waterways Board:

  Bridge repairs to Strathclyde region

  0·08

  0·1

  0·1

  0·04

  0·04

  Cardiologists
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of cardiologists per million population in Scotland at the latest available date.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The number of whole-time equivalent consultant cardiologists per million population in Scotland was 3·7 as at 30 September 1991, the latest date
  638
  Mr. Kenneth Carlisle
  We plan to place the order following the completion of contract negotiations with Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. Construction of the vessel under long-lead funding arrangements has already begun.

SCOTLAND

  Toll Bridges
  Mr. Andrew Welsh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the figures for the(a) annual income and cost and (b) capital debt outstanding for toll bridges in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The latest published figures for toll bridges in Scotland are as follows:

  Erskine1 1989–90

  Forth 1990–91

  Tay 1990–91

  £ million

  £ million

  £ million

  Annual income (tolls revenue)

  2·3

  7·2

  2·1

  Annual cost (operating expenses including non-recurring expenditure)

  0·9

  3·6

  22·7

  Other charges

  313·2

  1·1

  0·6

  Total expenditure

  14·1

  4·7

  3·3

  Outstanding deficiency

  95·5

  11·0

  6·9

  1 There is no real debt at Erskine Bridge. The bridge was built from the funds available for trunk road expenditure in Scotland. Expenditure was borne on what is now the Roads (Scotland) Vote. However, the accounts are compiled, under Treasury direction, in such a way as to show the deficiency which would exist if the bridge had been funded by borrowing.

  2 Includes £1·8 million extraordinary repairs financed from the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board's General Reserve Fund.

  3 Comprises amortisation, interest and notional sinking fund advances.

  Government Grants
  Mr. Andrew Welsh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what Government grants were awarded for(a) ferry services and (b) bridge projects in Scotland listed by region, for each of the last five years.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The following grants and subsidies were awarded:

  for which information is available centrally. This data are provisional and do not include general physicians who have a special interest in cardiology.

  Crime Statistics
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Strathclyde as to what proportion of the clear-up rate for
  639
  crime in his area in 1990–91 is accounted for by voluntary admissions by convicted criminals; how many detectives are employed to obtain these admissions; and when the practice ceased.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Such practices are not part of the approach to detection employed by Scottish police forces. Strathclyde police have no record of any voluntary admissions obtained in this way.

  Region

  Serious irregularity

  Minor breach

  Payment withheld

  (a)

  (b)

  (c)

  in full

  in part

  Borders

  —

  3

  —

  3

  Central

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Dumfries and Galloway

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Fife

  —

  1

  —

  1

  Grampian

  —

  16

  2

  14

  Highland

  —

  1

  —

  1

  Lothian

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Tayside

  —

  7

  —

  7

  Others

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Total

  —

  28

  2

  26

  This information is provisional, as a small number of claims are still outstanding.

  Health Service
  Mr. Galbraith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give each, for each health board in Scotland, the amounts paid in August 1991 by the prescription prescribing division to suppliers of colostomy and ileostomy appliances.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  [holding answer 5 February 1992]: It is not possible to separately identify colostomy and ileostomy prescriptions for August 1991 at the present time. Following are the amounts paid in August 1991 in respect of all prescriptions dispensed in August 1991 by appliance contractors. The information on appliance prescriptions dispensed by chemists is not readily available.

  Health Board

  Gross Value

  £

  Grampian

  2,400·37

  Greater Glasgow

  74,152·70

  Highland

  26,344·92

  Lothian

  70,354·45

  Tayside

  54,209·09

  Scotland

  227,461·53

  Forestry Commission Land
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all the land owned by the Forestry Commission which is currently up for sale, giving the name, amount of land involved and the length of time it has been on the market, in each county or region, and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  [holding answer 23 January 1992]: The following forest areas are at present being offered for sale on the open market.

  Set-aside Scheme
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 20 December,Official Report, columns 413-14, if he will now give the figures for 1990–91.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The information requested is as follows:

  County/region and name

  Area

  Period on the market

  (Hectares)

  (Months)

  ENGLAND

  Avon

  Camerton Wood

  19

  29

  Cornwall

  Hay Wood

  54

  18

  Treworgey

  17

  18

  Devon

  Brownsham Woods

  71

  18

  Deershill Wood

  11

  18

  Never Be Good Wood

  10

  18

  Pulsworthy

  3

  18

  Dorset

  Alders Coppice

  7

  6

  Blackwater Copse

  13

  6

  Hampshire

  Bordean Estate, Fishers Copse

  28

  36

  Mill Copse

  6

  9

  Roke Mead Copse

  9

  24

  Tapnell

  50

  7

  Norfolk

  Blackwater Plantation

  4

  1

  Northumberland

  Colleylaw

  8

  29

  North Yorkshire

  West Gateforth

  47

  15

  Shropshire

  Coed Detton

  14

  18

  Somerset

  Barrow Wood

  13

  16

  Church Wood

  6

  17

  Fry's Wood

  24

  29

  Higher Bitcombe

  30

  17

  Lower Bitcombe

  18

  17

  South Yorkshire

  Black Carr

  20

  6

  Green Springs

  12

  15

  641

  County/region and name

  Area

  Period on the market

  (Hectares)

  (Months)

  Old Park

  41

  10

  Walker Wood

  6

  15

  Wiltshire

  Chittoe Heath

  19

  7

  Kidney Bean

  3

  7

  Lower Selves

  10

  7

  New Plantation

  8

  7

  SCOTLAND

  Borders

  Cardrona

  3

  28

  Dumfries and Galloway

  Glaik

  63

  21

  Knockinaam

  30

  21

  Lochnaw Estate (part)

  57

  21

  Lochnaw Estate (part)

  56

  21

  Lochnaw Estate (part)

  18

  21

  Tinwald Downs (land at)

  2

  8

  Fife

  Drumtennant Strip

  4

  9

  Rameldry West

  8

  9

  Grampian

  Barlatch

  3

  8

  Berry Hill Woods

  130

  5

  Cummingston Smithy

  6

  5

  Drakemyres

  32

  9

  Hillend Moss

  16

  11

  Knock Hill Wood

  56

  11

  Maryculter

  8

  7

  Mormond Hill

  255

  4

  Tertonie

  7

  7

  Woogle

  26

  7

  Highland

  Cuileannach Woodlands

  237

  2

  Strathclyde

  Carrick Wood

  70

  4

  Daljarrock

  52

  21

  Dalsmirren

  1,202

  3

  Tobermory Grazings (part)

  11

  2

  Tobermory Grazings (part)

  1

  2

  Todlaw

  370

  8

  WALES

  Clwyd

  Coed Pen Y Gelli

  29

  8

  Coed Esgynfa

  6

  8

  Glol Plantation

  27

  8

  Dyfed

  Aberdedle Wood

  7

  7

  Allt Banc Sina

  18

  10

  Allt Fawr

  7

  16

  Allt Ffos Colic

  18

  14

  Allt Llwyn Dyfrion

  11

  10

  Allt Pistyll Dewi

  33

  10

  Cilfowyr

  5

  14

  Coed Ffridd Cwmere

  20

  19

  Coed Gwastad

  28

  24

  Coed Pant y Gasseg

  3

  16

  Coed Rhyd Tir

  16

  19

  Coedmore, Coed Newydd

  17

  24

  Coedmore, Home Farm Wood

  3

  24

  Cwm Cynfelin

  8

  40

  Cynheidre Uchaf

  24

  7

  Danygraig

  10

  10

  Ffynon Lefrith

  25

  27

  Gallt y Cribin

  7

  14

  Glebe Woods

  17

  10

  Glynllydan

  8

  1

  Letterston Moor

  15

  32

  642

  County/region and name

  Area

  Period on the market

  (Hectares)

  (Months)

  Lon Isaf

  7

  7

  Lower Scourfield

  13

  19

  Maestwynog

  12

  27

  Pant Eynon and Allt y Forlan

  29

  10

  Pencwm Fawr

  9

  16

  Penhill Wood

  4

  16

  Portis Pant

  30

  10

  Rams Wood

  26

  19

  Scolton

  30

  7

  Tanyrallt

  6

  27

  Troserch

  35

  16

  Tynton Wood

  4

  16

  Waun Baglan Woods

  26

  23

  Wenallt

  17

  7

  Gwent

  Coed Cae Cendl

  10

  5

  Coed Gastellau

  48

  5

  Craig Y Merchant

  24

  5

  Darren Ddu

  8

  5

  Gorrashill

  8

  20

  Hafodrisclawdd

  23

  5

  Luggas Wood and Youngs Grove

  15

  18

  Gwynedd

  Coed Ty Uchaf

  15

  8

  Coed Dyfi

  17

  19

  Glyn Estate

  49

  4

  Moel Groes Heol

  130

  9

  Powys

  Coed Tyllys

  12

  14

  Craig Yr Henffordd

  8

  7

  Cwmbach and Cwmcoch

  44

  19

  Great Wood

  9

  19

  Pwll Llydan

  31

  7

  West Glamorgan

  Craig Ynysgollen

  10

  54

  Gelligaer

  33

  44

  Training Schemes
  Mr. Maxton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many youth training trainees in Scotland left schemes without receiving any recognised qualifications on the most recent figures available.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  [holding answer 11 February 1992]: I regret that this information is not available because no precise count is made of the number of young people leaving youth training in Scotland.

  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what qualifications have been obtained by participants on youth training and employment training places in Scotland in the past five years.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  [holding answer 11 February 1992]: Participants on youth training and employment training obtain a very wide variety of qualifications, but full and detailed information on the identity of those qualifications is not held centrally.

  Local Enterprise Companies
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has about the training performance of local enterprise companies.
  643
  Mr. Allan Stewart
  [holding answer 11 February 1992]: The responsibility for monitoring the training performance of local enterprise companies rests with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. They have reported regularly to my right hon. Friend that the Government's guarantees on youth training and employment training are being met and that the needs of the aim group for employment training are also being catered for. In addition, regular management information on a variety of aspects of training performance is beginning to be submitted; and my right hon. Friend and I also receive a variety of less systematic information from diverse sources. The overall picture which emerges is that local enterprise companies are securing effectively the delivery of training programmes which are increasingly better matched to local economic circumstances and focused on securing a steady improvements in quality of provision, including improvements in the achievement by trainees of qualifications.

  Ethnic Minority Grants
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what ethnic minority grants, along the lines of those available through training and enterprise councils in England and Wales, are available to refugees and ethnic minorities in Scotland.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  [holding answer 12 February 1992]: There is no precise equivalent in Scotland to the ethnic minority grants available through training and enterprise councils in England and Wales; but local enterprise companies have a broader range of powers than training and enterprise councils, which enables them to assist members of ethnic minorities in a variety of ways.

  Hospital Waiting Lists
  Mr. Galbraith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for each year since 1974 the numbers of patients on hospital in-patient waiting lists at 31 March.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  For any individual patient, the waiting time is more significant than the number of patients on the waiting list. The key to reducing waiting times is to increase the number of patients treated. Measured by discharges this has increased by 24 per cent. since 1979. The waiting list has been reduced by 21 per cent. over the same period.
  644
  This is shown in the table:

  NHS hospitals: in-patient waiting lists and discharges at 31 March

  Year

  Number on List

  Number of Discharges

  1974

  156,182

  1717,964

  1975

  153,770

  1697,410

  1976

  54,442

  738,633

  1977

  53,974

  746,259

  1978

  56,987

  738,012

  1979

  76,968

  737,816

  1980

  70,195

  764,301

  1981

  67,908

  785,080

  1982

  66,880

  793,171

  1983

  96,933

  744,436

  1984

  85,543

  809,681

  1985

  79,262

  821,588

  1986

  81,249

  837,044

  1987

  81,324

  842,524

  1988

  267,226

  871,287

  1989

  261,011

  882,347

  1990

  258,287

  895,790

  1991

  260,693

  912,370

  1 Information available only at 30 September.

  2 From 1988 the figures are based on an improved statistical collection system and are not strictly comparable with those collected in earlier years.

  Racial Equality
  Mr. Bill Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has to assist the voluntary sector in Scotland to promote racial equality and a reduction of racial disadvantage.

  Mr. Allan Stewart
  I am pleased to announce today the introduction of a new ethnic minority grant to assist voluntary organisations in Scotland with projects designed to promote racial equality and reduce racial disadvantage.

  The new grant which has a budget of £100,000 will complement the existing funding regimes such as the urban programme and the support given to ethnic minority projects under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. The new grant will in particular assist the voluntary sector to operate projects on a Scottish or regional level which cannot readily be funded under existing arrangements.

  The Government have long recognised the benefits that can accrue from an active voluntary sector and the new grant will support voluntary organisations in their efforts to encourage and co-ordinate assistance to ethnic communities. My officials will be writing to relevant voluntary organisations with details of the scheme.

  WILDLIFE AND COUNTRYSIDE ACT 1981, SCHEDULE 14
  WILDLIFE AND COUNTRYSIDE ACT 1981, SCHEDULE 14
  CIVIL ENFORCEMENT AGENTS: REVIEW
  CIVIL ENFORCEMENT AGENTS: REVIEW
  CRIME AND TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS: STATISTICS
  CRIME AND TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS: STATISTICS
  NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION
  NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION
  FORMER SOVIET UNION: ARMED FORCES ABROAD
  FORMER SOVIET UNION: ARMED FORCES ABROAD
  HORN OF AFRICA: BRITISH AID
  HORN OF AFRICA: BRITISH AID
  FALKLAND ISLANDS: COSTS
  FALKLAND ISLANDS: COSTS