Written Answers of 13 December 1993

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Police Surveillance
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if citizens making their houses available to the police for surveillance are individually identified in court.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Where there is a prosecution in a case in which individuals have assisted the police by

  Passengers refused leave to enter, and removed from, selected ports

  Number of persons

  Dover West

  Dover East

  Folkestone

  Ramsgate

  Newhaven

  1993

  May

  21

  284

  2

  9

  15

  June

  18

  295

  1

  7

  2

  July

  41

  367

  2

  13

  15

  August

  33

  338

  1

  7

  12

  September

  34

  333

  5

  5

  34

  October

  13

  332

  5

  3

  14

  November

  4

  n/a

  4

  n/a

  7

  n/a=not yet available.

  Prisoner Discharges
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the money allowance-grant that is given to a prison inmate who is discharged from a prison in England and Wales.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 13 December 1993:
  The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the grant paid to prisoners discharged from prisons in England and Wales.
  Most prisoners serving sentences over 14 days are eligible for a discharge grant. Exceptions include those with substantial resources or discharged to hospital. The rate of the grant generally corresponds to one week's Income Support and is currently £44·00 (age 25 and over) or £34·55 (age 18 to 24). Prisoners who need accommodation arranged for them on release are eligible for a higher rate, currently £90·05.
  Prisoners (except deportees) not eligible for a discharge grant receive payment of fares and a subsistence allowance to cover their journey to a destination in the British Isles.

  Deportations
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been deported, so far, in 1993; and how many people were deported from the United Kingdom in(a) 1991 and (b)
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  making their houses available for the purpose of surveillance it is open to the prosecution to apply to the court before trial for a ruling that this fact should not be disclosed to the defence. The court's duty is then to balance the public interest of non-disclosure against the interest of securing fairness to the defendant. If the court decides against disclosure the identity of the house occupier would not then be revealed in court. If an order for disclosure is made it is open to the prosecution to abandon the case.

  Leave to Enter
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people arriving on a cross-channel ferry have been refused leave to enter the United Kingdom and removed each month since May at(a) Dover western docks, (b) Dover eastern docks, (c) Folkestone, (d) Ramsgate and (e) Newhaven.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The information requested is given in the table.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The number of persons removed from the United Kingdom under the deportation process was 2,220 in 1991, 2,453 in 1992, and 1,654—provisional figure—for January to September 1993.

  Requirement to Leave
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nationals of EC countries were made subject to a requirement to leave the United Kingdom for(a) each of the three years preceding 1993 and (b) for each month since May 1993.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The information available is given in
  the table.

  EC nationals1 require to leave the United Kingdom

  Number of persons

  Passengers refused leave to enter and removed

  Illegal entrants removed2

  Persons removed under the deportation process2

  1990

  145

  8

  59

  1991

  88

  7

  51

  1992

  229

  3

  76

  1993

  January to March

  49

  3

  30

  April

  10

  1

  18

  May

  23

  June

  12

  July

  17

  ..

  11

  August

  28

  September

  19

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  .. not yet available.

  1 Including persons who claimed to be EC nationals.

  2 Including persons who departed voluntarily.

  Life Sentences
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average life sentence served by(a) men and (b) women who were sentenced to life imprisonment since 1970.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 13 December 1993:
  AVERAGE TIME SERVED BY LIFE SENTENCE PRISONERS SENTENCED SINCE 1970
  The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the average time served by (a) men and (b) women sentenced to life imprisonment since 1970.
  The available information is published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales" (Tables 8.4 and 8.5 of the latest volume, for 1991, Cm. 2157), a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library. Information for men and women released in 1992 was given in response to a question from Mrs. Mahon MP (Vol. 229, Col. 856, Written Answers on 27 July 1993) and I attach a copy of the reply for ease of reference.

  Shotguns
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a table showing the major occupation of shotgun certificate holders.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  This information is not available centrally.

  Firearms
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms, by category, are registered as being in private ownership.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The estimated number of firearms which were held on a firearm certificate in England and Wales on 31 December 1992 is 358,000. Information as to the categories of firearms held on certificate is not available centrally.

  Baroness Thatcher
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those police authorities which have asked publisher Harper Collins for a contribution to the cost of policing visits made by Baroness Thatcher to promote her memoirs; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  This information is not held centrally.

  New Prisons
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list any sites being considered for new prisons in south Wales; and if he will make a statement.
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  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Alex Carlile, dated 13 December 1993:
  The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the sites being considered for new prisons in South Wales.
  Long term projections of prison population indicate that 800 additional prisoner places will be required in South Wales by the end of the decade. A new prison is needed, therefore, which will provide relief for Cardiff and Swansea prisons and reduce the need to send many prisoners from this area to other prisons, sometimes as far as Dartmoor and The Verne in Dorset. The Prison Service recognises that it should, wherever possible, hold prisoners close to their homes. A new prison in South Wales is vital to this key long-term objective.
  A search was undertaken to find a suitable site for a new prison in South Wales. In addition to being of an adequate size and shape, together with suitable ground conditions for substantial buildings, it had to be well located in terms of the distribution of population, access to the major road and motorway system in South Wales and public transport. The Parc Hospital site at Bridgend was identified as an ideal location and will be available for use later next year. The purchase of the site is being negotiated and a planning notice for the proposed prison has been served in compliance with Welsh Office Circular 37/84. This is now being considered by the local planning authority, Ogwr Borough Council.

  Prisoners (Benefits)
  Mr. Maclennan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provisions are made for prisoners to apply for social security benefits before release, to enable any such benefits to be received immediately upon release; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Robert Maclennan, dated 13 December 1993:
  The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what provisions are made for prisoners to apply for social security benefits before release.
  Governors are encouraged to ensure that, whenever possible, prisoners are given the opportunity prior to discharge to seek advice about their entitlement to social security benefits on release. There are no arrangements for prisoners to make a claim while still in custody. Prisoners are advised to visit their local benefits office as soon as possible after release. They are provided with a form to introduce them to the Department of Social Security. Many qualify for a discharge grant, which provides financial assistance until they are able to lodge a claim.
  Guidance on benefits is given in the Prisoners Information Pack, which is available to all prisoners. The Prison Service are currently considering with the Benefits Agency whether the arrangements for providing advice to prisoners on benefits to which they may properly be entitled on release can be improved.

  Murder
  Mr. Frank Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of individuals convicted for murder since the abolition of the death sentence who, on release, have committed murder again.

  Mr. Maclean
  From the information to date seven individuals convicted of murder in England and Wales
  435
  since the abolition of the death penalty had been convicted again of murder in England and Wales following release as follows:

  Case

  Date of first murder

  Date of second murder

  First

  1969

  1986

  Second

  1971

  1990

  Third

  1972

  1988

  Fourth

  1972

  1992

  Fifth

  1974

  1985

  Sixth

  1979

  1989

  Seventh

  1980

  1992

  In addition, a further case involved a murder in England in 1972, with a subsequent murder taking place in Scotland in 1983. One person convicted of a murder which took place in 1981 in Northern Ireland was subsequently convicted of a second murder in England which took place in 1992.

  Inquests (Multiple Deaths)
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances a coroner may adjourn an inquest into multiple deaths without reconvening its sitting to complete his investigations.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Under section 16(1) of the Coroners Act 1988, if a coroner is informed that a person has been charged with the murder, manslaughter or infanticide of the deceased, or with an offence directly involving or alleged to have been committed in circumstances connected with the death of the deceased, he must, in the absence of reason to the contrary, adjourn the inquest until after the conclusion of the relevant criminal proceedings. Under section 16(3) of the Act, the coroner may resume the adjourned inquest after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings if, in his opinion, there is sufficient cause to do so.

  Electoral Boundaries
  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposes to respond to the final suggestions for boundaries made by the European Parliamentary Committee for Wales.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  My right hon. and learned Friend will pay prompt attention to the report of the Committee when he receives it. I understand that that is likely to be later this month.

  Police Statistics
  Mr. Michael
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, for each police authority in England and Wales,(a) the increase in authorised police establishment requested and (b) the increase granted by him in each of the past five years, in both cases making it clear whether supernumeraries are included or excluded from each figure.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  National Public Alert System
  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce a national public alert system.
  436
  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  It was announced on 12 November 1992 that the obsolescent national siren warning system was to be closed down and that future national arrangements for warning the public would use radio and television broadcasts. Work is in hand on the new system.

  Re-entry Visas
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the Government's policy on issuing re-entry visas to those settled in the United Kingdom and who intend to return within short periods; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Re-entry visas were abolished in May 1991. Those settled in the United Kingdom are however exempt from the requirement to obtain a visa if they return to the United Kingdom for settlement within two years of departure.

PRIME MINISTER

  European Union
  Mr. Mackinlay
  To ask the Prime Minister what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government in respect of the admission of states in the Visegrad group into the European Union; and if he will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  The Copenhagen European Council agreed in June that the Central European associate countries—including the four states in the Visegrad group —should be admitted to the European Union, if they so wished, as soon as they are ready to take on the obligations of membership. The Government had worked hard to achieve this outcome, and warmly welcomed it.

  The associate countries are now beginning to prepare themselves, economically and politically. The United Kingdom is helping this process both bilaterally and through the European Union.

  Honours System
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the progress of his proposals for the honours system announced on 4 March.

  The Prime Minister
  The changes to the honours system outlined in my statement to the House on 4 March have been put into effect. I plan to report to the House shortly on the review of the numbers and distribution of honours.

  Northern Ireland (Investment)
  Lady Olga Maitland
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the companies from other EC countries which have brought inward investment into Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the last 10 years.

  The Prime Minister
  According to records maintained by the Department of Trade and Industry's Invest in Britain Bureau, 879 EC-owned companies have set up in the United Kingdom in the last 10 years. These figures are based on information provided by the companies at the time of the announcement to invest. There is no requirement to notify the Department, and so the figures include only those projects where the Invest in Britain
  437
  Bureau and its regional partners were involved, or which have come to their notice. They take no account of subsequent developments.

  At the request of the companies concerned, some names are commercially confidential, and cannot be quoted. However, a list of quotable companies has been placed in the Library of the House.

  Cash Limits
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Prime Minister what will be the cash limit on the cost of running his office in 1994–95.

  The Prime Minister
  Financial provision for the running of my Office in 1994–95 is subject to the budgetary planning arrangements operated jointly by the Cabinet Office and Office of Public Service and Science. Internal allocation of the 1993 survey settlement is not yet complete. Provision is expected to be similar to that for the current financial year.

  Special Advisers
  Mr. Matthew Taylor
  To ask the Prime Minister what information ministerial special advisers who resign or retire are required to provide concerning their subsequent employment; and to whom.

  The Prime Minister
  None.

  NATO
  Mr. Mackinlay
  To ask the Prime Minister if it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to support the admission of states in the Visegrad group into membership of NATO; and if he will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  We and our NATO allies have repeatedly stated that NATO is not a closed shop. We do not therefore rule out the possibility of new members at some time in the future. But the question of NATO enlargement is a complex one. Our overriding objective in considering it must be to enhance security and stability across the whole of Europe, while at the same time ensuring that we do not create new divisions or erect new barriers.

  Morality
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Prime Minister which of Her Majesty's Government's policies since 1979 have attempted to influence moral behaviour; and what assessment he has made of each of those policies.

  The Prime Minister
  Policies are designed to influence moral behaviour where it is in the national interest that they should do so. Our policies on law and order are perhaps the most obvious example.

  No. 10 Downing Street
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Prime Minister how much has been spent on decorating and furnishing No. 10 Downing street since November 1990.

  The Prime Minister
  [holding answer 30 November 1993]: Figures are available only on a financial year basis. The expenditure on new works, furniture and fittings in the state rooms, on the catering facilities, and in the offices and other rooms in 10 Downing street from April 1991 to March 1993 was £292,000.

EDUCATION

  Assisted Places
  Mr. Purchase
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 6 December,Official Report, column 31, what information his Department has on the place of residence of pupils under the assisted places scheme at the time of their original application for an assisted place; what steps his Department takes to ensure that applicants for assisted places are genuinely entitled to a place under the scheme; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Forth
  Information about the place of residence of pupils at the time of their application for an assisted place is not held by the Department. It is for participating schools themselves to select pupils for assisted places, but the Department ensures that they target able children from families with low incomes, and also that a substantial majority of assisted pupils in any school have previously attended a maintained school.

  To ensure that participating schools carry out assessments of income correctly, the Department also issues regular comprehensive guidance and carries out random audit surveys of income assessments. These surveys, together with the statistical information collected, show that schools are indeed administering the scheme properly and targeting the pupils for whom the scheme is intended.

  Mr. Purchase
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 6 December,Official Report, column 31, what was the total cost to public funds of the assisted places scheme at Wolverhampton grammar school in each year since 1981.

  Mr. Forth
  The information requested for the past five years is given in the table. Data for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Academic year

  DFE expenditure £000s

  1988–89

  485

  1989–90

  507

  1990–91

  600

  1991–92

  702

  1992–93

  1760

  1 Estimate pending final claim.

  School Inspectors
  Ms Estelle Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will list by local education authority area(a) the number of Office for Standards in Education formal inspections and (b) the number of unannounced visits carried out so far.

  (2) if he will list by local education authority area the number of formal inspections planned till the end of 1994.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The arrangements for inspecting schools under the Education (Schools) Act 1992 are a matter for Ofsted.

  I have asked Professor Sutherland to write to the hon. Member.

  Government Car Service
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the annual cost to the Department of the car service for Ministers in 1990–91; and how many vehicles were involved.

  Mr. Forth
  In the financial year 1990–91, the Government car service for Ministers cost the Department £134,191·00, including value added tax, for five vehicles. There will in addition have been a cost to the Department in transporting ministerial boxes and other papers to Ministers; it is unfortunately not possible to disaggregate this figure from other costs.

ENVIRONMENT

  Homelessness
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many hostel spaces for the homeless in Doncaster have been supported by his Department in(a) 1990–91, (b) 1991–92, (c) 1992–93 and (d) the current year; and if he will make a statement.

  Sir George Young
  The Government provide resources, through the programmes of the Housing Corporation, for capital and revenue funding towards housing associations schemes for people with special needs. The information which follows gives the number of bed-spaces in such schemes in the metropolitan borough of Doncaster which have received revenue funding for that year and the amount of capital funding which has contributed to the addition of new bed-spaces in that year.

  Bed-spaces

  Revenue funding £

  Capital funding £

  1990–91

  37

  92,000

  206,000

  1991–92

  43

  137,000

  128,000

  1992–93

  54

  144,000

  382,000

  1993–94

  58

  158,000

  116,000

  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of hostel accommodation beds available for elderly homeless people at risk in central London in November 1991, November 1992 and November 1993.

  Sir George Young
  This information is not held centrally.

  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, what discussions he has held regarding provision to replace the beds for the homeless lost in Central London on the closure of the Salvation Army hostel in Great Peter street.

  Sir George Young
  The responsibility for the funding of new provision through housing associations is vested in the Housing Corporation, which I understand has had discussions with the Salvation Army about the future of the Great Peter street site. More generally, under the Government's rough sleepers initiative, the Housing Corporation is planning to provide funding for about 1,500 new bedspaces in Central London over a three-year period beginning this year.

  Ministers (Foreign Visits)
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the Ministers in his Department who since June 1987 have visited(a) Saudi Arabia, (b) Malaysia, (c) Singapore and (d) South Africa on official business; and which such visits included party political activities in addition to official duties.

  Mr. Gummer
  My Department's central records, which only go back to 1 April 1990, show that the only such visits were by my hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean) to Malaysia and Lord Strathclyde to South Africa.

  As far as I am aware these visits included no party political activities. The visit to Malaysia was to attend a meeting with developing countries prior to the UNCED summit in Rio de Janeiro, whilst Lord Strathclyde's visit to South Africa was to promote export opportunities for the United Kingdom water industry.

  Sustainable Development
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has received on the matters discussed and decisions taken at the workshop on national plans for sustainable development held by the Development Assistance and Environmental Policies Committees of the OECD in Ottawa in October.

  Mr. Yeo
  The workshop was attended by representatives of OECD and other Governments, including officials from my Department and the Overseas Development Administration, and by non-governmental organisations (notably the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development and the Overseas Development Institute) and by international agencies.

  It was not a decision-taking forum. It compared the experience of different OECD countries (a) in preparing sustainable development strategies to follow up the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and (b) in giving assistance with such plans to developing nations. The general view was that countries were likely to produce a variety of types of strategies and plans dealing with sustainable development, economic development, and environment and conservation policies, reflecting their different circumstances; the OECD however could try to assist international discussions, for example in the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, by drawing up its own guidelines on the common features that it might expect to find in strategies or plans that were intended as contributions to sustainable development. Another conclusion was that governments must integrate their policies for economic development and environmental protection.

  Packaging Waste
  Mr. Burden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for monitoring the implementation of the voluntary plan which he has asked the packaging industry to draw up to recover between 50 per cent. and 75 per cent. of packaging waste; what action he proposes to take in the event of the packaging industry failing to meet the targets drawn up by him; and if he will introduce legal targets for the avoidance, minimisation and recycling of packaging waste and measures to boost markets for recycling products.
  441
  Mr. Yeo
  We believe that a voluntary approach, such as the producer responsibility initiative for packaging waste, will enable industry to devise the most cost effective and flexible methods for securing the Government's objectives for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste and for the reduction at source of packaging. Under producer responsibility we have asked industry to present by Christmas a phased plan to achieve our targets and we will examine their proposals very closely to satisfy ourselves that they are feasible. However, we have also made it clear to industry that if they are not able to satisfy us that they will succeed on a voluntary basis we will consider legislation.

  Air Sampling
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the locations of the air sampling station used for official purposes in Greater London; and what assessment he has made as to the adequacy of the range of samples for the safeguarding of the public.

  Mr. Yeo
  The Government are advised on their monitoring strategy by the Department of the Environment's independent export review groups: the quality of urban air review group; the photochemical oxidants review group; and the review group on acid rain. Advice concerning potential health effects is provided by Department of Health independent export groups, the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants and the Committee on Medical Aspects of Air Pollution Episodes.

  The location of the Department of the Environment's automatic and non-automatic air quality monitoring sites in Greater London are given in the tables.

  Site type

  Location

  Automatic

  Enhanced urban site

  Camden (Bloomsbury)

  Hydrocarbon site

  Camden (University College)

  Hydrocarbon site

  Greenwich (Eltham)

  NOx, O3, CO, SO2

  Westminster (Bridge Place, Victoria)

  NOx, CO

  Kensington and Chelsea (Earls Court)

  NOx, CO, SO2

  Kensington and Chelsea (Cromwell Road)

  Non-automatic

  Smoke and sulphur

  Croydon

  Dioxide1

  Ealing (2)

  Enfield

  Greenwich (2)

  Hackney

  Harrow

  Islington

  Kensington and Chelsea

  Lambeth

  London (City)

  Redbridge

  Tower Hamlets

  Westminster

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  Site type

  Location

  Nitrogen dioxide1

  Barking

  (4 diffusion tubes in each borough)

  Barnet

  Brent

  Bromley

  Camden

  Ealing

  Enfield

  Greenwich

  Hackney

  Havering

  Hillingdon

  Islington

  Kensington and Chelsea

  Lambeth

  London (City)

  Southwark

  Waltham Forest

  Westminster

  Toxic organic micropollutants

  Marsham Street, Victoria, Westminster

  Multi-element and lead

  Neasden, Brent

  Cromwell Road, Kensington and Chelsea

  Bridge Place, Victoria, Westminster

  1Monitoring undertaken in collaboration with local authorities.

  Bathing Water
  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if the quality of sea water off the beaches in and adjacent to the Castle Point constituency meets the European Community directive on bathing water standards.

  Mr. Yeo
  The results of water quality monitoring in the 1993 season for bathing waters in the area are shown in the Department's press release No. 818 copies of which have been placed in the Library.

  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the results of the study into the effects on health of sea water bathing around the British coastline which was conducted by pilot study in collaboration with the University of Wales water research centre; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Yeo
  A report on the pilot study was published on 19 June 1990 and placed in the Library.

  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the results of the sea water bathing health study which took place at Southend on Sea on 4 July 1992; and what implications can be drawn from that study on the advisability of sea water bathing in and around the Castle Point constituency.

  Mr. Yeo
  The study at Southend in 1992 forms part of the four-year programme of research at a number of locations on which the final report will be published shortly.

  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if it is safe to bathe from beaches serving the coastline in and adjacent to the Castle Point constituency; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Yeo
  Safety will depend on a large number of factors including wind, wave and tidal conditions and the competence of the bather. Methods of risk assessment are described in "Safety on British Beaches" published by
  443
  RoSPA and RLSS UK. The advice from the Department of Health is that there is minimal risk of serious disease from swimming in British coastal waters.

  Civil Servants
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each civil service grade in his Department(a) the total number of people employed, (b) the total number of black people and (c) the total number of Asians.

  Mr. Gummer
  The total numbers, and the numbers of black and Asian staff1 at each grade level are as follows:

  Total in grade

  Black

  Asians(excluding Chinese)

  Grade 1

  1

  0

  0

  Grade 2

  7

  0

  0

  Grade 3

  34

  0

  0

  Grade 4

  7

  0

  0

  Grade 5

  144

  0

  0

  Grade 6

  309

  1

  0

  per cent.

  0·3

  Grade 7

  776

  8

  2

  per cent.

  1·0

  0·3

  SEO and equivalent

  740

  3

  12

  per cent.

  0·4

  1·6

  HEO and equivalent

  981

  18

  24

  per cent.

  1·8

  2·4

  EO and equivalent

  1,224

  28

  42

  per cent.

  2·3

  3·4

  AO and equivalent

  1,601

  131

  76

  per cent.

  8·2

  4·7

  AA and equivalent

  790

  65

  36

  per cent.

  8·2

  4·6

  Total

  6,614

  254

  192

  per cent

  3·8

  2·9

  1Figures are for permanent full time and part-time non-industrial staff, including those in agencies based on those who have responded to ethnic origin surveys as at 1 October 1993. Respondents account for 91 per cent. of all staff; a total of 510 respondents—7·7 per cent. of all staff overall —are of ethnic minority origin.

  "London: Making the Best Better"
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total amount paid to the Evening Standard for distributing and advertising the questionnaire and document "London: Making the Best Better"; if separate amounts where payable for (i) distribution and (ii) advertising; if any advertisements were provided free of charge as part of a distribution package; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Gummer
  Information about the amount paid to the Evening Standard is commercial in confidence.

  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a full list of all polling organisations who were consulted about draft copies, or asked to undertake pilot studies, in connection with his questionnaire accompanying "London: Making the Best Better"; what was the total cost involved in such pilot studies or consultations; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Gummer
  The organisations invited to tender to undertake a pilot study on the questionnaire accompanying the document "London: Making the Best Better" were 444
  MORI, NOP and the London Research Centre. The contract was awared to MORI, at a total cost of £4,500 including VAT.

  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what who was responsible for printing copies of the documen, "London: Making the Best Better" and the accompanying questionnaire.

  Mr. Gummer
  The Department of the Environment was responsible for printing both the booklet amd the questionnaire. The work was competitively tendered and the contract awarded to Flair Press Ltd.

  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if the task of analysing replies to the document "London: Making the Best Better" has been plat out to tender.

  Mr. Gummer
  [holding answer10 December 1993]: No. The analysis of the replies is being undertaken within my Department.

  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many replies so far received to the document "London: Making the Best Better" questionnaire have been deemed invalid.

  Mr. Gummer
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: Of about 6,500 replies received so far, under 30 are unusable.

  Environmental Protection
  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider including within the remit of the new agency for environmental protection responsibility for the promotion of recycling and environmentally friendly technology.

  Mr. Yeo
  The proposed environment agency will bring together the work of the National Rivers Authority, Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution and the local authority waste regulators. The detailed functions, powers and duties of this new agency are still under consideration.

  Sewage Sludge
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the successive estimates given by his Department of the cost of ending sewage sludge dumping in Britain, together with the names of the external consultants employed to assist with the preparation of such estimates.

  Mr. Yeo
  The Department said in October 1990 in evidence to the House of Lords Committee on the European Communities, that the initial estimate was of the order of £200 million. In the document "Paying for Quality" published by the Director General for Water Services in July 1993 an estimate of capital costs of around £440 million was given. Further estimates are now being made by the sewerage undertakers in preparation for their submissions to the director general in the context of the current periodic review of price limits.

  Coal Workings (Toxic Leaks)
  Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures he plans to ensure that leakage of toxic substances from coal workings will continue to be dealt with following privatisation; and if he will make a statement.
  445
  Mr. Yeo
  It is for mineowners to ensure that they comply with any discharge consents determined by the National Rivers Authority. The Government will ensure that British Coal's current responsibilities with regard to the physical legacy of mining will be carried forward after privatisation.

  Harzardous Waste
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements will be put in place to replace Directive 78/319/EEC on toxic and dangerous waste.

  Mr. Yeo
  The Council of Ministers has agreed that member states will continue to apply the provisions of this directive, which is repealed on 12 December, until the Hazardous Waste Directive—91/689/EEC—comes into force in the spring of 1995. In the United Kingdom this agreement will be effected by retaining waste management controls including the 1980 Special Waste Regulations. The regulations will be revised to implement the new directive; they will be the subject of future cons ltation.

  Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library a copy of the United Kingdom's submission to the European Commission under article 37, provisions of the Euratom treaty concerning radioactive waste discharges from THORP.

  Mr. Yeo
  The "General Data" required to be provided to the EC Commission under article 37 of the Euratom treaty on the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield, have been placed in the Library of the House. The Commission gave a favourable opinion on this plant as published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 21 May 1992.

  Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what expenditure was incurred by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, and what is the projected expenditure for 1993–94, on work contracted out in sampling and monitoring;

  (2) what expenditure was incurred by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, and what is the projected expenditure for 1993–94, on work contracted out in research on areas other than preparation for technical guidance;

  (3) what expenditure was incurred by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, and what is the projected expenditure for 1993–94, on work contracted out in information technology;

  (4) what expenditure was incurred by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, and what is the projected expenditure for 1993–94, on work contracted out in preparation for technical guidance;

  (5) what expenditure was incurred by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, and what is the projected
  446
  expenditure for 1993–94, on work contracted out in management consultancy services other than information technology.

  Mr. Yeo
  The information is as follows:

  £ million

  1991–92

  1992–93

  Projected 1993–94

  Sampling and monitoring

  1·3

  1·6

  2·0

  Research

  6·0

  4·9

  4·0

  Information technology

  0·4

  1·4

  1·4

  Technical guidance

  0·6

  1·0

  0·4

  Management consultancy

  0·3

  0·7

  0·9

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the current minimum standards of qualification and industrial experience required by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution for new entrants(a) to the pollution inspector grade and (b) to the assistant pollution inspector grade; and if he will make a statement on planned changes in these requirements.

  Mr. Yeo
  New entrant pollution inspectors and assistant pollution inspectors require a relevant honours degree or equivalent qualification. They must also possess relevant professional experience—normally at least five years for pollution inspectors and two years for assistant pollution inspectors—ideally in a process industry. In addition, they must hold a current United Kingdom driving licence. There are no plans to change these requirements.

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the salary costs of civil service staff working for Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92, 1992–93 and 1993–94, and what are the projected salary costs for 1993–94, for(a) inspectoral staff and (b) all other staff.

  Mr. Yeo
  The information is as follows—in £
  million:

  1991–92

  Projected 1992–93

  1993–94

  Inspectors' salaries

  4·5

  5·3

  7·2

  Other salaries

  2·1

  3·3

  4·6

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of external entrants to(a) the pollution inspector grade and (b) to the assistant pollution inspector grade in each year since 1984; and if he will make a statement on planned changes to the ratio of PIs to APIs at recruitment.

  Mr. Yeo
  The pollution inspector and assistant pollution inspector grades were not established until 1989 and 1990 respectively. Recruitment since then is as follows:

  Number of external recruits

  Date of recruitment campaign

  PI

  API

  1989

  8

  —

  1990

  36

  7

  1991

  32

  9

  1992

  24

  1

  447
  Recruitment from each campaign is geared to HMIP's needs at the time and not to any predetermined PI/API ratio.

  Correspondence
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he proposes to give a substantive reply to the matters raised with him in a letter dated 16 October by Occan and Morton consultants of Newcastle upon Tyne.

  Mr. Baldry
  The matters raised in this letter have already been dealt with in official correspondence and in correspondence from the authors of the report by Risk and Policy Analysts Ltd.

  National Rivers Authority
  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the level of funding for the National Rivers Authority in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

  Mr. Yeo
  Grant-in-aid paid to the National Rivers Authority was £99·518 million in 1990–91, £83·850 million in 1991–92 and £81·802 million in 1992–93. The reductions are more than offset by increases in income from non-grant sources. Expenditure on grant-aided functions increased by £14 million to £188 million between 1990–91 and 1992–93.

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the expected level of funding for the National Rivers Authority in 1994 and 1995.

  Mr. Yeo
  The public expenditure plans announced on 30 November envisage grant-in-aid funding to the National Rivers Authority of £67·861 million in 1994–95 and £59·876 million in 1995–96. Year on year reductions in grant support largely reflect efficiency savings, and increases in forecast income.

  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement of the reasons for the cuts in National Rivers Authority funding for 1993–94.

  Mr. Yeo
  Since the 1992 autumn statement there have been no reductions in grant-in-aid provision for the National Rivers Authority for 1993–94. However, I understand that the authority may underspend its provision.

  Ecclesiastical Buildings
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what changes he is considering in relation to the way in which listed building consent is unnecessary in connection with ecclesiastical buildings owned by the Church of England.

  Mr. Baldry
  Responsibility for the subject of this question is a matter for the Secretary of State for National Heritage.

  Urban Regeneration Agency
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consultations the Urban Regeneration Agency has had with local authorities; and if he will list those authorities.
  448
  Mr. Baldry
  David Taylor, the chief executive, and his senior staff are undertaking an extensive programme of regional visits to help inform the development of English Partnerships—the Urban Regeneration Agency—strategy. On each visit they have met representatives from several of the region's local authorities. I will ask Mr. Taylor to write to the hon. Member with a list of the local authorities concerned. Mr. Taylor is also about to meet representatives from local authority associations and individual authorities to discuss the development of a unified financing regime for English Partnerships. In addition, my Department has consulted all local authorities on our draft guidance to English Partnerships which was published in August 1993.

  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment where the Urban Regeneration Agency is to be based.

  Mr. Baldry
  English Partnerships—the Urban Regeneration Agency—will have a strong regional structure including a small London office. Its central administrative functions will be based outside London. Other decisions on the locations of its offices have yet to be taken.

  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make a statement on progress in establishing the Urban Regeneration Agency;

  (2) if he will state the budget for 1993–94 and 1994–95 for the Urban Regeneration Agency.

  Mr. Baldry
  The Urban Regeneration Agency, under its new name of English Partnerships, was launched on 10 November. It has taken over from my Department responsibility for the city grant programme with a budget for the remainder of 1993–94 of £34 million. From April 1994, it will incorporate the derelict land grant and English Estates programmes. For 1994–95, English Partnerships will have a budget of around £250 million including grant-in-aid and estimated receipts from its own activities and the European Union.

  City Pride
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the budget for city pride for the years
  1993–94 and 1994–95.

  Mr. Baldry
  No specific resources are set aside for city pride.

  Allerton Estate, Bradford
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to announce his decision in relation to the estate action bid, submitted by Bradford council, to regenerate the Allerton estate; and if he will make a statement.

  Sir George Young
  I expect to announce decisions on this and other bids for estate action resources later this month along with local authority HIP allocations.

  Local Government Review
  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the more strategic functions which will have to be done at a level above unitary councils referred to in the Minister's letter of 22 November to all hon. Members.
  449
  Mr. Baldry
  My hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Planning had land use planning particularly in mind. Annex B of the policy guidance which we have issued to the Local Government Commission suggests that shared arrangements may also be necessary for functions like transport planning, library and archive services, or emergency planning. Paragraph 17 of that guidance draws attention to the special position of law and order services, where the combining of local government areas may be necessary in order to preserve appropriate structures.

  Ozone-depleting Substances
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he has given to imposing a ban on the sale of fridges that use ozone-depleting substances and global warming gases; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Yeo
  The production of chlorofluorocarbons is to be phased out in 1995, and the use within the European Community of hydrochlorofluorocarbons in 2015. The use of HCFC's as refrigerants in domestic fridges and freezers will be banned from 1996, and in industrial refrigeration from 2000. There are no restrictions on the use of HFC's as refrigerants. These have some global warming potential but are essential to enable the industry to move away from ozone-depleting CFC's and HCFC's.

  These controls provide strong encouragement to the fridge manufacturing industry to move out of ozone- depleting substances. A ban on sales would not conform to current deregulation initiatives, nor to our commitments under the Montreal protocol. It would threaten free trade within the single market. It would cost jobs and severely hamper the competitiveness of British industry. For these reasons, the Government do not feel that a ban on sales would be appropriate.

  Housing
  Mr. Milligan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish the names of the authorities to be included in the programme for housing transfers by councils in 1994–95

  Sir George Young
  I am today announcing the names of the 12 authorities who will be able to proceed, on a voluntary basis and subject to the approval of their tenants, with proposals to transfer their housing stock to housing associations during 1994–95.

  I am pleased that 14 authorities responded to our invitation and that, as a result of an expanded programme, it has been possible to programme some 50,000 dwellings.

  The 12 authorities which have successfully gained a place on the 1994–95 disposals programme, together with the 15 intended recipient housing associations are as follows:

  (a) (i) a disposal by Basingstoke and Deane borough council to Basingstoke and Upper Test Housing Association of not more than 4,900 dwelling houses;
  (ii) a disposal by Basingstoke and Deane borough council to Basingstoke and North Hampshire Housing Association of not more than 4,800 dwelling houses;

  (b) a disposal by Castle Point borough council to Castle Point Housing Association of not more than 1,900 dwelling houses;

  (c) (i) a disposal by Cherwell district council to Banbury Homes Housing Association of not more than 3,483 dwelling houses;
  450
  (ii) a disposal by Cherwell district council to Cherwell Valley Housing Association of not more than 3,489 dwelling houses;

  (d) a disposal by Harborough district council to South Leicestershire Housing Association of not more than 2,853 dwelling houses;

  (e) a disposal by Maldon district council to Plume Housing Association of not more than 2,100 dwelling houses;

  (f) a disposal by Malvern Hills district council to Elgar Housing Association of not more than 4,900 dwelling houses;

  (g) a disposal by Mid Beds district council to Mid Beds Housing Association of not more than 3,015 dwelling houses;

  (h) a disposal by North Dorset district council to North Dorset Housing Association of not more than 3,000 dwelling houses;

  (i) a disposal by Thanet district council to Thanet Community Housing Association of not more than 1,760 dwelling houses;

  (j) a disposal by Vale of White Horse district council to the Vale Housing Association of not more than 5,000 dwelling houses;

  (k) a disposal by Walsall metropolitan borough council to Beechdale Community Housing Association of not more than 1,548 dwelling houses;

  (l) (i) a disposal by Wychavon district council to Evesham and Pershore Housing Association of not more than 4,144 dwelling houses; and
  (ii) a disposal by Wychavon district council to Droitwich Spa and Rural Housing Association of not more than 2,626 dwelling houses.

  The programme comprises some 50,000 dwellings valued at more than £560 million.

  Section 135 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 enables the Secretary of State to control housing stock disposals through this annual programme.

  Construction Industry
  Mr. Sims
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has received a copy of the interim report by Sir Michael Latham to the joint review of procurement and contractual arrangements in the United Kingdom construction industry.

  Mr. Baldry
  Sir Michael Latham has now presented his interim report, which was due before the end of the year, and I have received a copy. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

  I announced the appointment of Sir Michael as the independent reviewer for the joint Government/industry review of procurement and contractual arrangements in the United Kingdom construction industry to the House on 5 July this year.

  Sir Michael's final report will be completed in July 1994 and will contain recommendations to Government and other bodies about practical reforms to reduce conflict and litigation and to encourage productivity and competitiveness.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

  Crown Prosecution Service
  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Attorney-General how many cases the Crown Prosecution Service has not brought to court in each of the last seven years for which figures are available.
  451
  The Attorney-General
  The number of defendants whose case did not proceed in each of the last seven years was:

  Numbers

  11987

  118,991

  1988

  194,693

  1989

  213,965

  1990

  227,489

  1991

  262,139

  1992

  281,121

  21993

  218,466

  1 April to December.

  2 January to September.

  These figures include cases where proceedings were dropped by the CPS, cases where the prosecution was unable to proceed because the defendant had died CT could not be traced, and cases adjourned sine die.

  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Attorney-General what was the level of expenditure by the Crown Prosecution Service for each of the last seven years for which figures are available.

  The Attorney-General
  Gross expenditure by the Crown Prosecution Service from its two votes in each of the last seven years was as follows:

  £'000

  11986–87

  74,153

  1987–88

  133,840

  1988–89

  156,882

  1989–90

  184,141

  1990–91

  213,431

  1991–92

  242,677

  1992–93

  273,748

  Category

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  1992

  1993

  Lawyers

  1,208

  1,269·5

  1,374·5

  1,427·5

  1,611·5

  1,874·5

  2,068·5

  2,181·5

  Legal Trainees

  —

  —

  —

  —

  79

  123

  121

  144

  Administrators

  1,910

  2,841

  2,629·8

  3,100·5

  3,487·5

  3,674·5

  4,094·5

  4,191·5

  Total

  3, 118

  3,750·5

  4,004·3

  4,528

  5,178

  5,672

  6,284

  6,517

NATIONAL HERITAGE

  Television Franchises
  Mr. Llwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many representations he has received on the recent change in the law relating to television franchises and its possible effect on smaller, regional television companies.

  Mr. Brooke
  This year, I have received 69 representations from hon. Members on the ownership restrictions on the ITV companies, as well as 22 from broadcasters, advertisers, other organisations and 20 from members of the public. The correspondence has included comments about the smaller regional television companies.

  Business Sponsorship Incentive Scheme
  Mr. Duncan Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what are the latest figures from the business sponsorship incentive scheme.

  Mr. Sproat
  The figures for 1992–93 indicate a record increase of 33 per cent. in the number of awards and an 452
  1 Part year.

  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Attorney-General how many cases were brought to court in which the Crown Prosecution Service failed to secure a conviction for each of the last seven years for which figures are available.

  The Attorney-General
  The number of defendants whose case was dismissed in magistrates' courts and the number acquitted in the Crown Court for the last seven years was:

  Magistrates courts

  Crown Court

  11987

  20,051

  6,122

  1988

  25,853

  9,422

  1989

  27,437

  9,369

  1990

  28,795

  8,726

  1991

  26,644

  9,551

  1992

  25,210

  9,227

  21993

  16,781

  6,900

  1 April to December.

  2 January to September.

  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Attorney-General how many full-time staff equivalent were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service for each of the last seven years for which figures are available.

  The Attorney-General
  The table provides the numbers of full-time staff equivalent employed by the Crown Prosecution Service in October each year, beginning in 1986.

  additional £1·9 million for the arts. It is likely that in 1993–94 the scheme will prove to be even more effective. In recognition of the great success of the scheme, I recently announced that I am increasing its budget by £300,000 to £4·8 million in 1994–95.

  BBC Licence Fee
  Dr. Lynne Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when he next plans to meet the chairman of the BBC governors to discuss the BBC licence fee.

  Mr. Brooke
  I have no plans at present to meet the chairman of the BBC to discuss the television licence fee.

  National Lottery
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the site of the headquarters of the national lottery.

  Mr. Sproat
  The site of the headquarters of the national lottery will be a matter for the appointed licensee. Those tendering for the licence will be aware of the advantages of locating in an area receiving Government incentives.

  Councils of Ministers
  Mr. Barnes
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what proposals he has made, following the decisions of the European Councils in Edinburgh 1992 and Brussels 1993, to increase the transparency and accountability of decision-making, including the recording of votes for each member state, at meetings of European Community Councils of Ministers at which his Department is represented; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Brooke
  The Government fully support the conclusions reached at Edinburgh and Brussels on openness. On the matter of recording of votes, the Foreign Affairs Council on 6 December agreed that votes on legislative decisions would be published automatically unless a majority of the Council opposed this. This is fully consistent with the conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council last December.

  Voting details are now published by the Council secretariat after Council meetings. We shall ensure that this information is provided to Parliament.

  Windsor Castle Fire
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what is the latest estimated total cost to public funds of the Windsor castle fire.

  Mr. Sproat
  It is at present estimated that the cost of the Windsor castle restoration will be between £30 and £40 million of which about £9 to £12 million will be met from public funds.

  Independent Television
  Sir Jim Spicer
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what is his policy on independent television.

  Mr. Brooke
  My aim is to ensure that the regulatory framework allows the ITV companies to flourish and to maintain and improve the programme services they provide to audiences in the United Kingdom and overseas, where new opportunities are opening up for United Kingdom broadcasters.

  Opera
  Mr. Jenkin
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what research he has conducted into the popularity of opera; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Brooke
  Figures made available to the Arts Council by the British Market Research Bureau indicate that 2·8 million—or over 6 per cent.—of the adult population attend opera performances. This represents an increase of over 30 per cent. in the last five years. Recent studies have also shown that, in addition to those who attend opera, 7 million people now have an interest in the art form. I warmly congratulate all those involved in opera in this country on this remarkable achievement.

  Television Programmes
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what requirement he has placed on commercial television companies to broadcast British-made programmes; if this requirement applies to BSkyB; and if he will make a statement.
  454
  Mr. Brooke
  Under the Broadcasting Act 1990, Channel 3 licence holders are required to broadcast regional programmes, of which a suitable proportion should be made within the area. No such requirement applies to BSkyB. But under the EC Television Without Frontiers Directive, all United Kingdom broadcasters, where practicable, have to reserve a majority of their transmission time, subject to certain exclusions, for European works.

  Arts Events
  Mr. Rowe
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how he intends to improve on the latest figures for attendance at arts events.

  Mr. Brooke
  The improvement of access to the arts is a cornerstone of the Government's policies for the arts, and is also a primary aim of the Arts Council. All Arts Council clients work to enlarge their audiences. Specific marketing initiatives support and direct their work; the latest figures point to the continuing success of these initiatives.

  Tourism
  Mr. Miller
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many civil servants his Department employs with responsibilities for tourism; and what is the total cost of their salaries.

  Mr. Sproat
  There are 20 staff employed in my Department's tourism division, including one who works part-time. It is part of the division's role to ensure that the British Tourist Authority and the English tourist board make effective and efficient use of the money voted to them by Parliament. The division's salary budget for 1993–94 is £448,820.

  BBC Funding
  Mr. Fabricant
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what consideration he has given to the funding of the BBC; and when he plans to publish his proposals concerning the renewal of the BBC charter.

  Mr. Brooke
  I hope to publish a White Paper early next year setting out the Government's proposals for the future of the BBC, including its funding.

  Sport (Drug Misuse)
  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if, when he next meets the chairman of the Sports Council, he will discuss with him the problems of drug misuse in sport.

  Mr. Sproat
  My right hon. Friend and I meet the chairman of the Sports Council regularly to discuss matters of mutual concern, including the misuse of drugs in sport.

  Orchestral Concerts
  Sir Michael Neubert
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many orchestral concerts he has attended in his official capacity since taking office; and how many of these were in London.

  Mr. Brooke
  Since taking office I have attended 23 concerts involving orchestras or ensembles of various size: 18 of these were in London.

  Rugby Football
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what grants from public funds have been paid to the Rugby Football Union for the rebuilding of its ground at Twickenham; what further grants are proposed; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Brooke
  None.

  Ecclesiastical Buildings
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what changes he is considering in relation to the way in which listed building consent is unnecessary for work in connection with ecclesiastical buildings owned by the Church of England.

  Mr. Brooke
  The intention is that the exemption should in future be confined to buildings used primarily as places of worship, and some curtilage structures, and should be available to the Church of England and other church bodies whose internal control systems for works to such buildings meet the requirements of the code of practice which I published on 17 December 1992 at column 370. Following discussions with Church and amenity interests, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I are considering to what extent curtilage structures should be included in these arrangements, and what special provision should be made for cathedral complexes. Our conclusions will be embodied in an order under section 60(5) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, which will be laid before the House in due course.

  Film Industry
  Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what consultations he has had with representatives of the film industry.

  Mr. Brooke
  I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison).

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Nuclear Weapons
  Mr. Gapes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his definition of(a) security assurances and (b) security guarantees with regard to (i) the use of nuclear weapons by the United Kingdom against a non-nuclear weapon state and (ii) the commitment of the United Kingdom to defend a non-nuclear weapon state against the use or threet of use of nuclear weapons.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We regard a security guarantee as a commitment through an alliance, such as it contained in article 5 of the North Atlantic treaty, under which we and other states parties have undertaken collectively to take the necessary action to restore and maintain the security of each state member of the Atlantic alliance.

  We have in addition issued positive and negative nuclear security assurances to certain non-nuclear weapon states in the following terms:
  "The United Kingdom affirms its intention, as a Permament Member of the United Nations Security Council, to seek
  456
  immediate Security Council action to provide assistance, in accordance with the Charter, to any non-nuclear-weapon State, party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, that is a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used."
  This assurance was given in the United Nations Security Council on 17 June 1968 and was welcomed by the Security Council resolution 255 two days later.
  "Britain undertakes not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States, which are parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to other internationally binding commitments not to manufacture or acquire nuclear explosive devices, except in the case of an attack on the United Kingdom, it's dependent territories, it's armed forces or it's allies by such a State in asociation or alliance with a nuclear-weapon state.

  The United Kingdom gave this assurance at the United Nations special session on disarmament on 28 June 1978.

  Ukraine
  Mr. Gapes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the ratification of the START—strategic arms reduction talks—1 treaty by the Parliament of Ukraine on 18 November.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  We issued a statement on 30 November about the Ukrainian Parliament's resolution which ratified the START 1 treaty. A copy of the statement has been placed in the House of Commons library.

  Mr. Gapes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has to meet Ukrainian officials and politicians to discuss the ratification of the START 1 treaty by the Parliament of Ukraine on 18 November.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  We have already discussed this question with Ukrainian Government officials, and have made clear our concerns along the lines of the public statement we made on 30 November, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. We have also made our views clear to members of the Ukrainian Parliament.

  Mr. Gapes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department has received from Ukraine a draft treaty on security guarantees for Ukraine; and what plans his Department has to respond to such a draft treaty.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We have received from the Ukrainian ambassador a copy of a draft security treaty for signature by the five nuclear weapon states. The draft treaty would come into force on entry into force of the START 1 treaty, and it does not commit Ukraine to accession to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty—NPT—as a non-nuclear weapon state. We have made clear to the Ukrainian Government that Ukraine will be covered by our national security assurances once she accedes to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state.

  Mr. Gapes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans to discuss the ratification of the START 1 treaty by the Parliament of Ukraine on 18 November with his NATO counterparts(a) prior to and (b) at the NATO summit in January 1994; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  This question was discussed at the ministerial meeting of the North Atlantic Council on 2
  457
  December. Allies agreed that NATO should consider in the context of preparations for its January summit what steps the alliance might take to encourage the early entry into force and rapid implementation of all provisions of the START 1 treaty.

  Cyprus
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent Council of Europe document concerning the influx of illegal settlers from Turkey into northern Cyprus; and if he will make a statement on Government policy regarding this official Council of Europe document.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  We too are concerned by reports of an influx of settlers from Turkey into northern Cyprus. The issue needs to be addressed in the context of an overall settlement. We share the hope of the United Nations Secretary-General that progress can be made with a resumption of intercommunal talks in the new year. We shall continue to support him in his efforts to achieve this.

  Kashmir
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Indian Government as to the recent activities of the Indian security forces in occupied Kashmir following the disturbance at Sopore in which a number of people were killed; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs discussed the security situation in Kashmir with the Indian Prime Minister and Home Minister on 15 November. Following the incident at Sopore on 26 November our high commission in New Delhi asked the Indian Home Ministry for details. We were informed that some 15 people were killed, including 11 militants, following an attack on the Indian army.

  Endangered Species
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 29 November,Official Report, column 278, if he will specify the seal and whale species for which the Norwegian Government are requesting exemptions from the European Council habitats directive.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  The Norwegian Government have asked for exemptions from the European Community's habitats directive in respect of grey, harbour, harp, hooded and ring seals; and minke, fin and killer whales.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to resist any attempt by the Norwegian Government to secure exemptions from the EC habitats directive in respect of seals and whales.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  We oppose the commercial hunting of whales and support the listing of seal species in the annexes of the EC Habitats Directive. Norway's requests for exemptions from the directive are, however, a matter for the Community as a whole. We shall consult with other member states in preparing the Community's response.

  Committee of the Regions
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the full membership of the British delegation to the European Union Committee of the Regions.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  As I told the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnor (Mr. Evans) in my written reply on 28 October at column 735, we have proposed the following list of nominees for appointment by the Council to the European Community Committee of the Regions:

  England

  Councillor Simon Day

  Devon County

  Conservative

  Lady Anson DL JP

  Waverley District

  Conservative

  Sir Peter Bowness CBE Dl

  London Borough of Croydon

  Conservative

  Councillor Colin Warbrick CBE

  Trafford Metropolitan Borough

  Conservative

  Councillor Christopher Penn

  Suffolk County

  Conservative

  Councillor Toby Harris

  London Borough of Haringey

  Labour

  Councillor Albert Bore

  Birmingham Metropolitan Borough

  Labour

  Councillor Josie Farrington

  Lancashire County

  Labour

  Councillor George Gill

  Gateshead Metropolitan Borough

  Labour

  Councillor Dennis Pettitt

  Nottinghamshire County

  Labour

  Councillor Janet Sillett

  Norwich District

  Labour

  Councillor Graham Tope

  London Borough of Sutton

  Liberal Democrat

  Councillor David Belotti

  East Sussex County

  Liberal Democrat

  Councillor Roy Cross

  Richmondshire District

  Independent

  Scotland

  Councillor Charles Gray

  Strathclyde Region

  Labour

  Councillor Rosemary McKenna

  Cumbernauld and Kilsyth District

  Labour

  Councillor Brian Meek

  Edinburgh District

  Conservative

  Councillor Duncan McPherson

  Highland Region

  Independent

  Councillor Daniel Coffey JP

  Kilmarnock and Loudoun District

  SNP

  Wales

  Councillor John Evans

  Rhymney Valley District

  Labour

  Lord Kenyon

  Wrexham Borough

  459

  Conservative

  Councillor Eurig Wyn

  Gwynnedd County

  Plaid Cymru

  Northern Ireland

  Councillor Reg Empey

  Lord Mayor of Belfast

  UUP

  Councillor Dennis Haughey

  Cookstown Borough

  SDLP

  Alternate Members England

  Councillor John Morgan OBE

  Test Valley District

  Conservative

  Councillor Doreen Fleming OBE

  Fenland District

  Conservative

  Councillor Fraser Mitchell

  Solihull Metropolitan Borough

  Conservative

  Councillor Elgar Jenkins OBE

  Bath District

  Conservative

  Councillor Paul White

  Essex County

  Conservative

  Councillor John Battye

  Oldham Metropolitan Borough

  Labour

  Councillor Hedley Salt

  Barnsley Metropolitan Borough

  Labour

  Councillor Kenneth Bodfish

  East Sussex County

  Labour

  Councillor Ian Swithinbank

  Northumberland County

  Labour

  Councillor Sally Powell

  London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

  Labour

  Councillor Peter Soulsby

  Leicester District

  Labour

  Councillor Peter Cocks CBE

  Cornwall County

  Liberal Democrat

  Councillor Tony Prior

  South Somerset District

  Liberal Democrat

  Councillor Milner Whiteman

  Bridgnorth District

  Independent

  Scotland

  Councillor Keith Geddes

  Lothian Region

  Labour

  Councillor Jean McFadden

  Glasgow District

  Labour

  Councillor Marcus Humphrey

  Grampian Region

  Conservative

  Councillor Peter Peacock

  Highland Region

  Independent

  Councillor Clive Sneddon

  North East Fife District

  Liberal Democrat

  Wales

  Councillor Keith Griffiths

  Gwent County

  Labour

  460

  Councillor Bill Hughes

  Swansea City

  Conservative

  Councillor Jill Evans

  Rhondda Borough

  Mid Glamorgan County

  Plaid Cymru

  Northern Ireland

  Councillor Simpson Gibson

  Ards Borough

  UDUP

  Alderman Sean Neeson

  Mayor of Carrickfergus

  Alliance Party

  Mrs. Parveen Akhtar Ahmed
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will arrange for Mrs. Parveen Akhtar Ahmed, the wife of Mr. Tariq Hussain Ahmed, of Bradford to be interviewed at the high commission in Islamabad as a matter of urgency; when Mrs. Ahmed was granted a visa to join her husband in the United Kingdom; whether her passport carries a stamp confirming that she has been granted indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom; if he will arrange for Mr. Ahmed to be given full information about what documentation is required before Mrs. Ahmed attends an interview to determine when she is to be granted permission to rejoin her husband; for how long Mrs. Ahmed has been seeking to return to the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  In the absence of any information in London about Mrs. Parveen Akhtar Ahmed's application for entry clearance, I have asked the British high commission in Islamabad to let me have a report. I shall arrange for the hon. Member to receive a substantive reply from the migration and visa correspondence unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as soon as possible.

  Aisha Bibi
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a decision is going to be taken by the United Kingdom post in Islamabad into the application by Aisha Bibi—Ref: HO K461344; and HUL/338/93—to join her husband, Zaib Alam Khan.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  In the absence of any information in London about an entry clearance application from Aisha Bibi, I have asked the British high commission In Islamabad to let me have a report. I shall arrange for the hon. Member to receive a substantive reply from the migration and visa correspondence unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as soon as possible.

  Burundi
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what pledges have been made by donor Governments to finance the Organisation of African Unity initiative in respect of Burundi.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Several major donors have expressed an interest in providing financial and logistical support for the OAU's International Mission for Protection, Observation and Confidence-building in Burundi. Discussions between potential donors and the OAU have been taking place in Addis Ababa.
  461
  We have no plans to contribute towards financing the OAU initiative. The United Kingdom has already committed one million dollars to the United Nations Trust Fund for Liberia and we anticipate that other European partners, who did not contribute to this fund, will take the lead in Burundi.

  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the arrival of OAU forces in Burundi.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  We understand that the OAU plan to send 20 civilians and 180 military personnel in the first instance. As far as we know, none have yet arrived in Burundi.

  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what mediation efforts are currently taking place in Burundi.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Both the OAU Secretary-General's representative, Senegal's representative in Ethiopia, Ambassador Fall and the United Nations Under-Secretary General, James Jonah, have recently visited Burundi to discuss the situation with the parties concerned. The United Nations Secretary-General's special representative, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, has been holding discussions in Burundi since 2 December. The OAU discussed Burundi at its mini-summit in Cairo on 7 December.

  Angola (Arms Embargo)
  Ms Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the recently lifted arms embargo on Angola was imposed; what publicity was given to the decision at the time; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  When Angola became independent in 1976, the restrictions on the supply of defence equipment which at that time applied to the Soviet Union and its close allies, were applied to Angola. We are not aware that this policy was made public.

TRANSPORT

  London Underground
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his best estimate of the likely cost to London Underground of compensation sought by customers under the relevant citizen charters arising from the major breakdowns on the system from 24 November onwards.

  Mr. Norris
  London Underground currently estimates that the value of the claims made under their customer charter will be between £150,000 and £200,000.

  Road Safety Database
  Mr. Barnes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer to the hon. member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) of 6 December,Official Report, column 22, which other member state abstained in the vote on setting up a Community road safety database.

  Mr. MacGregor
  The other member state to abstain was Germany.

  Rail Privatisation
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what so far has been the cost to public funds of railway privatisation.

  Mr. Freeman
  The costs set out include those of special advisers where appropriate, and the costs attributable to preparations for the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and the Office of Rail Regulation before the start of this financial year:

  Department of Transport: Running costs, etc.

  £ million

  1991–92

  0·5

  1992–93

  1·2

  1993–94 expected expenditure

  1·5

  Department of Transport: Consultancy costs

  £ million

  1991–92

  0·5

  1992–93

  5·5

  1993–94 expected expenditure

  12·0

  The Department of Transport's internal BR privatisation costs cannot be separately identified before September 1991.

  Office of passenger rail franchising

  £ million

  1993–94 expected expenditure

  3·4

  Office of rail regulator

  £ million

  1993–94 expected expenditure

  3·3

  British Rail's costs and estimates are a matter for British Rail.

  Testing Stations
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has in respect of the casual staff currently employed in testing stations; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Key
  The vehicle inspectorate—VI—has full peronnel responsibility for such staff. VI continues to employ casual staff because this allows it the flexibility it needs to deal with fluctuating demand and other short term staffing needs. Casual appointments will be kept under review and casual staff will be recruited, retained or released in order to meet the needs existing at any one time.

  Electronic Road Tolling
  Mr. Lidington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he intends that electronic road tolling should apply to trunk roads which form part of the trans-European road network but which are not classified as motorways; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Key
  In his statement on 2 December about the Government's plans for motorway charging at column 650

  463
  my right hon. Friend said that the precise definition of the network to be charged was an issue for further consideration.

  Motorways
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of Stale for Transport what communications he has had with either the Commission or the European Community or the Governments of its member states concerning charging vehicles for use of motorways; and if he regards such schemes or proposals as a component of the single internal market in transport.

  Mr. Key
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: My right hon. Friend maintains regular contact with the Commission and his colleagues in other member states on motorway charging.

  Council directive 93/89/EEC, adopted on 25 October this year, sets out, among other things, the conditions under which member states may impose tolls or user charges on heavy goods vehicles over 12 tonnes gross on motorways and similar roads. This direcive will help eliminate distortion of competition in road goods transport in the European Community.

  A38
  Mr. Hicks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he hopes to announce the preferred route for the improvements to the A38 trunk road between Saltash and Trerulefoot; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Key
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: We are still considering responses to the recent public consultation, including suggestions for alternative routes.

  I hope to announce the preferred route in spring 1944.

  Research Laboratory, Crowthorne
  Mr. Mills
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the size of the land holdings of the Transport and Road Research Laboratory at Crowthorne; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Key
  Under a valuation survey conducted in 1988 by Hillier Parker on behalf of the PSA, the size of the TRL site was found to be approximately 256 English acres which is 103·6 hectares.

  A privatisation study is presently being conducted at TRL; until this has been completed I am unable to give more information.

  Motorways (Noise)
  Mr. Mills
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to introduce type approval standards for the approval of noise levels produced by motorway road surfaces; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Key
  Type approval standards are not appropriate for the noise levels arising from road surfaces. The Department provides a specification setting limits on the surface texture, which seeks to minimise the level of noise from traffic consistent with safety requirements for adequate skidding resistance.

NATIONAL FINANCE

  Overseas Aid
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of gross domestic product the overseas aid budget will be in 1994–95, assuming the figures for the growth of the economy given in the Budget.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  I have been asked to reply.

  The total provision for ODA's external assistance programmes, announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 30 November, amounts to 0·34 per cent. of forecast GDP in 1994–95, on the basis of the figures given in the Financial Statement and Budget Report. Not all of ODA's total provision counts as official development assistance under the OECD development assistance committee criteria. Internationally accepted ratios of overseas aid to gross national product (GNP) are calculated annually for the development assistance committee of the OECD, according to agreed international criteria and on the basis of expenditure by calendar year not on planning figures.

  Prices
  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest information he has for(a) the last quarter and (b) over the last 12 months of the change in (i) manufacturers' prices and (ii) producer prices.

  Mr. Nelson
  The available information for October 1993 is as follows:

  Producer prices—all manufacturing

  Materials and fuel purchased

  Output prices

  per cent.

  per cent.

  Increase over last three months

  -2·4

  0·2

  Increase over last twelve months

  0·9

  4·0

  The increase over the last three months will be affected by seasonal fluctuations.

  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the underlying rate of inflation is accounted for by changes in the price of(a) clothing and footwear, (b) household and leisure goods and (c) council tax.

  Mr. Nelson
  The underlying rate of inflation, as measured by the 12-month percentage movement in the retail prices index excluding mortgage interest payments, stood at 2·8 per cent. in October 1993. Of this clothing and footwear contributed 0·06 percentage points household and leisure goods 0·13 percentage points and council tax/community charge/rates -0·30 percentage points towards the overall figure.

  Business Investment
  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will publish a table giving business investment measured in current prices as a percentage of gross domestic product, measured in current prices(a) for each year since 1974 and (b) for each quarter since 1988; and what was the average for the periods 1974 to 1979 and 1979 to 1992;
  465
  (2) what proportion of gross domestic product he estimates is accounted for by gross business investment (a) in 1993–94 and (b) in each year since 1989.

  Mr. Nelson
  The latest estimates of business investment at current and constant prices and gross domestic product at current and constant market prices to the third quarter of 1993 are available on the CSO database which may be accessed by the House of Commons Library. The relevant database identifiers are DEOO and CAOB at current prices and DEMS and CAOO at constant prices. Her Majesty's Treasury does not publish financial year forecasts of business investment.

  Quantile group of taxpayers

  Total earned income1(£ billion)

  Average earned income (£)

  Total investment income (£ billion)

  Average investment income (£)

  Top 1 per cent.

  24

  95,500

  8

  29,900

  Top 5 per cent.

  62

  49,200

  13

  10,100

  Top 10 per cent.

  95

  37,700

  16

  6,400

  Bottom 70 per cent.

  156

  8,800

  9

  700

  Bottom 50 per cent.

  91

  7,200

  8

  600

  Bottom 10 per cent.

  11

  4,500

  1

  500

  All taxpayers

  345

  13,700

  35

  1,400

  1 Income from employment, self-employment and pensions.

  VAT
  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the estimated yield in 1993–94 of the imposition of VAT at(a) 5 per cent., (b) 17·5 per cent. and (c) 22 per cent. on (i) books, (ii) newspapers, (iii) magazines, (iv) rent and (v) fares on passenger transport.

  5 per cent.

  17½per cent.

  22 per cent.

  Books

  95

  330

  415

  Newspapers

  155

  550

  690

  Magazines

  65

  220

  275

  Domestic passenger transport

  330

  1,150

  1,445

  The publication also shows the cost of net standard rating VAT exempt items. Rent on domestic dwellings is exempt and not zero rated. If the exemption were removed the estimate on the basis given above would be £2,300 million at 17·5 per cent. Equivalent calculations for 5 per cent. and 22 per cent. have not been made.

  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to close the loopholes for VAT liability afforded by the pre-payment of accounts.

  Sir John Cope
  None. Under both United Kingdom and EC law, VAT is chargeable at the rate in force when payment is made if that precedes the delivery of the goods or the issue of a tax invoice.

  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the rates of VAT charged in each other EC country for(a) food in shops, (b) food in restaurants, (c) books, (d) magazines, (e) newspapers, (f) household fuel, (g) rents, (h) house purchase, (i) children's clothing, (j) community centres and (k) transport fares.

  Sir John Cope
  Rates of VAT charged in each other EC country for food in shops, books, magazines, newspapers, household fuel, house purchase, children's clothing and

  Incomes
  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total and average investment income and earned income in 1992–93 of(a) the top 1 per cent., (b) the top 5 per cent., (c) the top 10 per cent., (d) the bottom 70 per cent., (e) the bottom 50 per cent., (f) the bottom 10 per cent. of taxpayers and (g) all taxpayers.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Latest estimates are given in the table:

  Sir John Cope
  The actual yield would depend on the effects on consumers behaviour. Without allowing for such behavioural changes, the Treasury publication, 'Tax Ready Reckoner and Tax Reliefs' shows the cost of not standard rating currently zero rated items. The figures for books, newspapers and magazines has been apportioned into each category using shares of consumers' expenditure. From these figures it is possible to derive the following table in £ million for 1994–95.

  transport fares are set out in the Official Report, 24 November 1993, columns 66-70. VAT rates on food in restaurants, rents and community centres according to the latest information available, are set out in the tables.

  (b) VAT on food in restaurants in the EC

  Country

  Rate per cent.

  Belgium

  19·5

  Denmark

  25

  France

  18·61

  Germany

  8

  Greece

  18 (13)2

  Ireland

  12·5

  Italy

  93

  Luxembourg

  3

  Netherlands

  17·5

  Portugal

  16 (12)4

  Spain

  6, 155

  United Kingdom

  17·5

  1 The following rates apply generally in Corsica: 0·9 per cent., 2·1 per cent., 8 per cent. and 13 per cent.

  2 The rate in brackets applies in the departments of Lesbos, Chios, the Dodecanese and the Cyclades, and in the islands of Thasos, the Northern Sporades, Samothrace and Skyros.

  3 Excluding the supply of food in luxury premises including luxury hotels.

  4 The rate in brackets apply in the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores Archipelagoes.

  5 The standard rate applies to the supply of food in luxury hotels.

  467
  (g) VAT on rents in the EC

  The letting of immovable property is exempt from VAT in every member state, although some member states operate an option to tax in certain circumstances.

  (j) VAT on community centres in the EC

  Leasing of such buildings is exempt in all member states. For purchase (including construction) in other member states the rates in the table on house purchase apply.

  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether the issue of value added tax on imported works of art is likely to be considered at the December meeting of ECOFIN; and what views he will be expressing on this subject at that meeting;

  (2) if he will make a statement of his policy on the future of imported works of art in connection with value added tax;

  (3) what assessment he has made of the possible impact of the imposition of value added tax on imported works of art upon London's world position as a centre for the trade in art objects; and if he will make a statement.

  Sir John Cope
  The subject of VAT on second hand goods, including works of art, antiques and collectors items, was discussed again at ECOFIN today and agreement was reached on the Seventh VAT Directive. Under this agreement margin schemes will be extended to all second hand goods. No VAT other than that in the member state of purchase will be payable when works of art, antiques and collectors items are moved from one member state to another.

  Imports of such items into the European Union from third countries will be charged VAT at not less than 5 per cent. except in the United Kingdom where imports of pre-1973 works of art will be charged at an effective rate of 2½ per cent. until mid-1999. Items imported temporarily for resale and subsequent export outside the EU will not be chargeable with VAT. The Commission will review the effects of the new arrangements in 1998 and report to the Council.

  My right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer and I have had full consultations with the art trade on these matters throughout the very long period they have been under discussion. The agreement avoids potentially damaging legal actions and means that the United Kingdom art market will have the most favourable VAT regime in the EU and will be able to maintain its pre-eminence in the world.

  Company Failures
  Mr. Fraser
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was lost, in the last year for which figures are available, in public revenue in PAYE, national insurance contributions and VAT from(a) companies which went info voluntary creditors liquidation and (b) unincorporated businesses which became bankrupt.

  Mr. Dorrell
  This information is available only at disproportionate cost.

  Capital Expenditure
  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much he estimates net public capital expenditure will fall by 1997.
  468
  Mr. Portillo
  Outturn and projections for public sector capital expenditure are set out in table 5.3 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 1994–95.

  Taxation
  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate for 1993–94 the number of people claiming(a) one-parent benefit and (b) the widowed mother's allowance, who are taxpayers.

  Mr. Dorrell
  In 1993–94 it is estimated that about 350,000 taxpayers will claim one-parent benefit and about 40,000 taxpayers will claim widowed mother's allowance.

  Mr. Nicholas Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the number of additional people brought into the tax system as a result of the freezing of personal tax allowances proposed in the March Budget.

  Mr. Dorrell
  In 1993–94 no one was brought into income tax as a result of the changes announced in the March Budget. However, about 300,000 more people pay tax in 1993–94 under the Budget proposals compared with statutory indexation of personal allowances.

  Mr. McLeish
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was(a) the total income, both earned and unearned, (b) the total national insurance contributions and (c) the total tax paid by (i) the top 1 per cent., (ii) the top 5 per cent., (iii) the top 10 per cent., (iv) the bottom 50 per cent. and (v) all taxpayers for Scotland, England Wales and Northern Ireland in each year since 1979.

  Mr. Dorrell
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: Readily available estimates based on the Survey of Personal Incomes are in the tables. For 1980–81 and 1989–90, married couples are counted as one taxpayer and their incomes are combined. Following the introduction of independent taxation in 1990–91. husbands and wives are counted separately. The estimates of total income relate to income subject to income tax and exclude non-taxable income such as certain social security benefits. The quantile groups of taxpayers are defined by reference to the number of taxpayers in each country in each year.

  Information on quantile groups of taxpayers within each country of the United Kingdom

  1980–81

  Quantile group of tax unit

  Total income

  Income tax liability

  Per cent.

  £ million

  £ million

  SCOTLAND

  Top 1

  556

  202

  Top 5

  1,750

  491

  Top 10

  2,870

  732

  Bottom 50

  3,350

  421

  All taxpayers

  11,900

  2,240

  ENGLAND

  Top 1

  6,300

  2,480

  Top 5

  18,200

  5,470

  Top 10

  29,100

  7,790

  Bottom 50

  32,600

  4,170

  All taxpayers

  116,000

  22,300

  WALES

  Top 1

  319

  129

  Top 5

  893

  266

  Top 10

  1,400

  374

  Bottom 50

  1,610

  190

  469

  Quantile group of tax unit

  Total income

  Income tax liability

  Per cent.

  £ million

  £ million

  All taxpayers

  5,580

  1,040

  NORTHERN IRELAND

  Top 1

  127

  45

  Top 5

  412

  114

  Top 10

  664

  169

  Bottom 50

  727

  87

  All taxpayers

  2,660

  492

  Information on Quantile Groups of Taxpayers within each country of the United Kingdom

  1989–90

  Quantile group of tax unit

  Total income

  Income tax liability

  Employees' and self-employed national insurance contribution liability

  per cent.

  £ million

  £ million

  £ million

  SCOTLAND

  Top 1

  1,570

  476

  28

  Top 5

  4,680

  1,180

  149

  Top 10

  7,530

  1,730

  286

  Bottom 50

  7,640

  885

  330

  All taxpayers

  28,700

  4,880

  1,370

  ENGLAND

  Top 1

  21,300

  7,100

  231

  Top 5

  53,900

  15,400

  1,180

  Top 10

  81,300

  21,000

  2,320

  Bottom 50

  69,800

  8,400

  3,060

  All taxpayers

  275,000

  51,000

  12,100

  WALES

  Top 1

  885

  283

  13

  Top 5

  2,270

  591

  61

  Top 10

  3,460

  815

  117

  Bottom 50

  3,560

  403

  150

  All taxpayers

  13,100

  2,230

  595

  NORTHERN IRELAND

  Top 1

  522

  163

  9

  Top 5

  1,180

  310

  37

  Top 10

  1,860

  440

  65

  Bottom 50

  1,630

  175

  69

  All taxpayers

  6,510

  1,110

  296

  Information on quantile groups of taxpayers within each country of the United Kingdom

  1990–91

  Quantile group of taxpayers

  Total income

  Income tax liability

  Employees' and self-employed national insurance contribution liability

  percent.

  £ million

  £ million

  £ million

  Scotland

  Top 1

  1,770

  559

  26

  Top 5

  4,980

  1,340

  120

  Top 10

  7,820

  1,910

  234

  Bottom 50

  7,590

  824

  330

  All taxpayers

  28,900

  5,070

  1,300

  England

  Top 1

  25,400

  8,540

  236

  Top 5

  61,100

  17,900

  1,190

  470

  Quantile group of taxpayers

  Total income

  Income tax liability

  Employees' and self-employed national insurance contribution liability

  per cent.

  £ million

  £ million

  £ million

  Top 10

  91,100

  24,100

  2,360

  Bottom 50

  78,800

  8,950

  3,310

  All taxpayers

  311,000

  58,200

  13,300

  Wales

  Top 1

  804

  248

  13

  Top 5

  2,230

  562

  57

  Top 10

  3,540

  816

  114

  Bottom 50

  3,970

  414

  159

  All taxpayers

  14,200

  2,370

  631

  Northern Ireland

  Top 1

  448

  144

  6

  Top 5

  1,180

  316

  28

  Top 10

  1,800

  439

  57

  Bottom 50

  1,680

  169

  73

  All taxpayers

  6,460

  1,110

  291

  Information on quantile groups of taxpayers within each country of the United Kingdom

  1991–92

  Quantile group of taxpayers

  Total income

  Income tax liability

  Employees' and self-employed national insurance contribution liability

  per cent.

  £ million

  £ million

  £ million

  Scotland

  Top 1

  2,080

  665

  27

  Top 5

  5,420

  1,430

  142

  Top 10

  8,310

  1,990

  271

  Bottom 50

  7,770

  788

  317

  All taxpayers

  30,000

  5,170

  1,370

  England

  Top 1

  27,800

  9,420

  257

  Top 5

  65,200

  18,900

  1,280

  Top 10

  96,500

  25,300

  2,590

  Bottom 50

  82,200

  9,040

  3,340

  All taxpayers

  323,000

  60,000

  13,900

  Wales

  Top 1

  934

  288

  15

  Top 5

  2,480

  618

  69

  Top 10

  3,950

  898

  145

  Bottom 50

  4,180

  408

  156

  All taxpayers

  15,300

  2,500

  700

  Northern Ireland

  Top 1

  421

  131

  4

  Top 5

  1,150

  299

  28

  Top 10

  1,770

  418

  57

  Bottom 50

  1,610

  147

  66

  All taxpayers

  6,270

  1,050

  271

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

  World Bank
  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria the United Kingdom's executive director of the World bank uses to determine whether a project merits evaluation by the Overseas Development Administration.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The ODA determines case by case what examination of loan proposals is required, paying particular attention to adjustment operations and environmentally sensitive projects.

  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will list prospective World bank projects and projects currently being implemented and being evaluated by the Overseas Development Administration and those that are currently being considered for co-financing by the Overseas Development Administration;

  (2) if he will list all World bank projects and structural adjustment loans that the Overseas Development Administration has co-financed in each year since 1989.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  We are compiling the information and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he proposes to take to assist in resolving conflicts in the Narmada valley following the withdrawal of World bank funding for the project.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Project implementation is the responsibility of the Indian authorities. In bilateral contacts with them, we have urged the correct and sensitive handling of the environmental and resettlement issues.

  Kenya
  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he took to ensure that the World bank and the IMF took full account of reported corruption in Kenya prior to resuming financial assistance.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  We maintain close contact with the World bank and the International Monetary Fund on Kenya and regularly discuss shared concerns, including corruption. We are confident that the IFIs took full account of all relevant factors during their recent review of Kenya's economic position and prospects. At the consultative group meeting last month donors emphasised the need for the Kenya Government to act to ensure that prompt legal action is taken against those involved in corruption.

  Thailand
  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place a copy of the mid-term review of the World's bank's Pak Mun dam project in Thailand in the Library.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Under the Disclosure of Information policy approved by the Bank's board, this report remains confidential. I regret, therefore, that I cannot place a copy in the Library.

  South Africa
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the present and planned resources that are being used by the United Kingdom, European Union, Commonwealth and agencies of the United Nations to assist South Africa to hold free and fair elections and make the transition to a multiparty, multi-ethnic democracy.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  All aid from Britain and the organisations listed supports change to a democratic and non-racial society in South Africa. Our bilateral aid of £11·7 million in 1992–93 is expected to increase to up to £15 million in 1993–94, plus about £11 million as our annual share of the EC's £68 million programme. We do not have figures for Commonwealth and United Nations activities. The Commonwealth has provided international observers to help monitor and defuse violence during the transition; and the United Nations is providing training for black South Africans. We and the other organisations plan to assist with next year's elections. Our main bilateral contribution will be international election observers.

  Kenya (Cereals Shortage)
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Kenyan Government as to the possible supplying of cereals now held in EC intervention to alleviate the shortage of cereals in Kenya; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  My noble Friend, the Minister for Overseas Development will be visiting Kenya in January. We expect the question of how donors can most appropriately help to meet Kenya's food needs during 1994 to be discussed during this visit.

HEALTH

  Fundholders
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the registered population were covered by general practitioner fundholders in total and in each region at(a) 1 April 1992 and (b) 1 April 1993; and what figure she expects to be achieved by 1 April 1994.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  At 1 April 1992 13 per cent. of the population were registered with general practitioner fundholders. At 1 April 1993 the figure was 25 per cent. and this is expected to grow to about a third of the population from 1 April 1994.

  The regional breakdown is:

  Per cent.

  At 1 April 1992:

  Northern

  16

  Yorkshire

  21

  Trent

  14

  East Anglia

  8

  North West Thames

  14

  North East Thames

  7

  South East Thames

  9

  South West Thames

  15

  Wessex

  15

  Oxford

  23

  South Western

  14

  473

  Per cent.

  West Midlands

  13

  Mersey

  19

  North Western

  9

  At 1 April 1993:

  Northern

  25

  Yorkshire

  23

  Trent

  31

  East Anglia

  25

  North West Thames

  27

  North East Thames

  14

  South East Thames

  22

  South West Thames

  25

  Wessex

  22

  Oxford

  33

  South Western

  19

  West Midlands

  26

  Mersey

  25

  North Western

  17

  Note: All figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

  Hospital nurses, midwives, health visitors and district nurses England 30 September each year

  Whole-time equivalents

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  1992

  Hospital nurses

  330,670

  332,820

  328,060

  326,090

  312,760

  Midwives

  19,090

  19,110

  19,860

  19,640

  20,250

  Health visitors

  10,680

  10,050

  10,480

  10,380

  10,250

  District nurses

  9,390

  10,160

  10,380

  9,900

  9,650

  Practice nurses

  3,480

  4,630

  7,740

  8,780

  9,120

  Project 2000 nurses

  —

  —

  13,000

  10,500

  18,300

  1 Approximate figure.

  Notes:

  1. All figures are rounded to the nearest ten and exclude agency staff.

  2. Project 2000 students are shown separately because Project 2000 students are supernumerary and therefore not included in workforce totals.

  Mental Health
  Mr. David Atkinson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to amend sections 35 and 36 of the Mental Health Amendment Act 1983(a) to endorse treatment to be given to patients detained under section 35 and (b) to enable magistrates to remand mentally disordered offenders to hospital for treatment.

  Mr. Bowis
  None at present, but we shall be keeping in mind the case for amending these provisions should a suitable opportunity arise.

  NHS Pensions
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give the definition of a national health service pension enhancement; and if such enhancements are available to all national health service pensionable staff.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  There is no statutory definition of a national health service pension enhancement, but payments based on the crediting of additional services can be made to compensate for the loss of future pension rights on premature or ill-health retirement. Such enhancements are available to all national health service pensionable employees who satisfy certain criteria.
  474
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide an estimate for the value of fund-holding allocations retained by general practitioner fund-holders at the year end.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  [holding answer 6 December 1993]: Although not all general practitioner fundholders' accounts for the year 1992–93 have been audited yet, it is estimated that fundholders achieved efficiency savings of about £28 million or 3·3 per cent., of total budgets. These impressive efficiency gains will be re-invested in further service improvements for patients.

  Nursing Staff
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital nurses, midwives, health visitors and district nurses there were in England at 30 September in each year since 1988.

  Mr. Sackville
  The information available is shown in the table.

  Government Car Service
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the annual cost to her Department of the car service for Ministers in 1990–91; and how many vehicles were involved.

  Mr. Sackville
  There were four cars and the basic cost was £175,543.

  NHS Trusts
  Mr. Miller
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list those areas in which it is inappropriate for her to intervene within NHS trusts.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  National health service trusts have the freedom to:Aquire, own and dispose of assets to ensure the most effective use is made of them.
  Make their own cases for capital development direct to the NHS Management Executive (NHSME).
  Borrow money, within annually agreed limits, primarily for new buildings and equipment and for upgrading existing buildings.
  Create their own management structures.
  Employ their own staff, determine their own staffing structures, and set out terms and conditions of employment.
  Advertise their services, within guidelines set down by professonal codes of practice on such advertising.

  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has a range of reserve powers to intervene in trusts' affairs. These are not to be used routinely.

  NHS Commercial Activities
  Mr. Miller
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what controls she exercises over commercial activities carried out on behalf of the NHS within trust hospitals.

  Mr. Sackville
  It is for each individual national health service trust to determine the level of commercial activity carried out on its premises, subject to this not being to the detriment of other obligations.

  Oral Contraceptives
  Mr. Whittingdale
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total cost to the national health service of the free prescription of oral contraceptives.

  Mr. Sackville
  The net ingredient cost of oral contraceptives dispensed or administered on the prescription of general practitioners in England in 1992 was £42·5 million.

  Firearm Deaths
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide a table on the occupations of people who died as a result of(a) suicides, (b) homicides and (c) accidents and other causes involving (i) shotguns and (ii) other firearms in each year since 1979.

  Mr. Sackville
  This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Special Hospitals
  Mr. Pickthall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to publish the findings of the Swann inquiry into women's services at Ashworth special hospital.

  Mr. Bowis
  The inquiry was set up by and submitted its report to the Special Hospitals Service Authority.

  Mr. Pickthall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she is taking to inquire into allegations of over-medication in certain wards of Ashworth special hospital.

  Mr. Bowis
  These allegations have been fully considered and investigated by local management in consultation with the clinical staff concerned. The Special Hopitals Service Authority is currently implementing an action plan for women patients, which includes a review of levels of medication.

  Mr. Pickthall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement about the future of the social work service in special hospitals.

  Mr. Bowis
  Social workers play an important role within multi-disciplinary teams at the special hospitals.

  Mr. Pickthall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in special hospitals have become schizophrenic as a result of the withdrawal of neuroleptic drugs; and how many patients in special hospitals have been over-medicated on neuroleptic drugs, in each of the past two years.

  Mr. Bowis
  Information about the treatment of individual patients in special hospitals is not available centrally. It is a matter for the Special Hospitals Service Authority.
  476
  Mr. Pickthall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the incidents of patient violence at Ashworth special hospital(a) against staff and (b) against other patients, in each of the last two years.

  Mr. Bowis
  This information is not available centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mrs. Anne-Marie Nelson, chairman of the Special Hospitals Service Authority, which has responsibility for Ashworth hospital, for details.

  Southend Health Authority
  Sir Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in resolving the relative underfunding of the Southend health authority; and if she will make a statement.

  Mr. Sackville
  In 1992–93 Southend health authority received £2·695 million extra funding and in 1993–94 £1·550 million. Under the weighted capitation funding system, health authorities are funded for their resident population. Departmental guidance, EL(92)47 copies of which are available in the Library, gives regional health authorities discretion to use their judgment about the precise distribution of funds which suits their districts' needs, based on the analysis of local information. The present allocation for South Essex health authority is a matter for North East Thames regional health authority and the hon. Member may wish to contact Sir William Staveley, the chairman for details.

  Mental Health
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish details of all grants currently approved by her Department to support projects connected with mental health.

  Mr. Bowis
  The mental illness specific grant, introduced in April 1991, is payable to local authorities to enable them to make a significant improvement in the social care services they provide for mentally ill people in the community. This year, 1993–94, £34·4 million is available to 108 local authorities. Their individual allocations are listed in table A, the total includes £1,770,000 approved for revenue costs of short stay hostels under the Department's homeless mentally ill initiative for London. Other grants approved in 1993–94 to support this initiative are as follows:Capital costs of short stay hostels—£1,585,986
  Community psychiatric teams—£1,695,000

  Under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 the Department gives grants towards the administrative—core—costs of national voluntary organisations and to support national development projects or innovative local projects with potential for national application. In the field of mental illness 56 grants are being made to 36 voluntary bodies at a total cost of £2,336,020 in 1993–94. These grants are listed in table B.

  Table A

  Local Authority

  Authorised allocations

  Avon County Council

  585,147

  Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council

  128,955

  Barnet London Borough Council

  253,962

  Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

  128,000

  Bedfordshire County Council

  302,000

  477

  Local Authority

  Authorised allocations

  Berkshire County Council

  428,000

  Bexley London Borough Council

  167,263

  Birmingham Metropolitan Borough Council

  793,567

  Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

  188,998

  Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council

  347,456

  Brent London Borough Council

  280,500

  Bromley London Borough Council

  223,424

  Buckinghamshire County Council

  319,657

  Bury Metropolitan Borough Council

  108,737

  Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council

  141,000

  Cambridgeshire County Council

  379,312

  Camden London Borough Council

  252,497

  Cheshire County Council

  531,496

  Cleveland County Council

  332,657

  Cornwall County Council

  287,000

  Coventry City Council

  207,139

  Croydon London Borough Council

  277,000

  Cumbria County Council

  289,443

  Derbyshire County Council

  567,000

  Devonshire County Council

  614,185

  Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

  173,209

  Dorset County Council

  427,000

  Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

  162,000

  Durham County Council

  378,914

  Ealing London Borough Council

  298,499

  East Sussex County Council

  526,110

  Enfield London Borough Council

  190,870

  Essex County Council

  873,995

  Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council

  176,876

  Gloucestershire County Council

  305,000

  Greenwich London Borough Council

  195,388

  Hackney London Borough Council

  289,062

  Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council

  234,552

  Hampshire County Council

  879,291

  Haringey London Borough Council

  235,072

  Harrow London Borough Council

  146,554

  Havering London Borough Council

  140,193

  Hereford and Worcester County Council

  351,571

  Hertfordshire County Council

  565,335

  Hillingdon London Borough Council

  165,623

  Hounslow London Borough Council

  161,000

  Humberside County Council

  544,964

  Isle of Wight County Council

  89,000

  Isles of Scilly Council

  658

  Islington London Borough Council

  242,386

  Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council

  177,218

  Kent County Council

  949,700

  Kingston-upon-Thames Royal London Borough

  129,477

  Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council

  264,649

  Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

  110,429

  Lambeth London Borough Council

  340,064

  Lancashire County Council

  871,793

  Table B

  Section 64 grants to voluntary organisations

  1993–94

  Voluntary organisation

  Core/Project

  Total £

  Alzheimer's Disease Society

  Core

  130,000

  Alzheimer's Disease Society

  Open learning programe project

  38,000

  Alzheimer's Disease Society

  Influencing community care project

  10,000

  Association for Post Natal Illness

  Core

  10,000

  Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents

  Child and adolescent services project

  20,000

  Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents

  Core

  10,000

  Brandon Centre

  Adolescent health project

  15,000

  British Institute of Industrial Therapy

  Core

  25,000

  Child Psychotherapy Trust

  Core

  15,000

  478

  Local Authority

  Authorised allocations

  Leeds Metropolitan Borough Council

  505,000

  Leicestershire County Council

  568,242

  Lewisham London Borough Council

  271,260

  Lincolnshire County Council

  345,000

  Liverpool Metropolitan Borough Council

  399,707

  Manchester Metropolitan Borough Council

  386,026

  Merton London Borough Council

  178,456

  Newcastle-upon-Tyne Metropolitan Borough Council

  231,000

  Newham London Borough Council

  240,858

  Norfolk County Council

  494,500

  North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council

  126,960

  North Yorkshire County Council

  404,693

  Northamptonshire County Council

  320,000

  Northumberland County Council

  175,421

  Nottinghamshire County Council

  657,105

  Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

  156,494

  Oxfordshire County Council

  327,116

  Redbridge London Borough Council

  173,819

  Richmond-upon-Thames London Borough Council

  141,282

  Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council

  150,912

  Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council

  178,980

  Salford Metropolitan Borough Council

  159,762

  Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

  235,493

  Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council

  122,820

  Sheffield Metropolitan Borough Council

  397,000

  Shropshire County Council

  219,873

  Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

  112,750

  Somerset County Council

  287,859

  South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council

  111,816

  Southwark London Borough Council

  256,000

  St. Helens Metropolitan Borough Council

  126,461

  Staffordshire County Council

  582,540

  Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

  175,300

  Suffolk County Council

  365,019

  Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council

  208,344

  Surrey County Council

  589,000

  Sutton London Borough Council

  125,396

  Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

  152,250

  Tower Hamlets London Borough Council

  194,143

  Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council

  123,500

  Wakefield Metropolitan Borough Council

  201,179

  Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

  165,109

  Waltham Forest London Borough Council

  234,000

  Wandsworth London Borough Council

  335,277

  Warwickshire County Council

  276,841

  West Sussex County Council

  441,328

  Westminster City Council

  255,729

  Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

  176,291

  Wiltshire County Council

  303,700

  Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

  248,113

  Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council

  193,381

  479

  Voluntary organisation

  Core/Project

  Total £

  Child Psychotherapy Trust

  Development project

  20,000

  CRUSE—Bereavement Care

  Core

  114,000

  Eating Disorders Association

  Standard setting project

  5,000

  Eating Disorders Association

  Core

  29,000

  Good Practices in Mental Health

  Core

  40,000

  Good Practices in Mental Health

  Mental health rural initiative project

  20,630

  Hyperactive Children's Support Group

  Core

  7,000

  King's Fund Centre

  Positive action project

  25,000

  Making Space

  Charitable project bereavement support project

  40,000

  Manic Depression Fellowship

  Core

  10,000

  Manic Depression Fellowship

  Self help groups project

  20,000

  Manic Depression Fellowship

  Factsheet for children project

  1,920

  Mental Aftercare Association

  Core

  50,000

  Mental Health Foundation

  Core

  50,000

  Mental Health Foundation

  Homeless in London project

  80,000

  Mental Health Foundation

  Special core grant

  50,000

  Mental Health Foundation

  Young minds project

  70,000

  Mental Health Media Council

  Core

  20,000

  NAFSIYAT (Intercultural Therapy)

  Core

  15,000

  National Association for Mental Health (MIND)

  Stress on women project

  10,000

  National Association for Mental Health (MIND)

  Code of practice training

  10,000

  National Association for Mental Health (MIND)

  Audit development project

  55,000

  National Association for Mental Health (MIND)

  Core

  415,000

  National Pyramid Trust

  Outreach project

  20,000

  National Schizophrenia Fellowship

  Advisory service project

  15,000

  National Schizophrenia Fellowship

  Core

  91,000

  National Schizophrenia Fellowship

  Forresters respite care project

  35,000

  National Schizophrenia Fellowship

  Training project

  30,000

  New Parent Infant Network (NEWPIN)

  Core

  35,000

  New Parent Infant Network (NEWPIN)

  Development officer and training officer

  25,000

  New Parent Infant Network (NEWPIN)

  National newpin development project

  50,000

  Phobic Action

  Core

  20,000

  Rape Counselling and Research Project

  Core

  10,000

  Richmond Fellowship

  Core

  97,000

  Samaritans

  Core

  155,000

  Samaritans

  Multi-cultural outreach project

  8,000

  Schizophrenia A National Emergency (SANE)

  Saneline project

  125,000

  Triumph Over Phobia (TOP)

  Development project

  20,000

  480 481

  Voluntary organisation

  Core/Project

  Total £

  UK Advocacy Network (UKAN)

  Core

  40,000

  Vietnamese Mental Health Project

  Core

  40,000

  Westminster Pastoral Foundation

  Reduction in suicide risk project

  10,000

  Widows Advisory Trust

  Core

  18,000

  Women in Special Hospitals (WISH)

  Core

  25,000

  Women's Therapy Centre

  Core

  15,000

  Women's Therapy Centre

  Information project

  10,000

  Young Minds

  Core

  10,000

  Young Minds

  Leaflet on effect of violence

  1,470

  Birmingham District Health Authorities
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria were used for the awarding of the contract to oversee personnel issues for the merger of North Birmingham district health authority, East Birmingham district health authority and West Birmingham district health authority to E. M. Knock Associates.

  Mr. Sackville
  We understand that the tender was awarded by North Birmingham district health authority in line with its standing financial instructions. Quotations for the human resources project were invited from five organisations and one individual. The contract was awarded to the lowest priced tender.

  Charing Cross Hospital
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when the last structural survey of Charing Cross hospital in London was completed;

  (2) if there was any evidence of concrete fatigue in the last structural survey of Charing Cross hospital in London.

  Mr. Sackville
  This is a matter for the North West Thames regional health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact Sir William Doughty, chairman of the regional health authority for details.

  Heart Attacks
  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has of the number of deaths each year following a heart attack.

  Mr. Sackville
  Information for 1988–92 is shown in the table.

  Number of deaths following a heart attack 1(1CD's 410, 411, 412, 413, 414) in England and Wales 1988–92

  ICD's

  Years

  410

  411

  412

  413

  414

  Total

  1988

  96,404

  795

  1

  103

  55,781

  153,084

  1989

  92,466

  610

  0

  71

  57,597

  150,744

  1990

  89,336

  568

  4

  119

  58,132

  148,159

  1991

  87,834

  504

  3

  120

  61,629

  150,090

  1992

  82,932

  463

  0

  125

  62,384

  145,904

  1International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision.

  410 Acute myocardial infarction.
  482
  411 Other acute and subacute forms of ischaemic heart disease.

  412 Old myocardial infarction.

  413 Angina pectoris.

  414 Other forms of chronic heart disease.

  Registered Homes Act 1984
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what statistics she collects on the operation of the Registered Homes Act 1984; and if she will publish them.

  Mr. Bowis
  The Department collects information on the number of homes registered under the Registered Homes Act 1984 as at 31 March each year. This relates to registered residential care homes, registered nursing homes and homes registered both as residential homes and nursing homes.

  Information on registered residential care homes is published annually in "Residential Accommodation for Elderly and for Younger Physically Disabled People: All Residents in Local Authority, Voluntary and Private Homes England" and "Residential Accommodation for mentally ill people and people with learning disabilities: Number of local authority, voluntary and private homes and places England".

  For registered nursing homes the information is published annually in "Private Hospitals, Homes and Clinics Registered Under Section 23 of the Registered Homes Act".

  Copies of these publications are available in the Library.

  Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the number of sampling points and the frequency of sampling in each district health authority where samples have been taken to test for the incidence of paralytic shellfish poisoning for the last 24 months; and what have been the results.

  Mr. Jack
  I have been asked to reply.

  Samples of mussels have been taken by environmental health officers for many years from the NE coast of England, where PSP is known to occur seasonally from April to September. Sampling begins fortnightly in April from eight sites from Berwick-on-Tweed to Bridlington, increasing at the height of the season to sampling from each site every week. Results followed the expected

  483
  pattern in 1992 and 1993, peaking at 148·2 microgrammes of Saxitoxin equivalent/100g in June 1992 and 1,587·5 microgrammes of Saxitoxin equivalent/100g in May 1993.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

  Market Testing
  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give details of the savings achieved by the competing for quality programme; on what basis he has calculated the figure; and whether this figure was offset against the total cost of the market-testing programme.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  In the 18 months to September 1993, provisional estimates suggest the programme will lead to savings of approximately £100 million of savings per year.

  This figure is the difference between the annual cost of activities before testing and their annual cost afterwards,
  484
  taking account of the redundancy and other costs attributable to the individual market tests. Where costs before testing have not been reported, no savings have been attributed.

  European Parliament (Administration)
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what errors there were in the information the Cabinet Office communicated to candidates for the European Parliament open competition mentioned in his answer of 14 June,Official Report, column 398, on the status of their application for these posts; and what communication he will make to those candidates with regard to the status of their application.

  Mr. Davis
  I am unaware of any errors in the information given by the Cabinet Office to candidates for this competition but I would be happy to look into any specific case brought to my attention.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Radioactive Waste
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will seek from his Italian counterpart a copy of the report prepared by the Italian Nuclear Regulatory Authorities—DISP—evaluating the readiness of Italian nuclear waste storage facilities to receive back reprocessing radioactive wastes from Sellafield.

  Mr. Eggar
  Arrangements for the return of waste are, in the first instance, a matter for British Nuclear Fuels plc and its customers in line with the contracts between them. These arrangements are supported by inter-governmental letters. Since 1976, BNFL's contracts for the reprocessing of overseas spent fuel have contained options for the return of wastes. The Government intend that these options will be exercised and wastes returned.

  Textiles
  Sir David Knox
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will give details of the current average rates of import duties and other restrictions on both textile and clothing products in the United States of America, Australia, South Africa, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Lithuania, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Philippines, Mexico, Argentina and South Korea.

  Mr. Needham
  A table showing import duty rates and remarks on restrictions for textiles and clothing products in the 16 named countries follows.

  In most cases a minimum and maximum rate are shown instead of an average duty rate because textile and clothing products cover a large range of tariff headings. Duty rates for a number of countries are likely to change as a consequence of the Uruguay round agreement. Further information on restrictions may be available from United Kingdom Posts overseas; to check this would have incurred disproportionate costs.

  Duty rate (per cent.)

  Remarks

  USA

  0-38

  38per cent. plus 48·5c/Kg

  No restrictions for United Kingdom textiles.

  Australia

  3-34

  No restrictions. Quota system finished.

  South Africa

  Textiles: Duty calculated on weight, 10 Rand per kilogram, or value, 50 per cent. of total consignment value (FOB), whichever is the greater. Surcharge of 5 per cent.

  Clothing: Duty calculated on weight, 50 Rand per kilogram, or value, 100 per cent. of total consignment value, which-ever is the greater. Surcharge of 15 per cent.

  Quotas are in place but have not been reached.

  China

  3-100

  No known restrictions.

  India

  Textiles: 85 per cent. plus 35 per cent. central excise tariff. Import licence required.

  Clothing: Imports banned.

  486

  Duty rate (per cent.)

  Remarks

  Pakistan

  (a) 95

  (a) Does not include manufacturing tax.

  (b) 110

  (b) Includes manufacturing tax.

  No known restrictions.

  Indonesia

  5-45

  Licensing requirements.

  Sri Lanka

  10-50

  No known restrictions.

  Brazil

  10-20

  No known restrictions.

  Lithuania

  15

  No known restrictions.

  Malaysia

  (a) 2-30

  (a) Textiles: some products have sales tax 10 per cent. and 5 per cent. Surtax.

  (b) 25-35

  (b) Clothing: 10 per cent. sales tax and 5 per cent. surtax for a majority of imports.

  No other restrictions.

  Bulgaria

  5-25

  Temporary import surcharge on all goods of 3 per cent. 1993, 2 per cent. 1994

  Philippines

  3-50

  No restrictions.

  Mexico

  5-20

  Certificate of origin and labelling requirements.

  Argentina

  15-20

  No restrictions.

  South Korea

  2-10

  No restrictions.

  Export Licences
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 25 November,Official Report, columns 252-53, if he will publish a table showing the number of export licences (a) approved and (b) refused in each year since 1984 under the heading ML7, relating to military defence against biological agents.

  Mr. Needham
  Export licences(a) approved and (b) refused for goods under the heading ML7 from 1992 to 8 December 1993 are as follows:

  Year

  Number

  (a)

  1992

  310

  1993

  206

  (b)

  1992

  2

  1993

  0

  ML7 is an entry in the Export of Goods (Control) Order which includes controls on biological agents themselves, as well as equipment for military defence against them. Records of export licences are kept for seven years. It would be possible for the precise information requested covering the period 1986 to date to be provided, but only at a disproportionate cost.

  Government Car Service
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the annual cost to the Department of the car service for Ministers in 1990–91; and how many vehicles were involved.
  487
  Mr. Eggar
  The annual cost in 1990–91 of the car service for Ministers was £223,966 (including VAT), for five cars.

  Nuclear Safety
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what responsibilities fall on British Nuclear Fuels to cover the full costs of application of(a) Euratom safeguards, (b) International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and (c) safeguards, pursuant to Cmnd 6730, at (i) the Magnox reprocessing line and (ii) the thermal oxide reprocessing line at Sellafield.

  Mr. Eggar
  In accordance with the Euratom treaty and the statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the costs of the application of safeguards by these two bodies are met through the contributions made to their budgets by their member states.

  Enforcement Agencies Code
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 2 December,Official Report, column 738, on the publication of a code for enforcement agencies, what estimate he has made of the cost of publication by the agencies of their own codes of practice.

  Mr. Neil Hamilton
  Deregulation Ministers are responsible for ensuring that enforcement agencies publish their own codes of practice setting out how they have met the principles in "Working with Business: a code for enforcement agencies". Therefore, it is for Departmental Deregulation Ministers to determine what resources should be devoted to publication of the codes of practice taking into account the size and nature of the business community with whom each of the enforcement agencies deal.

  Atomic Energy Authority
  Mr. Mills
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the current level of public funding of the Atomic Energy Authority; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Eggar
  The Atomic Energy Authority operates as a trading fund and does not receive grant in aid from the Government. The Atomic Energy Authority currently has outstanding long-term borrowing from the national loans fund of £124·4 million. It is intended that the Atomic Energy Authority's borrowing should progressively decrease over the public expenditure planning period. In 1992–93 approximately £320 million of the Atomic Energy Authority's turnover came from work undertaken for Government Departments and other public sector organisations. Where practicable work for the Government is increasingly subject to competition in line with Government policy.

  Business Licences
  Sir Donald Thompson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the business licence requirements which the Government have reviewed since 1990.

  Mr. Neil Hamilton
  All regulations affecting business, including licensing requirements are currently under review as part of the deregulation initiative. No information has been centrally collected on reviews of business licensing prior to the current exercise.

  Statistical Forms
  Sir Donald Thompson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action has been taken to identify the potential for limiting the burden of statistical form filling on business.

  Mr. Neil Hamilton
  Government Departments are reviewing the forms they issue to business as part of their overall review of regulations which affect industry. The deregulation task forces have also been looking at how the burden of form filling can be reduced and have made a number of proposals which we are considering.

  THORP
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 3 December,Official Report, column 766, for what period of time the THORP receipt and storage pond at Sellafield has been designated for safeguards inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

  Mr. Eggar
  No time scale has been set.

  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the level 4 uranium commissioning at THORP has been completed; and what modifications have been demanded by the nuclear installations inspectorate before commissioning can proceed to level 5.

  Mr. Eggar
  [holding answer 9 December 1993]: Progress on level 4 commissioning of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant is a matter for British Nuclear Fuels plc. Level 5 commissioning can commence only if the new discharge authorisations for Sellafield are granted and the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate is satisfied as to its safety.

  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what economic costs expressed in net present value term were estimated by Touche Ross for a two-year delay in THORP to (i) the United Kingdom economy, (ii) BNFL and (iii) overseas customers.

  Mr. Eggar
  [holding answer 9 December 1993]: I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Hertfordshire, South-West (Mr. Page) on 15 April 1993, Official Report, column 680.

  Departmental Office, Teesside
  Mr. Bates
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to establish a permanent office of the DTI on Teesside.

  Mr. Eggar
  The DTI already has an office in Billingham.

  Tourism
  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how he intends to clarify the EC Package Travel Regulations for the United Kingdom tourist industry.

  Mr. Neil Hamilton
  All guidance issued by my Department is kept under review and we will be considering what revisions to make to the guidance notes on the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 in the light of recommendations from the retail, tourism and services deregulations task force.

  Frogs' Legs
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the quantities and country of origin of frogs' legs imported into the United Kingdom in each of the last five years.

  Mr. Needham
  The available information is given in the following table.

  United Kingdom imports of frogs' legs

  (metric tonnes)

  Country of origin

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  1992

  France

  31·6

  8·6

  2·5

  5·6

  4·9

  Belgium-Luxembourg

  11·7

  10·1

  9·8

  8·6

  6·4

  Netherlands

  0·6

  6·4

  3·9

  4·7

  0·9

  Bangladesh

  —

  —

  —

  —

  3·2

  Indonesia

  16·2

  11·4

  12·6

  10·2

  7·3

  Total

  60·2

  36·4

  28·7

  29·1

  22·8

  Note: Frogs' legs are classified as heading 012.92 of the Standard International Trade Classification.

  Accounts Services Agency
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much operating surplus has been surrendered by the Accounts Services Agency to the Exchequer each year since 1991; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Eggar
  None.

  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will retain in the public sector the Accounts Services Agency; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Eggar
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hertfordshire, North (Mr. Heald) on 29 October,Official Report, column 805. The review of the Accounts Services Agency has yet to be concluded. In due course a decision will be taken and an announcement made.

  Sizewell B
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will ensure that the Sizewell B nuclear power station will be provided with containment which is demonstrated to be no less effective than the containment provided for test explosions of nuclear weapons; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) what estimate he has made of the consequences of a disruptive explosion of the reactor pressure vessel of the Sizewell B nuclear power station in terms of (a) the total value today of expected losses and (b) the total numbers of injuries and premature deaths; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Eggar
  All aspects of the Sizewell B pressurised water reactor (PWR) design including the operational safety of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and containment building, and the possibility of the catastrophic failure of the RPV were carefully scrutinised by eminent independent assessors during the extensive public inquiry into the Sizewell B proposal. These matters are further re-examined at the public inquiry for Hinkley Point C when a similar design of PWR to that for Sizewell B was proposed. The conclusion of both inquiries was that the possibility of RPV explosion was extremely 490
  remote. Moreover, Sizewell B has been built to a very high technical standard and the independent Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate will not consent to its operation if they are not completely satisfied that it is safe to do so.

  Electricity
  Mrs. Ann Winterton
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the total(a) value and (b) number of kilowatt hours of electricity supplied to the United Kingdom by Electricité de France in each year since such supplies commenced.

  Mr. Eggar
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: The net amount and value of electricity supplied to the United Kingdom from France has been as follows. Estimates of value since April 1990 are based on prevailing pool prices.

  Value £ million

  Volume TWh

  1986

  80

  4·3

  1987

  242

  11·6

  1988

  268

  12·8

  1989

  305

  12·6

  1990

  200

  11·9

  1991

  343

  16·4

  1992

  369

  16·7

  Source: United Kingdom Digest of Energy Statistics: 1993, tables 49 and 66; 1992, tables 48 and 65; 1991, tables 50 and 66.

  Mrs. Ann Winterton
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what projections he has made of the(a) value and (b) volume of electricity which is expected to be imported from France in each of the next 10 years for which figures are available.

  Mr. Eggar
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: A description of how trade across the interconnector with France was expected to develop in the foreseeable future was given in the Government's Coal Review White Paper (Cm. 2235), paragraphs 7.100 to 7.101.

  Mrs. Ann Winterton
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will make it his policy to cease to import electricity from France; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) if he will commission an independent report into the total employment effect, implications for the balance of payments, and impact upon Exchequer revenues and social security spending which have occurred or which will occur in the future as a result of the importation of electricity from France.

  Mr. Eggar
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: The Government's policy towards trade in electricity across the interconnector was set out in chapter 7 of the Government's Coal Review White Paper (Cm. 2235).

  Mrs. Ann Winterton
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what information he has concerning the percentage of electricity produced in each member country of the European Community from(a) nuclear, (b) coal, (c) gas, (d) orimulsion, (e) oil, (f) hydroelectric and (g) other powered generators.

  Mr. Eggar
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: The information requested is shown in the following table. Separate figures for orimulsion are not available.
  491

  Total Net Production of Electrical Energy in 1991

  Per cent

  Nuclear

  Coal

  Gas1

  Oi12

  Hydro-electricity3

  Other4

  Belgium

  59·7

  22·9

  12·4

  2·5

  1·4

  1·1

  Denmark

  —

  90·9

  2·4

  3·7

  2·3

  0·7

  Germany

  27·9

  56·6

  8·4

  2·7

  3·6

  0·9

  Greece

  —

  65·7

  0·3

  24·5

  9·6

  —

  Spain

  35·9

  37·1

  1·5

  6·4

  18·8

  0·4

  France

  72·7

  8·6

  1·4

  3·1

  14·0

  0·2

  Ireland

  —

  552·6

  24·7

  16·0

  6·7

  —

  Italy

  —

  12·7

  17·4

  46·5

  21·4

  2·1

  Luxembourg

  —

  —

  38·8

  1·8

  56·8

  2·7

  Netherlands

  4·4

  30·6

  59·0

  4·6

  0·2

  1·4

  Portugal

  —

  32·3

  0·2

  33·3

  31·5

  2·7

  United Kingdom

  20·8

  65·2

  1·8

  9·5

  2·0

  0·8

  Source: Eurostat: Energy-Yearly Statistics

  1 includes both natural gas and derived gases such as coke oven gas and blast furnace gas.

  2 includes Orimulsion.

  3 includes production from pumped storage stations.

  4 includes wood, peat (except in Ireland), industrial residues and geothermal. 5 Irish figure includes peat.

  Mrs. Ann Winterton
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he last met representatives of Electricité de France; and what was said at that meeting.

  Mr. Eggar
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: I met the French Industry Minister, M. Longuet, in the summer. We discussed the liberalisation of the French energy market, opportunities for United Kingdom generators to export to and through France, and the levy-exempt status of Electricité de France's electricity exports to the United Kingdom.

WALES

  Forestry
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which of the woods owned by the Forestry Commission in Wales are now for sale; which have been sold; and what is the amount of sales receipts so far.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  The following areas of forest land in Wales are currently being offered for sale on the open market by the Forestry Commission.

  County

  Name

  Area (hectares)

  Clwyd

  Nantyffrith

  111

  Dyfed

  Allt Cil y Llyn Fawr

  3

  Allt Crychdu

  18

  Allt Fawr

  7

  Allt Llwyn Dyfrion

  11

  Allt y Down/Allt Pant Lleuci

  16

  Allt y Fergwm

  23

  Bwlch Newydd

  8

  Bylchau Duon

  62

  Cefn Eithin

  5

  Cilfowyr

  3

  Cilgwyn Wood

  11

  Coed Cefn Pwll Hen

  20

  Coed Ffridd Cwmere

  20

  Court Wood

  19

  Cynheidre Uchaf

  24

  Fforest

  22

  Glanteifi

  3

  Havod Wood

  12

  Llwyn y Gwair

  14

  Lon Isaf

  7

  492

  County

  Name

  Area (hectares)

  Maestwynog

  12

  Pencwm Fawr

  9

  Penhill Wood

  4

  Penrallt Ddu

  13

  Pont Eynon and Allt y Forlan

  29

  Pont Henri

  14

  Portis Pant

  30

  TY'r Shyme

  7

  Waun Baglan Woods

  26

  Gwent

  Craig y Merchant

  24

  Tyllys

  12

  Ty Fry Big Wood

  17

  Llandafal Wood

  10

  Gwynedd

  Code Ty Uchaf

  15

  Coed Dyfi

  17

  Glyn Estate

  49

  Powys

  Great Wood

  9

  Pwll Llydan

  31

  Tirabad

  2

  South Glamorgan

  Breach Wood

  9

  West Glamorgan

  Blaen y Cwm

  32

  Bryn Liefrith

  26

  Craig Ynysgollen

  10

  Gelligaer

  33

  Nant y Stalwyn

  44

  Tir y Gof

  47

  Lists giving details of the areas of forest land sold by the Forestry Commission from the start of the disposals programme in July 1981 to December 1992 are held in the Library of the House. A list of the forest land sold by the Commission in 1993 will be drawn up and placed in the Library of the House in the new year.

  The receipts from the sales of forest land in Wales from July 1981 to 31 March 1993 were £18 million.

  School Pupils
  Mr. Richards
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1)if he will give a percentage breakdown of all subjects attempted at A-level during each of the last three years in English-medium schools in Wales, in Welsh-medium schools and in bilingual schools in Wales;
  493
  (2) what was the proportion of passes in each grade for each subject attempted at A-level during each of the last three years in English-medium schools in Wales, Welsh-medium schools and in bilingual schools in Wales.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  Information is not collected in the form requested. Maintained secondary schools are designated as either Welsh speaking or not under the Education Reform Act 1988. Tables giving information on the proportion of passes at each grade for A level and a percentage breakdown for each subject for Welsh speaking and non Welsh speaking schools for available years has been placed in the Library of the House.

  Mr. Richards
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of children from(a) Welsh-medium schools, (b) English-medium schools and (c) bilingual schools went on to university; what proportion of those undertook to read mathematics or science; and if he will give comparable data for English-medium schools in Wales and bilingual schools.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  The information is not available in the form requested. Maintained secondary schools are classified as either Welsh speaking or not Welsh speaking under the Education Reform Act 1988. In 1991–92, 25 per cent. of all pupils leaving Welsh speaking schools and 18 per cent. of those leaving schools not designated as Welsh speaking entered higher education institutions. Information is not collected on the subjects which pupils intend to study.

  Cormorants
  Sir Cranley Onslow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many applications his Department has received in the last 12 months for licences to control the number of cormorant on Welsh fisheries; and how many of these have been approved.

  Mr. Redwood
  Four applications have been received in the last 12 months; three have been rejected and one is under consideration.

  Crickhowell Bypass
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the current level of financial commitment for the employment of consultants for the investigation into the Crickhowell bypass scheme; and if he will make a statement.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  Some £593,000 has been expended since mid-1989 on fees and expenses to consultants employed for the two public consultations and the preparation of the necessary engineering, environmental, archaeological and town planning studies in connection with this scheme.

  All views expressed following the recent public consultation are being carefully considered before a decision is taken on whether or not to proceed with any of the published routes.

  Trawsfynydd
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will reverse the decision to allow Nuclear Electric plc to burn radioactive waste oil and other contaminated materials at Trawsfynydd; and if he will make a statement.
  494
  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  No, my right hon. Friend sees no grounds for doing so, especially as high temperature incineration is widely accepted to be the most suitable environmental option for this type of waste.

  Opencast Coal Mines
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy in respect of the construction of opencast coal mines in sites of special scientific interest, with particular reference to the proximity of national parks; what such proposals he has recently received; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Redwood
  Minerals Planning Guidance Note 3, "Opencast Coal Mining", advises that opencast coal proposals in sites of special scientific interest or affecting national parks should be subject to a most rigorous examination. Currently there are no proposals before me for determination.

  Forestry Commission Land
  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list, for each separate piece of land currently owned or leased by the Forestry Commission in Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and West Glamorgan(a) its land and (b) its area in hectares; and whether he will place a map in the Library which names and identifies each of these pieces of land.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 8 December 1993 at columns 237-238.

  Nuclear Industry
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to place on the agenda of the European Union Heads of Government summit meeting in Brussels on 10 to 11 December the matter of nuclear reprocessing and plutonium stockpiles in the European Community.

  Mr. Eggar
  I have been asked to reply.

  No.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Child Support Agency
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the policy of the Child Support Agency in respect of payments to children whose fathers are dead.

  Mr. Burt
  Child support legislation is applicable only where there is an absent parent. Where a child's natural or adoptive father is dead, no application for child support maintenance can be made.

  Government Car Service
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the annual cost to the Department of the car service for Ministers in 1990–91; and how many vehicles were involved.

  Mr. Hague
  Five vehicles were provided and the net cost, exclusive of VAT, was £209,989.

  Child Benefit
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much money families will receive in total in child benefit this year; and how much more would have been received if the number of children were the same as in 1979.

  Mr. Burt
  It is estimated that families will receive about £6 billion in total in child benefit in 1993–94 and that a further £500 million would have been received if the number of children were the same as in 1978–79.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on what dates since 1978 there has been an announcement of change in the level of child benefit; when each change came into effect; and by which Minister each change was announced.

  Mr. Burt
  The information is in the table.

  Announced by

  Date of announcement

  Effective date of change

  Secretary of State for Social Security1

  12 April 1978

  13 November 1978 and 2 April 1979

  Chancellor of the Exchequer

  26 March 1980

  24 November 1980

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  11 March 1981

  23 November 1981

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  10 March 1982

  22 November 1982

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  23 June 1983

  21 November 1983

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  18 June 1984

  26 November 1984

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  18 June 1985

  25 November 1985

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  24 February 1986

  28 July 1986

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  22 October 1986

  6 April 1987

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  24 October 1990

  8 April 1991

  Chancellor of the Exchequer

  19 March 1991

  7 October 1991

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  21 October 1991

  6 April 1992

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  21 November 1992

  12 April 1993

  Secretary of State for Social Security

  1 December 1993

  11 April 1994

  1Labour administration.

  Mrs. Ann Winterton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases to date have been considered by the Child Support Agency; how many and what percentage of those cases have resulted in the establishment of new financial support arrangements; and in how many and what percentage of those cases a court maintenance order was already in operation.

  Mr. Burt
  The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to my hon. Friend.

  Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mrs. Ann Winterton, dated 10 December 1993:
  I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking questions about the operations of the Child Support Agency.
  To 31 October 1993, the Agency has processed over 107,000 cases. Of these, 47,000 (44% of the total) have resulted in the arrangement of maintenance. Figures are not not kept on the proportion of these cases in which a court order for maintenance
  496
  was already in operation. We estimate, however, that about 50% of cases taken on by 31 October were already receiving maintenance.
  I hope you will find this reply helpful.

  Incapacity Benefit
  Mr. Henderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how the planned changes to incapacity benefit will affect the entitlements of patients who suffer from severe heart conditions and strokes.

  Mr. Scott
  A new, more objective, medical test of incapacity for work will apply to claims for incapacity benefit. The new test will assess, on a case-by-case basis, the incapacitating nature of a condition or combinations of conditions on the ability to work. Specific medical conditions such as strokes can have a wide range of effects from severe to very mild. We expect that those with more severe conditions would satisfy the test.

  Unemployment Benefit
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will consider reintroducing earnings-related unemployment benefits; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hague
  The Government have no plans to reintroduce earnings-related unemployment benefit.

  Official Travel
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 23 November,Official Report, column 35, which company arranges travel for his officials; and what form bills take if records are kept by mode of travel only.

  Mr. Hague
  Wagon-Lits Travel Ltd. is the approved contractor for business travel by officials of the Department. The company presents its bills in two forms. Each month, a list of all travel transactions is provided in invoice date order together with cost centre analyses of individual expenditure for internal accounting purposes.

  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on how many occasions and at what cost to public funds officials have visited his private residence in France.

  Mr. Hague
  Department of Social Security officials have visited the house of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in France on one occasion. The cost of the visit was £449·24.

  Family Credit
  Ms Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a table showing the number of families receiving family credit per week of(a) less than £100, (b) between £100 and £120, (c) between £120 and £140, (d) between £140 and £150, (e) between £150 and £160, (f) between £160 and £180, (g) between £180 and £200, (h) between £200 and £250 and (i) over £300; and in each category how many he expects will gain (i) nothing, (ii) between £0 and £10, (iii) between £10 and £20 and (iv) between £20 and £28 as a result of the proposed changes announced in the Budget statement relating to family credit.

  Mr. Burt
  The information is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is in the table:
  497

  Family credit recipients

  All cases

  Total

  486,720

  Under £100

  480,520

  £100 to £119·99

  4,620

  £120 to £139·99

  1,300

  £140 to £149·99

  180

  £150 to £159·99

  80

  £160 to £179·99

  20

  Note: Awards of Family Credit current at 30 April 1993, analysed by amount of Family Credit in payment. Based on 5 per cent. sample of awards.

  Ms Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will estimate the number of families receiving family credit which he expects will gain(a) nothing, (b) between £0 and £10, (c) between £10 and £20 and (d) between £20 and £28 as a result of the proposed changes announced in the Budget statement relating to family credit;

  (2) how many families he expects to benefit from the change in rules announced in the Budget statement relating to family credit.

  (3) how many more families he expects will be entitled to family credit as a result of the change in rules announced in the Budget statement relating to family credit; and how many of these he expects to gain (a) the full £28 and (b) less than £28.

  Mr. Burt
  We estimate that the assistance with child care costs will give substantial help to 150,000 families. A total of 80,000 families already on family credit will benefit and 20,000 at present just outside the family credit scheme will become entitled. We estimate that 50,000 families presently on income support will be enabled to take up work as a result of the change.

  The amount of increase in the family credit award for those already receiving the benefit will be related to the actual child care costs up to a maximum of £40 which they incur.

  Ms Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many families receiving family credit have(a) two parents with (i) one child, (ii) two children, (iii) three children and (iv) four children or more and (b) one parent with (i) one child, (ii) two children, (iii) three children and (iv) four children or more; and if he will estimate how many in each category will gain (1) nothing, (2) between £0 to £10, (3) between £10 to £20 and (4) between £20 to £28 as a result of the proposed changes to family credit announced in the Budget.

  Mr. Burt
  The information is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is in the table:

  Family credit recipients

  Couples

  Singles

  All cases

  With one child

  72,220

  106,240

  178,460

  With two children

  106,700

  71,840

  178,540

  With three children

  64,040

  21,460

  85,500

  With four or more children

  37,880

  6,340

  44,220

  Total

  280,840

  205,880

  486,720

  Note: Awards of family credit current at 30 April 1993, analysed by family size and type. Based on 5 per cent. sample of awards.

  Income Support
  Mr. Bendel
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many persons without accommodation claimed income support in the Newbury constituency in each month between December 1992 and November 1993.

  Mr. Burt
  I am informed by Mr. Michael Bichard, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Child Care
  Ms Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many families receiving family credit currently make child care arrangements by(a) child minding, (b) playgroups, (c) workplace nurseries, (d) nurseries and (e) a nanny; and what information he has on the costs of each type of arrangement.

  Mr. Burt
  Information about the child care arrangements of families receiving family credit is not available. Information about families in general is in the tables and further elaborated in the sources quoted, copies of which are in the Library.

  Weekly cost of child care

  Working parents group

  Percentage that pay

  Average weekly cost £

  All working parents

  23

  30·70

  Working couples

  22

  32·40

  Working lone parents

  29

  24·60

  Low income working lone parents

  Percentage that pay

  Average weekly cost £

  Lone parents

  19

  N/a

  Lone parents working full-time

  27

  21·50

  N/a—Not available.

  Cost of professional1 child care All working parents

  Type of care used

  Average weekly cost £

  Professional care as sole method

  42·40

  Two methods of child care, professional/non-professional

  30·00

  1"Professional"—not care provided by friends and relatives.

  Sources:

  PSI reports—Families, Work and the Use of Childcare (Employment Gazette, August 1993.)

  Families, Work and Benefits (September 1993).

HOUSE OF COMMONS

  Policing
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission what is the annual amount paid by the House of Commons administration for the supply of police cover.
  499
  Mr. Beith
  The estimate for the provision of security services to the House of Commons in the current financial year is £9·82 million—a figure which the hon. Member will find on page 7 of the Commission's annual report, published earlier this year.

  Health and Safety Training
  Mrs. Bridget Prentice
  To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission what representations he has received about health and safety training for staff of the House of Commons.

  Mr. Beith
  Since last May I have replied to five questions tabled on this and similar issues related to health and safety. I have received no other representations. A number of training schemes have been organised by House Departments or are in prospect.

  European Legislation
  Sir Teddy Taylor
  To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will review the arrangements for considering EC legislation; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Newton
  I have no plans to do so.

  Recesses
  Mr. Barnes
  To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will give the figures for the total lengths of recesses in each parliamentary Session since 1979; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Newton
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick).

  The table sets out sitting and non-sitting days since 1979.

  Sitting and non-sitting days since 1979 (Calendar years)

  Sitting days

  Non-sitting days

  1979

  146

  1107

  1980

  173

  81

  1981

  177

  76

  1982

  175

  78

  1983

  154

  199

  1984

  171

  83

  1985

  171

  82

  1986

  166

  87

  1987

  150

  1103

  1988

  173

  81

  1989

  176

  77

  1990

  176

  77

  1991

  165

  88

  1992

  148

  1106

  1993

  165

  88

  Average

  166

  88

  1 General election year.

  Sitting days (By session)

  Number of days

  1979–80

  244

  1980–81

  163

  1981–82

  174

  500

  Number of days

  1982–83

  115

  1983–84

  213

  1984–85

  172

  1985–86

  172

  1986–87

  109

  1987–88

  218

  1988–89

  175

  1989–90

  167

  1990–91

  160

  1991–92

  83

  1992–93

  240

  Average

  172

  Note: It is assumed that weekends and bank holidays account for 112 days each year.

  Motions and Questions
  Mr. Rooker
  To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will bring forward proposals to allow hon. Members to table early-day motions and written questions during the parliamentary recesses.

  Mr. Newton
  I have no plans to do so but the hon. Member may in the first instance wish to put his suggestions to the Procedure Committee.

  Sitting Days
  Mr. Austin-Walker
  To ask the Lord President of the Council what is the number of days that the House sat in each parliamentary Session since 1979; and the number of days that the House was in recess.

  Mr. Newton
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick).

  Mice
  Mr. Gunnell
  To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee how much has been spent on the attempts to eradicate the presence of mice from the public rooms of the Palace of Westminster.

  Mr. Ray Powell
  This is a matter for the Director of Works; I shall ask him to write to my hon. Friend.

  Chairs
  Mr. David Evans
  To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what is the cost of putting out and removing chairs within the precincts of the House of Commons; and how many contractors there are.

  Mr. Ray Powell
  This is a matter for the Director of Works.

  Dining Rooms (Standards of Dress)
  Mr. Dowd
  To ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee what representations have been received concerning standards of dress in the Strangers' Dining Room and Churchill Room.

  Mr. Colin Shepherd
  Numerous complaints have been received from hon. Members concerning the standards of dress of a few users of the Strangers Dining Room and the
  501
  Churchill Room. The Catering Committee considered this matter at its meeting on 16 June and laid down the following dress code to be observed by gentleman Members and male guests in these two dining rooms:

  Jackets to be worn except in unbearably hot weather.

  Ties to be worn at all times.

  No jeans to be worn.

  Visitors' Facilities
  Mr. Bill Michie
  To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if he will list the facilities available to visitors to the House(a) when the House is sitting and (b) when the House is in recess; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Michael Martin
  A detailed description of the facilities available for visitors to the House on sitting and non-sitting days is contained in various leaflets issued by the Serjeant of Arms, and principally that entitled "Regulations for Visitors". These leaflets are reprinted in the Members' handbook.

  Strangers Gallery
  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if he has plans to increase the number of seats available to members of the public in the Strangers' Gallery.

  Mr. Michael J. Martin
  There are no such plans at present. However, the hon. Member may wish to write to me with any specific point of concern he has about the Strangers Gallery.

  Fire Certificates
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee when was the last time the Houses of Parliament received a fire certificate; what have been the reasons for refusals since; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Ray Powell
  A fire certificate was last issued to the Houses of Parliament in 1969. Since then no certificate has been applied for or refused. A programme of work on fire precautionary measures is progressing in order that a new certificate may be issued in the coming year.

  Value Added Tax
  Mr. David Evans
  To ask the Lord President of the Council what happens to the VAT reclaimed by the Fees Office on items of expenditure paid for by hon. Members from the office costs allowance.

  Mr. Newton
  The Fees Office do not reclaim VAT paid by hon. Members on expenditure paid by them from their office costs allowance.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement regarding the long-term future of HLCA grants.

  Mr. Jack
  The terms and conditions of hill livestock compensatory allowances will continue to be reviewed annually in the context of the autumn review of economic conditions in the hills and uplands.

  Badgers
  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will show the number of badgers shot and gassed in each of the last three years in each county in the south-west region; and how many of these badgers were subsequently shown to have tuberculosis.

  Mr. Soames
  The numbers of badgers shot in the year to date and in the previous three years in each county in the south-west of England, and the numbers of badgers that were subsequently shown to be positive for tuberculosis—M. bovis—are as follows. Gassing has not been used as a means of controlling badgers since 1982.

  1990

  Number shot

  Number positive for M.bovis

  Avon

  55

  13

  Cornwall

  385

  63

  Devon

  188

  45

  Dorset

  7

  2

  Gloucester

  109

  27

  Somerset

  17

  —

  Wiltshire

  3

  —

  TOTALS

  764

  150

  19·6 per cent.

  1991

  Number shot

  Number positive for M.bovis

  Avon

  55

  17

  Cornwall

  422

  75

  Devon

  159

  20

  Dorset

  49

  2

  Gloucester

  75

  12

  Somerset

  —

  —

  Wiltshire

  178

  34

  TOTALS

  938

  160

  17 per cent.

  1992

  Number shot

  Number positive for M.bovis

  Avon

  159

  38

  Cornwall

  470

  68

  Devon

  162

  35

  Dorset

  —

  —

  Gloucester

  96

  38

  Somerset

  —

  —

  Wiltshire

  141

  30

  TOTALS

  1,028

  209

  20·3 per cent.

  19931

  Number shot

  Number positive for M.bovis

  Number of results awaited

  Avon

  118

  24

  3

  Cornwall

  330

  63

  22

  Devon

  119

  33

  29

  Dorset

  49

  8

  —

  503

  Number shot

  Number positive for M.bovis

  Number of results awaited

  Gloucester

  119

  31

  25

  Somerset

  125

  48

  5

  Wiltshire

  125

  28

  39

  TOTALS

  985

  235

  123

  23·8 per cent.

  1 1January to 6 December 1993.

  Agriculture Tenancies
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps she has to retain the 15-year minimum fixed term for agriculture tenancy; and if she will make a statement.

  Mr. Jack
  A statutory minimum term has never featured in our proposals for tenancy reform; nor is it included in the common position agreed by industry organisations last week.

  In the light of that agreement, we shall be going ahead with all the necessary steps so that we shall be ready to introduce legislation as soon as parliamentary time becomes available.

  Departmental Expenditure
  Mr. David Porter
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what spending she plans following the allocation made to her Department in the Budget directly in 1994–95 on(a) sea defence and coast protection, (b) inland drainage and flood protection and (c) supporting the common fisheries policy.

  Mr. Jack
  The information requested on 1994–95 spending plans is as follows:

  £ million

  Grants to the National Rivers Authority sea defence, inland drainage and flood protection

  38·4

  Grants to local authorities coast protection

  26·6

  sea defence, inland drainage and flood protection

  2·1

  Grants to Internal Drainage Boards inland drainage and flood protection

  1·0

  Supporting the Common Fisheries Policy (including market support, degressive withdrawal scheme and flat rate aid scheme)

  2·0

  Forestry Commission Land
  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if she will include Forestry Commission woods in Nottinghamshire in her list of commission land in England for which there is no question of privatisation;

  (2) if she will list all those Forestry Commission landholdings in England for which there will be no question of privatisation.

  Mr. Jack
  [holding answer 25 November 1993]: Forestry Ministers have asked the forestry review group to review options for the ownership and management of
  504
  Forestry Commission woodlands, and to make proposals for changes which would improve the effectiveness of the delivery of the Government's forestry policy objectives, having regard to the Government's other economic and envrionmental policies.

  We will await the advice of the review group before considering what further action, if any, should be taken in respect of the ownership and management of Forestry Commission woodlands.

  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what plans she has to take into account the views of local people, organisations and local authorities in England when deciding which areas of Forestry Commission land will not be privatised;

  (2) what account she takes of the views of local people when confirming that there is no question of privatising particular areas of Forestry Commission land in England.

  Mr. Jack
  [holding answer 25 November 1993]: About 3,000 individuals and 300 organisations have already written to Ministers and the forestry review group, setting out their views. The group is taking full account of these as it prepares its report.

  There will be full consultation of the general public and interested bodies on the options preferred by Ministers before matters are taken forward. The form and timing of consultation will depend on the advice which the review group offers Ministers and what conclusions Ministers draw from that advice.

  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will list, for each separate piece of land currently owned or leased by the Forestry Commission in Hereford and Worcester, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire(a) its name and (b) its area in hectares; and if she will place a map in the Library which names and identifies each of these pieces of land.

  Mr. Jack
  [holding answer 6 December 1993]: The Forestry Commission manages the following areas of land Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire:

  County

  Area (hectares)

  Cheshire

  948

  Cumbria

  26,508

  Lancashire

  1,816

  I have made arrangements for a map showing the location of the individual areas to be placed in the Library as soon as possible.

  The more detailed information requested on the individual areas is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

EMPLOYMENT

  Enterprise Allowances
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many enterprise allowances were granted in each training and enterprise council area and in each standard region in the 1992–93 financial year; in how many such cases the term of the allowance was completed; and in how many cases the enterprise allowance resulted in the continuation of a business after completion.
  505
  Miss Widdecombe
  The business start-up scheme replaced the enterprise allowance scheme in April 1991. Table 1 gives the number of business start-up scheme starts in 1992–93 for each training and enterprise council—TEC —and region in England and Wales.

  Information about whether the period of allowances was completed is not held centrally.

  Information on the continuation of business is not available for individual TECs, but is available regionally from special surveys. The latest figures cover starts in April and May 1991 which were still in business 18 months later in November 1992. These are shown in table 2.

  Table 1

  BSUS: Cumulative starts by TEC 1992–93

  Numbers

  Hampshire

  1,160

  Heart of England

  130

  Isle of Wight

  100

  Kent

  820

  Milton Keynes

  130

  Surrey

  270

  Sussex

  300

  Thames Valley

  450

  REGION TOTAL

  3,370

  AZTEC

  340

  North London

  430

  North West London

  230

  CILNTEC

  440

  Central London

  400

  London East

  310

  SOLOTEC

  680

  West London

  350

  South Thames

  550

  REGION TOTAL

  3,730

  Bedfordshire

  180

  Central and South Cambridgeshire

  180

  Greater Peterborough

  150

  Suffolk

  460

  Norfolk and Waveney

  690

  Essex

  380

  Hertfordshire

  430

  REGION TOTAL

  2,460

  Avon

  320

  Devon/Cornwall

  1,510

  Dorset

  320

  Gloucester

  690

  Somerset

  200

  Wiltshire

  560

  REGION TOTAL

  3,600

  Birmingham

  840

  Central England

  430

  Coventry/Warwickshire

  660

  Dudley

  210

  Hereford and Worcester

  350

  Sandwell

  210

  Shropshire

  280

  Staffordshire

  500

  Walsall

  140

  Wolverhampton

  240

  REGION TOTAL

  3,830

  North Derbyshire

  290

  South Derbyshire

  400

  Leicestershire

  1,020

  Lincolnshire

  610

  Northamptonshire

  380

  Greater Nottinghamshire

  700

  506

  Numbers

  North Nottinghamshire

  440

  REGION TOTAL

  3,830

  Brad ford

  570

  Calderdale/Kirklees

  380

  Humberside

  750

  Leeds

  540

  Rotherham

  300

  Sheffield

  600

  Wakefield

  200

  Barnsley/Doncaster

  780

  North Yorkshire

  980

  REGION TOTAL

  5,100

  Bolton/Bury

  350

  Rochdale

  110

  Stockport/High Peak

  330

  Wigan

  300

  Oldham

  150

  South and East Cheshire

  180

  Central Manchester

  1,020

  REGION TOTAL

  2,440

  North Cheshire

  400

  Merseyside

  1,140

  Cumbria

  350

  East Lancashire

  440

  West Lancashire

  380

  CEWTEC (Cheshire/Wirral)

  480

  QUALITEC (St. Helens)

  220

  REGION TOTAL

  3,410

  County Durham

  570

  Northumberland

  250

  Teesside

  510

  Tyneside

  390

  Wearside

  170

  REGION TOTAL

  1,890

  Gwent

  450

  Mid. Glamorgan

  370

  North East Wales

  170

  North West Wales

  400

  Powys

  190

  South Glamorgan

  300

  West Wales

  800

  REGION TOTAL

  2,680

  Source: TEC Operating Agreement (Annex J) and Welsh Office MIS.
  Note: The sum of TEC total will not necessarily add up to regional totals due to independent rounding.

  Table 2

  BSUS: 18 month business survival rates for starts in April and May 1991 by region

  Survival rates1 (per cent.)

  South East

  73

  London

  71

  South West

  70

  Eastern2

  72

  East Midlands2

  West Midlands

  72

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  72

  Greater Manchester

  68

  North West

  69

  Northern

  76

  Wales

  74

  507
  1 November 1992 survey of people who started in April/May 1991 and were still in business 18 months later.

  2 Due to small sample sizes a combined survival rate is given for the Eastern and East Midlands regions.

  Source: The November 1992 Business Start-Up Scheme 18 Month Follow-Up Survey.

  Unemployed People (Training)
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of people unemployed for over six months each Employment Service regional office has referred to providers of training each month since January.

  By each employment service region, percentage of people unemployed for over six months referred to training providers by month from January to October 1993

  Northern

  Yorks. and Humber.

  East Midlands

  London and South East

  South West

  Wales

  West Midlands

  North West

  Scotland

  January

  2·9

  3·1

  2·1

  2·0

  1·8

  3·0

  2·4

  2·9

  2·7

  February

  2·7

  2·6

  2·0

  1·9

  1·6

  2·6

  2·2

  2·6

  2·6

  March

  2·2

  2·1

  1·6

  1·5

  1·1

  1·7

  1·9

  2·0

  2·0

  April

  2·6

  2·4

  1·6

  1·4

  2·1

  1·9

  1·9

  1·8

  1·8

  May

  2·4

  2·2

  1·5

  1·5

  1·9

  1·7

  1·9

  1·7

  1·8

  June

  2·3

  2·2

  1·6

  1·5

  1·9

  1·7

  1·8

  2·0

  2·0

  July

  2·9

  2·7

  2·1

  1·8

  2·6

  2·2

  2·2

  2·4

  2·6

  August

  2·2

  2·3

  1·8

  1·6

  2·1

  1·7

  1·9

  2·0

  2·2

  September

  2·3

  2·1

  1·7

  1·5

  2·0

  2·5

  2·0

  1·9

  2·4

  October

  3·2

  2·0

  2·2

  2·0

  2·6

  2·2

  2·4

  2·6

  2·9

  Sources: 1. Employment Service

  2. NOMIS.

  Note:—Training For Work replaced Employment Training and Employment Action in April of this year. The figures for January-March 1993 are the recorded referrals to Employment Training and Employment Action.

  Training and Enterprise Councils
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his policy in respect of the surplus revenue over expenditure which is being held by training and enterprise councils.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Training and enterprise councils —TECs—need reserves to protect the viability of their businesses. Beyond that, TECs are required to use their efficiency savings to further the objectives of their corporate plans and business plans. I know that many TECs have plans for spending their reserves effectively.

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  Cash terms

  Cash terms

  Real terms

  Real terms

  Cash terms

  Real terms

  Real terms

  £ million

  £ million

  £ million

  +/- Percent.

  £ million

  £ million

  +/- Per cent.

  Hampshire

  32·00

  34·13

  32·87

  2·71

  35·63

  33·23

  1·11

  Heart of England

  10·50

  12·18

  11·73

  11·71

  11·89

  11·09

  -5·49

  Isle of Wight

  4·30

  4·26

  4·10

  -4·59

  4·34

  4·04

  -1·44

  Kent

  31·60

  35·13

  33·83

  7·06

  39·36

  36·71

  8·51

  Milton Keynes/North Buckinghamshire

  7·10

  8·04

  7·74

  9·05

  10·12

  9·44

  21·96

  Surrey

  13·0

  13·83

  13·32

  0·14

  14·07

  13·13

  -1·44

  Sussex

  24·20

  27·16

  26·16

  8·08

  26·95

  25·13

  -3·91

  Thames Valley Enterprise

  19·60

  21·21

  20·43

  4·21

  27·45

  25·60

  25·34

  AZTEC

  11·10

  11·73

  11·30

  1·77

  14·45

  13·47

  19·29

  CENTEC

  12·70

  24·24

  23·34

  83·81

  28·58

  26·66

  14·20

  CILNTEC

  9·10

  22·62

  21·78

  139·38

  27·06

  25·24

  15·87

  LETEC

  28·70

  35·90

  34·57

  20·46

  44·42

  41·43

  19·83

  North London

  10·40

  18·92

  18·22

  75·20

  21·98

  20·50

  12·54

  508
  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Andrew Hunter, dated 13 December 1993.
  The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your Question about referrals to providers of training.
  The information you requested is set out in the attached table.
  I should explain that people who are unemployed for six months are interviewed by a Client Adviser (and at six month intervals thereafter should they remain unemployed). At this interview their employment needs are discussed with a view to helping them back to work by agreeing a referral to a job, training or other suitable opportunity, e.g. a Jobclub.
  I hope this is helpful.

  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much funding has been made available to each training and enterprise council each year, expressed in cash and real terms using prices from the first year's funding and as a real terms percentage increase or decrease on the previous year.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Funding made available to each training and enterprise council by the Department for the last three years, expressed in cash terms and real terms using prices from the first year's funding and as a real term percentage increase or decrease on the previous year, is shown in the following table:
  509

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  Cash terms

  Cash terms

  Real terms

  Real terms

  Cash terms

  Real terms

  Real terms

  £million

  £ million

  £ million

  +/-Per cent.

  £ million

  £ million

  +/-Per cent.

  North West London

  5·80

  10·03

  9·66

  66·54

  13·8

  12·57

  30·17

  SOLOTEC

  18·90

  20·12

  19·38

  2·52

  21·94

  20·47

  5·63

  South Thames

  22·10

  32·92

  31·70

  43·45

  44·06

  41·10

  29·63

  West London

  9·80

  17·27

  16·63

  69·71

  19·79

  18·46

  10·97

  Bedfordshire

  12·60

  11·72

  11·29

  -10·42

  13·40

  12·49

  10·70

  Cambridgeshire

  6·60

  6·37

  6·13

  -7·05

  7·87

  7·34

  19·58

  Essex

  28·50

  35·49

  34·18

  19·92

  35·10

  32·74

  -4·21

  Greater Peterborough

  8·40

  9·30

  8·96

  6·62

  11·06

  10·31

  15·17

  Hertfordshire

  19·20

  24·81

  23·89

  24·44

  26·16

  24·40

  2·10

  Norfolk/Waveney

  23·90

  22·57

  21·74

  -9·06

  25·84

  24·10

  10·90

  Suffolk

  14·70

  15·54

  14·97

  1·81

  16·93

  15·79

  5·49

  Avon

  28·60

  28·84

  27·77

  -2·89

  32·21

  30·04

  8·18

  Devon/Cornwall

  52·50

  52·47

  50·53

  -3·75

  59·32

  55·33

  9·50

  Dorset

  15·20

  16·53

  15·92

  4·73

  19·28

  17·98

  12·97

  Gloucestershire

  12·80

  13·92

  13·41

  4·73

  15·21

  14·19

  5·85

  Somerset

  12·50

  13·75

  13·24

  5·93

  14·08

  13·13

  -0·84

  Wiltshire

  12·30

  14·66

  14·12

  14·78

  15·90

  14·83

  5·04

  Birmingham

  46·70

  49·77

  47·93

  2·63

  48·99

  45·69

  -4·67

  Central England

  10·90

  11·71

  11·28

  3·46

  11·81

  11·01

  -2·34

  Coventry/Warwickshire

  26·20

  25·38

  24·44

  -6·71

  30·91

  28·83

  17·95

  Dudley

  11·20

  11·72

  11·29

  0·77

  12·92

  12·05

  6·77

  HAWTEC

  10·30

  11·81

  11·37

  10·42

  13·64

  12·72

  11·86

  Sandwell

  11·40

  11·99

  11·55

  1·29

  13·44

  12·53

  8·56

  Shropshire

  13·40

  14·68

  14·14

  5·50

  14·91

  13·91

  -1·61

  Staffordshire

  34·00

  35·60

  34·28

  0·83

  37·66

  35·12

  2·44

  Walsall

  10·60

  9·99

  9·62

  -9·24

  10·52

  9·81

  1·96

  Wolverhampton

  11·50

  12·12

  11·67

  1·49

  12·52

  11·68

  0·04

  Greater Nottingham

  20·90

  20·98

  20·20

  -3·33

  24·36

  22·72

  12·47

  Leicester

  25·40

  26·21

  25·24

  -0·63

  27·05

  25·23

  -0·05

  Lincolnshire

  19·20

  20·70

  19·93

  3·83

  26·89

  25·08

  25·80

  North Derbyshire

  11·20

  10·58

  10·19

  -9·03

  11·96

  11·16

  9·51

  North Nottinghamshire

  17·50

  17·12

  16·49

  -5·79

  17·58

  16·40

  -0·53

  Northamptonshire

  12·80

  13·76

  13·25

  3·53

  14·45

  13·48

  1·72

  South Derbyshire

  17·80

  18·33

  17·65

  -0·83

  19·20

  17·91

  1·47

  Barnsley/Doncaster

  27·30

  25·08

  24·15

  -11·53

  31·21

  29·11

  20·52

  Bradford and District

  19·20

  20·75

  19·98

  4·08

  22·21

  20·71

  3·66

  Calderdale/Kirklees

  21·40

  21·39

  20·60

  -3·74

  29·15

  27·19

  32·00

  Humberside

  37·60

  37·77

  36·77

  -3·26

  39·68

  37·01

  1·76

  Leeds

  22·50

  21·34

  20·55

  -8·66

  25·41

  23·70

  15·33

  North Yorkshire

  17·40

  17·56

  16·91

  -2·81

  18·75

  17·49

  3·42

  Rotherham

  12·50

  12·54

  12·08

  -3·39

  13·96

  13·02

  7·78

  Sheffield

  25·70

  23·38

  22·52

  -12·39

  28·77

  26·83

  19·16

  Wakefield

  12·60

  12·54

  12·08

  -4·16

  14·05

  13·10

  8·51

  Bolton/Bury

  13·50

  14·38

  13·85

  2·58

  15·89

  14·82

  7·04

  Manchester

  39·10

  39·31

  37·86

  -3·18

  42·58

  39·71

  4·91

  METROTEC

  12·00

  11·29

  10·87

  -9·39

  12·13

  11·31

  4·03

  Oldham

  9·10

  9·19

  8·85

  -2·74

  9·80

  9·14

  3·30

  Rochdale

  7·80

  8·87

  8·54

  9·51

  10·32

  9·63

  12·72

  South and East Cheshire

  11·10

  12·83

  12·36

  11·31

  15·27

  14·25

  15·29

  Stockport

  9·90

  10·47

  10·08

  1·85

  11·86

  11·06

  9·72

  CEWTEC

  22·30

  20·96

  20·19

  -9·48

  24·75

  23·09

  14·37

  Cumbria

  18·60

  17·68

  17·03

  -8·46

  18·82

  17·56

  3·11

  ELTEC

  18·00

  18·80

  18·10

  0·58

  21·85

  20·38

  12·58

  LAWTEC

  26·80

  28·35

  27·30

  1·87

  31·51

  29·39

  7·64

  Merseyside

  40·10

  51·00

  49·11

  22·48

  64·80

  60·44

  23·06

  NORMID

  11·82

  14·57

  14·03

  18·71

  16·32

  15·22

  8·48

  QUALITEC

  9·60

  9·83

  9·47

  -1·39

  11·89

  11·09

  17·19

  Durham

  34·70

  30·09

  28·98

  -16·49

  33·52

  31·27

  7·90

  Northumberland

  15·30

  15·28

  14·72

  -3·82

  16·72

  15·60

  5·98

  Teeside

  35·50

  33·48

  32·24

  -9·18

  38·19

  35·62

  10·47

  Tyneside

  45·80

  40·45

  38·95

  -14·95

  49·47

  46·15

  18·46

  Wearside

  21·40

  18·47

  17·79

  -16·88

  22·61

  21·09

  18·55

  510 511
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what criteria determine the amount of funding for individual training and enterprise councils.

  Miss Widdecombe
  A training and enterprise council —TEC—negotiates with the Employment Department for the allocation of funds for training programmes based on its business plans for the year. When allocating funds, the Department takes account of a range of factors, including the quality of training to be provided, the balance of training between occupations, the expected demand for places by unemployed people, and contributions from employers towards the cost of training. The Department will also take efficiency savings made by a TEC into account when negotiating prices for training.

  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will place in the Library a list of the directors of each training and enterprise council and the companies or organisations they represent.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Yes. I am doing so for all training and enterprise councils— TECs—in England. Information for the TECs in Wales is for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales to supply.

  Directors of TECs are chosen to represent the range and diversity of the local labour market and not a particular company or organisation.

  I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as this has been done.

  Mr. Henderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total budget for training and enterprise councils in England and Wales for(a) 1992–93 and (b) 1993–94; and what is the planned budget for 1994–95.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The budget for training and enterprise councils—TECs—in England for 1992–93 was £1·536 million. The total budget for 1993–94 is £1·738 million, including allowance payments for training and work participants, excluded from the 1992–93 budget.

  Details of TEC budgets in 1994–95 will not be known until contract negotiations with councils are finalised in the spring of 1994.

  Budget information relating to Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

  Training Allowances
  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many(a) 16-year-olds and (b) 17-year-olds in (i) Dundee and (ii) Scotland were in receipt of a bridging allowance at the latest available date and on that corresponding date in each of the previous five years.

  Mr. Michael Forsyt
  h: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. John McAllion, dated 13 December 1993.
  The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your Question about bridging allowance.
  The information you have requested, taking 16 year olds and 17 year olds together, is provided in the attached table. Unfortunately, a breakdown by age is not available, nor is the November 1988 figure for Dundee.
  512
  Bridging Allowance can be paid to young people as long as they are registered at a Careers Office for Youth Training (YT) and have left or lost a job or YT place.
  It is a short-term allowance paid for up to 40 days in any 52 week period while a young person finds another job or YT place.
  I hope this is helpful.

  Numbers in receipt of Bridging Allowance in Dundee and Scotland November 1988—November 1993

  November

  Dundee

  Scotland

  1988

  —

  2,102

  1989

  37

  1,157

  1990

  54

  1,349

  1991

  34

  1,099

  1992

  34

  957

  1993

  17

  553

  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the training allowance paid to(a) 16-year-olds and (b) 17-year-olds on YTS and YT schemes in each of the past five years; and what the current allowance would be if it had been uprated in line with inflation over those five years.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The training allowances over each of the last five years have been £29·50 per week for 16-year-olds and £35 per week for 17-year-olds. The value of these allowance if they had been uprated in line with inflation is shown in the table:

  Allowance levels

  Year

  16-year-old £

  17-year-old £

  1989–90

  29·50

  35·00

  1990–91

  31·88

  37·82

  1991–92

  33·90

  40·22

  1992–93

  35·20

  41·76

  1993–94

  36·34

  43·12

  Transexuals
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 explicitly to include discrimination against transexuals; and if he will make a statement.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The Government deplore all forms of discrimination. It is not persuaded, however, that the Sex Discrimination Act should be extended to cover discrimination against transexuals and has no plans to legislate in this area.

  Education Allowance
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are presently on full-time vocational courses as a result of the education allowance introduced in the Budget statement of 16 March 1993,Official Report, column 193.

  Miss Widdecombe
  As at 11 November, the last date for which figures are available, approximately 6,200 people were participating in learning for work.

  Community Action Programme
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are engaged in part-time work under the community action programme.
  513
  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Stephen Byers, dated 13 December 1993:
  The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your Question about the number of people engaged in part-time work under the Community Action programme.
  It may help if I explain the background to Community Action and our plans for the provision of the announced places.
  Community Action is a programme to help long-term unemployed people back into work, by providing work experience on projects of benefit to local communities. Following the Budget, a further 35,000 opportunities will be made available between now and 1995/6 in addition to the 60,000 announced last Spring.
  Community Action opportunities are being delivered, in the main, by voluntary/charitable organisations and my people in the Employment Service Regional Offices are responsible for contracting with them. At 26 November, the latest date for which figures are available, 2,876 places had been taken up by long term unemployed people and numbers are increasing steadily. The programme is planned to build to 20,000 filled places by the end of 1994.
  I hope this is helpful.

SCOTLAND

  Young People
  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many 16 and 17-year-olds there were in(a) Dundee and (b) Scotland in each of the past five years for which figures are available.

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

  Estimated population aged 16 and 17

  Dundee City District

  Scotland

  16

  17

  16-17

  16

  17

  16-17

  1988

  2,511

  2,692

  5,203

  76,813

  81,292

  158,105

  1989

  2,211

  2,492

  4,703

  71,291

  76,069

  147,360

  1990

  2,088

  2,215

  4,303

  66,248

  70,849

  137,097

  1991

  2,012

  2,033

  4,045

  64,501

  65,750

  130,251

  1992

  1,978

  2,048

  4,026

  63,397

  64,338

  127,735

  Hospital Closures
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about Ayrshire and Arran health board's plans for the closure of Ravenspark hospital in the longer term; and what actions the health board has been undertaking to safeguard the interests of hospital patients.

  Mr. Stewart
  For some time it has been the publicly declared intention of Ayrshire and Arran health board to replace facilities at Ravenspark in early 1995.

  The contract for the care of the present residents at Ravenspark hospital has been awarded to the Ayrshire and Arran community health care NHS trust and this contract is monitored by the health board.

  NHS Trusts
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment has been made by the Scottish Office of the costs involved in establishing the NHS trusts in Scotland; and if he will make a statement on the costs involved in setting up the south Ayrshire NHS Trust, the Community Health Care NHS Trust and the north Ayrshire and Arran NHS Trust.

  Mr. Stewart
  I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Greenock and Port Glasgow (Dr. Godman) on 6 December 1993,Official Report, column 77. Already the evidence emerging from NHS trusts in Scotland is of more patients being treated, improved facilities and services better adapted to patient needs. This is very promising and I am sure that the general public in Ayrshire, as elsewhere, will want to encourage trusts in their endeavours to further improve patient care.

  Scottish Homes
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will make a statement about the guidelines which he has drawn up for Scottish Homes in carrying out the transfer of its housing stock, with particular reference to transfer of Scottish Homes properties to local authority control;

  (2) if he will make a statement about the transfer of Scottish Homes properties in Ayrshire; what point the transfer process has reached in Ayrshire; and what is the time scale within which the disposal process will be completed.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  My right hon. Friend has issued guidance to Scottish Homes on the voluntary disposal of its housing stock. This has been taken into account by Scottish Homes in its published procedures which promote substantial safeguards for tenants. All transfer proposals must have the agreement of tenants and are subject to the approval of my right hon. Friend who will be willing to consider a recommendation for a disposal to a local authority where Scottish Homes takes the view that there will be special circumstances such that the disposal would not compromise Ministers' and Scottish Homes' objective of promoting diversity of choice in rented housing. It is expected that such circumstances will rarely arise.

  Scottish Homes is currently preparing a local stock strategy which will address the transfer of its stock in Ayrshire. Tenants will be fully consulted on specific proposals and transfers will take place at a pace consistent with tenants wishes.

  Forestry
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he now expects the work of the interdepartmental review group on the Forestry Commission will be completed and a report made to Ministers.

  Sir Hector Monro
  Ministers expect the Forestry review group to present its advice to them early next year.

  Homelessness
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the initiatives the Scottish Office is pursuing to tackle the problem of homelessness amongst young people in Scotland, with particular reference to Ayrshire.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  Housing authorities have the statutory re
  sponsibility for dealing with homelessness. On 1 December I announced £4·35 million extra resources for expenditure on 36 homelessness projects by housing authorities in 1993–94, including £0·456 million for authorities in Ayrshire. Nearly £23 million had already been made available in financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, including almost £1·83 million for Ayrshire authorities. Many projects supported by those extra resources are for young single homeless.

  These extra allocations are in addition to the substantial resources already allocated to housing authorities for investment in public and private housing—£513 million in 1993–94. All local housing authorities have been asked in their housing plans and housing capital programmes to set out strategies and targets for tackling homelessness in their areas.

  Government Car Service
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the annual cost to the Department of the car service for Ministers in 1990–91; and how many vehicles were involved.

  Mr. Lang
  The cost to the Scottish Office of the car service for Ministers in 1990–91 was £212,286. The number of vehicles involved was three in London and four —part-time—in Scotland.

  New Towns
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the representations he has received from Scottish and Ayrshire Enterprise as regards his decision to consult on the early wind-up of Irvine new town; and if he will indicate which bodies supported amending the wind-up proposals.

  Mr. Stewart
  Scottish Enterprise and Enterprise Ayrshire welcomed the proposals for early transfer of

  £ million

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1990–91

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  Housing

  Cumbernauld

  Target

  6·100

  5·500

  7·600

  5·582

  6·574

  6·523

  Receipts

  8·587

  5·500

  10·557

  9·774

  7·099

  4·617

  East Kilbride

  Target

  10·455

  17·135

  13·955

  8·500

  7·055

  12·066

  Receipts

  10·933

  18·742

  15·313

  11·208

  7·567

  5·920

  Glenrothes

  Target

  2·867

  4·251

  7·100

  5·180

  5·180

  9·824

  Receipts

  4·226

  7·314

  10·134

  6·809

  6·225

  9·316

  Irvine

  Target

  1·631

  3·776

  4·186

  4·362

  4·000

  2·800

  Receipts

  3·419

  4·811

  3·506

  3·750

  2·477

  2·142

  Livingston

  Target

  3·750

  7·346

  9·450

  4·659

  5·617

  7·157

  Receipts

  6·750

  10·316

  7·142

  4·094

  4·433

  6·210

  516
  responsibility for economic development within Irvine. Both organisations recognise that a smooth transition is desirable and discussions to achieve this are underway.

  Of the other bodies consulted, Strathclyde regional council expressed opposition to the proposals and Scottish Homes offered no comment. Cunninghame district council, COSLA and SLANT expressed concern that the wind-up would be at the same time as local government re-structuring and outlined the approach which, in their view, would need to be adopted in order to achieve a smooth and orderly transfer of responsibilities.

  Mr. Norman Hogg
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what advice he has given to new town development corporations on the disposal of multi-storey flats in shared ownership between corporations and owner occupiers as part of their winding up; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Stewart
  [holding answer 9 December 1993]: The Scottish Office Industry Department has provided the new town development corporations with comprehensive guidance on the disposal of their housing stocks on wind-up. A copy of the guidance was sent to the hon. Member on 31 August 1992.

  The guidance requires the corporations to have regard to their existing responsibilities in respect of owner-occupiers, whether in multi-storey flats or any other types of accommodation, and to ensure that owner-occupiers are kept fully informed about any changes which may affect their interests.

  Mr. Ingram
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in respect of each of the Scottish new towns, what were(a) the financial targets set for the sales of assets in each of the last five years, (b) the receipts from sales for the separate categories of housing, industrial, commercial and land assets for each of the last five years and (c) the receipts from sales in the current financial year for the separate categories of housing, industrial, commercial and land assets.

  Mr. Stewart
  [holding answer 9 December 1993]: The information is shown in the table. A breakdown of non-housing receipts between those derived from the sale of industrial assets, commercial assets and land is not available centrally.
  517

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1990–91

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  Industrial, Commercial and Land

  Cumbernauld

  Target

  6·000

  8·400

  7·492

  10·290

  11·806

  14·500

  Receipts

  7·806

  10·636

  8·129

  9·196

  8·377

  11·560

  East Kilbride

  Target

  10·491

  12·212

  12·585

  13·918

  15·930

  43·550

  Receipts

  4·932

  12·692

  9·340

  10·085

  12·655

  23·411

  Glenrothes

  Target

  2·519

  2·853

  6·525

  7·758

  8·174

  15·230

  Receipts

  5·832

  4·695

  8·564

  7·776

  2·655

  6·375

  Irvine

  Target

  5·612

  4·354

  3·387

  3·652

  2·281

  2·350

  Receipts

  5·707

  2·483

  2·619

  1·283

  1·200

  0·685

  Livingston

  Target

  7·500

  10·293

  16·964

  15·439

  12·970

  8·800

  Receipts

  1·663

  5·525

  14·400

  9·783

  14·974

  5·878

  Notes:

  1. The receipts figures are expressed in cash.

  2. The 1993–94 receipts figures show the position at 6 December 1993.

  3. For the last five years the targets shown are those issued at the start of the financial year; for 1993–94 the targets reflect adjustments to 6 December 1993.

  Press and Publicity Officers
  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the total cost of press liaison and publicity carried out by his Department in each year since 1979; how many press and publicity officers were employed in each such year; and what has been the total cost of their remuneration.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: The following table shows (a) the running costs of The Scottish Office information directorate for each year from 1985–86 and (b) the number of information officer grades employed in each year since 1979:

  Year

  £ million

  No. of Information Officer Grades

  Vacancies

  1979–80

  1—

  22·0

  3

  1980–81

  1—

  24·0

  —

  1981–82

  1—

  20·0

  1

  1982–83

  1—

  22·0

  —

  1983–84

  1—

  20·0

  —

  1984–85

  1—

  20·0

  —

  1985–86

  0·9

  19·0

  1

  1986–87

  1·0

  20·0

  2

  1987–88

  1·1

  22·0

  1

  1988–89

  1·2

  23·0

  1

  1989–90

  1·4

  28·0

  3

  1990–91

  1·7

  31·5

  —

  1991–92

  1·9

  33·5

  —

  1992–93

  1·9

  29·5

  2

  1 The figures for running costs exclude expenditure on information campaigns. Directly comparable figures for years prior to the introduction of new Scottish Office budgetary arrangements in 1985–86 are not available. Nor is it possible to break down the running costs figures to differentiate between the remuneration of information officer grades and administrative staff within the Directorate.

  Departmental Hospitality
  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the total cost of hospitality offered by his Department each year since 1979 for(a) St. Andrew's house, (b) Bute house and (c) Dover house.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: The information is not held centrally in the form requested. The total expenditure on ministerial hospitality for the years in question is shown in the table. These figures include the cost of events held in St. Andrew's house, Bute house and Dover house—as well as other venues, including Edinburgh castle.

  Year

  £

  1979–80

  15,283

  1980–81

  18,427

  1981–82

  20,762

  1982–83

  31,588

  1983–84

  26,287

  1984–85

  27,301

  1985–86

  35,815

  1986–87

  38,315

  1987–88

  41,987

  1988–89

  42,987

  1989–90

  60,173

  1990–91

  65,123

  1991–92

  62,800

  1992–93

  94,385

  11993–94

  35,680

  1 To date.

  Press Notices
  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many press notices have been released by each office in his Department per month in each year since 1987.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: The Scottish Office information directorate issues news

  519
  releases for all Departments within the Scottish Office. The following table shows the number issued per month in each year since 1987:

  Month

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  1992

  1993

  January

  137

  139

  156

  169

  119

  157

  129

  February

  139

  228

  125

  150

  163

  180

  152

  March

  206

  132

  173

  225

  194

  170

  216

  April

  203

  187

  198

  165

  165

  56

  157

  May

  150

  210

  173

  193

  176

  150

  150

  June

  116

  211

  164

  194

  204

  188

  151

  July

  204

  208

  134

  166

  195

  179

  133

  August

  140

  162

  186

  123

  118

  168

  107

  September

  245

  125

  200

  158

  167

  175

  230

  October

  216

  208

  195

  153

  162

  184

  197

  November

  184

  207

  175

  161

  187

  220

  160

  December

  130

  214

  210

  151

  178

  166

  160

  ANNUAL TOTAL

  2,070

  2,231

  2,089

  2,008

  2,028

  1,993

  1 1,845

  1 As at 8 December 1993.

  Advertising
  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the tendering arrangements and controls employed by his Department for advertising campaigns; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: A review of the Scottish Office advertising contract is held every three years. The last review was held in Febuary this year. Advertisements inviting agencies to tender for the work were placed in Scottish national daily newspapers and in the trade journal Campaign.

  Appointment was made following a three-stage selection appraisal of creativity, strategy planning and value for money. The judging panel comprised representatives from the Scottish Office information directorate, The Scottish Office purchase and supply unit, and the director of advertising, Central Office of Information.

  Assessment of the performance of the agencies through campaign evaluation is undertaken throughout the year. An audit of television airtime buying is currently being carried out by an independent consultant. Agencies are appointed on a renewable annual contract.

  Departmental Hospitality
  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the number of events hosted by his Department in Bute house each year since 1979; and if he will give details of the total cost of running Bute house each year since 1979.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: The number of events hosted by my Department in Bute house each year since 1979 is set out in the table.

  Year

  Number of events

  1979

  13

  1980

  8

  1981

  9

  1982

  9

  1983

  9

  1984

  8

  1985

  9

  1986

  5

  520

  Year

  Number of events

  1987

  6

  1988

  13

  1989

  8

  1990

  7

  1991

  10

  1992

  7

  11993

  16

  1 To date.

  Information on the running costs of Bute house is only available since 1989–90 when my Department took over responsibility from the Property Services Agency. The information available is set out in the table.

  Year

  £

  1989–90

  24,100

  1990–91

  26,057

  1991–92

  35,482

  1992–93

  55,169

  1993–94

  143,640

  1 To date.

  The above figures include rent paid to Property Holdings, maintenance, insurance, furniture, miscellaneous household expenses and the housekeeper's salary.

  Sheep
  Sir David Steel
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many sheep quota applications his Department administered during 1993 to the nearest convenient estimate; and how many civil servants are allocated to this task.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 10 December I993]: The Scottish Office agriculture and fisheries department has allocated sheep quota to 22,300 individual producers during 1993 and processed 1,700 applications to transfer and lease quota for the 1993 sheep annual premium scheme year. The number of staff working on these tasks has varied according to the timing of the application processes and the volume of inquiries received from producers or others on their behalf.
  521
  Sir David Steel
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many representations he has received from(a) farmers, (b solicitors and (c) hon. Members concerning complaints in the administration of the sheep quota system.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: The Scottish Office agriculture and fisheries department receives several hundred inquiries from producers or their agents each week concerning various aspects of the sheep quota system. Very few have lodged a complaint against the administration of the quota system although some may have experienced difficulties contacting departmental staff by telephone during certain peak periods. I have received letters from 14 hon. Members concerning sheep quotas, three of which have referred to complaints about administration.

  Local Government Reorganisation
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many personalised letters he has written to people in East Lothian and Berwickshire, respectively, seeking representations in support of his plans to establish a new local authority covering part of East Lothian and Berwickshire.

  Mr. Stewart
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: None.

  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library a copy of the response from Scottish Enterprise Tayside to his consultation document on restructuring Scottish local government.

  Mr. Stewart
  [holding answer 10 December 1993]: Scottish Enterprise Tayside has asked that its response to the consultation paper "Shaping the New Councils" be treated as confidential.

  Direct Service/Labour Organisations
  Mr. George Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many contracts awarded to Scottish local authority direct service/labour organisations have not been subject to the issuing of a notice alleging anti-competitive behaviour; and on how many occasions such actions were taken.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 3 December 1993]: Information on the number of contracts let to local authority direct service and labour organisations is not held centrally. Thirteen notices have been served to date in respect of anti-competitive behaviour.

  Region or Islands Area

  1984

  1985

  1986

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  1992

  1993

  Central

  1

  1

  1

  1

  1

  1

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Grampian

  2

  2

  2

  2

  1

  1

  1

  1

  1

  1

  Lothian

  2

  1

  1

  1

  1

  1

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Shetland

  1

  1

  1

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Strathclyde

  2

  2

  2

  2

  2

  3

  —

  1

  1

  —

  Tayside

  1

  1

  1

  1

  2

  2

  1

  —

  —

  —

  Total

  9

  8

  8

  7

  7

  8

  2

  2

  2

  1

  522
  Mr. George Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many local authority direct service/ labour organisations, operating contracts in Scotland have achieved the required rate of return since 1988.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 3 December 1993]: The statutory financial objective has been achieved on 1,017 occasions since 1988–89.

  Local Government Administration
  Mr. George Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the authorities that have been challenged by his Department, in relation to their internal arrangements for establishing client-contractor splits in order to meet the requirements under statute.

  Mr. Lang
  [holding answer 3 December 1993]: No Scottish authorities have been the subject of Secretary of State's sanctions on the basis of client-contractor splits.

  List D Schools
  Mr. McAllion
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much financial support central Government contributed to the revenue costs of list D schools in each of the five years preceding their abolition in 1986.

  Mr. Stewart
  [holding answer 6 December 1993]: The information available shows that the Scottish Office paid grants towards the revenue expenditure of those schools as follows:

  £

  1981–82

  6,486,300

  1982–83

  6,631,300

  1983–84

  5,051,200

  1984–85

  6,253,600

  1985–86

  6,425,500

  Mink Farms
  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many mink farms have operated in each region of Scotland in each year since 1984; and what is the current figure.

  Sir Hector Monro
  [holding answer 7 December 1993]: The number of licensed mink farms operating at 1 March on each year is set out in the table. No mink farms are currently operating in Scotland.

  Sexual Offences
  Mr. McFall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on his plans to promote the development in other regions of the scheme operating in Lothian region relating to complaints in sexual offence cases.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 9 December 1993]: Arrangements to allocate a nominated police officer to support and liaise with the victim are an integral part of the investigation of allegations of sex offences. As such they are operational matters and the responsibility of the appropriate chief constable. I understand however that similar procedures are observed by all eight Scottish forces.

  NHS Employees
  Dr. Godman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what guidelines have been issued to health boards concerning the procedures for suspension of national health service employees and the length of time during which formal disciplinary inquiries are carried out.

  Mr. Stewart
  [holding answer 6 December 1993]: Guidance has been issued on disciplinary procedures in

  1989

  1990

  1991

  3 Years Average

  LFA

  Non-LFA

  LFA

  Non-LFA

  LFA

  Non-LFA

  LFA

  Non-LFA

  Set-aside1

  3,643

  7,807

  4,919

  12,949

  6,487

  15,796

  5,016

  12,184

  Protein crops

  526

  4,509

  358

  4,046

  353

  3,024

  412

  3,860

  Oilseed rape

  7,821

  28,244

  8,919

  36,276

  9,896

  39,999

  8,879

  34,840

  Cereals

  188,780

  319,270

  178,060

  303,383

  175,843

  292,665

  180,895

  305,106

  Total

  200,770

  359,830

  192,256

  356,654

  192,579

  351,484

  2195,202

  2355,990

  1 Figures taken from the 5 year and 1 year set-aside scheme returns.

  2 Before submission to the EC Commission in September 1992, these figures were adjusted by switching 34,854 hectares from LFA to non-LFA giving a base area of 160,348 hectares for the LFA and 390,844 hectares for the non-LFA. These figures were further adjusted to reflect the more accurate split betwen LFA and non-LFA arable land established from the IACS returns, and a further 39,303 hectares was switched from LFA to non-LFA giving new base areas of 121,045 hectares for the LFA and 430,147 for the non-LFA. These last figures are now accepted by the EC as the Scottish base areas. Throughout, the total base area has remained constant at 551,192 hectares.

  The set-aside figures recorded in the June census for 1989 and 1990 were 29,197 and 44,465 hectares respectively. These figures partly reflect land registered for set-aside and are therefore higher than the area actually set-aside. No specific set-aside questions were asked in 1991.

DEFENCE

  IMS Ltd.
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give a fuller description of projects 2, 27 and 59 supplied by IMS Ltd.; if he will describe the nature of the oversight services supplied by MOD UK—project 57; if he will describe the nature of the medical equipment supplied by IMS—project 15; and if he will describe the nature of the engineering equipment supplied by IMS—project 47 —to which his answer of 3 November,Official Report, columns 295-96, referred.

  Mr. Aitken
  Certain information about the contracts placed under the Jordan defence package has been made public during oral evidence given to Lord Justice Scott's524
  connection with the professional conduct or professional competence of hospital medical and dental staff. This includes advice concerning the suspension of a practitioner from duty temporarily. The guidance recommends that the suspension should be confirmed or terminated by the chairman of the employing authority within 14 days. If it is decided that there is a prima facie case of a serious disciplinary nature, an investigating panel should report on the matter to the employing authority within 32 weeks.

  No specific guidance has been issued as regards other staff groups.

  Set-aside Land
  Mr. Welsh
  To ask the Secretary of State, (1) if he will publish in the Official Report the figures in hectares for (a) set-aside; (b) pulses; (c) oil seed rape and (d) cereals for 1989, 1990 and 1991 which were used to calculate the base area in Scotland;

  (2) if he will list the June census set-aside figures for Scotland for 1989, 1990 and 1991.

  Sir Hector Munro
  [holding answer 29 November 1993]: The figures used to calculate the base areas in Scotland are as follows:

  inquiry. I can therefore provide, exceptionally, the further information requested by the hon. Member, which is as follows:

  Project

  2 Tank modifications to improve gun accuracy and range

  15 Medical and laundry stores for a field military unit

  27 Various explosive ordnance disposal equipment such as mine detectors

  47 Mechanical handling equipment and fire fighting tenders

  57 Supervision services in respect of Project 54 (Fast Patrol Boats)

  59 Machine guns for the Royal Guard vehicle

  Export Sales Agreements
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give the quantities and value of(a) project 1 —120 mm and 105 mm ammunition supplied by Royal Ordnance, (b) project 4—main battle tank spares supplied by Royal Ordnance—to which his answer of 3 November, Official Report, columns 295-96, relates.

  Mr. Aitken
  The information contained in my answer of 3 November—Official Report, columns 295-96—was given exceptionally and contrary to the established practice of successive administrations not to release information about individual defence exports. This was because some of the detail of these contracts had been made public during

  525
  oral evidence given to Lord Justice Scott's inquiry. It would not be appropriate to give further details about the quantities and values of these contracts.

  International Signal and Control Company
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what applications his Department received prior to 1987 from the International Signal and Control Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for clearance to work with British military contractors in military sales.

  Mr. Aitken
  My Department has no record of any such applications.

  Animal Research
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 1 December,Official Report, column 605, regarding the research use of animals, if he will specify the nature of the research and experimentation carried out on (a) sheep, (b) goats, (c) pigs, (d) miniature pigs, (e) marmosets and (f) rhesus monkeys.

  Mr. Aitken
  It is not our practice to make available detailed information on the usage of particular species for defence research. Such information could enable a potential aggressor to assess the current state of our medical countermeasures against the threat of attack by chemical or biological weapons. It is not in the national interest to provide such information.

  Animal experiments are carried out only when it is judged essential and when no adequate alternative exists. The total number of animal experiments carried out by the Ministry of Defence is about one half of one per cent. of all animal experiments carried out in the United Kingdom.

  L85 Mechanical Fuse
  Mr. David Young
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have been killed or injured by the use of the Italian L85 mechanical fuse; when the fuses will be replaced and at what cost; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Aitken
  There is no record of any deaths or injuries attributable to the use by British service men of the Italian L85 mechanical fuse. There is a continuing limited operational role for this fuse in training, but its use will gradually reduce as the weapon systems for which it is required are withdrawn from service.

  Should a further purchase of this type of fuse be required, this will be open to competition in the usual way. As I announced to the House on 23 November 1993, at column 309-10, we will not award any new contracts to the manufacturer of the L85 fuse, Barletti, until the facts surrounding the Gordon Foxley case have been fully investigated.

  F3 Tornados
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to initiate legal action against Airwork in relation to the damage incurred in the cost of the modification contract in the F3 Tornados at RAF St. Athan.

  Mr. Aitken
  A sample of the damaged aircraft is being surveyed to establish the precise extent of the damage and its structural implications. This work is expected to take at least until March 1994. Thereafter the aircraft design authority will be in a position to make recommendations on repair schemes. When these have been costed we will be able to assess the amount of the Department's claim against Airwork Limited. The claim will be presented within the period allowed in law.

  Ferranti International
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his his answer of 6 December,Official Report, column 54, what consideration he has given to discussing with the receivers of Ferranti International the possibility of bidding for future MoD orders; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Aitken
  Officials of my Department discussed this with the receivers of Ferranti International at their first meeting on 1 December. There is no objection to their tendering for future defence orders, although naturally our standard criteria for the financial soundness of our contractors would have to be satisfied before a contract could be placed.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 6 December,Official Report, column 54, what information he has provided to the receivers of Ferranti International regarding his policy on the long-term future for the defence industrial base; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Aitken
  My Department has provided no such information to the receivers, who have made no request for it.

  GEC
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 7 December,Official Report, column 176, what information he has provided to the management of GEC regarding his future procurement plans; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Aitken
  Officials of my Department have a standing instruction that, within the constraints of security and commercial confidences, they should be as forthcoming as possible with defence companies about future procurement plans. The management of GEC, as of any other defence contractor, will therefore have been kept informed of these plans through the many contacts between the Department and the company.

  "PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE" INITIATIVE
  "PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE" INITIATIVE
  NORTH KOREA: US POLICY
  NORTH KOREA: US POLICY
  NATO AND CSCE
  NATO AND CSCE
  NATO: Mr. PRIMAKOV'S STATEMENT
  NATO: Mr. PRIMAKOV'S STATEMENT
  CSCE COUNCIL, 30th NOVEMBER-1st DECEMBER
  CSCE COUNCIL, 30th NOVEMBER-1st DECEMBER
  IRANIAN TERRORISM: EU POLICY
  IRANIAN TERRORISM: EU POLICY
  JUDICIAL STUDIES BOARD
  JUDICIAL STUDIES BOARD
  SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE PROSECUTIONS: COSTS
  SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE PROSECUTIONS: COSTS
  BRITISH SERVICEMEN IN GERMANY: CAR REGISTRATION PLATES
  BRITISH SERVICEMEN IN GERMANY: CAR REGISTRATION PLATES
  DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES DIRECTIVE, 14th AMENDMENT
  DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES DIRECTIVE, 14th AMENDMENT
  LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL, 23rd NOVEMBER
  LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL, 23rd NOVEMBER
  EC LEGISLATION: COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
  EC LEGISLATION: COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
  PARK FARM, MEMBURY
  PARK FARM, MEMBURY
  WILDLIFE AND COUNTRYSIDE ACT, SCHEDULE 15: SECRETARY OF STATE'S DECISION
  WILDLIFE AND COUNTRYSIDE ACT, SCHEDULE 15: SECRETARY OF STATE'S DECISION
  NUCLEAR FREE LOCAL AUTHORITIES: COMPLAINT TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION
  NUCLEAR FREE LOCAL AUTHORITIES: COMPLAINT TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION
  SIR ROBIN BUCHANAN, SIR JAMES ACKERS AND DR. MIAH GWYNFOR JONES
  SIR ROBIN BUCHANAN, SIR JAMES ACKERS AND DR. MIAH GWYNFOR JONES
  NHS CHAPLAINS
  NHS CHAPLAINS
  GASTRIC CANCER, ULCERATION AND BLEEDING
  GASTRIC CANCER, ULCERATION AND BLEEDING