Written Answers of 5 November 1993

PRIME MINISTER

  UNESCO
  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received in the past three months regarding United Kingdom membership of UNESCO; and if he will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  Since the beginning of August, I have received representations from a member of the House of Lords, four Members of Parliament, the Honourable Hector Wynter of the Caribbean Democratic Union, plus a petition with 99 signatures from the Deal branch of the United Nations Association. All have called for the United Kingdom to resume membership of UNESCO.

  European Council
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral statement on the special meeting of the European Council,Official Report, 1 November, Official Report, column 20, whether the new transparency measures for operation of the Council will include agreement to make public petitions submitted by European citizens to the Council.

  The Prime Minister
  There are no formal procedures for petitioning the Council. Letters addressed to the Council by members of the public are passed to the presidency by the Council Secretariat for appropriate action. Article 138d of the Maastricht treaty establishes a right of petition to the European Parliament. It is for the Parliament to decide whether such petitions should be made public.

  Cyprus
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he is to have with the Turkish Government on the question of illegal settlers entering northern Cyprus from mainland Turkey following the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government communiqué on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting communiqué covered a number of aspects of the Cyprus dispute, including the question of settlers from Turkey, and called for the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

  We take every suitable opportunity to reiterate to the Turkish Government the need for all parties involved to adopt a constructive attitude.

  Professor R. V. Jones
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has had from General Doyle Larson of the Central Intelligence Agency in relation to Professor R. V. Jones.
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  The Prime Minister
  I have received no such representations regarding professor R. V Jones, though I welcome the decision by the Central Intelligence Agency to recognise his outstanding achievement in the field of scientific intelligence.

  Joint Intelligence Committee
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the dates on which the Joint Intelligence Committee met(a) between 31 May 1989 and 1 August 1990 and (b) between 1 November 1991 and 1 April 1992.

  The Prime Minister
  I refer the hon. Member to the booklet on the "Central Intelligence Machinery" published by HMSO on 1 October, which states that the Joint Intelligence Committee is responsible for producing a weekly survey on intelligence. The committee meets each week for this purpose. It did so throughout the periods cited except for two weeks during each of the Christmas-new year breaks at the end of 1990 and 1991. I do not propose to list all these meetings individually.

  Mr. Mohammed Hashemi
  Mr. Byers
  To asks the Prime Minister on how many occasions since December 1990 Mr. Mohammed Hashemi has attended functions or meetings at 10 Downing street.

  The Prime Minister
  As far as I am aware, Mr. Mohammed Hashemi has not attended any functions or meetings at 10 Downing street since December 1990.

  Conservative Party Conference
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe, (Mr. Betts) of 18 November,Official Report, column 57, what factual briefing was provided by civil servants for his speech to the Conservative and Unionist party conference in Blackpool.

  The Prime Minister
  In preparing for this speech, I drew on factual information already available in my office, and on other sources.

  House of Lords
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will now bring forward proposals to reform the Second Chamber.

  The Prime Minister
  No.

  Official Secrets Act
  Mr. Allason
  To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 2 November,Official Report, columns 90–91, what permission is required under section 1(1) of the Official Secrets Act 1989 for former officials to publish memoirs; on what dates that permission was applied for by (a) Mr. Desmond Bristow and (b) Mr. Brian Crozier; and what rights have been reserved by the Crown with regard to legal action in each case.

  The Prime Minister
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs will shortly be writing in response to the hon. Member's letter of 26 October to the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs about Mr. Bristow and Mr. Crozier. That reply will take into account the points now raised.

  Telephone Sex Lines
  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Prime Minister what action he is taking to discipline those who use Whitehall telephones to make 0898 sex line calls at public expense; and what action has been taken to stop these calls.

  The Prime Minister
  Unauthorised use of official telephones is a disciplinary matter which is dealt with under normal departmental disciplinary arrangements. These disciplinary arrangements are set out in the "Civil Service Management Code—Rules of Code and Practice."

  Central guidance recommends that Departments take action to bar outgoing calls to certain destinations, including recorded information line numbers. Call barring and call logging have already been implemented on many Government exchanges. Central guidance on these matters will be strongly reinforced in the light of the recent National Audit Office report on the management of telephone services.

  Prime Minister's Office
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Prime Minister how many staff were employed in his Prime Ministerial offices, and in what categories of work, in 1989–90 and at the latest available date.

  The Prime Minister
  [holding answer 1 November 1993]The information is as follows:

  1989

  1993

  Private Secretaries, Appointments and Honours

  19

  21

  Policy Unit

  10

  13

  Press Office

  8

  10

  Filing, Records, Correspondence and support staff not included in the above

  31

  37

  Messengerial support grades

  N/a

  126

  TOTAL

  68

  1107

  N/a Not available.

  1 As a result of delegated budgetary arrangements, 26 support grade staff who were on the Cabinet Office central budget in 1989 have been transferred to the No. 10 budget and manpower count.

  Press Office
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Prime Minister how many people were employed in the No. 10 press office in 1979, 1989 and the latest available date.

  The Prime Minister
  [holding answer I November 1993]: Including secretarial/typing support, the figures are:

  Numbers

  1979

  8

  1989

  8

  1993

  10

  Government Car Service
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Prime Minister what changes took place in the allocation of charges to his office by the Government car service in 1984–85; and what is the latest annual cost.
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  The Prime Minister
  [holding answer 1 November 1993]: In 1984–85 arrangements were introduced for charging my office direct, in common with all other users, for the use of the Government car service. Previous to this, the cost of this service was met from central funds. The charge to my office for the use of the Government car service in 1992–93 was £469,747.

ENVIRONMENT

  Correspondence
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will reply to the letter dated 17 August from Mr. D. Whittaker of 30 Wilkinson road, Astley Bridge, Bolton, concerning the drainage of water from Sweetloves reservoir, Bolton; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Baldry
  I regret to say that Mr. Whittaker's letter was not received. We have, however, obtained a copy of the letter from Bolton borough council to which he had also written. A reply was sent to him on 4 November 1993.

  Housing Management
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will announce the timetable for implementation of compulsory competitive tendering in local authority housing management; and if he will make a statement.

  Sir George Young
  I expect to make an announcement shortly.

  Housing (Investment)
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been(a) the gross and (b) the net public investment in (i) local authority housing, (ii) housing associations and (iii) private sector housing in real terms in each year since 1979.

  Sir George Young
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been(a) the gross and (b) the net public investment in housing as a proportion of gross domestic product for each year since 1979.

  Sir George Young
  The requested figures are not available. Reliable outturn information on public investment in housing is available only on a financial year basis, whereas estimates of gross domestic product in England are available only for calendar years.

  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been(a) the gross public and (b) the net investment in housing in real terms at 1993 prices in each year since 1979.

  Sir George Young
  The available information is as follows:
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  Public investment in housing1, England, 1979–80 to 1992–93 (£ million)

  Gross capital expenditure

  Net expenditure

  Cash

  1993–94 prices2

  Cash

  1993–94 prices2

  1979–80

  3,508

  8,623

  2,681

  6,591

  1980–81

  3,403

  7,069

  2,330

  4,840

  1981–82

  3,271

  6,196

  1,517

  2,874

  1982–83

  4,065

  7,189

  1,436

  2,539

  1983–84

  4,405

  7,445

  2,054

  3,472

  1984–85

  4,286

  6,894

  2,169

  3,489

  1985–86

  3,794

  5,786

  1,790

  2,730

  1986–87

  3,775

  5,578

  1,513

  2,236

  1987–88

  4,077

  5,710

  1,444

  2,022

  1988–89

  4,444

  5,802

  654

  854

  1989–90

  6,103

  7,477

  2,449

  3,001

  New capital finance system

  1990–91

  4,261

  4,833

  1,678

  1,903

  1991–92

  4,466

  4,749

  2,653

  2,821

  1992–931

  5,079

  5,218

  3,596

  3,695

  1 Capital housing expenditure by local authorities, New Towns, the Housing Corporation and other DoE funded schemes.

  2 Cash figures converted to 1993–94 price levels by excluding the effect of general inflation as measured by the GDP market prices deflator.

  3 Provisional.

  In addition, since 1989 some £2 billion of private finance has been levered in to support the Housing Corporation's programme.

  Mr. Straw
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the amount and source of public investment in housing in England, for each financial year since 1978, in cash, constant prices and on an index where 1978 equals 100.

  Mr. Gummer
  [holding answer 3 November 1993]I will write to the hon. Member.

  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what his timetable is for responding to the 1994–95 housing investment programme bids by local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

  Sir George Young
  I expect to announce local authorities' 1994–95 housing investment programme allocations in December.

  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will the deadlines be in 1994 for submission by local authorities of(a) housing investment programme bids and (b) housing strategy documents.

  Sir George Young
  Decisions on these matters will be taken after the current housing investment programme round is complete.

  Rents
  Ms Coffey
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the impact of the decrease of grants on the average level of housing association rents.

  Sir George Young
  Evidence on a range of issues, including the likely impact on the affordability of rents and on the availability of private finance, was fully considered before a decision was taken on the average grant rate for 1994–95.

  The Housing Corporation's assessment of the grant rate model for 1994–95 showed that, because of reductions in procurement and borrowing costs, the affordability of modelled rents could be held constant at a lower average
  484
  grant rate than the current 67 per cent. Furthermore, because of the scope for rent pooling and efficiency savings, evidence suggested that actual rents would he lower than those suggested by the model.

  It is, however, for housing associations to set their own rents at levels which are affordable to those on low incomes, as required by the tenants guarantee. The excellent response to the 1994–95 bidding round suggests that associations are confident of their ability to undertake schemes at affordable rents within the grant rates available.

  Ms Coffey
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the operation of rent assessment committees in assessing the market rent for housing association property.

  Sir George Young
  Under section 13 of the Housing Act 1988, assured tenants of registered housing associations have the right in certain circumstances, to refer their rent to a rent assessment committee for the determination of a market rent.

  Rent assessment committees carry out this function under section 14 of the Act which requires them to consider what level of rent the landlord could reasonably expect for the property, if it were let on the open market under an assured tenancy.

  Ms Estelle Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice or representations he has received concerning the capacity of housing associations to pool rents; and if he will make a statement.

  Sir George Young
  The Housing Corporation has advised that, across the whole programme, housing associations continue to have further capacity to pool rents; the position for individual associations may, of course, vary.

  Right to Manage Scheme
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many consultation meetings he has held to date with local authorities on his Department's right to manage scheme; and how many he plans to hold.

  Sir George Young
  Since it was first announced in June 1992, preparations for the new right to manage have been
  485
  informed throughout by the views of local authorities and tenants' organisations. Views obtained by means of consultation papers have been augmented by discussions between officials and local authorities at seminars on the right to manage funded by the Department and organised by tenant training agencies. Officials have separately met a range of interested groups, including local authority officers, to discuss the Department's preparations for the right to manage in greater detail. In addition, local authorities and their associations are involved in a series of advisory groups set up to inform the preparation of detailed guidance. A meeting with local authority associations is planned for 11 November, and further meetings with authorities and the associations will be held as necessary.

  Local Government Review
  Mr. William O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the suggested opting-in procedure under the local government review.

  Mr. Baldry
  In considering the best way forward for the Local Government Commission's reviews, we looked carefully at all the options that were before us, including procedures for opting-in. We concluded, however, that all shire areas should have the opportunity to secure the benefits which we believe unitary authorities can offer.

  My right hon. Friend therefore announced on 30 September that all the shire counties in England would be reviewed by the commission by about the end of 1994.

  Urban Regeneration Agency
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the intended establishment of the urban renewal agency; where are the intended regional sites where it will be based; and where the administrative core will be based.

  Mr. Baldry
  The urban regeneration agency will be launched later this month. At that point it will take over from my Department responsibility for the city grant programme and will have a staff complement of 20. From April 1994, it will incorporate the derelict land grant programme, also now run by my Department, and the programmes of English Estates. It will be for the agency to assess the staff resources it will need to deliver these programmes. The agency will have a strong regional structure and a headquarters outside London. The locations of the regional offices and the headquarters have yet to be decided.

  Council Housing Stock
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 1 November to the hon. Member for Bolton, North-East (Mr. Thurnham),Official Report, column 3, about the transfer of council housing stock to registered housing associations, how much was spent (a) by each authority listed in preparing the transfer and (b) by local authorities where tenants have voted against transfer.

  Sir George Young
  Set up costs for the housing associations involved in the 23 transfers that have taken place so far have been met by grants from the local authorities as follows:
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  £ million

  Breckland DC

  2·50

  Broadland DC

  1·80

  London Borough of Bromley

  5·80

  Chiltern DC

  1·11

  Christchurch DC

  1·14

  East Cambridgeshire DC

  2·20

  East Dorset DC

  1·20

  Hambleton DC

  1·80

  Medina DC

  1·40

  Mid Sussex DC

  2·30

  Newbury DC

  1·40

  North Bedfordshire DC

  3·05

  Rochester upon Medway DC

  4·50

  Ryedale DC

  1·57

  Sevenoaks DC

  1·75

  South Buckinghamshire DC

  1·46

  South Wight DC

  1·20

  Suffolk Coastal DC

  2·05

  Surrey Heath DC

  1·70

  Swale DC

  1·57

  Tonbridge and Mailing DC

  2·24

  Tunbridge Wells DC

  2·80

  West Dorset DC

  1·80

  These grants cover reasonable staff costs, consultancy fees for the legal, financial and other work involved and costs relating to tenant consultation. They do not cover costs which should be incurred by the purchaser post-transfer such as the provision of long-term office accommodation.

  We have no comparable information on local authorities' own costs.

  Estate Action
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when the next allocation of estate action scheme resources will be available; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) what resources have been made available in each region on an annual basis since the introduction of the estate action scheme.

  Sir George Young
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  New Age Travellers
  Mr. Aspinwall
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, following the High Court decision that travellers did not come within the legal definition of gipsy, in the case of new age travellers seeking to compel Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Devon county councils to provide them with camp sites, he will now withdraw directions to Avon county council to provide sites for gipsies; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Baldry
  The question of gipsy status under the Caravan Sites Act 1968 is a matter of fact and degree to be determined by local authorities whom the Act requires to provide accommodation for gipsies. I have no doubt that authorities will study closely the recent judgment of the High Court about the status of travellers stationed on unauthorised sites in Devon, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire.

  A count undertaken on 21 July 1993 found 332 gipsy caravans stationed on unauthorised sites in the county of Avon. My right hon. Friend has no plans to withdraw the direction to provide sites which his predecessor gave to Avon county council on 13 October 1990.

  Teenage Mothers
  Ms Glenda Jackson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many lone teenage mothers have been housed in the last 12 months by(a) local authorities and (b) housing associations.

  Sir George Young
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Capital Receipts
  Mr. Betts
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the latest estimate of capital receipts which local authorities will spend as a result of the temporary relaxation in the November statement of 1992; and what was the forecast made at the time.

  Mr. Baldry
  Recent information provided by most local authorities in England indicates that authorities expect to obtain around £2.3 billion of usable capital receipts during the period of relaxation—13 November 1992 to 31 December 1993—of which about £1.3 billion

  Number of council house sales and value by region (£000)

  April to June 19921

  July to September 19921

  October to December 19921

  January to March 19931

  Number of sales

  Undiscounted value of sales

  Value (1981 prices)

  Number of sales

  Undiscounted value of sales

  Value (1981 prices)

  Number of sales

  Undiscounted value of sales

  Value (1981 prices)

  Number of sales

  Undiscounted value of sales

  Value 1981 (prices)

  DOE Regions North (excluding Cumbria)

  1,057

  30,258

  16,255

  1,235

  33,573

  17,666

  1,075

  28,453

  15,037

  846

  25,367

  13,246

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  976

  32,719

  17,577

  1,079

  36,832

  19,600

  780

  26,423

  13,964

  801

  26,128

  13,644

  East Midlands

  686

  24,428

  13,123

  845

  29,208

  15,543

  770

  28,046

  14,822

  572

  20,228

  10,563

  Eastern

  1,198

  57,597

  30,943

  1,564

  76,773

  40,855

  1,235

  54,762

  28,941

  1,134

  50,688

  26,468

  London Boroughs

  2,194

  128,681

  69,131

  2,611

  160,995

  85,674

  1,835

  103,619

  54,761

  1,536

  86,683

  45,264

  South East

  1,043

  52,798

  26,364

  1,418

  72,157

  38,399

  1,018

  52,299

  27,639

  1,186

  44,968

  23,481

  South West

  713

  30,332

  16,295

  941

  40,266

  21,428

  784

  33,881

  17,906

  736

  30,016

  15,674

  West Midlands

  1,064

  40,134

  21,561

  1,104

  41,452

  22,059

  958

  36,216

  19,140

  971

  32,929

  17,195

  North West (including Cumbria)

  1,273

  40,066

  21,524

  1,312

  38,791

  20,643

  1,073

  35,677

  18,855

  1,148

  33,749

  17,623

  England

  10,204

  437,013

  234,775

  12,109

  530,047

  282,066

  9,528

  399,376

  211,066

  8,930

  350,756

  183,158

  1 Provisional.

  Public Toilets
  Mr. Meacher
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many functioning public toilets each local authority operates at the present time(a) in total and (b) per 1,000 of the population.

  Mr. Baldry
  This information is not available.

  Gipsies
  Mr. Aspinwall
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many gipsies are currently resident in the county of Avon.

  Mr. Baldry
  My Department carries out a biannual count of gipsy caravans on the basis of information provided by district and borough councils. The latest count, on 21 July 1993, found 406 caravans with gipsies residing in or resorting to the county of Avon on that day.

  Public Expenditure, London
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the public expenditure provision for each London borough for(a) estate action, (b) urban programme, (c) city challenge, (d) direct land grant, (e) city action teams, (f) the development corporation, (g) inner city task forces and (h) housing
  488
  represents extra spending power arising from the relaxation. It is for the local authorities to decide the spending of their usable capital receipts. At the time of the autumn statement last November, the extra spending powers arising from the relaxation was estimated at around £1.75 billion, based on an extrapolation of authorities' own forecasts of their capital receipts in 1992–93.

  Council House Sales
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 26 April, 1993 Official Report, column 326, if he will update the table on council house sales and values for the latest available quarters.

  Sir George Young
  The latest available information, which is for the period January to March 1993, is given in the table. The table also provides updates of the figures given in the reply of 26 April for the preceding three quarters.

  action trusts for each year since 1979 for which figures are available; and how much city grant has been spent in each of the London boroughs in each year since 1979 for which figures are available.

  Mr. Curry
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Telecommunications Masts
  Mr. Roger Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what recent representations he has received regarding the visual effect on the countryside of the erection of 15 m masts as a result of amendment 6 of the General Development Order;

  (2) how many telecommunications masts have been erected without planning permission as a result of amendment 6 of the General Development Order.

  Mr. Baldry
  I will write to my hon. Friend.

  Mr. Rathbone
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many telecommunication masts of(a) up to 15 m in height and (b) over 15 m in height have been erected in (i) areas of outstanding natural beauty, (ii) environmentally sensitive areas and (c) other areas in England;

  (2) how many permissions have been granted on appeal to him for erection of telecommunication masts of over

  489
  15 m in height in England in areas of outstanding natural beauty, in environmentally sensitive areas and in other areas in England;

  (3) how many local district authorities have included in their approved development plans specific policies for the siting of telecommunication masts in their area; how many have not; and how many are awaiting approval of such plans;

  (4) what encouragement the Government are giving for the erection of telecommunication masts under 15 m in height rather than those of greater height;

  (5) what steps the Government are taking to encourage mast sharing among telecommunications operators, particular in respect of masts over 15 m in height; and what assessment has been made of the results of such encouragement.

  Mr. Baldry
  I will write to my hon. Friend.

  Hydrochlorofluorocarbons
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when he expects the European Environment Council to agree to implementation of the Commission's proposed directive on early phase-out of HCFCs;

  (2) what is the United Kingdom's position regarding the European Commission's proposed directive on early phase-out of HCFCs; and what representation he has received from the refrigeration industry regarding the cost implications of this directive.

  Mr. Yeo
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  National Rivers Authority
  Mr. Burden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what are his plans for market testing or privatisation of the laboratory service of the National Rivers Authority;

  (2) what plans he has for the closure of laboratories used by the National Rivers Authority; and what critera are to be used to select laboratories for closure;

  (3) if he will list the areas served by each chemical laboratory used by the National Rivers Authority;

  (4) what representations his Department has received regarding the timetable of the market-testing exercise for National Rivers Authority laboratories and their reliability of financial information on which their exercise is based;

  (5) what internal audit there has been in respect of the liability of financial information relating to the market testing of National Rivers Authority laboratory services; and what were the results of that internal audit;

  (6) what assessment he has made of the implications of closing or sharing National Rivers Authority laboratories for the investigation and prosecution of pollution incidents; and what representations he has received from external legal advisers on the subject.

  Mr. Yeo
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Housing Associations
  Dr. Wright
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing whether the public have a statutory right to(a) attend all board or committee meetings, (b) inspect the minutes of meetings,
  490
  (c) inspect the annual reports, (d) inspect the annual accounts and (e) inspect a register of members' interests of housing associations.

  Sir George Young
  [holding answer 2 November 1993]: The Housing Corporation has the statutory responsibility to fund and supervise registered housing associations. As part of its supervisory role, the corporation receives the associations' annual accounts and requires associations to provide a wide range of information on a regular basis covering the performance and management of associations, including the disclosure of committee members' interests. These returns are available to members of the public and may be viewed at the corporation's headquarters.

  Docklands Light Railway
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the names of the chair and other non-executive directors of the Docklands Light Railway, with their remuneration and entitlement to pension and other expenses and allowances; and what other public appointments and other directorships each of them holds.

  Sir George Young
  [holding answer 3 November 1993]: The chairman of the Docklands Light Railway is Sir Peter Levene; his remuneration is £27,000. Now that he has become chairman and chief executive of Canary Wharf, Sir Peter will step down from the chairmanship of the railway when a successor is in place. Sir Peter retains his post as adviser to the Prime Minister on efficiency and effectiveness. The non-executive directors are Bryan Martin, Robert Rankin, Sir Robert Reid and Eric Sorensen. Three directors draw no salaries, one is paid in the range of £10,000 to £15,000. Non-executive directors have no pension entitlement. Reasonable costs incurred by directors when they are working on the company's behalf are reimbursed. A register of the directors interest is kept by the Docklands Light Railway and can be consulted at the company's headquarters in Castor lane, Poplar, London E14.

  Energy Conservation
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give a breakdown of the budget allocated for energy conservation.

  Mr. Yeo
  The budget for the Energy Efficiency Office for 1993–94 is £69.1 million. This is allocated as follows:

  Programme

  £million/annum

  Best Practice programme

  15·3

  Low Income Households (including Home Energy Efficiency Scheme)

  41·5

  Energy Management Efficiency Scheme

  1·7

  Information and Publicity (including Helping the Earth Begins at Home)

  8·8

  Local Energy Advice Centres

  1·8

  The local energy advice centres are being administered by the Energy Saving Trust, implementing a partnership between the Government and electricity and gas industries. The trust is also developing other energy efficiency programmes, not financed by Government.
  491
  The Government have also made available £3 million of supplementary credit approvals for local authorities to invest in energy efficiency on a capital partnership basis.

  Several other Government initiatives also promote energy efficiency. These include the energy-related environmental issues programme which has a budget of £1–1 million in 1993–94.

  The green house demonstration programme awards supplementary credit approvals for replicable demonstration projects on energy efficiency measures in council housing. A further £5 million is being allocated to 27 more schemes in 1993–94, bringing the overall total to £60 million.

  Local authorities already spend a large proportion of the improvement budgets on energy related work. Housing renovation grants are often used to implement energy efficiency measures, but energy efficiency may be only one element of the work and is, therefore, less quantifiable.

  "Development Below the Low Water Mark"
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he published the departmental paper, "Development Below the Low Water Mark", reviewing regulation in England and Wales; how many copies have been printed; at what cost; and to whom it has been distributed.

  Mr. Yeo
  The consultation paper, "Development Below the Low Water Mark", was published on 18 October 1993. A total of 735 copies were printed at a cost of £1,258. The paper has been distributed to port authorities, sea fisheries committees, marine and conservation societies, libraries, university departments, local planning authorities, the Sports Council and members of the public, as well as other bodies with an interest.

  Old Mine Workings
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will commission an environmental impact study into the consequences of the ceasing of pumping operations from old mine workings in County Durham.

  Mr. Yeo
  No. The National Rivers Authority has already carried out an assessment of the problem with the assistance of consultants. The consequences of cessations of pumping are a matter for British Coal to consider in consultation with the National Rivers Authority and other regulatory authorities.

  Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (i) if he will list the statutory consultees who (i) submitted objections to THORP during the second consultation period and (ii) called for a full public inquiry into the operation of THORP;

  (2) if he will list those local authorities and non-governmental organisations who (i) submitted objections to THORP during the second consultation period and (ii) called for a full public inquiry into the operation of THORP.

  Mr. Yeo
  Responses to the consultation are still being assessed. Detailed information about the responses will be made available once they have all been considered.

  Sustainable Development and Planning
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to meet non-government organisations to discuss sustainable development and planning.

  Mr. Yeo
  There is constant dialogue about sustainable development between non-governmental organisations and my Department at all levels, and planning issues are very often raised in those discussions.

  Sellafield
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment has been carried out by his Department concerning the detriment to the health of the United Kingdom, Europe and the world resulting from each year of discharge from BNFL's Sellafield installation.

  Mr. Yeo
  [holding answer 22 October 1993]: Information was provided by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the chief inspector of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution during the public consultation on the proposed review of the Sellafield authorisation. In addition, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment requested the National Radiological Protection Board to assess the doses to the populations of the United Kingdom, Europe and the world arising from one year's proposed discharges from BNFL Sellafield including THORP and non-THORP releases. A copy of this report is in the Library.

EDUCATION

  School Inspections
  Mrs. Ann Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he intends to take to monitor the procedures used for tendering for school inspection work.

  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.

  Grant-maintained Schools
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will provide a breakdown of the activities to be funded at the Grant-maintained Schools Centre Ltd. in 1993–94.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  My right hon. Friend is making grant available to the Grant Maintained Schools Centre in 1993–94 to support the following activities:

  1. dissemination of factual information about self-governing status to schools considering or in the process of applying for such status, including through the establishment and operation of regional advice centres;

  2. the provision of a secretariat and support services for the Grant Maintained Schools' Standing Advisory Committee; and

  3. provision of information and advice to grant-maintained schools through the GMSC's Schools Subscription Scheme.

  Mrs. Ann Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 24 May 1993,Official Report, columns 388–404, if he will update the information on direct and central maintenance grants to grant-maintained schools.
  493
  Mr. Robin Squire
  The information requested has been placed in the Library. The cash figures and percentages given may in some cases have changed since the reply that my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire (Mr. Forth), gave on 24 May 1993,Official Report, columns 388–404, as grants may be redetermined where, for example, schools qualify under their former maintaining LEA's local management of schools scheme for contingency payments.

  Special Schools
  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many hospital schools have been proposed for closure since April 1991; and what was the decision of his Department when the closure proposals were referred to him;

  (2) if he will list by local education authority area the hospital schools accepting children (a) in 1988 and (b) at the latest year for which figures are available, giving the number of places available in each school, the number filled and the specific special educational role of each school;

  (3) how many children in each local education authority in (a) the primary and (b) the secondary level have not been placed in schools or other establishments designated to meet special educational needs in each of the last five years; and what were the alternative educational arrangements made in each case;

  (4) how many special schools catering for children with emotional and behavioural problems have been proposed for closure since April 1991; and what was the decision of his Department when the closure proposals were referred to him;

  (5) if he will list by local education authority area the special schools accepting children with emotional and behavioural problems (a) in 1988 and (b) at the latest year for which figures are available, giving the number of places available in each school and the number of places filled;

  (6) if he will publish the amount spent by each local education authority on meeting the special educational needs of children together with the percentage of the authority's budget represented by this sum.

  Mr. Forth
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many visits for inspection or advice have been made by HMI/OFSTED in each of the last five years to special schools principally serving children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

  Mr. Forth
  I will write to the hon. Member with the information he requests up until 31 August 1992. Arrangements for inspecting schools became a matter for OFSTED from 1 September 1992 and I am, therefore, asking Professor Sutherland to write to the hon. Member.

  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many visits for inspection or advice have been made by HMI/OFSTED in each of the last five years to hospital schools.

  Mr. Forth
  I will write to the hon. Member with the information he requests up until 31 August 1992. Arrangements for inspecting schools became a matter for OFSTED from 1 September 1992 and I am, therefore, asking Professor Sutherland to write to the hon. Member.

  City Technology Colleges
  Mr. Grocott
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what is the total cost to date(a) to public funds and (b) to private funds of the city technology college programme;

  (2) if he will list the city technology colleges currently in operation indicating in each case, the amount of capital expenditure which came from (a) public and (b) private funds;

  (3) if he will list the amount of money promised from private companies towards the city technology college programme and the amount of money actually received.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire (Mr. Forth), gave to the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mrs. Taylor) on 29 June 1993,Official Report, columns 463–68.

  Asbestos
  Ms Estelle Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make extra finance available to local education authorities so that asbestos can be removed from school buildings.

  Mr. Forth
  It is for local education authorities to determine their own priorities within the substantial recurrent and capital funds at their disposal.

  Student Loans
  Mr. Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will discuss with the Student Loan Company and the Committee of Vice Chancellors, means of improving the application procedure and facilities, and the subsequent processing of students' applications for loans.

  Mr. Boswell
  I have periodic discussions with the Student Loans Company. The company also has periodic liaison meetings with representatives of the higher education institutions. The company is planning to introduce an improved application procedure for existing borrowers in the academic year 1994–95. The company aims to pay loans within 21 days of receipt of a completed application form.

  Public Bodies
  Dr. Wright
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish a table showing for each of the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department, whether the public has a statutory right to attend all board or committee meetings, and to inspect(a) the minutes of meetings, (b) the annual reports and (c) the annual accounts.

  Mr. Boswell
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Teacher Vacancies
  Mr. Jacques Arnold
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish final figures for teacher vacancies at January 1993.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  Final details of teacher vacancies in England at January 1993 have been placed in the Library.
  495
  The overall total is unchanged from the provisional total for 1993 which my right hon. Friend provided in reply to a question from the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Field) on 14 May 1993, Official Report, column 578.

  Sex Education
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) whether(a) abortion and (b) contraception will be considered as biological or other aspects of human sexual behaviour in his Department's forthcoming guidance to schools on sex education;

  (2) what definition will be given within his Department's forthcoming guidance to schools on sex education to help teachers distinguish between biological and other aspects of human sexual behaviour.

  Mr. Forth
  I will write to my hon. Friend.

  Student Grants
  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions he has had with the university vice-chancellors on the level of student grants.

  Mr. Boswell
  My right hon. Friend and I last met the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals on Monday 25 October. We had a useful and interesting exchange of views on a number of current issues in higher education.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

  Peterlee Police
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Attorney-General how many cases have been received by the Crown Prosecution Service from the Peterlee sub-divisional police in each year since 1990; and how many have resulted in prosecution.

  The Attorney-General
  Figures for Peterlee subdivision are included in the total for Northumbria-Durham, and are not available separately.

  The number of cases received by the Crown Prosecution Service, which include cases sent to the CPS by the police for pre-charge advice, for criminal proceedings, and for some non-criminal proceedings were as follows:

  Number

  1990

  72,825

  1991

  69,409

  1992

  68,475

  11993

  33,816

  1 January to June.

  Note: The number of cases received during a particular period does not equal the number finalised in that period, as incomplete cases will be carried over.

  Of the cases received for criminal prosecution the numbers which proceeded to a hearing in the magistrates court, namely a summary trial, a guilty plea or committal proceedings, were as follows:

  Number

  1990

  52,400

  1991

  50,914

  1992

  50,060

  11993

  24,359

  1 January to June.

  496
  Cases received for criminal prosecution would not proceed to such a hearing if the defendant could not be traced by the police, the court imposed a bind over or adjourned the case sine die or the CPS discontinued proceedings.

  Police Cautions
  Mr. Fraser
  To ask the Attorney-General if he will publish the guidelines and policy on cautions for juvenile offenders which operate from the Crown Prosecution Service for the Metropolitan police.

  The Attorney-General
  Cautioning is a matter for the police. The Crown Prosecution Service does not issue guidelines to the police on cautioning, nor would it be appropriate for the CPS to do so.

  Guidance to crown prosecutors on the prosecution, or other disposal, of cases involving juvenile offenders is contained in the code for crown prosecutors, which is a public document.

  Gibraltar
  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on progress made to date by the RUC and the Director of Public Prosecutions Northern Ireland in their efforts to obtain information in Gibraltar relating to George Finbar Ross and the International Investments Ltd. Gibraltar—in liquidation—fraud.

  The Attorney-General
  I refer to the answer given by my hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor General on 21 July 1993,Official Report, column 242, when he stated that:
  "As a result of a Letter of Request for evidence in relation to the affairs of International Investments Ltd—in liquidation—issued by Belfast Magistrates' Court on 1 November 1990, the Supreme Court of Gibraltar made an Order on 16 June 1993 requiring witnesses named in the Letter of Request to attend before a Special Examiner on 12 July 1993 to give evidence on oath and produce documents.
  A hearing took place on 12 and 13 July 1993. A number of witnesses were examined and their depositions recorded. The hearing has been adjourned to allow consideration to be given to certain documents which have now become available. It is anticipated that the hearing will recommence in October 1993."

  The hearing recommenced on 19 October 1993 and continued on 20 and 22 October 1993. A number of further witnesses were examined and their depositions recorded.

  The formal proceedings in Gibraltar are now complete. The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland is presently awaiting receipt of the depositions which were recorded at the hearing before the special examiner. Following the hearing in Gibraltar a number of further inquiries remain to be undertaken.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

  Pension Fund
  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Lord President of the Council what assessment he has made of whether the fees for management of the parliamentary contributory pension fund paid to the public trustee are adequate to ensure timely preparation of the annual accounts.

  Mr. Newton
  The management fees charged by the public trustee and agreed by the managing trustees are
  497
  considered sufficient to enable the public trustee to complete his contribution to the work on the annual accounts within a timescale acceptable to the managing trustees.

  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Lord President of the Council why the accounts of the parliamentary contributory pension fund for the year ended 31 March 1992 were not printed until June 1993.

  Mr. Newton
  As a consequence of pension awards arising from the general election in April 1992, the Fees Office was not able to agree to the foreword to the accounts and certain parts of the accounts for 1991–92 until 23 September 1992. The public trustee sent the final accounts, which had been substantially audited, for certification by the Comptroller and Auditor-General on 3 December 1992. Further work was undertaken by the National Audit Office such that the accounts were not certified until 18 March 1993 and were subsequently published on 6 April 1993.

  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will take steps to ensure that the accounts for the parliamentary contributory pension fund are produced within five months of the financial year end in future years.

  Mr. Newton
  Steps have already been taken to ensure earlier production of the accounts. The current aim is six months, against a seven-month deadline recommended by the Pension Law Review Committee under the chairmanship of Professor Goode, which we fully expect to achieve for years after 1992–93.

  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will ensure that the accounts of the parliamentary contributory pension fund are prepared in accordance with best practice in the private sector and adopt appropriate accounting policies and presentation.

  Mr. Newton
  The format of the accounts is a matter for the managing trustees in conjunction with the Comptroller and Auditor-General. Discussions are taking place to ensure that the accounts are prepared in accordance with best practice. It should be noted, however, that even though they are not covered by the disclosure requirements of the Occupational Pensions Scheme (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 1986, nor by statement of recommended practice 1, disclosure and other relevant information has been made by the managing trustees to all Members.

  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Lord President of the Council how long after the end of the accounting period the audit for the parliamentary contributory pension fund was completed; and what were the reasons for the time taken.

  Mr. Newton
  The audit of the 1992–93 accounts is not yet completed, but it is expected to be so within the next week. Whilst the six-months objective will not have been achieved, extra work had to be undertaken by the National Audit Office because of the pensions awarded as a result of the general election at the beginning of that year.

  Lords Amendments
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will list the occasions since 1979 on which the House has agreed to Lords amendments to Bills once they had been rejected by the Commons on a prior occasion.
  498
  Mr. Newton
  The records show two examples of the House of Commons not insisting on its disagreement with the House of Lords on Lords amendments:

  1. 12th June 1984 re Housing and Building Control Bill.

  2. 5th November 1986 re Housing and Planning Bill.

  Serjeant at Arms
  Mr. Dicks
  To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, what is the cost to public funds of the operation of the office of the Serjeant at Arms and of all the functions for which that office is responsible; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Beith
  Details of the costs of Departments of the House are set out on page 7 of the 15th annual report of the House of Commons Commission (House of Commons Paper No. 820).

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Community Psychiatric Nurses
  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many community psychiatric nurses are employed by each area health board in Northern Ireland; and what is the average population assignment to each community psychiatric nurse in each health board in Northern Ireland.

  Mr. Ancram
  The number of community psychiatric nurses employed by each area health board in Northern Ireland at 30 June 1993 is as follows:

  Number

  Eastern

  108

  Northern

  23

  Southern

  21

  Western

  41

  The average population assignment to each community psychiatric nurse in each health board is as follows:

  Number

  Eastern 1:

  4,555

  Northern 1:

  12,945

  Southern 1:

  9,976

  Western 1:

  4,490

  Health and Social Services Boards
  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what were the total payments including expenses and allowances paid in each of the past three years to the chairman of(a) each of the four area health and social services boards and (b) each of the four area health and social services councils; and what is the estimated population in each of these four areas.

  Mr. Ancram
  Total payments including expenses and allowances were as follows:

  Board Chairpersons £

  Council Chairpersons £

  1990–91

  Northern Board

  16,444

  —

  Southern Board

  15,026

  —

  499

  Board Chairpersons £

  Council Chairpersons £

  Eastern Board

  25,792

  —

  Western Board

  13,414

  —

  1991–92

  Northern Board

  17,689

  763

  Southern Board

  17,171

  1,158

  Eastern Board

  27,106

  1,003

  Western Board

  13,548

  1,548

  1992–93

  Northern Board

  18,441

  544

  Southern Board

  16,763

  1,140

  Eastern Board

  26,368

  2,024

  Western Board

  16,397

  2,298

  Population figures were as follows:

  30 June 1990

  30 June 19911

  30 June 19921

  Northern Board

  386,400

  396,200

  399,700

  Southern Board

  292,900

  289,100

  292,700

  Eastern Board

  647,600

  646,400

  652,100

  Western Board

  262,500

  262,700

  265,800

  1 Provisional

  Respite Care
  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what forms of financial assistance or allowance are available to a relative of a person who is permanently in care to take the person home for a period of respite at home.

  Mr. Ancram
  There is no special scheme of financial assistance available to a carer who provides respite at home for a person who is permanently resident in care. However, a relative who looks after a severely disabled person during a period of respite at home, may receive invalid care allowance if they satisfy the qualifying conditions. In addition, a carer premium may be payable to a carer claiming income support or housing benefit provided that the carer or his/her partner is receiving invalid care allowance.

  Child Migrants
  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will provide help to the Child Migrant Trust to enable former child migrants from Northern Ireland to trace their relatives there.

  Mr. Ancram
  Child migrant schemes mainly affected children from England and Wales. If former child migrants from Northern Ireland are involved, the Department of Health and Social Services would be prepared to consider an application for funding from the Child Migrants Trust in accordance with its policy on grants for voluntary organisations. To date, the Department has not received any such application.

  Sellafield
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent representations he has received in regard to public concern over Sellafield.

  Mr. Atkins
  A number of representations have been received in recent months about Sellafield from district 500
  councils, Member of Parliament, environmental groups and some individuals. These have been seeking support for further consideration of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant by the Government before granting the authorisation. Concerns being expressed relate to possible increased levels of radioactivity.

  Slipway, Portaferry
  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consultations he has had with the local community in Portaferry about the future of the ferry slipway at route Al, Portaferry; whether the future of this slipway has been directed to the attention of the International Fund for Ireland; and if he will make a statement about the future of this slipway.

  Mr. Atkins
  The Department of the Environment has consulted with the traffic police, Ards borough council and statutory undertakers about a proposal to abandon the slipway. The Department is also considering a planning application from Portaferry regeneration group to use the slipway for temporary berthing facilities and this application will be subject to consultation with Ards borough council. The question about the International Fund for Ireland is a matter for the fund and not the Government. No statement can be issued about the future of the slipway until the statutory processes have been completed.

  Enterprise Ulster
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place in the Library a copy of the report he commissioned from KPMG on Enterprise Ulster.

  Mr. Atkins
  Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Julian Crozier. I have asked him to provide you with the information requested.

  Letter from J. S. Crozier to Mr. Andrew Hunter, dated 4 November 1993:
  You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place in the library a copy of the report he commissioned from KPMG on Enterprise Ulster. The Secretary of State has passed your question to me, as Chief Executive of the Training and Employment Agency for reply.
  This report was commissioned by the Agency as part of an exercise to consider options for Enterprise Ulster's future development having regard to the Agency's aims and objectives.
  This was essentially an internal review. When decisions have been taken by Ministers on Enterprise Ulster they will I am sure be made public. Meanwhile however I would not consider it appropriate to place the report in the library.
  I am sorry I cannot be more helpful on this occasion.

  Consultants
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the cost of the consultants' merit award system in 1990–21 in Northern Ireland.

  Mr. Ancram
  Data on the cost of merit awards are not readily available, but an estimate based on the values of awards during 1990–21 and the number of award holders at that time puts the costs at around £2.6 million.

  Suicide
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many suicides were reported of patients receiving(a) in-patient and (b) out-patient psychiatric care in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

  Mr. Ancram
  [holding answer 4 November 1993]: The number of psychiatric hospital in-patients who have committed suicide while in hospital are given. Information on people receiving out-patient psychiatric care who have committed suicide is not available centrally.

  Year of registration of death1

  Number2

  1988

  3

  1989

  1

  1990

  1

  1991

  0

  1992

  1

  1 This may not be the year in which death occurred.

  2 These figures do not include people who absented themselves from hospital before committing suicide.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

  Charter Mark
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many organisations have applied for a charter mark; and how many have been awarded.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  In 1993, 411 charter mark applications were received from organisations throughout the public sector and the privatised utilities. Ninety-three

  Daily

  Weekly

  Bound Volume

  Actual

  At 1993 prices

  Actual

  At 1993 prices

  Actual

  At 1993 prices

  November 1963

  1s6d

  0·79p

  4s 6d

  £2·36

  £1 5s 0d

  £13·14

  November 1973

  0·18p

  £1·09

  0·50p

  £3·30

  £3·75

  £22·76

  November 1983

  £1·00

  £1·69

  £2·75

  £4·66

  £21·00

  £35·56

  November 1992

  £7·50

  £22·00

  £90·00

  For many years the prices of the Official Report (Hansard) were heavily subsidised. In 1983, when the annual subsidy stood at £6 million, the Government decided progressively to reduce the level of subsidy received, by a combination of price increases and improved methods of production. The November 1991 price increase to £7.50 eliminated the subsidy and further technological advances enabled this price to be held throughout the 1992–23 Session.

  Daily

  Weekly

  Bound Volume Official

  Estimated average sales

  Official Per cent.

  Others Per cent.

  Estimated average sales

  Official Per cent.

  Others Per cent.

  Estimated average sales

  Official Per cent.

  Others Per cent.

  1983

  5,221

  1,488

  1,026

  1992

  3,731

  85

  15

  1,210

  60

  40

  907

  65

  35

  502
  awards were made to those organisations that demonstrated evidence of the highest levels of service to their customers. In 1992, 296 organisations submitted applications, and 36 awards were made.

  Science Summit
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what contribution Her Majesty's Government made to the European science summit convened by the European Commission in October; and if he will make a statement on the achievements of the summit.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  I shall write to the hon. Member.

  Agencies
  Mr. Michael Spicer
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list for each of the last 10 years the number of people employed by agencies set up over the last 10 years to replace civil service functions.

  Mr. Waldegrave
  Executive agencies set up as part of the next steps initiative remain part of the civil service, and staff working in them continue to be civil servants.

  "Official Report"
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the estimated circulation of the Official Report in its daily, weekly and bound volume versions together with the retail cost of each at 1993 prices for each of the years 1963, 1973, 1983 and 1992; what proportion in each year were purchased for official purposes; and how many were sold to the public at the indicated prices.

  Mr. David Davis
  The price for the three editions of the Official Report in each of the specified years, together with the sum expressed at 1993 prices—using the long-term index of prices of consumer goods and services, as calculated by the Central Statistical Office—is as follows:

  The printing, finishing and distribution of the Official Report was market tested earlier this year. The award of the contract to the in-house bid submitted by HMSO's Parliamentary Press will achieve ongoing savings in manpower and overheads. As a result, HMSO has announced that the price of Hansard, and other routine—scale priced—parliamentary papers will not be increased during the life of the present Parliament.

  The estimated average sales and the estimated proportions sold to official customers and others are as follows:
  503
  Figures for earlier years, and proportions of official sales and other sales in 1983, are not available.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

  Queen's Counsel
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the cost in money and time of his system for vetting and appointing Queen's Counsel and for consulting judges on the subject.

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  The costs involved in the work relating to applications for appointment as Queen's Counsel form part of the overall costs of the headquarters of the Lord Chancellor's Department and cannot readily be isolated. However, broad estimates suggest that in 1993–94 the process may account for costs of the order of £100,000, including about 650 staff days of the time of the officials most directly involved. These figures contain notional elements for postage and stationery and certain other items which may understate the full cost. They do not include any element for the time of the judges.

  Land Ownership
  Mr. Mandelson
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 25 October,Official Report, column 422, what are the circumstances in the Land. Registry which prevent the assessment of foreign ownership of land in England and Wales; and what steps he intends to take to make this information available.

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  The Land Registration Acts 1925–88 do not require applicants for registration to state their nationality. There are no plans at present to introduce such a requirement.

  Mr. Mandelson
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what are his Department's estimates for the offshore banking centres' ownership of the foreign ownership of the acreage of England and Wales.

  Intervention butter

  Tonnes

  End of:

  Purchases1

  Sales1

  Stocks1

  Private storage2

  March 1992

  nil

  1,094

  18,116

  3,161

  April 1992

  nil

  371

  17,745

  5,019

  May 1992

  nil

  475

  17,270

  6,982

  June 1992

  nil

  763

  16,507

  8,886

  July 1992

  nil

  498

  16,009

  9,895

  August 1992

  nil

  35,854

  10,155

  10,559

  September 1992

  nil

  214

  9,941

  7,469

  October 1992

  nil

  nil

  9,941

  5,960

  November 1992

  nil

  nil

  9,941

  nil

  December 1992

  nil

  nil

  9,941

  nil

  January 1993

  nil

  nil

  9,941

  nil

  February 1993

  nil

  nil

  9,941

  nil

  March 1993

  340

  215

  10,066

  463

  April 1993

  1,160

  178

  11,048

  1,525

  May 1993

  nil

  20

  11,028

  2,666

  June 1993

  nil

  80

  10,948

  3,987

  July 1993

  353

  nil

  11,301

  4,431

  August 1993

  1,819

  4,324

  8,796

  5,350

  September 1993

  440

  nil

  9,236

  4,593

  October 1993

  nil

  nil

  9,236

  3,752

  504
  Mr. John M. Taylor
  No information is held on which such an estimate could be based.

  Mr. Mandelson
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what are his Department's estimates for the acreage of England and Wales under foreign ownership.

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  No information is held on which such an estimate could be based.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Butter
  Mr. Davidson
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what is the level of butter held in United Kingdom public intervention or private storage facilities under the intervention stock scheme in each of the last 20 months;

  (2) what is the level of sales from and purchases to intervention stocks of butter in each of the last 20 months.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  Responsibility for this matter is delegated to the Intervention Board executive agency and I have asked the chief executive to reply to the hon. Gentleman direct.

  Letter from G. Stapleton to Mr. Ian Davidson, dated 5 November 1993:
  The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply to your written Parliamentary Questions (2341 and 2346) tabled for answer on 4 November as the matters are within the operational responsibility of this Agency.
  "To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (2341) what is the level of butter held in United Kingdom public intervention of private storage facilities under the intervention stock scheme in each of the last 20 months. (2346) what is the level of sales from and purchases to intervention stocks of butter in each of the last 20 months" The information requested is set out in the attached table.
  I am sending a copy of this letter, together with a copy of the table, to the House of Commons Library and the Public Information Office.
  505

  1 Butter purchased by the Intervention Board and held in store until release is authorised by the EC Commission.

  2 Butter in the ownership of public and private companies temporarily removed from the market under aided private storage contracts.

  3 This includes 3,621 tonnes of butter made available for free distribution under the surplus food arrangements in 1992.

  Warble Fly
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will list the number of reported cases of warble fly infestation in imported cattle(a) since 1 January and (b) for the comparative period in each of the previous three years.

  Mr. Soames
  I shall write to the hon. Member.

  Horses
  Dr. Strang
  To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the horse population of the United Kingdom in each year since 1974.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  No official figures are available for the total equine population but the agricultural departments periodically collect information on horses kept on agricultural holdings. Figures for the years of collection after 1973 are shown in the table:

  Horses and ponies on agricultural and horticultural holdings in the United Kingdom

  Year

  '000 head1

  1979

  186

  1983

  2167

  1990

  2183

  1992

  2231

  1993

  3247

  1 Figures include estimates for minor holdings for England and Wales but not for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

  2 Excludes ponies in Northern Ireland.

  3 Provisional.

  Source: June census for each year.

  Farm Incomes
  Mr. Davidson
  To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are her estimates for total income from farming in each of the last 15 years, the number of farmers in the United Kingdom for a comparable period and the average farm income for the same years.

  Mr. Jack
  The table shows the estimates for each year from 1978 to 1992 of total income from farming, which represents the total income from agriculture of the group with an entrepreneurial interest in the industry—farmers and spouses, non-principal partners and directors and their spouses and family workers—and the number of farmers, partners and directors in the United Kingdom engaged in farm work. It is not possible to calculate a meaningful measure of average farm income from these figures. Information on average farm incomes is collected from sample surveys and the results for each type of farm are published annually in "Farm Incomes in the United Kingdom". This publication is available in the Library of the House.

  Total income from farming (£ million)

  Number of farmers, partners and directors (doing farm work) (thousands)

  1978

  1,572

  303·3

  1979

  1,511

  303·9

  1980

  1,484

  297·9

  506

  Total income from farming (£ million)

  Number of farmers, partners and directors (doing farm work) (thousands)

  1981

  1,846

  293·6

  1982

  2,226

  292·8

  1983

  1,866

  289·6

  1984

  2,689

  292·2

  1985

  1,647

  290·3

  1986

  2,104

  288·9

  1987

  2,169

  284·5

  1988

  1,810

  284·2

  1989

  2,290

  283·3

  1990

  2,350

  281·6

  1991

  2,452

  278·6

  19921

  2,831

  280·5

  1 Provisional.

  Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances
  Dr. Strang
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the value of hill livestock compensatory allowances in both nominal and real terms payable per head in respect of ewes, hardy breed ewes and suckler cows maintained on severely disadvantaged and disadvantaged land in each year since 1979.

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  The information requested is not yet available. Comparable information compiled for the autumn review of hill livestock compensatory allowances in 1992 is available in the Library of the House. An updated version will be included in the information placed in the Library when the outcome of the current review is announced on 30 November.

  Fishing Vessels
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases were investigated by fishery officers of the inspectorate of fisheries of vessels contravening the under 10 m licensing regulations.

  Mr. Jack
  The Fisheries Department is in the final stages of completing the licensing of fishing vessels of 10 m overall length and under. No prosecutions have so far been taken but as part of their ongoing enforcement responsibilities, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's sea fisheries inspectorate has made it clear that vessels fishing for profit must be licensed in accordance with the provisions of the Sea Fish Licensing Order 1992 (SI 1992/2633) as varied by SIs 1993/188 and 1993/2291.

  Bovine Tuberculosis
  Mr. David Nicholson
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a further statement on the spread of bovine tuberculosis in the south-west region since 1 January; what measures her Department is taking to curb it; and what progress has been made to date.

  Mr. Soames
  There have been 153 confirmed cases of tuberculosis in the south-west region up to the end of September compared with 97 cases for that period in 1992.
  507
  When an outbreak of disease is detected, action is taken to prevent the spread of disease from the premises concerned by the slaughter of affected animals and movement restrictions. An investigation is carried out to ascertain the cause of the breakdown and if badgers are thought to be involved then appropriate action is taken in line with the interim strategy recommended in the report on badgers and bovine tuberculosis presented to the Department by Professor Dunnet in 1986.

  We are reviewing the current badger control arrangements. As part of this review members of the consultative panel on badgers and bovine tuberculosis and I attended a seminar on 3 November which considered the latest position of scientific research into this complex issue in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The panel will be discussing the way forward on badger control arrangements at its meeting on 18 November. The Government will need to consider carefully the views of the panel before making an announcement.

  Cash Limits
  Mr. Tyler
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer of 1 November to the hon. Member for Waveney (Mr. Porter),Official Report, columns 39–20, if she will disaggregate the reduction in expenditure on agriculture schemes announced in her answer.

  Mr. Jack
  The changes to estimated expenditure on agricultural schemes flow from lower than expected claims by farmers. The details are as follows:

  £'000s

  Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme

  11,047

  Optional Set-aside Scheme

  1,190

  Payments Under Closed Capital Grant and Related Schemes

  1,083

  Group Marketing Grant

  200

  Farm Woodland Scheme

  187

  Grants for the Encouragement of Co-operation in Agriculture and Horticulture (Great Britain)

  175

  Farm Woodland Premium Scheme

  141

  Other

  1,400

  Total

  15,423

  Organic Producers
  Mr. Tyler
  To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations she has received since her announcement on 11 August on the agri-environment programme about the exclusion of current organic producers from the scheme.

  Mr. Jack
  Since the Minister made her announcement of the proposed organic aid scheme she has received 241 letters asking her to reconsider the decision not to aid existing organic producers. The vast majority of these were from producers who said that they already followed organic methods.

  Mr. Tyler
  To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is her estimate of the amounts to be paid per hectare for organic support in each European Community member country in the year 1993–24.
  508
  Mr. Jack
  This information is not available as the EC Commission has yet to approve any organic programmes under the agri-environment regulation.

  Mr. Tyler
  To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what will be the predicted effect on existing organic producers of the new agri-environment package she announced on 11 August.

  Mr. Jack
  I shall write to the hon. Member.

  Animal Welfare
  Mr. Steinberg
  To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many journeys of animals exceeding the 15 hour interval for feeding and watering she has authorised since 1 January.

  Mr. Soames
  Journeys of farm livestock may exceed 15 hours provided that the transporter complies with the requirements of the Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1992, including those relating to the provision of rest, food and water.

  Animal Exports
  Mr. Steinberg
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many animals have been exported to other EC member states from the United Kingdom since 1 January.

  Mr. Soames
  Information on trade with other EC member states is not currently available. I shall write to the hon. Member when it is.

  Pig Producers
  Mr. Whittingdale
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures are being taken to ensure fair competition between pig producers in European Community countries.

  Mr. Jack
  Whilst pig producers operate in a free market it is vital that there should be no hidden subsidies which could distort competition. We always take up any such cases with the European Commission when we hear of them. I recently wrote to Commissioner Stechen when I learnt of French proposals for aid to the French pig industry to ask him to investigate the matter urgently and to make sure that no payments were made that contravened Community rules.

  Heifers (Deaths)
  Mr. Steinberg
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what answer she has received from the Government of the Netherlands to her representations regarding the deaths of heifers during the ferry crossing from Holland to Harwich on 10 June.

  Mr. Soames
  The Department carried out a full investigation into the circumstances of the incident with the co-operation of Essex county council. We have expressed concern to the authorities in Holland and all the information from the investigation is being passed to them for appropriate action to be taken. The Commission has been informed about the case and the Government have emphasised the importance they attach to proper enforcement of animal welfare safeguards.

  Land Sales
  Sir Grylls
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans she has to require county councils to sell their holdings of agricultural land.

  Mr. Michael Jack
  I have no such plans.

  Arable Crops
  Mr. Welsh
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the differences between England and Scotland in methodology used to analyse regional base area for arable crops; and what proposals she has to co-ordinate the systems used.

  Mr. Jack
  The methodology used to calculate the regional base area and to establish whether it has been exceeded is the same for all regions and is laid down in the EC legislation governing the arable area payments scheme.

  Rabbits
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will give details of the occasions since 1963 when her Ministry has exercised its powers under the Pests Act 1954 to make rabbit clearance orders in England and Wales; and if she will make a statement.

  Mr. Soames
  Rabbit clearance orders were made by the Minister for areas throughout England and Wales during the years 1955 to 1957. Sixty-one orders, which covered counties or parts of counties, were consolidated in 1972 into the Rabbit Clearance Order No. 148 (England and Wales). Under this order the whole of England and Wales, except the City of London, the Isles of Scilly and Skokholm island, is designated a rabbit clearance area. Landowners and occupiers have an obligation to kill or take rabbits living on or resorting to their land or, where this is not reasonably practicable, to prevent rabbits from causing damage.

  Milk Marketing Scheme
  Dame Peggy Fenner
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many letters of concern she has received on the length of time allowed for consultations for the reorganised milk marketing scheme.

  Mr. Jack
  My right hon. Friend has received two such letters.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many letters she has received regarding the size of the consultation document regarding the reorganisation of the milk marketing scheme.

  Mr. Jack
  My right hon. Friend has received no such letters.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what period she has allowed for consultation on the reorganisation of the milk marketing scheme; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the consultation period for the collection of consumer views.

  Mr. Jack
  I shall write to the hon. Member.

  Codex Alimentarius Commission
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on the accountability provisions to national Parliaments to be 510
  included in the Codex Alimentarius Commission to be established under the general agreement on tariffs and trade.

  Mr. Soames
  The codex alimentarius is a set of world food standards that have been developed over the past 30 years, designed both to protect consumers and to facilitate world trade in foodstuffs. The Codex Alimentarius Commission, which is the Food and Agriculture Organisation—World Health Organisation joint food standards programme, is an intergovernmental body and thus the decisions reached by it are those reached by Governments. GATT will bring with it a subsidiary agreement—the sanitary and phytosanitary agreement—whereby the international standards agreed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in the food area will be regarded as the international norm in cases of trade disputes that come forward for adjudication under the GATT procedure.

  Commodity Storage Costs
  Mr. Martlew
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much was spent on public storage for each commodity in(a) the European Community and (b) the United Kingdom, in each year since 1987; and if she will make a statement.

  Mr. Jack
  [holding answer 1 November 1993]: I shall write to the hon. Member.

WALES

  Cattle Identification Documents
  Mr. Hanson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to simplify the cattle identification document scheme in Wales.

  Mr. Redwood
  I am considering the possibilities for simplifying the arrangements for cattle identification documents. My officials have asked the industry for its views.

  Cardiff Bay
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the European Environment Commissioner in relation to their proposed visit to Cardiff bay and the Lower Severn estuary proposed special protection area as announced in the oral answer to question H952/93 of 27 October, of Hemmo Muntingh MEP to Commissioner Paleoskrasses.

  Mr. Redwood
  None.

  Grant-maintained Schools
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what amount was granted to the Grant Maintained Schools Centre Ltd. in 1992–93; under what statutory powers; and what services his Department received from the centre.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  In 1992–93, my Department made a grant of £30,000 to the Grant Maintained Schools Centre. The grant was made pursuant to regulation 15 of the Education (Grant) Regulations 1990 (SI 1990–1989). The GMSC offers advice about grant-maintained status to schools in Wales both prior to and after the date of incorporation.

  Poverty
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received recently on poverty in the Principality.

  Mr. Redwood
  I have recently received a copy of the pamphlet entitled "Politics of Poverty in Blaenau Gwent" of which the hon. Gentleman is a co-author.

  Consultants
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the cost of the consultants' merit award system in 1990–91 in Wales.

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  In 1990–91, financial returns shows a total of £4,105,000 paid in merit awards to consultants in the NHS in Wales.

  Training and Enterprise Councils
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the budget for each TEC in Wales in 1993–94.

  Sir Wyn Roberts
  The budgets currently contracted with each TEC in Wales are shown in the following table:

  TEC budgets for 1993–94 as at 1 November 1993

  TEC

  £ million

  Gwent

  16.832

  Mid Glamorgan

  19.679

  North East Wales

  11.002

  North West Wales

  13.648

  Powys

  4.264

  South Glamorgan

  120.79

  West Wales

  26.740

  Cardiff Bay Development Corporation
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has completed the financial management and policy review into the Cardiff Bay development corporation; and if he will make it his policy to place a copy of the review in the Library.

  Mr. Redwood
  [holding answer 28 October 1993]: I will write to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.

  Hospital Waiting Lists
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the number of people awaiting hospital treatment in each Welsh health authority in(a) March 1990, (b) March 1992, (c) June 1993 and (d) September 1993.

  Mr. Redwood
  I will write to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible.

  Anthrax Spores
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has on the contamination of land by anthrax spores in South Wales.

  Mr. Redwood
  I will write to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Newspapers
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will refer the issues of pricing of loss-making newspapers and of ownership of national titles beyond 20 per cent. market share for review under fair trading and monopolies legislation.

  Mr. Neil Hamilton
  No. The Director General of Fair Trading, Sir Bryan Carsberg, announced on 14 October that, following preliminary investigations by his office into allegations that the reduction in the cover price of The Times was predatory pricing, he would not be initiating formal action under the competition legislation. The Director General is satisfied that on the basis of the information available the reduction in the cover price of The Times reflects a calculated commercial decision by News International which he would not be justified in treating as predatory.

  One-stop Advice Shops
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many one-stop shops for advice for businesses have been established and in which locations, in his pilot scheme; and if he will make a statement on their future.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  Firm offers of grant have been made to three areas and one-stop shops are open in Birmingham and Leicester. They are now known as business links. Ten more areas are well advanced with their business plans and I anticipate around 40 business links will be open by April next year. Eventually a national network of around 200 business links will provide local access points for business support services.

  Maggot Dying
  Mr. George Howarth
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the continued use of the banned substance chrysoidine in the maggot dying process; and what further proposals he has to enforce the ban.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  Chrysoidine is not a banned substance although the Department of Health has considered the potential risk, especially of cancer, posed to anglers by chrysoidine on a number of occasions in the past. When it was last reviewed in 1985, the Department of Health reaffirmed its earlier advice that it would be prudent for anglers who wanted to use chrysoidine to avoid skin contact with the dye by, for example, using gloves when handling the dye or when baiting hooks with dyed maggots. The Government conveyed this advice to the National Federation of Anglers and the angling press at the time.

  Publishing
  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the impact of industrial competitiveness of subsidies, direct or indirect, to publishing in other EC countries; and what representations he has made to the European Commission on this matter.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  I have made no such representations about publishing, but my Department very regularly takes
  513
  up complaints with the Commission on behalf of business in all sectors of industry. I am concerned that United Kingdom firms should not lose business unfairly to competitors in other member states and will pursue vigorously any cases brought to our attention.

  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received about the potential impact on industrial competitiveness from imposition of VAT on books.

  Mr. Neil Hamilton
  A number of representations have been received on this subject from organisations connected with the publishing industry. Taxation is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

  Landmines
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will list the countries to which British companies have exported landmines in each of the last five years;

  (2) what estimate he has of the total output of landmines in United Kingdom factories during each of the last five years.

  Mr. Needham
  There has been no United Kingdom output or export of conventional anti-personnel ground mines in the last five years. In the time available I have not been able to obtain details of other forms of landmines. I am, however, making inquiries and I will write to the hon. Member.

  Furniture and Clothing (Safety)
  Mr. David Nicholson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many representations he has received urging that the policy of deregulation should not weaken existing consumer protection legislation in respect of fire risk and poisonous gases in furniture and clothing.

  Mr. Neil Hamilton
  My Department has received 31 representations that there should be no change to the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 and 72 representations that there should be no change to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 as amended.

  EC Retex Scheme
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the current position with British schemes under the EC Retex initiative.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  In Great Britain, £4.4 million of RETEX grant is available. 66 applications were received, for over £9 million. Twenty-five projects have so far been approved by the programme monitoring committee, for over £3 million of grant. The programme is expected to be fully committed by December 1993.

  EC Assistance
  Mr. David Porter
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the status of the bids on behalf of(a) Lowestoft and (b) the Waveney valley for EC structural fund assistance; and when he expects all details to be finalised.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  Lowestoft and the Waveney valley are included in the Government's proposals for areas to 514
  receive grants from the funds under objectives 2 and 5(b) respectively. The Government's proposals were fowarded to the European Commission on 7 October. The Commission is now considering all the proposals from all the member states concerned. The final decisions are expected in December.

  Mr. David Porter
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his Department or local authorities will match pound for pound any structural funding forthcoming from the EC by the end of this calendar year.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  The European structural funds make grants at various percentage rates towards the cost of a wide variety of projects undertaken by various beneficiaries, including Government Departments, local authorities, and many others. That part of the cost of each project which is not met by the funds is the responsibility of the beneficiary, and will continue to be so.

  Ms Quin
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will give a breakdown by standard planning region of the total amount of outstanding contracts and payments from the EC structural funds for the current allocation.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  This information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the relationship between objective 2 areas and assisted areas; and what representations have been made by the Government to the European Commission on behalf of(a) non-assisted areas in Britain currently having objective 2 status and (b) assisted areas holding objective 2 status.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  [holding answer 4 November 1993]: There is no direct connection between the objective 2 and United Kingdom assisted areas maps.

  I have made no representations to the European Commission since I sent to Brussels on 7 October the United Kingdom's list of proposed areas for designation under objectives 2 and 5b.

  I published that list in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Dorset, South (Mr. Bruce) on 22 October, Official Report, column 723–24.

  Multilateral Trade Organisation
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals have been put forward by Her Majesty's Government to increase the transparency of operation of the proposed multilateral trade organisation.

  Mr. Needham
  Proposals to increase the transparency of the proposed dispute settlement arrangement which will operate after the implementation of the Uruguay round in GATT have been made informally by a number of participants. The European Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the Community, is at present considering its response to these proposals, in consultation with the United Kingdom and other member states. In principle, the United Kingdom welcomes proposals which would increase the transparency of the dispute settlement system, particularly in view of the increasing level of interest shown in GATT dispute settlement procedures, especially where environmental questions are concerned.

  Cohesion Fund
  Mr. Tyler
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the estimated total United Kingdom contribution to the European Community cohesion fund over the next seven years; which member states are expected to benefit from it; and what criteria will be used to determine the eligibility of infrastructure projects, with particular reference to schemes to meet bathing water quality and urban waste water directives.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  The estimated United Kingdom contribution to the European cohesion fund over the seven-year period 1993 to 1999, net of abatement, is 750 million ecu, about £575 million, at 1992 prices. The beneficiary member states are Spain, Portugal, Greece and the Republic of Ireland.

  The governing regulation contains no specific reference to the bathing water quality and urban waste water directives, but grant-aided environmental projects are required to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of Article 130r of the Treaty.

  Debts (Prompt Payments)
  Ms Walley
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will issue a code of practice regarding the payment of accounts by debtors within the stated period allowed and agreed.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  The Government already support the CBI prompt payers code, which is a code of practice to encourage prompt payment of debts. DTI also publishes a guide to cash flow management for small firms.

  Postage Rates
  Mr. Beith
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish(a) the price of sending an addressed domestic first class ordinary letter within each OECD country and (b) the price of sending an addressed ordinary letter to any other OECD country from each OECD country in the form of three cross tables each showing the cost in (i) domestic currency, (ii) ECUs and (iii) pound sterling.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  The cost of sending a first class letter in the United Kingdom is 25p. The tariffs for sending letters to all other countries in the OECD are published in the leaflet "The Easy Way to Mail Abroad", a copy of which is freely available at the House of Commons Post Office.

  No systematic information on tariffs between other countries is held by either the Department of Trade and Industry or the Post Office.

  Mr. Mohammed Hashemi
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he or his officials last met Mr. Mohammed Hashemi.

  Mr. Needham
  I am unaware of any such meeting having taken place.

  Post Office
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what expenditures have so far been committed in the 1993–24 year for consultancy work to(a) Kleinwort
  516
  Benson and (b) others on the privatisation of the Post Office; and what were the outturn costs of the review for consultants and others in 1992–93.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  The Department has received advice on the Post Office Review and the sale of Parcelforce from Kleinwort Benson, KPMG Peat Marwick, Price Waterhouse and McKennas. The Department spent £922,010.59 in 1992–93 on such advice. Thus far in 1993–94, £213,607.44 has been spent from within class IV, vote 1, subhead C3. Details of amounts paid to individual consultants are commercially confidential.

  Konver Programme
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will place in the Library a document showing the allocation methodology for the Konver programme, and the overall score and rank of each country together with the percentages, scores and rank for each indicator.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  Yes. I have today arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

  Mrs. Fatchett
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list, according to actions 1 to 6, and by region(a) the proposal submitted for the Konver programme and (b) those approved.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  [holding answer 4 November 1993]: I shall write to the hon. Member.

  Offshore Safety
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list all grants awarded by the Offshore Supplies Office or the Marine Technology Support Unit to assist the development of escape systems following the Cullen report, together with the size and the year of approval for each grant; and what moneys have been recovered from sales of grant-aided equipment and systems.

  Mr. Eggar
  To Telescape UK Ltd. grants of £11,820 in 1990; £19,023 in 1991; £28,732 in 1991; and £13,558 in 1993; to Sir James Laing and Sons Ltd. a grant of £32,500 in 1990.

  No moneys have been recovered from sales of these equipment and systems.

  St. Helena
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the level of exports to and imports from St. Helena to the United Kingdom during the last five years.

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

  United Kingdom Trade with St. Helena

  United Kingdom Imports £000

  United Kingdom Exports £000

  1988

  205

  6,103

  1989

  504

  7,208

  1990

  555

  7,429

  1991

  820

  6,980

  1992

  691

  7,336

  Source: Business Monitor MA20, Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom.

  Coal Mines
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will commission an inquiry into the consequences of methane emissions from old mine workings in urban areas in County Durham where coal mines have closed.

  Mr. Eggar
  Procedures adopted for abandoning mine workings are a matter for British Coal. Where British Coal abandons a mine, it undertakes a detailed analysis of the most appropriate measures to be incorporated in the abandonment procedures, having regard to statutory requirements and the safety of employees and the public. As part of this process, consideration is given to the potential for methane emissions and appropriate action taken where necessary.

  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade who will be responsible for the cost of pumping operations in County Durham when the remaining collieries are privatised or closed.

  Mr. Eggar
  The allocation of environmental responsibilities in the privatisation process is under consideration. The Government will ensure that British Coal's current role in respect of the physical legacy of historic mining will be continued after privatisation.

  Electricity Generation
  Mr. O'Neill
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if his Department's stated intention in its White Paper, "The Prospects for Coal" to work towards a figure of 1,500 MW of new electricity generating capacity from renewable sources for the United Kingdom as a whole by 2000, relates to declared net generating capacity.

  Mr. Eggar
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Renewable Energy
  Mr. O'Neill
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if his Department has yet obtained final clearance from the EC Commission for the extension of non-fossil fuel obligation support for renewable energy beyond 1998;

  (2) what plans he has to replace the system of band strike pricing for renewable orders under the third non-fossil fuel obligation plan.

  Mr. Eggar
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Energy Supplies
  Mr. O'Neill
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his Department's latest estimate of(a) installed electricity generating capacity and (b) declared net capacity from renewable energy sources in the United Kingdom; and what percentage of each of these totals received support under the non-fossil fuel obligation.

  Mr. Eggar
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Quality Assurance Certification
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what criteria have to be satisfied before companies which offer quality assurance certification are accredited by the National Accreditation Council for Certification Bodies.
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  Mr. McLoughlin
  The National Accreditation Council for Certification Bodies recommends certification bodies for accreditation by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade. Certification bodies are assessed by NACCB against the European standards EN 45011, 45012 and 45013, which lay down general criteria for bodies operating certification of products, quality systems, and personnel respectively. Bodies must in addition satisfy NACCB's criteria of competence and regulations governing accreditation or recognition. I have arranged for copies of these documents to be placed in the Library.

  Mr. Alexander Schultz
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to complete his investigation into the business activities of Alexander Schultz.

  Mr. Neil Hamilton
  My Department does not investigate the affairs of individuals other than those subject to bankruptcy proceedings.

  Atomic Energy Inspections
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what support was given to the rationalisation of inspection responsibilities between the International Atomic Energy Agency and EURATOM, in the United Kingdom submission to the 37th IAEA general conference of 27 September.

  Mr. Eggar
  The United Kingdom has supported the initiatives which are now in hand to improve the cost effectiveness of safeguards and attaches particular importance to the rationalisation of inspection responsibilities between the agency and Euratom. Considerable progress has already been made with the new partnership approach. We look forward to the successful completion of current negotiations on the new partnership approach and will continue to urge its full implementation as soon as possible.

  Iraq and Jordan (Exports)
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many export licences and supply licences issued to companies in respect of exports to Iraq since August 1990 were withdrawn on 28 September; how many have subsequently been restored; and how many new ones have been granted.

  Mr. Needham
  [holding answer 3 November 1993]: The number of export and supply licences revoked on 28 September were:

  Number

  Export licences

  1,506

  Supply licences

  273

  TOTAL

  1,779

  All licences granted after 28 September are new licences. Of these, 46 were issued to replace licences which had been revoked, and 41 were in respect of new applications.

  No new licences to replace revoked supply licences have yet been issued.
  519
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many export licences or supply licences have been granted for exports to Jordan since August 1990; and how many such licences previously granted have been operative after August 1990.

  Mr. Needham
  [holding answer 3 November 1993]: A total of 300 export licences have been issued for Jordan between August 1990 and October 1993. There have been no supply licences issued.

  It is not possible to identify those licences issued before August 1990 which were still valid after that date.

  The statistics given for Jordan reflects application for licences where Jordan was the final destination of the goods. It should be noted that most of the exports to Iraq for which a United Kingdom export or supply licence has been issued in accordance with United Nations sanctions will have been shipped through Jordan.

  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the number of export licence and supply licence applications to(a) Iraq and (b) Jordan since August 1990, indicating the number of cases where (i) licences were refused and (ii) no licence was deemed to be required.

  Mr. Needham
  [holding answer 3 November 1993]: The information is as follows:

  Iraq

  Applications for Export and Supply Licence received or refused since August 1990 are as follows:

  Number

  (i) Export licences applied for

  2,798

  Licences refused

  510

  (ii) Supply licences applied for

  704

  Licences refused

  165

  Note:

  Licences are required for the export of all goods to Iraq.

  Jordan

  Applications for Export and Supply Licence received or refused since August 1990 are as follows:

  Number

  (i) Export licences applied for

  424

  Licences refused

  9

  Licence not required

  55

  Notes:

  No supply licences have been issued for Jordan.

  The statistics given for Jordan reflect applications for licences where Jordan was the final destination of the goods. It should be noted that most of the exports to Iraq for which a United Kingdom export or supply licence has been issued in accordance with United Nations sanctions will have been shipped through Jordan.

  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many inquiries his Department are making into export licences, supply licences or other exports from Britain whose end use was Jordan since August 1990 which are or may be in breach of the sanctions regime applied to Iraq; and what action is being taken.

  Mr. Needham
  [holding answer 3 November 1993]: It is not the Government's practice to discuss any investigations, ongoing or otherwise, in which DTI is involved.

  Lebanese Reconstruction Programme
  Mrs. Ewing
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate has been made of the value of contracts awarded in the Lebanese reconstruction programme up to the nearest available date in electricity, water and sewerage, communications, transport, health and education sectors; and what share in each sector has been won by British companies.

  Mr. Needham
  [holding answer 4 November 1993]: Lebanon has, reportedly, awarded a number of contracts as part of its redevelopment plans. These are, however, at an early stage. We do not yet have access to figures that would enable us to estimate their value for the sectors listed, or the share of such contracts which might have been secured by British companies. United Kingdom exports to Lebanon totalled £92 million in 1992 and have grown by about 40 per cent. so far this year.

  Steel Industry
  Mr. John Morris
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the degree of rationalisation of the British steel industry and that of producers in Spain, Germany, France and Italy; and if he will make it his policy to raise with the European Commission any breach by another EC country of the European Coal and Steel Community policies on rationalisation.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  [holding answer 4 November 1993]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Cousins) on 8 March 1993, Official Report, col. 407. The Government will continue to work with the European Commission and other member states to ensure the rigorous application of state aid rules and the elimination of subsidies.

TRANSPORT

  Shipping Industry
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money has been spent on support to the British shipping industry in each year since 1979; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Norris
  Details of the Department's financial support for shipping services over this period are given in "The Government's Expenditure Plans" and "The Government's Expenditure Plans for Transport". Copies of both are available in the Library.

  Company Cars
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will update the answer to the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms Harman) of 25 February,Official Report, columns 693–94, relating to company cars.

  Mr. Key
  For the 12 months to September 1993, there were 896,000 new car registrations in a company name, 51 per cent. of all new car registrations in Great Britain. Registrations in a company name include hire cars and company cars not available for private use.

  The Inland Revenue estimates that about 1.8 million employees in the United Kingdom are currently taxed on the private use of a company car.

  Vehicle Testing Stations
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for the future of Crown immunity for vehicle inspectorate testing stations, with regard to all health and safety laws and regulations, following privatisation.

  Mr. Key
  The vehicle inspectorate already complies with health and safety legislation, but, under the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, as a Crown body, it is immune from prosecution. If the testing activities of the inspectorate were transferred to a private sector employer, that immunity would be removed. My right hon. Friend will not reach a firm decision on the future of vehicle inspectorate testing until he has had an opportunity to consider a report by external consultants on the scope for transfer to the private sector, and consulted those trades unions concerned on his provisional conclusions.

  Air Carriers and Airports
  Mr. Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking in his negotiations with the United States authorities to ensure that individual United Kingdom air carriers or airports are not advantaged at the expense of other United Kingdom carriers or regional airports.

  Mr. Norris
  We are seeking a liberalised air services agreement with the US that will be in the interest of the United Kingdom as a whole. The United Kingdom team includes representatives from the United Kingdom airlines currently operating scheduled services on the north Atlantic and representatives from the Airport Operators' Association.

  Public Service Vehicle Operators Licences
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what checks are carried out by his staff to ensure that negative answers to question 20, relating to criminal convictions, on form PSV421 "Application for a Public Service Vehicle Operators Licence" are truthful.

  Mr. Freeman
  Full records of criminal convictions are not available to the traffic commissioners or traffic area offices. However, all applications for PSV operator licences are published in advance of the grant of a licence and circulated to the police, who have a statutory right to make a formal objection to a licence being granted. In some cases, checks may also be made of any records held by the vehicle inspectorate on the applicant.

  Ms Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what checks are carried out by his staff to ensure that negative answers to questions 17, 18 and 19, relating to financial standing, on form PSV421 "Application for a Public Service Vehicle Operators Licence" are truthful.

  Mr. Freeman
  In assessing the financial standing of applicants, traffic commissioners take into account a number of factors in addition to the answers to these questions. They require evidence of financial standing in the form of audited accounts, bank reference, or a statement of income and expenditure.

  The applicant must sign a declaration on the form that the statements made are true. A person who knowingly
  522
  makes a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a licence is liable to a fine, and the revocation, suspension or curtailment of the licence.

  Names of applicants for operator licences are published in notices and proceedings. Any chief officer of police or local authority may object to the grant of a licence on the ground that the requirements of financial standing have not been satisfied. Members of the public or other operators may also make representations from their own local knowledge about the suitability of applicants. Allegations are investigated as far as is practicable.

  If there is any doubt about applicants having sufficient funds, commissioners will hold a public inquiry at which they may be assisted by a financial assessor.

  North London Line
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if local passenger services on the north London line will be maintained throughout the construction period of any rail link along the north London line corridor.

  Mr. Freeman
  The two St. Pancras route proposals put forward in Union Railways' recent report would allow passenger services on the north London line to be maintained, although the surface route would require the sort of track possessions normally associated with a major upgrade.

  Channel Tunnel Rail Link
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if plans for a new Thameslink station at King's Cross or St. Pancras will be announced at the same time as the conclusion of his consideration of Union Railways' proposals for the high speed channel link.

  Mr. Freeman
  The Government's decisions on the channel tunnel rail link will take account of the options for Thameslink. Any simultaneous announcement about the latter would depend upon its relationship to the London terminal chosen for the rail link.

  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library copies of the environmental impact assessments presented to him by applicants for development of intermediate stations on the proposed channel fast link railway.

  Mr. Freeman
  Union Railways' specialist consultants carried out environmental appraisals of the various intermediate station options. These formed part of Union Railways' recent report and will be published when the Government's decisions are announced.

  Road Pricing
  Mr. Channon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what criteria will be used to decide which major new road proposals of his Department will be subject to road planning conferences along the lines of that planned for Hereford in December;

  (2) if road planning conferences along the lines of that planned for Hereford in December are planned to discuss all his Department's major new road proposals.

  Mr. Key
  The two conferences I have announced are trials of an innovative approach to trunk road planning. If they achieve their objective of establishing local consensus
  523
  on the right way forward with road proposals I plan to use them more widely. It is too early to set definitive selection criteria.

  Red Light Cameras
  Mr. Livingstone
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many red light cameras are at prevent installed on London trunk roads for which the funding is the responsibility of his Department; and how many more are planned to be installed next year.

  Mr. Norris
  There are currently 34 red-light camera sites on trunk roads in London, serviced by five cameras. A programme to establish further sites next year has not yet been finalised.

  Trans-Pennine Study
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) on what date the public consultation period on the trans-Pennine study report ended; and how many representations were received;

  (2) if he will make available copies of the written representations he has received on the trans-Pennine study report.

  Mr. Key
  The consultation period on the trans-Pennine study strategy report ended on 16 April. Some 244 representations were received. It is not general practice to make available copies of written representations made to the Department in response to consultation exercises.

  Taxis
  Dr. Lynne Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will visit Birmingham to discuss his proposals on the deregulation of taxis and minicabs with representatives from the industry there.

  Mr. Norris
  I hope that representatives of the taxi and private hire vehicle industry in Birmingham, and throughout England and Wales, will study the consultation paper carefully, and let me have their views by 1 March. I and my officials will be happy to meet industry representatives if that would be helpful, subject to diary commitments.

  Trunk Roads Programme
  Sir Geoffrey Pattie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria are being used to establish the priorities between different schemes within the trunk roads programme.

  Mr. Key
  Priorities for schemes in the trunk road programme are based on the Department's objectives for roads expenditure, which cover road safety, environmental impact and economic benefits. Funding and management constraints also affect the priority given to schemes.

  Gatwick Airport (Second Runway)
  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what is his policy on the legal agreement between the British Airports Authority and West Sussex county council on a second runway at Gatwick; what plans he has to introduce legislation in respect of the construction of a second runway at Gatwick; and if he will make a statement;
  524
  (2) what representations he has received from the chief executive of BAA plc and West Sussex county council regarding the construction of a second runway at Gatwick.

  Mr. Norris
  I will write to my right hon. Friend.

  Mr. Kenneth Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will publish in the Official Report the extracts from the legal agreement between the British Airports Authority and West Sussex county council which rule out a second runway at Gatwick;

  (2) if he will publish in the Official Report the extracts from the legal agreement between the British Airports Authority and West Sussex county council which rule out the use of the existing emergency runway at Gatwick airport except when the main runway is closed.

  Mr. Norris
  [holding answer 4 November 1993]: The legal agreement between BAA and West Sussex county council regarding a second runway at Gatwick and use of the emergency runway is a matter for the parties concerned. The agreement is publicly available from the county secretary of West Sussex county council.

  Bus Deregulation
  Dr. Lynne Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will visit Shannon road in the Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency to explain his policies on bus deregulation to residents there.

  Mr. Freeman
  No, but I invite the hon. Member to write to me about the matter.

  Highways Agency
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many applicants for the post of chief executive of the Highways Agency have been received.

  Mr. David Davis
  I have been asked to reply.

  It has not been the practice of the Civil Service Commissioners to give details of a competition while it is in progress. Any relevant information is published in their annual report. In general, the size of applicant fields varies greatly and is not necessarily a good guide to the number of well-qualified applicants.

DEFENCE

  Ministerial Speech
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the speech by the Minister for Defence Procurement made at the Royal United Services Institute on 27 October.

  Mr. Aitken
  I will do so as soon as a suitable transcript is available.

  Departmental Buildings
  Mr. Devlin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many buildings his Department occupies in London; and how many administrative staff his Department employs in offices in London.

  Mr. Aitken
  Excluding military sites and other buildings of the defence estate, my Department occupies 22 buildings in London.
  525
  On 1 October 1993 there were some 9,300 full and part-time MOD non-industrial civil servants working in the inner-London pay area.

  Eastney and Peninsula Barracks
  Mr. Faulds
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what professional fees have arisen in payments to architects, surveyors, planning consultants, estate agents and any others in the course of his Department obtaining planning permission for and in marketing the sale of(a) part of the Eastney barracks in Portsmouth and (b) part of the Peninsula barracks in Winchester.

  Mr. Hanley
  The information requested is commercial-in-confidence.

  Soldiers (Misdemeanours)
  Mr. Marlow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will discontinue the investigation of alleged misdemeanours by United Kingdom soldiers in the Falklands conflict.

  Mr. Hanley
  My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence referred the allegations to the Crown Prosecution Service in August 1992 who asked the Metropolitan police to undertake an investigation which is in progress. The extent and nature of that investigation are operational matters for the Commissioner in which Ministers cannot intervene.

  Pindar Accommodation
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the amount by which the cost of Pindar accommodation exceeded the original estimate; how much of this was the consequence of civil engineering problems; and who was the contractor.

  Mr. Hanley
  The estimated cost of the Pindar civil works programme against the fully endorsed operational requirement in 1989 was £42,500,000. The actual cost was £66,000,000 giving an excess over the original estimate of £23,500,000.

  The reasons for the cost increase were inherent technical difficulty of converting the existing deep underground site with the restricted access and the difficulty of estimating the costs for such an unprecedented programme.

  The prime contractor was Balfour Kilpatrick.

  Mr. Mohammed Hashemi
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he or his officials last met Mr. Mohammed Hashemi.

  Mr. Aitken
  I have no knowledge of any such meetings.

  Wartime Command Centre
  Mr. Hutton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 29 October,Official Report, column 728, if he will identify (a) the contractors involved in building the wartime command centre, (b) how much each contractor was paid and (c) what sum was specified in the original contract.

  Mr. Hanley
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Aldermaston
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 1 November 1993,Official Report, column 64, what is the expected (a) completion date and (b) cost of the contract with NNC Ltd. for Aldermaston.

  Mr. Aitken
  The expected completion date of the contract is April 1996. The costs concerned are commercially confidential.

  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 1 November 1993,Official Report, column 65, when the sludge solidification plant at Aldermaston is expected to be operational.

  Mr. Aitken
  We expect the plant to be fully operational in 1997.

  Scott Inquiry
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many specific documents his Department has been asked to provide to Lord Justice Scott's inquiry into military sales to Iraq since he provided the documents in bulk at the outset of the inquiry; and if he will list by title of documents provided to or requested by, Lord Justice Scott since September.

  Mr. Aitken
  Lord Justice Scott's inquiry has requested a wide range of documents from my Department. It would be inappropriate for me to comment in detail on the number and nature of these requests, which are matters between my Department and Lord Justice Scott's inquiry.

  Gulf War
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a transcript of the interview given by the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, on injuries to service men in the Gulf war to "Critical Eye", broadcast on Channel 4 on 28 October.

  Mr. Hanley
  When I agreed to give the interview it was on the basis that the whole interview would be used. What I will place in the Library therefore will be a transcript of the whole interview with the brief extract the programme makers actually used highlighted.

  Ministerial Meeting
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on matters discussed and decisions taken at the meeting with his French counterpart on 25 October.

  Mr. Aitken
  My right hon. and learned Friend and his French counterpart, M. Leotard, discussed a range of issues including Bosnia and the common new generation frigate. A statement welcoming progress on the frigate was signed by the two Ministers.

SCOTLAND

  Prison Ships
  Mr. Salmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what negotiations his Department is holding with any third party for the purchase of a prison ship; and if he will make a statement;
  527
  (2) what steps his Department has taken to commission the construction of a prison ship or negotiate with a third party for the commissioning of the construction of a prison ship; and if he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The Scottish prison service has not been involved in any such negotiations; nor does it have any plans to acquire accommodation of this sort.

  Murder
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of murder have(a) been brought and (b) been successfully prosecuted in the last 10 years in Scottish courts where a victim has died more than 366 days after the offence had taken place.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The period of 366 days is of no particular significance in Scotland and no such statistics are kept. There have, however, been cases in which a victim has survived for a number of months before succumbing to injuries sustained in an attack. Although problems of causation might arise, there is in principle no reason in Scotland why a prosecution for murder should not follow even after a year and a day.

  Local Government Reorganisation
  Mr. Davidson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the estimated costs, in the first year, of his proposed re-organisation of Scottish local government; what is the resultant average cost per council tax payer in Scotland; and if he will explain how these figures are arrived at.

  Mr. Stewart
  The Government's White Paper "Shaping the Future-The New Councils" estimated that transitional costs in the range £120 million to £196 million will be incurred over 15 years, but that these will be quickly offset by ongoing savings of between £21 million and £65 million per year. The precise level of costs and savings incurred in the first year of reorganisation will depend on decisions yet to be taken by the new councils. The funding of these costs will be the subject of consultation with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in the normal way and it is not therefore possible or sensible or meaningful to estimate their effects upon council tax levels at this stage. Recent speculation about the effects of reorganisation on council tax levels has therefore been entirely without substance. The savings arising from the new local government structure should give rise to significant reductions for council tax payers.

  Toxic Waste
  Mr. Graham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many licensed incinerators there are in Scotland to deal with toxic waste; and if he will list them.

  Sir Hector Monro
  Incinerators for waste disposal are subject to control under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The enforcing authorities in Scotland are the chief inspector, Her Majesty's industrial pollution inspectorate or the district or islands council in whose area the plant is situated.

  Authorisation in respect of incineration processes has been granted by the chief inspector in relation to the
  528
  facilities in part A of the table. The facilities in part B are those for which an application has been made, but has yet to be determined.

  Part A

  Glaxochem Ltd., Annan

  Glaxochem Ltd., Montrose

  Nobel's Explosives Ltd., Stevenson

  City of Aberdeen District Council, Aberdeen

  Blagden Packaging Ltd., Paisley

  Caird Environmental Ltd., Renfrew

  City of Dundee District Council, Dundee

  Clackmannan District Council, Alloa

  Orkney Islands Council, Kirkwall

  Part B

  Shetland Islands Council, Lerwick

  Renfrew District Council, Linwood

  Her Majesty's Naval Base, Rosyth

  Exxon Chemical Olefin Inc., Mossmorran

  Information about facilities subject to local authority control is not held centrally.

  Suicide
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many suicides were reported of patients receiving(a) in-patient and (b) out-patient psychiatric care in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

  Mr. Stewart
  I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

  Urology Services, Ayrshire
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the recent award of a contract for urology services by Ayrshire and Arran health board to the South Ayrshire Trust; and what was the involvement of the Scottish Office in repeating the tendering process.

  Mr. Stewart
  The NHS Management Executive was concerned that the initial bids were not submitted on a comparable basis. Therefore, the health board was asked to review the tender specification and invite revised bids.

  The subsequent decision to award the contract for urology services to South Ayrshire NHS Trust was taken by the board and did not require further reference to the NHS Management Executive.

  Arable Crops
  Mr. Welsh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what considerations underlay the decision to include forage hectares of cereals which are not claimed for under the arable aid claims scheme in the total for arable crops claimed against base areas.

  Sir Hector Monro
  The inclusion of forage hectares of cereals in the total for arable crops claimed against the base area is a legal requirement under article 2 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1765/92, the regulation governing the administration of the arable area payments scheme. The regulation applies throughout the European Community.

  Mr. Welsh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if cereals for which arable aid was not claimed were excluded from the figure for main scheme arable aid claims.

  Sir Hector Monro
  It is a legal requirement under the relevant EC regulations that cereals entered as forage in the
  529
  annual statement submitted under the integrated administration and control system must be included in the total of arable crops claimed against the base area. I refer the hon. Member to my earlier reply of today. However, if an area of cereals formed neither part of an arable claim nor a forage area, I can confirm that such an area would not be included in the total of arable aid claims.

  Land Ownership
  Mr. Mandelson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of the acreage of Scotland is in foreign ownership;

  (2) what percentage of the foreign ownership of the acreage of Scotland is registered in offshore banking centres.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  No specific record is maintained of the nationality of the owners of land in Scotland.

  Dounreay
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what communications he has received from the Edlow Group on research reactor operators in regard to extending the contract with AEA Technology at Dounreay for treatment of research reactor fuel.

  Sir Hector Monro
  I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

  Consultants
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cost of the consultants' merit award system in 1990–91 in Scotland.

  Mr. Stewart
  I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

  Hospitals (Competitive Tendering)
  Ms Rachel Squire
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list the contracts for hospital and health services awarded so far under the competitive tendering process by Tayside health board, including the successful tenderer and the value of contract;

  (2) if he will list the contracts for hospital and health services awarded so far under the competitive tendering process by Lothian health board including successful tenderer and value of contract;

  (3) if he will list the contracts for hospital and health services awarded so far under the competitive tendering process by Western Isles health board, including successful tenderer and value of contract;

  (4) if he will list the contracts for hospital and health services awarded so far under the competitive tendering process by Shetland health board, including the successful tenderer and value of contract;

  (5) if he will list the contracts for hospital and health services awarded so far under the competitive tendering process by Orkney health board including successful tenderer and value of contract.

  Mr. Stewart
  I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible, and place a copy of the signed letter in the Library of the House.

  Local Enterprise Companies
  Dr. Wright
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the local enterprise companies, or their members are subject to(a) investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner, (b) scrutiny by the Audit Commission or the National Audit Office, (c) the statutory provisions for local government which apply to local authorities, (d) performance indicators and (e) monitoring officers with statutory duties for probity and finance.

  Mr. Stewart
  I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

  Energy and Environmental Technologies
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on progress made to date by the Scottish Development Agency's energy and environmental technologies programme.

  Mr. Stewart
  I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

  Timber Frame Fabrication
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he hopes to complete his consideration of changes to the current building standard in relation to timber frame fabrication; and if he will make a statement.

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The Scottish Office building directorate is currently considering more than 100 detailed responses to proposals for amending the fire provisions in the Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations. My right hon. Friend and I are well aware of the interest shown in these proposals by the Scottish timber frame industry and its views are being given very careful consideration along with all the other representations received. The current timetable envisages laying amendments before Parliament next summer to come into force by the end of the year.

  Hospital Waiting Lists
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the number of people awaiting hospital treatment in each Scottish health board area in(a) March 1990, (b) March 1992, (c) June 1993 and (d) September 1993.

  Mr. Stewart
  I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

HEALTH

  Consultancy Costs
  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was(a) the total price for each contract and the number of patients to be treated and (b) the average cost per consultant episode for district health authority providers outside London and within London for the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

  Mr. Sackville
  Information on the total price of contracts is not available centrally. The average cost per
  531
  consultant episode is available in the published annual accounts of all national health service providers, both trusts and units directly managed by district health authorities. The cost given by specialty consists only of direct patient care costs and excludes hospital overheads. It therefore cannot be compared directly with contract prices, which include overheads. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairmen of regional health authorities for further information.

  Child Neglect
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what response she has made to the UNICEF report on child neglect in rich nations, a copy of which has been sent to her.

  Mr. Bowis
  None. The report "Child neglect in rich nations" was not sent by UNICEF to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

  Perioperative Deaths
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence she has of the complication rates in terms of morbidity and mortality of surgeons who are more specialised and have high operative activity rates.

  Mr. Sackville
  Detailed information is not available centrally. The medical profession holds the view, supported by a number of studies, that patients receive higher standards of treatment when referred to surgeons who have developed specialised expertise and treat high volumes of patients.

  GP Fund Holders
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the practice prescribing costs per practice as national averages for fund holder and non-fund holder general practitioners.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The prescribing costs—net ingredient cost—per practice for fund holders in England in 1992–93 was £614,314 and the figure for non-fund holders was £298,718 per practice. There is no valid comparison because fund-holding practices which are generally larger than non-fund-holding practices therefore incur higher prescribing costs. The average prescribing expenditure—net ingredient cost—per patient in 1992–93 was £56.08 for fund-holding practices and £60.39 for non-fund-holding practices.

  Generic Prescribing
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what cost analysis she has of saving to the national health service by introducing generic prescribing.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  No reliable estimate of savings can be made from the current rate of generic prescribing as it is not possible to determine which brand name products might have been prescribed as alternatives.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the highest generic prescribing rate by any general practitioner in the United Kingdom; and what is the national average generic prescribing rate by general practitioners and the savings to the NHS in real terms for each percentage point increase in generic prescribing.
  532
  Dr. Mawhinney
  Information on generic prescribing rates at general practitioner level is not available centrally. The national average generic prescribing rate by general practitioners for the year 1992–93, in England, was 44 per cent. It is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate of the savings to the national health service in real terms for each percentage point increase in the level of generic prescribing.

  Notes:

  1. Based on figures provided by the Prescription Pricing Authority through the PACTLINE Management Services Information System.

  2. Relates to GP prescribing only.

  3. Based on the 1992–93 financial year.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the percentage generic prescribing for fund holder and non-fund holder general practitioners.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The percentage of generic prescribing for general practitioners in England for the year 1992–93 was 49 per cent. for fund holders and 43 per cent. for non-fundholders.

  Notes:

  1. Based on figures provided by the Prescription Pricing Authority through the PACTLINE Management Services Information System.

  2. Relates to GP prescribing only.

  3. Based on the 1992–93 financial year.

  Ms. Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to introduce generic substitution into prescribing.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  It is Government policy to encourage general practitioners to prescribe generically wherever clinically appropriate. During the period 1982 to 1992 generic prescribing almost doubled to 43 per cent. National health service managers are working with GP practices at local level to achieve the highest possible levels of generic prescribing through training, increased GP fund holding and incentive schemes.

  Tower Hamlets
  Ms Gordon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was the percentage ethnic breakdown by enumeration district in Tower Hamlets from the 1991 census returns;

  (2) what were the percentages of (a) men aged 65 and over and (b) women aged 60 and over in each enumeration district within Tower Hamlets from the 1991 census returns.

  Mr. Sackville
  This information will be placed in the Library.

  Pacemakers
  Mrs. Bridget Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health who was responsible for warning hospitals of faults in pacemaker models 1010T, 1050T and Prototype 93 manufactured by Siemens.

  Mr. Sackville
  The manufacturer has a responsibility to advise users and purchasers when faults in their products become apparent. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, via the medical devices directorate, issues safety warnings in circumstances where there is a risk to patient safety from device faults.
  533
  Mrs. Bridget Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring has been done of the recall of patients fitted with pacemaker models 1010T, 1050T and Prototype 93.

  Mr. Sackville
  Following the issue of safety warnings it is for the clinician concerned to judge what action should be taken in respect of each patient.

  Mrs. Bridget Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when hospitals were warned of a fault in pacemaker models 1010T, 1050T and Prototype 93 manufactured by Siemens.

  Mr. Sackville
  Hospitals were warned of a fault in pacemaker lead models 1010T, 1050T and Prototype T93 by a medical advisory issued by Siemens on 4 February 1993, copies of which will be placed in the Library.

  Mrs. Bridget Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals were warned of faults in pacemaker models 1010T, 1050T and Prototype 93.

  Mr. Sackville
  The Department of Health issued a safety warning "Pacemaker Technical Note No. 48" concerning the faults in Siemens pacemaker lead models 1010T, 1050T and Prototype T93 to all hospitals carrying out pacing and pacing follow-up in the United Kingdom. Copies of the safety warning are available in the Library.

  Mrs. Bridget Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in(a) Lewisham, (b) London and (c) nationwide have been recalled as a result of the fault in pacemaker models 1010T, 1050T and Prototype 93.

  Mr. Sackville
  In February 1993, the Department of Health issued advice to all United Kingdom pacing and follow-up centres that all affected devices should be evaluated as soon as possible and at least within six months. Details of the number of patients seen as a result of this advice is not available centrally. Copies of the advice are available in the Library.

  Mental Health Patients
  Dr. Lynne Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward proposals to introduce a statutory requirement on all health authorities to provide a care programme, including a key worker, for all patients discharged from mental hospitals.

  Mr. Bowis
  We have no plans to do so.

  Health Authority Funding
  Mr. Robert Ainsworth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets have been issued to regional health authorities to complete the move to capitation formula funding under the citizens charter.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The weighted capitation funding policy was announced in the White Paper "Working for Patients", Cm 555, January 1989, paragraph 4.12.

  We have made considerable progress in moving regional health authorities towards their weighted capitation shares, and in 1993–94 the position of RHA's allocations relative to weighted capitation shares is as shown in the table:
  534

  RHA (1993–94)

  Percent.

  Northern

  99·46

  Yorkshire

  99·77

  Trent

  99·36

  East Anglia

  99 34

  North West Thames

  102·03

  North East Thames

  101·15

  South East Thames

  100·30

  South West Thames

  101·16

  Wessex

  99·08

  Oxford

  99 60

  South Western

  99·35

  West Midlands

  99·49

  Mersey

  99·85

  North Western

  99·74

  Myopia
  Mr. William O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS trust hospitals in(a) west Yorkshire and (b) throughout the United Kingdom are treating patients for myopia under the NHS;

  (2) how many people are waiting for treatment for myopia.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  This information is not available centrally.

  Mr. William O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received about the charges being made to people applying for treatment for myopia; and if she will make a statement.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  We have received a number of representations from hon. Members and their constituents. These have been largely concerned with the charges made by the private sector for laser radial keratotomy and the possibility of such treatment becoming available within the national health service.

  Mr. William O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research is being undertaken by her Department into the use of lasers to offer treatment under the NHS to myopia suffers; and if she will make a statement.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 23 June 1993 at columns 177–78.

  Mental Health Patients
  Mr. Robert Ainsworth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what basic standards have been set under the citizens charter for rights for mental health patients to adequate care and staffing levels.

  Mr. Bowis
  All the patients charter rights and standards apply to all those who use the national health service. In particular, the charter standard No. 2 sets out that"… health authorities should ensure that the services they arrange can be used by everyone, including people with special needs such as those with mental disabilities …"

  Proposed Hospital, Liverpool
  Mr. Loyden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the nature of the contracts with SAS Service Partner, Compass and other companies involved in the planned patient hotel on the site of the Royal Liverpool
  535
  university hospital; when the contracts will commence; and what comparison she has made between the proposals and those made in 1990 in connection with the same site;

  (2) what is the status of the document "Making a Difference to Patient Care-Proposed Short Stay Facility at the Liverpool Royal University Hospital"; and to what consultative procedures its proposals will be subject;

  (3) what proportion of the staff employed at the proposed patient hotel on the site of the Royal Liverpool university hospital will be qualified nursing or medical staff; what qualifications the stewards and stewardesses will have; and what company will control the staff;

  (4) if she will make a statement on the proposals for management and staffing in paragraph 5 of the proposal for a short-stay facility at the Royal Liverpool university hospital.

  Mr. Sackville
  The information requested by the hon. Member is not available centrally and he may wish to contact the trust chairman, Mr. J. Fitzpatrick, for details.

  We understand the proposed short-stay, low dependency facility at the Royal Liverpool university hospital national health service trust will provide more appropriate care to low-dependency patients, improving their mobility and choice while providing a more cost-effective service.

  Community Care Ombudsman
  Dr. Lynne Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward proposals to introduce a community care ombudsman.

  Mr. Bowis
  Services provided under the new community care arrangements are already covered by the existing local government ombudsman and the health service commissioner.

  Thames Region Staff
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total number of(a) hospital nurses, (b) midwives, (c) health visitors and (d) district nurses for each Thames region for each of the last five years.

  Mr. Sackville
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Racism
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to counteract racism in the NHS.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  We are fully committed to ensuring equality of opportunity in the national health service both for patients and for staff. We shall shortly be launching a programme of action on employment opportunities in the NHS for our ethnic minority staff and we are also setting up an ethnic health unit to address the ethnic minority community's need for equal access to provision of health services.

  Prescriptions
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many items are prescribed in multi-pack or course treatments and charged at the rate of two or more prescription items.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  This information is not available. A prescription charge is payable in respect of each quantity of 536
  a drug or appliance dispensed, unless the patient is entitled to charge exemption or remission. The fact that two or more separate preparations may be dispensed together does not alter the patient's liability for prescription charges. Examples of items for which more than one charge is payable are contained in part XVI of "Drug Tariff", copies of which are available in the Library.

  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has on the number or percentage of prescriptions that are undispensed.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  None.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of prescriptions cost the NHS less than(a) £5.00, (b) £5.25 and (c) £5.50.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Based on the net ingredient cost of prescriptions dispensed in 1992 the percentages costing less than £5, £5.25 and £5.50 were 61.6 per cent., 64.1 per cent. and 65.6 per cent. respectively.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average expenditure on prescription charges by a person who is not exempt from such charges in the last year.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  About £10 in 1992–93.

  Pharmacies, Lancashire
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pharmacies there are in Lancashire; and what representations she has received as to the viability of such pharmacies arising from the new payment formula.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  There were 301 pharmacies in Lancashire on 30 September 1993. Since April 1993, the Department has received a number of representations about community pharmacies, 13 of which have been from hon. Members and other interests in Lancashire.

  GP Fund Holders
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will estimate the percentage of general practitioner fund holders over budget in 1991–92 and 1992–93.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Information about individual general practitioner fund holder over or underspends is not held centrally. Regional health authorities are responsible for managing fund holder spending within overall cash limits.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the quality achievements that general practitioner fund holders have achieved as a result of their status.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Fund holders have been at the forefront of achieving quality improvements for patients, for example, shorter waiting times; more convenient services in general practitioner surgeries such as physiotherapy and outpatient clinics; by providing a wider range of services themselves such as minor operations; and by speeding up diagnostic tests and discharge arrangements. In many areas hospitals have implemented these improvements for all patients.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence she has on the practice of fund-holding
  537
  general practitioners in the extent to which they refer patients to specialists, including those visiting general practices.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  There are now over 1,200 fund-holding practices in England and it would not be practicable to hold referral information about them all centrally. However, regions report that fund holders are improving services for patients locally in a variety of ways including providing a wider range of services themselves and contracting for hospital clinicians to hold out-patient clinics in their surgeries.

  NHS Trusts
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish the guidance issued on the salary of chief executives of NHS trusts.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Guidance on determining rates of pay for executives in national health service trusts was set out in my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's letter of 22 January 1991 to all NHS trust chairmen. That is the standing advice and copies have been placed in the Library. The chief executive of the NHS Management Executive also wrote to chairmen of all third wave trusts on 20 January 1993 explaining how the 1992 public sector pay restraint affected executive pay appointments at that time. Copies of that letter have also been placed in the Library.

  Terminal Illness
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) terminal cases and (b) hospice beds there were in each of the last five years.

  Mr. Sackville
  Information on the number of terminal cases is not available. The number of hospice in-patient beds in each of the last five years in England is shown in the table.

  Year1

  Number of hospice beds (in-patient) England

  1989

  1,863

  1990

  2,093

  1991

  2,171

  1992

  2,321

  1993

  2,409

  1 Figures collected in January of each year.

  Source: St. Christopher's Hospice Information Service.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospice beds for children there were in each of the last five years.

  Mr. Bowis
  This information is not available centrally.

  Pharmacy Sales to Children
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the operation of rules and regulations in relation to the sale of(a) condoms and (b) medicines in pharmacies to children.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  There are no legislative restrictions on the sale of condoms.

  There are no regulations covering the sale of medicines to children outside the general controls imposed by part III
  538
  of the Medicines Act 1968. However, the code of ethics of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, which governs the conduct of all pharmacists, states that
  "a pharmacist must not supply any medicinal product to a child, unless satisfied that the product will be used safely. Where the supply is for another person, the pharmacist must take steps to ensure that the product will be delivered safely to an adult and that appropriate information will be conveyed to the patient or the responsible adult."

  Sellafield (Radioactive Discharges)
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will request COMARE to review the National Radiological Protection Board report on "Collective Doses from Proposed Sellafield Discharges".

  Mr. Sackville
  The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment has seen and welcomed this report.

  Tuberculosis
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plan she has to include the BCG vaccination in the target for general practitioners.

  Mr. Sackville
  BCG vaccination is recommended for schoolchildren aged between 10 and 13 years. The majority of such vaccinations are given in schools as part of the school health service. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to include the BCG vaccination in the target scheme for general practitioners.

  Consultants' Pay
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to convert the consultant merit award system to performance-related pay.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The scheme is kept constantly under review and we would consider carefully any possible interaction between the scheme and any proposals made for the extension of performance pay throughout the national health service.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost of the consultants' merit award system in 1990–91 in England.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 27 October 1993 at column 694.

  Public Attendance at Meetings
  Dr. Wright
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a table showing for (i) regional health authorities, (ii) district health authorities, (iii) family health service authorities and (iv) NHS trusts, whether the public has a statutory right to attend all board or committee meetings, and to inspect(a) the minutes of meetings, (b) the annual reports and (c) the annual accounts.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The meetings of regional health authorities, district health authorities and family health services authorities are governed by the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960. This requires any full meeting of the authority, at which approval for a specific action is required, to be open to the public. The public may be excluded from the whole or part of a meeting when confidential business is to be discussed.
  539
  National health service trusts are required to have one public meeting per year, in accordance with the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990, but many more meetings are open than they are legally required to be.

  NHS trusts are required to publish annual reports, business plans and accounts. Regional health authorities, district health authorities and family health services authorities are not required to do so, but most publish annual reports, and their audited accounts are publicly available on request.

  Cancer Specialists
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancer specialists there are per head of population in each EC country.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Information for England is shown in the table. Information relating to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Equivalent information for other EC countries is not available.

  Numbers of cancer specialists per million population England–30 September 1992

  Medical oncology

  Clinical oncology

  Consultants

  47

  220

  All staff1

  96

  365

  Consultants per million population

  1.0

  46

  All staff per million population

  2.0

  7.6

  1 Grades included are consultants, staff grades, associate specialists, senior registrars and registrars.

  Professors of General Practice
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the London teaching hospitals that have professors of general practice.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  This information is not available centrally.

  Zemaphyte
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to enable Zemaphyte to be prescribable on an NHS prescription.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Zemaphyte was added to the list of products which cannot be supplied on national health service prescriptions on 1 November 1993. There are no plans to change this decision.

  Hospital Closures
  Mr. Alfred Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each region(a) named hospital closures from May 1979 to July 1993 and (b) the number and type of beds closed.

  Mr. Sackville
  This information is not available centrally.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the hospitals in London closed each year since 1989.
  540
  Dr. Mawhinney
  This information is not available centrally.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the hospitals closed in each of the last 10 years; and how much capital was generated from each sale.

  Mr. Sackville
  Detailed information is not available centrally. However, in the last 10 years £1,500 million has been generated by health authorities from the sales of surplus land and property. This money has been reinvested in hospital building contributing to the largest capital programme in the history of the national health service.

  Private Health Insurance
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to move the health service to a more private insurance-based system.

  Mr. Sackville
  None.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she has investigated the possibility of fund-holding general practitioners selling private health insurance in the future.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  No.

  Breast Cancer
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average waiting time for mastectomy in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement on the waiting time between diagnosis of breast cancer and surgery.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Information requested on waiting times for mastectomies is not available centrally.

  We are aware that the period between diagnosis of breast cancer and surgery is a worrying time for women. The national health service breast screening programme, endorsed by the Breast Cancer Screening Advisory Committee, suggests the following targets for the follow-up of abnormalities:
  first stage screening to subsequent assessment: less than two weeks;
  surgical assessment: less than one week;
  completion of assessment to biopsy: 90 per cent. admitted within two weeks;
  diagnosis to treatment of screen detected lesions: 90 per cent. admitted within three weeks.

  Fuel Costs
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) of 30 March 1993,Official Report, column 189, whether she has now assessed the effect of increases in the price of fuel on the health of the elderly.

  Mr. Bowis
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security has announced that poorer pensioners and others on a low income will receive extra financial help before value added tax appears in their fuel bills.

  Hospitals (Hotel Charges)
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she has investigated the possibility of hotel charges.
  541
  Mr. Sackville
  We have made clear that we have no plans to introduce hotel charges for national health service patients. Patients will continue to be treated on the basis of their clincal need, regardless of ability to pay.

  Fertility Treatment
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to publish guidelines on eligibility for fertility treatment.

  Mr. Sackville
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) on 27 May 1993 at column 670.

  Health Service Demand
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates she has made of the cost of the increase in demand in health services in the coming years.

  Mr. Sackville
  My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will announce the Government's spending plans for 1994–95 to 1996–97 in his Budget statement on 30 November.

  Unhealthy Footwear
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates she has made of morbidity related to the wearing of unhealthy footwear.

  Mr. Sackville
  None.

  Morning-after Pill
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions for the emergency pill have been given in each of the last five years.

  Mr. Sackville
  As there is only one product under this category of drug, the data requested are commercially confidential to the manufacturer and cannot be disclosed.

  Family Planning
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to encourage general practitioners to develop family planning services for men.

  Mr. Sackville
  Under their terms of service general practitioners are required to provide patients with all the services they need including, where appropriate, family planning advice. One of the objectives set in the Government's "Health of the Nation" White Paper is to ensure the provision of the full range of family planning services for men and women who want to use them.

  Cancer
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the training of doctors and medical students on cancer.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Our aim is to ensure that patients receive high quality treatment from properly trained doctors. Cancer is a major cause of mortality and morbidity. The diagnosis and treatment of the many forms of cancer figure prominently at all stages of the education and training of our doctors, and will continue to do so.

  National Treatment Protocols
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plan she has to develop national treatment protocols.

  Mr. Sackville
  The National Health Service Management Executive is considering ways of working closely with national clinical professional bodies to develop and provide guidelines of good practice.

  Patient Confidentiality
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to investigate breaches of patient confidentiality by district health authorities and family health services authorities.

  Mr. Sackville
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Foreign Patients
  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are being treated in NHS trust hospitals are from countries outwith the EC; what are the funding arrangements for these patients; and if she will make a statement.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  This information is not available centrally. The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989 require overseas visitors to pay for NHS treatment unless they fall within certain exempt categories including people with communicable diseases and people from countries with which the United Kingdom has reciprocal health agreements.

  GPs' Pay
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to review the geographical inequalities in average net remuneration of general practitioners.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  We continue to keep the operation of the remuneration system under review, in consultation with the profession.

  NHS Trust Employees (Infectious Diseases)
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health through which body payment for the treatment and care of a national health service trust employee who contracts an infectious disease through the course of his or her work should be made; and if she will make a statement.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  NHS Charges
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what categories of person are exempted from charges for national health service sight tests; and how much would be saved by removing the exemption from charges for each one of those categories;

  (2) what categories of person are exempted from charges for national health service dental examinations; and how much would be saved by removing the exemption from charges for each one of those categories;

  (3) what categories of person are exempted from charges for national health service prescriptions; and how much would be saved by removing the exemption from charges for each of those categories;
  543
  (4) what proportion of people receiving (a) national health service sight tests, (b) national health service dental examinations and (c) national health service prescriptions are exempted from charges;

  (5) what was the number of national health service dental examinations paid for by the national health service for each six-monthly period since October 1990;

  (6) how much additional revenue would be raised by increasing the standard charge for national health service prescriptions to (a) £4.50, (b) £4.75 and (c) £5;

  (7) what are the latest figures for estimated annual income from national health service sight test charges;

  (8) how much extra revenue would be raised by increasing the standard charge for national health service sight tests by (a) 5 per cent., (b) 10 per cent. and (c) 20 per cent;

  (9) how much extra revenue would be raised by increasing the standard charge for national health service dental examinations by (a) 5 per cent., (b) 10 per cent. and (c) 20 per cent;

  (10) what would be the total saving to the Exchequer from changing the exemption criteria for NHS prescription charges to those currently applied to NHS sight test charges.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Psychiatric Hospitals (Closures)
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been saved in each of the past 10 financial years through the closure of psychiatric hospitals.

  Mr. Bowis
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  NHS Finance
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide total outturn figures, covering NHS review expenditure, for hospital and community health services revenue, HCHS capital, family health services and centrally funded services/Department of Health administration for(a) 1991–92 and (b) 1992–93, and the estimated total outturn to date for those categories for 1993–94.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Pay Review Bodies
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the future of the pay review bodies.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Speech Therapy
  Ms Hoey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the amount of expenditure on language and speech therapy as a percentage of the total NHS budget.

  Mr. Bowis
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Influenza Vaccines
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement about the causes for the shortage of influenza vaccines.

  Mr. Sackville
  As a result of production difficulties, one manufacturer is unable to supply its product this year.544
  However, other manufacturers have increased production so that at least as much vaccine as was used during last year's programme will be available, although there may be some delay in delivering new orders.

  The Department has issued a press release giving details of the present situation. Copies are available in the Library.

  Hearing Aids
  Ms Coffey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many national health service patients attending the audiology department at the Manchester Royal Infirmary were issued last year with commercial hearing aids not available through the national health service, and purchased with national health service funds and the total amount of money paid by patients in extra consultancy charges for this service.

  Mr. Bowis
  This information is not available centrally.

  Ms Coffey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of national health service departments of audiology that stopped issuing hearing aids before the end of the year in 1992–93 due to budgetary constraints.

  Mr. Bowis
  This information is not available centrally.

  Locality Commissioning
  Ms Coffey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been made available to district health authorities since 1 April 1991 to develop locality commissioning; and how much money has been spent in the same period on fund holder management allowances.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  District health authorities' prime task is to the best possible quality, value for money services for their resident populations and should use all of their resources to this end. Over £14 million has been made available by the National Health Service Management Executive since April 1991 to support the development by district health authorities of various aspects of purchasing, including locality arrangements. The amount of money allowed for fund holder management arrangements is shown in the table.

  Year

  £ million

  1991–92

  14·1

  1992–93

  29·4

  Ms Coffey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applications have been made(a) nationally and (b) in Stockport jointly by a fund-holding practice, a district health authority and a social services department to establish a joint locality commissioning agency for health and social care with a small geographical area; to what extent such applications on an experimental basis are consistent with national policies; and which applications have been granted.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  All purchasers are required to work closely together, within the existing legislative framework, in drawing up strategies and plans to secure high-quality, appropriate services for their local populations. Close liaison with local authority social services departments is a pre-requisite for effective locality commissioning.

  Ms Coffey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money will be made available to a group of
  545
  general practitioners as a management allowance if they decide to constitute a locality commissioning network as a fund-holding consortium; and how much will be made available to a district health authority to manage such a network where general practitioners decide they would prefer to constitute it through the district health authority.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Each fund-holding unit is entitled to receive reimbursement of the cost of managing a fund of up to £35,000 a year. Where practices join together in a fund-holding unit to meet the list size requirements, the unit as a whole is entitled to receive up to the same £35,000 management allowance per year as a single practice fund-holding unit. Where single practice or group fund-holding units join together to pool their management arrangements each fund-holding unit remains entitled to claim up to the maximum management allowance of £35,000 per year. Disrict health authorities' main task is to

  NHS sight tests

  thousands

  1987–88

  1988–89

  1989–901

  1990–91

  1991–92

  1992–93

  Northumberland

  66·6

  71·3

  26·7

  27·5

  28·7

  34·2

  Gateshead

  45·6

  53·2

  28·3

  21·0

  25·7

  28·0

  Newcastle-upon-Tyne

  89·3

  96·2

  46·4

  33·5

  37·2

  39·0

  North Tyneside

  39·3

  40·0

  19·1

  15·6

  18·0

  21·2

  South Tyneside

  27·9

  30·6

  15·7

  13·8

  15·4

  17·3

  Northern RHA

  698·0

  740·4

  336·8

  275·6

  314·7

  345·9

  England

  11,694·8

  12,492·8

  5,279·8

  4,153·7

  4,979·4

  5,527·6

  1 From 1 April 1989, NHS sight tests were restricted to certain groups in the population. The sight tests paid for in 1989–90 include some conducted prior to 1 April 1989 when sight tests were universally available. The remainder paid for in 1989–90 do not represent a full year under the new system, because of the delay in payments. The figure for 1989–90 is not, therefore, directly comparable with that for 1990–91.

  Salmonella
  Mr. Welsh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health in how many cases of salmonella food poisoning foods containing eggs were found to be the source for each of the last five years.

  Mr. Sackville
  Information on salmonella food poisoning has been published for the last five years in the "PHLS/SVS Update on Salmonella Infection", copies of which have been placed in the Library.

  Drug Deaths
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a table showing the numbers of deaths each year from the taking of analgesics, anti-depressants, asthma drugs and therapies, cardio-vascular drugs, sedatives, stimulants, vitamins and vitamin supplements in each year from 1987.

  1987

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  1992

  Antiasthmatics

  4

  5

  5

  3

  0

  1

  Cardiovascular

  26

  42

  45

  35

  27

  55

  Antidepressants

  291

  326

  307

  328

  294

  346

  Analgesics

  693

  678

  654

  721

  754

  877

  Stimulants

  2

  2

  3

  1

  10

  10

  Sedatives, hypnotics and benzodiazepine tranquilisers

  340

  360

  285

  246

  246

  232

  More detailed information is not available centrally.
  546
  purchase health care on behalf of their resident population and they are required to make the necessary arrangements to secure the best quality and value for money for patients from these resources.

  Sight Tests
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sight tests were carried out as part of NHS services each year since 1987–88 in the family health service authority areas of Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead and Northumberland, the area of the Northern regional health authority and England as a whole.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The number of national health service sight tests paid for by each of the family health services authorities is shown in the table.

  Mr. Sackville
  Information on the underlying cause of death is available in the International Classification of Diseases (9th Revision).

  The table shows deaths from 1987–92 where the underlying cause was coded to accidental, self-inflicted, undetermined, whether accidental or purposeful, poisoning and adverse effect of correctly administered drugs in the broad classes of drugs, analgesics, antidepressants, agents acting primarily on the cardiovascular system, sedatives, hypnotics, tranquilisers and central nervous system/psychostimulents. It excludes death due to homicides and the adverse effect of agents correctly administered.

  In addition, a detailed table showing all substances mentioned on the death certificates assigned to accidental and other poisoning by solid or liquid substances is published by the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys in "Series DH4: Injury and Poisoning Table 10" for each year. Copies of these are available in the Library.

  Fuel Costs
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to meet the Royal College of Midwives to discuss their concerns for pregnant women and newly born babies in the event of the imposition of VAT on fuel.
  547
  Mr. Sackville
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Health Services, East London
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the terms of reference, duties and functions, of the City and East London family and community health services; what is the source of its funding; by whom it is appointed; to whom it is accountable; what comparable bodies have been, or are planned; and if she will distinguish its role from the responsibilities of the relevant family health services authority.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  [holding answer 21 October 1993]: I will write to the hon. Member.

  Regional Health Authorities
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were employed in each regional health authority in(a) April 1992 and (b) October 1993 using whole time equivalents.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  [holding answer 27 October 1993]: The information available is shown in the table. Separate figures for the numbers of staff employed by each regional health authority have not been routinely collected since September 1990. The figures in the table were collected in a special exercise in July 1992 and show only the numbers of whole-time equivalent staff employed in centrally managed, core functions in RHAs. These figures exclude RHA staff who work in other functions such as supplies, blood transfusion services, ambulance services and those medical consultants and registrars whose contracts are held by RHAs but who are managerially accountable to district health authorities.

  Numbers

  Northern

  656

  Yorkshire

  518

  Trent

  509

  East Anglian

  292

  North West Thames

  361

  North East Thames

  580

  South East Thames

  604

  South West Thames

  611

  Wessex

  331

  Oxford

  567

  South Western

  559

  West Midlands

  1,168

  Mersey

  313

  North Western

  785

  Total

  7,854

  Since this exercise was conducted RHAs have been asked to reduce their core staff numbers to an average of 200 per RHA.

  Midwives
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for 1992 for each regional health authority and district health authority the number of nurses, midwives and health visitors, by clinical grade and pay grade title, as specified by the Whitley Council.

  Mr. Sackville
  [holding answer 21 October 1993]: I will write to the hon. Member.

  Sellafield
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the health detriment in terms of fatal and non-fatal cancers and genetic effects to the population of the United Kingdom, Europe and the world would result for each year of discharge from BNFL's Sellafield installation if (i) the draft HMIP authorisations were approved, (ii) technologies were introduced to remove krypton for the gaseous discharges from Sellafield and (iii) dry storage was selected as an option rather than reprocessing.

  Mr. Yeo
  I have been asked to reply.

  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will conduct a comparative study of the estimated health detriment, in terms of fatal and non-fatal cancers and genetic effects, to the population of the United Kingdom, Europe and the world that would result from each year of discharge from BNFL's Sellafield installation with the health detriment arising from the nuclear reprocessing plant at Cap de la Hague, France.

  Mr. Yeo
  I have been asked to reply.

  Assessments of the radiological impact of discharges from Sellafield and Cap de la Hague have been published by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. The 1993 report shows that discharges from the two plants have been similar through the late 1980s. As the Cap de la Hague plant differs from Sellafield in size, process and type of fuel reprocessed, a comparative study would be of no help.

  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what facts she has taken into account in deciding the extent to which the health detriment that may arise as a result of the proposed discharges from BNFL's Sellafield installation would be acceptable.

  Mr. Yeo
  I have been asked to reply.

  The basic objectives set out in the White Paper "Radioactive Waste Management" Cmnd 8607 are such as to protect individual health and the environment. The use of the target for exposure from one site of 0.5 mSv coupled with a constraint of 0.3 mSv for any new plant will ensure these basic principles are met as they are for the proposed revised authorisation for BNFL Sellafield.

NATIONAL FINANCE

  Tax Reliefs
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update his answer to the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson) of 8 June, 1993 Official Report, column 202, on the cost of direct income tax reliefs to include estimates for 1994–95.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Available information on the major income tax reliefs based on projections of the survey of personal incomes and other surveys is given in the table. The projections for 1994–95 are based on statutory indexation and measures announced in the March Budget and on the conventional assumption of no further changes in the mortgage interest rate.
  549

  Higher rate taxpayers

  Basic or lower rate taxpayers

  Cost of relief

  Number of taxpayers with relief

  Average income of taxpayers

  Cost of relief

  Number of taxpayers with relief

  Average income of taxpayers with relief

  £million

  million

  £

  £million

  million

  £

  1991–92

  Mortgage interest relief

  720

  1·0

  55,000

  4,970

  7·7

  16,000

  Employees contributions to occupational pension schemes

  690

  0·7

  48,000

  1,630

  7·7

  15,000

  Contributions to personal pension schemes1

  480

  0·3

  58,000

  620

  3·1

  13,000

  Other reliefs

  420

  0·5

  60,000

  270

  2·6

  14,000

  1992–93

  Mortgage interest relief

  690

  1·1

  53,000

  4,140

  7·8

  16,000

  Employees contributions to occupational pension schemes

  750

  0·8

  48,000

  1,600

  7·4

  16,000

  Contributions to personal pension schemes1

  490

  0·4

  58,000

  590

  3·0

  13,000

  Other reliefs

  450

  0·6

  61,000

  280

  2·6

  15,000

  1993–94

  Mortgage interest relief

  690

  1·2

  52,000

  3,280

  7·9

  16,000

  Employees contributions to occupational pension schemes

  820

  0·9

  48,000

  1,600

  7·2

  16,000

  Contributions to personal pension schemes1

  500

  0·4

  58,000

  570

  2·9

  13,000

  Other reliefs

  480

  0·6

  61,000

  270

  2·4

  15,000

  1994–95

  Mortgage interest relief

  680

  1·7

  49,000

  2,620

  7·6

  17,000

  Employees contributions to occupational pension schemes

  950

  1·1

  46,000

  1,590

  7·0

  16,000

  Contributions to personal pension schemes1

  540

  0·4

  57,000

  580

  2·9

  13,000

  Other reliefs

  510

  0·6

  60,000

  270

  2·4

  15,000

  1 Includes retirement annuity premia and free-standing additional voluntary contributions

  Mortgage Tax Relief
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update the answer of 25 February,Official Report, column 677 on mortgage tax relief giving estimates for 1994–95 and for a full year.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The estimated costs at 1994–95 levels of increasing or decreasing the limit for mortgage interest tax relief are shown in the table. The estimates are based on the distribution of existing mortgages and exclude behavioural effects which might result. The figures are based on the conventional assumption of no further changes in interest rates and allow for tax relief at 20 per cent. as announced in the March Budget.

  Cost (yield) from increasing (decreasing) the limit on mortgage interest tax relief at 1994–95 levels

  Limit on size of loan (£)

  £ million

  40,000

  600

  35,000

  300

  32,000

  100

  31,000

  100

  29,000

  (100)

  28,000

  (200)

  25,000

  (400)

  20,000

  (900)

  VAT (Domestic Fuel)
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the average weekly expenditure in 1993–94 and 1994–95 of(a) all households, (b) families with children, (c) non-retired households and (d) retired
  550
  households, on domestic fuel, showing separately for 1994–95 the extra expenditure as a result of VAT at 8 per cent.

  Sir John Cope
  Estimates on expenditure in 1993–94 are in the table. Expenditure in 1994–95 will depend on what happens to fuel consumption following the introduction of VAT on fuel and on changes in fuel prices.

  Average weekly household expenditure on fuel and power in 1993–941

  £ per week

  All households

  13.40

  Households with children

  16.10

  Non-pensioner households

  14.10

  Pensioner households2

  11.10

  1 Estimates based on 1989–91 Family Expenditure Surveys uprated to 1993–94.

  2 Single benefit unit households where the head is over retirement age.

  Duties
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the impact on the retail prices index of a 10 per cent. increase in duties on(a) beer and cider, (b) wine, (c) spirits, (d) tobacco, (e) petrol, (f) derv and (g) vehicle excise duty.

  Sir John Cope
  The effect on the retail prices index of 10 per cent. duty increases is estimated to be:

  Per cent.

  Beer and cider

  +0·09

  Wine

  +0·06

  Spirits

  +0·07

  Tobacco

  +0·24

  Petrol

  +0·22

  Diesel

  +0·01

  Vehicle excise

  +0·09

  551
  These figures show the growth in the retail prices index excluding mortgate interest payments. They assume that the full increase in tax would be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. Where the tax falls on business, there is likely to be a further effect on the RPI which is not taken into account in these figures.

  Mr. Whittingdale
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total amount raised in excise duty on

  Duty receipts in months February to September

  £ million

  1993

  1992

  1991

  1990

  1989

  1988

  (a) Beer

  11,397

  1,578

  1,511

  1,479

  1,390

  1,346

  (b) Wines (including cider)

  685

  618

  573

  544

  489

  483

  (c) Spirits

  951

  925

  911

  917

  826

  838

  1 As a result of previously announced changes in the system for the collection of beer duty which took effect on 1 June 1993, there was a delay of about 1 month in receiving duty payments. This led to a cash flow loss of some £200 million duty in July.

  VAT
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the average weekly expenditure in 1993–94 and 1994–95 of(a) all households, (b) families with children, (c) non-retired households and (d) retired households on items which are currently zero-rated, excluding domestic fuel, giving figures separately for each item.

  Sir John Cope
  Estimates in the form requested are not available. The latest information on household expenditure, including expenditure on goods currently zero-rated for VAT, is published in the 1992 family expenditure survey.

  Mr. Cash
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the proportion of the theoretical yield if VAT were imposed on magazines at 17.5 per cent. that would actually accrue to the Exchequer.

  Sir John Cope
  The figure published in table 9 of the publication "Tax Ready Reckoner and Tax Reliefs", which is in the House of Commons Library, shows the cost of zero rating books, newspapers and magazines to be £1.1 billion. Magazines represent approximately 20 per cent. of this figure. The proportion of this figure actually accruing to the Exchequer if VAT were imposed would depend on the behaviour of individual companies and consumers.

  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current level of VAT on books in other EC countries.

  Sir John Cope
  The rates of VAT applied to books in other EC countries are shown in the table.

  VAT on books in other EC countries

  Country

  Rate percentage

  Belgium

  6

  Denmark

  25

  France

  5.5

  Germany

  7

  552
  (a) beers, (b) wines and (c) spirits since 1 January; and what was the amount for each category in the equivalent period for each of the last five years.

  Sir John Cope
  Duty receipts for alcohol are generally received in the month following clearance. The table therefore shows duty receipts from February to September of each year.

  Country

  Rate percentage

  Greece

  14

  (3)

  Ireland

  0

  Italy

  4

  Luxembourg

  3

  Netherlands

  6

  Portugal

  25

  30

  (421)

  Spain

  3

  Note: The following rates apply generally in Corsica: 0.9 per cent., 2.1 per cent., 8 per cent. and 13 per cent.

  1 Rates in brackets apply in the Departments of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, the Dodecanese and the Cyclades, and in the islands of Thasos, the Northern Sporades, Samothrace and Sykros.

  2 The rates in brackets apply in the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores Archipelagoes. The lower rates apply to books which are considered in the legislation covering these items to be of a cultural, educational, recreational or sporting nature. The higher rates apply to books of an obscene or pornographic nature.

  Source: VAT in Europe (International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation).

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how VAT could be applied to free newspapers and magazines.

  Sir John Cope
  "Free" newspapers and magazines are usually financed by sales of advertising and VAT already applies.

  National Savings
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing changes in the number and type of national savings accounts in each of the last five years, distinguishing those deposits of under £10 in value together with total sums held in such accounts.

  Mr. Nelson
  The number and balances outstanding of National Savings ordinary and investment accounts at 31 December in each of the last five years are as follows:
  553

  Ordinary account (000s)

  Balance £ million

  Investment account (000s)

  Balance £ million

  1988

  15,741

  1,646·6

  4,300

  7,733·4

  1989

  15,762

  1,579·4

  4,521

  7,839·0

  1990

  15,758

  1,494·3

  4,817

  8,527·1

  1991

  15,782

  1,440·0

  4,874

  8,876·7

  1992

  15,848

  1,424·2

  4,884

  8,917·4

  19931

  15,901

  1,443·1

  4,810

  8,970·3

  1 As at 30 September.

  Deposits under £10 (000s)

  Value £ million

  Total deposits (000s)

  Value £ million

  Ordinary account

  1992

  2,388

  13·6

  10,945

  560·9

  1993

  1

  1

  7,587

  488·9

  Investment account

  1992

  1,626

  9·0

  7,557

  987·2

  1993

  2

  2

  4,135

  908·5

  1 Minimum deposit increased to £10 from 1 February 1993.

  2 Minimum deposit increased to £20 from 1 February 1993.

  Off-licences (Single Market)
  Mr. Whittingdale
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made as to the effect of the single market on sales of beers, wines and spirits from off-licence retail outlets.

  Sir John Cope
  There are many factors other than the single market affecting off-licence sales, in particular a trend towards the purchase of alcoholic drinks at retailers such as supermarkets, which are not covered by the off-licence category in the retail sales inquiry figures produced by the Central Statistical Office. It is therefore not possible to estimate the effects of the single market on the sales of alcohol at off-licences.

  Alcohol Imports
  Mr. Whittingdale
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officers in Customs and Excise are engaged in the enforcement of the regulations relating to the import of beers, wines and spirits from European Community countries.

  Sir John Cope
  Customs and Excise have 292 officers employed on single market activities. Their duties include the control of registered excise dealers and shippers and the protection of legitimate trade by verifying that goods imported from other EC countries for commercial purposes are charged with any United Kingdom duty and VAT which is payable.
  554
  The number of deposits under £10 is not available for periods before 1992. Customer deposits for 1992 and the estimated figures for January to September 1993 are as follows:

  Mr. Whittingdale
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many prosecutions there have been since 1 January for breaches of the law covering import of beers, wines and spirits from Community countries; and what was the value of the goods involved.

  Sir John Cope
  Customs and Excise have prosecuted four individuals since 1 January for breaches of the law covering the import of beers, wines and spirits from other EC countries. The total amount of revenue involved was £4,299·44. There are 108 other cases involving excise goods generally—for example, alcoholic liquors and tobacco products—for which prosecution proceedings have been instituted but not yet brought to a conclusion.

  Central and Local Government Costs
  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for(a) central Government and (b) local government the (i) total wage and salary costs, (ii) total non-contributory pension costs and (iii) additional employment costs and benefit costs for each year since 1978–79, together with the gross national product and the proportion thereof in respect of each item for each year.

  Mr. Nelson
  The table shows the figures.

  Central Government pay includes non-contributory pension costs not available separately as well as employers' contributions to national insurance and contributory pension schemes. No information is available on additional employment costs.
  555

  £ million

  Year

  Forces

  Pay central government civilians

  Total

  Local authorities

  Social security benefits

  1979

  2,548

  9,408

  11,956

  12,557

  18,122

  1980

  3,047

  12,307

  15,354

  15,549

  21,813

  1981

  3,387

  13,948

  17,335

  17,907

  27,002

  1982

  3,692

  14,758

  18,450

  19,224

  31,677

  1983

  4,022

  16,187

  20,209

  20,903

  32,336

  1984

  4,282

  16,750

  21,032

  22,295

  34,350

  1985

  4,761

  17,659

  22,420

  23,290

  37,609

  1986

  5,048

  18,685

  23,733

  25,387

  40,860

  1987

  5,381

  20,497

  25,878

  27,527

  41,961

  1988

  5,696

  22,109

  27,805

  30,200

  43,056

  1989

  5,990

  24,396

  30,386

  31,835

  44,965

  1990

  6,449

  26,984

  33,433

  34,539

  48,898

  1991

  7,338

  28,101

  35,439

  37,809

  57,381

  1992

  7,908

  28,732

  36,640

  40,181

  65,525

  Per cent. of GNP

  1979

  1·5

  5·4

  6·9

  7·2

  10·4

  1980

  1·5

  6·1

  7·6

  7·7

  10·9

  1981

  1·5

  6·3

  7·9

  8·1

  12·3

  1982

  1·5

  6·2

  7·7

  8·0

  13·2

  1983

  1·5

  6·1

  7·7

  7·9

  12·2

  1984

  1·5

  5·9

  7·4

  7·8

  12·1

  1985

  1·5

  5·7

  7·2

  7·5

  12·1

  1986

  1·5

  5·6

  7·1

  7·6

  12·3

  1987

  1·5

  5·6

  7·1

  7·6

  11·5

  1988

  1·4

  5·4

  6·9

  7·4

  10·6

  1989

  1·3

  5·5

  6·8

  7·2

  10·1

  1990

  1·3

  5·6

  7·0

  7·2

  10·2

  1991

  1·5

  5·7

  7·2

  7·6

  11·6

  1992

  1·5

  5·5

  7·0

  7·7

  12·6

  European Monetary Institute
  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated capital cost and annual budget of the European Monetary Institute.

  Mr. Nelson
  Article 16 of the protocol on the statute of the European Monetary Institute annexed to the Maastricht treaty states that the council of the EMI will determine the size of its resources to ensure that the EMI has sufficient income to cover its administrative expenditure. The council of the EMI will decide these questions following establishment of the EMI on 1 January 1994.

  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the number of staff to be employed by the European Monetary Institute; and how many of these will be found from within the existing establishment of the Community's institutions.

  Mr. Nelson
  This will be a matter for the council of the EMI to decide. I would expect the EMI to employ more permanent staff than the Committee of Central Bank Governors, which it will replace, as the EMI is charged with a number of additional tasks. The committee of governors has a secretariat of 35 staff and is also supported by a number of sub-committees and other groups which, in many cases at present, are serviced by staff from national central banks.

  Tax Avoidance
  Mr. Mandelson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the additional revenues obtained for the Treasury by the measures he has adopted to limit tax avoidance via trusts and offshore tax havens since 1991.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Information is not available in the form requested, but details of the estimated yields from the measures referred to in the question are given in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" for the relevant
  year.

  Newspapers and Magazines
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has as to(a) the price elasticity and (b) the range of profitability of newspapers and magazines.

  Sir John Cope
  The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated the price elasticity for leisure goods, which include books, newspapers and magazines, to be -0.657. The Newspaper Society has different elasticities for different types of regional papers ranging from -0.3 to -0.5. The Newspaper Society suggests that regional daily papers have an average profitability of 11 per cent., and regional weeklies, 7 per cent.

  Mr. Cash
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing for each EC member state(a) the current rate of VAT imposed on periodicals, (b) whether postage subsidies or a special rate for periodicals is available, (c) whether a newsprint subsidy

  557
  is available, (d) whether transport costs are subsidised and (e) whether overseas distribution costs are subsidised.

  Sir John Cope
  The current rate of VAT applied to periodicals in all EC countries as well as whether partial subsidies or special rates are available for periodicals are shown in the table. For the remaining items,(c), (d) and (e), it is not possible to obtain the information on the ground of disproportionate cost.

  Country

  (a) VAT rate on periodicals per cent.

  (b)Whether postal subsidies or special rates available

  Belgium

  10 6

  Not known

  Denmark

  25

  Yes

  France

  52·1

  Yes

  Germany

  7

  Yes

  Greece

  24 (3)

  Not known

  Ireland

  12·5

  Not known

  Italy

  4

  Yes

  Luxembourg

  3

  Not known

  Netherlands

  6

  Yes

  Portugal

  45, 330, (44, 321)

  Not known

  Spain

  3

  Yes

  United Kingdom

  0

  Yes

  1 Magazines which appear at least 50 times a year and whose aim is to educate or entertain the general public are subject to the zero rate.

  2The rates in brackets apply in certain distant Greek Islands.

  3 Obscene and pornographic material is subject to an increased rate of 30 per cent. (21 per cent. in the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores Archipelagoes.)

  4 Providing they are considered in the legislation covering these items to be of a cultural, educational, recreational or sporting nature.(A lower rate of 4 cent. applies in the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores Archipelagoes.)

  5 The following rates apply to Corsica: 0.9 per cent. and 2.1 per cent.

  Source: (a) VAT in Europe (International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation) 1993.

  (b) Periodical Publishers Association (UK) 1989.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the net change of turnover of newsagents if VAT were introduced on newspapers and magazines.

  Sir John Cope
  Various trade interests, including the Multiple Newsagents Association, have provided estimates of the effect on turnover should VAT be extended to this area.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received in favour of VAT on(a) national newspapers, (b) regional and local priced newspapers, (c) free newspapers and (d) magazines.

  Sir John Cope
  A small number of representations have been received in favour of ending the zero rate of VAT on books, newspapers and magazines.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has as to the proportion of weekly newspapers that would be expected to convert to free distribution if VAT were imposed.

  Sir John Cope
  Ministers have received various reports from the industry which predict some movement of weekly paid-for newspapers to the free sector if VAT were extended to this area.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the rates of VAT on newspapers and magazines in each other OECD country.
  558
  Sir John Cope
  Following is the information requested.

  VAT on newspapers and magazines in each other OECD country

  Country

  Newspapers

  Magazines

  Australia

  No VAT

  No VAT

  Austria

  10 per cent.

  10 per cent.

  Belgium

  0 per cent.1

  0 per cent. 1

  6 per cent.

  6 per cent.

  Canada

  Exempt

  Exempt

  Denmark

  0 per cent.

  25 per cent.

  Finland

  Exempt2

  Exempt2

  22 per cent.

  22 per cent.

  France

  2.1 per cent. 3

  2.1 per cent. 3

  Germany

  7 per cent.

  7 per cent.

  Greece

  4 per cent.

  4 per cent.

  (3 per cent)4

  (3 per cent)4

  Iceland

  14 per cent.

  14 per cent.

  Ireland

  12.5 per cent.

  12.5 per cent.

  Italy

  4 per cent.

  4 per cent.

  Japan

  3 per cent.

  3 per cent.

  Luxembourg

  3 per cent.

  3 per cent.

  Netherlands

  6 per cent.

  6 per cent.

  New Zealand

  12.5 per cent.

  12.5 per cent.

  Norway

  0 per cent.5

  0 per cent.5

  22 per cent.

  22 per cent.

  Portugal

  5 per cent.

  5 per cent.

  (4 per cent.)6

  (4 per cent.)6

  Spain

  3 per cent.

  3 per cent.

  Sweden

  0 per cent.7

  Exempt7

  25 per cent.

  0 per cent.

  25 per cent.

  Switzerland

  No VAT

  No VAT

  Turkey

  8 per cent.

  8 per cent.

  United States

  No VAT

  No VAT

  1 0 per cent. applies to newspapers and magazines that appear at least 50 times a year and whose aim is to educate or entertain the public.

  2 Exemption applies to subscriptions to newspapers and magazines. This is a preliminary decision by the Finnish Government's Fiscal Committee.

  3 The following rates apply in Corsica: 0.9 per cent and 2.1 per cent.

  4 The rates in brackets applies in certain distant Greek Islands.

  5 0 per cent. applies to:

  (a) newspapers that appear at least once a week.

  (b) magazines that are sold to subscribers or to members of an organisation.

  (c) Magazines of a certain character (e.g. political, literary).

  It applies only at the last taxable stage prior to acquisition by the consumer.

  6 The rate in brackets applied in Madeira and the Azores Archipelagos.

  7 0 per cent. applies to newspapers and magazines published at least once a week.

  Exemption applies to:

  (a) staff magazines.

  (b) magazines sent to members of an organisation.

  (c) certain other magazines (religious, political, etc. in aim).

  (d) magazines that represent disabled or incapacitated workers.

  (e) quarterly foreign magazines under certain conditions.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the total revenue from VAT charged on advertising in the various categories of newspapers and magazines.

  Sir John Cope
  When the zero rating of advertisements in newspapers and magazines was withdrawn in May 1985 the change was costed at £50 million. No subsequent estimate has been made.

  Smaller Businesses
  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Nelson review of finance for smaller businesses will be complete; and if he will make a statement.
  559
  Mr. Nelson
  I expect my industrial finance initiative programme of visits to business people around the country to be completed by the middle of next year.

  Mr. Colvin
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the terms of reference for the Nelson review of finance for smaller businesses.

  Mr. Nelson
  My right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to examine current sources of funding for industry, with the aim of identifying whether there are any market imperfections or regulations that inhibit or distort the flows of finance, and, if there are, to consider how present arrangements can be improved.

  There are no formal terms of reference for the industrial finance initiative, but it will look at the strategic role that financing plays and examine the scope for new approaches. In particular, I will be examining the financing of small to medium-sized enterprises. The intention is to improve the financial climate for business and to inform the consideration of public policies that bear on the provision of finance for industry.

  Fraud
  Mr. Mandelson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 25 October,Official Report, column 422, if he will take steps to obtain an estimate of the percentage of fraud involving transactions between the United Kingdom and offshore tax havens.

  Mr. Dorrell
  There are no steps that can be taken to obtain a reliable estimate.

  General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what studies his Department has conducted to identify the effects on United Kingdom national income, in real terms, of the signing of the GATT treaty as currently envisaged.

  Mr. Nelson
  The World Bank/OECD recently published a study which estimated that the gain to world real income resulting from a successful GATT round could be just over $200 billion—1992 prices—by the year 2002. Within this, the EC was estimated to get a very substantial gain of around $80 billion.

  These figures may well underestimate the full benefit as the study does not take account of the removal of non-tariff barriers, liberalisation of trade in services or dynamic and confidence gains from a successful conclusion to the round. Nor does it take account of the adverse impact on national incomes that would arise if failure of the round resulted in a deterioration in the world trading environment.

  Civil Servants
  Mr. Matthew Taylor
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what rules his Department operates in regard to civil servants having interests in private sector companies.

  Mr. Nelson
  I regret that it has not been possible to provide a substantive answer before prorogation. I shall write to the hon. Member shortly and place a copy of the letter in the Library.

  VAT (Air Fares)
  Mr. Davidson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the loss of traffic on routes between Scotland and London which would follow the imposition of value-added tax at 17·5 per cent. on air fares; if he will outline the increase in fares which will result from the imposition of VAT; and on what basis these figures were arrived at.

  Sir John Cope
  I regret that it has not been possible to provide a substantive answer before prorogation. I shall write to the hon. Member shortly and place a copy of the letter in the Library.

  Housing
  Ms Estelle Morris
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce tax incentives for private developers to boost the provision of housing for rent or sale to lower income groups.

  Mr. Dorrell
  I cannot anticipate my right hon. and learned Friend's Budget statement.

  Telephone Sex Lines
  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates have been made of the cost to the public purse of the use of telephones at Whitehall to make 0898 sex line calls; and if he will make a statement.

  Sir John Cope
  The Government telephone network lines serving Her Majesty's Treasury bar access to all 0898 numbers.

  Rail Season Tickets
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy with regard to changing the benefit in kind rules to make interest-free loans to purchase rail season tickets exempt from taxation.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Most interest-free loans provided by employers to employees to purchase rail season tickets are already exempt from tax. An employee does not pay tax on employer-provided loans where the total benefit of all loans in a year is not more than £300. This exemption saves work for employers, employees and for the Inland Revenue.

  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy with regard to making the cost of rail season tickets tax allowable.

  Mr. Dorrell
  I cannot anticipate my right hon. and learned Friend's Budget statement. However, under the current law, the cost of rail season tickets for home to work travel is not tax deductible. That applies to both employees and to the self-employed.

  VAT (Domestic Fuels)
  Mr. Pickthall
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those domestic fuels which(a) are and (b) are not liable for VAT.

  Sir John Cope
  All fuels supplied for domestic use are currently zero-rated.

  Taxation
  Mr. Robert B. Jones
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will set out for each main source of taxation the percentage of the tax yield represented by collection and administrative costs.

  Mr. Dorrell
  Costs of collection and administration in 1992–93 as a percentage of tax yield are given in the table.

  Per cent.

  Income tax

  2·42

  Corporation tax

  0·93

  Capital gains tax

  3£91

  Petroleum revenue tax

  2·14

  Inheritance tax, capital transfer tax and estate duty

  2·16

  Stamp duties

  0·50

  VAT

  0·87

  Car tax

  0·05

  Customs duties and associated work

  9·74

  Excise duties

  0·13

  Civil Service
  Mr. Michael Spicer
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for each of the last 10 years the number of people employed by the civil service.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The numbers of permanent staff employed at 1 April for each of the last 10 years were:

  Numbers

  1984

  623,972

  1985

  599,026

  1986

  594,365

  1987

  597,814

  1988

  579,627

  1989

  569,215

  1990

  562,388

  1991

  553,863

  1992

  565,319

  1993

  554,212

  Public Sector Borrowing Requirement
  Ms Harman
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the reasons for the differences between the forecast public sector borrowing requirement of £50·1 billion for 1993–94 contained in table 1.2 of the March 1993 "Financial Statement and Budget Report" and the earlier forecast of £7 billion for the same financial year contained in the March 1991 "Financial Statement and Budget Report"; and if he will estimate how much of this difference was attributable to(a) discretionary changes to tax and other receipts, (b) discretionary expenditure changes, (c) changes in taxation and other receipts resulting from errors in forecasting the level of output, (d) changes in expenditure resulting from errors in forecasting the level of output, (e) errors in forecasting debt interest and (f) other forecasting errors.

  Mr. Portillo
  [holding answer 4 November 1993]: The recession was longer and deeper than assumed in 1991. The March 1993 "Financial Statement and Budget Report" assumed non-oil GDP grew by over 5 per cent. less between 1991 and 1993 than assumed in 1991. Changes to
  562
  the Government's public expenditure plans can be found in the 1991 and 1992 autumn statements. Changes in taxes and national insurance contributions are set out in the 1992–93 and 1993–94 editions of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" and in the 1992 autumn statement.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Overseas Domestic Workers
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department since November 1991, how many overseas domestic workers have applied for indefinite leave to stay on compassionate grounds; and how many have been granted it.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The available information is that in the period 1 November 1991 to 30 June 1993 150 overseas domestic workers, excluding dependants, were accepted for settlement after four years continuous employment.

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas domestic workers have applied to change their employer since November 1991; and how many applications have been granted.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The information requested is not available.

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many overseas domestic workers have entered the United Kingdom under the 1980 concession since November 1991; and how many of their employers have reported to the Home Office that their domestic staff have left their employment while in the United Kingdom;

  (2) how many employers of overseas domestic workers have reported to his Department that their domestic staff have left their employment while in the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Comprehensive information on the number of overseas domestic workers admitted to the United Kingdom at ports of entry is not available. However, it is estimated that approximately 20,000 grants of entry clearance to come to the United Kingdom as a domestic worker under the 1980 concession were made at posts abroad between 1 January 1992 and 31 August 1993. Corresponding information for November and December 1991 is not available.

  Information on the numbers of domestic workers reported as having left their employers is not available.

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas domestic workers have applied since November 1991 for an extension to their visa; and how many have been granted an extension.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  During the period I November 1991 to 30 June 1993 a total of 2,340 persons, excluding dependants, were granted an extension of stay in the United Kingdom as an overseas domestic worker under the 1980 concession. The number of applications for an extension is not separately identifiable in the statistics.

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the level of abuse and maltreatment of overseas domestic workers; and what measures he is taking in response.
  563
  Mr. Charles Wardle
  None; but we keep the general arrangements for the overseas domestic workers scheme under review.

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will include in their "Notice to Employers of Domestic Servants Travelling to the United Kingdom" a statement that it is a criminal offence in the United Kingdom to withhold another person's passport.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  No. The information leaflet for domestic servants travelling to the United Kingdom already makes it clear that their passport is an important document and that they should keep it themselves in a safe place. Employers receive a copy of the leaflet for their information.

  Children (Indecent Assault)
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing for each of the last three years for each police authority area in England and Wales (i) how many persons were charged with the offence of indecent assault on children, (ii) how many were subsequently prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service and (iii) how many were convicted of the offence.

  Mr. Maclean
  Information on the number of people charged is not collected centrally. The data relate to the number of persons prosecuted and convicted for offences of indecent assault on a male aged under 16 years and indecent assault on a female aged under 16 years by police force area from 1990 to 1992, which is provisional.

  Table 1A

  Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts of indecent assault on children by police force area England and Wales 1990

  Offence/PFA

  Total proceeded against

  Total found guilty

  Indecent assault on boy under 16

  Avon and Somerset

  17

  5

  Bedfordshire

  3

  5

  Cambridgeshire

  8

  7

  Cheshire

  6

  4

  Cleveland

  6

  6

  Cumbria

  8

  7

  Derbyshire

  19

  18

  Devon and Cornwall

  17

  19

  Dorset

  3

  4

  Durham

  10

  9

  Essex

  13

  8

  Gloucester

  4

  4

  Greater Manchester

  27

  21

  Hampshire

  23

  14

  Hertfordshire

  9

  10

  Humberside

  21

  13

  Kent

  22

  24

  Lancashire

  15

  10

  Leicestershire

  11

  5

  Lincolnshire

  10

  5

  City of London

  —

  —

  Merseyside

  28

  16

  Metropolitan Police

  60

  56

  Norfolk

  11

  5

  Northamptonshire

  2

  2

  Northumbria

  14

  6

  North Yorkshire

  6

  4

  Nottinghamshire

  15

  12

  South Yorkshire

  17

  10

  Staffordshire

  9

  7

  564

  Offence/PFA

  Total proceeded against

  Total found guilty

  Suffolk

  8

  4

  Surrey

  5

  1

  Sussex

  16

  12

  Thames Valley

  20

  15

  Warwickshire

  2

  3

  West Mercia

  11

  7

  West Midlands

  25

  19

  West Yorkshire

  29

  19

  Wiltshire

  7

  3

  Dyfed Powys

  3

  2

  Gwent

  5

  4

  North Wales

  9

  7

  South Wales

  16

  9

  England

  537

  399

  Wales

  33

  22

  England and Wales

  570

  421

  Table 1B Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts of indecent assault on children by police force area

  England and Wales 1990

  Offence/PFA

  Total proceeded against

  Total found guilty

  Indecent assault on girl under 16

  Avon and Somerset

  68

  38

  Bedfordshire

  38

  24

  Cambridgeshire

  36

  23

  Cheshire

  47

  30

  Cleveland

  26

  22

  Cumbria

  24

  18

  Derbyshire

  53

  32

  Devon and Cornwall

  71

  60

  Dorset

  26

  16

  Durham

  30

  24

  Essex

  33

  23

  Gloucester

  23

  15

  Greater Manchester

  174

  101

  Hampshire

  80

  47

  Hertfordshire

  26

  20

  Humberside

  68

  49

  Kent

  58

  50

  Lancashire

  83

  63

  Leicestershire

  24

  21

  Lincolnshire

  43

  32

  City of London

  1

  —

  Merseyside

  87

  47

  Metropolitan Police

  196

  115

  Norfolk

  47

  26

  Northamptonshire

  24

  18

  Northumbria

  67

  52

  North Yorkshire

  30

  21

  Nottinghamshire

  87

  57

  South Yorkshire

  63

  43

  Staffordshire

  48

  31

  Suffolk

  15

  13

  Surrey

  23

  14

  Sussex

  65

  47

  Thames Valley

  27

  26

  Warwickshire

  17

  17

  West Mercia

  42

  20

  West Midlands

  127

  70

  West Yorkshire

  133

  92

  Wiltshire

  29

  25

  Dyfed Powys

  19

  12

  Gwent

  24

  12

  North Wales

  15

  14

  South Wales

  68

  57

  England

  2,159

  1,442

  Wales

  126

  95

  England and Wales

  2,285

  1,537

  565

  Table 2A

  Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts of indecent assault on children by police force area England and Wales 1991

  Offence/PFA

  Total proceeded against

  Total found guilty

  Indecent assault on boy under 16

  Avon and Somerset

  15

  7

  Bedfordshire

  3

  3

  Cambridgeshire

  9

  2

  Cheshire

  19

  7

  Cleveland

  7

  4

  Cumbria

  2

  4

  Derbyshire

  12

  7

  Devon and Cornwall

  14

  15

  Dorset

  2

  2

  Durham

  2

  3

  Essex

  18

  11

  Gloucester

  5

  2

  Greater Manchester

  31

  22

  Hampshire

  18

  13

  Hertfordshire

  3

  1

  Humberside

  18

  13

  Kent

  15

  14

  Lancashire

  13

  9

  Leicestershire

  13

  9

  Lincolnshire

  13

  8

  City of London

  —

  —

  Merseyside

  25

  14

  Metropolitan Police

  57

  41

  Norfolk

  12

  6

  Northamptonshire

  7

  5

  Northumbria

  9

  10

  North Yorkshire

  3

  1

  Nottinghamshire

  16

  4

  South Yorkshire

  9

  10

  Staffordshire

  10

  9

  Suffolk

  5

  1

  Surrey

  7

  7

  Sussex

  18

  10

  Thames Valley

  18

  8

  Warwickshire

  2

  1

  West Mercia

  6

  5

  West Midlands

  22

  10

  West Yorkshire

  29

  21

  Wiltshire

  6

  7

  Dyfed Powys

  2

  3

  Gwent

  3

  5

  North Wales

  8

  7

  South Wales

  16

  10

  England

  493

  326

  Wales

  29

  25

  England and Wales

  522

  351

  Table 2B

  Number of persons proceeded against at Magistrates' Courts and found guilty at all Courts of indecent assault on children by police force area England and Wales 1991

  Offence/PFA

  Total proceeded against

  Total found guilty

  Indecent assault on girl under 16

  Avon and Somerset

  63

  29

  Bedfordshire

  19

  11

  Cambridgeshire

  26

  16

  Cheshire

  34

  27

  Cleveland

  29

  23

  Cumbria

  17

  14

  Derbyshire

  46

  33

  Devon and Cornwall

  66

  52

  Dorset

  33

  16

  Durham

  34

  25

  Essex

  39

  29

  566

  Offence/PFA

  Total proceeded against

  Total found guilty

  Gloucester

  21

  13

  Greater Manchester

  144

  102

  Hampshire

  75

  46

  Hertfordshire

  25

  10

  Humberside

  71

  56

  Kent

  26

  39

  Lancashire

  50

  39

  Leicestershire

  36

  25

  Lincolnshire

  31

  14

  City of London

  1

  1

  Merseyside

  81

  47

  Metropolitan Police

  199

  123

  Norfolk

  29

  23

  Northamptonshire

  23

  18

  Northumbria

  87

  52

  North Yorkshire

  24

  19

  Nottinghamshire

  96

  57

  South Yorkshire

  54

  47

  Staffordshire

  51

  39

  Suffolk

  32

  21

  Surrey

  26

  21

  Sussex

  34

  35

  Thames Valley

  43

  24

  Warwickshire

  15

  13

  West Mercia

  49

  26

  West Midlands

  108

  72

  West Yorkshire

  129

  88

  Wiltshire

  33

  21

  Dyfed Powys

  11

  8

  Gwent

  34

  20

  North Wales

  26

  24

  South Wales

  68

  51

  England

  1,999

  1,366

  Wales

  139

  103

  England and Wales

  2,138

  1,469

  Table 3A

  Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts of indecent assault on children by police force area England and Wales 19921

  Offence/Police force area

  Total proceeded against

  Total found guilty

  Indecent assault on boy under 16

  Avon and Somerset

  16

  11

  Bedfordshire

  3

  2

  Cambridgeshire

  11

  9

  Cheshire

  13

  17

  Cleveland

  6

  3

  Cumbria

  1

  —

  Derbyshire

  9

  6

  Devon and Cornwall

  8

  7

  Dorset

  10

  10

  Durham

  7

  3

  Essex

  12

  5

  Gloucester

  8

  5

  Greater Manchester

  36

  26

  Hampshire

  13

  12

  Hertfordshire

  5

  1

  Humberside

  10

  13

  Kent

  7

  9

  Lancashire

  18

  13

  Leicestershire

  7

  5

  Lincolnshire

  6

  7

  City of London

  —

  —

  Merseyside

  16

  8

  Metropolitan Police

  43

  29

  Norfolk

  3

  —

  Northamptonshire

  6

  7

  Northumbria

  10

  10

  567

  Offence/Police force area

  Total proceeded against

  Total found guilty

  North Yorkshire

  1

  3

  Nottinghamshire

  16

  6

  South Yorkshire

  13

  15

  Staffordshire

  4

  4

  Suffolk

  9

  6

  Surrey

  3

  2

  Sussex

  13

  13

  Thames Valley

  14

  15

  Warwickshire

  2

  3

  West Mercia

  13

  8

  West Midlands

  22

  25

  West Yorkshire

  26

  17

  Wiltshire

  2

  1

  Dyfed Powys

  2

  4

  Gwent

  10

  6

  North Wales

  6

  4

  South Wales

  17

  13

  England

  422

  336

  Wales

  35

  27

  England and Wales

  457

  363

  1 Provisional

  Table 3B Number of persons proceeded against at Magistrates' Courts and found guilty at all courts of indecent assault on children by police force area

  England and Wales 19921

  Offence/PFA

  Total proceeded against

  Total found guilty

  Indecent assault on Girl under 16

  Avon and Somerset

  38

  24

  Bedfordshire

  12

  6

  Cambridgeshire

  42

  25

  Cheshire

  55

  44

  Cleveland

  27

  14

  Cumbria

  12

  9

  Derbyshire

  41

  35

  Devon and Cornwall

  49

  36

  Dorset

  18

  11

  Durham

  31

  23

  Essex

  33

  18

  Gloucester

  20

  14

  Greater Manchester

  192

  101

  Hampshire

  79

  50

  Hertfordshire

  33

  22

  Humberside

  51

  44

  Kent

  28

  46

  Lancashire

  41

  40

  Leicestershire

  30

  12

  Lincolnshire

  23

  12

  Merseyside

  60

  47

  Metropolitan Police2

  179

  90

  Norfolk

  25

  23

  Northamptonshire

  17

  16

  Northumbria

  73

  61

  North Yorkshire

  35

  17

  Nottinghamshire

  104

  65

  South Yorkshire

  57

  40

  Staffordshire

  39

  30

  Suffolk

  21

  13

  Surrey

  6

  4

  Sussex

  59

  29

  Thames Valley

  45

  29

  Warwickshire

  18

  9

  West Mercia

  42

  31

  West Midlands

  101

  63

  West Yorkshire

  104

  66

  Wiltshire

  16

  16

  Dyfed Powys

  24

  16

  Gwent

  28

  11

  North Wales

  30

  24

  South Wales

  67

  45

  England

  1,856

  1,235

  568

  Offence/PFA

  Total proceeded against

  Total found guilty

  Wales

  149

  96

  England and Wales

  2,005

  1,331

  1 Provisional

  2 Including City of London

  Political Refugees
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many political refugees are now resident in the United Kingdom; and if he will publish a table showing how many are from each country.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The available information is that in the period 1979 to mid-1993 around 41,800 persons, including associated dependants, were given leave to remain in the United Kingdom as a refugee. These comprise some 18,500 asylum applicants who were recognized Kingdom, and 23,300 south-east Asian refugees accepted Table for settlement on arrival. Information on the number of these cases who have since died, left the country, obtained British citizenship or otherwise ceased to hold refugee status here, and information prior to 1979, is not available.

  An analysis by main nationalities of grants of asylum in the years 1979 to 1984, including associated dependants, is given in table 3 of Home Office statistical bulletin issue 22/90 "Refugee Statistics, United Kingdom 1989". An analysis by main nationalities of grants in the period 1985 to mid-1993, excluding dependants, is given in table 3.1 of Home Office statistical bulletin issue 19/93 "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 1992" and in the table. An analysis of these figures including dependants is not readily available. A comparison of figures for total grants of asylum including and excluding dependants is given in table 1.2 of issue 19/93.

  Copies of the above publications are in the Library.

  Cases12 recognised as refugees and granted asylum, excluding dependants, by nationality, 1 January to 30 June 1993

  Number of grants to principal applicants

  Nationality

  1993 (Jan-Jun)

  Europe and Americas

  Bulgaria

  —

  Colombia

  5

  Romania

  —

  Turkey

  255

  Former USSR

  —

  Former Yugoslavia

  —

  Other

  5

  TOTAL

  260

  Africa

  Angola

  5

  Congo

  —

  Ethiopia

  20

  Ghana

  5

  Nigeria

  —

  Somalia

  40

  Sudan

  700

  Togo and Ivory Coast

  1

  Uganda

  1

  Zaire

  1

  Other

  25

  TOTAL

  795

  569

  Nationality

  1993 (Jan-Jun)

  Middle East

  Iran

  65

  Iraq

  105

  Lebanon

  15

  Other

  25

  TOTAL

  210

  Asia

  China

  5

  India

  —

  Pakistan

  —

  Sri Lanka

  5

  Other

  5

  TOTAL

  15

  Other, and nationality not known

  —

  Total

  1,280

  Acceptances for settlement of South-East Asian refugees (including dependants)

  300

  1 Figures rounded to the nearest 5 with *=1 or 2.

  2 Provisional figures.

  European Parliamentary Constituencies
  Mr. Alex Carlile
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations the Welsh Boundary Commission has received from Welsh community councils regarding the new European parliamentary constituency boundaries; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The task of reviewing European parliamentary constituency boundaries is being undertaken by the European Parliamentary Constituencies Committee for Wales. It received 69 representations from town and community councils before the deadline of 13 October and eight representations after the deadline. The representations received before the deadline were placed on public deposit on 1 November at the places I listed in my reply to a question from the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Wardell) on 26 October 1993,Official Report, columns 588–89.

  Nuclear Smuggling
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on proposals for integrated police co-operation between EC member states to combat the smuggling of nuclear materials, as announced by Commissioner Matutes in the European Commission reply of 22 October to European Parliament question No. 1642/93.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  No such proposals were announced by the Commission. Police co-operation between the member states takes place intergovernmentally and the Commission has no right of initiative in this area.

  Burglaries
  Mr. Blair
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many of the domestic burglars in the study of those given community service orders in 1987 were reconvicted of burglary within(a) one year and (b) two years from sentence; of how many further burglary offences those who were reconvicted were found guilty on average within (i) one year and (ii) two years; and what multiplier was used to arrive at the estimated average of between three and 13 offences per burglar over 12 months quoted in his Department's new release 220/93 dated 18 October;

  (2) what is the average number of further burglaries committed by domestic burglars released from prison service custody over (a) one year and (b) two years.

  Mr. Maclean
  Of the 193 domestic burglars covered in the study cited by the Home Office director of research and statistics, 96 or 50 per cent, were reconvicted of at least one standard list offence within 12 months—standard list offences include all indictable offences and a few of the more serious types of summary offence. The 96 offenders were convicted between them of 122 further offences, of which 43 per cent. were estimated to have been burglaries —on the basis of the breakdown of offences involved in the first reconviction only. It was assumed that for each of the 122 reconvictions, between five and 20 further offences were committed without resulting in convictions. This assumption was made on the basis of what is known about unreported, unrecorded and undetected crime.

  The analysis did not look at this group's reconvictions over the two years following conviction. Neither these figures nor comparable statistics for burglars released from prison service custody are readily available. I shall write to the hon. Member when the statistical analysis has been carried out.

  Reoffenders
  Mr. Riddick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the reoffending rate of those who have(a) served prison sentences, (b) served probation orders and (c) served community sentences for the last five years for which figures are available.

  Mr. Maclean
  The available information on reconviction rates for standard list offences is given in the table. Reconviction rates during the two-year period after prison discharge for discharges in the years 1984 to 1986 were published in the issues for 1987 to 1989 of "Prison Statistics England and Wales". The 1987 results in the table are based on an improved methodology and the results for earlier years are not consistent with them. Results for 1988 are not yet available.

  Reconviction rates for the two-year period after commencement of probation orders and community service orders in 1988 were given in "Probation Statistics England and Wales 1992", chapter 13. Results for 1987 are given in the table.

  Reconviction rates are not available for the previous three years.

  Copies of these publications are available in the Library of the House.

  These results are shown:

  571

  Persons reconvicted of a standard list1 offence

  within two years of commencement of a probation order or community service order or within two
  years of discharge from a prison service establishment

  Percentages

  Year of commencement

  All

  Males

  Females

  After commencement of probation order

  1987

  52

  56

  37

  1988

  51

  55

  35

  After commencement of community sentence

  1987

  54

  55

  41

  1988

  53

  53

  50

  After discharge from prison Year of discharge

  21984

  54

  55

  34

  21985

  52

  53

  34

  21986

  50

  50

  34

  1987

  57

  57

  40

  1 Standard list offence as defined in "Criminal Statistics" England
  and Wales 1990, Cm. 1935; covers all indictable offences and a few more serious summary
  offences.

  2 Figures prior to 1987 are based on a different methodology including
  microfiche based matching which resulted in lower reconviction rates by some 5 or 6 percentage
  points.

  Parole Board
  Mr. Frank Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home reneepartment if he will give details of the contract of employment of the full-time member of the Parole Board.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The full-time members of the Parole Board have the same status as other members of the board. They are not officials of the Home Office. Their term of appointment is for an initial period of two or three years, renewable for two further periods of two years. They were appointed on a salary of £30,207 per annum plus a non-contributory pension.

  Security Service Report
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the publication "MI5: The Security Service" cost to produce; and how many copies were printed.

  Mr. Howard
  A total of 14,100 copies of "MI5: The Security Service" were printed. The costs of printing and publication were borne by HMSO which aims to recover its costs from sales revenue.

  Immigration (Somalia)
  Mr. Dicks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals from Somalia have been granted entry into Britain since 1990; and under what conditions such entry was granted.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Information on the total number of nationals of Somalia given leave to enter the United Kingdom is given in the table.
  572

  Nationals of Somalia given leave to enter the United Kingdom

  Number of journeys

  1990

  4,330

  1991

  3,650

  1992

  5,500

  19931

  2,140

  1 January to June.

  An analysis of the data for 1990–92 by purpose of journey is given in table 3.1 of Home Office Command Paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 1992"—Cm 2368—and in table 1 of the corresponding volumes for 1990 and 1991—Cm 1571 and 2063. Corresponding information for January to June 1993 is not readily available. Copies of the above publications are in the Library.

  These figures include persons who have applied for asylum at ports—and their dependants—and who have been granted asylum or exceptional leave. They exclude persons granted temporary admission.

  Mr. Amanullah Khan
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the appropriate United Kingdom authorities were last informed by Interpol of an outstanding arrest warrant, issued in India, relating to Mr. Amanullah Khan, the chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, a Pakistan national, concerning alleged offences in India-occupied Kashmir; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The United Kingdom national central bureau of Interpol received notification in May 1990 that the arrest of Amanullah Khan was requested, with a view to extradition, by the Indian national central bureau of Interpol. This wanted notice remained in force until his arrest in Belgium on 18 October 1993.

  Yugoslavia
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many individuals and their dependants have been admitted to enter the United Kingdom this year to date from the former Yugoslavia as urgent medical cases; how many such people remain in the United Kingdom; how many have left the United Kingdom; what is their present country of residence; and how many individuals and their dependants are awaiting permission to enter the United Kingdom for medical treatment;

  (2) how many (a) ex-detainees and (b) their dependants have, to date, been given permission to enter the United Kingdom following his announcements of October and November 1992; how many people deemed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to be vulnerable, and their dependants have, to date, been admitted to the United Kingdom following his decision to admit them; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  As at 4 November, a total of 357 particularly vulnerable individuals—including exdetainees—and 569 dependants, have arrived under these arrangements. A further 49 individuals and 65 dependants are due to arrive on 5 November.
  573
  These figures include 22 urgent medical cases, and 21 dependants, that have arrived this year. The available information suggests that all these 43 persons are still in the United Kingdom.

  The United Kingdom is prepared to consider any request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross for persons from the former Yugoslavia to come here for medical treatment.

  Mr. Dicks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals from the former Yugoslavia have been granted entry into Britain since the troubles began; and under what conditions such entry was granted.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Information on the total number of nationals of the former Yugoslavia given leave to enter the United Kingdom in the period 1 September 1991 to 30 June 1993 is given in the table.

  Nationals of the former Yugoslavia given leave to enter the United Kingdom

  Number of journeys

  1991 September-December

  17,300

  1992

  49,900

  1993 January-June

  18,500

  An analysis by the purpose of journey for 1992 is given in table 3.1 of Home Office Command Paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 1992" (Cm. 2368), a copy of which is in the Library. Corresponding information for September to December 1991 and for January to June 1993 is not readily available.

  These figures include persons who have applied for asylum at ports—and their dependants—and who have been granted asylum or exceptional leave. They exclude persons granted temporary admission.

  Road Deaths
  Mr. Livingstone
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from what sources funding is available for the support of families of people killed in road accidents; how much funding is available; and how it is allocated.

  Mr. Maclean
  This is not a matter for which I have any Departmental responsibility. However, I am informed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport that where a motorist is at fault, the victim of a road accident—or, in fatal cases, surviving relatives—may be compensated either by the motorist, his insurers, or in the case of untraced or uninsured drivers, by the Motor Insurers Bureau. I further understand that state support in the form of social security provision may be available if the relevant criteria are satisfied.

  Wheel Clamping
  Mr. Spellar
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will make a statement on plans to regulate wheel clamping on private land.

  Mr. Maclean
  Presently, we have no such plans. In the light of the consultation exercise conducted earlier this year, we are still considering what action it might be appropriate for the Government to initiate.

  British Summer Time
  Mr. Hain
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing the times of sunrise and sunset on 21 December and on the first day of each month in 1994 in(a) Newcastle, (b) Belfast, (c) Liverpool, (d) Wrexham, (e) Holyhead and (f) Aberystwyth under (i) the present arrangements of British summer time and Greenwich mean time and (ii) under British summer time plus one hour and Greenwich mean time plus one hour.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The information requested is not immediately available, but is being obtained. I shall write to the hon. Member and arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Library.

  Dangerous Dogs
  Mr. Anthony Coombs
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many dogs have been seized under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991;

  (2) how many dogs have been put down under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to date.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Information on the numbers of dogs which have been seized by the police and local authorities and those destroyed as a result of court proceedings under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is not collected centrally. Information on the number of prosecutions, convictions and cautions under the Act for 1992 is expected to be available in December and I shall write to my hon. Friend as soon as the information becomes available.

  Mr. Anthony Coombs
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what breeds are now proscribed as dangerous dogs.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 currently applies to any dog of the types known as the pit bull terrier, the Japanese tosa, the Dogo Argentino and the Fila Braziliero.

  Criminal Records
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the implications for personal social services of the possible introduction of charging for police checks on individual criminal records.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The effect of the possible introduction of charging for vetting checks is raised in paragraphs 64 to 70 of the Home Office consultation paper entitled "Disclosure of criminal records for employment vetting purposes"—Cm 2319—laid before the House on 9 September. Question 6 of the paper specifically invites comments on charging. The paper is available to local authorities and local authority associations. The consultation period expires on 31 December when further consideration will be given to this matter in the light of comments made.

  Miscarriages of Justice
  Mr. Boateng
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to the recommendation of the Royal Commission on criminal
  575
  justice that an independent review authority should be established to investigate alleged miscarriages of justice; and what plans he has for implementing this recommendation in the next year.

  Mr. Maclean
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Prison Visits
  Mr. Etherington
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by prison establishment, year by year, the total number of individual prison visits to prisoners, and the total number of visits by hon. Members, for each year since 1989.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Mr. Etherington
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list by category of establishment the total number of prisons which, for the purposes of examination of clothing and baggage, do not have or use(a) X-ray machines or (b) metal detectors;

  (2) if he will list the total number of incidents in each year since 1989, where visitors to prisons have had weapons or other unsuitable metallic items (a) found on their person and (b) confiscated;

  (3) if he will place in the Library a copy of the procedures governing searches for visitors to prison establishments.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Chief Inspector of Fire Services
  Sir Ivan Lawrence
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who is to be the next Chief Inspector of Fire Services.

  Mr. Howard
  Mr. Bryan Collins OBE, Her Majesty's Inspector of Fire Services, will become Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services in succession to Sir Reginald Doyle CBE, who retires on 31 December.

  Young Offenders
  Mr. Michael
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is this timetable for setting up secure training centres; and what is his estimate of the cost in this financial year and in 1994–95;

  (2) what is his timetable for implementing the proposal to double the maximum sentence in young offender institutions; and what is his estimate of the cost in this financial year and in 1994–95.

  Mr. Maclean
  [holding answer 19 October 1993]: I will write to the hon. Member.

  Criminal Justice Act 1993
  Mr. Michael
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the amount of police time that would be required to deal adequately with the information disclosed to(a) the Metropolitan police and (b) other police forces in England and Wales as a result of implementation in full of the Criminal Justice Act 1993; what additional resources in each case have been provided by his Department (i) in cash terms and (ii) in terms of establishment in the current year; and how much will be provided in 1994–95.
  576
  Mr. Charles Wardle
  [holding answer 4 November 1993]: The new disclosure requirement has not been identified as a significant new burden at national level, although a working party is continuing to review the implications for the Metropolitan police.

  No provision has been made for additional resources.

NATIONAL HERITAGE

  Terrorism
  Mr. Lidington
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what plans he has to review his instructions to the broadcasting authorities concerning the broadcasting of direct speech by supporters of terrorism; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Brooke
  I am undertaking a review of the notices first issued to the broadcasting authorities in October 1988 by the Home Secretary concerning the reporting of direct speech by members of terrorist organisations and their supporters. I will announce the results of this review as soon as is consistent with a thorough examination.

EMPLOYMENT

  Fares To Work Scheme
  Mrs. Helen Jackson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what plans he has to alter the criteria for the fares to work scheme for disabled people;

  (2) how many disabled people made a successful application to the fares to work scheme in 1992 and 1993; and how many applicants were unsuccessful;

  (3) how much his Department spent on the fares to work scheme for disabled people in 1992 and 1993; and how much he intends to spend in 1994.

  Miss Widdecombe
  After 31 March 1994 the fares to work scheme, which helps people with disabilities who are unable to use public transport and who, as a result of their disability, incur extra costs in travelling to and from work, will be replaced by help under the access to work scheme. The main criteria for help under access to work were given in my answer to the hon. Member for Clwyd, North-West (Mr. Richards),Official Report, 22 June 1993, column 102. The current requirement for those being helped with fares to work to be registered under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 will be removed. We are considering what transitional arrangements might be appropriate for existing beneficiaries.

  The money spent on the fares to work scheme in 1992–93 and 1992–93 was £1,647,857 and £1,800,744 respectively. The numbers helped through the fares to work scheme in 1991–92 and 1992–93 were 1,495 and 1,789 respectively; of these 655 and 433 were new beneficiaries. Statistics on unsuccessful applicants are not collected. Provision for assistance with fares to work in 1994–95 is not identifiable as it has been included in the overall access to work budget. Under access to work, in addition to help with fares, new forms of travel to work help, such as adapting vehicles, can be provided.

  Gas Installers
  Mr. William O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received concerning the annual report of the Council for Registered Gas Installers; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  None.

  Departmental Staff
  Mrs. Clywd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many civil servants are currently employed at his Department's offices at Caxton House; and how many were women(a) in 1990, and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  A total of 1,319 at 1 October 1993, of which 667 were women. The comparable figures for 1 October 1990 were 1,354 and 686 respectively. These figures comprise staff in all the Department's London headquarters offices.

  Mrs. Clywd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many women are employed at each Civil Service grade in his Department as a whole; and what percentage of each grade is constituted by women.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The numbers and percentages of women in each grade in the Employment Department Group at 1 October 1993 are set out in the following table:

  Women in the employment department group at 1 October 1993

  Grade

  Number

  Percentage

  Administrative assistant

  2,306

  74·9

  Administrative officer

  24,267

  75·4

  Typist

  716

  99·6

  Executive officer

  11,586

  67·5

  Administrative trainee

  4

  80·0

  Management trainee

  35

  60·3

  Higher executive officer (D)

  8

  42·1

  Higher executive officer

  1,838

  42·4

  Senior executive officer

  342

  26·9

  Grade 7

  185

  24·3

  Grade 6

  14

  9·9

  Grade 5

  22

  202

  Grade 4

  0

  0·0

  Grade 3

  1

  4·2

  Grade 2

  1

  20·0

  Grade 1

  0

  0·0

  Employment Service (Female Staff)
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many women are employed by the employment service; and what is this figure as a percentage of the total work force of the employment service.

  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 Mrs. Ann Clwyd, dated 5 November 1993:
  As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to him about the number of women employed by the Employment Service. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
  578
  We currently employ a total of 49,405 people. Of these, 35,314 are women, which represents 71.5 per cent. of the total workforce.
  I hope this is helpful.
  As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

  Construction Workers
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table for each year since 1979 listing how many construction workers are unemployed, set out by trade or skill.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Information on the previous industry and occupation of people unemployed on the International Labour Organisation definition is available from the Labour Force Survey from 1984 onwards. People in a wide range of occupations are employed by the construction industry and information can be obtained for specific occupations via the Quantime LFS service available in the Library.

  Training and Enterprise Councils
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his policy on transferring the operations of under-performing TECs to the more successful TECs.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Training and enterprise councils have been in existence only three years and generally perform well. However, the performance of each TEC is kept constantly under review and the Department takes appropriate action to ensure any necessary improvements. An independent assessors committee, chaired by Sir Anthony Cleaver, has been set up to advise the Department on TEC performance.

  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for each training and enterprise council in England for the two most recent years for which figures are available the amounts paid in error to(a) trainees and (b) training providers.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Recovery of identified overpayments, including those made to training and enterprise councils and trainees is vigorously pursued, but the information is not held in the form requested.

  Community Action
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many of the originally announced 20,000 community action places have been taken up.

  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 5 November 1993:
  As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to him about the number of Community Action places currently taken up. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

  579
  It may be helpful if I explain a little about the background to Community Action and our plans for the provision of the announced places.
  Community Action is a programme to help Icing-term unemployed people back into work, by providing work experience on projects of benefit to local communities. In the Spring Budget the then Chancellor committed £113.5m, sufficient to provide 20,000 places and help 60,000 people in a full year. Following extensive consultation and development of this new programme, to ensure quality and value for money, the first places became available at the end of July.
  Community Action opportunities will be delivered, in the main, by voluntary/charitable organisations and my people in the Employment Service Regional Offices are responsible for contracting with them. The contracting round is now well advanced with contracts already awarded for over half of the places. About 1,000 places have been taken up by long-term unemployed people so far and numbers are increasing steadily. The programme is planned to build to 20,000 filled places by the end of March.
  As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report, I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will encourage TECs to include on their boards elected representatives from their local district or borough council.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Each training and enterprise council has up to five board members who are drawn from outside the private sector covering such interests as education, the public sector and voluntary organisations.

  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the budget for each TEC in England in 1993–94.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The following tables show the programme budget agreed for each training and enterprise council in England for 1993–94:

  TEC budgets 1993–94

  £

  Hampshire

  35,630,129

  Heart of England

  11,885,173

  Isle of Wight

  4,334,721

  Kent

  39,354,811

  Milton Keynes/North Bucks

  10,124,085

  Surrey

  14,079,069

  Sussex

  26,947,238

  Thames Valley Enterprise

  27,447,439

  SOUTH EAST TOTAL

  169,802,665

  AZTEC

  14,447,052

  CENTEC

  28,464,545

  CILNTEC

  26,796,372

  LETEC

  44,436,432

  North London

  21,830,902

  North West London

  13,378,939

  SOLOTEC

  21,923,607

  South Thames

  43,742,853

  West London

  19,470,586

  LONDON TOTAL

  234,491,288

  Bedfordshire

  13,396,288

  Cambridgeshire

  7,864,985

  Essex

  34,790,593

  Greater Peterborough

  11,059,274

  Hertfordshire

  26,155,368

  Norfolk-Waveney

  25,868,017

  Suffolk

  16,926,462

  EASTERN TOTAL

  136,060,987

  580

  £

  Avon

  32,212,180

  Devon-Cornwall

  59,261,247

  Dorset

  18,656,520

  Gloucestershire

  15,213,499

  Somerset

  13,995,143

  Wiltshire

  15,900,438

  SOUTH WEST TOTAL

  155,239,027

  Birmingham

  48,195,645

  Central England

  11,807,673

  Coventry-Warwickshire

  31,058,998

  Dudley

  12,919,763

  HAWTEC

  13,658,026

  Sandwell

  13,438,531

  Shropshire

  14,913,449

  Staffordshire

  36,957,718

  Walsall

  10,517,059

  Wolverhampton

  13,059,220

  WEST MIDLANDS TOTAL

  206,526,082

  Greater Nottinghamshire

  24,308,666

  Leicester

  27,047,479

  Lincolnshire

  26,886,790

  North Derbyshire

  11,962,736

  North Nottinghamshire

  17,580,410

  Northants

  14,450,582

  South Derbyshire

  19,203,242

  EAST MIDLANDS TOTAL

  141,439,905

  Humberside

  39,256,668

  North Yorkshire

  18,750,543

  Wakefield

  14,020,400

  Sheffield

  28,518,555

  Rotherham

  13,954,615

  Barnsley/Doncaster

  31,163,721

  Leeds

  25,028,682

  Bradford

  22,208,611

  Calderdale/Kirklees

  29,153,032

  YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE TOTAL

  222,054,727

  Bolton/Bury

  15,765,677

  Manchester

  42,513,454

  METROTEC

  12,136,378

  Oldham

  9,724,649

  Rochdale

  10,223,115

  South and East Cheshire

  15,160,338

  Stockport

  11,860,770

  NORTH West (GM) TOTAL

  117,384,381

  CEWTEC

  24,750,760

  Cumbria

  18,823,066

  ELTEC

  20,350,366

  LAWTEC

  31,446,744

  Merseyside

  64,817,830

  NORMID

  16,318,557

  QUALITEC

  11,894,165

  NORTH WEST (W) TOTAL

  188,401,488

  Durham

  33,523,129

  Northumberland

  16,719,609

  Teeside

  38,187,466

  Tyneside

  49,473,678

  Wearside

  22,607,990

  NORTHERN TOTAL

  160,511,872

  581
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the providers of Training for Work which have contracts with five or more TECs in England and Wales.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The information sought is not held centrally. Training and enterprise councils themselves decide which training providers to contract with.

  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the amount held in reserves by each of the training and enterprise councils in England;

  (2) if he will list those training and enterprise councils in England where internal audit arrangements are not currently in place.

  Miss Widdecombe
  I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those training and enterprise councils in England where auditors have found defects in accounting control systems.

  Miss Widdecombe
  I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

  Construction Workers
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his latest estimate of the number of unemployed construction workers.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

  Community Action
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to expand the community action programme.

  Miss Widdecombe
  I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

  Wages Councils
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate his Department has made of the potential for an increase in labour supply as a consequence of the abolition of wages councils.

  Miss Widdecombe
  I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

  Unemployment-Mental Health Links
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what studies his Department has undertaken or commissioned into the links between unemployment and mental health.

  Mr. Bowis
  I have been asked to reply.

  I will write to the hon. Member.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Child Support Agency
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many maintenance application forms were issued to(a) persons with care under section 4, (b)
  582
  parents with care under section 6, (c) absent parents and (d) child applicants (Scotland) in the first six months of the Child Support Agency's operation;

  (2) what the live caseload of the Child Support Agency currently stands at; and what it is expected to be at April in each year from 1994 to 1998;

  (3) how many assessments were completed after an application from a (a) person with care not in receipt of income support, family credit or disability working allowance, (b) parent with care in receipt of income support, (c) parent with care in receipt of family credit, (d) parent with care in receipt of disability working allowance and (e) non-parent with care in receipt of income support, family credit or disability working allowance in the first six months of the Child Support Agency's operation; and what were the targets for the same period;

  (4) how many maintenance application forms were issued to (a) persons with care not in receipt of income support, family credit or disability working allowance, (b) parents with care in receipt of income support, (c) parents with care in receipt of family credit, (d) parents with care in receipt of disability working allowance and (e) non-parents with care in receipt of income support, family credit or disability working allowance over the first six months of the Child Support Agency's operation;

  (5) how many assessments were completed after an application by (a) persons with care under section 4, (b) parents with care under section 6, (c) absent parents and (d) child applicants (Scotland) in the first six months of the Child Support Agency's operation; and what were the targets for the same period.

  Mr. Burt
  The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

  Letter from R. Hepplewhite to Mr. Archy Kirkwood, dated 5 November 1993:
  As Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking various questions about the Agency.
  You ask about the number of Maintenance Application Forms (MAFs) issued to parents with care, absent parents and also to child applicants in Scotland in the first six months and for future years.
  To 30 September 1993, 19,500 MAFs had been sent to parents with care who do not receive one of the prescribed benefits, 384,500 to parents with care receiving Income Support, and 123,000 to parents with care receiving Family Credit or Disability Working Allowance.
  I am sorry but the Agency does not collect separate figures for Scotland nor is information available on the number of absent parents who requested a MAF although the numbers are estimated to be very low.

  The Agency has issued 527,000 MAFs in total in the first 6 months of operations and for each of the years 1994 to 1998 expect to issue numbers of MAFs as follows:

  Year

  Number

  1994

  1,010,000

  1995

  860,000

  1996

  868,000

  1997

  696,000

  1998

  690,000

  You also ask about the numbers of assessments completed. The Agency had completed 366,120 assessments to the 30 September.
  583
  I hope you find this information useful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.

  Mr. Mills
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many fathers separated from their wives and not paying any maintenance have been traced and made to pay maintenance by the Child Support Agency;

  (2) how many responsible fathers paying maintenance at present by court judgment have had their agreed maintenance increased significantly by the introduction of the Child Support Agency system;

  (3) how many fathers separated from their wives with children within the child support system are paying maintenance.

  Mr. Burt
  The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

  Letter from R. Hepplewhite to Mr. Iain Mills, dated 5 November 1993:
  As Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking various questions concerning the Agency's operations.
  You ask how many fathers are paying maintenance under the new child support system and, secondly how many of them were not paying maintenance previously and have been traced by the Child Support Agency. The answer to the first question is that the Agency has now assessed child maintenance in 36,610 cases. We estimate that in half of these cases the absent parent was not previously paying maintenance. Over the course of the year we estimate that around two thirds of cases taken on by the Agency will be ones where no maintenance was previously in payment.
  In answer to your second question about tracing absent parents. At 30 September, 326,700 Maintenance Application Forms (MAFs) had been returned and the Agency had already contacted over 166,000 of the absent parents involved.
  Where the MAF shows that an absent parent's whereabouts are not known, the Agency checks Departmental records to establish their current address. If this is not available the case is referred for specialist tracing action. The Agency has completed such specialist action in 7,700 of these cases, and has successfully traced the absent parent in 7,000 cases, 92 per cent. In September alone, over 2,500 absent parents were located by the Agency's specialist tracing sections. The average time taken in each case is not recorded.
  On your third question, about the level of maintenance, the Child Support Act provides for maintenance to be assessed by means of a standard formula that produces predictable and realistic amounts. However, as the Agency has only been operating since April this year it is too early to be able to sty what overall effect the Agency has had on the level of maintenance payments. It has always been made clear that the amount of maintenance worked out by the Agency under the formula may be higher than a previous court order in some cases. Average maintenance payments were £25 to £30 a week and under the formula the average is expected to be £45 to £50 a week.
  I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.

  Ms Corston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many Child Support Agency cases the named alleged absent parent has disputed paternity; in how many of these cases the alleged absent parent has been interviewed; how many of these cases have been abandoned; in how many cases the Child Support Agency has initiated court proceedings on paternity; and how many cases are still awaiting Child Support Agency decision on whether to take court action.
  584
  Mr. Burt
  The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

  Letter from R. Hepplewhite to Ms Jean Corston, dated 4 November 1993:
  As Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking for information where there has been a dispute over paternity.
  At the end of September 1993, the Agency had identified just over 900 cases where paternity was an issue. Although the Agency does not collect figures on the number of absent parents interviewed, 161 of these cases have been resolved and 17 have been referred for court action. In around 700 cases, the matter is still under consideration.
  I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.

  Ms Corston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many parents with care have been exempted from the requirement to co-operate with the Child Support Agency on the grounds of risk of harm or undue distress; and in how many cases a parent with care has given evidence to the Child Support Agency about a risk of harm or undue distress in each quarter of the Child Support Agency's operation;

  (2) how many of the maintenance application forms returned to the Child Support Agency by persons with care provided a current address for the absent parent; in the remaining cases, where a full name was provided, what were the average times taken to trace the absent parent; and how many cases have been abandoned to date;

  (3) how many reduced benefits directions have been issued for each quarter of the Child Support Agency's operation.

  Mr. Burt
  The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member shortly and a copy will be placed in the Library.

  Letter from R. Hepplewhite to Ms Jean Corston, dated 4 November 1993:
  As Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about revelant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about absent parents and the requirement to co-operate with the Agency in arranging maintenance, and also about tracing absent parents and reduced benefit directions where a parent with care has refused to co-operate.
  At 30 September 1993, the number of cases where the requirement to co-operate had been an issue was 6,600. In 4,900 of these, the Agency accepted that the parent with care had good cause not to co-operate in pursuing a maintenance claim. Of those cases in which "good cause" was not accepted, 22 have been referred to the Benefits Agency for the prescribed benefit reduction.
  You ask about Maintenance Application Forms (MAFs) and tracing absent parents. At 30 September, 326,700 MAFs had been returned and the Agency had already contacted over 166,000 of the absent parents involved.
  Where the MAF shows that an absent parent's whereabouts are not known, the Agency checks Departmental records to establish their current address. If this is not available the case is referred for specialist tracing action. The Agency has completed such specialist action in 7,700 of these cases, and has successfully traced the absent parent in 7,000 cases, 92 per cent. In September

  585
  alone, over 2,500 absent parents were located by the Agency's specialist tracing sections. The average time taken in each case is not recorded.
  I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.

  Corporate Clothing
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman) of 5 May,Official Report, columns 159–60, what corporate clothing is provided for Benefit Agency staff; and how much it has cost nationally in the last year.

  Mr. Burt
  The provision of corporate clothing to staff of the Benefits Agency is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

  Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Martyn Jones, dated 4 November 1993:
  As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions raised about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security, asking what corporate clothing is provided for Benefits Agency staff; and how much it has cost nationally in the last year.
  The national cost of corporate clothing, for the financial year 1992–93, was in the region of £1.7 million.
  The corporate clothing range currently includes jackets, shirts, blouses, cardigans, trousers, ties, maternity dresses, belts, wet weather costs and polo shirts.
  As I explained in my reply to the Hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, corporate clothing, as part of the customer service initiative, is provided for staff who have face to face dealings with customers.
  I should also stress again that funding for this clothing comes from office running costs, and not out of the budgets allocated to benefits.
  I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.

  Benefits, Lewisham
  Ms Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on how many occasions social security fraud was detected in the London borough of Lewisham in each of the past five years; how many claimants were proceeded against; and, of these, how many were convicted by the courts.

  Mr. Hague
  The administration of Fraud detection is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.

  Letter from M. Bichard to Ms Joan Ruddock dated 4 November 1993:
  As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions raised about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security, asking on how many occasions social security fraud was detected in the London Borough of Lewisham in each of the past five years; how many claimant were proceeded against; and of these, how many were convicted by the courts.
  You should note that although I have provided statistics for the Fraud Sector based at Lewisham, that office's boundaries do not correspond with county or borough boundaries and the figures
  586
  provided include some customers living in the London Borough of Greenwich and to a lesser extent the London Borough of Southwark.
  The Sector Fraud organisation has only been in existence since January 1991 and therefore the first full year for which figures are available is the year ending 31 March 1992. In that year there were a total of 3,563 social security investigations into fraud and 40 prosecutions by the Fraud Sector at Lewisham. For the year ending March 1993 there were a total of 4,351 investigations into fraud and 38 prosecutions. For this year to date there have been 1,766 investigations and 13 prosecutions.
  Information on the number of convictions from those prosecutions is not available, but I can tell you that the rate of conviction by the Courts dealing with Social Security fraud prosecutions is in excess of 97 per cent. of those cases in which proceedings are taken.
  I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.

  Medical Assessments
  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what fee is paid by the Benefits Agency to medical practitioners as a sessional fee for providing information relating to benefits which require medical assessment; if he will give details of the fee paid to each practitioner; which fund the payments are from; if he will list the amount paid as the sessional fee for each of the last five years; if he will give details of the arrangements of the scheme and how the figure is calculated; what discussions his Department has had with the British Medical Association; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hague
  The administration of the Benefits Agency is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

  Letter from M. Bichard to Mrs Ray Michie, dated 4 November 1993:
  As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions raised about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security, asking what fee is paid by the Benefits Agency to medical practitioners as a sessional fee for providing information relating to benefits which require medical assessment; if he will give details of the fee paid to each practitioner; which fund the payments are from; if he will list the amount paid as the sessional fee for each of the last five years; if he will give details of the arrangements of the scheme and how the figure is calculated; what discussions his Department has had with the British Medical Association.
  Medical practitioners are employed on a sessional basis to provide examinations and assessments for claims of benefit under the Industrial Injuries (II) scheme and for claims for Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA). They also examine customers claiming Invalidity Benefit (IVB). The sessional fees are provided from the Administrative and Miscellaneous Services vote and are currently payable as follows:

  Medical Boards (examining and assessing claims for II and SDA).

  £

  Chairman

  88·40

  Members

  77·10

  Single doctor acting as a board

  88·40

  Examining medical practitioner (EMP) (examining for IVB).

  88·40

  The seesional fees for each of the last five years are given in the attached annex.
  The arrangements of the scheme are such that the number of examinations undertaken in a session will depend on the nature and/or complexity of the cases and the number of customers who attend.

  587
  For some time now, Treasury have been responsible for negotiating indicative fees for doctors undertaking work for Government Departments with the British Medical Association (BMA). Treasury consent to increases in fees, provided that any additioal costs can be contained within the Departments' cash and running cost limits. They are therefore indicative and not binding upon individual Government Departments and their Agencies. In previous years, the Treasury maximum for these fees was in the region of public sector pay increases. However, the maximum negotiated this year was well above public sector pay increases and therefore the Benefits Agency could not contain the increases within their cash and running cost limits and were, therefore, unable to implement the new rates.
  Representatives from the Benefits Agency Medical Services have met with the BMA's Private Practice and Professional Fees Committee to explain the Benefits Agency's position on the payment of fees.
  I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.

  £

  From 1 April 1988

  Chairman and EMP

  64·50

  Members

  56·40

  Single doctor acting as a board

  64·50

  From 1 April 1989

  Chairman and EMP

  69·80

  Members

  61·00

  Single doctor acting as a board

  69·80

  From 1 April 1990

  Chairman and EMP

  74·60

  Members

  65·20

  Single doctor acting as a board

  74·60

  From 1 January 1991

  Chairman and EMP

  76·90

  Members

  66·70

  Single doctor acting as a board

  76·90

  From 1 April 1991

  Chairman and EMP

  81·90

  Members

  71·60

  Single doctor acting as a board

  81·90

  From 1 April 1992

  Chairman and EMP

  88·40

  Members

  77·10

  Single doctor acting as a board

  88·40

  Child Support Agency
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many existing income support claimants remain to be taken on by the Child Support Agency before April 1996; and what are the targets for taking on income support cases for each year to 1995–96;

  (2) if he will publish a table showing the average length of time from the Child Support Agency issuing a maintenance application form to the issue of the notification of an assessment, broken down into the average length of time taken (a) from the issue of the maintenance application form to the return of the form, (b) from the receipt of the completed maintenance application form to the issue of a maintenance inquiry form by the Child Support Agency, (c) from the issue of a maintenance inquiry form to the return of the form and (d) from the receipt of a completed maintenance inquiry form to the issue of the notification of an assessment;

  (3) how many income support claimants were issued with maintenance application forms in each month since
  588
  April; how many of these were new claimants; and how many of the existing claimants were already receiving maintenance before Child Support Agency involvement.

  Mr. Burt
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Mr. Wicks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many times inspectors have been used by the Child Support Agency as permitted under section 15 of the Child Support Act 1991; for what purposes they have been used; and in what areas;

  (2) (i) in how many child support maintenance assessments payments are being made via the Child Support Agency, (ii) in how many cases there has been a request from a Child Support Agency client for the Child Support Agency to collect the payments from the absent parent, (iii) how many of these requests came from persons with care on income support, persons with care on family credit or disability working allowance, persons with care not on a relevant benefit and absent parents and (iv) whether any of these requests were refused;

  (3) (i) how many arrears notices have been issued by the Child Support Agency, (ii) how many arrears agreements have been entered into and (iii) in how many Child Support Agency assessments there are arrears outstanding for more than 28 days; what percentage these figures are of the number of assessments made; and what is the estimated total amount of child support maintenance in arrears;

  (4) how many deductions from earnings orders have been issued by the Child Support Agency; and what percentage this is of the Child Support Agency caseload;

  (5) how many of the total section 4 applicants have opted to use the Child Support Agency collection service.

  Mr. Burt
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Mr. Gunnell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) in how many cases the Child Support Agency has sought confidential informaion regarding the personal finances of an absent partner from that person's bank;

  (2) on how many occasions the Child Support Agency has used the services of Robert Hemphill Interaction Services Ltd. for investigations.

  Mr. Burt
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many child support accounts involving a person with care claiming family credit have been in arrears at any point; and what amount of maintenance is currently outstanding on such accounts.

  Mr. Burt
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many of the reduced benefits directions were issued as a result of non-co-operation with the Child Support Agency in which no statement was provided by the parent with care about any risk of harm or undue distress; and in how many of these cases no reason was given for the refusal to authorise or provide information.

  Mr. Burt
  I will write to the hon. Member.

  Ms Corston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many office interviews have been carried out by Child Support Agency local officers; how many of these office interviews have been with persons with care and
  589
  how many with absent parents; how many home or other visits have been carried out by local office staff; and how many of the visits are to persons with care and how many to absent parents.

  Mr. Burt
  I understand from Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive of the Child Support Agency, that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Channon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will introduce a system of phasing in extra maintenance costs imposed by the Child Support Agency;

  (2) at what date assessments by the Child Support Agency become payable; and if he will ensure that some period of grace is allowed to enable those affected to make adequate arrangements to adjust to the new situation.

  Mr. Burt
  In cases where no court order is in force the effective date of maintenance assessments made by the Child Support Agency is the date the maintenance enquiry form is given or sent to the absent parent. Where a court order is in force the effective date of the child support assessment is two days after the assessment is made.

  Arrangements can be made, if necessary, to allow for payment in instalments of arrears that accrue between the date a maintenance inquiry form is issued and the date the absent parent is informed of the amount of his child support maintenance liability.

  There are existing provisions for phasing in child support maintenance assessments. These provisions apply where: an absent parent is responsible for maintaining a child or children living with him; there is an existing written maintenance arrangement or court order prior to April 1993; the formula award is less than £60; and the formula award would increase his liability by more than £20. Where these criteria are met, the increase in maintenance payments will be limited to £20 for the first 12 months.

  Mr. Channon
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what account is being taken by the Child Support Agency of clean break arrangements between husbands and wives where a proportion of the equity in the family home is handed over by one partner to another; and how this is taken into consideration by the agency in calculating the amount of maintenance payable.

  Mr. Burt
  I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Doncaster, North (Mr. Hughes) on 28 October 1993 at columns 752–53.

  Mr. David Nicholson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the success of the Child Support Agency in tracing absent fathers who have not made a divorce or separation settlement.

  Mr. Burt
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Bristol, East (Ms Corston) by the chief executive of the Child Support Agency, Ros Hepplewhite, on 4 November 1993.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many persons with care previously on income support are no longer regularly claiming the benefit as a result of a child support maintenance assessment; and how many of these persons with care have had to renew the claim for income support as a result of non-payment of the assessed amount.
  590
  Mr. Burt
  I understand from Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive of the Child Support Agency, that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Marlow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out the nature of the formula whereby Mrs. Hepplewhite's salary relates to the sums generated by the activities of the Child Support Agency.

  Mr. Burt
  The Child Support Agency chief executive's entitlement to a performance bonus is largely determined by the achievement of the published performance targets for the new agency taken as a package. The key targets for 1993–94 were set out in my response to the hon. Member for Doncaster, North (Mr. Hughes) on 28 October 1993 at column 753. They include the arrangement of maintenance for people with the care of children, keeping to the agency's agreed budget and the level of client satisfaction, as well as the achievement of the specified level of benefit savings.

  National Insurance
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the effect on Treasury revenue in 1994–95, and in a full year, of(a) abolishing the 2 per cent. national insurance contribution, (b) raising the lower earnings limit for the level of the personal tax allowance, (c) both (a) and (b) combined, (d) raising the national insurance ceiling to £27,145 and (e) abolishing the ceiling for national insurance contributions.

  Mr. Hague
  The information is in the table.

  Cost(-)/yield(+) 1994–95 (£ billion)

  In year

  Full year

  (a)

  -0.95

  -1.05

  (b)

  -0.55

  -0.75

  (c)

  -1 65

  -1.95

  (d)

  +0.75

  +0.7

  (e)

  +3.15

  +3.5

  1 The reduction in the full year yield at (d) results from the lag in payment of rebates in respect of personal pensions.

  2 The reply at (e) assumes that an upper earnings limit would remain for the purpose of calculating contracted-out rebates.

  Maintenance
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing how many(a) maintenance application forms and (b) maintenance inquiry forms have been (i) issued and (ii) returned; and how many maintenance assessments have been made, for each month from April to September.

  Mr. Burt
  I refer the hon. Member to my reply given to the hon. Member for Torridge and West Devon (Miss Nicholson) on 1 November 1993 at column 80.

  Means-tested Benefits
  Mr. Dewar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing the numbers and percentages of(a) families, (b) single people without children and (c) all claimants receiving one or more means-tested benefit in 1979 and 1992, giving figures separately for claimants and dependants.
  591
  Mr. Scott
  The information cannot be provided in the precise form requested. Separate figures for dependants are not included as they are not available for all the income-related benefits. Comparable information on the numbers receiving help through income-related rent and rates rebate schemes in 1979 is not available.

  Numbers receiving one or more income-related benefit

  Thousands

  Group

  19791

  Percentage of total population2

  19923

  Percentage of total population2

  Families

  550

  8

  2,080

  30

  Single without children

  1,977

  —

  5,179

  39

  All claimants

  2,928

  —

  8,565

  30

  1In 1979 the only income-related social security benefits were supplementary benefit and family income supplement. Supplementary benefit included additions in respect of rent and rates.

  2 The number of families receiving benefits is shown as a percentage of the total number of child benefit recipients in each year. For 1992 the number of single people without children receiving benefits is shown w a percentage of the total number of single people without children in the population. The number of all benefit claiments is shown as a percentage of the total number of adult couples and single people in the population. Population estimates for single people without children and all families are not available for 1979.

  3 Benefits included are income support, family credit, housing benefit and community charge benefit.

  Housing Benefit
  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received from the National Federation of Housing Associations and the Institute of Housing regarding housing benefit; what reply he will be sending; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Burt
  The National Federation of Housing Associations and the Institute of Housing have requested a meeting to discuss housing benefit, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has already replied suggesting that I meet them on his behalf.

  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects the results of the review of the provision of housing benefit to be published.

  Mr. Burt
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made clear his objectives for the review of social security expenditure. When proposals are brought forward in due course they will be subject to extensive debate in Parliament and elsewhere.

  Ms Coffey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total amount paid in housing benefit to housing association tenants in(a) 1990–91, (b) 1991–92 and (c) at the latest available date.

  Mr. Burt
  The information is not available.

  Mr. Straw
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing for each housing authority in England the amount of housing benefit paid and the number of recipients, for each financial year from 1982 to date, in respect of(a) rent rebates for local authority tenants, (b) rent allowances for private and housing association tenants and (c) occupants of hostels, with totals for England.

  Mr. Burt
  I shall write to the hon. Member.

  Emphysema
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measures he will take to ensure that his Department does not refuse industrial disease benefits to miners and former miners suffering from emphysema and similar complaints without a medical examination.
  592
  Direct comparisons between the figures shown for 1979 and 1992 will be misleading because of dissimilarities in the structure and eligibility rules of the benefits concerned and differences in the availability of information about the numbers in receipt.

  The available information is in the table.

  Mr. Scott
  Claimants for industrial injuries disablement benefit in respect of a prescribed disease are not normally required to have a medical examination until any other qualifying conditions are satisfied. In the case of the recently prescribed chronic bronchitis and emphysema in coal miners, the criteria to be first satisfied are that the claimant has worked an aggregate of at least 20 years underground in a coal mine, has at least category 1 pneumoconiosis as shown on a chest X-ray, and has a loss of lung function of at least 1 litre below the expected level.

  Foreign Claimants
  Mr. Dicks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how much has been spent from public funds to date on individuals living in Britain who were resident in the former Yugoslavia; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) how much has been spent from public funds to date on individuals living in Britain who have come from Somalia since 1990; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Scott
  This information is not available.

  Welfare Rights
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to ensure guidance and support is given to the work of agencies concerned with welfare rights.

  Mr. Scott
  This Department, and its agencies, liaises closely with customer representative groups, including those concerned with welfare rights, to foster good relations and ensure their information needs are met. We also regularly consult these groups so that their views can influence future service planning.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  British Council
  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will outline the means by which the membership of the board of the British Council is determined.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The council's royal charter of incorporation provides for up to 30 board members, to be
  593
  elected by the board except for up to five to be co-opted by the board and two to be nominated by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of British Council expenditure is allocated towards promoting(a) British and (b) Welsh culture abroad.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  There is no fixed proportion allocated to individual regions but every care is taken to ensure that the British Council's programme of expenditure in all fields properly reflects Britain's various distinct cultural identities. A substantial proportion of the overseas students placed in the United Kingdom by the council attend the university of Wales. There will be a "Study in Wales" stand at the Dubai education and training exhibition in January, and shortly forthcoming council publications include "Higher Education: Study and Research in Wales". The recent Welsh arts week in Stuttgart and Welsh art delegation to Baden-Wurttemberg were both highly successful; and a Welsh arts festival in Catalonia is under discussion for 1995.

  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will outline the measures taken in organisational and budgetary terms to ensure that any promotional expenditure by the British Council abroad takes into account the distinct cultural identities of Scotland and Wales.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The British Council has Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland committees, made up of leading academic and cultural personalities from those regions, that meet regularly to consider the quantity and quality of regional content in the council's programmes. For the same reason, the composition of the council's subject advisory committees—on the arts and different academic disciplines—also reflects proper regional representation, as does the council's main board. The council maintains full regional offices in Cardiff, Belfast and Scotland.

  Peru
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the state of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom Government and Peru; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  We enjoy good relations with Peru.

  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on human rights in Peru.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  We welcome the recent reduction in human rights violations in Peru. The Peruvian authorities are well aware of the concern felt in this country about the need to reduce abuses still further and to bring to justice those responsible.

  Immigration (DNA Tests)
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many persons have undergone DNA tests in connection with immigration at the most recent date and how many have proven positive on(a) Merseyside, (b) Liverpool and (c) England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.
  594
  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The total number of children tested under the Government DNA scheme at the end of 1992 was 2,955. Eighty per cent. of those tested were shown to be related as claimed to both parents. Data about the geographical location of sponsors in the United Kingdom are not held centrally.

  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many persons were awaiting DNA tests in connection with immigration matters in(a) Liverpool, (b) on Merseyside and (c) in England and Wales at the most recent date.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  China
  Mr. Frank Cook
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of China to dissuade them from conducting an underground nuclear test.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  None.

  Lot Airlines
  Mr. Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact on United Kingdom-Polish relations of the suspension of the permit for Lot Airlines to land at Heathrow.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  I am naturally concerned at the suspension of air services between Britain and Poland. This is in neither country's interests. It is essentially a matter for resolution between the two airlines. We are making every effort however to help secure a settlement to this commercial dispute under the terms of the existing air services agreement.

  Nuclear Non-proliferation
  Mr. Frank Cook
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Germany concerning the extension of the non-proliferation treaty in 1995; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We have discussed this subject with the German Government both bilaterally and in multilateral fora. In a statement given to the United Nations general assembly on 1 November, member states of the European Union affirmed their support for the unconditional and indefinite extension of the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons in 1995.

  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had wih his European Community counterparts concerning the extension of the non-proliferation treaty in 1995.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We regularly have discussions with our partners on this subject both bilaterally and in multilateral fora. In a statement given to the United Nations general assembly on 1 November, member states of the European Union affirmed their support for the unconditional and indefinite extension of the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

  UNESCO
  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the factors other than finance preventing United Kingdom membership of UNESCO.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  As I made clear in my evidence on UNESCO to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 7 July, we recognise and welcome the progress which the organisation has taken towards reform since we left in 1985. But UNESCO still lacks a coherent policy on decentralisation and needs to present a focused approach drawing together the strands of its broad mandate. But we have to take into account the financial constraints we face and the other demands on our resources when reviewing any decision if and when to rejoin UNESCO.

  Trans-Caucasus Region
  Mr. Don Foster
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what diplomatic efforts Her Majesty's Government are making through the UN and the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe to mediate between the warring factions in the trans-Caucasus region.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Both bilaterally, and at the UN and with our EC and Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe partners we have consistently deplored the fighting in the Trans-Caucasus. We have supported UN Security Council resolutions calling for ceasefires and the resolution of the conflicts in Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh through peaceful negotiations. We have also supported the deployment of UN monitors in Abkhazia.

  The CSCE has taken the lead in the search for a settlement in South Ossetia and, through the Minsk group, has put forward a plan for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. We are now actively considering joining the Minsk group.

  Yugoslavia
  Mr. Fisher
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reasons underlay his decision to refuse permission to Ms Vanessa Redgrave, Mr. Jeremy Irons and Mr. Daniel Day-Lewis to travel on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees airlift to Sarajevo on 22 October.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The decision not to permit the party of eight, including Ms Redgrave, Mr. Jeremy Irons and Mr. Daniel Day-Lewis, to travel on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' airlift was made by UNHCR air operations cell, Geneva in line with its policy guidelines drawn up in conjunction with UNPROFOR.

  GATT
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Minister for Overseas Development will arrange a meeting with the Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Environmental Alliance to discuss the proposed multilateral trade organisation and GATT.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  The negotiations on the GATT Uruguay round, including the question of the proposed 596
  multilateral trade organisation, are primarily a matter for the Department of Trade and Industry. I understand that officials have regular contact with representatives of the Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Environmental Alliance.

  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements have been made to provide all hon. Members with a copy of the general agreement on tariffs and trade and a briefing on progress made in the Uruguay round of the GATT negotiations.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  Copies of the general agreement on tariffs and trade are available in the Library of the House. Hon. Members have received frequent briefings on progress made in the Uruguay round negotiations: for example, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has referred to the Uruguay round in reports to the House on the outcome of the Tokyo summit in July and of the recent Brussels European summit. And my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has reported similarly to the House on discussions in the Foreign Affairs Council. It is open to hon. Members to request further information from appropriate Ministers at any time.

  European Parliament Committees
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the policy of Her Majesty's Government to monitor, read and respond to reports of the committees of the European Parliament where they(a) deal with United Kingdom matters or (b) are referred to the member state Governments of the European Community.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  We follow the proceedings of committees of the European Parliament and take note of resolutions which the Parliament adopts after considering committees' reports, particularly where these concern United Kingdom matters or where they relate to the legislative process.

  Overseas Domestic Workers
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. pursuant to his answer of 6 May,Official Report, column 181, if he will now make it his practice to keep records of the number of leaflets concerning domestic servants travelling to the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  No. It would not be practicable to keep records of the number of such leaflets issued.

  Association of South-East Asian Nations
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who represented Hong Kong at the special Association of South-East Asian Nations—ASEAN—meeting in Tokyo on 25 to 27 October on export control and regional security; what was the outcome of the meeting; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Goodlad
  Four officers from the trade department and the Customs and Excise department of the Hong Kong Government attended the Asian security export control
  597
  seminar held in Tokyo on 25 to 27 October. Apart from Japan, which hosted the seminar, Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Phillipines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the United States were represented at the seminar. The seminar provided a useful forum for exchanging views on export control regimes. There was no discussion of specific regional security issues at this meeting.

  EC Committee of the Regions
  Ms Quin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what were the criteria for determining(a) the political and (b) the geographical balance of membership on the EC Committee of the Regions; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Heatcoat-Amory
  In selecting nominees, we took account of the provision in the EC (Amendment) Act 1993 that all nominees should be elected members of local authorities; the relative strengths of the political parties in local government and the desirability of ensuring a broad spread of political opinion from each part of the United Kingdom; the views of the local authority associations and of the political parties; the need for an equitable distribution of seats between the four parts of the United Kingdom; the personal qualities that members and alternative members will need.

  Nuclear Testing
  Mr. Frank Cook
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the Government have to declare a moratorium on the United Kingdom's nuclear testing programme.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  We have no such plans, but we have made it clear that we will carry out no nuclear tests while the United States moratorium continues.

  Western Shoshone Indian Nation
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response he made to the recent request by members of the Western Shoshone Indian nation to meet him during their visit to London.

  Mr. Goodlad
  We have explained that, as our respective positions on the issues of concern to them are well known, we saw little to be gained by a meeting.

  Rhinoceros Horns
  Mr. Etherington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what immediate steps are being taken by the Governor of Hong Kong to ensure that Hong Kong enforces its own compliance with the CITES regulations to ban trade in(a) rhinoceros horn and (b) rhinoceros horn products and to dispose of stocks of rhinoceros horn.

  Mr. Goodlad
  Hong Kong has strict legislation governing the implementation of CITES and is fully committed to rigorous enforcement of its provisions.

  Acting on information from the Environmental Investigation Agency—EIA—and other sources, the Agriculture and Fisheries Department of the Hong Kong Government raided five medicine shops on 21 October and
  598
  another 24 on 22 October. Suspected rhino hide was seized from two shops, together with a number of packets of medicine claiming to contain rhino ingredients. This series of raids will continue until all the pharmacies identified by the EIA as having rhino products available have been searched.

  Bosnia
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for visas to study in the United Kingdom have been made by people who originate from Bosnia this year, to date; and how many such applications(a) have been granted, (b) have been refused and (c) are awaiting decisions.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  There is no British Mission in Bosnia. Statistics on visa applications made at other posts are not centrally recorded according to nationality and purpose of visit and could not be provided except at disproportionate cost.

  Russia (Seals)
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide figures for the number of seals killed in Russia for(a) 1992 and (b) 1993; and if they were adults or pups.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The Russian authorities have informed us that 18,183 harp seal pups were caught in the White sea in 1992, and 19,925 in 1993. A total of 467 harp seal pups and 500 hooded seal pups were caught in the Greenland sea in 1992 for research purposes. No hunting was conducted in the Greenland sea in 1993. We await information from the Russian authorities about the number of adult seals taken, and I will write to the hon. Member when this has been received.

  Turkey
  Mr. Austin-Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures he will take to encourage Turkey's adherence to the Copenhagen declaration of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe on minority rights.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  On behalf of the European Community and its member states, the United Kingdom raised the issue of Turkey's compliance with its CSCE commitments at the human dimension implementation meeting in Warsaw from 27 September to 15 October. We will be prepared to take similar action in the future.

  Mr. Austin-Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will instruct the British ambassador in Ankara to send an official to the Kurdish region to obtain first hand information on the alleged bombardment and depopulation of villages by Turkish armed forces.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  Officials from the British embassy make regular visits to the region as conditions permit. The ambassador was there himself in April. The embassy receives information from a range of contacts in human rights organisations in the region.

  Mr. Soley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make representations to Turkey concerning the recent massacre in the Kurdish town of Lice.
  599
  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  The details of the incident in Lice at the end of October are still unclear. The Turkish authorities are aware of the importance we attach to the rule of law and respect for human rights.

  We are increasingly concerned by escalating violence in south-east Turkey and by allegations of human rights abuses there by both sides in the conflict.

  Mr. Austin-Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request the United Nations Secretary' General to appoint a special rapporteur to investigate the alleged abuse of human rights, violent depopulation of villages and killings of civilians by Turkish armed forces.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  If proposals were made by the appropriate United Nations human rights bodies, we would study them carefully on their merit.

  Slovakia
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Her Majesty's Government intend to appoint an ambassador to Slovakia.

  Mr. Hogg
  I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Mr. Wareing) on 19 July 1993,Official Report, columns 21–22.

  St. Helena
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he intends to visit St. Helena; and if he will make a statement concerning the changes envisaged in the procedures adopted for St. Helenians visiting and working in the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no plans to visit St. Helena. Officials from the FCO, Home Office' and Department of Employment are discussing the work permit question with a view to establishing how best the Government can meet the employment aspirations of the St. Helenians wishing to come to the United Kingdom following the decision to phase out by 1995 the dependent territories work permit quota scheme to which St. Helenians had access.

  The Government are looking in particular at how St. Helenians might benefit from the training and work experience scheme administered by the Department of Employment.

  Kashmir
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to urge the Indian Government to lift the siege of the mosque at Hazratbal, Kashmir.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs discussed the situation at the Hazratbal mosque with Dr. Manmohan Singh, head of the Indian delegation to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Cyprus on 21 October. We welcome the restraint so far displayed by the Indian Government in their efforts to resolve the situation.

  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Indian Government concerning the outstanding United Nations resolutions on Kashmir.
  600
  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  I have regularly discussed the situation in Kashmir with the Indian Government. Neither India nor Pakistan fully implemented the resolutions of 1948 and 1949, which Britain supported and they have to some extent been overtaken by events. We believe the Kashmir dispute can ultimately be solved only by peaceful agreement between India and Pakistan as provided for under the 1972 Simla agreement. We have urged both countries to resume their bilateral dialogue.

  Uganda
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the total financial help given by Her Majesty's Government to Uganda in each of the last three years.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Gross public expenditure on aid to Uganda was as follows:

  Year

  £ million

  1990–91

  32·2

  1991–92

  27·0

  1992–93

  134·5

  1 Provisional.

  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what discussions he has held with the Ugandan Government about the implications of section 40 of the Uganda Police Bill for the fairness of the forthcoming parliamentary elections;

  (2) what discussions Her Majesty's Government have had on the Ugandan constitutional assembly statute 1993 to ensure the rights and interests of all political parties who may wish to contest the forthcoming parliamentary elections; and if he will make a statement;

  (3) what discussion he has had with the Ugandan Government to ensure that there will be a free and fair allocation of media availability to all political parties contesting the forthcoming parliamentary elections;

  (4) which Ugandan political parties were allowed to take part in discussions on the proposed new constitution.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  We and our European partners have had extensive discussions on forthcoming elections to the constituent assembly, which will decide the constitutional future of Uganda.

  President Museveni has given assurances that members of all political parties will be allowed to stand in their own right for the election to the Assembly. He has suspended politicisation courses in the run-up to the election, reminded directors of the national resistance movement and district administrators that they must not make pronouncements against political parties, emphasised the independence of the Electoral Commission and directed that free access to radio and television be made available to spokesmen of political parties as well as advocates of the no—partymovement—system. All parties have had the opportunity to present evidence to the constitutional commission on the proposed constitution.

  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action the British Government propose to take to ensure that there are observer groups from the United Kingdom observing the forthcoming Ugandan parliamentary elections.
  601
  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  While President Museveni has said he would have no objection to international observers being present at the forthcoming elections to the constituent assembly, there are currently no plans to send observers from the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money has been allocated to Uganda for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  We have agreed to meet the cost of ballot papers and training for some electoral officials. Costs will not be known until contracts have been signed. In addition, we have paid for one representative of each of the main political parties to visit London in order to see how Parliament functions, at a cost of approximately £10,000.

  Population Control, China
  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when officials at the British Embassy in Peking last visited the Chinese Family Planning Association to observe and inspect their work.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Members of the British embassy in Peking have regular contact with Chinese officials working in family planning. Their main point of contact is the State Family Planning Commission, which is the organisation responsible for policy making.

  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library copies of the material provided to his Department by the International Planned Parenthood Foundation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities concerning their budgets and programmes in China.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The IPPF and UNFPA are happy for all published materials, including budget and programme information, on their work overseas to be placed in the Library. Officials from the Overseas Development Administration will arrange for this to be done.

  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when officials at the British embassy in Peking last inspected the effects of Chinese population control policies at district and factory level.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The British embassy monitors China's family planning programme through a range of contracts within and outside China. These enable us to assess the effects of policies at the local level.

  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action his Department's representatives on the IPPF annual donors meeting took with regard to the Chinese mass sterilisation campaign.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The IPPF annual donors meeting takes place in mid-November. Officials from the Overseas Development Administration will attend and discuss the role of national family planning associations in a number of countries£including China£with IPPF officials and other donors.

  Mr. Alton Liverpool, Mossley Hill)
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 602
  when officials at the British embassy in Peking last visited the Chinese State Family Planning Commission to observe and inspect its work.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Members of the British embassy in Peking last visited the Chinese Government's State Family Planning Commission on 29 October. On 14 October, they had informal discussions with an official responsible for family planning work.

  Family Planning
  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, by what dates he expects to decide the level of United Kingdom contributions to the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities for 1994–95.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The planned level of United Kingdom contributions to the IPPF and UNFPA for 1994–95 will be set early next year.

  Campaign Free Tibet
  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to meet the representatives of Campaign Free Tibet to discuss the contents of their publication "Children of Despair", a copy of which has been sent to him.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no present plans to meet representatives of Campaign Free Tibet. The Government received copies of the report "Children of Despair" in August 1992 and its contents have been taken into account in the formulation of our policies in respect of Tibet and human rights.

  Yugoslavia
  Mr. Don Foster
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response he has made to statements from the World Health Organisation office in Belgrade complaining of a severe shortage of medical supplies; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Sanctions applied to Serbia and Montenegro under UN Security Council resolutions 757 and 820 specifically exclude foods and medicines subject to notification procedures in the United Nations sanctions committee. We have worked hard in this committee to ensure that genuine humanitarian shipments are expedited.

  Mr. Don Foster
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what diplomatic efforts Her Majesty's Government is making to persuade other members of the Security Council to increase their funding of UN appeals in former Yugoslavia and the trans-Caucus region.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  We keep in regular touch with major donors, including those which are Security Council members, on the progress of UN appeals and constantly encourage UN bodies to look for new donors.

  Humanitarian Aid
  Mr. Don Foster
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what plans he has to increase Her Majesty's Government's contribution to UN appeals in(a) former Yugoslavia, (b) Armenia, (c) Azerbaijan and (d) Georgia;
  603
  (2) what contribution Her Majesty's Government is making to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' winter relief programme in former Yugoslavia.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  We continuously monitor the humanitarian requirements of these and other areas of great need. We have no immediate plans to contribute further to the UN appeals listed, but we have thus far provided humanitarian aid for Armenia totalling £270,000; for Azerbaijan £1,270,000 and for Georgia £700,000.

  For the former Yugoslavia where we are the second biggest contributor to UNHCR' s programme, our financial commitments now total £152.5 million. This includes our share of a new EC pledge of 89 million ecu—£68 million —announced last week.

  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what discussion he has had with the Ugandan Government as to the preparation of the electoral registers for the forthcoming general election in Uganda; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) what discussion he will have with the Ugandan Government as to the allocation and supervision of polling stations to be used in the forthcoming Ugandan parliamentary elections.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Along with other donors, we have regular discussions with the Ugandan authorities on the preparations being made for the forthcoming constituent assembly elections. Electoral experts from the United Nations Development Programme have been providing the Ugandans with advice on the preparations for the elections.

  Angola
  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy towards the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 834 relating to Angola.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  United Nations Security Council resolution 834 was superseded by resolutions 851 and 864. We strongly support all these resolutions. UNSC'R 864 provides for an embargo on the supply of arms and fuel to UNITA which took effect on 25 September. We have implemented the embargo.

  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a further statement on United Kingdom policy towards Angola.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave the hon. Member for Coventry, North-East (Mr. Ainsworth) on 3 November at column 331.

  Mr. Hunter
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a further statement on his policy towards UNITA in the light of UNITA's unilaterally declared ceasefire.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  We welcome UNITA's unilateral ceasefire offer which I understand has now been matched by the Government of Angola. We are encouraged by UNITA's stated readiness in principle to withdraw from the territory which it has occupied since October 1992, following the recent talks under United Nations auspices in Lusaka. UNITA must now match its words with deeds. We urge it to comply fully with the relevant Security Council resolutions. We hope it will not be necessary to implement the extra measures envisaged in United Nations Security Council resolution 864.

  Israel (Arab Trade Boycott)
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department(a) has done and (b) intends to do in ensuring the Arab states maintain their commitment to abandon the Arab trade boycott of Israel.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  Under the United Kingdom presidency, the EC initiated a demarche to Arab states urging them to lift the boycott. We continue to urge then to do so.

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

  Bilateral Aid Projects
  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the bilateral aid projects commenced in the last 12 months.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  It is provisionally estimated that in 1992–93 the bilateral programmes of assistance to developing countries and central eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union that could be allocated by region totalled £1,012.7 million. Of this, £386.2 million was spent in Africa, £311.2 million in Asia and £48.6 million in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Of £584.6 million of bilateral assistance allocable by sector, £105–6 million was spent on education and £48.9 million on health.

  The development assistance committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has acknowledged our aid programme for its effectiveness and for being directed to those countries most in need. Over 80 per cent. of our bilateral aid to developing countries, allocable by income category, goes to the poorest countries£those whose 1991 GNP per capita was less than $765. We press the multilateral institutions of which we are member to undertake a continuing search for more effective ways of doing business.

  I shall write to my hon. Friend with further information.

  Education Projects
  Mr. Geoffrey Robinson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the breakdown of spending on education projects within the ODA in the year 1991–92; how much of the total was allocated to basic education for children and literacy for adults; and how much was allocated for a secondary and tertiary education, buildings and other services to education beyond the basic level.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  Total ODA spending on education projects in developing countries during 1991–92 amounted to just under £115 million. This figure, which includes all project aid and technical co-operation as well as Commonwealth Development Corporation project aid in this sector, is broken down as follows:

  Project aid expenditure on education sector 1991–92

  Sector

  (£000)

  Adult Education

  1,462

  Primary Education

  5,432

  Secondary Education

  8,656

  Higher Education

  34,362

  605

  Sector

  (£000)

  Technical and Vocational Education

  1,473

  Nursery Schools

  601

  Research/Scientific Institutions

  722

  Other Education

  62,037

  Natural Sciences

  14

  Total

  114,759

  Bosnia
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when all necessary and ordered winter supplies will be delivered to Bosnia, with particular reference to temporary shelter ordered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; what 606
  supplies await delivery to Bosnia; and what arrangements are being made to expedite the arrival of ordered winter supplies.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The UNHCR issued on 2 November a progress report on the winterization programme in the former Yugoslavia, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

  We are working closely with the UNHCR and other United Nations agencies. We have so far committed £152.5 million including our share of EC aid. We are financing shelter, road convoys, the restoration of coal and electricity supplies, medical help and food. We are supporting the United Nation's strong representations to the warring factions to stop obstructing these vital humanitarian supplies. We are a major contributor to the airlift to Sarajevo.

  GOVERNMENT OFFICE ESTATE
  GOVERNMENT OFFICE ESTATE
  PIT CLOSURES: PROTECTION OF WATER SUPPLIES
  PIT CLOSURES: PROTECTION OF WATER SUPPLIES
  PLANNING GAIN
  PLANNING GAIN
  URBAN REGENERATION AGENCY
  URBAN REGENERATION AGENCY
  COUNTRYSIDE SURVEY 1990
  COUNTRYSIDE SURVEY 1990
  LOCAL AUTHORITY LEGAL SERVICES: CCT THRESHOLD
  LOCAL AUTHORITY LEGAL SERVICES: CCT THRESHOLD
  SALMON NETTING STATIONS
  SALMON NETTING STATIONS