Written Answers of 14 January 1994

Education

  Pupil Costs
  Mr. Purchase
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the average cost of each place at maintained secondary schools since 1988–89 in each English local education authority.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  Spending per pupil by each English LEA in secondary schools in 1988–89 to 1991–92, the latest year for which figures are available, was as shown in the table.

  Net institutional expenditure per secondary pupil 1988–89 to 1991–92

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1990–91

  1991–92

  £

  £

  £

  £

  ILEA

  2,505

  2,725

  —

  —

  Camden

  —

  —

  2,290

  2,430

  Greenwich

  —

  —

  2,385

  2,295

  Hackney

  —

  —

  2,705

  2,800

  Hammersmith

  —

  —

  2,665

  2,740

  Islington

  —

  —

  2,440

  2,940

  Kensington

  —

  —

  2,905

  3,200

  Lambeth

  —

  —

  2,585

  2,980

  Lewisham

  —

  —

  2,430

  2,375

  Southwark

  —

  —

  2,350

  2,460

  Tower Hamlets

  —

  —

  2,490

  2,945

  Wandsworth

  —

  —

  2,520

  3,275

  Westminster

  —

  —

  2,580

  2,445

  Barking

  1,970

  2,200

  2,305

  2,255

  Barnet

  1,820

  1,925

  2,110

  2,325

  Bexley

  1,685

  1,820

  1,965

  2,060

  Brent

  2,305

  2,225

  2,360

  2,490

  Bromley

  1,770

  1,955

  2,220

  2,440

  Croydon

  2,040

  1,935

  2,080

  2,375

  Ealing

  2,145

  2,345

  2,575

  2,835

  En field

  1,715

  1,815

  2,080

  2,320

  Haringey

  n/a

  2,850

  2,590

  2,650

  Harrow

  1,740

  1,975

  2,325

  2,375

  Havering

  1,860

  1,990

  2,135

  2,255

  Hillingdon

  1,870

  2,010

  2,340

  2,625

  Hounslow

  1,895

  1,995

  2,075

  2,160

  Kingston-upon-Thames

  1,900

  2,120

  2,240

  2,475

  Merton

  1,660

  1,925

  1,990

  2,620

  Newham

  2,140

  2,310

  2,410

  2,470

  Redbridge

  1,735

  1,855

  2,120

  2,310

  Richmond-upon-Thames

  1,640

  1,790

  1,985

  2,115

  Sutton

  1,630

  1,750

  2,075

  2,160

  Waltham Forest

  2,435

  2,490

  2,650

  2,620

  Birmingham

  1,640

  1,800

  2,050

  2,150

  Coventry

  1,940

  2,180

  2,340

  2,115

  Dudley

  1,840

  1,915

  2,095

  2,125

  Sandwell

  1,885

  2,115

  2,295

  2,275

  Solihull

  1,650

  1,835

  2,085

  2,125

  Walsall

  1,885

  1,995

  2,255

  2,110

  Wolverhampton

  1,745

  1,975

  2,120

  2,355

  Knowsley

  1,990

  2,105

  2,225

  2,295

  Liverpool

  1,905

  2,060

  2,250

  2,355

  St. Helens

  1,710

  1,970

  1,960

  2,105

  Sefton

  1,600

  1,715

  2,030

  2,015

  Wirral

  1,755

  1,975

  2,110

  2,115

  Bolton

  1,635

  1,795

  1,990

  2,130

  Bury

  1,730

  1,860

  1,810

  1,900

  Manchester

  n/a

  2,190

  2,145

  2,285

  Oldham

  1,590

  1,765

  1,940

  2,260

  278

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1990–91

  1991–92

  £

  £

  £

  £

  Rochdale

  1,700

  2,050

  2,135

  2,135

  Salford

  1,860

  2,140

  2,185

  2,190

  Stockport

  1,730

  1,860

  2,030

  2,135

  Tameside

  1,660

  1,770

  1,945

  2,100

  Trafford

  1,710

  1,920

  2,075

  2,105

  Wigan

  1,845

  2,000

  2,095

  2,290

  Barnsley

  1,645

  1,795

  1,820

  2,045

  Doncaster

  1,655

  1,805

  1,860

  1,995

  Rotherham

  1,635

  1,810

  1,960

  2,150

  Sheffield

  1,810

  1,920

  2,155

  2,180

  Bradford

  1,605

  1,635

  1,775

  1,795

  Calderdale

  1,665

  1,665

  2,095

  2,010

  Kirklees

  1,620

  1,765

  1,920

  2,055

  Leeds

  1,545

  1,715

  1,920

  1,980

  Wakefield

  N/A

  1,800

  1,940

  2,115

  Gateshead

  1,770

  1,865

  2,080

  2,115

  Newcastle Upon Tyne

  1,870

  1,980

  1,990

  2,065

  North Tyneside

  1,780

  1,885

  1,940

  2,075

  South Tyneside

  1,825

  2,010

  2,135

  2,040

  Sunderland

  1,665

  1,845

  1,935

  2,045

  Isles of Scilly

  N/A

  3,805

  4,385

  4,160

  Avon

  1,630

  1,800

  1,945

  2,050

  Bedfordshire

  1,635

  1,815

  1,875

  2,035

  Berkshire

  1,570

  1,735

  1,950

  2,155

  Buckinghamshire

  1,715

  1,850

  2,050

  2,095

  Cambridgeshire

  1,480

  1,640

  1,880

  2,025

  Cheshire

  1,545

  1,715

  1,955

  2,105

  Cleveland

  1,770

  1,915

  2,085

  2,110

  Cornwall

  1,525

  1,690

  1,885

  1,955

  Cumbria

  1,685

  1,845

  2,030

  2,175

  Derbyshire

  1,755

  1,975

  2,110

  2,200

  Devon

  1,535

  1,705

  1,950

  2,005

  Dorset

  1,485

  1,635

  1,805

  1,920

  Durham

  1,575

  1,735

  1,900

  2,020

  East Sussex

  1,565

  1,765

  1,985

  2,020

  Essex

  1,635

  1,800

  1,955

  2,275

  Gloucestershire

  1,545

  1,735

  1,910

  1,755

  Hampshire

  1,580

  1,790

  1,965

  2,130

  Hereford and Worcester

  1,440

  1,635

  1,840

  1,960

  Hertfordshire

  1,745

  1,900

  2,065

  2,235

  Humberside

  1,690

  1,760

  1,910

  2,065

  Isle of Wight

  1,495

  1,575

  1,755

  1,935

  Kent

  1,475

  1,565

  1,805

  2,075

  Lancashire

  1,620

  1,810

  1,950

  2,225

  Leicestershire

  1,770

  1,900

  2,095

  2,255

  Lincolnshire

  1,475

  1,630

  1,905

  2,080

  Norfolk

  1,585

  1,810

  1,990

  2,115

  North Yorkshire

  1,595

  1,760

  2,025

  2,150

  Northamptonshire

  1,545

  1,685

  1,795

  1,970

  Northumberland

  1,630

  1,645

  1,805

  1,965

  Nottinghamshire

  1,745

  1,955

  2,220

  2,490

  Oxfordshire

  1,665

  1,810

  2,155

  2,110

  Shropshire

  1,695

  1,855

  2,105

  2,350

  Somerset

  1,570

  1,745

  1,855

  1,950

  Staffordshire

  1,610

  1,790

  1,925

  2,045

  Suffolk

  1,485

  1,820

  2,025

  1,700

  Surrey

  1,635

  1,675

  2,105

  2,200

  Warwickshire

  1,635

  1,770

  1,895

  2,090

  West Sussex

  1,530

  1,745

  1,910

  2,085

  Wiltshire

  1,555

  1,700

  1,890

  1,945

  Notes to the table

  1. Figures are in outturn prices and are derived from local education authorities' returns of their net institutional expenditure to the Department of the Environment and of their pupil numbers to the Department for Education.

  2. Net institutional expenditure covers the direct costs in schools of salaries and wages, premises and certain supplies and services. It does not include the costs of school meals, home to school transport, LEA central administration and financing costs of capital expenditure. Figures for 1990–91 and 1991–92 include unspent balances held by schools at the year end under local management of schools schemes.

  3. "N/A" indicates that a return has not been received from the LEA. Corporation of London LEA has no secondary schools. Figures are rounded to the nearest £5.

  Teachers' Pay
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers in state-maintained schools receive a gross salary of £30,000 per year.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  On the basis of departmental projections of teacher numbers and data from the recent pay survey conducted by the School Teachers Review Body we estimate that in England and Wales approximately 9,700 full-time teachers in the maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special sectors, including 5,900 heads and 3,100 deputies, were being paid salaries of £30,000 per annum or more on 1 September 1993.

  Pupil Transfers
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that pupils who transfer from grant-maintained schools to local authority-maintained schools take a proportion of funds with them.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The predominantly pupil-led funding arrangements for both grant-maintained and local authority maintained schools allow movements of pupils between the two sectors, in either direction, to be reflected in school budgets on an annual basis.

  Nursery Education
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assumption he makes within the standard spending assessment for appropriate expenditure on education for each local education authority for their expenditure on optional nursery education; and to what extent this varies between authorities.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The local government finance settlement takes account of the broad range of pressures on local authorities, including the projected number of pupils aged under five in maintained schools, as published in the Department's annual report. The component of standard spending assessments which is notionally attributed to under-fives is allocated according to the population aged under five in each local authority area. This is adjusted by the additional educational need allowance which reflects the additional costs of providing a standard level of service in areas of relative deprivation, and by the area cost adjustment which reflects higher labour costs in the south-east.

  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimates he has made of the additional costs for training those qualified nursery teachers to the standards now in force for each additional 100 nursery school pupils receiving half-time nursery education.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  On the basis of current recommended staffing ratios and assuming that two half-time classes could be accommodated within a normal school week and with the same staff, 100 half-time nursery school pupils would require 2.5 full-time equivalent teachers. The average cost of initial training of a qualified early years teacher is approximately £6,350 per year, inclusive of student maintenance payments. The majority of early years teachers are at present trained on four-year BEd courses. These figures take no account of any requirement for nursery assistants in addition to teachers.
  280
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what formal statements he expects to make concerning the policies of Her Majesty's Government for nursery education which have been indicated informally; and when, and by what means, he plans to make them;

  (2) what consultations he has had, or expects to make, prior to further announcements or distribution of circulars or advice concerning his plans for expanding nursery education.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  As my right hon. Friend indicated in his speech to the North of England conference on 7 January, the Government's policy is to promote choice, diversity, quality and cost-effectiveness in the provision of pre-school education, and to extend the amount of such education available. Over half of three and four-year-olds already attend maintained nursery and primary schools, and more than 90 per cent. receive some form of pre-school provision. We are exploring ways of adding still further, as resources allow, to the choice already available to parents from all sources—public, private and voluntary. When we have any proposals to make, we will announce them in the usual way. There will then be an opportunity for those concerned to express their views.

  Teacher Training
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what have been the costs incurred in training teachers in relation to assessing those areas which have now been dropped as a result of the Dearing review.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  It is impossible to isolate and cost the elements of initial and in-service teacher training relating solely to those aspects of assessment that will change following the Dearing review. Such training generally has wider objectives that will remain relevant regardless of the changes that will be made.

  Parents Charter
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the total cost of production and distribution of the leaflet to be issued about the parents charter; how much of this cost is attributable to distribution; and how many of the leaflets will go to homes with children of school age.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The cost of distributing the revised parents charter to every household in England is estimated at £500,000. The total cost of producing and distributing the charter is expected to be some £2 million. Raising standards in schools, and supporting what has already been achieved, are matters of national importance. The charter will therefore be relevant to all citizens, and not simply to the estimated 6.75 million households with children under the school leaving age.

  Grant-maintained Schools
  Mrs. Ann Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many copies of his Department's grant-maintained schools folder, containing the fifth edition of "How to become a grant-maintained school", "Questions parents ask", "Questions staff ask", "Experiences during the first year", and a copy of circular 18/93, have been distributed; and what was the cost of (i)
  281
  the folders, (ii) each of the booklets, (iii) the circulars, (iv) the padded bags in which they were sent and (v) the distribution itself.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  Some 22,500 copies of the Department's grant-maintained schools folder were distributed to chairmen of governors of maintained schools in England to ensure that they had publications reflecting the relevant provisions in the Education Act 1993 which came into effect from 1 January. Further copies are being distributed in response to requests. The unit costs for printing and design were as follows:

  Pence

  (i) folders

  31

  (ii) booklets:

  How to Become a Grant-Maintained School

  63

  Questions Parents Ask

  8

  Questions Staff Ask

  22

  Experiences during the First year

  9

  (iii) circular 18/93

  23

  For the initial distribution to all schools, the cost of packaging was £8,178, and the cost of postage was £20,106.

  Mrs. Ann Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of new grant-maintained schools received an allocation for expenditure on named capital projects in the financial years (i) 1993–94 and (ii) 1994–95.

  Interval between approval of grant-maintained status and incorporation date 0–4 working days

  School

  LEA

  Approval

  Incorporation

  Bishop Challoner RC School

  Birmingham

  28 September 1993

  1 October 1993

  Convent of Jesus and Mary GM HS

  Brent

  24 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Queens Park Community School (GM)

  Brent

  24 March 1993

  1 April 1994

  Hayes Road Primary School

  Devon

  23 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  St. George's RC School

  Hampshire

  24 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Harlington Community School

  Hillingdon

  22 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  St. Peter and St. Paul RC HS

  Lincolnshire

  26 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Interval between approval of grant-maintained status and incorporation date 5–9 working days

  School

  LEA

  Approval

  Incorporation

  Ashmole School

  Barnet

  20 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Bishop Douglass RC Comprehensive

  Barnet

  20 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  St. Joseph's RC Primary School

  Berkshire

  16 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  St. Columba's RC Boys School

  Bexley

  18 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Oakington Manor Primary School

  Brent

  19 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Cardinal Hinsley High School

  Brent

  23 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  The Radcliffe School

  Buckinghamshire

  18 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Holy Trinity CE Senior School (GM)

  Calderdale

  23 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Soham Village College

  Cambridgeshire

  18 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  La Sainte Union Convent School

  Camden

  19 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Appleby County Primary School

  Cumbria

  21 September 1993

  1 October 1993

  Repton Primary School

  Derbyshire

  24 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Redhill County Primary School

  Derbyshire

  21 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  St. Mary's High School

  Derbyshire

  21 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Dunmow County Infant School

  Essex

  21 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Dunmow CE VC Junior School

  Essex

  22 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  The Coopers' Co. & Coborn (GM)

  Havering

  23 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Mount Grace School (GM)

  Hertfordshire

  24 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Chancellor's School

  Hertfordshire

  22 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  St. Joan of Arc RC School

  Hertfordshire

  22 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Grange Park Junior School

  Hillingdon

  19 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Grange Park Infant School

  Hillingdon

  19 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Abbotsfield School

  Hillingdon

  19 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Swakeleys School

  Hillingdon

  19 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  St. Andrew's CE Primary School

  Hillingdon

  17 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  282
  Mr. Robin Squire
  Ninety-five per cent. of schools which entered the grant-maintained sector in 1992–93 and bid for capital grant on named projects received an allocation for the financial year 1993–94.

  Seventy per cent. of schools which joined the sector between April and September last year and bid for funding have so far received allocations for 1994–95. The allocations are either to carry out a named project or for extra design work to place them in a priority position for support in 1995–96. In addition, grant-maintained schools which have entered the sector since September 1993 have been invited to submit their named project bids for 1994–95 by 28 January.

  Mrs. Ann Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education in how many cases the interval between his approval of grant-maintained status for a school and its incorporation date has been less than(a) five working days, (b) 10 working days, (c) 15 working days and (d) 20 working days; and, in category, whether he will list the schools and give the relevant dates.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The interval between the approval of grant-maintained status for a school and its incorporation date has been less than five working days in seven cases, less than 10 working days in 47 cases, less than 15 working days in 75 cases and less than 20 working days in 128 cases. The schools and relevant dates are listed by category in the table.
  283

  School

  LEA

  Approval

  Incorporation

  Howden CE Infant School

  Humberside

  16 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Cranbrook School

  Kent

  17 December 1991

  1 January 1992

  Hayesbrook High School

  Kent

  16 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Northfleet School for Boys

  Kent

  21 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Tower Road County Primary School

  Lincolnshire

  21 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Great Yarmouth High School

  Norfolk

  18 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Sir Christopher Hatton School (GM)

  Northamptonshire

  16 December 1992

  1 January 1993

  Wrenn School (GM)

  Northamptonshire

  16 December 1992

  1 January 1993

  Cannock Chase High School (GM)

  Staffordshire

  18 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Park Hall County Infant School

  Walsall

  17 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Park Hall County Junior School

  Walsall

  17 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  The Commonweal School

  Wiltshire

  22 October 1993

  1 November 1993

  Studley Green Primary School

  Wiltshire

  20 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  South Wilts Girls' Grammar School

  Wiltshire

  20 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Calday Grange Grammar, West Kirby

  Wirral

  22 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Interval between approval of grant-maintained status and incorporation date 10–14 working days

  School

  LEA

  Approval

  Incorporation

  Osidge Primary School

  Barnet

  11 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  St. James' Catholic High School

  Barnet

  11 November 1993

  1 December 1993

  Reading School

  Berkshire

  13 March 1991

  1 April 1991

  Priory School

  Berkshire

  14 September 1992

  1 October 1992

  George Tomlinson School

  Bolton

  16 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Kingsbury High School

  Brent

  16 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Longsands Community College

  Cambridgeshire

  11 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Bowness-on-Solway Primary School

  Cumbria

  15 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  St. John Fisher RC Primary School

  Essex

  9 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  St. Giles CE Primary School

  Hertfordshire

  16 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Charville Primary School

  Hillingdon

  12 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  St. Laurence CB Junior School

  Hillingdon

  13 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Gunnersbury Catholic Boys' School

  Hounslow

  11 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Senacre Technology School

  Kent

  11 December 1991

  1 January 1992

  Holy Trinity CB Primary School

  Kent

  12 August 1992

  1 September 1992

  Holy Cross Convent School

  Kingston-on-Thames

  11 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Archbishop Temple School

  Lancashire

  15 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Abbey Grange CE High School (GM)

  Leeds

  16 September 1993

  1 October 1993

  The Giles School

  Lincolnshire

  9 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Lancaster County Infant School

  Lincolnshire

  9 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Our Lady of Fatima RC High School

  Liverpool

  10 September 1993

  1 October 1993

  St. James CE Primary School

  Rochdale

  17 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Yattendon Middle School

  Surrey

  10 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Stanley Park Infants' School

  Sutton

  14 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Stanley Park Junior School

  Sutton

  14 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  John Bentley School

  Wiltshire

  13 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Kingsdown School

  Wiltshire

  16 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  St. Joseph's RC Comprehensive

  Wiltshire

  13 October 1993

  1 November 1993

  Interval between approval of grant-maintained status and incorporation date 15–19 working days

  School

  LEA

  Approval

  Incorporation

  St. Michael's Catholic GS

  Barnet

  4 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Finchley Catholic High School

  Barnet

  6 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Holy Family RC School

  Berkshire

  8 December 1992

  1 January 1993

  Whitelocke Infant and Nursery School

  Berkshire

  10 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  St. Mary and St. Joseph's School (GM)

  Bexley

  9 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Wibsey Middle School

  Bradford

  5 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  St. Gregory's RC High School

  Brent

  9 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  St. John Rigby School

  Bromley

  2 December 1992

  1 January 1993

  Stanground College (GM)

  Cambridgeshire

  9 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Jews Free School

  Camden

  6 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  The Merrill Community School

  Derbyshire

  8 December 1992

  1 January 1993

  St. Walburga's RC Primary School

  Dorset

  10 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Enfield Grammar School

  Enfield

  2 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  The Colne School

  Essex

  3 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Broomfield County Primary School

  Essex

  3 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Hadleigh Nursery and Infants School

  Essex

  6 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  The Stanway School

  Essex

  7 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  St. Gregory the Great Catholic School

  Gloucestershire

  7 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Blue Coat CE Primary School (GM)

  Gloucestershire

  4 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  St. Peter's RC Primary School

  Hampshire

  3 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Dame Alice Owen's School

  Hertfordshire

  5 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  284

  285

  School

  LEA

  Approval

  Incorporation

  Bushey Meads School (GM)

  Hertfordshire

  8 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Queen's School

  Hertfordshire

  10 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Bushey Hall School

  Hertfordshire

  10 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  St. Michael's RC School

  Hertfordshire

  9 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Gumley House Convent School

  Hounslow

  8 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Mascalls School

  Kent

  4 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Newington Junior School

  Kent

  9 August 1993

  1 Septebmer 1993

  Richard Challoner School

  Kingston-on-Thames

  10 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Archbishop Tenison's School

  Lambeth

  9 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  St. Andrew's RC Primary School

  Lambeth

  6 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  St. Mary's High School

  Lancashire

  3 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Lady Elizabeth Hastings CE Primary School

  Leeds

  3 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Uppingham Community College

  Leicestershire

  8 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  William Robertson School

  Lincolnshire

  3 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  St. Wulfram's CE High School (GM)

  Lincolnshire

  3 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  St. Hugh's CE VC Comprehensive

  Lincolnshire

  8 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Marshland High School

  Norfolk

  9 March 1992

  1 April 1992

  St. George's CE VC Middle School

  Norfolk

  6 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Woodnewton Way Junior School

  Northamptonshire

  10 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Woodnewton Way Infant School

  Northamptonshire

  3 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  Astley High School

  Northumberland

  3 September 1993

  1 October 1993

  Shenington CE Primary School

  Oxfordshire

  10 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Handsworth St. Joseph's RC School

  Sheffield

  3 December 1993

  1 January 1994

  The Manor County First School

  Surrey

  9 March 1992

  1 April 1992

  Hawkedale First School

  Surrey

  9 March 1992

  1 April 1992

  De Stafford School

  Surrey

  10 March 1992

  1 April 1992

  Heathside Secondary School

  Surrey

  10 March 1992

  1 April 1992

  Wallington High School for Boys

  Sutton

  4 March 1993

  1 April 1993

  Chingford School

  Waltham Forest

  3 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Burntwood School

  Wandsworth

  3 December 1991

  1 January 1992

  St. John's School

  Wiltshire

  3 August 1993

  1 September 1993

  Brandon Forest School

  Wiltshire

  8 October 1993

  1 November 1993

  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will identify all the specific purpose grants School given to each grant-maintained school in South Yorkshire for each financial year since 1991–92; and if he will give the purpose of each grant.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The following self-governing schools in South Yorkshire have received special purpose grants, SPGs:

  Amount paid (£)for each financial year

  School

  1992–93

  1993–94

  Clifford C E First School, Sheffield

  SPG (Transitional)1

  21,834

  —

  SPG (Development)2

  2,915

  4,985

  SPG (Restructuring)3

  11,136

  —

  SPG (VAT)4

  1,044

  4,141

  SPG (Premises)5

  —

  920

  All Saints RC School, Sheffield

  SPG (Transitional)1

  —

  59,640

  SPG (Development)2

  —

  24,2490

  SPG (VAT)4

  —

  30,402

  Notre Dame School, Sheffield

  SPG (Transitional)1

  —

  51,610

  SPG (Development)2

  —

  22,436

  SPG (Restructuring)3

  —

  8,652

  SPG (VAT)4

  —

  26,262

  St. John Fisher RC (VA) Primary, Sheffield

  SPG (Transitional)1

  —

  24,338

  SPG (Development)2

  —

  4,863

  SPG (VAT)4

  —

  4,298

  Handsworth St. Josephs RC Primary, Sheffield

  SPG (Transitional)1

  —

  17,599

  SPG (Development)2

  —

  1,678

  SPG (VAT)4

  —

  1,711

  286

  Amount paid (£)for each financial year

  School

  1992–93

  1993–94

  St. Annes RC Primary, Sheffield

  SPG (Transitional)1

  —

  38,250

  SPG (Development)2

  —

  1,497

  SPG (VAT)4

  —

  1,703

  Note: The purpose of each of the SPGs is as follows:

  1 Special Purpose Grant (Transitional)

  Available to help with the costs incurred as a result of the school's acquisition of self-governing status.

  2 Special Purpose Grant (Development)

  Available to fund management training, staff development and implementation of the national curriculum.

  3 Special Purpose Grant (Restructuring)

  Available to help with essential staff restructuring which involves costs arising from premature retirement, redundancy or voluntary severance of teaching staff.

  4 Special Purpose Grant (VAT)

  Compensates for the payment of VAT on supplies and services, which self-governing schools may not claim back.

  5 Special Purpose Grant (Premises)

  Assists self-governing schools with the additional cost of school premises insurance.

  National Curriculum
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the cost of the printing, publishing and distribution of Sir Ron Dearing's interim report; and what are the estimated costs in respect of the final report.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The printing and distribution costs of the interim report were £200,000. Comparable costs for the final report are estimated at £460,000.

  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education for each key stage and curriculum area, what are the pilot
  287
  and development costs; and if he will identify those items of expenditure incurred in respect of those aspects now withdrawn as a result of the Dearing review.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  Most of these costs were incurred by the National Curriculum Council and the School Examinations and Assessment Council and date from the passing of the Education Reform Act 1988. Both councils have now been dissolved and it is not possible to identify the items of expenditure requested from their published accounts. Further work to identify the expenditure would incur disproportionate cost.

  Mrs. Ann Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the cost, since the enactment of the Education Reform Act 1988, of the development and implementation of the national curriculum and of the associated assessment of children.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  Expenditure by the Department on the development and implementation of the national curriculum and the associated assessment of children for the years 1988–89 to 1992–93 inclusive was £469 million. This mainly comprises grant in aid to the National Curriculum Council, the School Examinations and Assessment Council and the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, and funding under the grants for education support and training programme.

  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what have been the costs of external assessors in evaluating the various stages of the national curriculum and its assessment.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  There has been a variety of external evaluations of the national curriculum and its assessment, carried out under the auspices of the National Curriculum Council, the School Examinations and Assessment Council, and its successor, the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority. The Office for Standards in Education has also evaluated various aspects of the national curriculum. Information on the expenditure incurred is not held centrally by the Department and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Schools Councils
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what were the total operating costs of(a) the National Curriculum Council and (b) the School Examinations and Assessment Council from their inception until their winding up.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The total operating costs of the National Curriculum Council and the School Examinations and Assessment Council, as recorded in their published accounts, from their inception on 15 August 1988 to 31 March 1993 were £36.3 million and £69.6 million respectively. Their final accounts for 1993–94 are not yet available.

  Dearing Inquiry
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what are the operating and staffing costs to date of the Dearing inquiry.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The operating and staffing costs of the Dearing review of the national curriculum are 288
  estimated at £95,000, excluding the cost of printing and distributing the interim and final reports, which is estimated at £660,000.

  Grant-maintained Status
  Mrs. Ann Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education on which dates copies of circular 18/93 were dispatched to (i) chairs of governors of schools and (ii) chief education officers.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  Distribution of circular 18/93 to schools and to local education authorities and others was handled by two separate contractors. I understand that the former distribution was completed by 31 December 1993 and the latter by 12 January 1994.

  Fitzherbert School, Brighton
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the value placed on the former Fitzherbert school site in Brighton, prior to the City Technology Colleges Trust selling it to the Nuffield Nursing Homes Trust; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Robin Squire
  This site was owned by the CTC Trust which was responsible for its valuation and disposal. The site was sold in November 1993 for a price which is commercially confidential.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Electricity Supply
  Mr. McGrady
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps will be taken to introduce competition into the provision of electricity supply in Northern Ireland.

  Mr. Tim Smith
  The Director General of Electricity Supply for Northern Ireland has responsibility for the development of competition in the supply of electricity. He reported on his plans for this on 16 December and a copy of his report can be obtained from the Office of Electricity Regulation, Northern Ireland.

  Community Employment Schemes
  Rev. Martin Smyth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what was the total number of claims for injury compensation on Action for Community Employment schemes in each year since 1988;

  (2) what were the yearly global sums paid by way of compensation to those injured on Action for Community Employment schemes since 1988;

  (3) how many injury claims were (a) contested in court and (b) settled out of court arising from Action for Community Employment schemes in each year since 1988.

  Mr. Tim Smith
  Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. J. S. Crozier. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from J. S. Crozier to Rev. Martin Smyth, dated 13 January 1994:

  The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me as Chief Executive of the Agency to reply to your questions about

  289
  claims for injury compensation arising within Action for Community Employment (ACE) Schemes in each year from 1988.

  In responding to this enquiry I have to point out that ACE sponsors are independent employers subject to all the normal legal obligations of an employer including adherence to Health & Safety legislation. Sponsors are also required to arrange appropriate employer's and employee's public liability insurance for their projects.

  Any injury compensation claims arising within projects do not therefore involve the Agency and are the subject of settlement between the employer, their insurers and the claimant. Consequently the Agency does not hold information about the incidence of claims, the nature of settlement, or the value of compensation awarded.

  I am sorry that I cannot be more helpful on this occasion.

  Union Flag
  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps have been taken to provide a Union flag for the premises of the Department of Agriculture at 2 Newry road, Armagh; what arrangements have been made to fly the Union flag at these Government premises on the designated dates; why it was not flown on 1 January; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Ancram
  A Union flag is available at the premises of the Department of Agriculture at 2 Newry road, Armagh, for use on designated dates.

  The Union flag is normally flown at the premises on designated dates, although I regret that it was not flown on Saturday 1 January 1994 as no staff were available on that day to carry out the task.

  In future, when the designated date falls on a weekend or a public holiday the Union flag will be raised on the afternoon of the last working day prior to the designated date and lowered on the morning of the next working day.

  Negative Equity
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the number of households with negative equity for the third quarter of 1993; and what this figure represents as a proportion of total owner-occupied households.

  Mr. Tim Smith
  I am unaware of any households in Northern Ireland with negative equity resulting from fluctuations in the housing market.

PRIME MINISTER

  Data Protection
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Prime Minister whether he will make arrangements for the Data Protection Registrar to inspect relevant contracts with suppliers of IT services that involve the use of personal data held by his Department in order to check whether all appropriate arrangements in relation to the Data Protection Act 1984 have been made, and whether such contracts make provisions for the registrar to make random inspections in order to check the suppliers' compliance in with the eighth data protection principle.

  The Prime Minister
  My office has not placed any contracts with suppliers of IT services that involve the use of personal data held by my office.
  290

  Civil List
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Prime Minister what is the annual financial value of the inflation-proofing built into the civil list; and by what amounts that has exceeded the sum required for annual indexation based on the actual cost of living in each year since the new civil list was introduced.

  The Prime Minister
  There is no inflation-proofing built into the civil list. While the £7.9 million axed annual payment took account of the average rate of inflation for the years 1979–1989, if actual inflation falls below this level the household is not in a position to spend the surplus but is expected to carry it forward to the end of the 10-year period. This was made quite clear in paragraph 12 of the 1990 report of the Royal Trustees—HC 629—which reads:"If cost inflation is lower in overall terms than the rate assumed in paragraph 11, the Royal Trustees would expect the Royal Household to carry forward a surplus at the end of the decade, for use in the next period."

  Civil list expenditure to date under the new arrangements has fallen well below the actual rate of inflation.

  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Prime Minister what account is taken of the inflation-proofing element in the annual refund of civil list money relating to those who have been removed from the civil list.

  The Prime Minister
  As set out in the report of the Royal Trustees—paragraphs 21 to 23 of HC464, 11 February 1993—Her Majesty the Queen now reimburses the Consolidated Fund for the full cost of all the parliamentary annuities paid to members of the royal family except the Queen Mother and the Duke of Edinburgh. The reimbursement for 1993 has already been received. The annuities are fixed sums and the question of inflation does not arise.

  Scott Inquiry
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Prime Minister (1) whether he has provided Lord Justice Scott with all documents requested for use by the inquiry;

  (2) what documents he has submitted to Lord Justice Scott in advance of his appearance before the inquiry.

  The Prime Minister
  The only request I have received is for a written statement, which I submitted on 12 January.

  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Prime Minister what guidelines he has issued to Ministers in regard to which questions on the involvement of the United Kingdom in arms and military equipment exports to Iraq since 1985 may be substantively answered while the Scott inquiry is still sitting.

  The Prime Minister
  I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Warley, West (Mr. Spellar) on 7 June 1993,Official Report, column 14.

  Mr. Frank Machon
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Prime Minister what record he has of telephone calls made by Mr. Frank Machon of Glasgow to officials at 10 Downing street between September and the end of December 1993.

  The Prime Minister
  None.
  291

  Radio Broadcast
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a transcript of his interview with "The World this Weekend" broadcast on Radio 4 on 2 January.

  The Prime Minister
  No, it is not my policy to do so.

  The Union
  Mr. Nicholas Winterton
  To ask the Prime Minister whether he intends to make it his policy that the county of Cambridgeshire, or any other similar area in England, Scotland or Wales, will be permitted to secede from the Union should the majority of the residents of that county agree freely and concurrently with a majority of the residents of any other foreign country that they wish to do so; and if he will make a statement.

  The Prime Minister
  [holding answer 12 January 1993]: For my own part, I whole-heartedly support the continuation of the Union in its present form. The question of secession arises only in the context of nations rather than areas within the different jurisdictions. The majority of people in each of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom wish to maintain the Union.

TRANSPORT

  BR Employees
  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a table showing how many York-based British Rail employees were employed by each division of British Rail at the latest date for which figures are available and at the same date in each of the previous three years.

  Mr. Freeman
  As at 1 January 1994, the number of York-based British Rail employees by division was as follows:

  Number

  Central Services

  532

  British Rail Property Board

  45

  Trainload Freight

  69

  Inter City

  988

  British Transport Police

  10

  Regional Railways

  601

  British Rail Telecom

  71

  Group HQ

  38

  Total

  2,354

  Information for the previous three years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Hasquad Study
  Mr. Jessel
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Hasquad study.

  Mr. Norris
  I announced on 4 January my decision not to pursue further the proposals for new road and rail infrastructure put forward by the consultants in their report on the Hasquad study.

  The consultants' proposals would be very. costly, amounting to more than £800 million in total. At a time when public spending is under severe pressure, there has to
  292
  be a very strong case for taking these proposals forward. When there is an overriding need for a transport scheme, whether road or rail, difficult decisions cannot be avoided. But in this case the consultants were concerned with problems within the study area, and proposed options mainly to benefit local residents and town centres. In these circumstances, we would want to take the proposals forward only if they had been strongly supported by the community. If the proposals are unwelcome in the area, I see no reason for the Government to adopt them.

  Of the large number of comments we have received from local residents since publication of the Hasquad report, the overwhelming majority have been opposed to the proposals. These have caused anxiety about the possible effects on property in the area and I therefore decided to end the uncertainty now rather than wait until the end of the consultation period.

  The problems of travel and traffic congestion in the area identified by the consultants do, however, remain and are likely to get worse. My Department will therefore be ready to consider a package of more limited measures which the local authorities may wish to bring forward, in consultation with transport operators, with proposals for funding them.

  Marchioness Disaster
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps were taken by the Metropolitan police, his maritime accident investigation branch, or any other body or person respectively to(a) obtain statements from and (b) provide information concerning their opportunity to give voluntary evidence to the maritime accident investigation branch inquiry, to Simon Hook and Dino Pereira, surviving passengers from the last cruise of the Marchioness.

  Mr. Norris
  Statements from both Mr. Hook and Mr. Pereira were taken by the Metropolitan police and copies were given to the inquiry. By means of press advertisement, anyone who wished to contribute to the inquiry was invited to do so; neither of the two gentleman named responded.

WALES

  Negative Equity
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will estimate the number of households with negative equity for the third quarter of 1993; and what this figure represents as a proportion of total owner-occupied households.

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  Information on households with negative equity is not available for Wales as the samples in relevant surveys are too small to produce reliable estimates.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

  7 Millbank
  Mr. Bennett
  To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee on how many occasions during 1993 the electricity supply to 7 Millbank was interrupted; on how many of these occasions the House authorities were warned of the interruption; and when he expects a reliable supply to be available.
  293
  Mr. Ray Powell
  This is a matter for the Director of Works and I shall ask him to write to my hon. Friend.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Income Support
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each London borough the number of households and the proportion of all households claiming income support for each year since 1989.

  Mr. Burt
  The information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Family Credit
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each London borough the number of households and the proportion of all households claiming family credit for each year since 1989.

  Mr. Burt
  This information is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  The number of families receiving Family Credit in the DSS regions2 is:

  1989

  1990

  1991

  1992

  1993

  London North

  28,100

  35,200

  38,700

  43,400

  56,400

  London South

  24,700

  28,000

  30,100

  36,600

  48,000

  Midlands

  50,100

  57,300

  64,000

  71,500

  90,300

  Northern

  49,600

  56,100

  61,200

  68,900

  87,600

  North Western

  49,700

  53,300

  57,600

  63,400

  79,400

  Scotland

  34,200

  37,100

  41,000

  45,400

  57,100

  Wales and South Western

  42,100

  47,000

  48,700

  54,800

  68,100

  Total

  278,500

  314,000

  341,300

  384,000

  486,900

  Sources:

  1 1991 census of population.

  2 Five per cent. sample of family credit recipients as at 30 April for each year.

  The information provided is for Great Britain only. Social security statistics for Northern Ireland are the responsibility of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

  Personal Pensions
  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give a regional breakdown of the figures published in "Personal Pensions 1993" by his Department.

  People with a personal pension in the year ending 5 April 1992 by region and recknnable earnings

  Ad-hoc 10 Thousands

  Amount of reckonable earnings

  All cases

  Northern

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  East Midlands

  East Anglia

  South East

  South West

  West Midlands

  North West

  Wales

  Scotland

  Men and Women

  Total cases

  5,198.1

  274.7

  477.6

  408.1

  207.5

  1,643.6

  413.9

  525.3

  566.2

  225.4

  455.8

  Mean earnings (£pa)

  8,266

  7,677

  7,810

  8,182

  8,435

  9,220

  7,721

  7,861

  7,735

  7,323

  7,743

  Zero

  917.2

  44.3

  79.9

  64.8

  35.5

  315.8

  77.8

  89.9

  95.5

  41.1

  72.6

  1–2,703

  375.0

  21.4

  35.9

  28.8

  12.4

  100.4

  32.0

  37.0

  49.9

  19.4

  37.8

  2,704–4,999

  425.0

  27.7

  44.3

  37.5

  14.7

  103.7

  34.9

  45.1

  51.3

  20.3

  45.5

  5,000–7,499

  699.9

  47.4

  74.2

  59.0

  26.9

  155.3

  60.7

  81.9

  84.1

  38.3

  72.1

  7,500–9,999

  793.6

  41.8

  80.3

  63.4

  34.1

  205.3

  69.9

  90.5

  96.6

  37.3

  74.7

  10,000–12,499

  656.3

  34.4

  58.9

  56.9

  31.7

  202.7

  49.9

  66.8

  67.8

  28.1

  59.1

  12,500–14,999

  485.9

  23.3

  44.6

  41.5

  22.4

  169.8

  35.2

  46.4

  46.6

  18.2

  37.9

  15,000–17,499

  333.5

  16.3

  28.0

  23.9

  12.5

  132.0

  21.4

  30.4

  33.9

  10.6

  24.5

  17,500–19,999

  246.6

  12.2

  17.4

  18.0

  8.6

  110.8

  15.2

  19.8

  20.2

  6.9

  17.5

  20,000 and over

  265.1

  5.9

  14.1

  14.3

  8.7

  147.8

  16.9

  17.5

  20.3

  5.2

  14.4

  Men

  Total cases

  3,291.1

  180.1

  316.4

  267.1

  136.1

  992.6

  264.8

  336.8

  359.5

  149.6

  288.1

  294
  Mr. Dobson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for the United Kingdom and by standard region, including Greater London, the number of households and the proportion of all households claiming family credit for each year since 1989.

  Mr. Burt
  The information is not available in the form requested.

  The number of families with dependent children in 19911 in Great Britain by standard region is:

  Region

  1991

  North

  379,000

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  585,000

  East Midlands

  486,000

  East Anglia

  238,000

  South East

  2,034,000

  South West

  530,000

  West Midlands

  630,000

  North West

  787,000

  Wales

  353,000

  Scotland

  616,000

  Total

  6,638,000

  Mr. Hague
  A regional breakdown of all the tables in "Personal Pension Statistics 1991–92" could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

  However, summary regional analyses are available and are in the tables.
  295

  Amount of reckonable earnings

  All cases

  Northern

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  East Midlands

  East Anglia

  South East

  South West

  West Midlands

  North West

  Wales

  Scotland

  Mean earnings (£pa)

  9,289

  8,976

  8,851

  9,465

  9,601

  10,109

  8,766

  8,915

  8,861

  8,196

  8,854

  Zero

  583.5

  28.1

  54.4

  40.1

  21.2

  194.2

  51.2

  57.9

  60.3

  28.5

  47.6

  1–2,703

  184.7

  9.8

  17.8

  14.8

  6.4

  48.4

  15.6

  19.5

  24.8

  9.4

  18.2

  2,704–4,999

  184.3

  11.4

  19.4

  15.4

  6.5

  47.6

  13.6

  18.7

  22.9

  9.8

  19.0

  5,000–7,499

  316.3

  21.2

  34.2

  25.8

  12.4

  72.1

  28.0

  36.4

  37.2

  17.8

  31.2

  7,500–9,999

  456.0

  26.8

  50.6

  37.2

  19.4

  102.2

  40.8

  53.8

  57.0

  25.7

  42.5

  10,000–12,499

  473.5

  28.7

  46.7

  45.3

  25.7

  118.5

  37.8

  50.1

  51.0

  22.8

  46.9

  12,500–14,999

  383.8

  22.1

  38.9

  36.7

  18.6

  111.1

  30.0

  39.6

  39.1

  15.5

  32.2

  15,000–17,499

  271.9

  14.9

  25.3

  22.0

  10.7

  91.5

  18.8

  27.1

  30.7

  8.9

  22.0

  17,500–19,999

  208.8

  11.5

  15.9

  16.6

  7.5

  86.2

  14.0

  17.5

  17.6

  6.3

  15.7

  20,000 and over

  228.3

  5.6

  13.2

  13.2

  7.7

  120.8

  15.0

  16.2

  18.9

  4.9

  12.8

  Women

  Total cases

  1,907.0

  94.6

  161.2

  141.0

  71.4

  651.0

  149.1

  188.5

  206.7

  75.8

  167.7

  Mean earnings (£pa)

  6,499

  5,205

  5,767

  5,751

  6,212

  7,863

  5,865

  5,977

  5,779

  5,598

  5,835

  Zero

  333.7

  16.2

  25.5

  24.7

  14.3

  121.6

  26.6

  32.0

  35.2

  12.6

  25.0

  1–2,703

  190.3

  11.6

  18.1

  14.0

  6.0

  52.0

  16.4

  17.5

  25.1

  10.0

  19.6

  2,704–4,999

  240.7

  16.3

  24.9

  22.1

  8.2

  56.1

  21.3

  26.4

  28.4

  10.5

  26.5

  5,000–7,499

  383.6

  26.2

  40.0

  33.2

  14.5

  83.2

  32.7

  45.5

  46.9

  20.5

  40.9

  7,500–9,999

  337.6

  15.0

  29.7

  26.2

  14.7

  103.1

  29.1

  36.7

  39.6

  11.6

  31.9

  10,000–12,499

  182.8

  5.7

  12.2

  11.6

  6.0

  84.2

  12.1

  16.7

  16.8

  5.3

  12.2

  12300–14,999

  102.1

  1.2

  5.7

  4.8

  3.8

  58.7

  5.2

  6.8

  7.5

  2.7

  5.7

  15,000–17,499

  61.6

  1.4

  2.7

  1.9

  1.8

  40.5

  2.6

  3.3

  3.2

  1.7

  2.5

  17,500.19,999

  37.8

  0.7

  1.5

  1.4

  1.1

  24.6

  1.2

  2.3

  2.6

  0.6

  1.8

  20,000 and over

  36.8

  0.3

  0.9

  1.1

  1.0

  27.0

  1.9

  1.3

  1.4

  0.3

  1.6

  People with a personal pension in the ending 5 April 1992 by region and amount of contracted out-rebate

  Ad-hoc 11

  Thousands

  Amount of contracted-out rebate

  All cases

  Northern

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  East Midlands

  East Anglia

  South East

  South West

  West Midlands

  North West

  Wales

  Scotland

  Men and Women

  Total cases

  5,198.1

  274.7

  477.6

  408.1

  207.5

  1,643.6

  413.9

  525.3

  566.2

  225.4

  445.8

  Mean amount (£pa)

  353

  318

  326

  346

  361

  409

  326

  329

  322

  299

  324

  Zero

  1,279.2

  65.4

  113.9

  92.7

  47.0

  415.5

  107.8

  126.6

  143.5

  58.9

  107.9

  0.01–99.99

  318.9

  20.8

  34.3

  27.5

  11.6

  78.4

  25.2

  33.1

  38.9

  15.9

  33.2

  100.00–199.99

  425.9

  28.6

  44.3

  35.8

  15.3

  97.8

  34.9

  45.9

  53.5

  21.1

  48.7

  200.00–299.99

  532.1

  33.9

  55.8

  45.5

  22.0

  119.0

  48.0

  64.6

  62.6

  30.6

  50.1

  300.00–399.99

  544.6

  28.8

  55.3

  42.3

  22.9

  143.8

  49.4

  60.8

  64.1

  25.5

  51.7

  400.00–499.99

  487.4

  25.3

  45.1

  40.9

  22.0

  142.3

  39.7

  50.3

  55.4

  20.4

  46.0

  500.00–599.99

  410.3

  20.8

  37.5

  36.3

  20.0

  130.6

  29.8

  44.5

  40.5

  16.9

  33.4

  600.00–699.99

  328.5

  15.8

  28.8

  28.8

  15.7

  115.6

  23.1

  29.9

  31.3

  13.2

  26.3

  700.00–799.99

  250.8

  11.9

  21.4

  18.4

  10.8

  97.1

  17.4

  22.8

  25.5

  8.0

  17.5

  800.00–899.99

  195.0

  9.8

  16.3

  14.2

  5.7

  82.2

  11.6

  17.9

  18.3

  5.4

  13.6

  900.00–999.99

  159.6

  7.7

  10.9

  11.6

  6.0

  73.0

  10.0

  11.3

  12.0

  4.3

  12.8

  1,000 and over

  265.8

  5.9

  14.0

  14.1

  8.5

  148.3

  17.0

  17.6

  20.6

  5.2

  14.6

  Men Total cases

  3,291.1

  180.1

  316.4

  267.1

  136.1

  992.6

  264.8

  336.8

  359.5

  149.6

  288.1

  Mean amount (£pa)

  411

  390

  386

  417

  423

  460

  385

  389

  385

  349

  387

  Zero

  765.1

  38.1

  71.0

  53.9

  27.4

  243.6

  65.6

  77.4

  85.3

  37.8

  65.0

  0.01–99.99

  139.2

  9.0

  14.7

  12.1

  5.0

  37.4

  10.2

  14.2

  17.0

  7.3

  12.3

  100.00–199.99

  184.5

  11.8

  20.2

  14.2

  6.4

  43.7

  15.2

  19.5

  21.9

  9.2

  22.4

  200.00–299.99

  247.7

  15.7

  26.6

  21.2

  10.4

  54.4

  22.6

  30.5

  30.3

  14.7

  21.3

  300.00–399.99

  313.9

  19.3

  35.4

  24.6

  12.7

  71.5

  28.9

  36.0

  37.5

  18.8

  29.2

  400.00–499.99

  335.1

  19.9

  35.3

  30.8

  17.4

  78.6

  28.4

  34.5

  39.4

  14.9

  35.9

  500.00–599.99

  314.9

  18.5

  31.0

  30.7

  16.5

  83.8

  23.4

  36.2

  32.7

  15.1

  27.0

  600.00–699.99

  260.0

  14.8

  24.9

  25.6

  13.2

  74.4

  20.5

  26.0

  26.5

  11.5

  22.6

  700.00–799.99

  201.6

  11.2

  19.6

  17.0

  9.2

  65.3

  15.0

  19.8

  22.8

  6.4

  15.3

  800.00–899.99

  163.3

  8.7

  14.7

  13.1

  5.1

  60.8

  10.6

  16.4

  16.5

  5.0

  12.4

  900.00–999.99

  137.1

  7.5

  10.0

  10.8

  5.2

  57.9

  9.3

  10.2

  10.6

  4.0

  11.6

  1,000 and over

  228.7

  5.6

  13.0

  13.1

  7.6

  121.2

  15.1

  16.1

  19.0

  4.9

  13.1

  Women

  Total cases

  1,907.0

  94.6

  161.2

  141.0

  71.4

  651.0

  149.1

  188.5

  206.7

  75.8

  167.7

  Mean amount (£pa)

  254

  182

  210

  210

  241

  333

  220

  223

  214

  202

  214

  Zero

  514.1

  27.3

  42.9

  38.8

  19.6

  171.9

  42.2

  49.2

  58.2

  21.1

  42.9

  0.01–99.99

  179.7

  11.8

  19.6

  15.4

  6.6

  41.0

  15.0

  18.9

  21.9

  8.6

  20.9

  100.00–199.99

  241.4

  16.8

  24.1

  21.6

  8.9

  54.1

  19.7

  26.4

  31.6

  11.9

  26.3

  200.00–299.99

  284.4

  18.2

  29.2

  24.3

  11.6

  64.6

  25.4

  34.1

  32.3

  15.9

  28.8

  300.00–399.99

  230.7

  9.5

  19.9

  17.7

  10.2

  72.3

  20.5

  24.8

  26.6

  6.7

  22.5

  400.00–499.99

  152.3

  5.4

  9.8

  10.1

  4.6

  63.7

  11.3

  15.8

  16.0

  5.5

  10.1

  500.00–599.99

  95.4

  2.3

  6.5

  5.6

  3.5

  46.8

  6.4

  8.3

  7.8

  1.8

  6.4

  600.00–699.99

  68.5

  1.0

  3.9

  3.2

  2.5

  41.2

  2.6

  3.9

  4.8

  1.7

  3.7

  700.00–799.99

  49.2

  0.7

  1.8

  1.4

  1.6

  31.8

  2.4

  3.0

  2.7

  1.6

  2.2

  800.00–899.99

  31.7

  1.1

  1.6

  1.1

  0.6

  21.4

  1.0

  1.5

  1.8

  0.4

  1.2

  900.00–999.99

  22.5

  0.2

  0.9

  0.8

  0.8

  15.1

  0.7

  1.1

  1.4

  6.3

  1.2

  1,000 and over

  37.1

  0.3

  1.0

  1.0

  0.9

  27.1

  1.9

  1.5

  1.6

  0.3

  1.5

  296

  297

  People with a Personal Pension in the year ending 5 April 1992 by region and age

  Ad-hoc 12

  Thousands

  Age

  All cases

  Northern

  Yorkshire and Humberside

  East Midlands

  East Anglia

  South East

  South West

  West Midlands

  North West

  Wales

  Scotland

  Men and women

  All ages

  5,198.1

  274.7

  477.6

  408.1

  207.5

  1,643.6

  413.9

  525.3

  566.2

  225.4

  455.8

  16 to 19

  186.9

  10.1

  18.9

  15.6

  8.4

  49.3

  13.9

  20.7

  21.7

  8.2

  20.1

  20 to 24

  1,207.4

  64.3

  119.4

  91.4

  51.9

  360.5

  99.1

  127.2

  132.6

  55.8

  105.2

  25 to 29

  1,300.6

  63.6

  118.7

  103.2

  49.3

  432.1

  103.9

  126.2

  137.1

  57.4

  109.1

  30 to 34

  925.9

  51.0

  79.1

  71.8

  35.5

  311.5

  71.6

  90.8

  100.7

  34.7

  79.2

  35 to 39

  687.0

  36.5

  59.9

  52.2

  26.4

  226.6

  54.4

  68.9

  74.8

  26.2

  61.1

  40 to 44

  555.1

  30.5

  50.4

  46.3

  21.4

  167.3

  42.8

  54.7

  63.9

  26.3

  51.5

  45 and over

  335.2

  18.7

  31.2

  27.6

  14.6

  96.3

  28.2

  36.8

  35.4

  16.8

  29.6

  Men

  All ages

  3,291.1

  180.1

  316.4

  267.1

  136.1

  992.6

  264.8

  336.8

  359.5

  149.6

  288.1

  16 to 19

  99.0

  5.2

  9.4

  8.4

  4.4

  25.9

  7.1

  12.3

  11.7

  4.5

  10.1

  20 to 24

  659.4

  34.0

  70.1

  52.6

  29.0

  189.3

  54.6

  69.3

  71.9

  31.0

  57.6

  25 to 29

  780.7

  39.9

  76.0

  63.3

  32.5

  239.1

  64.9

  78.3

  84.1

  36.5

  66.1

  30 to 34

  611.6

  36.4

  54.4

  50.4

  23.4

  192.2

  48.5

  58.5

  68.7

  24.8

  54.3

  35 to 39

  451.5

  24.5

  41.6

  34.2

  18.0

  147.5

  35.9

  44.7

  48.6

  18.0

  38.5

  40 to 44

  398.8

  23.6

  37.1

  33.8

  15.9

  117.5

  30.0

  40.5

  44.1

  19.9

  36.4

  45 and over

  290.1

  16.5

  27.8

  24.4

  12.9

  81.1

  23.8

  33.2

  30.4

  14.9

  25.1

  Women

  All ages

  1,907.0

  94.6

  161.2

  141.0

  71.4

  651.0

  149.1

  188.5

  206.7

  75.8

  167.7

  16 to 19

  87.9

  4.9

  9.5

  7.2

  4.0

  23.4

  6.8

  8.4

  10.0

  3.7

  10.0

  20 to 24

  548.0

  30.3

  49.3

  38.8

  22.9

  171.2

  44.5

  57.9

  60.7

  24.8

  47.6

  25 to 29

  519.9

  23.7

  42.7

  39.9

  16.8

  193.0

  39.0

  47.9

  53.0

  20.9

  43.0

  30 to 34

  314.3

  14.6

  24.7

  21.4

  12.1

  119.3

  23.1

  32.3

  32.0

  9.9

  24.9

  35 to 39

  235.5

  12.0

  18.3

  18.0

  8.4

  79.1

  18.5

  24.2

  26.2

  8.2

  22.6

  40 to 44

  156.3

  6.9

  13.3

  12.5

  5.5

  49.8

  12.8

  14.2

  19.8

  6.4

  15.1

  45 and over

  45.1

  2.2

  3.4

  3.2

  1.7

  15.2

  4.4

  3.6

  5.0

  1.9

  4.5

  Single Parents
  Sir Ralph Howell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many single-parent families there were to which the father made no contribution before the establishment of the Child Support Agency; and how many of such families there were at the latest date for which figures are available.

  Mr. Burt
  In 1991 there were 1.27 million1 lone parents in the United Kingdom. Research conducted at the time indicated that just over 70 per cent. or about 900,000 of these families received no regular maintenance. These are the latest figures available.
  1OPCS provisional estimate based on 1991 census data.

  Marginal Deduction Rates
  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide the latest estimates for the numbers of people with marginal net income deduction rates at or above 50 per cent., 60 per cent., 70 per cent., 80 per cent., 90 per cent. and 100 per cent. in 1992–93, 1993–94 or 1994–95, on the same basis as figure 19 on page 11 of the social security departmental report, February 1993.

  Mr. Burt
  The available information is in the table. Estimates for 1994–95 are not available.

  The main reason for the increase in the numbers facing high marginal deduction rates is the effect of a reduction in the number of hours worked per week required to qualify for family credit from 24 to 16 which was introduced in April 1992. This has widened the scope of the analysis to include people working 16 to 24 hours per week who would have previously been in receipt of income support and faced deduction rates of 100 per cent.
  298

  Numbers (thousands) with marginal deduction rates at or above certain levels1

  1992–932

  1993–943

  100 per cent, and over

  0

  0

  90 per cent, and over

  75

  105

  80 per cent, and over

  250

  215

  70 per cent, and over

  500

  575

  60 per cent, and over

  510

  590

  50 per cent, and over

  510

  595

  Notes:

  1Calculated for benefit units where at least one partner works 16 or more hours per week. Estimates are cumulative and rounded to the nearest 5,000.

  2Projections based on 1986, 1987 and 1988 family expenditure Survey.

  3Projections based on 1989, 1990 and 1991 family expenditure Survey.

  Invalidity Benefit
  Mr. Bradley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many appeals have been made against decisions that a recipient of invalidity benefit is fit for work for the last three quarters for which figures are available; and how many of those appeals have been successful.

  Mr. Scott
  The information is not available in the form requested. The available information is in the table.

  Appeals registered with Social Security Appeal Tribunals: Invalidity Benefit1

  Quarter ending

  Appeals lodged

  Heard and decided2

  Decided in claimant's favour2

  30 September 1992

  2,836

  1,236

  670

  21 December 1992

  2,834

  1,367

  757

  31 March 1993

  3,245

  1,436

  782

  1 Figures show all invalidity benefit appeals, including those against decisions that the claimant is capable of work.

  2 Includes appeals lodged in an earlier quarter.

  299

  War Pensions Agency
  Mr. Kaufman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the salary to be paid to the chief executive of the War Pensions Agency; and what will be the total cost to the exchequer of this agency.

  Mr. Hague
  The post of chief executive of the War Pensions Agency is defined as civil service unified grade 5 level. Accordingly, Peter Mathison, chief executive-designate, will be paid within the grade 5 range of £36,019 to £53,740.

  The agency's administration budget for 1994–95 is currently set at £55.8 million.

  Correspondence
  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 29 November 1993 concerning a constituent's concern over the Child Support Agency of Ref. 3644/52; and what is the reason for the delay.

  (2) when the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) will receive a reply to his letter of 9 December regarding a constituent's letter on the Child Support Agency.

  Mr. Burt
  I have replied to the hon. Member's letters today. I regret that increased levels of correspondence on child support have meant that replies are in some instances taking longer than usual.

  Incapacity Benefit
  Mr. Bradley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give details of the membership of the group considering the criteria for eligibility for the proposed incapacity benefit.

  Mr. Scott
  As part of the consultation exercise on the proposed new objective medical test for incapacity benefit, we have convened a group of 80 experts to consider the details of the test. These experts are disabled people, representatives of disability organisations, doctors from the fields of general practice, occupational medicine, rheumatology, spinal disorders, public health, rehabilitation medicine, psychiatry and clinical psychology, chest and heart disease, diabetes and endocrinology, pain management, medical oncology and surgery, occupational speech therapists, physiotherapists and academics and researchers in the field of disability.

  Unemployment Benefit
  Ms Hoey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are unemployed but ineligible for state unemployment benefit.

  Mr. Burt
  Information held relates to the numbers of unemployed people claiming benefit or national insurance credits. The table provides a breakdown of the position of unemployed claimants at 12 August 1993, although a proportion of those not in receipt of unemployment benefit would have been awaiting a decision on their claim.

  Thousands

  Total claimants

  2,821

  Unemployment benefit in payment

  532

  Unemployment benefit with income support

  108

  300

  Thousands

  Income support only in payment

  1,817

  Neither unemployment benefit nor income support in payment

  364

  Source: Quarterly Analysis of Unemployed Claimants: August 1993—a copy is in the Library.

NATIONAL HERITAGE

  Grant Write-offs
  Mr. Miller
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what amount paid to Unicorn Heritage plc has been written off; on what date that decision was made; by whose authority the decision was taken and how it was communicated to the company.

  Mr. Sproat
  Unicorn Heritage plc went into liquidation on 25 June 1990. On 13 August 1992, the English tourist board recommended to my Department that a debt of £200,000 owed to the board by Unicorn Heritage should be written off as irrecoverable. The board took this step following a letter from the company's liquidators, which stated that there was no prospect of this debt being paid.

  Treasury approval for the write-off was given on 14 May 1993, and the loss was noted in my Department's 1992–93 appropriation accounts on 30 September 1993. There was no need for further communication with the company, which in any case had ceased to exist. Unicorn Heritage plc was not treated differently in any way from that in which any other company in similar circumstances would be treated.

EMPLOYMENT

  Training and Enterprise Council Boards
  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what advice he has given to training and enterprise councils over the granting of financial assistance to aid the declaration of interest of directors of TEC boards.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The contract between training and enterprise councils and the Department requires that TEC directors and employees declare any direct or material interest that may arise in respect of any matter to which the TEC is party. Where an interest has been declared, the prior approval of the directors is required before any contract may be made or funding given to any person or company. A director who has declared a conflict of interest may not be involved in such a decision.

  Pit Closures
  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what financial assistance has been made available through training and enterprise councils to help collieries which have been closed since the publication of "Prospects for Coal" to reopen under private ownership.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The Department has made available £75 million to training and enterprise councils and the Employment Service to implement business plans to help communities affected by pit closures.

  Plans include provision for job search activities and training and business start-up programmes.
  301
  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Secretary of Slate for Employment what amount of finance has been made available for each closed colliery through training and enterprise councils to aid regeneration and redeployment activities.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The amount of finance being made available through training and enterprise councils to the areas affected by each colliery closure is given in the table:

  £ million

  Collieries

  Business Plan Value

  Trentham

  3.695

  Cot grave

  1.300

  Silverhill—joint plan

  6.810

  Bevercotes—joint plan

  Clipstone—joint plan

  Bolsover—joint plan

  Shirebrook—joint plan

  3.449

  Markham

  3.458

  Sharlston

  1.836

  Markham Main—joint plan

  8.015

  Houghton Main—joint plan

  Grimethorpe—joint plan

  Rossington—joint plan

  Kellingley

  1.058

  Maltby

  3.251

  Parkside

  1.740

  Vane Tempest—joint plan

  5.584

  Easington—joint plan

  Westoe

  1.902

  Calverton

  1.686

  Daw Mill1

  Silverdale1

  Littleton1

  Rufford1

  Frickley1

  Bentley1

  Hatfield/Thorne1

  Wearmouth1

  1These pits have either only recently closed or reached two thirds redundancy, and contract negotiations with the relevant TECs are continuing. The total combined budget is £16.023 million, subject to final contract agreement.

  £5 million has been made available to the Employment Service for assessment, guidance and job search activities.

  £2.6 million allocated to Wales.

  Youth Training
  Mr. Austin-Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide an up-to-date table showing for Greater London and for England as a whole, and for each year from 1989, the number of places on youth training schemes and the number of people who have been waiting for over eight weeks for a place.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The number of young people on youth training or youth credits for each year since 1989 was as follows:

  London

  England

  1989

  20,300

  306,200

  1990

  19,900

  279,200

  1991

  12,200

  260,700

  1992

  19,900

  233,200

  1993

  21,100

  231,800

  Source: Management information provided by training providers and training and enterprise councils).
  302
  Information on the number of young people covered by the youth training guarantee has been collected only since autumn 1992. On 9 December 1993, the most recent date for which information is available, the number of young registered with the careers service and waiting for a youth training place for eight or more weeks was 264 in London and 1,111 in England.

  Mr. Austin-Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide an up-to-date table showing for each training and enterprise council in Greater London, the figures for youth training cost per output point, employment training cost per output point, national vocational qualifications—NVQs—per 100 youth training leavers, positive outcomes per 100 employment training leavers, NVQs per 100 employment training leavers, youth training guarantee and investors in people.

  Miss Widdecombe
  Inter-TEC comparison tables for 1992–93 were published on 13 September 1993. A copy is available in the Library. We intend to publish full-year comparisons for 1993–94 this summer. We do not plan to publish in-year tables, because uneven flows of information during the year can distort comparisons of performance.

  Training and Enterprise Councils
  Mr. Austin-Walker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide an up-to-date table showing for TECs in England and Wales the amount of funding(a) allocated and (b) paid to them under each block of expenditure, for each year since 1990–91 and the amounts allocated for 1993–94.

  Miss Widdecombe
  The budgets allocated and paid to training and enterprise councils in England in 1992–93, and the allocations for 1993–94 are shown in the table.

  Information on funding to TECs in England for 1990–91 and 1991–92 is not available. Funding in these transitional years was made through both area offices and TECs, and included Scotland.

  From 1992–93, funding blocks were replaced by individual budgets for each programme to be delivered.

  The table is therefore shown by programme.

  Funding for Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

  TEC budgets 1992–93

  £ million

  Programme

  Budget allocated

  Budget paid

  Youth training

  686.65

  604.23

  Work-related further education

  101.38

  101.26

  Education business links

  916

  9.12

  Careers partnerships

  1.64

  1.83

  Career libraries

  7.02

  5.99

  Employment training

  315.11

  289.15

  HTNT

  23.95

  22.04

  Employment action

  61.44

  50.37

  Local initiative fund

  39.02

  49.70

  Budget enterprise scheme

  152.69

  145.91

  National development projects

  13.34

  10.95

  Research

  0.22

  0.44

  Youth development projects

  0.38

  0.28

  Management fee

  123.26

  99.50

  303

  TEC budgets 1993–94

  £ million

  Programme

  Budget allocated

  Youth training

  692.114

  Work-related further education

  102.960

  Education business links

  9.130

  Careers partnerships

  1.483

  Careers libraries

  6.084

  Training for work

  731.926

  Local initiative fund

  42.623

  Business start-up scheme

  83.828

  Employer investment in people

  44.723

  National development projects

  11.445

  Skill choice

  7.693

  Open learning credits

  2.064

  Out of school child care

  2.149

  Management fee

  123.260

  Health and Safety Commission
  Mr. Barron
  To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what activities currently carried out by the Health and Safety Commission and Executive will be curtailed as a result of the reduction in its grant in aid provision in 1994–95.

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  [holding answer 11 January 1994]: Information about financial provision for the Health and Safety Executive will be published in the departmental report. Further detail will be provided in the 1994–95 estimates. The Health and Safety Commission's planned future activities will be set out in its plan of work for 1994–95 and beyond which is scheduled for publication in June.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Land Mines
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response Her Majesty's Government have made to the recent request by the United States Government for a global ban on the export of anti-personnel land mines.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The request of the United States Government was tabled at the United Nations General Assembly, as a resolution calling for a moratorium on the export of anti-personnel land mines that pose grave dangers to civilian populations. The United Kingdom supported this resolution; however, in doing so, we stated our view that anti-personnel land mines directed at military targets are legitimate defensive weapons when used in compliance with the 1981 United Nations weaponry convention. If they are used in accordance with protocol II of the convention, and particularly if they are fitted with a self-destructing or self-neutralising mechanism, they do not pose grave dangers to civilian populations. We therefore think it would be wrong if the possession of self-destructing or self-neutralising anti-personnel mines were restricted to countries with the capacity to manufacture them.
  304

  Lockerbie
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his South African counterpart in relation to the bombing of Pan-Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  None.

  Diplomatic Fines
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list by country the fines paid in 1993 by British embassies or consulates incurred by illegally parked official vehicles.

  Mr. Lennox-Boyd
  The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Macedonian Embassy
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to establish an embassy in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia following its diplomatic recognition by the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  There has been British Government representation in Skopje since May 1993. Following the establishment of diplomatic relations with the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia on 16 December, formalities were completed to enable our mission to become a full embassy on 23 December. Her Majesty's ambassador in Skopje presented his credentials to President Gligorov on the same day.

  North Korea
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the visit of the United Nations Secretary-General to North Korea over the Christmas period with regard to implementation of nuclear inspection.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  The Secretary-General of the United Nations visited North Korea over Christmas on a mission of goodwill in the framework of preventive diplomacy. One purpose of the visit was to convey to North Korea international concern at her continued failure to comply fully with International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and her equivocal attitude to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

  Somalia
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response Her Majesty's Government have made to the appeal by the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Somalia for assistance with dismantling of unstable ground to air missiles.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We have not received a request for assistance from the UNHCR on this matter. The UNHCR headquarters in Geneva has confirmed that no such appeal has been launched.
  305

  Mr. Mordechai Vanunu
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he raised the case of the continued imprisonment of Mordechai Vanunu during his recent visit to Israel.

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  We have raised with the Israelis our concerns over humanitarian aspects of this case. The Israelis assured us in 1993 that the conditions under which Mr. Vanunu is detained have improved. We have no formal standing to intervene and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs did not therefore do so when he was in Israel earlier this month.

  East Timor
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he has initiated at the United Nations over Indonesia's occupation of East Timor and treatment of its people.

  Mr. Goodlad
  East Timor and human rights issues there are regularly addressed at the United Nations in New York and at the annual session of the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva. We work with our European Union partners as appropriate in these bodies. We have encouraged Portugal and Indonesia to work together under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General to find a solution to the East Timor problem.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to raise with(a) the United Nations and (b) member states of the European Union the case for a ban on arms sales to Indonesia on account of its occupation of East Timor.

  Mr. Goodlad
  None. We do not believe that a ban on arms sales to Indonesia would be appropriate.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussion or other contact he has had with the United States Government over their imposition of a ban on arms sales to Indonesia.

  Mr. Goodlad
  We are aware through Her Majesty's Embassy in Washington of recent United States action on defence sales to Indonesia, but we have our own clear policy and have no plans to change it.

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Indonesia about their occupation of East Timor; and what response he has received.

  Mr. Goodlad
  We have encouraged Indonesia and Portugal to work together under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General to find a solution to the East Timor problem.

  European Council
  Mr. Jonathan Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a statement on the forthcoming business in the Council of the European Union.
  306
  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  The following meeting is planned:

  24 and 25 January: Agriculture Council

  1. The following subjects are likely to be discussed:

  Agriculture Council—24 and 25 January

  —GATT

  —Beef Quotas (possible)

  —Forestry Monitoring Scheme (possible)

  —Compensation Rules (possible)

  —Pesticides (uniform principles) (possible)

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  British Nuclear Fuels plc
  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what criteria he uses to distinguish between those matters that are considered to be commercially confidential with reference to BNFL and those considered to be of public interest and importance.

  Mr. Eggar
  I refer the hon. Member to my replies to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) on 7 July 1992,Official Report, column 138 and on 24 March 1993, Official Report, column 612.

  Biodiversity
  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the activities of his Department he has so far identified which threaten biodiversity abroad.

  Mr. McLoughlin
  The principles of sustainable development are taken into account in the development of my Department's policies. In international trade for example, the United Kingdom complies with the convention on international trade in endangered species and is participating fully in the trade and environment debate in both the general agreement on tariffs and trade and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

  So far as United Kingdom bilateral aid support for infrastructural projects in developing countries is concerned, the Overseas Development Administration guidelines on aid procedures are taken into consideration. The industrial and commercial aspects and the environmental impacts of the project are assessed.

  Mr. Denham
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list those areas of the United Kingdom international trade he has so far identified where his Department has a role to play to further the objectives of the United Kingdom biodiversity national action plan; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Atkins
  I have been asked to reply.

  International trade, finance and aid issues will be covered in the biodiversity United Kingdom action plan and the sustainable development strategy as appropriate, both of which are due to be published very soon.

  Cardigan Bay Licenses
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what response he made to the request by the campaign for a cleaner Cardigan bay for reasons for his Department's decisions on the issuance of oil and gas exploration licenses under the 14th round.

  Mr. Eggar
  I wrote to the Friends of Cardigan Bay regarding their "Campaign for a Cleaner Cardigan Bay" on
  307
  18 November 1992 and 29 January last year to explain the reasons for the Government's decision to offer blocks for oil and gas licensing in the 14th round. Since then, my officials have reiterated the points I made, both in general terms and with specific reference to those licences issued following the 14th round for blocks in Cardigan bay, through a number of letters and a recent meeting at which a member of the Friends of Cardigan Bay was present.

  Nuclear Shipments
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what information he has received from the United States Energy Secretary with regard to her policy on the shipment of US-origin nuclear fuel from Switzerland to Sellafield.

  Mr. Eggar
  None.

  Plutonium (Japan)
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what were the dates of dispatch and arrival of the plutonium returned to Japan since 1979; and what quantities of plutonium were involved.

  Mr. Eggar
  I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on 25 May 1993,Official Report, column 487.

  Nuclear Safety
  Mrs. Anne Campbell
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the publication date for the nuclear installations inspectorate examination of generic safety issues in Magnox reactors in the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Eggar
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave on 11 January,Official Report, column 185.

  Vehicle Maufacturers
  Mr. David Atkinson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the numbers of motor cars and commercial vehicles manufactured in the United Kingdom and in South Korea since 1987.

  Mr. Sainsbury
  The numbers of cars and commercial vehicles manufactured in the United Kingdom and in South Korea since 1987 are given in the table.

  Number of motor cars and commercial vehicles produced in the United Kingdom and in South Korea

  United Kingdom

  South Korea

  Cars

  Commercial vehicles

  Cars

  Commercial vehicles

  1987

  1,142,683

  246,728

  793,125

  186,614

  11988

  1,226,835

  317,343

  872,898

  211,581

  1989

  1,299,082

  326,590

  871,898

  257,572

  1990

  1,295,611

  270,346

  986,751

  334,879

  1991

  1,236,900

  217,141

  1,158,245

  339,573

  1992

  1,291,880

  248,453

  1,306,752

  422,944

  1 United Kingdom data is for 53 weeks.

  Sources Central Statistical Office, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Ltd., Korea Auto Industries Association.

  Swan Hunter
  Mr. Burns
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the European Commission has agreed to allow Swan Hunter to have access to the shipbuilding intervention fund.
  308
  Mr. Sainsbury
  Following protracted negotations, the European Commission agreed on 21 December to allow Swan Hunter to have limited access to the shipbuilding intervention fund. The sum agreed is £7 million for up to three contracts to be offered during 1994 and 1995. This concession should enable Swan Hunter to compete more effectively for merchant contracts and so make them more attractive to potential buyers.

NATIONAL FINANCE

  Taxation
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total amount of direct and indirect tax paid by each quartile income group for each year since 1977; and what amounts are estimated for the next three years.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The information requested is not available.

  1993 Budgets
  Mrs. Anne Campbell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the average cost of the March and November 1993 Budgets to businesses with a turnover of less than £30,000 per annum and to businesses with a turnover greater than £500,000 per annum in terms of a percentage of turnover.

  Mr. Dorrell
  It is not possible to provide the information requested. The net cost or benefit to individual businesses from the 1993 Budget measures will depend on a wide variety of factors including many not dependent on turnover, such as number of employees and rates of pay, level of profits, level of dividends and liability for non-domestic rates.

  Private Medical Insurance
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many over 60-year-olds claim tax relief on private medical insurance in each year since relief was granted.

  Mr. Dorrell
  About 350,000 people have received tax relief on private medical insurance for contracts covering about 500,000 individuals, in each year since 1990–91.

  Private Health Care
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much revenue is generated from individuals paying tax on the benefit of private health care provided by an employer;

  (2) what is the Treasury estimate of the loss of revenue caused by making the company provision of private health care able to be set against tax.

  Mr. Dorrell
  It is estimated that in 1993–94 the tax due on the benefit of private medical, dental, etcetera, attention and treatment or insurance against the cost of such treatment provided by an employer will be about £190 million. Employers generally are able to obtain business tax relief for the expenses incurred in providing any benefits in kind in the same way as for wages and salaries. It is not possible to give a reliable estimate of the effects on tax paid by employers.
  309

  Statistical Inquiry Work
  Mr. Burns
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make available the results of the consultation exercise on contracting out statistical inquiry work announced by the Central Statistical Office on 22 September 1993.

  Mr. Dorrell
  The consultation exercise was carried out by independent market researchers, and a copy of their report has been placed in the Library of the House of Commons. The results will be taken into account when any market testing of statistical activities is undertaken.

ENVIRONMENT

  Toxic Waste
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the implications for the import and export of toxic waste to and from the United Kingdom of the entering into force of the European Economic Area agreement on 1 January.

  Mr. Atkins
  Shipments of toxic waste will continue to be regulated as before.

  Housing Subsidy
  Mr. Kaufman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total housing subsidy paid to(a) local authorities in England and Wales and (b) the City of Manchester for (i) the lastest 12-month period for which figures are available and (ii) the comparable 12-month period for 1979–80.

  Mr. Baldry
  The figures are set out in the table.

  Year

  England and Wales £ million

  City of Manchester £

  1979–80

  1,333

  30,063,403

  1993–94

  4,229

  172,142,731

  Since 1 April 1990, housing revenue account subsidy has included a contribution to rent rebate expenditure by local authorities. A rent rebate element of subsidy is therefore included in the above figures for 1993–94, but not in the figures for 1979–80.

  Ordnance Survey
  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total cost to date of the Ordnance Survey market-testing programme.

  Mr. Atkins
  The total cost to date of the market-testing programme which commenced in April 1992 is £342,500 including full staff costs and consultants' fees. The management and staff costs incurred before April 1992 were not specifically attributed to market-testing.

  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the expected total cost of the Ordnance Survey market-testing programme.

  Mr. Atkins
  The total cost of the existing market-testing programme which commenced in April 1992 and is 310
  planned to end in March 1994 is expected to be £413,250; this comprises both management costs and consultancy fees.

  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what management consultants have been used to advise on market-testing in connection with Ordnance Survey; for what purposes; and at what cost.

  Mr. Atkins
  The following management consultants have been engaged in assisting Ordnance Sui vey with its market-testing programme at a total cost of £113,750:

  Coopers and Lybrand

  CSL Group Ltd.

  Grosvenor Consulting Ltd.

  Tricon FoodService Consultants

  Consultants provided scoping advice, advised on the preparation of service specifications and assisted in the assessment of potential bidders, preparing in-house bids and analysing tenders.

  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total management and staff costs for the project board teams associated with the Ordnance Survey market-testing programme.

  Mr. Atkins
  The total management and staff costs to date for market-testing project teams in Ordnance Survey are £249,000.

  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what savings have been made as a result of the Ordnance Survey market-testing programme.

  Mr. Atkins
  Projected annual savings resulting from the market-testing programme which commenced in April 1992 are £1,554,580. Further benefits include the acceleration of the development and production of base data for new products.

  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total cost in 1992–93 of the Ordnance Survey market-testing programme.

  Mr. Atkins
  The total cost in the financial year 1992–93 was £230,000.

  Biodiversity Action Plan
  Mr. Denham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those areas of export finance and aid he has so far identified where he believes his Department can help to further the objectives of the United Kingdom biodiversity national action plan; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Atkins
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him today to his question to the President of the Board of Trade,Official Report, column 306.

  Local Government Finance
  Mr. Michael Spicer
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the percentage increase in the standard spending assessment provided for the Wychavon district council.

  Mr. Baldry
  Within the proposals for revenue support grant for 1994–95 announced on 2 December 1993, the provisional increase in the SSA for Wychavon district council between 1993–94 and 1994–95 is 11.9 per cent.
  311

  Yorkshire Water
  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what agreements the National Rivers Authority has made with Yorkshire Water(a) on levels of pollution entering the Yorkshire Ouse system from sewage treatment works and (b) on increasing abstraction of water from the Ouse system; and how these two sets of agreements are linked.

  Mr. Atkins
  This is a matter for the National Rivers Authority and Yorkshire Water.

  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was Yorkshire Water's 1992 estimate of the cost of transferring water from Kielder reservoir via the River Tees to Elvington on the River Derwent.

  Mr. Atkins
  This is a matter for Yorkshire Water.

  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the National Rivers Authority's 1993 estimate of the cost of transferring Kielder water into the Yorkshire grid system.

  Mr. Atkins
  My Department does not have this information.

  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how much the National Rivers Authority paid to Sir William Halcrow and Partners for its study of water resources in the Yorkshire region, published in October 1993;

  (2) what advice the National Rivers Authority's fisheries scientists have given to the National Rivers Authority's water resources division about the consequences of transferring Kielder water via the Rivers Whisk, Swale and Ouse.

  Mr. Atkins
  These are matters of day-to-day management for the National Rivers Authority.

  Discounted value of all sales

  £ thousand

  Local Authority

  1980–81

  1981–82

  1982–83

  1983–84

  1984–85

  Corby

  716

  2,837

  5,393

  4,326

  3,711

  Daventry

  1,643

  2,478

  2,067

  1,995

  1,605

  East Northamptonshire

  757

  2,585

  1,002

  1,013

  831

  Kettering

  721

  1,659

  1,035

  918

  1,108

  Northampton

  1,831

  2,861

  2,717

  2,135

  1,381

  South Northamptonshire

  1,123

  2,258

  2,628

  2,382

  1,727

  Wellingborough

  833

  2,592

  2,055

  1,765

  1,962

  Discounted value of all sales

  £ thousand

  1985–86

  1986–87

  1987–88

  1988–89

  Corby

  3,901

  3,332

  4,998

  9,036

  Daventry

  1,929

  n/a

  3,740

  4,651

  East Northamptonshire

  1,008

  1,720

  2,519

  4,160

  Kettering

  1,809

  2,754

  3,974

  5,300

  Northampton

  n/a

  5,674

  8,961

  16,530

  South Northamptonshire

  1,379

  1,829

  n/a

  5,471

  Wellingborough

  1,303

  2,882

  3,617

  6,311

  312

  Corby District Council
  Mr. William Powell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total sum paid to Corby district council in each year of operation in lieu of rate revenue forgone in enterprise zones.

  Mr. Baldry
  The sums paid to Corby District Council in lieu of rate revenue forgone in enterprise zones were:

  Year

  £000's

  1981–82

  126

  1982–83

  434

  1983–84

  1,146

  1984–85

  1,688

  1985–86

  2,155

  1986–87

  2,896

  1987–88

  3,464

  1988–89

  4,344

  1989–90

  4,711

  The figures are in own year prices.

  Following the introduction of the national non-domestic rates in April 1990, the lost yield from business rates on enterprise zones is taken into account in setting the national poundage and it is no longer necessary to compensate councils individually for rate revenue forgone.

  Council House Sales
  Mr. William Powell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each district authority in Northamptonshire the total discounted value of houses and fiats sold by them for each year since 1980–81.

  Sir George Young
  The total discounted values of dwellings sold by local authorities in Northamptonshire in the years 1980–81 to 1992–93 are given in the table. Actual cash receipts in any year will depend on the extent to which sales were financed by loans from the authorities.

  Discounted value of all sales

  £ thousand

  1989–90

  1990–91

  1991–92

  1992–93

  Corby

  6,764

  2,508

  2,421

  2,373

  Daventry

  3,437

  1,425

  1,242

  3,061

  East Northamptonshire

  1,404

  979

  1,042

  1,261

  Kettering

  1,869

  923

  1,020

  1,029

  Northampton

  11,595

  3,521

  4,197

  2,584

  South Northamptonshire

  2,467

  769

  1,109

  1,543

  Wellingborough

  2,937

  2,232

  1,480

  1,165

  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whar is the Govertment's policy towards
  313
  council tenants purchasing the property they live in with the assistance of a loan from a private individual to whom they are not related.

  Sir George Young
  Council tenants have the same freedom as other home buyers to finance the purchase of their homes under the right to buy from whatever source they choose. The Department's advisory booklet "Your Right to Buy Your Home" encourages tenants to take independent legal advice before proceeding with their purchase.

  North Peckham Task Force
  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the funding for the North Peckham task force in 1994–95.

  Mr. Baldry
  I refer the hon. Member to my letter of 6 December 1993 setting out the arrangements for funding of the North Peckham task force up to and beyond its closure on 31 March 1994. Detailed allocations of funding for 1994–95 have not yet been agreed, but there will be sufficient cover to honour all continuing contractual commitment.

  Correspondence
  Mr. Winnick To
  ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the hon. Member of Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 11 November regarding market franchise rights of G/BA/150/28931/93; and what is the reason for the delay.

  Mr. Baldry
  We are considering the issue of market franchise rights in the light of the responses received to our consultation document of 16 August 1993 on this subject. Ministers will be replying as soon as possible to the hon. Gentleman and to other hon. Members who have corresponded with them on this subject.

  Single Regeneration Budget
  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish for consultation the draft bidding guidance on the single regeneration budget.

  Sir George Young
  We are today issuing for consultation the draft bidding guidance on the single regeneration budget. The guidance is being circulated to a wide range of national and local organisations. Copies of the guidance have been placed in the Library of the House.

  Local Government Commission
  Ms Janet Anderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish details of the budget of the Local Government Commission and the costs incurred by the commission so far.

  Mr. Baldry
  The Local Government Commission incurred expenditure of £2.056 million in 1992–93, We are making available £5.124 million to fund the commission's activities in 1993–94.
  314

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Forestry (Gloucestershire)
  Mr. Nigel Jones
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will list all land owned by the Forestry Commission in Gloucestershire.

  Mr. Jack
  The Forestry Commission manages 10,376 hectares of land in Gloucestershire. The commission is preparing a list of the individual woods and I shall send a copy to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

  Mr. Nigel Jones
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which of the Forestry Commission's holdings in Gloucestershire are earmarked for sale.

  Mr. Jack
  None of the Forestry Commission's woodlands in Gloucestershire is currently being considered for sale.

  Biodiversity Convention
  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussion she has had with the Fisheries Ministers in Denmark on initiatives to meet joint commitments under the biodiversity convention signed at Rio, including the application of the conservation and sustainable use of fisheries resources to the North sea.

  Mr. Jack
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) on 14 December 1993,Official Report, columns 541–42.

  Latero Flora
  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment she has made of whether labelling on the American imported product Latero Flora and its active ingredient bacillus laterosporus complies with current food labelling requirements.

  Mr. Soames
  The responsibility for determining whether labelling of foodstuffs complies with the food labelling regulations lies with local authority trading standards departments. I will ensure that the hon. Gentleman's concerns about this product are brought to the attention of the co-ordinating body for enforcement authorities.

HEALTH

  NHS Administration
  Mr. Alexander
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many managers and administrators have been employed in NHS hospitals in each year since 1990.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The information available is shown in the table. The figures provide the total number of managers and administrative and clerical staff in national health service regions including those in regional and district headquarters units. The general and senior manager class was introduced in phases from 1986 in recognition of the fact that the NHS was clearly undermanaged. The figures should be treated with caution because the increase is largely due to the reclassification of other professional and administrative staff as general and senior managers. My
  315
  right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health recently announced proposals for the future management of the NHS. These proposals will bear down on management numbers and maximise the amount spent on patient care. However, general and senior managers still account for only 2 per cent. of the total NHS work force.

  General and senior managers and administrative and clerical staff as at 30 September, England

  Whole-time equivalents

  1990

  1991

  1992

  General and Senior Managers

  8,990

  12,420

  14,980

  Administrative and Clerical

  111,730

  118,900

  122,990

  Notes

  1. It is not possible to give a figure for "NHS hospitals" as numbers of staff in HQ units cannot be disaggregated.

  2. General and senior manager figures include regional, district and hospital managers plus a small number of family health services authority managers within the RHA/DHA/trust structure.

  3. Apart from the small number mentioned in 2 above, the figures exlude managerial and administrative staff in FHSAs and Other Statutory Authorities, but include those in Ambulance Services.

  4. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

  Sources: Non-Medical Workforce Census—1990

  DH form KM49–1991/92.

  Computer Costs
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide, by health authority and trust in England, the revenue and capital expenditure on computer systems in each of the financial years 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92 and 1992–93.

  Mr. Sackville
  The information will be placed in the Library. Part of the goal of the national health service management executive is to pursue a strategy of making the best possible use of the four key resources of money, staff, estates and information. High-quality information is essential for improved patient care and regular upgrading or replacement of information management and technology systems gives rise to higher capital expenditure at intervals.

  Mrs. Elsie Westron
  Mr. Raynsford
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a copy of the report on the circumstances surrounding the death of Mrs. Elsie Westron in Greenwich district hospital on 1 September 1993, due to be delivered by the national health service management executive and the Greenwich healthcare trust on 10 January.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The report has yet to be presented to the trust board and publication is a matter for it.

  Infertility Treatment
  Mr. Nigel Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which English health authorities will not be providing infertility treatment for 1993–94;

  (2) what plans she has to make the provision of infertility treatment by all health authorities obligatory.

  Mr. Sackville
  The national health service provides a wide range of treatments for subfertility. Decisions about the resources to be made available for these services must be left to individual health authorities as they are in the best 316
  position to determine priorities in the light of local needs and circumstances. Advice is available to health authorities and clinicians in two recent publications:
  The Effective Health Care Bulletin on management of Subfertility, published for the NHS Management Executive by a consortium of Leeds and York Universities and the Research Unit of the Royal College of Physicians.The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists publication "Infertility—Guidelines for Practice".
  Copies of these publications are available in the Library.

  Fluoridation
  Mr. Gareth Wardell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if primary legislation is necessary to require water companies to fluoridate water.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Yes.

  NHS Staff
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the extent to which NHS staff may talk to hon. Members about their concerns on health matters without fear of disciplinary action.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  National health service staff have a right to seek the advice and guidance of their Member of Parliament on any issue at any time.

  Dentists
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of dentists took NHS patients in each of the last five years.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  This information is not available centrally. However, there are now more dentists in contract with family health services authorities than ever before.

  Nurses
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will tabulate the number of students enrolling and qualifying for each of the grades of qualified nurses for each year from 1982 to 1992, together with the approximate numbers for those years leaving national health service employment for all reasons.

  Mr. Sackville
  This information is not available in the format requested.

  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what factors her Department has taken into account over the last 10 years in assessing the need for nurse training places; and what were the estimates of the number of trained nurses under the age of 60 years who were(a) no longer nursing in the public sector, (b) nursing in the private sector and (c) not nursing at all in each year from 1982.

  Mr. Sackville
  The arrangements for education and training of nurses in the national health service are designed to carry forward Government policy that training should be employer led and that it is for employers to determine the work force they require and the training staff need. Regional health authorities calculate the overall demand for training places in consultation with provider units, family health service authorities and the private and voluntary sectors.
  317

  Total number of trained nursing staff (excluding registered midwives and nursing auxiliaries/assistants) in private hospitals, homes and clinics registered under section 23 of the Registered Homes Act 1984 England

  Year

  Total

  1982

  16,545

  1983

  18,929

  1984

  21,363

  1985

  25,543

  1986

  30,528

  1987–88

  37,338

  1988–89

  42,693

  1989–90

  47,955

  1990–91

  55,191

  1991–92

  60,664

  1992–931

  65,134

  1 Provisional.

  Source: SD2A; SBH212 return 1982–86;

  KO36 return 1987–88–1992–93.

  Information is not available in the format requested on training nurses no longer nursing in the public sector. Information on the number of trained nurses under the age of 60 who were not nursing at all is not available centrally.

  Speech Therapists
  Mrs. Peacock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the number of speech therapists employed by each health authority in England and Wales indicating in each case any shortfall against establishment.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  The latest available figures for speech therapists employed in the national health service in England, by region and by district health authority, are shown in the table. Information on shortfall against establishment is provided for regional health authorities, but not by district health authority and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Whole-time equivalents

  England

  TOTAL

  3,200

  Northern Region

  Northern Regional Health Authority

  20

  Hartlepool

  10

  North Tees

  20

  South Tees

  20

  East Cumbria

  10

  South Cumbria

  10

  West Cumbria

  0

  Darlington

  10

  South West Durham

  20

  Gateshead

  20

  Newcastle

  30

  North Tyneside

  10

  South Tyneside

  10

  Sunderland

  20

  North Durham

  20

  TOTAL

  220

  Yorkshire Region

  Hull

  10

  East Yorkshire

  10

  Grimsby

  10

  Scunthorpe

  10

  Northallerton

  10

  York

  10

  Scarborough

  10

  Harrogate

  10

  318

  Whole-time equivalents

  Bradford

  20

  Airedale

  10

  Calderdale

  10

  Huddersfield

  20

  Dewsbury

  10

  Leeds

  50

  Wakefield

  10

  Pontefract

  10

  TOTAL

  220

  Trent Region

  Trent Regional Health Authority

  10

  North Derbyshire

  30

  Southern Derbyshire

  20

  Leicestershire

  40

  North Lincolnshire

  10

  South Lincolnshire

  20

  Nottingham

  50

  Barnsley

  10

  Doncaster

  10

  Rotherham

  10

  Sheffield

  40

  North Nottinghamshire

  30

  TOTAL

  280

  East Anglian Region

  Cambridge

  20

  West Suffolk

  10

  East Suffolk

  20

  North West Anglia

  20

  Norwich

  30

  Great Yarmouth and Waveney

  10

  Huntingdon

  10

  TOTAL

  120

  North West Thames Region

  North Bedfordshire

  20

  South Bedfordshire

  20

  North West Hertfordshire

  20

  South West Hertfordshire

  10

  Barnet

  20

  Harrow

  10

  Hillingdon

  10

  Hounslow and Spelthorne

  30

  Ealing

  30

  Riverside

  40

  Parkside

  30

  East and North Hertfordshire

  10

  TOTAL

  230

  North East Thames Region

  Basildon and Thurrock

  10

  Mid Essex

  20

  North East Essex

  20

  West Essex

  10

  Southend

  20

  Barking, Havering and Brentwood

  20

  Hampstead

  30

  City and Hackney

  10

  Newham

  20

  Tower Hamlets

  10

  Enfield

  10

  Haringey

  20

  Redbridge

  10

  Waltham Forest

  10

  Bloomsbury and Islington

  40

  TOTAL

  270

  South East Thames Region

  Brighton

  20

  Eastbourne

  20

  Hastings

  10

  319

  Whole-time equivalents

  South East Kent

  10

  Canterbury and Thanet

  30

  Dartford and Gravesham

  20

  Maidstone

  10

  Medway

  20

  Tunbridge Wells

  20

  Bexley

  20

  Greenwich

  20

  Bromley

  20

  West Lambeth

  20

  Camberwell

  20

  Lewisham and North Southwark

  50

  TOTAL

  290

  South West Thames Region

  North West Surrey

  20

  West Surrey and North East Hampshire

  10

  South West Surrey

  20

  Mid Surrey

  0

  East Surrey

  10

  Chichester

  10

  Mid Downs

  20

  Worthing District

  20

  Croydon

  20

  Kingston and Esher

  10

  Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton

  20

  Wandsworth

  30

  Merton and Sutton

  20

  TOTAL

  200

  Wessex Region

  Dorset

  30

  Portsmouth and South East Hampshire

  40

  Southampton and South West Hampshire

  20

  Winchester

  10

  Basingstoke and North Hampshire

  10

  Salisbury

  10

  Swindon

  20

  Bath District

  20

  Isle of Wight

  10

  TOTAL

  170

  Oxford Region

  East Berkshire

  30

  West Berkshire

  30

  Aylesbury Vale

  10

  Wycombe

  20

  Milton Keynes

  20

  Kettering

  10

  Northampton

  20

  Oxfordshire

  40

  TOTAL

  170

  South Western Region

  Bristol and District

  80

  Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

  20

  Exeter

  20

  North Devon

  10

  Plymouth

  20

  Torbay

  30

  Gloucestershire

  50

  Somerset

  30

  TOTAL

  250

  West Midlands Region

  Bromsgrove and Redditch

  10

  Herefordshire

  10

  Kidderminster and District

  10

  Worcester and District

  10

  Shropshire

  20

  Mid Staffordshire

  20

  North Staffordshire

  20

  320

  Whole-time equivalents

  South East Staffordshire

  30

  South Warwickshire

  20

  East Birmingham

  10

  North Birmingham

  10

  West Birmingham

  10

  Coventry

  10

  Dudley

  20

  Sandwell

  10

  Solihull

  10

  Walsall

  10

  Wolverhampton

  10

  North East Warwickshire

  30

  South Birmingham

  40

  TOTAL

  330

  Mersey Region

  Crewe

  10

  Halton

  20

  Macclesfield

  10

  Warrington

  10

  Liverpool

  30

  St. Helens and Knowsley

  20

  Southport and Formby

  10

  South Sefton

  0

  Wirral

  10

  TOTAL

  140

  North-Western Region

  Lancaster

  10

  Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde

  20

  Preston

  20

  Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley

  10

  Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale

  10

  West Lancashire

  10

  Chorley and South Ribble

  10

  Bolton

  10

  Bury

  10

  North Manchester

  20

  Central Manchester

  10

  South Manchester

  20

  Oldham

  20

  Rochdale

  10

  Salford

  10

  Stockport

  20

  Tameside and Glossop

  20

  Trafford

  10

  Wigan

  20

  TOTAL

  270

  Special Health Authorities

  Hospitals for Sick Children

  10

  National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery

  10

  The Royal Marsden Hospital

  0

  Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Hospital

  10

  Broadmoor

  0

  Ashworth

  0

  Rampton

  0

  Sourc: HAP(STATS)B Non-Medical Workforce Cenus.

  Notes: All figures are rounded to the nearest 10 whole number.

  Totals may not add due to rounding.

  '0' indicates a figure of 5.00 or less

  The percentage of Speech Therapists in post against funded establishment, March 1993, by Region

  Region

  Per cent.

  Northern

  99.8

  Yorkshire

  99.2

  Trent

  99.1

  East Anglian

  97.8

  North West Thames

  96.0

  321

  Region

  Per cent.

  North East Thames

  96.5

  South East Thames

  97.4

  South West Thames

  99.4

  Wessex

  95.3

  Oxford

  100.1

  South Western

  97.2

  West Midlands

  94.6

  Mersey

  95.7

  North Western

  104.0

  SHAs

  100.0

  England

  98.0

  Source: Joint National Professional Manpower Initiative (March 1993).

  Prescriptions
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations her Department has received about people not being able to use their prescriptions because they cannot afford to pay the charges.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Nine in the past year.

  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring her Department undertakes of the affordability of prescription charges in order to inform annual decisions over uprating.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  None. There are extensive arrangements for charge exemption and remission which ensure that no one need forgo necessary medication for financial reasons.

  Corporate Governance
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to announce the findings of the working party on corporate governance.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Copies of the report of the corporate governance task force will be placed in the Library. We are now consulting a wide range of interested bodies on draft codes of accountability, and of conduct for national health service boards and their members.

  Departmental Review
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the time scale and scope of the review of her Department's staffing and functions.

  Mr. Sackville
  We announced a review of the Department of Health, excluding the national health service management executive and the Department's agencies, on 6 January. The terms of reference of the review, giving details of its time scale and scope, are as follows.

  TERMS OF REFERENCE

  TAKING INTO ACCOUNT:

  decisions and on-going work on the NHS Functions and Manpower Review;

  the requirements of Ministers and the demands made on them by Parliament and the public;

  the importance of reducing running costs as far as possible while maintaining an effective service to Ministers;

  continuing guidance from the Steering Group appointed to oversee this and related work.

  1. To identify the core functions, responsibilities and accountabilities of the Department of Health, excluding the Management Executive, the agencies, the Medical Devices Directorate and the Youth Treatment Service.
  322
  2. To examine the manpower resources used to do that work including in particular the Senior Open Structure posts and the way they are organised and deployed.

  3. To identify the borderline between the work of the wider Department and the Management Executive and to examine the way they work together.

  4. To make recommendations by the end of May about: work that should no longer be done;
  what work, if any, should be transferred between the wider Department and the Management Executive;
  the management structures and the use of manpower best suited to deliver effectively the work that remains; the level of staffing in general;
  the number, grading and responsibilities of the Senior Open Structure posts in particular;
  the elimination of any duplication of work between the wider Department and the Management Executive.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the membership of the review team investigating her Department's staffing and functions.

  Mr. Sackville
  The review will be conducted by Mrs. Terri Banks, formerly Registrar General for England and Wales. She will be supported by management consultants, who have yet to be appointed, and by a grade 7 and an HEO(D) civil servant, from the Department of Health and the Treasury respectively.

  The review will be conducted under the oversight of a steering group, which will also be responsible for ensuring that this exercise is co-ordinated with the implementation of changes to national health service central management arising from the functions and manpower review. The steering group's membership is as follows:

  Graham Hart, Permanent Secretary, Department of Health (Chairman).

  Sir Duncan Nichol, Chief Executive, NHSME.

  Dr. Kenneth Calman, Chief Medical Officer.

  Andrew Edwards, Grade 2, Treasury.

  Brian Edwards, Regional General Manager, West Midlands RHA.

  Alan Langlands, Chief Executive Designate, NHSME.

  Joe Pilling, Grade 2, Department of Health.

  Strachan Heppell, Grade 2, Department of Health.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the review of her Department's staffing and functions will cover the work of her Department in answering parliamentary questions and dealing with correspondence and inquiries from hon. Members.

  Mr. Sackville
  Yes.

  Single Mothers
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she intends to announce details of her plan to assist single mothers to return to the work force.

  Mr. Bowis
  The changes to the rules governing disregards and the entitlement to family credit, announced in the Budget by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will stimulate expansion of child care services. These changes have effect in October this year. We shall announce measures in the Department's field to support these important changes before then.

  Mentally Ill People
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the criteria to be applied for including a person on the proposed register of the serious mentally ill living in the community.
  323
  Mr. Bowis
  We will shortly be issuing guidance to national health service purchasers and provider units which will set out the criteria for including a mentally ill person on the register.

  Patients (Information)
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the patient information leaflets proposed by her Department will include information relating to appropriate and inappropriate techniques for administering the medicine concerned;

  (2) what steps she intends to take to ensure awareness of, and access to, patient information leaflets relating to medicines used within the national health service;

  (3) what is the planned time scale for the introduction of patient information leaflets about medicines used within the national health service.

  Mr. Sackville
  Unless all the required information is on the product label, an approved patient information leaflet is required for a new product granted a marketing authorisation on or after 1 January 1994 and for an existing medicine where its marketing authorisation is renewed.

  The patient leaflet is to be supplied with the medicine when it is dispensed to the patient. Patient information leaflets provide information on how the medicine should be used including the indication, dose instructions, precautions, warnings and side-effects. Doctors and pharmacists have been informed about the introduction of patient information leaflets in the November issue of "Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance".

  HIV and AIDS
  Mr. Alan W. Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total amount devoted to research into HIV and AIDS by her Department for each financial year since 1986–87.

  Mr. Sackville
  The main agency through which the Government support research into HIV and AIDS is the Medical Research Council—MRC—which receives its grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

  The table shows the level of research funded by the Department of Health either directly or, since 1988–89, via the MRC for its epidemiological research and its AIDS programme.

  Year

  Direct DH funding (£000)

  DH contribution to MRC research (£000)

  Total (£000)

  1986–87

  111

  —

  111

  1987–88

  239

  —

  239

  1988–89

  464

  400

  864

  1989–90

  500

  650

  1,150

  1990–91

  593

  1,233

  1,826

  1991–92

  786

  2,000

  2,786

  1992–93

  789

  1,708

  2,497

  1993–94

  789

  1,838

  2,627

  The figures quoted for 1993–94 are current estimates.

  Mr. Marlow
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his best estimate of the percentage incidence of AIDS in each EC country.
  324
  Mr. Sackville
  This table shows for each European Community country the number of AIDS cases reported to the World Health Organisation in 1992 and the estimated incidence rate per 100,000 population.

  Country

  AIDS Cases Reported to WHO in 1992

  Rate per 100,000 population.

  Belgium

  118

  1.1

  Denmark

  196

  3.8

  Germany

  1286

  2.1

  France

  4151

  7.3

  Greece

  162

  1.6

  Ireland

  75

  1.9

  Italy

  3812

  6.6

  Luxembourg

  12

  3.2

  Netherlands

  468

  3.1

  Portugal

  265

  2.5

  Spain

  3469

  8.7

  United Kingdom

  1268

  2.2

  The table indicates that the United Kingdom is in a relatively favourable position compared with for example France, Italy and Spain. This underlines the importance of the prompt and decisive action taken to limit the impact of HIV on the United Kingdom population and of more recent campaigns to alert the public to the risks of HIV infection when travelling to countries with higher prevalence.

  Press and Communications
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were employed in the press and communications office at Richmond house, including clerical and administrative staff in each year since 1990.

  Mr. Sackville
  The number of staff employed in the main press office for each year since 1990 is as follows:

  Year

  Number

  1990–91

  15

  1991–92

  14

  1992–93

  15

  1993–94

  14

  There is a separate press support section which has five administrative staff.

  Press Conferences
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many press conferences the Department held in each year since 1990; and what was the cost of the conferences for each year.

  Mr. Sackville
  This information is not readily available, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Family Health Services Authorities
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each year since 1991 the expenditure by family health services authorities on administration.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 3 December 1993 at columns 799–800, which gave expenditure on administration by family health services authorities. Expenditure on administration by contractors providing family health services is not available centrally.
  325

  GP Surgeries (Closures)
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will outline the rights which exist for patients, in the patients charter or other official documents, to appeal against a family health services authority's decision to close a general practice surgery.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  There are no rights of appeal against decisions to close general practice surgeries.

  Latero Flora
  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will order an investigation into whether the American imported product Latero Flora and its active ingredient bacillus laterosporus meets the requirements of a novel food;

  (2) what was the result of the independent assay carried out by the Government chemist on the product Latero Flora in relation to its active ingredient bacillus laterosporus;

  (3) what approval under the Food Safety Act 1990 has been given for the American imported product Latero Flora and its active ingredient bacillus laterosporus;

  (4) what recent tests her Department has carried out into the product Latero Flora and its active ingredient bacillus laterosporus; and with what results.

  Mr. Sackville
  Latero Flora was the subject of a recent, voluntary, application for approval as a novel food product. The independent, expert, Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes agreed that it should be classed as a novel food, but concluded that additional information was required before a decision could be reached; the manufacturer has been asked to provide that additional data.

  The Department has neither carried out nor commissioned tests or analyses of Latero Flora. It is understood, however, that an analysis was recently commissioned, by a private organisation, from the Laboratory of the Government Chemist; neither the Department nor the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has seen a report of that analysis.

  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will order an investigation into the promotional literature for the imported American product Latero Flora and its active ingredient bacillus laterosporus.

  Mr. Sackville
  The Medicines Control Agency investigates all reports of unlicensed medicines and their advertising, labelling and sales and takes appropriate action to stop illegal activity as soon as possible. Following a reference in October 1993, the agency secured assurances the following month from the suppliers of Latero Flora in the United Kingdom that the promotional literature complained of would no longer be used. The agency's wider investigation continues.

  Counsellors
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she has issued to family health service authorities, regarding criteria for deciding whether to reimburse general practices for the employment of staff designated as counsellors.
  326
  Dr. Mawhinney
  Guidelines on how the general practitioner practice staff reimbursement scheme should be administered are contained in the "Statement of Fees and Allowances", copies of which are available in the Library.

  Patients
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what statutory procedures exist for consulting patients about the closure of, or changes to, the general practice surgery with which they are registered.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  There are no specific statutory procedures for consulting patients in such cases. Family health services authorities are, however, required by the Community Health Council Regulations 1985 to consult the local community health council on any proposals to make any substantial variation in the provision of general medical services in their area.

  Ambulance Services
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her Department's policy on the development of medical priority dispatch systems within national health service ambulance services; and if she will make a statement.

  Mr. Sackville
  A number of ambulance services are evaluating the use of priority dispatch systems. No central decisions will be made on a future role for these systems until the safety of their use and the benefits to patients have been fully assessed.

  Spectacles
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations her Department has received about the adequacy of the voucher to cover the cost of spectacles; and how the estimate of the value of the voucher is reached.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Departmental officials have met and exchanged correspondence about the value of optical vouchers with the Optical Voucher Consultative Committee, which is composed of representatives from the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, the Association of Optometrists and the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians. The value of optical vouchers is determined by the patients' optical prescription; the more complex the prescription, the higher the value of the voucher. Values currently range from £24.40 to £113.

  Private Health Care
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what statistics she has on the availability of private health care(a) by region and (b) by district in each of the last five years.

  Mr. Sackville
  Independent hospitals, nursing homes and clinics are required to register with the national health service under section 23 of the Registered Homes Act 1984. Annual statistics are provided which show the provision of beds and other facilities, together with staffing information. Summarised information at national, regional and district level is published in "Private Hospitals, Homes and Clinics Registered under Section 23 of the Registered Homes Act 1984", copies of which are available in the Library.
  327

  Private Medicine
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the membership of the Welsh Office/Department of Health joint working party, set up to review rules on practising private medicine on national health service premises.

  Mr. Sackville
  There is no such joint working party. The Department of Health and the Welsh Office are revising the handbook "Management of Private Practice in Health Service Hospitals in England and Wales" and officials are liaising in the normal way.

  Depo medrone
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she expects to produce a patient information leaflet for the drug Depo medrone.

  Mr. Sackville
  Patient information leaflets are produced by pharmaceutical companies which market medicinal products and are authorised by the licensing authority. Under a European Community directive on the labelling of human medicines and leaflets—EC 92/27—copies of which are available in the Library, a package leaflet containing specified information for the patient has to be provided unless that information is on the product label. United Kingdom regulations implementing these provisions have been made and the new requirement came into force from 1 January 1994. Products already on the market, such as Depo medrone, have to meet the new requirements at the time of the five-yearly renewal of their licence.

  Departmental Staff
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff, whole-time equivalents, are employed at Richmond house.

  Mr. Sackville
  There are 441 staff who work for the Department of Health and 190 who work for the Department of Social Security. We are unable to provide these figures as whole-time equivalents.

  Press Releases
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much it cost to redesign the Department's press release paper.

  Mr. Sackville
  The cost of redesigning the Department's paper was £993.

  Car Parks
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list by region, for each year since 1990, the income from car parking charges implemented by hospitals.

  Mr. Sackville
  Information on the net income received from car parking charges in 1991–92, provided by the 57 national health service trusts which then existed and by region for other hospitals, is shown in the table. Information for other years is not available centrally.
  328

  Region (in respect of Directly Managed Units)

  Net income £000s

  Northern

  0

  Yorkshire

  0

  Trent

  0

  East Anglian

  63

  North West Thames

  138

  North East Thames

  110

  South East Thames

  138

  South West Thames

  85

  Wessex

  31

  Oxfordshire

  147

  South Western

  206

  West Midlands

  -19

  Mersey

  0

  North Western

  146

  Total Regions

  1,046

  NHS Trusts

  192

  National Total

  1,238

  Fundraisers
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals and trusts employ a fundraiser; and if she will make a statement.

  Mr. Sackville
  We welcome a close working partnership between the health service and local voluntary and community groups including fund-raising activities. Detailed information about the number of fundraisers employed is not available centrally.

  Corticosteroids
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when and how she intends to publish the findings and recommendations of the Medicine Control Agency's investigation into corticosteroids; and if she will make a statement.

  Mr. Sackville
  The Medicines Control Agency has investigated the issue of immunosuppression in patients taking corticosteroids and in particular the association with disseminated chickenpox. Advice has been sought from the Committee on Safety of Medicines and its findings and recommendations will be published in the next issue of the bulletin "Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance". This will be circulated to all doctors and pharmacists next month.

  Health Care Purchasing
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 14 December,Official Report, column 557, if she will provide a breakdown of the purchase of health care from non-NHS bodies for (a) regions, (b) districts and (c) trusts.

  Mr. Sackville
  We do not collect expenditure figures broken down by type of health care purchased from non-national health service bodies.

  Mesothelioma
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are her Department's latest estimates for levels of mesothelioma over the next 30 years; and if she will make a statement.
  329
  Mr. Sackville
  Information on the level of mesothelioma is not separately identified at present in Office of Population Censuses and Surveys figures. A review of the OPCS data collection is currently under way with a view to enabling separate identification.

  Clothier Inquiry
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to announce the findings of the Clothier inquiry.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  Shortly.

  Private Medical Insurance
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to arrange that future general household surveys provide details of private medical insurance in British households.

  Mr. Sackville
  The schedule of questions for the 1994 general household survey—GHS—was finalised some months ago. It is not possible to say at this time whether questions on private medical insurance are likely to be included in the 1995 GHS.

  District Health Authorities
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each district health authority(a) the current annual budget and (b) the current number of managerial staff.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  [holding answer 29 November 1993]: Information will be placed in the Library giving details of revenue expenditure for each district health authority in 1992–93. Information on current budgets and numbers of managerial staff is not available centrally.

  Travelling and Subsistence
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for 1991–92 and 1992–93 the expenditure on travelling and subsistence for(a) health regions, (b) health districts and (c) trusts.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  [holding answer 14 December 1993]: The information is shown in the table.

  Expenditure on travelling and subsistence

  £ thousands

  1991–92

  1992–93

  Regional health authorities

  18,165

  18,879

  District health authorities

  145,094

  122,410

  NHS trusts

  17,987

  55,827

  Note: Figures for 1992–93 are provisional.

  Source: Financial returns for regional health authorities, district health authorities and NHS trusts.

  Expenditure in real terms has fallen since 1990–91 due to good management of the national health service. The increased expenditure by NHS trusts reflects the increase in their numbers.

  Office Equipment
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for 1992–93 and 1991–92 the expenditure on office equipment by(a) regions, (b) districts and (c) trusts.
  330
  Mr. Sackville
  [holding answer 14 December 1993]: Information on revenue expenditure is shown in the table.

  Revenue expenditure on office equipment

  1991–92

  1992–93

  £ 000s

  £ 000s

  Regional Health Authorities

  2,767

  2,980

  District Health Authorities

  32,028

  30,873

  Trusts

  4,135

  12,725

  Note: The figures for 1992–93 are provisional.

  Source: The financial returns of regional health authorities, district health authorities and NHS trusts.

  Costs have remained roughly static in real terms since 1990–91. The increase in expenditure by National Health Service trusts reflects the increase in their numbers.

  NHS Trusts
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what circumstances public money is made available to assist in drawing up a proposal for trust status; on how many such occasions applications for trust status have failed or not been proceeded with; which potential trusts were involved; and what was the cost of drawing up the proposals.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  [holding answer 14 December 1993]: When expressions of interest in national health service trust status are approved by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health funds are made available to regional health authorities to assist those units in drawing up their applications. The table lists those applications which were withdrawn or deferred after the expression of interest was approved. Information about the cost of drawing up individual applications is not available centrally.

  Applications for NHS trust status withdrawn or deferred by wave of trust

  First Wave

  Brighton Acute Services

  St. Bartholomew's

  St. Thomas' Hospital

  Crawley/Horsham

  Bromley Acute

  Harefield Hospital

  Ravensbourne Priority Services

  North West Hertfordshire Priority Services

  Second Wave

  Northwick Park Hospital

  Royal London Homeopathic Hospital

  Bromley Healthcare

  Mid-Kent Health Care Services (Maidstone Acute)

  Princess Christian (Tonbridge Wells Mental Handicap)

  South Buckinghamshire (Wycombe Health Services)

  West Berkshire Mental Handicap Unit

  Horton General

  North West Durham Hospital and Community Services

  Mid Surrey Mental Handicap

  St. Bartholomew's (Dissolved before operational date of 1 April 1993)

  St. Thomas' Hospital (Dissolved before operational date of 1 April 1993

  Third Wave

  Essex and Hertfordshire Health Services

  Newham Healthcare

  Tavistock and Portman Clinics

  Stockport Health Services

  Queen Victoria East Grinstead

  Yardley Green

  Dewsbury Health Care

  Rehabilitation North

  331

  Tameside and Glossop

  Medway and Swale Healthcare

  Plymouth Acute Services

  Derbyshire Royal Infirmary

  Hull and East Yorkshire Community and Mental Health Services

  St. Georges Health Care (combined acute and community services application deferred, reconfigured application for acute services subsequently approved)

  North West Hertfordshire Acute

  Fourth Wave1

  The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital

  South Birmingham Acute

  Solihull Hospital

  Newcastle General Health

  Unityne

  West Sussex Ambulance

  East Sussex Ambulance

  Riverside Acute

  Hammersmith and Queen Charlottes

  1 The information for the fourth wave is the latest available as the fourth wave assessment process has not yet been completed.

  NHS Leavers
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employees who have left the NHS have required permission to join firms of management consultants in each of the last five years.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  [holding answer 17 December 1993]: This information is not available centrally. Employment issues such as this are the responsibility of local national health service employers. The Department of Health does not require employers to include any restrictive clause in employment contracts preventing employees from immediately taking up employment as a consultant after resigning from the NHS.

  GP Fundholders
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 13 December,Official Report, column 478, what amount of the fundholding allocation was retained by general practitioner fundholders in 1991–92 (a) in total and (b) in each region.

  Dr. Mawhinney
  [holding answer 17 December 1993]: The final audited savings for 1991–92 are now available and are shown in the table. Overall general practitioner fundholders retained £14.5 million efficiency savings which will be spent on further improving services for patients. This represents 3.6 per cent. of budgets set and is a considerable achievement by fundholders in the first year of the scheme.

  Region

  Fundholder savings retained in 1991–92 (£ million)

  Northern

  0.7

  Yorkshire

  1.1

  Trent

  1.5

  East Anglian

  0.6

  North West Thames

  0.9

  North East Thames

  1.0

  South East Thames

  0.7

  South West Thames

  1.6

  Wessex

  0.7

  Oxford

  1.1

  South Western

  0.5

  West Midlands

  2.5

  Mersey

  1.1

  North Western

  0.7

  332

  Region

  Fundholder savings retained in 1991–92 (£ million)

  England

  14.5

  Note: Figures do not add for England total due to rounding.

SCOTLAND

  Forestry Commission
  Sir Russell Johnston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what area of Forestry Commission land the Government requires the commission to sell by the end of the century; and what area it has sold in the last five years.

  Sir Hector Monro
  The Government asked the Forestry Commission in 1989 to dispose of 100,000 hectares of forestry land and properties during the period up to the end of the century. The commission has sold 32,000 hectares to date.

  Mr. George Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list all Forestry Commission woods in the Hamilton constituency; (2) what plans he has to sell off any of the woods in the Hamilton constituency under the current disposals programme of the Forestry Commission.

  Mr. Lang
  There are no Forestry Commission woodlands in the Hamilton constituency.

  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place a copy of the information contained in the Forestry Commission's sub-compartment data base in the Library.

  Sir Hector Monro
  [holding answer 11 January 1994]: A print of the Forestry Commission's sub-compartment database would cover about 12,000 pages and form a pile of paper about 3.5 ft high. It would be impractical to place this in the Library, although I would arrange for a copy to be delivered to the hon. Member if he wished.

  The Forestry Commission is, however, preparing a list of all its woodlands and I shall send a copy to the hon. Member. I shall also arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.

  British Rail Order
  Mr. George Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he will have completed consideration of the British Railways (No. 3) Provisional Order.

  Mr. Lang
  In line with the procedures laid down in the general orders under the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act 1936 which apply to this draft provisional order, discussions on the content of the order are taking place between my officials and the partlamentary agents acting on behalf of the promoters, British Rail. There is outstanding a petition against the draft order and if that petition is not withdrawn, an inquiry will require to be held before parliamentary commissioners. If the petition is withdrawn, I shall make arrangements for the order confirmation Bill to be introduced into Parliament as soon as possible after completion of these discussions and the necessary statutory procedures. It is hoped that the Bill will be in a position to receive Royal Assent before the Easter recess.
  333

  Mr. Laurence Peterken
  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when his views were sought on 5 November 1993 on the appointment of Mr. Laurence Peterken to the cost of special projects director with the national health service management executive; whether he had already been informed of the adverse comments made about Mr. Peterken, and the comments made in the letter of 6 August referred to at the Select Committee hearing on Wednesday 1 December; and on what date those comments were drawn to his attention.

  Mr. Stewart
  [holding answer 11 January 1994]: My right hon. Friend's views were sought on the possibility of Mr. Peterken being offered a post at national level on the afternoon of 5 November. He first became aware of the contents of the letter of 6 August on 23 November. He first became aware of some comments about Mr. Peterken's performance, both favourable and adverse, in February 1993 and of the content of Mr. Peterken's performance appraisal on 30 November.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his letter of 15 December 1993, to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill, if he will list the areas identified by the new NHS chief executive as requiring a short managerial review which will be undertaken by Mr. Laurence Peterken.

  Mr. Stewart
  [holding answer 11 January 1994]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State did not write to the hon. Member on 15 December 1993. Pursuant to the Minister of State's letter of that date, Mr. Peterken's first task is to review the organisation of the Common Services Agency, which employs 5,000 people and provides services worth £125 million. Thereafter, he will review the arrangements within the NHS for information services and management development.

  Advertising
  Mr. Matthew Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost of advertising by his Department has been for each year since 1979 and for each of the last 12 months.

  Mr. Lang
  [pursuant to his answer, 16 December 1993, c. 884–85]: Expenditure by my Department on advertising for each of the last 12 months has been:

  £

  January

  51,000

  February

  47,000

  March

  362,000

  April

  38,000

  May

  51,000

  June

  68,000

  July

  72,000

  August

  102,000

  September

  60,000

  October

  367,000

  November

  194,000

  December

  243,000

  334

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Road Accidents
  Mr. Hain
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the number of road accidents(a) per police officer and (b) per 100,000 population for each year since 1979 for the South Wales, Thames Valley, Kent, Iancashire, Avon and Somerset and Hampshire police authority areas; and what were the comparable totals for all non-metropolitan and Welsh non-metropolitan police authority areas.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  Information on ratios of police officers to population levels are contained in the appendices to the annual reports of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, copies of which are in the Library.

  Videos
  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to regulate the availability of videos for home viewing which contain gratuitously violent material.

  Mr. Maclean
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) on 16 December 1993,Official Report, column 780.

  Immigration Controls
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes were made in 1993 to the United Kingdom immigration control arrangements vis-à-vis other member states of the European Community; and what proposals he has to change those arrangements in 1994.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  No such changes to our immigration control arrangements were made in 1993. The possible changes outlined in my reply of 9 July 1993 to the hon. Member, at column 298, are still under consideration. However, as indicated in my reply of 15 December 1993, Official Report, column 655, to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Burton (Sir I. Lawrence), certain changes to embarkation checks will be introduced on 1 February 1994.

  Bryn Melyn
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigations he has made into the background to professional qualifications and success record of the Bryn Melyn centre for young offenders prior to his comments to the media on the centre's use of away-from-base treatment on 29 December 1993.

  Mr. Maclean
  My right hon. and learned Friend's comments on 29 December 1993 were concerned with the relative powers under existing law of courts and social services departments to make decisions on how to deal with young offenders, and with the changes in the balance of these powers proposed in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill which is currently before Parliament.
  335

  European Economic Area
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the provisions of the European Economic Area agreement to extend the free movement provisions of the EC's single market which came into effect on 1 January.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Burton (Sir I. Lawrence) on 17 December 1993,Official Report, column 956.

  Refugees
  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people had their refugee status withdrawn in the last 12 months for which figures are available, and one year and two years earlier.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The available indications are that the number of such cases is small.

  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the guidelines laying down the personal circumstances he takes into account in deciding whether it is appropriate in a particular case to remove the grant of exceptional leave to remain.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  There are no set guidelines, but it might be appropriate not to renew exceptional leave to remain where, for instance, the particular circumstances which had led to its grant had ceased to apply.

  Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
  Mr. Beggs
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many dogs have been destroyed as a result of action taken under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991;

  Defendants Proceeded Against at Magistrates Courts for Offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

  Aggravated offences

  Non-aggravated offences

  England and Wales 1992

  Section 1(2)(a)

  Section 1(2)(b)

  Section 1(2)(c)

  Section 1(2)(d)

  Section 1(2)(e)

  Section 1(3)

  Section 3(1)

  Section 3(3)

  Section 3(1)

  Section 3(3)

  Total proceeded against

  31

  4

  3

  187

  27

  209

  310

  20

  389

  30

  Proceedings discontinued

  5

  1

  —

  44

  6

  30

  35

  5

  37

  4

  Withdrawn or dismissed

  15

  —

  1

  56

  11

  54

  122

  7

  168

  16

  Total found guilty

  11

  3

  2

  85

  10

  125

  123

  8

  181

  10

  Total committed for sentence

  11

  3

  2

  85

  10

  124

  123

  8

  181

  10

  Absolute discharge

  4

  —

  1

  6

  2

  12

  6

  —

  11

  —

  Conditional disharge

  1

  1

  —

  17

  —

  40

  27

  3

  37

  4

  Fine

  5

  2

  1

  59

  7

  65

  49

  5

  112

  6

  Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Immediate custody

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  Otherwise dealt with

  1

  —

  —

  2

  1

  7

  41

  —

  21

  —

  Note: There were no probation or supervision orders imposed.

  Defendants found guilty at Crown Court for offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 England and Wales 1992

  Section 3(1) aggravated

  Section 3(3) offences

  Total found guilty

  8

  —

  Total committed for sentence

  8

  —

  Conditional discharge

  3

  —

  Fine

  3

  —

  Otherwise dealt with

  2

  —

  336
  (2) what plans he has to amend or review the operation of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991;

  (3) what has been the annual cost to public funds of legal proceedings brought under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Information on the number of dogs destroyed, and on the cost of legal proceedings in connection with action taken under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, is not collected centrally. However, information on the number of prosecutions, convictions and cautions under the Act during 1992, the first full year of its operation, is given in the tables.

  The Act is kept under continuing review. We shall shortly be issuing a further Home Office circular on aspects of the operation of the legislation, but I have no plans to amend the Act.

  Defendants cautioned for offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

  England and Wales 1992

  Section 1 (2) (a)

  4

  Section 1 (2) (b)

  2

  Section 1 (2) (c)

  —

  Section 1 (2) (d)

  10

  Section 1 (2) (e)

  —

  Section 1 (3)

  24

  Section 3 (1)1

  21

  Section 3 (3)1

  5

  Section 3 (1)2

  143

  Section 3 (3)2

  3

  1 Aggravated offences.

  2 Non-aggravated offences.

  Animal Experiments
  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many(a) designated scientific procedure establishments, (b) procedures carried out by these establishments and (c) project licence holders carrying out these procedures there were in the most recent year for which figures are available;

  (2) how many (a) Home Office inspectors by rank and (b) support staff dealt with experiments on live animals at designated establishments in the most recent year for which figures are available;
  337
  (3) how many (a) new project licences and (b) new personal licences for scientific procedures on animals were issued in the most recent year for which figures are available.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Information about the number of designated establishments, procedures, project licence holders and inspectors is published annually in "Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals: Great Britain", 1992: Cm 2356.

  Information about licences issued in 1992 is given in the report of the Animal Procedures Committee for 1992, Cm 2301.

  The inspectors are given administrative support by 19 staff who are also responsible for the processing of the licensing arrangements under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present cost of(a) a personal licence under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, (b) a certificate designating a scientific procedure establishment and (c) a certificate designating a breeding and supplying establishment; and how much these fees raised in the most recent year for which figures are available.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The fees to be charged in respect of 1993 are:

  (a) £108

  (b) £120

  (c) £545

  It is estimated that these fees will raise £2.4 million.

  Animal Procedures Committee
  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the cost of the Animal Procedures Committee in the most recent year for which figures are available;

  (2) how many full and part-time staff are presently working for the Animal Procedures Committee;

  (3) if he will list the members of the Animal Procedures Committee showing what organisation or interest they represent.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  For 1993–94, the estimated cost of the Animal Procedures Committee is £16,663.

  The committee is served by two part-time members of staff.

  The membership of the Animal Procedures Committee as at 1 January 1994 is as follows:

  Professor Margaret Brazier, LLB (Chairman), Professor of Law, University of Manchester.

  Dr. Michael Balls, MA PhD FIBiol, Head of the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM); Chairman of the Trustees of the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME).

  Mr. Edward Bernard, FIAT, Chairman, Serotec Ltd.

  Professor Barry Bridges, BSc MD, former Professor of Histology, Queen's University, Belfast.

  Dr. Fiona Broughton Pipkin, MA DPhil, Professor of Perinatal Physiology, University of Nottingham.

  Professor Anthony Dayan, MD FRCP FRCPath FFPM FIBiol. Professor of Toxicology, St. Bartholomew's Hospital.

  Mr. Roger Ewbank, OBE MVSc FIBiol MRCVS, Director of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW).

  Mr. Clive Hollands, Secretary to the Committee for the Reform of Animal Experimentation (CRAE).

  Sir Andrew Huxley, OM FRS, Past President, Royal Society.

  Dr. Susan Iversen, MA PhD, Academic Head of the Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University.

  338

  Dr. Brian Newbould, BPharm FPS PhD MCPP, formerly Director, International Research Affairs, Zeneca Ltd.

  Dr. Onora O'Neill, MA PhD, Principal, Newham College Cambridge.

  Professor Lord Soulsby, MA PhD DVSM AM DSc MRCVS, formerly Professor of Animal Pathology, University of Cambridge.

  Professor Michael Spyer, BSc, PhD DSc, Professor of Physiology, Royal Free Hospital Medical School.

  Dr. Anthony J. Suckling BSC PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of the RSPCA.

  Deportations
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been deported under escort in 1991, 1992 and 1993; how many of these were arrested and/or deported under any kind of physical restraint; how many cases involved private security guards; how many had been previously found guilty of a criminal offence; and what was the cost of these operations.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The numbers of deportation orders enforced and the numbers of those enforced following a court recommendation on conviction of a criminal offence were as follows:

  1991

  1992

  199312

  Total

  641

  873

  544

  Following a court recommendation

  385

  474

  259

  1 Provisional

  2 First six months

  Race Relations Act 1976
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider proposing the removal from the Race Relations Act 1976 of the exemption of immigration law and practice; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  No; the existing complaints system—monitored by the new complaints audit committee—and disciplinary procedures provide adequate safeguards.

  Exceptional Leave to Remain
  Mr. Corbett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many cases of removal of exceptional leave to remain, in the last 12 months for which figures are available, were because of the cancellation of policies towards individual countries and how many arose from individual circumstances;

  (2) how many people granted exceptional leave to remain have had such leave (a) revoked and (b) not renewed in the past 12 months for which figures are available, and one year and two years earlier.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Complete information on the number of persons with exceptional leave whose leave was revoked is not available, but the available indications are that the number is small. The available information for 1992 suggests that the number of persons refused an extension of exceptional leave does not exceed a figure of the order of 15.
  339

  UN Human Rights Committee
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 December 1993,Official Report, columns 680–81, if he will list those non-governmental organisations, hon. Members and others who will be consulted in the formation of the policies to be recorded in the United Kingdom's fourth periodic report to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations in August.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The report will record the numerous existing Government policies, which fulfil the United Kingdom's obligations under the United Nations international covenant on civil and political rights. Information about the organisations and individuals who have been consulted in the formation of these policies is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  Immigration Complaints Body
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home. Department if he will provide the full address and telephone numbers of the new immigration complaints body; and if he will make it available to all those wishing to lodge a formal complaint about their treatment at Gatwick airport on 21 December 1993.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Anyone who feels aggrieved by his or her treatment by the immigration and nationality department should write to:

  Immigration and Nationality Department

  Complaints Unit

  Room 1213

  Lunar House

  40 Wellesley Road Croydon CR9 2BY Fax: 081–759 7215

  The independent complaints audit committee—CAC—recently appointed to monitor the complaints system, is not responsible for the investigation of individual complaints.

  General correspondence for the CAC should be marked "Complaints Audit Committee" and sent to the above address at Lunar house.

  Card Phones
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the difference in cost to the user between card phones situated in prisons and those situated elsewhere.

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

  Letter from A. J. Butler to Mrs. Barbara Roche, dated 14 January 1994:

  The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the cost to the user of calls from card phones situated in prisons, and those situated elsewhere.

  Calls from card phones situated in prisons are charged on exactly the same basis as calls from BT card phones situated elsewhere.
  340

  Anti-terrorist Measures
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police authorities have been granted an increase in their capital budget for(a) closed circuit television schemes and (b) other anti-terrorist measures in each of the last five years.

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

  Salman Rushdie
  Mr. Gallie
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to allow the author Salman Rushdie to achieve a degree of anonymity which will reduce the risk to him in the future; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Arrangements for protecting Mr. Rushdie are an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. It would be inappropriate to comment further on these arrangements.

  Security Service
  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give a detailed breakdown of the costs involved in preparing the building in Millbank to be used by the Security Service; if he will give the final figure involved; what authorisation was given for all the art, decoration and fittings for the use of the Security Service; and by whom that authorisation was given.

  Mr. Howard
  The projected outturn cost of the work on Thames house is £227 million. Part of the cost relates to the specialist nature of Security Service requirements on which I am not prepared to comment further. As Thames house is a listed building, some work is being carried out as a result of the requirements of English Heritage.

  Burglars
  Mr. Sykes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he holds on the reconviction rates of imprisoned burglars, on a comparable basis to the figures he has quoted on domestic burglars given community service orders in 1987.

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

  Deported Jamaicans
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passengers on flight KT 311 from Kingston, Jamaica, were refused entry at Gatwick airport on 15 December 1993; and what were the reasons for the refusals.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  Thirty-eight people who arrived on flight BA 1262—KT 311 from Kingston—on 15 December 1993 were refused leave to enter of whom 33 have been removed. The reason for refusal in each case was that the immigration officer was not satisfied that the passenger was genuinely seeking entry for the period of the visit as stated by him.

  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visitors from Jamaica were held at(a) Campsfield detention centre, Oxfordshire, and (b)

  341
  Newhaven detention centre, East Sussex, over the period 21 to 23 December 1993; and what were the reasons for their detention.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The number of passengers who had arrived at Gatwick airport on flight JQ 001 from Jamaica who were held at Campsfield house or the Newhaven detention centre for the period 21 to 23 December 1993 was as follows:

  Date

  Detention Centre

  Number of Detainees

  Night of 21–22 December 1993

  Campsfield House

  49

  Newhaven

  4

  Night of 22–23 December 1993

  Campsfield House

  22

  Newhaven

  4

  Night of 23–24 December 1993

  Campsfield House

  22

  Newhaven

  4

  Each case was considered on its merits and detention was authorised only when the immigration service considered that the person concerned was not likely to comply with the terms of temporary admission.

  In addition, one other Jamaican national was detained at Campsfield house during this period.

  Immigration
  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received in relation to immigration issues concerning passengers from Jamaica on 21 December 1993; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  About 80 letters have been received about individual cases or wider issues.

  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will place in the Library the correspondence and any other documents relating to the immigration issues concerning the flight from Jamaica on 21 December 1993; and if he will make a statement;

  (2) if he will make a statement about immigration issues in respect of passengers from Jamaica on 21 December 1993.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  I have arranged for a copy of my reply today, to the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen), about the arrival of flight JQ 001 from Kingston, to be placed in the Library.

  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he had prior discussions with the airline or the travel agents about immigration issues for passengers flying from Jamaica on 21 December 1993; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  On 16 December the immigration service was telephoned by the airline and the chatterer. They inquired about the desirability of the passengers obtaining prior entry clearance; about the possibility of incurring carriers' liability charges; and whether it would be possible to send an immigration officer to Kingston to examine the passengers before embarkation.

  They were advised by the immigration service that carriers' liability was unlikely to be a problem provided that the passengers held a valid passport; and that prior entry clearance was not required for Jamaican citizens,
  342
  although they were encouraged to apply if in any doubt about their eligibility for admission. They were also informed that pre-clearance in Kingston would not be possible. There are no standing arrangements for the immigration service to operate controls overseas, and even if such an arrangement had been thought desirable it would not have been possible to conclude the necessary agreements with the Jamaican authorities in the short time available.

  The immigration service subsequently confirmed with the airline the expected time of arrival, aircraft type and the expected number of passengers, and logistical arrangements for disembarkation were discussed with the airline's handling agents. The airline also provided the immigration service with a passenger manifest three and a half hours prior to the aircraft's arrival at Gatwick.

  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passengers from Jamaica on 21 December 1993 were(a) allowed to remain and (b) deported; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  There were 326 passengers on flight JQ 001 from Kingston. On 12 January 1994, 67 passengers had been refused leave to enter of whom 33 had been removed. Five cases have still to be resolved.

  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what immigration procedures are applied to passengers travelling from Jamaica on(a) scheduled and (b) charter flights; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  All passengers who seek leave to enter the United Kingdom are examined by an immigration officer and must satisfy him that they quality for entry under the immigration rules.

  Vladimir Zhirinovsky
  Mr. Winnick
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is the policy of the Government to refuse permission of the Russian citizen, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, to enter the United Kingdom.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  It is open to the Home Secretary to direct personally that entry be refused to a foreign national whose exclusion would be conducive to the public good. Consideration is given to the individual merits of any case, and account taken of the purpose of any proposed visit and all the relevant circumstances.

  Joy Gardner
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the Police Complaints Authority's investigation into the death of Joy Gardner to report.

  Mr. Charles Wardle
  The police investigation into the death of Mrs. Gardner is being supervised by the Police Complaints Authority and it is a matter for the authority itself to decide when the investigation has been completed to its satisfaction.

  Charitable Bodies
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hospitals and trusts have within them a registered charitable body; and if he will make a statement.
  343
  Mr. Peter Lloyd
  The Charity Commissioners are currently conducting a review of such bodies for the purpose of updating the register of charities and precise figures are not available at present.

  The great majority of NHS trusts are trustees of charitable funds which have been transferred to them from health authorities. There are also 26 groups of special trustees responsible for funds attached to teaching hospitals. In some cases, a single NHS trust may administer as many as 100 different charitable funds.

DEFENCE

  Defence Costs Study
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) pursuant to his answer of 14 December,Official Report, column 631, if he is now prepared to state (a) the number of study teams and (b) each of the different areas of support businesses they will be examining;

  (2) pursuant to his answer of 14 December, Official Report, column 631, whether he is now prepared to list each of the aspects of support that he will be looking at as part of the defence costs study; and if he is now prepared to provide detailed information on their current functions and costs.

  Mr. Aitken
  The defence costs study is looking at all aspects of support to the front line. So far 16 individual studies have been set in hand to examine particular areas. These are the MOD's organisation and function; service HQs, command and top-level budget structures; MOD police; research and development; procurement projects and practices; the function and organisation of the Procurement Executive; a review of the market-testing programme; financial management; defence estate and property; repair, spares, storage, distribution and infrastructure; military training; recruiting and manning; medical support; non-operational information technology; security; and naval support infrastructure. I am arranging for a short note explaining more about each of these studies to be placed in the Library of the House. A number of other areas are under consideration, and additional studies will continue to be added to this list. The function and costs of support organisations will be analysed as part of the study.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communications he has had with his NATO counterparts relating to his defence costs study; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Aitken
  My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence outlined the purpose and scope of the defence costs study to his NATO counterparts at a Defence Planning Committee meeting held in Brussels on 8 and 9 December 1993.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 14 December,Official Report, column 632, if he will provide details of the rank or civil service grade of the members of the secretariat established to co-ordinate work on the defence costs study.

  Mr. Aitken
  The full-time secretariat team established to co-ordinate the defence costs study comprises an air vice marshall, a grade 5, a captain RN, a colonel, a grade 7, a higher executive officer (development), an administrative 344
  officer and a personal assistant. In addition, a grade 3 is also working on the study as part of his existing responsibility.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communication took place between his officials and members of the media on the subject of the defence costs study on 20 December 1993; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Aitken
  Selected journalists were given a background briefing on the defence costs study on 20 December 1993 by a senior Ministry of Defence official.

  Married Quarters
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what changes will result in the arrangements for financing capital expenditure on married quarters as a result of his plans to transfer the administration of married quarters to a housing trust; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hanley
  After the transfer of the Ministry of Defence married quarter estate to a housing trust, responsibility for capital expenditure on the estate will be assumed by the trust. The Ministry of Defence will pay rent on those properties required to meet the accommodation requirements of service personnel.

  Joint Training Exercises
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will consider the deployment of battalion-sized groups for joint training exercises with former Warsaw pact forces; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hanley
  The prospect of joint military activities, and peacekeeping field exercises within the framework of "Partnership for Peace", was unveiled at the NATO summit meeting in Brussels earlier this week. In addition, the MOD is currently considering the specific possibilities for British land forces, initially at company level, to conduct joint training and exercises with some of our North Atlantic Co-operation Council partners.

  General Cordy-Simpson
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to ensure that the recent experiences of General Cordy-Simpson have been incorporated into(a) training procedures and (b) the development of new doctrine; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hanley
  A formal and institutionalised mechanism already exists for debriefing commanders at all levels on return from all operations; United Nations operations are no exception. Their observations and lessons are used to provide ongoing assessment and validation of both doctrine and training.

  United Nations Military Operations
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department has taken to assist the United Nations in improving its contingency planning arrangements for military operations; and if he will make a statement.
  345
  Mr. Hanley
  In his report "An Agenda for Peace", the United Nations Secretary-General identified the need to strengthen the United Nation's capacity to conduct peace support operations and invited member states to make proposals in this regard. The United Kingdom' s reply included suggestions for reinforcing the United Nation's planning mechanisms. The Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office continue to be actively involved in discussions aimed at taking these suggestions forward. In addition, the United Kingdom is co-operating fully with the United Nations standby forces planning team. Five military personnel are attached to the United Nations secretariat and agreement has been given in principle to a request for two more officers to be made available.

  United Nations Military Intelligence
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he is prepared to assist in the development of a United Nations military intelligence capability; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hanley
  A considerable volume of information is already available to the United Nations from a variety of sources and there is scope for enhancement of its ability to marshall and analyse this. The United Kingdom is ready to consider requests for assistance in this area. It would, however, be prohibitively expensive and unnecessary for the United Nations to develop its own military information capability.

  Royal Ordnance
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has concerning the commercial relationship between Royal Ordnance and Heckler and Koch(a) prior to 1987 and (b) since 1987.

  Mr. Aitken
  A licence agreement between Heckler and Koch GmbH and the Secretary of State for Defence was signed in April 1970, with amendments completed in February 1972 and December 1977. Under the terms of the licence, royal small arms factory Enfield built various Heckler and Koch weapons and sold these to Heckler and Koch (UK). The licence transferred to RO plc on incorporation of the latter on 2 January 1985. The Secretary of State for Defence has had no responsibility for the affairs of RO plc since its sale to British Aerospace plc.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how export control legislation was applied to the activities of Royal Ordnance(a) before and (b) after privatisation; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Aitken
  Prior to 2 January 1985, when the royal ordnance factories became a plc, any sales made directly through the defence exports sales supply division had Crown status, and were therefore not subject to licensing. All other exports of ROF equipment were subject to the normal licensing requirements. From 2 January 1985, all exports by RO were subject to licensing.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has concerning(a) the sale of rocket propellant to Iraq by Royal Ordnance and (b) assistance provided by Royal Ordnance to Iran for the construction of a weapons plant; and if he will make a statement.
  346
  Mr. Aitken
  Matters relating to the export of United Kingdom defence equipment and dual use goods to Iraq are being investigated by Lord Justice Scott, and it would be inappropriate to comment on them before the publication of his final report. My Department holds no information to support the suggestion that Royal Ordnance provided assistance to Iran in the construction of a weapons plant.

  HMS Intrepid
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 December,Official Report, column 918, what communications he has had with his NATO counterparts relating to the operational status of HMS Intrepid; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hanley
  Details of the operational status of all forces declared to NATO, which include HMS Intrepid, are made available to NATO, and to all NATO partners, on an annual basis.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 December,Official Report, column 918, what plans he has to return HMS Intrepid to operational status.

  Mr. Hanley
  HMS Intrepid is at present held in a state of extended readiness at Portsmouth. On current plans, she would be returned to operational status only in the event of an emergency.

  Defence Research Agency
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether he will publish copies of the customer satisfaction surveys carried out by the Defence Research Agency in the last three years;

  (2) what measures are used to assess the quality of service provided by the Defence Research Agency other than the customer satisfaction survey; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Aitken
  This is a matter delegated to the Defence Research Agency under its framework document. I have therefore asked the chief executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

  Letter from John Chisholm to Dr. David Clark, dated 14 January 1994:

  In today's written answer the Minister of State for Defence Procurement informed you that I would be replying to your two questions about the quality of service-provided by the DRA and the customer satisfaction survey.

  I will deal with the customer satisfaction survey first. As I said in my answer of 16 December the survey is very extensive and is undertaken each year by an independent contractor experienced in this sort of work. The detailed results of the analysis are presented to me in a report by the contractor. Since this report includes information which has been collected in confidence it would not be right for me to put it into the public domain.

  What I can say, however, is that the first two surveys showed a consistent picture and that our customers recognise that we are making good progress in achieving better performance. As I said in my last answer we analyse our performance against eight criteria: overall customer satisfaction, technical quality, facilities, staff reputation, understanding our customers' needs, project management and formal quality. The surveys showed the DRA scoring well on the first five criteria particularly technical quality and understanding of customers' needs. The 1992 survey showed a real improvement in responsiveness over the 1991 survey. Both surveys showed we had work to do in project management and

  347
  formal quality. This is not surprising as the DRA has only had a formal customer/supplier relationship since becoming a Trading Fund in April 1993. Before this the organisation did not operate on a project basis and had no requirement for formal quality certification. I shall be looking with interest at the results of the 1993 survey (which I will receive shortly) to see if the benefits of the initiatives we have launched to correct those weaknesses have yet been detected by our customers.

  You also asked what other measures we use beside the survey to gauge the quality of the service we offer. The major measure which is also one of my key performance targets, is achievement of customer programme "milestones". This means achieving a specific technical goal on time and to cost. We started from a low base level of only 50℅ in 1991/92 and our target is to reach 85℅ by 1997/98. But in fact we are already this year likely to achieve in excess of 80℅ which reflects very well on the enthusiasm of the organisation to turn itself into an efficient customer oriented business. Additionally we have some indication of the underlying scientific quality of our work through the peer group assessments of the quality of our strategic research proposals. These too show a steady improvement over the last three years.

  Royal Anglian Regiment
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what training the 2nd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment, has received in the last six months in(a) route clearing, (b) anti-ambush drills, (c) convoy control, (d) driving techniques and (e) basic language skills; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hanley
  The 2nd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment, has been identified as the possible replacement for 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards, if a further sixmonths deployment were to be undertaken, and will undertake formal Operation Grapple training in February and March this year. The battalion 'already has considerable experience in route clearing, anti-ambush drills and driving techniques. Liaison officers with training in Serbo-Croat would be attached to the battalion if it deployed. No decisions have been taken about a further roulement of British forces in Bosnia in April/May this year.

  10 Squadron
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 December,Official Report, column 909, what assessment he has made as to whether the repayments provided to his Department as a result of the non-defence tasks carried out by 10 Squadron are at an appropriate level; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hanley
  Repayment charges for non-defence tasks carried out by 10 Squadron are at an appropriate level. The criteria used for determining repayment charges accords with the rules and regulations set out in Government accounting and departmental guidelines.

  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 pecember,Official Report, column 909, what were the numbers and types of (a) non-defence specific tasks and (b) defence specific tasks carried out by 10 Squadron in 1992–93.

  Mr. Hanley
  In 1992–93, there were 17 repayment flights in respect of non-defence specific tasks, comprising nine for my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, and eight for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

  The repayment flights in respect of defence-specific flights are as follows:
  348

  48 Operational flights in support of UN operations in the former Republic of Yugoslavia;

  192 Weekly scheduled flights to Washington, Belize and Decimomannu;

  195 Flights in support of exercises (Tri-service requirement);

  105 Special flights, including medical evacuations;
  and some 360 hours of Squadron training flights.

  Heckler and Koch
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has concerning the use of Heckler and Koch weapons during the recent conflict in Cambodia; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Aitken
  My Department has no firm information concerning the use of Heckler and Koch weapons during the recent Cambodian conflict.

  Royal Yacht
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 December,Official Report, column 916, what was the cost of the refit of the royal yacht in 1991 and the nature of the work undertaken.

  Mr. Aitken
  The cost of the refit of the royal yacht in 1991 was some £7.2 million. The work involved fitting new sewage treatment plants; major repairs to the hull; refurbishment of steam and electric generators, main boilers and condensers and a complete repaint.

  RAF Support Command
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 December,Official Report, column 907, whether he will publish the reports of efficiency savings at the stations and units within the RAF Support Command maintenance group.

  Mr. Hanley
  In the financial year—FY—1992–93, the RAF Support Command maintenance group achieved efficiency savings of £12,900,000. In FY 1993–94, the group is forecasting efficiency savings of £16,200,000. Details of efficiency savings are published in the Maintenance Group Defence Agency's annual report and accounts, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

  War Crimes, Bosnia
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 8 December,Official Report, column 290, if he will provide details of the number of occasions on which information on alleged war crimes in Bosnia has been passed to the relevant United Nation authorities by British forces.

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

  Departmental Objectives
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 10 December,Official Report, column 423, if he will provide details of the types of quantitive data used in his assessment of performance aganist departmental standing objectives; and if he will make a statement.

  Mr. Hanley
  The quantitative aspect of performance review in the Department is based, first, on indicators of
  349
  military capability and readiness for forces and headquarters; these include manning levels, the availability of equipment, and levels of collective training. In addition, a significant amount of data is available to assess progress with management initiatives such as the efficiency programme, market testing and next steps reviews. The performance of the Procurement Executive is monitored by indicators of the health of major projects. Budgetary data are also employed.

  RAF Carlisle
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the full study report and costings which formed the basis of the decision to close 14 maintenance unit, RAF Carlisle.

  Mr. Hanley
  It would not be appropriate to release the full study report and costings. A consultation document covering the factors involved has been issued to all interested parties, and further detailed information will be provided where appropriate.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement outlining the impact on other MOD establishments within the area of closing 14 maintenance unit, RAF Carlisle.

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

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the value of all refurbishment work carried out at 14 maintenance unit, RAF Carlisle over the last five years.

  Mr. Hanley
  Over the last five years, £31 million has been spent on minor new build and refurbishment at RAF Carlisle.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how the decision to close 14 maintenance unit, RAF Carlisle is compatible with his announcement on "front line first".

  Mr. Hanley
  The defence cost study will be taking a new and radical look at all aspects of support, with the aim of identifying further areas where we can reduce costs. The proposals to rationalise the support provided to the RAF at the equipment supply depots by reducing to a single depot, which originated before the "front line first" programme was instituted, are entirely consistent with that aim.
  350
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make more time available for the consultation process on the decision to close 14 maintenance unit, RAF Carlisle.

  Mr. Hanley
  At the request of the local trade unions at our meeting last month, I agreed that the consultation period should be extended by one month to 18 March 1994.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the transfer of posts to go from 14 maintenance unit, RAF Carlisle to 16 maintenance unit, RAF with an estimate of people and grades required for transfer.

  Mr. Hanley
  As indicated in the consultative document, a copy of which is in the Library of the House, it is estimated that some 332 civilian posts would be relocated. It is not possible at this stage to be specific about the numbers and grades of personnel required for transfer.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make an official visit to 14 maintenance unit, RAF Carlisle to discuss plans to close the unit by 1997.

  Mr. Hanley
  I have already indicated to local representatives my intention to visit RAF Carlisle to discuss our proposals during the period of consultation.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration has been given to the alternative plan to make savings submitted by the trade unions involved in 14 maintenance unit, RAF Carlisle.

  Mr. Hanley
  We have not yet received the trade union plan; when we do, we shall, of course, give it due consideration.

  RAF Equipment Supply Depots
  Mr. Martlew
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make available to the trade union representatives at RAF Carlisle, RAF Quedgeley and RAF Stafford the review report into the equipment supply depots of the RAF.

  Mr. Hanley
  It would not be appropriate to release the full study report and costings. A consultation document covering the factors involved has been issued to all interested parties, and further information will be provided where appropriate.