Written Answers of 16 July 1996

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Taxi Fares
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent in meeting the costs of taxi cab fares in the 1995–96 financial year. [36015]

  Sir John Wheeler
  In the departments of economic development, education, finance and personnel and the Northern Ireland Office a total of £81,959 was spent in meeting the costs of taxi cab fares in the 1995–96 financial year. To provide this information for the departments of the environment, health and social services and agriculture would incur disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Colin Duffy
  Mr. Mullin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 3 July,Official Report, columns 477–78, what payments have been made by the RUC to Mr. Colin Duffy; and on what dates. [36264]

  Sir John Wheeler
  The RUC has made no payments to Mr. Colin Duffy.

PRIME MINISTER

  National Debt
  Mr. Wilson
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on trends in the level of national debt since 1990. [35821]

  The Prime Minister
  There are a number of different measures of public debt. On the measure used for the European Union excessive deficits procedure, the general Government gross debt—GGGD/GDP—ratio remains lower than any other EU member state apart from Luxembourg and France.

  Since 1991, the GGGD/GDP ratio has averaged 44 per cent. Under the last Labour Government, the GGGD/GDP ratio averaged 62 per cent.

  European Court of Justice
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Prime Minister what assessments he has made of the(a) advantages and (b) disadvantages to the United Kingdom of the European Court of Justice. [37734]

  The Prime Minister
  The advantages and disadvantages to the United Kingdom of the European Court of Justice were set out in the White Paper, "A Partnership of Nations".

  Engagements
  Sir Peter Tapsell
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 16 July. [36062]

  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 16 July. [36063]

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

  Berlin Bombing 1986
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Southend, East (Sir T. Taylor) of 24 June,Official Report, column 14, what discussions Her Majesty's Government have had with (a) the German, (b) the Lebanese and (c) the United States authorities about the activities of Yassar al-Shuraidi alias Yousef-Salam; and if he will make a statement. [36926]

  The Prime Minister
  We have had occasional contact with the German and United States' authorities about the activities of Yassar al-Shuraidi alias Yousef Salam, but not with the Lebanese authorities, with whom there is no reason to do so.

  Bilateral discussions are conducted on the basis of confidence and trust between interlocutors. The substance of such discussions cannot be made public.

ENVIRONMENT

  Sewage Treatment, Isle of Wight
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the deadline for an application from Southern Water for the transfer of flows from Woodvale, Cowes, Ryde and Norton to Sandown; and what alterations to the treatment of sewage for these outfalls would be required to comply with the EC urban wastewater treatment directive if they are not so transferred. [36820]

  Mr. Clappison
  The urban waste water treatment directive requires appropriate treatment to be provided by the end of 2000. If the discharges form Woodvale, Cowes, Ryde and Norton are transferred out of the Solent then an application will have to be submitted in order to meet this deadline. If the discharges remain in the Solent secondary treatment will be required for each of them and they will have to comply with the same timescale.

  Sandown Bay
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what studies the Environment Agency is undertaking of the sub-surface current in Sandown bay. [36845]

  Mr. Clappison
  All studies relevant to the assessment of continual high natural dispersion area status at Sandown bay are being undertaken by Southern Water Services. These are comprehensive in accordance with national guidelines and include modelling of water
  431
  movement. The Environment Agency will assess these studies and will not certify that HNDA status can continue unless it is satisfied that the results justify this response.

  Mr. Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the difference in the designation of the waters of the Solent and Sandown bay so far as future treatment requirements are concerned. [36821]

  Mr. Clappison
  Sandown bay is designated as a high natural dispersion area. The directive allows for a minimum of primary treatment for discharges into high natural dispersion areas, subject to comprehensive studies, currently being conducted, demonstrating that primary treated discharges will not adversely affect the environment. If this is not demonstrated by the studies, secondary treatment will be required. The Solent is not designated as a high natural dispersion area. Sewage discharges into the Solent serving a population equivalent of greater than 2,000 would be subject to secondary treatment.

  Mr. Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the four-yearly review of the designation of Sandown bay as a high natural dispersion area to be completed. [36819]

  Mr. Clappison
  In accordance with the deadline stipulated in the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994, the first four yearly review of the designation of Sandown bay as a high natural dispersion area is proposed to be completed by the end of 1997.

  Eye Tests
  Mr. Harvey
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations the Health and Safety Executive has received in each of the last five years from employees concerned that their employer has not ensured that they have their eyes tested in accordance with regulations; how many of these inquiries have led to prosecutions; and if he will make a statement. [37079]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  Information on representations from employees concerning eye tests is not readily available in the form requested. No prosecutions have been brought by the Health and Safety Executive concerning the provision of eye tests.

  Isle of Wight (Expenditure)
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total annual expenditure of his Department on the Isle of Wight, including the cost of administration. [36914]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  The annual expenditure of my Department on the Isle of Wight during the year 1995–96 was over £69 million.

  The indicative or planned expenditure for 19961995–97 is over £71 million.
  432
  These figures include:

  1995–96 £

  1996–97 £

  Housing investment programme allocation

  1,797,000

  1,616,000

  Revenue support grant

  40,369,000

  39,880,000

  Non-domestic rates

  26,855,000

  30,019,000

  Regional innovation grant (approximately)

  80,000

  80,000

  SRB challenge fund

  Nil

  169,000

  River Thames Working Party
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the members of the River Thames working party indicating who appointed them; and what salary and expenses they are paid. [37197]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  The Thames advisory group provides advice to the Secretary of State for the Environment on a range of issues relating to the River Thames. It is chaired by the Secretary of State and its members are: the Minister for Transport in London, Alan Baxter, Michael Cassidy, Sir Philip Dowson, Paul Finch, Councillor Nicky Gavron, Christopher Howes, Simon Jenkins, Stuart Lipton, Richard MacCormac, Christopher Moran, Sir Richard Rogers, Eric Sorensen, Stewart Steven and Kim Wilkie. Members are appointed by invitation of the Secretary of State and receive no salary or expenses.

  The River Thames working group considers transport issues related to the Thames. It is chaired by the Minister for Transport in London and its members are: David Bayliss, Robin Clement, David Jeffery, Fred Manson, Eric Sorensen and Irving Yass. Members are appointed by invitation of the Minister and receive no salary or expenses.

  Parliamentary Questions
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 14 March,Official Report, column 694 about parliamentary questions, what method would be used by his Department in collating the information requested. [37540]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  The examination of about 36,5421 files dating back to 1987–88.

  1 Source: POLIS.

  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 28 March,Official report, column 710, about parliamentary questions, what method would be used by his Department in collating the information requested. [37526]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  The examination of about 30,7741 files dating back to 1988–89.

  1 Source: POLIS.

  Limestone Pavements
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his letter G/PSO/8040/96 to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what assessment he has made of the success of the Limestone pavement action group's attempts to raise public awareness of the problem
  433
  of vandalism against limestone pavements and the campaign to highlight the alternative rockery materials available; and if he will make a statement. [36646]

  Mr. Clappison
  None. The Government are content that the provisions under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to protect limestone pavements are adequate. However, the limestone pavement action group's efforts to draw the public's attention to the need to conserve this important habitat are welcome.

  Residential Apartments
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the companies who lease residential apartments at Birmingham Heartlands, Black Country, London Docklands, Merseyside development corporation, Trafford Park and Tyne and Wear; and if he will make a statement. [37544]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  Lists of the companies which lease residential apartments in these areas are not held by the respective urban development corporations.

  Ordnance Survey
  Mr. Deva
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the Ordnance Survey strategic plan for 1996–2001. [37408]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  I have approved the Ordnance Survey strategic plan for 1996–2001 and have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

  Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
  Mr. Nigel Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what performance targets he has set the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre executive agency for 1996–97.

  Sir Paul Beresford
  The agency's principal target for 1996–97 is to achieve a net operating surplus, excluding rent, of £493,000, after trading costs, and non-cash and notional costs, or of £1.03 million gross operating surplus.

  The agency's other main targets are:

  a) to achieve total revenue of £6.297 million;

  b) to increase the proportion of events with more than 200 delegates to 26 per cent.;

  c) to increase the proportion of target revenue achieved six months in advance to 50 per cent.;

  d) to achieve at least four out of the following five quality of service targets:

  an overall score for quality of service in client questionnaires of at least 77 per cent.;

  99 per cent. of clients completing the client questionnaire to report that they would use the centre again;

  the number of complaints received to be less than five per 100 events;

  to achieve an average response time in dealing with complaints of less than 10 working days;

  and to achieve at least one major industry award.

  These targets reflect the agency's successful bid in the recent market test of the management of the conference centre, whose outcome was announced on Thursday 13 February 1996, Official Report, column 483.

  Duchy Agricultural College
  Sir Robert Hicks
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to issue the written confirmation relating to the Duchy agricultural college, Stock Climsland application, SWP/2005/27/135, for European regional development funding; and if he will make a statement. [37250]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  [holding answer 15 July 1996]: I expect the Government office for the south west to be in a position to issue a decision very shortly.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

  Administrative Grade Personnel
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the number of administrative grade personnel in each Government Department employed(a) before and (b) after planned completion of the de-layering scheme. [36699]

  Mr. Freeman
  The number of staff in unified grades 1 to 7 fell from 17,500 on 1 April 1994 to 14,900 on 1 April 1996. Departmental senior management reviews are still being implemented.

  Her Majesty's Stationery Office
  Mr. French
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on progress of the sale of HMSO. [37872]

  Mr. Freeman
  Following the first phase of analysis of the bids for HMSO, I have invited three of the shortlisted bidders to continue in the competition. These are,an independent consortium backed by Mercury Asset Management, 3i and Capita;
  National Publishing Group, a consortium led by Electra Fleming; and
  Westminster Information Systems led by NatWest Ventures.

  It is the Government's intention, subject to meeting the safeguards required by Parliament, to identify one of these three as preferred bidder by early August and to complete the sale as planned during the summer when an order will be introduced under section 6 of the Government Trading Funds Act 1973, as amended, to wind up the HMSO trading fund.

  Security Classifications
  Mr. Livingstone
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are his Department's definitions of the security classifications "secret", "confidential", "restricted" and "unclassified". [37614]

  Mr. Freeman
  Following the review of protective security, the classification system for identifying sensitive official information or material was replaced on 4 April 1994 by the protective marking system, as announced by
  435
  my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 23 March 1994, Official Report, columns 259–60. The protective marking system contains four protective markings, the definitions of which are as follows:
  Top secret
  The compromise of this information or material would be likely: to threaten directly the internal stability of the UK or friendly countries; to lead directly to widespread loss of life; to cause exceptionally grave damage to the effectiveness or security of UK or allied forces or to the continuing effectiveness of extremely valuable security or intelligence operations; to cause exceptionally grave damage to relations with friendly Governments; to cause severe long-term damage to the UK economy.
  Secret
  The compromise of this information or material would be likely: to raise international tension; to damage seriously relations with friendly Governments; to threaten life directly, or seriously prejudice public order, or individual security or liberty; to cause serious damage to the operational effectiveness or security of UK or allied forces or the continuing effectiveness of highly valuable security or intelligence operations; to cause substantial material damage to national finances or economic and commercial interests.
  Confidential
  The compromise of this information or material would be likely: materially to damage diplomatic relations (i.e. cause formal protest or other sanction); to prejudice individual security or liberty; to cause damage to the operational effectiveness or security of UK or allied forces or the effectiveness of valuable security or intelligence operations; to work substantially against national finances or economic and commercial interests; substantially to undermine the financial viability of major organisations; to impede the investigation or facilitate the commission of serious crime; to impede seriously the development or operation of major government policies; to shut down or otherwise substantially disrupt significant national operations.
  Restricted
  The compromise of this information or material would be likely: to affect diplomatic relations adversely; to cause substantial distress to individuals; to make it more difficult to maintain the operational effectiveness or security of UK or allied forces; to cause financial loss or loss of earning potential to or facilitate improper gain or advantage for individuals or companies; to prejudice the investigation or facilitate the commission of crime; to breach proper undertakings to maintain the confidence of information provided by third parties; to impede the effective development or operation of government policies; to breach statutory restrictions on disclosure of information; to disadvantage Government in commercial or policy negotiations with others; to undermine the proper management of the public sector and its operations.

  The term "unclassified" was not formally a classification but could be used to indicate positively that information or material did not carry a classification. Under the current arrangements, the corresponding term is "No Protective Marking".

TRANSPORT

  West Coast Main Line
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what upgrades are planned on the west coast main line. [36825]

  Mr. Watts
  Railtrack is currently assessing the likely costs and feasibilities for a wide variety of options for upgrading the west coast main line. These include increasing the line speed over all or part of the route and 436
  the introduction of new rolling stock, possibly utilising tilt technology. Advanced signalling systems are also being considered.

  Once this assessment work has been completed a decision will be made on the specification for any upgrade project.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what will be the maximum speed for trains on the west coast main line by the year 2000. [36826]

  Mr. Watts
  Any work undertaken to upgrade the west coast main line will not have been completed by the year 2000. The maximum line speed will therefore be 110mph, as it is now.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport by what year, on current projections, a rail journey will take(a) two hours between London and Manchester, (b) four hours between London and Glasgow and (c) one hour and forty-five minutes between London and Crewe. [36828]

  Mr. Watts
  No such projections have been made by my right hon. Friend.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what instructions he has given to the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising to issue tender documents in respect of the upgrading of the west coast main line. [36824]

  Mr. Watts
  The franchising director has invited and received, on 12 July, applications to pre-qualify for the InterCity west coast franchise. He will issue invitations to tender, including any relevant proposals for taking forward the upgrade of the west coast main line, in due course.

  Motorways (Interval Chevrons)
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in respect of the study commissioned by his Department into the use of interval chevrons on motorways and receipt in 1995 of project report 118 of the Transport Research Laboratory, when Ministers were informed of the results and recommendations of its authors, which recommendations he accepts, what further studies have been carried out, with what results, what steps have been taken to publicise the findings and what action he has taken to authorise their (i) adoption and (ii) additional extensive trials. [37076]

  Mr. Norris
  TRL report PR118 described the results of trials at two particular sites, and indicated that in certain conditions chevrons could bring benefits. This was further reported in the October 1995 edition of "Traffic Engineering and Control". Opportunity for further trials will depend on the suitability of site conditions. Chevrons would normally have to be installed in tandem with other maintenance operations to avoid unnecessary disruption to traffic. The Highways Agency is in the process of identifying possible monitoring sites.

  Catalytic Converters
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what research has been carried out by the Transport
  437
  Research Laboratory on the problem of cold-start emissions from catalytic converters; [37011]

  (2) what assessment he has made of the results of research undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory on the performance of catalytic converters in service in reducing harmful vehicle emissions. [37012]

  Mr. Norris
  The research carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory has confirmed that three-way catalytic converters reduce harmful emissions by around 80 per cent. However, this research has also shown that the emissions occurring during the first three minutes after the car is started from cold, approach those of cars which are not equipped with catalysts.

  Tighter standards applicable from 1 January 1997 will significantly improve catalyst warm-up times to reduce cold start emissions. Even tighter standards, now being proposed by the European Commission for 2000, coupled with changes to the certification test cycle, will encourage further improvements.

  Transport and Works Act
  Miss Lestor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the target time scale for dealing with applications under the Transport and Works Act 1992 following receipt of the inspector's report; and what current delays there are in processing such applications. [37003]

  Mr. Norris
  In cases where a public inquiry is held, the target time scale is to issue the decision letter not later than six months from the receipt of the inspector's report. This time scale may be exceeded because of pressure of other work, though the staffing of the processing unit is kept under review with the target in mind, or because of the difficulty or complexity of a particular case.

  Greater Manchester Light Rapid Transport System
  Miss Lestor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what factors underlie the delay in respect of his decision on the Greater Manchester (Light Rapid Transport System) (Eccles Extension) Order. [37001]

  Mr. Norris
  I regret that, because of pressure of other work, the target time scale of six months from receipt of the inspector's report to the issue of the Secretary of State's decision letter has not been achieved in this case. We are dealing with the order application as quickly as practicable and hope to issue a decision letter within the next four or six weeks.

  Highways Agency
  Mr. Steinberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many contractors and consultants to the Highways Agency have been kept waiting for over two months for their accounts to be settled; what interest penalties the agency is liable to pay; and what payments have been made to date. [36898]

  Mr. Watts
  I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member.
  438
  Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Gerry Steinberg, dated 16 July 1996:
  The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent question about payments to contractors and consultants.
  Interests payments of £28,000 were made to eleven contractors and consultants in relation to invoices for new construction work received during 1995–96 where the contractual payment date was exceeded. All interest payments claimed have been paid in full. Information relating specifically to delays of over two months would only be available at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Steinberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many redundancies have taken place in the Highways Agency in the last two years; how many more he estimates will take place in the next 12 months; and what factors underlay the redundancies. [36895]

  Mr. Watts
  I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Gerry Steinberg, dated 16 July 1996:
  The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent question asking how many redundancies have taken place in the Highways Agency in the last two years; how many more he estimates will take place in the next 12 months; and what factors underlay the redundancies.
  594 redundancies have taken place in the Highways Agency in the last two financial years. The bulk of these have come about as a consequence of the restructuring of the Highways Agency which was announced in March 1995, and a 20% efficiency gains exercise which was carried out concurrently. We anticipate further redundancies in this financial year mainly as a result of a further review, which commenced in November 1995, into the organisation and staffing needs of the Highways Agency in the light of reduced funding. The number will be determined when work on the implementation of the review's conclusions is completed.

  Cycling Policy
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the organisations he consulted prior to his speech of 10 July concerning his policy for cycling; and what role he envisages for the National Cycling Forum additional to that already performed by the former departmental steering group in its development of national cycling strategy. [37343]

  Mr. Norris
  The steering group which developed the national cycling strategy comprised representative of the following:the Association of County Councils, the Association of District Councils, the Association of London Government, the Association of Metropolitan Authorities, the Confederation of British Industry, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the Cyclists' Public Affairs Group, the Cyclists' Touring Club, the Department of the Environment, the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, the Department of Health, the Department of Transport, the London Cycling Campaign, the Scottish Office, Transport 2000, and the Welsh Office.

  The steering group sought a wide input of views and contributions to the strategy. Annex 1 of the national cycling strategy lists 65 individuals and organisations who assisted in some way, in addition to the 78 people involved directly in formal steering groups and working groups. Copies of the strategy have been placed in the Library, and I am sending one to my hon. Friend.

  A statement explaining the purpose, tasks, and outputs of the National Cycling Forum is contained in section 2.5.4 of the strategy.

  Parliamentary Questions
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 26 March,Official Report, column 546, about parliamentary questions, what method would be used by his Department in collating the information requested. [37532]

  Mr. Norris
  The examination of approximately 20,000 files dating back to 1989–90.

  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 14 March,Official Report, column 727, about parliamentary questions, what method would be used by his Department in collating the information requested. [37533]

  Mr. Norris
  The examination of approximately 28,000 files dating back to 1987–88.

  Bus Lane Enforcement
  Mr. Allen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the report on the trials of camera-based bus lane enforcement in London. [37441]

  Mr. Norris
  The traffic director for London, who is managing this project, is preparing a report to be published in September this year. I will arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library.

  Scottish Air Traffic Control Centre
  Mr. David Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the preferred bidder procedure as set out in the Treasury's guidelines will be adopted for the new 440
  Scottish air traffic control centre; when he expects to announce the name of the preferred bidder; and if he will make a statement. [37342]

  Mr. Norris
  The invitation to participate issued by the Civil Aviation Authority for the Scottish air traffic control centre involves a procedure which is consistent with the Treasury's private finance initiative guidelines. National Air Traffic Services is concerned to ensure that the procedure will avoid unnecessary bidding costs and it will seek to declare a preferred bidder as soon as it is appropriate and prudent to do so. The validity of current offers for this requirement expire on 9 February 1997.

  Bristol-Plymouth-Penzance Rail Link
  Sir Robert Hicks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a progress report on his Department's application to the European Commission for financial assistance with the funding of a feasibility study for the Bristol-Plymouth-Penzance rail link under the provisions of the trans-European network programme; and if he will make a statement. [37254]

  Mr. Watts
  The TENS finance committee, which is composed of representatives of member states and determines the allocation of funds to projects, is to meet on 25 July. The committee will consider on the basis of member states' bids, which for the United Kingdom includes the feasibility study for the Bristol-Penzance-Plymouth rail link, how the funds available in 1996 should be allocated. We will be pressing the merits of the UK bid at the meeting. I refer my hon. Friend also to the reply given to the hon. Member for North Cornwall (Mr. Tyler) on 8 July,Official Report, column 78–79.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  EU Referendums
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was(a) the date and (b) the outcome of the latest referendum held in each EU member state on matters relating to the EU. [35828]

  Mr. David Davis
  The dates and outcome of the latest referenda held in European Union member states on matters relating to the EU are as follows.

  Outcome

  Date

  Subject

  For Percentage

  Against Percentage

  Austria

  June 1994

  EU Accession

  66.6

  33.4

  Belgium

  Never

  —

  —

  —

  Denmark

  May 1993

  Treaty on European Union

  56.7

  43.3

  Germany

  Never

  —

  —

  —

  Greece

  Never

  —

  —

  —

  Spain

  Never

  —

  —

  —

  France

  September 1992

  Treaty on European Union

  51.01

  48.99

  Ireland

  June 1992

  Treaty on European Union

  69.05

  30.95

  Italy

  June 1989

  European Parliament power to amend the Treaties

  88

  12

  Luxembourg

  Never

  —

  —

  —

  Netherlands

  Never

  —

  —

  —

  Portugal

  Never

  —

  —

  —

  Finland

  October 1994

  EU Accession

  56.9

  43.1

  Sweden

  November 1994

  EU Accession

  52

  48

  Prince Michael of Kent
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what visits involving costs to public funds were made abroad in 1995–96 by Prince Michael of Kent; on what dates; at what cost; and which visits were made by use of the Royal squadron. [35965]

  Mr. Rifkind
  Prince Michael did not undertake any official visits during this period.

  Bosnia
  Mrs. Helen Jackson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response he has made to the Amnesty International report on Bosnia Herzegovina, "Bury my Brother's Bones", a copy of which has been sent to him. [37435]

  Sir Nicholas Bonsor
  We believe that all those who have committed war crimes should be brought to justice, that the missing should be traced, mass graves exhumed 442
  and the bodily remains identified and returned to the next of kin for decent burial. The Government fully support the work of the experts group on exhumations and missing persons and the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

  Last year we donated £4 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help fund its tracing work in former Yugoslavia. We recently donated vehicles to help the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia's exhumations currently taking place around Srebrenica.

  Nuclear Weapons
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 9 July,Official Report, column 107, when he expects to come to a conclusion on the International Court of Justice's opinion on nuclear weapons; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the opinion and the Government's response to it. [37434]

  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implications of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 8 July in respect of the use of nuclear weapons. [37353]

  Mr. David Davis
  The court's advisory opinion is long and complex and we are studying it. But we do not believe that it gives rise to any new factors affecting the fundamentals of United Kingdom and NATO defence policy, including the continuing importance of nuclear deterrence in maintaining peace and stability in Europe.

  A copy of the court's opinion has been placed in the Library of the House.

  Law of the Sea Convention
  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the status of Rockall within the UN law of the sea convention 1982; and what plans Her Majesty's Government have to sign the convention. [36950]

  Sir Nicholas Bonsor
  Rockall is an island within the meaning of article 121(1) of the United Nations convention on the law of the sea and has a territorial sea of 12 miles. Measuring British fishing limits from Rockall is believed to be inconsistent with the provision in article 121(3) of UNCLOS that rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone.

  The Government announced on 20 July 1994 that the United Kingdom would accede to the convention in due course. Timing of the UK's accession remains under review. Parliament will be informed as soon as the Government have taken a decision.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Slave Trade
  Dr. Lynne Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to encourage
  443
  co-operation between the police and social services to help the victims of the trafficking in human beings. [36564]

  Mr. Maclean
  None. This is an operational matter for chief officers of police and social services.

  Toughened Safety Glassware
  Mr. Touhig
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to issue guidance to magistrates that the use of toughened safety glassware be made a condition of pub and club licences. [36700]

  Mr. Maclean
  We have no plans to do so. Licensing authorities already have wide powers under both the liquor and entertainment licensing laws to require the use of toughened glass or synthetic drinking vessels on particular occasions or in particular premises if they consider the circumstances justify them doing so.

  Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations
  Mr. Hanson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) cautions and (b) prosecutions have been made under regulation 97 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986. [36849]

  Mr. Maclean
  Written warnings and prosecutions for offences under regulation 97 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 cannot be separately identified from other offences of causing noise by motor vehicles in the statistics collected centrally.

  In England and Wales during 1994, the latest year for which statistics are available, there were 560 written warnings issued for noise offences of all types connected with motor vehicles, and 7,823 court proceedings taken. In addition, 735 fixed penalty notices were issued for noise offences during 1994.

  Amusement Arcades
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of British amusement arcade operators are not members of the British Amusement Catering Trades Association; and what restrictions he proposes to apply to access in these venues. [37065]

  Mr. Kirkhope
  The British Amusements Catering Trades Association estimates that 20 per cent. of British amusement arcade operators are not members of the association.

  The same legal restrictions apply to all amusement arcades irrespective of BACTA membership. The Deregulation (Gaming Machines and Betting Office Facilities) Order 1996, which came into force on 20 June, imposed an age limit of 18 on access to arcades or designated areas within them which have all-cash amusement-with-prizes machines paying up to £10.

  We have no plans to restrict access to arcades which have no all-cash machines.

  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans his Department has to introduce a statutory age restriction with regard to the 444
  playing of amusement—with—prizes machines; and how this will be enforced; [37063]

  (2) what plans he has in respect of persons of any age having unlimited access to machines with cash prizes of less than £10. [37064]

  Mr. Kirkhope
  The Deregulation (Gaming Machines and Betting Office Facilities) Order 1996 came into force on 20 June. Under this, local authorities can permit amusement-with-prizes machines making all-cash payments up to £10 in arcades or designated parts of arcades which exclude people under age 18. Local authorities also enforce the provisions.

  Otherwise, these machines are allowed only in licensed betting offices and casinos, which have a statutory prohibition on access by people under 18, and in licensed bingo clubs and liquor licensed premises which are essentially adult environments. The police enforce the relevant age restrictions.

  We have no plans for a statutory age limit for premises with traditional AWP machines paying up to £4 in cash and £8 in tokens, but local authorities can ban AWP machines from premises such as cafes and leisure centres.

  Drugs (Prisons)
  Mr. George Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when those recommendations outlined in the recently published Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs report, "Drug Misusers and the Prison System-An Integrated Approach" which are to be implemented will come into effect; [37051]

  (2) if he will list the reasons why those recommendations outlined in the recently published Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs report, "Drug Misusers and the Prison System-An Integrated Approach" which are not to be implemented, have been rejected; [37052]

  (3) which of the recommendations outlined in the recently published Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs report, "Drug Misusers and the Prison System-An Integrated Approach" are to be implemented. [37050]

  Miss Widdecombe
  This report, which we welcome, was published on 13 June. Its 51 recommendations are still being studied. We hope to be able to respond to them by the autumn.

  Gambling
  Mr. George Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the draft deregulation orders concerning gambling will be laid before the House. [37060]

  Mr. Kirkhope
  I hope shortly to lay a draft deregulation order extending betting permits and licences from one to three years.

  We are considering the responses to the consultation paper on casinos and bingo clubs which we issued on 27 February. Subject to the outcome, we aim to bring forward a draft deregulation order to implement some of the proposals when the House returns.

  Buckley Hall Prison
  Ms Lynne
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many serious assaults on staff have occurred in Her Majesty's prison Buckley Hall since 1 June; and what is the total number of assaults on staff that have occurred at the prison since 14 December 1994. [37000]

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

  Letter from Richard Tilt to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 16 July 1996:
  The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question on the level of assaults at Buckley Hall prison.
  Since the 1 June 1996 there have been two serious assaults on staff. There have been a total of 30 assaults on staff since 14 December 1994.

  Ms Lynne
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if a copy of the board of visitors' annual report on Her Majesty's prison Buckley Hall for the year ending 31 December 1995 will be placed in the Library. [36780]

  Miss Widdecombe
  Boards of visitors' annual reports to the Home Secretary are not public documents. However, boards are permitted, if they wish, to publish their annual reports one month after presenting the report to Ministers. The board of visitors at Her Majesty's prison Buckley Hall decided at its June monthly meeting to publish its 1995 report and a copy will therefore be placed in the Library.

  Ms Lynne
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which trade union is recognised by Group 4 at Her Majesty's prison Buckley Hall; and what issues the company is prepared to consult and negotiate with the trade union. [37113]

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

  Letter from Richard Tilt to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 16 July 1996:
  The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking which trade union is recognised by Group 4 at Buckley Hall prison and what issues the company is prepared to consult and negotiate with the trade union.
  Group 4 has a single union agreement with Apex, a division of the GMB. To quote from the agreement between the union and the company, the general introduction, section D article 1 reads "The company and the union share a common commitment to work jointly together for the prosperity of both the company and its employees, and agree jointly to work towards the adoption of policies on all issues affecting the employment of works which are equitable, safe and fair". Negotiable issues generally encompass pay and conditions of service.

  Ms Lynne
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is(a) the current number and (b) the percentage of the current prison population at HMP
  446
  Buckley Hall who have been imprisoned for (i) rape, (ii) murder, (iii) armed robbery, (iv) manslaughter and (v) arson. [37057]

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

  Letter from Richard Tilt to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 16 July 1996:
  The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about prisoners serving sentences for rape, murder, armed robbery, manslaughter and arson at Buckley Hall Prison.
  On 10 July 1996 there were 340 prisoners at Buckley Hall, of these three have been convicted of rape, none were serving sentences for murder, 14 were serving sentences for robbery with possession of a firearm, five were sentenced on a charge of manslaughter and 11 for arson.
  Convictions for rape accounted for 0.8 per cent. Those for robbery with possession of a firearm were 4.1 per cent, sentences of manslaughter were 1.5 per cent and arson was 3.2 per cent.

  Ms Lynne
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the full pay scales for staff employed at Her Majesty's prison Buckley Hall, showing the number of employees currently employed at each grade. [37112]

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

  Letter from Richard Tilt to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 16 July 1996:
  The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking for pay scales currently used at Buckley Hall prison.
  Since Buckley Hall is a privately managed prison this information is commercially confidential.

  Banned Drugs
  Mr. Hawksley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 April,Official Report, column 107, if he has received the result of the consideration by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on whether gamma hydroxy butyrate should be added to the list of banned drugs. [37124]

  Mr. Sackville
  This matter is due to be considered by the advisory council at its next meeting, in November.

  Criminal Records (Computerisation)
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal records have been transferred from the manual collection on to computer; what is the estimated cost of the transfer; and if he will make a statement. [37152]

  Mr. Maclean
  About 286,000 records have been entered on to the Phoenix database on the police national computer. Other records which have been keyed await final processing or quality assurance.

  The cost of the main keying contract is £8.6 million, excluding value added tax, which is reclaimable. This is in addition to the cost of work undertaken by the national identification service staff and the police service.

  Dr. Bayo Omoyiole
  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on Dr. Bayo Omoyiole who is awaiting his appeal for asylum; and if he will make a statement; [37157]

  (2) what is the date of the appeal of Dr. Bayo Omoyiole against the decision of the Home Secretary to refuse his claim for asylum; and if he will make a statement. [37156]

  Mr. Kirkhope
  I have written to the hon. Member.

  Victims of Terrorism
  Mr. Fatchett
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assistance his Department provides to those who have been the victims of terrorist incidents; and if he will make a statement. [37056]

  Mr. Maclean
  [holding answer 15 July 1996]: The criminal injuries compensation scheme enables compensation to be paid to those injured or killed by terrorist incidents in England, Wales and Scotland. The scheme is funded by my Department with a contribution from the Scottish Office. In such incidents, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority takes steps to ensure through those directly involved with the victims—usually the police, but often Victim Support, which my Department also funds—that potential applicants for compensation are made aware of the scheme and how to apply.

  Small Firms (Compliance Costs)
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department has had with and with how many(a) small firms and (b) small firms organisations about the compliance costs of the Asylum and Immigration Bill; if a small business litmus test was completed on the bill; and what conclusions his Department came to regarding the compliance costs to small firms of the Bill. [36658]

  Miss Widdecombe
  [holding answer 15 July 1996]: We invited views on the estimates set out in the compliance cost assessment published last November from organisations representing small and large firms. Of the nine organisations representing small firms to which CCA was sent none raised concerns about the likely compliance costs or about the estimates provided in the CCA.

  A preliminary assessment of the effect of the provision on smaller firms was provided in the CCA. Discussions with a number of small firms are currently nearing completion. Provisional conclusions suggest that the compliance costs for the great majority of small firms will be minimal.

  £000

  1992–93

  1993–94

  1994–95

  1995–96

  1996–97

  CAFOD

  1,300

  1,500

  1,810

  1,864

  1,920

  Christian Aid

  2,210

  2,410

  2,830

  2,915

  3,003

  Oxfam

  4,100

  4,300

  5,000

  5,150

  5,304

  SCF

  3,510

  3,710

  4,320

  4,450

  4,583

  WWF

  1,510

  1,710

  2,040

  2,100

  2,164

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

  Magistrates Courts (Lancashire)
  Mr. Pickthall
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the future of magistrates courts in Lancashire. [37406]

  Mr. Streeter
  The Lancashire magistrates courts committee will continue to be responsible for the efficient and effective administration of the magistrates courts in Lancashire for the foreseeable future.

  Legal Aid
  Mr. Bernard Jenkin
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what he estimates to be the cost in the most recent year for which figures are available of legal aid in juvenile cases which would not attract custodial sentences and(a) where the defendant pleads guilty or (b) where there is no dispute over the facts in the case. [37697]

  Mr. Streeter
  Legal aid is rarely granted in cases where there is no risk of a custodial sentence; any costs to the legal aid fund are, therefore, likely to be small. In 1995– 96, total payments from the legal aid fund in respect of juvenile cases in the youth courts where guilty pleas were entered amounted to £4.3 million gross. It is not possible to give equivalent figures for the Crown Court since the information is not readily available. Nor is it possible to estimate the cost to legal aid of those cases where there was no dispute over the facts of the case, as the information is not recorded centrally.

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

  Non-governmental Organisations
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many and which national non-governmental organisations running development programmes overseas qualify for annual block grants; how much each NGO received for each financial year from 1992–93 to 1996–97; what are the criteria for qualifying for block grants; and if he will make a statement. [37347]

  Mr. Hanley
  Five United Kingdom non-governmental organisations currently receive annual block grants from the joint funding scheme of the Overseas Development Administration for their development work overseas. The five are CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Save the Children Fund and the Worldwide Fund for Nature. Under the block grant arrangements, ODA provides up to 50 per cent. of the cost of individual development projects. The grants provided to each of these organisations in the financial years from 1992–93 to 1996–97 are set out in the table.
  449
  The ODA's fundamental expenditure review, completed in 1995, recommended that the block grant arrangements should be extended to NGOs which had, in each of the preceding three financial years, received £750,000 or more through the joint funding scheme for its development projects. The award of any new block grant would be subject to the NGO in question satisfying an audit by ODA of its financial and technical management procedures.

  Human Reproduction (Research Funding)
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the allocation of his Department's funding for(a) the International Planned Parenthood Federation, (b) the UN Population Fund and (c) the World Health Organisation special programmes of research, development and research training in human reproduction for the financial year 1996–97. [37349]

  Mr. Hanley
  The central allocations for the 1996–97 financial year are:

  Title of project

  Financial years where expenditure has taken place to date

  Country

  Planned project duration in years (where known)

  Population concern

  Promotion of maternal child health

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  Bangladesh

  3

  Comprehensive family planning

  1994–95 to 1995–96

  Bangladesh

  3

  Family planning services

  1993–94 to 1994–95

  Dominica

  3

  Training of health assistants

  1993–94

  Ethiopia

  1

  Jimma project

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  Ethiopia

  3

  Yirgalem project

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  Ethiopia

  5

  Community based distribution through Rural Women Development agency

  1995–96

  Ethiopia

  3

  Youth to youth information

  1993–94 to 1994–95

  The Gambia

  3

  Post Partum family planning services

  1994–95 to 1995–96

  The Gambia

  3

  Women's development

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  India

  5

  Mobile education and service unit

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  India

  5

  Family planning through community institutions

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  Pakistan

  3

  Training for women development workers

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  Pakistan

  3

  Community leadership training

  1993–94 to 1994–95

  Pakistan

  3

  Kohat family planning and mother and child health project

  1995–96

  Pakistan

  3

  Volunteer community based family planning

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  Tanzania

  5

  Community based family planning

  1995–96

  Tanzania

  4

  Marie Stopes International

  Employment based family planning programme—Chittagong

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  Bangladesh

  4

  Marie Stopes Consultancy

  1994–95

  Egypt, Arab Republic

  Condom social marketing and family planning

  1993–94 to 1994–95

  Ethiopia

  3

  Brass Tacks family planning programme

  1993–94 to 1994–95

  India

  4

  Workplace family planning and preventative health care—employees and dependants

  1993–94

  India

  4

  Contraceptive social marketing

  1993–94 to 1994–95

  India

  3

  Reproductive health education

  1994–95 to 1995–96

  India

  5

  National youth service

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  Kenya

  9

  Reproductive health project

  1994–95 to 1996–97

  Malawi

  5

  Family planning consultancy

  1993–94 to 1994–95

  Malawi

  1

  Man-to-man male-orientated child spacing education

  1993–94 to 1994–95

  Malawi

  1

  Child spacing—women's preventive health for refugees

  1993–94 to 1994–95

  Malawi

  4

  Family planning

  1993–94 to 1994–95

  Mexico

  3

  Family planning and preventive health care

  1993–94 to 1996–97

  Nepal

  4

  Workplace preventive health and family planning

  1993–94

  Nicaragua

  4

  Accessible family planning and reproductive health services

  1994–95 to 1995–96

  Nicaragua

  3

  Organisational strengthening of women's health programmes

  1995–96

  Nicaragua

  2

  Reproductive health support

  1993–94 to 1995–96

  Nigeria

  450

  (a) International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)—£6.0 million;

  (b) United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)—£7.5 million and

  (c) World Health Organisation special programme of research, development and research training in human reproduction (WHO/HRP)—£1.5 million. Additional funding may be allocated during the year for multilateral, bilateral or other specific projects.

  Health and Family Planning
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which reproductive health and family planning projects under the aegis of(a) Population Concern, (b) Marie Stopes International and (c) International Family Health have been funded for each financial year since 1993–94; in which countries these projects are based; and what is their funding and duration. [37348]

  Mr. Hanley
  The table lists ODA supported non-governmental organisation—Population Concern, Marie Stopes International and International Family Health—projects with a reproductive health component.

  Tied Aid
  Miss Lestor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries have received the most tied aid as a proportion of bilateral official development assistance over the last three years. [56653]

  Mr. Hanley
  Statistics on the tying status of aid relate to commitments and not expenditure. The three countries with the highest commitments of financial tied aid in 1993 and 1994 are as follows:

  Country

  Amount of tied financial aid commitment £ million

  1993

  India

  83

  Turkey

  23

  Uganda

  16

  1994

  Uganda

  21

  Tanzania

  18.5

  India

  16.5

  Data for 1992 and earlier are not available on a country basis, nor is information on technical co-operation expenditure.

TREASURY

  Financial Incentives (Environmental Practice)
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has to introduce financial incentives for sustainable environmental practice by businesses; and if he will make a statement. [34746]

  Mr. Jack
  Economic instruments, including tax measures, are pursued where they are justified and administratively feasible. Proposals for financial incentives for sustainable environmental practice by businesses are examined on a case-by-case basis. The introduction of the landfill tax starting in October is a clear demonstration of that.

  "Europe's Finances"
  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ensure that, in future editions of "Europe's Finances", a statement of Europe's unfunded pension liabilities, is included together with a statement as to the possible future impact of such liabilities on the United Kingdom economy. [36355]

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  No, since the annual White Paper deals solely with European Community finances and the Community budget has no liability for pension costs other than in respect of the employees of the Community institutions.

  Private Finance Initiative
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the success of the private finance initiative. [36836]
  452
  Mr. Jack
  I announced on 3 April that £4.8 billion of private finance deals had been agreed in the financial year 1995–96, with £300 million of deals at preferred bidder stage and £330 million due to be agreed. The current total of agreed private finance deals has now risen to £5.5 billion, including projects such as the development of the Department of Social Security's Newcastle estate at Longbenton, two prison projects at Bridgend and Fazakerley and benefits payments automation through the Post Office. These figures indicate that the Government are well on the way to reaching their target of agreeing £14 billion of deals by the end of 1998–99.

  Mr. Geoffrey Robinson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much private capital was invested through the PFI in public projects in each financial year up to 1995–96; and what are his current forecasts for(a) 1996–97, (b) 1997–98 and (c) 1998–99. [36590]

  Mr. Jack
  Estimated levels of private sector capital spending in public projects via the private finance initiative were, in 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96, £0.3 billion, £0.3 billion and £0.6 billion respectively. The projections for 1996–97, 1997–98 and 1998–99 are £1.9 billion, £2.6 billion and £2.8 billion respectively. Further details about the private finance initiative and capital spending can be found in tables 6.4 and 6.5 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" 1996–97, published on 28 November 1995.

  Exchange and Interest Rates
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what have been the changes in(a) real exchange rates relative to those of other EU countries and (b) real interest rates in each quarter since the first quarter of 1993. [37489]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  Data on real effective exchange rates for EU countries can be found in Main Economic Indicators, which is published monthly by the OECD. In the June 1996 edition, the real exchange rate data are shown in table 30. Data on short-term nominal interest rates and inflation in the UK can be found in Economic Trends.

  Balance of Trade
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the trends in the balance of trade in goods in(a) the last three months and (b) the equivalent period in 1995. [37485]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  The deficit on trade in goods was erratically low early last year. Despite fluctuations, there has been no obvious trend in the deficit over the past five years. In 1994 and 1995 the deficit on trade in goods was more than offset by surpluses on trade in services and overseas investment income.

  Mr. Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the change in the United Kingdom balance of trade in goods for each year since 1992; and what factors underline this trend. [37490]

  Mrs. Knight
  In 1993, the trade deficit on goods widened by £0.4 billion compared with 1992. It then narrowed by £2.6 billion in 1994 and widened by £0.8 billion in 1995. In 1995, the trade deficit on goods was £1.5 billion less than it was in 1992. Underpinning
  453
  this improvement between 1992 and 1995, the volume of exported goods has increased by 24 per cent. while the volume of imported goods was increased by 15 per cent.

  Internet
  Mr. Rowe
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to ensure that major publications from his Department are accompanied by a simultaneous electronic release of the text on the Internet. [37229]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  The Treasury aims to release all its major publications on the Internet either at the same time as the hard copy publication or as soon as possible thereafter. Simultaneous release is not always possible for some material because of technical or logistical considerations.

  Publications which we aim to release at the same time as the hard copy include: the documentation for the Chancellor's Budget; the summer economic forecast; the minutes of the Chancellor's monthly monetary meetings with the Governor of the Bank of England; news releases, such as announcements of interest rate changes; certain consultation papers; and keynote speeches.

  Migration
  Mrs. Anne Campbell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the total numbers of people(a) immigrating to the United Kingdom and (b) emigrating from the United Kingdom, in the last five years for which figures are available. [37429]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  The information is shown in the table.

  Migration estimates for the United Kingdom (Thousands of migrants)

  Years

  Inflow to UK

  Outflow from UK

  1990

  340.2

  252.0

  1991

  337.0

  263.7

  1992

  286.6

  251.5

  1993

  272.2

  236.8

  1994

  321.4

  213.0

  The estimates in the table are derived from data on migration intentions obtained from the international passenger survey, from information on migration to and from the Irish Republic obtained from the national health service central register and the Irish labour force survey, and from data on short-term visitors who were granted extension of stay obtained from the Home Office.

  Perinatal Mortality
  Ms Harman
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current perinatal mortality rate broken down by mother's place of birth. [37134]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  [holding answer 12 July 1996]: The latest available information is shown in the table.
  454

  Perinatal mortality rate by mother's country of birth, England and Wales 1994

  Country of birth

  Perinatal rate1

  All

  8.9

  United Kingdom

  8.6

  Irish Republic

  11.2

  Rest of European Union

  8.3

  Australia, Canada, New Zealand

  6.4

  New Commonwealth including:

  12.6

  Bangladesh

  10.8

  India

  9.3

  Pakistan

  15.0

  East Africa

  10.9

  Caribbean

  17.4

  Other2

  9.4

  1 Perinatal deaths per 1,000 live and stillbirths.2 Includes case where no country of birth was stated.

  Mr. F. G. Higgins
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will refund the VAT owed, together with interest, to Mr. F. G. Higgins of Lyndhurst, 50 Borough road, Paignton; and what factors have led to the delay. [36955]

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  [holding answer 15 July 1996]: Customs and Excise are not aware of VAT owed to Mr. Higgins. In fact, a long-outstanding debt to Customs and Excise, based on VAT returns completed by Mr. Higgins, is currently being recovered through the courts.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Hawk Aircraft
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many Hawk aircraft have been exported to Indonesia so far this year. [35426]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  Eight.

  Business Grants
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the total value of grants awarded by his Department to businesses in(a) Crewe and Nantwich and (b) Cheshire, for each of the last five years. [36453]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  The following is the information:

  Year

  Crewe and Nantwich

  Cheshire

  1991–92

  90,109

  7,551,997

  1992–93

  47,320

  6,059,063

  1993–94

  90,000

  4,777,740

  1994–95

  105,000

  10,503,421

  1995–96

  57,676

  3,305,498

  Scottish Gas
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade when the hon. Member for Cunninghame, South may expect a reply to his letter of 24 April to the Director General of Gas Supply concerning complaints from
  455
  constituents about the delays and difficulties they are encountering in contacting the telephone inquiry lines for Scottish Gas; and what factors have led to the delay so far in replying. [36569]

  Mr. Eggar
  The Director General of Gas Supply is independent of my Department. These issues should be addressed to her.

  Indonesia
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the companies which participated in trade missions supported by his Department to Indonesia on 19 February, 15 April and 24 June indicating the nature of the products which they were promoting, the names of the company personnel who attended and the names and designation of staff from his and other Government Departments who attended the missions. [36764]

  Mr. Nelson
  The following is the information:

  Participants in mission of 19 February

  Personnel who attended

  Product

  Mitchell Cotts Chemicals Ltd.

  Mr. S. J. Wilson

  Agrochemical and pharmaceutical

  HNE Nesbit Evans

  Mr. G. Gladwin

  Medical equipment

  Brandon Medical Ltd.

  Mr. G. Hall

  Surgical lighting

  Associated Architects and Engineers Ltd.

  Mr. I. Scott

  Architects and engineers

  Radyne Ltd.

  Mr. A. Hine

  Process heating

  Waldon Precision Aparatus Ltd.

  Mr. P. Watson

  Analytical instruments

  Overseas Devpt. (Health) Education Training Unit

  Mr. H. Brewer

  Training and education

  Dental Manufacturing Engineering

  Mr. D. Greham

  Dental turbines and chemicals

  Leeds and Bradford Chamber of Commerce and Industry

  Mr. M. Sewell

  1—

  1No government officials participated in the mission.

  Participants in mission of 15 April

  Personnel who attended

  Product

  Intek Training Ltd.

  Mr. J. Wright

  Traing materials and consultancy

  Millingford International Ltd.

  Mr. R. Farrow

  Pumps

  Mott MacDonald Ltd.

  Mr. A. Shaukat

  Engineering consultancy

  Northern Electric plc

  Mr. T. Mair

  Technical consultancy and software

  Reyrolle Ltd.—Protection

  Mr. P. Townes

  Electrical protections and Reyrolle systems for use on power system networks

  Royston Engineering

  Mr. S. Goodchild

  Marine and industrial engines

  Teknek Electronics Ltd.

  Mr. K. Munro

  Cleaning and static eliminating solutions for delicate and rigid high value substrates e.g. CDs, printed circuit boards, medical packages

  Vokes Ltd.

  Mr. G. Martin

  Air and liquid filtration technology

  Railway Industry Association

  Mr. D. Gillan

  Tade Association

  TMB International Ltd.

  Mr. P. Wootton

  Engineering consultancy for rail industry

  Training Unit
  456

  Participants in mission of 15 April

  Personnel who attended

  Product

  ABB Daimler Benz Transportation

  Mr. I. McCullough

  Railway Signals and (Signal) Ltd. Communications systems

  Adtranz UK Ltd.

  Mr. A. Dare

  Railway rolling stock

  Balfour Beatty Railway Engineering

  Mr. M. Newman

  Railway contractors

  Davy British Rail International

  Mr. P. Green

  Railway infrastructure projects

  GEC Marconi S31 Ltd., Simulation Ltd.

  Mr. G Boon

  Simulation products for and Training the railway indsutry and computer based training

  Hygate Transmissions Ltd.

  Mr. N. Crossley

  Railtraction gearboxes and gear couplings for mass transit systems

  Rotabroch Ltd.

  Mr. P. Dorsett

  Rail drilling and hle cutters

  Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners Ltd.

  Mr. T King

  Railway consultancy

  Stone UK Ltd.

  Mr. M. Falshaw

  Air conditioning for railway vehicles

  Tarmac Construction

  Mr. T Ogilvie

  Railway construciton

  Thorn Transit Systms Int. Ltd.

  Mr. S. Wright

  Automatic fare colelcitons systems

  Westinghouse Brakes Ltd.

  Mr. C. Loader

  Railway brake equipment

  Westinghouse Signals Ltd.

  Mr. D. Hannah

  Railway signals

  Northern Development Company

  Mr. J. Marks

  Regional develoment agency

  Department of Trade and Industry Projects Exports Promotions Directorate

  Mr. G. Thomas

  Higher Executive Officer

  Participants in mission of 24 June

  Personnel who attended

  Product

  BCB International Ltd.

  Mr. A. Howell

  Marine and personal safety equipment

  Comet Enterprises (UK) Ltd.

  Mr. R. Molavi

  Telecommunications technology

  Denlab International (UK) Ltd.

  Mr. Graham Ellis

  Coffee plantation and food processing equipment

  F. Bode and Son Ltd.

  Mr. C. Bode

  Welding positioning equipment

  Joanne Lamey Consultant

  Mrs. J. Lamey

  Research consultant

  Landham Produce

  Mr. W. Bryant

  Food produce

  Panache Lingerie Ltd.

  Mr. A. Power Mr. J. Power

  Lingerie

  Park Tonks Ltd.

  Mr. W. Park Tonks

  Animal feeds and proteins

  Prisma Market Analysts Ltd.

  Mr. D. Booth

  Foreign exchange market technical analysis

  Staffordshire Tableware Ltd.

  Mr. D. Lawton Mr. R. Quipp

  Tableware

  Strachan Henshaw Machinery Ltd.

  Mr. R. Harders

  Printing equipment

  London Chamber of Commerce and Industry

  Ms L. Bishop-Clark

  —

  No officials accompanied this mission.

  Missile Exports
  Mr. Meacher
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) which Ministers approved the renewal in 1990 of export licences, using the form F680 process, to Ferranti/ISC in respect of precision guided missiles; [36607]
  457
  (2) which Ministers approved the issue in 1986 of export licences, using the form F680 process, to Ferranti/ISC in respect of precision guided missiles; [36609]

  (3) if Defence ministers were informed when approving an export licence for ISC/Ferranti to supply precision guided missiles to the United Arab Emirates that the missiles were capable of conversion to nuclear use; [36851]

  (4) which Ministers approved the renewal in 1988 of export licences, using the form F680 process, to Ferranti/ISC in respect of precision guided missiles; [36608]

  (5) if restrictions were placed on the licence to ISC/Ferranti to export precision guided missiles to the United Arab Emirates following consultation between his Department and the Government of the United States of America. [36817]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  To supply the information requested requires more detailed historical research. I shall write to the hon. Member when investigations are completed.

  Foreign Companies (Investment)
  Mr. Hawksley
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate he has made of the levels of investment made by British companies in purchasing foreign companies in each of the last four years. [37080]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  Information on direct investment overseas by United Kingdom companies and public corporations is published by the Office for National Statistics in "The Pink Book, United Kingdom Balance of Payments", which is available in the Library of the House.

  Inward Investment
  Sir Irvine Patnick
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the total amount of inward investment into(a) the United Kingdom and (b) Yorkshire for each of the last three years; if he will list the figures by country of origin; and if he will make a statement. [36885]

  Mr. Eggar
  Data on the value of inward direct investment into the United Kingdom as a whole, broken down by the country of origin, are regularly published by the Office for National Statistics in "Business Monitor MA4, Overseas Direct Investment" (table 2.4), a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. These figures are not collected on a county basis.

  Wages Councils
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent assessment he has made of the trend in wages in those industries previously covered by the wages councils. [36891]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 24 April 1996,Official Report, column 180.

  Samsung
  Sir Irvine Patnick
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what public funds were made available to Samsung for its investment in the north-east; and if he will make a statement. [37224]
  458
  Mr. Oppenheim
  My Department offered regional selective assistance grant and loans totalling £58 million against a proposed investment of £450 million by the company. The assistance will be paid over the next 10 years as the various elements of the Samsung investment proceed and jobs are created. In addition a number of other agencies are providing support for infrastructure development, job creation and training. Some of this support will not be in the form of grant aid to Samsung but will fall within the current and future work programmes of the agencies concerned.

  Insolvency (Reviewers of Complaints)
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list by location each of the reviewers of complaints appointed by each of the insolvency regulators, indicating who is responsible for(a) appointing, (b) dismissing and (c) retiring them and on what basis; and what remuneration each reviewer receives. [37334]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  The information requested by the hon. Member is as follows:Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales— the current reviewer of complaints for the institute is Mr. A. C. Surtees, P.O. Box 51, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 5TA. The reviewer of complaints is appointed by the Council of the institute for a period of not less than three years and his appointment is renewable. The terms of his appointment are a matter for the institute.
  Chartered Association of Certified Accountants—the Association appoint a lay observer who is presently Mr. Simon Loveless of Potter Owtram and Peck, 42 West street, Haslemere, Surrey GU27 2AN. The lay observer is responsible for co-ordinating the reviewing of complaints. He is appointed by the council of the association. The terms of his appointment are a matter for the association.
  The Law Society—complaints against solicitor insolvency practitioners are dealt with in the first instance by the Solicitors Complaints Bureau, an independent arm of the Law Society. A dissatisfied complainant may refer the matter to the legal services ombudsman who is presently Mr. Michael Barnes, 22 Oxford court, Oxford street, Manchester M2 3QW. The legal services ombudsman is appointed by the Lord Chancellor, normally for a period of three years. The remuneration for the office is a matter between the Lord Chancellor and the appointee.
  The Law Society of Scotland—a dissatisfied complainant may ask for the matter to be referred to the Scottish legal services ombudsman who is presently Mr. Garry S. Watson, 2 Greenside lane, Edinburgh, EH1 3AH. The Scottish legal services ombudsman is appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland after consultation with the Lord President of the Supreme Courts of Scotland. The appointment is for a period of three years. The remuneration for the office is a matter between the Secretary of State for Scotland and the appointee.

  The three remaining professional bodies are the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland and the Insolvency Practitioners Association. These bodies do not have an independent reviewer of complaints although in the case of the Scottish institute, a complaint about the institute itself may fall to be considered by a committee appointed from a panel of lay members of institute committees. This committee may report to the institute's council on its findings.
  459
  Each of the professional bodies have recognised the importance of independent input in regulatory matters and all have lay representation on their various regulatory and disciplinary committees.

  Auditing Requirements
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has for exempting small accountancy firms from the audit monitoring requirements introduced by the Companies Act 1989. [37382]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  I have no such plans. I would, however, refer the hon. Gentleman to the conclusions of the review of the monitoring arrangements of the recognised supervisory bodies for auditors, conducted by Professor Peter Moizer in 1994. The recommendations of the review, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House, are being implemented by the bodies.

  Limited Liability Partnerships Legislation
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has made to the Government of Jersey in connection with the enactment of limited liability partnerships legislation. [37378]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  I have made no such representations.

  Accountancy Firms
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to investigate the competition practices of major accountancy firms. [37379]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  I have no such plans.

  Caparo Judgment
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to introduce legislation to reverse the Caparo judgment. [37380]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  I have no such plans, but continue to keep the situation under review.

  Electrical Equipment (Plugs)
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if all new electrical equipment designed to be connected to the mains sold in the United Kingdom is required to be fitted with plugs. [37191]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994, which came into force on 1 February 1996, introduced a legal requirement that most new and second hand domestic electrical appliances can be sold only if they have been pre-fitted with an approval standard United Kingdom plug.

  Industrial Development (Greater London)
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what discussions he has had, and with which bodies, on industrial development within the Greater London area; and if he will make a statement. [37196]

  Mr. Eggar
  DTI Ministers are frequently in contact with London-based organisations about a wide range of industrial issues.

  EU Working Tune Directive
  Mrs. Currie
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many representations he has received about the European Union working time directive; how many of these came from British companies; and which have expressed concern about the effect of the directive on their profitability. [37432]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  My Department has received a wide range of representations about the working time directive. Many of these have been from employers or employer organisations concerned about the potential cost implications of the directive.

  Hubble Space Telescope
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 18 April,Official Report, column 570, to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, if he will make a statement on the progress of the formal discussions about Europe's role in the refurbishment of the Hubble space telescope, planned for 1999. [36645]

  Mr. Ian Taylor
  Representatives of the European Space Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration met on Thursday 27 June 1996 to discuss the ESA contribution to the Hubble space telescope refurbishment mission due in 1999. It was agreed that ESA will provide the solar array drive mechanism in return for 15 per cent. of observing time being allocated to European groups.

  Scott Report
  Mr. Sumberg
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects the appendices to Sir Richard Scott's report to be published. [37885]

  Mr. Lang
  They are to be published on 18 July as a two-disk CD-ROM set.

  Ice Cream (Inquiry)
  Mr. Sumberg
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the evidence submitted by Birds Eye Wall's to a Monopolies and Mergers Commission inquiry following the undertaking given to the hon. Member for Dagenham (Ms Church) on 17 April,Official Report, column 527. [37966]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  The Director General of Fair Trading, at the request of my predecessor, the hon. Member for Tatton (Mr. Hamilton) carried out an investigation into whether, during an inquiry conducted by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in 1993–94 into the supply of ice cream for immediate consumption in the United Kingdom, Birds Eye Wall's had supplied false or misleading information to the commission. The supply of such false or misleading information is an offence contrary to section 93B of the Fair Trading Act 1973.

  Having considered the director general's report, and departmental and other independent legal advice, against the criteria set out in the code for crown prosecutors, I have concluded that my Department should not take any further action in this matter.

  Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors
  Mr. Clapham
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what implications the shutdown of the reactors at Hinckley Point B and Hunterston have for electricity supply; and what is the estimated impact on the income stream of British Energy. [37603]

  Mr. Eggar
  The total generating capacity for the electricity markets in Great Britain was 67,620MW at 31 March 1996. Hinkley Point B has a generating capacity of l,270MW, 1.9 per cent. of the total and Hunterston B has a generating capacity of 1,195MW, 1.8 per cent. of the total. The impact on the income stream of British Energy is a commercial matter for the company.

  Mr. Clapham
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what factors underlay the timing of the disclosure to the public of news of the shutdown of the AGR reactors at Hinckley Point B and Hunterston; [37601]

  (2) what implications the technical faults at Hinckley Point B and Hunterston have for the other five advanced gas-cooled reactors; [37602]

  (3) when he was first informed that there was a serious technical fault with the advanced gas-cooled reactors at Hinckley Point B and Hunterston; and if he will make a statement; [37599]

  (4) what recent advice he has received from the nuclear installations inspectorate about the advanced gas-cooled reactors at Hinckley Point B and Hunterston; and when he received its report. [37600]

  Mr. Eggar
  AGR technical issues are covered in the British Energy prospectus published on 26 June.

  A continuing programme of steam pipe inspections revealed a crack in a weld at Hinkley Point B which was made public by British Energy on 4 July. Following examination of the cracked weld Nuclear Electric and Scottish Nuclear decided to shut down one reactor at each of Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B power stations, as a precautionary measure, on the evening of Tuesday 9 July. I was informed of the decision to shut down the reactors at about 9 am on Wednesday 10 July. My officials were in close touch with British Energy while the company established with their advisers that their financial position was not significantly affected. A press release was issued at 5.30 pm on 10 July after a high level group at the company had reviewed the evidence from the metallurgical examination and considered the possible financial implications.

  DTI has been kept fully informed of these developments by British Energy. The Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate has confirmed that it is content with he licensees' actions.

  FalFab
  Mr. Jamieson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received from hon. Members on behalf of FalFab LLC since 1994; and on what dates these were received. [35220]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 1 July 1996]: We have been unable to trace any record of representations from hon. Members on behalf of this company.
  462
  Mr. Jamieson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what consultations were made by his Department to ensure that the estimated value of FalFab at the time of its application for regional selective assistance was correct; and if he will make a statement; [35248]

  (2) what verification was undertaken by his Department to ensure that sufficient capital was available to FalFab LLC to qualify for regional selective assistance from his Department; what assessment he has made of the adequacy of this verification; and if he proposes to recover any of the granted financial assistance. [35247]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 1 July 1996]: FalFab was a newly-created company set up as a joint venture between two other US-based companies. The Department's offer of grant contained preconditions in order to ensure that capital of at least £1 million had been injected into the company before grant was paid. Appropriate audited confirmation that these preconditions had been met was submitted at the time of FalFab's claim for the first instalment of grant.

  Although the company has laid off its workforce, discussions aimed at securing a viable future for the business are taking place and it would be premature for the Department to seek recovery.

  Mr. Jamieson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what safeguards are in operation to protect his Department's position in relation to regional selective assistance grant and aid given to FalFab LLC if(a) the company ceases to trade and (b) the terms and conditions of the grant are not met; and if he will make a statement. [35246]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 1 July 1996]: If the company ceases to trade, or the terms and conditions of the offer are not met and there is no prospect of future viability, my Department will seek to recover grant from the company. The Department also has parent company guarantees to repay the grant if FalFab is not in a position to do so.

  Companies (Financial Assistance)
  Mr. Jamieson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 18 June,Official Report, columns 457–58, if he will list (a) the number and (b) the date of applications to his Department's south-west regional office for regional selective assistance that can be readily identified as being prepared by company W since 1990; and how many applications have been received by his Department's south-west office since this date. [35266]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 1 July 1996]: The Department has examined all the cases which have been considered by the South West industrial development board since 1990 and subsequently been the subject of a grant offer. Company W appears to have prepared 23 out of the 99 cases falling into this category. The application dates of these cases were:

  6 June and 29 October 1991;

  1 September 1992;

  5 January, 14 June, 8, 22 and 28 October and 2 December 1993;

  6, and 24 January, 18 April, 6 May, 15 June, 5 and 12 July and 24 November 1994;

  463

  6 February, 1 March and 1 and 2 November 1995;

  23 February and 15 March 1996.

  I can say with confidence that Mr. Harris was not present for any of the subsequent discussion on the applications submitted by this company.

  South West Industrial Development Board
  Mr. Jamieson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 18 June,Official Report, column 464, if he will state (a) the name of the relevant company, (b) the reason it was deemed sufficient for Mr. X to remain in the meeting, (c) the amount of financial assistance applied for, (d) the amount finally offered and (e) the amount granted. [35263]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 1 July 1996]: The applicant concerned was Pall Europe Ltd. Mr. Roger Harris declared that his firm was the worldwide auditor for Pall Corporation, but that he had no personal involvement in the work. It was deemed sufficient for him to remain in the meeting on condition that he abstained from any vote on the application. The offer was for the amount applied for—£950,000. No payments have yet been made.

  Mr. Jamieson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 18 June,Official Report, columns 461–64, if he will list the relevant conflict of interests by (a) member of the South West industrial development board and (b) the relevant company. [35267]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 1 July 1996]: The board members declared their personal interests to the Department and acted correctly in not involving themselves in discussions of cases where a conflict with those interests arose.

  It is a matter of public record that Mr. Roger Harris's abstentions stemmed from the fact that KPMG, of which he is a senior partner, acted for the applicants as grant advisers or in other capacities.

  Electro-shock Equipment
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what market research reports which referred to the trade in electro-shock weapons have been partially funded by his Department's export market research scheme since June 1994. [36363]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 10 July 1996]: The Department is not aware of any reports which refer to electro-shock batons having received support from the export marketing research scheme since June 1994.

  Research Councils
  Mr. Ingram
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 19 June;Official Report, column 513, when he expects to place in the Library, the memoranda and supporting documentation relating to the prior options review. [37457]
  464
  Mr. Ian Taylor
  [holding answer 15 July 1996]: I have today placed in the Library of the House memoranda setting out the rationale underlying the decisions announced on the following establishments:

  Establishment for which DTI Ministers are responsible:

  Central Laboratory of the Research Councils

  Institute of Arable Crops Research (BBSRC-funded institute)

  Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (BBSRC-funded institute)

  John Innes Centre (BBSRC-funded institute)

  Silsoe Research Institute (BBSRC-funded institute)

  National Weights and Measures Laboratory

  Establishments for which Scottish Office Ministers are responsible:

  Fisheries Research Services

  Forestry Commission Research Division

  Macaulay Land Use Research Institute

  Scottish Crop Research Institute

  Scottish Agricultural Science Agency

  Establishment for which MAFF Ministers are responsible:

  Directorate of Fisheries Research.

  Mr. Ingram
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment was made of the pension and redundancy costs of the privatisation option under the prior options review of the individual research institutes of the Biotechnical and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Medical Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council and the Partical Physics and Astronomy Research Council. [37398]

  Mr. Ian Taylor
  [holding answer 15 July 1996]: Prior options reviews of MRC, NERC and BBSRC institutes remain to be completed. The review of the BBSRC's Institute of Arable Crops Research, Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Jon Innes Centre and Silsoe Research Institute estimated pension transfer costs at up to £72.5 million and contingent staff liabilities at up to £64 million. The review of the Royal Observatories did not make any assessment for redundancy costs of privatisation. Pension transfers costs are still being assessed.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

  Contracts
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will publish a list showing the number, nature and value of contracts awarded by her Department to Coopers and Lybrand, KPMG, Price Waterhouse, Ernst and Young, Deloitte and Touche, Arthur Andersen, Grant Thornton, BDO Stoy Hayward, Pannel Kerr Forster, and Robson Rhodes and their subsidiaries and associates, during 1995 and 1996. [37328]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The information requested is not available without incurring disproportionate cost.

  Public Bodies
  Sir Malcolm Thornton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the total number of full-time equivalent staff within her Department engaged in the administration, oversight, audit and other regulation of each of the non-departmental
  465
  public bodies, agencies and similar bodies, sponsored by her Department, indicating the division within her Department responsible for each. [37504]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Departmental Costs
  Sir Malcolm Thornton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what are the total costs to her Department of the administration, oversight, audit and other regulation of all local authority activities within its responsibility, excluding work undertaken by Ofsted. [37502]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  No discrete record is maintained of the cost incurred by the Department in dealing with issues relating to local authority responsibilities for education and employment. Many different elements of the Department's work relate to local authorities, and they could be disaggregated only at disproportionate cost.

  Departmental Staff
  Sir Malcolm Thornton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the total number of full-time equivalent staff in her Department engaged in the administration, oversight, audit and other regulation of local authority activities within the responsibility of her Department, excluding that undertaken by Ofsted, indicating the division within her Department which has responsibility for each activity. [37501]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  No discrete record is maintained of the numbers of staff in the Department involved with issues relating to local authority responsibilities for education and employment. Many different elements of the Department's work relate to local authorities, and they could be disaggregated only at disproportionate cost.

  Pupils, Devon
  Mr. Allason
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the total number of children educated in Devon by the local education authority in(a) 1994–95, (b) 1995–96 and (c) 1996–97. [37425]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  A total of 145,093 pupils, including 3,018 part-time pupils, were being taught in schools maintained in Devon local education authority in January 1995. Information for January 1996 will be available in the autumn.

  Internet
  Mr. Rowe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to ensure that major publications from his Department are accompanied by a simultaneous electronic release of the text on the Internet. [37231]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  In line with the Government's open government policy, the Department always considers if it is appropriate to use the Internet to augment other publishing routes. An example is the recent publication of "The Skills Audit", which was published simultaneously on the Internet. The responsibility for considering the 466
  Internet as an additional publishing medium for our Command Papers and priced documents rests primarily with HMSO.

  Nursery Vouchers
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many parents of four-year-olds there are in each of the pilot local education authorities; how many vouchers have been issued in each local education authority; and what research she plans to identify which parents are still not receiving vouchers; [37110]

  (2) how many vouchers have been issued to parents of four-year-olds in the pilot areas; how many of these have been redeemed; what is the total cash value of the unredeemed vouchers; and if the cash value of the unredeemed vouchers will be retained by the Exchequer. [37107]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The following table shows estimates of the number of eligible children in each of the phase 1 authorities. These estimates of population and pupil numbers are less reliable when broken down both by local authority area and by year group. The figures for the number of vouchers issued are for the summer term only and relate to the period to 8 July. The figures for redemption relate only to the first half of the summer term. Research on parents and their use of vouchers will be part of a wider project on phase 1 to be undertaken in the early autumn.

  Local education authority

  Estimated Number of eligible children

  Number of vouchers issued

  Number of voucher parts redeemed

  Value of vouchers redeemed (£)

  Value of unredeemed vouchers (£)

  Norfolk

  9,300

  8,979

  36,910

  1,353,490

  273,192

  Kensington and Chelsea

  1,650

  1,129

  4,868

  178,510

  28,493

  Wandsworth

  3,300

  3,110

  12,968

  475,537

  94,682

  Westminster

  1,900

  1,391

  5,458

  200,145

  54,895

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what research projects are(a) planned and (b) in progress to evaluate the pilot phase of the nursery voucher scheme; and in each case what is (i) the objective of the research project, (ii) the budget allocated, (iii) the timeframe and (iv) the expected date of publication of the research findings. [37104]

  Mr. Squire
  The research projects relating to phase 1 of the nursery education voucher scheme are:Parents survey: (i) to assess the effectiveness of the publicity campaign for, and attitudes to, phase 1 of the nursery education voucher scheme, and provide guidance on publicity for phase 2; (ii) £41,500; (iii) conducted in March-April 1996; (iv) report placed in Library on 8 July 1996.
  Providers survey: (i) to assess levels of awareness and experience of, and attitudes to, the voucher scheme and the information campaign for phase 1; (ii) £47,500; (iii) June 1996; (iv) report to be placed in the Library shortly.

  In addition data on the issue and redemption of vouchers will be analysed termly, and will include the number of vouchers issued, the number redeemed and patterns of redemption.
  467
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of parents in each of the pilot local education authorities have been found to be not in favour of the nursery voucher scheme. [37109]

  Mr. Squire
  In the survey of parents conducted shortly before the nursery education voucher scheme started in the phase 1 areas, the following proportions of parents rated the scheme unfavourably overall:

  Norfolk: 13 per cent.

  Kensington and Chelsea: 33 per cent.

  Westminster: 27 per cent.

  Wandsworth: 24 per cent.

  In Norfolk, where 87 per cent. of parents judged the scheme to be "very or quite good", parents were found to be better informed about the scheme than in the other areas.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of parents, in each of the participating local education authorities, were found to believe that they had not had enough information about the voucher scheme. [37111]

  Mr. Squire
  At the time of the parental survey conducted in the four phase 1 areas of the nursery education voucher scheme, 94 per cent. of parents were aware of the scheme. Overall, six in 10 parents wanted to know more. A breakdown by LEA is as follows:

  Norfolk: 57 per cent.

  Kensington and Chelsea: 65 per cent.

  Wandsworth: 45 per cent.

  Westminster: 73 per cent.

  The finding has already been taken into account in the dissemination of information for the remainder of phase 1 and in planning for phase 2.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when she expects to have sufficient evidence on the operation of the pilot phase of the voucher scheme to be able to draw firm conclusions for any changes needed before the scheme is extended nationally. [37106]

  Mr. Squire
  Early in the autumn.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the total budget allocated to phase one of the voucher scheme broken down into budget headings; and in which areas actual spending has exceeded projected spending. [37108]

  Mr. Squire
  In the financial year 1996–97, £17.8 million has been allocated to cover the cost of vouchers for every eligible child in the phase 1 authorities. A total of £10.8 million of this money has been found from existing LEA budgets, the remainder is new money. In addition £5 million has been allocated for setting up the inspection regime, training inspectors for both phases of the scheme and for administration for phase 1 of the scheme. A total of £300,000 has been allocated for providing information to parents and providers in phase 1. None of these budgets has been exceeded.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 8 May,Official Report, column 148, in respect of each
  468
  local authority participating in the pilot phase of the voucher scheme, how many four-year-olds have been enrolled who did not have a voucher at the time of their enrolment; and how many applications have been made by providers on behalf of such children. [37469]

  Mr. Squire
  The number of children who did not have a voucher at the time of their enrolment is not held centrally. Maintained schools in Norfolk have so far made 56 special applications for such children, and there have been 62 applications by schools in Kensington and Chelsea, 93 in Wandsworth and 61 in Westminster. Overall, less than 2 per cent. of the applications have been made in this way.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 22 April,Official Report, column 48, what proportion of the vouchers that have been redeemed to date, have been redeemed in (a) the private sector, (b) the voluntary sector and (c) the maintained sector. [37471]

  Mr. Squire
  As of 5 July, 64 per cent. of voucher parts had been redeemed by providers in the maintained sector and 36 per cent. by those in the private and voluntary sectors taken together.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 8 May,Official Report, column 149, how many voucher-bearing four-year-olds have been accepted by the 40 providers who did not accept four-year-olds prior to initial validation. [37468]

  Mr. Squire
  A total of 110 voucher-bearing four-year-olds attend those providers who did not have any four-year-olds on roll at the time of initial registration.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 22 April,Official Report, column 48, how many of the providers now accepting voucher-bearing children, are able to offer such children (a) one session, (b) two sessions and (c) three or more sessions, per week. [37470]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  Records are not held of the number of sessions offered by providers, only of those provided. The following table shows the number of sessions attended by children, taken from voucher returns made by 11 June.

  Number of sessions attended

  Pupils attending one provider

  Pupils attending two or more providers

  One

  35

  0

  Two

  343

  1

  Three or more

  10,826

  592

  Providers offering only one session cannot join the scheme.

  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of parents who have changed their choice of provider as a result of the voucher scheme. [37404]

  Mr. Squire
  The only evidence currently available comes from the survey of parents conducted just before the summer term, where, at this early stage in the nursery education voucher scheme, few reported changing their
  469
  choice of provider. The expectation is that, over time, a larger number of places of differing types will be created in order to match parental demand.

  School Standards
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the number and proportion of grant-maintained schools deemed by Ofsted(a) to be failing and (b) to have serious weaknesses, requiring follow-up visits. [37158]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  Nine grant-maintained schools have been identified by Her Majesty's chief inspector as failing or likely to fail and therefore in need of special measures. On the basis of the latest comparable figures the proportion of GM schools found to be failing is 1.9 per cent. of those inspected.

  Schools having serious weaknesses are not specifically identified as such by registered inspectors. This is a matter for Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools, who heads the Office for Standards in Education. I have asked Mr. Chris Woodhead to write to the hon. Member.

  Mr. Parry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the number and proportion of local education authority-maintained schools deemed by Ofsted(a) to be failing and (b) to have serious weaknesses, requiring follow-up visits. [37159]

  Mr. Squire
  A total of 173 local education authority-maintained schools have been identified by Her Majesty's chief inspector as failing or likely to fail and therefore in need of special measures. On the basis of the latest comparable figures the proportion of LEA schools found to be failing is 2.1 per cent. of those inspected.

  Schools having serious weaknesses are not specifically identified as such by registered inspectors. This is a matter for Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools, who heads the Office for Standards in Education. I have asked Mr. Chris Woodhead to write to the hon. Member.

  European Social Fund
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to submit a programme to the European Commission under objective 4 of the European social fund for 1997–99. [37467]

  Mr. Forth
  The Government have no present plans to submit an objective 4 plan to the European Commission.

  Teacher Training
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the (i) target intake and (ii) actual intake for primary and early years teacher training in(a) 1995 and (b) 1996; and what is the target intake for 1997. [37255]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The target intakes for primary teacher training in England in 1995–96, 1996–97 and 1997–98 together with the actual intake for 1995–96 are set out in the following table. The actual intake figures for 1996–97 will not be known until after courses start in the autumn. The Government do not publish separate targets for early years teacher training.
  470

  Target

  Actual

  1995–96

  12,115

  13,601

  1996–97

  11,500

  n/a

  1997–98

  12,200

  n/a

  Pre-school Provision
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what was(a) the number and (b) the percentage of four-year-olds in pre-school provision in each local education authority and nationally in 1996; [37256]

  (2) what was (a) the number and (b) the percentage of three-year-olds in pre-school provision in each local education authority and nationally in 1996; [37257]

  (3) what was (a) the number and (b) the percentage of three and four-year-olds in pre-school provision in each local education authority and nationally in 1996. [37258]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  Information on pupils aged three and four in maintained nursery schools and nursery classes in England in January 1996—provisional—is shown in the following table. The Department does not publish information on participation rates of individual age cohorts by local education authority. Participation rates for all pupils aged under five for each local education authority will be available in the autumn.

  Pupils aged three and four in maintained nursery schools and nursery classes in maintained primary schools in England1

  Age

  Number of pupils

  Percentage of population at 31 December 1995

  32

  209,200

  32

  43

  155,100

  24

  3 and 4

  364,300

  28

  1 These figures are not directly comparable with those released in previous years due to changes in the data collected.

  2 Includes pupils aged two. Excludes pupils born between 1 September 1991 and 31 December 1991.

  3 Includes pupils born between 1 September 1991 and 31 December 1991. Excludes pupils born between 1 September 1990 and 31 December 1990.

  Agency Printing Costs
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the agencies for which her Department is responsible and the costs incurred by each for printing(a) all publications and (b) its annual report in the last year for which figures are available. [37463]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The Department has two next steps agencies: the Employment Service; and the Teachers' Pensions Agency.

  Information on the costs incurred on printing all publications is not recorded separately by the two agencies and could be disaggregated from other printing costs only at disproportionate cost.
  471
  Information is, however, available about the specific cost of printing the agencies' annual report and accounts. The cost of printing the Employment Service annual report and accounts for 1995–96 is expected to be around £23,000. The cost of printing the 1995–96 Teachers' Pensions Agency annual report and accounts was £5,400.

  Primary School Pupils
  Mr. Blunkett
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many five, six and seven-year-olds there are(a) in each local education authority and (b) nationally. [37150]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  [holding answer 15 July 1996]: The latest information on the numbers of pupils in school in each local education authority area in England who were aged between five and seven years of age is shown in the following table.

  Pupils aged 5–7 years of age (1)(2) in local education authority area in England

  January 1995

  Local education authority

  Pupils

  Corporation of London

  127

  Camden

  6,018

  Greenwich

  9,160

  Hackney

  8,170

  Hammersmith and Fulham

  4,419

  Islington

  6,606

  Kensington and Chelsea

  5,572

  Lambeth

  8,601

  Lewisham

  9,130

  Southwark

  9,815

  Tower Hamlets

  8,760

  Wandsworth

  8,605

  Westminster

  5,072

  Barking and Dagenham

  6,846

  Barnet

  11,376

  Bexley

  9,093

  Brent

  9,641

  Bromley

  11,282

  Croydon

  13,280

  Ealing

  11,514

  Enfield

  10,669

  Haringey

  8,623

  Harrow

  8,035

  Havering

  9,070

  Hillingdon

  9,676

  Hounslow

  8,032

  Kingston upon Thames

  5,060

  Merton

  6,509

  Newham

  11,213

  Redbridge

  9,295

  Richmond upon Thames

  6,210

  Sutton

  6,476

  Waltham Forest

  8,791

  Birmingham

  45,341

  Coventry

  12,801

  Dudley

  11,898

  Sandwell

  12,664

  Solihull

  8,552

  Walsall

  11,099

  Wolverhampton

  10,382

  Knowsley

  7,554

  Liverpool

  20,220

  St. Helens

  7,300

  Sefton

  11,589

  Wirral

  13,938

  Bolton

  11,323

  Bury

  7,358

  472

  Pupils aged 5–7 years of age (1)(2) in local education authority area in England

  January 1995

  Local education authority

  Pupils

  Manchester

  18,999

  Oldham

  10,020

  Rochdale

  9,278

  Salford

  9,928

  Stockport

  11,674

  Tameside

  9,515

  Trafford

  8,779

  Wigan

  12,284

  Barnsley

  8,680

  Doncaster

  12,454

  Rotherham

  10,421

  Sheffield

  19,243

  Bradford

  21,809

  Calderdale

  8,330

  Kirklees

  15,657

  Leeds

  28,340

  Wakefield

  13,154

  Gateshead

  7,545

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  10,333

  North Tyneside

  7,642

  South Tyneside

  6,330

  Sunderland

  12,381

  Isles of Scilly

  63

  Avon

  36,777

  Bedfordshire

  23,697

  Berkshire

  30,924

  Buckinghamshire

  27,074

  Cambridge

  26,654

  Cheshire

  38,923

  Cleveland

  24,624

  Cornwall

  17,641

  Cumbria

  17,932

  Derbyshire

  36,029

  Devon

  38,050

  Dorset

  22,743

  Durham

  22,886

  East Sussex

  25,100

  Essex

  60,963

  Gloucestershire

  21,148

  Hampshire

  63,188

  Hereford and Worcester

  26,592

  Hertfordshire

  40,358

  Humberside

  35,985

  Isle of Wight

  4,490

  Kent

  61,756

  Lancashire

  57,654

  Leicestershire

  36,577

  Lincolnshire

  22,699

  Norfolk

  27,148

  North Yorkshire

  26,504

  Northamptonshire

  25,429

  Northumberland

  11,389

  Nottinghamshire

  40,605

  Oxfordshire

  22,009

  Shropshire

  16,623

  Somerset

  18,053

  Staffordshire

  41,776

  Suffolk

  24,876

  Surrey

  38,875

  Warwickshire

  19,322

  West Sussex

  26,245

  Wiltshire

  23,782

  England

  1,918,724

  1 Ages as at 31 August 1994.

  2 Includes pupils in all maintained and non-maintained schools.

WALES

  Child Abuse
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many local authority inquiries into child exploitation of abuse of children looked after or in care are currently taking place in south Wales. [36508]

  Mr. Hague
  I am not aware of any current local authority inquiries into these matters in south Wales. There is, I understand, an investigation by the police and Cardiff social services currently underway concerning allegations of abuse by a former residential child care social worker.

  Chapels (Preservation)
  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made in respect of the preservation of Welsh chapels since the publication of the second report from the Welsh Affairs Committee of Session 1992–93, HC 403, on the Preservation of Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments. [36586]

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  Responsibility for issues relating to redundant chapels has been delegated to Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from T. J. Cassidy to Mr. Ted Rowlands, dated 16 July 1996:
  The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your Question about the progress towards establishing a redundant chapels fund in Wales.
  In its response to the Welsh Affairs Committee Report. "The Preservation of Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments", the Government indicated that it was prepared to fund 70% of the costs of a mechanism to care for the best redundant historic chapels for which no other arrangement could be made.
  In November 1994 the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, on Cadw's behalf, organised a Conference to identify the problems which such a mechanism might address and to promote the involvement of interested people. That Conference led to the establishment of a Working Group to consider the issue under the chairmanship of Dr. Roger Wools—an architect who has taken a particular interest in historic chapels. The Group's members included the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Wales, an Executive Committee member of CAPEL, the Conservation Officer of Monmouth Borough Council, an archaeologist and a Chartered Building Surveyor. The terms of reference to which the Group has worked were:

  to examine questions of redundancy and to consider if chapels of significance will be presented for which preservation is desirable;

  to consider what mechanisms could be put in place which with support from the Welsh Office might address the needs of such buildings.

  The Group has consulted widely, hearing the views of representatives of organisations concerned with chapels. Its report is due shortly.
  We look forward to receiving the Group's report which we hope will help us identify important chapels which may be facing redundancy and indicate the best way forward.

  Population Statistics
  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has of the numbers of 16 and 17-year-olds there will be in(a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999 and (d) 2000; and what were the figures in (i) 1992, (ii) 1993, (iii) 1994 and (iv) 1995. [36599]

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  The available information is as follows:

  Residents in Wales

  Number (thousands) aged:

  Year

  16

  17

  16 and 17

  1992

  34.4

  35.9

  70.3

  1993

  32.7

  34.2

  66.9

  1994

  33.2

  32.5

  65.8

  Source:

  Office for National Statistics mid-year estimates.

  Year

  Number (thousands) aged:

  16

  17

  16 and 17

  1995

  36.5

  33.2

  69.8

  1997

  38.1

  38.6

  76.7

  1998

  37.4

  38.1

  75.5

  1999

  37.5

  37.4

  74.9

  2000

  37.2

  37.5

  74.8

  Source:

  Government Actuary's Department mid-year projections (1994 based).

  Note:

  Figures may appear not to add to the totals shown. This is due to rounding.

  Statistical Forms
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the statistical forms issued to businesses by his Department and the number sent out of each. [37460]

  Mr. Hague
  The available information is for 1995 and is as given in the 1996 Welsh Office "Survey Control Report". The forms listed as follows included those sent to agricultural main holdings.

  Statistical forms issued to businesses by The Welsh Office in 1995

  Number of forms

  Agriculture

  June Agriculture and Horticulture Survey

  22,000

  December Survey of Agriculture

  4,900

  Dairy Enterprise Cost Study

  100

  Farm Business Study

  550

  Lowland Beef Enterprise Study

  60

  Lowland Sheep Production Study

  90

  Study of Welsh Slaughtering/Meat Processing Capacity

  77

  Health

  Private Hospitals, Homes and Clinics

  413

  Social Services

  Independent Registered Homes for Mental Disorder or Substance Dependence

  206

  Independent Registered Care Homes

  511

  Residential Care Homes: Separate Unit

  36

  Return of Particulars of Voluntary Children's Homes

  3

  475

  Statistical forms issued to businesses by The Welsh Office in 1995

  Number of forms

  Industry

  Electricity Generation and Supply

  6

  Record of Openings and Closures

  250

  Customer Service Surveys

  55

  Trade Mission Service: 6 month questionnaire

  170

  12 month questionnaire

  91

  Full-time Education
  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the percentage of(a) 16-year-olds, (b) 17-year-olds and (c) 18-year-olds in full-time education who are (i) studying A/AS courses, (ii) in higher education, (iii) studying BTEC national courses, (iv) studying GCSE and (v) undertaking other studies; and what percentage of (1) 16-year-olds, (2) 17-year-olds and (3) 18-year-olds are in full-time education in the latest year for which figures are available. [36583]

  Mr. Jonathan Evans
  The information requested is in the following table:

  16, 17 and 18 year olds in full-time education in Wales 1994–951

  Per cent.

  Aged 16

  Aged 17

  Aged 18

  Aged 16–18

  LEVEL OF STUDY

  In further education (FE) and higher education (HE) institutions:

  A/AS

  11

  14

  7

  11

  Higher education2

  —

  1

  54

  14

  BTEC3

  18

  23

  21

  21

  GCSE

  2

  1

  1

  2

  Other4

  13

  14

  10

  13

  Total in FE and HE

  45

  53

  92

  60

  In schools5

  A/AS

  8—

  8—

  8—

  31

  BTEC5

  8—

  8—

  8—

  8

  GCSE

  8—

  8—

  8—

  1

  Other7

  8—

  8—

  8—

  —

  Total in schools

  55

  47

  8

  40

  Total

  100

  100

  100

  100

  Percentage of population in full-time education

  72

  58

  44

  58

  Notes:

  1Provisional. Percentages may not add up to totals due to rounding.

  2Includes BTEC HND, HNC and other BTEC higher education courses.

  3Includes all BTEC further education courses.

  4Includes courses leading to unspecified qualifications.

  5Level of study in maintained secondary schools and independent schools only.

  6Includes BTEC National Certificates and Diplomas; BTEC First Certificates and Diplomas; City and Guilds' Diploma of Vocational Education (at National and Intermediate level); and all GNVQs.

  7Includes Post A level studies and NVQs at Levels 1–3 and other pupils aged 16 or over not accounted for elsewhere.

  8Not available; - nil or less than half the final digit shown.

  Source:

  Higher Education Statistics Agency, Further Education Student Record and the January 1995 Schools' Census.

  Wheelchairs
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 1 July,Official Report, column 342, when he initiated discussions on the future provision of wheelchairs for disabled people in Wales; with which voluntary organisations in Wales he proposes consulting on his future policy; when he hopes to conclude his consultation; and when he plans to make operational revisions to his policy. [36594]

  Mr. Hague
  My officials have been in discussion with health authorities and service providers in Wales following details of the proposed new arrangements in England becoming available. These are continuing but I hope shortly to be able to consult the major organisations representing wheelchair users in Wales about the issues involved.

  Youth Training
  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the number of those who have undertaken a youth training programme who have(a) been subsequently employed and (b) achieved a recognised qualification in each training and council area in each year from 1990 to 1996. [36582]

  Mr. Jonathan Evans
  The proportion of young people leaving youth training and(a) who gained a job and (b) achieved a recognised qualification in each year from 1991–92 to 1994–5 in each TEC area are shown in the following tables. No figures are available for 1990 as not all TECs were operational in that year. Figures for 1995–1996 are not yet available.

  (a) Proportion of leavers in a job by year

  Per cent.

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  1994–95

  Mid Glamorgan

  48

  42

  47

  52

  South Glamorgan

  41

  43

  45

  n/a

  Gwent

  43

  44

  45

  54

  Powys

  n/a

  n/a

  n/a

  n/a

  North-east Wales

  68

  80

  n/a

  64

  North-west Wales

  54

  n/a

  55

  59

  West Wales

  42

  40

  44

  53

  Wales

  47

  45

  48

  56

  Note:

  Full time, part time or self employment.

  n/a=Not available due to low number of responses.

  Source:

  YT national follow-up survey.

  (b) Proportion of leavers gaining a full/part qualification by year

  Per cent.

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  1994–95

  Mid Glamorgan

  38

  33

  46

  42

  South Glamorgan

  36

  31

  46

  n/a

  Gwent

  36

  37

  47

  43

  Powys

  n/a

  n/a

  n/a

  n/a

  North-east Wales

  61

  73

  n/a

  51

  477

  (b) Proportion of leavers gaining a full/part qualification by year

  Per cent.

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  1994–95

  North-west Wales

  61

  n/a

  47

  48

  West Wales

  42

  39

  42

  48

  Wales

  43

  38

  46

  46

  Note:

  n/a = Not available due to low number of responses

  Source:

  YT national follow-up survey.

  Traffic Congestion
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures have been taken to alleviate traffic congestion in and around holiday resorts in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [37089]

  Mr. Hague
  Access to many Welsh holiday resorts has been significantly improved by the motorway and trunk road improvements—costing some £3 billion—which have been completed since 1979. Roads within holiday resorts are the responsibility of the relevant local authorities, and it is for them to assess the need for any improvements.

  Modern Apprenticeships
  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what sums have been allocated by his Department to each training and enterprise council in Wales for modern apprenticeships in year(a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3. [37384]

  Mr. Jonathan Evans
  The information requested for years 1 and 2 is shown in the following table. Figures for 1996–97 will not become available until September 1996, as TECs have yet to finalise contracts with their providers.

  Modern apprenticeship expenditure (£ million)

  1994–951

  1995–962

  Gwent

  1.618

  0.894

  Mid Glamorgan

  1.845

  0.476

  North-east Wales

  0.831

  0.330

  Powys

  1.097

  0.129

  South Glamorgan

  0.492

  0.221

  Targed

  1.149

  0.309

  West Wales

  2.530

  0.677

  Total Wales

  9.562

  3.036

  11994–95 expenditure includes monies for capital equipment.

  21995–96 expenditure figures are provisional.

  Eurofreight Terminal
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on progress in establishing a Eurofreight terminal in south Wales; what consultations he has conducted with the chairman of the Welsh development agency concerning the pre-planning study; and when he anticipates commencement of the project's construction phase. [37610]

  Mr. Hague
  On 3 April I agreed that the Welsh development agency should enter into further discussions with the promoters of the proposal for a rail freight terminal at Wentloog; these discussions are continuing and the WDA will be reporting back to me in due course. I have not held discussions with the WDA chairman on 478
  any pre-planning study. The timing of any developments is dependent on the proposals put forward by the promoters and the outcome of the discussions with the WDA.

  Extra-contractual Referral System
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library a copy of the consultation paper he has issued on simplifying the extra-contractual referral system; if he will list the consultees on this document; and if he will make a statement. [37608]

  Mr. Hague
  I have arranged for copies of the letters sent to the NHS in Wales explaining the proposals for streamlining aspects of the extra-contractual referral process to be placed in the Library. Guidance on other aspects of the process is being developed in partnership with health authorities, NHS trusts and GPs. This guidance is likely to be issued in the autumn.

SCOTLAND

  Saltire
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 3 July,Official Report, column 485, if he will review the list of persons whose birthdays are marked by the flying of the Saltire from public buildings and include the birthdays of (a) Robert Burns and (b) Robert the Bruce. [36241]

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  I am giving consideration to the matter.

  Local Government Reorganisation
  Sir David Steel
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will ensure that when a new unitary authority has succeeded a number of old authorities the liability limit of 70 per cent. of costs for inherited legal commitments will be calculated by an aggregate total of the old authorities; and if he will make a statement. [37125]

  Mr. Kynoch
  Demitting local authorities' ability to commit their successors to capital expenditure in 1996–97 was restricted to 70 per cent., of each authorities' individual capital allocation. I have undertaken to give each successor authority a capital allocation equal to the amount of legal commitments they inherit from each of their predecessors, provided that the individual demitting authorities did not exceed their commitment limits. The mechanism which has been put in place for dealing with inherited legal commitments was proposed by and agreed with COSLA last year. I do not propose to change it now.

  Speech and Language Disorders
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children from homes in Scotland with(a) specific speech and (b) language disorders are currently having their special educational needs met in establishments in England as a result of a lack of appropriate provision in Scotland. [37017]

  Mr. Raymond S. Robertson
  The information requested is not held centrally.
  479
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what grants or other financial assistance have been awarded by the Scottish Office, in the financial years 1995–96 and 1996–97, to organisations whose sole remit is to represent children with specific speech and language disorders. [37015]

  Mr. Robertson
  No funding has been awarded in the years 1995–96 and 1996–97 to any organisation concerned solely with representing children with specific speech and language disorders.

  Special Educational Needs
  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the information about advice, counselling and advocacy for parents of children with special educational needs, currently being gathered by the Scottish Office, will be made available to parents; and in what form. [37014]

  Mr. Raymond S. Robertson
  Views were invited by 1 July 1996 from statutory bodies, voluntary organisations and others on the content, layout and format of the Scottish Office publication, "A Parents Guide to Special Educational Needs".

  A wide range of detailed responses has been made and these are being given careful consideration. The aim is to have a revised version of the guide available before the end of this year. The current edition of the guide is available in printed form in English, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Cantonese and also in English on audio cassette. Views were sought from those consulted on appropriate formats for the revision.

  Mr. Home Robertson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his policy on advocacy for children and the parents of children with special educational needs during the preparation of a record of needs. [37016]

  Mr. Robertson
  The Scottish Office encourages openness and co-operation between all parties involved in the preparation of a record of needs and acknowledges that advocacy for children and the parents of children with special educational needs, where an involved party feels it appropriate, can contribute to the process.

  To support this the Scottish Office has assisted the national voluntary organisation, Children in Scotland, to establish the special needs forum which provides information and training about special educational needs for parents and voluntary organisations. It also provided financial assistance to that organisation to publish "A Special Partnership", a guide book for named persons and parents, to help them to participate more effectively in the recording processes. Additionally, I have asked the Scottish Office, in the light of responses received to the consultation about the new version of its publication, "A Parents' Guide to Special Educational Needs", to review the need for further encouragement and guidance about advocacy services.

  Poverty
  Mr. David Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to bring together and publish all information held by his Department about poverty in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [37340]

  Mr. Kynoch
  There is no simple or meaningful way to define poverty. The principal current sources of information on the incomes of households are "Households Below Average Income 1979 to 1992–93" and the "Family Expenditure Survey 1994–95. The latter includes information specifically on Scottish households. Both publications are available in the Library.

  Scottish Homes
  Mr. Worthington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list, in(a) real and (b) constant prices the resources available to Scottish Homes for construction work in each year since 1990 projected forward to 1997–98; [37445]

  (2) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the resources of Scottish Homes to fund the preparation of plans by (a) housing associations and (b) co-operatives for construction works to commence at the start of 1997–98; and if he will make a statement on trends in the level of support for such projects over the last three years; [37444]

  (3) which Scottish Homes construction projects for 1996–97 have been (a) deferred and (b) cancelled becauseof resource constraints; what was their value; and what was the nature of the constraints. [37446]

  Mr. Raymond S. Robertson
  Scottish Homes development programme represents the total available each year for investment in projects undertaken by housing associations and co-operatives, private developers and others. The annual development programme in the period to 1996–97 and the amount estimated by Scottish Homes for 1997–98, based on its currently planned resources, are given in the table at cash and constant, or real, 1996–97 prices.

  £ million

  Cash prices

  Constant 1996–97 prices

  1990–91

  203.0

  248.4

  1991–92

  235.0

  270.9

  1992–93

  282.6

  312.9

  1993–94

  306.6

  329.7

  1994–95

  319.5

  337.4

  1995–96

  320.6

  329.3

  1996–97

  280.0

  280.0

  1997–98 (estimated)

  260.0

  253.7

  Within the total level of resources available to it, Scottish Homes continually makes decisions on priorities to be given to individual projects. As a result, if more funding assistance is sought than can be accommodated within the overall programme, certain projects may be deferred. However, such decisions are a matter for Scottish Homes.

  Scottish Homes supplements its grant-in-aid from receipts and other sources. I am satisfied that, given the

  481
  overall need to restrain public expenditure in order to ensure the maintenance of economic growth, Scottish Homes has sufficient resources at its disposal to support substantial investment work in 1997–98. These resources will also lever in significant sums of private finance for housing development.

  Statistical Forms
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the statistical forms issued to businesses by his Department and the number sent out of each. [37465]

  Mr. Kynoch
  The information is as follows:

  Title of survey

  Number of responses requested per year

  Scottish Register of Employment

  500

  Oil Related Employment Survey

  1,000

  Accommodation Occupancy Survey

  13,680

  Network Customer Survey

  500

  Manufacturing Trade Flow Survey

  412

  Pay Conditions in Major Scottish Manufacturing Companies

  153

  Socio Economic Impact of the Skye Bridge

  400

  Survey of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in the Oil and Gas Industry

  500

  Skill Needs and Shortages in Electronics

  180

  Appraisal of Economic Impact of Scottish Delegations Attendance at Europartneria

  120

  The Economic Potential of Yachting in the Highlands and Islands

  90

  Sound of Barra Ferry Study

  90

  Competitive Locations Business Survey

  1,500

  Residential Care Homes

  1,300

  Facilities for the Daycare and Education of Children and Support to Families

  833

  Day Care Centres

  500

  Residential Establishments for Children/Young People

  154

  Waste Reduction Re Use and Recycling in the Scottish Islands

  384

  Gyle Impact Study—Gyle Retailers Survey

  480

  Sawmill Survey

  443

  Round Fencing Manufacturers Survey

  67

  Private Sector Softwood Timber Removals Survey

  33

  Farmers Attitudes Toward Tree Planting and Management

  190

  Economics of Farm Forestry

  721

  Employers' Views on Education

  1,000

  Evaluation of the National Record of Achievement

  60

  The Use of Nomination Arrangements by Scottish Local Authorities

  244

  Measuring the Effectiveness of the Special Needs Allowance Package

  48

  Supporting Voluntary Committee Members of Scottish Housing Associations and Coops

  200

  Review of the Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme

  570

  Evaluation of the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme

  1,600

  CAP Reform and Land Management Policy Measures

  307

  Main Agricultural and Horticultural Census

  32,700

  Agricultural and Horticultural Census

  12,500

  Minor Agricultural Census

  6,000

  Costs and Earnings of Fishing Vessels in Scotland

  1,200

  Farm Economic Survey

  2,000

  Surveys of Farm Accounts

  620

  482

  Title of survey

  Number of responses requested per year

  Horticultural Yields and Prices Survey (soft fruit)

  141

  Cabbage and Cauliflower Survey

  84

  Combine Crops Production Survey

  640

  Production and Marketing of Hatching Eggs and Chicks Return

  120

  Poultry Packing Station Throughputs

  60

  Store Market Reporting

  478

  Hay and Straw Prices

  212

  Autumn Store Sales Return

  9

  Bank Survey

  21

  Deer Survey

  71

  Survey of Fertiliser Practice

  250

  Pesticide Usage in Farm and Commercial Grain Stores

  500

  Pesticide Usage on Vegetables for Human Consumption

  25

  Pesticide Usage on Protected Crops

  10

  Utilisation of Milk

  1,440

  Survey of Milk Prices

  480

  Nuclear Reactor
  Mr. Ingram
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he plans to provide funding assistance to meet the decommissioning costs of the experimental nuclear reactor at the Scottish universities reactor centre, East Kilbride; and if he will make a statement. [37400]

  Mr. Raymond S. Robertson
  [holding answer 15 July 1996]: I am aware that the consortium of universities which run the Scottish universities reactor centre will need to incur expenditure on decommissioning the reactor over the next three years. We shall be considering this pressure on the higher education sector during the survey alongside others which have been drawn to our attention.

  Public Appointments
  Mr Chisholm
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland to which public offices in Scotland the Lord Advocate makes(a) appointments and (b) recommendations of appointments. [32287]

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  [holding answer 17 June 1996]:

  (a) The Lord Advocate is responsible for the appointment of:

  Advocate Deputes;

  Procurators Fiscal;

  the Chairman and Members of the Scottish Law Commission;

  the Chairman and Members of the Scottish Committee of the Council on Tribunals;

  the Chairman of any Building Societies Appeals Tribunal in Scotland.

  (b) The Lord Advocate is consulted about or makes nominations in respect of a wide range of public appointments.

DEFENCE

  Precision Guided Missiles
  Mr. Meacher
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when approaches were made to Her Majesty's Government in relation to the(a) resale and (b) transfer of precision guided missiles supplied to the United Arab Emirates by (i) ISC-Ferranti and (ii) GEC-Marconi; what was the outcome of these approaches; and if he will list the (1) resales and (2) transfers which have subsequently taken place indicating the country concerned.[36831]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  This is a commercially confidential matter.

  Mr. Meacher
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his officials reviewed the ISC-Ferranti precision guided missile for compliance with the missile technology control regime; and what was the outcome of that review. [36605]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  It is not normal practice to reveal advice on individual export licence applications, but all applications relating to missiles are reviewed against our obligations under the missile technology control regime, as well as other considerations.

  Mr. Meacher
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which section of his Department was responsible for expressing the concern referred to on page 865, sub-paragraph vi of the Scott inquiry report in relation to ISC-Ferranti contracts for precision guided missiles. [36606]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  It is not normal practice to disclose the source of advice, nor did Sir Richard Scott see the need in this particular case.

  Lariam
  Ms Corston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what circumstances his Department(a) prescribes and (b) administers Lariam as an anti-malarial prophylaxis to military pilots and air crew. [36872]

  Mr. Soames
  Larium is not prescribed as an anti-malarial prophylaxis to service pilots and aircrew.

  Trident Programme
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Trident submarines there are in the Trident programme; how many have been acquired; and how many are on station at any given time. [37393]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  There are four submarines in the Trident programme; so far two have entered service. It is not our practice to give details of the dispositions of the strategic nuclear deterrent.

  Mr. Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department expects to commission the last Trident submarine in its programme. [37392]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  HMS Vengeance, the fourth Trident submarine, will enter service around the turn of the century.
  484
  Mr. Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the additional contribution of the last Trident submarine to the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent capability. [37394]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  The four boat Trident fleet will guarantee continuous deterrent patrols throughout the planned 25-year life of the submarines, which includes periods for refit.

  Iraq
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received from the United States authorities concerning the contents of the bunkers at Kamisayah in southern Iraq in March 1991. [37388]

  Mr. Soames
  No British troops were present in the vicinity of the Kamisayah arms depot when it was destroyed by US troops in March 1991. We continue, nonetheless, to take a close interest in the investigation being carried out by the US authorities into the incident. I understand that the US troops involved were 5 km from the depot when it was destroyed and that, further, a preliminary study of the health of those involved shows that there is nothing at present to suggest that they were exposed to chemical agents.

  Internet
  Mr. Rowe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to ensure that major publications from his Department are accompanied by a simultaneous electronic release of the text on the Internet. [37245]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  We have already released on the MOD home page—http:www.mod.uk—a summary of the 1996"Statement on the Defence Estimates", and have a sub-page for major defence policy speeches. This is in addition to press releases and other information.

  The use of the Internet is kept under continual review as we recognise its potential as a publishing medium.

  Nuclear Weapons
  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the impact of the International Court of Justice's recent decision on nuclear weapons on the position of the commanding officer of a naval SSBN—strategic submarine ballistic nuclear. [37345]

  Mr. Soames
  We do not believe the court's advisory opinions will have any implications for the commanding officers of our SSBNs.

  Mr. Simpson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if an additional review has been made of the paper on the distribution of uranium 235 and plutonium 239 around the air force base at Greenham Common, referred to in his answer to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) of 3 July 1995,Official Report, column 93; and if he will make a statement on the prospects for the public release of this report. [37739]

  Mr. Soames
  This report has been reviewed and arrangements are being made to release it to the Public Record Office as soon as possible.
  485
  Mr. Simpson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many accidents involving nuclear weapons have taken place in the United Kingdom, or its dependent territories, since 1966. [37514]

  Mr. Soames
  [holding answer 15 July 1996]: A nuclear weapon accident is defined as
  "any unplanned occurrence involving the destruction of, or damage or suspected damage to, a nuclear weapon, which has resulted in actual, or potential hazard to life, or property, or which may have impaired nuclear safety".

  This definition is subdivided into two categories: category 1—where there has not been a release of radioactive material; category 2—where a release of radioactive material has been detected, or (in the early stages) the possibility of a release cannot be excluded. There has never been a category 2 accident, but seven category 1 accidents have been reported since 1966. Without exception these occurrences caused absolutely no hazard either to public safety or that of MoD personnel.

  Married Quarters Estate
  Mr. David Nicholson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what meetings Defence Ministers have had with the Empty Homes Agency to discuss how empty MoD married quarters might be offered for sale or lease by housing associations or local authorities in areas of housing needs; and if he will make a statement. [37175]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence has held a number of meetings with the Empty Homes Agency during 1995 and 1996 to discuss issues related to void properties.

  Mr. Spellar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on maintenance of the married quarters estate in each of the past five years. [37605]

  Mr. Soames
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) on Tuesday 9 July,Official Report, column 727.

  Transport and Movements Executive
  Dr. Twinn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key targets have been set for the Defence Transport and Movements Executive in 1996–97. [37886]

  Mr. Soames
  The chief executive of the Defence Transport and Movements Executive has been set the following key targets for 1996–97:

  1. To confirm and satisfy the operational requirement through the achievement of a satisfactory operational evaluation.

  Method of Assessment

  (a) The criteria for KT should be an objective assessment by the chief executive based on:

  Key post manning requirements are met.

  Staff training and skills are to the required standard.

  Owned infrastructure can achieve appropriate throughput and sustain 24-hour operation.

  G4 transport and movements contracts or other available transport and movements assets provide the means of meeting the operational requirement.

  The required service level agreements are in place and functioning.

  (b) Crisis management exercise.

  (c) The requirements for trained personnel, op eqpt.

  486
  2. To meet the agreed service levels for single service top-level budgets within its wider peacetime transport and movements role.

  An objective assessment by DG Log Sp (A) that DTMX has met its wider peacetime role based on the following criteria:

  (a) The owner's advisory boards.

  (b) Confirmation of success in meeting the criteria for key target 1.

  (c) Confirmation that the G1 transport and movements contracts base meets customer's requirements.

  3. To provide an agreed transport and movements service which meets the transport and movements element of the standard priority system requirements as laid down in JSP 336, to time in 96.5 per cent. of cases.

  4. To implement the agency's competing for quality strategy specifically:

  (a) To complete the Falkland Islands resupply contract with the option of a commercial partner by 31 December 1996.

  (b) To complete the tri-service freight distribution market test by:

  Evaluating tenders by 30 September 1996.

  Letting the contract by 11 November 1996.

  Commencing the contract by 15 May 1997.

  (c) To re-examine the procurement strategy of following existing contracts:

  Rail

  Freight forwarding.

  (d) Identify unavoidable excess spare capacity within owned assets and assess the opportunity to marketing this by December 1996.

  (e) Evaluate the requirement for and procurement of additional MoD shipping assets.

  5. To develop internal management systems to:

  (a) Produce accruals accounts for 1996–97 for a full NAO audit.

  (b) Achieve activity-based costing for 90 per cent. of DTMX budgetary responsibilities by 31 March 1997.

  (c) Continue to pursue the targets set in the DTMX information systems strategy.

  6. Through the use of the DTMX ABC system identify input or output efficiencies against:

  (a) Costing appropriate management charges against activities within DTMX's budgetary area and implementing a process for internal and external benchmarking of these costs.

  (b) Make output efficiencies in management costs within the following functional areas:

  Lands Ops.

  Sea Ops.

  Unaccompanied baggage—initiate management procedures in policing services and changes to the management organisation to identify output efficiencies.

  Chemical Defence Establishment
  Mr. Livingstone
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons files with the classmarks WO 188/679, WO 188/702 and WO 188/707–708 recorded at the Public Record Office concerning the work of the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down, are currently retained by his Department; and if he will open them. [37617]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  In line with the open government initiative, arrangements are being made to review the papers listed at the Public Record Office under references
  487
  WO 188/679, 702 and 707–708 to establish whether release into the public domain is now possible. I will write to the hon. Member on completion of the review process.

  Armed Forces Accommodation
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to build further armed forces accommodation before the end of the current financial year. [37067]

  Mr. Soames
  [holding answer 12 July 1996]: In addition to the 61 new married quarters and 14 single accommodation projects currently under construction, we plan to build a further two new married quarters before the end of the current financial year.

HEALTH

  Nurses (Pay Award)
  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses have received the pay award made for the current year. [35794]

  Mr. Malone
  National health service employers are negotiating on pay for nurses and other NHS staff, as recommended by the Nursing Pay Review Body.

  Ambulance Response Times (Cornwall)
  Mr. Matthew Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on ambulance response times in Cornwall. [35797]

  Mr. Horam
  West Country Ambulance National Health Service trust, which includes Cornwall, dealt with over 86,000 emergency calls in 1995–96 and reached nearly 80,000 of them within the patients charter target of 19 minutes. This represents over 8,000 more calls reached within 19 minutes than in 1994–95.

  Smoking-related Deaths
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce the number of deaths arising from smoking-related diseases. [35798]

  Mr. Horam
  Government strategy to reduce smoking is based on those measures which are known to work. Our record in reducing smoking prevalence to 26 per cent. is one of the best in Europe.

  Private Finance Initiative
  Mr. Timms
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the private finance initiative in the health service. [35799]

  Mr. Horam
  The private finance initiative is providing the services and facilities which enable the national health service to concentrate on providing high-quality health care.

  Mr. Garnier
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his Department's policy on the use of private finance initiative; and if he will make a statement. [35808]
  488
  Mr. Horam
  All capital developments in the national health service have to be tested for private finance. Private finance will be used if it offers the best value for money and transfers risk to the private sector.

  Sir Michael Neubert
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions he has varied his decision on local strategies for acute services in response to alternative proposals arising from private finance initiatives. [36380]

  Mr. Horam
  Capital developments in the national health service, whether privately or publicly financed, must be consistent with local health-care strategies. Any capital scheme must also be supported by the main purchasers of the trust concerned, who can therefore ensure that the scheme is consistent with their purchasing strategies.

  General Practitioners
  Mr. Hall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the available supply of general practitioners. [35800]

  Mr. Malone
  The most recent information is for 1 October 1995 when there were 26,702 general medical practitioners in England.

  Consultant Anaesthetists
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to address shortages of consultant anaesthetists in the NHS. [35801]

  Mr. Malone
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 20 March 1996 at column 243.

  Administrative Costs
  Mr. Foulkes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met the chairmen of NHS trusts to discuss administrative costs. [35802]

  Mr. Malone
  I meet national health service trust chairmen regularly. The Government are committed to the effective management of the NHS and to reducing unnecessary bureaucracy. Our programme for streamlining NHS management will release £300 million for patient care by the end of 1997. We have also launched and are now implementing two efficiency scrutinies which will reduce bureaucracy—eliminating over 17 million forms a year.

  Mr. Viggers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of his departmental expenditure is allocated to administration. [35796]

  Mr. Horam
  Spending on administration in all health authorities, the Prescription Pricing Authority, the Dental Practice Board, the Departmental of Health and on general practitioner fundholder management allowances accounted for 4.8 per cent. of total departmental expenditure in 1994–95.

  Health Service Managers
  Mr. Nigel Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of health service managers in(a)1990 and (b)1996. [35803]
  489
  Mr. Malone
  The number of general and senior managers in the hospital and community health services at September 1990 was published in the Department of Health's statistics bulletin "NHS hospital and community health services non-medical staff in England: 1983–1993" published in October 1994. The number of general medical services practice managers at October 1990 was published in the Departmental of Health's statistics bulletin "Statistics for General Medical Practitioners in England: 1985–1995" published in May 1996. Copies of these publications are available in the Library. Information on the numbers of managers in the general dental, pharmaceutical and ophthalmic services is not available centrally. Information for 1996 is not currently available.

  Newbury Community Hospital
  Mr. Rendel
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in securing funds to build the proposed community hospital in Newbury. [35804]

  Mr. Horam
  The West Berkshire Priority Care Service National Health Service trust has produced plans for a new hospital. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Jim Kerevon, chairman of the trust, for further information.

  Hospital Appointments (Waiting Times)
  Mr. Lewis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce measures to reduce waiting times for hospital appointments in the north-west region. [35805]

  Mr. Horam
  Last year we set the first national standard for the waiting time from general practitioner referral to being seen by a hospital specialist. Latest figures show that in the north-west 86 per cent. of patients were seen within 13 weeks of referral and 98 per cent. were seen within 26 weeks. This is better than performance nationally and health authorities and trusts in the region are working to further reduce these waiting times.

  Paediatric Nurses
  Mr. William O'Brien
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he issues to general practitioner fundholding practices in respect of the training of paediatric nurses; and if he will make a statement. [35806]

  Mr. Horam
  The training of paediatric nurses is the responsibility of community national health service trusts and local education and training consortia. National education and training planning guidance is issued annually.

  Cancer Treatments
  Mr. Nigel Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received concerning the treatment of cancer patients. [35809]

  Mr. Horam
  The Department has received a number of recent representations concerning the treatment of cancer patients. These have been mainly concerned with patients who have suffered adverse effects following radiotherapy treatment for cancer, and the implementation of the recommendations of the recent Health Select Committee's report on breast cancer services.
  490

  Nursing Students
  Ms Corston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met the chief executives of health trusts to discuss the available complement of nursing students. [35810]

  Mr. Horam
  We are in frequent contact with chief executives of health trusts about a number of issues, including education and training.

  Health Authority Budgets (Cheshire)
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the budgets allocated by his Department to health authorities in Cheshire for each of the last five years. [36491]

  Mr. Horam
  The total funds allocated to the health authorities in the county of Cheshire in the period 1991–92 to 1995–96 are listed in the table.

  £000

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  1994–95

  1995–96

  Halton DHA

  47,047

  49,459

  46,275

  0

  0

  Warrington DHA

  73,405

  76,726

  75,878

  0

  0

  North Cheshire DHA

  0

  0

  0

  119,319

  121,017

  Crewe DHA

  77,947

  81,495

  85,229

  0

  0

  Macclesfield DHA

  67,570

  66,805

  67,356

  0

  0

  Chester DHA

  68,736

  74,377

  72,180

  0

  0

  South Cheshire DHA

  0

  0

  0

  222,201

  235,789

  Stockport DHA

  83,351

  86,237

  81,739

  90,435

  95,371

  Tameside and Glossop DHA

  74,772

  78,365

  78,909

  0

  0

  West Pennine DHA

  0

  0

  0

  170,690

  180,883

  Cheshire FHSA

  24,681

  40,163

  78,335

  97,552

  103,274

  Stockport FHSA

  5,264

  7,245

  18,341

  24,437

  28,955

  Tameside FHSA

  5,286

  7,175

  10,649

  13,515

  19,296

  The table lists all the district health authorities and family health services authorities which have been located in the country. Tameside and Glossop DHA and West Pennine DHA also covered part of Cheshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire.

  Pharmaceutical Services
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that 24-hour general pharmaceutical provision is made available, in line with, the development of GP out-of-hour services; and if he will make a statement. [36244]

  Mr. Malone
  The national health service provides for an emergency supply of drugs to be available at any time when requested by a doctor. Health authorities are also free to make arrangements to provide a 24-hour pharmaceutical service to meet a local need.

  Behavioural Psychotherapy
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what(a) research he has commissioned and (b) funding he has provided in respect of the advice given during an initial screening for behavioural psychotherapy; and if he will make a statement. [37131]

  Mr. Bowis
  None. Such advice is a matter for the relevant professional staff.

  Alcohol Abuse
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to promote new initiatives to reduce current levels of alcohol abuse with particular reference to(a) domestic violence and (b) heavy drinking among young people and children; and if he will make a statement. [37129]

  Mr. Bowis
  We are currently working with the Health Education Authority to develop new health education messages based on the recommendations in our report "Sensible Drinking (1995)". This will include specific advice to the parents and carers of young people who drink alcohol and to the 16 to 24 age group. We will also be placing more emphasis than in the past on avoiding episodes of intoxication in view of the relationship between drunkenness and short-term harm, such as incidents of domestic violence.

  Lariam
  Ms Corston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is given to general practitioners by his Department on the side effects of Lariam as an anti-malarial prophylaxis. [36871]

  Mr. Horam
  General practitioners are informed of the side effects of mefloquine—Lariam—through the manufacturer's data sheet which is approved by the Licensing Authority and made available to doctors. In addition the "British National Formulary" provides information on adverse effects of mefloquine. The Department of Health pays for the formulary to be sent to general practitioners twice a year. Information on mefloquine was circulated to all doctors in the chief medical officer's update 10 in May 1996, and is contained in the book "Health Information for Overseas Travel", a copy of which has been sent to every general practitioner.

  Ms Corston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the Medical Advisory Service for Travellers abroad to publish the results of its trials on the effects of Lariam on tourists. [36873]

  Mr. Horam
  We are aware of the studies being conducted by the medical advisory service for travellers abroad on mefloquine, Lariam. MASTA is an independent organisation and the responsibility for publication of the results of the studies lies with it.

  Ms Corston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the Malaria Advisory Committee to publish its revised guidelines for the use of Lariam as an anti-malarial prophylaxis; and if the guidelines will be circulated to general practitioners and travel centres. [36875]
  492
  Mr. Horam
  The revised guidelines from the malaria reference laboratory for malaria prophylaxis for travellers from the United Kingdom are still being developed. No publication date has yet been set, but it is hoped that they will be published, as previous guidelines have, in a suitable journal with a wide circulation. Their publication will be brought to the attention of all doctors.

  Isle of Wight
  Mr. Barry Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for health what requests he has received from the Isle of Wight council for the provision of health care in conjunction with the request for independence. [36920]

  Mr. Horam
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received no requests from the Isle of Wight council for the provision of health care in conjunction with any request for independence.

  GP Fundholders
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current percentage of patients in England who are covered by general practitioner fundholders. [37061]

  Mr. Malone
  Fifty-two per cent. of the population of England is currently registered with a general practitioner fundholder.

  Contaminated Blood Products
  Mr. Heppell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 8 July,Official Report, column 21, what actions the Government have taken to encourage (a) research and (b) best treatment for those haemophiliacs infected with hepatitis C through NHS treatment with contaminated blood products. [37081]

  Mr. Horam
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 15 July. An additional £1 million has been made available by the Department's research and development division to fund research into improving our understanding to the prevalence, transmission and natural history of hepatitis C virus infection.

  The national health service standing group on health technology has identified the evaluation of the use of alpha interferon in the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection as a top priority for research. This is being actively taken forward by the Medical Research Council. A trial development group has met with researchers to help them in the design of a clinical trial. It is intended that patients with haemophilia will be invited to enter the trial. The Medical Research Council is also funding a three-year study to investigate the course and complications of hepatitis C virus-induced liver disease in a group of infected haemophilia patients.

  In addition, the Department is giving grant support to voluntary organisations working with those infected with hepatitis C.

  Infant Mortality
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the infant mortality rate in each country in the EU; and what assessment he has made of the factors underlying variations. [36889]
  493
  Mr. Horam
  The table supplies details of the infant mortality rate in the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. The causes of health variations are complex. They are associated with a range of often interacting factors, including geography, socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity, life style and environment.

  Infant mortality rate in European Union countries, circa 1993

  Country

  Year

  Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births

  United Kingdom

  11992

  6.58

  Austria

  1994

  6.25

  Belgium

  1989

  8.53

  Denmark

  1993

  5.40

  Finland

  1993

  4.40

  France

  1992

  6.82

  Germany

  1994

  5.08

  Greece

  1993

  8.30

  Ireland

  1992

  6.67

  Italy

  1991

  8.22

  Luxembourg

  1993

  5.23

  Netherlands

  1993

  6.29

  Portugal

  1993

  8.73

  Spain

  1992

  7.05

  Sweden

  1992

  5.19

  Source:

  World Health Organisation European Office 'Health for All' database.

  Note:

  1 More up to date figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate that the infant mortality rate in England and Wales in 1995 was 6.1 per 1,000 live births.

  Ethnic Minorities
  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of staff in his Department and NHS executive are from ethnic minorities,(a) in total and (b) by grade. [37138]

  Mr. Horam
  [holding answer 12 July 1996]: The information requested for the Department and national health service executive is as shown in the table. It does not include data on staff in the NHS executive regional offices. The regional offices were created on 1 April 1996 and full regional office data are not yet included in the Department's information system.

  Percentage breakdown of staff by grade and ethnicity for Department of Health (excluding agencies) as at 12 July 1996

  Grade

  Ethnic minority staff (percentage)

  UG1

  0

  UG2

  0

  UG3

  0

  UG4

  4.1

  UG5

  2.3

  UG6

  5.3

  UG7

  3.5

  SEO

  4.1

  HEO

  6.7

  EO

  18.0

  AO

  25.4

  AA

  40.8

  Total

  13.5

  Life Expectancy
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average life span for(a) males and (b) females in each country in the EU; and what assessment he has made of the factors underlying variations. [36890]

  Mr. Horam
  The table supplies details of the average expectation of life at birth for males and females in the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. The causes of health variations are complex. They are associated with a range of often interacting factors, including geography, socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity, life style and environment.

  Expectation of life at birth in European Union countries, circa 1993

  Expectation of life at birth (years)

  Country

  Year

  Males

  Females

  United Kingdom

  11992

  73.6

  79.1

  Austria

  1994

  73.4

  79.9

  Belgium

  1989

  72.3

  79.1

  Denmark

  1993

  72.7

  77.9

  Finland

  1993

  72.1

  79.6

  France

  1992

  73.8

  82.3

  Germany

  1994

  73.1

  79.7

  Greece

  1993

  75.0

  80.4

  Ireland

  1992

  72.6

  78.2

  Italy

  1991

  73.7

  80.5

  Luxembourg

  1993

  72.4

  79.3

  Netherlands

  1993

  74.0

  80.1

  Portugal

  1993

  70.6

  77.9

  Spain

  1992

  73.8

  81.3

  Sweden

  1992

  75.5

  81.1

  Source:

  World Health Organisation European Office 'Health for All' database.

  Note:

  1 More up to date figures from the Government Actuary's Department indicate an average expectation of life in the United Kingdom in 1994 of 74.2 years for men and 79.4 years for women.

  Abortion
  Mr. Bendall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the statistically most likely candidate for an abortion within the North Thames region in the latest year for which figures are available in terms of(a) age of the woman, (b) marital status of the woman, (c) the number of previous children of the woman and (d) the grounds under which the abortion is performed. [37006]

  Mr. Horam
  Statistically most likely candidate for an abortion for each of the variables listed is defined as the category with the highest recorded frequency of legal terminations. The information is based on all legal terminations in the North Thames region in 1993.

  The categories with the highest frequencies found in each of the variable listed were:

  age of the woman: 20 to 24 age group comprised 29.3 per cent—10,449—of all terminations;

  material status of the woman: single women comprised 67.3 per cent.—23.963—of all terminations;

  number of previous children of the women: women with no previous live and still born children comprised 55.6 per cent.—19,808—of all terminations; and

  495

  grounds under which the abortion is performed: statutory ground C alone comprised 92.3 per cent.—32.869—of all terminations. Ground C is defined as meaning that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.

  Mr. Bendall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the statistically most likely candidate for an abortion within the North Thames region after the 24 week of pregnancy in the latest year for which figures are available in terms of(a) age of the woman, (b) marital status of the woman, (c) number of previous children of the woman and (d) grounds under which the abortion is performed. [37005]

  Mr. Horam
  The statistically most likely candidate for an abortion for each of the variables listed is defined as the category with the highest recorded frequency of legal terminations. The information is based on all legal terminations in the North Thames region in 1993.

  The categories with the highest frequencies found in each of the variables listed were:

  age of the woman: 30 to 34 age group comprised 31.5 per cent.—6—of all post-24th week terminations;

  marital status of the woman: married women comprised 79 per cent.—15—of all post-24th week terminations;

  number of previous children of the women: women with no previous live and still born children comprised 47.4 per cent.—9—of all post-24th week gestation terminations; and

  grounds under which the abortion is performed: statutory ground E accounted for all the cases—19—of post-24th week terminations. Ground E means that there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.

  Mrs. Peacock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the statistically most likely candidate for an abortion within the Northern and Yorkshire region in the latest year for which figures are available in terms of(a) the age of the woman, (b) the marital status of the woman, (c) the number of previous children of the woman and (d) the grounds under which the abortion is performed. [36931]

  Mr. Horam
  The statistically most likely candidate for an abortion for each of the variables listed is defined as the category with the highest recorded frequency of legal terminations. The percentages are based on all legal terminations in the Northern and Yorkshire region in 1993.

  The categories with the highest frequencies found in each of the variables were:

  age of the woman: 20 to 24 age group comprised 30.3 per cent.—4,953— of all terminations;

  marital status of the woman: single women comprised 65.3 per cent.—10,685—of all terminations;

  number of previous children of the woman: women with no previous live and still born children comprised 50.2 per cent.—8,203—of all terminations; and

  legal grounds under which the abortion is performed: statutory ground C alone comprised 87.3 per cent.—14,274—of all terminations. Ground C is defined as meaning that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.

  496
  Mrs. Peacock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the statistically most likely candidate for an abortion within the Northern and Yorkshire region after the 24 week of pregnancy in the latest year for which figures are available in terms of(a) the age of the woman, (b) the marital status of the woman, (c) the number of previous children of the woman and (d) the grounds under which the abortion is performed. [36932]

  Mr. Horam
  The statistically most likely candidate for an abortion for each of the variables listed is defined as the category with the highest recorded frequency of legal terminations. The percentages are based on all legal terminations in the Northern and Yorkshire region in 1993.

  The categories with the highest frequencies found in each of the variables were:

  age of the woman: 25 to 29 age group comprised 100 per cent.—2—of all post-24th week terminations:

  marital status of the woman: married women comprised 100 per cent.—2—of all post-24th week terminations;

  number of previous children of the woman: women with two or more previous live and stillborn children comprised 100 per cent.—2—of all post-24th week gestation terminations; and

  grounds under which the abortion is performed: statutory ground E accounted for all the cases—2—of post-24th week terminations. Ground E is defined as meaning that there is substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.

  Leucodystrophies
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned into a national case note review of unclassified leucodystrophies and leucoencephalopathies; and if he will make a statement. [37185]

  Mr. Horam
  None. Information on research commissioned by the Department of Health is contained in "Centrally Commissioned Research Programme" and "Centrally Commissioned Research Programme: Commissions 1994–95", copies of which are available in the Library.

  Breast Screening
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has to introduce a national breast screening programme to women aged 65 to 69 years; and if he will make a statement. [37198]

  Mr. Horam
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle) on 4 December 1995 at columns 38–39.

  Dental Services
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to meet the commitments set out in his letter of 20 November 1995 to the Association of
  497
  Community Health Councils in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [371791

  Mr. Malone
  The Government are committed to an accessible, high quality national health service general dental service. We will continue to take the action necessary to meet that commitment.

  Mental Health Services (Sheffield)
  Mr. Bill Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on community mental health services in Sheffield. [36061]

  Mr. Bowis
  Health authorities are responsible for ensuring that a comprehensive range of services is provided to meet the health needs of their local population within available resources. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of Sheffield health authority for details of community mental health services in Sheffield.

  In-patient Operations (Costs)
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost of a NHS in-patient operation; how many were performed in the last year and five years ago; and if he will make a statement. [36064]

  Mr. Horam
  In 1994–95, the latest year for which figures are available, there were 3,556,048 ordinary admissions—that is, excluding day cases—in all specialties in England, where an operation was recorded, compared with 3,349,095 in 1990–91.

  We do not collect information on the average cost of an operation.

  Cardiac Rehabilitation Units
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the development of cardiac rehabilitation units. [36659]

  Mr. Horam
  It is for health authorities to identify cardiac rehabilitation needs, and for providers of health care to meet those needs within available resources. The Department of Health is providing funding to the British Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation and will continue to encourage the development of the service.

  Radiological Emergencies (Planning)
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Prime Minister's letter of 8 January, to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what consideration he has given to evidence regarding stable iodine prophylaxis, in relation to United Kingdom health service planning for radiological emergencies. [36644]

  Mr. Horam
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 11 March at column 487.

  Obstetrics and Gynaecology (Consultant Posts)
  Mrs. Peacock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many consulting posts in obstetrics and gynaecology were unfilled at the latest date for which figures are available; [36943]
  498
  (2) what estimate he has made of the number of consultancy posts in obstetrics and gynaecology which have remained unfilled for a period of three months;[36944]

  (3) what estimate he has made of the number of consultancy posts in obstetrics and gynaecology which have been vacant for a period of (a) six months and (b) between six and 12 months. [36945]

  Mr. Malone
  In September 1994, there were 23 vacant consultant posts in obstetrics and gynaecology. Information is not available centrally on the period for which posts are vacant.

  Information for September 1995 will be available shortly.

  Local Community Care Charters
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authorities have published local community care charters. [37604]

  Mr. Bowis
  I understand that almost all the local authorities in England have published their own local charters.

  NHS Advertising
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 10 July,Official Report, column 237, on advertising costs, if he will publish such information as is available. [37698]

  Mr. Malone
  No data are available which separately identify advertising expenditure. The available data include information about a range of expenditure such as recruitment advertising, health promotion initiatives and measures to improve local accountability such as the production of annual reports and information about services.

  The information available is as follows:

  Expenditure which includes advertising by health authorities and NHS trusts in England by region

  Region

  1993–94 £

  1992–93 £

  1991–92 £

  1990–91 £

  Northern

  1,536,557

  1,308,722

  1,399,551

  1,323,781

  Yorkshire

  1,686,291

  1,854,389

  1,546,213

  1,859,669

  Trent

  2,704,686

  2,293,997

  2,085,979

  2,216,819

  East Anglian

  1,172,152

  1,036,682

  907,766

  1,025,380

  North-west Thames

  2,498,796

  2,194,458

  2,207,702

  2,486,098

  North-east Thames

  2,455,868

  2,490,538

  2,621,400

  3,221,808

  South-east Thames

  2,337,759

  2,420,354

  2,031,840

  2,274,056

  South-west Thames

  ,833,519

  1,653,714

  1,867,469

  2,328,691

  Wessex

  1,270,588

  1,201,590

  1,070,856

  1,334,230

  Oxford

  1,666,571

  1,611,181

  1,363,725

  1,811,388

  South Western

  1,674,348

  1,416,404

  1,509,019

  1,495,296

  West Midlands

  2,110,235

  2,273,185

  2,271,774

  2,788,696

  Mersey

  1,016,055

  974,966

  868,299

  881,187

  North Western

  1,469,480

  1,306,521

  1,504,003

  1,761,767

  Special health authorities

  633,838

  633,378

  735,386

  784,834

  Total England

  26,066,743

  24,670,079

  23,990,982

  27,593,700

  Source:

  1. The annual financial returns of NHS trusts, 1991–92 to 1993–94.

  2. The annual financial returns of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities of the London postgraduate teaching hospitals, 1991–92 to 1993–94.

  The annual accounts of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities of the London postgraduate teaching hospitals 1990–91.
  499

  Expenditure which includes advertising by health authorities and NHS trusts in England by region

  1994–95 £

  Northern and Yorkshire

  3,597,713

  Trent

  3,327,513

  Anglia and Oxford

  4,263,608

  North Thames

  8,214,511

  South Thames

  6,398,960

  South and West

  4,070,058

  West Midlands

  3,706,907

  North Western

  3,310,769

  Special health authorities

  135,606

  Total England

  37,025,645

  Source:

  1. The annual financial returns of NHS trusts.

  2. The annual financial returns of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities of the London postgraduate teaching hospitals.

  Consultancy Index
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the numbers of(a) adverse reports from employers made to his Department's consultancy index for each year since 1979 and (b) notifications from the police for convictions for each year since 1979. [36707]

  Mr. Bowis
  [holding answer 11 July 1996]: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the United Kingdom since 1990 in the age groups(a) 20 to 30 years and (b) 30 to 45 years. [35858]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  I have been asked to reply.

  Data are not available for the age groups requested. However, the numbers of registrations of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the United Kingdom in 1990, the latest year for which data are available, in the standard age groups (a) 20 to 29 years and (b) 30 to 44 years are as follows:

  Age groups

  Number of registrations1

  20–29

  166

  30–44

  609

  1 Provisional.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Earnings Disregard
  Mr. Alan Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is his estimate of the costs of extending the child care disregard to claimants of income support in each of the cases where(a) one child in the family is aged under 11 years and (b) the disregard is applicable to (i) each child aged under 11 years, (ii) one child in the family under five years, (iii) each child aged under five years, (iv) one child in respect of whom a
  500
  disabled child's premium is payable, (v) each child in respect of whom a disabled child's premium is payable and (vi) each child in a family irrespective of age; [34237]

  (2) what is his estimate of the cost to public funds of ignoring (a) travel-to-work expenses and (b) reasonable child care expenses from earnings before the earnings disregard is applied to (i) income support, (ii) housing benefit and (iii) council tax benefit; and how many people would gain from these changes. [34230]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  The estimated cost of ignoring travel to work costs before the earnings disregard is applied in income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit, and the numbers who would gain from this is set out in the table.

  Costs are estimated using the 1994 quarterly statistical enquiry and the 1991, 1992, 1993 family expenditure surveys, uprated to 1996–97 levels. Information on travel-to-work costs is taken from the 1994–95 family resources survey. This data should be interpreted with caution, as no figures are collected directly on costs of running cars or motorcycles. Instead, costs are estimated using mileage rates—42p per mile for cars and 9p per mile for motorcycles. Outlying cases have been ignored.

  Cost of disregarding travel to work costs

  Costs £ million

  Gainers

  Income Support

  15

  40,000

  Housing Benefit

  75

  170,000

  Council Tax Benefit

  25

  180,000

  1. Costs are rounded to the nearest £5 million, gainers to the nearest 10,000. Estimates are very general as they are based on information on average travel-to-work expenses for benefit recipients.

  2. Figures for income support include the cost of jobseeker's allowance from October 1996.

  3. Behavioural effects have not been measured.

  The costs of registered child care of up to £60 a week for families with at least one child aged under 11 are already disregarded in housing benefit and council tax benefit as well as in family credit and disability working allowance. Income support is not an in-work benefit. The number of income support recipients who pay for registered child care is extremely small and the cost, subject to any behavioural effects, of disregarding such expenses is negligible.

  Benefit Fraud
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much his Department has saved through reducing social security fraud in the last year; and what are the estimates for the forthcoming year. [35481]

  Mr. Heald
  In 1995–96 the Benefits Agency saved an estimated £715.6 million through detection and prevention of fraud against a target of £680 million. This figure excludes the estimated savings achieved through the security and control programme, which have yet to be finalised.

  The target for social security fraud savings during 1996–97 is £1.5 billion. This includes savings from the merged Benefits Agency, Employment Service

  501
  investigation service, organised fraud investigation and security initiatives within the security and control programme.

  Child Support Agency
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list for each of the years since the office was opened the total revenue collected by the Child Support Agency office in Dudley; [36332]

  (2) if he will list the number of (a) permanent and (b) casual or temporary staff employed by the Child Support Agency office in Dudley in each year since the office was opened; [36330]

  (3) if he will list the total number of claims received by the Child Support Agency office in Dudley in each year since the office was opened; [36329]

  (4) if he will list for each of the years since the office was opened the total running cost budget for the Child Support Agency office in Dudley; [36333]

  (5) if he will list the average response time in respect of (a) written inquiries and (b) telephone inquiries for the Child Support Agency office in Dudley. [36331]

  Mr. Andrew Mitchell
  The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Ann Chant to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 12 July 1996:
  I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Dudley Child Support Agency Centre (CSAC).
  The staffing figures you have requested for Dudley CSAC are shown in table 1 of the attached set of tables.
  It is not possible to provide figures for the total number of claims received in the precise form requested. This is because since the Agency commenced operations, there has been a change in responsibility for initial maintenance assessment work from the CSACs to the Field offices, and changes to the geographical boundaries of responsibility of Dudley CSAC. Approximate figures showing the number of maintenance applications received by the Dudley CSAC for the first three years of operation are shown in table 2.
  The Agency does not collect information on average response times to telephone calls or written correspondence. The statistical data collected in this area is gathered to monitor performance against Agency Charter Standards. The charter standards are: to respond to 80% of telephone calls within 20 seconds and to respond to written enquiries within 10 working days. Available information is shown in table 3.
  The available information on the total running costs of the Dudley Centre, and child maintenance payments collected by the Centre or arranged by them for direct payment between the parents concerned are shown in table 4. Running costs are made up of Staff costs and Non-Staff costs. The maintenance collected figure includes cash receipts and Benefit Agency deductions. Figures on the amount of maintenance arranged were not collated in the first year of the Agency. During 1994/95, £111 million of maintenance was arranged by the Agency. It is not possible to break this figure down into the amounts contributed by each individual Centre, but a proportionate share is attributable to the Dudley Centre. In 1995/96 a scan of the Child Support Computer System was able to identify maintenance arranged by individual CSAC and this figure is shown.
  I hope this is helpful.
  502

  Table 1: Breakdown of staff at Dudley CSAC

  Permanent

  Casuals1

  Fixed term contracts1

  Total

  At 31 March 1994

  734

  86

  30

  850

  At 31 March 1995

  760.24

  20

  1

  784.24

  At 31 March 1996

  699.05

  0

  1

  700.05

  1 Casuals are temporary appointments usually for a maximum of 12 months or exceptionally 24 months. Fixed term appointments are for a period of between 1 and 5 years.

  Table 2: Maintenance applications received at Dudley CSAC

  Year end

  Approximate numbers only

  31 March 1994

  110,000

  31 March 1995

  58,000

  31 March 1996

  63,000

  Table 3: Response times to telephone calls and written enquiries at Dudley CSAC

  Year end

  Telephone calls answered within 20 seconds (Per cent.)

  Written enquiries answered within 10 days (Per cent.)

  31 March 1994

  Not available

  Not available

  31 March 19951

  37

  35

  31 March 1996

  22

  44

  1 Figures only became available from September 1994.

  Table 4: Running cost and maintenance collected and arranged by Dudley CSAC

  Millions

  Year end

  Running costs

  Maintenance collected

  Maintenance arranged

  31 March 1994

  9.8

  28

  Not available

  31 March 1995

  13.3

  15.3

  Not available

  31 March 1996

  13.7

  24.3

  124.8

  1 Figures only became available from April 1995.

  Mr. Pawsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if representatives of the Office of the Data Protection Registrar are attending, or have been asked to attend meetings with representatives of(a) the Child Support Agency, the DSS and (b) the Information Technology Services Agency to discuss major upgrading or replacement of the current EDS Ltd. child support computer system. [36174]

  Mr. Mitchell
  The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Ann Chant to Mr. James Pawsey, dated 12 July 1996:
  I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency Computer System.
  As Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency, I have regular meetings with the Data Protection Registrar. These meetings address all data Protection issues relating to the Agency, including any proposed changes to the Child Support Computer System.
  I hope this is helpful.
  503
  Mr. Pawsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is the Child Support Agency's policy on retaining data about clients on the child support computer system after those clients' cases have been officially closed; [36184]

  (2) what operational reasons the Child Support Agency has to retain data about clients on the child support computer system after those clients' cases have been officially closed; [36182]

  (3) in what circumstances Child Support Agency staff may access archived data in respect of discontinued or closed data; [36185]

  (4) what legislative requirement there is for the Child Support Agency to retain data about clients on the child support computer system after those clients' cases have been officially closed; [36181]

  (5) how long the Child Support Agency normally retains data about clients on the child support computer system after the client's case has been officially closed; [36183]

  (6) if the CSA deletes data about clients from the child support computer system once the clients' cases have been closed; [36232]

  (7) if he will indicate the difference between CSA classifications of suspended, cleared without assessment and closed; [36233]

  (8) what definition of archived is used by the CSA; [36234]

  (9) how many of the cases so far taken on by the CSA are now officially closed; [36235]

  (10) in how many of those cases that have been officially closed by the CSA, data are still held on the child support computer system. [36236]

  Mr. Mitchell
  The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Ann Chant to Mr. James Pawsey, dated 12 July 1996:
  I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency Computer System (CSCS) and the cases held on it.
  It is best to start by defining some of the terms you have used or asked about.
  Closed cases: Cases where no further action is to be taken by the Agency unless or until a repeat Child Maintenance claim is made. Typical reasons include reconciliation of the absent part and the parent with care where no maintenance payments are outstanding; paternity not established; death of one of the parties; benefit claim ended by the parent with care; or the withdrawal of an application by a private client. No action will occur automatically on cases that are closed, except for weeding and archiving of data.
  Cases suspended: A term used when action on assessing maintenance has to stop temporarily until a particular issue is resolved, for example, a dispute over paternity or where the whereabouts of an absent parent cannot be traced. In other circumstances a case may be ready to be closed completely but some accounting action is still required; it will therefore remain open for this action to be taken but no assessment action can be carried out on it.
  Cases cleared without assessment: As for "closed", but in circumstances where an initial assessment was never made, for example a decision that there is no prima facie evidence which might
  504
  lead to the establishment of paternity; the Agency has no jurisdiction; or the prompt withdrawal of a claim to benefit by the parent with care.
  Weeding: Weeding is the deletion of particular items of data under specified rules from the Child Support Computer System. This data cannot be retrieved.
  Archiving: Archiving is the transfer of particular items of data under specified rules from the online system to a separate storage medium. The data is transferred to disk and if needed can be printed out on paper (a hard copy), but can never be retrieved back on to the CSCS. The facility to access archived material is restricted to staff with the appropriate security profiles. There are a total of 76 security profiles for access to information; only 16 profiles have access to archived information.
  There is no legislative requirement for the Agency to retain data after cases are closed. Operationally it is sensible to maintain a record of previous dealings with the Agency for an optimum length of time. Given that a claim may need to be re-opened up to the point where any qualifying child involved reaches the age of 19, this is going to be for a period of years, not months or weeks. There is also the issue of the sensitive nature of some of the information, for example, where paternity has been disputed, or a DNA test has been carried out, or the Agency has accepted "Good Cause" for not pursuing a case. It is in the best interests of clients to keep these records for quite some time to avoid the need to go over the same ground again in the future. We also need to ensure our records contribute properly to the prevention of Social Security fraud and abuse.
  We have yet to decide for how long records will be kept, but after 3 years of operations it is already clear that significant numbers of repeat child maintenance applications are going to be made on closed cases. We must strike the balance between our business needs, general DSS requirements, Data Protection legislation and the needs and best interests of our clients.
  There are approximately 650,000 closed cases on the computer system at the moment. At present all closed cases are retained, but a programme to introduce weeding and archiving of data has begun. This process leaves a basic record on the system to show that there has been contact with the person concerned, but the details are archived and will not be accessible through the system.
  In the event that the Agency recommences dealings with a client whose details are archived, authorised users can request a hard copy of the archived data to ensure that all relevant information is available and the client is not being asked unnecessarily to provide the same details a second time.
  I hope all this is helpful.

  Mr. Pawsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what would be the costs of modifying the original Child Support Agency computer system to accommodate the proposed departures system and other regulatory changes; [36176]

  (2) what is the forecast cost of replacing the existing child support computer system to accommodate the proposed departures system and other regulatory changes. [36177]

  Ms Lynne
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if representatives of the office of the Data Protection Registrar(a) have been invited to meet or (b) have met representatives of (i) the Child Support Agency, (ii) the Department of Social Security and (iii) the Information Technology Services Agency to discuss major upgrading or replacement of the current child support computer system. [36862]

  Mr. Mitchell
  The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
  505
  Letter from Ann Chant to Mr. James Pawsey, dated 12 July 1996:
  I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency Computer System.
  The existing Child Support Computer system (CSCS) has been upgraded to incorporate the new functions associated with the Departures scheme. The enhancements were supplied by the existing CSCS supplier, EDS, working as part of a joint development team of Child Support Agency, Information Technology Services Agency and EDS staff.
  The implications of other regulatory changes on the CSCS will continue to be considered as part of the impact analysis process when details of such changes emerge. Any further development or upgrade of CSCS that is considered necessary following analysis will be incorporated in the ongoing programme of system amendments. It is supported by existing system development contracts with a number of external suppliers.
  The costs of the upgrades and enhancements are "commercial in confidence".
  The possibility of wholly replacing the existing Child Support Computer System to accommodate the departures system and other regulatory changes was not considered as either necessary or a practical solution. Therefore the extensive work needed to provide a forecast cost for this activity has not been commissioned.
  I hope this is helpful.

  Incapacity Benefit
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of claimants of(a) incapacity benefits, (b) disability living allowance, (c) attendance allowance and (d) disability working allowance in (i) Crewe and Nantwich and (ii) Cheshire for each of the last five years. [36345]

  Mr. Burt
  This is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Peter Mathison to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 15 July 1996:
  The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if he will list the number of claimants of (a) Incapacity Benefits, (b) Disability Living Allowance, (c) Attendance Allowance and (d) Disability Working Allowance in (i) Crewe and Nantwich and (ii) Cheshire for each of the last five years.
  The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in Annex A, B and C.
  I hope you find this reply helpful.

  Annex A

  Incapacity Benefit (IB)
  Statistical data for IB claims is collated at District level, the boundaries of which do not correspond with constituency boundaries or specific geographical areas.
  South Cheshire District includes the BA's offices of Chester, Crewe (which covers Nantwich), Ellesmere Port and Northwich. Figures for this District are shown in the following list:

  1991–1992: 19,675

  1992–1993: 22,334

  1993–1994: 23,756

  1994–1995: 25,552

  1995–1996: 26,929

  Cheshire covers the following BA Districts South Cheshire, Sale and East Cheshire, North Cheshire, Stockport and Tameside District Offices. Figures for these Districts are shown in the following list:
  506

  1991–1992: 73,389

  1992–1993: 83,574

  1993–1994: 90,926

  1994–1995: 97,258

  1995–1996: 101,040

  All figures are provisional and subject to change.

  Annex B

  Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
  The figures for DLA are rounded to the nearest hundred and are only available for the latest four years. This is because the data for 1992 would not be reliable due to the conversion of existing Attendance Allowance and Mobility Allowance data onto the new DLA computer system. The figures refer to successful claims only. The totals of unsuccessful claims are not available.

  1993

  1994

  1995

  1996

  Crewe and Nantwich

  2,000

  2,100

  2,600

  2,900

  Cheshire

  23,700

  25,600

  29,900

  33,200

  Figures as at 31 May each year.

  Attendance Allowance (AA)
  The figures for AA are rounded to the nearest hundred and are only available for the latest two years only due to incomplete post code information held on system prior to this date. The figures refer to successful claims only. The totals of unsuccessful claims are not available.

  1995

  1996

  Crewe and Nantwich

  2,400

  2,400

  Cheshire

  19,200

  18,900

  1995 figures at 30 November 1995 due to data problems associated with on-line conversion to the computer system.

  1996 figures as at 31 May 1996.

  All figures are provisional and subject to change.

  Annex C

  Disability Working Allowance (DWA)
  Statistical data for DWA claims is collated at BA office level, the boundaries of which do not correspond with constituency boundaries or specific geographical areas.
  The following figures refer to successful claims only. The totals of unsuccessful claims are not available. The figures are given in the form of cumulative successful claims since 1992:

  Crewe BA office: 37

  Cheshire: 281

  The BA office at Crewe covers Nantwich.

  Cheshire includes details for the following local offices: Chester, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Hyde, Macclesfield, Manchester/Sale, Northwich, Stockport North, Stockport South, Warrington, Widnes and Wilmslow.

  All figures given are provisional and subject to amendment.

  Social Fund Loans
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of applications for social fund loans in(a) Crewe and Nantwich and (b) Cheshire for each of the last five years. [36337]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  The administration of the social fund is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
  507
  Letter from Peter Mathison to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 15 July 1996:
  The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if he will list the number of applicants for Social Fund loans in (a) Crewe and Nantwich and (b) Cheshire for each of the last five years.
  The information is not available in the format requested. With the creation of the Benefits Agency (BA) in April 1991, former departmental local offices were grouped into Districts. Statistical data for SF loans is only collected at District level, the boundaries of which are not the same. Therefore, the information is not available exclusively for Crewe, Nantwich or Cheshire.
  Crewe and Nantwich form part of South Cheshire District, which also has offices at Chester, Ellesmere Port and Northwich. The attached Annex gives information for this District and also for the Districts of Sale & East Cheshire, North Cheshire, Stockport and Tameside which between them cover the rest of the Cheshire area.
  I hope you find this reply helpful.

  Annex: Loan applications for period 1991–92 to 1995–96

  District

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  1994–95

  1995–96

  North Cheshire

  14,511

  17,200

  18,725

  20,968

  21,526

  Sale and East Cheshire

  5,699

  7,250

  7,826

  8,900

  10,534

  South Cheshire

  17,633

  20,215

  21,758

  19,913

  19,006

  Stockport

  9,906

  11,201

  12,954

  11,591

  11,236

  Tameside

  10,085

  12,486

  12,618

  13,201

  13,041

  Figures are provisional and subject to change. Sale and East Cheshire District has offices at Sale, Macclesfield and Wilmslow; North Cheshire District has offices at Warrington and Widnes; Stockport District has offices at Stockport and Buxton; and Tameside District has offices at Hyde and Ashton under Lyne.

  Income Support
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of claimants for income support in(a) Crew and Nantwich and (b) Cheshire for each of the last five years. [36334]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  The administration of income support is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Peter Mathison to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 15 July 1996:
  The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if he will list the number of claimants for Income Support in (a) Crewe and Nantwich and (b) Cheshire for each of the last five years.
  The information is not available in the format requested as the Benefits Agency (BA) collates statistics by BA District Offices. These Districts do not correspond to constituency boundaries or this specific geographical area.
  The information available is shown on the attached table and relates to the actual number of Income Support claims received for the financial years 1991–92 to 1995–96. Not all claims received will have resulted in an award of benefit.
  South Cheshire District includes the BA's offices of Cheshire, Crewe (which covers Nantwich), Ellesmere Port and Northwich. The data for Cheshire includes the Tameside and Stockport Districts. These Districts include areas which are outside Cheshire.
  I hope you find this reply helpful.

  Actual number of income support claims

  Financial years

  South Cheshire district1

  Cheshire2

  1991–92

  34,749

  127,667

  1992–93

  33,310

  123,993

  508

  Actual number of income support claims

  Financial years

  South Cheshire district1

  Cheshire2

  1993–94

  31,032

  116,227

  1994–95

  31,873

  116,553

  1995–96

  30,558

  111,296

  1 South Cheshire District includes the offices of Chester, Crewe (which covers Nantwich), Ellesmere Port and Northwich.

  2 Cheshire consists of the BA Districts of South Cheshire, Sale and East Cheshire (which includes the offices of Sale, Macclesfield and Wilmslow), North Cheshire (which includes the offices of Warrington and Widnes), Stockport (which includes the offices of Stockport and Buxton) and Tameside (which includes the offices of Hyde and Ashton).

  The data, which has been provided by the BA's Central Data Unit, is provisional and may be subject to change.

  Not all claims will have resulted in an award of benefit.

  Benefits Agency
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average length of time that clients in Benefits Agency offices have to wait in the office to obtain an interview. [36167]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  This is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Barry Sheerman, dated 15 July 1996:
  The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what is the average length of time that clients in Benefits Agency (BA) offices have to wait in the office to obtain an interview.
  The information is not available in the format requested. The Benefits Agency does not specifically monitor the length of time customers have to wait to obtain an interview.
  The BA commissions independent customer research and the National Customer Survey provides an independent assessment of customer perception of, and satisfaction with, the service they have received from the BA during the previous year. The 1995 results show that the average waiting time for the majority of customers is 15 minutes.
  The BA Customer Charter sets the standard that customers should be seen by the receptionist within 10 minutes (or 30 minutes at exceptionally busy times). Initial waiting times have been monitored independently and results for October 1994 to September 1995, the latest figures available, show that customers are seen, on average, within 11 minutes.
  The Charter, including the standard on caller waiting times is displayed in local office reception areas and local managers have the overall responsibility for ensuring that customers are seen within that standard.
  I hope you find this reply helpful.

  Benefits Agency Medical Service
  Mr. Alan Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many(a) full-time doctors, (b) part-time doctors and (c) civil servants are expected to be employed by the successful bidders for the Benefits Agency medical service; [36912]

  (2) how many (a) adjudication officers and (b) clerical officers are expected to (i) be relocated within the Benefits Agency, (ii) be employed by the contractor and (iii) be made redundant, as a result of the contractorisation of the Benefits Agency medical service. [36900]
  509
  Mr. Burt
  During the course of the contractorisation of the Benefits Agency medical service, all permanent administrative civil servants will have to indicate whether they wish to transfer to the private sector or wish to be redeployed within the Department of Social Security. This options exercise is due to take place towards the end of the year, and until the results are known it is impossible to give definitive numbers of staff who will be either redeployed, relocated or transferred to the private sector.

  All doctors, whether full or part-time, and all administrative staff employed on a casual basis or on fixed-term appointments, are expected to transfer to the successful bidder or bidders.

  No staff will be made redundant as a result of the contractorisation.

  Mr. Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what performance indicators are to be included in the tender for the Benefits Agency medical service. [36906]

  Mr. Burt
  Targets and performance indicators for the private sector contractors have not yet been specified.

  Mr. Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the successful contractor for the Benefits Agency medical service will be responsible for(a) employing doctors on a full-time basis and (b) paying a fee to part-time doctors; and what is the expected administration cost in each case. [36909]

  Mr. Burt
  It is expected that the successful contractor or contractors will be responsible for employing full and part-time doctors. It is not possible to detail any future administrative costs, but experience of similar exercises within the Department has identified that efficiencies will be gained in all cost areas of the contract or contracts.

  Mr. Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the contractorisation of the Benefits Agency medical service includes(a) medical advice and scrutiny, (b) contact with general practitioners for further information about a claimant, (c) medical assessment and examination, (d) disablement questions currently assessed by adjudicating medical authorities and (e) assessment of war pensions. [36901]

  Mr. Burt
  The current scope of the undertaking to contractorise the Benefits Agency medical service includes medical advice and scrutiny, contact with general practitioners for further information about a claimant, medical assessment and examination, but does not include disablement questions currently assessed by adjudicating medical authorities, or assessment of war pensions.

  Benefit expenditure and planned benefit expenditure from 1988–89 to 1998–99

  Cash prices (£ million)

  Benefit

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1990–91

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  1994–95

  1995–96

  1996–97

  1997–98

  1998–99

  Unemployment benefit

  1,107

  733

  870

  1,604

  1,760

  1,652

  1,279

  1,096

  —

  —

  —

  Income support

  3,041

  2,631

  2,940

  4,200

  5,379

  5,737

  5,183

  5,088

  —

  —

  —

  Jobseeker's allowance—contributory based

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1,011

  652

  662

  Jobseeker's allowance—income based

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  4,670

  4,900

  4,956

  Social fund

  40

  25

  24

  30

  31

  48

  44

  51

  46

  47

  46

  Housing benefit and council tax benefit

  1,211

  1,127

  1,489

  1,744

  2,187

  2,332

  2,640

  2,794

  2,892

  3,035

  3,227

  Total

  5,399

  4,516

  5,323

  7,578

  9,357

  9,769

  9,146

  9,029

  8,618

  8,634

  8,892

  Benefits Agency Freeline
  Mr. Alfred Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received from the Disablement Income Group in regard to the planned closure of the Benefits Agency freeline; what reply he is sending; what action he is taking; and if he will make a statement. [35516]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  This is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the right hon. Member.

  Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Alfred Morris, dated 15 July 1996:
  The Secretary of State for social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what representations he has received from the Disablement Income Group in regard to the planned closure of the Benefits Agency Freeline; what reply he is sending; what action he is taking; and if he will make a statement.
  The BA has received two letters from the Disablement Income Group (DIG) concerning the closure of the BA Freeline, one of which was addressed to the Secretary of State for Social Security and passed to me for reply. I have replied to a letter dated 27 June a copy of which is attached. The second letter was received from DIG in Scotland and has been passed to the Director of Operations with responsibility for Scotland, Mr John Lutton for reply.
  The Benefit Enquiry Line for people with disabilities is not affected by the decision to close Freeline. The BA recognises that people with disabilities have special needs and may have difficulties contacting their local office.
  The closure of Freeline will allow resources to be refocused so that the customer is in touch with the staff who administer their claims or who can directly link the benefits available with the specific personal details of the customer.
  I hope you find this reply helpful.

  Mr. Pickthall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the future of the DSS freeline service. [37407]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Milton Keynes, North-East (Mr. Butler) on 21 June,Official Report, column 629.

  Unemployment Benefit
  Mr. Dunn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the annual cost in the payment of unemployment benefit for each year since 1989, adjusted for inflation; and what is the predicted figure for the years 1996–97, 1997–98 and 1998–99. [36925]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  The information is set out in the tables.
  511

  Benefit expenditure and planned benefit expenditure from 1988–89 to 1998–99

  Real terms (1996–97 prices) (£ million)

  Benefit

  1988–89

  1989–90

  1990–91

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  1994–95

  1995–96

  1996–97

  1997–98

  1998–99

  Unemployment benefit

  1,565

  970

  1,065

  1,848

  1,948

  1,777

  1,350

  1,126

  —

  —

  —

  Income support

  4,302

  3,478

  3,599

  4,838

  5,955

  6,171

  5,472

  5,228

  —

  —

  —

  Jobseeker's allowance—contributory based

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1,011

  636

  632

  Jobseeker's allowance—income based

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  4,670

  4,781

  4,729

  Social fund

  57

  33

  29

  34

  34

  52

  46

  52

  46

  45

  44

  Housing benefit and council tax benefit

  1,713

  1,490

  1,822

  2,009

  2,421

  2,508

  2,787

  2,870

  2,892

  2,961

  3,079

  Total

  7,637

  5,971

  6,515

  8,730

  10,358

  10,508

  9,656

  9,277

  8,618

  8,423

  8,484

  Industrial Injuries Benefit
  Mr. Pickthall
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the future of industrial injuries benefit paid to recipients after retirement age. [37405]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  There are no plans to change existing arrangements. Industrial injuries benefits are paid to recipients over pensionable age.

  Executive Agencies
  Lady Olga Maitland
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will make available the 1995–96 annual reports and accounts for each of his next steps agencies. [37871]

  Mr. Lilley
  I have today laid before Parliament the 1995–96 annual reports and accounts for the Benefits, Child Support, Contributions, Information Technology Services and War Pensions Agencies. Copies of these, and the Resettlement Agency's final annual report, have been placed in the Library.

  Housing Benefit
  Mr. Bradley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of(a) the annual value of housing benefit savings, (b) the proportion of this which he expects local authority social services departments to replace and (c) the number of claimants affected by the implementation of the draft Housing Benefit (General) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1996. [34113]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  [holding answer 24 June 1996]: The intention behind the proposed amending legislation was to confirm the policy intention, and the effect of existing housing benefit case law, regarding the extent to which housing benefit should meet service charges. This would have only clarified, rather than changed, our policy on the inclusion of service charges in the rent paid by housing benefits.

  In reply to a parliamentary question from the hon. Member for Eastbourne (Mr. Waterson) on 8 July, Official Report, column 63, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State stated that he had withdrawn the proposed Housing Benefit (General) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations, pending an interdepartmental review of the funding of supported accommodation. As part of the review, we shall consider the likely effects and the numbers involved had we proceeded with the legislation.
  512
  We originally estimated that the proposal would have affected housing benefit payments in the region of £50 million to some 26,000 people.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Calf Brains
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if calf brains are permitted to be used in food produced for human consumption; and if he will make a statement. [32270]

  Mrs. Browning
  Under the Specified Bovine Material (Number 2) Order 1996, brains from calves over six months of age must be destroyed and so cannot enter the food chain. The brains of calves under six months of age can be sold for human consumption. However, the Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984, as amended, do not permit brains from calves under six months to be used except in meat products cooked during manufacture.

  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in what manner the meat, bonemeal and other derivatives of cattle culled due to BSE infection is disposed of; and if he will make a statement. [32406]

  Mrs. Browning
  All BSE suspects are slaughtered on farm and the entire carcase is disposed of by incineration.

  Fisheries
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the treaty articles of regulations or directives of the European Community which would govern the operation of a fisheries enterprise whose ultimate ownership was in Austria or Luxembourg under the registration and flag of another member state within European Community waters. [37083]

  Mr. Baldry
  Any fishing vessel registered in the United Kingdom would have to comply with the requirements of our merchant shipping legislation, which conforms with the general provisions of the treaty of the European Community. That legislation, which is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Transport, requires, among other things, that a fishing vessel shall not be registered unless it is managed, and its operations controlled and directed from within the United Kingdom. I cannot comment on the legislation that operates in other member states.

  Set-aside Land
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals or representations he has received from interested environmental organisations within the United Kingdom concerning modifications to the existing set-aside arrangements of the European Community which have the object of conserving beneficial wildlife at minimal or no additional cost to the scheme; and what actions he or other Government representatives have taken consequent to their receipt. [37344]

  Mr. Baldry
  Following consultations with fanning and conservation organisations earlier this year, changes to the set-aside rules were announced in April aimed at benefiting wildlife, particularly ground-nesting birds. The principle changes announced were:

  (i) a relaxation in the areas of set-aside which may be left uncut; and

  (ii) from 1997, a ban on cutting set-aside between 15 April and 1 July when a non-selective herbicide has been used, and a ban on cultivating set-aside land before 1 July.

  We have also pressed the European Commission to allow narrower strips of land to count as set-aside to enhance conservation in field margins.

  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what communications he has had with the Agriculture Commissioner concerning the allegations by Gilbert Castille in respect of the publication of results of scientific research into BSE. [37736]

  Mrs. Browning
  The Commission has made its views on this subject perfectly clear in the press and I see no reason to raise this matter with it. It is an internal matter for the Commission.

  The policy of the British Government has been to be open in publishing research results in relation to BSE and our track record clearly shows that that is precisely what we have done.

  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what resources are being devoted by his Department to bio-assay-based research into pre-clinical diagnosis of BSE in cattle. [32325]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 17 June 1996]: In transmissible spongiform encephalopathy research, bioassays are used to detect infectivity and can therefore be used as a diagnostic test in their own right. They are being used to diagnose pre-clinical infection in experiments where animals have been experimentally challenged with BSE and are probably incubating the disease. Also MAFF has approved a project to develop a transgenic mouse carrying the cattle prior-protein gene which may eventually result in a bio-assay that is more sensitive and faster than existing bio-assays. Such mice may eventually play a role in the development of a pre-clinical bioassay. The support allocated to all these research projects in 1996–97 is £0.7 million.

  Fishery, Weymouth
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his oral answer,Official Report, 9 May 1996 column 361, if he will place in the
  514
  Library a copy of the evidence which suggest that the purification practice operated by a fishery in Weymouth poses an unacceptable risk to human health. [37545]

  Mr. Baldry
  The reasons for the statement in Official Report, column 361 have been outlined in correspondence with the hon. Member, dated 16 and 21 May and 4 July, copies of which will be placed in the Library of the House.

  Oyster Farming
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food during which periods since 1966 extended water re-use systems have been accepted practice for the farming of oysters. [37466]

  Mr. Baldry
  The farming of oysters does not involve the re-use of seawater. The re-use of seawater for shellfish purification for periods extending up to one month has been accepted practice in some UK plants for a number years.

  Tuna
  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the value of the tuna landed by the Cornish driftnet boats in 1995; to which countries this tuna was exported; and what was the cost of surveillance of the albacore tuna driftnet fishery(a) in port and (b) at sea, by United Kingdom and EU authorities. [37747]

  Mr. Baldry
  In 1995, UK vessels landed a total of 196 tonnes of albacore tuna with a first sale value of £335,000. Most of the catch was either landed in, or exported to, France.

  The cost to the United Kingdom of surveillance of the 1995 albacore tuna driftnet fishery at sea was approximately £0.6 million. The limited costs incurred in port have not been separately identified. Details of surveillance expenditure by the Commission and other member states are not available.

  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what measures his Department is taking to prevent the(a) dolphin and (b) other wildlife mortalities recorded in 1995 in Cornish driftnets in the albacore tuna fishery; [37749]

  (2) if his Department is funding observation of the wildlife bycatch in the United Kingdom albacore tuna driftnet fishery in 1996. [37748]

  Mr. Baldry
  Measures are again being taken both in port and at sea to ensure that the drift nets used by UK vessels in the albacore tuna fishery do not exceed the maximum legal length of 2.5 km. The Government have, in addition, encouraged the industry to leave gaps between net panels because skippers have said that these act as "dolphin doors" thereby reducing the dolphin by-catch. We have proposed to the European Commission that the rules be amended so as further to encourage the use of "dolphin doors".

  The Government are funding research into the use of acoustic devices in nets to act as deterrents to marine mammals. They have also made funds available to the sea mammal research unit in the event of it being able to reach agreement with the skippers concerned to conduct further observation work on the wildlife bycatch in the UK albacore tuna drifnet fishery.

  Cattle Slaughter
  Dr. Strang
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will set out the evidence evaluated by this Department underlying his assessment that no risk to human health will be posed by the slaughter of cattle over the age of 30 months in abattoirs which also slaughter cattle for human consumption; and if he will set out the extra precautionary measures which will be put in place. [28326]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 7 May 1996]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statements issued by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee following meetings on 20 and 24 March. These statements included recommendations on the need for deboning of cattle over 30 months in licensed plants supervised by the meat Hygiene Service, and that the trimmings must be classified as specified bovine offal. There was no suggestion that deboned meat from these animals would pose any additional risk to the public. Indeed, the committee concluded that if these measures were carried out, the risk from the eating beef would be likely to be extremely small.

  The Government took immediate action to implement the recommendations made by SEAC on the reclassification of SBO—through the introduction of the Specified Bovine Material Order 1996, which came into effect on 29 March. SEAC's advice for the establishment of specialist deboning plants for meat from animals over 30 months of age were not carried through; instead, in order to restore consumer confidence, the Government went further than the committee's recommendation and prohibited meat from animals over 30 months old from entering the human and animal feed chain.
  516
  The market support measures introduced by the Community under Commission Regulation 716/96 in respect of these animals required complete destruction of animals brought to market over 30 months and imposed detailed rules on the handling and processing of the resulting animal products.

  This regulation imposed far more stringent conditions for the disposal of 30-month cattle than was ever envisaged by SEAC. Nevertheless, the Intervention Board executive agency, which is responsible for the running of the scheme, has taken scrupulous care in ensuring that the scheme rules comply in eveyr respect to the requirements of the regulation.

  For example, scheme animals can be slaughtered only in designated slaughterhouses which have been checked by the state veterinary service to ensure that facilities are adequate to separately slaughter and dispose of animal material from scheme and non-scheme animals. No carcases or other products destined for human consumption can be present on days when scheme animals are being slaughtered and processed, unless sufficient physical barriers are present to ensure complete physical separation. Abbatoirs should accept for slaughter only cattle which can be disposed of to approved Tenderers or incinerators on the day of processing. In addition, staining of SBM and non-SBM is required as an additional precaution to ensure that there is no likelihood of any of this material re-entering the human or animal food chains.

  There are many more rules which have to be followed. These are set out in the IBEA's scheme leaflet which is available on request.

  Chief Inspector of Prisons: Terms and Conditions of Service
  Chief Inspector of Prisons: Terms and Conditions of Service
  Chief Inspector of Prisons: Public Discussion of Prison Policy
  Chief Inspector of Prisons: Public Discussion of Prison Policy
  Chief Inspector of Prisons: Annual Report
  Chief Inspector of Prisons: Annual Report
  Identity Cards within the EU
  Identity Cards within the EU
  Identity Cards: Government Decision
  Identity Cards: Government Decision
  Israel: Weapons Export Control Regimes
  Israel: Weapons Export Control Regimes
  Bosnia: Foreign Islamic Personnel
  Bosnia: Foreign Islamic Personnel
  Scott Report: Appendices
  Scott Report: Appendices
  Arbitration: Model Law
  Arbitration: Model Law
  Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre Executive Agency
  Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre Executive Agency
  Ordnance Survey Strategic Plan 1996–2001
  Ordnance Survey Strategic Plan 1996–2001
  Child Support: Draft Regulations
  Child Support: Draft Regulations
  National Insurance Numbers: Fraud
  National Insurance Numbers: Fraud
  Spanish in Schools
  Spanish in Schools
  Equal Opportunities Policy within EOC
  Equal Opportunities Policy within EOC
  EOC: Gender Mix
  EOC: Gender Mix
  Iraqi Chemical Weapons: Destruction of Bunkers in 1991
  Iraqi Chemical Weapons: Destruction of Bunkers in 1991
  Greenwich: Maintenance of Naval Connection
  Greenwich: Maintenance of Naval Connection
  HMSO: Preferred Bidder
  HMSO: Preferred Bidder
  EU Programmes to Discourage Use of Tobacco
  EU Programmes to Discourage Use of Tobacco
  West Coast Main Line: Upgrading
  West Coast Main Line: Upgrading
  InterCity West Coast Trains
  InterCity West Coast Trains
  British Beef: Import Restrictions by US, Hong Kong and Australia
  British Beef: Import Restrictions by US, Hong Kong and Australia
  Building Standards: Harmonisation between Scotland and England and Wales
  Building Standards: Harmonisation between Scotland and England and Wales
  Sentencing of Persons Twice Convicted of Rape: Parole Board Views
  Sentencing of Persons Twice Convicted of Rape: Parole Board Views
  Supreme Court of Scotland: Appointment of Judges
  Supreme Court of Scotland: Appointment of Judges