Written Answers of 21 May 1996

HEALTH

  Asthma
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 19 February,Official Report, column 34, when he expects to announce his conclusions on the inclusion of asthma as a target area in the "The Health of the Nation". [29201]

  Mr. Horam
  In due course.

  Research
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the measures he has taken to prevent conflicts of interest in biomedical research addressed by the Government bodies funding such research. [29562]

  Mr. Malone
  The Department is committed to maintaining high standards in the management of research commissioned by the Department through peer review and guidelines on good practice—the Department's code of practice for commissioning and managing research, introduced in 1992.

  Guidelines on the protocols that govern the operations of the national health service research and development programme, including conflicts of interest, have been issued to all those working within the programme. Under the guidelines members and the chairperson of NHS research and development commissioning groups are reminded of the need for impartiality in the commissioning of research and advised that they must declare a conflict of interest when one occurs and withdraw from the discussion.

  The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, for each of the last five years, the number of cases of research sponsored by Government agencies which have been shown to be fraudulent; and if he will list the estimated cost to public funds of that misconduct. [29564]

  Mr. Malone
  This information is not available centrally.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many scientific research units in the United Kingdom supported by Government funds have held formal courses in the organisational ethics of scientific research in the past two years. [29559]
  86
  Mr. Malone
  This information is not available centrally.

  Training carried out by research units is a matter for directors of the individual research units concerned.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on liaison between his Department and private research charities about research fraud. [29565]

  Mr. Malone
  The Department gives a high priority to collaborating with other research funders to increase understanding of matters of mutual concern and to promote co-operation.

  We work closely with the Association of Medical Research Charities, which represents some 48 charities. The AMRC is also represented on the national forum which brings together a wide range of research funders and provides an important means of establishing closer links between research interests in the NHS and elsewhere.

  Within this framework, the guidelines for good research practice to which different research sponsors adhere are discussed and kept under review.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the procedure his Department follows when a case of suspected misconduct in medical research is reported to it. [30005]

  Mr. Malone
  Any allegation of misconduct in medical research reported to the Department would, in the first instance, be referred to the host institution for investigation in line with the clearly agreed terms of the contract signed between the Department and the research organisation.

  If necessary, following the outcome of the inquiry, the complaint would be referred to the relevant professional body for further investigation. The Department would ensure that it was fully informed of the result of these inquiries and would, if appropriate, terminate any contract in place at that time.

  Market Testing
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each of his Department's agencies, what market testing has been carried out into the services they provide and what were the results. [30119]

  Mr. Horam
  Since the "Competing for Quality" programme started in 1992–93, the Department of Health's four executive agencies have market tested activities with a total value of £10.68 million with resulting savings of £3.66 million. This is broken down by agency in the table.

  £ million

  Agency

  Cost of activity before competition1

  Resulting savings1

  Medicines Control Agency

  0.260

  0.132

  Medical Devices Agency

  0.195

  0.150

  NHS Estates Agency

  2.981

  0.041

  NHS Pensions Agency

  7.248

  3.339

  1 Rounded up to 3 figures.

  87

  School Doctors and Nurses
  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many whole-time equivalent(a) school nurses and (b) school doctors have been employed by the NHS in each NHS region in each of the last seven years. [28454]

  Mr. Horam
  [holding answer 15 May 1996]: The information relating to school nurses is shown in the table. School nurses provide health surveillance for children

  NHS hospital and community health services qualified nursing and midwifery staff, excluding agency staff, working in the school nursing area of work by regional health authority in England at 30 September each year 1988 to 1994

  Whole-time equivalents

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  1992

  1993

  1994

  England1 2

  2,510

  2,480

  2,540

  2,460

  2,440

  2,470

  2,350

  Northern

  190

  180

  180

  170

  190

  170

  150

  Yorkshire

  180

  190

  180

  170

  170

  180

  180

  Trent

  270

  270

  260

  260

  250

  290

  280

  East Anglia

  80

  90

  90

  100

  100

  100

  90

  North West Thames

  200

  210

  210

  170

  140

  180

  170

  North East Thames

  200

  220

  220

  200

  210

  210

  210

  South East Thames1

  140

  110

  200

  200

  210

  140

  100

  South West Thames

  130

  130

  120

  110

  120

  130

  130

  Wessex

  130

  120

  120

  110

  110

  110

  100

  Oxford

  100

  110

  120

  120

  110

  130

  110

  South Western

  150

  120

  120

  140

  120

  130

  140

  West Midlands

  300

  310

  310

  300

  310

  300

  300

  Mersey

  190

  180

  180

  170

  160

  150

  140

  North Western

  250

  230

  230

  240

  250

  250

  230

  Note:

  1 Figure for South East Thames, and subsequently to a lesser extent the England totals, should be treated with caution. There was evidence of considerable under recording of the occupation codes used to allocate staff to particular areas of work in the South East Thames region in 1989 and several years prior to this.

  2 Figures for 1989 and 1990 do not match those previously published due to minor changes to the definition used for earlier years. Figures in this table have been provided using the same definition in each year.

  Figures are rounded to the nearest ten.

  Totals may not equal sum of components due to rounding.

  Source:

  Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will urgently commission an inquiry into(a) the number of school nurses, (b) the provision of funds for training of school nurses and (c) the provision of a programme of incentives to encourage recruitment of school nurses. [29548]

  Mr. Horam
  The Health Select Committee is currently taking evidence on school health services in its inquiry into children's health.

  GP Fundholders
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by name the current general practitioner fundholders in the Easington constituency. [30213]

  Mr. Malone
  This information is not available centrally.

  Sir Sydney Chapman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the percentage of the population served by general practitioner fundholders in each health authority in England. [30584]

  Mr. Malone
  The percentage of the population served by general practitioner fundholders in each health authority in England is given in the table.
  88
  who miss child health or general practitioner health screening, immunisation and developmental checks. The latest data available, published in October 1994, shows that 96 per cent. or 25,400 general practitioners perform childhood immunisations and 94 per cent. 24,900 carry out child health surveillance.

  School doctors include community paediatrician and general practitioners depending on local arrangements and therefore cannot be identified separately in Department statistics.

  Population coverage by general practitioner fundholders—health authorities in descending order

  Health authority

  Coverage (April 1996) percentage

  North Derbyshire

  91

  Warwickshire

  84

  Isle of Wight

  84

  Solihull

  82

  Worcestershire

  82

  Wakefield

  82

  Bury and Rochdale

  81

  Herefordshire

  80

  South Derbyshire

  79

  Kingston and Richmond

  77

  West Hertfordshire

  77

  East and North Hertfordshire

  76

  South Cheshire

  75

  Sandwell

  74

  Northumberland

  71

  Morecambe Bay

  71

  Buckinghamshire

  71

  South Humber

  69

  North Yorkshire

  69

  West Surrey

  67

  Lincolnshire

  66

  East Riding

  66

  Brent and Harrow

  64

  Doncaster

  64

  89

  Population coverage by general practitioner fundholders—health authorities in descending order

  Health authority

  Coverage (April 1996) percentage

  North and Mid Hampshire

  64

  West Sussex

  63

  East Lancashire

  63

  Berkshire

  62

  Barking and Havering

  62

  Wiltshire

  60

  Bradford

  60

  Stockport

  60

  Redbridge and Waltham Forest

  59

  East Kent

  58

  North Essex

  57

  St. Helens and Knowsley

  56

  North Staffordshire

  55

  South Staffordshire

  55

  West Kent

  55

  East Norfolk

  55

  Coventry

  54

  Oxfordshire

  54

  Southampton and South West Hampshire

  54

  Bexley and Greenwich

  54

  Walsall

  53

  North Cheshire

  52

  East Sussex, Brighton and Hove

  52

  Sheffield

  52

  Leeds

  51

  Hillingdon

  51

  Sunderland

  50

  North West Lancashire

  50

  County Durham

  50

  Northamptonshire

  50

  Dorset

  50

  Leicestershire

  50

  Birmingham

  49

  North West Anglia

  49

  Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster

  49

  Wirral

  49

  Rotherham

  49

  North Cumbria

  48

  North and East Devon

  48

  Liverpool

  48

  South Essex

  48

  Sefton

  47

  South Lancashire

  46

  West Pennine

  46

  Dudley

  45

  Shropshire

  45

  Wigan and Bolton

  44

  Somerset

  44

  Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth

  44

  East Surrey

  42

  Salford and Trafford

  42

  Gateshead and South Tyneside

  41

  North Nottinghamshire

  41

  South and West Devon

  39

  Gloucestershire

  39

  Wolverhampton

  39

  Barnet

  39

  Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow

  38

  Avon

  37

  Suffolk

  37

  Calderdale and Kirklees

  35

  Newcastle and North Tyneside

  35

  Barnsley

  35

  East London and The City

  35

  Bedfordshire

  34

  Tees

  34

  Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

  32

  Croydon

  27

  Bromley

  27

  Enfield and Haringey

  27

  90

  Population coverage by general practitioner fundholders—health authorities in descending order

  Health authority

  Coverage (April 1996) percentage

  Nottingham

  26

  Cambridge and Huntingdon

  26

  Manchester

  25

  Portsmouth and South East Hampshire

  23

  Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham

  18

  Camden and Islington

  10

  Source:

  Regional offices.

  Heathway Residential Home, Seaham
  Mr. Cummings
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future of the Heathway residential home in Seaham. [30215]

  Mr. Bowis
  This is a matter for County Durham health authority, in discussion with Priority Healthcare Wearside national health service trust. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of the authority for details.

  In Vitro Fertilisation
  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many HIV patients have been provided with IVF treatment in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [30237]

  Mr. Horam
  This information is not available centrally. The decision to provide fertility treatment to any particular patient is one for the clinicians involved, taking into account all the circumstances of the case. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 requires as a condition of any treatment licence issued under the Act that account be taken of the welfare of any child who is born as the result of treatment.

  NHS Trust Hospitals (Greater London)
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the chairpersons of each national health service trust hospital covering the Greater London area, indicating the annual salary paid to each for the year 1995–96. [30307]

  Mr. Malone
  Information on all appointments of chairmen and non-executive directors to national health service authorities and trusts, and the remuneration paid, will be published in the summer of 1996.

  Contact Lenses
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons get free repeat prescription contact lenses on the ground that they are susceptible to eye infections, for the most recent years for which figures are available. [30357]

  Mr. Malone
  Where a consultant ophthalmologist decides that a patient requires frequent changes of lenses on clinical grounds, the patient pays only for their first pair unless they are, in any case, entitled to help with national health service charges, in which case they can use their vouchers to help meet the cost. The number of patients who benefit from this provision is not available centrally.
  91

  Child Care Workers
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health which bodies are responsible for checking the suitability of child care workers supplied by employment agencies. [30406]

  Mr. Bowis
  It is the responsibility of each individual employer to ensure that people they employ to work with children are suitable for such work.

  EU Health Council
  Ms Quin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU Health Council on 14 May. [29655]

  Mr. Malone
  The Council took note of a working document submitted by the Commission on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and, after an extensive and constructive debate, agreed conclusions on action to be taken to understand better the pathogenesis and transmissibility of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and to extend epidemiological surveillance of the disease.

  The Council agreed a common position text based on the Commission's proposal for a decision adopting a programme of Community action on health monitoring, taking account of the European Parliament's opinion on that proposal.

  The Council confirmed that, as a number of European Parliament amendments to its common position text could not be accepted, the Conciliation Committee should be convened to reach agreement on a joint text for a decision adopting a programme of Community action on the prevention of drug dependence.

  The Council had a short orientation debate on the Commission's proposal for a decision creating a Community network for the epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable diseases and took note of action in hand to develop a global early warning system and response network for communicable diseases, within the context of the EU-US action plan which was agreed in December last year.

  There was a short discussion also of the Commission's amended proposal for a Council directive on the approximation of laws relating to the advertising of tobacco products and of a paper from the Italian presidency that explored possibilities for making progress with the proposal. The presidency concluded that it had not found the basis for a compromise.

  Carers
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information of a financial nature is required, under guidance issued by his Department, from a spouse who is a carer where the person receiving care, being the marriage partner, requests(a) domiciliary services and (b) respite care, from a local authority social services department. [29865]

  Mr. Bowis
  Advice relating to these issues is in the Department's guidance to local authorities, "Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide", copies of which are available in the Library.
  92
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information of a financial nature is required, under guidance issued by his Department is required from a partner of a person to whom he or she provides care where the person receiving care requests(a) domiciliary and (b) respite care from a local authority social services department and where there is no marital relationship. [29866]

  Mr. Bowis
  Advice relating to these issues is in an advice note on non-residential services, "Discretionary Charges for Adult Social Services", for use by the social services inspectorate, copies of which are available in the Library.

  Euro 96 (Emergency Services)
  Mr. Eastham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much additional funding is being accorded to North Manchester hospital emergency services to serve the June Euro 96 competition being held in Manchester. [30040]

  Mr. Horam
  Trusts are not funded directly by the Department but from contracts with purchasers. The hon. Member may wish to approach Professor Joan Higgins, chairman of Manchester health authority, for details.

  Deregulation Unit
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many(a) are career civil servants and of what grades, (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector. [30064]

  Mr. Horam
  The members of staff working centrally in the Department on deregulation issues are a grade 5, a senior executive officer, an executive officer and an administrative officer, a total of 2.5 whole-time equivalents. All are career civil servants. In addition, there is a network of officials around the Department, responsible for co-ordinating deregulation activities in their area of work—where appropriate in close consultation with people from the private sector. The budgeted expenditure for the unit in 1996–97 is £70,000.

  NHS Employees
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collates on(a) chief executives and (b) senior managers who resign employment with one NHS employer and take up employment with another. [30411]

  Mr. Malone
  None.

  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in(a) his Department and (b) the NHS executive have declared potential conflicts of interest over the last three years. [30431]

  Mr. Horam
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 27 February at column 461.

  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what investigations(a) his Department and (b) the NHS executive have undertaken into conflicts of interests involving (i) trust board and (ii) health authority members. [30432]
  93
  Mr. Malone
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 12 July 1995 at column 552.

  Trusts and Health Authorities (Debts)
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collects on(a) debts owed to and (b) bad debts written off by (i) trusts and (ii) health authorities. [30426]

  Mr. Horam
  The Department collects annual returns from each trust and health authority. Included in these returns is the total debtors for each body analysed in accordance with the current generally accepted accounting principles. Unaudited high level analyses are also collected in the year for management purposes.

  Prior to the 1995–96 annual returns trusts did not separately analyse bad debts written off. The 1995–96 annual returns will show bad debts and claims abandoned analysed by private patients, overseas visitors and others.

  Prior to the 1995–96 annual returning health authorities analysed bad debts and claims abandoned by private in-patients, private non resident patients, overseas visitors, Road Traffic Act claims and other. The 1995–96 annual returns will show the same analysis as trusts.

  Health Services (Private Contractors)
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health which services previously provided by regional health authorities have been won by private contractors; and if he will list the contractors. [30430]

  Mr. Horam
  There is no information available centrally on all services previously provided by regional health authorities. The table lists the former regional health authority trading agencies which are known to have been transferred to the private sector since 1989.

  RHA Service

  Company

  South and West

  Swift IT services

  EDS

  IT services (Wessex)

  AT and T Istel/Hoskyns

  Estates department

  MRM

  West Midlands

  Computer services

  AT and T Istel

  Legal Services

  Lewington Partnership

  Payroll services

  Hartshead Solway

  Parkfields Sterile Supply

  CCL Industries

  Northern and Yorkshire

  Legal Services

  Hampsons

  Financial Services

  Hartshead Solway

  Architects' department

  Fletcher Joseph Partnership

  Computer services (Northern)

  AT and T Istel

  Quantity surveying

  Beard Dove

  IT services (Yorkshire)

  Anderson

  Architects' services

  Fletcher Joseph Partnership

  Engineering services

  DSSR

  Quantity surveying

  Edmund Shipway and Partners

  Anglia and Oxford

  IT services

  SEMA

  Legal services

  Mills and Reeve

  Design services

  Roughtons

  Mandeville Medicines

  Chapter Ltd.

  94

  RHA Service

  Company

  Oxford Consortium

  CSC

  Architects' department

  Bickerdyke Allen and Partners

  Engineering services

  Couch. Perry and Wilkes

  Surveying services

  Davies, Langden Everest

  North West

  Legal services

  Hampsons

  Professional Data Care

  SMS (UK) Ltd.

  Estate services

  EML

  South Thames

  Estates Design and Management (EDAM)

  Capita

  Project management services (capital)

  AYH

  Architects' department

  MRM

  Engineers' department

  Gregory

  HCR and SE Computing

  Hoskyns

  North Thames

  Signet Computer Centre (NE Thames)

  Data Med/HBO

  IT Services (NW Thames)

  SEMA

  Trent

  Computer services

  AT and T Istel

  Engineering Department

  Mala and Pearce Design Group

  Quantity Surveying

  Beard Dove

  Patients (Discharge from NHS Care)
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collates on patients who refuse discharge from NHS care. [30428]

  Mr. Bowis
  None.

  Health Authorities and Trusts
  Mr. Sutcliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS trusts have(a) a chairman, (b) a chief executive and (c) a board of directors; [30250]

  (2) how many NHS health authorities have (a) a chairman, (b) a chief executive and (c) a board of directors. [30251]

  Mr. Malone
  All 429 national health service trusts and 100 NHS health authorities have chairmen and chief executive posts, and they all have a board of executive and non-executive directors.

  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collates on management and administrative spending by individual trusts and health authorities. [30429]

  Mr. Malone
  For national health service trusts, information is collated on management and management consultancy spending and non-clinical administration spending as defined by the Audit Commission and circulated to trusts under circular FDL(95)32. For health authorities, information is collated on health authority costs as defined in circular FDL(96)20. Copies of FDL(95)32 and FDL(96)20 will be placed in the Library.
  95

  Consultants
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 14 May,Official Report, column 419, what information his Department collates about consultants. [30438]

  Mr. Malone
  The annual medical work force census gathers data, as at 30 September each year, on consultant vacancies by specialty. These refer to posts which were vacant for whatever reason on the actual day of collection, including, for example, vacant posts in the process of being filled.

  Beta Interferon
  Mrs. Helen Jackson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health in which health authorities trials were conducted on the effectiveness of the drug beta interferon for sufferers of multiple sclerosis; on how many patients; and over what period. [30313]

  Mr. Malone
  Such information is confidential. Section 118 of the Medicines Act 1968 precludes the disclosure of confidential information received in pursuance of the Act.

  Mrs. Jackson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list those authorities which have(a) agreed and (b) refused to prescribe beta interferon to MS sufferers who are suitably fit to receive it; [30314]

  (2) what guidelines have been issued to health authorities regarding the prescription of the drug beta interferon to MS sufferers. [30315]

  Mr. Malone
  Executive letter (95)/97 issued to health authorities in November 1995 suggested that, where it is clinically appropriate to prescribe beta-interferon to treat multiple sclerosis, it should be prescribed by hospital neurologists. The guidance was accompanied by clinical advice from the Standing Medical Advisory Committee. Decisions about prescribing in individual cases are a matter for clinical judgment.

  Health Authorities (Efficiency Targets)
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health authorities have failed to meet their efficiency index targets in each of the last two years. [29669]

  Mr. Horam
  [holding answer 16 May 1996]: 1993–94 and 1994–95 are the last two years for which final figures are available. The national efficiency index targets were applied at regional health authority level for these years and they all achieved them.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

  Legal Aid
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what account was taken of the place of residence of the individual granted legal aid in January 1996 (reference 06936J). [30039]

  Mr. Jonathan Evans
  None. Legal aid is available for most matters justiciable in the courts of England and Wales, subject to the statutory tests of eligibility.
  96

PRIME MINISTER

  Engagements
  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 21 May. [29028]

  Sir Peter Tapsell
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 21 May. [29029]

  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.

  Hawk Aircraft
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will arrange the withdrawal of(a) export licences and (b) export guarantees issued by the Export Credits Guarantee Department in relation to the supply to India by British Aerospace of Hawk aircraft and the transfer of technology enabling the production of Hawk aircraft in India; and if he will make a statement; [30145]

  (2) if he will make representations to British Aerospace urging to cancel any agreement with the Government of India concerning the supply of Hawk aircraft and the transfer of technology enabling India to manufacture Hawk aircraft; and if he will make a statement. [30144]

  The Prime Minister
  No. I have nothing further to add to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade on 15 May,Official Report columns 942–43.

  WPC Yvonne Fletcher
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Prime Minister what action Her Majesty's Government have taken in the case of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, in relation to the statement of Colonel George Styles, Professor Hugh Thomas, and Home Office pathologist, Professor Bernard Knight, since the Adjournment debate on 8 May. [29290]

  The Prime Minister
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The investigation of crime is a matter for the police. As my right hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Home Department made clear to the House on 8 May, the Metropolitan police are aware of the television programme to which the hon. Member refers, and are reviewing its contents as part of their continuing investigation into the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher.

  Abortion
  Mr. Alton
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will extend the conscience clause of the Abortion Act 1967 to non-NHS employees affected by abortion procedures. [30236]

  The Prime Minister
  The Government always encourage employers to give due consideration to their employees' beliefs and feelings, and to operate fair and objective disciplinary procedures. It has been a longstanding convention that the Government do not initiate change in legislation relating to abortion. It is open to Members of both Houses to introduce proposals for parliamentary consideration.
  97

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

  Correspondence
  Mr. Dixon
  To ask the Attorney-General if he will publish in the Official Report his letter to the hon. Member for Jarrow of 10 May. [29729]

  The Attorney-General
  No. I have, however, placed in the Libraries of the House a copy of the letter to which the hon. Member refers.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Asylum and Immigration Bill
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 7 May,Official Report, column 45, how many respondents to the consultation on the Asylum and Immigration Bill (a) were in favour of the measures and how many against, (b) mentioned costs or burdens to business, (c) objected to the checking of documents other than national insurance and (d) suggested that compliance costs would be higher than those indicated in the compliance cost assessment. [29964]

  Miss Widdecombe
  [holding answer 17 May 1996]: A summary of 67 responses to the consultation document on the prevention of illegal working was made available to the House before report stage of the Asylum and Immigration Bill. It indicates that
  Fifteen respondents indicated either support or opposition. Of these four respondents actively supported the particular proposals whereas 11 expressed clear opposition to the principle of employers making any checks on their new employees;
  Twenty-seven respondents commented on costs or burdens to business in response to a specific question on compliance costs. Fifteen respondents suggested that compliance costs would be higher than those indicated in the compliance cost assessment. Ten said that they expected no, or very minimal, compliance costs and two indicated that in their view the assessment seemed reasonable.
  Three respondents suggested that national insurance numbers should provide the sole defence for employers. Twenty-one respondents indicated that the checking of documents such as foreign passports would be more complicated or onerous, although five suggested that such checking should not be too difficult if written guidance and a telephone helpline were available.

  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department estimates will be the initial and annual cost per small firm of the implementation of clause 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Bill. [29963]

  Miss Widdecombe
  [holding answer 17 May 1996]: The compliance cost assessment prepared last November estimated that the non-current costs of clause 8 will be £13,524,800. For a firm with under 100 employees non-recurrent costs were estimated to be £10.70. It was estimated that the total recurrent costs for all employers might be up to £11,451,200 or less than 68p per employee per annum, but no assessment was made of the proportion of those costs which might fall to small firms.
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  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the cost to business of clause 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Bill; how much it will cost each year; and what estimate he has made of the cost to businesses with fewer than(a) 100, (b) 50 and (c) 20 employees. [29950]

  Miss Widdecombe
  The compliance cost assessment prepared last November estimated that the non-recurrent costs of clause 8 will be £13,524,800. For a firm with under 100 employees non-recurrent costs were estimated to be £10.70. It was estimated that the total recurrent costs for all employers might be up to £11,451,200 or less than 68p per employee per annum. No assessment was made of the proportion of the recurrent costs which might fall to firms of the sizes mentioned.

  Illegal Working Helpline
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the cost of the proposed helpline on illegal working; how many people will staff the helpline; and when it will begin. [29952]

  Miss Widdecombe
  Details of how the helpline will operate are currently under consideration. Full information about the facility will be given to employers in the written guidance to be issued in due course.

  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has carried out into the ease with which small employers can identify the documents required under clause 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Bill. [29948]

  Miss Widdecombe
  In our consultation document, we asked respondents, including representatives of small employers, to comment on this point.

  Race Relations
  Mr. Steinberg
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the funding arrangements after March 1997 for projects funded by his Office under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966; for what reasons there has been a delay in the announcement; and when he expects to be able to notify local education authorities of the arrangements. [29853]

  Mr. Kirkhope
  The funding position from April 1997 remains under consideration. I expect to be able to let local authorities have more information shortly.

  Crimes Against Children (National Registers)
  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will establish a national register of persons convicted of offences of a violent nature against children; [30423]

  (2) if he will establish a national register of persons convicted of offences of a sexual nature against children. [30422]

  Mr. Maclean
  The national criminal records contain details of all those convicted of offences of a violent or sexual nature against children. In order to strengthen these arrangements, the Government are considering suggestions that convicted sex offenders should be
  99
  required by law to notify the police of any changes of address. We plan very shortly to issue a consultation paper which will canvass these and other measures to improve public protection against sex offenders.

  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements exist under Home Office guidelines for unsolicited communication to local authority(a) social service, (b) education and (c) youth services departments of the termination of employment of those persons convicted of sexual and or violent offences against children. [30424]

  Mr. Maclean
  The arrangements under which the police report convictions of employees to local authorities are set out in Home Office circular HOG 45/86 a copy of which is in the Library it is for the local authority concerned to decide on the action which it wishes to take.

  Live Animal Experiments
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he proposes to take to increase public scrutiny of project licence applications for experiments on live animals. [30374]

  Mr. Sackville
  None. The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 prevents disclosure of confidential information.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many small animals were bred in medical schools in the London area for research purposes over the past five years for which figures are available. [30373]

  Mr. Sackville
  This information is not collected centrally.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he proposes to increase the publicity given to procedures adopted by the Home Office inspectors overseeing experiments in live animals. [30375]

  Mr. Sackville
  Public information is already available in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, the guidance to that Act, and the annual statistics published by the Home Office.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the eligibility criteria for appointment to the Animal Procedures Committee; and how many lay-persons are included in the current membership. [30376]

  Mr. Sackville
  The eligibility criteria for appointment to the Animal Procedures Committee are set out in section 19 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The current membership consists of nine scientists and veterinary surgeons, two academic lawyers, one academic philosopher and four animal welfarists.

  Data Protection
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has, in relation to the Europol convention, to appoint the data protection registrar to(a) the national supervisory body and (b) the joint supervisory body; and if he will list the countries which do not submit disputes concerning the convention to the Court of Justice of the European Communities. [29691]
  100
  Mr. Maclean
  Officials are in discussion with the data protection registrar over a number of aspects of the Europol convention and its implementation. These include the designation of the national supervisory body, members or representatives of which will comprise the United Kingdom delegation on the joint supervisory body.

  The Europol convention is not yet in force. On signing the convention, 14 member states made a declaration that they intended to refer to the Court of Justice disputes between them that were not resolved by the Council. The United Kingdom did not make such a declaration.

  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the implications of the Europol convention for the Data Protection Act 1984 in respect of powers of access of the Data Protection Registrar. [29693]

  Mr. Maclean
  Ratification of the convention will not require any amendment to the Data Protection Act 1984. Officials are discussing with the data protection registrar practical aspects of its implementation.

  Criminal Records
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to come forward with proposals to allow for wider access to criminal records; if these proposals will include proposals to stop enforced subject access under the Data Protection Act 1984; and if he will make a statement. [29701]

  Mr. Maclean
  The Government expect to publish a White Paper setting out our proposals for new arrangements for access to criminal record checks within the next few months.

  Police National Computer
  Mr. French
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to include drink-drive offences on the Phoenix database on the police national computer. [30668]

  Mr. Maclean
  The police will begin to record drink drive offences on Phoenix from 1 June. This will allow the police, for the first time, to have access to records of drink drive offences dealt with in forces other than their own. Such offences include driving or being in charge of a vehicle when under the influence of drink or drugs and failing to provide a specimen of breath when required to do so.

  Fire Safety Legislation
  Mr. Spring
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the interdepartmental review of fire safety legislation and enforcement and on the implementation of the general fire safety aspects of the EC framework and workplace directives. [30669]

  Mr. Sackville
  The review was established to examine what scope there might be for rationalising relevant legislation and enforcement arrangements whilst maintaining or improving standards of fire safety. It found that there were overlaps in present legislation and enforcement arrangements which could impose burdens on business and create uncertainty. Consultation on the report showed that while there was general agreement that
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  existing legislation should be simplified and made more coherent, there was no consensus on what precisely should be done to effect those improvements.

  In the light of the consultation exercise we have decided:
  that fire safety should, in general, be treated separately in legislation and that its enforcement should rest principally with fire authorities;
  that the outstanding fire safety elements of the European Community framework and workplace directives will be implemented by regulations to be made under the European Communities Act 1972; we believe that the minimum safety standards required by the directives broadly reflect the safety standards required by existing legal obligations on employers and therefore that the good employer has nothing to fear from the proposed regulations;
  that monitoring, control and supervision of the fire safety aspects of the risk assessment and of the other actions that the regulations require employers to take will be the responsibility of fire authorities;
  that section 9A of the Fire Precautions Act 1971 will be disapplied by the regulations to the extent its provisions overlap with the specific requirements of the regulations;
  that the powers provided under section 5 of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 will be applied to the enforcement of the Fire Precautions Act 1971, to improve further the fairness, transparency and consistency of the supervision and control of the Act's requirements;
  to consult, by July, on widening the scope for fire authorities to exempt premises which do not constitute a high risk from the need to have a fire certificate;
  to consult on a revised fire certification system based on risk assessment to target it more accurately at premises where there is a high risk of loss of fire from life;
  to invite the Health and Safety Commission to review in parallel the operation of the Fire Certificates (Special Premises) Regulations 1976 (for which it has policy responsibility);
  to commence consultation in June 1996 on the elimination of overlaps between the physical fire standards in national legislation and fire safety provisions in local acts and byelaws;
  to review physical fire standards and codes of practice to ensure greater consistency and simplification for business. We shall commence consultation in the autumn;
  to bring forward proposals by the summer to amend the building regulations to cover certain physical fire precautions currently covered by fire certification to provide a "one-stop shop" for developers;
  to clarify the respective responsibilities of building control and fire authorities with the aim of streamlining current arrangements to help reduce costs for developers;

  We are issuing today for consultation draft regulations intended to give effect to our remaining obligations under the European Community framework and workplace directives. The draft regulations will be made under the European Communities Act 1972. The draft aims to avoid imposing unnecessary burdens and so, where appropriate, follows as closely as possible the language of the directives to ensure that the regulations go no further than strictly required. The duty imposed on all employers by the directives to conduct a risk assessment for their workplaces has generally been implemented by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992. Employers will be able to carry out the fire safety element of the risk assessment either as an integral part of an overall risk assessment, or may undertake it separately.
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  Where an employer fails to comply with any duty in relation to fire safety, the fire authority may apply to the courts for an order requiring compliance or if the breach is a serious one, may issue an enforcement notice. If the breach is deliberate, reckless and is serious, the employer can be prosecuted.

  The powers provided under section 5 of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 will be applied to the Fire Precautions Act 1971 by means of a statutory instrument to be laid before Parliament by the end of 1996 and we shall identify other fire safety legislation where these powers could apply. The proposed new regulations to give effect to our Community obligations will also incorporate the principles underlying these powers.

  We intend that rationalisation and simplification of the fire safety regime to reduce burdens on business while maintaining necessary safeguards, should be a continuing process. Subject to an analysis of the costs and benefits, we will be looking for further opportunities to rationalise both law and practice.

  Copies of the consultation document, which includes the draft regulations, are being placed in the Library.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the actions taken by Her Majesty's Government to support efforts to initiate negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty as cited in paragraph 146 of the statement on the Defence estimates, column 3223; and if he will make a statement on the progress achieved to date in these negotiations. [29979]

  Mr. David Davis
  We supported the mandate agreed at the conference on disarmament in Geneva in March 1995 for an ad hoc committee to work on a fissile material cut-off treaty banning the future production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. We regret that it has not yet proved possible to start work on this issue. We continue to urge all members of the CD to agree to the early establishment of an ad hoc committee to begin negotiations.

  Market Testing
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list, for each of his Department's agencies, what market testing has been carried out into the services they provide and what were the results. [30117]

  Mr. Hanley
  There has been no market testing of the services provided by FCO agencies.

  Council of Europe
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the British ambassador to the Council of Europe, on the proposals of the council of Europe Assembly, to up-date the computerisation of its services. [29997]
  103
  Mr. David Davis
  None so far, but the Council of Europe secretariat is elaborating a package of proposals to go into the 1997 budget. These proposals will draw on the report by the hon. Member and will be discussed with representatives of Governments in Strasbourg. Costs and priorities will need to be borne in mind during any such discussions.

  EU Membership Application
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy in respect of each applicant for membership of the EU. [30003]

  Mr. David Davis
  The Government welcome the prospect of EU enlargement and look forward to the applicant countries joining as soon as they are ready. We believe that each applicant should be treated on its merits. Applicants will have to meet the criteria for membership set out by the Copenhagen European Council in June 1993.

  Galapagos Islands
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the Minister for Overseas Development has had with the Government of Ecuador about the shooting of female goats on those parts of the Alcedo area of the Galapagos Islands where giant tortoises breed. [28908]

  Sir Nicholas Bonsor
  There have been no discussions between the ODA and the Ecuadorean Government about shooting goats in the Galapagos Islands. The British ambassador in Quito recently visited the islands to see the problem caused by feral goats on Alcedo which threaten the survival of the population of giant tortoises. The ambassador has offered to donate £5,000 from the heads of mission gift scheme to the national park and to the Darwin Foundation for their programme to protect the tortoises. He is also examining the possibility of a contribution to the goat eradication programme from a FCO fund for small environmental projects.

  General Affairs Council
  Ms Quin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU General Affairs Council on 13 to 14 May. [29656]

  Mr. David Davis
  The "A" points in document 7127/96, which will be placed in the Libraries of the House as soon as it is available, were approved.

  The presidency noted the resolutions adopted by European Parliament in document 6216/96, PE-RE 33 and drew attention to Nos. 8 (co-operation on EU fisheries with Morocco), 23 (outcome of Turin European Council), 24 (central and eastern Europe integration into internal market), 30 (Baltic sea co-operation) and 32 (economic and monetary union and social cohesion).

  The Council heard a progress report from the chairman of the consultative commission on racism and xenophobia, Jean Khan, about the comission's study on a possible EU observatory on racism and xenophobia.
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  The Council reached political agreement on draft negotiating directives for a new EU-Mexico agreement. The Commission also presented draft negotiating directives for new agreements between the Community and Cambodia and Laos; and updated agreements between the Community and Bangladesh and Pakistan.

  The Commission gave a brief report on progress in the negotiations for Euro-Med agreements between the EU and Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon; progress towards opening negotiations with Algeria; and the Commission's exploratory contacts with the Palestinian authority and Syria. The Council decided to reconsult the European Parliament on the text of the MEDA regulation.

  The presidency reported on progress in the middle east peace process and Ministers had a meeting in the margins of the Council with Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Ministers also discussed reconstruction aid for the Lebanon.

  EU high representative Carl Bildt briefed Ministers about the current situation in Bosnia. Mostar administrator Casado briefed the Council on the Mostar elections. Ministers also had a brief discussion on Albania.

  The Council agreed the EU-Russia action plan and adopted conclusions reaffirming its support for the reform process, looking forward to free and fair elections, and restating EU willingness to take part in observation of them.

  The Council endorsed conclusions on preparation for the World Trade Organisation ministerial conference in Singapore in December.

  The Council also adopted conclusions on Niger, foreseeing progressive resumption of EU cooperation, subject to a review at the Council on 10 June of the results of the 12 May referendum and the lifting of the ban on political parties; and on Liberia, expressing concern at the humanitarian situation and affirming EU willingness to provide humanitarian aid.

  My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary urged EU partners to agree to a relaxation of the ban on the export of gelatine, tallow and semen.

  The second substantive ministerial meeting of the intergovernmental conference also took place on 13 May. Ministers had before them a presidency note, CONF 3847/96, which has been deposited in the Library of the House, which raised two broad issues for discussion: flexibility of the Union and the efficiency and balance of the institutions. On the former, Ministers considered the desirability of more flexible structures in the Union and whether treaty provisions were necessary to provide a framework for this. On the latter, Ministers considered a range of institutional issues, including the size of the Commission, the scope and weighting of qualified majority voting, the role of the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice, in particular in the light of future enlargement.

  The ministerial session was preceded by an exchange of views with the European President and two representatives of the European Parliament.

  There were association Councils with Malta and Cyprus on 14 May, followed by a joint structured dialogue meeting and lunch.
  105

  Gibraltar
  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last visited Gibraltar; and if he will make a statement about his policy towards that country. [29843]

  Mr. David Davis
  I visited Gibraltar on 7 and 8 November 1995. I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier) on 14 December 1995 at columns 753–54.

  Bosnia
  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met Mr. Carl Bildt; and if he will make a statement about the progress of the reconstruction fo Bosnia. [29844]

  Sir Nicholas Bonsor
  My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary last met Carl Bildt at the EU General Affairs Council on 13 May.

  At the Brussels donors conference on 12 and 13 April, $1.25 billion was pledged for reconstruction projects for the remainder of 1996. United Kingdom bilateral programmes, aimed at restoring power and water supplies to both entities, are well under way.

  Croatia
  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met President Tudjamn; and if he will make a statement about his policy towards the progress of democracy in Croatia. [29845]

  Sir Nicholas Bonsor
  My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary met President Tudgjman on 19 September 1995 in Zagreb.

  We continue to encourage the Croatian Government to bring about greater democracy in Croatia so as to achieve stronger political and economic relations with Europe and its institutions.

  Diplomatic Representation
  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries in the continent of(a) Asia, (b) Africa, (c) America, (d) Europe and (e) Australasia in which the United Kingdom has diplomatic representation indicating the level of representation, and by number and grade his Department's staff serving in these countries. [29846]

  Mr. Hanley
  The information requested is published in "H.M. Diplomatic Service Overseas Reference List", a copy of which is in the Libraries of the House.

  Mr. Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries which are members of the Untied Nations in which the United Kingdom has no diplomatic representation. [29847]

  Mr. Hanley
  The member states of the United Nations in which the United Kingdom has no resident diplomatic representations are listed in table 1. Those states in which an office has been opened but has no UK-based resident staff are listed in table 2.
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  TABLE 1: MEMBER STATES OF THE UNITED NATIONS WITH NO RESIDENT REPRESENTATION

  Andorra

  Benin

  Bhutan

  Burkina Faso

  Cape Verde

  Central African Republic

  Chad

  Comoros

  Congo

  Djibuti

  Dominica

  Equatorial Guinea

  Gabon

  Guinea

  Guinea-Bissau

  Iraq

  Korea (Democratic People's Republic)

  Kyrgyzstan

  Liberia

  Liechtenstein

  Maldives

  Mali

  Marshall Islands

  Mauritania

  Micronesia

  Moldova

  Monaco

  Niger

  Palau

  St. Kitts and Nevis

  San Marino

  Sao Tome and Principe

  Somalia

  Suriname

  Tajikistan

  Togo

  Western Samoa

  TABLE 2: MEMBER STATES OF THE UNITED NATIONS WITH NO RESIDENT UK-BASED REPRESENTATION

  Afghanistan

  Burundi

  Eritrea

  Haiti

  Laos.

  Albania
  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the progress of democracy in Albania; and if he will make a statement about his policy towards that country. [29849]

  Sir Nicholas Bonsor
  The British Government have good relations with the Government of Albania. We believe that Albania has made good progress towards greater democracy since the fall of communism in 1992.
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  We are contributing to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe mission to observe the forthcoming Albanian elections.

  Former Warsaw Pact Countries
  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely date of the accession to the North Atlantic treaty of members of the former Warsaw pact. [29850]

  Mr. David Davis
  NATO has yet to decide when to invite countries from the former Warsaw pact to join the alliance. NATO Foreign Ministers decided in December 1995 to consider the way forward at their meeting this December.

  Deregulation Unit
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many(a) are career civil servants and of what grades, (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector. [30058]

  Mr. Hanley
  We are not directly involved in domestic deregulation policy and therefore have no deregulation unit or staff.

  British Council
  Mr. Renton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance the Government propose to make available to the British Council to help with its restructuring costs and to avoid overseas port closures. [30511]

  Mr. Rifkind
  I have today written to the chairman of the British Council informing him that my Department is prepared to meet 80 per cent. of the actual costs of redundancies among its grant in aid funded UK appointed staff this financial year. I propose to finance this from the Overseas Development Administration's contingency reserve. Since this reserve is higher than originally planned, this can be accommodated without affecting our ability to respond to foreseeable emergencies or reducing planned aid programmes. That part of the funding which serves aid objectives will be provided directly through the ODA vote. For the balance, I shall be seeking parliamentary authority later this year to make the appropriate transfer between the ODA and British Council votes.

  In my letter to the chairman I have also assured him that an additional £5 million in 1997–98 and £9 million in 1998–99 will be made available to the Council from within my departmental programme in order to avoid closures of British Council offices overseas to help sustain their programmes in priority countries and to contribute towards their continuing redundancy costs.

  The British Council will of course be continuing with their existing programme of efficiency savings.
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DEFENCE

  Bosnia and Croatia
  Dr. David Clark
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what has been the total cost to date to his Department of renting property for use as British bases as part of the implementation force operations in(a) Bosnia and (b) Croatia; [29672]

  (2) pursuant to his answer of 26 January, Official Report, column 468, if he will update the information on charges for the bases currently used by British members of the implementation force operating in (a) Bosnia and (b) Croatia. [29824]

  Mr. Soames
  [holding answer 17 May 1996]: A list of the major sites in Bosnia and Croatia currently occupied by British forces is as follows, together with the monthly charges where these have been established.

  Between January and April this year, my Department spend £665,000 and £688,000 on leases for all sites occupied in Bosnia and Croatia respectively.

  Bosnia

  Monthly charge £

  Banja Luka—factory

  38,000

  Bosanski Petrovac—garage

  5,000

  Bugojno—factory

  Not yet known

  Glamoc—sawmill and factory

  8,000

  Gornji Vakuf—2 factories

  44,000

  Jajce—factory

  6,000

  Kljuc—depot

  Not yet known

  Krupa—factory

  3,000

  Kupres—various sites

  34,000

  Mrkonjic Grad—2 factories, sawmill and dam

  Not yet known

  Sanski Most—factory

  8,000

  Sipovo—3 factories, hotel and sawmill

  Not yet known

  Tomislavgrad-warehouse and other sites

  42,000

  Vitez—Bulk Fuel Installation (BFI) and school

  3,000

  Croatia

  Split—3 factories and warehouse

  243,000

  Split—North Port and warehouse facilities

  Not yet known

  Trogir (near split)-Divulje Barracks

  No charge

  Royal Navy Wrecks
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's policy on the recovery of munitions and other weapons from sunken Royal Navy ships; and what environmental monitoring is undertaken at such sites where it has not proved possible to recover military material. [29980]

  Mr. Soames
  Our policy, in normal circumstances, is to leave munitions and other weapons on Royal Navy wrecks undisturbed. However, recovery may be considered where sensitive technology is involved, or where there is a risk that the munitions may fall into the hands of terrorists, criminals or unfriendly foreign powers.

  Should munitions be disturbed in some way, consideration may be given to their recovery on a case-by-case basis, taking account, among other things, of the extent of any danger to the public, the potential risk to those who would be involved in the recovery operation, and technical feasibility.
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  As current scientific evidence shows that, provided they remain undisturbed, such sites do not present a significant risk to safety, human health or the marine environment, my Department does not undertake environmental monitoring of wrecks in which there is remaining military material.

  Wine and Spirits Stocks
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what(a) number of bottles and (b) value of stocks of (i) wine and (ii) spirits are held by (1) the Army, (2) the Royal Navy and (3) the Royal Air Force; and if he will make a statement. [29999]

  Mr. Soames
  The only stocks of publicly funded wines and spirits held by the armed forces are for use in cooking, as recipe ingredients. Details of the stocks held for this purpose are not maintained centrally. Spirits can be authorised for issue in special circumstances, but these are purchased only when required. Stock levels of wines and spirits purchased with non-public funds are a matter for individual messes and no central records are held.

  Polaris
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimated cost of decommissioning the Polaris system; and from which subheads of which votes these funds will be taken. [29871]

  Mr. Soames
  Details of all costs associated with decommissioning or disposal of equipments and facilities connected with the Polaris programme are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The cost of the defuelling, de-equipping and day-up procedure for the four submarines is expected to total some £61 million; to be attributed to vote 2 subhead 2A21.

  Disposal of rocket motors and propellant is expected to cost some £2 million; to be attributed to vote 2 subhead 2F2.

  It is not our practice to reveal costs associated with the warhead.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

  Competitiveness White Paper
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on what date he expects to publish the third competitiveness White Paper. [29955]

  Mr. Freeman
  The Government plan to publish the third competitiveness White Paper in mid-June.

  Deregulation
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the deregulation orders which passed into law, indicating which of them affect firms with under(a) 100, (b) 50, (c) 20 and (d) 10 employees. [29959]
  110
  Mr. Freeman
  The deregulation orders which have passed into law are:

  The Deregulation (Greyhound Racing) Order

  The Deregulation (Building Societies) Order

  The Deregulation (Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1868) Order

  The Deregulation (Special Hours Certificates) Order

  The Deregulation (Fair Trading Act 1973) (Amendment) Merger Reference Time Limits) Order

  The Deregulation (Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976) (Amendment) (Time Limits) Order

  The Deregulation (Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976) (Amendment) (Variation of Exempt Agreements) Order

  The Deregulation (Length of the School Day) Order

  The Deregulation (Long Pull) Order

  The first four orders are sectoral measures intended to assist all firms in those sectors, regardless of their size. The next three orders amend competition legislation and, again, could potentially benefit any firm regardless of size.

  Civil Service (Ethnic Monitoring)
  Mr. Callaghan
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the progress of ethnic monitoring within the civil service. [29929]

  Mr. Freeman
  Equality of opportunity in employment is vital to the effectiveness of the civil service and to good race relations. Ethnic origin monitoring data provides a powerful tool for identifying where barriers exist for the recruitment and advancement of ethnic minority staff. Since 1989 departments and agencies have been working to an agreed code of practice on collecting this information from entrants and existing staff, and they continue to do so. The programme for action on race, introduced by the Cabinet Office in 1990, provides a strategic framework for progress towards race equality in Departments and agencies, which includes monitoring. Regular reports on progress as regards equal opportunities across the civil service are published by the Cabinet Office and placed in the Commons Library. In the year to April 1995, the ethnic minority representation across the civil service rose to 5.4 per cent., which compares with 4.9 per cent. in the economically active population. Information for April 1996 is currently being compiled and will become available later in the year.

  Privatised Utilities (Civil Servants)
  Mr. Sutcliffe
  To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many(a) serving civil servants and (b) retired civil servants have been appointed to the boards of privatised utilities. [30254]

  Mr. Freeman
  There are currently no serving civil servants who are non-executive directors of any privatised utilities on the list of non-executive directors supplied to the Office of Public Service by Departments. Comprehensive information of this kind on retired civil servants is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
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OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

  Nigeria
  Mr. Menzies Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects of Commonwealth sanctions on Nigeria; and if he will make a statement. [29848]

  Mr. Hanley
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave the hon. Member for Broxtowe (Sir J. Lester) on 9 May 1996 at column 211. If Nigeria does not respond positively to the Commonwealth ministerial action group's invitation to dialogue by the end of May, the group has recommended that Commonwealth countries adopt a package of measures broadly similar to those already taken by the EU.

  Somaliland
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has evaluated and what contacts he maintains with representatives of the self-styled Republic of Somaliland; what is the position of Her Majesty's Government with respect to that regime; and if he will make a statement. [29968]

  Mr. Hanley
  Our embassy in Addis Ababa regularly reports on its contacts with the administration in north-west Somalia. Our position remains that the future of that region must be for the Somalis as a whole to determine.

  Oslo Conference (20/20 Initiative)
  Mr. Watson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by whom the United Kingdom was represented at the Oslo conference in April to try to consolidate implementation of the 20/20 initiative; and if he will make a statement. [30123]

  Mr. Hanley
  The United Kingdom was represented at the April Oslo conference on the 20/20 initiative by the ODA's principal finance officer, chief social development adviser, and an ODA economic adviser.

  The Oslo meeting agreed that donors should be prepared to support well-considered plans for enhanced spending on basic social programmes, and recognised that it was now for developing countries to put forward such proposals, initially through consultative groups and round table meetings.

WALES

  Nursery Voucher Scheme
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has had from organisations and individuals about the implementation of the nursery voucher scheme; and how many replies have been sent. [29332]

  Mr. Richards
  In addition to a number of petitions, some 3,300 representations have been received to date, the vast majority continuing to consist of printed pro 112
  forma letters and postcards; approximately 85 per cent. have been sent a reply and the remainder will have a response as soon as possible.

  Out-of-town Superstores
  Mr. Llwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to limit the spread of superstores in out-of-town locations in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [29610]

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  My right hon. Friend has today issued revised planning guidance recognising the importance of town centres and encouraging retail development within those centres rather than at out-of-town sites.

  I have arranged for copies of the revised planning guidance to be placed in the Library of the House.

  Dental Services
  Mr. Llwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many patients have contacted each family health services authority asking for help in finding a dentist in the period since December 1993; and if he will make a statement. [29602]

  Mr. Richards
  According to information supplied by Welsh family health services authorities, the following numbers of patients contacted them between the beginning of December 1993 and the end of March 1996:

  Clwyd: 6,821

  Dyfed: 4,533

  Gwent: 3,352

  Gwynedd: 15,478

  Mid Glamorgan: 584

  Powys: 2,466

  South Glamorgan: 2,814

  West Glamorgan: 221.

  The Welsh Office has made £3 million available for a unique initiative aimed at addressing the needs of those areas where patients may have difficulty in registering with a dentist close to their homes. The initiative demonstrates the Government's determination to address the dental manpower needs of Wales.

  Mr. Llwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many family health authorities have been unable to provide emergency dental services in the period since December 1993; and if he will make a statement. [29600]

  Mr. Richards
  According to information supplied by Welsh family health service authorities, one authority was unable to provide emergency dental services for unregistered patients during the period December 1993 to 1 July 1995. Since 2 July 1995, all authorities have been able to do so.

  General dental practitioners are required by their terms of service to provide emergency cover for their registered patients.

  Mr. Llwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many continuing care dental patients have been de-registered; how many dentists have de-registered patients in each year since 1992; and if he will make a statement. [29612]
  113
  Mr. Richards
  From the information supplied by family health service authorities since August 1992, the number of patients in Wales who have been deregistered is as follows:

  Adults

  Children

  Total

  19921

  8,167

  15

  8,182

  1993

  9,138

  75

  9,213

  1994

  20,172

  53

  20,225

  1995

  18,300

  67

  18,367

  19962

  1,750

  9

  1,759

  Totals

  57,527

  219

  57,746

  1 1 August to 31 December.

  2 To 31 March.

  These are cumulative figures and do not indicate how many of those patients subsequently registered with another dentist.

  The number of dentists deregistering patients in any fortnightly period has varied between 0 and 38.

  This information was supplied for management purposes only and is not statistically validated.

  Statistics published by the Dental Practice Board indicate that, at the end of December 1995, the number of registered patients in Wales was 38,194 higher than it was at the end of June 1992.

  Mr. Llwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many dentists have given written notice to have their name removed from dental lists since 1992; and if he will make a statement. [29597]

  Mr. Richards
  Information supplied by Welsh family health services authorities indicates that 121 dentists gave written notice to have their names removed from dental lists between 1 August 1992 and 31 March 1996. During the same period, 265 dentists joined the authorities' dental lists.

  This information was supplied for management purposes only and has not been statistically validated.

  Press Office (Expenditure)
  Mr. Llwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total spent by his press office in each year since 1992; and if he will make a statement. [29595]

  Mr. Hague
  The total spent by my press office, including running costs, is as follows:

  1992–93: £360,215

  1993–94: £418,370

  1994–95: £406,150

  1995–96: £395,531.

  Deregulation Unit
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many(a) are career civil servants and of what grades, (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector. [30068]
  114
  Mr. Hague
  The Welsh Office deregulation unit is responsible for promoting and monitoring progress with deregulation activities which are undertaken by policy divisions across the Department. The 1996–97 budget for the unit, which is part of the Department's business services division, is £19,140 for running costs plus £10,000 programme. The unit consists of one higher executive officer, 0.75 whole-time equivalent.

  Welsh Health Common Services Authority
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Health Common Services Authority concerning the termination of negotiations with Exel Logistics for the material managements contract under the market testing procedure; [30434]

  (2) what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Health Common Services Authority concerning the award of the materials management contract under the market testing procedure to the in-house team; and if he will make a statement. [30433]

  Mr. Hague
  None. My Department was kept informed of developments in the negotiations between the authority and Exel Logistics which led to the decision not to award the contract to the company.

  Medical Treatment Centres
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 2 February,Official Report, column 980, if he will list the number of procedures available in 1996–97 in each of the treatment centres, indicating the numbers allocated to each health authority. [30408]

  Mr. Hague
  The number of procedures available in 1996–97 at each of the treatment centres is as follows together with each health authority's allocation:

  Health authority

  Surgical center

  Ophthalmic center

  Orthopaedic center

  North Wales

  0

  0

  39

  Dyfed Powys

  190

  200

  62

  Gwent

  200

  340

  60

  Bro Taf

  310

  245

  59

  Morgannwyg

  360

  295

  44

  Total

  1 1,060

  1 1,080

  264

  1 These figures were transposed in my previous answer of 2 February, Official Report, column 980.

  Ambulance Service
  Mr. Ainger
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) when the consultation period will end on the Wales ambulance policy advisory group revision to ambulance service configurations in Wales; [30378]

  (2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the Wales ambulance policy advisory group consultation paper on ambulance service configurations in Wales. [30377]

  Mr. Richards
  I have not received any application to reconfigure ambulance services. If such an application is received the document would be subject to public consultation and a copy placed in the Library of the House.
  115
  Mr. Ainger
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the NHS ambulance trusts in Wales, and those ambulance services which form part of a NHS trust in Wales, their budgets for each of the last five years and the current financial year, the number of staff and the number of ambulances in each case. [30380]

  Mr. Richards
  I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.

  Medical Staff (Suspensions)
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 6 February,Official Report, column 98, how the notification procedure for consultants suspended over six months applies to those (a) already suspended prior to 1 April 1995 and (b) suspended after that date. [30409]

  Mr. Hague
  NHS trusts and health authorities were asked to ensure that the guidance issued on 7 April 1995 is taken into account in drawing up local procedures for handling all suspensions of hospital and community medical and dental staff.

  Mr. Ainger
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the membership and terms of reference of the Wales ambulance policy advisory group; and if he will make a statement. [30379]

  Mr. Richards
  The Welsh ambulance policy advisory group was set up by the ambulance trusts themselves. Details may be obtained from the group's current chief executive, Mr. S. Harrhy, chief executive, Mid Glamorgan Ambulance NHS trust.

  Civil Service College
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the director of the Civil Service College concerning departmental participation in courses on devolution; what training courses he has put in place for his staff in preparation for constitutional change; and if he will make a statement. [30435]

  Mr. Hague
  None.

TREASURY

  Value Added Tax
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how Her Majesty's Customs and Excise calculates the risk of businesses not complying with VAT for the purpose of determining which businesses should receive an assurance visit. [29910]

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  [holding answer 17 May 1996]: Customs use statistical methods to evaluate information on businesses and their likelihood to make errors. This provides the relative ranking of each business which is advised to local offices. Staff use this ranking together with local knowledge for the purpose of determining which business should receive an assurance visit.
  116
  Ms Primarolo
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the amount of(a) VAT and (b) excise duties that remained uncollected or written off for each of the last five years; and if he will estimate the amount that will be uncollected or written off for the next two years for the same categories. [29911]

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  [holding answer 17 May 1996]: Write-off figures for 1995 have not yet been finalised. The value of VAT remitted or written off in the previous five calendar years was as follows:

  1994: £550,464,000

  1993: £742,376,00

  1992: £745,773,000

  1991: £515,335,000

  1990: £212,715,000.

  Excise write-off figures are consolidated with Customs figures. The value of Customs and other duties written off in the same five years was as follows:

  1994: £1,713,000

  1993: £2,138,000

  1992: £844,000

  1991: £733,000

  1990: £1,020,000.

  The level of write-off in the present and future years is dependent on external factors, such as the rate of insolvency. Customs expect that VAT debt will be contained within 2.3 per cent. of liability for 1995–96 and 1996–97.

  EU Preliminary Budget
  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals Her Majesty's Government put to the Council of Ministers of the EU with regard to deleting elements of non-compulsory expenditure from the draft preliminary budget for 1995–96. [30168]

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  The Government's policy is to scrutinise all expenditure, both compulsory and non-compulsory, during the annual EC budgetary process, and to seek reductions where appropriate. This was the case in the preparation of both the 1995 and 1996 Community budgets, as in other years.

  Tax Complaints
  Mr. Llwyd
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many cases in each year since 1993 the revenue adjudicator has found(a) wholly and (b) partly in favour of the complainant; and if he will make a statement. [29606]

  Mr. Michael Jack
  The table provides details of the number of complaints about the Inland Revenue which the adjudicator has upheld wholly, substantially or partially in the three years to 31 March 1996, the figures in parenthesis denoting the proportions of the total number of complaints reviewed during the years concerned:

  Year

  Substantially/wholly

  Partially

  1993–94

  50

  48 per cent.

  15

  14 per cent.

  1994–95

  98

  26 per cent.

  95

  25 per cent.

  1995–96

  144

  29 per cent.

  92

  19 per cent.

  Total

  292

  30 per cent.

  202

  21 per cent.

  117
  Mr. Llwyd
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases have been referred to the revenue adjudicator as complaints arising out of the taxpayers charter in each year since May 1993; and if he will make a statement. [29604]

  Mr. Jack
  The table shows the number of complaints about the Inland Revenue that the adjudicator received in the three years to 31 March 1996:

  Year

  Total received

  Take up for full investigation

  1993–94

  1,615

  308

  1994–95

  2,581

  504

  1995–96

  2,500

  470

  Total

  6,696

  1,282

  The 5,414 cases which she did not take up for full investigation were mainly ones where the complainant had not first tried to sort out their complaint through the Inland Revenue's own complaints system. In these cases, the adjudicator puts the complainant in touch with the right person in the Inland Revenue; and where necessary helps the complainant clarify the terms of the complaint. The adjudicator calls such cases "assistance cases".

  Compliance Cost Assessments
  Ms Ruddock
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many compliance cost assessments were produced by his Department in 1995; and if he will place copies in the Library. [25270]

  Mr. Jack
  [pursuant to his reply, 17 April 1996, c. 498]: I regret that the list that I gave inadvertently omitted 15 compliance cost assessments produced by the Building Societies Commission and the Friendly Societies Commission, both of which are responsible to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I apologise to the hon. Member for this oversight. The full list of 30 compliance cost assessments produced by the Chancellor's Departments in 1995 is given in the list. In each case, a copy of the assessment was placed in the Library at the time it was presented to Parliament.

  HM Treasury

  The Financial Markets and Insolvency (Money Market) Regulations 1995

  The Investment Services Directive (EEC/22/93) and the Capital Adequacy Directive (EEC/6/93)

  HM Customs and Excise

  Approval of Inland Clearance Depots

  Landfill Tax

  Excise: Two Band Duty Structure for Cider

  VAT: Groups (Preliminary Assessment)

  VAT: Change to Tour Operators Margin Scheme

  VAT: Annual Returns and Annual Payments for Small Businesses Registered for VAT

  VAT: Changes to the Payments on Account Scheme for Large VAT Payers

  VAT: Implementation of the Second VAT Simplification Directive: Fiscal Warehousing and other Technical Changes

  VAT: Extension of the Special Accounting System for Gold

  VAT: Credit Notes

  118

  Inland Revenue

  Reform of the Taxation of Gilts and Bonds

  Proposed Changes to the Construction Industry Tax Deduction Scheme: Registration Cards

  Gilt Repo Regulations

  Building Societies Commission

  Building Societies (Liquid Assets) (Amendment) Regulations 1995

  Building Societies (General Charge and Fees) Regulations 1995

  Building Societies (Commercial Assets) Order 1995

  Building Societies (Aggregation) (Amendment) Rules 1995

  Building Societies (Designation of Qualifying Bodies) Order 1995

  Building Societies (Provision of Services) Order 1995

  Building Societies (Limits on Transactions with Directors) Order 1995

  Building Societies (Non-retail Funds and Deposits) (Limit on Election) Order 1995

  Building Societies (Mergers) (Amendment) Regulations 1995

  Building Societies (Designation of Qualifying Bodies) (No. 2) Order 1995

  Building Societies (Liquid Assets) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1995

  Building Societies (Accounts and Related Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 1995

  Building Societies (Syndicated Lending) Order 1995

  Friendly Societies Commission

  Friendly Societies (General Charges and Fees) Regulations 1995

  Friendly Societies (Activity of a Subsidiary) Order 1995

  EU Fraud
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what requests have been made by the Court of Auditors of the European Community to the European Commission to be consulted concerning(a) the drafting of any proposed regulation concerned with the expenditure and (b) amendments to current regulations in directives aimed at the prevention of irregularities and fraud. [29986]

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  Any correspondence between the Court and the Commission is a matter for the institutions in question.

  The European Court of Auditors submitted in May 1995 a report to the "Reflection Group" containing their proposals for treaty changes in the context of the intergovernmental conference. The general position is that in the case of legislative proposals under article 209 the Commission is required to consult the court; in other cases consultation is optional. In its report, the court considered that (a) article 209 should be used as the legal basis for all legislation intended to lay down new financial regulations or to derogate from the financial regulation; and (b) that as regards optional consultation the court could be systematically consulted on any draft legislation which, on bases other than article 209, affects the Community's budgetary and financial mechanisms, especially regarding control. The intergovernmental conference is considering the court's comments.

  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans Her Majesty's Government have to avail themselves of each opportunity for officials or their agencies to conduct joint inquiries and activities with officials of the Commission of the European Communities under powers to be provided under the
  119
  proposed regulation covering on-the-spot inspections and checks relating to any use of funds provided by the Community. [29987]

  Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
  This will be an operational matter for the authorities in question. However, my expectation is that UK officials would normally exercise their right to accompany Commission officials.

  Small Businesses
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many firms with fewer than(a) 100, (b) 50, (c) 20 and (d) 10 employees were used by his Department in each of the last five years. [29433]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: It is not possible to give this information as the Treasury does not distinguish between its suppliers on the basis of their number of employees. The Department's aim is to award contracts which offer the best value for money irrespective of the suppliers' size.

  Goods and Services
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department paid to the private sector for goods and services in 1995–96. [29448]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The information requested is not available as the Treasury does not distinguish between suppliers from the public and private sectors. However the total expenditure of the Department on goods and services during the year in question was £23.7 million.

  Procurement Guidelines
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to ensure that the central unit for procurement's best practice guidelines cover large lead contractors which sub-contract to small and medium enterprises. [29957]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  The central unit on procurement's best practice guidance covers prime contractors and their subcontractors. The provisions apply to all subcontractors, whether large or small.

  The contractual relationships between prime contractors and their subcontractors is largely a matter for the contracting parties.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

  Key Stage 2 Test Papers
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what procedures are in place to prevent the improper early opening and misuse of key stage 2 test papers. [29717]

  Mr. Paice
  Teachers have received clear advice about procedures in the "Key Stage 2 Assessment Arrangements 1996" booklet distributed by the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority to all participating schools. Headteachers are required to keep the test papers and the separately packaged mark schemes as confidential and stored securely from receipt in school until the day of the particular tests. Early opening of the tests is permissible 120
  for pupils with special requirements but specific permission has to be requested for pupils without a statement of special educational needs. In all cases it remains the headteachers' responsibility to ensure that the contents of the test papers are kept confidential.

  Special Needs
  Mr. Livingstone
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment which local education authorities currently include a special educational needs factor in their local management of schools formulae based on a local SEN audit; and what is the comparative value of funds allocated for pupils through such a factor, according to the stage in the code of practice they have reached, for each local education authority for which information is available. [29903]

  Mrs. Gillan
  I shall write to the hon. Member.

  Business Starts
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what new programmes she is introducing to enable people to start their own business. [29823]

  Mr. Paice
  The Department will continue to offer considerable help for unemployed people to set up in business through training for work and support for the Prince's Youth business trust.

  Ethnic Minority Pupils
  Ms Estelle Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to institute a comprehensive system for monitoring the achievement levels of pupils according to ethnic origin. [29755]

  Mrs. Gillan
  As I told the House on 21 November last year, we have introduced and are extending new arrangements to monitor the number of minority ethnic pupils and pupils for whom English is a second language in each maintained school. We also intend to obtain information about the progress of minority ethnic pupils in individual schools, by means of information gathered by Ofsted as part of its regular inspection cycle; and to undertake research as necessary, to look in greater depth at particular issues.

  The Dearing review of 16–19 qualifications included a recommendation for work on developing a framework for national monitoring of candidate achievement by ethnic origin, which my right hon. Friend has remitted to the School Curriculum Authority and the National Council for Vocational Qualifications for further study and advice.

  Market Testing
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list for each of her Department's agencies what market testing has been carried out into the services they provide and what were the results. [30112]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The Teachers' Pensions Agency market tested its teacher pensions payment services in 1994. Three year contracts beginning in April 1995 were awarded to:
  121

  i. The Office of HM Paymaster General (Paymaster Agency)— for the supply of a pensioner payment database;

  ii. The Midland Bank plc—for the supply of banking services to support the payment of pensions; and

  iii. The TPA itself—for the supply of customer services to answer enquiries from individual pensioners.

  Responsibility for the Employment Service has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from Robert Home to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 21 May 1996:
  The Secretary of State has asked me, in the absence of the Chief Executive, to rely to your request for details of the Employment Service (ES) market testing programme.
  The attached list sets out the ES services so far market tested, and the outcome in each case. Please note that, with the exception of Jobclubs, Employment Rehabilitation Centres and Disability Occupational Psychologists supporting Placing Assessment and Counselling Teams, all entries relate to internal ES corporate support services, rather than external services to clients.
  I hope this is helpful.

  Employment service market tests

  Market test

  Date test completed

  Part 1: Where the work was contracted out

  Travel Service (contract commenced June 1992 for 3 years with extension to March 1996)

  May 1992

  Materials Management

  April 1993

  Jobclubs (82 in-house wins 6 contracted out as listed below)

  December 1993

  Financial Management Training

  April 1994

  Estates, Maintenance and New Works, Regional Works Consultants (contracts commenced October 1994 for 3 years)

  September 1994

  Field Training: First Aid Training

  September 1994

  Field Training: Management and People Development Northern and North West Regions only (other regions in-house wins)

  December 1994

  Regional Office Support Services Scotland Northern and Wales (other regions in-house wins)

  December 1994

  Personnel Legal Services

  August 1995

  Group Welfare

  October 1995

  Jobclubs (retest) 12 contracted out; 66 in-house wins

  December 1995

  There are also contracts for Employment Rehabilitation course provision with over 400 organisations nationally. Only two contracts are held centrally these being with the Royal National Institute for the Blind and the Royal London Society for the Blind. All additional provision is contracted via ES regions. This test was completed in April 1993.

  Market test

  Date test completed

  Part 2: In-house wins

  IT Mainframe Services (Accounting System)

  July 1992

  Security, Messengers and Typing Services(Sheffield Head Office)

  December 1993

  IT Microcomputer Training (Sheffield Head Office)

  December 1993

  Jobclubs (see also above) 82 In-house wins; 6 contracted out

  December 1993

  Management Training

  March 1994

  Inspection (Fraud) Training

  March 1994

  Business Consultancy Services

  April 1994

  Occupational Psychologists

  May 1994

  Disability Occupational Psychologists supporting Placing Assessment and Counselling Teams and Ability Development Centres

  May 1994

  122

  Market test

  Date test completed

  Internal Audit

  September 1994

  London and South East Recruitment Administration

  September 1994

  Field Training (Procedural)

  September 1994

  Field Training (Management and People Development) see above; in-house win in seven regions; two regions contracted out

  December 1994

  Regional Office Support Services see above in-house win in six regions; two regions contracted out

  December 1994

  Field Management Services

  December 1994

  IT Small Systems

  February 1995

  Jobclubs (retest) 66 in-house wins; 12 contracted out

  October 1995

  Part 3: Value for money reviews

  The following internal services also formed part of the ES Competing for Quality Programme. They were considered for market testing but ultimately it was concluded in each case that a Value for Money Review was the most appropriate and cost effective way forward.

  Regional Micro User Support Service

  IT Services

  Finance Office Payments

  Higher Education
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the members of the national committee of inquiry into higher education indicating in the case of those drawn from the business community how many people are employed in the business from which they are drawn. [30124]

  Mr. Forth
  The members are as listed. In the case of those drawn from the business community, the number of people employed in the business from which they are drawn is shown in brackets.

  Business

  Sir Ron Dearing (Chairman)

  Professor John Arbuthnott

  Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde

  Baroness Dean of Thornton le Fylde

  (formerly Brenda Dean)

  Ms Judith Evans

  Director of Corporate Personnel, Sainsbury's (131,298)

  Sir Ron Garrick

  Managing Director and Chief Executive of Weir Group (6,913)

  Sir Geoffrey Holland

  Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter

  Professor Diana Laurillard

  Pro Vice-Chancellor (Technology Development) of the Open University

  Mrs. P. A. Morris

  Headteacher, The Blue School, Wells

  Sir Ronald Oxburgh

  Rector of Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine

  Dr. David Potter

  Chairman of Psion plc (491)

  123

  Business

  Sir George Quigley

  Chairman of Ulster Bank(4,015)

  Sir William Stubbs

  Chief Executive of the Further Education Funding Council and Rector Designate of the London Institute

  Sir Richard Sykes

  Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of Glaxo-Wellcome plc (47,189)

  Professor David Watson

  Director of the University of Brighton

  Professor Sir David Weatherall

  Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford

  Professor Adrian Webb

  Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan

  Mr. Simon Wright

  Education and Welfare Officer, Students Union, the University of Wales College of Cardiff

  Universities and colleges are also employers in their own right.

  Medical Students
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the number of(a) men and (b) women studying in medical schools in England and Wales. [29990]

  Mr. Forth
  In 1994–95, the numbers of students studying medicine in those universities in England and Wales with medical schools were 14,760 men and 14,961 women.

  Feversham College, Bradford
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received in the current year concerning the granting of voluntary-aided status to Feversham college in Bradford; when her officials(a) last met representatives of the college and (b) last visited Bradford to meet college representatives; when she expects to take a decision on an application from the college for voluntary-aided status; and if she will make a statement. [30146]

  Mrs. Gillan
  My right hon. Friend has received no representations in the current years. Officials of the Department met representatives of the college in Bradford on 14 May 1996. There is currently no application for voluntary aided status before my right hon. Friend but she will, of course, consider carefully and on their merits any proposals which come to her for a decision.

  Deregulation Unit
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many(a) are career civil
  124
  servants and of what grades, (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector. [30063]

  Mr. Forth
  The departmental deregulation unit is part of the briefing unit, a division which also has various other functions. The staff who deal with deregulation as part of their duties consist of one grade 5—plus personal secretary—one grade 7, one higher executive officer, one executive officer and one administrative officer. The annual salary and general administrative costs attributable to deregulation functions are approximately £29,000. None of the current staff have been seconded from business. The grade 5 divisional manager has experience of secondment to the private sector.

  Small Firms
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 15 May,Official Report, column 460, how many firms there are with fewer than 50 employees in each region listed. [30436]

  Mr. Paice
  Estimates of the numbers of firms of different sizes for the United Kingdom are published in the DTI statistical bulletin "Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Statistics for the UK 1993".

  A regional breakdown is not available, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  A copy of the publication is available in the Library.

TRANSPORT

  DoA Ltd. (Liabilities)
  Mr. Nigel Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the continuing funding of DoA Ltd.'s liabilities to Strathclyde passenger transport executive. [30670]

  Mr. Watts
  My Department has given Strathclyde written assurances that DoA Ltd.'s obligations to the PTE under the deeds of assumption will be met. A minute dated 20 May has been laid before the House.

  Drivers' Eyesight Tests
  Mr. Roy Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has now received all replies from the relevant national authorities on eyesight requirements for lorry drivers, required by the second European directive on driving licences. 91/439/EEC; when a final decision will be made; and if he will make a statement. [31417]

  Mr. Norris
  Information has not yet been received from all national authorities. We are currently considering precisely how the new eyesight requirements should be implemented.

  Mr. Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what reconsideration has been given to his earlier pronouncement about the abolition from 1 July 1996 of the rights of drivers who under previous United Kingdom regulations had obtained a bus or lorry licence by satisfying the then statutory or administrative eyesight requirements and whose eyesight had not since their last renewal deteriorated below those standards. [30414]
  125
  Mr. Norris
  My right hon. Friend announced on 25 April at column 248 that implementation of some of the provisions of the Second EC directive on driving licences, including changes to eyesight requirements for driving lorries and buses, would now take place on 1 January 1997.

  Unused Rail Tickets (Refunds)
  Mr. Jim Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussion he has had with the Office of the Franchise Director regarding administrative charges by rail franchises for refunding unused rail tickets; what the outcome of those discussions were; what controls have been placed on rail franchisees with respect to administrative charges; and if he will make a statement. [29628]

  Mr. Watts
  None. Under condition 25 of the national conditions of carriage, train operators are allowed to make a reasonable administrative charge when refunding unused rail tickets.

  Mr. Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what power the Rail Regulator has to control the administrative fees charged by rail franchisees when refunding unused rail tickets. [29629]

  Mr. Watts
  Refund on unused rail tickets are covered by the national conditions of carriage, approved by the Rail Regulator under condition 7 of each operator's passenger licence. The national conditions of carriage allow a reasonable administrative charge to be made. If a train operator was to charge an excessive amount, he could be in breach of his licence obligation and subject to the regulator's enforcement powers.

  Deregulation Unit
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many(a) are career civil servants and of what grades (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector, [30065]

  Mr. Watts
  This Department's deregulation unit has a staff running cost budget of around £100,000 per year and a complement of six staff.

  Five are civil servants with little direct experience of the private sector; they include a grade 5, a grade 7, an HEO and two clerical staff—the other is a private sector consultant, who is retained to advise on deregulation issues. The civil servants in the DDU have other responsibilities in addition to the Government's deregulation initiative and this has been taken into account in the budget figure.

  Rail Privatisation
  Mr. Chidgey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 26 April,Official Report, column 328, how many of the bids for Network South Central offered new rolling stock. [30425]

  Mr. Watts
  This information is commercially confidential.
  126

  Road Building
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which of the network enhancement projects announced in the Highways Agency business plan for 1995–96 were started by 31 March. [29989]

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

  Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody dated 21 May 1996:

  The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent question asking which network enhancement projects announced in the Highways Agency Business Plan 1995/96 were started by 31 March.

  Of the network enhancement projects announced in the Highways Agency's 1995/96 Business Plan, 9 in the £1 million to £3 million category and 156 in the £50,000 to £1 million category were started by 31 March 1996. These projects are those ticked on the attached lists.

  The Agency's 1996 Business Plan was amended to include 3 new network enhancement projects in the £50,000 to £1 million category. These were:—

  A570 Rainford Bypass, Bushey Lane Bypass, Merseyside

  A3 Milford-Thursley Boundless Road, Surrey—Safety Fencing

  A10 Buntingford to Royston, Herts—Safety Improvements

  All three were started by 31 March 1996.

  Major network enhancement project starts.

  The following 16 major network enhancement projects costing between £1 million and £3 million 1995–96.

  1. A1 Hithchcroft to Cawledge, Northumberland— Upgrading to dual carriageway.

  2. A1 Shotton Edge, Northumberland—Junction Improvement.

  3. A19 Easington to Hawthorn upgrading, County Durham.

  4. M60 Manchester Outer Ring Road, Greater Manchester— Upgrading and Improvement of Signing.

  5. A65 Chelker Bends Improvement, North Yorkshire.

  6. A616/A628 Flouch Crossroads Improvement, South Yorkshire—Provision of a Roundabout.

  7. A30 Kennards House Improvement, Cornwall—Junction Improvement.

  8. A39 Fairy Cross to Horns Cross Improvement, Devon.

  9. A30 Mienzies Down, Cornwall—Improvement of westbound carriageway.

  10. A30 Allins to South Penlean Improvement, Cornwall.

  11. A259 Brookland Improvement, Kent.

  12. A3 Painshill to Wisley, Surrey—Lighting Improvements.

  13. A41 Rosehill to Heath House Improvement, Shropshire.

  14. New Traffic Management Schemes, East Midlands— Signing Improvements.

  15. M40 Junction 9–10, Oxfordshire—provision of Maintenance Compound.

  16. Birmingham—Nottingham—M25—Signing Improvements.

  Other network network enhancement project starts

  The following 280 network enhancement projects costing between £50,000 and £1 million and shown by region are scheduled to start in 1995–96:
  The North East—16 projects totalling £3.5 million

  1. A1(M) Sherburn to Bowburn Climbing Lane, Durham.

  2. A1 Newcastle Western Bypass—Laybys and Accident Reduction Measures.

  127

  3. A1 Metrocentre Gantries, Gateshead.

  4. A1 Low Lynn to Haggerston, Northumberland.

  5. A19 Hylton Bridge Lighting, Tyne and Wear.

  6. A19 Tyne Tunnel Approach—Pedestrian Fencing in Central Reserve near Kirkstone Avenue Footbridge.

  7. A19 Kirkstone Avenue, to Hedworth Lane Interchange, Jarrow—Fencing in Central Reserve and Footpath Guardrail.

  8. A19 Hedworth Lane Interchange to Field Way, Jarrow— Fencing in Central Reserve.

  9. A19/A1231 Junction Signalling, Tyne and Wear.

  10. A19A/183 Junction Signalling, Tyne and Wear.

  11. A66 Darlington Southern Bypass Dualling.

  12. A66 Great Burdon to County Boundary, Durham.

  13. A69 Bank Foot Junction Closure, Greenhead, Northumberland.

  14. A69 Bank Foot, Hexham—Corbridge Bypass—Upgrading of Layby.

  15. A167 Redhills Lane/Toll House, Durham—Junction Signals.

  16. A696/A1 to Kenton Bank, Newcastle—Lighting.

  The North West—47 projects totalling £10 million

  17. M6 Cumbria—Raised Rib Edge Lining.

  18. M6 Cumbria—Safety Fencing and Matrix Signals.

  19. M6 J28, Lancashire—Lighting.

  20. M6 Bridges, Lancashire—Widening of Hardshoulders on Bridges.

  21. M6 Brocstedes Bridge Improvement, Lancashire.

  22. M6 Shaft Footbridge Replacement, Lancashire.

  23. M53 Wirral—Drainage Improvements.

  24. M61 Greater Manchester—Southbound Merge with A666—Improvements to Signing and Road Markings.

  25. M61 Greater Manchester—Underbridge Lighting Improvements.

  26. M62 J12, Greater Manchester—Provision of Link Road.

  27. M62 J12, Greater Manchester—Gantry Emergency Route.

  28. M62 J18, Roundabout, Greater Manchester—Widening of Circulatory Carriageway.

  29. M62 J20, Rochdale—Provision of Free Flow Lane.

  30. M62 J20, Greater Manchester—Direction Signing Improvements.

  31. M62 J21-J22, Greater Manchester—Drainage Improvements.

  32. M63 J9, Greater Manchester—Slip Road Improvement.

  33. M63 (J10, 13, 14 and 15), Greater Manchester-Equipment Improvements.

  34. M63 J13-J15, Greater Manchester—Provision of Hardstandings.

  35. A41 Bell o' the Hill, Cheshire—Bend Improvement.

  36. A41 Eastham Rake, Wirral—Traffic Signal Improvement.

  37. A41 Hooton Point, Wirral—Traffic Signal Improvement.

  38. A49 Greenacres Farm, Cheshire—Bend Improvement.

  39. A57 Traffic Signal Improvement, Mottram Moor, Greater Manchester.

  40. A57 Greater Manchester—Cycleway Provision.

  41. A59/A582 Penwortham Triangle, Preston—Traffic Signal Improvements.

  42. A59 Burscough to Rufford, Lancashire—Traffic Calming.

  43. A59 B6230 Trafalgar Hotel, Lancashire—New Traffic Signals.

  44. A59 Chatburn—Crawler Lane.

  45. A59 Chatburn Sawley Bend, Lancashire—Carriageway Realignment.

  128

  46. A59 Longsight Road, Lancashire—Traffic Calming.

  47. A66 Briery Interchange, Keswick—Provision of Climbing Lane.

  48. A556 Plumley Moor Road, Cheshire—Junction Improvement.

  49. A556 Lostock Gralam, Cheshire—Carriageway Improvement.

  50. A565 Crosby North/South Road, Merseryside—Junction Improvement.

  51. A565 Liverpool Road, Crosby—Traffic Signal Improvement.

  52. A570/M58 Junction, Lancashire—Improvement and New Laybys.

  53. A570 Southport Road, Lancashire—Provision of Laybys.

  54. A580 Church Lane, Lowton, Lancashire—Provision of Right Turning Lane.

  55. A580 Old Clough Lane, Greater Manchester—Closure of Central Reserve Gap.

  56. A585 Skippool Roundabout Improvements, Lancashire.

  57. A590 Newby Bridge Improvement, Cumbria.

  58. A596 Ramsey Brow and Jane Street, Workington.

  59. A646 Burnley Road, Lancashire—Road Marking and Signing Improvements.

  60. A5036 Church Road—Netherton Way, Merseyside— Lighting Improvements.

  61. A5036/M57/M58 Switch Island Improvement, Merseyside.

  62. A5117 (M56-A550), Cheshire—Lighting Scheme.

  63. A6119 Whitebirk Roundabout, Blackburn-Signing and Road Marking Improvements.

  Yorkshire and Humberside—33 projects totalling £9.3 million

  64. M1/M62 Lofthouse Interchange, West Yorkshire— Provision of Turning Lane.

  65. M1/M62 Lofthouse Interchange, West Yorkshire— Provision of Turning Lane.

  66. Ml J34, Sheffield—Northbound Exit Lane—Provision of Extra Lane.

  67. M18/A1(M) Wadworth Interchange, South Yorkshire— Safety Improvements.

  68. M62 J29-J30, West Yorkshire—Lighting.

  69. M181/A18 Junction, Scunthorpe—Safety Improvements.

  70. Humberside Motorways—Verge Safety Fencing.

  71. A1(M) Warmsworth—Marr, South Yorkshire—Lighting

  72. A15 Central Reserve Safety Fencing.

  73. A19 Black Swan Crossroads, North Yorkshire—Lighting.

  74. A19 Cross Lanes, North Yorkshire—Carriageway and Junction Improvements.

  75. A19 Nether Silton-Over Silton, North Yorkshire—Safety Improvements.

  76. A19 New Parks Bends, North Yorkshire—Carriageway Improvements

  77. A57 Mansfield Road Junction, South Yorkshire—Provision of Roundabout.

  78. A57 Todwick-Anston, South Yorkshire—Lighting.

  79. A61 Turnpike Crossroads Improvement, South Yorkshire.

  80. A63 Local Central Reserve Safety Fence Improvements in Humberside.

  81. A64 Copmanthorpe-Wild Man, North Yorkshire—Safety Improvements.

  82. A64 Rillington-Malton, North Yorkshire—Pedestrian and Cycle Facilities.

  83. A64 Tadcaster-Wild Man, North Yorkshire—Safety Improvements.

  129

  84. A64 West Heslerton, North Yorkshire—Drainage Improvements.

  85. A65 Ilkley-Accident Remedial Measures.

  86. A180 Humberside—Pollution Chambers to Protect Aquifer.

  87. A616 Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire—Safety Fencing.

  88. A646 Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire—Provision of Roundabout.

  89. A646 West Yorkshire—Safety Fence Improvements.

  90. A650 Aireville-Cottingley Bar, West Yorkshire—Lighting.

  91. A660 Otley Chevin, Leeds—Safety Fencing.

  92. A1079 Dunnington, North Yorkshire—Traffic Calming.

  93. A1079 Hayton, Humberside—Traffic Calming.

  94. A1079 Kexby, North Yorkshire—Traffic Calming.

  95. A6120 Leeds Outer Ring Road, Weetwood Lane—Traffic Signals.

  96. A6120 Ringwood Drive, Leeds—Junction Improvement

  The West Midlands—21 projects totalling £6.3 million

  97. M5 J1 and J2, West Midlands—Queue Detection Measures.

  98. M6 Midland Links Variable Message Signing Stage 2.

  99. M42 J3A J9 and J10, West Midlands—Queue Detection Measures.

  100. M50 Hereford and Worcester—Improvements.

  101. A5 Fazeley-Two Gates, Staffordshire—Remedial Works.

  102. A5 Priorslee-Gailey, Staffordshire—Remedial Works.

  103. A34 Aston, Staffordshire—Provision of Footway.

  104. A38 Hilliards Cross, Staffordshire—Lighting.

  105. A38 Lickey End Widening, West Midlands.

  106. A40 Ryeford Diversion, Herefordshire.

  107. Closure of Windmill Hill Slip Road, Coventry.

  108. A45 Stonehouse Lane Footbridge, West Midlands.

  109. A45 Tollbar End Improvements, West Midlands.

  110. A49 Belmont Roundabout, Herefordshire—Traffic Signals.

  111. A52/A523 Staffordshire—Safety Trial.

  112. A435 Warwickshire—Climbing Lane.

  113. A449 Halfcot, Staffordshire—Drainage Improvement.

  114. A449 Hurcott Road, Kidderminster—Traffic Signals.

  115. A452 Chester Road/Little Aston Lane, West Midlands.

  116. A458 Rowton Phase 3, Shropshire.

  117. A4123 West Midlands.

  The East Midlands—24 projects totalling £5.1 million

  118. M1J 25, Nottinghamshire—Traffic Signals.

  119. Ml J24, Junction Improvement Leicestershire.

  120. A1 Five Lanes End Roundabout Improvement, Nottinghamshire.

  121. A1 Marksham Moor Roundabout Improvement, Nottinghamshire.

  122. A5 Dodwells Roundabout Cycleway, Leicestershire.

  123. A5 Nutts Lane Ghost Island, Leicestershire.

  124. A6 Accident Reduction Measures, Great Glen, Leicestershire.

  125. A6 Barmoor Clough Roundabout, Derbyshire.

  126. A6 Darley Dale-Chapel, Derbyshire—Accident Reduction Trials.

  127. A14 Layby Improvements, Northants.

  128. A16 Boston—Traffic Signals.

  129. A16 High Ferry Level Crossing, Lincolnshire—Lighting.

  130. A17 Access to Fosdyke Village, Lincolnshire.

  131. A46 Stragglethorpe Crossroads Improvement, Nottinghamshire.

  130

  132. A47 Allexton-Belton Improvement, Rutland.

  133. A47/B6047 Junction near Billesdon, Leicestershire— Lighting.

  134. A52 Cropwell Road Junction Improvement, Radcliffe on Trent, Nottinghamshire.

  135. A52 Derby-Leek—Accident Reduction Trials.

  136. A52 Derby Road/Thoresby Road Junction Improvement, Bramcote, Nottinghamshire.

  137. A52 Nottingham Road Junction Improvement, Radcliffe on Trent, Nottinghamshire.

  138. A57 Tom Otter's Bridge, Lincolnshire.

  139. A61 Unstone-Dronfield, Derbyshire—Central Reserve Safety Fencing.

  140. A61/A615 Junction Improvement, Alfreton.

  141. A5111 Sinfin Lane, Derbyshire—Junction Improvement.

  East Anglia—21 projects totalling £4 million

  142. A5 Beeches Road, Dunstable—Traffic Signals.

  143. A5 Kelly's Kitchen, Buckinghamshire—Roundabout Improvement.

  144. A5/A6 Layby Improvements, Bedfordshire.

  145. A10 Harston, Cambridgeshire—Traffic Calming.

  146. A11 Chalk Hill, Suffolk—Gap Closure.

  147. A11 Worsted Lodge, Cambridgeshire—Rest Area.

  148. A12 Hopton, Great Yarmouth—Cycle Track.

  149. A12 Hopton, Great Yarmouth—Roundabout.

  150. A12 Kessingland Bypass, Suffolk—Roundabout Improvements.

  151. A14 Bar Hill-Swavesey, Cambridgeshire—Slip Road and Layby Improvement.

  152. A14 Bythorn, Cambridgeshire—Environmental Barrier.

  153. A14 Dock Spur, Suffolk—Safety Improvements.

  154. A14 Girton-Kentford, Cambridgeshire—Layby Improvement.

  155. A14 M11-A1 Cambridgeshire—Safety Fence Improvements.

  156. A14 Seven Hills, Suffolk—Provision of extra lane.

  157. A47 Dereham Bypass—Laybys.

  158. A47 Old Oundle Road, Wittering—Junction Improvement.

  159. A47 Plumstead Junction Improvement, Norfolk.

  160. A47 Swaffham Roundabout Improvement.

  161. A140 Suffolk—B1077/C517—Junction Improvements.

  162. A428 Northampton-A1—Traffic Calming, Lighting, Cycle Tracks.

  London—47 projects totalling £9.8 million

  163. Ash Fullers Way North-Junction Improvement.

  164. A3 Highfield—Bus Facilities.

  165. A3 Putney, Playing Fields Scheme—Gap Closure.

  166. A3 South Lane—Bus Facilities.

  167. A4 Chiswick Roundabout—Pedestrian/Cycle Facilities and Environmental Improvements.

  168. A4 Hatch Lane Junction—Provision of Right Turning Lane.

  169. A4 Hogarth Roundabout-Sutton Court Road—Central Reserve and Environmental Improvement.

  170. A4 Moor Roundabout—Replacement by Traffic Signals.

  171. A4 Oxford Avenue—New Pelican Crossing.

  172. A4 Thornby Road Junction—Pedestrian Facilities.

  173. A10/A406 Great Cambridge Circus—Accident Remedial Measures.

  174. A10 Bullsmore Lane—Junction Improvement.

  175. A10 Bury Street—Junction Improvement.

  131

  176. A10 Carterhatch Lane-A406—Provision of Cycleway.

  177. A12 Mawney Road Footbridge Replacement.

  178. A13/A117 Junction—Removal of Tidal Flow.

  179. A13 Dagenham and Barking—Environmental Improvements.

  180. A20 Sidcup Road, Central Reserve—Environmental and Safety Improvements

  181. A23/A205 Junction, Strestham—Pedestrian Facilities and Right Turning Lane.

  182. A23 Streatham—Pelican Crossing, Gap Closures and Landscaping.

  183. A30 Clock House Roundabout—Traffic Signals.

  184. A40 Provision of Cycle Track.

  185. A40 Islip Manor Road Footbridge Replacement.

  186. A40 Western Circus-Wood Lane—Central Reserve Concrete Barrier.

  187. A41 Finchley Road/Swiss Cottage—Cycle Facilities.

  188. A41 Safety Improvement Schemes.

  189. A102 Blackwall Tunnel—Height Gauge Northbound.

  190. A102 Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach—Safety Fencing.

  191. A102 Blackwall Tunnel—Automatic Overheight Detector.

  192. A102 Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach—Safety Fencing.

  193. A127 Gallows Corner-Bryant Avenue—Environmental Improvements.

  194. A205 Putney—Alignment Improvements.

  195. A205 Upper Richmond Road/Oxford Road/Carlton Drive—Traffic Signals.

  196. A316 Chalkers Corner—Traffic Flow Improvement.

  197. A316 Whitton Road Roundabout—Traffic Signals.

  198. A406 Ashley Gardens Footbridge—Addition of Ramps.

  199. A501 Euston Road—Traffic and Pedestrian Improvements.

  200. A501 Euston Road, Camden Town Hall-Upper Woburn Place—Bus Lane.

  201. A501 Euston Underpass—Variable Message Signing.

  202. A1400 Woodford Avenue-Clayhall Avenue—Pedestrian Facilities.

  203. London-wide enhancement of Closed Circuit TV traffic monitoring.

  204. Traffic Enforcement Schemes in London.

  205. Installation of improved traffic management systems at six junctions.

  206. Installation of 12 Variable Message Signs.

  207. Remote Monitoring of Traffic Signals improvements.

  208. Speed and Red Light Cameras in London.

  209. Urban Traffic Control System Improvements.

  The South East—47 projects totalling £7.5 million

  210. Ml J6 Hertfordshire—Extra Lane on Northbound Exit.

  211. M3 J1 Surrey—Improved Pedestrian Facilities.

  212. M3 J6 Blackdam Interchange, Hampshire—Traffic Signals.

  213. M4 Berkshire—Additional Safety Fencing.

  214. M4 Berkshire—Raised Rib Edge Lining.

  215. M11 J4–5, Essex—Provision of 3 Lanes Southbound.

  216. M25 J11-J13, Essex—Safety Fence Improvements.

  217. M25 J15, Buckinghamshire—Safety Fencing for Lighting Columns.

  218. M25 J16, Buckinghamshire—Safety Fencing for Lighting Columns.

  219. M25 J24, Hertfordshire—Improvement to Exit Slip roads.

  132

  220. A1(M) J3, Hertfordshire—Traffic Signals.

  221. A1(M) J6, Hertfordshire—Flood Prevention.

  222. A2 Kingston Bridleway Bridge, Kent.

  223. A2 Lydden, Kent—Junction Improvement.

  224. A2/M25 Junction—Improvements to Traffic Signals.

  225. A3/M25 J10 Wisley, Surrey—Improved Traffic Monitoring.

  226. A10 Cheshunt, Hertfordshire—Central Reserve Safety Fencing.

  227. A12 Feering-Marks Tey, Essex—Central Reserve Safety Fencing.

  228. A12 Hatfield Peverel-Marks Tey Essex—Safety Measures.

  229. A12 Witham-Hatfield Peverel, Essex—Central Reserve Safety Fencing.

  230. A21 Sevenoaks Bypass—Safety Improvements.

  231. A23 Pease Pottage-Handcross, West Sussex—Improved Signs and Lane Markings.

  232. A23 Warninglid-Brighton—Improved Signs and Lane Markings.

  233. A27 Avisford-Tortington, West Sussex—Safety Improvements.

  234. A27 Bognor Roundabout—Pedestrian/Cycle Bridge.

  235. A27 Lancing, West Sussex—Drainage Improvement.

  236. A27 Ripe Junction Improvement, East Sussex.

  237. A27 Sussex University Junction Improvement, Brighton.

  238. A30 The Billet, Staines—Overheight Detector Upgrade.

  239. A30 The Billet, Staines—Traffic Signals.

  240. A30 Staines-Ashford—Improved to Signs and Lane Markings.

  241. A31 Cadnam-Stoney Cross, Hampshire—Safety Improvements.

  242. A31 Stoney Cross-Picket Post, Hampshire—Safety Improvements.

  243. A40/B4425 Junction Improvement, Burford, Oxon.

  244. A40 London Road, Headington, Oxon—Traffic Signals.

  245. A41 North of Dome Roundabout, Hertfordshire— Parking Improvement.

  246. A259 Nicholls Quarry, Kent—Junction Improvement.

  247. A259 New Beach Junction Improvement. Kent.

  248. A259 Redoubt Way Junction Improvement, Kent.

  249. A282/M25 Dartford Crossing—Variable Message Signing.

  250. A282/M25 Essex—Variable Message Signing Gantry.

  251. A420 Buckland Junction Improvement, Oxon.

  252. A420 Hartwells/Rockley Cottages, Oxon—Junction Improvement.

  253. A420 Longcot Turn, Oxon—Junction Improvement.

  254. A420 Pusey Turn, Oxon—Junction Improvement.

  255. A420/A338 Junction Improvement, Oxon.

  256. Hertfordshire—Improvements to Communications Equipment.

  The South West—24 projects totalling £5.8 million

  257. M4 Wiltshire—Emergency Gap Closure Advance Works.

  258. M4 J15, Wiltshire—Traffic Signals.

  259. M4/M32 Junction Improvement Phase 2, Avon.

  260. M5 Devon—Railway Safety Fencing.

  261. M5 Somerset—Safety Fencing.

  262. A4 Saltford Safety Schemes, Avon.

  263. A30 Bodmin Bypass—Layby Improvements.

  133

  264. A30 Monkton, Devon—Provision of Footbridge.

  265. A30 Temple Junction Improvement, Cornwall.

  266. A31 St. Leonards Footbridge, Dorset.

  267. A31/A35 Dorset—Central Reserve Safety Fencing.

  268. A35 Fulvens, Dorset—Edge Support and Safety Fencing.

  269. A35 Whiteway Cross, Dorset—Junction Improvement.

  270. A36/A27 Junction, Wiltshire—Traffic Signals and Lighting.

  271. A36 College Roundabout, Wiltshire—Traffic Signals.

  272. A36 Wick Farm Improvement, Somerset.

  273. A38 Landrake Footbridge, Cornwall.

  274. A39 Bangors Improvement, Cornwall.

  275. A39 Collans Cross-Starra Peak, Cornwall.

  276. A40/A48/A417 Gloustershire—Speed Camera Facilities.

  277. A361 Devon—Central Reserve Safety Fencing.

  278. A361 Little Gornhay, Devon—Flood Relief.

  279. A361 Moortown Junction Improvement, Devon.

  280. A417 Birdlip, Gloucestership—Signal Lane Dualling.

  Thames Leisure Craft Operators
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what training and qualifications are required of masters of passenger pleasure and leisure craft on the River Thames. [29541]

  Mr. Norris
  I have asked the chief executive of the Marine Safety Agency to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from R. M. Bradley to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 21 May 1996:

  The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your Question about the training and qualifications required for masters of passenger, pleasure and leisure craft on the River Thames.

  Masters of vessels on the River Thames which carry more than 12 passengers must be qualified in accordance with the Merchant Shipping (Local Passenger Vessels) (Masters' Licences and Hours, Manning and Training) Regulations 1993. The 1993 regulations require masters to hold a current Boatmaster's Licence which is appropriate to the waters in which their vessel is being navigated and the number of passengers being carried. The training requirements which must be satisfied before the licence is issued are described in Merchant Shipping Notice M. 1525. I enclose copies of the 1993 regulations and M.1525 with this letter.

  Exemptions from the requirement to hold a Boatmaster's Licence can be granted where the master holds a qualification the standards for which are considered at least equivalent to the Department's standards for the relevant grade of Boatmaster's Licence. The Port of London Authority's (PLA) Waterman's Licence is recognised as equivalent to the MSA's Boatmaster's Licence for masters of vessels on the River Thames which carry more than 12 passengers. To obtain such a licence a master has to pass four independent professional examinations before achieving a full licence. Thereafter, they are required to maintain its validity by working on the river for 150 days every 3 years. Anyone failing to meet this experience criterion has to be re-examined.

  Masters of vessels on the River Thames carrying 12 passengers or fewer are required by the PLA to hold the PLA Waterman's Licence.

  Airport Development
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 26 March,Official Report, column 542, what is the time scale of each of the detailed assessments listed. [29570]
  134
  Mr. Norris
  Detailed assessments of Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton were carried out by the RUCATSE working group as it judged only these airports offered worthwhile prospects of responding to forecast levels of demand. The group took the view that Southampton, Manston and Lydd did not merit detailed assessments. RUCATSE's report was published in July 1993.

  King's Cross Railway Lands (Gasholders)
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to relocate the gasholders on the King's cross railway lands. [30356]

  Mr. Watts
  Union Railways and London and Continental Railways, who will be responsible for designing and constructing the channel tunnel rail link, are consulting English Heritage about the priority which should be afforded to the gasholders among other St. Pancras heritage projects.

  Driving Licences
  Mr. Keith Hill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what opinion surveys were commissioned by his Department to test public support for plastic photocard driving licences; and what were the results. [29984]

  Mr. Norris
  A preliminary public consultation during 1991 showed strong support for including photographs on driving licences. Subsequent public consultation in 1994 confirmed the earlier support.

  Mr. Hill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his Department's press notice of 10 April, Reference 110, how he measures the benefits in terms of establishing identity from the introduction of plastic photocard driving licences. [29982]

  Mr. Norris
  Introduction of plastic photocard licences will, among other benefits, reduce the possibility that lost or stolen licences may be used to support a false identity—for example, when taking a driving test or hiring a vehicle.

  Mr. Hill
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact on the levels of fraud of the introduction of plastic photocard driving licences. [29983]

  Mr. Norris
  We intend to introduce stringent checking procedures which will make it extremely difficult to obtain a photocard driving licence fraudulently. The card format will incorporate a number of security features designed to prevent counterfeiting.

  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are his plans to increase the reliability of identification procedures for the issuing of driving licences; whether these plans involve the taking of fingerprints or any other biometric measures; if access to personal data held by the Government Departments is involved; and what additional data items, not related to driving licences, are being considered to be included in
  135
  space on the licence allocated to member states for their own purposes. [30048]

  Mr. Norris
  The checks on the identity of applicants for photocard driving licences are being considered in the light of the best practices of the Passport Agency. These do not include fingerprints or biometric measures.
  136
  Access to personal information will be regulated under the provision of the Data Protection Act.

  EU legislation allows member states to include additional information on the driving licence and designates an area on the licence for that purpose. No decision has yet been made on what it will contain.
  137

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Colliery Areas Regeneration
  Mrs. Clwyd
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the total allocation of the RECHAR funds over the last three years(a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in Wales. [29465]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  The United Kingdom allocation for 1990–93 was 179.0 mecu, in 1992 prices of which 31.2 mecu was for Wales. The UK allocation for 1994–97 is at present 163.24 mecu, in 1995 prices, of which 20.46 mecu was for Wales. These figures reflect the preponderantly earlier incidence of job losses in the Welsh coal industry.

  Radiocommunications Agency
  Mr. Harvey
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the areas under consideration for contracting out in the Radiocommunications Agency indicating the number of staff involved and the proposed time-scale involved; and if he will make a statement. [29376]

  Mr. Ian Taylor
  The Radiocommunications Agency and its predecessors has an excellent record for contracting out services. Licensing which does not involve frequency assignment has been contracted out; in other areas they have encouraged self management by industry groups wherever possible where this improves customer service. It is agency policy to review continuously all licensing activities to identify any potential candidates for future action. The support services of the agency were all contracted out on relocation to new headquarters in London's docklands last October.

  The Radiocommunications Agency is also currently completing its prior options review, which is examining, among other things, the scope for any further contracting out across the agency. Ministers announced the outcome of the review of the customer services branch on 31 October 1995. It is anticipated that the review of the remainder of the agency will be completed within the next few months.

  Mr. Harvey
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will list the terms of reference for the proposed strategic partnership between the Radiocommunications Agency information technology service and the private sector; how many staff are involved; and what are the estimated costs; [29378]

  (2) if he will list (a) those parties which responded to the advertisement in the EC Journal with regard to the strategic partnership between the Radiocommunications Agency information technology service and the private sector, (b) the date for proposed tendering, (c) the mechanisms for union involvement in the consultation process and (d) the number of union representatives to sit on the bids evaluation panel; and if he will make a statement; [29380]

  (3) when a new contractor will be selected to complete refurbishment of New Kings Beam house; if he will make a statement on the process for evaluating new bids and the criteria for selecting a new contractor; who will sit
  138
  on the evaluation panel; if unions will be permitted to participate in the selection process; and if he will make a statement; [29382]

  (4) how many consultants have been employed in the Radiocommunications Agency to date; at what cost; and if he will make a statement; [29377]

  (5) if he will make a statement on the procedures employed by his Department to monitor outfitting and refurbishment work in New Kings Beam house prior to the contractor going into receivership; what is the cost of unfinished work; and if he will make a statement; [29381]

  (6) if he will make a statement on the future location of staff in the Radiocommunications Agency. [29379]

  Mr. Ian Taylor
  Responsibility for these matters has been delegated to the chief executive of the Radiocommunications Agency. I have asked him to arrange for replies to be given.

  Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Nick Harvey, dated 21 May 1996:

  As promised in Mr Taylor's response to your Parliamentary Question No. 97/2277 I am writing to you to provide the information you requested about our procurement of an IT Strategic Partner.

  (a) The Agency is using EC Services Directive negotiated procedures to recruit an IT Strategic Partner from the private sector. The detailed terms of reference for the partnership will be agreed later this year in negotiations with the short listed companies. It is the Agency's intention to acquire a partner who can work with the Agency to provide a broad range of information technology services which fully meet the Agency's business needs and provide value for money. It also sees opportunities for the partnership to exploit the Agency's expertise in spectrum management in international markets, benefiting the UK industrial and diplomatic interests, subject to ministerial approval.

  (b) Some 45 Agency staff are currently directly involved in IT. We have made clear to all staff that, subject to discussion with line management, they will be able to apply for redeployment work in the Agency's Intelligent Customer Function, to apply for other work within the Agency or to transfer to the chosen 'Strategic Partner'.

  (c) It is estimated that the external cost of setting up the Partnership will be some £300k, for the use of CCTA consultancy, and that the annual value of the contract will be some £2.5m to £3m over 7 to 10 years.

  Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Nick Harvey, dated 21 May 1996:

  As promised in Mr Taylor's response to your Parliamentary Question No. 95/2279 I am writing to you to provide the information you requested about our procurement of an IT Strategic Partner.

  (a) The attached annex provides a list of the companies who responded to the advert in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

  (b) It is expected that final tenders will invited from a short list of three or four companies during February 1997.

  (c) The Agency Trade Union Side is being kept informed about progress at our regular Whitley Council meetings. Additionally the Agency is establishing an IT Staff Consultative Group which will be regularly consulted during the development of the Agency's partnership requirements and when negotiations with the short listed companies are progressing.

  (d) Although the Agency's Management Board will take the final decision on the selection of the Partner, the Trade Union Side will be kept in touch with developments.

  139
  RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS AGENCY

  IT STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP PROJECT

  List of companies responding to the OJEC Advert

  Netpoint

  Pyramid Technology Ltd.

  Prolog Systems Ltd.

  Triad Group Ltd.

  Admiral Management Services Ltd.

  Elan Communications

  Electric Data Systems Ltd.

  Shiva Europe Ltd.

  Sherwood Computer Services Group Ltd.

  Real Time Maintenance

  Hoskyns Group plc

  Origin Data Realisation Ltd.

  Anthony Cook Associates

  SAIC Ltd.

  Coda Ltd.

  Kalamazoo Computer Group plc

  CFM Group Ltd.

  P and I Data Services Ltd.

  Mackenzie Tribbeck Associates (Computer Consultants) Ltd.

  Cril Ingenierie Groupe Coritec

  Aegis Systems Ltd.

  CMG Computer Management Group (UK) Ltd.

  IT Counsel Ltd.

  Amdahl (UK) Ltd.

  IBM (UK) Ltd.

  Data Sciences UK Ltd.

  Sema Group UK Ltd.

  ITnet Ltd.

  Logica UK Ltd.

  Deloitte and Touche Consulting Group

  CSC Computer Services Ltd.

  PA Consulting Group

  ICL Enterprises Ltd.

  Syntegra

  Sequent Computer Systems Ltd.

  BMC Software Ltd.

  ASE Consulting

  Systems Express Ltd.

  VEGA Group plc

  Kept for summary file

  BT Sales

  Unisys

  Redifon Mel Ltd.

  FI Group plc

  WS Atkins Consultants Ltd.

  Parity Solutions Ltd.

  Cray Systems Ltd.

  Mason Communications

  Easams Ltd.

  National Telecommunications Ltd.

  DSSD

  Integris UK (division of Bull Information Systems)

  Data General Ltd.

  Targetfour Ltd.

  Origin/C and P UK

  140
  Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Nick Harvey, dated 21 May 1996:
  The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question about the employment of consultants in my Agency.
  This Agency did not assume responsibility for letting its own contracts until 1994. During the financial year 1994/95 contracts for external consultancy were let to 6 organisations at a cost of £238,000. During 1995/96 8 consultancy firms were engaged at a cost of £256,000. Because of the nature of this work there is some overlap of contracts between the years and therefore some double counting of the numbers of firms engaged.

  Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Nick Harvey, dated 21 May 1996:
  The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question concerning procedures for monitoring refurbishment work at New King's Beam House.
  A project manager was employed to monitor the project. Formal weekly meetings were held on site and were attended by the RA's project sponsors. They also inspected the site and discussed all aspects of the project with the project managers and other professionals on a daily basis. Cost information is a commercial matter between the parties.

  Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Nick Harvey, dated 21 May 1996:
  The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question about the selection of contractors for the refurbishment of New King's Beam House.
  A new contractor has been selected. Departmental procurement procedures were followed throughout. Trade Union participation in the selection process is not part of those procedures and they were not invited to participate.

  Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Nick Harvey, dated 21 May 1995:
  The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question concerning the further location of staff in the Radiocommunications Agency.
  The Headquarters staff of the Radiocommunications Agency are currently located at New King's Beam House and will remain there until South Quay 3 in Docklands is ready for reoccupation.

  Trade Associations
  Mr. MacShane
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to encourage the merger of trade, industry and employer associations and federations into more representative bodies. [29658]

  Mr. Page
  My colleagues and I are continuing to meet with trade associations and other representative bodies to encourage them to become more fully representative of whole sectors, in line with the principles in my Department's best practice guide for the Model Trade Association.

  Encryption Algorithms
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to restrict the use of encryption algorithms to protect the activities of the law enforcement agencies. [29696]

  Mr. Ian Taylor
  There are no plans to introduce measures which would restrict the use of encryption algorithms. As I have made clear in previous answers, however, discussions have been taking place between Government Departments on the type of arrangements
  141
  that could be introduced to provide encryption services for business whilst preserving the effectiveness of the law enforcement agencies. No decisions have yet been taken.

  We are watching closely developments in the USA and the impact they may have on commercial interests in the United Kingdom.

  Industrial Tribunals
  Mr. Watson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) how much has been spent on providing briefing material to members of industrial tribunals in each of the last five years; and what is his estimate of the amount likely to be spent during the current year; [29937]

  (2) what change has been made in the amount of briefing material made available to industrial tribunal members; and if he will make a statement; [29936]

  (3) what consultations he has had with industrial tribunal members about the type and quantity of briefing material they want to have provided by the Department. [29938]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  Regular briefing is provided for members through the Incomes Data Services brief. The annual costs of this publication for the last five years and the current year is:

  Year

  1991: £71.8k

  1992: £77.4k

  1993: £100.1k

  1994: £101.6k

  1995: £102.1k

  1996: £80.7k

  These figures include the cost of providing this publication to tribunal chairmen as well as members. It is not possible to identify separately the cost for the lay members. Additional briefing material is provided to members as part of their initial and annual refresher training.

  The instrument of appointment for lay members provides for up to three days initial induction training, plus up to two refresher days general training each year.

  There has been no change to the range of briefing material made available to members, although in the interests of good financial management, there has been a reduction in the total number of copies of the IDS brief. This reduction in the number of copies was the subject of full consultation with the president of the tribunals and the regional chairmen.

  Sun Alliance-Royal Insurance Merger
  Mr. David Nicholson
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade in what ways he proposes to ensure that the public interest, with particular reference to the consequences for public finances of the effects on employment, are taken into account during consideration of the proposed Sun Alliance-Royal Insurance merger. [29730]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  This merger does not fall to be considered under the public interest test in the merger 142
  provisions of the Fair Trading Act, as it comes within the jurisdiction of the EC merger regulation. Under this legislation, the EC Commission is responsible for appraising the merger's impact on competition, taking into account the views of member states.

  Bread Pricing
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will refer to the Office of Fair Trading the subject of predatory pricing of bread by supermarkets. [29760]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  The Director General of Fair Trading is currently considering the impact of the pricing policies that are pursued by supermarkets, including allegations of predatory pricing of bread, and is taking the opportunity to review a wide range of competition issues in relation to supermarkets. He will decide in due course whether there are any grounds for him to take action. If anyone has firm evidence that supermarkets may be breaching competition law they should bring it to the attention of the DGFT.

  Council of Europe (Meetings)
  Mr. Terry Davis
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many meetings of, or organised by, the Council of Europe since January 1995 have been attended by Ministers or officials of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [29369]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 17 May 1996]: There have been 212 meetings of or organised by the Council of Europe since January 1995 attended by members of staff of the UK delegation to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. DTI officials do not routinely attend.

  Market Testing
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list, for each of his Department's agencies, what market testing has been carried out into the services they provide and what were the results. [30129]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  Services within my Department's agencies which have been market tested with an in-house bid are as follows:

  National Weights and Measures Laboratory:

  Typing services: Awarded to in-house team

  Patent Office:

  Reprographic services: Awarded to in-house team

  The Insolvency Service:

  Central Accounting Unit: Awarded to in-house team

  Crown Post Offices
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many Crown post offices in(a) Scotland and (b) throughout the United Kingdom have been converted to agency status in each financial year since the introduction of the policy. [29988]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  I understand from the Post Office that numbers of crown post offices converted to agency
  143
  status in Scotland and throughout the United Kingdom in each financial year since 1989–90 are as follows:

  Year

  Scotland

  United Kingdom

  1989–90

  32

  153

  1990–91

  29

  164

  1991–92

  40

  147

  1992–93

  11

  108

  1993–94

  13

  117

  1994–95

  11

  106

  1995–96

  2

  45

  Statutory Employment Rights
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will estimate the proportion of full-time workers qualifying for statutory employment rights in(a) 1978, (b) 1988, (c) 1992, (d) 1993 and (e) 1994 in the United Kingdom and in each standard region and nation. [30405]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  The requested estimates cannot be provided, for a number of reasons. These include the fact that not all employment rights have the same qualifying conditions, and that the rights themselves have been amended over the years so that no direct comparisons can be made. Employees now qualify for a number of important rights regardless of their hours of work or length of service.

  Advertising Standards Authority
  Mr. Timms
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what measures he takes to ensure that the decisions of the Advertising Standards Authority reflect public concerns on matters of taste and decency; [30194]

  (2) what monitoring he routinely undertakes of the Advertising Standards Authority. [30198]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  The Advertising Standards Authority is independent of Government. It supervises an agreed code of practice under which the advertising industry is self-regulated to ensure that the system works in the pubic interest and to publicly acceptable standards.

  The authority assesses advertisements according to the standards of taste and decency generally accepted at present in the United Kingdom. The authority will be conducting research into current public attitudes on taste and decency during this year.

  My Department maintains regular contact with the authority, raising with it matters of concern as considered necessary.

  Employment Rights
  Mr. Callaghan
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals he has to extend the protection of employment rights for those at work. [30304.]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  We have no plans at present.

  Computerisation
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his Department's involvement in the development of a software package to allow PAYE/NICS/VAT/CSO requirements to be integrated. [29953]
  144
  Mr. Page
  DTI is not involved directly. The feasibility of a computer based package is being considered jointly by the Inland Revenue and the Contributions Agency.

  "Your Business Matters" Conference
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade on what date he plans to publish the Government's responses to the "Your Business Matters" conference. [29956]

  Mr. Page
  A comprehensive response to the "Your Business Matters" conferences and subsequent report, will be published alongside the third "Competitiveness" White Paper in June.

  Company Payment Practice
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) when he plans to publish the consultative document on reporting of payment practice in company accounts; [29947]

  (2) what the deadline will be for responses to consultation on reporting of payment practice in company accounts. [29946]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  My Department intends to publish a consultative document on reporting of payment practice at the end of June. In accordance with standard practice, consultees will have three months to respond.

  Deregulation Unit
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many(a) are career civil servants and of what grades, (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector. [30059]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  The running costs for the departmental deregulation unit for 1996–97 are approximately £150,000. It has a core staff of three private civil servants—one G7 and two HEO grade—one of whom has experience of the private sector. In addition the DDU draws upon a variety of other departmental resources, including the expertise of business secondees to the Department.

  Science, Engineering and Technology
  Mr. Sumberg
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to publish the 1996 "Forward Look of Government-funded Science, Engineering and Technology". [30642]

  Mr. Lang
  The 1996 "Forward Look of Government-funded Science, Engineering and Technology", and its companion volume, "Science, Engineering and Technology Statistics 1996", were laid in the House this morning. This year, in response to a recommendation of the Science and Technology Committee, I have presented the documents as Command Papers. This will increase their accessibility to Members of both Houses.

  This is the third such annual publication. The "Forward Look" reiterates the Government's commitment to the White Paper policies set out in "Realising Our Potential".
  145
  It describes the Government's strategy for publicly funded science, engineering and technology (SET) within a framework of five broad objectives:
  to develop publicly funded SET to meet the country's future needs, taking account of 'Technology Foresight', and fostering partnership between the science and engineering base, industry and Government.
  to maintain the excellence of UK science, engineering and technology, to advance knowledge, increase understanding and produce highly educated and trained people.
  to improve public awareness and understanding of SET
  to maximise the effectiveness of our EU and international collaboration in meeting UK objectives
  to promote collaboration between Government Departments and ensure that trans-departmental SET issues are handled effectively, while improving efficiency and value for money.

  The "Forward Look" also presents future SET expenditure plans, includes statements by individual departments and research councils on their programmes, and reports progress on implementing the 1993 White Paper.

  Asylum and Immigration Bill
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what research his Department has carried out into the ease with which small employers can identify the documents required under clause 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Bill. [29949]

  Mr. Page
  No research in this ares has been carried out by my Department. I understand that the Home Office asked respondents to its consultation document on the prevention of illegal working to comment on this matter.

  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many representations his Department has received from businesses about the cost and burden of implementing clause 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Bill; what percentage was in favour; and what percentage was against the clause. [29962]

  Mr. Page
  [holding answer 17 May 1996]: This Department has received no such representations.

  Research Councils
  Mr. Ingram
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions the Minister for Science and Technology has met collectively(a) the chief executives of the research councils and (b) the chairmen of research councils, and on what dates. [29001]

  Mr. Ian Taylor
  [holding answer 13 May 1996]: I met collectively the chief executives of the research councils on 13 December 1995 and the chairmen on 20 February 1996. In addition I have met individual research council chairmen or chief executives on several occasions before and since these meetings.

  Company Collapses
  Mr. Sutcliffe
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action he intends to take following the collapse of Homepower Ltd. and Power Store Trading Ltd. [29258]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 14 May 1996]: None. The administrators are seeking to preserve as much of the business and jobs of these companies as possible.
  146
  They are reviewing the financial and trading prospects of the business and the individual stores with a view to a sale as a going concern.

  Company Annual Accounts
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what provisions he has made for extension for the filing of annual accounts by Firland's Training of Aylesbury; [29385]

  (2) how many special provisions he has granted to companies to postpone filing their annual accounts beyond the penalty date; in what circumstances; and if he will make a statement. [29384]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answers 14 May 1996]: The registrar and chief executive of Companies House executive agency has delegated authority to deal with such matters on behalf of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The registrar has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman direct.

  Letter from John S. Holden to Mr. Rhodri Morgan, dated 21 May 1996:
  The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Questions regarding the number of special provisions granted to companies to postpone filing their annual accounts beyond the penalty date and in what circumstances, and the provisions made for extension of the filing of annual accounts by Firlands Training of Aylesbury.
  Information on the number of extensions granted each year appear in the Department's Annual Report to Parliament. For your convenience, the numbers are as follows:

  1993/94: 4,910

  1994/95: 6,610

  1995/96: 6,708

  Extensions to the time allowed for delivering accounts are granted by Companies House on a discretionary basis on behalf of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. They are granted in exceptional circumstances where there are "special reasons" that are unforeseen by the company and which are beyond the control of its officers. There is no comprehensive or prescribed list of acceptable reasons, since each case is considered on its merits.
  With regard to the matter of Firlands Training Limited, it is not our policy to disclose to third parties the reasons for individual discretionary decisions. These are matters between the Department and the company concerned.
  However, I can confirm that as my officials have been satisfied as to the existence of "special circumstances", this company has been granted an extension of 3 months to the period allowed for delivering its 30 April 1995 accounts. The accounts are now due to be delivered no later than 31 May 1996; the company's public record has been noted accordingly.

  Torture Equipment
  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he intends to reply to the letter about the export of torture equipment by British companies about which the hon. Member for Stretford wrote to the Prime Minister on 20 March. [29177]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 14 May 1996]: This related to a matter which aroused public interest and

  147
  which needed careful consideration, and inquiries made, before responding. I wrote to the hon. Member on 16 May 1996.

  Performance Bonds
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his Department's policy on the use of performance bonds; in what circumstances they are used; what was the total sum paid by bond in each of the last five years; and if his Department requires bonds from businesses with fewer than(a) 100, (b) 50 and (c) 20 employees. [29425]

  Mr. John. M. Taylor
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: My Department follows the advice issued by the central unit on procurement in its guidance note No. 48 "Bonds and guarantees", copies of which are available in the Libraries of both Houses.

  The guidance note makes clear that bonds are not always necessary and are not a substitute for considered judgments about the risks of a particular contract and the capabilities and financial resources of the available contractor. These factors will vary for each contract independent of the size of the contractor.

  The other information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Small Firms
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many firms with fewer than(a) 100, (b) 50, (c) 20 and (d) 10 employees were used by his Department in each of the last five years. [29435]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Goods and Services
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much his Department paid to the private sector for goods and services in 1995–96. [29450]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Scottish and Newcastle Breweries
  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade, (1) pursuant to his answer of 13 May,Official Report, column 330, how many of the 23 separate letters or parliamentary questions relating to Scottish and Newcastle Breweries were in letter form; [30169]

  (2) pursuant to his answer of 13 May, Official Report, column 330, which hon. Members have written to him on matters relating to Scottish and Newcastle Breweries. [30170]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: Fifteen separate letters and eight separate parliamentary
  148
  questions were answered. It is not the practice to release details of correspondence between hon. Members and Ministers.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many times BSE infection has been found in cattle being imported into the United Kingdom; and from which countries the infected cattle originated. [28852]

  Mr. Ancram
  I understand that 14 animals have been imported into the UK which have been subsequently confirmed as having BSE. Although exact dates of importation are not known, the animals are believed to have resided in the UK for a sufficient period to have been exposed to BSE infective material. It cannot be concluded that the animals were affected with BSE when imported.

  The countries from which the animals were imported are as follows:

  Belgium: 1

  France: 4

  Italy: 3

  Netherlands: 1

  Republic of Ireland: 5.

  Environmental Improvement Schemes
  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at which location environmental improvement schemes have been completed; which schemes are presently under construction; what funds have been allocated for such schemes in each of the next three years; what proposals there are for an environmental improvement scheme at Killyleagh; and if he will make a statement. [29874]

  Mr. Moss
  The following lists set out the locations where environmental improvement schemes are under construction. For each of the next three financial years, £2.7 million has been programmed by the Department of the Environment for environmental improvement schemes.

  A scheme has been identified at High street, Castle place, Killyleagh, to link with a roads scheme. At present, it is programmed for 1998–99 at a cost of £200,000 approximately.

  LOCATION WHERE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES HAVE BEEN COMPLETED—1 APRIL 1993 TO 31 MARCH 1996

  Ballymena

  Dungannon

  Magherafelt

  Carrickfergus

  Antrim

  Armagh

  Dromore

  Loughgall

  Newry

  Markethill

  149

  Portrush

  Ballymoney

  Enniskillen

  Strabane

  Downpatrick

  Ballynahinch

  Donaghadee

  Lisburn

  Bangor

  Holywood

  Draperstown

  Carnlough

  Keady

  Hilltown

  Cullyhanna

  Newtownhamilton

  Cushendall

  Belleek

  Derrygonnelly

  Garrison

  Belcoo

  Castlederg

  Coalisland

  Carrickmore

  Newtownstewart

  Stewartstown

  Cushendall

  Londonderry

  Belfast

  Newtownabbey

  Edenderry

  Newtownards

  Strangford

  Killough

  Bryansford

  Dunmurry

  Castlewellan

  Portaferry

  Castlereagh

  LOCATION WHERE SCHEMES ARE PRESENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION

  Coleraine

  Antrim

  Draperstown

  Lurgan

  Portadown

  DFP

  DENI

  DED

  DOE

  DANI

  DHSS

  NIO

  Senior Civil Service

  5

  3

  2

  1

  —

  8

  2

  Grade 6

  12

  15

  2

  3

  1

  7

  21

  Grade 7

  12

  6

  20

  15

  45

  19

  16

  Deputy Principal

  37

  13

  42

  61

  42

  47

  50

  Staff Officer

  73

  31

  79

  134

  101

  132

  75

  Executive Officer I

  55

  26

  232

  156

  76

  300

  72

  Executive Officer II

  89

  64

  206

  293

  142

  947

  117

  Admin Officer

  317

  122

  419

  1,020

  341

  2,223

  308

  Admin Assistant

  112

  39

  164

  422

  291

  721

  177

  Other

  2

  —

  1

  —

  2

  —

  7

  Totals

  714

  319

  1,167

  2,105

  1,041

  4,404

  845

  150

  Richhill

  Omagh

  Coagh

  Clogher

  Drumquin

  Irvinestown

  Trillick

  Londonderry

  Belfast.

  Deregulation Unit
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many(a) are career civil servants and of what grades, (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector. [30069]

  Mr. Ancram
  The annual budget for 1995–96 for the Department of Economic Development's deregulation unit, which co-ordinates the deregulatory activity of Northern Ireland Departments was £154,065. The budget provides for the following career civil servants, none of whom have private sector experience:

  1 grade 5 (part-input)

  1 grade 7 (part-input)

  1 deputy principal

  2 staff officers

  1 administration officer

  1 typist (part-input).

  The unit does not have any secondees from business.

  Teilifis na Gaeilge
  Mr. Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what meetings he has had with Teilifis na Gaeilge; and if he will make a statement. [29973]

  Mr. Ancram
  There have been no meetings between Northern Ireland Office Ministers and Teilifis na Gaeilge.

  Departmental Employees
  Ms Mowlam
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list by grade the number of women employed in each Government Department of the Northern Ireland Office. [30495]

  Sir John Wheeler
  The information requested is in the table:
  151

SCOTLAND

  Ministerial Visits
  Mr. Welsh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which(a) universities and (b) further education colleges (i) he and (ii) his Ministers have visited since assuming office; when these visits took place; and what further plans he and his Ministers have to visit universities and further education colleges in the next two months. [25191]

  Mr. Raymond S. Robertson
  [holding answer 16 April 1996]: Since July last year, Scottish Office Ministers have undertaken engagements in the following further and higher education institutions:

  Date of visit

  Secretary of State

  University of Strathclyde

  30 November 1995

  University of Strathclyde

  13 January 1996

  University of Stirling

  26 April 1996

  Minister of State

  University of Edinburgh

  10 July 1995

  Heriot-Watt University

  8 September 1995

  Mr. Robertson

  University of Stirling

  4 August 1995

  Banff and Buchan College

  21 August 1995

  Cardonald College

  5 September 1995

  Fife College

  2 October 1995

  Aberdeen College

  6 October 1995

  Heriot-Watt University

  6 November 1996

  University of Strathclyde

  13 November 1995

  University of Strathclyde

  24 November 1995

  Anniesland College

  4 December 1995

  Perth College

  2 February 1996

  Dundee College

  26 February 1996

  Mr. Kynoch

  Cardonald College

  14 December 1995

  University of Aberdeen

  17 April 1996

  Earl of Lindsay

  Heriot-Watt University

  5 September 1995

  Moray House Institute of Education

  19 September 1995

  University of Aberdeen

  12 October 1995

  University of Stirling

  14 February 1996

  Scottish Agricultural College

  1 March 1996

  Napier University

  2 May 1996

  Engagements are also planned, or being planned, for the following further and higher education institutions:

  Mr. Robertson

  Glasgow School of Art: 31 May 1996

  Langside College: 31 May 1996

  John Wheatley College: 31 May 1996

  Queen Margaret College: 18 October 1996

  University of Abertay Dundee:

  University of Edinburgh:

  Edinburgh College of Art:

  Glasgow Caledonian University:

  Moray House Institute of Education:

  The Open University:

  152

  The Robert Gordon University:

  St. Andrew's College of Education:

  Mr. Kynoch

  University of Strathclyde: 11 June 1996

  Earl of Lindsay

  Elmwood College:

  Ministerial Advisers
  Mrs. Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the annual costs of the(a) salaries, (b) secretarial support and (c) accommodation and travelling expenses for his two advisers; and if he will make a statement. [25490]

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  [holding answer 16 April 1996]: I refer the hon Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Mr. Brown) on 18 December 1995 Official Report, column 818. The salary levels have increased by 2.7 per cent. since that reply.

  Secretarial support is provided by one secretary in London and one in Edinburgh. It is not our practice to divulge individual salaries, but the average cost of a personal secretary in the Scottish Office is £17,247— salary plus national insurance plus superannuation.

  Accommodation costs are not separately identified as they form part of the overall Scottish Office charges.

  The annual travel and subsistence charge for a special adviser is estimated at £9,000.

  Health Care International
  Mrs. Ewing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the Scottish Office expenditure(a) in cash terms and (b) at current prices on (i) the Health Care International hospital in Clydebank and (ii) developing the land. [25421]

  Mr. Kynoch
  [holding answer 16 April 1996]: The Scottish Office itself paid £18.6 million in regional selective assistance—of which £1 million was subsequently recovered—to Health Care International (Scotland) Ltd (HCI). The company also, however, received other support from public funds. In addition, the Scottish Development Agency and Scottish Enterprise incurred expenditure on physical works not specific to HCI to render the relevant site safe and capable of development as part of the Clydebank enterprise zone.

  The financial support from pubic sources to HCI, and the expenditure on physical works not specific to HCI, were set out in cash terms in appendix 5 of the memorandum of the Comptroller and Auditor General annexed to the report of the Committee of Pubic Accounts on Health Care International (Scotland) Ltd (HMSO, House of Commons paper 32). The information is reproduced in the table, together with recalculations of the expenditure concerned to March 1996 prices. For a few items expenditure took place over a period of months and is not readily attributable to a single month: in these cases the recalculation to March 1996 prices has been based on the average price for the period concerned.
  153

  Health Care International (Scotland) Ltd. Financial Support from public sources

  Direct Support

  £

  Month disbursed

  £ (at March 1996 prices)

  (i) Shares

  Class A Ordinary Shares bought from Scottish Enterprise

  500

  July 1991

  566

  Class A Preference shares bought by Scottish Development

  October 198773,615

  Agency converted from development loan advanced 1987

  50,000

  Scottish Development Agency: release towards consultants'

  January 1988-July 1991

  1,640,016

  fees

  1,285,302

  Scottish Enterprise: final purchase July 1991

  64,698

  July 1991

  73,257

  GE Capital position taken over by Scottish Enterprise

  Ordinary Shares

  1,107

  £3 million, March 1992

  1,227

  Preference Shares

  5,500,000

  £2.501 million, April 1992

  6,003,242

  Interest and Fees

  503,804

  August 1993

  540,172

  Less: Disposal to British Aerospace plc

  (5,501,107)

  (August 1993)

  (5,898,215)

  (ii) Loans and Grant

  LEG-UP Loan (Scottish Development Agency/Scottish

  (Enterprise)

  March 1994

  4,252,632

  Enterprise)

  4,000,000

  Regional Selective Assistance Grant (Scottish office Industry

  1[December 1991 to September 1994]

  20,101,449

  Department)

  18,600,000

  (iii) Physical Works-Specific to HCI

  Value of Land

  900,000

  July 1991

  1,010,058

  Scottish Enterprise Contribution

  500,000

  March 1992

  554,133

  Dunbartonshire Enterprise Contribution

  1,600,000

  October 1991-March 1992

  1,784,540

  (iv) Other Support

  Dunbartonshire Enterprise Training and part running costs Healthcare Liaison Office

  108,500

  [from financial year 1992–1993 to financial year 1994–1995: not readily attributable to particular dates] 115,775

  Total direct support

  27,612,804

  £30,261,467

  Physical Works not Specific to HCI

  Scottish Development Agency: Site Works

  6,700,000

  February 1988-December 1989 March 1992-June 1994: £2 million; June 1994-January 1996; £0.5 million; £0.2 million retention not yet paid out2,867,620

  9,113,538

  Scottish Enterprise: Additional Asbestos and Methane treatment

  2,700,000

  Total for physical works not specific to HCI

  £9,400,000

  £11,981,158

  1 December 1991: £2 million; April 1992; £2 million; December 1992: £4 million; April 1993; £4 million, October 1993; £3 million; February 1994; £1.3 million; February 1994; £1.3 million; September 1994: £1 million (this final payment was subsequently recovered).

  Employees' Rights
  Ms Jowell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what provision is available to employees of his Department for(a) maternity leave, (b) maternity pay, (c) paternity leave, (d) parental leave, (e) flexible working hours, (f) part-time work, (g) job sharing, (h) leave to care for sick children, (i) home-working (j) term-time contracts, (k) annual hours contracts, (l) workplace nurseries, (m) child care allowances, (n) carers' leave and (o) career break schemes; and what criteria are used to judge eligibility in each case. [27574]

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  [holding answer 7 May 1996]: The executive agencies under the control of my Department have available, for employees, all of the provisions listed with the exception of (d) parental leave and (m) childcare allowances. The criteria used to judge eligibility are as provided in the Scottish Office staff
  154
  handbook, a copy of which will be placed in the House of Commons Library, and in Scottish Office management staff notices.

  Employees in the Scottish Court Service have available all the provisions listed with the exception of (l) workplace nurseries and (o) career break schemes. The Scottish Prison Service has available all the provisions listed with the exception of (d) parental leave, (j) term-time contracts, (k) annual hours contracts, (l) workplace nurseries and (m) childcare allowances.

  Ms Jowell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what provision is available to employees of executive agencies under the control of his Department for(a) maternity leave, (b) maternity pay, (c) paternity leave, (d) parental leave, (e) flexible working hours, (f) part-time work, (g) job sharing, (h) leave to care for sick children, (i) home-working, (j) term-time contracts,

  155
  (k) annual hours contracts, (l) workplace nurseries, (m) child care allowances, (n) carers' leave and (o) career break schemes; and what criteria are used to judge eligibility in each case. [27575]

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  [holding answer 7 May 1996]: My Department has available, for employees, all of the provisions listed with the exception of (d) parental leave and (m) child care allowances. The criteria used to judge eligibility are as provided in the Scottish Office staff handbook, a copy of which will be placed in the House of Commons Library, and in Scottish Office management staff notices.

  Improvement and Repair Grants
  Mr. Wallace
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent in each of the last five financial years by islands and former district councils in Scotland on(a) improvement and (b) repair grants. [28594]

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  The information requested is set out in the table.

  Amount spent on improvement and repair grants, 1990–91 to 1994–95

  Amount Spent (£000)

  Year

  (a) Improvement grant1

  (b) Repair grant

  1990–91

  56,261

  42,604

  1991–92

  69,181

  44,216

  1992–93

  72,431

  38,349

  1993–94

  67,127

  33,793

  1994–95

  50,985

  27,934

  Total

  315,986

  186,896

  1 Includes amounts for standard and conversion grants.

  Fishing Vessels
  Mr. Salmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what changes in the eligibility criteria resulted from the 1995 Fishing Vessels (Safety Improvements) (Grant) Scheme 1995; and if he will make a statement. [29176]

  Mr. Raymond S. Robertson
  [holding answer 13 May 1996]: Engines and other machinery for propelling the vessel and any items of a structural nature, including stability work, are now specifically excluded from grant under the Fishing Vessels (Safety Improvements) (Grants) Schemes 1995.

  Scottish Homes
  Mr. Galbraith
  to ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will establish a statutory code of conduct for the transfer of Scottish Homes' housing stock to private landlords; and if he will make a statement. [29969]

  Mr. Raymond S. Robertson
  Scottish Homes has published its procedures relating to the transfer of its stock to alternative landlords. The arrangements it has put in place include a code of conduct for staff to follow when they are involved in proposals to acquire stock.

  Wee Bankie
  Mr. Salmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration he has given to the Wee 156
  Bankie in the Firth of Forth being designated an undisturbed area in accordance with the Esbjerg declaration. [29885]

  Mr. Raymond S. Robertson
  [holding answer 17 May 1996]: The Esbjerg declaration invited the European Commission and Norway to consider a proposal for experimental undisturbed areas for research purposes. We will be contributing to this work in advance of the intermediate ministerial meeting on the integration of fisheries and environmental issues, to be held in Norway in March 1997.

  School Meals
  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action has been taken to improve school meals, following the publication of the report on the Scottish diet by a working party under the chairmanship of Professor Philip James in December 1993. [29302]

  Mr. Raymond S. Robertson
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The provision of school meals, including the standard and quality of the food provided, is a matter for each education authority to determine. Following the publication of Professor James' report, the Government established the Scottish diet action group in November 1994 to make recommendations on action to improve the diet of the Scottish population, including that of children. This group is led by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, and its membership includes Professor James and representatives of educational interests. The group has now completed its work and expects to publish its action plan this summer. The Government will consider how best to advise education authorities in the light of that plan.

  Performance Bonds
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his Department's policy on the use of performance bonds; in what circumstances they are used; what was the total sum paid by bond in each of the last five years; and if his Department requires bonds from businesses with fewer than(a) 100, (b) 50 and (c) 20 employees. [29424]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The Scottish Office policy on the use of performance bonds is in line with the guidance set out in the central unit on procurement's guidance note No. 48 "Bonds and guarantees", copies of which are available in the Libraries of both Houses. This guidance makes clear that bonds are not always necessary and are no substitute for considered judgments about the risks of a particular contract and the capabilities and financial resources of the available contractors. These will vary for each contract independently of the size of the contractor. In practice the Scottish Office has used performance bonds only on rare occasions in some major road contracts where the risks were considered to merit it. Statistics are not held centrally on the cost of bonds or the size of contractors involved.

  Meat Companies (Compensation)
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce additional compensation measures for meat companies which derived the majority of their sales revenue from beef exports prior to the imposition of the worldwide ban on British beef. [30011]
  157
  Mr. Raymond S. Robertson
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The Government have announced a number of changes to the beef stocks transfer scheme following consultation which will be of assistance to licensed abattoirs and cutting plants which previously exported beef. The scope of the scheme has been extended to stocks owned by these bodies which were in transit to or stored in export markets on 9 April, in certain circumstances, destroyed overseas by, or at the instruction of, foreign Governments as a result of the crisis. The higher chilled value will be allowed for boneless primals frozen in the seven days before 25 March, where it is clear that this action was taken in response to frustrated export orders.

  Special export refund beef will all be purchased at the chilled valuation. For eligible exports stocks currently overseas or in transit, destruction overseas may be allowed where this is the most cost effective method of disposal.

ENVIRONMENT

  Endangered Species
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking with his colleagues in the Council of Ministers to preserve endangered species in the European Union. [29144]

  Mr. Clappison
  The primary instruments of the European Union to protect endangered species and their habitats, are directives 79/409 EEC and 92/43/EEC. Member states are obliged to transpose the provisions of these directives into national law and to take practical measures to meet their obligations for the conservation of listed species and their habitats.

  Uranium Swarf Dumping
  Dr. Spink
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution to complete its inquiries into the dumping of drums of uranium swarf at Poplar farm, Chelveston; and if he will make a statement. [29581]

  Mr. Clappison
  HMIP has been incorporated in the new Environment Agency. I am informed by the agency that it has reviewed the evidence gathered during the investigation by HMIP, but that it has not yet taken a decision on whether to bring a prosecution under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993. I have asked the agency for a further report on progress by the end of June, following which I will write to the hon. Member.

  Secure Accommodation
  Mr. McAvoy
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of applications for secure accommodation by homeless households were rejected for each of the last five years for which information is available. [29817]

  Mr. Clappison
  The information requested is not available. Data are collected from English local authorities on applications/inquiries made but they reflect differing local administrative practices, and because they 158
  are not reported on a common basis they cannot be used to produce national or regional estimates of applications, nor of the proportion rejected.

  Recycling
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures his Department has taken to monitor the level of research into recycling. [29851]

  Mr. Clappison
  Research into the many diverse forms of recycling is of interest to a wide range of policy areas in Government. Steps taken to monitor this research vary according to the needs of each policy area. The Enviroment Agency is under a duty to monitor research in the areas for which it is responsible, namely the regulation of solid waste, water and air quality.

  As far as materials recycling is concerned, both my Department and the Environment Agency fund relevant research, including work on related economic and statistics issues. My Department also funds the Waste Management Information Bureau which collates information on waste research worldwide.

  Passive Smoking
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what new steps he is taking to ensure that all public houses have sufficient areas which are free from the dangers of passive smoking. [29822]

  Mr. Clappison
  The Government are considering how best to target advice and publicity about its code of practice on smoking in public places in those areas, such as public houses, which lag behind in establishing effective smoking policies.

  The implementation of smoking policies in public houses is a matter for the discretion of managers, in line with the Government's voluntary policy which encourages the implementation of suitable smoking policies in all enclosed public places. Guidance on implementing smoking policies is given in the Government's code of practice on smoking in public places published in 1991. The code makes it clear that the Government expect every effort to be made to cater for the interests of the non-smoker.

  Environmental Policy
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those of the United Kingdom's environmental policy aims and commitments made at the earth summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 which have not yet been implemented, indicating in each case when he expects their implementation. [30135]

  Mr. Clappison
  Following the earth summit, the Government set out an eight point plan, which we subsequently agreed with our EU and G7 partners, for taking forward commitments entered into at Rio. The plan covered the ratification of the climate change and biodiversity conventions; the publication of national strategies on sustainable development, climate change, biodiversity and forests; contributing to the restructuring and replenishment of the global environment facility and a continuing commitment to financial assistance to developing countries.
  159
  The Government also announced the establishment of the Darwin initiative to provide grants to developing countries for biodiversity projects; the technology partnership initiative; and the holding of an international conference bringing together NGO experience from around the world.

  All these commitments have been met. The Government also publish a White Paper annually which provides detailed information about progress in meeting commitments to sustainable development and which sets out priorities ahead. The latest in the series, Cm 3188, was published in March this year.

  Air Pollution (Greater London)
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department takes to monitor air pollution in the Greater London area; and if he will make a statement. [29978]

  Mr. Clappison
  There are currently 13 automatic real time air quality monitoring sites in Greater London within the Department of the Environment's national network, listed in the table. In addition, there are more than 100 non-automatic monitoring sites within Greater London as follows: 90 nitrogen dioxide sites, 16 sulphur dioxide and smoke sites, three lead and multi-element sites and one site measuring toxic organic micropollutants.

  As part of the expansion of the national automatic network, the Department aims to establish another two sites and integrate 11 locally operated monitoring sites within London, resulting in a total of 26 real time national monitoring sites in Greater London by the end of 1996.

  Site name

  Pollutants measured

  Grid ref

  Bexeley

  NOx, SO2,. CO, O3, PM10

  TQ 518763

  Bloomsbury

  NOx, SO2, CO, O3, PM10

  TQ302820

  Brent

  NOx, SO2, CO, O3

  TQ200840

  Bridge Place, Victoria

  NOx, SO2, CO, O2

  TQ291790

  Cromwell Rd

  NOx, SO2, CO

  TQ264789

  Eltham

  NOx, SO2, O3, PM10 Hydrocarbons

  TQ440747

  Earls Court

  NOx, SO2, CO, O3, PM10

  TQ251788

  North Kensington

  NOx, SO2, CO, O3, PM10

  TQ401821

  Sutton, Roadside

  NOx, SO2, CO, PM10

  TQ256646

  Sutton

  NOx, O3

  TQ278548

  Tower Hamlets

  NOx, CO

  TQ521816

  University College

  Hydrocarbons

  TQ299822

  Wandsworth

  SO2, CO, O3

  TQ234746

  Energy Efficiency
  Mr. Matthew Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what analysis his Department has undertaken of the impact that market liberalisation has had upon industrial and commercial sector investments in energy efficiency. [30151]

  Mr. Robert B. Jones
  Trends in energy efficiency are kept under review by the Department, but it is too early to say what the impact of market liberalisation has been on industrial and commercial sector investments in energy efficiency.
  160

  Market Testing
  Mr. Redmond
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each of her Department's agencies what market testing has been carried out into the services they provide and what were the results. [30116]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  Since April 1992 the Department's remaining agencies market tested the following services:

  Agency

  Outcome

  Building Research Establishment

  Engineering workshop

  Test replaced by efficiency review resulting in savings.

  Staff catering

  Won by private sector

  Audio visual services

  In-house win

  Office and printing services

  In-house win

  The Planning Inspectorate

  Secretarial support

  In-house win

  Two agencies, the Security Facilities Executive and the Buying Agency, previously the responsibility of this Department, have now moved to the Office of Public Service. In addition, the Department has itself tested the services provided by its agencies as follows:
  management of the Queen Elizabeth 11 Conference Centre, which was won in-house;
  21 separate research projects, which would previously have been undertaken by the Building Research establishment, with the result that 15 have been won by the private sector.

  Out-of-town Shopping Developments
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many out-of-town shopping developments he gave approval for in England and Wales, during 1995. [29985]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  Statistics on appeal decisions in England, for which the Secretary of State is responsible, are not classified by location. Consequently, the information could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.

  Homelessness (Greater London)
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent surveys have been undertaken by his Department as to the extent of homelessness among young, single people, in the Greater London area; and if he will make a statement. [29993]

  Mr. Clappison
  In November 1990, my Department commissioned a survey to collect comprehensive and up to date information about single homeless people in England. The results, based on interviews and field work in 10 local authority areas in England, including five London boroughs were published by HMSO in 1993 in the report, "Single Homeless People", ISBN 0 11 752800 5. This provided information on the characteristics of single homeless people, the reasons why they were homeless and their accommodation needs and preferences.
  161
  Monitoring arrangements for the Government's rough sleepers initiative include counts of people sleeping rough, undertaken twice a year by voluntary sector agencies. The latest count, in November 1995, found 270 people sleeping rough in central London—down from estimates of over 1,000 in 1990 before the initiative began. Of the 270 people found, only three were recorded as being under 18 years of age.

  In October 1995, my Department issued a consultation paper, "Rough Sleepers Initiative, Future Plans", which invited all local authorities in England to assess the extent of rough sleeping in their areas. On the basis of responses to this consultation exercise, we have proposed further evaluation of the extent of rough sleeping in the London boroughs of Barnet, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Richmond upon Thames, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest and 16 areas outside London. I expect the information from this further evaluation to be available in September.

  Factory and Agriculture Inspectors
  Mr. Callaghan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many(a) factory and (b) agricultural inspectors were in post during the period 1987 to 1995. [30303]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  The following table shows the number of(a) factory and (b) agricultural inspectors employed by the Health and Safety Executive from 1987 to 1995. All figures are full-time equivalent staff in post.

  1 April

  Factory

  Agricultural

  1987

  621.5

  166

  1988

  592.5

  158

  1989

  604

  165

  1990

  634.5

  171

  1991

  651

  177

  1992

  698.5

  183

  1993

  707.5

  182.5

  1994

  702.5

  187

  1995

  664.55

  169

  Parliamentary Constituencies
  Mr. Foulkes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the local authorities which will cover all or part of each of the parliamentary constituencies which will come into existence at the end of the present Parliament. [30354]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  This information is contained in the Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995, S.I. 1995/1626.

  Council Tax (City of Nottingham)
  Mr. Simpson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was(a) the total sum, (b) the amount paid to the City of Nottingham, (c) the percentage of the total paid to the City of Nottingham and (d) the amount paid per dwelling in the City of Nottingham, in transitional relief in respect of council tax in each year from 1993–94 to 1995–96. [29270]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  The information requested is as follows:162

  (a) Total amount of transitional relief

  1993–94: £378,652,826

  1994–95: £111,283,108

  1995–96: £27.178,1791

  (b) Amount of transitional relief paid to Nottingham city council

  1993–94: £692,040

  1994–95: £173,218

  1995–96: £40,6051

  (c) Percentage of total amount of transitional relief paid to Nottingham city council

  1993–94: 1.8 per cent.

  1994–95: 1.5 per cent.

  1995–96: 0.15 per cent.1

  (d) Amount paid per chargeable dwelling in Nottingham

  1993–94: £6.18

  1994–95: £1.54

  1995–96: £0.41.

  These figures are averages. The actual amount of transitional relief varied according to a household's council tax banding, its composition and its previous liability for community charge.
  1 Information for 1995–96 is provisional and is subject to final grant claims to be made during 1996–97.

  Wildlife Habitat
  Mr. Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department is taking to ensure that wildlife which is dependent on the mudflats and grazing marsh of the Thames upstream of Gravesend and Tilbury is fully protected; and if he will make a statement. [29864]

  Mr. Clappison
  The most important areas for wildlife, West Thurrock lagoon and marshes and the inner Thames marshes, are notified as sites of special scientific interest. All areas of inter-tidal mud are acknowledged as being important for wildlife in the Thurrock borough local plan, deposit draft, and in the respective London boroughs' unitary development plans to varying degrees and are so annotated. A partnership of the main managers of the Thames has worked together to produce a Thames estuary management plan which will be launched for public consultation shortly. This inter-disciplinary plan is in line with recommendations in the UK biodiversity action plan to which the Government responded on 15 May, Cm. 3260.

  Deregulation Unit
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many(a) are career civil servants and of what grades, (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector. [30060]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  The deregulation initiative in the Department of the Environment is co-ordinated by two career civil servants, at grade 7 and higher executive officer level. Since it does not account for the whole of their workload, and all policy divisions devote resources to implementation of the initiative, it is not possible to define an overall annual budget. The deregulation unit in the Health and Safety Executive comprises one part-time
  163
  and four full-time career civil servants, at grade 7, senior executive officer, higher executive officer, executive officer and administrative assistant level, who work solely on deregulation matters. It does not have a separate budget.

  Regeneration Spending
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total sum spent by Government Departments on regeneration in the last year for which figures are available. [30125]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  Economic, social and physical regeneration is supported through main programme expenditure by a number of Government Departments— including on housing, training and education, business support and other programmes. This main programme expenditure is supplemented by targeted programmes which have been brought together into the single regeneration budget. The provisional out-turn figure for SRB expenditure in 1995–96 is £1,358 million. Details about SRB expenditure is contained in the Department's 1996 annual report presented to Parliament on 20 March.

  Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
  Mr. Sykes
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for changes to the existing system for registering the bird species listed in schedule 4 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; and if he will make a statement. [30585]

  Mr. Clappison
  My Department has been reviewing the scheme of fees for registration of certain bird species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Wildlife and Countryside (Registration and Ringing of Certain Captive Birds) Regulations 1982, Statutory Instrument No. 1221.

  In the light of this review uncertainty has arisen concerning the power to charge for registration of certain bird species under regulation 3. We have concluded that certain changes are required.

  Accordingly, I propose to introduce a Bill, at the earliest possible opportunity, to clarify the powers to charge such fees. The Bill will, if Parliament agrees:
  provide a clear statutory basis for the charges levied in the past under the 1982 regulations:
  enable the Department to seek to recover fees in respect of registrations made between today's date and the date when the Bill's provisions come into force; and enable the Department to continue to levy charges in the future in respect of these registrations.

  As from today, therefore, I shall not be requiring the payment of any fee in respect of registrations under the 1982 regulations, pending the commencement of the proposed new statutory provisions. However, if and when this legislation comes into effect, my Department will be seeking to recover fees in respect of registrations made from today until the new statutory provisions come into force.

  This announcement and the proposal to legislate does not affect the requirement in section 7 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 for keepers of specimens of bird
  164
  species listed in schedule 4 to that Act to ring such birds and register them with the Department. It relates solely to the power to charge for such registrations.

  The proposed legislation will also cover fees previously collected by the Department under Statutory Instrument No. 1219/1982, the Wildlife and Countryside (registration to sell etc. certain dead birds) Regulations 1982. The scheme was discontinued on 1 January 1995.

  Compulsory Competitive Tendering
  Mr. Congdon
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what changes he proposes to the existing framework for compulsory competitive tendering from local authority housing management and professional services. [30643]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  Yes. Compulsory competitive tendering is improving the standards of local government services and delivering greater efficiency. However, the implementation of CCT for professional services and housing management has given rise to significant criticism from private sector bidders and professionals about the approach which many authorities have taken. They consider that many authorities are frustrating competition by any means at their disposal. Equally, local authorities have said that the competition is too weak to justify the start-up costs of competition. Against this background, the Secretary of State has reviewed progress on implementation to date and the preparations which local authorities are making for future CCT. This has confirmed the need for changes.

  A consultation paper has been published today which sets out the details on the changes which the Secretary of State is minded to make. The proposals involve selective increases in the competition requirements, most notably a new 65 per cent. competition requirement on finance services, tightening-up the rules on the credits and allowances which local authorities can offset against the competition requirement, and changes to the values below which authorities do not need to go out to competition, most notably on housing management services. These changes will complement the new guidance on competition which was issued earlier this year and the robust line being taken with cases of anti-competitive behaviour by particular authorities.

  A copy of the consultation paper, which invites comments by Tuesday 2 July, has been placed in the Library.

  Private Finance Initiative
  Mr. Congdon
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what further steps he is taking to encourage private finance initiatives in local government. [30644]

  Mr. Curry
  Since launching the local government private finance initiative in October 1994, we have encouraged links with the private sector by making important changes to the capital finance rules. These have been welcomed by authorities, but we promised to go even further.

  I am today announcing radical measures to help local authorities harness private-sector finance and management expertise. In many cases these will remove genuine private finance projects from local authority

  165
  capital spending limits and provide revenue support for such projects. My aim is to encourage the provision of privately-financed and serviced facilities such as schools, leisure centres, transport schemes and police stations. I hope local authorities will take maximum advantage of these new opportunities.

  Provided that schemes meet certain risk transfer tests in the regulations, and subject to the usual requirement for value-for-money appraisal, local authorities will in future be able to provide their services using facilities delivered under private-sector contracts, without any cost whatsoever to their capital resources.

  The new regulations will define the circumstances in which such contracts need make no charge on authorities' capital resources. In summary eligible contracts will be those where:
  the contractor is providing a service to a defined standard,
  responsibility for designing, building, financing, and operating any physical assets rests with the contractor,
  the authority's payments are directly related to performance or usage, or both, and vary according to the availability and quality of the service. If the service falls significantly below expectations the level of payments should be no more than 70 per cent. of that anticipated. This will mean the acceptance of real risk by the private sector.

  We envisage that these regulations will cover the bulk of worthwhile PFI cases, and will give a clear target for authorities and prospective contractors to aim at. However, where the project is not strictly eligible under the regulations but nevertheless involves significant risk for the private-sector partner, we will allow authorities a second chance to protect their capital resources. Government Departments will be able to issue additional supplementary credit approvals on a case by case basis for PFI schemes meeting more flexible criteria than those in the regulations.

  We recognise that these measures, while eliminating the capital impact of qualifying projects, could leave pressures on the revenue account. To combat this, we will

  Housebuilding completions: West Midlands region

  Private enterprise

  Housing association

  Local authority

  Total

  Numbers of dwellings

  Change from previous year (per cent.)

  Numbers of dwellings

  Change from previous year (per cent.)

  Numbers of dwellings

  Change from previous year (per cent.)

  Numbers of dwellings

  Change from previous years (per cent.)

  1990

  13,200

  +3.9

  2,100

  +70.9

  1,100

  +4.3

  16,400

  +9.5

  1991

  13,600

  +3.1

  1,531

  +27.7

  1,100

  -13.2

  16,100

  -2.0

  1992

  12,200

  -9.9

  2,300

  +53.2

  400

  -60.9

  15,000

  -6.6

  1993

  13,200

  +7.5

  2,900

  +23.8

  200

  -49.3

  16,300

  +8.3

  1994

  12,700

  -3.4

  3,100

  +5.4

  200

  -4.1

  16,000

  -1.9

  1995

  12,500

  -1.9

  2,700

  -13.2

  100

  -43.0

  15,200

  -4.6

  Figures individually rounded, so the total may not be the exact sum of the component series. Percentage changes calculated on the unrounded figures.

  These figures are based on reports to the Department by local authorities and the National House Building Council, and include estimates for those local authorities that have not provided statistical returns for their districts.

  While these figures cover newly built accommodation, housing associations also provide additional social lettings by the rehabilitation of existing properties and through the various home ownership incentive schemes. Local authorities also provide a significant number of additional
  166
  ensure that authorities undertaking projects will be eligible for revenue support. This will be arranged by adapting the existing system of standard spending assessments and revenue support grant.

  My Department will be consulting local authority associations and other interested bodies on these proposal. It is hoped to publish draft capital finance regulations for consultation within a few weeks, and to lay them before the House in time for them to come into effect in the autumn.

  Construction Industry (West Midlands)
  Mr. Jim Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people in the west midlands were employed in the construction industry in each year since 1990; and for each year what was the percentage change on the previous year. [30155]

  Mr. Clappison
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The information is as follows:

  Construction employment in west midlands

  Employees

  Employees and self-employed

  Number

  Percentage change

  Number

  Percentage change

  Spring 1990

  101,100

  —

  174,100

  —

  Spring 1991

  97,000

  -4

  158,000

  -9

  Spring 1992

  88,300

  -9

  153,300

  -3

  Spring 1993

  78,800

  -11

  139,800

  -9

  Spring 1994

  72,100

  -8

  141,100

  +1

  Spring 1995

  76,000

  +5

  145,000

  +3

  Mr. Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many(a) private and (b) social houses, have been built in the west midlands in each year since 1990; and for each year what was the percentage change on the previous year. [30157]

  Mr. Clappison
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The figures requested are as follows:

  new lettings through cash incentive schemes. The relative importance of incentive schemes has been growing with the greater emphasis being placed on making more effective use of existing stock.

  Mr. Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many construction industry companies in the west midlands closed in each year since 1990; and for each year what was the percentage change on the previous year. [30156]
  167
  Mr. Clappison
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: Information in the form requested is not available. The following is the available information:

  VAT Deregistrations in the construction industry: West Midlands

  Number deregistered

  Percentage change on previous year

  1992

  3,396

  n/a

  1993

  3,051

  -10

  1994

  2,275

  -25

  VAT deregistrations are not synonymous with business closures and estimates for 1993 and 1994 include adjustments for the effect of the VAT threshold increase in November 1993.

  Mr. Cunningham
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many social houses were built in the west midlands in 1979. [30158]

  Mr. Clappison
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: Figures reported to the Department by local authorities show that there were some 2,000 housing association dwellings and 8,900 local authority and new town new dwellings completed in the West Midlands region during 1979.

  Oil Spills, River Mersey
  Mr. Frank Field
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the detergents used in the clean up operations following oil spills in the River Mersey from 1980 up to the latest spill; and if he will list each detergent's constituent chemical elements. [29716]

  Mr. Clappison
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: I understand that neither North West Water Authority nor the National Rivers Authority used detergents as a dispersant in incidents of this kind. It is possible that other bodies may have made limited use of detergents. If this is the case, I shall write to the hon. Member with the relevant information.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Common Agriculture Policy
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what financial contribution to the European Union common agricultural policy was paid by each of the member states in 1995. [29722]

  Mr. Baldry
  Member states contribute to the European Community budget as a whole, and not to parts of it. A breakdown of member states' gross contributions to the European Community budget in the 1995 Supplementary and Amending Budget No. 1,Official Report L276 of 20 November 1995, page 39, a copy of which has been placed in the House Library.

  Animal Feed
  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the animal feed products 168
  currently on sale to UK farmers which (a) include and (b) do not include a clear list of contents on the packaging. [29579]

  Mrs. Browning
  All compound feeds are required by the Feeding Stuffs Regulations to carry lists of ingredients either by their specific name or by category.

  Meat Hygiene Service
  Mr. Cohen
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent reports he has received about prohibited parts of cattle finding their way into the food chain; in how many cases such material had been certified fit for human consumption by the Meat Hygiene Service; what inquiry has been undertaken as to how these errors occurred; how many officials have been disciplined; what was the average length of time to identify such material; and if he will make a statement. [28459]

  Mrs. Browning
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to the hon. Member for High Peak (Mr. Hendry) on 30 April,Official Report, columns 483–84.

  Civil Servants
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the companies which have civil servants from his Departments as directors, and for each company, the occasions on which it has been found guilty of improper trading or misrepresentation of company financial status in the last five years. [29252]

  Mr. Boswell
  The following companies currently have civil servants from my Department as non executive directors under the "Guide to Non-Executive Directorships for Civil Servants":

  H. R. Wallingford

  The Albert Fisher Group PLC

  Cadbury Ltd.

  As to "improper trading or misrepresentation of company financial status", there are no such offences in law.

  Goosanders
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many applications he has received in each of the last five years for licences to kill goosanders; how many of these were granted; and how many birds were killed. [29840]

  Mrs. Browning
  The information requested is as follows:

  Number of applications received

  Number of licences granted

  Actual number shot

  January-December 1991

  0

  0

  0

  January-December 1992

  0

  0

  0

  January 1993-April 1994

  11

  7

  39

  May 1994-April 1995

  28

  0

  0

  May 1995-March 19961

  25

  5

  22

  Statistics on licences are now collated for the period 1 May to 30 April., Prior to 1994, figures were collated on a calendar year basis.

  1 Latest information available.

  2 Provisional figures.
  169
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the assessment of damage to fisheries underlying each licence to kill goosanders issued in 1996; what other methods were evaluated to tackle the problem; and if he will make a statement. [29842]

  Mrs. Browning
  Where licences were granted to shoot a limited number of goosanders as an aid to scaring, the Ministry was satisfied that serious damage was being caused to the fisheries. A wide range of alternative non-lethal scaring methods had been tried, for example, gas and rope bangers, rockets, horns, shooting blanks, human presence, but were found to be ineffective.

  Fishing Vessels (Decommissioning)
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what has been the total cost to public funds of all registered fishing vessels decommissioned over each of the last five years; [30366]

  (2) what plans he has to promote further decommissioning of the United Kingdom's registered fishing vessels. [30367]

  Mr. Baldry
  There were no UK decommissioning schemes in 1991 and 1992. The 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96 schemes have cost £7.8 million, £8.8 million and £9.6 million respectively.

  In the light of experience with these schemes, a consultation paper was issued seeking views on possible improvements to the arrangements. These are reflected in the details of the 1996–97 scheme announced on 9 May, for which some £13 million is available. There is currently provision of up to £12 million for a further scheme in 1997–98.

  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of United Kingdom registered vessels fishing for demersal species in the North sea over the past five years together with the total size of the demersal catch, the total value of the demersal catch and the number of demersal vessels decommissioned during each of the last five years for which figures are available. [30365]

  Mr. Baldry
  Figures showing the landed quantity and value of demersal fish, including nephrops, caught in the North sea, ICES area IV, for the years 1991–1994 inclusive are given in table 1.

  These include species for which there is no mandatory reporting requirement in respect of fishing activity. Moreover, fishing activity is generally recorded in terms of total effort deployed by stocks and area. Extracting the information requested about numbers of vessels would involve disproportionate cost and fail to give a complete picture of activity in relation to all demersal species in the North sea.

  Table 2 gives details of the number of vessels decommissioned in each round of the current programme by broad demersal segment.
  170

  Table 1: Landings of demersal species, including nephrops, by the UK fleet of catches in the North Sea: quantity and value

  1991

  1992

  1993

  1994

  Total demersal (including nephrops)

  Tonnes liveweight

  202,603

  215,132

  142,339

  249,715

  Thousand.

  215,948

  209,873

  225,705

  237,756

  Table 2: UK fishing vessels decommissioned in the last 5 years; number by demersal segment

  Decommissioning scheme for:

  Vessels over 10 metres overall length

  1993

  1994

  1995

  Segment

  Beam trawl

  4

  8

  6

  Demersal trawl/seiners

  84

  109

  54

  Nephrop trawl

  17

  8

  0

  Lines and nets

  9

  24

  33

  Fishing (Irish Box)
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fishing vessels from other EU member states have fished in the Irish box since 1 January; which EU flags they were flying; what is the estimate of the tonnage caught by these vessels; and what were the principal ports where they landed their catches. [30368]

  Mr. Baldry
  The Irish box comprises waters which fall within both British and Irish fishery limits. Information about the total number of fishing vessels from other member states which have fished in the Irish box since 1 January 1996, the tonnage of fish caught by these vessels and the principal ports at which that catch was landed is not available on a systematic basis.

  New regulations to monitor fishing effort in western waters including the Irish box came into operation on 1 January this year. They apply to vessels over 18m in overall length, 15m between perpendiculars, with effort ceilings being set for the over 18m fleet of each member state by the principal types of fishery other than those for pelagic fish. Vessels over 18m from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom are permitted to fish in the Irish box within the effort ceilings which have been set. The number of Spanish vessels permitted to fish in the Irish box is limited to a maximum of 40 at any one time.

  Fishing (Spanish and Dutch Ships)
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the amount of fish caught by(a) Spanish (b) Dutch flagged ships which is eventually marketed in the United Kingdom. [30370]

  Mr. Baldry
  Information on the amount of fish which is caught by such ships and which is eventually marketed in the United Kingdom is not available. In 1994 we estimate that Spanish and Dutch flagged ships landed about 2,150 and 2,200 tonnes of fish into the UK respectively. Some of this fish may subsequently have been exported.
  171

  UK-registered Fishing Vessels
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate how many vessels previously registered in other EU member states are now registered as United Kingdom fishing vessels; and what estimate he has made of the annual tonnage of fish caught by vessels so registered for each of the last three years for which figures are available. [30369]

  Mr. Baldry
  Information on the number of current UK fishing vessels previously registered in other member states and the tonnage of fish which they have caught over the last three years is not available.

  Under the UK merchant shipping regulations it is possible for vessels previously registered in other member states or third countries to be registered as fishing vessels in the UK. But such vessels would not be permitted to fish for profit without acquiring a licence from UK Fisheries Departments. Under our present restrictive licensing arrangements no new licences are granted and an owner wishing to fish with a vessel new to the UK fleet would need to obtain a licence from a previously licensed vessel.

  Common Fisheries Policy
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the benefits assessed by his Department as accruing to the United Kingdom fishing fleet from the common fisheries policy. [30363]

  Mr. Baldry
  The benefits to the United Kingdom fishing industry flowing from the common fisheries policy include:tighter restrictions than applied before we joined the Community on access by foreign vessels within our 12 mile fishery limits;
  restrictions on access to areas such as the Shetland box and the Irish box;
  a larger share of fish quotas in Community waters than was justified by our historic catch record in the 1973 to 1978 reference period used when quota shares were decided;
  fishing opportunities in the waters of non-member states secured through the Community's bilateral agreements with those countries;
  access to European Community grant schemes;
  a co-ordinated policy to reduce the size of fleets of all member states;
  a common policy on conservation rules enabling us to influence the rules applied in the waters of other member states to the benefit of our industry;
  monitoring of enforcement standards in all member states by the European Commission.

  Fishing (200-mile Limit)
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps would be required to regain control of the fishing effort within 200 miles of the United Kingdom coast. [30364]

  Mr. Baldry
  The United Kingdom has never exercised exclusive control over fishing effort within 200 miles of its coast. We would have to leave the common fisheries policy in order to do so; I explained to the House on 172
  22 November 1995 at column 591 the steps necessary for that to happen.

  Fish Stocks
  Mr. Kirkwood
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what assessment he has made of the impact of the enlargement of the EU on the viability of fish stocks in the North sea; [30372]

  (2) if he will make a statement on the measures under consideration to conserve pressure fish stocks in EU waters during the current negotiations leading to enlargement of the EU. [30371]

  Mr. Baldry
  Negotiations for the further enlargement of the European Union are not scheduled to start until after the conclusion of the intergovernmental conference. Any impact on fish stocks will depend on a number of factors including the terms and timing of accession by the countries concerned, developments in the industry and developments in fisheries policy within the European Union where measures currently under consideration to conserve stocks include further reduction in fishing effort, new technical conservation rules and improved enforcement measures.

  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Mr. Davies) of 24 April,Official Report, column 209, on what date each animal was confirmed to have been suffering from BSE. [29410]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 15 May 1996]: The following table gives the dates of birth of the 10 youngest cattle, including estimated ages, and the date at which BSE was confirmed:

  Date of birth

  Date of BSE confirmation

  Autumn 1986

  31 January 1989

  January 1987

  24 July 1989

  November 1987

  28 November 1989

  Autumn 1987

  11 May 1989

  Autumn 1987

  22 November 1989

  Autumn 1987

  26 March 1990

  May 1988

  26 July 1990

  November 1988

  26 March 1991

  June 1989

  20 January 1992

  October 1990

  20 May 1993

  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many, and what percentage, of the maternal transmission test group study by the veterinary laboratory at Weybridge have been diagnosed as suffering from BSE. [29345]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 15 May 1996]: Forty-seven or 7 per cent. of the 630 study animals have so far developed BSE.

  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what preliminary assessment he has made as to the most likely cause of BSE in those animals in the maternal transmission test group study by the veterinary laboratory at Weybridge that have been diagnosed as suffering from BSE. [29346]
  173
  Mr. Browning
  [holding answer 15 May 1996]: The detailed cohort study into the possibility of maternal transmission of BSE will not be complete until early 1997. Some information about this experiment has been published in the progress report on BSE laid in the Library of the House in November 1995, but the result cannot be interpreted until it is complete. As the study is being carried out blind we do not know whether the 47 animals which have succumbed to BSE in the trial are offspring of BSE cases or whether they are control animals. The details of these animals are given in the table.

  Distribution of confirmed cases in the offspring study by month of birth and period at 1 May 1996

  Period

  Month and year of birth

  July-December 1991

  January-June 1992

  July-December 1992

  January-June 1993

  July-December 1993

  January-June 1994

  July-December 1994

  January-June 1995

  July-December 1995

  Total

  1987

  September

  1

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  October

  —

  —

  1

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  —

  2

  November

  1

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  December

  —

  1

  3

  —

  1

  —

  —

  —

  —

  5

  1988

  January

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  0

  February

  —

  —

  1

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  —

  2

  March

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  1

  April

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  0

  May

  —

  —

  1

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  June

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  1

  July

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  1

  August

  —

  —

  —

  —

  3

  3

  1

  3

  1

  11

  September

  —

  —

  1

  2

  1

  1

  1

  —

  —

  6

  October

  —

  1

  —

  1

  1

  2

  —

  —

  1

  6

  November

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  2

  —

  —

  —

  2

  December

  —

  —

  1

  1

  —

  1

  —

  1

  —

  4

  1989

  January

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  1

  February

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  0

  March

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  —

  1

  April

  —

  —

  —

  —

  —

  1

  —

  —

  —

  1

  Grand total

  2

  2

  8

  4

  6

  10

  5

  7

  3

  47

  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the means of disposal for the remains of cattle aged 30 months or over following processing of carcasses at rendering plants as part of the scheme to eradicate bovine spongiform encephalopathy from British herds. [29654]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 16 May 1996]: My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced in the House on 16 April, Official Report, col. 513 that, following the process of rendering, the resultant material would be disposed of by the best practicable environmental option. The Government are actively pursuing the ways and means of achieving this objective and a further statement will be made when conclusions have been reached.

  Dr. Strang
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cattle were slaughtered in the United Kingdom under the 30-month scheme in the week beginning Monday 29 April. [28919]

  Mr. Baldry
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: One hundred cattle were slaughtered in the United Kingdom under the scheme in the week beginning 29 April.
  174
  In all cases the farms of origin for the animals in this study have had cases of BSE, notably in the experimental animals dams, which indicates that some exposure to contaminated feed did occur on the farms. To take account of this a control animal was purchased from the same farm as the offspring of a confirmed case.

  Until the experiment is completed and the results unblinded and analysed, it will not be possible to say whether maternal transmission of BSE can account for any of the cases, or whether all should be attributed to contaminated feed.

  Performance Bonds
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his Department's policy on the use of performance bonds; in what circumstances they are used; what was the total sum paid by bond in each of the last five years; and if his Department requires bonds from businesses with under(a) 100, (b) 50 and (c) 20 employees. [29415]

  Mr. Boswell
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The Ministry's policy is to review the need for performance bonds in the light of the value and complexity of the contract to be let. The Ministry has occasionally used performance bonds which would allow it to call in financial guarantees should a contractor fail to meet specified standards. These would be used to compensate the Ministry should a contractor fail to complete a contract because of, say, liquidation or default. The Ministry regards "on demand" performance bonds as unjust and undesirable. The Ministry believes that bonds are not always necessary and are no substitute for considered judgments about the risks of a particular contract and the capabilities and financial resources of the chosen contractor. These factors will vary for each contract independent of the size of the contractor.
  175
  From records held centrally no performance bonds have been called in during the last five years.

  Goods and Services
  Mrs. Roche
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much his Department paid to the private sector for goods and services in 1995–96. [29462]

  Mr. Boswell
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: Data extracted from its financial management system reveals that the Ministry, including its six next steps agencies, paid the sum of £262.98 million to the private sector for goods and services in the financial year 1995–96.

  Food Labelling Regulations
  Mr. Key
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to publish the consolidated food labelling regulations; when they will come into force; and if they will be accompanied by guidance notes published on the same day. [29921]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 20 May 1996]: The Government expect to lay regulations before Parliament by 7 June. These will come into force on 1 July and the accompanying guidelines will be published on the same day.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Child Support Agency
  Mrs. Anne Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to appoint the independent complaints adjudicator for the Child Support Agency. [28824]

  Mr. Andrew Mitchell
  An independent complaints examiner will be recruited for the Child Support Agency later this year following a pilot study to assess how best to support the examiner's operations.

  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the alleged child maintenance arrears and background calculations for CSA Ref. 1003420826; and for what reasons he has received documentation requiring payments in the year 2001, when his youngest child will be 24 years of age. [29867]

  Mr. Mitchell
  The Child Support Agency is charged with collecting legally due maintenance. Any arrears agreement negotiated is based on the amount of debt and the absent parent's ability to pay. The payment of arrears may, therefore, continue after the child has reached the age where regular maintenance is no longer due. The chief executive of the Child Support Agency, Miss Ann Chant, will write to the hon. Member separately detailing the circumstances of the case referred to.

  Child Support
  Ms Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what number of parents in one-parent families are entitled to child support; and of these, what proportion are receiving it. [28828]

  Mr. Andrew Mitchell
  It is not known how many parents in one-parent families could obtain child support from the other parent if they applied for it. However,176
  341,500 parents with care, including 29,100 in two-parent families, had a full maintenance assessment from the Child Support Agency in November 1995. This includes 96,000 cases where the absent parent is assessed to pay nothing. In 60 per cent. of the remaining cases, maintenance is being paid in full or in part.

  Benefit Fraud
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action he is taking to tackle housing benefit fraud. [28818]

  Mr. Heald
  On 5 March my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a series of measures including an £8 million challenge fund to develop local authority innovation against fraud and a data-matching service to detect fraudulent benefit claims. These will not only step up the fight against housing benefit fraud, but also move towards preventing fraud from getting into the system in the first place.

  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many staff in his Department have been employed full time in tackling social security fraud for each year since 1979. [30419]

  Mr. Heald
  The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the list:

  1991–92: 3,344

  1992–93: 3,344

  1993–94: 3,328

  1994–95: 3,363

  1995–96: 3,793.5

  1996–97: 5,046.

  Notes

  1 The numbers relate to staff employed in the benefit fraud investigation service (formerly sector fraud), organised fraud teams and staff employed on instrument of payment anti-fraud initiatives.

  2. Prior to the creation of the Benefits Agency in April 1991, staff employed on fraud investigation duties were part of the local and regional office complement and information relating to numbers employed are not available.

  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the savings accruing to public funds from campaigns against benefit fraud in each since 1979. [30416]

  Mr. Heald
  The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.

  Year

  Savings£ million

  1986–87

  144

  1987–88

  196

  1988–89

  262

  1989–90

  309

  1990–91

  341

  1991–92

  446

  1992–93

  558

  1993–94

  654

  1994–95

  717

  Notes:

  1. Savings from the Department's anti-fraud measures have only been routinely collected from 1986–87.

  2. Finalised figures for 1995–96 are not yet available.
  177
  Miss Hoey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what estimate he has made of the annual amount of money lost through fraud in child benefit payments; [30311]

  (2) how many successful prosecutions there have been in the last year relating to child benefit fraud. [30312]

  Mr. Heald
  The information requested is not available.

  The Benefits Agency is undertaking a series of benefit reviews which determine the amount of incorrectness, including fraud, in each benefit reviewed. Over the five-year period of the security strategy launched by the Secretary of State in July 1995, all the major benefits, including child benefit, will be reviewed.

  Mr. Battle
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much is being spent on the publicity campaign to tackle benefit fraud, set out by parliamentary constituency. [30421]

  Mr. Heald
  The information is not available in the format requested as costings specific to parliamentary constituencies are not kept. However, to date the estimated total publicity costs for the first seven areas of the anti-fraud campaign are £407,710.

  This figure covers radio and printed advertising, leaflet and poster production and distribution and press support material production.

  Pensions
  Mrs. Gorman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the level of pension contributions in(a) the United Kingdom and (b) other EU countries. [28820]

  Mr. Heald
  In 1994, employers and employees contributed almost £30 billion to occupational and personal pension schemes in the United Kingdom. It is this level of commitment that has generated pension funds of nearly £600 billion—substantially more than is invested in all the other countries in the European Union put together.

  Mr. Fabricant
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement concerning the level of funds currently held in the United Kingdom for private pension provision; and what assessment he has made of the level of funding relative to that in other European Union countries. [28822]

  Mr. Heald
  In 1993, the total value of funds in private pension schemes in the United Kingdom was nearly £600 billion. This is substantially more than the latest estimate of the level of funds in all the other countries in the European Union put together.

  Dunn
  25. Mr. To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of the retired population will have occupational pensions by 2006. [28829]

  Mr. Heald
  The information is not available in the form requested. The Department's pensioner incomes simulation model projects that in 2010 more than 75 per cent. of 178
  pensioner units will be in receipt of payments from an occupational pension.

  Details of the methodology and assumptions used in the model, and a brief overview of basic results, will appear in a technical paper to be released shortly.

  Notes:

  For the purposes of PENSIM, a pensioner unit is defined as a single pensioner over state pension age in 2010, or a couple with at least one partner over state pension age.

  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the number of pensioners over the age of 80 years, who receive the extra 25p per week on their state retirement pension. [29992]

  Mr. Heald
  At 30 September 1995, there were 2.4 million people over age 80 who received the 25p age addition to their state retirement pension.

  Source:

  5 per cent. sample of the pension strategy computer system.

  Notes:

  1. All people in receipt of the state retirement pension aged 80 or over, including people who qualify for a non-contributory retirement pension, receive the 25p addition.

  2. The figure is rounded to the nearest 0.1 million.

  Child Benefit
  Mrs. Lait
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the number of parents with children aged 16 to 19 years who receive child benefit; and what representations he has received about the payment of child benefit to them. [28819]

  Mr. Andrew Mitchell
  The latest figures available indicate that at 31 December 1995 there were 1.09 million families receiving child benefit in respect of children aged over 16 and under 19 in full-time non-advanced education. I have received only one letter questioning the payment of child benefit in respect of those over 16.

  Mr. Nigel Evans
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people between 16 and 19 years in full-time education are currently in receipt of child benefit. [28827]

  Mr. Mitchell
  At the end of last year child benefit was payable in respect of 1.16 million people aged over 16 and under 19, in full-time non-advanced education. Entitlement to child benefit will continue until they leave that education or reach age 19, whichever is sooner.

  Mr. Harry Greenway
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the cost of child benefit for 16 to 18-year-olds in 1995–96; and if he will make a statement. [28831]

  Mr. Mitchell
  The estimate of child benefit expenditure for 1995–96 in respect of 16 to 18-year-olds is around £640 million.

  I believe that all families with dependent children should receive some help from either the tax or benefit system, a principle recognised throughout Europe and beyond.

  The Government have a manifesto pledge to continue to pay child benefit to all families in respect of all children, including 16 to 18-year-olds in full-time non-advanced education, and to uprate it in line with prices. We have honoured that pledge.
  179

  Lone Parents
  Ms Lynne
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the average age of the income support claims withdrawn by parents with care following action by the Child Support Agency or liable relatives section in(a) 1995 and (b) 1992. [29673]

  Mr. Andrew Mitchell
  The information requested is not available.

  Ms Lynne
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents were on income support in each year since 1989. [29674]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  The information available is set out in the table.

  Lone parents receiving income support

  Year

  Number of claimants

  1989

  756,000

  1990

  793,000

  1991

  871,000

  1992

  957,000

  1993

  1,013,000

  1994

  1,039,000

  1995

  1,056,000

  Notes:

  1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

  2. Lone parents are defined as claimants receiving the lone parent premium.

  3. Sample size 1 in 20.

  Source:

  Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiries 1989–1993

  Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiries May 1994 and May 1995.

  Ms Lynne
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total amount paid to lone parents in income support(a) in money terms and (b) at constant prices in each year since 1989. [29675]

  Mr. Evans
  The information available is in the table.

  Lone parents income support expenditure cash terms—1989–90 to 1995–96

  £ million

  Year

  1989–90

  3,961

  1990–91

  4,680

  1991–92

  5,728

  1992–93

  7,107

  1993–94

  8,124

  1994–95

  8,884

  1995–96

  9,510

  Lone parents income support expenditure real terms (1995–96 prices)—1989–90 to 1995–96

  Year

  £ million

  1989–90

  5,096

  1990–91

  5,574

  1991–92

  6,423

  1992–93

  7,657

  1993–94

  8,505

  1994–95

  9,128

  1995–96

  9,510

  Source:

  March 1996 departmental report and earlier equivalents.
  180

  Income Support
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what number and proportion of children under 10 years old are in families receiving income support. [28821]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  The number of children under 10 years old in families on income support in May 1995 was just over 2 million. This is approximately 27 per cent. of the total number of children under 10 years old in Great Britain.

  Notes:

  1. May 1995 is the latest available data in Income Support recipients.

  2. Latest available estimates for the GB population relate to mid-94, the proportion is therefore based upon mid-94 population estimates.

  Source: Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry—May 1995. Population Estimates Unit, ONS.

  Mr. Turner
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many families with children have been dependent on income support for five or more years; and what proportion this is of the total. [28823]

  Mr. Evans
  Information is not available in the form requested. However, in May 1995 there were 685,000 families with children—nearly 44 per cent. of the total— who had been on income support for three years or more.

  Notes:

  1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

  2. May 1995 is the latest date for which data are available.

  Source: Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry: May 1995.

  Reduced Earnings Allowance
  Mr. Canavan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what recent representations he has received about reduced earnings allowance; and if he will make a statement. [28825]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  Reduced earnings allowance continues to be paid as before to anyone who is under pensionable age or continuing in regular employment. A number of hon. Members have written to Ministers about the amendments to regulations from 24 March which brought in fairer rules for the transfer of people on reduced earnings allowance to retirement allowance when they reach pensionable age and give up regular employment.

  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the operation of the reduced earnings allowance. [28909]

  Mr. Evans
  Parliament agreed, in passing the 1988 Social Security Act, that compensation for loss of earnings through reduced earnings allowance should continue to past pension age only for those men and women who continued in regular employment. Otherwise it should cease and be replaced by retirement allowance, payable at no more than 25 per cent. of the rate of reduced earnings allowance.

  Amendment regulations which came into force on 24 March ensure this principle is applied fairly and

  181
  consistently. These regulations were debated in Standing Committee on 8 May 1996.

  Habitual Residence Test
  Mr. Miller
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the current cost of administering the habitual residence test; and what savings in benefits have been made in the current calendar year following the introduction of the test. [28826]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Lewisham, East (Mrs. Prentice) on 23 April,Official Report, column 131.

  Pensioners Poverty
  Mr. Olner
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social security what action he proposes to take to tackle poverty among pensioners. [28830]

  Mr. Heald
  Our policy has been to increase the basic retirement pension in line with the annual rise in prices, encourage personal provision through occupational and private pensions and to target additional resources on poorer pensioners through income-related benefits. Between 1979 and 1993 pensioners' average income increased by more than 50 per cent.

  Local office

  May

  June

  July

  August

  September

  October

  November

  December

  January

  February

  March

  Clyde Coast and Cowal

  Greenock

  57.5

  59.5

  50.0

  52.3

  58.4

  53.4

  51.9

  55.8

  63.9

  60.4

  63.3

  Port Glasgow

  72.2

  64.2

  53.7

  56.6

  59.8

  63.2

  60.0

  66.2

  —

  —

  —

  Clyde Valley

  Motherwell

  66.9

  60.1

  65.6

  64.9

  64.5

  63.7

  62.8

  64.7

  66.2

  63.4

  65.3

  Hamilton

  75.6

  62.3

  64.9

  60.3

  68.6

  69.6

  62.9

  60.4

  68.9

  64.8

  69.1

  Coatbridge

  Coatbridge

  72.8

  59.9

  60.0

  64.1

  51.2

  65.4

  59.8

  61.5

  62.8

  67.2

  62.4

  Airdrie

  59.5

  65.1

  61.1

  55.7

  54.1

  60.3

  63.9

  54.9

  66.8

  59.6

  65.1

  East Lowlands

  Edinburgh South

  71.5

  62.9

  53.7

  60.0

  57.2

  57.5

  50.6

  61.4

  59.0

  52.6

  50.5

  Edinburgh East

  50.8

  65.8

  58.8

  54.2

  46.7

  51.5

  53.8

  57.0

  54.0

  56.8

  52.0

  Galashiels

  72.7

  60.0

  64.5

  62.2

  59.5

  56.0

  67.1

  63.6

  65.4

  58.9

  60.7

  Fife

  Kirkcaldy

  64.5

  57.6

  55.6

  55.0

  48.6

  62.7

  59.3

  59.5

  55.0

  59.5

  54.4

  Cowdenbeath

  66.1

  62.7

  57.6

  62.1

  55.1

  57.3

  64.3

  62.8

  72.2

  59.6

  52.3

  Leven

  65.4

  62.3

  66.4

  54.6

  54.0

  66.7

  59.4

  70.7

  62.7

  60.2

  55.8

  Dunfermline

  66.4

  57.5

  52.1

  66.4

  60.6

  63.1

  59.1

  61.2

  56.7

  55.7

  60.0

  Forth Valley

  Stirling

  72.6

  56.2

  63.1

  62.8

  55.8

  59.8

  64.4

  58.5

  55.1

  63.0

  57.1

  Falkirk

  64.8

  63.4

  58.4

  55.9

  63.1

  57.9

  66.1

  58.4

  68.9

  62.2

  59.0

  Glasgow City

  Glasgow City

  36.0

  53.4

  27.7

  33.8

  38.5

  32.8

  40.0

  28.3

  45.8

  42.9

  40.0

  Glasgow Maryhill

  57.9

  55.1

  59.2

  54.5

  49.1

  54.4

  55.6

  55.1

  59.6

  59.4

  52.7

  Glasgow East

  Glasgow

  Shettleston

  67.6

  57.4

  60.1

  60.6

  56.8

  58.9

  53.7

  56.8

  62.5

  58.6

  61.6

  Glasgow

  Bridgeton

  48.4

  37.8

  39.1

  43.0

  44.9

  42.8

  47.0

  44.3

  46.2

  42.3

  41.1

  Glasgow Provan

  47.9

  42.9

  43.1

  44.6

  32.2

  43.2

  47.3

  52.4

  50.6

  43.1

  46.1

  182

  Incapacity Benefit
  Mr. Foulkes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the percentage success rate for applications for incapacity benefit at each Benefits Agency office in Scotland for each month up to the most recent available; what was the number of appeals against refusal; and what percentage were successful in each case. [29280]

  Mr. Burt
  This 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 Mr. George Foulkes, dated 20 May 1996:

  The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what was the percentage success rate for applications for Incapacity Benefit (IB) at each Benefit Agency (BA) office in Scotland for each month up to the most recent available; what was the number of appeals against refusal; and what percentage were successful in each case.

  The attached tables give details of the percentage success rate for applications for IB at each BA office in Scotland. The information requested for the number of appeals against refusal on application and the percentage that are successful is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  I hope you find this reply helpful.

  The following table shows the percentage of successful (applications) claims to incapacity benefit for 1995–96. These decisions are made prior to the application of the IB all work test.
  183

  Local office

  May

  June

  July

  August

  September

  October

  November

  December

  January

  February

  March

  Glasgow Laurieston

  Glasgow Laurieston

  52.8

  58.9

  54.5

  47.2

  55.8

  53.8

  51.9

  55.0

  58.9

  55.1

  46.7

  East Kilbride

  71.1

  66.3

  63.8

  65.9

  67.9

  67.1

  68.1

  70.8

  71.7

  63.6

  66.1

  Glasgow South West

  Glasgow South West

  West

  55.7

  53.1

  56.5

  54.5

  51.8

  51.9

  56.6

  51.4

  61.9

  52.8

  55.7

  Glasgow Springburn and Cumbernauld

  Glasgow Springburn

  67.1

  58.0

  50.9

  53.9

  54.7

  62.5

  57.4

  52.2

  66.7

  60.4

  49.6

  Glasgow Cumbernauld

  70.9

  71.0

  64.5

  71.1

  69.0

  68.3

  69.9

  67.1

  72.7

  69.4

  68.5

  Glasgow West

  Glasgow Anniesland

  42.9

  50.0

  53.9

  49.3

  51.8

  45.9

  43.0

  54.7

  58.1

  50.4

  50.0

  Glasgow Patrick

  58.5

  56.4

  56.0

  52.8

  46.5

  48.9

  44.1

  47.1

  54.1

  50.9

  47.8

  Grampian and Shetland

  Aberdeen

  71.8

  65.8

  63.3

  67.8

  65.3

  66.1

  58.5

  65.8

  63.9

  60.3

  61.5

  Lerwick

  83.3

  79.1

  77.7

  82.2

  80.5

  66.7

  73.0

  73.9

  73.3

  77.8

  70.3

  Peterhead

  69.1

  69.6

  63.3

  69.2

  65.1

  64.4

  66.9

  66.9

  64.8

  65.7

  65.6

  Highlands and Islands

  Inverness

  67.5

  57.1

  54.7

  53.4

  59.7

  55.1

  59.1

  59.6

  61.3

  59.6

  66.0

  Elgin

  65.6

  62.5

  53.9

  62.5

  62.3

  63.5

  55.2

  66.4

  64.2

  61.3

  64.5

  Fort William

  60.0

  58.8

  47.6

  61.7

  61.7

  56.5

  63.0

  59.6

  57.1

  51.3

  52.8

  Kirkwall

  68.0

  61.1

  69.6

  46.4

  78.4

  41.4

  69.7

  70.8

  63.3

  63.6

  54.5

  Stornoway

  56.5

  65.8

  76.1

  59.1

  57.9

  80.0

  67.4

  82.6

  80.0

  42.1

  45.8

  Wick

  60.0

  62.5

  60.3

  75.6

  50.0

  66.7

  62.9

  67.9

  47.8

  61.8

  71.4

  Irwine and Kilmarnock

  Irwine

  61.6

  54.2

  58.5

  55.8

  59.2

  61.5

  57.9

  61.9

  64.0

  59.4

  60.3

  Kilmarnock

  66.7

  57.7

  60.2

  65.2

  60.9

  50.0

  60.0

  63.3

  52.7

  51.0

  61.9

  Lomond and Argyll

  Clydebank

  61.5

  59.6

  63.7

  61.5

  58.5

  58.8

  62.0

  61.2

  61.8

  62.9

  63.1

  Cambeltown

  47.3

  58.3

  46.9

  58.9

  51.5

  60.7

  64.3

  50.0

  75.0

  52.9

  58.8

  Oban

  47.4

  69.7

  65.6

  73.8

  80.0

  58.1

  51.1

  56.0

  73.7

  62.5

  59.3

  Lothian and Central

  Edinburgh City

  55.0

  51.5

  44.2

  53.4

  43.5

  45.3

  49.1

  55.6

  50.8

  44.2

  72.4

  Leith

  54.4

  48.9

  56.8

  55.3

  52.7

  50.0

  47.1

  56.6

  51.4

  56.5

  52.0

  Lothian West

  Lothian West

  69.2

  64.9

  62.3

  62.1

  59.3

  59.6

  58.1

  62.2

  60.8

  62.2

  58.1

  Renfrew

  Renfrew

  72.8

  61.2

  61.9

  64.8

  61.8

  60.6

  63.3

  64.0

  64.2

  61.9

  65.0

  South West Scotland

  Ayr

  66.7

  56.7

  58.6

  54.7

  57.4

  56.4

  58.0

  55.3

  68.6

  63.4

  55.3

  Dumfries

  72.4

  72.5

  63.4

  67.7

  61.4

  65.4

  64.4

  72.3

  64.7

  67.2

  62.1

  Stranraer

  67.6

  51.1

  66.7

  60.3

  71.4

  58.7

  70.5

  51.2

  68.5

  63.3

  55.0

  Tayside

  Dundee

  63.8

  61.3

  60.3

  61.1

  61.1

  59.9

  57.7

  65.4

  59.7

  58.7

  56.8

  Arbroath

  65.2

  62.4

  66.7

  69.2

  62.7

  66.7

  63.0

  67.5

  60.5

  62.4

  55.7

  Perth

  69.7

  61.0

  58.1

  67.6

  63.5

  60.5

  68.6

  64.7

  69.9

  60.3

  63.6

  Notes:

  1. Data for April 1995 is unavailable.

  2. Clyde Coast and Cowal district: incapacity benefit claims moved from Port Glasgow to Greenock from January 1996.

  3. Data is provsional and subject to amendment.

  Source:

  100 per cent. count of cases on the incapacity benefit system. Excludes a small number of clerically processed cases.
  184 185

  Deregulation Unit
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many(a) are career civil servants and of what grades, (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector. [30061]

  Mr. Heald
  The information is in the table.

  DSS Deregulation Unit

  Staff

  Staff

  Budget 1996–97

  Civil servants

  Seconded from business

  Grade

  Number

  UG7

  0.751

  £88,000

  HEO

  2.001

  None

  AA

  0.25

  Total (wte)2

  3.00

  1 Have experience of the private sector.

  2 Whole-time equivalent.

  Bronchitis and Emphysema
  Mr. Matthew Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has received a report on the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council's review of the prescription for industrial injuries disablement benefit purposes of chronic bronchitis and emphysema in underground coal workers; and if he will make a statement. [30645]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  My right hon. Friend the Secretary for State has today laid a copy of the council's report before Parliament, Cm 3240. As with all Industrial Injuries Advisory Council reports, it will be given careful consideration. We will respond to the council's recommendations once the medical, administrative and financial issues raised by the report have been fully examined.

  Claimant Statistics
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate(a) the number of people claiming means-tested in-work benefits, (b) the number of claimants' adult dependants and (c) the number of their children in (i) 1979 and (ii) 1995. [27830]

  Mr. Burt
  [holding answer 2 May 1996]: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.

  Figures for 1994 are given as this is the last year for which complete information is available.

  Persons claiming means-tested in-work benefits1

  May 1979

  May 1994

  October 1995

  Family income supplement/family credit7

  Number of persons claiming

  78,000

  551,000

  643,000

  Number of adult dependants6

  40,000

  315,000

  355,000

  Number of children

  9184,000

  1,123,000

  1,297,000

  186

  Persons claiming means-tested in-work benefits1

  May 1979

  May 1994

  October 1995

  Disability working allowance

  Number of persons claiming

  8n/a

  4,251

  7,644

  Number of adult dependants6

  8n/a

  1,633

  2,881

  Number of children

  8n/a

  3,048

  5,764

  Housing benefit

  Number of persons claiming

  3n/a

  316,000

  4n/a

  Number of adult dependants6

  3n/a

  139,000

  4n/a

  Number of children

  3n/a

  349,000

  4n/a

  Council tax benefit

  Number of persons claiming

  3n/a

  332,000

  4n/a

  Number of adult dependents6

  3n/a

  186,000

  4n/a

  Number of children

  3n/a

  382,000

  4n/a

  Notes:

  1 Means tested in-work benefits are defined as family income supplement/family credit, disability working allowance and housing benefit and council tax benefit paid direct to people with earnings who are not on income support. The same individual may be claiming more than one benefit.

  2 Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand except for disability working allowance where exact figures are quoted.

  3 Comparable data on housing benefit and council tax benefit is not available for 1979.

  4 Data for housing benefit and council tax benefit is not available for 1995.

  5 The figures include estimates due to the data collection procedure in Scotland.

  6 Adult dependants are defined as the partner of the claimant.

  7 Family credit replaced family income supplement in April 1988.

  8 Disability working allowance was introduced in April 1992.

  9 Approximate figure based on number of families with varying multiples of children.

  Sources:

  Social Security Statistics 1979.

  Family credit 5 per cent. sample of awards.

  Disability working allowance 100 per cent. count of claims.

  Housing benefit management information system annual 1 per cent. sample taken at the end of May 1994.

  Departmental Property (Newcastle)
  Mr. Cousins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects the tender board for the rationalisation of his Department's land and buildings in Newcastle upon Tyne to reach a recommendation on choice of tenders; when he expects to make a decision; and if he will communicate his decision to the hon. Members for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central and for Newcastle upon Tyne, East (Mr. Brown). [30427]

  Mr. Heald
  A recommendation as to the choice of the preferred supplier for the DSS Newcastle estate development project is due to be made early in June. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State will make a decision following careful consideration of the recommendation. A copy of the announcement will be placed in the Library.

  Fire Safety Review
  Fire Safety Review
  Sporting Club Police Raid: Media Presence
  Sporting Club Police Raid: Media Presence
  Deportation
  Deportation
  British Council Restructuring Costs: Government Assistance
  British Council Restructuring Costs: Government Assistance
  EU General Affairs Council, 13th-14th May
  EU General Affairs Council, 13th-14th May
  St. Helena: Demonstration
  St. Helena: Demonstration
  Albanian Elections: Monitoring
  Albanian Elections: Monitoring
  Council of Europe: Croatian Application
  Council of Europe: Croatian Application
  Dr. Seyfettin Kizilkan
  Dr. Seyfettin Kizilkan
  Europe: Human Rights Policies
  Europe: Human Rights Policies
  Russia: Nuclear Safety
  Russia: Nuclear Safety
  Mr. Sam Rainsy
  Mr. Sam Rainsy
  Sifiso Mahlangu
  Sifiso Mahlangu
  Europe: Human Rights (Interim Measures)
  Europe: Human Rights (Interim Measures)
  Christmas Island Tests: Atmospheric Effects
  Christmas Island Tests: Atmospheric Effects
  UK-US Ballistic Missile Defence
  UK-US Ballistic Missile Defence
  Economic Activity: Definition
  Economic Activity: Definition
  Road Works: Advance Warning Signs
  Road Works: Advance Warning Signs
  Rail Freight Operations
  Rail Freight Operations
  Mozambique: Oil Pollution Preparedness
  Mozambique: Oil Pollution Preparedness
  Liberian Maritime Registry (Operation)
  Liberian Maritime Registry (Operation)
  Post Offices
  Post Offices
  Trade Marks: Retail Services
  Trade Marks: Retail Services
  Scottish Fishery Management (Trout and Char)
  Scottish Fishery Management (Trout and Char)