Written Answers of 13 March 1997

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Roisin McAliskey
  Mr. Deva
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the conditions in which the Prison Service is holding Roisin McAliskey. [20510]

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

  Letter from Alan Walker to Mr. Nirj Deva, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the conditions in which Roisin McAliskey is being held at Holloway prison.
  Following a routine review of her security status Roisin McAliskey remains a Category A prisoner but has been downgraded from high risk to standard risk within that category. As a result some of the security arrangements which have been in operation have been relaxed.
  The number of strip searches to which Roisin McAliskey had been subject has already been reduced and she is no longer being strip searched before and after every open visit within the prison. She is now only being strip searched on the same basis as all other prisoners at Holloway. This means before leaving the prison for court appearances and on return to the prison; as part of a cell search and drug testing procedures; on a random basis; or if there were reasonable suspicion she had secreted something about her prison.
  Further relaxations as a consequence of the security review will take effect from now on. She will be able to attend chapel, to use the gym and the swimming pool, and to attend ante-natal classes with other prisoners. The number of overnight security checks will be reduced so that the light in her cell can be extinguished for most of the night.
  Separately from the review of her security status, Roisin McAliskey applied on 14 February to be located on the Mother and Baby Unit at Holloway with her baby after it is born. Her application was considered, following the normal processes which apply to all expectant mothers, by the Admissions Board at Holloway, who considered the views of independent experts in the development needs of babies, as well as logistical issues.
  The Assessment Board has now advised the Governor that Roisin McAliskey's application should be approved, the Governor has recommended approval and I have accepted this recommendation. She has been told that she may keep her baby with her after the birth. She will, as do all other mothers, have to sign a compact agreeing to be of reasonable behaviour and to co-operate with the ethos and regime of the Unit. Babies in the Unit normally remain with their mothers until the age of nine months.
  Both the reduction in security classification and the decision to allow Roisin McAliskey to keep her baby have followed the standard procedures and processes that would apply to any other prisoner.
  274

  Tote
  Mr. Rendel
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the future use of Tote profits. [18533]

  Mr. Kirkhope
  The Tote's role is to provide pool betting on horseracing and to raise money for racing. Maintaining its contribution to racing is central to Government policy; it is for the Tote to decide how to distribute the money.

  Prison Staff (Drugs)
  Sir Ivan Lawrence
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures and guidelines exist for the random or routine searching at prisons with a significant drugs presence of(a) prison officers, (b) other prison staff and (c) other persons visiting in an official capacity. [19761]

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

  Letter from A. J. Pearson to Sir Ivan Lawrence, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the searching of staff and official visitors.
  Guidelines for searching staff and visitors to prisons are contained in the Prison Service Manual on Security, copies of which are held in the Library of the House. These require the governor, in consultation with the area manager, to draw up a local searching strategy, including provisions for searching staff and visitors, to meet the particular security needs of the prison and to combat particular risks such as the illicit passage of drugs into the prison.
  In addition, following recommendations by Sir John Woodcock, visitors and staff seeking to enter dispersal prisons (including Belmarsh) are searched on each occasion of entering the prison. This will be extended to the five local prisons at which we plan to hold category A prisoners in future, once building work has been completed to allow the necessary space and equipment to be installed at the gate.

  Prison Visits (Recording)
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 27 February,Official Report, columns 288–89, if he will review the use of video-recorded closed circuit television in the legal visit facilities at special secure units. [19909]

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

  Letter from A. J. Pearson to Mr. Tam Dalyell, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about video recorded CCTV in the legal visits facility in Special Secure Units.
  There are no plans to review this arrangement.
  275

  Staff Assaults (Ranby Prison)
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported incidents of staff assaults were recorded at Her Majesty's prison, Ranby from 1 January 1996 to date; and if he will make a statement. [19924]

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

  Letter from A. J. Pearson to Mr. Max Madden, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the number of reported incidents of staff assaults recorded at Ranby prison from 1 January 1996 to date.
  Six assaults on staff have been recorded at Ranby prison since 1 January 1996. This figure represents less than two assaults per 100 population.

  Wheel Clamping
  Mr. David Atkinson
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce proposals for the registration and regulation of wheel clamping; and if he will make a statement. [20081]

  Mr. Maclean
  My right hon. and learned Friend has no present plans for legislation in this area. We are considering whether further legal measures are needed to regulate wheel clamping.

  Child Abuse
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps he is taking to ascertain the whereabouts of Rosemary Iredale, a convicted child abuser recently released from prison but since disappeared; [19160]

  (2) what steps he is taking to ascertain the whereabouts of Terry Valrona, a convicted child abuser recently released from prison but since disappeared. [19159]

  Miss Widdecombe
  [holding answers 10 March 1997]: I will write to the hon. Member.

  Remand Prisoners (Voting Rights)
  Mr. Madden
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assistance is given to remand prisoners, detained in prisons in England and Wales, to register to vote and to apply for a postal vote; and if he will ensure that all such prisoners are advised of their right to vote and assisted in securing their vote. [19740]

  Miss Widdecombe
  [holding answer 11 March 1997]Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from A. J. Pearson to Mr. Max Madden, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the voting rights of remand prisoners.
  276
  Those in Prison Service custody eligible to vote in Parliamentary, local Government and European elections are: unconvicted prisoners; convicted but unsentenced prisoners; prisoners imprisoned for contempt of court; and those serving a term of imprisonment in default of payment of a sum of money adjudged to be paid on conviction. Eligible prisoners must have been registered as electors at their home address even though they may have been in prison on the qualifying date. Decisions on the eligibility of prisoners to be included in the electoral register are for the Electoral Registration Officer who decides if the person was normally resident at a particular address prior to their imprisonment.
  Establishments are required to notify eligible prisoners of their eligibility to vote and to inform them of the deadlines that are set for applications for a postal or proxy vote. They are also required to ensure that ballot papers sent to prisoners reach them unopened, that staff witness prisoners' declarations of identity, and that completed votes are posted back uncensored.

  Casino Deregulation
  Mr. Hargreaves
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on casino deregulation. [20446]

  Mr. Kirkhope
  The information is as follows:

  The Deregulation (Casinos Order) 1997

  I am pleased to report implementation of the first deregulation changes to the casino regime since the 1968 Act.

  Following approval by Parliament on 6 March, I made the Deregulation (Casinos) Order, which comes into force on 3 April.

  This will allow casinos in England and Wales to provide alcohol after midnight, until 3 am in London, and 2 am elsewhere.

  In casinos in Great Britain, it also reduces from 48 to 24 hours the waiting period before new members may take part in the gaming.

  The Deregulation (Debit Cards) Order 1997

  The order has now been cleared by the Deregulation Committees and awaits parliamentary approval. It would allow acceptance of payment by debit cards.

  The Second Casino Consultation

  Advertising, group and postal membership and slot machines:

  Following initial consultation earlier in 1996, we went out to consultation on 12 November on a package of measures to relax certain other controls on the operation of casinos. The proposals were as follows:
  Relax the total ban on advertising to allow casinos to give their name, address, telephone number and limited factual information about their facilities in non-national publications, including newspapers and magazines;
  Allow group membership and postal applications;
  Permit a maximum of three slot machines per gaming table subject to a discretion for the licensing justices to substitute a lower number on grounds of demand and suitability of the premises;
  There would be a power to regulate the size of stakes and prizes, although this would not be used initially;
  Make a number of detailed requirements including certification of manufacturers and agents by the Gaming Board and a monitoring and testing regime.
  277
  There was broad support for the advertising proposals. A few organisations were against any relaxation in the controls. However, this is a very modest relaxation, allowing casinos merely to give out information about themselves. I do not believe that necessary protection for the public would be removed by this measure.

  Most respondents also supported the proposals for group membership and postal applications. A few were opposed but most were content with the detailed safeguards proposed.

  We will prepare draft proposals in the form of a deregulation order.

  I am still considering the more extensive proposals for slot machines in casinos. Some concerns have been expressed about the nature of such machines. However, they are common in casinos throughout the world, usually in substantially greater numbers than we propose. But I consider that such machines must be strictly regulated. More detailed work would be required on the technical specification, monitoring and other arrangements before we could introduce legislation. We will continue our discussions with the Gaming Board and the industry.

  Permitted areas

  We proposed to allow casinos in 21 new locations, including London docklands and a special category of seven conference towns.

  Outside London, most of the proposed new areas attracted support or neutrality from their local councils and reasonable support from other local interests. I propose to remove Peterborough from the list; its council remained opposed and there was also significant other local opposition.

  In the London area, most local authorities have welcomed our proposals. Slough is considering its position. I am in further contact with Croydon council, which has recently sought more information about the implications of permitted area status and its role in the regulatory regime for casinos.

  I have taken account of representations in favour of greater casino provision in east London. In addition to Dartford and Redbridge, I intend to designate a permitted area within docklands, which will put it on a par with other urban development areas within Great Britain.

  On the basis of up-to-date information provided by the British Association of Conference Destinations, I propose to add Milton Keynes and Weston-super-Mare to the category of conference towns to be designated as permitted areas.

  I also propose to redefine existing permitted areas to reflect local authority boundary changes.

  The changes that I wish to make could be implemented by secondary legislation. Before any new areas are introduced, however, I will need to address the resource, timing and other practical implications.

  Asylum Seekers
  Mr. Gerrard
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the asylum seekers currently held in detention(a) are awaiting a decision on
  278
  their asylum application, (b) are awaiting an appeal following a refusal of their asylum application and (c) have had an appeal rejected. [19561]

  Mr. Kirkhope
  The available information is given in the table.

  Number of people recorded as being detained1.2 on 31 January 19973 who had sought asylum at some stage, by stage of application and immigration status

  Stage of application

  Port

  Illegal entrant

  Subject to deportation action

  Total

  Awaiting an initial decision

  103

  57

  15

  175

  Awaiting result of an appeal

  203

  144

  29

  376

  Awaiting removal after refusal

  86

  144

  17

  217

  Total

  392

  315

  61

  768

  1 Persons detained solely under powers contained in Schedule 2 or 3 to the Immigration Act 1971.

  2 These figures include people who have been in detention for less than one month. Because of the delay in recording receptions into, and releases from, detention and the large number of persons detained for a short period of time, the figures should be used with caution.

  3 Illegal entrants and persons subject to deportation action are as at 31 January, port cases are as at 3 February 1997.

  Sexual Orientation (Police Database)
  Mr. Michael Brown
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 3 March,Official Report, column 463, (1) if he will make it his policy to ensure that any references to individuals' sexuality are deleted from the police national computer; [19434]

  (2) on how many occasions an individual's sexual orientation has been recorded on the police national computer. [19433]

  Mr. Maclean
  There is no specific data field on the police national computer for recording sexual orientation. This might be inferred from the details of the convictions history and offending pattern. Information recorded on the PNC must be relevant to the purposes for which it is held in order to comply with the data protection principles of the Data Protection Act 1984. Data on sexual orientation would not be relevant for these purposes and would be removed if found to have been improperly recorded.

  Records are not kept of how many occasions an individual's sexual orientation may have been improperly recorded on the PNC.

  Prisoners (London)
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison inmates there were in each London prison on 1 March. [19492]

  Miss Widdecombe
  Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
  279
  Letter from A. J. Pearson to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking how many prison inmates there were in each London prison on 1 March.
  Provisional figures are available for 28 February 1997 and these are detailed in the attached table.

  Population in London Prison Service establishments on 28 February 1997

  Prison Service establishment

  Population on 28 February 19971

  Belmarsh

  868

  Brixton

  617

  Downview

  289

  Feltham

  866

  Highdown

  689

  Holloway

  508

  Latchmere House

  174

  Pentonville

  908

  Wandsworth

  852

  Wormwood Scrubs

  1,213

  1 Provisional figures.

  Burglaries
  Mr. Callaghan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of burglaries in each of the last five years was committed by people aged under 21 years. [19687]

  Mr. Maclean
  Information available is given in the table.

  Percentage of persons cautioned and convicted at all courts for burglary offences who were aged under 21 years, 1990 to 1995

  England and Wales

  1990

  1991

  1992

  1993

  1994

  1995

  Percentage

  64.8

  60.9

  58.9

  57.8

  58.4

  58.3

  Youth Crime
  Mr. George
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the percentage change in the number of crimes committed by youths in the past 10 years. [19822]

  Mr. Maclean
  Information available is given in the table.

  Number and percentage change of known offenders (those cautioned or convicted at all courts) aged 10 to under 18 by type of offence, 1985 and 1995

  England and Wales

  Thousands

  Type of offence

  1985

  1995

  Percentage change

  Indictable

  213.3

  132.8

  -38

  Summary (excluding motoring)

  50.0

  46.2

  -9

  All offences (excluding summary motoring)

  256.2

  179.1

  -32

  Violent Crime
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) sex offences, (b) homicides and (c) other violent crimes were recorded in West Yorkshire in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of these led to successful prosecutions. [19690]
  280
  Mr. Maclean
  The requested information on recorded crime is given in the following table:

  Notifiable offences recorded by the police West Yorkshire police force area

  Year

  Sexual offences

  Homicide

  All violent crime1

  1985

  1,219

  26

  7,660

  1986

  1,247

  25

  8,062

  1987

  1,311

  31

  8,940

  1988

  1,275

  26

  10,047

  1989

  1,537

  33

  11,381

  1990

  1,584

  43

  12,109

  1991

  1,675

  34

  13,544

  1992

  1,361

  34

  13,727

  1993

  1,465

  27

  13,828

  1994

  1,504

  27

  13,886

  1995

  1,416

  43

  13,118

  1 Offence groups of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery.

  The available court date relate to defendants convicted in the West Yorkshire police force area and are given in the following table. Information is given for the years 1985, 1990 and 1995 only. The provision of data for other years would involve disproportionate cost. It is not appropriate to express these figures as a percentage of recorded offences as they relate to offenders who may have been proceeded against for more than one offence.

  Number of defendants convicted at all courts for (a) sexual offences, (b) homicide and (c) violent crimes1 in the West Yorkshire Police Force Area 1985, 1990 and 1995

  West Yorkshire police force area

  Offence

  1985

  1990

  1995

  Sexual offences

  345

  328

  256

  Homicide

  21

  24

  18

  Violent crimes1

  2,861

  3,447

  2,751

  1 Includes the indictable offence groups of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery and the summary offence of common assault.

  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) sex offences, (b) homicides and (c) violent crimes were recorded in each of the last 20 years; and what percentage of these led to successful prosecutions. [19691]

  Mr. Maclean
  The requested information on recorded crime is given in the following table:

  Notifiable offence recorded by the police

  England and Wales

  Year

  Sexual offences

  Homicide

  All violent crime1

  1975

  23,731

  515

  106,044

  1976

  22,203

  565

  111,562

  1977

  21,313

  482

  117,233

  1978

  22,367

  532

  122,590

  1979

  21,843

  629

  129,285

  1980

  21,107

  620

  133,359

  1981

  19,424

  559

  139,913

  1982

  19,729

  618

  151,261

  1983

  20,410

  550

  153,871

  1984

  20,222

  621

  159,299

  1985

  21,456

  616

  170,650

  1986

  22,684

  661

  178,203

  1987

  25,154

  688

  198,829

  1988

  26,529

  624

  216,214

  281

  Notifiable offence recorded by the police

  England and Wales

  Year

  Sexual offences

  Homicide

  All violent crime1

  1989

  29,733

  641

  239,858

  1990

  29,044

  669

  249,904

  1991

  29,423

  725

  265,085

  1992

  29,528

  687

  284,201

  1993

  31,284

  670

  294,231

  1994

  31,971

  726

  310,332

  1995

  30,274

  745

  310,936

  1 Offence groups of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery.

  The available court data relate to defendants convicted in England and Wales and are given in the following table. Information is given for the years 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995 only. The provision of data for other years would involve disproportionate cost. It is not appropriate to express these figures as a percentage of recorded offences as they relate to offenders who may have been proceeded against for more than one offence.

  Number of defendants convicted at all courts for (a) sexual offences, (b) homicide and (c) violent crimes1 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995

  England and Wales

  Offence

  1975

  1980

  1985

  1990

  1995

  Sexual offences

  6,848

  8,042

  6,010

  6,605

  4,702

  Homicide

  377

  477

  441

  387

  455

  Violent crimes1

  48,660

  65,123

  58,564

  69,215

  57,484

  1 Includes the indictable offence groups of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery and the summary offence of common assault.

  Closed Circuit Television
  Mr. Alan Williams
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the successful bids, in Wales, for CCTV funding; and how many bids were rejected and in which areas of Wales they were located. [20050]

  Mr. Maclean
  In the third round of the closed circuit television challenge competition—1997–98—the following bids from Wales were successful:

  Bid

  Amount awarded £

  Monmouth town centre

  112,500

  Prestatyn town centre

  85,500

  Wrexham town centre

  50,000

  There were 13 unsuccessful bids from the following areas:

  Abergele town centre.

  Ammanford pedestrian and commercial centre.

  Brecon, Newtown and Llandrindod Wells town centres.

  Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend.

  Lansbury Park, Caerphilly.

  Llanrumney, Cardiff.

  Ysgol John Bright, Llandudno.

  282

  Alway, Bettws, Llanmartin and Ringland shopping areas, Newport.

  Port Talbot town centre.

  Bishop Gore School and Singleton Park, Sketty, Swansea.

  De la Beche Street, Dynevor Place and the Kingsway, Swansea.

  Tenby town centre and harbour.

  Byte Street, Treherbert.

NATIONAL HERITAGE

  Sporting Ambassadors
  Lady Olga Maitland
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when she will announce the conclusions of the committee chaired by Sir Colin Cowdrey on sporting ambassadors. [20511]

  Mr. Sproat
  I will be announcing the committee's conclusions on the morning of 14 March and copies of the announcement will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

  Private Finance Initiative
  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will provide a breakdown by project of PFI schemes for which her Department is responsible as identified in table 5.5 of the Red Book. [18930]

  Mr. Sproat
  [holding answer 6 March 1997]: The breakdown is in the following table. The figures in the table represented best estimates at the time the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1997–98" was prepared. The figures in the FSBR are rounded to the nearest £10 million.

  PFI Capital expenditure

  PFl Capital expenditure

  1997–98

  1998–99

  1999–2000

  Total

  Signed contracts

  1.4

  1.4

  1.4

  4.2

  British Museum Object Store

  13.0

  11.0

  24.0

  British Museum Great Court

  1.0

  1.0

  Science Museum Wellcome Wing

  1.0

  1.0

  Tate Bankside Roof Observatory

  4.0

  4.0

  Tate Millbank Queen Alexander site

  15.0

  15.0

  Tate Millbank electric sub-station

  0.3

  0.3

  Natural History Museum combined heat and power

  1.0

  2.0

  3.0

  British Library bibliographic cataloguing

  >4.0

  4.0

  British Library Boston Spa building

  9.0

  4.0

  13.0

  British Library Colindale building

  10.0

  5.0

  15.0

  British Library catering and conference

  1.5

  1.5

  British Library digitisation

  35.0

  40.0

  75.0

  Sports Council IT

  2.0

  2.0

  English Heritage— Stonehenge English Heritage—GIS

  1.0

  1.0

  2.0

  Total

  38.9

  60.7

  65.4

  165

  283

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Industrial Tribunals
  Mr. Byers
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many law members of industrial tribunals were surveyed in the recent review of members' expenses and how many replied; what was the proportion of employee to employer members taking part; how many responses were received from each region; if he will place details of the survey in the Library; and what action he plans to take as a result of the survey. [20049]

  Mr. John M. Taylor
  Prior to the recent notification to lay members of industrial tribunals of changes to the arrangements for payment of their fees and expenses, an analysis of claims was undertaken. The analysis was based on a random sample of 400 claims made by members from across Great Britain. The sample did not separately identify claims made by employer and employee nominees. I will arrange for a summary of the results to be placed in the Library of the House.

  Small Firms Loans Guarantee Scheme
  Sir Michael Grylls
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to improve the Government publicity relating to the small firms loan guarantee scheme. [19758]

  Mr. Page
  There are no plans to change the way in which the scheme is publicised.

  Information on the scheme is widely available. Details appear in relevant DTI publications and there is a separate scheme booklet. This is widely distributed to lenders and business intermediaries throughout the United Kingdom and is freely available directly from the DTI. Currently, around 5,000 copies a month are requested.

  The main focus for promoting the scheme lies with lenders and intermediaries. The scheme is appropriate only when a lender considers the business proposal for a loan to be viable, and would be prepared to lend, but for the lack of collateral to use as security against a conventional loan or overdraft.

  Sir Michael Grylls
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to make the booklet relating to the small firms loans guarantee scheme more comprehensive. [19759]

  Mr. Page
  The booklet will be updated later this year to reflect recent changes.

  Roslin Institute
  Mr. Cash
  To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will place in the Library copies of the agreements between the Roslin Institute and other bodies since the inception of the Roslin Institute. [18967]

  Mr. Ian Taylor
  The Roslin Institute enters into a very wide range of contracts and other agreements in the course of its business. All the contracts relating to commercial activities, including the exploitation of research, are classified as commercial in confidence.
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OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

  Overseas Police Officers (Scholarships)
  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries whose police officers received scholarship awards in Britain in 1991. [19916]

  Dr. Liam Fox
  In 1991, the FCO diplomatic wing and the ODA did not keep centrally a record of police officers who received scholarship awards. It would involve a disproportionate cost to collate this information now for all such projects.

  Namibia
  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date the human rights performance of Namibia was last graded for internal purposes by his Department. [19913]

  Dr. Liam Fox
  We have no formal grading system. But with Namibia, as with other countries, we take human rights performance into account when monitoring political developments.

  Sudan
  Mr. Corbyn
  Asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the total bilateral aid contribution to multilateral aid programmes in the Sudan for each of the last five years. [19600]

  Dr. Liam Fox
  Since 1992, the UK has channelled £13.5 million of bilateral emergency assistance for Sudan through multilateral agencies. The breakdown of disbursements together with information on disbursements through international non-governmental organisations is as follows:

  Multilateral agencies

  NGOs

  Total

  1992

  1.6

  8.0

  9.6

  1993

  5.0

  6.3

  11.3

  1994

  3.9

  10.2

  14.1

  1995

  2.2

  5.0

  7.2

  1996

  0.8

  5.2

  6.0

  Total

  13.5

  34.7

  48.2

ENVIRONMENT

  Radioactive Waste (Vitrification)
  Mr. Meacher
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what evaluation(a) his Department and (b) consultants to his Department have made of the assessment by the US Department of Energy's glass advisory panel of the safety of using vitrified glass to encapsulate high-activity radioactive waste; and if he will make a statement on the current operational status of vitrification plants for nuclear waste immobilisation in the United Kingdom. [19912]

  Mr. Gummer
  Neither my Department nor consultants used by my Department are aware of an assessment by the US Department of Energy's glass advisory panel of
  285
  the safety of using vitrified glass to encapsulate high-level radioactive waste. The status of vitrification plants are matters for the operators subject to meeting regulatory requirements. But I understand that the one vitrification plant in the UK is operated using two processing lines at the BNFL, Sellafield site in Cumbria. This plant was commissioned in February 1991 and has a consent to operate in full compliance with all UK regulations. BNFL is building a third operating line at Sellafield which is expected to be commissioned in the year 2000.

  Electricity Turbines (Fisheries)
  Sir Cranley Onslow
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure that the installation of turbines by electricity generating companies does not cause damage to migratory fisheries on(a) the River Leven and (b) other rivers in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [19676]

  Mr. Robert B. Jones
  Section 14 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975—amended by schedule 15 the Environment Act 1995—requires the owner or occupier of any mill, defined as including any erection for the purpose of developing water power which diverts water from any watercourse frequented by salmon or migratory trout, to place and maintain, at his own cost, a screen to prevent access to the intake by those fish. Such a screen is required to be so located and constructed that, so far as reasonably practicable, those fish are not injured or damaged by it. This obligation applies only where the intake channel was constructed after 18 July 1923.

  There are two abstractions on the River Leven for hydro-power generation. Both intakes were constructed before 1923 and so are not covered by the screen obligation. Neither currently has screens in place, but the Environment Agency is well aware of the issue and is seeking agreement with the abstractor for the installation of suitable screens.

  Local Authority Delegations
  Mr. McNamara
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those local authority delegations which met him or his Department's Ministers, and the hon. Member who accompanied each such delegation, and the subjects discussed between 1 November 1996 and 28 February 1997. [19717]

  Sir Paul Beresford
  A total of 79 authorities, as listed, sent delegations to Ministers in the Department of the Environment during the consultation period on the proposed local government finance settlement for England for 1997–98. The composition of each delegation was entirely a matter for individual local authorities, which were free to invite hon. Members to accompany them as they saw fit. A range of local government finance issues was discussed at each meeting.

  1. County Councils (21 meetings)

  Bedfordshire

  Derbyshire

  Devon

  Dorset

  Durham

  Gloucestershire

  Hampshire

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  Hereford and Worcester

  Kent

  Lancashire

  Lincolnshire

  Norfolk

  Northamptonshire

  Northumberland

  Nottinghamshire

  Oxfordshire

  Shropshire

  Somerset

  Staffordshire

  Suffolk

  Warwickshire.

  2 Shire Districts (26 meetings)

  Blaby (Leicestershire)

  Castle Point (Essex)

  Castle Morpeth (Northumberland)

  Copeland (Cumbria)

  Darlington (Durham)

  Derby (Derbyshire)

  East Hampshire

  Harlow (Essex)

  Hertsmere (Hertfordshire)

  Leicester (Leicestershire)

  Luton (Bedfordshire)

  Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire)

  Northampton (Northamptonshire)

  Nottingham City (Nottinghamshire)

  Plymouth City (Devon)

  Poole (Dorset)

  Purbeck (Dorset)

  Rutland (Leicestershire)

  Salisbury (Wiltshire)

  Stoke on Trent (Staffordshire)

  Warrington (Cheshire)

  Waverley (Surrey)

  West Lindsey (Lincolnshire)

  West Somerset

  Woking (Surrey)

  York City (North Yorkshire).

  3. Metropolitan Districts (12 meetings)

  Barnsley (South Yorkshire)

  Bradford (West Yorkshire)

  Birmingham (West Midlands)

  Coventry (West Midlands)

  Doncaster (South Yorkshire)

  Manchester (Greater Manchester)

  Newcastle upon Tyne

  Rotherham (South Yorkshire)

  Sheffield (South Yorkshire)

  South Yorks districts

  Stockport (Greater Manchester)

  Wolverhampton (West Midlands).

  4. London Boroughs (10 meetings)

  Brent

  Greenwich

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  Hammersmith and Fulham

  Harrow

  Havering

  Hillingdon

  Kingston upon Thames

  Merton

  Redbridge

  Richmond upon Thames.

  5. Unitary Authorities (7 meetings)

  Bristol City

  Ex Cleveland Unitaries

  Isle of Wight

  Middlesbrough

  Redcar and Cleveland

  South Gloucester

  Stockton on Tees.

  6. Police Authorities (1 meeting)

  Greater Manchester.

  7. Fire Authorities (2 meetings)

  Humberside Fire

  Tyne and Wear FCDA.

  British Waterways
  Sir Anthony Durant
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what part regeneration plays in British Waterways' management and operation of the canal network. [20606]

  Mr. Robert B. Jones
  Waterways provide an important catalyst for urban and rural regeneration. One of British Waterways' aims is to promote and accommodate conservation and regeneration. In doing so it works with a range of partners in the private, public and voluntary sectors.

  An excellent example of the role of canals in regeneration is the Birmingham waterfront where over £300 million of private sector finance has been attracted to developments alongside British Waterways' canals. Another success story is the joint investment of £7 million by British Waterways and Gloucester city council in Gloucester docks which has attracted over £30 million in private finance. The shift in the city's focus to the docks has seen the numbers employed rise from 100 to 2,000 and tourism visits rise from a few thousand to over 1 million. In Scotland the millennium link, aided by £32 million from the Millennium Commission, will create 4,200 permanent jobs and attract £400 million of private investment along the 70-mile waterway corridor.

  Blight
  Mr. Rowe
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the report of the interdepartmental working group on blight. [20607]

  Mr. Robert B. Jones
  The interdepartmental working group on blight was established to review the scope, cause and effects of blight arising during the various stages of major infrastructure projects and to consider whether any practical changes could be made to existing arrangements for property purchase and compensation. The group published a discussion paper last June and a progress report, which set out the various proposals that had been 288
  put to group, was published last November. Since then the group has been evaluating these ideas and assessing the costs and benefits of various options. That work has yet to be completed. I anticipate that the group will now complete its work in about the middle of this year.

  In addition to a consideration of possible changes to the purchase and compensation arrangements, the group is looking at steps that might be taken to reduce the blighting effects of projects by, for example, speeding up decision processes and reducing uncertainty. On 14 January I announced consultations on proposals to speed up both the development plans and planning appeals processes, all of which has the potential to reduce blight. However, the group has drawn attention to two ideas which might be pursued ahead of its final report. I therefore propose to begin consultation on ways of reducing the blighting effects of infrastructure projects which are shown on statutory development plans, but which have subsequently been abandoned, and on developing a code of good practice on the timely dissemination of information about projects by major infrastructure developers. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland is considering similar proposals.

  Listed Buildings (Green Belt)
  Sir Sydney Chapman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his policy in respect of the listed buildings in the green belt. [20608]

  Mr. Robert B. Jones
  National policy for green belts is set out in our planning policy guidance note 2 and for listed buildings in planning policy guidance note 15. PPG2 confirms the importance which the Government attach to green belts, and maintains the general presumption against "inappropriate" development within them—as detailed in PPG2. Very special circumstances are needed to outweigh this presumption. The Government also attach a high priority to protecting the historic environment and to ensuring that the special architectural or historic interest of listed buildings is fully recognised. PPG15 makes clear that, in general, the best way of ensuring the upkeep of historic buildings is to keep them in active use; and PPG2 advises that suitable reuse of a building is to be preferred to redevelopment where it is of architectural or historic interest.

  Where a change of use, extension or alteration to a listed building in the green belt would be essential for, or contribute significantly to, ensuring a viable future for the building or for maintaining it in good order, this could constitute or contribute to the "very special circumstances" which can justify inappropriate development in the green belt. Proposals would have to be of a high standard of design to complement or enhance their surroundings; and any proposals would need listed building consent as well as planning permission.

  Local Authority Services
  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the research on "CCT and Local Authority Blue-Collar Services" by Austin Mayhead and Co. [20672]
  289
  Sir Paul Beresford
  My Department will publish today research on "CCT and Local Authority Blue-Collar Services" by Austin Mayhead and Co. It followed up an earlier piece of research into blue-collar compulsory competitive tendering carried out by the institute of local government studies at the university of Birmingham.

  This research confirms the progress that has been made in achieving greater efficiency and value for money in the delivery of local authority services through fair competition between in-house teams and private contractors. Average annual savings from blue-collar CCT in the second round are running at 9 per cent. compared with 6.5 per cent. in the first round. Most authorities recognise that the quality of CCT services has improved since the first round. Three quarters said that CCT had resulted in clearer and more comprehensive service specifications and two thirds thought it had resulted in a closer reflection of consumer needs.

  Only a minority—11 per cent.—of authorities, however, are supportive of the compulsory element of the CCT regime and almost a third said they would not undertake competitive tendering of services should compulsion be removed.

  The report looks at the experiences of authorities during the second round of tendering for blue-collar services and analyses data on costs, number of bids, changes in specifications and other factual information about contracts.

  I will place in the Library today copies of the executive summary of a copy of the full report entitled "CCT and Local Authority Blue-Collar Services".

PRIME MINISTER

  Pay Review Bodies
  Mr. Bernard Jenkin
  To ask the Prime Minister what is the current membership of the public sector pay review bodies. [20512]

  The Prime Minister
  The current membership, with effect from 1 April 1997, is as listed:

  Senior salaries review body

  Sir Michael Perry CBE (Chairman)

  Sir Gordon Hourston

  Sir Anthony Wilson

  Sir Sydney Lipworth QC

  Mrs. Rosemary Day

  Ms Patricia Mann

  Mr. Mark Sheldon

  The Hon. Michael Beloff QC

  Professor Sandra Dawson

  Mr. David Clayman.

  Armed forces pay review body

  Sir Gordon Hourston (Chairman)

  Mr. Michael Bolton

  Mrs. Dorothy Venables

  Mr. John Cox OBE

  Mr. John Crosby

  Vice Admiral Sir Toby Frere KCB (from July 1997)

  Sir Gavin Laird CBE

  Mrs. Kay Coleman.

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  Review body on nursing staff, midwives, health visitors and professions allied to medicine

  Mr. Bryan Rigby (Chairman)

  Miss Anne Mackie OBE

  Professor Gillian Raab

  Ms Ruth Lea

  Mrs. Shelia Gleig

  Mrs. Anne Dean

  Mr. Lawrence Lyndon Haddon

  Mr. Keith Miles.

  Review body on doctors and dentists remuneration

  Mr. Brandon Gough (Chairman)

  Mrs. Carol Hui

  Dr. Elizabeth Nelson

  Mr. David Penton

  Mr. Michael Innes

  Mr. Christopher King CBE

  Mrs. Beryl Brewer

  Mr. Roderick Jackson.

  School teachers review body

  Mr. Tony Vineall

  Mrs. Brigita Amey

  Mr. Michael Harding

  Mrs. Julia Cuthbetson

  Miss Janet Langdon

  Mr. Peter Gelding

  Mr. Vincent Harris.

TRANSPORT

  Marine Oil Pollution (Contingency Plans)
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate he has made of the annual cost to local authorities of(a) drawing up and (b) maintaining their contingency plans for dealing with marine oil pollution; [19299]

  (2) what arrangements are in place to check the adequacy and resilience of local authority contingency plans for dealing with marine oil pollution. [19300]

  Mr. Bowis
  I have asked the chief executive of the Coastguard agency, Mr. Chris Harris, to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from C. J. Harris to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the costs to local authorities of drawing up and maintaining their contingency plans for dealing with marine oil pollution and the adequacy and resilience of these plans.
  The forthcoming review of the National Contingency Plan will include an exercise to identify the costs to local authorities of preparing and maintaining contingency plans.
  The National Contingency Plan, maintained by the Agency's Marine Pollution Control Unit (MPCU) states that "each coastal local authority at district, island, county or regional level, should have a contingency plan so that an effective counter-pollution response may be effected speedily at any time." A copy of the August 1996 version is now in the House of Commons Library.
  Annex 11 of the National Contingency Plan contains a list of items which should be included in local authority plans. MPCU encourages local authorities to submit their plans for the Unit to

  291
  check that they are consistent with the National Plan. The Unit notifies them of any omissions and may make suggestions for amendments and improvements. MPCU also holds four one week residential training courses for local authority staff, covering all aspects of contingency planning. It encourages local authorities to exercise their plans and carry out training using equipment from MPCU's stockpiles. From time to time MPCU takes part in local authority exercises and incorporates local authorities into MPCU's exercises.

  M45 (Litter)
  Mr. Pawsey
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 5 March,Official Report, column 609, if he will instruct the Highways Agency to publish figures relating to the regularity of litter collection on the M45. [19562]

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

  Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. James Pawsey, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent question about the regularity of litter collection on the M45.
  The funding available for motorway and trunk road routine maintenance this year has been extremely tight. In these circumstances we have taken the view that our prime concern must be to maintain the safety of the motorway and trunk road network. Consequently, those activities directly related to road safety have first call on our funds.
  This means that the normal programme of routine maintenance works carried out by our agent authorities, in accordance with our Code of Practice, has had to be curtailed. We have not been able to carry out activities beyond those necessary for achieving safety. Litter picking on the hard shoulder of the M45 is carried out every four weeks, and additionally if the need arises. Verge scavenging on the M45 has not been carried out since March 1996.

  M25 (Works)
  Mr. Mackinlay
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how the Highways Agency will identify those projects that will be delayed or deleted as a consequence of the additional expenditure it will have to meet consequent upon the relaying of the capping and asphalt surfacing replacement between junctions 6 and 8. [19572]

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

  Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Andrew Mackinlay, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent question asking which projects will be delayed or deleted as a consequence of the additional expenditure on relaying the capping layer and renewing the asphalt surfacing between junctions 6 and 8 on the M25.
  It will be some time yet before we know accurately what the additional costs will be. They will be the subject of negotiations with the contractor and not all of them will fall to the Agency.
  It is therefore not possible to give a precise answer to the question but whatever the cost, we must manage our programme within our budget. That said, there are no proposals for deleting schemes as a consequence. The most likely outcome is an adjustment to the timing on delivering projects as part of our normal management of projects to budget. But given that any additional costs are minor in relation to our overall budget, any delays will be small.

  Traffic Congestion
  Mr. Andrew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those stretches of road, including 292
  bridges, classified as orange and red for congestion in 1995 for each region which have residual life of (a) nought years and (b) nought to four years; and if he will specify the maintenance planned for those stretches of road. [20136]

  Mr. Watts
  The residual life of the road network is held on a database comprising some 20,000 discrete sections designed to permit efficient computer analysis. The sections of the network covering the congestion maps and the residual life bands specified in the question are likely to number some 2,000 reference sections which could be identified and interpreted to provide a meaningful answer only at disproportionate cost.

  The Highways Agency's plans for future maintenance of the trunk road network have not yet been finalised.

  Coastguard Service
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) he will assess the impact of safety of the reduction in sector posts by the Coastguard agency; and if he will make a statement; [19022]

  (2) what assessment he has made of the effects of the increasing role of volunteers in supporting the Coastguard agency. [19021]

  Mr. Bowis
  I have asked the chief executive of the Coastguard agency to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from C. J. Harris to Ms Joan Walley, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the reduction in sector posts and the role of volunteers in supporting the Coastguard Agency.
  The recent review of uniformed coastguard officers has introduced a new higher grade sector manager level with enhanced responsibilities, skills and abilities. This will enable the number of administrative sectors to be reduced from 90 to 64. These changes are administrative and will not affect HM Coastguard's coastal response nor increase reliance upon volunteers.
  Although volunteers play a vital part in the service we provide, the Agency is not increasing their role or number. In fact the opposite is true; nearly 200 Coastguard Watch Assistants have been recruited to replace the part-time auxiliary volunteers in operations rooms and in regional and district offices.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  European Commission Committees
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library(a) the titles and short description of the functions of each regulatory, advisory or other committee of the Commission of the European Communities, (b) the names and details of each member and (c) their method of appointments and the designation of their responsible officers; and if they publish an annual report. [19435]

  Mr. David Davis
  A list of Commission committees is in section III of volume 4 of the 1997 draft general budget of the European Communities which is available in the Libraries of the House. The other details requested are not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
  293

  Intergovernmental Conference
  Mr. Charles Kennedy
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress with the European IGC. [18312]

  Mr. David Davis
  The intergovernmental conference is progressing well. All member states are working towards a conclusion to the intergovernmental conference at the Amsterdam European Council.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

  Departmental Web Site
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when her Department established its Internet site; what representations she has received and what data she has collated on the use and utility of the site; and what steps she is taking to increase the amount of information available via the site. [19142]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The Department's Internet site was established with the merger of the former Education and Employment Departments in the summer of 1995, both of which had their own sites for a short time prior to this.

  No significant representations have been received about the site, except for a few constructive comment received from users. Statistics show that the site is accessed, on average, 35,000 times a week.

  The Department's policy is to extend its site, wherever possible, to provide information about its policy areas.

  Customer Charters
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much her Department and its executive agencies have spent drafting, publishing and circulating each of their customer charters and customer standard documents; and how many copies of each document have been issued. [19393]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The Department and its executive agencies publish four charters and one customer standard document. The costs of publishing these documents and the number of copies issued are as follows:

  Publishing and circulating (£ millions)

  Number of copies issued (millions)

  The parent's charter

  3.073

  20

  The jobseeker's charter

  0.02

  0.055

  The higher education and further education charters

  0.77

  2.87 2.42

  The overseas labour service statement of service standard

  0.002

  0.02

  The involvement of civil servants in drafting and preparing text is part of their normal responsibilities and cannot be quantified separately.

  It would compromise the Department's confidential tendering procedures to disclose separately the payments made for the circulation of charters.
  294
  The figures shown cover the costs of publishing and circulating the latest version of the jobseeker's charter. The information on costs for previous versions could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  The higher education and further education charters were produced jointly. It is not possible to disaggregate costs. Although the main publishing and circulation costs are shown, there is some additional on-going expenditure which is not possible to itemise separately.

  Nursery Vouchers (Wandsworth)
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many nursery vouchers have been taken up in the London borough of Wandsworth. [19490]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  The following table shows the numbers of nursery education vouchers issued to parents and redeemed, in whole or in part, for each term during phase 1 of the voucher scheme in Wandsworth.

  Summer 1996

  Autumn 1996

  Spring 1997–to date

  Vouchers issued

  3,123

  3,147

  3,026

  Vouchers redeemed in whole or part

  2,798

  2,760

  2,437

  Deaf and Visually Impaired Children (Teachers)
  Mr. Matthew Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) which teachers of deaf children are required to hold a qualification for teaching the deaf; [19895]

  (2) what specialist qualifications for teaching the deaf are required of a teacher of hearing-impaired children in a special unit where that child is registered in a mainstream class. [19897]

  Mrs. Gillan
  Teachers of classes of hearing impaired children, including teachers of children registered in a mainstream class but taught in a special unit, are required to gain a qualification recognised by the Secretary of State, within three years of appointment.

  Mr. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate her Department has made of(a) the number of schools and (b) the number of special classes, in England and Wales, which require teachers with a qualification for teaching the deaf. [19896]

  Mrs. Gillan
  In January 1995 there were 28 maintained and 13 non-maintained special schools for children with hearing impairments—source: table 10 of "Statistical Bulletin", 9/96. The Department does not collect statistics on special classes for hearing impaired children. Teachers of such a class, whether in a special school or a mainstream school, must gain an approved qualification.

  Questions relating to schools in Wales are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

  Mr. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if statements made for(a) deaf and (b) visually impaired children below statutory school age, require prior consultation with an appropriately qualified teacher under the Education Act 1981; and if she will make a statement. [19894]
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  Mrs. Gillan
  The Education (Special Educational Needs) Regulations 1994 require local education authorities making a statutory assessment of a child with hearing and/or visual impairment to seek advice from a teacher with a relevant qualification. The Government have no plans to change this requirement.

  Private Finance Initiative (Bolton)
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what decision has been reached concerning funding by the private finance initiative for the Caste Hill site in Bolton; and if she will make a statement. [19015]

  Mr. Robin Squire
  Bolton local education authority is assessing the feasibility of using the private finance initiative to take forward a project to build a replacement primary school and community facilities on the Castle Hill site. It is for the authority to decide whether the PFI offers the best value for money for the project.

  I am encouraged by the amount of interest that has been shown by local education authorities in the PFI to date. There are currently 15 pathfinder projects across the schools sector, including LEA, grant-maintained and voluntary-aided schools. There is a wide range of projects: examples include replacement secondary and primary schools and grouped projects for catering, information technology equipment and energy management facilities.

  Enborne Lodge School
  Mr. Rendel
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answers of 4 March 1997,Official Report, columns 557–58, if the proceeds of the sale of Enborne Lodge school will be divided according to the provisions in force at the time of the decision to sell or those in force at the time of the sale itself. [19952]

  Mrs. Gillan
  A final decision on the interpretation of legislation would be a matter for the courts. Subject to that, however, my right hon. Friend considers that the provisions which would apply would be those in force at the time of any sale. Proposals by the Association of London Government which would affect the arrangements for sharing the proceeds from disposal of certain former Inner London education authority property are at present under consideration.

  Teachers' Pay
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the outcome of the consultation on her proposals to accept the School Teachers Review Body's recommendations for a 3.3 per cent. increase for teachers. [20614]

  Mrs. Gillian Shephard
  I am today confirming that I am accepting the School Teachers Review Body's recommendation to increase teachers' pay by 3.3 per cent. This award will be staged so that teachers will receive 2 per cent. on 1 April 1997 and the remainder on 1 December 1997. I will lay an order before Parliament which will give the values of the new spine points, scale and allowances with effect from 1 April 1997 and 1 December 1997.
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  I am writing to the teacher associations, the National Employers Organisation for School Teachers and the head teachers and chairmen of governors of all schools in England and Wales notifying them of my decision. Officials will be writing to other interested parties.

  I am announcing my confirmation of the pay award immediately because I want teachers to receive the first stage of their pay increase as soon as possible after 1 April 1997.

  I have received a number of representations about the level of the award and the staging of it and considered them carefully. The Government have decided to stage the pay awards for all the review body groups this year. Staging will make it possible to accommodate the costs within spending plans without prejudicing the planned level of service delivery. In addition, staging reflects the Government's view that settlements should be lower this year both generally throughout the public sector and specifically for the pay review body groups. I believe that phasing the increase will make it more manageable for local education authorities and schools.

  I have also decided to confirm my other proposals listed, which will come into force from 1 September 1997 by means of revisions to the "School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document":

  (i) the STPCD should be amended to make it clear that sick leave should count as a period of service for the purpose of the award of experience points, but that the award of such points for absences from duty other than for holiday periods and maternity leave should be discretionary;

  (ii) within one month of the commencement of a period of absence of a head or a deputy the governing body should be required to consider whether payment of an acting allowance would be appropriate to an individual who is called upon to act as the head or deputy;

  (iii) the level of an acting allowance should ensure that the individual receives remuneration equivalent to an appropriate point on the pay spine for heads and deputies, not less than the minimum of the normal range for the school group but not necessarily the same as for a substantive postholder whose salary may reflect factors particular to the individual;

  (iv) individuals acting as heads or deputies and in receipt of an acting allowance should be regarded during that time as having the conditions of employment of the post for which they are temporarily being paid;

  (v) where teachers in charge of Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) are paid as heads they should be subject to the conditions of employment of heads; and

  (vi) where other centrally-based teachers are paid as heads or deputies their conditions of employment should be agreed on a separate contractual basis.

  I also confirm the following proposals which are not statutory recommendations because they will not in themselves require changes to be made to the STPCD 1996:

  (i) that appropriate guidance should be included in the NEE Circular on the application and management of the obligation of teachers to provide cover for absent colleagues, and the importance of effective management and monitoring of teacher absence;

  (ii) guidance should be provided in the DfEE's pay Circular which makes it clear that an acting allowance should be paid from, or backdated to, the time that the individual is called upon to perform functions that require the full authority of the post to be exercised, for example formulating aims and policies or appointing staff;

  297

  (iii) the Circular which accompanies the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document should include guidance based on the presumption that teachers in charge of PRUs should be paid as headteachers unless local circumstances make clear this is inappropriate, for example where the PRU is particularly small or part of an organisational structure which makes it different from other PRUs.

  Finally, on the STRB's recommendation that teacher governors should not be members of committees which determine the individual levels of pay of heads and deputies at their own school, I decided not to take a decision until after consultation. The arguments are balanced; I have now decided that the question will be considered further in the context of the review of the school government regulations. This will leave the matter as one for local discretion for the time being.

  Learning Credits
  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has for the implementation of learning credits; and if she will make a statement. [20615]

  Mr. Paice
  The White Paper "Learning to Compete", Cm 3486, published in December 1996 set out the Government's intention to introduce, progressively from September 1997, a new learning credits entitlement for all young people aged 14 to 21 to career planning and learning opportunities up to level 3. This will clarify and make more coherent young people's entitlement to post-16 learning and career planning, and increase still further their participation, motivation and attainment. Learning credits will be issued nationally from Easter 1998 to all 16-year-olds completing compulsory education.

  The consultation document "A Passport to Learning" published alongside the White Paper sought views on how learning credits should be implemented and their scope for further development.

  The Government's proposals have been warmly welcomed by respondents across the education and training worlds.

  The new learning credits entitlement includes:

  an improved entitlement to two weeks' work experience pre-16;

  enhanced careers education and guidance from 14;

  a new national record of achievement from 14;

  access by age 21 to learning opportunities leading, where appropriate, to level 3 qualifications; and

  continuing independent advice from the careers service post-16.

  The effective delivery of this entitlement will require the active partnership of careers services, training and enterprise councils, the Further Education Funding Council, local education authorities, schools, colleges and training providers.

  In taking forward learning credits through local partnerships, the Government believe that careers services should have the central role in delivering the learning credits entitlement. From September 1997 they will be responsible for a range of tasks including:

  issuing learning credits to those entering year 11;

  preparing young people in years 9 and 10, through group sessions, for learning credits;

  informing parents and schools about learning credits; and

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  providing extra help to those young people requiring further advice on how to use the learning credit.

  I am allocating £5.5 million to careers services for 1997–98 to enable them to fulfil these roles.

  The Government have decided that, initially, the learning credit will be in the form of a simple card which will be made available to all young people completing their compulsory education from Easter 1998. The experience of training and enterprise councils in delivering youth credits has shown that such cards can be a very effective mechanism for focusing young people on the range of options open to them.

  Learning credits will be made available to all young people. They will build on the best of youth credits arrangements. We intend to consider the potential for developing the card further to form the basis of systems for tracking more effectively how young people progress in post-16 learning. This should lead to improvements in planning, and contribute to evaluation of the effectiveness of learning provision and of the guidance process.

  The year 1997–98—the first year of learning credits—will be a transitional year. Careers education and guidance will be targeted, so that young people in their final year of compulsory education are advised how to use their credit effectively. In future years young people will receive this advice and guidance within a structured and coherent careers education, guidance and information package spanning years 10 and 11.

  Youth credits will be relevant to the transitional arrangements. Training and enterprise councils will be able, for 1997–98, either to adopt the national learning credits format from the outset or to continue with their current youth credit arrangements for the work-based route.

  More detailed guidance covering the implementation of learning credits will be made available to the key partners shortly.

  "A Passport to Learning" generated a great deal of interest in the potential for links to be developed between learning credits and the national record of achievement and lifetime learning. The Government will continue to reflect on these ideas.

WALES

  Local Government Finance
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement concerning the expected levels of council tax in 1997–98. [19213]

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  Local authorities in Wales are required to notify my Department of the level of council tax set for 1997–98 by 17 March 1997. The available provisional information is given in the following table. I shall write to the hon. Member when final figures are available and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

  Average band D Council taxes—1997–98

  Unitary authority

  Average band D payable1

  £

  Blaenau Gwent

  —

  Bridgend

  539

  Caerphilly

  —

  299

  Average band D Council taxes—1997–98

  Unitary authority

  Average band D payable1

  £

  Cardiff

  486

  Ceredigion

  562

  Conwy

  403

  Denbighshire

  —

  Flintshire

  511

  Gwynedd

  515

  Isle of Anglesey

  424

  Merthyr Tydfil

  569

  Monmouthshire

  403

  Neath Port Talbot

  619

  Newport

  413

  Pembrokeshire

  451

  Powys

  —

  Rhondda, Cynon, Taff

  —

  Swansea

  478

  Torfaen

  483

  The Vale of Glamorgan

  —

  Wrexham

  —

  1 After damping, including amounts for police, community councils, discretionary non-domestic rate relief.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on local authority capital expenditure plans for the year 1997–98. [19508]

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's statement on 12 December 1996 on public expenditure in Wales for 1997–98,Official Report, columns 405–19.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he proposes to increase the percentage of capital sales receipts available to local authorities; and if he will make a statement. [19503]

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  The Government currently have no plans to increase the percentage of usable capital receipts from the sale of local authority assets. Authorities have to set aside a proportion of receipts from the sale of capital assets for debt redemption. If they were allowed to spend their set-aside resources, either other areas of spending would need to be reduced to ensure that debts were paid off or public spending as a whole would rise.

  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received relating to changes to the formulae for the standard spending assessments; and if he will make a statement. [19505]

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  The distribution formula for 1997–98 was ratified by the Welsh Consultative Council on Local Government Finance. A joint Welsh Office-Welsh Local Government Association review of the formula is under way for 1998–99. Recommendations for change will be considered by the consultative council in the autumn.

  Youth Unemployment
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on current levels of youth unemployment in(a) the previous county of Clwyd and (b) the county of Flintshire. [19512]

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  In January 1997 there were 3,482 persons aged under 25 on the claimant unemployment count in the former county of Clwyd. The corresponding figure for Flintshire was 985.
  300

  NHS Trusts
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 10 March,Official Report, column 38, to the hon. Member for Clwyd, North-West (Mr. Richards) on NHS trusts mergers, what estimate he has made of (a) the transitional costs of achieving the trust merger, (b) recurring administrative savings and (c) the time which it will take to reach the recurring administrative costs. [20084]

  Mr. Hague
  It is estimated by the trusts that the merger will result in recurring savings of up to £1 million starting in 1998–99. The level of transitional costs will depend upon the trust board's decisions on management arrangements in the new organisation.

  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 10 March,Official Report, column 38, to the hon. Member for Clwyd, North-West on NHS trust mergers, when he expects to appoint the (a) chairman and (b) board members of the newly merged trust. [20083]

  Mr. Hague
  Interim arrangements will be announced shortly which will enable the appointments to be made in line with the code of practice for public appointments issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 10 March,Official Report, column 38, to the hon. Member for Clwyd, North-West on NHS trust mergers, what estimate he has made of the job losses associated with the merger (a) before 1 April 1997 and (b) after 1 April 1997; and what estimate he has made of the winding-up costs in connection with the termination of services of board members. [20085]

  Mr. Hague
  There will be no job losses associated with the merger of the Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS trusts before the new trust becomes operational on 1 April 1997. The detail of any job losses and costs incurred after that date will be a matter for the new trust board.

  Nursery Education (Conwy)
  Mr. Richards
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many children in Conwy he estimates will register for nursery education by the local education authority in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement; [19957]

  (2) what estimates he has made of the value of nursery voucher redemption to Conwy county borough council; and if he will make a statement. [20041]

  Mr. Jonathan Evans
  Conwy county borough council has estimated that there will be 1,066 voucher-bearing children in their schools in the 1997 summer term. At this level, total annual voucher income for the authority would be £1,172,600.

  Mr. Richards
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what justification Conwy county borough council has submitted to him in respect of increases in(a) centrally held school budgets and related services and (b) provision for the rationalisation of nursery education; [19958]

  (2) if he will make a statement on the costed items Conwy county borough council has included under the heading "Demography" in its education budget. [19959]
  301
  Mr. Evans
  Statements of the financial provision local authorities plan to make for schools they maintain have to be submitted before the start of the financial year. Information has not yet been received from Conwy county borough council.

  Community Hospitals
  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Health Common Services Authority concerning the quality of project management of community hospitals by(a) Beard Dove and (b) Welsh Health Estates. [20082]

  Mr. Hague
  None. Welsh Health Estates does not act as project manager.

  Mr. Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Llandough NHS trust concerning the termination of the services of Beard Dove as the project management company for the Barry community hospital and its replacement by Welsh Health Estates. [20086]

  Mr. Hague
  None. This is a matter for the trust. However, Welsh Health Estates is not acting as project manager but is advising the trust.

  Suicides and Fatal Accidents
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what percentage of the population in Wales have(a) committed suicide and (b) suffered a fatal accident in each of the last seven years; and if he will make a statement. [20036]

  Mr. Gwilym Jones
  The latest available, complete, annual figures from the Office for National Statistics for residents of Wales are shown in the following table:

  Suicides1

  Fatal accidents2

  Number

  Rate per 100,000

  Number

  Rate per 100,000

  1989

  264

  9.2

  719

  25.1

  1990

  303

  10.5

  711

  24.7

  1991

  337

  11.7

  717

  24.8

  1992

  335

  11.6

  698

  24.1

  1993

  297

  10.2

  673

  23.2

  1994

  331

  11.8

  690

  24.5

  1995

  317

  10.9

  708

  24.3

  1International Classification of Diseases: E950–E959, E980–E989 excluding E988.8.

  2 ICD E800–E929.

  Local Management of Schools (Conwy)
  Mr. Richards
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what changes Conwy county borough council has notified his Department it has made to its local management of schools scheme; and if he will make a statement. [20042]

  Mr. Jonathan Evans
  Conwy county borough council has not submitted any proposals for changes.

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Department of Agriculture (Personnel Documents)
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what inquiries he has conducted to 302
  establish who was responsible for passing restricted Department of Agriculture personnel documents to the Irish News; when the RUC was informed; what action can be taken against those held responsible; and to what extent such action takes account of the Northern Ireland civil service fair employment code. [18750]

  Sir Patrick Mayhew
  The permanent secretary of the NIO and the head of the Northern Ireland civil service has ordered an inquiry into the leakage to the media of documents and other information relating to the identity, records and deployment of civil servants in Northern Ireland. That inquiry will be headed by Mr. William Innes, a former senior Whitehall official with experience of government in Northern Ireland.

  If the inquiry indicates that a criminal offence may have been committed, the RUC will be informed.

  Only when the inquiry has been completed can a decision be taken on appropriate action. If that action involves a civil servant, it will comply with the civil service pay and conditions of service code.

  Sectarian Harassment
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date a claim of sectarian harassment was lodged against the Department of Agriculture and one of the Minister's private office staff; on what date the claimant was transferred out of her private office; and if he will make a statement. [18751]

  Sir Patrick Mayhew
  The complainant raised orally allegations of sectarian harassment on 31 July 1995 and followed this up as requested in writing on 8 August 1995. A formal complaint of sectarian harassment was lodged with the Fair Employment Tribunal against the Department of Agriculture on 4 October 1995.

  The complainant was told of her transfer on 28 July 1995, informed orally about her new post on 7 August 1995 and took up her new post on 10 August 1995.

  Civil Service Graduates
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list for the most recent year for which figures are available(a) the percentage and number of school leavers who obtained a degree and (b) the percentage and number of posts requiring a degree filled in the Northern Ireland civil service clerical and administrative grades; and if he will ensure that the admission procedure does not discriminate against graduates. [18752]

  Sir John Wheeler
  It is estimated that 27 per cent. of school children in Northern Ireland—some 6,700—graduate by the age of 25.

  In the year 1996–97 a total of 735 clerical and administrative vacancies were filled in the non-industrial Northern Ireland civil service, of which 20, 2.7 per cent., required a degree as a condition of entry. The remaining 715 posts were standard clerical appointments where the nature of work to be performed does not require applicants to possess a graduate level qualification. Recruitment procedures to the NI civil service reflect the service's firm commitment to equality of opportunity in

  303
  employment; entry standards for particular posts are set in relation to the nature of the work to be performed and all applicants are considered strictly on the basis of merit.

  Northern Ireland Forum
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to allow the Northern Ireland Forum to continue operating during any castle buildings talks adjournment. [18754]

  Sir Patrick Mayhew
  The Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 places me under a duty to make, subject to approval of a draft in each House, an order to withdraw from effect the provisions establishing the Forum if it appears to me that the negotiations have been concluded or suspended.

  On 10 March I announced that I had concluded that the talks were suspended, following the decision of the plenary session to adjourn until 3 June, and taking account of all the circumstances. In accordance with my statutory duty I therefore laid before Parliament the draft Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996 (Cessation of Section 3) Order 1997.

  If the draft order is approved, the Forum will not be able to operate in any form. It will be possible for a new Secretary of State to bring before the next Parliament a further draft order reviving the Forum.

  Respite Care
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to improve respite care facilities for special school students and their parents in the North Down and Ards area; and what factors underlay the closure of the South Eastern education and library board's summer schemes. [18755]

  Mr. Ancram
  There is no statutory requirement for education and library boards to provide summer schemes at special schools and my Department has no approval function to exercise. I understand that, in reaching its decision to discontinue the schemes, the board took into account concerns about the supervision and safety of pupils.

  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the respite care centre at Beechfield avenue, Conlig, Newtownards, will come into service; and if he will make statement. [18757]

  Mr. Moss
  A range of services for children with learning disability are currently provided by the centre. An afternoon club offering after school respite will restart shortly. Full use will be made of the facility as soon as an analysis of the findings of a detailed and comprehensive assessment of the needs of families with children with learning disability has been completed.

  Training Centres
  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the training centres indicating(a) their capacity and (b) the total number of trainees currently at each. [18759]
  304
  Mr. Ancram
  Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Ian Walters. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from Ian Walters to Mr. John D. Taylor, dated 11 March 1997:
  The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me, as Chief Executive of the Training and Employment Agency, to reply to your question about the Agency's Training Centres.
  The Agency has 10 Training Centres in Northern Ireland. The following chart details the trainee capacity and the number of trainees currently at each Centre.

  Centre

  Physical capacity

  Current in-centre occupancy

  Ballymena

  330

  194

  Craigavon

  308

  129

  Dundonald

  408

  208

  Enniskillen

  204

  125

  Felden

  419

  152

  Lisburn

  216

  206

  Maydown

  208

  86

  Newry

  358

  155

  Omagh

  192

  122

  Springtown

  340

  122

  I hope you find this information useful.

  Acute Hospital Reorganisation Project
  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to announce his decisions on tranches 2 and 3 of the acute hospital reorganisation project; and if he will make a statement. [18760]

  Mr. Moss
  The position with regard to tranche 2 is that following receipt of the recommendations from the project steering group additional work had to be undertaken in relation to the recommendation on maternity services. This is now complete and I hope to make an announcement on all aspects of tranche 2 in the near future.

  Following consultations on tranche 3, the steering group put recommendations to me on 29 November 1996. I, in turn, consulted relevant bodies, inviting comments by mid-February. I will be considering these shortly and will announce my decisions soon afterwards.

  Clifton Special Care School
  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the summer schemes for mentally disabled children at Clifton special care school, Bangor; and what assessment he has made of the advantages of parents covering the cost of the schemes. [18756]

  Mr. Ancram
  There is no statutory requirement for education and library boards to provide summer schemes at special schools and my Department has no approval function to exercise. I understand that, in reaching its decision to discontinue the scheme at Clifton special school, the South Eastern education and library board took into account concerns about the safety and supervision of pupils. Any further proposals from parents should be put to the board for consideration.
  305

  Housing Executive Dwellings
  Mr. William Ross
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many fires in Housing Executive properties in each of the last three years are estimated to have resulted from a failure to observe building regulations. [18970]

  Mr. Moss
  I am advised by the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive that the answer is none.

  Noxious Smell (Newtownards)
  Mr. John D. Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what investigations he has conducted into the source of the noxious smell detectable at Manse road, Manse park and Manse green, Newtownards; and what action the Water Service of the Department of Environment (Northern Ireland) proposes to take. [18758]

  Mr. Moss
  Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Water Service under its chief executive, Mr. H. R. F. Plester. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from H. R. F. Plester to Mr. John D. Taylor, dated 10 March 1997:
  Mr. Moss has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the source of the noxious smell detectable at Manse Road, Manse Park and Manse Green, Newtownards, and what action the Water Service proposes to take.
  On 25 February 1997 Water Service officials and officers from the Environmental Health Department, Ards Borough Council, investigated a complaint about a smell at 7 & 12 Manse Green, Newtownards. This investigation established that the smell was not then emanating from the sewers or drainage culverts which serve the Manse Green area. Further checks by Water Service staff on 5 March 1997 revealed no evidence of any smell from the public sewers.

  Table 2: GP fundholders expenditure on the purchase of healthcare from non-HPSS providers

  Northern board area

  Southern board area

  Eastern board area

  Western board area

  Northern Ireland area

  £

  £

  £

  £

  £

  1995–96

  105,695

  13,740

  258,278

  65,231

  442,944

  This information was supplied by the individual Health and Personal Social Services Boards.

  Visual Handicap
  Mr. Thurnham
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are registered(a) blind and (b) partially sighted. [19084]

  Mr. Moss
  Information is not collected centrally in the format requested. The numbers of blind and particularly sighted people in Northern Ireland who were in contact with health and social service providers during the year ended 31 March 1996 were 3,634 and 2,514 respectively.

  Organic Farming
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of farms in Northern Ireland are currently classified as organic; and if he will make a statement. [19858]
  306
  The matter will continue to be investigated, as part of a process of elimination, by the Water Service in conjunction with the Ards Borough Council's Environmental Health Department. This liaison is on the basis that while Water Service considers its infrastructure is not the source of the smell problem this can best be proven definitively by further testing of the sewer system on the next occasion the problem is generally manifested in the area.

  Non-NHS Health Care Providers
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total expenditure on the purchase of health care from non-NHS providers in 1995–96 by(a) health boards, (b) fundholding GPs and (c) NHS trusts in Northern Ireland. [18795]

  Mr. Moss
  The information requested is set out in the tables.

  Table 1 discloses expenditure by health and personal social services on the purchase of health care, personal social and related services from non-HPSS bodies and grants to voluntary organisations is also disclosed.

  This information has been extracted from the "Summary of Health and Personal Social Services and Special Agencies Accounts for 1995–96".

  Table 2 discloses expenditure by general practitioner fundholders on the purchase of health care and personal social services form non-HPSS providers.

  This information has been supplied by the individual health and personal social services boards.

  Table 1: Expenditure on non NHS providers in 1995–96

  Year

  HPSS Boards Other providers of health care and personal social services

  HSS trusts purchase of care from non-HPSS bodies and grants to voluntary organisations

  £

  £

  1995–96

  3,917,680

  64,382,000

  The information has been extracted from the Notes to the Accounts in the Summary of HPSS and Special Agencies Accounts for 1995–96

  Mr. Ancram
  [holding answer 11 March 1997]As at February 1997, there were 11 registered organic units in Northern Ireland. These constitute 0.04 per cent. of total active farms in Northern Ireland.

  Schools (North Down)
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pupils there are at each primary and secondary school in North Down; and what is the permanent physical capacity of their buildings for enrolments, indicating any under-use or over-use. [19925]

  Mr. Ancram
  The information requested is set out in the table. The Department's calculation of a school's physical capacity is based solely on teaching spaces in both permanent and temporary accommodation. The
  307
  figures given are estimates of the capacity of the school's permanent accommodation for teaching purposes.

  School name

  Number of pupils at October 1996

  Capacity of permanent accommodation

  Primary schools

  Ballyholme Primary School

  Bangor

  721

  406

  Ballymagee Primary School

  Bangor

  283

  408

  Bangor Central Primary School

  Bangor

  455

  337

  Bloomfield Road Primary School

  Bangor

  350

  408

  Clandeboye Primary School

  Bangor

  504

  544

  Conlig Primary School

  Conlig

  59

  72

  Crawfordsburn Primary School

  Crawfordsburn

  134

  141

  Dundonald Primary School

  Dundonald

  587

  389

  Gilnahirk Primary School

  Belfast

  466

  358

  Glencraig Primary School

  Holywood

  197

  252

  Grange Park Primary School

  Bangor

  333

  203

  Groomsport Primary School

  Groomsport

  49

  145

  Holywood Primary School

  Holywood

  536

  348

  Kilcooley Primary School

  Bangor

  200

  567

  Kilmaine Primary School

  Bangor

  862

  494

  Rathmore Primary School

  Bangor

  511

  608

  Redburn Primary School

  Holywood

  178

  356

  St. Comgall's Primary School

  Bangor

  249

  233

  St. Malcachy's Primary School

  Bangor

  342

  437

  St. Patrick's Primary School

  Holywood

  224

  316

  Towerview Primary School

  Bangor

  361

  405

  Tullycarnett Primary School

  Knock

  299

  552

  Secondary and Grammar schools

  Bangor High School

  Bangor

  998

  681

  Bangor Grammar School

  Bangor

  920

  952

  Glenlola Collegiate

  Bangor

  1,014

  623

  Gransha Boys High School

  Bangor

  588

  764

  Holywood High School

  Holywood

  352

  415

  Our Lady and St. Patrick's College

  Knock

  1,233

  806

  St. Columbanus's High School

  Bangor

  458

  398

  Sullivan Upper School

  Holywood

  1,057

  1,044

  Secure Training Schools (Girls)
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the need for a secure training school for girls; what facilities are currently available for girls requiring escape-proof custody; and if he will make a statement about his capital expenditure priorities in relation to such offenders. [19926]

  Sir John Wheeler
  There are currently no girls under the age of 17 held at Maghaberry young offenders centre.308
  A review of training school accommodation, including secure accommodation for girls, is being undertaken in light of the proposal for a draft Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order, which was issued for consultation in February this year.

  Driving-related Offences
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many custodial sentences were imposed in the last three years for a first offence on 17-years-olds convicted of driving-related offences not involving excess alcohol or car stealing; and if he will make a statement on the use of custodial sentences for those convicted of dangerous driving without fatal consequences. [19927]

  Sir John Wheeler
  The number of persons aged 17 years given custodial sentences for driving offences not involving excess alcohol or theft of a car, and the number of cases in which it was the first offence of any sort, for the years 1994 to 1996 were:

  Custodial sentences

  First offence

  1994

  37

  7

  1995

  19

  6

  1996

  16

  2

  Totals

  72

  15

  The use of custodial sentences for persons convicted of dangerous driving without fatal consequences is an issue for the courts to decide after consideration of all aspects of individual cases.

  Amnesty International
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received from Amnesty International since 1 September 1994 in relation to the Northern Ireland troubles. [19928]

  Sir John Wheeler
  Amnesty International has written to my office on three occasions during the period. One letter was to inform the Government of a visit by Amnesty International to Northern Ireland to 13 to 18 October 1996, another enclosed the report entitled "UK Summary of Human Rights Concerns" and the third discussed the available information about Bloody Sunday.

  Sexual Offences (Protected Material) Bill
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make it his policy to seek to amend the Sexual Offences (Protected Material) Bill to extend its provisions to Northern Ireland from the time of its coming into force; and if he will make a statement on the merits of the Bill in relation to Northern Ireland. [19930]

  Sir John Wheeler
  The Bill has been drafted to meet the particular circumstances in England and Wales as identified by responses to the Home Office consultation document "Sentencing and Supervision of Sex Offenders" which was issued in June 1996. The Law Society in England and Wales has undertaken to amend its code of discipline so as to ensure that defence lawyers comply with the provisions in the Bill on supervised access.
  309
  The Home Office document was also circulated in Northern Ireland. On the particular issue of the misuse of victim's statements, the Northern Ireland responses did not produce any evidence of a major concern but did indicate a general consensus on the importance of developing solutions which reflected the needs of Northern Ireland.

  The Government believe that the matters addressed by the Bill do merit application in Northern Ireland and intends to bring forward legislation after appropriate consultation with interested parties.

  New Schools
  Mr. Robert McCartney
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons his power to specify a time before which proposals to open new schools could not be reconsidered was not invoked in the current year before resubmissions commenced. [19931]

  Mr. Ancram
  A power which enables the Department of Education to specify the form, content and timetable for statutory proposals for the establishment of new grant-maintained integrated schools, was included in the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1996. In view of the existence of administrative guidance to the education and library boards and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education about the timetable for the submission and publication of such proposals, it was not considered necessary to invoke this power immediately.

  However, in light of the recent submission of development proposals for the establishment of two new GMI schools, outside the recommended timetable, my Department has issued a direction on 6 March 1997 to all education and library boards under article 71 of the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 specifying the timetable to be applied to all future proposals.

  Year

  Suicides

  Fatal accidents

  Injuries undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted

  Population

  Suicides as percentage of total population

  Fatal accidents as percentage total population

  Undetermined as percentage of total population

  1989

  116

  453

  18

  1,582,970

  0.007

  0.029

  0.001

  1990

  158

  460

  10

  1,589,353

  0.010

  0.029

  0.001

  1991

  129

  495

  19

  1,601,387

  0.008

  0.031

  0.001

  1992

  107

  377

  21

  1,618,406

  0.007

  0.023

  0.001

  1993

  129

  393

  22

  1,631,827

  0.008

  0.024

  0.001

  1994

  138

  433

  13

  1,641,711

  0.008

  0.026

  0.001

  1995

  122

  392

  24

  1,648,960

  0.007

  0.024

  0.001

SCOTLAND

  Extra-corporeal Membrane Oxygenation
  Mr. Etherington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those hospitals in Scotland which have facilities to provide extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation for children aged(a) up to six months and (b) six months and over; and how many paediatric intensive care beds there are in each of the units with extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation facilities. [19495]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The Royal hospital for sick children in Glasgow has facilities to provide extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation—ECMO—for
  310

  Military Complaints Procedures
  Mr. Jacques Arnold
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he intends to lay before Parliament the fourth annual report of the independent assessor of military complaints procedures in Northern Ireland. [20480]

  Sir Patrick Mayhew
  I have today arranged for the fourth annual report of the independent assessor of military complaints procedures in Northern Ireland to be laid before each House of Parliament. I note that the assessor has commented that the complaints procedures and their operation are being given proper attention by the Army and that he is not aware of any public misgivings in this area during 1996. The report provides welcome reassurance to the Government and to the public that the Army's complaints procedures withstand scrutiny. The number of formal non-criminal complaints registered in 1996 remains low despite the increase in Army patrolling made necessary as a result of the renewed terrorist campaign.

  Street Names
  Dr. Hendron
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under that legislative powers councils have the power to rename streets. [19953]

  Mr. Moss
  Article 11 of the local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 provides the authority for district councils to determine the name by which a street is to be known.

  Suicides and Fatal Accidents
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of the population in Northern Ireland have(a) committed suicide and (b) suffered a fatal accident in each of the last seven years; and if he will make a statement. [20035]

  Sir John Wheeler
  The number of deaths registered as suicides and fatal accidents along with details of the percentage of the population in each of the last seven years are set out in the table.

  children aged up to six months and six months and over. The hospital has 121 paediatric intensive care beds and can provide ECMO treatment in both its paediatric intensive care and neo-natal surgical intensive care units.

  The Royal hospital for sick children in Edinburgh has ECMO facilities which are used only occasionally as support for other treatments.
  1At March 1996.

  Consultants
  Mr. Wallace
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total cost of consultants' reports commissioned by his Department since 1 April 1995; and
  311
  if he will summarise the identifiable savings achieved as a result of implementing the recommendations of reports. [19515]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 10 March 1997]The total cost of management consultancy work commissioned by the Scottish Office for the period 1 April 1995 to 31 March 1996 was £5,440,000. Information for the current financial year is not yet available.

  In 1995–96 some 150 consultancy contracts were led by the Scottish Office. Given the wide range of responsibilities and activities of the Scottish Office, the consultancy projects related to many different areas of business.

  The Scottish Office follows the guidance given in the August 1994 report of the Cabinet Office efficiency scrutiny on the use of external consultants. External consultants are engaged only when internal resources are not available, best procurement practices are followed to ensure that value for money is obtained, and all consultancy assignments are subjected to post-contract reviews. Not all consultancy projects lend themselves to analysis in terms of savings, but I am satisfied that the intelligent and selective use of consultants has consistently delivered worthwhile solutions and benefits for the Scottish Office in recent years.

  Dental Treatment (Complaints)
  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will review the adequacy of provision for considering late complaints about dental treatment in cases where professional opinion verifies that the patient could not reasonably have been expected to realise there were grounds for complaint within the time limits set. [19047]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]No. On 1 April, after Mr. W. J. Duff had ceased to practice, a new system was introduced for the consideration of complaints against family health service practitioners, separately from discipline procedures. Normally complaints have to be made within six months of the event which is the subject of the complaint, or within six months of the patient becoming aware of the problem, provided that this is within 12 months of the event. There is, however, discretion to accept late complaints for investigation. Guidance issued to health boards makes it clear that this should be exercised with flexibility and sensitivity, and there is a procedure for decisions by complaints officers in health boards to be reviewed at the request of the complainer.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland for what reasons Moann Russell was awarded(a) the maximum amount for remedial treatment and (b) no compensation within the non-statutory complaints procedure in respect of NHS treatment. [19632]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: Mrs. Russell's complaint was made on 11 June 1994 and therefore fell to be dealt with under the National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) (Scotland) Regulations in force at the time, as did the determination of any sum payable to her for remedial treatment.
  312
  The non-statutory complaints procedure came into force on 1 April 1996 for complaints made on or after that date.

  Mr. W. J. Duff
  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the dates on which patients raised complaints in each of the cases referred to Greater Glasgow health board by the Scottish dental practice division, in which the national health service tribunal found Mr. W. J. Duff had provided unnecessary treatment. [19048]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: These cases were referred to the tribunal following reports by regional dental officers; no complaints were made by the patients involved.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what general conclusions were reached by regional dental officers from their inspections of Mr. W. J. Duff's patients on 25 August 1986 and subsequently. [19049]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: Regional dental officers undertake independent clinical examinations of individual dental patients and pass their findings of fact to the dental practice division of the Common Services Agency. Any adverse reports are then passed to the Scottish dental practice board which forwards a copy to the relevant health board. The health board then decides what further action to take. It is no part of the function of regional dental officers to draw general conclusions.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many patients of Mr. W. J. Duff have complained to date that they were not told in advance what treatment was to be carried out by him. [19051]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: One.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will request sight of the reports provided by the director of practitioner services to Greater Glasgow health board on the circumstances surrounding the case of Mr. W. J. Duff; [19052]

  (2) if he will publish the paper on Mr. W. J. Duff requested by Greater Glasgow health board at its meeting on 18 February; [19053]

  (3) if he will publish the report of the Director of Practitioner Services to Greater Glasgow health board on the circumstances surrounding the case of Mr. W. J. Duff. [19411]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: When the requested material has been prepared, it will be discussed by Greater Glasgow health board at a future meeting, during that part of its proceedings at which members of the public may be present. Once the paper or papers are in the public domain, I shall arrange for the hon. Member to receive a copy.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will ensure that money received from Mr. W. J. Duff by Greater Glasgow health board is applied directly for the benefit of his former patients. [19054]
  313
  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: Greater Glasgow health board has not as yet received any money from Mr. Duff. The sums due, or which may become due, from him fall into two categories. The first comprises sums for payment to former patients who are likely to incur additional expenditure in obtaining further treatment required as a result of Mr. Duff's failure to comply with his terms of service. The second comprises sums in the nature of fines for failure to comply with the terms of service. My right hon. Friend has no power to ensure that such sums are applied for the benefit of patients.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a financial contribution to the voluntary support group organised by former patients of Mr. W. J. Duff. [19133]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: No. Funding for NHS general dental services may be used only for the purposes set down in statute which do not include assistance to voluntary support groups.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many patients were registered with Mr. W. J. Duff in each year since he began practising; and what was the highest number of patients registered with any dentist in Scotland in each of these years. [19263]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: A new contract for the provision of NHS general dental services was introduced in October 1990, including, for the first time, the registration of patients under continuing care or capitation arrangements. The information requested is listed in the table for financial years 1991–92 to 1994–95:

  Number of patients registered under NHS continuing care and capitation arrangements with Mr. W. J. Duff and the highest number of patients registered with an NHS principal dentist in Scotland 1991–92 to 1994–95

  Dentist

  1991–92

  1992–93

  1993–94

  1994–95

  Mr. W. J. Duff 1

  847

  1,603

  1,930

  1,451

  Dentist with highest number of registrations2

  1,126

  2,338

  3,726

  5,788

  1 Mr. Duff ceased practising NHS general dental services in summer 1994.

  2 A dentist may hold more than one contract within a health board or within Scotland. A dentist may have more than one practice or may have patients registered with him/her who are treated by an assistant or vocational trainee.

  Mrs. Fyfe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what factors led to the inspections of Mr. W. J. Duff's patients by regional dental officers on 25 August 1986. [19564]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: Each year, regional dental officers undertake clinical examinations on a small number of patients of every dentist in Scotland providing NHS general dental services. The patient sample is chosen at random.
  314

  Non-fossil Fuels
  Mr. Gallie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has made a decision on the second order under the Scottish renewables obligation; and if he will make a statement. [20609]

  Mr. Kynoch
  I have today laid before Parliament an order requiring the two public electricity suppliers—PESs—in Scotland to make arrangements to secure 112 MW of new renewable electricity generating capacity from a range of renewable sources. There has been a good response by bidders to tender invitation for SRO2, and average bid prices have been much lower this time round. This represents a considerable success for our policy of creating an initial market within each of the most promising technologies through strong price competition between projects. This has allowed me to set a larger order than originally envisaged when announcing SRO2 in November 1995.

  In order to meet their obligations arising from the order, I understand that Scottish Power and Scottish Hydro-Electric expect to sign contracts with 26 project developers. These are expected to be nine waste to energy projects making up 55 MW of capacity seven wind projects totalling 44 MW, nine hydro projects totalling 11 MW and one biomass project of 2 MW.

  We are aware of concerns about the possible effects on the environmental and landscape of the development of renewable energy projects and expect developers to give particular care and attention to these sensitive issues. Successful developers will need to obtain planning permission for their projects if they have not already done so; award of a contract as a result of the order does not confer any special advantage in the planning process and approval must be sought in the usual way. I know too that there are concerns about the need to strike the right balance between the visual impact of wind farms and the need to safeguard the scenic value of large parts of the Scottish countryside. For this reason, we have decided that wind projects, while being allocated substantial capacity within the order, should not form a disproportionately large part of it.

  As far as waste to energy projects are concerned, I was very pleased that the overall level of bid prices for this technology had fallen as much as it has done since SRO1. In view of the environmental benefits which such projects can deliver, I have decided to increase the size of the allocation for waste to energy projects beyond that originally envisaged, to cover landfill gas, tyre incinerations and municipal waste incineration projects.

  We are aware of concerns in some quarters about the potential impact of new hydro schemes on fisheries. I understand that at least one of the hydro projects likely to be awarded a contract as a result of the order will include the installation of a new fish pass to assist salmon to gain easier access to spawning grounds. I have asked my officials to liaise closely with the project developer on the fisheries aspects. All hydro projects do of course require consultation with the local district salmon fisheries board before being granted permission to proceed.

  On biomass, although the prices tendered for projects were comparatively high, we took account of the wider benefits to agriculture and the environment of such projects, and the need to enable the technology to

  315
  establish a foothold in Scotland. For this reason we decided to allocate a small part of the order to this technology.

  By making an order for a total of 112 MW, we are taking a considerable step towards meeting Scotland's share of the Government's overall aim of achieving 1,500 MW of new renewable generating capacity by the year 2000. I will make a further announcement in due course about the next steps that we propose to take under the SRO.

  I have made the order after considering the advice of the Director General of Electricity Supply and after consulting the two Scottish PESs.

  Galleries (Access)
  Mr. Stewart
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on improving access to the collections of the national galleries of Scotland. [20610]

  Mr. Michael Forsyth
  I am anxious that the people of Scotland should have the fullest possible opportunity to see and appreciate the country's heritage of art and design in appropriate surroundings. At present only one fifth of the Scottish paintings held by the national galleries of Scotland—NGS—are on permanent public view. It is right that action should to taken to improve the position.

  To this end I am inviting the NGS trustees to consider the establishment of a new national loans scheme whereby coherent groups of good quality works of art from the national galleries are made available for exhibition at suitable local museums and galleries and other appropriate locations throughout Scotland. This initiative would also encourage local museums and galleries to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the heritage lottery fund to upgrade their facilities to a standard appropriate to housing works of national importance.

  Deaths in Scotland, 1989–1995—suicides, accidents, etc.

  Suicide1

  Undetermined2

  Accidents3

  Number

  Rate

  Number

  Rate

  Number

  Rate

  1989

  527

  10.34

  191

  3.75

  1,829

  35.89

  1990

  535

  10.49

  214

  4.19

  1,784

  34.97

  1991

  525

  10.28

  181

  3.54

  1,734

  33.95

  1992

  569

  11.13

  224

  4.38

  1,580

  30.91

  1993

  615

  12.01

  297

  5.80

  1,469

  28.69

  1994

  624

  12.16

  210

  4.09

  1,413

  27.53

  1995

  623

  12.13

  213

  4.15

  1,439

  28.01

  1 World Health Organisation International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision. (ICD9) codes E950–E959.

  2 ICD9 codes E98O–E989 (Injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted).

  3 ICD9 codes E800–E929.

  Rates are per 100,000 population.

TREASURY

  School Finance
  Dame Angela Rumbold
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect on the public sector borrowing requirement of allowing schools to borrow money from the banks to pay for capital spending. [18535]
  316
  As a further step the board of trustees of the NGS has put to me revised outline proposals to establish a new national gallery of Scottish art and design in Glasgow. These proposals reflect the advice of the national heritage memorial fund that it could not support a project of the scale described in the NGS's original application for lottery funding towards the capital costs of acquiring and fitting out the former Post Office building in George square. The new proposals which take account of that advice are smaller in scale and more focused on the objective of making available to the public good-quality works of Scottish art which are not currently on permanent display.

  The trustees are aware that the capital costs of the revised project would need to be met from non-government sources and I would require half the running costs for at least the first four years to be met from private sources. The provision of the balance from public funds would be a matter for consideration in future public expenditure rounds. The project would also have to meet normal requirements of public sector investment appraisal.

  On the basis of these assurances about the funding of the capital and running costs of a Glasgow gallery, I am prepared for further detailed work to go ahead on this proposal, in parallel with the development of the new national loans scheme initiative, with the objective of maximising access to the national collections.

  Suicides and Fatal Accidents
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of the population in Scotland have(a) committed suicide and (b) suffered a fatal accident in each of the last seven years; and if he will make a statement. [20034]

  Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
  The information requested is given in the table:

  Mr. Waldegrave
  Voluntary-aided and grant-maintained school borrowing has no effect on the PSBR as both are classified to the private sector. Any borrowing that local authority schools undertake would count against the local authority control totals and would count in the PSBR.

  Economic and Monetary Union
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the degree
  317
  of resistance to the proposed introduction of a single currency in each of the member states of the European Union. [18536]

  Mr. Kenneth Clarke
  That is a matter for each member state.

  Mr. David Shaw
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what proposals have been assessed by (i) European institutions and (ii) member Governments for a common basis of calculating inflation in each EU member state; and what assessment he has made of the implications of such proposals for(a) United Kingdom Government expenditure and (b) United Kingdom pensioners' incomes; [17358]

  (2) what reports on the determination of price indices in each EU member state have been evaluated by which European institutions in connection with the management of the proposed single currency; and if he will publish those reports. [17357]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  Protocol 6 to the Maastricht treaty states that the criterion on price stability will be assessed using consumer price indices on a comparable basis. Eurostat has now developed a harmonised index of consumer prices—HICP—for member states, and the first full set of figures was published on 7 March.

  Eurostat commissioned a report on the similarities and differences between national consumer price indices. The report, published by Eurostat in 1989, covered the methodology used by each country and set out the need for harmonised indices.

  The proposed legislation for the HICPs, in the form of draft regulations, was first discussed at a working level by technical representatives from each member state's national statistical institute at meetings chaired by Eurostat. The European Monetary Institute and the Commission were also present at these discussions as non-voting members and their opinion was sought before any legislation was agreed. The legislation in its final form was voted on by the Statistical Programme Committee using standard EU voting procedures.

  The Government have an obligation to uprate pensions and benefits by the RPI.

  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if it is his policy to be hostile to the principle of a single European currency; and if he will make a statement. [17500]

  Mr. Clarke
  The Government believe that it is in Britain's national interest to keep our options open, continue to negotiate and decide at the appropriate time whether or not it would be in Britain's interests to participate in a single currency.

  Mr. Austin Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications of the increase in the value of the dollar in the last year for the stability of the proposed single European currency. [18867]

  Mr. Clarke
  The increase in the value of the dollar in the last year reflected the judgment of the market of the value of that currency vis-a-vis other currencies; last year's increase has no implications in itself for the future stability of the proposed single European currency.
  318
  Mr. Matthew Banks
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to update the convergence programme produced by the United Kingdom in April 1996. [20479]

  Mr. Clarke
  An updated convergence programme was submitted today to the European Commission. Copies of the convergence programme have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

  Consumer Spending
  Mr. Dykes
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on recent trends in consumer spending. [18537]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  Consumer spending is growing at a healthy rate on the back of levels of consumer confidence not seen for over eight years.

  Government Statistics
  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revisions he proposes of Government statistics as published in the Red Book. [18538]

  Mr. Jack
  A more detailed analysis of public expenditure will be published on 20 March in departmental reports and in the Treasury document "Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses". I expect the next Industry Act forecast to be published in the summer.

  Public Debt
  Mr. Waller
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his policy in respect of the United Kingdom's public debt. [18539]

  Mr. Waldegrave
  The Government's fiscal objective is to bring the public sector borrowing requirement back towards balance over the medium term, and in particular to ensure that when the economy is on trend the public sector borrows no more than is required to finance its net capital spending. The ratio of government debt to gross domestic product is projected to fall over the medium term as the PSBR comes down. The UK's debt burden is already among the very lowest in the European Union. It is also lower than in any year under the last Labour Government. If the UK had continued to borrow at the rate seen under the last Labour Government, the debt burden would be double what it is now.

  Income Tax
  Mr. Sumberg
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received in respect of his policy on the rates of income tax. [18540]

  Mr. Garnier
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on his policy in respect of income tax. [18543]

  Mr. Jack
  I receive a steady flow of representations regarding all aspects of the tax system.

  Mr. Pawsey
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy on the basic rate of income tax. [18545]
  319
  Mr. Jack
  It is our policy to reduce the basic rate of income tax to 20 per cent. when it is economically prudent to do so. The last Budget took another major step towards this goal by reducing the basic rate to 24 per cent.—10 per cent. lower than it was in 1978–79.

  Mr. Riddick
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the changes in the standard rate of income tax since 1967. [18547]

  Mr. Jack
  This information is published in table 1.5 of the "Tax Benefit Reference Manual 1996–97", a copy of which is available in the Library.

  Productivity
  Mr. Sutcliffe
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to increase productivity in the United Kingdom. [18541]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  There has been a significant improvement in the UK's productivity performance over the last 15 years, compared both with other countries and with the UK's performance in the 1970s. The UK's productivity performance is benefiting from a more stable economic environment, with continued health growth and low inflation, and from the Government's supply side reforms which have contributed to increased labour market flexibility, strengthened competition and market forces, and improved industrial relations. The improvement should continue over the rest of the 1990s as the impact of supply side reform continues to be felt.

  Windfall Gains
  Mr. Clifton-Brown
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the economic impact of windfall gains arising from(a) the demutualising of building societies and (b) takeovers of life assurance companies. [18542]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  Experience and recent surveys suggest that most of the payouts will be saved rather than spent. Therefore, I expect them to have a relatively small impact on consumers' expenditure this year.

  Mr. Dover
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the legality of a windfall tax on privatised companies; and if he will make a statement. [19424]

  Mr. Jack
  No such representations have been received.

  Exchange Rates
  Sir David Knox
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many representations he has received(a) for and (b) against fluctuating exchange rates during the past three months. [18544]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  I have received many representations during the past three months both for and against the recent appreciation of sterling.

  Economic Growth
  Mr. John Marshall
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met his EU counterparts to discuss economic growth. [18546]
  320
  Mrs. Angela Knight
  My right hon. and learned Friend last met his European Union counterparts at the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers on 17 February 1997, where among other issues they discussed the general economic situation in the European Union. My right hon. and learned Friend outlined the continuing success of the UK economy with five years of growth combined with low inflation and falling unemployment.

  Education and Unemployment Benefit Expenditure
  Mr. Matthew Banks
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated outturn general government expenditure on(a) education and (b) unemployment benefits for 1995–96. [17438]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  The estimated outturn for general government expenditure in 1995–96 on(a) education is £35.9 billion and (b) unemployment benefit is £1.1 billion.

  These are the most recently published figures for these parts of general government expenditure and have been taken from "Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 1996–97", published in March 1996. Revised figures will be available in PESA 1997–98, which is due to be published shortly.

  European Community (Publicity)
  Mr. Redwood
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the EC spent on public relations and publicity in 1995–96. [18102]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  Payments from the European Community Budget in 1995 on information and communications amounted to 47,701,477 ecu or £35,373,7321. Figures on a UK financial year basis are not available.
  1 Converted at the rate £1 = 1.3485 ecu, the rate holding at 31 January 1997.

  Value Added Tax
  Mr. Salmond
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a definition of the term "retail premises" as used in VAT legislation and the Finance Bill; and if he will make a statement. [18652]

  Mr. Oppenheim
  [holding answer 4 March 1997]The question concerns a proposed amendment to clause 37 of the Finance Bill which will not now be tabled. I refer the hon. Member instead to the amendment laid on 4 March, and to my press statement that day.

  Departmental Web Site
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when his Department established its Internet site; what representations he has received and what data he has collated on the use and utility of the site; and what steps he is taking to increase the amount of information available via the site. [19143]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  The Treasury established its Internet site on 14 November 1994, and was one of the first Government Departments to do so. The site offers a wide range of material which continues to grow. It includes Budget documentation, Treasury press releases, ministerial speeches and the minutes of the Chancellor's
  321
  monthly monetary meeting. Use of the site has climbed dramatically since its launch, with about 33,000 accesses in the 1994 Budget week, about 250,000 in the 1995 Budget week and about 400,000 in the 1996 Budget week. Accesses for a typical week currently run at about 15,000. The site was nominated by the public and chosen by a panel of industry experts as a finalist in the 1996 UK web awards—Yell—for best non-commercial site. We are committed to expanding and improving the site further.

  London Underground (Finance)
  Mr. Spearing
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 4 March,Official Report, column 552, concerning the scoring of future investment in London Underground Ltd. in respect of the obligations imposed by the treaty on European union, if he will set out the differences between the criteria determining whether public investment contributes to (a) the general government deficit and (b) the public sector borrowing requirement. [19204]

  Mr. Kenneth Clarke
  The capital expenditure of bodies in general government—central and local government—scores in the calculation of the general government financial deficit. The capital expenditure of public corporations does not affect the GGFD, as public corporations are not part of general government. However, if public corporations' capital expenditure is financed by general government capital grants or subsidies, this expenditure will score as general government expenditure and thus increase the GGFD. All borrowing by general government and public corporations scores in the PSBR.

  Long-term Care
  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what advice has been given to his Department by the Government Actuary about(a) the likely uptake and (b) the cost to the Exchequer of introducing private partnership insurance for long-term care; and if he will place in the Library the figures and papers received from the Government Actuary. [19309]

  Mr. Waldegrave
  [holding answer 10 March 1997]I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Health on 10 March 1997,Official Report, column 113. The Treasury received no figures or papers from the Government Actuary.

  Labour Statistics
  Ms Harman
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many(a) men and (b) women aged (A) 50 to 54, (B) 55 to 59, (C) 60 to 64 and (D) 65 to 69 years were (i) in full-time work, (ii) in part-time work, (iii) unemployed, (iv) long-term sick and disabled and (v) retired in each of the last 10 years. [19244]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  [holding answer 10 March 1997]The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
  322
  Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Harriet Harman, dated 13 March 1997 The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on how many men and women, by varying age groups, are in full-time work, part-time work, unemployed, long-term sick and disabled and retired in each of the last 10 years.
  This information is available from the Labour Force Survey database which can be accessed by the House of Commons Library.

  Mr. Milburn
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many(a) men, (b) women and (c) men and women are employed in (i) Great Britain, (ii) each standard region of England, (iii) Wales (iv) Scotland for each major group of the standard occupational classification. [19585]

  Mrs. Knight
  [holding answer 10 March 1997]The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Alan Milburn, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on the number of men and women in employment broken down by region and occupation in Great Britain.
  The information is available from the Labour Force Survey database and can be accessed by the House of Commons Library.

  Private Health Insurance
  Mr. Timms
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update his answer to the hon. Member for York (Mr. Bayley) of 21 October 1994,Official Report, columns 373–74, on the cost and take-up of private health insurance. [19485]

  Mr. Jack
  [holding answer 10 March 1997]The information is given in the table.

  Tax relief on private medical insurance contracts for individuals aged 60 or over

  Year

  Approximate number of contracts

  Approximate number of individuals covered

  Cost of tax relief (£ million)

  1990–91

  350,000

  500,000

  40

  1991–92

  350,000

  500,000

  60

  1992–93

  350,000

  500,000

  70

  1993–94

  375,000

  550,000

  80

  1994–95

  375,000

  550,000

  95

  1995–96

  400,000

  600,000

  100

  1996–971

  400,000

  600,000

  110

  1 Provisional.

  Advance Corporation Tax
  Mr. Trotter
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much additional tax would be raised if pension funds were not able to recover advance corporation tax. [19843]

  Mr. Jack
  Pension funds are unable to recover ACT. However, if they were not entitled to receive payments of tax credits on dividend payments there would be an Exchequer gain, before allowing for any behavioural effects, of nearly £4 billion.
  323

  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
  Mr. Mackinlay
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if doctors completing death certificates are required to include in the certificate the fact that the deceased was a victim of MRSA, when this contributed to the cause of death. [19854]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  [holding answer 11 March 1997]The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Andrew Mackinlay, dated 13 March 1997:
  The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply to your recent question asking if doctors completing death certificates are required to include in the certificate the fact that the deceased was a victim of MRSA, when this contributed to the cause of death.

  Section 22 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 places duties on medical practitioners as follows:
  "in the case of the death of any person who has been attended during his last illness by a registered medical practitioner, that practitioner shall sign a certificate in the prescribed form stating to the best of his knowledge and belief the cause of death and shall forthwith deliver that certificate to the registrar."

  This requirement is included in the Instructions to certifiers, which are at the front of every book of medical certificates of cause of death (MCCD). The instructions further ask the certifier to give the sequence of conditions or events which led directly to the death in part I of the certificate, and to list any other conditions which contributed to the death, in part II. Beyond this, it is up to the judgement of the attending physician to decide what should be included. No particular disease or event is specifically named as being required to be included on the death certificate, although there are instructions about which causes and circumstances of death require referral to the coroner. Death certification is covered in undergraduate and postgraduate training for doctors. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recently produced a video (Death Counts) and documentation to help in this training.

  If the certificate is completed correctly, the condition of the last used line of part I is the underlying cause of death, i.e. that condition or event which initiated the train of events leading directly to death. The underlying cause of death is selected and coded according to the rules of the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9), and this is the condition used in routine tabulations and statistics. When the ONS is asked for information on deaths owing to a particular condition, the answer is normally based on the underlying cause, because this is the cause most useful for public health and preventative purposes.

  Since 1933, all the conditions mentioned on the approximately 580,000 deaths per year registered in England and Wales have been coded and stored in the mortality databases of ONS, where this additional information can be used for special analyses. Deaths due to methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection are coded to a variety of ICD-9 codes for staph. aureus infection, depending on the body site affected. There is no specific code to denote methicillin resistance of the infecting organism, so this can only be identified by searching the text from the certificate.

  Century Date Change (Computers)
  Mr. Dalyell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research he has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the impact of the century date change on his Department's information technology systems. [18698]
  324
  Mrs. Angela Knight
  The Treasury has work in progress to identify and test its computer systems to ensure that they will operate correctly at the turn of the century. It has not proved necessary to commission any additional external research.

  Gross Domestic Product
  Mr. Tim Smith
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of gross domestic product(a) was in 1978–79 and (b) he estimates will be in 1997–98 accounted for by income tax. [19891]

  Mr. Jack
  The ratio of income tax receipts to GDP was 11 per cent. in 1978–79. The Budget forecast of the corresponding ratio in 1997–98 is 9 per cent. Over this period, the basic rate of income tax will have fallen from 33 per cent. to 23 per cent.—the lowest headline rate for nearly 60 years.

  Investment
  Ms Quin
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what new measures he is proposing to promote investment levels in the economy. [18523]

  Mrs. Angela Knight
  Creating a stable economic environment with steady growth, low inflation, and low taxation is overwhelmingly the best way to encourage businesses to expand and invest with confidence.

  Privatisation
  Sir Wyn Roberts
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the privatisation programme. [18528]

  Mr. Jack
  The UK privatisation programme has been a great success. We will continue to look for opportunities to return businesses to the private sector and to promote UK privatisation expertise internationally.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Incapacity Benefit
  Mr. Pike
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the latest figures for the number of applications for invalidity benefit which have(a) been initially refused, (b) gone to appeal and (c) been granted at appeal; and if he will make a statement. [17812]

  Mr. Burt
  The information is in the table:

  Number of incapacity benefit recipients disallowed benefit

  Number of appeals by incapacity benefit recipients received by Independent Tribunal Service

  Number of appeals by incapacity benefit recipients cleared at hearing

  Number of decisions in favour of appellant

  April 1995 to January 1997

  185,400

  102,600

  43,400

  19,700

  Notes:

  1. Incapacity benefit replaced sickness benefit and invalidity benefit from April 1995.
  325
  2. Currently around 55 per cent. of incapacity benefit recipients who are disallowed benefit appeal. The benefit is restored in approximately 45 per cent. of cases heard by appeal tribunals.

  3. The proportion of successful appeals against refusal of incapacity benefit is lower than the previous appeal success rate under invalidity benefit and similar to the success rate of appeals throughout the social security appeal system.

  4. Includes appeals against disallowance of incapacity benefit.

  5. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100, provisional and are subject to revision.

  Sources:

  Benefits Agency and Independent Tribunal Service.

  Mr. Alan Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are currently claiming(a) incapacity benefit and (b) severe disablement allowance; and how many of these have an increase in benefit in respect of an adult dependant. [18977]

  Mr. Burt
  The information is in the table.

  Recipients at 31 August 1996

  Recipients of an adult dependency increase at 31 August 1996

  Incapacity benefit

  1,780,000

  332,000

  Severe disablement allowance

  355,000

  4,000

  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.

  2. Figures are taken from a 5 per cent, sample of the computer system and exclude a small number of cases not held on the system.

  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average length of time the Benefits Agency currently takes to assess an application for incapacity benefit; and what benefit an applicant is entitled to while awaiting the outcome. [19634]

  Mr. Burt
  The administration of social security benefits 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. Jeremy Corbyn, dated 12 March 1997]:
  The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what is the average length of time the Benefits Agency (BA) currently takes to assess an application for Incapacity Benefit (IB), and whilst an applicant is awaiting the outcome, what benefit he is entitled to.
  The Secretary of State has set the BA the following targets for clearing new claims to IB:—

  65% to be cleared within 10 days

  85% to be cleared within 30 days

  The actual performance year to date, from 1 April 1996 to 31 January 1997, is:-

  79.3% of new claims to IB are cleared within 10 days

  95.7% of new claims to IB are cleared within 30 days

  The BA administers more than 20 benefits, all of which can be claimed at any time. Award of benefit is dependent on satisfaction of the conditions of entitlement for the particular benefit at the time of the claim. Without specific details of a persons circumstances it is not possible to determine entitlement to individual benefits.

  I hope you find this reply helpful.

  Child Care Disregard
  Mr. Alan Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people receiving non-means-tested benefits have offset part-time earnings 326
  against a child care disregard since November 1996; and what is his estimate of (a) the numbers gaining and (b) the annual cost. [18946]

  Mr. Burt
  There is insufficient information on which to base an estimate.

  Invalid Care Allowance
  Mr. Alan Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is his estimate of(a) the numbers gaining from and (b) the cost of extending invalid care allowance for (i) four weeks, (ii) eight weeks and (iii) 13 weeks after the cared-for person has died; [18948]

  (2) what is his estimate of (a) the numbers who would benefit from and (b) the cost of extending invalid care allowance for (i) four weeks, (ii) eight weeks and (iii) 13 weeks after the cared-for person has entered permanent residential care. [18981]

  Mr. Burt
  The information is in the table:

  Extending invalid care allowance after death of disabled person

  4 weeks

  8 weeks

  13 weeks

  Estimated costs

  £3 million

  £5 million

  £10 million

  Estimated gainers

  30,000

  30,000

  30,000

  Notes:

  1. Invalid care allowance may be payable for up to four weeks after a disabled person has entered residential care.

  2. The costs and numbers of gainers from extending invalid care allowance for a period thereafter are estimated to be negligible.

  3. Costs are net of impact on income related benefits in payment but assumes no change in the income-related benefit rule whereby carer premium can continue for a further eight weeks after invalid care allowance ceases.

  4. Estimates of gainers are rounded to the nearest thousand, of costs of the nearest £1 million.

  Source:

  Invalid Care Allowance Unit records.

  Mr. Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people receiving invalid care allowance have offset part-time earnings against care costs since November 1996; and what is his estimate of(a) the numbers gaining and (b) the annual cost. [18947]

  Mr. Burt
  There is insufficient information on which to base an estimate.

  Jobseeker's Allowance
  Mr. Alan Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many claimants of each of the(a) contributory and (b) income-related jobseeker's allowance are currently (i) single people without children, (ii) couples without children and (iii) couples with children; and what is the average duration of benefit in each case; [18975]

  (2) how many people are currently in receipt of (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) income support. [18976]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is set out in the table:

  Information on jobseeker's allowance is yet not available. Provisional summary findings from the November 1996 "Quarterly Statistical Enquiry" will be

  327
  published on 20 March and more detailed analyses will be published in the summer. The findings will be placed in the Library.

  Income support claimants—May 1996

  Thousands

  Number of claimants

  Unemployed cases

  1,495

  Other cases

  4,054

  All cases

  5,549

  Notes:

  1. Provisional jobseeker's allowance findings will include estimates of claimants by type of allowance in payment, age. sex and duration of current claim. The detailed analyses will include information on partners and dependants.

  2. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.

  3. Sample size 5 per cent.

  Source:

  Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry May 1996.

  Disability Living Allowance
  Mr. Alan Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the numbers of people who receive disability living allowance who also have earnings from employment. [18983]

  Mr. Andrew Mitchell
  The estimated number of people receiving disability living allowance who also have earnings from employment is around 80,000, and for those in self-employment around 5,000.

  Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
  Mr. Alan Howarth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what advice he has received from the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council on his proposal to abolish good causes backdating of industrial injuries disablement benefit. [18979]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  A copy of the letter sent by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council to the Social Security Advisory Committee concerning the backdating proposals has been placed in the Library. We intend to publish our response to the Social Security Advisory Committee's report on the proposals shortly.

  Parent Plus Scheme
  Mr. Sheerman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what fee will be paid to private sector contractors for placing lone parents in work under the parent plus scheme; [19059]

  (2) what restrictions will apply to the type of work in which lone parents will be placed by private contractors before receiving their fee under the parent plus scheme; [19106]

  (3) what fee private sector contractors will be paid for placing lone mothers in part-time work under the parent plus scheme; [19060]

  (4) what period of time a lone parent will have to remain in work before a fee is paid to the contractor for placing them in work under the parent plus scheme. [19061]

  Mr. Andrew Mitchell
  The contracting process is still underway. Details of contracts will not be finally agreed until this process is completed. It is expected that contracts will be awarded at the end of March.
  328

  Information Technology Services Agency
  Mr. Leigh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish the revised framework document for the Information Technology Services Agency. [20612]

  Mr. Heald
  I have today arranged for the revised framework document for the Information Technology Services Agency to be placed in the Library. This document covers the period from January 1997 to December 1999.

  Benefits Backdating
  Mr. Leigh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to align the rules on the backdating of benefits as provided for by the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987, and to clarify the responsibilities of claimants in providing evidence to support their claims. [20613]

  Mr. Roger Evans
  I will tomorrow lay before Parliament the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 1997. The regulations will align, as far as possible, the rules on the backdating of benefit and will clarify claimants' responsibilities by requiring them to provide basic information to support their claim.

  The new rules on backdating will introduce two simple rules for most benefits, allowing up to three months' backdating of late claims, and up to one month's backdating of reviews following a change in a claimant's circumstances. The new rules will apply to most benefits from 7 April 1997, but will not apply to retirement pension until 4 August 1997. Aligning the backdating rules will reduce the complexity of the social security scheme and so increase administrative efficiency. Subject to changes in how promptly people claim or ask for reviews, we estimate that the new rules will affect around 450,000 claimants and that net benefit savings of £119 million in 1997–98, £126 million in 1998–99 and £130 million in 1999–2000 will arise. There will be an initial administrative cost of £1.8 million in 1997–98, £1.1 million in 1998–99 and £0.4 million in 1999–2000 in introducing the changes.

  The regulations will also require claims to income support and jobseeker's allowance from 6 October 1997 to be made on a properly completed claim form, with supporting documents as required on the form. The date of claim for benefit will be the date the claimant first contacts the Benefits Agency or the Employment Service, as appropriate, for the purpose of claiming, provided a properly completed claim is received within one month of that first date, or at or before an interview where this is required for jobseeker's allowance.

  We have consulted the Social Security Advisory Committee on these proposals and copies of the statement together with its report will be placed in the Library.

  State Pensions
  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of average earnings he estimates £175 constitutes at present; and what the figure will be in 2040, using the Government Actuary's assumptions about earning growth, in current prices. [19648]
  329
  Mr. Heald
  The figure of £175 a week represents 50 per cent. of average earnings for April 1996 and is projected to represent 26 per cent. of average earnings in 2040, assuming 1.5 per cent. real earnings growth up to that year.

  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if people currently under 20 years old will have their basic state pension paid out of the national insurance fund when they retire under his basic pension plan. [19626]

  Mr. Heald
  Whether anyone currently under 20 will be outside the new scheme will depend on the precise age limit for joining the scheme, to be determined nearer the time.

  Ms Harman
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list in relation to paragraph 36 of the technical document on Her Majesty's Government's basic pension plus proposal, the gross cost of revenue forgone for every 10 years from 2000 to 2090. [19627]

  Mr. Heald
  The gross costs of new rebates under basic pension plus will rise on average by £330 million in each year following implementation, reaching some £15 billion a year by 2040 or later. Reversal of timing of tax reliefs for the generation covered by basic state pension plus will more than halve the impact on public finances. Thereafter, there would be a rapid decline in public expenditure on pensions as they are met from investments funded by rebates.

DEFENCE

  Armed Services (Deaths)
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 4 March,Official Report,

  The number of armed forces personnel who died within the first six months of joining, from 1 January 1990 to 3 March 1997 (based on information reported to DASA as at 3 March 1997)

  1990

  1991

  1992

  1993

  1994

  1995

  1996

  1997 to 3 March 1997

  Total

  Tri-service

  Active service

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  Assault

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Coroner verdicts of suicide

  2

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  2

  Other self inflicted1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  0

  0

  1

  Accidents

  3

  4

  4

  2

  1

  2

  4

  0

  20

  Natural causes

  1

  3

  3

  0

  0

  2

  1

  0

  10

  Details of causes not yet available

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Total

  7

  7

  7

  2

  1

  5

  5

  0

  34

  Navy

  Active service

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Assault

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Coroner verdicts of suicide

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Other self inflicted1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Accidents

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Natural causes

  0

  3

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  0

  4

  Details of causes not yet available

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Total

  0

  3

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  0

  4

  Army2

  Active service

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  Assault

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Coroner verdicts of suicide

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  Other self inflicted1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  0

  0

  1

  Accidents

  2

  4

  4

  2

  1

  2

  4

  0

  19

  Natural causes

  0

  0

  2

  0

  0

  2

  0

  0

  4

  Details of causes not yet available

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Total

  4

  4

  6

  2

  1

  5

  4

  0

  26

  330
  columns 591–92, (1) if he will estimate how many members of each armed service have (a) been killed in accidents and (b) committed suicide during training periods in each of the last seven years; [19614]

  (2) if he will estimate how many members of each armed service have (a) been killed on active service, (b) been killed in accidents, (c) committed suicide and (d) died of natural causes within the first six months of joining, in each of the last seven years. [19613]

  Mr. Soames
  This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Analytical Services Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Paul Altobell to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 13 March 1997:
  I am replying to your two questions to the Secretary of State for Defence about the numbers of personnel in the Services who have (i) been killed in accidents during training periods, or committed suicide during training periods and (ii) died within the first six months of joining, since 1990. As Chief Executive of Defence Analytical Services Agency this matter falls within my area of responsibility.
  The information you request is detailed in the attached tables. In the first, I have shown those who died while on training, defined as basic training, assault course/parachute jumps and similar training, and exercises. In the second I have listed those who died within their first six months of joining, classified according to our standard classification system. Figures in both tables are for the same period, 1 January 1990 to 3 March 1997, as was covered in my letter to you of 3 March 1997.
  I am afraid our database does not contain the numbers of suicides which occurred during training. These could only be collected at disproportionate cost. As you are aware the overall numbers of suicides were contained in the table sent with my letter of 3 March 1997.
  331

  The number of armed forces personnel who died within the first six months of joining, from 1 January 1990 to 3 March 1997 (based on information reported to DASA as at 3 March 1997)

  1990

  1991

  1992

  1993

  1994

  1995

  1996

  1997 to 3 March 1997

  Total

  RAF

  Active service

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Assault

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Coroner verdicts of suicide

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  Other self inflicted1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Accidents

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  Natural causes

  1

  0

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  2

  Details of causes not yet available

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Total

  3

  0

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  4

  1This covers cases with open or misadventure coroner verdicts and those yet to be confirmed.

  2Includes Gurkhas.

  Armed forces personnel killed in accidents while on training1(from 1 January 1990 to 3 March 1997) (based on information reported to DASA as at 3 March 1997)

  Navy

  Army2

  RAF

  Total

  1990

  0

  5

  2

  7

  1991

  1

  8

  0

  9

  1992

  0

  9

  0

  9

  1993

  6

  2

  0

  8

  1994

  0

  7

  0

  7

  1995

  1

  3

  0

  4

  1996

  0

  1

  0

  1

  1997 to 3 March 1997

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Total

  8

  35

  2

  45

  1Training defined using the NATO STANAG for classification of disease, injuries and causes of death as basic training, assault courses/parachute jumps etc, and exercises.

  2Includes Gurkhas.

  Customer Charters
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department and its executive agencies have spent drafting, publishing and circulating each of their customer charters and customer standard documents; and how many copies of each document have been issued. [19389]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  My Department keeps no central record of this information. Where such documents are published by agencies, this is a matter for the chief executives and I have asked them to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from J. C. R. Hunt to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 13 March 1997:
  I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about customer charters and Customer Standard documents and the cost and number of each document issued as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Metrological Office.
  In the current financial year we will spend some £200 on printing our own Charter Standard for the Public, which is the only one of our publications falling within the ambit of your question. About 3,500 copies will have been distributed in various ways.
  The administrative/drafting costs of updating our Charter cannot be identified in isolation but are unlikely to exceed £1,000.
  I hope this information answers your question.
  332
  Letter from M. A. Rowe to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 13 March 1997
  I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence regarding production of a customer charter. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Pay and Personnel Agency (PPA).
  The PPA customer charter has not yet been printed, but our predecessor organisation—the Pay Services Directorate of the Defence Accounts Agency—issued 20,000 copies of its charter at an overall cost of £5,143. We estimate the equivalent cost of the PPA customer charter will be £3,500. It will be issued to every member of the MOD paid by the PPA—some 120,000 staff—but it will be a simpler version of its predecessor, hence the lower costs.

  RAF Establishments (Yorkshire and Humberside)
  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the Royal Air Force(a) bases and (b) other establishments in Yorkshire and Humberside in April 1992 indicating for each the number of (i) service and (ii) civilian personnel employed (1) at that date and (2) currently; and if he will list the date of closure of each of these establishments which closed after April 1992. [18266]

  Mr. Soames
  The information requested is not held centrally and, as a result, some of the statistics in the following table provided are incomplete or not available for the dates requested.

  July 1992

  January 1997

  Location

  RAF

  Civilians1

  RAF

  Civilians1

  RAF bases

  Catterick2

  720

  1,281

  4

  995

  Church Fenton

  0

  19

  6

  2

  Cowden

  312

  16

  6

  7

  Dishforth

  0

  38

  1

  32

  Finningley4

  n/a

  166

  6

  13

  Fylingdales

  87

  83

  73

  82

  Leeming

  1,888

  184

  1,284

  258

  Linton on Ouse

  n/a

  152

  475

  209

  Staxton Wold

  255

  48

  116

  58

  Topcliffe

  0

  40

  0

  29

  Other establishments

  Bradford CIO5

  3

  0

  0

  0

  Grimsby CIO5

  3

  0

  0

  0

  MOD Harrogate6

  n/a

  1,345

  0

  0

  Huddersfield CIO5

  3

  0

  0

  0

  Hull CIO

  5

  0

  3

  0

  Leeds CIO

  8

  1

  7

  2

  Sheffield CIO

  6

  1

  7

  2

  York CIO5

  3

  0

  0

  0

  1Excludes contractors personnel.

  333
  2Catterick passed to Army control on 30 June 1994.

  3Figure as at May 1993.

  4RAF Finningley closed on 1 April 1996, although a small staff is retained to manage disposal of the site.

  5As a result of the defence costs study into service recruiting, the careers information office structure has been rationalised and the RAF CIOs in Bradford, Grimsby, Huddersfield and York were closed on 1 December 1995, 3 March 1995, 31 March 1995 and 8 May 1996 respectively.

  6The MOD site at Harrogate was closed on 1 April 1996 following rationalisation of the RAF support management task at HQ logistics command.

  Training Teams (Namibia)
  Mr. Campbell-Savours
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost to public funds of providing the military training team to Namibia in 1991. [19684]

  Mr. Soames
  Details of the military assistance provided to individual countries, including the amount spent, is confidential between Governments under exemption 1 in the code of practice on access to Government information. However, as announced in the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Boothferry (Mr. Davies) to the hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Mrs. Clwyd) on 28 January 1997,Official Report, columns 140–41, we are now reviewing this practice against the background of the Government's commitment to openness. The House will be informed of the results of the review in due course.

  Employment Statistics
  Mr. Callaghan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of those employed by his Department in the last five years were(a) men and (b) women. [19658]

  Mr. Soames
  This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Analytical Services Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Paul Altobell to Mr. Jim Callaghan, dated 13 March 1997 I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence regarding the proportion of males and females employed by his Department in the last five years, as this falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of Defence Analytical Services Agency.
  The figures are as follows:

  Percentage of personnel employed by MOD by gender at 1 April

  1992

  1993

  1994

  1995

  1996

  Civilian personnel

  Males

  69.9

  69.7

  69.6

  69.8

  69.4

  Females

  30.1

  30.3

  30.4

  30.2

  30.6

  Service personnel

  Males

  93.3

  93.1

  93.0

  92.9

  92.9

  Females

  6.7

  6.9

  7.0

  7.1

  7.1

  All personnel

  Males

  85.7

  85.5

  85.3

  85.1

  85.1

  Females

  14.3

  14.5

  14.7

  14.9

  14.9

  All figures include full time and part time personnel. Figures for 1992 and 1993 include GCHQ personnel.

  I hope you find this information helpful.
  334

  Ministry of Defence Police
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what factors underlie the decision not to include a question relating to morale in the staff care survey carried out by the chief constable of the Ministry of Defence Police; [19725]

  (2) what plans he has to carry out studies into morale within the Ministry of Defence Police. [19726]

  Mr. Soames
  This is a matter for the chief constable/chief executive of the Ministry of Defence Police agency. I have asked the chief constable/chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Michael Smallwood to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 13 March 1997 I am replying to your Questions to the Secretary of State for Defence about morale in the Ministry of Defence Police, on behalf of the Chief Constable/Chief Executive of the Ministry of Defence Police Agency, as this falls into his area of responsibility. The Chief Constable/Chief Executive is away from the office at present.
  Although the Ministry of Defence Police Staff Care Survey 1997 does not specifically use the term morale, the responses to the Job Satisfaction questions (Section I) will provide an indication of morale in the Force. I attach a copy of the survey questionnaire for your information, from which you will see that management and staff representatives worked closely together to formulate the questionnaire. The Chief Constable/Chief Executive has no immediate plans to carry out specific studies into morale in the Ministry of Defence Police.
  In addition, two recent surveys of customer and public satisfaction have recorded satisfaction ratings of 86% and 91% respectively. These ratings are not considered indicative of low morale.
  A copy of the Ministry of Defence Police Staff Care Survey 1997 is being placed in the Library of the House.

  Military Survey Defence Agency
  Mr. Keen
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the estimated savings to public funds accruing from the Military Survey Defence Agency element of the defence intelligence staff "Competing for Quality" proposal for information systems—information technology and open source information services; and what impact these measures will have on the efficiency
  of the Military Survey Defence Agency. [19366]

  Mr. Soames
  This is a matter for the chief executive of the Military Survey Defence Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Philip Wildman to Mr. Alan Keen, dated 13 March 1997 I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the Military Survey Defence Agency element of the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) Competing For Quality (CFQ) proposal for IS/IT and Open Source Information (OSINF) services, as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive.
  During last year the DIS conducted a CFQ Feasibility Study with involvement from the business areas affected by the CFQ initiative to examine the extent to which IS/IT, OSINF services together with Media Services and Printing could be exposed to competition with the private sector. It concluded that MOD should seek to test through competition whether improved Value For Money (VFM) can be obtained by contractorising a defined package of these services. The Feasibility Study recommendations have been accepted by Ministers and the project is to be taken forward, and will be subject to the normal consultation process. The invitation to companies to provide proposals is scheduled to be issued by mid summer. Consequently at this stage, it would be premature to assess the level of savings and

  335
  efficiencies that may result. However, if a competitive procurement cannot show better Value For Money (VFM), then the DIS and Military Survey will not proceed with the initiative.

  Beef
  Mr. Richards
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Mr. Jamieson) of 20 February 1997, Official Report, column 718, if the armed forces are supplied with German beef; and if he will make a statement. [20040]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  This is a matter for the chief executive of the Naval Bases and Supply Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from John Trewby to Mr. Rod Richards, dated 13 March 1997 I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the supply of German beef to the Armed Forces as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Naval Bases and Supply Agency.
  NAAFI are currently contracted to supply food for the Armed Forces. They have advised that the only area where German beef has been supplied is to our Forces in Germany, and that the products and quantities involved are small. Most beef products, including those supplied for our Forces in Germany, are sourced from South America on value for money grounds. Due to the ban on British beef exports a small number of low offtake beef products, which otherwise might have been sourced in the UK have been obtained from continental European sources, mainly Holland but with a small proportion from Germany.

  Military Museums
  Mr. Key
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Minister of State for the Armed Forces expects to reply to the letter dated 20 January from the hon. Member for Salisbury on the subject of military museums. [19063]

  Mr. Soames
  The Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my noble Friend the Earl Howe, wrote to the hon. Member on Tuesday 11 March 1997.

  Military Provost Guard Service
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which organisation will undertake the training of the Military Provost Guard Service with respect to civilian powers of arrest; how such training will be funded; and what estimate he has made of the cost of the training. [19727]

  Mr. Soames
  The Royal Military Police training school, part of the adjutant general's corps training group, provides instruction to Military Provost Guard Service soldiers on a citizen's powers of arrest as part of the MPGS training course. The training is funded from the adjutant general's budget. The cost of training MPGS soldiers on a citizen's powers of arrest is estimated at some £1,000 for the pilot scheme.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the applications described as firm applications for military local service engagement(a) did not specify a preference for service in their local area and (b) specified a preference for a move from Northern Ireland to the United Kingdom mainland. [19729]
  336
  Mr. Soames
  Thirty-seven applications have indicated "any site" as a preference, and 38 indicated a willingness to move to a site that was not nearest to their application address to obtain a vacancy. There have been no military provost guard service recruits from Northern Ireland.

  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the average cost to his Department of travel-to-work expenses incurred by a military local service engagement guard living(a) 21 miles and (b) 10 miles form his or her duty station in the last year for which figures are available. [19724]

  Mr. Soames
  As the Military Provost Guard Service will not form until April 1997, no historical figures are available.

  Equipment Exhibition
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where the Royal Navy and British Army equipment exhibition will be held, including any off-site events; and on which days it will be open to(a) overseas customers, (b) the press and (c) the public. [19531]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: The 1997 Royal Navy and British Army equipment exhibition will beheld at Farnborough on 1 to 5 September and at Portsmouth naval base on 2 to 4 September. The exhibition will be open to overseas visitors every day. A press day is planned for 31 August. The exhibition is not open to the public.

  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimated cost to public funds of the Royal Navy and British Army equipment exhibition. [19532]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: The aim is that there should be no cost to public funds.

  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many visitors are expected at the Royal Navy and British Army equipment exhibition; and from which countries buyers will be invited. [19533]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: An estimated 30,000 people will visit the exhibition. Invitations are issued to representatives from countries with an interest in the legitimate purchase of defence equipment.

  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who will be opening the Royal Navy and British Army equipment exhibition. [19534]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: It has not yet been decided who will open the exhibition.

  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which non-United Kingdom companies will be exhibiting at the Royal Navy and British Army equipment exhibition. [19535]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: All exhibiting companies must be United Kingdom registered.

  Royal Yacht
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the estimated cost of replacing the
  337
  gold leaf on the royal yacht Britannia damaged in the recent accident; and if it will be replaced before the yacht's arrival in Hong Kong; [20079]

  (2) what is the total estimated cost of the damage to the royal yacht Britannia as a result of the accident at Karachi; and who will pay for the repair work. [20078]

  Mr. Soames
  On 28 February, while in the Gulf, en route from Doha to Karachi, HMY Britannia was involved in a minor collision with RFA Bayleaf while replenishing at sea. The repair costs for Britannia, which will be met from defence votes, are not yet known, but all necessary repairs, including any to her gold leaf, will be completed before she arrives in Hong Kong.

  Horizon Cruiser
  Mr. George
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the Horizon anti-air warfare cruiser. [20133]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  The United Kingdom remains committed to the collaborative common new generation frigate programme, comprising Project Horizon and the principal anti-air missile system, PAAMS.

  Mr. George
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consultation the chief of defence procurement has had with this French and Italian counterparts on the future of Horizon. [20134]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  The chief of defence procurement consults regularly with his French and Italian counterparts on the common new generation frigate programme.

  School Cadet Forces
  Ms Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if schools which establish a cadet force within the terms of the Government's recent proposals to expand cadet forces will also be eligible to seek funding from his Department for(a) armouries and (b) firing ranges on school sites. [20030]

  Mr. Soames
  No undertaking has been made to expand the cadet forces, and media reports of a possible expansion have been overblown. However, we are currently looking into the scope for expanding the cadet forces, so that more young people can enjoy the benefits of membership. A study will be made of the opportunities, limitations and costs, including those of any new armouries and firing ranges which might be required, within any possible future expansion.

  Ms Armstrong
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimated cost to public funds of providing(a) armouries and (b) firing ranges in all state secondary schools eligible to establish cadet forces. [20029]

  Mr. Soames
  Any secondary school may request the formation of a cadet unit within its premises, and may subsequently ask for the installation of an armoury or firing range. Should the cadet authorities agree, and the resources allow, these facilities can be provided. The costs would vary from site to site, but as an example, the estimated cost of providing a firing range and armoury at Longhill school, Brighton is £95,000.
  338

  Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
  Mr. Nicholls
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to announce the completion of the sale of the DERA support services division. [20654]

  Mr. Arbuthnot
  Contracts between the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Defence, and the venture capitalist Cinven for the sale of DERA's support services division have been exchanged. Completion will take place by mid-April, subject to the conclusion of mutually satisfactory arrangements for a pension scheme for the new company.

HEALTH

  NHS Administration Costs
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the administrative cost of the NHS as a percentage of its total budget for each year since 1989. [13647]

  Mr. Horam
  I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms Harman) on 30 November 1995,Official Report, column 862, and the hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Sutcliffe) on 3 December 1996, Official Report, column 635.

  Changes over the years in the roles and responsibilities of family practitioner committees, family health services authorities, district health authorities, and regional health authorities, and the transfer of functions to NHS trusts, mean that the figures are not directly comparable. These figures also include expenditure on medical negligence, capital charges, grants to voluntary bodies and some health care services—for example, health promotion.

  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the amount spent on administration in each NHS(a) health authority and (b) trust. [19431]

  Mr. Horam
  The latest available health authority headquarters administration figures, relating to 1995–96, are already in the Library. However, changes over the years in the roles and responsibilities of family practitioner committees, family health services authorities, district health authorities, and regional health authorities, and the transfer of functions to NHS trusts, mean that the health authority headquarters administration figures are not directly comparable over time. These figures also include expenditure on medical negligence, capital charges, grants to voluntary bodies and some health care services—for example, health promotion.

  For information on health authority costs and trust management costs, I refer the hon. Member to the booklet "Health Authority Costs and Management Costs in NHS Trusts" which is published today.

  Mr. Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much is spent on management and administration per annum at present in each health authority in England. [20119]

  Mr. Horam
  For information on health authority costs and trust management costs, I refer the hon. Member to the booklet "Health Authority Costs and Management Costs in NHS Trusts" which is published today.
  339
  The latest available health authority headquarters administration figures, relating to 1995–96, are already in the Library. However, changes over the years in the roles and responsibilities of family practitioner committees, family health services authorities, district health authorities, and regional health authorities, and the transfer of functions to NHS trusts, means that the figures are not directly comparable. These figures also include expenditure on medical negligence, capital charges, grants to voluntary bodies and some health care services—for example, health promotion).

  Mr. Ainger
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the administrative costs of each health authority in England in each of the last five years. [17465]

  Mr. Horam
  [holding answer 24 February 1997]: I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave the hon. Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn) on 22 May 1996, Official Report, columns 215–16, and the reply I gave the late hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) on 30 October 1996, Official Report, column 134.

  Changes over the years in the roles and responsibilities of family practitioner committees, family health services authorities, district health authorities, and regional health authorities, and the transfer of functions to NHS trusts, mean that the figures are not directly comparable. These figures also include expenditure on medical negligence, capital charges, grants to voluntary bodies and some health care services—for example, health promotion).

  Greater London Health Budget
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the national health service budget for Greater London was spent on administration during 1996; and if he will make a statement. [17965]

  Mr. Horam
  The information requested is not available.

  Meals on Wheels
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the amount charged by each county council for the provision of meals on wheels. [18706]

  Mr. Burns
  Information on the charges typically made to individual users of services by local authority social services departments is not held centrally. However, aggregate figures by client group of gross and net expenditure and fees and charges relating to meals on wheels for each local authority social services department in England in 1994–95, the latest year for which this information is available, may be found on Internet—http://www.open.gov.uk/doh/publi c/pss—stat. htm— which can be accessed in the Library.

  NHS Pension Scheme (GP Staff)
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the assumption underlying his estimate of £5million for the first-year costs of allowing GPs' practice staff to join the NHS pension scheme was that any practice staff who wished to could join or only those nominated by their GP employer; and what is the difference in cost between estimates based on these two assumptions. [18796]
  340
  Mr. Malone
  Assumptions underlying the £5 million costs were based on the results of the staff interest survey. The results reflected the level of interest among staff who were employed by general practitioner practices which expressed an interest in participating.

  Adoption
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each English local authority the amount currently charged for inter-county adoption home studies. [18783]

  Mr. Burns
  These figures are not held centrally.

  Dentists
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the British Dental Association concerning fast-track procedures for striking off dentists who may pose a threat to the public. [19295]

  Mr. Malone
  In December 1995 we consulted the British Dental Association about powers for the national health service tribunal to suspend dentists from providing general dental services. We amended the National Health Service (General Dental Services) Regulations to reflect these changes which came into force on 21 December 1995.

  GP Patient Lists
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions in each of the last five years the Medical Practices Committee has decided to disperse the patient list of a vacant general practitioner post following a recommendation by a health authority that the post be advertised. [19430]

  Mr. Malone
  We understand from the Medical Practices Committee that there was one occasion in the past five years when the committee dispersed a patient list following a recommendation from a health authority to advertise.

  Customer Charters
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department and its executive agencies have spent drafting, publishing and circulating each of their customer charters and customer standard documents; and how many copies of each document have been issued. [19384]

  Mr. Horam
  The following table shows the information requested:

  Item

  Cost of drafting publishing and circulating £

  Number of copies distributed

  The patients charter

  6,622,610

  26,880,000

  The patients charter maternity services

  191,799

  1,350,000

  The patients charter blood donors

  144,144

  28,250

  The patients charter services for children and young people

  359,927

  354,000

  341

  Item

  Cost of drafting publishing and circulating £

  Number of copies distributed

  The patients charter mental health services

  88,225

  65,300

  A framework for local community care charters in England

  76,765

  100,000

  The MDA code of practice on enforcement

  6,553

  4,150

  MCA working with business

  6,536

  5,500

  NHSPA commitment to service: Members charter

  2,000

  14,200

  Private Finance Initiative
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of PFI contracts which have been signed by 30 March(a) 1997 and (b) 1998. [19415]

  Mr. Horam
  Information on estimated future dates of contract signature is held centrally only for major private finance initiative schemes, generally with a capital value of over £10 million, which have at least reached preferred bidder stage. Of these schemes, it is estimated that three will have signed commercial contracts by 30 March 1997 and that a further 20 will have signed commercial contracts by 30 March 1998. Commercial contracts for 47 PFI schemes, of £1 million or above, have already been signed.

  Residential Care (Assets)
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the total value in real terms of assets sold by old people to pay for residential care in each of the last five years; and what in each case was the percentage change from the previous year; [19370]

  (2) how many people, having sold their assets to pay for residential care, exhausted their funds in the last year for which figures are available; and how many such people remained in the same residential home; [19372]

  (3) how many people sold their homes to pay for residential care in 1995–96; and what estimate he has made of the number who will have done so in 1996–97. [19371]

  Mr. Burns
  The information requested is not held centrally.

  NHS Numbers
  Mr. Barron
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for the most recent dates for which figures are available(a) the number of duplicate NHS numbers issued since the project to issue computerised numbers began and (b) the cost to the NHS to date of correcting this problem. [19546]

  Mr. Horam
  Between 4 December 1995, when the new national health service number was introduced, and 5 March 1997, the latest date for which figures are available, approximately 6,750 new NHS numbers had been re-issued by registrars of births and deaths at a subsequent birth registration. This is less than 1 per cent.342
  of all birth registrations. Whenever an NHS number is erroneously re-issued, at least two registrations are affected. Occasionally, NHS numbers have been re-issued more than once, thereby affecting three or more registrations.

  If an NHS number is re-issued at a birth registration this is detected by the NHS central register and all affected babies are issued with a unique replacement number. The cost to the NHS of correcting non-unique NHS numbers in patient registers is neglible. The cost of amending the software used by registrars of births and deaths to issue NHS numbers is being met by the Office for National Statistics.

  Hospital Buildings
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many square feet of former hospital buildings remain(a) empty, (b) derelict and (c) unsold. [19417]

  Mr. Horam
  The information requested is not available centrally.

  Health Information Helpline
  Mrs. Anne Campbell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of telephone calls from(a) the public and (b) Cambridge constituents to the health information helpline in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what were the numbers of each category of inquiry. [19618]

  Mr. Horam
  The number of calls received by the national health information service between January 1996 and December 1996, inclusive, was 573,295. The number of calls at constituency level and categories of calls are not collected centrally.

  Psychiatric Beds
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many psychiatric beds have closed in each yea since 1980. [19373]

  Mr. Burns
  The information requested is not held centrally in the form requested.

  General Managers
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total remuneration of each NHS district health authority's general manager in each of the last three years. [19429]

  Mr. Malone
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the late hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) on 16 February 1995,Official Report, column 808, and the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms Harman) on 26 February 1996, Official Report, column 354. Information concerning 1995–96 is shown in the table. The figures need to be treated with caution. The payments listed represent remuneration in respect of the total gross salary, bonus payments, monetary value of benefits in kind, taxable expenses allowances and compensation payments in relation to offices described rather than an individual. Thus, payments listed for a particular district health authority could refer to more than one individual.
  343

  Chief executives' remuneration by district health authority

  £000

  1995–96

  Northumberland HA

  75

  Sunderland Health Commission

  56

  North Durham HA

  79

  South Durham HA

  79

  Tees HA

  81

  South of Tyne Health Commission

  79

  North Cumbria HA

  53

  Newcastle and North Tyneside HA

  86

  East Riding HA

  84

  United Health—Grimsby and Scunthorpe HA

  75

  North Yorkshire HA

  85

  Bradford HA

  49

  West Yorkshire HA

  87

  Leeds Healthcare

  87

  Wakefield HA

  76

  North Derbyshire DHA

  80

  Southern Derbyshire Health

  80

  Leicestershire HA

  87

  Nottingham HA

  46

  Barnsley DHA

  74

  Doncaster DHA

  81

  Rotherham HA

  71

  Sheffield Health

  79

  North Nottinghamshire DHA

  75

  Lincolnshire HA

  81

  Cambridge DHA

  37

  North West Anglia Health Commission

  85

  Huntingdon DHA

  17

  Suffolk DHA

  86

  East Norfolk District Health Commission

  74

  Bedfordshire Health

  80

  North West Hertfordshire DHA

  20

  South West Hertfordshire DHA

  20

  Barnet HA

  81

  Hillingdon Health Agency

  70

  East and North Hertfordshire DHA

  41

  Brent and Harrow HA

  79

  Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow HA

  97

  Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster DHA

  75

  North Essex HA

  87

  South Essex DHA

  65

  Barking and Havering HA

  42

  Redbridge and Waltham Forest DHA

  17

  East London and The City HA

  85

  New River DHA

  79

  Camden and Islington HA

  93

  Bromley DHA

  84

  East Sussex HA

  437

  East Kent HA

  75

  West Kent DHA

  88

  Bexley and Greenwich Health

  91

  Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Health Commission

  94

  Croydon Health Commissioning Agency

  91

  Merton Sutton and Wandsworth DHA

  83

  Kingston and Richmond HA

  80

  West Surrey Health Commission

  83

  Eastern Surrey Health Commission

  150

  West Sussex HA

  87

  Dorset Health Commission

  99

  Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Health Commission

  78

  Southampton and South West Hampshire Health Commission

  89

  North and Mid Hampshire HA

  73

  Health Commission for Wiltshire and Bath

  68

  Isle of Wight Health Commission

  66

  Berkshire Health Commission

  47

  Buckinghamshire DHA

  74

  Northamptonshire DHA

  40

  Oxfordshire DHA

  41

  Bristol and District DHA

  80

  Cornwall and Isles of Scilly DHA

  80

  North and East Devon HA

  71

  South and West Devon HA

  94

  Gloucestershire DHA

  43

  Somerset HA

  74

  Herefordshire HA

  138

  Worcester and District DHA

  492

  344

  Chief executives' remuneration by district health authority

  £000

  Shropshire HA

  83

  North Staffordshire HA

  84

  Coventry HA

  76

  Dudley HA

  36

  Sandwell HA

  70

  Solihull Health

  37

  Walsall HA

  60

  Wolverhampton HA

  55

  South Birmingham HA

  48

  North Worcestershire HA

  309

  South Staffordshire HA

  89

  Warwickshire HA

  35

  North Birmingham HA

  53

  North Cheshire HA

  82

  South Cheshire HA

  71

  Liverpool HA

  84

  St. Helens and Knowsley HA

  36

  Sefton HA

  37

  Wirral HA

  75

  Stockport Health Commission

  36

  North West Lancashire HA

  79

  East Lancashire HA

  84

  South Lancashire HA

  71

  Wigan and Bolton HA

  80

  Bury and Rochdale DHA

  73

  West Pennine HA

  83

  Manchester Health Commission

  105

  Salford and Trafford HA

  74

  Morecambe Bay HA

  32

  Source:

  Annual accounts of district health authorities.

  Notes:

  1. Figures are provisional.

  2. East Sussex DHA—amount includes £351,000 of pension contributions.

  3. Bexley and Greenwich—amount recorded in FHSA accounts.

  4. Eastern Surrey DHA—amount includes £72,000 of compensation for loss of office to former East Surrey DHA chief executive.

  5. Herefordshire DHA—amount includes £81,000 of compensation for loss of office.

  6. Worcester and District DHA—amount includes £107,000 of compensation for loss of office and £310,000 of pension contributions.

  7. Walsall DHA—amount recorded in FHSA accounts.

  8. North Worcestershire DHA—amount includes £99,000 of compensation for loss of office and £143,000 of pension contributions.

  9. Wirral DHA—amount recorded in FHSA accounts.

  10. Manchester DHA—amount shown is a shared cost between the DHA and the FHSA. The cost of the DHA is 75 per cent. of the figure shown.

  Liver Disease
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diagnoses of chronic liver disease there have been in each of the last five years. [19418]

  Mr. Horam
  The information requested is not held centrally.

  Lariam
  Ms Corston
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 25 February,Official Report, column 180, what factors led to deferring until 1995 the inclusion in his Department's publication "Health Information for Overseas Travel" of information about side effects of dizziness, disturbed sense of balance or a neuropsychiatric disorder included in changes made to the product information for Lariam in October 1991. [19682]
  345
  Mr. Malone
  The 1995 edition of "Health Information for Overseas Travel" was the first edition of that book.

  Power Lines (Cancer)
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data he collates in respect of the number of cases of cancer sufferers resident in homes adjacent to high current configuration power lines; and if he will make a statement. [19828]

  Mr. Horam
  The information requested is not collected centrally. However, several epidemiological studies are currently under way to investigate childhood cancer in relation to various possible causes including electromagnetic fields. The largest study of this type in this country is the United Kingdom childhood cancer study which is funded in part by the Department of Health, with technical support provided by the National Radiological Protection Board. The Department is also funding two pilot studies, one of adults and one of children, looking at cancer incidence near power lines.

  Children's Homes
  Mr. MacShane
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has for the administration of children's homes currently run by local authorities to be offered out for tender to the private sector. [19732]

  Mr. Burns
  None. It is for local authorities to make such arrangements as they consider appropriate to ensure that homes are available for the care and accommodation of children looked after by them—whether by their own provision or that of the independent sector.

  Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979
  Mr. Hendry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979. [20616]

  Mr. Dorrell
  It is Government policy to regularly review non-departmental public bodies. The national boards for nursing, midwifery and health visiting in the four countries of the United Kingdom fall into this category. The United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting does not. However, there is a clear relationship between the statutory bodies. The Government therefore, as a first stage, intend to commission an independent and fundamental review of the current operations of the five statutory bodies created by the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979. This will be a comprehensive study of all aspects of their work, including those issues around determining fitness to practise which go to the heart of the council's role in protecting the public. I shall, in particular, want it to consider the need for new powers to impose life bans on people convicted of the most serious offences. We shall then bring forward for consultation specific proposals for change in the light of the outcome of that review.

  Non-ionising Radiation
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidelines he has issued in respect of limiting levels of exposure to non-ionising radiation; and if he will make a statement; [19836]
  346
  (2) what representations he has received from the National Radiological Protection Board in the last five years on the standards of protection for exposure to non-ionising radiation; and if he will make a statement. [19837]

  Mr. Horam
  The National Radiological Protection Board provides advice to Government on the risks to human health from both ionising and non-ionising radiation. Non-ionising radiation includes low and high-frequency electromagnetic fields as well as solar and artificial ultraviolet radiation.

  In 1993 the NRPB issued guidelines on limiting exposure to electromagnetic fields and radiation—"Restrictions on Human Exposure to Static and Time Varying Electromagnetic Fields and Radiation" (documents of NRPB, Vol. 4, No. 5). The guidelines are based solely on preventing the well-established biological effects of heating and shock from acute exposure to electromagnetic fields and radiation.

  Initiatives to reduce excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation have been under way since "The Health of the Nation" White Paper in 1992. These include the Health Education Authority's "Sun Know How" campaign, a report by the NRPB's advisory group on non-ionising radiation covering health effects from ultraviolet radiation (documents of NRPB, Vol. 6, No. 2), distribution of NRPB's "Board Statement on Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation on Human Health" to all general practitioners, public health physicians and occupational health physicians, and the development of an Internet web site. Copies of the documents are in the Library.

  Electromagnetic Fields
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the risk of cancer from(a) domestic exposure to electromagnetic fields,(b) parental exposure to electromagnetic fields and (c) employment in occupations with high exposure to electromagnetic fields; and if he will make a statement; [19839]

  (2) what assessment he has made of the risk to human health associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields; and if he will make a statement. [19835]

  Mr. Horam
  The Department obtains advice on the health implications of exposure to electromagnetic fields from the National Radiological Protection Board and other sources, including its own funded research. The NRPB's advisory group on non-ionising radiation conducted an extensive review of the subject in 1992—"Electromagnetic Fields and the Risk of Cancer" (document series, Vol. 3, No. 1)—and concluded that there was no firm evidence of a carcinogenic hazard from exposure of paternal gonads, the foetus, children or adults to the extremely low-frequency fields that might be associated with residence near major sources of electricity supply, the use of electrical appliances or work in the electrical, electronic and telecommunication industries. The independence expert Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment has endorsed the advisory group's report. A supplementary report was published in 1994 by the NRPB—"Electromagnetic Fields and the risk of Cancer" (document series, Vol. 5, No. 2)—to take into account the results of further experimental
  347
  and epidemiological studies from Scandinavia, France and Canada. Copies of the advisory group's reports are available in the Library.

  Several epidemiological studies are currently under way to investigate childhood cancer in relation to various possible causes, including electromagnetic fields. The largest study of that type in this country is the United Kingdom childhood cancer study, which is funded in part by the Department, with technical support provided by the NRPB. The Department is also funding two pilot studies, one of adults and one of children, looking at cancer incidence near power lines.

  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
  Mr. Brian David Jenkins
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department is taking to prevent the spread of MRSA within hospitals and the community. [19723]

  Completed schemes

  Project/scheme

  Completed date

  Cost £

  Updated cost £

  Amersham—dermatology unit

  21 January 1994

  2,581,694

  3,195,841

  Amersham operating theatres

  24 June 1983

  1,333,653

  1,873,782

  Amersham phase 1

  22 July 1991

  6,193,487

  7,312,478

  Buckingham—phase 1

  16 February 1990

  1,263,502

  1,577,974

  Milton Keynes DGH—end unit

  24 September 1992

  1,202,638

  1,431,955

  Milton Keynes DGH—M1 unit

  24 November 1988

  2,495,264

  3,187,133

  Milton Keynes DGH—OPD

  13 November 1989

  3,578,463

  4,278,928

  Milton Keynes DGH—phase 1

  12 September 1983

  15,638,544

  19,974,686

  Milton Keynes DGH—phase 2

  21 August 1991

  17,810,043

  21,296,264

  St. John's EMI

  11 March 1991

  1,816,779

  1,843,014

  Stoke Mandeville—maternity

  5 May 1991

  6,030,648

  6,117,733

  Stoke Mandeville—OPD/hospice

  18 July 1989

  1,598,049

  1,952,399

  Stoke Mandeville—pathology

  5 May 1989

  1,545,574

  1,930,250

  Stoke Mandeville—X-ray

  10 July 1987

  1,287,006

  1,689,947

  Stoke Mandeville—enabling works

  30 July 1996

  1,185,964

  1,306,886

  Tindal M1 development

  7 May 1991

  3,831,237

  3,472,831

  Tweed Drive—nursing home

  17 November 1989

  1,224,958

  1,212,018

  Wycombe pathology

  5 July 1985

  1,314,300

  1,801,553

  Wycombe—X-ray extensions and alterations

  16 September 1994

  2,074,436

  2,545,487

  Milton Keynes—secure unit phase 2

  14 February 1995

  1,918,847

  2,228,083

  Aylesbury manor house rehabilitation unit

  30 June 1995

  1,520,819

  1,689,131

  Totals

  77,445,905

  91,918,373

  Abbreviations:

  DGH = District General Hospital.

  EMI = Elderly Mentally Infirm.

  OPD = Out-Patients Department.

  MI = Mental Illness.

  Planned schemes

  Project/scheme

  Forecast completion date

  Estimated cost (£)

  Stoke Mandeville Hospital redevelopment

  Negotiating with potential PFI partners

  20,000,000

  Aylesbury Vale mental health intensive care unit

  Summer 1998

  1,800,000

  Amersham and High Wycombe redevelopment (South Buckinghamshire)

  Start on site date dependent on the outcome of refinancing discussions

  38,000,000

  348
  Mr. Horam
  The Department is currently working with professional groups on the revision of clinical guidelines on methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus issued to the national health service in September 1994. We have also commissioned the Royal College of Nursing to produce an education video and teaching pack on MRSA. In May 1996 the Department issued a leaflet on MRSA to health authorities, social services departments and nursing and residential homes.

  Copies of the guidelines issued in 1994 and the leaflet on MRSA are available in the Library.

  Hospital Building Schemes (Buckinghamshire)
  Mr. Lidington
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will update the list of hospital building schemes in Buckinghamshire given in his answer of 3 July 1996,Official Report, columns 443–44; and if he will make a statement. [19841]

  Mr. Horam
  The information requested is shown in the tables:

  Fluoridation
  Mr. Chris Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the references of the scientific work published since 1990 upon which the Government's advisers base their recommendations to fluoridate. [20073]

  Mr. Malone
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Sunderland, North (Mr. Etherington) on 28 January,Official Report, column 163.
  349

  Ophthalmology Sessions
  Mr. Simon Hughes
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultant ophthalmology sessions are available on average each week at present; and how many were available each week on average in each of the past five years. [20118]

  Mr. Malone
  The information requested is not available centrally.

  NHS Policy Board
  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was on the agenda for the NHS policy board meeting on 12 March; [19134]

  (2) pursuant to his answer of 22 January, Official Report, column 668, if he will place in the Library the 1996–97 quarter 3 (a) income and expenditure returns and (b) year-end turnover and outturn forecasts for (i) health authorities and (ii) NHS trusts, together with the further papers on the quarter 3 returns to be considered by the NHS policy board on 12 March. [19276]

  Mr. Malone
  The NHS policy board meeting scheduled for 12 March 1997 did not take place. The 1996–97 quarter 3 forecasts for health authorities and NHS trusts will be placed in the Library shortly.

  Information submitted to the NHS policy board provided for internal management discussion and advice, which includes its agenda, is exempt from publication under part 2 of the "Open Government Code of Practice."

  Factor 8
  Mr. Alfred Morris
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to fund provision for recombinant factor 8 on an equivalent basis to that provided in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [20043]

  Mr. Horam
  The Department does not allocate money to support specific treatments for particular patient groups. National health service funds are allocated to purchasers of health care who are best placed to decide what services, including treatments, they wish to purchase to meet local needs.

  Depression (Prescribed Drugs)
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes have taken place in each of the past five years in the number of drugs prescribed for treating depression. [20031]

  Mr. Malone
  The number of licensed preparations used in the treatment of depression are shown in the table:

  Number of licensed preparations used in the treatment of depression, 1991 to 1995

  England

  Year

  Number of licensed preparations

  1991

  144

  1992

  143

  1993

  147

  350

  Number of licensed preparations used in the treatment of depression, 1991 to 1995

  England

  Year

  Number of licensed preparations

  1994

  153

  1995

  155

  1. Antidepressants are those preparations in the British National Formulary [issue 28, September 1994] therapeutic section 4.3—antidepressant drugs.

  2. These preparations are the main category of preparations used in the treatment of depression, but not solely used for it. Doctors may also prescribe other preparations.

  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the financial and other support that is provided to groups pressing for an increase in drug use for depression from(a) patients, (b) doctors, (c) drug companies and (d) doctors employed by drug companies. [20032]

  Mr. Burns
  The Department has not undertaken such an assessment.

  Health Service Financial Performance
  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health which(a) health authorities and (b) NHS trusts are currently in the NHS executive's (i) red and (ii) amber zone for financial performance; and what are the criteria for inclusion in each zone. [20044]

  Mr. Horam
  Monitoring financial information for trusts and health authorities is already placed in the Library following analysis and review by the national health service executive. The red or amber status of trusts and health authorities is internal management information.

  Health Service Senior Managers (Pay)
  Mr. Bayley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons(a) health authorities are and (b) NHS trusts are not required to pay their senior managers on NHS Whitley rates. [20046]

  Mr. Malone
  The pay of general and senior managers on national terms and conditions is not negotiated in Whitley councils but is determined centrally by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. Health authorities have to pay national rates. The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 gave trusts the freedom to set their own terms and conditions of service and has enabled the pay of senior executives to be determined locally where local needs and market factors can properly be taken into account in order to deliver improved patient care.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Farm Woodlands
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects his Department to publish the booklet "Farm Woodlands: An Introductory Guide"; and what plans he has to publicise the farm woodland premium scheme in advance of the booklet becoming available. [19578]
  351
  Mr. Boswell
  Full details of the revised farm woodland premium scheme will be contained in the new "FWPS Rules and Procedures" booklet. Both this and the new application forms are currently being printed and are expected to be available before the beginning of April when the new scheme is due to commence.

  Advice of a more general nature will be contained in "Farm Woodlands: An Introductory Guide". Work is currently in progress on this. Interested organisations will be consulted shortly on the draft and it is expected that the booklet will be published in the autumn of this year. In the meantime, the existing "Farm Woodlands: A Practical Guide", which the new booklet will replace, is being reprinted.

  Publicity for the scheme will be concentrated over the spring and summer, with various promotional activities, including targeting local farming events and the agricultural shows, undertaken by ADAS and the Scottish Agricultural College advisory service. We also intend to

  Adult herd size

  1988

  1989

  1990

  1991

  1992

  1993

  1994

  1995

  1996

  1–9

  21

  81

  166

  303

  553

  826

  976

  1,074

  1,126

  10–19

  23

  90

  213

  401

  691

  1,039

  1,248

  1,382

  1,441

  20–29

  35

  141

  337

  589

  1,045

  1,512

  1,783

  1,922

  1,995

  30–39

  56

  221

  507

  913

  1,539

  2,106

  2,427

  2,561

  2,638

  40–49

  90

  325

  727

  1,216

  1,959

  2,630

  2,924

  3,057

  3,116

  50–59

  107

  386

  760

  1,225

  1,850

  2,398

  2,701

  2,825

  2,884

  60–69

  107

  384

  762

  1,255

  1,876

  2,393

  2,625

  2,709

  2,780

  70–79

  117

  358

  728

  1,151

  1,688

  2,119

  2,347

  2,422

  2,447

  80–89

  122

  363

  696

  1,109

  1,582

  1,938

  2,114

  2,176

  2,207

  90–99

  97

  347

  663

  1,025

  1,380

  1,685

  1,797

  1,831

  1,857

  100–149

  456

  1,463

  2,571

  3,683

  4,870

  5,753

  6,138

  6,243

  6,307

  150–199

  192

  601

  1,066

  1,454

  1,823

  2,080

  2,189

  2,237

  2,260

  200–249

  91

  253

  412

  545

  671

  772

  823

  838

  845

  250+

  58

  147

  249

  319

  400

  498

  535

  545

  550

  Unknown

  22

  45

  95

  251

  554

  899

  1,097

  1,225

  1,388

  Total

  1,594

  5,205

  9,952

  15,439

  22,481

  28,648

  31,724

  33,047

  33,841

  It is not possible, without disproportionate cost, to provide the total number of herds for each category of herd size.

  Mrs. Helen Jackson
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will make a statement to the House regarding the disposal to landfill of BSE-related cattle carcases and other remains. [20080]

  Mrs. Browning
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Dr. Strang) on 11 March 1997,Official Report, columns 54–5.

  Green Vegetables
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the percentage change in the consumption of fresh green vegetables from 1980 to 1995. [19294]

  Mr. Boswell
  Household consumption of fresh green vegetables fell by 36 per cent. between 1980 and 1995. However, this has been offset by a 5 per cent. increase in the household consumption of other fresh vegetables, excluding potatoes, and a 23 per cent. increase in processed vegetables (table 5.1, page 70 of the National Food Survey, 1995 ISBN 0–11–243014–7 refers).
  352
  place an advertisement in the farming press in the next few weeks and individual letters will be sent to existing participants outlining the changes to the scheme. The Forestry Commission also intends to run local seminars about the scheme.

  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
  Mr. Hinchliffe
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many herds had had a BSE case by the end of each year from 1988 to 1996, broken down to show herds with head sizes of(a) less than 10, (b) 10 to 19, (c) 20 to 29, (d) 30 to 39, (e) 40 to 49, (f) 50 to 59, (g) 60 to 69, (h) 70 to 79, (i) 80 to 89, (j) 90 to 99, (k) 100 to 149, (l) 150 to 199, (m) 200 to 249 and (n) 250 and above, cattle; and if he will indicate the total number of herds for each category. [18207]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 10 March 1997]: The following table shows the cumulative number of adult herds with confirmed cases of BSE by herd size at the end of each year—1988 to 1996:

  Meat Inspectors
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many authorised meat inspectors were in post on(a) 1 January 1996 and (b) the latest date for which figures are available. [19549]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 10 March 1997]: At 1 January 1996, the Meat Hygiene Service employed a total of 972 meat hygiene inspectors.

  The Meat Hygiene Service currently employs a total of 1,160 meat hygiene inspectors.

  Customer Charters
  Mr. Donohoe
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much his Department and its executive agencies have spent drafting, publishing and circulating each of their customer charters and customer standard documents; and how many copies of each document have been issued. [19380]

  Mr. Boswell
  I will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
  353

  MV Caroline
  Mr. Tony Banks
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what veterinary inspection will be made of animals due to be exported from Dover on the MV Caroline on or about 7 March; and if he will make a statement. [19543]

  Mrs. Browning
  The pre-export inspection of animals consists of a visual appraisal and, if deemed appropriate, a physical examination. The purpose of the inspection is to ensure that the animals intended for export comply with Community health requirements, show no signs of infectious or contagious disease and are fit to travel to their intended destination.

  Mr. Banks
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the veterinary officers from his Department have investigated the condition of animals transported on the MV Caroline. [19544]

  Mrs. Browning
  When animals have been transported from Britain in this ship the operator has received advice about the on-board facilities for animals. Loading of animals into the ship is also supervised, and veterinary and technical experts from this Department have accompanied some voyages.

  Farm Animals (Breeding)
  Miss Hoey
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what further action he plans to take following the report of the committee considering the ethical implications of emerging techniques in the breeding of farm animals. [19905]

  Mrs. Browning
  I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Doncaster, North (Mr. Hughes) on 3 February 1997,Official Report, column 513–14.

  In addition, following discussions with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, a working party has been set up to look into the role of non-veterinarians in relation to the artificial insemination of cattle and horses. The results of this exercise may affect the way the recommendations of the Banner committee are taken forward in relation to AI. Further action will therefore be considered once the results of the working party are known.

  Food and Agricultural Science Establishments
  Dr. Strang
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many purpose-built laboratories in Government-funded food and agricultural science establishments are mothballed; and if he will list each establishment with such a laboratory. [19921]

  Mr. Douglas Hogg
  No laboratories owned by the Ministry have been mothballed. However, some have been closed permanently as a result of reorganisation and restructuring or following the completion of new or modernised facilities. I have no information about laboratories not owned by the Ministry.

  Dr. Strang
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of laboratory capacity in Government-funded food and agricultural 354
  science establishments built in (a) 1980 to 1985 (b) 1985 to 1990, (c) 1990 to 1995 and (d) 1995 to date, has been mothballed. [19922]

  Mr. Hogg
  No laboratories owned by the Ministry have been mothballed. I have no information about laboratories not owned by the Ministry.

  Dr. Strang
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the Government-funded food and agricultural science sites vacated since 1980, indicating(a) those in which the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, other research councils and agencies, service or central laboratories retain the freehold or lease, (b) the estimated commercial sales value of each facility and (c) the length of time each has been vacant. [19923]

  Mr. Hogg
  Since 1980, the Ministry has vacated, either wholly or in part, the laboratories as listed. Prior to 1990, surplus accommodation was surrendered to the Property Services Agency for reuse by other Government Departments or disposal. I have no information about the way in which such properties may have been reused or disposed of or about their commercial values. The Ministry has not disposed of any laboratories since 1990 although some are due to be sold for redevelopment in the near future.

  It would be inappropriate to release estimated values for properties which have yet to be sold as this might affect adversely the amounts that buyers would be prepared to pay for them. I have no information about vacant laboratories owned freehold or leasehold by other Government Departments or by other organisations.

  Laboratories vacated by the Ministry of Agriculture since 1980

  Laboratory

  Date vacated

  ADAS Laboratories at Shardlow Hall, Derbyshire

  1986

  ADAS Laboratories at Olantigh Road, Wye, Nr Ashford, Kent

  1986

  ADAS Laboratories at Coley Park, Reading

  1995

  ADAS Laboratories at Starcross Nr Exeter, Devon

  1995

  ADAS Laboratories at Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge

  1995

  ADAS Laboratories at Lawnswood, Leeds

  1995

  ADAS Laboratories at Trawsgoed, Nr Aberystwyth

  1995

  Food Science Laboratories at Romeny Street, London SW1

  1990

  Food Science Laboratories at Haldean House, Norwich

  1990

  Torry Research Station, Aberdeen

  1996

  The Central Science Laboratory, Tolworth, Surrey

  1992

  The Central Science Laboratory, Harpenden, Herts

  1996

  The Central Science Laboratory, London Road, Slough

  1996

  The Central Science Laboratory, Luddington, Warwickshire

  1996

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Gabalfa, Cardiff

  1986

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Chester

  1986

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Elmbridge Court, Gloucester

  1986

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Gladstone Road, Northampton

  1986

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Coley Park, Reading

  1994

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Lawnswood, Leeds

  1990

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre,

  355

  Laboratories vacated by the Ministry of Agriculture since 1980

  Laboratory

  Date vacated

  Riseholme, Lincoln

  1996

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Madingley Road, Cambridge

  1993

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Weybridge, Surrey

  1980

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Jupiter Road, Norwich

  1993

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Wye Nr Ashford, Kent

  1992

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Whittington Road, Worcester

  1993

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Bangor, North Wales

  1991

  Horticultural Laboratories at Worthing Road, Littlehampton

  1995

  Surrendered to the Ministry by Horticulture Research International.

  Since 1980, a number of new laboratories have been built and others have been either rebuilt or substantially refurbished. These are listed.

  New laboratories

  Date built

  The Central Science Laboratory, Sand Hutton York

  1996

  The Food Science Laboratory, Colney Lane, Norwich

  1990

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Bury St. Edmunds

  1993

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Luddington, Warwickshire

  1993

  Rebuilt/refurbished laboratories

  Date rebuilt/ refurbished

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Starcross, Devon

  1993

  ADAS Laboratory, Wergs Road, Wolverhampton

  1992

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, West House, Thirsk

  1996

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Calthwaite, Penrith

  1996

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Sutton Bonnington

  1990

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Itchen Abbas, Winchester

  1994

  The Veterinary Investigation Centre, Barton Hall, Preston

  1985

  Meat Hygiene Service
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on each case in which an official of the Meat Hygiene Service was dismissed for failing to enforce full compliance with specified bovine material controls in slaughterhouses. [20268]

  Mrs. Browning
  It is the Government's policy, explained more fully in their response to the Second Report from the Public Service Committee, Session 1995–96, that the results of internal civil service disciplinary investigations into the conduct of individuals should not be disclosed publicly.
  356
  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will place a copy of the national review of standards and practices within the fresh meat industry, prepared by the Meat Hygiene Service hygiene advice teams and referred to in the last annual report of the MHS in the Library. [19733]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 11 March 1997]: A copy of the report was placed in the Library of the House on 6 March 1997.

  Mr. Tipping
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many meat hygiene inspectors work in Nottinghamshire; and where they are located. [19706]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 11 March 1997]: On a full-time equivalent basis, the Meat Hygiene Service—which is responsible for these matters—currently employs 13 full-time meat hygiene inspectors at three licensed fresh meat premises in Nottinghamshire.

  The Meat Hygiene Service also employs additional casual meat hygiene inspectors at these plants where necessary for holiday and sickness cover.

  Food Hygiene
  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he has taken to implement the recommendations of the hygiene advisory team report by William Swann relating to national policy in respect of the contamination of animals presented for slaughter. [19663]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 11 March 1997]: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on 6 March 1997, Official Report, columns 1023–35.

  Quarantine
  Mr. Tim Smith
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reasons quarantine kennels are omitted from the licensing and inspection regime under the Boarded Animal Establishment Act 1963. [19892]

  Mrs. Browning
  Provision is made for the licensing and inspection of quarantine premises under the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974, as amended.

  Ewes (Export for Religious Slaughter)
  Mr. Morley
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to restrict the export of ewes for outdoor religious slaughter in France. [19908]

  Mrs. Browning
  [holding answer 12 March 1997]: The Department's powers to regulate sheep exports are exercisable only in relation to the legal provisions concerned with the welfare of animals during transport. We shall apply the relevant rules thoroughly in the usual way. Enforcement of the rules concerned with welfare at slaughter in France is a matter for the French authorities.

  Commonwealth African Countries Conference
  Commonwealth African Countries Conference
  NATO
  NATO
  US Missile Sales to Thailand
  US Missile Sales to Thailand
  Central Europe: Security
  Central Europe: Security
  National Galleries of Scotland
  National Galleries of Scotland
  EU Budget: UK Contribution
  EU Budget: UK Contribution
  Police Scientific Development Branch
  Police Scientific Development Branch
  Ms Roisin McAliskey
  Ms Roisin McAliskey
  Air Quality: National Strategy
  Air Quality: National Strategy
  Water: European Directives
  Water: European Directives
  London Underground: Derailments
  London Underground: Derailments
  Legal Aid
  Legal Aid
  No. 2 Marsham Street
  No. 2 Marsham Street
  Northern Ireland: Teacher Redundancies
  Northern Ireland: Teacher Redundancies
  Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors: Review of Statutory Bodies
  Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors: Review of Statutory Bodies