Written Answers of 3 March 1999

ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS

  Railway Improvements
  Mrs. Dunwoody
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many(a)new stations were opened and (b) miles of track were restored to use for passenger services in each of the years between 1985–86 and 1997–98.[73170]

  Dr. Reid
  The table shows the number of new stations opened in each of the years between 1985–86 and 1997–98. Statistics from 1994 onwards were supplied by Railtrack, which was established on 1 April 1994 and privatised on 20 May 1996.

  Year

  Stations opened

  1985

  19

  1986

  4

  1987

  6

  1988

  23

  1989

  15

  1990

  20

  1991

  6

  1992

  15

  1993

  14

  1994

  16

  1995

  10

  1996

  4

  1997

  3

  1998

  8

  The British Railways Board has no central record of annual mileage of track restored to use for passenger services. Since 1994, Railtrack have restored 37 miles of track to passenger use.

  PCV Licences
  Ms Keeble
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures his Department has taken to facilitate speedier delivery of PCV licences via the DVLA in Swansea. [73096]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  All applications for vocational (lorry and bus driver) licences are given high priority by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The current service standard target is to deliver 95 per cent. of licences to applicants within 9 working days of receipt which includes postage time. The Agency is currently bettering this target by one day. The remaining applications—which are subject to conduct investigations by the Traffic Commissioners or medical consideration by the Agency's doctors—are normally cleared within 20 working days.

  Applications can be submitted in multi-batches by training organisations and special provisions exist for licences to be collected from the Agency.

  Jubilee Line Extension
  Mr. Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is his current estimate of the total cost of constructing the Jubilee Line extension; and if he will make a statement on the changes since his previous estimate. [73001]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  London Transport's current estimate of the total cost of constructing the Jubilee Line Extension is £3.2 billion. The estimate referred to in my response of 4 November 1998,Official Report, column 567, was based on a cost review undertaken in August 1998 before the completion date was revised and a three-phase opening strategy adopted.

  Local Government Expenditure
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will list for each (1) unitary authority, (2) shire county, (3) shire district, (4) metropolitan district and (5) London borough council(a)the real terms percentage increase in standard spending assessment between 1997–98 and 1998–99, (b) the real terms percentage increase in Revenue Support Grant between 1997–98 and 1998–99, (c) the value of reduction grants received in 1998–99, (d) the real terms percentage increase in non-domestic rate income between 1997–98 and 1998–99 and (e) the real terms percentage increase in total external support between 1997–98 and 1998–99; [73643]

  (2) if he will list for each (1) unitary authority, (2) shire county, (3) shire district, (4) metropolitan district and (5) London borough council (a) the real terms cash increase in standard spending assessment between 1997–98 and 1998–99, (b) the real terms cash increase in Revenue Support Grant between 1997–98 and 1998–99, (c) the real terms cash increase in non-domestic rate income between 1997–98 and 1998–99, and (d) the real terms cash increase in total external support between 1997–98 and 1998–99. [73644]

  Mr. Prescott
  The information requested has been placed in the Library.

  The real terms percentage difference between the data for 1997–98 and 1998–99 has been deflated by the GDP deflator, and expressed in terms of the 1998–99 equivalent. "Total External Support" has been defined as the sum of Revenue Support Grant, income from Non-Domestic Rates and Damping Grants. The data used for 1997–98 refer to the RSG calculated using the Adjusted 1997–98 SSAs.

  The 1997–98 SSAs have been adjusted for: Local Government Reorganisation on 1 April 1998; the Personal Social Services SSA have been adjusted to include the indicative Special Transitional Grant for Community Care; and the Education SSA have been adjusted to include the deduction for nursery vouchers.

  No adjustments have been made for the changes detailed in The Local Government Finance Report (England) 1997/1998: Amending Report 1999.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list for each (1) unitary authority, (2) shire county, (3) shire district, (4) metropolitan district and (5) London borough council(a) the real terms (i) percentage and (ii) cash

  731
  increase in standard spending assessment between 1998–99 and 1999–2000, (b) the real terms (i) percentage and (ii) cash increase in revenue support grant between 1998–99 and 1999–2000, (c) the value of reduction grants that will be received in 1999–2000, (d)the real terms
  (i) percentage and (ii) cash increase in non-domestic rate income between 1998–99 and 1999–2000 and (e)the real terms (i) percentage and (ii) cash increase in total external support between 1998–99 and 1999–2000. [73645]

  Mr. Prescott
  The information requested has been placed in the Library.

  The real terms percentage difference between the data for 1998–99 and 1999–2000 has been deflated by the GDP deflator, and expressed in terms of the 1999–2000 equivalent.

  "Total External Support" has been defined as the sum of Revenue Support Grant, income from Non-Domestic Rates and Damping Grants.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will list for each (1) unitary authority, (2) shire county, (3) shire district, (4) metropolitan district and (5) London borough council the real terms cash and percentage change between (A) 1997–98 and 1998–99 and (B) 1998–99 and 1999–2000 in (i) standard spending assessment and (ii) revenue support grant for(a) education services, (b) social services, (c) highways maintenance, (d) police services and (e) fire services; [73352]

  (2) if he will list for each (1) unitary authority, (2) shire county, (3) shire district, (4) metropolitan district and (5) London borough council what percentage of the real terms cash change between (A) 1997–98 and 1998–99 and (B) 1998–99 and 1999–2000 in (i) standard spending assessment and (ii) revenue support grant has been ring-fenced for (a) education services, (b) social services, (c)
  highways maintenance, (d) police services and (e) fire services. [73353]

  Mr. Prescott
  A table showing the real terms cash change figures together with a table showing the real terms change figures expressed as a percentage of total standard spending assessment for the education block, the personal social services block, the highways maintenance block, the police block and the fire block have been placed in the library.

  The 19897–98 SSAs have been adjusted for: Local Government Reorganisation on 1 April 1998: the Personal Social Services SSA have been adjusted to include the indicative Special Transitional Grant for Community Care; and the Education SSA have been adjusted to include the deduction for nursery vouchers.

  No adjustments have been made for the changes detailed in The Local Government Finance Report (England) 1997–98: Amending Report 1999.

  Although Standard Spending Assessments are determined for individual blocks of services, there is no obligation on authorities to adopt a similar pattern of spending; the SSAs are not ring-fenced.
  732
  Revenue Support Grant is a block grant which is not determined for individual services. It is not ring-fenced.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list for each (1) unitary authority,(2) shire county, (3) shire district, (4) metropolitan district and (5) London borough council their proposed Band D council tax rates for 1999–2000. [73379]

  Mr. Prescott
  The information requested is not yet available. The tax setting legislation gives Shire County Councils until 1 March to set a budget and issue a precept on their billing authorities for the year ahead. The other authorities listed have until 11 March to set a budget and council tax rates. In both instances, the authorities are required to inform me of their decisions within 7 days of taking them. As a result, my department intends to publish a Statistical Bulletin in the week beginning 22 March giving the council tax rates at each band that have been set for 1999–2000.

  Hushkitted Aircraft
  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received concerning the threat of retaliatory measures against Concorde flights from Britain to the US following the imposition of environmental measures to ban hush-kit aircraft from the 1 April 2002 in Europe. [73971]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  We have received representation from British Airways. The European Union draft Regulation on Hushkitted aircraft, which has passed its second reading in the European parliament, has not yet been adopted by the Council of Ministers.

  Warcop to Appleby Railway Line
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the section of railway line from Warcop to Appleby in Cumbria was sold; to whom; and for what price. [73951]

  Dr. Reid
  The railway line from Warcop to Appleby was transferred to Sustrans for a nominal sum in May 1998 for use as a cycle path as part of the National Cycle Network. The transfer is subject to arrangements for shared use of the line with the Eden Valley Railway who are acquiring part of the trackbed from Sustrans.

  Paved Areas (Chewing Gum Removal)
  Mr. Martlew
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the estimated annual cost to local authorities for the removal of chewing gum from paved areas; and if he will make a statement. [73895]

  Mr. Meale
  Information on the cost to local authorities for the removal of chewing gum from paved areas is not collected centrally. The total cost of street cleansing for the local authorities in England 1997–98 was £342 million.

  Council Tax
  Mr. Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list for each notifiable authority in England the band D council tax for 1999–2000 and the change over that for 1998–99 in(a) cash and (b) percentage terms. [73928]

  Ms Armstrong
  The information requested is not yet available. The tax setting legislation gives major precepting authorities until 1 March to set a budget and issue a precept on their billing authorities for the year ahead and other authorities until 11 March to set their budgets and council tax rates. In both instances, the authorities are required to inform the Secretary of State of their decisions within 7 days of taking them. As a result, my department intends to publish a Statistical Bulletin in the week beginning 22 March giving the council tax rates that have been set at each band for 1999–2000.

  Gas
  Mrs. Brinton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry over the potential for carbon emission reductions which could be achieved by extending until 2002 the powers of the Director General of Gas Supply to set standards of performance with regard to the promotion of the efficient use of gas. [74284]

  Mr. Meale
  Ministers in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Department of Trade and Industry regularly discuss matters in which both Departments have an interest, including energy efficiency. These discussions are informal and private.

  Energy Efficiency
  Mrs. Brinton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what total level of investment in domestic energy efficiency he estimates will be required between now and 2010 in order to meet(a) the Kyoto 12.5 per cent. carbon dioxide reduction target and (b) a 20 per cent. target. [74288]

  Mr. Meale
  Our UK Climate Change Programme Consultation Paper discussed and invited comment on how the UK could meet its climate change objectives, including possible contributions from domestic energy efficiency. The Government are now considering responses and will develop and consult further on a new climate change programme for the UK in the light of this process.

  Social Housing
  Mr. Love
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recognition will be given within planning projections for new housing over the next two decades to requirements for socially rented housing; and if he will make a statement. [74189]

  Mr. Raynsford
  The latest household projections published in 1995 identify the number of households expected to form over the period 1991–2016 but not the tenure of the housing they might occupy.

  Welsh Highland Railway
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on what date he received the report of the inspector into the application by the Ffestiniog Railway company to re-open the Welsh Highland Railway between Dinas and Porthmadog; and what was the average time taken by ministers to make a decision of such reports in the past three years. [74298]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  The Inspector's report following the public inquiry into the Welsh Highland Railway was received on 22 April 1998. In those five Transport and Works Act cases where decisions have been taken by the Secretary of State in the last three years following a public inquiry, the average time has been between 12 and 13 months from receipt of the Inspector's report. Four reports are currently before the Secretary of State for determination in addition to that for the Welsh Highland Railway. These reports were received on 6 October 1997, 2 February 1998 (interim decision letter issued on 8 September 1998), 6 February 1998 and 23 February 1999.

  Housing Stock (Local Authorities)
  Mr. Loughton
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list those local authorities which have successfully completed a large-scale voluntary transfer of their housing stock to date. [74156]

  Mr. Raynsford
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: Seventy-seven local authorities have successfully completed eighty-four large scale voluntary transfers of all or part of their housing stock to date. A list of those authorities is set out in chronological order.

  Chiltern DC

  Sevenoaks DC

  Newbury DC

  Swale BC

  Broadland DC

  Bedford BC

  Medina DC (now part of Isle of Wight Unitary Authority)

  Rochester upon Medway CC

  South Wight (now part of Isle of Wight Unitary Authority)

  Mid Sussex DC

  East Dorset DC

  Tonbridge & Malling BC

  Ryedale DC

  South Bucks DC

  Christchurch BC

  Suffolk Coastal DC

  Tunbridge Wells BC

  London Borough of Bromley

  Surrey Heath BC

  Breckland DC

  Rushmoor BC

  North Wiltshire DC

  Spelthorne BC

  East Hampshire DC

  Hastings BC

  Eastleigh BC

  Wyre BC

  735

  Walsall MBC

  Manchester CC1

  Stratford DC

  West Wiltshire DC

  Cotswold DC

  South Staffordshire DC

  Lichfield DC

  South Oxfordshire DC

  Eden DC

  London Borough of Lambeth1

  London Borough of Bexley

  East Cambridgeshire DC

  Hambleton DC

  West Dorset DC

  Havant BC

  Epsom & Ewell BC

  Hart DC

  South Shropshire DC

  Leominster DC

  South Ribble BC

  Hertsmere BC

  Penwith DC

  North Dorset DC

  Wychavon DC

  Mid Bedfordshire DC

  Thanet DC

  Vale of White Horse DC

  Cherwell DC

  Basingstoke & Deane BC

  Malvern Hills DC

  Maldon DC

  Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

  Kennet DC

  Congleton BC

  Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council1

  Liverpool City Council1

  Kerrier DC

  London Borough of Merton1

  London Borough of Tower Hamlets1

  West Somerset DC

  London Borough of Hackney1

  London Borough of Brent1

  Basildon DC1

  Stoke-on-Trent City Council1

  Tewkesbury BC

  Rother DC

  Wirral BC1

  Red routes in London by borough

  1992

  1995

  1997

  Miles

  Kms

  Miles

  Kms

  Miles

  Kms

  Barking and Dagenham

  4

  6.4

  4

  6.4

  4

  6.4

  Barnet

  19.1

  30.1

  19.1

  30.1

  19.1

  30.1

  Bexley

  8.6

  13.8

  8.6

  13.8

  8.6

  13.8

  Brent

  3.4

  5.5

  3.4

  5.5

  3.4

  5.5

  Bromley

  12

  19.3

  12

  19.3

  12

  19.3

  Camden

  7.1

  11.4

  5.5

  8.8

  5.5

  8.8

  City

  1.2

  1.9

  1.2

  1.9

  1.2

  1.9

  Croydon

  13.2

  21.2

  13.2

  21.2

  13.2

  21.2

  736

  Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council1

  South Somerset DC

  West Devon BC

  1denotes partial transfer.

  French Transport Strikes
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the amount of compensation awarded to British transport companies affected as a result of French transport strikes; what proportion of overall claims have been settled; and what representations to the French Government he has made. [74437]

  Dr. Reid
  Some 1,200 British claims were made in respect of the 1996 French lorry drivers' strike. We understand that some 25 per cent. have so far received a favourable response. Precise figures are not available because claims were not dealt with centrally in France but were dealt with by Prefectures in the Departments in which blockades occurred. For the same reason, information about the amount of compensation paid is not available. We continue to work with the French authorities to secure the timely and fair consideration of claims.

  Train Operating Companies
  Mr. Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent representations he has received in respect of the performance of train operating companies. [72480]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  Since January, my Department and the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising have received almost 400 representations on the performance of train operating companies.

  Red Routes (London)
  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the current mileage of red routes in each London borough; what was the figure for each of the last five years; and what is the anticipated figure for 1999–2000. [73764]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  The red route network was designated by Statutory Instrument in 1992 (SI 1992/1372). The breakdown by borough is given in the table. Since 1992 the SI has been amended twice (SI 1995/1130 and SI 1997/1001) to make small changes to the network in Ealing, Haringey, Hackney, Hillingdon and Lewisham and to correct minor descriptive errors. The programme for the implementation of the red route measures is set out in the Traffic Director's Annual Report, a copy of which is in the Library.
  737

  Red routes in London by borough

  1992

  1995

  1997

  Miles

  Kms

  Miles

  Kms

  Miles

  Kms

  Ealing

  10.2

  16.4

  11.8

  19

  11.8

  19

  Enfield

  9.2

  14.8

  9.2

  14.8

  9.2

  14.8

  Greenwich

  15.8

  25.4

  15.8

  25.4

  15.8

  25.4

  Hackney

  8.9

  14.3

  8.9

  14.3

  9.5

  15.3

  Hammersmith and Fulham

  4.4

  7.1

  4.4

  7.1

  4.4

  7.1

  Haringey

  7.6

  12.2

  7.6

  12.2

  6.1

  9.8

  Harrow

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Havering

  12

  19.3

  12

  19.3

  12

  19.3

  Hillingdon

  8

  12.9

  10.8

  17.3

  10.8

  17.3

  Hounslow

  17.7

  28.5

  18.3

  29.4

  18.3

  29.4

  Islington

  8.1

  13

  8.1

  13

  8.1

  13

  Kensington and Chelsea

  7.6

  12.2

  7.6

  12.2

  7.6

  12.2

  Kingston

  6.2

  10

  6.2

  10

  6.2

  10

  Lambeth

  15.9

  25.6

  15.9

  25.6

  15.9

  25.6

  Lewisham

  12.2

  19.6

  12

  19.3

  12

  19.3

  Merton

  4.3

  6.9

  4.3

  6.9

  4.3

  6.9

  Newham

  9.5

  15.3

  9.5

  15.3

  9.5

  15.3

  Redbridge

  11.3

  18.2

  11.3

  18.2

  11.3

  18.2

  Richmond

  7.7

  12.4

  7.7

  12.4

  7.7

  12.4

  Southwark

  9.3

  15

  9.3

  15

  9.3

  15

  Sutton

  10.4

  16.7

  10.4

  16.7

  10.4

  16.7

  Tower Hamlets

  12.2

  19.6

  12.2

  19.6

  12.2

  19.6

  Waltham Forest

  6.5

  10.5

  6.5

  10.5

  6.5

  10.5

  Wandsworth

  20.4

  32.8

  20.4

  32.8

  20.4

  32.8

  Westminster

  10.6

  17.1

  10.9

  17.5

  10.9

  17.5

  Total

  314.6

  505.4

  318.1

  510.8

  317.2

  509.4

  Bus Lanes (London)
  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the length of bus lane for each London borough; what was the figure for each of the past five years; and what is the anticipated figure for 1999–2000. [73765]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  I have placed the information requested in the Library.

  Cycle Lanes (London)
  Mr. Corbyn
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the current mileage of cycle lanes in London broken down by borough; what were the figures for(a) 1989–90 and (b) 1993–94; and what are the expected figures for 1999–2000. [73823]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  The information requested on the length of cycle lanes for the years 1989–90 and 1993–94 is not available. This is before the work on the London Cycle Network commenced and therefore no central body existed to gather and co-ordinate the data. Approximately 190 miles of cycle network were in place when work started on the London Cycle Network in 1995–96; however, it is not known what proportion consisted of cycle lanes. The following table shows the existing lengths of the London Cycle Network on a borough-by-borough basis as at April 1998. The expected borough-by-borough figures for 1999–2000 are not yet available but it is anticipated that in total there will be 1,000 miles of the network in place by the end of this period.
  738

  Length of London cycle network as at April 1998

  Authority

  Mileage

  Barking and Dagenham

  13.7

  Barnet

  29.3

  Bexley

  4.5

  Brent

  12.5

  Bromley

  41.3

  Camden

  11.9

  City of London

  0.10

  Croydon

  30.4

  Ealing

  40.6

  Enfield

  8.6

  Greenwich

  26.6

  Hackney

  12.9

  Hammersmith and Fulham

  23.8

  Haringey

  13.3

  Harrow

  3.2

  Havering

  13.3

  Hillingdon

  29.0

  Hounslow

  33.7

  Islington

  11.9

  Kensington and Chelsea

  10.4

  Kingston Upon Thames

  30.8

  Lambeth

  7.8

  Lewisham

  9.3

  Merton

  21.7

  Newham

  14.1

  Redbridge

  18.5

  Richmond

  47.8

  Southwark

  25.5

  Sutton

  28.5

  Tower Hamlets

  14.9

  Waltham Forest

  30.6

  Wandsworth

  41.6

  Westminster

  19.4

  Total

  682.0

  Notes:

  1. There have been slight modifications to the network since 1997.

  2. The Traffic Director for London and the Highways Agency will also be making important contributions, along the Priority (Red) Routes and some Trunk Roads, to the provisions for Cyclists in London.

  Strategic Rail Authority
  Mr. Jenkin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will publish legislation to establish the proposed Strategic Rail Authority. [74419]

  Dr. Reid
  If legislative time becomes available, we will introduce a Bill to establish a Strategic Rail Authority this session. If time does not become available, then we will publish a draft Bill later this Session, for introduction as a priority at a subsequent opportunity.

  Montreal Conference
  Mr. Jenkin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will consult the air transport(a) industry and (b) users prior to the Montreal Conference in May; and if he will make a statement on the position to be adopted by the Government at the Conference. [74412]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  The International Civil Aviation Organisation will hold a Diplomatic Conference in May for the purpose of adopting a new convention intended to replace all previous instruments of the Warsaw Convention for International Carriage by Air. Officials from my Department have been involved in the development of the new convention and have formally consulted representatives of UK airlines, airline users and principal practitioners in international air law. The views received will be taken into account by the Government at the Conference.

  Rail Industry Subsidies
  Mr. Jenkin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to change the subsidy arrangements for the United Kingdom rail industry. [74420]

  Dr. Reid
  We are determined to ensure that Railtrack has adequate incentives to perform effectively and efficiently, and to develop the network, meeting the needs of customers and funders. That could point to a proportion of Railtrack's access income being paid direct by the proposed Strategic Rail Authority, rather than via train operators. We have asked the Rail Regulator for a report on this matter.

  Within the overall context of our plans for the railway, financial responsibility for those passenger services that both start and end in Scotland will be transferred to Scottish Ministers.

  Rail Summit
  Mr. Jenkin
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Rail Summit. [74418]

  Dr. Reid
  The Rail Summit was an important step towards our goal of creating within 10 years one of the best railway systems in the world. The passenger train operators and Railtrack share that aim and want to work together—and with government—to realise it.
  740
  At the Summit, the Government:
  announced they were prepared to renegotiate existing franchises and specified the criteria against which applications would be judged;
  introduced Sir Alastair Morton as the new chairman of the British Railways Board and head of the shadow Strategic Rail Authority;
  launched the consultation exercise which will lead later in the year to the shadow SRA's strategic plan for the railway;
  announced the start of work on a National Passengers Survey and on ways of measuring more accurately train operators' performance;
  promised legislation to regulate the rolling stock leasing companies if they do not voluntarily restrict their market power.

  The passenger train operators jointly promised that:
  on average, train services will be more punctual next year than they are now;
  by 2002, half the current rolling stock fleet will have been replaced or refurbished;
  by April next year, all stations in Great Britain will have passenger information systems;
  an additional £39m will be spent on measures to improve the security of passengers.

  The industry has given a commitment to work to deliver real improvements which are measurable year on year. There will be a second Summit in spring next year to review progress and maintain the momentum which was created on 25 February.

  Radionuclide Transfer (Departmental Report)
  Mr. Alasdair Morgan
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's report "An Assessment of Artificial Radionuclide Transfer from Sellafield to South West Scotland" by Professor Murdoch Baxter, dated March 1989 (reference DOE/RW/89/127. [73824]

  Mr. Meale
  Yes.

  A21
  Mr. Norman
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will publish the evidence used by officials of his Department to conclude that the dualling of the A21 Tonbridge to Pembury road(a) will decrease peak time traffic delays by up to 3.5 minutes and (b) may affect the great crested newt; [74340]

  (2) if he will place in the Library copies of the full cost-benefit analysis for the A21 Tonbridge to Pembury dualling proposal. [74341]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Lawrie Haynes, to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Archie Norman, dated 3 March 1999:
  The Minister for Transport, Glenda Jackson, has asked me to reply to you about the A21 Tonbridge to Pembury dualling proposals.
  A copy of the full cost benefit analysis for the scheme is being placed in the House of Commons Library. This document was published at the time of the Public Inquiry in 1993 and includes the evidence used to conclude that the proposed dualling will decrease peak time traffic delays by up to 3.5 minutes.

  741
  A have asked for a copy of the Environmental Statement for the scheme to be sent to you. It was this document which noted that a pond occupied by great crested newts would be affected by the scheme. The document was published in 1992.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

  Disability Discrimination Act 1995
  Mr. Berry
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the impact on his Department's policies of the goods and services provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to be implemented in October 1999. [71271]

  Mr. Banks
  We are acting to ensure that the Department's policies meet the needs of disabled people and that we comply with our legal requirements. The Department already takes positive steps to make it easier to disabled people to participate in the arts, sport and leisure pursuits. We shall continue to do so, not only by complying fully with new duties in the Disability Discrimination Act but by aiming to exceed them where appropriate.

  One of the Department's main objectives is to widen and improve access for disabled people and other groups by embedding consultation and consideration of their needs in mainstream policies, and by means of the funding agreements being negotiated with its sponsored bodies. This includes the need to ensure that our policies and their outcomes comply with the law. This complements the guidance "Policy Appraisal for Equal Treatment" which the Cabinet Office issued to all Government Departments in November 1998, and which was signed jointly by my right hon. Friends the Minister for Women, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment and the Home Secretary.

  The Department's Management Board monitors the Department's performance and that of its sponsored bodies and will publish information on the progress being made in this area, as will other Government Departments.

  Millennium Dome
  Mr. Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what provision has been made for the sale of(a) British and (b) other books at the Millennium Experience; [73087]

  (2) what provision will be made inside the Millennium Dome for the sale of books. [64808]

  Janet Anderson
  The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) is in discussion with a number of publishers through its licensing agency about the production of a range of Millennium Experience books for all ages. These books will be sold through high street bookshops, retailers and through other distribution channels. As regards the Dome, the aim is to provide a range of special edition Millennium Experience books, and other printed material to meet visitor needs. These will be available through the NMEC's own retailing arrangements in the Dome.

  Creative Industries Task Force
  Mr. Soames
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the members of the 742
  Creative Industries Task Force; on how many occasions since its establishment it has met; who was present at each meeting; what its work in progress is; and what conclusions it has reached to date. [72905]

  Janet Anderson
  The members of the Creative Industries Task Force are as follows:Right hon. Chris Smith MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Chairman)
  Ministerial and official representatives of:

  The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions

  The Foreign and Commonwealth Office

  The Department of Trade and Industry

  HM Treasury

  The Department for Education and Employment

  The Minister for Women

  The Scottish Office

  The Welsh Office

  The Northern Ireland Office

  The British Council

  The Office of Science and Technology

  No. 10 Policy Unit

  DCMS officials

  Industry advisers:

  Lord Alli—Planet 24

  Richard Branson/Robert Devereux—Virgin Group Plc

  Janice Hughes—Spectrum Strategy Consultants

  Alan McGee—Creation Records

  Gail Rebuck—Random House UK Ltd.

  Eric Salama—WPP Group Plc

  Paul Smith—Paul Smith Ltd.

  Charles Allen1—Granada Group

  Prof. Stephen Heppell1—Ultralab

  Lord Puttnam (until July 1998)

  1Appointed January 1999.

  The Creative Industries Task Force has met seven times since its establishment in June 1997. Alongside these seven meetings, there has been extensive contact with individual Task Force members about specific elements of the work programme. Those present at each meeting were as follows:
  First meeting—8 October 1997

  The right hon. Chris Smith MP

  Geoffrey Robinson MP

  Peter Mandelson MP

  Richard Caborn MP

  Derek Fatchett MP

  Barbara Roche MP

  Dr. Kim Howells MP

  Joan Ruddock MP

  Sam Galbraith MP

  Tony Worthington MP

  Sir Robert May

  Waheed Alli

  Richard Branson

  Robert Devereux

  Janice Hughes

  Alan McGee

  743

  Lord Puttnam

  Gail Rebuck

  Eric Salama

  Paul Smith

  DCMS and other Government Departmental officials

  Second meeting—17 December 1997

  The right hon. Chris Smith MP

  Geoffrey Robinson MP

  The right hon. Derek Fatchett MP

  Mark Fisher MP

  Barbara Roche MP

  Dr. Kim Howells MP

  Sam Galbraith MP

  Waheed Alli

  Janice Hughes

  Alan McGee

  Lord Puttnam

  Gail Rebuck

  Paul Smith

  DCMS and other Government Departmental officials

  Third meeting—18 February 1998

  The right hon. Chris Smith MP

  Geoffrey Robinson MP

  Richard Caborn MP

  The right hon. Derek Fatchett MP

  Mark Fisher MP

  Dr. Kim Howells

  Barbara Roche MP

  Joan Ruddock MP

  Sir Robert May

  Dr. David Drewry

  Waheed Alli

  Robert Devereux

  Janice Hughes

  Gail Rebuck

  Eric Salama

  DCMS and other Government Departmental officials

  Fourth meeting—5 May 1998

  The right hon. Chris Smith MP

  The right hon. Tom Clarke CBE MP

  The right hon. Richard Caborn MP

  The right hon. Derek Fatchett MP

  Dr. Kim Howells

  Sir Robert May

  Waheed Alli

  Robert Devereux

  Janice Hughes

  Gail Rebuck

  Eric Salama

  Dr. Ken Robinson, Chairman, the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education

  Stuart Till, Co-chair, the Film Policy Review Group

  DCMS and other Government Departmental officials

  744
  Fifth meeting—16 July 1998

  The right hon. Chris Smith MP

  Geoffrey Robinson MP

  The right hon. Richard Caborn MP

  Dr. Kim Howells MP

  Barbara Roche MP

  Tony Worthington MP

  Win Griffiths MP

  Dr. David Drewry

  Robert Devereux

  Alan McGee

  Lord Puttnam

  Gail Rebuck

  Eric Salama

  Stephen Carter, J Walter Thompson

  DCMS and other Government Departmental officials

  Sixth meeting—26 October 1998

  The right hon. Chris Smith MP

  The right hon. Richard Caborn MP

  George Mudie MP

  Barbara Roche MP

  Peter Hain MP

  Janet Anderson MP

  Sir Robert May

  Lord Alli

  Janice Hughes

  Gail Rebuck

  Eric Salama

  Kevin Kane, Scottish Enterprise

  DCMS and other Government Departmental officials

  Seventh meeting—14 December 1998

  The right hon. Chris Smith MP

  The right hon. Richard Caborn MP

  Barbara Roche MP

  Kim Howells MP

  Sir Robert May

  Janice Hughes

  Gail Rebuck

  Eric Salama

  Mathilda Joubert, the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education

  Michael Trickey, Arts Council of Wales

  DCMS and other Government Departmental officials.

  Work on the Task Force

  The early work on the Creative Industries Task Force focused on mapping activity in the UK creative industries and assessing its economic value. The Task Force was responsible for the Creative Industries Mapping Document, which was published in November 1998. The Mapping Document has a practical application, besides providing a statistical analysis of the economic health of the creative industries.

  The Creative Industries Task Force has now embarked on an ambitious work programme for the next 12–15 months, building on the findings in the Mapping Document. There are three key strands to the programme:
  (a) a focus on generic issues which affect the creative industries such as the skills base, finance for creative ventures, export promotion and intellectual property. Sub-Groups, led by Task Force members, will look at these issues;

  745
  (b)an additional Sub-Group led by Richard Caborn will consider issues impacting on the creative industries at a regional level; and
  (a) a series of short, generally industry-related, inquiries will be carried out.

  Cumbria Tourist Board
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to retain a separate Cumbria tourist board within the north-west region. [73642]

  Janet Anderson
  Cumbria Tourist Board, as are other regional tourist boards, is an independent commercial organisation and determines its own boundary. We wish to see the arrangements for all regional bodies continue on a basis which fosters close and co-operative working to support successful and sustainable development.

  Sports Institute
  Mr. Peter Bradley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress he has made on the establishment of the UK Sports Institute. [72101]

  Mr. Banks
  [holding answer 1 March 1999]: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hove (Mr. Caplin) on 1 March 1999, Official Report, columns 535–37.

  Television Licences
  Mr. MacShane
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will discuss with relevant departments a reduction of the cost of the BBC licence fee to pensioners dependent solely on the state pension. [74043]

  Janet Anderson
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: The independent review panel currently considering the future funding of the BBC has also been asked to examine the structure of the existing concessionary television licence scheme and whether a suitable alternative structure could be available. The panel has invited representations on a number of areas, including the concessionary arrangements, and will report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State by the end of July this years. There will then be a period of public consultation on the panel's recommendations. It would not be right for the Government to preempt the outcome of the review.

  Films (Lottery Funding)
  Mr. Peter Ainsworth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list those films which have received lottery funding to date indicating(a) how much lottery money each received, (b) their total budgets, (c) their release dates, (d) the number of screens on which they opened and (e) their takings to date. [74239]

  Janet Anderson
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]There are no data available centrally on the numbers of screens on which lottery-funded films opened and the record of takings of these films is not fully tracked. Some 746
  data are available and I have today placed that information together with the other data requested, in the Libraries of the House.

CABINET OFFICE

  Ministerial Group on Older People
  Mrs. Gilroy
  To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to his answer of 1 February 1999,Official Report, column 517, which Ministers are members of the ministerial group on older people from the various departments he listed. [73694]

  Mr. Kilfoyle
  Membership of the group comprises those Ministers who have particular responsibilities for policy areas which affect older people. It includes me together with my right hon. and hon. Friends the Lord Privy Seal, the Minister of State, Department of Health, the hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham); the Minister of State, Department of Social Security; the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (Mr. Hutton); the Minister for Transport in London; the Minister for London and Construction; the Minister of State, Home Office, the hon. Member for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng); the Economic Secretary; the Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs; the Minister for the Arts; the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment, the hon. Member for Barking (Ms Hodge); the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department; the Under-Secretary of State for Defence; the Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, the hon. Member for Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Mr. Galbraith); and the Under-Secretary of State for Wales, the hon. Member for Cardiff, Central (Mr. Jones).

  Other Ministers with an interest in a particular subject may also attend meetings of the group from time to time.

  Civil Servants (Ethnic Origin)
  Mr. Vaz
  To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will provide a breakdown in(a) numerical and (b) percentage terms of the ethnic origin as of 1 May 1998 to 31 December 1998, of civil servants at each grade; and if he will further break down those of ethnic minority origin at each grade in (i) numerical and (ii) percentage terms into (1) Indian, (2) Pakistani, (3) Bangladeshi, (4) Chinese and (5) other and mixed Asian. [73695]

  Mr. Kilfoyle
  Provisional information at 1 October 1998, from Mandate, the Cabinet Office's personnel database, is set out in the table. It is not directly comparable to the information in the recently published Equal Opportunities in the Civil Service Data Summary which is based on staff in post at 1 April 1998. The table excludes staff in departments who do not provide data to Mandate. However, both the Data Summary and the table show that 5.7 per cent. of all staff were from ethnic minority groups.
  747

  Ethnic origin of non-industrial Civil Servants1 in post by responsibility level2 at 1 October 19983

  Number

  SCS

  G6

  G7

  SEO

  HEO

  EO

  AO

  AA

  Total4

  White

  2,731

  3,757

  13,739

  17,771

  39,786

  82,502

  136,851

  51,828

  349,713

  Ethnic minority

  48

  107

  356

  406

  1,123

  4,445

  10,624

  4,117

  21,237

  of which:

  Black

  10

  24

  66

  74

  341

  1,644

  4,244

  1,588

  7,998

  Asian

  32

  65

  218

  258

  606

  2,381

  5,704

  2,329

  11,595

  Indian

  16

  31

  108

  102

  275

  1,192

  3,036

  1,177

  5,938

  Pakistani

  5—

  12

  24

  24

  48

  222

  642

  356

  1,329

  Bangladeshi

  5—

  5—

  5

  8

  12

  51

  224

  102

  405

  Asian-East African

  5—

  5—

  33

  57

  138

  497

  861

  253

  1,847

  Chinese

  5—

  5—

  18

  23

  36

  107

  189

  77

  455

  Other Asian

  6

  15

  30

  44

  97

  312

  752

  364

  1,621

  Other ethnic groups

  6

  18

  72

  74

  176

  420

  676

  200

  1,644

  Total6—

  2,779

  3,864

  14,095

  18,177

  40,909

  86,947

  147,475

  55,945

  370,950

  Ethnic groups as a percentage of responsibility1 level at 1 October

  Percentage

  SCS

  G6

  G7

  SEO

  HEO

  EO

  AO

  AA

  Total4

  White

  98.3

  97.2

  97.5

  97.8

  97.3

  94.9

  92.8

  92.6

  94.3

  Ethnic minority

  1.7

  2.8

  2.5

  2.2

  2.7

  5.1

  7.2

  7.4

  5.7

  of which:

  Black

  0.4

  0.6

  0.5

  0.4

  0.8

  1.9

  2.9

  2.8

  2.2

  Asian

  1.2

  1.7

  1.5

  1.4

  1.5

  2.7

  3.9

  4.2

  3.1

  Indian

  0.6

  0.8

  0.8

  0.6

  0.7

  1.4

  2.1

  2.1

  1.6

  Pakistani

  5—

  0.3

  0.2

  0.1

  0.1

  0.3

  0.4

  0.6

  0.4

  Bangladeshi

  5—

  5—

  0.0

  0.0

  0.0

  0.1

  0.2

  0.2

  0.1

  Asian-East African

  5—

  5—

  0.2

  0.3

  0.3

  0.6

  0.6

  0.5

  0.5

  Chinese

  5—

  5—

  0.1

  0.1

  0.1

  0.1

  0.1

  0.1

  0.1

  Other Asian

  0.2

  0.4

  0.2

  0.2

  0.2

  0.4

  0.5

  0.7

  0.4

  Other ethnic groups

  0.2

  0.5

  0.5

  0.4

  0.4

  0.5

  0.5

  0.4

  0.4

  Total6—

  100.0

  100.0

  100.0

  100.0

  100.0

  100.0

  100.0

  100.0

  100.0

  1Excludes staff in Departments who do not provide data to Mandate.

  2Responsibility levels are an approximate assignment of personnel to a level of seniority broadly equivalent to the former service wide grades. As departments restructure grades, it is increasingly difficult to assign certain posts to a precise responsibility level. This accounts for apparent fluctuations in the numbers and percentages at some levels.

  3Information at 1 October 1998 is provisional and may be amended.

  4Total includes staff with unknown responsibility level.

  6Staff who responded to departmental surveys on ethnic origin.

  7Less than 5 in group and less than 0.2 per cent. of responsibility level.

  Source:

  Cabinet Office—Mandate

  Next Steps Report 1998
  Mr. Martyn Jones
  To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make a statement on the 1998 Next Steps report. [75077]

  Dr. Jack Cunningham
  The Government have today published the 1998 Next Steps Report, Cm 4273, which has been laid in both Houses. This Report brings together performance and trend data on 136 executive agencies and two departments operating on Next Steps lines.

  The Report shows that overall nearly 76 per cent. of targets were achieved and that, where comparisons can be made with previous years, performance against targets has improved in 52 per cent. of cases.

  With the introduction of Public Service Agreements (PSAs), Government have set out in precise and quantified form what improvements it is seeking to achieve over the next 3 years. Agencies will have a very important part to play in helping Ministers deliver those results. Agencies' objectives and targets are being
  748
  redefined to ensure that they reflect the Government's new objectives and priorities. The degree of challenge which is built in to the PSA targets will help to ensure that agency targets are themselves set at a sufficiently stretching level, encouraging agencies to be innovative and enterprising in tackling improvement.

  The Government will be publishing before Easter a White Paper on "Modernising Government" which will set out a vision for the future of public services. One of its main themes will be the need to increase co-operation across traditional bureaucratic boundaries so that public services can be delivered more cost-effectively and be better tuned to the needs of the user. Agencies, as the main service delivery arm of the Civil Service, will have a vital role to play in fostering this growth in co-operative solutions.

  It is essential that continuous pressure be applied to improve individual agency performance but this must be seen increasingly within the context of contribution to
  broader goals.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  Debt Relief
  Miss Geraldine Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with non-Governmental organisations about the relief of developing countries' debt. [74030]

  Clare Short
  In February, I met the directors of the voluntary organisations which comprise the British Overseas Aid Group (BOAG)—ActionAid, Oxfam, the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development (CAFOD), Christian Aid and Save the Children Fund—to discuss debt. In December, I also met BOND, which represents the smaller NGOs. We agreed that poverty reduction remains our central concern, and that we need to develop and strengthen the link between debt relief and poverty reduction. The UK is pressing for this issue to be considered during the fundamental review of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, which is now underway. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are holding a consultation meeting, including NGOs, in London on 5 March.

  Genetically Modified Food
  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her Department's role in drawing up the recent joint ministerial written statement on genetically modified food. [74280]

  Clare Short
  My Department was not involved in drawing up the recent joint ministerial written statement on genetically modified food which focused on concerns within UK and Europe.

  We will be publishing a paper later this month on our work relating to genetically modified organisms and how we propose to assist developing countries to strengthen their capacity to handle these important issues.

  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what research has been(a) carried out and (b) commissioned by her Department into the economic impact of the growing of genetically modified crops on small-scale farmers in developing countries. [74283]

  Total DFID bilateral programme to Southern African countries

  £000

  Botswana

  Lesotho

  Namibia

  South Africa

  Swaziland

  Total

  1987–88

  7,302

  3,993

  1,421

  3,109

  2,487

  18,312

  1988–89

  6,886

  5,356

  2,129

  5,040

  3,099

  22,510

  1989–90

  7,113

  5,497

  2,056

  5,423

  2,764

  22,853

  1990–91

  6,916

  5,859

  1,706

  8,093

  2,733

  25,307

  1991–92

  8,963

  6,454

  2,366

  9,325

  2,943

  30,051

  1992–93

  7,199

  7,194

  3,637

  11,558

  3,296

  32,884

  1993–94

  6,123

  5,379

  2,979

  14,504

  3,087

  32,072

  1994–95

  5,247

  5,124

  3,569

  15,631

  2,574

  32,145

  1995–96

  4,005

  6,600

  4,148

  16,865

  2,086

  33,704

  1996–97

  4,247

  3,911

  4,092

  18,133

  2,733

  33,116

  1997–98

  4,115

  4,985

  4,482

  24,889

  3,447

  41,918

  750
  Clare Short
  My Department has not carried out any research into the economic impact of growing genetically modified crops on small-scale farmers in developing countries. However we have commissioned relevant studies from University of Birmingham and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, to assess the environmental and social risks of introducing new or transgenic plant types into the traditional pigeon pea seed production systems of small-scale farmers in India and, from University of Swansea, to undertake social and economic assessments of the potential impact of genetically male tilapia and transgenic tilapia on fish fanning in Philippines.

  The results of these studies will be published.

  Biotechnological Inventions
  Joan Ruddock
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the likely impact on(a) indigenous and (b) local communities in developing countries of EU Patent Directive COM (95) 661 as it relates to intellectual property rights in genetic resources. [74494]

  Clare Short
  The European Directive on the Legal Protection of Biological Inventions (98/44/EC) addresses which biotechnological inventions can be patented in Europe and does not affect national patent laws elsewhere.

  In reaching a Common Position by the Council of Ministers in February 1998, the UK made a statement noting that there had been no consideration as to whether the provisions of the Directive would be appropriate for other countries outside the European Union, in particular developing countries.

  Southern Africa
  Mr. Jim Murphy
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the financial aid from her Department and its predecessor in each of the past 10 years to Southern Africa for(a) education and (b) health projects. [73912]

  Clare Short
  The Department for International Development (DFID) does not provide financial aid in the form of budgetary support to governments in Southern Africa. Our partnerships in this region fund technical co-operation to build local capacity and make effective use of national resources.

  DFID's contribution to education and health over the last ten years in Southern Africa is as follows:

  751

  Education sector expenditure

  £000

  Botswana

  Lesotho

  Namibia

  South Africa

  Swaziland

  Total

  1987–88

  1,420

  345

  285

  130

  593

  2,772

  1988–89

  1,578

  654

  387

  292

  462

  3,373

  1989–90

  1,732

  669

  346

  2,530

  488

  5,765

  1990–91

  1,713

  939

  679

  3,769

  582

  7,681

  1991–92

  1,982

  1,219

  1,197

  4,269

  663

  9,330

  1992–93

  2,203

  1,112

  1,433

  6,466

  589

  11,803

  1993–94

  1,933

  785

  1,141

  5,557

  416

  9,832

  1994–95

  1,183

  616

  1,838

  5,103

  362

  9,101

  1995–96

  707

  715

  1,553

  4,231

  183

  7,390

  1996–97

  830

  978

  1,514

  1,850

  228

  5,399

  1997–98

  1645

  1560

  11,675

  14,872

  1300

  18,052

  Health and population sector expenditure

  £000

  Botswana

  Lesotho

  Namibia

  South Africa

  Swaziland

  Total

  1987–88

  90

  53

  0

  0

  55

  198

  1988–89

  195

  73

  0

  467

  71

  806

  1989–90

  290

  303

  88

  1,033

  143

  1,857

  1990–91

  380

  553

  585

  1,452

  167

  3,137

  1991–92

  224

  323

  242

  630

  207

  1,625

  1992–93

  182

  230

  409

  1,229

  200

  2,250

  1993–94

  50

  114

  511

  1,263

  122

  2,060

  1994–95

  -6

  6

  338

  2,297

  41

  2,677

  1995–96

  -5

  16

  254

  1,482

  19

  1,766

  1996–97

  0

  26

  728

  4,043

  78

  4,875

  1997–98

  11

  1261

  1536

  13,712

  12

  14,512

  1Provisional

  PHARE and TACIS Programmes
  Mrs. Gillan
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the future of(a) the PHARE programme and (b) the TACIS programme. [73278]

  Clare Short
  [holding answer 25 February 1999]: (a) The European Commission has started consultations on new guidelines for the PHARE programme from 2000. We will be seeking to ensure the programme responds to the priority needs of countries preparing for accession to the European Union, addresses the quality of the transition process so that benefits are sustainable and brings benefits to all levels of society, includes effective measures to strengthen institutions and promote better public administration and draws from previous experience in ensuring funds are efficiently and effectively used.

  (b) The current Tacis Regulation expires at the end of this year, and a draft Regulation for the period 2000–06 is now under consideration. The draft is broadly acceptable, but it contains a number of new initiatives on which we are seeking clarification.

  Debt Repayment
  Mr. Rowe
  To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much debt each of the 10 most highly-indebted countries repaid in each of the last three years. [73618]

  Ms Hewitt
  I have been asked to reply.

  The table shows (£millions) debt repayments received by the UK in the last three years from the 10 countries identified by the IMF as potentially eligible for assistance
  752
  under its Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative that have the highest absolute levels of debt.

  £ million

  Country

  1996–97

  1997–98

  1998/February 1999

  Angola

  0

  0

  0

  Cameroon

  0.14

  1.70

  1.13

  Cote d'Ivoire

  0.43

  0.11

  0.26

  DR Congo

  0

  0

  0

  Ethiopia

  0.15

  0.44

  0.56

  Kenya

  6.04

  8.00

  11.58

  Sudan

  0

  0

  0

  Tanzania

  24.00

  4.00

  8.17

  Vietnam

  1.05

  0.73

  0.85

  Zambia

  0

  1.84

  1.00

  Source:

  ECGD 1 March 1999

SCOTLAND

  Ministerial Expenditure
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of expenditure on(a) ministerial pay, (b) ministerial domestic transport and (c) other ministerial expenses in (i) 1996–97, (ii) 1997–98, (iii) 1998–99 and (iv) 1999–2000; and if he will make a statement. [69263]

  Mr. Dewar
  [holding answer 8 February 19991 The table shows expenditure on Ministerial pay. The table also shows total non-pay expenditure for Ministerial offices. The amounts include travel and subsistence, office services and general administration costs for both
  753
  Ministers and the staff of their offices. It is not possible to disaggregate these amounts into the categories requested. Expenditure for 1999–2000 cannot be forecast at present since this will depend on decisions about the number of Scottish Ministers who form the incoming devolved administration and about the future structure of the office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.

  £

  Ministerial pay

  Ministerial offices non-pay

  1996–97

  181,917

  934,305

  1997–98

  213,431

  1,075,115

  1998–991

  220,600

  1,207,000

  1Estimate

  Psychiatric Nurses
  Sir Alastair Goodlad
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many community psychiatric nurses there were in Scotland in each of the last three years. [73229]

  Mr. Galbraith
  The information is set out in the table.

  Community psychiatric nurses employed in the NHS in Scotland. Headcount and Whole Time Equivalent: at 30 September

  Community psychiatric nurse

  Number

  1996

  468

  1997

  507

  19981

  518

  WTE

  1996

  449.3

  1997

  484.6

  19981

  493.9

  1Provisional

  Source:

  National Manpower Statistics from payroll Information and Statistics Division, NHS in Scotland

  From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.

  Schizophrenia
  Sir Alastair Goodlad
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people with a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses were admitted for a hospital stay more than once during the last year in Scotland. [73233]

  Mr. Galbraith
  The number of individual patients with a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses admitted to mental illness hospitals and psychiatric units in Scotland during the year ending 31 March 1996 was 2,482, of which 675 were admitted more than once.

  From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.

  Departmental Spending
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give a breakdown of spending planned on other public services as set out in his answer of 17 July 754
  1998, Official Report, columns 336–40, in (a) 1998–99, (b) 1999–2000, (c) 2000–01, (d) 2001–02 and (e) 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [74338]

  Mr. Dewar
  A detailed breakdown of the figures for 1998–99 to 2001–02 was placed in the library of the House of Commons on 10 November 1998.

  Roads Expenditure
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are his estimates of planned expenditure on Scottish roads for each of the years(a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03; if he will list for each of these years every project costing over £2 million over its project life; and if he will make a statement. [74241]

  Mr. Macdonald
  Expenditure on local roads is the responsibility of local authorities and details are not held centrally. The planned net expenditure on motorways and trunk roads in Scotland in 2000–01 and 2001–02, the latest year for which expenditure has been agreed, is £175.8 million and £186.2 million respectively. Our priorities are to maintain and repair the existing network and to meet the costs of projects contractually committed or announced. Project costs exceed £2 million on the A720, the M6, the A7 (Hawick Relief Road) and the A90 (Inchmichael Interchange). Further projects may be announced later.

  From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.

  Scottish Enterprise
  Mr. Malcolm Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the causes of the increase in planned expenditure by Scottish Enterprise between 2000–01 and 2001–02; and if he will make a statement. [74243]

  Mr. Dewar
  The increase in the planned expenditure by Scottish Enterprise between 2000–01 and 2001–02 primarily reflects the phased introduction of a number of new training initiatives announced by the Government last year as part of the New Deal and a re-instatement of provision for the delayed Hyundai project.

  From 1 July the funding of Scottish Enterprise will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.

HOME DEPARTMENT

  Brit Awards
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those ministers in his Department who were present at the recent Brit awards in an official capacity; and who or what organisation was acting as their sponsor or host. [73492]

  Mr. Straw
  The Minister of State, Home Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng), attended the Brit Awards Ceremony on 23 February, as guest of the Director General of the British Phonographic
  755
  Industry Ltd., the representative body of the British Record Industry.

  Single Currency
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the subject areas within his Department's responsibilities which will be covered by the information campaign on Britain's membership of a single currency. [73665]

  Mr. Straw
  The Treasury will continue its dialogue with key external bodies to determine what information the public and business would need at each stage of the changeover process. Any information campaign would cover key concerns that the public and business may have. Chapter eight of the Treasury's Outline National Changeover Plan provides further information. Copies of the Plan are available in the Library.

  Emergency Services (Integration)
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards integration of fire, police and ambulance control rooms. [73500]

  Mr. George Howarth
  I refer the right hon. Member to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Ms Lawrence) on 13 January 1999,Official Report,columns 193–96. £7.8 million has been provided to the Department of Health under the Invest to Save Budget for pilot joint call handling centres.

  Police (Kingston-upon-Thames)
  Mr. Ottaway
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many serving police officers there were in the London Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames(a) on 1 May 1997 and (b) at the latest available date. [73927]

  Kate Hoey
  The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police tells me that he is unable to give the information in the form requested, as records are not broken down by the number of officers policing the London Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames. The nearest figures that can be provided are those for Kingston Division, which polices the London Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames together with half of the Borough of Elmbridge.

  The relevant statistics are recorded within the Metropolitan police, twice yearly, at 1 January and 1 July. The number of serving police officers in Kingston Division on 1 July 1997 was 355. As at 1 March 1999, the number was 336.7.

  Electoral Procedures
  Mr. Love
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what issues are being considered by the Departmental working party on electoral procedures; when it will report to ministers; what account it has taken 756
  of the recent report from the Select Committee on Home Affairs (HC 768) of Session 1997–98; and if he will make a statement. [74314]

  Mr. George Howarth
  My working party on electoral procedures is currently considering a wide range of issues, under the following broad headings:

  maximising electoral registration and voter participation;

  access by the disabled and homeless to the electoral process;

  rolling electoral registration;

  publication and sale of the electoral register;

  anonymous electoral registration;

  absent voting arrangements;

  polling station and count venue issues (including location, mobile and early polling stations, and security);

  automated voting/counting;

  days and times of polling;

  use of official poll cards, and publicity for elections; civics education and the electoral process; and the role of an electoral commission.

  The Government have welcomed the report of the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into electoral law and administration as a valuable contribution to the continuing debate about improving participation in our electoral and democratic processes. The Committee acknowledged that my working party is the correct forum within which to take forward consideration of its proposals, conclusions and recommendations; and accepted that it would be difficult to give a full response while my working party continued to meet. I now anticipate that the final report of the working party will be published this summer, and that the Committee will receive its detailed response at around the same time.

  Human Rights
  Mr. Derek Twigg
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Government expects to announce the outcome of its review of international human rights instruments. [75118]

  Mr. Straw
  I am placing in the Library a summary of the conclusions of the review.

  On 27 January, I signed the Sixth Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights. We shall also ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, without any reservation to preserve the use of the death penalty in wartime.

  We shall ratify International Labour Organisation Convention 111 on discrimination in employment.

  We intend to ratify the Seventh Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as soon as Parliament removes inconsistencies in our family law provisions. We will seek a suitable opportunity to propose those changes. We are also considering whether legislation is necessary to enable the United Kingdom to ratify the Fourth Protocol to the ECHR.

  We shall look again at the rights of individual petition under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the United Nationals Convention Against Torture and the Union Nations Convention on the Elimination of

  757
  Racial Discrimination once the Human Rights Act has been fully implemented. We have looked closely at the merits of adopting these additional rights, but have also taken in account the impact on the vital work of preparing for and implementing the Human Rights Act 1998. This is a major piece of legislation that demonstrates our commitment to the advancement of human rights.

  Fire Service College
  Ms Corston
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for reviewing the future role of the Fire Service College. [75119]

  Mr. Straw
  The Government are committed to securing best value for money through regular and systematic reviews of the services which its agencies provide and how these are delivered.

  In view of the continuing poor financial performance as a trading fund of the Fire Service College at Moreton in Marsh, I have decided to commission an immediate prior options review. This will consider the College's present and future role in helping meet the requirements for central training in the fire service. The review will evaluate the performance of the Agency and will also re-appraise the prior options considered before the College was established as a trading fund, taking account of developments since that time. Should Ministers agree that agency status remains the most appropriate option, the review will bring forward recommendations for future development and funding including any necessary revisions to the College's Framework Document.

  The review will be conducted by officials from the man Home Office working, among others, with Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate. Views are welcomed from all interested parties. The review is expected to report in the summer.

  Police Protection
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the annual cost of providing full police protection to an individual whose life has been threatened. [74477]

  Mr. Straw
  It is not the practice to publish this information as it provides an indication of the level of protection being provided.

  Asylum Seekers
  Mr. Gerrard
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the countries currently considered to be in upheaval for the purpose of determining asylum claims. [73889]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  There is no country or territory currently subject to a declaration of upheaval under the Social Security (Persons from Abroad) Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 1996. Declarations were made in respect of Sierra Leone on 1 July 1997 and the Democratic Republic of Congo on 17 May 1998. These expired after three months.

  The purpose of such declarations is to ensure that people who find themselves in the United Kingdom at the point when there is a change of circumstances in their home country, of the kind envisaged in the Regulations,
  758
  are not disadvantaged in terms of access to income support and related benefits if they make an in-country asylum application with reasonable promptness. Three months is the period considered to be reasonable for this purpose. A declaration of upheaval does not, in itself, carry any implication for the determination of asylum applications from the country or territory concerned. The need for this procedure would cease to exist under the scheme of support for asylum seekers contained in Park VI of the Immigration and Asylum Bill.

  Mr. Stinchcombe
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers under the age of 18 years are currently detained. [73782]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  At 14.00 on 1 March 1999 there were 2 people who are 17 years of age in detention; awaiting removal to Belgium in the near future. Another person in detention is claiming to be 17 years old but his age is in dispute.

  Mr. Stinchcombe
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the criteria for the detention of asylum seekers in Her Majesty's prisons; [73778]

  (2) what are the criteria for the administrative detention of asylum seekers who have not been (a) tried or (b) convicted of a criminal offence. [73779]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  No one is detained solely because they are an asylum seeker. Detention is authorised only in accordance with powers set out in the Immigration Act 1971 as they apply to inadmissible passengers, illegal entrants or stowaways, people subject to deportation action or on grounds of national security.

  The principle criterion for detention is whether a person will comply with conditions attached to the grant of temporary admission or release. So far as possible, people are detained in discrete accommodation in Immigration Service Detention Centres or designated prison accommodation at Haslar or Rochester. But there are a few held in other establishments for reasons of geography, security or control.

  The exceptions may be those convicted prisoners subject to deportation action who may continue to be held in prisons at the conclusion of their sentence awaiting the activation of the deportation order.

  Mr. Stinchcombe
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been detained for over six months(a) in Her Majesty's prisons and (b) elsewhere. [73780]

  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  The available information relates to the snapshot of asylum seekers detained solely under Immigration Act powers as at 29 January 1999 for in-country applicants and 1 February 1999 for port applicants. 116 such persons were recorded as having been detained continuously for at least six months. The breakdown between those detained in prisons and those in other places of detention is available only at disproportionate cost.

  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the position of Her Majesty's Government with regard to the provisions of Article 22 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on protection for children seeking asylum. [74307]
  759
  Mr. Mike O'Brien
  The effect of Article 22 of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child is to confer on refugee and asylum seeking children all the rights set out in that Convention. The comprehensive provision in United Kingdom law for the care and protection of children applies in full to children who have been recognised as refugees in this country and to those who have sought asylum here, but whose claim has not been determined. Although the United Kingdom has entered a reservation which makes it clear that nothing in the Convention is interpreted as affecting the operation of our immigration and nationality legislation, our law is entirely consistent with the thrust of the Convention.

  Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the(a) names and (b) job titles of his Department's officials who read the Macpherson report prior to the oral statement of 26 February 1999, Official Report, columns 660–70, by the Minister of State. [74449]

  Mr. Straw
  In relation to the period before the publication of the Report, it would not be in the interests of the investigation now under way of the leak of parts of the Report to give these details. After publication, the Report was widely available, including on the Internet, and would have been seen by a large number of Home Office officials.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what response he made to the Metropolitan Police following their alerting of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry to the unintended publication of sensitive information; [74421]

  (2)when (a) he and (b) ministers in his Department learned of the inclusion of sensitive information in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report; [74422]

  (3)if he was first contacted by (a) the Metropolitan Police or (b) the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry as to the existence of information intended to be kept in confidence which was contained in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report before the report was published. [74417]

  Mr. Straw
  Appendix 11 of the report into the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry contained detailed information which should have been kept in confidence. The Home Office was alerted to that at about 10.45am on 25 February by the Inquiry staff. They had been contacted by the Metropolitan Police. We immediately stopped further distribution of the Appendices volume. The Metropolitan Police urgently carried out risk assessments on those individuals affected and appropriate protection measures have been put in place. The police have established a 24 hour incident room in Eltham Police Station and Home Office liaison officer is posted there to assist local Members of Parliament.

  Mr. Peter Bottomley
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his Department's policy in alerting independent judicial inquiries to the existence of information, which is intended to be kept in confidence, in a report which is to be published. [74423]
  760
  Mr. Grieve
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what powers he had to inform the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry of the existence of the names and addresses of informants in Appendix 11 prior to publication of the inquiry report; [74424]

  (2) if he will make a statement on his powers in respect of removing the names and addresses prior to publication of the informants listed in Appendix 11 of the Stephen Lawrence report. [74425]

  Mr. Straw
  The responsibility for determining the content of the report of a judicial inquiry, including any decision to publish supporting material by way of appendices, falls to the Chairman and members of the Inquiry. My Department can advise, when requested, whether material should be withheld on security or other grounds.

  In the case of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, I undertook at the outset to publish the report of the Inquiry in full. Sir William Macpherson of Cluny has already said that he takes full responsibility for the original mistaken inclusion of an unredacted version of Appendix 11 in the report. Like Sir William, I am very sorry that the mistake was made. The copies of the report which are now on sale do not contain the original Appendix 11.

  Mr. Butterfill
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he took upon receipt of the report of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry to ensure(a) the security of witnesses and (b) that any future (i) investigations and (ii) prosecutions would not be prejudiced by its publication. [74416]

  Mr. Straw
  The Inquiry was an independent judicial inquiry established under the Police Act. The contents of the Report were entirely a matter for the Inquiry, as its chairman has made clear.

  Mr. Forth
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the final report on the Lawrence Inquiry was first received by his Department. [74413]

  Mr. Straw
  Sir William Macpherson delivered the Report to me on the evening of Monday 15 February.

  Mr. Forth
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which officials in his Department were(a) responsible for liaising with the Lawrence Inquiry and (b) seconded to the Inquiry. [74415]

  Mr. Straw
  The Secretary to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry on secondment from the Home Office, was Stephen Wells. Further details of the staffing of the Inquiry secretariat are given in paragraphs 3.28 and 3.30 of the Report.

  Responsibility in the Home Office for liaison with the Inquiry rested within the Operational Policing Policy Unit. The Head of Unit, as listed in the Civil Service Year Book, is Paul Pugh. He has been assisted by Patricia McFarlane who has responsibility for Police Community Relations within the Operational Policing Policy Unit. Other officials have assisted as part of their normal responsibilities.
  761
  Mr. Forth
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the(a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department who read the report of the Lawrence Inquiry between the time it was first received by his Department and its publication. [74414]

  Mr. Straw
  It would not be in the interests of the investigation now under way into the leak of parts of the Report to give these details.

  Mr. Grieve
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his duties in respect of public interest immunity on the protection of the identity of informants in criminal investigations(a) in general and (b) in the case of informants named in Appendix 11 of the Stephen Lawrence report. [74426]

  Mr. Straw
  The question of public interest immunity arises in litigation, where it operates in appropriate circumstances to override the normal obligations of disclosure between the parties to the litigation. It does not arise outside legal proceedings.

  The right hon. and learned Member for North-East Bedfordshire (Sir N. Lyell), as Attorney-General, informed the House of the new approach to public interest immunity of the Government then in office in a statement made on 18 December 1996. My right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Aberavon (Mr. Morris) informed the House on 11 July 1997, Official Report, column 616, that the present Government would follow the same approach to public interest immunity. Under that approach the question of public interest immunity is considered on an individual case basis. Public interest immunity is asserted by the Government only where Ministers believe that disclosure of the information in question would cause real damage to the public interest.

  I do not normally have a role in criminal investigations or prosecutions, which fall to the police and the Crown Prosecution Service respectively. The assertion of public interest immunity in a prosecution would normally be the responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service.

  Mr. Grieve
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons his Department received a copy of the Stephen Lawrence report prior to its publication. [74427]

  Mr. Straw
  Sir William Macpherson delivered the Report to me so that my Department could arrange its printing and presentation to Parliament.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what procedures the Macpherson Inquiry team used to vet all documents submitted prior to publication of their report; [74480]

  (2)how many documents were not published by the Macpherson Inquiry on the basis of their sensitivity; [74478]

  (3)what criteria the Macpherson Inquiry adopted to determine which documents should be published and which should not; [74476]

  (4)how many documents submitted to the Macpherson Inquiry were not published, and how many pages the documents contained. [74479]

  Mr. Straw
  I understand from the Inquiry that the seven documents taken from the evidence which were included for publication in the Appendices to the Report 762
  were chosen on the basis that they were subject to discussion in the body of the Report and that they had a wider general interest. The documents were approved and proof read by the Chairman, his Advisers and his administrative staff. All these documents had been in the public domain, in either complete or redacted form during the public hearings of the Inquiry.

  The Inquiry received about 30,000 documents containing a total of over 80,000 pages for Part 1 of its work. Many of these documents were duplicates because copies were submitted by more than one part to the Inquiry. About one third of the total was distributed to the parties of the Inquiry, subject to any redactions which the Inquiry considered necessary. Any redactions were agreed between the party submitting the document, the Inquiry's legal team and the Metropolitan police where necessary. This was done where confidentiality was clearly an issue or on the basis of a risk assessment.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which divisions of his Department he received submissions on the Macpherson report prior to the oral statement by the Minister of State on 26 February 1999,Official Report, columns 660–61. [74483]

  Mr. Straw
  It is not the practice to discuss the advice given to Ministers by officials.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the(a) written and (b) oral contacts (i) he and (ii) his officials had with the Macpherson inquiry team from its inception to the receipt of the report by his Department. [74482]

  Mr. Straw
  My officials had numerous contacts with the Inquiry team throughout the relevant period, including in relation to the provision of Home Office evidence to the Inquiry. As for myself, I met Sir William Macpherson on several occasions, notably at the start and the end of the inquiry process.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he will take to ensure the removal of sensitive parts of the Macpherson report appendices from the Internet. [74485]

  Mr. Straw
  The full report from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and its appendices appeared on The Stationery Office's Official Publications website on the day the report was published. The entire volume containing all the appendices was immediately removed when the Home Office was alerted to the publication of sensitive material in Appendix 11 on 25 February.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will meet the costs of(a) relocation and (b) changing identity for those informants who were named by the Macpherson report. [74487]

  Mr. Straw
  Witness protection in London is the responsibility of the Metropolitan Police. I will be discussing the costs of this operation with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what external legal advice he has taken on the liability of his Department for civil damages in the event of claims from informants whose names were published by the Macpherson Inquiry. [74486]
  763
  Mr. Straw
  I shall continue to obtain Counsel's opinion as and when necessary for the effective functioning of the Department.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the(a) written and (b) oral contacts (i) he and (ii) his officials had with the Macpherson Inquiry team between receipt of the Inquiry Report in his Department and the oral statement by the Minister of State on 26 February 1999, Official Report, columns 660–61. [74481]

  Mr. Straw
  I met the Inquiry team on 15 February to take receipt of their Report. My officials had numerous contacts with the Inquiry team after that date to discuss the arrangements for publication. I spoke to Sir William Macpherson on 25 February to discuss with him the background to the contents of Appendix 11.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the(a) names and (b) job titles of his Department's officials who (i) were seconded to the Macpherson Inquiry, (ii) assisted the Inquiry and (iii) monitored the progress of the Inquiry for his Department, indicating the dates they were engaged for each of the above purposes. [74484]

  Mr. Straw
  The Secretary to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, on secondment from the Home Office, was Stephen Wells. Further details of the staffing of the Inquiry secretariat are given in paragraphs 3.28 and 3.30 of the Report.

  Responsibility in the Home Office for liaison with the Inquiry rested within the Operational Policing Policy Unit. The Head of Unit is Paul Pugh. He has been assisted by Patricia McFarlane who has responsibility for Police Community Relations within the Operational Policing Policy Unit. Mr. Pugh gave oral evidence to the Inquiry on behalf of the Home Office. Other officials have assisted as part of their normal responsibilities.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports he has received to date from the permanent secretary in his Department on the leaking of the Macpherson report. [74475]

  Mr. Straw
  The permanent secretary will inform me of the outcome of the leak investigation in due course; I will inform the House of its conclusions.

  Schoolchildren (Sexual Assault)
  Mr. Randall
  To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions there have been for sexual assault of pupils in each of the last 10 years by(a) primary school teachers, (b) secondary school teachers and (c) support staff in local authority schools. [73381]

  Ms Estelle Morris
  I have been asked to reply.

  The information requested is not available. However, my Department's statistical record shows that the number of people barred from or restricted in their employment in the education service in each of the last 3 years as a result of a conviction or a caution for a sexual offence relating to children was:

  1996: 99

  1997: 71

  1998: 52

NORTHERN IRELAND

  Teachers
  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many (i) full and (ii) part-time teachers there were in(a) schools and (b) further education colleges in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years; and what percentage of each had a postgraduate certificate in education; [71410]

  (2) how many (i) full and (ii) part-time teachers with no teaching qualifications there were in (a) schools and (b) further education colleges in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years. [71409]

  Mr. McFall
  The number of teachers holding the Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) or with no qualifications is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  The total number of full-time teachers in schools and full and part-time teachers in Further Education colleges is as follows:

  (a) Schools

  (b) Further Education colleges

  (i) Full-time

  (i) Full-time

  (ii) Part-time

  1994–95

  19,730

  2,171

  3,205

  1995–96

  20,125

  2,156

  3,154

  1996–97

  20,642

  2,144

  2,780

  1997–98

  20,510

  2,064

  2,647

  1998–99

  1—

  1,974

  2,867

  1Figures on school teachers for 1998–99 are not yet available

  Pupil Funding
  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding has been provided per pupil in each type of school in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years; and what the planned funding levels are for the next three years. [71411]

  Mr. McFall
  The table details the funding per pupil based on financial allocations made to schools under Local Management of Schools formula funding arrangements:

  £

  Nursery schools

  Primary schools

  Secondary schools

  Controlled grammar (excluding prep depts)

  1994–95

  1,832

  1,369

  2,241

  2,156

  1995–96

  1,888

  1,407

  2,281

  2,192

  1996–97

  1,925

  1,475

  2,340

  2,246

  1997–98

  2,026

  1,519

  2,381

  2,286

  1998–99

  2,071

  1,560

  2,457

  2,358

  £

  Grant maintained integrated primary schools

  Grant maintained integrated secondary schools

  Voluntary grammar schools (excluding prep depts)

  1994–95

  1,667

  2,524

  2,211

  1995–96

  1,683

  2,772

  2,323

  1996–97

  1,738

  2,929

  2,394

  1997–98

  1,700

  2,856

  2,437

  1998–99

  1,745

  2,894

  2,541

  765
  Detailed information on the planned funding levels for the next three years is not yet available.

  Prisoner Early Releases
  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons given early release from prison under the Good Friday Agreement have been arrested or had their licences revoked. [71556]

  Mr. Ingram
  One person released under the Sentences Act has been arrested and charges with an offence but not in breach of licence conditions. He is remanded in custody till 25 March 1999.

  Educational and Library Boards (Funding)
  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many education and library boards in Northern Ireland have(a) requested and (b) received additional funding in order to reduce class sizes to under 30 pupils in the past year. [71403]

  Mr. McFall
  (a) Requests for additional funding are initiated by individual schools.

  (b) All 5 educational and library boards have received additional funding to enable them to respond to such requests.

  Tourism and Commerce
  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans she has to promote Northern Ireland(a) tourism and (b) commerce through the Internet. [72955]

  Mr. Ingram
  The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB), the Industrial Development Board (IDB), the Local Enterprise Development Unit (LEDU) and the Industrial Research and Technology Unit (IRTU) all have a web sites on the internet designed to promote Northern Ireland tourism or commerce.

  Tourism

  NITB's web-site (www.ni.tourism.com) contains detailed regional and product information. NITB is also working with new regional tourist organisations in Northern Ireland to develop a coherent approach to the development of their web-sites.

  Commerce

  IDB's web-site (WWW.idbni.co.uk) promotes NI as a prime business location for new inward investment and covers all aspects of IDB's operations. IDB is currently in discussions with the 26 district councils in NI to provide a hyperlink from their sites to the IDB site to further enhance investment and trade opportunities.

  IRTU's site on the NI Public Service Web (www.nics.gov.uk/irtu) provides information on the Unit's R&D support programmes.

  LEDU also maintain a site (www.ict.co.uk) and plan to exploit to the full ICT (Integrated Computer Technologies) as a key source of competitive advantage to small firms in Northern Ireland, which will benefit them commercially. This would be beneficial by way of making it easier to enter new markets and competing internationally.

  Digital Broadcasting
  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many schools in Northern Ireland currently have facilities for receiving digital broadcasting services; and what estimate she has made of how many will have that capability by the end of(a) 2000, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002. [72920]

  Mr. McFall
  Information on the amount of equipment capable of receiving digital broadcasting service which schools have brought, or plan to buy, within their delegated budgets is not available, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  Illegal Drugs
  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many visitors to prisons in Northern Ireland were found to be in possession of illegal drugs in each of the last five years; and how many were referred to the police. [72913]

  Mr. Ingram
  Visitors can be refused access to prisons because of suspected possession of drugs. The information required is therefore not available in the exact format requested. The table shows the number refused access on suspicion of possession and those subsequently referred to the police. Central monitoring commenced on 1 April 1996.

  Financial year

  Visitors suspected of possession

  Visitors referred to police

  1996–97

  18

  10

  1997–98

  30

  20

  1998–991

  7

  5

  1to 31 December 1998

  Education Action Zones
  Mr. Moss
  To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans she has to introduce education action zones in Northern Ireland. [72919]

  Mr. McFall
  I have no plans to introduce Education Action Zones in Northern Ireland. Alternative measures, including the School Support Programme, are already in place to help to raise standards in schools serving areas of social and economic deprivation. Following the Comprehensive Spending Review, additional resources are being made available to bring an additional 30 schools into the School Support Programme each year, and to provide extra support to other schools in socially disadvantaged areas.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

  Press Releases
  Mr. Don Foster
  To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department how many press releases have been issued by his Department, its agencies and non-departmental bodies in each of the years 1990 to 1998. [71451]
  767
  Mr. Hoon
  [holding answer 16 February 1999]The number of press releases issued by my Department its agencies and non-departmental bodies in the specified

  1990

  1991

  1992

  1993

  1994

  1995

  1996

  1997

  1998

  Lord Chancellor's Department and Court Service

  200

  240

  329

  305

  253

  303

  352

  335

  382

  Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct (ACLEC)

  0

  1

  0

  0

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Children Act Advisory Committee

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  1

  1

  1

  0

  Council on Tribunals

  0

  0

  0

  0

  2

  1

  0

  2

  1

  Judicial Studies Board

  0

  1

  1

  0

  2

  0

  2

  3

  3

  Land Registry

  9

  5

  12

  14

  16

  13

  16

  18

  26

  Law Commission

  7

  13

  8

  15

  17

  26

  24

  18

  26

  Legal Aid Board

  12

  15

  4

  6

  6

  3

  8

  9

  10

  Legal Services Ombudsman

  0

  0

  2

  1

  2

  0

  0

  1

  2

  Magistrates' Courts Service Inspectorate

  0

  0

  0

  0

  4

  18

  27

  33

  16

  Northern Ireland Court Service

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  5

  12

  20

  24

  Public Record Office

  3

  3

  3

  3

  3

  3

  4

  6

  13

  Office for the Supervision of Solicitors
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what discussions he has had with the Legal Services Ombudsman on the performance of the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors. [73884]

  Mr. Hoon
  The Lord Chancellor and I meet the Legal Services Ombudsman each year to discuss the main findings and recommendations of her annual report. Our next meeting with her is scheduled for June 1999. Our officials have more frequent contact with her, and they keep us informed of developments in the complaints handling procedures of the legal professional bodies in general, and of the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors in particular.

  Access to Justice Bill
  Mr. Garnier
  To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the media interviews connected with their official duties which he and the Lord Chancellor have given since the introduction of the Access to Justice Bill [Lords]. [73886]

  Mr. Hoon
  The Lord Chancellor and I have given press conferences, briefings and interviews on several different issues since the introduction of the Access to Justice Bill on 2 December 1998. The media organisations involved are listed:

  BBC On-Line

  BBC Radio 4—Law in Action

  BBC Radio 4—The World Tonight

  BBC Radio 4—Today Programme

  BBC Radio 4—Woman's Hour

  BBC Radio Wales

  BBC Westminster

  Channel 4

  Daily Mail

  Daily Telegraph

  The Economist

  Express

  Financial Times

  GMTV

  The Guardian

  Independent

  ITN

  Law Society Gazette

  768
  period is as follows. Agencies and non-departmental
  bodies which have not issued press releases during this
  period are not listed.

  The Lawyer

  Legal Action

  Legal Week

  Litigation Funding Newsletter

  New Zealand Herald

  News Direct

  Press Association

  Radio 5 Live!

  Radio Nottingham

  Sky News

  Solicitors' Journal

  The Times

  "Working for Justice"
  Mr. Garnier
  To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) of 16 February 1999,Official Report, columns 723–24, what was the cost to his Department of preparing, publishing and distributing (a) the booklet entitled "Working for Justice: a Guide to the Lord Chancellor's Department" and (b) the publication entitled "Modernising Justice: A Summary of the Government's Proposal". [73885]

  Mr. Hoon
  The cost to the Lord Chancellor's Department of preparing, publishing and distributing the following publications in England and Welsh versions was as follows:

  (a)"Working for Justice: A Guide to the Lord Chancellor's Department": £38,300;

  (a)"Modernising Justice: A Summary of the Government's Proposals": £22,800.

  Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 1969
  Mr. McNamara
  To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department how many applications have been made to the High Court under the Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 1989, section 7, for a determination that a person has acted in breach of the terms of a declaration against terrorism made by him under section 4 of the Act for each year since the passing of the Act; how any determinations have been made; and against whom. [73822]

  Mr. Hoon
  There have been no applications made to the High Court under the Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 1989, section 7, for a determination that a
  769
  person has acted in breach of the terms of a declaration against terrorism made by him under section 4 of the Act since the passing of the Act.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

  Genetically Modified Foods
  Mr. Redwood
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) which companies have made representations to his Department in favour of the commercial exploitation of genetically modified foods; [70437]

  (2) how many representations his Department has received in favour of the commercial exploitation of genetically modified foods. [70438]

  Mr. Byers
  [holding answer 11 February 19991 Regulatory responsibility for genetically modified food rests with MAFF. The DTI has not received any specific representations in favour of the commercial exploitation of GM foods.

  International Market Council
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the issues for discussion before the Internal Market Council on 25 February, indicating the position he proposes to take on each issue. [72744]

  Mr. Wilson
  [holding answer 24 February 1999]Every six months, at the beginning of an EU Presidency, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my right Friend the Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West (Ms Quin), outlines to the House meetings expected during that Presidency. Every month, she gives the House details of the items expected at meetings of the Council of Minsters during that month. After each meeting of the Internal Market Council, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry reports back to the European Scrutiny Committee on the business conducted at the Council. He will be reporting back on the 25 February Council in the coming days. The Government have recently extended arrangements for scrutinising Council business to include the Second and Third Pillars of the Treaty on European Union, as well as the First Pillar. The Government will continue to promote the interests of the United Kingdom at all meetings of the Council of Ministers. However, it has not been the practice of successive Administrations to indicate the position that Ministers propose to take in advance of Council.

  Post Office Employees
  Mr. Pound
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if an employee of the Post Office on a short-term contract must serve a specified amount of time before being granted a long-term contract. [73244]

  Mr. Ian McCartney
  I understand from the Post Office that there is no specified time period which short-term contract staff must serve before being granted permanent employment. Recruitment of permanent staff is undertaken in accordance with the needs of the business. Short-term 770
  contract staff may apply for such posts under the normal selection procedures applying to the recruitment of permanent staff.

  Single Currency
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the subject areas within his Department's responsibilities which will be covered by the information campaign on Britain's membership of a single currency. [73675]

  Mr. Wilson
  The Treasury will continue its dialogue with key external bodies to determine what information the public and business would need at each stage of the changeover process. Any information campaign would cover key concerns that the public and business may have. Chapter eight of the Treasury's Outline National Changeover Plan provides further information. Copies of the plan are available in the Library of the House.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to issue information from his Department to help the public make an informed decision when they vote on the single currency. [73580]

  Mr. Wilson
  Any plans by the Government to issue information during a referendum campaign on whether or not the UK should join the single currency would be made in light of the Government's response to the recommendations from the Neill Committee on the conduct of referendums. The Government will announce their conclusion on those recommendations when my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary publishes a White Paper and draft Bill before the summer recess.

  Nuclear Waste Reprocessing
  Mr. Edwards
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if mixed oxide fuel and the materials which will be returned to BNFL's customers abroad after reprocessing are capable of being modified more easily than spent fuel for use in nuclear weapons. [73560]

  Mr. Battle
  [holding answer 26 February 1999]: Plutonium can be recovered from either spent fuel or from fresh Mixed Oxide fuel (MOX) only through a difficult chemical separation process requiring complex and highly specialised plant, equipment and skills. It is technically difficult to produce nuclear weapons using weapons grade material. It would be even more difficult to use reactor grade plutonium to produce a reliable weapon giving a predictable yield.

  The other materials recovered from reprocessing are Low Enriched Uranium and waste. Low Enriched Uranium cannot be used directly to construct nuclear weapons. While safeguards and physical protection measures continue to be applied to it, it is of limited sensitivity to proliferation. Waste contains only traces of plutonium and cannot be used to construct nuclear weapons.

  Cosmetics
  Mr. Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what labelling requirements apply in respect of the use of genetically modified ingredients in cosmetics; [73405]
  771
  (2) what controls exist over the use of genetically modified (a) maize and (b) soya in skin-care and cosmetics, with particular regard to the presence of antibiotics originating from marker genes. [73406]

  Dr. Howells
  [holding answers 1 March 1999]The safety of cosmetic products is controlled by the Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 1996, and all cosmetic ingredients have to be given on the label. All cosmetics are required to be safe under normal use. No specific controls exist for ingredients which may be derived from a genetically modified plant source and there are no specific requirements for manufacturers to mention this on the product label. However, the Regulations specifically prohibit the use of antibiotics.

  Mr. Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the health implications of the use of(a) genetically modified soya and (b) genetically modified maize in cosmetic products, with particular regard to the presence of antibiotics originating from marker genes. [73404]

  Dr. Howells
  [holding answer 1 March 1999]: The safety of cosmetic products is controlled by the Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 1996, as amended. The Regulations specifically prohibit the use of antibiotics, but no overall assessment has been made of the health implications of ingredients which may be derived from a genetically modified plant source.

  Mobile Telephones
  Mrs. May
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to encourage mobile telephone network operators to provide short messaging services across networks. [73808]

  Mr. Wills
  [holding answer 1 March 1999]: The introduction, by licence modification, of mobile number portability has provided an additional spur to the introduction of Short Messaging Services (SMS) interworking between domestic operators. I understand that arrangements are expected to be concluded shortly between all four network operators and that it is now only a case of working on the implementation, specifically technical protocols. The Government are confident that additional benefits, in terms of new inter-network services, will be conferred on consumers through the introduction of mobile number portability.

  With regard to international SMS interworking, it is dependent on the capability of the roamed network. UK subscribers already have access to short messaging services when in many overseas countries and discussions are ongoing within the GSM community to ensure that network interworking is secured more widely, particularly in Europe and Asia.

  Biotechnology
  Mr. Chope
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to publish the conclusions of the review of the United Kingdom framework for overseeing developments in biotechnology. [74144]

  Dr. Jack Cunningham
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: I am replying because of my responsibility for Co-ordinating Government Policy on biotechnology and genetic modification.
  772
  On 17 December 1998, Official Report, columns 644–45, I announced a review of the framework for overseeing developments in biotechnology and genetic modification.

  Ministers will consider this review, in parallel with the emerging conclusion of the Government's public consultation on developments in the biosciences, and expect to make a formal announcement on the outcome in Spring 1999.

  Domestic Electrical Goods
  Mr. Chope
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of the data collected by his Department on the prices of the goods subject to the Restriction on Agreements and Conducts (Specified Domestic Electrical Goods) Order 1998(a) before and (b) after commencement of the Order; [74135]

  (2) in what respects average unit prices for each of the categories of electrical goods subject to the Restriction on Agreements and Conduct (Specified Domestic Electrical Goods) Order 1998 have altered in each of the last five years in (a) cash terms and (b) real terms. [74137]

  Dr. Howells
  My Department does not collect this information.

  However, information published in the Office for National Statistics Business Monitor MM23 shows that retail prices of audio-visual equipment have fallen on average by 7 per cent. per year over the five years to 1998, retail prices for electrical appliances have fallen by 2½ per cent. per year and retail prices for toys, photographic and sports goods have fallen by ½ per cent. per year, compared with an average rise of 3 per cent. per year for all items index.

  It is the responsibility of the Director General of Fair Trading to keep under review commercial activities in the UK and monitor compliance with Orders made under UK competition legislation. The Restriction on Agreements and Conduct (Specified Domestic Electrical Goods) Order 1998 has so far been in force for only six months.

  Plutonium Shipments
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what kind of container will be used for the planned shipment by sea of plutonium MOX fuel from Sellafield to Japan; which company has manufactured the container; and what safety and security tests have been carried out on the container. [72961]

  Ms Glenda Jackson
  I have been asked to reply.

  Containers for the carriage of MOX fuel are expected to meet the standards for Type B packages as laid down in UK regulations, which are based on the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a copy of which is in the Commons Library. No containers, as yet, have been approved by the UK for this transport.

  General Affairs Council
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the issues for discussion before
  773
  the General Affairs Council on 22 and 23 February indicating the position he proposes to take on each
  issue. [72742]

  Ms Quin
  [holding answer 24 February 1999]: I have been asked to reply.

  Every six months, at the beginning of an EU Presidency, I outline to the House meetings expected during the Presidency. Every month, I give the House details of the items expected at meetings of the Council of Ministers during the month. After each meeting of the General Affairs Council, I report back to the European Scrutiny Committee on the business conducted at the General Affairs Council meeting. The Government have recently extended arrangements for scrutinising Council business to include the Second and Third Pillars of the Treaty on European Union, as well as the First Pillar. The Government will continue to promote the interests of the United Kingdom at all meetings of the Council of Ministers. However, it has not been the practice of successive Administrations to indicate the position that Ministers propose to take in advance of Council.

PRIME MINISTER

  Internal Market
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 15 February 1999,Official Report, column 522, what proportion of the reforms under the Simpler Legislation for the Internal Market programme were criticised by his Government. [72626]

  The Prime Minister
  Initiation of reviews under the Simpler Legislation for the Internal Market (SLIM) process is a matter for the European Commission, taking into account suggestions from the Member States.

  The United Kingdom has fully participated in SLIM, being represented on at least one team in each phase, and submitting position papers with our views to all except one of the other teams. Specific recommendations for reform are put forward by each SLIM team as a whole.

  Sierra Leone
  Mrs. Gillan
  To ask the Prime Minister when he or his officials, his special advisers or Parliamentary Private Secretary first had access to a copy of the report on Sierra Leone as agreed by the Foreign Affairs Committee. [73632]

  Mr. Wilshire
  To ask the Prime Minister when(a) he, (b) his officials, (c) his advisers and (d) his PPS were first made aware of certain key conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Sierra Leone. [73703]

  The Prime Minister
  [holding answer 26 February 1999]: I refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) on 23 February 1999, Official Report, column 231.

  Sir Brian Mawhinney
  To ask the Prime Minister on what day and at what time(a) he and (b) officials working in No. 10 Downing street were informed that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had received a leaked copy of the draft Foreign Affairs Committee report on Sierra Leone. [74155]
  774
  Mr. Wilshire
  To ask the Prime Minister when he knew that a copy of the draft report of the Foreign Affairs Committee's Sierra Leone inquiry had been sent to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the second week of January. [73573]

  The Prime Minister
  [holding answers 26 February and 2 March 1999]: Officials in No. 10 were informed on the evening of Monday 22 February. I was informed the following day.

  National Changeover Plan
  Mr. Mitchell
  To ask the Prime Minister what compensation will be available to businesses which invest for euro membership as part of the National Changeover plan if the electorate votes against membership. [74166]

  The Prime Minister
  The outline National Changeover Plan is a first step in planning how the United Kingdom would make the changeover to the single currency. A further plan will be published in around a year's time. British businesses must now focus on the impact of the euro on their business strategies and decide for themselves how they should handle it and what preparations to make. Any investment will ultimately be a commercial decision for businesses themselves.

  Mr. Mitchell
  To ask the Prime Minister what is his estimate of the amount of public expenditure which will arise in connection with the National Changeover plan for euro membership which will be incurred before a referendum on joining. [74167]

  The Prime Minister
  The cost of euro preparations would depend on the detailed approach that the UK took to the changeover. As I set out in my statement to the House on 23 February 1999,Official Report, columns 179–96, further work on the changeover will be carried out over the next year. Prior to a referendum the key departments involved are Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise and the Department for Social Security, where preparations may cost some tens of millions of pounds.

  Beef Ban
  Mr. Hayes
  To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer of 24 February 1999,Official Report, column 386, on the lifting of the beef ban, on what date European Commission inspectors were invited to visit the relevant abattoirs; and when he expects (a) the visits to take place and (b) the final stages of the lifting of the ban to begin. [74154]

  The Prime Minister
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food held discussions with Commission officials in January and February this year on the content, practical arrangements and possible dates for an inspection visit. The inspection will also cover the arrangements for Date Based Export Schemes in meat plants and we are in close contact with their industry in ensuring premises are ready for inspection. We expect to confirm a date very shortly. After the visit, the Commission will produce their report and set a date for exports to resume. We will be encouraging them to act as quickly as possible, but the timetable for those final stages is a matter for the Commission.

  School Education Spending
  Mr. Hayes
  To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer of 24 February 1999,Official Report, column 382, on school education spending, if he will make a statement on spending on school education in Scotland (a) in the current financial year and (b) in 1997–98. [74152]

  The Prime Minister
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: Education authorities in Scotland are budgeting to spend £2.438 billion in the current financial year, whereas they budgeted to spend £2.349 billion in the previous financial year. The budgeted figure is normally exceeded in practice. The provisional outturn for 1997–98 is £2.375 billion.

  From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.

  Art Markets
  Mr. Hayes
  To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer of 24 February 1999,Official Report, column 382, concerning the EU Directive on the art markets, if he will list the conditions necessary to permit the United Kingdom to agree the Directive. [74151]

  The Prime Minister
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: At the 25 February Internal Market Council the Presidency noted there was a broad consensus in favour of the proposal but, in view of the difficulties of some member states, it noted there were some remaining issues to be settled. It therefore asked the Committee of Permanent Representatives to take forward this work with the aim of reaching early agreement. We shall be working with our EU partners on ways in which the impact of the Directive on the United Kingdom can be reduced. I appreciate their willingness to continue intensive examination of these concerns. I cannot, of course, say in advance of that examination what might be acceptable, though we will ensure we get the best possible deal.

  EU Reports and Recommendations
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will deposit in the Library a list of reports and recommendations submitted since 1 May 1997 by working groups operating at European Community level, indicating the status of follow-through activities. [74445]

  The Prime Minister
  Council working groups make reports and recommendations on legislative proposals from the Commission, which are then passed to the Council of Ministers for final decision. The working group reports are not normally published, but the legislation, once enacted, is published in the Official Journal and is also available on the CELEX database. This has been the standard practice for many years.

  Engagements
  Sir Peter Tapsell
  To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 3 March. [73763]

  The Prime Minister
  Today I have had meetings with Ministerial colleagues and others. I was also briefed on the hideous murders of eight tourists in Uganda.
  776
  Our High Commission in Uganda is seeking to establish the facts and we are obviously in close consultation with the Ugandan authorities.

  Four of the dead: Joanne Cotton, Martin Friend, Mark Lindgren and Steven Roberts, were British, and the thoughts of the whole House will be with their friends and families, to whom we pledge to do all in our power to bring their killers to justice.

DEFENCE

  Uranium (Health Tests)
  Lorna Fitzsimons
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made to collate the information his Department has about mechanisms which could be used to test for the presence of uranium in the human body. [69803]

  Mr. Doug Henderson
  I expect to publish a detailed paper setting out the Ministry of Defence's position concerning the testing of UK Gulf veterans for the presence of depleted uranium later this month.

  Armed Forces Personnel (Foreign Nationals)
  Mr. Hancock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many foreign nationals are currently serving in the UK armed forces; and which countries they come from. [72954]

  Mr. Spellar
  The following table shows the recorded number of foreign nationals serving in the Army at January 1999:

  Nationality

  Army

  Total

  448

  Australian

  64

  Canadian

  64

  New Zealander

  55

  Zimbabwean

  41

  South African

  41

  Jamaican

  27

  Fijian

  19

  Indian

  13

  St. Helenian

  12

  Maltese

  10

  Trinidadian

  7

  Kenyan

  6

  Barbadian

  5

  Ghanaian

  5

  Pakistani

  5

  German

  5

  Others

  69

  The 'Others' category amalgamates all nationalities in the Army which have fewer than five people in the individual categories.

  There are also 244 Irish Nationals serving in the Army.

  The table shows the recorded number of foreign nationals serving in the Royal Air Force at February 1999.
  777

  Nationality

  Royal Air Force

  Total

  327

  Canadian

  41

  Australian

  37

  New Zealander

  32

  Indian

  26

  Pakistani

  26

  Jamaican

  23

  Kenyan

  20

  Zimbabwean

  16

  German

  12

  American

  11

  Maltese

  9

  Barbadian

  8

  Malaysian

  6

  Others

  60

  The 'Others' category amalgamates all nationalities in the RAF which have fewer than five people in the individual categories.

  There are also 155 Irish nationals serving in the RAF.

  Information on the number of foreign nationals serving in the Naval Service is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  Meteorological Office Report 1997–98
  Mr. Hancock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the Meteorological Office published its report for 1997–98; and what was the cost of production of the report. [72990]

  Mr. Spellar
  This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Meteorological Office. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Peter Ewins to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 3 March 1999:
  I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the issue date and production costs of the Meteorological Office's Annual Report for 1997–98. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Met. Office.
  Our 1997–98 Annual Report and Accounts was published on 19 August 1998 and some 1400 copies were distributed externally to customers, suppliers and other interested organisations. The cost of production was just under £37K, broken down as follows:

  Printing: £14.6K

  Photographic: £0.5K

  Staff costs: £21.8K.

  You may be interested to know that the Report was actually laid before the House on 14 July 1998.

  Medical Supply Agency
  Mr. Hancock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to set targets for the Medical Supply Agency for 1999–2000. [72989]

  Mr. Doug Henderson
  It is my intention to set key targets for this Agency in April this year.

  Aircraft Accidents
  Mr. Hancock
  To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many aircraft the RAF has lost in accidents in each of the last five years; and what was the cost of the aircraft; [72935]
  778
  (2)how many aircraft the (a) Army and (b) Royal Navy have lost in accidents in each of the last five years; and what was the cost of the aircraft; [73786]

  (3)how many (a) Army and (b) RAF personnel have been killed in aircraft accidents in each of the last five years; [73791]

  (4)what was the attributed cause of each (a) RAF and (b) Royal Navy aircraft crash in the last five years. [73787]

  Mr. Spellar
  I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

WALES

  Education Funding
  Mr. Flynn
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the cash and percentage increase in funding for education in Wales in 1999–2000. [72461]

  Mr. Michael
  I have announced an extra £133 million for education and training in 1999–2000. This represents an increase of 7.1 per cent. on 1998–99. The main elements are £70.2 million in the local government revenue settlement, £23.5 million for further education and £15.5 million for higher education. This gives a sound basis for the Assembly when it takes over education responsibilities following the transfer of functions.

  Roads (Signing)
  Mr. Fabricant
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to promote clear signing on roads. [72463]

  Mr. Hain
  Monolingual traffic signs for use on roads in the UK are prescribed in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1994. In order to ensure that bilingual traffic signs are designed to the same national standards, the Department has produced a full set of drawings which have been issued to all local authorities in Wales.

  Following the transfer of functions the issue of bilingual traffic signs will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Concessionary Bus Fares Scheme
  Mr. Donald Anderson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on his announcement of the half-price concessionary bus fares scheme. [72464]

  Mr. Hain
  The Government's commitment to introduce a statutory minimum standard travel concessions scheme for pensioners on buses has been very warmly welcomed throughout Wales. I am delighted to have been able to ensure that from April all unitary authorities in Wales will be in a position voluntarily to meet the proposed minimum, which is a maximum of £5 for a bus pass, and a discount of at least 50 per cent. on fares. I am keen to go further, and in consultation with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and bus operators will be drawing up plans to move to free concessionary travel for pensioner
  779
  on buses over the next two to three years. I intend to make this concession available to visiting as well as resident pensioners.

  Following the transfer of functions, the National Assembly for Wales will be responsible for overseeing the administration of concessionary fares schemes by local authorities in Wales.

  Manufacturing Jobs
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on the number of manufacturing jobs lost in Wales in the last year; and if he will make a statement. [72465]

  Mr. Hain
  We have not received any, but support for the manufacturing sector in Wales remains a priority.

  Secretary of State (Devolution)
  Mr. Paterson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on the role of the Secretary of State after devolution. [72466]

  Mr. Michael
  None.

  I have replied to a parliamentary question from the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans), 4 February 1999, Official Report, column 749, and Welsh Office officials have provided oral and written evidence to the Select Committee for Welsh Affairs.

  Rural Bus Services
  Mr. John Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the future of rural bus services in Wales. [72468]

  Mr. Hain
  The future for bus services in rural Wales is brighter now than for many years. In the current financial year £2.25 million has been made available to local authorities in Wales under the Bus Subsidy Grant Scheme to boost rural bus services, increasing to at least £3 million in 1999–2000. In addition, local authorities will be free to decide whether to spend a further £2 million on either rural or urban bus services.

  This new money will secure 16 million bus kilometres next year, and allow authorities to increase by more than 60 per cent. the provision of socially necessary bus services compared with 1997–98. It will help to increase accessibility and mobility in the countryside, and to overcome problems of social exclusion.

  Following the transfer of functions, the National Assembly for Wales will be responsible for determining the future of the Welsh Bus Subsidy Grant Scheme.

  National Assembly
  Mr. Flight
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans the Government have to devolve further powers from Westminster to the National Assembly. [72469]

  Mr. Michael
  The Government have no plans to devolve further substantive existing powers to the Assembly, beyond those set out in the draft Transfer of Functions Order which was approved by the House on 24 February. In future, new legislation which gives 780
  powers to Secretaries of State in respect of England will need to specify what powers are to be given to the Assembly in respect of Wales.

  Mr. Loughton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the criteria under which candidates for the National Assembly can be disqualified. [72478]

  Mr. Michael
  Section 12 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 specifies persons and classes of person who may not also be members of the National Assembly for Wales.

  The draft Order-in-Council laid on 10 February proposes further disqualifying offices and employments taking account both of conflicts of interest which Assembly members might experience and the need to ensure that the impartiality of bodies exercising quasi-judicial functions is not being compromised.

  Market Towns
  Mr. Llwyd
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to provide economic assistance to market towns in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [72470]

  Mr. Hain
  The Government are committed to developing rural communities throughout Wales. Enhancing the economies of market towns is integral to this process.

  The WDA's Market Town Initiative assists local communities to influence the future of their towns in the face of economic change. Some £900,000 is being made available over a three year period to the ten participating towns in Mid-Wales and the Agency is currently assessing the possibility of extending the Initiative throughout Wales. Local authorities also have a key role to play through delegated resources such as Strategic Development Scheme and Local Authority Rural Scheme monies.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Trade Mission
  Mrs. Laing
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has for a trade mission to the United States of America. [72471]

  Mr. Michael
  The United States does not feature on the current Welsh Office trade mission programme. I shall be visiting the US on an inward investment mission later this month.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
  Mr. Caton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the management of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wales. [72472]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  My right hon. Friend recently received advice from the Countryside Council for Wales and hopes to make decisions on the future management and funding of Welsh areas of outstanding natural beauty in the light of this advice.
  781
  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Nurses (Recruitment)
  Mr. Ian Bruce
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to advertise to recruit more nurses in Wales. [72473]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  Advertisements were placed in Welsh national papers on 3 February. Advertisements in the Welsh language are due to be placed in Welsh language papers on 24 and 25 February. Wales does not have a recruitment problem for pre-registration nurse training and our campaign will concentrate on attracting returners to the NHS in Wales. Officials wrote to Trusts on 12 February to ascertain their individual needs.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Bro Taf Health Authority
  Mr. Lansley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what additional resources are being made available to the Bro Taf health authority following the outbreak of meningitis. [72474]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  No additional funding has been sought by, or provided to Bro Taf Health Authority. Each Health Authority receives an element of discretionary funding in its annual resource allocation which is for the Health Authority to spend according to their priorities in their area.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Mineral Planning Guidance
  Mr. Rowlands
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received on the mineral planning guidance consultation document (MPG3); and if he will make a statement. [72475]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  My right hon. Friend and I have received over 40 representations which are currently being considered. In future, responsibility for planning and mineral planning policy in Wales will be a function for the National Assembly.

  Local Health Groups
  Mr. Rogers
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made in establishing local health groups in Wales. [72476]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  Good progress has been made by all Health Authorities in establishing Local Health Groups (LHGs).

  The majority of appointments to LHG Boards are complete and early meetings have been positive. Arrangements are in hand to appoint staff. Shadow LHG Boards and Executive Committees have begun to identify key work priorities, and are taking steps to address their specific training and development needs.
  782
  All 22 LHGs are on course to be operational as sub committees of Health Authorities by 1 April, as planned.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a function for the National Assembly.

  Mr. Win Griffiths
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the progress that has been made by each health authority in establishing local health groups. [72481]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  Each of the five Health Authorities in Wales has reported making good progress in establishing Local Health Groups (LHGs).

  The majority of appointments to LHG Boards are complete and early meetings have been positive. Arrangements are in hand to appoint staff. Shadow LHG Boards and Executive Committees have begun to identify key work priorities, and are taking steps to address their specific training and development needs.

  All 22 LHGs are on course to be operational as sub committees of Health Authorities by 1 April, as planned.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Road Haulage Industry
  Mrs. Ann Winterton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment his Department has made of the contribution of the road haulage industry to employment in rural Wales. [72477]

  Mr. Hain
  The road haulage industry plays a vital role in the Welsh economy, in terms of both the distribution of goods and the employment opportunities it provides in both urban and rural areas. The Autumn 1998 Labour Force Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics, showed that there were around 13,000 people in employment in the industry throughout Wales.

  Following the transfer of functions, the National Assembly for Wales will take an extremely close interest in employment issues within Wales.

  Cattle Subsidies (Application Forms)
  Mr. Edwards
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to review the application forms for sheep annual premium, suckler cow premium and the over thirty months scheme to prevent farmers being penalised for inadvertently making mistakes. [72479]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  My right hon. Friend announced in December that £16 million would be invested over the next three years in the Welsh Office's Agricultural Offices to revolutionise the service provided to farmers and speed up the payment process. As part of this we will be reviewing data collection processes. Welsh officials are working closely with producers and their representatives to find out precisely what improvements will deliver most benefit to farmers whilst retaining the necessary controls over expenditure.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Police Authorities (Funding)
  Mr. Forth
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to increase the funding allocations to police authorities. [72482]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  Details of standard spending assessments for Welsh police authorities for 1999–2000 are included in the Local Government Finance Report (Wales) 1999–2000 (HC 203). The report was debated and approved by the House of Commons on 11 February 1999. These represent an increase of £6.7 million or 3.9 per cent. over the current year.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Police grant is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. The allocations for 1999–2000 are set out in the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 1999–2000 which was approved by the House of Commons on 4 February.

  Nurses employed by the NHS in Wales in the area of community psychiatry as at 30 September

  1996

  1997

  1998

  Number

  Wte

  Number

  Wte

  Number

  Wte

  Manager

  6

  6

  11

  11

  10

  10

  1st level nurse

  509

  491

  557

  528

  541

  508

  2nd level nurse

  23

  21

  19

  18

  14

  13

  Nursing auxiliary/assistant

  201

  175

  275

  180

  218

  176

  Total

  739

  693

  862

  738

  738

  707

  Note:

  The figures above may underestimate the actual position as some non-medical staff (1.5 per cent. in 1996, 0.3 per cent. and 0.2 per cent. in 1998) did not have a valid occupation code and have not, therefore, been assigned centrally to a staff group or grade.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Schizophrenia
  Sir Alastair Goodlad
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people discharged from hospital following a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses and subsequently taken to hospital by the police under the Mental Health Acts in Wales were refused admission in the last year for which figures are available. [73235]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  The information requested is not held centrally.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Sir Alastair Goodlad
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people with a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses were admitted for a hospital stay more than once during the last year in Wales. [73234]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  In 1998 there were 1,521 hospital spells in NHS hospitals in Wales where the

  Social and Economic Inequalities
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what studies of social and economic inequalities in Wales have been conducted or commissioned by his Department since May 1997. [69588]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  The Department has drawn upon expertise and ongoing research through the Social Exclusion Advisory Panel and other sources.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Psychiatric Nurses
  Sir Alastair Goodlad
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many community psychiatric nurses there were in Wales in each of the last three years. [73228]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  The information is given in the following table.

  person had a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses. Reliable estimates of the number of people who were re-admitted are not available.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Sir Alastair Goodlad
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the admission by diagnosis and order of admissions indicating the percentage changes over the previous year in numbers and rates per 100,000 population of patients suffering from schizophrenia psychoses in Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [73370]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  The number and rates of discharges from Welsh NHS trusts for the two latest years, 1997 and 1998, are shown in the following table. Information is given for discharges, rather than admissions, as discharge information is more complete. Reliable information on order of admission is not available. The figures represent only those patients admitted to hospital as inpatients or day-cases and will therefore not be an overall picture of all patients suffering from schizophrenia in Wales.
  785

  Patients discharged from Welsh Trusts with a primary diagnosis of Schizophrenia1

  Percentage change

  1997

  1998

  1997–98

  Diagnosis

  Number

  Rate

  Number

  Rate

  Number

  Rate

  Paranoid Schizophrenia

  825

  28.2

  885

  30.2

  7.3

  7.0

  Hebephrenic Schizophrenia

  58

  2.0

  56

  1.9

  -3.4

  -3.7

  Catatonic Schizophrenia

  6

  0.2

  9

  0.3

  50.0

  49.6

  Undifferentiated Schizophrenia

  39

  1.3

  39

  1.3

  0.0

  -0.2

  Post-Schizophrenia Depression

  3

  0.1

  6

  0.2

  100.0

  99.5

  Residual Schizophrenia

  329

  11.2

  246

  8.4

  -25.2

  -25.4

  Simple Schizophrenia

  37

  1.3

  29

  1.0

  -21.6

  -21.8

  Other Schizophrenia

  42

  1.4

  27

  0.9

  -35.7

  -35.9

  Schizophrenia, unspecified

  476

  16.3

  416

  14.2

  -12.6

  -12.8

  Total

  1,815

  62.0

  1,713

  58.4

  -5.6

  -5.8

  1Rates are expressed per 100,000 population

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Assembly Election
  Mr. Swayne
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements he has made to measure the effectiveness of his Department's media campaign to encourage people to vote in the Assembly election. [73006]

  Mr. Michael
  We have set in place evaluation research which involves two telephone surveys of the general public in Wales, wave 1 took place in January 1999 and wave 2 is planned for May 1999. It has been designed to measure shifts in attitudes along key variables identified by the campaign messages (as identified by the agency Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury). The sample is 1,500 members of the general public constructed to be representative of the five EC regions and in terms of sex, age, social class and the proportion of the population who are Welsh speaking.

  Mr. Swayne
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the companies which tendered for the contract to publicise the Assembly elections. [73007]

  Mr. Michael
  The following agencies tendered for the contract (a) Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury in partnership with Bell Pottinger Good Relations (b) Wight Collins Rutherford Scott in partnership with Golley Slater (c) Ogilvy and Mather in partnership with Mark Williams Associates (d) Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper in partnership with the Petersen Partnership.

  All the above agencies were approved and endorsed by the government's Advisory Committee on Advertising. Bids (a) and (c) were shortlisted for presentations to the Secretary of State for Wales.

  Single Currency
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to issue information from his Department to help the public make an informed decision when they vote on the single currency. [73584]

  Mr. Michael
  Any plans by the Government to issue information during a referendum campaign on whether or not the UK should join the single currency would be made in the light of the Government's response to the recommendations from the Neill Committee on the conduct of referendums. The Government will announce their 786
  conclusions on those recommendations when my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary publishes a White Paper and draft Bill before summer recess.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the subject areas within his Department's responsibilities which will be covered by the information campaign on Britain's membership of a single currency. [73672]

  Mr. Michael
  The Treasury will continue its dialogue with key external bodies to determine what information the public and business would need at each stage of the changeover process. Any information campaign would cover key concerns that the public and business may have. Chapter eight of the Treasury's Outline National Changeover Plan provides further information. Copies of the Plan are available in the House Library.

  Special Educational Needs
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are his arrangements for monitoring the implementation of his Department's guidance on best practice in providing education for(a) those with learning difficulties and (b) children with autism spectrum disorders. [73647]

  Mr. Hain
  Local authorities and schools are responsible for ensuring that their respective duties for the provision of education to children with special educational needs (SEN), including children with learning difficulties associated with autistic spectrum disorders, are discharged in accordance with the legislation and the associated guidance issued by the Department, principally the 'Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of SEN' [ISBN 0 85522 444 4].

  Schools are subject to inspection by The Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales (OHMCI) which is responsible for evaluating and reporting on standards in each school to the Secretary of State. Inspections include an assessment of the provision being made for pupils with SEN, having regard to guidance issued by the Department.

  In 1996, OHMCI published a report entitled 'The Implementation of the SEN Code of Practice in Primary Schools in Wales' following a survey in primary schools during the two years following the introduction of the Code in 1994. A copy of its report was placed in the

  787
  Library of the House. More recently, OHMCI has carried out a survey of the National Curriculum in special schools. Its report will be published later this year.

  'Shaping the Future for Special Education—An Action Programme for Wales', published in January, explained that from September this year LEAs will be required to publish details of their SEN policies in their Education Strategic Plans. As part of the new arrangements for delegating funding to schools from 1 April, LEAs will publish notional funding figures for each school for the SEN provision they are expected to make within their delegated budgets; and publish details of the funding for SEN support services which the LEA will provide centrally. These arrangements will help to improve transparency and accountability. A copy of the 'Action Programme' can be obtained from the Library of the House.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Autism
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the arrangements within the National Health Service in Wales for(a) the identification of individuals with autism-spectrum disorders and (b) the primary health care post-diagnosis offered to individuals and their families. [73629]

  Mr. Jon Owen Jones
  Primary care professionals are trained to watch out for the warning signs of this condition and to refer suspected cases to specialists in the secondary care sector. Post-diagnosis, the primary care team has a managing and co-ordinating role with other agencies in supporting autistic children and their families.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Sustainable Development
  Mr. Wigley
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will undertake the necessary preliminary work for the establishment by the National Assembly of a cross-cutting committee on sustainable development. [73777]

  Mr. Michael
  The promotion of sustainable development is a key priority for this Government and I am paving the way for the Welsh Assembly to play a leading and innovative role in this area of activity. Last month I hosted a National Conference on Sustainable Development. Its main purpose was to put together recommendations as to how the National Assembly for Wales should meet its duty under section 121 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 to make a scheme setting out how it proposes, in the exercise of its functions, to promote sustainable development. A report of the Conference is being produced which I hope will be of value to the Assembly.

  Section 121 provides that the Assembly may not delegate the function of making, remaking or revising the scheme. Thus this task cannot be delegated to a committee but must be agreed by the whole Assembly.

  When I addressed the National Conference on Sustainable Development and elsewhere I have made clear my view that the Assembly's sustainable development duty can best be achieved by each of the
  788
  subject committees having responsibility for integrating sustainable development into its area of responsibility.
  I would expect to task one Assembly Secretary with the role of "Champion" for sustainable development as a core part of his or her portfolio.

  Inward Investment Projects
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the inward investment projects his Department has announced in the past 12 months, giving the location, the expected cash investment and expected number of jobs to be created; and if he will make a statement. [74183]

  Mr. Hain
  During the last twelve months, Welsh Office Ministers have announced or welcomed the following projects, the vast majority of which are inward investment projects. A total of 25 companies bringing over 6,000 jobs is involved.

  Company

  Location

  Costs(£ million)

  Jobs

  Air International

  Blaina

  10

  100

  Autokuhler

  Tonyrefail

  3

  50

  Bank One

  Cardiff

  —

  1,000

  Cartoinvest

  Flintshire

  18

  140

  Cross Chemicals

  Llangefni

  4

  72

  Radun Controls

  Aberdare

  0.65

  50

  Engineered Plastic Comps

  Ebbw Vale

  2

  72

  Firstplus

  Cardiff

  10

  500

  Gyrus

  Cardiff

  2.5

  150

  Leaveland Shoe

  Pembroke Dock

  —

  154

  Legal and General

  Cardiff

  —

  1,050

  Moeller

  Cwmfelinfach

  4

  100

  O P Chocolate

  Merthyr

  1.5

  50

  PHS Group

  Caerphilly

  —

  80

  Tokai Rika

  St. Asaph

  6

  154

  Traxdata

  Dinas Isaf

  5.8

  171

  Ethnic Cuisine

  Llansamlet

  —

  60

  Karavale Enterprises

  Cwmbran

  10

  380

  International Rectifier

  Penllergaer

  30

  539

  Wall Colmonoy

  Pontardawe

  2

  70

  Toprak Ceramics

  Deeside

  38

  430

  International Telemedicine

  Cardiff

  0.95

  70

  Tomoe Valve

  Newport

  —

  100

  Cymru Country Chickens

  Llangefni

  10

  250

  Grundig Satellite

  Llantrisant

  4

  215

  Total

  162.40

  6,007

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Industry
  Mr. Barry Jones
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met the WDA to consider the prospects for industry; and if he will make a statement. [74181]

  Mr. Hain
  Since his appointment, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has met with the Chairman of the WDA and other representatives of the Agency on a number of occasions, and will continue to do so, to discuss a wide range of issues concerning the work of the Agency and the Welsh economy. The most recent meeting with the Chairman was on 24 February.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

  Concordats
  Mr. Syms
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to publish concordats negotiated between the Government and the National Assembly for Wales.[72462]

  Mr. Michael
  Concordats will set out the working arrangements between the National Assembly for Wales and the Government and it will be for the Assembly and the lead Department in the UK Government formally to publish concordats when they have been adopted.

  Matching Funding
  Mr. Dafis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on matching funds for financial reserves allocated to the National Assembly for Wales from EU structural funds. [72467]

  Mr. Hain
  I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend to the hon. Member for Ynys Mon (Mr. Jones), on 3 March 1999,Official Report, columns 1063–64.

  Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

  Meat Inspection
  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the average cost of meat inspection per animal in(a) large, (b) medium sized and (c) small abattoirs. [68129]

  Mr. Rooker
  The Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) charges for meat inspection and hygiene supervision are calculated on a "per hour" basis. As a consequence the MHS does not routinely calculate throughput based charges for individual abattoirs. The Agency did, however, carry out a one-off exercise to calculate unit costs for 1996–97. This exercise illustrated the difficulties in the calculation of unit costs. The MHS had reservations about whether the data accurately reflected the actual unit costs of any particular plant. This was due to a number of factors including the difficulty of gathering all relevant data for the exercise and the assumption made during the calculations.

  In addition, there are several reasons why unit costs may vary from plant to plant, notably differences in structure, differences in efficiency or operation and the application of the MHS charging policy at each premises, for example whether travel time is incurred. The data produced from the exercise are therefore open to wide interpretation and unsuitable for publication.

  Fishing Industry Initiatives
  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 21 January 1999,Official Report, column 573, on fishing industry initiatives, which organisations within the British fishing industry put forward proposals for (a) the introduction of fixed quota allocation, (b) the limiting to registration and licensing of fishing vessels to the declaration of maximum continuous
  790
  or permanently devoted engine power, (c) restrictive licensing for scallop dredging and (d) measures to assist the replacement or introduction of pelagic freezer trawlers. [68151]

  Mr. Morley
  As I explained in the answer which I gave the hon. Member on 21 January 1999,Official Report, column 574, changes in a number of areas were prompted by concerns put forward from within the fishing industry, in some instances from fishermen themselves and in others from their representatives, and arose in the wide range of contacts I have with the industry. The measures on fixed quota allocations, scallop dredging licensing and pelagic freezer trawlers were the subject of public consultations and details of the responses are available from the Ministry's Library. The measures to link the registration and licensing of fishing vessels to the declaration of maximum continuous or permanently derated engine power, which are necessary to comply with EU obligations, were foreshadowed in the statement I made to the House on 17 December 1997, Official Report, column 228, and were discussed with industry as part of the review of fishing vessel licensing.

  Genetically Modified Foods
  Mr. Llew Smith
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what studies have been(a) commissioned by and (b) undertaken within his Department in respect of the specific safety of genetically modified food for consumption by (i) pregnant women and (ii) children in their first year. [72525]

  Mr. Rooker
  My Department has not commissioned the specific research referred to. However, in assessing GM foods approved for sale in the UK, the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes considers the safety of all consumers from the youngest to the oldest, including pregnant women. The Committee has concluded that GM foods already approved for sale in the UK are as safe as their conventional counterparts for all sectors of the population.

  Joan Ruddock
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give details of the United Kingdom testing regime which was applied to determine safety for human consumption of the genetically modified foods currently on sale in the United Kingdom; what changes have been made to the testing regime; and what plans he has to change the testing regime. [72946]

  Mr. Rooker
  All the genetically modified foods which are currently on sale were rigorously assessed for safety by the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes under a voluntary scheme which was in operation prior to the introduction of the Novel Food Regulations in May 1997. Details of the regime operating at that time are contained in the ACNFP Annual Report for 1994, which can be found in the Library of the House. These foods have also been assessed by equivalent bodies in all other Member States.

  Since May 1997, all novel food assessments have been carried out by the ACNFP in accordance with guidance produced by the European Commission Scientific for Food, which applies to all member states. A copy of this guidance, which does not differ in any significant way from the regime operated under the voluntary scheme, may also be found in the Library of the House.
  791
  I have no plans to ask for any changes to be made to the EC testing regime at this time.

  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when genetically modified(a) tomato purèe, (b) rennet for vegetarian cheese, (c) soya and (d) maize were first licensed; and for how long each licence lasts. [73263]

  Mr. Rooker
  Ministers first cleared these products for food use on the following dates.

  GM Tomato puree (paste) February 1995;

  chymosin for vegetarian cheese (produced from a GM micro-organism) May 1991;

  GM soya February 1995;

  GM maize May 1996.

  These safety clearances apply on an indefinite basis but can be withdrawn at any time if this is judged, in the light of new information, to be necessary in order to protect human health.

  Biotechnology
  Mr. Baker
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much money his Department has spent supporting the research and development of agricultural biotechnology since 1 May 1997. [72071]

  Mr. Rooker
  [holding answer 23 February 1999]: The Ministry spent £24 million on research on agricultural biotechnology in the 1997–98 financial year. Commitments to date for the 1998–99 financial year amount to just over £22 million.

  Forestry
  Ms Walley
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he plans to take, and on what timetable, to implement the results of the review of existing measures for protecting ancient semi-natural woodlands as set out in the Forestry Commission's England Forestry Strategy; and if he will make a statement. [72909]

  Mr. Morley
  We are currently considering the terms of reference and timetable for the review. In the meantime, we are planning to introduce arrangements requiring local planning authorities to consult the Forestry Commission over planning applications affecting ancient semi-natural woodlands and ancient replanted woodlands.

  Thames Chase Community Forest
  Mrs. Laing
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made on soil testing to ascertain which trees would grow in the proposed Thames Chase Community Forest. [73616]

  Mr. Morley
  With a few exceptions, the soils in the Thames Chase Community Forest do not restrict the range of trees which will grow there and so soil testing is not necessary. The Forestry Commission has, however, carried out soil tests in the Thames Chase area as part of its national research programme to determine how different tree species grow on former industrial sites, landfills and similar areas.
  792
  Mrs. Laing
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made in discovering which species of trees were growing in Essex in each of the last 10 centuries in connection with the establishment of the Thames Chase Community Forest. [73617]

  Mr. Morley
  We have not undertaken any specific work to discover which species of trees were growing in Essex in each of the last 10 centuries. Advice on species which are ecologically appropriate to individual areas is available from a wide variety of sources, including the UK Forestry Standard which we published last year.

  Rabbits
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the research reports on rabbits he has received since May 1997 and the research studies currently in progress; and if he will make a statement on(a) the use which he intends to make of the research and (b) the main conclusions of the studies. [73322]

  Mr. Rooker
  A list of research reports received since May 1997, together with their main conclusions and the use that will be made of the results, is as follows:

  Irreversible immunocontraception for the control of wild rabbits—University of Sheffield.

  The contractor was unsuccessful in developing a fully effective technique. Further development is being undertaken as part of the project "Antigen delivery systems for the control of wild rabbits".

  2. Developing humane, environmentally acceptable and cost-effective methods of rabbit control—Central Science Laboratory (CSL).

  An effective multi-capture cage has been developed. A manufacturer will be undertaking small-scale trials this winter to assess the efficacy of the cage. If these are successful, negotiations on a licence for commercial exploitation may commence.

  An advisory leaflet for farmers on the cause of rabbit fending was produced.

  A safer and more cost-effective method of fumigating rabbit burrows, which is also safer for operators and the environment, has been developed. The method is currently being discussed with industry with regard to commercial exploitation.

  3. Modelling rabbit populations and designing integrated control packages—CSL.

  An existing mathematical model addressing the optimisation of control techniques was refined. The model was field tested and was found to be accurate except where myxomatosis was prevalent; at these locations, populations surviving after control were generally less than predicted by the model. The results from this project are being combined with those from the project "Predicting damage to crops by rabbits" under the new project "Developing a rabbit management expert system".

  4. Predicting damage to crops by rabbits—CSL.

  Results from crop preference trials involving winter wheat, winter barley, oats, rye, triticale, oilseed rape and spring barley showed that triticale and spring barley were least grazed. Comparing losses of winter wheat and spring barley suggests that at densities of rabbits greater than 10 per hectare (a fairly light infestation) it would be more profitable to grow spring barley. At levels below 10 per hectare, it is possible to grow winter wheat profitably.

  "No choice" feeding trials using constant numbers of rabbits gave estimates of financial losses of £2.40 per rabbit per hectare for both grass and spring barley.

  The results from this project should be regarded as interim. They are currently being refined in the project "Developing a rabbit management expert system".

  793
  The following research projects are in progress:

  Developing a visual scaring device to deter rabbits.

  Developing a method for assessing the size of rabbit populations.

  Developing a rabbit management expert system.

  Rabbit behaviour and population dynamics at fenced hot-spots.

  The impact of viral haemorrhagic disease on wild rabbit populations.

  Antigen delivery systems for the control of fertility in rabbits.

  Reversion of arable land to grass and Calluna health rabbit grazing aspects.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been his Department's expenditure on research on rabbits since May 1997. [73323]

  Mr. Rooker
  The Ministry's expenditure on research on rabbits for the period 1 May 1997 to 28 February 1999 was about £523,000.

  Zimbabwe
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what official visits he, his Ministers or officials have paid to Zimbabwe since May 1997; who they met; and what was discussed. [73466]

  Mr. Rooker
  The only official visit by Ministers or officials in the Department to Zimbabwe since May 1997 was made by a Principal Plant Health and Seeds Inspector who attended a COLEACP quality workshop in Harare on 20–22 October 1997 as a plant health expert. The aim of the workshop was to improve the quality of ACP horticultural products for export. The Inspector met a number of UK importers, Zimbabwe officials from their Ministry of Agriculture and Zimbabwe exporters.

  COLEACP is a liaison committee based in Paris and promotes the export of fruit, vegetables and flowers from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

  Calf Processing Aid Scheme
  Mr. Fitzpatrick
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many calves were slaughtered under the Calf Processing Aid Scheme in(a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998 and (d) to date in 1999; and how much has been paid out under the scheme in each of the above years. [73489]

  Mr. Rooker
  The information requested is as follows:

  Calves slaughtered

  Payments to operators (£ million)

  1996

  370,550

  38.3

  1997

  600,558

  54.3

  1998

  658,650

  51.9

  19991

  71,179

  4.4

  1To 22 February 1999

  Note:

  The number of calves is the number on which premium was paid in the relevant year

  Parliamentary Questions
  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to reply to the hon. Member for Ludlow's questions (ref. 68151 and 68129) tabled on 25 January 1999. [73622]
  794
  Mr. Morley
  My hon. Friend the Minister of State and I have today replied to the questions tabled by the hon. Member for Ludlow on 25 January (ref. 68129 and 68151).

  Bombay Duck
  Mr. Steen
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has had requesting Her Majesty's Government to ask the European Union to reconsider its decision to allow the import of Bombay Duck into the EU only if it has been processed in a recognised EU establishment; and if he will make a statement. [73655]

  Mr. Rooker
  [holding answer 1 March 1999]: My Department has received a small number of inquiries concerning Bombay Duck. None of these have resulted in Her Majesty's Government approaching the European Union about the current import conditions for this product. The need for all fishery products, including Bombay Duck, to originate from approved establishments is a key aspect of the conditions applying to EU imports from third countries. These measures have been established to protect public health.

  Genetically Modified Fish
  Mr. Loughton
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received regarding the genetic modification of Norwegian salmon imported into the UK. [74048]

  Mr. Rooker
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: None.

  Fruit and Vegetable Exports
  Sir Richard Body
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the role of his Department in assisting the Commission to prepare EU document 98/1457. [73790]

  Mr. Rooker
  Commission Regulation 1457/98 is a routine measure to control the quantities of fruit and vegetable exported with the benefit of export refunds, and the expenditure on such refunds, in order to ensure compliance with WTO commitments. The powers under which the Regulation was made were the subject of the opinion of all Member States. The operation of the system is a matter for Commission competence.

  Beef Exports
  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many abattoirs are dedicated to beef export. [R] [73797]

  Mr. Rooker
  One abattoir in Northern Ireland is dedicated to slaughtering cattle for export under the Export Certified Herds Scheme. The Date-based Export Scheme is not yet operational. The Commission must carry out an inspection of our procedures before setting a date on which exports may resume. We do not intend to approve plants for export until the Commission inspectors have reported on their findings.

  Pigmeat
  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress he is making in monitoring the
  795
  compliance of British retailers with their undertaking to sell only pork and pigmeat products derived from pigs produced in the United Kingdom. [R] [73795]

  Mr. Rooker
  British retailers have given no such undertaking to the Government. I assume the hon. Member is referring to the undertakings given by the major supermarkets in respect of sourcing own label fresh pork, bacon, and other products from stall and tether and MBM free systems, and not labelling as British products produced or packed in this country using imported fresh pork. The British Retail Consortium is to survey its members to see how far they have got in meeting these undertakings, and I look forward to seeing the results of that survey.

  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will invoke EU Treaty Article 36 to prevent the importation of pigmeat which does not meet the same standards of production as required in the United Kingdom. [R] [73793]

  Mr. Rooker
  No; it is not possible to use Article 36 of the Treaty to impose higher UK standards on imports where EU law has been harmonised as it has been in the case of welfare standards for pigs. Furthermore, the UK ban on the use of Meat and Bone Meal (MBM) is not in place because there is a known risk to the health or life of humans or animals (a stipulation of Article 36) in feeding MBM to pigs. The MBM ban is in place to address the specific risk that, if pig or poultry feed were to contain MBM, there would be a real risk of contamination (accidental or deliberate) of ruminant feed with pig or poultry feed.

  Mr. Gill
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of whether the volume of pigmeat imported into the United Kingdom is consistent with the number of pigs produced in other countries without sow stalls and tethers and without feed containing MMB. [R] [73796]

  Mr. Rooker
  I have made no such assessment.

  BSE
  Liz Blackman
  To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make available the latest progress report prepared by his Department on bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [75017]

  Mr. Nick Brown
  A further Progress Report on BSE in Great Britain was placed in the Library of the House today.

  The Report outlines the measures which have been taken to protect public health since June 1998, including legislation on the slaughter of sheep and goats suspected of having transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, notifications to the British Cattle Movement Service, cattle identification and the compulsory cull of offspring of BSE cases supporting the Date-based Export Scheme for UK beef. It summarises the results of action to enforce existing public health measures, and reports the launch of the Cattle Tracing System. An update on the number of cases of nvCJD is included.

  There is also a section on the protection of animal health covering controls on animal feed.
  796
  The epidemiology section shows that the epidemic of BSE in the UK continues to decline. The number of clinically suspect cases of BSE reported in Great Britain has continued to fall and for 1998 was 23.5 per cent. less than for 1997 and 60 per cent. less than for 1996. A continued improvement is expected for the future. The section shows that 63 per cent. of UK herds with adult breeding cattle have never had a case of BSE. Furthermore 84 per cent. of beef suckler herds have never had a case of BSE. Reported incidence also shows that herds with more than four cases of BSE account for almost three quarters of all BSE cases, but represent less than one eighth of all herds.

  The section on the European perspective reports the EU Commission's agreement to the Date-based Export Scheme for lifting the EU export ban for UK beef from cattle born after 1 August 1996. It also covers the resumption of beef exports from Northern Ireland, permitted for meat from export certified herds.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

  Single Currency
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to issue information from his Department to help the public make an informed decision when they vote on the single currency. [73591]

  Ms Quin
  Any plans by the Government to issue information during a referendum campaign on whether or not the UK should join the single currency would be made in light of the Government's response to the recommendations from the Neill Committee on the conduct of referendums. The Government will announce their conclusions on those recommendations when my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary publishes a White Paper and draft Bill before the summer recess.

  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the subject areas within his Department's responsibilities which will be covered by the information campaign on Britain's membership of a single currency. [73663]

  Ms Quin
  The Treasury will continue its dialogue with key external bodies to determine what information the public and business would need at each stage of the changeover process. Any information campaign would cover key concerns that the public and business may have. Chapter eight of the Treasury's Outline National Changeover Plan provides further information. Copies of the Plan are available in the House Library.

  Karura Forest, Kenya
  Ms Abbott
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Karura Forest of Kenya. [74032]

  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  I refer my hon. Friend to my answer on 24 February 1999,Official Report, column 322, and the answer the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett), gave on 1 March 1999, column 603.

  Turkey
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the present position in respect of the Loizidou v. Turkey case under consideration by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. [74318]

  Ms Quin
  The case of Loizidou v. Turkey was last considered in the Committee of Ministers on 9 February, and will next be considered there on 30 March.

  Responsibility for implementing the judgment lies with Turkey. Turkey has confirmed its wish to uphold the authority of the European Court of Human Rights, but has informed the Committee of the difficulties which, in its view, flow from the judgment. We have made clear to Turkey the need to respect the Court's judgment. We have reminded Turkey in the Committee of Ministers of their responsibilities in this respect, most recently on 9 February, and will continue to do so.

  Mr. Love
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the. Government of Turkey following the arrest of Mr. Öcalan; what assurances have been received regarding due process and legal representation; what representations he has made regarding the possible use of the death penalty; and if he will make a statement. [74191]

  Ms Quin
  We raised the subject of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's trial with the Turkish State Minister responsible for Human Rights on 17 February. We welcome the assurances of Prime Minister Ecevit that Mr. Öcalan will receive a fair trial and that his physical safety will be assured. With EU partners we have urged that Mr. Öcalan have access to legal counsel of his choice, and underlined our strict opposition to the use of the death penalty. We have also requested attendance at the trial by members of the British Embassy in Ankara.

  Western Sahara
  Mr. Love
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contact his Department has with the Polisario Front; and if he will make a statement on progress towards a settlement in the Western Sahara. [74200]

  Mr. Fatchett
  Foreign Office officials in both London and New York hold regular meetings with representatives of the Polisario Front; they have also visited the Polisario camps in Tindouf.

  In late 1998 the UN Secretary-General introduced a package of proposals intended to speed up the referendum process. These were accepted in full by the Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania, but Morocco sought clarification on several issues. Since then Morocco has signed the Status of Forces Agreement and has agreed to formalise the presence of UNHCR in the Western Sahara. The mandate for MINURSO has been extended until the end of March 1999 to allow for further discussions between the UN and the Moroccan authorities on the remaining outstanding issues.

  Eritrea and Ethiopia
  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on(a) the recent unrest in Eritrea and Ethiopia and (b) the violation of the air moratorium. [74278]

  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  Fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea resumed on 6 February, with subsequent violation of the US brokered air moratorium of June 1998.

  A full scale Ethiopian attack on the disputed town of Badume was reported in the week beginning 22 February. The Ethiopian Government spokesperson announced on 28 February that their forces had captured Badume. Recent reports suggest that Ethiopian forces have now established defensive positions around Badume: within Eritrean territory.

  Eritrea accepted the Organisation of African Unity Framework Agreement on 27 February: Ethiopia accepted the proposals in November. The Security Council welcomed this in a Presidential statement the same day. We are urgently considering with our international partners how to support the OAU in obtaining a cessation of hostilities and full implementation of their proposals.

  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Ethiopian Government on their policy of mass deportation of Eritreans, and Ethiopians of Eritrean descent. [74279]

  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  I, our Ambassador in Ethiopia, and officials in London have consistently told the Ethiopian government that we expect them to uphold their international human rights obligations, including in respect to the deportations of Eritrean citizens or Eritreans by descent, as a result of its border conflict with Eritrea.

  I raised the matter of human rights in Ethiopia when I met the Ethiopian Foreign Minister in Addis Ababa on 26 February. He assured me that the Ethiopians want a constructive dialogue with us on human rights. I shall pursue this assurance vigorously.

  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to appoint a British ambassador to Eritrea. [74277]

  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  Our Ambassador to Ethiopia is accredited as non-resident Ambassador to Eritrea.

  Mrs. Ray Michie
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the proposal that a neutral force should administer disputed territory on the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia. [74276]

  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in its Framework Proposals of 7 November included a recommendation that United Nations supported OAU military observers should supervise the redeployment of Ethiopian and Eritrean forces in Badume and assist the restored civil administration in that area.

  The UN Security Council has not yet discussed the issue of international peacekeeping on the Ethiopia/Eritrea border. But we are ready to consider support for a greater UN/OAU role, and other measures to promote a lasting peace.

  European Union Countries (GNP)
  Mr. Mitchell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the latest figures for GNP per capita for each EU member state. [74168]

  Ms Quin
  A number of different organisations calculate GNP. For EU purposes the European Commission's figures are generally used. The European Commission's report of 7 October 1998 called "Financing the European Union", a copy of which was deposited on 26 October (Batch list 121) provides information for every year since 1982. For 1997 the GNP per head of population at current market prices was:

  Countries

  £

  Euro

  Belgium

  14,860

  (21,315)

  Denmark

  18,100

  (25,963)

  Germany

  15,614

  (22,397)

  Greece

  7,022

  (10,073)

  Spain

  8,251

  (11,835)

  France

  14,477

  (20,766)

  Ireland

  10,526

  (15,098)

  Italy

  12,144

  (17,420)

  Luxembourg

  24,549

  (35,214)

  The Netherlands

  14,233

  (20,416)

  Austria

  15,652

  (22,451)

  Portugal

  6,148

  (8,819)

  Finland

  13,811

  (19,811)

  Sweden

  15,044

  (21,579)

  United Kingdom

  13,411

  (19,236)

  The report also shows at Annex 8, Table 9, GNP per head of population at Purchasing Power Standards, compared with the EU average.

  Public Record Office Files
  Mr. Matthew Taylor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reasons the Public Record Office files FCO 8/710, FCO 8/711 and FCO 8/712 are closed; and if he will consider opening these files to the public. [74247]

  Mr. Tony Lloyd
  These files were retained beyond their due opening date of 1 January 1999 to allow time for completion of the review process. The files have now been cleared for release and will be opened at the Public Record Office by the end of March.

  Civil Service Code (Complaints)
  Mrs. Gillan
  To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all complaints made by officials in his Department under the Civil Service Code from 1 May 1997 to date, together with the reasons given for such complaints. [74332]

  Mr. Robin Cook
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: No member of staff has raised with the Department a complaint under the Civil Service or Diplomatic Service Codes of Ethics since 1 May 1997.

SOCIAL SECURITY

  Pensioners
  Mr. Webb
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the proportion of pensioners 800
  who will be on (a) income support and (b) other means-tested benefits in (i) 2000, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2020, (iv) 2030,(v) 2040 and (vi) 2050 on the basis of (1) unchanged policies, (2) unchanged policies except for an income guarantee linked to earnings and (3) full implementation of his proposed pensions reforms. [71180]

  Mr. Timms
  The information is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is in the table.

  Proportion of pensioners receiving income support

  2000

  2025

  2050

  Income support linked to prices

  1 in 5

  1 in 10

  1 in 101

  Income guarantee linked to earnings

  1 in 5

  1 in 5

  1 in 3

  Full implementation of proposals

  1 in 5

  1 in 5

  1 in 4

  Notes:

  1assumes no change between 2025 and 2050.

  2. Projections to the year 2050 are subject to a high degree of uncertainty, given the number of assumptions that need to be made in making these estimates. Some of those who will be pensioners in 2050 have yet to begin work, and most are in their 20s and 30s.

  3. Estimates have been made by extrapolating estimates from the PENSIM model but these can only give a very broad indication of the likely order of magnitude of figures so far into the future. The projections can be applied to estimates of the proportion of pensioners on Income Support, but not to other income-related benefits (such as Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit) as projections for these benefits would require many more assumptions to be made and would be surrounded by an unacceptable level of uncertainty.

  4. It is our policy that the Minimum Income Guarantee will be increased in line with average earnings over time and as resources permit. For illustration, the first line shows the estimated effect of increasing Income Support only in line with prices over time.

  Benefits Agency
  Audrey Wise
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people were employed by the Benefits Agency on the last day for which a figure is available. [73626]

  Angela Eagle
  Staffing of the Benefits Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Peter Mathison. He will write to my hon. Friend.

  Letter from Peter Mathison to Audrey Wise, dated 2 March 1999:
  The Secretary of Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many staff were employed by the Benefits Agency on the last day for which a figure is available.
  As at 31 January 1999, the Benefits Agency had a total of 74307 staff in post. In addition, there were 3934 staff employed on casual contracts.
  I hope that this is helpful.

  All Work Test
  Dr. Gibson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in the Norwich, North constituency failed the All Work Test in the period 1995 to 1998. [73378]

  Mr. Bayley
  The administration of Incapacity Benefit is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
  801
  Letter from Peter Mathison to Dr. Ian Gibson, dated 2 March 1999:
  The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people in the Norwich North constituency failed the All Work Test in the period 1995 to 1998.
  The information is not available in the format you requested. The Benefits Agency (BA) does not hold information by Parliamentary constituency. The information provided below relates to the Agency's Norwich District.

  Customers failing All Work Test 1995–98

  Norwich District

  Nationally

  1995–96

  292

  66,367

  1996–97

  683

  112,046

  1997–98

  n/a

  104,339

  Information about those failing the All Work Test has not been available by BA Districts since 1997/98. The information supplied is taken from cases recorded on the Incapacity Benefit computer system.

  I hope that this is helpful.

  Minimum Income Guarantee
  Mr. Ennis
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate how many pensioners in the Barnsley, East and Mexborough constituency will be eligible for the Minimum Income Guarantee. [73376]

  Mr. Timms
  The information is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is as follows.

  As at August 1998 (the latest date for which information is available) there were approximately 17,000 pensioners in receipt of Income Support in the Barnsley and Doncaster local authority district. There were 1.65 million pensioners in receipt of Income Support across the country as a whole at the same date. Whilst we do not know the precise effect in each Local Authority area, across the country as a whole, in addition to existing Income Support recipients, we expect around 65,000 pensions will be newly eligible for the Minimum Income Guarantee as a result of the above-inflation increase in the income support rates in April.

  Notes:

  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and are based on a 5 per cent. sample size.

  2. "Pensioners" for the purposes of this question are defined as single people aged 60 or over, or couples where one or both partners is aged 60 or over.

  Zimbabwe
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what official visits he, his ministers or officials have paid to Zimbabwe since May 1997; whom they met; and what was discussed. [73453]

  Mr. Timms
  None.

  Widows' Benefit
  Mr. Cox
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many women qualify for widows' benefit payments. [73753]
  802
  Angela Eagle
  The number of women receiving Widows' Benefits payments at 15 January 1999 was 266,100.

  The number of claims to lump sum Widows' Payment in the year ending March 1998 was 45,000.

  Notes:

  1. Estimates for Widows' Payment relates to claims made; a small number of claims may not be awarded a payment. Estimates for the ongoing weekly benefits relate to actual awards.

  2. A proportion of those who received Widows' Payment will also have qualified for ongoing benefit.

  3. Ongoing weekly benefit information provided by a 5 per cent. sample taken from the Pensions Strategy Computer System.

  4. Figures for ongoing weekly benefits include GB and overseas cases, and include women aged over 60.

  5. Widows' Payment information provided by Benefit Agency's Central data Unit.

  Supported Housing
  Mr. Love
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many responses have been received to the consultation document on supported housing; what the timetable is for completion of the consideration of responses and publication of the new arrangements; and if he will make a statement. [74190]

  Angela Eagle
  We have received 522 responses to the consultation document "Supporting People: A new policy and funding framework for support services". We are currently considering comments made by stakeholders on the proposals, and these will help inform our decisions on the way forward. An announcement will be made shortly.

  CSA Computer System
  Mr. Rendel
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of data held on the current CSA computer system has been identified as being of poor quality as a result of the implementation of the data assurance strategy. [74226]

  Angela Eagle
  The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mrs. Faith Boardman. She will write to the hon. Member.

  Letter from Mrs. Faith Boardman to Mr. David Rendel, dated 2 March 1999:
  I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency Computer System.
  We recognise that it is essential to have accurate data before it is transferred onto a new computer system. We have therefore endorsed and are implementing a Data Assurance strategy designed to identify poor quality data held on the current system and to recommend action to improve it.
  We have identified 24 areas of the Child Support Computer System to investigate the quality of information held. Early indications show that only a fairly small percentage of the data used in the specific areas investigated could be classed as poor quality.
  Until the investigation of all the 24 areas have been completed in November 1999 it is not possible to say what percentage of data held on the current computer system is of poor quality.
  It has always been our intention to have discussions with AFFINITY on the best ways to migrate cases from the current Child Support Computer System to ensure the integrity of the new system.
  I hope this is helpful.

  Benefits (Personal Advisers)
  Mr. Duncan Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what the estimated average salary for personal advisers will be under the Single Gateway to Benefit; [73992]

  (2) what the average cost of employing a personal adviser is under (a) the Single Gateway to Benefit and (b) the New Deal for Lone Parents, including training, office space, employers' national insurance contributions and other overheads. [73986]

  Angela Eagle
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: For the Single Gateway, the personal adviser role has been graded at Executive Officer or equivalent in the Employment Service, the Benefits Agency and in Local Authorities. A personal adviser's salary will reflect the pay rate for the job within their employing agency. Their position on that scale will depend on how long they have been in the grade, their levels of performance in previous years and their location. Their average salary (excluding ERNIC; superannuation and other costs) is estimated to range between just over £16,000 and just under £18,000. We do not yet know the total average costs, including ERNIC, training etc—one of the reasons for piloting the proposals is to determine the total cost of employing personal advisers.

  The average salary for personal advisers working on the New Deal for Lone Parents (including ERNIC and superannuation) is estimated at £20,783. The average cost of training, including travel and subsistence, is £4,337 per adviser. New Deal for Lone Parent advisers occupy existing space in Jobcentres and are considered part of the Employment Service's core business: no extra costs are incurred.

  New Deal and Single Gateway
  Mr. Duncan Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average time allocated for an interview with a personal adviser under(a) the New Deal for Lone Parents and (b) the Single Gateway to benefit. [74349]

  Angela Eagle
  Under the New Deal for Lone Parents, the average time allowed for an interview with a personal adviser is one hour.

  Due to the diverse nature of the caseload and the individual requirements of clients, the length of time required to conduct an interview under the Single Gateway will vary from case to case. One of the reasons for piloting the Single Gateway is to gain an understanding of the average time needed to conduct meaningful interviews.

  Child Support Agency
  Mr. Duncan Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to publish details of the next phase of the reform of the Child Support Agency. [74344]

  Angela Eagle
  We are currently considering responses to the Green Paper "Children First: a new approach to child support" and will bring forward our final proposals for reform in due course.

  Habitual Residence Test
  Mr. Duncan Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to change the habitual residence test following the European Court of Justice's judgment in the case C-90/97. [74350]

  Angela Eagle
  We are reviewing the operation of the habitual residence test and will bring forward our proposals for its future once we have considered the implications of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in Mr. Swaddling's case.

  New Deal (Lone Parents)
  Mr. Duncan Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total number of personal advisers currently working in the New Deal for Lone Parents. [74348]

  Angela Eagle
  814 personal advisers (full-time equivalent) are currently employed on the New Deal for Lone Parents. Twelve more advisers are undergoing training and nine further appointments are due to be made shortly.

  Register of Members' Interests
  Mr. Duncan Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what advice his Minister of State received from the department's permanent secretary regarding his shares declared in the Register of Members' Interests. [74391]

  Mr. Darling
  I am satisfied that there has been no conflict of interest between my hon. Friend the Minister of State's shareholding and his Ministerial responsibilities. To avoid any suggestion of a possible perceived conflict in future my hon. Friend the Minister of State will, however, be taking further steps in accordance with the Ministerial Code. Responsibility is firmly that of the Ministers concerned, and any advice to them is personal.

  Decision-making and Appeals
  Mr. Caplin
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will lay regulations under the decision making and appeals provision of the Social Security Act 1998; and if he will make a statement. [74676]

  Angela Eagle
  [pursuant to his reply, 2 March 1999, c. 708–09]: Last year in the Social Security Act we laid the foundations for a new system for handling decisions and appeals in benefits, child support and vaccine damage claims. My right hon. Friends the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Social Security will be laying the main Regulations, which will provide the detailed legal framework for this new system, tomorrow.

  The new system for handling decisions and appeals is a major step to modernise the delivery of Social Security and child support as part of the Government's programme for welfare reform. The current system needs to change. It is confusing for claimants and staff. Putting mistakes right is complicated and claimants often have to appeal,

  805
  even when a mistake is obvious to all concerned. Appeals take far too long to be cleared—on average seven months—even where they have no prospect of success. These delays are unacceptable.

  The changes we are making will enable the Benefits Agency, Child Support Agency and Employment Service to provide a more helpful and accessible service to the public.

  Under the new system, decisions will continue to be based on the facts and the law, with a right of appeal to an independent tribunal. There will be clearer, simpler decisions and a programme to develop simpler communications for the public. There will be new arrangements for handling disputes, so mistakes are put right more easily without having to go to appeal. There will be one type of appeal tribunal, rather than five, with one unified set of rules and three, two or one member tribunals according to the issues raised by the appeal. Appeals, which have no prospect of success, will be resolved more quickly.

  The new arrangements will come into operation during the second half of this year. They will apply to child support from the beginning of June. For benefits they will be introduced in stages between July and November, to help maintain service to the public while the new arrangements start to operate.

  The Independent Tribunal Service will be replaced by The Appeals Service, which will encompass both the administration of appeals and the appeal tribunals. The administration of appeals will be undertaken from April 2000 by a new executive agency of this Department. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will set targets for the Agency, which will be published and reported on annually. The President of appeal tribunals and the panel members who hear appeals will be appointed by my right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor and remain independent of this Department.

  Benefit claimants and child support clients will receive full information about what the new system means for them as the changes come into effect.

  Benefit Fraud
  Mr. Duncan Smith
  To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many SPOTLIGHTS on benefit cheats have been carried out since May 1997. [73993]

  Mr. Timms
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: We have incorporated many of the approaches and techniques of "spotlight" into a programme of anti-fraud drives involving the Benefits Agency, local authorities, the Police and other agencies which target specific areas of fraud and abuse. Since May 1997 there have been no anti-fraud campaigns under the specific banner of "spotlight on benefit cheats". However, we have put more resources into the fight against fraud with the result that £1.9 billion has been detected in 1997–98 compared with £1.5 billion in 1996–97. As well as detecting fraud, we have tightened the checking of new Income Support claims so as to prevent fraud from entering the system from the outset. This will save an estimated £200 million in the current year.

TREASURY

  Beer Duty
  Mr. Maude
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received regarding progressive beer duty; and if he will make a statement. [67946]

  Mrs. Roche
  I have received representations about progressive beer duty from the Independent Family Brewers of Britain and the Society of Independent Brewers. Customs and Excise keep the structure of beer under constant review.

  Tax Credits
  Mr. Gibb
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if decisions of the Inland Revenue General and Special Commissioners with regard to working families tax credit and disabled person's tax credit will be published. [67985]

  Dawn Primarolo
  [holding answer 1 March 1999]: Most appeals in relation to Working Families Tax Credit will be dealt with by the Unified Appeals Tribunals. Appeals relating to employers will be to the General and Special Commissioners and these will be subject to the same reporting considerations as other tax appeals coming before the Commissioners.

  Working Families Tax Credit
  Mr. Gordon Prentice
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from(a) the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) and (b) other Liberal Democrat hon. Members concerning the working families tax credit. [68336]

  Dawn Primarolo
  [holding answer 1 March 1999]: Treasury Ministers have received numerous representations on the subject of the Working Families Tax Credit from hon. Members and other interested parties.

  Mr. Hancock
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what research his Department has commissioned on the national impact of the proposed working families tax credit on poorer income groups; [69851]

  (2) what research his Department has commissioned on the impact of the proposed working families tax credit on poorer income groups. [70215]

  Dawn Primarolo
  The Government have carried out extensive work on all aspects of WFTC and its implementation.

  Agenda 2000
  Mr. David Heath
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the relationship between the calculation of the British rebate under the Fontainebleau Agreement and the proposed system of co-financing of the Common Agricultural Policy in the Agenda 2000 proposals. [71647]

  Ms Hewitt
  Co-financing is one of the ideas explored in the Commission's Own Resources Report, but no legislative proposal has been formally tabled. The value of the rebate depends on the difference between the UK's contributions to the EC Budget and EC spending in this country.

  714 Certificates
  Mr. Cotter
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of each type of 714 certificate have been issued in each of the last three years. [74134]

  Dawn Primarolo
  The number of certificates issued in the last three years are as follows:

  Year ended 31 January 1999: 141,234

  Year ended 31 January 1998: 237,995

  Year ended 31 January 1997: 171,424.

  These figures include certificates issued to replace documents which have been lost or damaged. Certificates generally have a life of up to three years, so many certificate holders will have applied for just one certificate in this three year period.

  Construction Industry Scheme
  Mr. Cotter
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received concerning the construction industry scheme. [74133]

  Dawn Primarolo
  The Inland Revenue has consulted widely and at length with the construction industry and other representative bodies, including the construction industry unions and the Federation of Small Businesses. Broadly the representatives welcome the new scheme, which is designed to reduce the level of tax evasion in the construction industry. Naturally, concerns have been raised by those subcontractors who may not qualify for gross payment certificates under the new rules. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Jones) on 26 January 1999,Official Report, column 223, explaining the steps we have taken to address these concerns.

  Office of Fair Trading Report
  Mr. Love
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he is planning as a result of the Office of Fair Trading report on vulnerable consumers and financial services; and if he will make a statement. [74174]

  Ms Hewitt
  The Director General's report is being studied by the policy action team on access to financial services, set up following the Social Exclusion Unit's report "Bringing Britain together".

  South Korea
  Mr. Davidson
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to ensure that IMF support for South Korea is not used to subsidise South Korean shipyards.[74011]

  Ms Hewitt
  The UK strongly supports Korea's IMF programme, the benefits of which are now being felt as that country begins to move out of recession. A revived Korean economy will provide increased opportunities for UK exporters.

  There is no evidence that IMF support for South Korea has been used to subsidise the Korean shipbuilding industry. As a member of the World Trade Organisation, South Korea is bound by internationally agreed rules on the use of industrial subsidies. Furthermore, as part of its
  808
  IMF programme Korea has ceased the practice of trade-related subsidies. However, the UK remains watchful for unfair trade practices throughout the world.

  Banking/Credit Union Taskforce
  Mr. Love
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultation he has had with the Banking/Credit Union Taskforce following receipt of their interim report; what advice he has given regarding the focus for the final report; what is the timetable for publication; and if he will make a statement. [74177]

  Ms Hewitt
  I see the taskforce Chairman from time to time, to discuss progress. I expect the final report, due in the summer, to deal with the issues set out in the remit announced on 28 July 1998.

  Euro
  Mr. Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the method of setting exchange rates on entry to the euro for those who joined in January; and how the rate will be decided for the pound in the event of sterling being replaced by the euro. [74124]

  Ms Hewitt
  The rate at which sterling would enter the single currency would need to be consistent with economic fundamentals in the UK and compatible with sustainable convergence between the UK and the euro-area. This was the basis for the decision on the conversion rates of currencies which joined the single currency in January 1999.

  Mr. Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he proposes to maintain relative stability between sterling and the euro for a fixed period before the national changeover plan comes into operation. [74120]

  Ms Hewitt
  The Government's policy is for a stable and competitive exchange-rate over the medium term. The Government's fiscal and monetary policy framework will help to deliver the macroeconomic stability needed for a stable exchange rate.

  European Union
  Mr. Mitchell
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the gross and net(a) payments to and (b) receipts from the European Union per capita in respect of each member state in each of the last three years. [74119]

  Ms Hewitt
  The European Commission document "Financing the European Union—Commission Report on the Operation of the Own Resources System" contains information on the net contributions of Member States for the years 1992–97 inclusive, and gives this figure in Mecus (million ecus) and as a percentage of GNP. This report has been deposited in the Commons Library.

  Public Trust Office
  Mrs. May
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the abolition of dividend tax credits on the investment income of the Public Trust Office with particular reference to funds held for disabled children arising from compensation awards. [73807]
  809
  Dawn Primarolo
  [holding answer 1 March 1999]: The Government withdrew payable credits to remove a bias in the tax system against the retention of profits for investment. It is for the Public Trust Office to review the investments under its management and to make investment decisions in the interests of the beneficiaries in question.

  Minimum Wage
  Mr. Trickett
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is his estimate of the number of people living in(a) Wakefield District and (b) West Yorkshire who will benefit from the introduction of a minimum wage; and what proportion of the employed population in each area this number represents; [74042]

  (2) what is his estimate of the number of people who will benefit from the introduction of a minimum wage, living in the Hemsworth constituency; and what proportion of the employed population this represents. [74038]

  Ms Hewitt
  The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

  Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Jon Trickett, dated 3 March 1999:
  As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary questions on the number of people who will benefit from the introduction of the proposed national minimum wage (NMW).
  The precise information you request is unavailable. The New Earnings Survey (NES) collects information for the employee's work address, and so can only provide estimates for those who work, not live, in a particular area. The NES also provides estimates of the percentage of those earning below specified earnings thresholds, rather than numbers, because appropriate grossing factors for NES sample are not available at very detailed levels of disaggregation. The release of NES data is restricted to figures which are derived from a sufficiently large sample and which have an acceptable level of accuracy. Accordingly, no estimates for the parliamentary constituency of Hemsworth can be given.
  The available information, from the 1998 NES, is provided in the table below. It provides an historical position against the 1998 values of the proposed NMW, and makes no judgment on whether its introduction will have any effect on the number of jobs.

  Employees, whose pay for the survey period was unaffected by absence. Hourly pay excluding overtime and shift pay (£), April 1998:

  Percentage aged 18 to 21 on all rates earning less £2.90

  Percentage aged 22 and over on adult rates earning less £3.50

  Hemsworth

  1—

  1—

  Wakefield Local Authority

  1—

  5.5

  West Yorkshire

  4.4

  4.5

  1Denotes that a reliable estimate is not available

  Building Industry Sub-contractors (Tax Owed)
  Mr. Viggers
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to enable sub-contractors in the building industry earning less than £30,000 a year to spread the payments of tax owed in relation to different years after 1 April. [74395]

  Dawn Primarolo
  Building workers, as any other taxpayers, are expected to make proper arrangements to ensure their tax payments are made on time. Under 810
  existing arrangements, any person who has difficulty in making a tax payment can contact the Collector of Taxes to see whether it may be paid in instalments. Those arrangements will continue to apply to sub-contractors following the introduction of the new scheme.

  Individual Savings Accounts
  Mr. Loughton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the amount of money to be invested in ISA schemes by 5 April 2000; [R] [74047]

  (2) how many non-PEP investors he now expects to open an ISA in the financial year 1999–2000. [R] [74046]

  Ms Hewitt
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: The Government are introducing the ISA to develop and extend the saving habit and ensure that tax relief on savings is fairly distributed. Half the population currently has less than £200 in savings. We are confident that ISAs will be attractive to significant numbers of new savers over the coming years.

  Home Insulation Materials
  Mr. Loughton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on sales of home insulation materials covered by local authority grant schemes of changes to the VAT rate in the last Budget. [74067]

  Ms Hewitt
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: The extension of the reduced rate of VAT to certain grant funded installations of energy saving materials will have allowed more installations to be carried out within existing budgets.

  Customs and Excise are currently assessing the effect of the change to the VAT rate, and have already written to a number of local authorities, trade bodies and grant providers seeking their views.

  Personal Equity Plans
  Mr. Loughton
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate how much money is currently invested in PEP schemes. [R] [74045]

  Ms Hewitt
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: The latest estimate of the value of PEP funds is published in table 9.2 of "Inland Revenue Statistics 1998", a copy of which is in the Library.

  Cancer Treatments
  Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rate of success in curing(a) lung, (b) breast, (c) testicular, (d) prostate, (e) ovarian, (f) bowel and (g) other cancers has been in the most recent period for which figures are available in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) each other EU country. [74054]

  Ms Hewitt
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
  811
  Letter from Tim Holt to Mrs. Claire Curtis-Thomas, dated 3 March 1999:
  As Director of the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on rates of success in curing cancers.
  It is not possible to say whether or not patients are cured—although when the relative survival curve "flattens off' the patients are dying at the same rate as the general population (same age and sex); and for most cancers five-year relative survival rates are often taken to be 'cure' rates.
  The rates of survival from cancers diagnosed in England and Wales were most recently published in ONS Monitor MBI 98/1, a copy of which is in the library of the House. The survival rates for Scotland were most recently published in Trends in cancer survival in Scotland 1968–1990, ISD Scotland, 1993, while the rates for European countries (including England and Scotland) were published in the volume, Survival of cancer patients in Europe—the EUROCARE study, IARC Scientific Publications no.132. These publications are also held in the House of Commons library. Survival rates are not available for Northern Ireland.

  Population Projections
  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the changes in assumptions made in the latest sub-national population projections. [73915]

  Ms Hewitt
  The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

  Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. David Drew, dated 3 March 1999:
  As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking about the changes to the assumptions used in the latest subnational population projections.
  The latest subnational population projections for English local and health authorities are based on the mid-1996 population estimates. These projections replace the previous set that were based on mid-1993 population estimates. The assumptions underlying the calculation of the projections are based on recent demographic trends and do not reflect the impact of future policies.
  The assumptions underlying these latest projections are slightly different to the 1993 set. The main differences are that the new subnational projections use more recent data on fertility, mortality and migration to produce the baseline assumptions for each local authority; and that they sum to the latest national population projections for England that are produced by the Government Actuary's Department. The main difference to these assumptions is that the level of net international migration is now significantly higher in the medium term.
  These data were subject to consultation with the local and health authorities and the assumptions were refined following comments received during this consultation exercise. Changes were made to the migration assumptions for local authorities if information was provided that indicated that the long term trends were unlikely to continue into the future. Other changes were made to address concerns raised about the quality and use of the internal migration data. Changes made as a result of the consultation for any one authority will affect the assumptions for all other authorities as the projections must sum to the national population projections. The ONS publication, 1996-based Subnational Population Projections, England (PP3 no 10), due out later this year, will explain this in more detail.

  Credit Unions
  Mr. Drew
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the VAT status of credit unions, with particular reference to their ability to claim back VAT paid on purchases of goods and services. [73942]
  812
  Ms Hewitt
  The Chancellor of the Exchequer has no plans to review the VAT status of credit unions, including their ability to claim back VAT paid on goods and services.

  Construction Industry (Tax Evasion)
  Mr. Cotter
  To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of tax revenue due to the Exchequer which has been fraudulently evaded by subcontractors in the construction industry in each of the last three years. [74158]

  Dawn Primarolo
  It is estimated that unpaid tax written off in respect of construction industry subcontractors is at least £50 million per annum. This represents only a part of the total, unquantifiable loss to the Exchequer of tax and class 4 national insurance contributions evaded by subcontractors in this industry.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

  New Deal Entrants
  Mr. Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many 18 to 24-year-olds who had joined the New Deal had left for unknown destinations by 31 December 1998. [67480]

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  [holding answer 25 January 1999]: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from Leigh Lewis to Mr. Damian Green, dated 3 March 1999:
  As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply direct to your question regarding the number of 18–24 year olds who have joined New Deal and have left for unknown destinations. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
  The latest available figures are for the end of December and were published on 25 February in the DfEE Statistical First Release. These show that of the 214,000 young people who had started New Deal, 25,680 had left the Gateway to unknown destinations.
  We have taken steps to make more effective links between different sources of information about people's destinations and we have been conducting monthly follow-up surveys of these clients. These have established that many of those who sign off benefit without stating their destination have actually found work. In December, for example, around half of leavers into unknown destinations, who have, on being contacted, divulged their destination, had actually found work.
  In addition to the monthly survey, we are also investigating changes to the Employment Service's IT systems in order to establish whether it is possible to capture better destination information initially.
  The latest figures to the end of December show that 19% of leavers from the Gateway leave for unknown destinations. This is lower than for other leavers from Jobseeker's Allowance.

  Civil Servants (Misconduct)
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the offences or acts of misconduct under which a civil servant in his Department could have his pension removed or reduced; and how often this has happened during the last five years. [70774]

  Mr. Mudie
  I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office on 15 February 1999,Official Report, column 569.

  Title

  Copies

  Cost £

  Publications for employers including:

  New Deal for Employers

  1,221,000

  197,532

  Starting Your Own Business

  155,000

  28,346

  New Deal Tackling Skills Shortages Meet your organisation's skill needs

  122,000

  18,362

  Public Relations Toolkit

  30,000

  41,856

  Employer Newsletter including Welsh copies

  585,500

  166,966

  Publications for young unemployed people aged 18–24

  New Deal for Young People aged 18–24

  1,021,000

  106,853

  Client Hotline

  20,000

  4,870

  Working with Children

  275,000

  41,004

  Your New Deal Guarantee

  275,000

  43,576

  Work with the Environment Task Force

  220,000

  52,229

  Work with the Voluntary Sector

  230,000

  41,146

  New Deal for young people with the Environment Task Force

  2,000

  9,250

  World Dance Organisation—New Year Leaflet

  10,000

  3,998

  Publications for unemployed people aged 25 plus

  A New Start (New Deal for 25 plus)

  380,000

  47,511

  Extra Help (New Deal 25 plus pilots folder) with insert sheet

  55,000

  24,987

  New Deal for Disabled People publications

  New Deal for Disabled People (Employers booklet)

  9,500

  4,156

  New Deal for Disabled People—Making the Right Choice

  30,500

  4,594

  New Deal for Partners of Unemployed People publications

  New Deal for Partners of Unemployed People (for claimants)

  80,000

  9,107

  New Deal for Partners—Towards a Better Future (client booklet)

  7,500

  6,997

  Publications that are for other, or multiple, target audiences

  What is New Deal?

  1,156,000

  125,009

  Design of the New Deal for 18–24 year olds

  161,900

  152,765

  New Deal for long-term unemployed people aged 25 plus (Design document)

  110,000

  42,064

  Design of New Deal Pilots

  114,000

  54,062

  Design of Self Employment in New Deal for 18–24 year olds

  44,000

  9,406

  Factsheets

  3,288,000

  148,491

  Operational Vision 18–24

  134,000

  52,509

  Operational Vision New Deal for long term unemployed people aged 25 plus

  124,000

  24,063

  Branding Guidelines

  5,650

  64,553

  Note:

  The quantities and costs shown are totals including all versions of the publication.

  Ofsted Inspectors (Hotel Accommodation)
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) for how many nights Ofsted inspectors stayed in the Lumley Castle hotel during their recent inspection of Park View Community School; [73288]

  (2) what was the average cost per night for Ofsted inspectors who had to stay away from home in the last year for which figures are available; [73308]

  (3) if he will publish a breakdown of the costs incurred by Ofsted inspectors of inspecting Park View Community School in Chester le Street. [73309]

  New Deal Publications
  Mr. Baker
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the publications issued since 1 May 1997 relating to the New Deal, giving the total cost per publication and the numbers of each publication which have been produced. [71493]

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  [holding answer 25 February 1999]: The following table of New Deal publications shows the total cost of each publication and the number produced. The amounts shown include the cost for any updating and reprinting as necessary, and the production of ethnic minority language and Welsh bilingual versions.

  Ms Estelle Morris
  These are matters for HM Chief Inspector of Schools and I have therefore asked Chris Woodhead to write to the right hon. Member and to place a copy of his letter in the Library.

  Internet Domain Names
  Dr. Palmer
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what progress is being made on assigning internet domain names to schools; and if he will make a statement. [73646]

  Mr. Charles Clarke
  Some 6,000 schools have Internet domain names. It is currently a matter for schools to agree Internet domain names with their Internet Service
  815
  or Access Provider. The Department is considering the current arrangements with Nominet, the UK Internet Names organisation with a view to deciding whether any changes are needed.

  Teachers' Pay
  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations he has received concerning performance-related pay for teachers; and if he will make a statement. [73973]

  Ms Estelle Morris
  The consultation period on the Green Paper "Teachers: meeting the challenge of change" and the companion "Technical Consultation Document on Pay and Performance Management" runs until 31 March 1999. Views have been invited on the performance management model proposed in those documents, including links between appraisal and pay. To date the Government have received over 16,000 responses on these and the other proposals set out in the Green Paper.

  Non-teaching Support Staff
  Miss McIntosh
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations he has received concerning the pay levels of non-teaching support staff following the implementation of the Single Status Agreement in North Yorkshire. [73975]

  LEA Performance at Key Stage 2, GCSE A/AS Level

  Percentage of pupils achieving level 4 or above

  Key Stage 2

  English

  Maths

  Science

  Aggregate

  1998

  1997

  1996

  1998

  1997

  1996

  1998

  1997

  1996

  1998

  1997

  1996

  Middlesbrough

  58.6

  55.3

  52.4

  51.6

  56.5

  47.6

  65.4

  65.8

  59.8

  175.6

  177.6

  159.8

  Redcar and Cleveland

  61.4

  60.5

  52.6

  56.9

  62.4

  51.3

  68.7

  72.8

  62.0

  187.2

  195.7

  165.9

  Hartlepool

  60.2

  60.1

  48.5

  56.2

  62.7

  48.1

  67.1

  69.3

  52.8

  183.5

  192.1

  149.4

  Stockton on Tees

  62.9

  59.8

  52.6

  60.0

  62.2

  54.6

  71.5

  70.2

  61.3

  194.4

  192.2

  168.5

  England

  64.1

  62.5

  56.3

  57.9

  61.3

  53.2

  68.6

  68.1

  61.2

  190.9

  191.9

  170.7

  LEA Performance at Key Stage 2, GCSE and GCE A/AS Level

  GCSE

  GCE A/AS Level1

  Percentage of 15 year olds achieving 5 A1 to C GCSEs

  Average point score

  1998

  1997

  1996

  1998

  1997

  1996

  Middlesbrough

  27.5

  28.5

  26.9

  15.6

  13.6

  13.8

  Redcar and Cleveland

  38.8

  38.4

  37.6

  17.0

  16.8

  17.2

  Hartlepool

  34.6

  29.1

  31.9

  15.1

  13.1

  12.4

  Stockton on Tees

  40.0

  39.1

  37.2

  19.2

  16.6

  17.5

  England

  46.3

  45.1

  44.5

  17.8

  17.3

  16.8

  1Only those entering two or more GCE A/AS Levels

  Lifelong Learning
  Mr. Chaytor
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many responses have been received to his Department's invitation to establish lifelong learning strategic partnerships, indicating how many responses identified a lead partner which was(a) a local authority, (b) a college of further education, (c) a training and enterprise council/chamber of commerce, training and enterprise and (d) none of the above. [74035]

  Mr. Mudie
  There has been a great deal of interest from local organisations who wish to become members of strategic Lifelong Learning Partnerships. These include local authorities, colleges of further education and training
  816
  Ms Estelle Morris
  The Department has received one written inquiry from the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry) in addition to some 50 letters from members of the public.

  Education Standards
  Dr. Kumar
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of education standards since May 1997 for the boroughs of(a) Middlesbrough, (b) Redcar and Cleveland, (c) Hartlepool and (d) Stockton. [74012]

  Ms Estelle Morris
  Statistics showing the standards of attainment by pupils in each local authority area are published in annual performance tables. A summary of recent results in the named areas are set out in the following tables. A sample of schools in each authority is inspected annually by OFSTED and reports published which include judgments about standards of attainment and the quality of education. A programme of inspections of all local education authorities is now being carried out by OFSTED, but none of the named authorities has yet been inspected. All authorities have just submitted for approval an Education Development Plan which includes a three-year programme for securing school improvement, and targets including those for pupil performance at ages 11 and 16 which will be monitored in future years.

  and enterprise councils. Government Offices are currently working with all the organisations who have expressed an interest, to establish boundaries and bring together organisations in strategic partnerships which meet the needs of the localities. Therefore, numbers of partnerships and information about lead organisations are not available at this stage.

  Education Business Partnerships
  Mr. Boswell
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the various education business partnerships by local education authority indicating the recent annual spending levels of each. [74026]
  817
  Ms Estelle Morris
  The Department does not collect this information. Education Business Partnerships operate on an independent basis.

  New Deal (Trainees)
  Mr. Green
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many New Deal for Young People trainees were employed by the Employment Service on 31 January. [74218]

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

  Letter from Leigh Lewis to Mr. Damian Green, dated 3 March 1999:
  As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply to your question about the number of 18–24 year olds who have been employed by the Employment Service under the New Deal initiative. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
  As of 31 January 1999, the Employment Service had 240 New Deal for 18–24 year old employees in post.
  I hope this is helpful.

  School Organisation Plans
  Mr. Chope
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects the regulations on the preparation and implementation of school organisation plans will be published. [74147]

  Ms Estelle Morris
  [holding answer 2 March 1999]: The Education (School Organisation Plans) (England) Regulations 1999 will be laid in the second week of March to come into force on 1 April.

  Age Diversity
  Mr. Gordon Marsden
  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to evaluate the effectiveness of the code of practice on age diversity when it is published. [74975]

  Mr. Andrew Smith
  The evaluation will look in detail at employer policies and practices in recruitment and employment and the impact this has on age diversity in their workforce. After a competitive tendering exercise, we have commissioned an independent organisation, NOP, to carry out a large scale research project to help evaluate the effectiveness of the Code.

  An employer survey will involve telephone interviews with a random sample of companies employing 10 or more people. The sample will provide a good coverage of different industrial sectors, regions and size of employers. There will also be in-depth case studies in order to explore practices and attitudes towards age discrimination in employment in more detail and to discuss the issues with managers and workers at the establishment.

  In addition, a random sample of older people will be interviewed on their current situation and their employment experiences and on whether they have experienced any employment discrimination on grounds of age.
  818
  In order to provide a baseline against which to measure change, an initial survey of employers and individuals is being carried out prior to the publication of the Code. Two further surveys will be carried out, towards the end of this year and in late Autumn 2000 to measure the impact of the Code. The evaluation will be completed and findings published early in 2001.

  We will also be using the range of key labour market indicators that we set out in Annex E of Action on Age to monitor changes and trends in the labour market activity of older workers. These will be published annually in June.

HEALTH

  Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research
  Mr. Key
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the future arrangements for the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research at Porton Down. [72627]

  Mr. Dobson
  I have decided that the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research (CAMR) will remain intact under continued Department of Health sponsorship at least until the next Quinquennial Review. CAMR is remaining in the public sector because of its strategic importance.

  Medicines (Testing)
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average cost of undertaking testing of a medical product preparatory to its assessment by the Medicines Control Agency. [73311]

  Ms Jowell
  None. The information needed to calculate this estimate is not available centrally.

  Cystic Fibrosis (Prescriptions)
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the current number of cystic fibrosis sufferers in the United Kingdom and the annual costs of their prescriptions. [73316]

  Mr. Hutton
  Statistical Information on the numbers of people with cystic fibrosis is not collected centrally. However, according to the clinical guidelines for cystic fibrosis care published jointly by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the British Paediatric Association and the British Thoracic Society in 1996, there were an estimated 6,250 people with cystic fibrosis in the United Kingdom in 1994.

  Information for all prescriptions dispensed to people with cystic fibrosis is not available. Most drugs dispensed to people with cystic fibrosis are not specific to that condition. However, both pancreatin preparations and dornase alfa are specifically indicated for the management of cystic fibrosis. In 1997, the net ingredient cost of these drugs dispensed in the community in England was £5.0 million and £9.0 million respectively. The net ingredient cost is the basic cost of a drug and does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income.

  Waiting Lists
  Mr. Amess
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial incentives are being offered to clinicians and paramedical staff to reduce present waiting lists. [73883]

  Mr. Hutton
  We have provided significant additional resources to the National Health Service, linked to specific targets for reductions in waiting lists. It is a matter for local NHS bodies how best to deploy these resources, including the levels of remuneration payable to staff for the additional work carried out in meeting these targets.

  Spinal Treatment
  Mr. Maclean
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health if it is his policy that invasive procedures carried out in the course of spinal treatment should be replaced by safer practices. [73968]

  Mr. Hutton
  Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the methodology of choice in the investigation of spinal conditions. However, we have no plans to replace invasive procedures entirely. For some patients unsuitable for MRI, invasive procedures may remain necessary. It is for clinicians to use their skills, knowledge and experience to weigh carefully the likely benefits of any treatment or procedure against the anticipated risk for the patient and, following discussion with the patient, to exercise their clinical judgment accordingly.

  Control and Restraint Technique (Nurses)
  Mrs. Brinton
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths have occurred in the United Kingdom as(a) a direct and (b) an indirect result of the use of control and restraint techniques by nurses; and if he will give a breakdown by ethnicity of the deceased. [74339]
  820
  Mr. Hutton
  The information requested is not collected centrally.

  Norvic Clinic, Norwich
  Dr. Gibson
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths or injuries have occurred in the Norvic Clinic in Norwich as(a) a direct and (b) indirect result of the use of restriction techniques by nursing staff; and if he will provide a breakdown by ethnicity of the deceased. [74070]

  Mr. Hutton
  No deaths have occurred as a direct result of the use of control and restraint techniques by nursing staff at the Norvic Clinic in Norwich. A black Afro-Caribbean patient was pronounced dead on 31 October 1998 after an incident in which control and restraint techniques were being applied, but the Coroner's Inquest into that case has yet to be held.

  Between 2 November 1997 and 4 December 1998 there were 45 occasions when control and restraint techniques were applied by nursing staff. No injuries were sustained by patients as a result of those procedures. Four members of staff were injured during the incidents.

  Allergies (Children)
  Dr. Cable
  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned into allergic reactions in children. [74292]

  Ms Jowell
  The Department's policy research programme and the National Health Service research and development programmes are supporting a range of research on allergies in children and adults and will continue to do so. The Medical Research Council, the main agency through which the Government supports biomedical and clinical research, by means of a grant-in-aid from the Office of Science and Technology in the Department of Trade and Industry, is also funding relevant research, including the study of infections, immunity and inflammations, which will underpin work on allergies.

  Sudan
  Sudan
  Drumcree
  Drumcree
  Scotland: Emergency Services in the Islands
  Scotland: Emergency Services in the Islands
  Scotland: Secondary School Teachers
  Scotland: Secondary School Teachers
  Wakefield District: Government Initiatives
  Wakefield District: Government Initiatives
  Peers' Speaking Record
  Peers' Speaking Record
  M.25: Litter Clearance
  M.25: Litter Clearance
  Lottery Spending: Research
  Lottery Spending: Research
  Food Standards Agency Levy
  Food Standards Agency Levy