asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to meet the European Commissioner with responsibility for ports to discuss harmonisation of the European Community ports industry.

My right hon. Friend has regular meetings with the Commissioner responsible for transport, in the course of which questions of ports policy have been discussed. The Government do not, however, see any case for harmonisation in the ports field and have no plans to raise this idea with the Commission.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the road schemes planned by his Department to which objection hearings in the High Court are awaited.

The only road scheme planned by the Department to which a hearing in the High Court is awaited is A5 Telford-Shrewsbury.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each metropolitan district and each London borough the estimated highways capital and highways maintenance expenditure for 1986–87.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 March 1987, c. 533]: I regret that my earlier answer contained a number of errors. The correct information is in the following tables.

Capital and maintenance expenditure on roads by London boroughs and metropolitan districts—1986–87
London Boroughs	Capital budget1 £ million	Maintenance budget2 £ million
City of London	2·390	4·187
Inner Boroughs
Camden	2·488	7·156
Greenwich	3·842	8·032
Hackney	2·826	3·742
Hammersmith and Fulham	0·310	4·981
Islington	1·078	3·070
Kensington and Chelsea	0·761	4·356
Lambeth	3·044	8·241
Lewisham	1·664	6·719
Southwark	2·675	6·909
Tower Hamlets	2·254	8·403
Wandsworth	7·640	4·515
Westminster	3·812	9·746
Outer Boroughs
Barking and Dagenham	2·000	3·221

London Boroughs	Capital budget1 £ million	Maintenance budget2 £ million
Barnet	1·715	8·483
Bexley	4·850	4·236
Brent	1·006	3·397
Bromley	2·268	9·321
Croydon	1·294	7·438
Ealing	5·984	6·125
Enfield	9·091	5·629
Haringey	2·443	3·481
Harrow	3·443	1·714
Havering	5·783	5·059
Hillingdon	11·208	5·667
Hounslow	1·818	2·541
Kingston-upon-Thames	7·917	3·644
Merton	4·938	5·491
Newham	3·794	4·163
Redbridge	4·260	5·115
Richmond-upon-Thames	0·918	4·609
Sutton	2·037	3·558
Waltham Forest	2·329	3·908
Source:
1 Authorities' 1986 Transport Policies and Programmes.
2 Authorities' Return of Expenditure and Rates '87.

Capital and maintenance expenditure on roads by London boroughs and metropolitan districts—1986–87
Metropolitan districts	Capital budget1 £ million	Maintenance budget2 £ million
Greater Manchester
Bolton	1·230	3·930
Bury	2·072	1·892
Manchester	11·961	9·837
Oldham	0·720	4·632
Rochdale	1·310	2·636
Salford	3·661	4·514
Stockport	3·807	4·781
Tameside	1·400	4·181
Trafford	4·072	5·809
Wigan	5·705	6·049
Merseyside
Knowsley	0·841	5·192
Liverpool	9·069	13·070
St. Helens	0·748	3·849
Sefton	1·031	8·288
Wirral	1·370	7·103
South Yorkshire
Barnsley	2·068	5·130
Doncaster	1·871	8·179
Rotherham	1·440	7·383
Sheffield	7·119	11·728
Tyne and Wear
Gateshead	1·320	7·220
Newcastle-upon-Tyne	2·054	7·517
North Tyneside	0·626	7·011
South Tyneside	3·559	5·071
Sunderland	6·692	6·783
West Midlands
Birmingham	15·813	19·106
Coventry	2·183	6·518
Dudley	2·805	5·512
Sandwell	2·876	7·093
Solihull	0·894	4·620
Walsall	3·913	4·508
Wolverhampton	6·878	4·414
West Yorkshire
Bradford	8·914	6·793

Metropolitan districts	Capital budget1 £ million	Maintenance budget2 £ million
Calderdale	0·999	6·566
Kirklees	4·040	7·938
Leeds	4·166	17·252
Wakefield	1·555	7·617
Source:
1 Authorities' 1986 Transport Policies and Programmes
2 Authorities' Return of Expenditure and Rates '87

asked the Secretary of State for Transport under what circumstances, at night, the pilot of an aircraft is entitled to ask air traffic control to cancel his instrument flight rules plan during his approach to land and, thereafter, accept responsibility for maintaining his own separation from other aircraft.

The rules under which aircraft flying within the United Kingdom airspace may fly are laid down in the Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control Regulations 1985.Under these rules, the commander of an aircraft in flight outside controlled airspace at night is not required to file a flight plan for the purpose of obtaining an air traffic control clearance. However, if an instrument flight rules plan is filed, it may be cancelled at any stage of the flight but the commander must still comply with the instrument flight rules.For an aircraft in flight within controlled airspace at night, it is a requirement that an instrument flight rules flight plan be communicated to an air traffic control unit and that the aircraft must be flown in conformity with the air traffic control clearance obtained. The instrument flight rules flight plan cannot be cancelled in these circumstances.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the implications for safety standards of the policy decisions taken by London Regional Transport or its London Buses and London Underground subsidiaries since 1983 relating to the improvement of commercial performance.

The primary responsibility for maintaining safety of both bus and underground systems rests with the operators. London Regional Transport is governed by the relevant statutory requirements and the bodies responsible for ensuring compliance. I am happy to report that the corporation's success at meeting its commercial objectives and so reducing the burden upon the taxpayer and London ratepayers has been achieved without weakening the very high standards of safety expected of its services.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan at columns 285–86 of the Official Report on 12 March, when consultations with representatives of the fishing industry will be completed; and if he will make a statement;

We have asked the 56 representative bodies that we have consulted to let us have their written comments on the light dues proposals by 2 April, so that we may consider them prior to the meeting that we are arranging for 6 April. This will provide an opportunity for discussion of the proposals and for any further comments. That would effectively complete the consultation with the industry. The Scottish Fishermen's Federation and the Scottish White Fish Producers Association are among those consulted.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he will take to reduce traffic jams at exit 10 on the M23 in the early mornings.

We have asked our agent, the West Sussex county council, to prepare a peak-hour traffic signal scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received about proposed increases in landing charges by the British Airports Authority.

A small number of representations have been received. From 1 April 1987, airport charges at BAA's London airports will be subject to price regulation by means of formulae that should ensure that airlines using Heathrow or Gatwick will enjoy, on average, real reductions in charges over the next five years.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he is satisfied with the disposition of noise monitoring equipment at Gatwick airport; and if he will make a statement.

The four noise monitoring units at Gatwick continue to achieve their purpose of helping to protect communities close to the ends of the runway from high levels of noise disturbance by departing aircraft. The Department is considering whether new equipment should be installed and if so, where it should be positioned. In addition, the general noise climate around the airport is assessed each year by the Civil Aviation Authority, on behalf of the Department, using mobile noise-monitoring equipment and computer modelling techniques.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to reduce aircraft noise at Gatwick.

We have taken a number of important measures. Gatwick has benefited from the ban on non noise-certificated subsonic jet aircraft on the United Kingdom register, which took effect on 1 January 1986. It will also benefit from the ban on non noise-certificated foreign aircraft, which takes effect from 1 January 1988. The Government impose limits on the noise made by aircraft taking off, by day and by night, and restricts night movements. Movements at night by "noisier" jet aircraft (that is having a 95PNdB noise footprint exceeding 4 square miles on take-off or 2½ square miles on landing) will not be permitted from 1 April this year, except for emergencies and a few day-time flights that have been unavoidably delayed. In addition, disturbance is reduced by concentrating departing aircraft on noise preferential routes. The Government also encourage the use of quiet take-off and landing procedures at the airport.For the future the Government remain committed to taking all the measures they sensibly can to reduce disturbance due to aircraft noise near busy airports; and we are considering a number of initiatives that should help to alleviate disturbance at Gatwick and elsewhere.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when he proposes to consult boroughs on terms of reference for stage 2 of the London assessment studies; and if he will make a statement.

We are writing to the local authorities concerned today to consult them on the proposed terms of reference. We shall also be inviting comments from other interested organisations.The report on stage 1 analysed the problems in the study areas. The aim of stage 2 is to develop possible ways of dealing with them. The studies will look at a wide range of options, with a view to identifying possible alternative strategies for each area. They will take full account of the operation of the local road system, the role of public transport, and the safety and convenience of pedestrians and cyclists.The proposed terms of reference are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what will be the rate of grant for rural bus services in 1987–88.

The Government introduced a rural bus grant last April to encourage provision of rural bus services during the change over to deregulation. It is to be phased out over the following three years. The grant was paid at 6p per eligible bus mile in 1986–87. It will be paid at 5p per bus mile in 1987–88 and so will continue to be an important incentive for rural bus service operators.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many recipients of supplementary benefit on Merseyside have had their payments suspended for not attending job training scheme interviews; how much in benefit has been withheld; and if he will make a statement.

The new job training scheme will not begin in Merseyside until April 1987. The scheme is entirely voluntary and no benefit sanctions will apply if someone does not wish to take up training or leaves prematurely.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many individuals have been excepted from payment of class 2 national insurance contributions because their earnings were below the limit for each year since 1979.

The information is as follows:

Year	United Kingdom
1978–79	27,450
1979–80	27,500
1980–81	29,500
1981–82	27,100
1982–83	39,900
1983–84	52,500

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (I) what steps are taken to monitor the operation of the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) Amendment Regulations 1985 (SI 1985, No. 298); and if he will make a statement;(2) what powers are available to him to deal with allegations of breaches of the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) Amendment Regulations 1985 (SI 1985, No. 298).

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the operation of the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) Amendment Regulations 1985 (SI 1985, No. 298); and if he will make a statement.

These regulations have been revoked and provisions relating to the general ophthalmic services are now contained in the National Health Service (General Ophthalmic Services) Regulations 1986 (SI 1986 No. 975). I understand that these new regulations are operating satisfactorily.The Department monitors the operation of these services through the information which it receives from family practitioner committees.Complaints which suggest a breach of the regulations are subject to investigation by the ophthalmic service committee of the family practitioner committee concerned in accordance with the National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) Regulations 1974 (SI 1974 No. 455). These regulations provide a range of penalties which May be imposed on those practitioners found in breach of their terms of service.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many hearing therapists have been trained; how many are currently employed; what has been the annual wastage rate; and what attempts are being made to reduce it;(2) how many hearing therapists are currently employed by the National Health Service.

Although records are not kept centrally, I understand that since 1978, 75 hearing therapists have been trained at the City Literary Institute. There are at present about 60 hearing therapists in post and 12 students on the current course. We continue to keep in close touch with the training authority and the British Society of Hearing Therapists about the development of hearing therapy in the National Health Service.

NHS consultants in audiological medicine: analysis by employing authority, showing changes in numbers since 1979 and 1983
				Change/number
	1986	1983	1979	1986–83	1986–79
England	14	15	8	-1	+6
Total of figures shown below1	16	20	10
Trent
Nottingham HA	1	1	—	—	+1
North West Thames
North West Thames RHA	2	2	—	—	+2
Paddington/North Kensington HA	—	1	—	-1	—
Riverside HA	1	3	—	-2	+1
North East Thames
Bloomsbury HA2	5	7	4	-2	+1
South East Thames

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what financial provision is currently being made for the training of hearing therapists;(2) whether any estimate has been made of the number of hearing therapists needed in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Following seven years pump-priming by the Department, provision for the training of hearing therapists, and estimation of the numbers needed, is now the responsibility of individual district health authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice his Department has given on the desirability of districts employing hearing therapists.

The Department has consistently encouraged the establishment of hearing therapy posts in the National Health Service. In 1978 the Department issued a circular to all regional health authorities encouraging them to establish two or three hearing therapist posts in their regions. Until the cessation of central funding in 1985 the Department wrote each year to RHAs asking them to nominate candidates for the training course. In 1985, the Department, in conjunction with the National Health Service training authority, held a seminar to enable participants from the NHS to appreciate the value of hearing therapists and to demonstrate what they can achieve as an integral part of services for people whose hearing is impaired.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many district health authorities employ at least one hearing therapist.

I regret that this information is not held centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many audiological consultants are employed by the National Health Service and in which regions and districts; and what has been the increase in numbers since 1979 and since 1983.

Information on the employment of National Health Service consultants is not available centrally for all districts. Numbers of consultants contracts held by regional health authorities, district health authorities designated for teaching purposes, and special health authorities for the London post-graduate teaching hospitals are set out in the table. Some consultants hold contracts of more than one authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children have been born profoundly deaf in each of the last five years; and how many specialised centres there are for their treatment in the United Kingdom.

No precise estimates are available but it is generally accepted that around one child in every 1,000 is born profoundly deaf. Responsibility for their treatment rests with individual health authorities and detailed information about the specific facilities provided is not collected centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he intends to ease the conditions for compensation for industrial noise deafness; and to what extent an extension is affected by the current level of provision for audiological testing.

Noise-induced hearing loss was prescribed as an industrial disease on 28 October 1974 on the basis of recommendations in a report by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (Cmnd. 5461 October 1973). In that and subsequent reports the recommendations have been influenced, among other things, by the availability of audiological resources.A further report is expected this year. Whatever the recommendations, these will be considered carefully, and in the light of other demands on the social security system.

Cases on in-patient waiting list for admission to NHS hospitals for general surgery at 30 September
				Change between
Regional health authorities	1979 Number of cases	1983 Number of cases	1986 Number of cases	1979–86 Number	Percentage	1983–86 Number	Percentage
Northern	10,740	9,906	9,034	-1,706	-15·9	-872	-8·8
Yorkshire	10,759	10,408	8,413	-2,346	-21·8	-1,995	-19·2
Trent	17,409	15,297	10,958	-6,451	-37·1	-4,339	-28·4
East Anglia	7,841	5,991	5,458	-2,383	-30·4	-533	-8·9
North West Thames1	11,041	9,592	10,420	-621	-5·6	828	8·6
North East Thames1	13,208	11,946	13,781	573	4·3	1,835	15·4
South East Thames1	12,708	11,719	13,373	665	5·2	1,654	14·1
South West Thames1	9,347	8,219	7,049	-2,298	-24·6	-1,170	-14·2
Wessex	8,802	9,883	9,407	605	6·9	-476	-4·8
Oxford	9,591	8,965	7,372	-2,219	-23·1	-1,593	-17·8
South Western	12,677	10,416	10,099	-2,578	-20·3	-317	-3·0
West Midlands	23,745	21,649	17,891	-5,854	-24·7	-3,758	-17·4

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many specialised audiological centres providing the full range of hearing tests there are in the United Kingdom; and what is the waiting time for a first appointment at each.

I regret that this information is not held centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting time, in each of the regions, for a first appointment with (a) a general surgeon and (b) an ear, nose and throat surgeon.

I am sorry I cannot give the right hon. Member the information he seeks. Statistical information on cases awaiting out-patient consultation is not collected centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give, for each region, the waiting lists for (a) general surgery and (b) ear, nose and throat surgery; if he will express the figures as numbers per hundred thousand of the population; and if he will give the percentage increase since 1979 and since 1983 respectively.

The information requested is given in the tables.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many ear, nose and throat consultant posts

Consultant posts in otolaryingology: Analysis by region showing number and whole-time equivalent of all posts for the years 1986, 1983 and 1979, also whole-time equivalent of posts unfilled by locums in 1986 (30 September each year)
	1986			1983		19791
	Consultant posts		not occupied by locums	Consultant posts		Consultant posts
	Number	Whole-time equivalent	Whole-time equivalent	Number	Whole-time equivalent	Number	Whole-time equivalent
Northern	25	23·6	—	26	23·9	26	23·6
Yorkshire	24	23·3	2·0	27	24·1	25	23·1
Trent	35	31·9	—	32	29·8	30	26·6
East Anglian	13	13·0	—	14	13·9	13	12·9
North West Thames	27	18·6	—	31	21·3	39	23·1
North East Thames	45	33·0	0·8	49	32·0	42	28·9
South East Thames	33	29·1	—	37	29·5	38	27·8
South West Thames	31	24·2	0·8	31	24·6	32	21·8
Wessex	25	23·8	1·0	27	23·8	25	22·5
Oxford	19	18·1	—	18	18·0	16	15·8
South Western	23	21·7	—	24	22·8	25	21·5
West Midlands	40	39·5	—	39	37·9	37	34·1
Mersey	17	14·3	—	17	14·9	18	14·6
North Western	36	34·7	1·0	38	35·6	35	29·3
SHA/LPGTHs	11	2·8	—	12	3·1	24	12·2
1 Due to the National Health Service restructuring in 1982, figures for 1979 are not strictly comparable.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what investigation there has been regarding the use that is made of National Health Service hearing aids after issue to (a) the general population and (b) elderly people; and what research has been done into the problems that are encountered with the use of hearing aids.

We hope that the national study of hearing being carried out by the Institute of Hearing Research will throw light on this problem.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what type of follow-up help is normally provided to those supplied with National Health Service hearing aids.

District health authorities make their own arrangements using the staff and facilities available to them.

The information requested is in the table.

asked the Secretary of State for Social. Services how many new patients are supplied with hearing aids annually; and what is the average waiting period from the time of diagnosis that a hearing aid is needed to its eventual supply.

I am sorry that I cannot give the right hon. Member the information he seeks. It is not available centrally. Responsibility for the supply of National Health Service hearing aids now rests with the Mersey regional health authority. The right hon. Member may therefore wish to contact the regional chairman.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the elderly population over 65 years of age have a National Health Service hearing aid.

Specific information is not available but it is known that hearing aid possession rises after retirement age.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is his estimate of the proportion of elderly people over 65 years of age who have a hearing loss so great that they would benefit from the provision of a hearing aid;(2) what is his estimate of the proportion of the adult population who have a hearing loss so great that they would benefit from the use of a hearing aid.

Whether patients might benefit from the provision of a hearing aid depends on a complicated set of factors including, of course, the degree and type of hearing loss suffered. In view of this, it is not possible to give accurate estimates but I hope that people, especially elderly people, who feel that their hearing is becoming impared will seek medical advice so that the best treatment may be given.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the adult population have a National Health Service hearing aid.

It has been estimated that 3·8 per cent. of the adult population have hearing aids, 80 per cent. of these supplied by the National Health Service.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the number of audiology technician posts in the National Health Service in each of the past five years; what is the current number of vacancies; and what changes there have been in the percentage of posts that are vacant over the last five years.

Information on posts and on vacancies is not collected centrally. Numbers of physiological measurement technicians (audiology) in post for the five years to 1985 (the most recent year for which information is available) are as follows:

30 September	Number
1981	760
1982	800
1983	790
1984	790
1985	780

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many audiological technicians have been trained in each of the last five years; what is the estimated turnover; and what steps are being taken to reduce it.

Information on staff completing training, or on turnover of staff, is not collected centrally. The numbers of student physiological measurement technicians (audiology) in post for the five years to 1985 (the most recent year for which information is available) are as follows:

Staff in post in England—grades A and B
30 September	Number
1981	210
1982	190
1983	150
1984	150
1985	140

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what recommendations his Department has issued on the desirable number of audiological technicians per million population; and how many regions have achieved this recommended number.

None. The number of technicians required is a matter for determination by the individual health authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on how many occasions during the last 12 months officials of his Department have visited the Leicester Nuffield clinic, Scraptoft Lane, Leicester in order to monitor the implementation of the Abortion Act and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act.

The Leicester Nuffield clinic, which has only two beds approved under the Abortion Act, has not been visited in the last 12 months.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on how many occasions during the last 12 months officials of his Department have visited the abortion clinic at Dean Park nursing home, Bournemouth, in order to monitor the implementation of the Abortion Act and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act.

The Dean Park nursing home has received one visit of inspection under the Abortion Act during the last 12 months.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on how many occasions during the last 12 months officials of his Department have visited the Wellesley hospital, Southend on Sea, Essex, in order to monitor the implementation of the Abortion Act and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act.

The Wellesley hospital, which has only two beds approved under the Abortion Act, has not been visited in the last 12 months.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide details of each death notified with legal abortions in England and Wales from 1982 to 1986, listed by (a) duration of pregnancy (i) under nine weeks (ii) nine to 12 weeks, (iii) 13 to 16 weeks, (iv) 17 to 19 weeks and (v) 20 weeks or over and (b) the abortion procedures and showing whether sterilisation was notified concurrently.

The information is shown in the table.

Number of notifications of abortions carried out under the Abortion Act 1967, specifying death of woman, by gestation, procedure and whether sterilization was performed England and Wales—1982 to 1986
Year	Number	Gestation	Procedure	Sterlisation
1982	3 cases	11 weeks	Vacuum aspiration	Yes
		12 weeks	Vacuum aspiration	Hysterectomy
		15 weeks	D & C	No
1983	1 case	8 weeks	Vacuum aspiration	Not stated
1984	3 cases	14 weeks	Prostaglandins only	Not stated
		17 weeks	Vacuum aspiration and D & C	No
		12 weeks	Vacuum aspiration	Yes
1985	2 cases	6 weeks	Vacuum aspiration	Not stated

Year	Number	Gestation	Procedure	Sterlisation
		8 weeks	Vacuum aspiration	No
1986	nil1
1 Provisional figure for notifications received by end of December 1986.

These statistics may exclude deaths occurring after the notification of the abortion.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the number of legal abortions without sterilisation performed in England and Wales from 1968 to 1986 (a) by gestation period of (i) under nine weeks, (ii) nine to 12 weeks, (iii) 13 to 16 weeks and (iv) 17 to 19 weeks and (b) by main procedure (1) aspiration, (2) D and C or D and E, (3) hysterotomy, (4) laminaria tents, (5) prostaglandines, (6) saline and (7) utus paste.

I regret that the exact information requested can he provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the available information on all abortions by period of gestation and procedure is shown in the following publications: "Registrar General's Statistical Review—Supplement on Abortion 1968–1973," table 13. "Abortion Statistics Series AB," table 3.1 1974–1980, table 14 1981–1985. Copies of these volumes are in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on how many occasions during the last 12 months officials of his Department have visited the abortion clinic at Hampshire clinic, Basingstoke, in order to monitor the implementation of the Abortion Act and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act.

The Hampshire clinic has only two beds approved under the Abortion Act. Approval was granted in June 1986. Prior to approval the hospital received two visits of inspection in February and April 1986. It has not been visited since that time.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on how many occasions during the last 12 months officials of his Department have visited the abortion clinic at Highfield hospital in Rochdale in order to monitor the implementation of the Abortion Act and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act.

The Highfield hospital, which has only three beds approved under the Abortion Act, has been visited once in the last 12 months.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many (a) new and (b) good condition second-hand tricycles are available in his Department; what plans his Department has for their disposal; and if he will make a statement.

There are no new invalid three-wheelers available in England. The last contract for the purchase of these vehicles was completed in April 1978.On 1 March 1987 there were 1,023 invalid three-wheelers in good condition available for re-issue. The Department also has some 1,100 vehicles around the country which are kept in reserve for the use of three-wheeler drivers when those they have on permanent loan are off the road.The future of these vehicles is a matter which we shall be considering over coming months.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many supplementary benefit claimants are being assessed as board and lodgers in his Department's local offices in Greenock and Port Glasgow;(2) how many supplementary benefit claimants live in hostels and are treated as boarders by his Department's local offices in Greenock and Port Glasgow;(3) how many supplementary benefit claimants reside in private nursing or residential homes and are treated as boarders by his Department's local offices in Greenock and Port Glasgow.

I regret that the information requested is not collected by individual local offices and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average cost to local authorities, as notified to his Department, of keeping children between the ages of (a) five to 11 years and (b) 11 to 16 years in care; and what range of costs the average covers.

Information is not collected centrally in the form requested. Some information about local authority expenditure on children in care is, however, published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in its "Personal Social Services Statistics" publications, copies of which are available in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he intends to answer the question of the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich, for answer on 24 February, regarding a request for funding by the organisation Streetwise.

I replied to the hon. Member on 17 March.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to whether Calderdale health authority is operating a full computerised call and recall scheme for screening all women at risk of cervical cancer covering all the family doctor practices in the district.

I shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the latest position in implementing recommendation five of the report of the independent advisory group chaired by Sir Douglas Black which investigated the possible increased incidence of cancer in West Cumbria.

The Government have reached agreement in principle with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine that we should establish there a small area statistics unit of which Professor Geoffrey Rose should be honorary director. The following terms of reference have been proposed far the unit."On behalf of the Government:

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the cost of advertising of the £5 cold climate allowance; what is the estimated cost of administration of the scheme (a) in the current year and (b) in January 1987; and what other expenditure has been incurred, apart from the cost of the payments themselves.

[pursuant to his reply, 29 January 1987, c. 367]: The full cost of advertising and administering the exceptionally cold weather scheme in the current year will be assessed at the end of the winter period. However, total advertising costs for January 1987 were about £670,000.Additional manpower in the form of 300 overtime man-years was allocated to local offices to help process cold weather claims at a cost of some £4 million. Extra travel and subsistence in connection with overtime working and increased postage costs were also incurred.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, how much was spent by his Department on advertising the availability of exceptionally severe weather payments (a) in 1986 and (b) so far in the current year in (i) Scotland, (ii) Strathclyde and (iii) Greenock and Port Glasgow.

[pursuant to his reply, 12 February 1987, c. 341]: The availability of exceptionally severe weather payments in 1986 was advertised on a national basis only, at a cost of £267,000.

TABLE I Income under Section 58 of The National Health Service Act 1977
	1983–84				1984–85				1985–86
Regions	a	b	c	d	a	b	c	d	a	d
	£	£000	£000	per cent.	£	£000	£000	per cent.	£	per cent.
Northern	802	1	1	—	1,560	2	2	—	11,492	—
Yorkshire	6,972	8	8	—	10,819	11	11	—	49,638	—
Trent	18,386	20	20	—	40,955	43	43	—	73,711	0·01
East Anglian	16,068	18	18	—	53,685	57	56	0·01	64,943	0·01
North West Thames	11,941	13	13	—	27,535	29	29	—	36,864	—
North East Thames	4,839	5	5	—	5,800	6	6	—	12,778	—
South East Thames	17,107	19	19	—	57,069	61	60	0·01	164,154	0·01
South West Thames	9,748	11	11	—	29,979	32	32	—	63,228	0·01
Wessex	11,310	12	13	—	28,686	30	30	—	68,697	0·01

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the backlog of claims at the Gosford street and Park court offices of his Department in Coventry in January 1986, July 1986 and January 1987, respectively.

[pursuant to his reply, 17 March 1987]: The table sets out the information requested about outstanding claims to social security benefits at Gosford street.

Benefit	14 January 1986	29 July 1986	13 January 1987
Sickness/Invalidity	204	113	86
Maternity allowance	90	86	60
Severe disablement allowance	not known	12	42
Supplementary benefit	396	742	321
Retirement pension	263	250	245

Park court is an unemployment benefit office, rather than a DHSS office, and I understand there are no claims to unemployment benefit outstanding.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give for each year since 1979 the total income in each region under section 58, section 65 and section 66 of the National Health Service Act 1977; and if he will give these figures (a) in cash terms, (b) deflated to take account of inflation generally, (c) deflated to take account of the movement of National Health Service pay and prices and (d) as a percentage of total National Health Service expenditure.

[pursuant to his reply, 24 November 1986, c. 122]: The following figures are derived from the annual accounts of health authorities. Reliable figures for section 58 income are not available for years before 1983–84.