asked the Lord Privy Seal what consideration has been given to providing cervical cancer screening facilities in the Palace of Westminster for women employed there or alternatively paid release for those in public employment; and if he will make a statement.

1 refer the right hon. Member to the Second Report of the Services Committee, Session 1985–86 (HC266). The recommendations made in that report have been implemented by the House authorities; and in particular the management of House Departments have reaffirmed that staff will be granted reasonable time off work for health screening purposes.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what research there has been in the United Kingdom into the efficacy and safety of acellular whooping cough vaccines.

The Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid through the Department, is the main Government agency for the promotion of medical research in the United Kingdom.Grants have been awarded by the MRC to the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research, Porton, and by the Department of Health and Social Security to St. George's hospital medical school, for collaborative studies of the immunology of whooping cough infection and the response to the currently used whole cell vaccine. These studies were a necessary preliminary to studies of acellular whooping cough vaccines. A comparative study of the safety and immunogenicity of whole cell and acellular vaccines in infants has now been planned and will be funded by the MRC.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what consultation there has been with the World Health Organisation regarding trials into the safety and efficiency of acellular whooping cough vaccines.

I understand that Professor D. L. Miller of St. Mary's hospital medical school, who acts as a consultant to the World Health Organisation on respiratory infections, has been involved with WHO coordination of an acellular whooping cough vaccine trial in Sweden. Professor Miller also provides a link between WHO and United Kingdom research effort through his membership of the Medical Research Council's committee on the development of vaccines and immunisation procedures and its whooping cough vaccines subcommittee.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Yeovil on 9 March, Official Report, column 22, concerning a review by management consultants of Her Majesty's inspectors' procedures, if he will undertake to announce the findings of the review in due course; and if he will make a further statement.

The review is of Her Majesty's inspectorate's internal procedures for writing, clearing, printing and distributing its inspection reports. It will be for Her Majesty's inspectorate to respond to the findings of the review as it sees fit. My right hon. Friend will announce in general terms what, if any, changes in procedure are introduced in due course.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Meadowcroft) on 12 March, Official Report, column 260, in what month he expects to issue the draft circular on recommendations of the Swann report mentioned in his reply to the hon. Member for Yeovil on 24 February, Official Report, column 152; whether there have been any delays in preparing this draft circular; and if he will make a statement.

I expect that the draft circular on the collection of ethnically based educational statistics will be issued for consultation during the summer. I regret that this information was inadvertently omitted from m) reply of 12 March to the hon. Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Meadowcroft) at column 760.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to which countries Britain has provided training for police and special force personnel during 1986 (a) in Britain and (b) overseas; which of these arrangements were financed by the British Government; and which of those were financed by the aid programme.

Britain provided police training for the following countries in 1986:

(a) in Britain
Anguilla	Grenada
Bahamas	Hong Kong
Bangladesh	India
Barbados	Indonesia
Belgium	Italy
Belize	Jamaica
Botswana	Jordan
British Virgin Islands	Kenya
Brunei	Lesotho
Cook Islands	Luxembourg
Cyprus	Malawi
Denmark	Malaysia
Dominica	Maldives
Ethiopia	Netherlands
Egypt	Nepal
Falkland Islands	Oman
France	Philippines
Fiji	Portugal
Gibraltar	Qatar

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effect on the total number of jobs in the United Kingdom of a cut of 6 per cent. in milk production.

Changes to the numbers of jobs in agriculture, the agricultural supplying industries and in milk processing and distribution will depend on many factors, of which the quota cut is but one. Dairy farmers, facing a cut in their milk output, will strive to substitute or expand other enterprises. Even with reduced quotas milk output would still be above the level of the mid-1970s although numbers employed will be less reflecting the productivity improvements achieved.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will publish the number, and breakdown by nationality, of those persons seeking political asylum in the United Kingdom who were detained on 1 February, or the nearest convenient date;(2) if he will provide a table indicating the period of time spent in detention by persons seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, who were detained on 1 February, or nearest convenient date showing numbers detained for not more than

Information is readily available only in respect of persons claiming asylum on arrival in the United Kingdom. On 1 March there were 160 such persons in detention. Their nationalities were as follows:

	Number
Sri Lankan	101
Iranian	33
Ethiopian	12
Indian	4
Somalian	3
Afghani	1
Chilean	1
Ghanaian	1
Pakistani	1
Turkish	1
Stateless	2

The periods in detention were:

	Number
Not more than 1 month	68
Over 1 month but not more than 2	30
Over 2 months but not more than 3	29
Over 3 months but not more than 4	16
Over 4 months but not more than 5	6
Over 5 months but not more than 6	2
Over 6 months	9

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will make available the public safety schemes for Holy Loch, Chatham, Faslane, Rosyth and for landside research and training reactors.

The Holy Loch and Faslane areas are covered by the Clyde area public safety scheme. My Department is directly responsible for public safety schemes relating to two landside research and training reactors; these are maintained by the department of nuclear science and technology, royal naval college, Greenwich, and the atomic weapon research establishment, Aldermaston. Safety arrangements for the reactor at Greenwich are covered in its emergency procedures (RNC/NS/SC205). I have arranged for a copy of this document, together with a copy of the Clyde area public safety scheme, to be placed in the Library, where a copy of the Rosyth area public safety scheme is already held. There are detailed safety arrangements for AWRE Aldermaston, but for security reasons these cannot be made public. Since Chatham ceased to be a royal naval base my Department has not conducted any activities there requiring such arrangements; therefore, no public safety scheme is maintained for that area.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will provide the total activity and fissile inventory of a source term release from British submarine reactors in which (a) the fuel is new and (b) the fuel has been used for 90 days.

The total activity and fission product inventory that might form the source term for release to the environment following an accident to the reactor of a royal naval submarine depends upon the operating history of the reactor, the type and severity of the accident and the performance of the containment system. The maximum design accident, the probability of which is assessed to be no greater than 1 in 10,000 years, may result in a slow release from the primary to the secondary containment of up to 40TBq (1,000 Curies) of Iodine 131, together with up to 4 PBq (100,000 Curies) of other volatile and gaseous fission products. Secondary containment procedures ensure that only a small proportion of this release will reach the atmosphere. A more serious accident, the probability of which is estimated to be no greater than 1 in 1,000,000 years, is one in which the primary containment is breached. It may result in a more rapid release of up to 4 PBq (1,000,000 Curies) of Iodine 131, together with 400PBq (10,000,000 Curies) of other volatile and gaseous fission products.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether there are public safety schemes for the event in which a release of radioactivity occurs from a nuclear warhead on a nuclear-powered submarine; and if he will make a statement.

My Department maintains detailed contingency plans to deal with the protection of the public in the extremely unlikely event of an accident resulting in a release of radioactive material from a nuclear warhead on a nuclear-powered submarine. For security reasons, I cannot go into detail.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the balance of reciprocal sales of defence hardware between the United Kingdom and the United States of America, giving figures for the latest year for which statistics are available.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the member for Hastings and Rye (Mr. Warren) on 19 February 1987 at column 778. The figure for 1985–86 is 1·5: 1 which represents a further improvement in our defence sales programme in the United States.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current range of costs per annum for children of service personnel who are attending boarding schools in the United Kingdom and in respect of whom the fees are met wholly or partly by his Department; what is the average cost per pupil; and whether he will identify the costs separately for (a) independent and (b) maintained schools.

Fees of boarding schools attended by the children of service personnel drawing boarding school allowance range between £1,800 and more than £6,000 per annum, based on the figures which I gave to my hon. Friend on 18 February, Official Report at column 686, and before allowing for taxation, the current average annual cost of boarding school allowance is some £4,300 per pupil. Separate average costs for pupils in independent and maintained schools are not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans for the establishment of a bypass around the village of Rillington in north Yorkshire.

A review of the road programme is under way. The results will be published in the spring. I cannot comment before then.

asked the Attorney General if the Director of Public Prosecutions will request the police to investigate allegations of offences under the Companies Act in relation to allegations of a concert party involving dealings in shares of Westland plc in 1985–86.

No.

asked the Attorney General whether he will introduce legislation to prohibit contracts between potential litigants and insurance claims assessors in relation to a personal injury or bereavement arising from disasters; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 13 March in reply to the right hon. and learned Member for Aberavon (Mr. Morris) at column 344.

asked the Attorney-General why charges against two police officers based at Golders Green police station alleging breaches of the Official Secrets Act were not proceeded with at Hendon magistrates' court in February; what was the nature of the charges brought against the officers; whether alleged abuse of the police national computer was involved; and if he will make a statement.

The criminal proceedings against two police officers based at Golders Green police station were reconsidered in the light of representations made on behalf of the two men, as a result of which it was decided that the public interest did not require the continuation of those proceedings. The police officers were charged under section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911. The allegations against the police officers related to abuse of the police national computer.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will say how many people are employed in the following institutions at the present time and how many were employed in the same institutions in 1979 (a) university college of Wales Aberystwyth, (b) the national library of Wales, (c) the college of librarianship, (d) The agricultural college of Wales, (e) St. David's university college, Lampeter, (f) college of further education in Ceredigion and (g) all secondary schools in Ceredigion; and if he will make a statement.

Information for all persons employed is not centrally available. The available figures, for teaching or research staff only, are given in the following table:

	1979-80	1985-86
University College, Aberystwyth1	439	374
St. David's College, Lampeter1	69	69
College of Librarianship, Wales2	—	37
Welsh Agricultural College2	—	19
Ceredigion College of Further Education2	—	67
Maintained Secondary Schools in Ceredigion3	377	387
1 Full-time teaching and research staff, as at December each year.
2 Teaching staff in full-time equivalent terms (average for academic year). Figures for 1979–80 are not available.
3 Full-time and part-time teachers in September 1979 and September 1986 respectively.

The numbers of industrial and non-industrial staff at the national library of Wales in October 1979 and October 1986 were148 and 142 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the cost to his Department both in manpower and material of producing the leaflet "A Growing Health Service for a Healthier Wales"; and if he will make a statement.

The final cost to the Department of design and photographic work, printing, publication and distribution of the leaflet is just over £9,000. In addition, the estimated cost of time spent on the project by a small number of Welsh Office staff in the normal course of their duties is £4,000. 1 regard it as a perfectly proper function of my Department to provide factual information about the Health Service to those who use it and that is what we have done.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the operation of the visa requirements for visitors from India and Pakistan, giving numbers of applications, refusals, and appeal results since the new arrangements began.

The visit visa-issuing operation in India and Pakistan continues to run smoothly. The vast majority of applications are processed within 24 hours. For the very small number of cases requiring a further interview, the waiting time is nowhere longer than 10 days.In the first three months of the visa regime for which full statistics are available, the figures are:

	Applications received	Visas issued	Visas refused
India	14,286	13,075	647
Pakistan	10,016	8,698	863

No visit visa appeals have yet been decided. In the first three full months of operation 97 visits visa appeals were lodged in India and 112 in Pakistan.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current range of costs per annum for children of his Department's staff serving overseas who are attending boarding schools in the United Kingdom and in respect of whom the fees are met wholly or partly by his Department; and what is the average cost per pupil.

Current costs of fees range from £2,247 per annum up to £5, 085.57 per annum, which is the maximum allowance payable for a boy at senior school. Costs over and above this maximum are met by individual officers. The estimated average annual cost per pupil for the 1986–87 financial year is £4,222.30.FCO costs also include those of concessionary journeys (normally at Apex rates) to enable children to rejoin their parents during school holidays. Cost in respect of such journeys are expected to total £906,000 in the 1986–87 financial year, that is, an average of £1,192 per pupil.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of his speech of 16 March relating to the Western European Union to the Royal Institute of International Relations, Brussels.

Copies of my right hon. and learned Friend's speech of 16 March on European security have been placed in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Government of the United Arab Emirates as to why it has not replied to correspondence from the right hon. Member for Swansea West, a copy of which has been sent to his Department, concerning a constituent of the right hon. Member; and if he will make a statement.

The right hon. Member was informed in my letter of 9 March 1987 of the position regarding his constituent and also in earlier correspondence of the limitations which I regret apply in this case.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken by British missions abroad to advise British citizens holidaying in Spain, Portugal and elsewhere in Europe about soliciting by timeshare touts.

Her Majesty's missions abroad advise inquirers to seek legal advice if they consider taking up timeshare offers. Copies of the Department of Trade and Industry leaflet "Your Place in the Sun" are held by Her Majesty's missions in Spain, Portugal, Greece, France, Malta and Cyprus.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to the convention for the protection and development of the natural resources and environment of the south Pacific region, and to the protocols to the south Pacific nuclear free zone treaty.

The United Kingdom welcomes the extension of the regional seas programme of the United Nations environment programme to the south Pacific, with the convention for the protection and development of the natural resources and environment of the south Pacific region. Such a convention in which all states in the region can participate will be of considerable value. Arrangements are in hand to enable the United Kingdom to sign this convention in respect of Pitcairn, our sole remaining dependent territory in the region. This is a further indication of our continued strong interest in the affairs of a region with whose members we have close ties.We have also given careful consideration to the protocols to the south Pacific nuclear-free zone treaty (the treaty of Rarotonga). We have taken full account of our security interests in the region and more widely, the views of our allies and the regional states themselves, the texts of the treaty and protocols and the announced policy of the Soviet Union.Against this background we have concluded that it would not serve our national interest to become party to the protocols to the treaty.At the same time, we remain ready as a matter of policy to respect the intentions of the regional states as set out in protocol I. In other words, we have no intention of testing, manufacturing or basing nuclear weapons on Pitcairn, the only territory under our jurisdiction within the area covered by the treaty. Further, with respect to protocol II, we reaffirm the British undertaking given in 1978 to nonnuclear weapon states which are parties to the NPT or equivalent commitments, not to use nuclear weapons against such states except in the case of an attack upon the United Kingdom, its dependent territories, its armed forces or its allies by such a state in association or alliance with a nuclear weapon state. Third, in respect of protocol III, we note that we have no intention of conducting nuclear tests in the south Pacific.We intend to keep our attitude to the treaty and the protocols under review. Any decision on a new approach would need to take account inter alia, of the following factors:

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many applications have been made by member states under article 93(2) of the treaty of Rome seeking a decision from the Council of Ministers that an aid which that state is granting, or intends to grant, shall be considered to be compatible with the Common Market in derogation from the provisions of article 92 of the treaty, by year from 1983 and in 1987 to date; and if he will list them in the Official Report, together with the Councils decision in each case

No information is available on applications made by Member states to the Council under article 93(2) but the European Commission has provided the following list of state aids authorised by the Council from 1983 to 1986:

(1) 86/648/EEC: Council Decision of 16 December 1986, on the grant of a national aid in the form of a payment on account of the premium for ewes in the sheepmeat sector in France.

• Official Journal No. L382 of 31 12.86 page 0003

(2) 86/603/EEC: Council Decision of 8 December 1986, on the granting of national aid in the wine sector in Italy following the serious crisis affecting that sector as a result of the `methanol-adulterated wine' affair.

• Official Journal No. L352 of 13.12.86 page 0043

(3) 86/196/EEC: Council Decision of 23 May 1986, on the granting by certain Member States of an aid for the shortterm private storage of table wine and must.

• Official Journal No. L139 of 24.09.86 page 0049

(4) 85/272/EEC: Council Decision of 23 May 1985, on the granting of aid for the short-term private storage of table wine and must in Greece, France and Italy.

• Official Journal No. 151 of 10.05.85 page 0049

(5) 85/213/EEC: Council Decision of 26 March 1985, on the granting of aid for the distillation of wines obtained from table grapes in Sicily.

• Official Journal No. L096 of 03.04.85 page 0034

(6) 84/361/EEC: Council Decision of 30 June 1984, concerning an aid granted to farmers in the Federal Republic of Germany.

• Official Journal No. L185 of 12,07.84 page 0041

(7) 84/258/EEC: Council Decision of 7 May 1984, on the granting of aid for the short-term private storage of table wine and must in Greece.

• Official Journal No. L124 of 11.05.84 page 0044

(8) 84/230/EEC: Council Decision of 27 April 1984, on the granting of aid for the short-term private storage of table wine and must in France and Italy.

• Official Journal No. L115 of 01.05.84 page 0083

In 1987 the Council approved on 16 March an application from France to grant aid in the form of a contribution to the social security payments of certain milk producers. This decision has not yet been published in the Official Journal.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the nature of the information which his Department received from the Bank of England about the alleged activities of Cazenove and Hill Samuel in setting up with the aid of Barclays and Midland Banks a share buying mechanism in connection with the bid by Turner and Newall for AE, in respect of which the two banks were subsequently indemnified against any loss; and if he will make a statement.

The information provided to me by the Bank of England is subject to section 19 of the Banking Act 1979. That section forbids the disclosure of information provided under the Act except in certain specified circumstances.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to promote competition in the field of communications.

Among the duties set on both my right hon. Friend and the Director General of Telecommunications by the Telecommunications Act 1984 is one to maintain and promote effective competition. As part of this continuing process, the Government announced on 25 February two major new licences to liberalise business use of telecommunications and the provision of value added and data services. New licences will also shortly be issued to two competing operators of nationwide private mobile radio networks, as well as to regional and London pmr network operators and to new operators of national radiopaging networks. We shall also be publishing shortly for public comment an independent consultant's report on the scope for applying market forces and the price mechanism to the management of the radio spectrum.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has had concerning the adequacy of the provisions relating to product liability in the Consumer Protection Bill as they relate to the entitlement of injured parties to receive compensation where the defect is latent.

My Department has received some comments about the provisions of schedule 1 to the Consumer Protection Bill, which implement in particular the three year limitation period under article 10 of the EC directive on product liability. These provisions were amended in certain respects when the Bill was at Report stage in another place and are reflected in the draft of the Bill which has been introduced into this House.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he plans to take any further steps to issue guidance to British holidaymakers in Europe during the summer of 1987 about the high sales techniques of timeshare operators.

The Government's consumer advice leaflet continues to be freely available at many information centres (including some airports). Larger supplies may be obtained direct from my Department. The leaflet has had considerable coverage in the media. I expect this to continue as my Department maintains contact with travel and consumer correspondents.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many complaints he has received about the selling methods employed by timeshare operators;

My Department has received over 40 written complaints and representations about the selling methods employed by timeshare developers and a substantial number of complaints by telephone.

asked the Secretry of State for Trade and Industry when he last met representatives of companies engaged in selling timeshare properties.

I met representatives of some major timeshare developers on 18 March.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will estimate how many companies in the United Kingdom are engaged in the timeshare business within the United Kingdom; and what information he has about the situation elsewhere in Europe.

The three major timeshare trade associations have some 20 United Kingdom-based developers among their membership. It is not possible to give accurate information about the number of United Kingdom developers outside these trade associations.About 30 European-based developers belong to the United Kingdom trade associations and several United Kingdom companies are undertaking developments in Europe. I have no information about other locally based developers in Europe.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many ships have been built in shipbuilding yards of each EEC member state with the assistance of funds from the European shipbuilding intervention fund with engines supplied from non-EEC member states in each of the past five years; what has been the total value of EEC aid given in such cases; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 12 March 1987, c. 276]: There is no support for merchant shipbuilding paid to member states from European Community funds. Each member state administers a regime of aid which is agreed with the European Commission within the framework of successive Council directives on shipbuilding aids. The number of vessels built with non-EEC engines, which received shipbuilding intervention fund support from Her Majesty's Government since 1982 is as follows:

	Number
1982	2
1983	—
1984	1
1985	6
1986	3

asked the Paymaster General (1) if he will list the skillcentres (a) open in June 1979 and (b) closed since 1979, and what was the unemployment rate in the local travel-to-work area for each skillcentre (i) in June 1979 and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available;

The available information is contained in the table:

asked the Paymaster General if he will take steps to aid men made redundant below the age of 60 years who have pensions frozen until they are 65 years but are now employed in work which requires a retiring age of 60 years.

The Government have no proposals for special measures to help this particular group of employees as opposed to other employees whose pension provision may be effected by a change of jobs. However, recent social security legislation means that, in future, employees in this situation will have more flexibility to adapt their pension arrangements to their own particular circumstances. People changing jobs from 1 January 1986, for whatever reason, will often be able to transfer their pension rights from the former employers' scheme to the new employers' scheme and those changing jobs from 1988 will also have the option of transferring to their own personal pension scheme.

asked the Paymaster General if he will give the number of people unemployed in the constituencies of Peckham, Bermondsey and Dulwich for each year since 1979.

Following is the available information, which is also in the Library. The table shows the numbers of unemployed claimants in the parliamentary constituencies of Peckham, Southwark and Bermondsey and Dulwich in February of each year since 1984. The comparison is affected by the change in the compilation of the unemployment statistics in March 1986. Statistics of unemployment for parliamentary constituencies are derived from the ward-based system and are available only from June 1983.

	Peckham	Southwark and Bermondsey	Dulwich
February 1984	8,106	6,509	4,437
February 1985	8,806	6,875	4,910
February 1986	9,256	7,709	4,904
February 1987	8,877	7,501	4,556

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the European Commission's latest cash position and the implications for the United Kingdom.

The European Commission estimates that its spending obligations this month will exceed available revenues under the budget for 1987.The Commission has therefore requested member states to advance from April into March the payment of own resources other than VAT in accordance with article 10(2) of Council regulation 2891/77: a similar advance was made last month. The Government are satisfied that this request is within the vires of article 10(2) and accordingly will today make an advance payment of some £148 million from the Consolidated Fund under section 2(3) of the European Communities Act, 1972. The payment of levies and duties on 20 April will be reduced by the amount of the advance.The Commission has informed us that it expects in addition to have to overdraw its accounts with member states this month in accordance with article 12(2) of Council regulation 2891/77. The amount involved for the United Kingdom is expected to be of the order of £95 million. The Government propose to meet this obligation too from the Consolidated Fund in accordance with section 2(3) of the European Communities Act 1972. Repayment of any drawing under this facility will be made by deduction from our April own resources payments. The amount drawn by the Commission in February under this provision, some £24·2 million, was recovered from the VAT payment made on 2 March.Neither of these facilities will involve increasing the total amounts which the Community is authorised to spend during 1987. There will therefore be no net additions to public expenditure.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list, region by region, including Scotland and Wales, the numbers and proportions of shareholders identified in his survey; and if he will list shareholders by income groups.

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

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what response the Council of Ministers has had from the Court of Auditors following the decision of the Council of 9 March to approve an expenditure of 3·2 billion ecu on the disposal of the butter mountain, in light of the published opinion of the Court of Auditors prior to the meeting that such expenditure was unlawful; and if he will make a statement.

The Court of Auditors has made no further response to the Council's proposal to delay reimbursement to member states for butter stock disposals. This measure was formally adopted by the Council on 16 March. The Council considered the Court of Auditor's opinion, but decided that delayed reimbursement was justified as an exceptional measure, since it was agreed as part of a package producing genuine and substantial CAP savings.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what was the total production by the National Coal Board of Welsh anthracite in 1984, 1985 and 1986, respectively; and what is the anticipated production in 1987;(2) what tonnages of Welsh anthracite were allocated for disposal to each National Coal Board region in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987, respectively;(3) what tonnage of Welsh anthracite was shipped to Northern Ireland in 1984, 1985 and 1986, respectively; and what is proposed to be shipped in 1987;(4) what tonnage of Welsh anthracite was exported in 1984, 1985 and 1986, respectively; and what exports are planned for 1987.

This information is not immediately available. I shall give my hon. Friend a fuller reply as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make it his policy not to sanction further expenditure by the National Coal Board on the acquisition of private sector coal merchanting businesses.

My policy is to agree to the acquisition of businesses by British Coal where my approval is required, only if I consider there are good grounds for the aquisitions to be made.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will take steps to ensure that competitive tendering is introduced for the delivery of concessionary fuel to mineworkers.

This is a matter for the British Coal Corporation or the appropriate trade union responsible for arranging the delivery of concessionary fuel.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will estimate the average consumption of house coal and smokeless fuel per household in the United Kingdom; and if he will publish details of the supply of concessionary fuel to mineworkers in each National Coal Board area.

The information requested on average consumption of solid fuel per household is not immediately available. I shall give my hon. Friend a fuller reply as soon as possible. The provision of concessionary coal is a matter for the British Coal Corporation, and governed by agreements between them and the mining unions. I have asked the chairman to write to my hon. Friend.

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the minimum requirement for modern nuclear power station design in terms of ability to withstand earthquake shock; and what size shock the latest tests show that Hinkley Point could withstand.

[pursuant to his reply, 12 March 1987, c.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much each local authority has spent on children's play in each of the last five years.

The information is not available centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out for the London borough of Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Newham, respectively, for each of the years 1981 to 1986 in terms of the number of person days and family days, the number of families placed in bed-and-breakfast accommodation for the homeless and numbers of applicants on the housing lists of each borough, respectively, together with respective totals for the three boroughs.

Local authorities' reported figures of household days provided in bed and breakfast accommodation for those accepted as homeless, are included in the CIPFA publications "Homelessness Statistics" for each financial year. The issues from 1983–84 to 1985–86 also include figures of homeless households accommodated during each year allocated to the type of accommodation in which they spent most time. Copies of these publications are available in the Library The numbers of households on the housing lists at 1 April 1986 are contained in section B of the boroughs' housing investment programme returns, but were not collected in earlier years. Copies of the returns are also available in the Library.The numbers of households on the housing lists at 1 April 1986 are contained in section B of the boroughs' housing investment programme returns, but were not collected in earlier years. Copies of the returns are also available in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total expenditure on local authority housebuilding for each year since and including 1979 to 1986 in terms of (i) current prices, (ii) 1986 prices and (iii) share of gross domestic product.

The available estimates of capital expenditure on house-building by English local authorities are as follows:

	Current prices £ million	1985–86 prices £ million	Percentage share of gross domestic product
1978–79	1,096	2,076	0·63
1979–80	1,065	1,726	0·52
1980–81	965	1,317	0·41
1981–82	720	893	0·28
1982–83	685	795	0·24
1983–84	682	758	0·22
1984–85	730	778	0·22
1985–86	568	568	0·16

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the share respectively of (a) public direct labour schemes and (b) private contractors' schemes in local authority housebuilding for the years 1985 and 1986, respectively, in (i) England and Wales and (ii) Greater London.

I shall answer this question shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will announce the final rate support grant settlement for 1987–88.

I have today laid before the House the rate support grant report for 1987–88. Individual authorities' entitlements to grant will be in line with the proposals I issued on 5 March. I have also laid the first rate support grant supplementary report for 1986–87, and the rate support grant supplementary report (No. 3) 1985–86.I have also today formally notified the 20 authorities selected for rate limitation in 1987–88 of their rate limits for next year. There are no changes from those notified earlier this month. My right hon. Friends the Home Secretary, the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State for Transport have notified precept-limited authorities in similar terms.Copies of the reports have been placed in the Vote Office and Libraries of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to extend the terms of compulsory purchase orders to include adequate compensation for any inconvenience experienced by the owner of a property.

I shall answer this question shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all those local authorities in England and Wales which are designated or include areas that are designated under the Inner Urban Areas Act 1978; and in respect of which of these authorities arrangements have been made with him under section 7 of the Act.

I shall answer this question shortly.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to which local authority areas still have local acts in force.

By virtue of section 262 of the Local Government Act 1972 almost all pre-1 April 1974 local legislation will have been automatically repealed, in general. at the end of 1986 unless specifically replaced by new local or general legislation.There are certain exceptions. Greater London is excluded because its local legislation was reviewed under the London Government Act 1963; such powers as protective provisions and provisions relating to statutory undertakers are also excluded from the effect of section 262; and some individual local Act provisions have been preserved by order (S.I. 1986, No. 1133). The 1986 deadline has also been extended by order (S.I. 1986, No. 2106) for one year to preserve pre-1 April 1974 local legislation from repeal for eight local authority areas in England and Wales to enable their replacement local legislation to complete its passage through Parliament.The following local authority areas in England have promoted local legislation by virtue of section 262:

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to the current state of the superannuation fund of the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council; and if he will make a statement.

The local government superannuation funds are valued at five-yearly intervals. The date of the most recent valuation was 31 March 1984. In the case of the fund then administered by the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council, this produced a reduction in the contributions required from employers in the area of about 2 per cent. of payroll. I have no more up to date information about the fund now administered by Bradford metropolitan district council.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to how many properties have been sold by the West Yorkshire residuary body to the private sector which previously belonged to the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council; if he is able to provide any breakdown by location of the total receipts from those sales; and if he will make a statement.

The information available to the Department is that the West Yorkshire residuary body had sold 89 properties to the private and public sectors by the end of February 1987. Receipts were some £2·8 million.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to how many employees of the West Yorkshire metropolitan county council were declared redundant in the abolition of that council on 31 March 1986; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Newharn, North-West (Mr. Banks) on Monday 16 February at column 420.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what information he has as to the current state of the revenue account of the personnel committee of the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council; and if he will make a statement;(2) what information he has as to the current financial state of the county fund balance sheet of the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council; and if he will make a statement;(3) what information he has as to the current state of the revenue account and analysis of capital expenditure of the public transport committee of the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council; and if he will make a statement;(4) what information he has as to the current state of the revenue and analysis of capital expenditure of the technical services and traffic and highways committees of the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council; and if he will make a statement;(5) what information he has as to the current state of the revenue and analysis of capital expenditure of the recreation and arts committee of the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council; and if he will make a statement;(6) what information he has as to the current state of the revenue account and capital expenditure of the police committee of the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council; and if he will make a statement;(7) what information he has as to the current state of the revenue account of the environment committee of the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council; and if he will make a statement;(8) what information he has as to the current state of the revenue account of the consumer protection committee of the former West Yorkshire metropolitan county council; and if he will make a statement;

The final accounts of the West Yorkshire county council as prepared by the West Yorkshire residuary body were published in December 1986. These set out the financial position of the county council and its various committees as at the date of abolition. Copies of the abstract of accounts are available from the West Yorkshire residuary body.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he is giving to reform of the present law of mortgages in the light of proposals of the Law Commission working paper No. 99 of 1986, with a view to simplification of the law and provision of greater protection for home owners.

I have been asked to reply.This working paper was published as recently as October 1986 and has been circulated by the Commission as a consultation paper for comment and criticism only. The paper contains a number of proposals but these do not represent the final views of the Commission. Consideration will be given to the final recommendations once they have been produced as a report.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) when he intends to lay before Parliament the statutory orders designating the Breadalbane and Loch Lomond environmentally sensitive areas;(2) what sites he will consider for designation as environmentally sensitive areas in 1988 in Scotland.Mr. John MacKay: I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the currently authorised police manpower establishment for each police authority in Scotland;(2) what is the latest information on police numbers in post for each police authority in Scotland.

The information, as at 31 December 1986, is as follows:

Police Authority	Authorised Establishment	Actual Strength1
Central	556	549 (12)
Dumfries and Galloway	333	338 (5)
Fife	732	725 (9)
Grampian	997	995 (8)
Lothian and Borders	2,393	2,442 (44)
Northern	609	610 (6)

Police Authority	Authorised Establishment	Actual Strength1
Strathclyde	6,954	6,769 (47)
Tayside	1,001	1,000 (11)
Total: Scotland	13,575	13,428 (142)
1 Including officers on central service or with the Scottish Crime Squad as indicated in parenthesis.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from industrial and commercial interests requesting action against Strathclyde and Lothian regional councils in respect of their proposed budgets for 1987–88; and when he expects to reply.

I have received 17 such representations from industrial or commercial interests or from their representative bodies in the last few weeks. I have also received numerous letters from members of the public. I shall shortly be assessing all local authorities' budgets in detail and expect to announce any decisions on selective action around the end of April.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will review the arrangement for training opportunities in general medicine as part of the vocational training for doctors wishing to enter general practice, in the light of the reduction in the number of senior house officer posts in general medicine in the Lothian health board area.

In Scotland the number of doctors undertaking vocational training for general practice is more than sufficient compared to the number of vacancies. The detailed arrangements for allocation of training posts within overall hospital establishments in Lothian is a matter for the health board.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the share respectively of (a) public direct labour schemes and (b) private contractors' schemes in local authority housebuilding for the years 1985 and 1986, respectively, in Scotland.

Complete information is not available centrally. However schemes covered by returns made by local authorities to the Scottish Development Department for the years 1985 and 1986, covering approximately 70 per cent. of all new-build dwellings in tenders accepted for those years, were all by private contractors.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act have been dealt with by Glasgow district court in each of the last five years, and in the most recent period for which figures are available.

The information requested is set out in the table:

Drugs Offences Dealt with by Glasgow District Court
	Persons proceeded against
1981	0
1982	4
1983	0
1984	1
1985	98
19861	2363
1 January to September.
2 Provisional.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prosecutions for (a) supply and (b) possession of controlled drugs have taken place in Scotland in each of the last five years; and how many have resulted in conviction.

The available information on persons proceeded against for offences under Drugs legislation and other offences where controlled drugs are involved, and on persons found guilty, is as follows. Figures for 1986 are not yet available.

Offence and Year	Persons proceeded against	Persons found guilty
Unlawful supply
1981	26	18
1982	40	23
1983	55	28
1984	107	66
1985	260	181
Possession with intent to supply
1981	45	23
1982	87	58
1983	135	88
1984	249	191
1985	371	275
Unlawful possession
1981	1,122	761
1982	1,618	1,197
1983	1,800	1,425
1984	2,217	1,815
1985	2,560	2,103