To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what expenditure has been incurred by his Department in ensuring slaughterhouses in Northern Ireland meet European Community standards.

During the five-year period ended 31 March 1990, capital grant assistance of £4,554,502 has been paid to the eight privately owned beef slaughter and processing companies in Northern Ireland which have facilities approved to Economic Community hygiene standards.All these companies have abattoirs with integrated further processing facilities and the grant assistance paid was mainly towards expenditure on buildings and equipment for meat processing. Only two of the companies received grant payments totalling £252,300 towards abattoir capital expenditure. In no case was grant provided solely towards abattoir expenditure to achieve European Community standards.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the reasons for the delay in the report on the ESDA test on the evidence relating to the case concerning four members of the Ulster Defence Regiment from Armagh, and ordered by the chief constable on 31 July.

The report has been delayed by the need to subject a large volume of material to detailed and thorough examination; but I understand that the work is now virtually complete and that the Northern Ireland forensic laboratory expects to be able to submit its findings to the Royal Ulster Constabulary shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of the fair employment implications of the loss of 20 action for community employment jobs in west Belfast.

There has been no net loss of ACE jobs in west Belfast.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals (a) over 65 years, (b) physically disabled and (c) mentally disabled were receiving hospital, residential or nursing home care in each year since 1985 in each health board area in Northern Ireland.

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were registered for ongoing treatment through the district nursing system in each health board area in each year since 1985.

Information is not available in the form requested. The table shows the number of patient visits carried out by district nurses.

Health and Social Services board
Year	Eastern	Northern	Southern	Western
1985	714,359	344,679	n.a.	228,359
1986	1721,674	341,505	312,902	211,842
1987	n.a.	329,073	316,602	247,395
1988–89	837,178	2319,024	312,981	222,986
1989–90	853,280	3320,873	307,260	229,947
Notes:
n.a.—Not available.
1 1986–87.
2 1988.
3 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of all instances where public funds have been withdrawn from Northern Ireland organisations under the Government's political vetting policy; how many of the decisions were appealed; and what was the result of each appeal.

There is no political vetting. However, under the terms of the policy reflected in the written reply of 27 June 1985 by the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, public funds have been denied in a total of 26 cases. On further review funding has been restored in four cases. It is not Government policy to reveal details of individual cases.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the number and what were the sources of representations he has received in relation to the withdrawal of funds from Glor na nGael.

Written representations have been received from over 150 bodies and individuals including voluntary organisations, interest groups, trade unions, politicians, other public figures and various private individuals both within Northern Ireland and further afield.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money has been spent by his Department on public safety campaigns encouraging the use of domestic smoke alarms in each of the last five years; how much money is budgeted for the current year; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 18 December 1990]: The information requested is as follows:

	£s
1985	—
1986	—
1987	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how much money has been expended in the Ballymoney borough council area by the Northern Ireland Departments apart from money expended under the various EEC funds;(2) how much money has been expended in the Moyle council area by the Northern Ireland Departments apart from money expended under the various EEC funds;(3) how much money has been expended in the Ballymena borough council area by the Northern Ireland Departments apart from money expended under the various EEC funds.

[holding answer 13 December 1990]: The information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what consultations have taken place with energy efficiency projects about the network installer areas under the home energy efficiency scheme.

It is open to any organisation engaged in the delivery of energy efficiency services to apply to become a network installer under the home energy efficiency scheme. I understand that, in drawing up the areas for which applications would intially be invited, the Energy Action Grants Agency sought advice from both Neighbourhood Energy Action and Energy Action Scotland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the cost of the advertising campaign for the flotation at the 12 regional electricity companies of England and Wales.

The costs of the campaign are still being finalised and will be announced to Parliament in the normal manner as soon as they are available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his most up-to-date estimate of the cost of the advertising campaign for the flotation of the two generating companies.

The full costs of the privatisation, including advertising costs, will be made available to Parliament in the normal way.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what policy considerations led him to reject institutional tendering as a method of flotation for the two generating companies in the electricity supply industry of England and Wales;

Decisions have yet to be taken on the precise structure of the sale of National Power and PowerGen. In intend to float both companies next February, subject to market conditions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his answer of 13 December, what numbers of employees applied for shares under employee priority application procedures, in each of the 12 regional electricity company areas.

The numbers of employees who applied under the employee priority offers are as follows:

	1Number of employee priority applications
Eastern Electricity	4,073
East Midlands Electricity	3,328
London Electricity	2,546
Manweb	2,016
Midlands Electricity	3,188
Northern Electric	2,026
NORWEB	3,549
SEEBOARD	2,307
Southern Electric	3,237
South Wales Electricity	1,559
South Western Electricity	2,741
Yorkshire Electricity	3,050
1 Provisional figures.

These figures exclude employees who have applied under the free and matching offers alone.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if his Department will seek to place upon suppliers of electricity and gas a requirement to carry out periodic checks on all domestic and other installations; and if he will make a statement.

No. All consumers are responsible for ensuring that the electricity and gas installations on their own premises are safe. The electricity and gas suppliers urge consumers to arrange checks on their installations regularly. This massage is reinforced from time to time in newspapers, in billing material and so on. There is adequate guidance available from the suppliers and others.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to make a further non-fossil fuel obligation order in respect of projects involving renewable energy sources.

[pursuant to the reply, 19 November 1990, c. 7]: In announcing the initial order setting a non-fossil fuel obligation for renewable sources of energy, I noted that a number of projects had proved not yet ready to meet the requirements of the legislation. To give these projects, and any others, an early opportunity to go forward, I have decided to make a second order setting a non-fossil fuel obligation for renewables in 1991. This will specify levels of renewables-sourced electricity generating capacity required to be available to the regional electricity companies, in addition to those required under the initial renewables order (SI 1990 No. 1859), during the period from 1 January 1992 until 31 December 1998.Before making the order I shall, as required under the legislation, consult the regional electricity companies and the Director General of Electricity Supply.However, I currently have it in mind that the new order should be set at a level which will require the regional electricity companies to enter into contracts for some 150 to 200 MW DNC of generating capacity. I also have it in mind to introduce separate bands within the order for landfill gas, hydro, waste incineration and wind. This would give each of those technologies an opportunity to make a contribution to the capacity required under the order, and so would promote the Government's objective of stimulating the development and application of renewable sources of energy which have prospects of being economically competitive and environmentally acceptable.I shall determine the size of the bands, in the light of bids by generators and after the statutory consultations, at a level to strike an appropriate balance between diversity of renewable generating technologies and the cost to the electricity consumer. I may decide, in the light of the consultations, to omit a band or to combine two or more bands. However, I currently have it in mind that the bands, and the band sizes, should be as follows:

	MW DNC
Wind power	25–50
Hydro	5–10
Landfill gas	30–60
Municipal and general industrial waste incineration	50–100
Others (eg. sewage gas, combustion of special waste)	15–30

The bands adopted for the 1991 renewables order will be without prejudice to the format of the further renewables orders that the Government intend to introduce during the 1990s.My Department, in consultation with the RECs and the Office of Electricity Regulation, has reviewed the procedures for making NFFO orders in the light of the experience gained from the first one. A number of those consulted thought it important that the timetable should be less compressed.Against this background I propose to make the next order, and to lay it before Parliament, in the autumn of 1991. I understand that the RECs will begin the process of selecting projects in the new year, when they will announce the procedures that they propose to adopt.My Department is publicising these proposals through "Renewables Energy Bulletin No. 4", a copy of which I am placing in the Library of the House.

To ask the Lord President of the Council what savings his Department would make were no notice given of oral questions to Ministers and they were answered without civil service time being used on briefings.

No savings would be made and costs could well increase, because time and effort would be involved in wider briefing.

To ask the Lord President of the Council what is the average length of time taken and the average cost involved of officials' time in his Department preparing ministerial briefs for oral parliamentary questions.

The time taken in preparing ministerial briefs for oral parliamentary questions is not routinely recorded in my Department although estimates would be made where there is a likelihood of exceeding the disproportionate cost threshold (currently £250). However, following an interdepartmental exercise in 1972 in which the Department participated an assessment was made of the average cost throughout all Departments of answering an oral question. This assessment was based on staff time, using average rates of pay and associated costs for the grades concerned, together with a share of the cost of parliamentary sections and any substantial non-staff costs such as computer usage. This assessed figure is regularly updated and currently stands at £99.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what decisions regarding the convention on the regulation of Antarctic mineral resource activities for the Antarctic have been agreed by Britain's representatives at the Santiago convention; and if he will make a statement.

The situation at the end of the 11th Antarctic treaty special consultative meeting with respect to CRAMRA is set out in paragraph 20 of the interim report of the meeting. I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 12 December, column 421–22, to the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) for the text.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received about the infringements of the human rights of the Romanian bishop, Laslo Tokes; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 14 December, c. 530]: Her Majesty's ambassador in Bucharest has spoken to Bishop Tokes to ascertain his safety and that of his family. Bishop Tokes confirmed that although some threats have been made, he is unharmed and the Romanian authorities are taking an active interest in ensuring his safety.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will bring forward proposals to end controls on local authorities' ability to borrow money to meet local needs;(2) if he will make it his policy to introduce proposals to replace existing controls on local authority borrowing powers with a statutory requirement to pay back loans from revenue over a minimum period;

No. Local authority capital expenditure which is mainly financed by borrowing amounts to a quarter of all public sector capital expenditure. Since the end of the last century, successive Governments have found it necessary to exercise some control over local authority capital expenditure and borrowing.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made to compile a central index of toxic sites; and when he expects such an index to be available.

The question of compilation of a national list of seriously contaminated and polluting sites was considered in the Government's response to the Select Committee on the Environment's first report on contaminated land. We concluded that this was not a practical possibility. However, we have taken powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to require local authorities to set up public registers of all land in their areas which, because of past or present uses, may be contaminated.We will consult widely on the scope of these registers and the methods to be used in compiling them. Depending on the outcome of consultations, we hope that authorities will be able to proceed with compilation of registers during 1992–93.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out in tabular form the number of houses and flats owned by charitable housing associations in each district or borough in Hertfordshire.

This is a matter for the Housing Corporation. I have therefore asked the corporation to respond to my hon. Friend direct.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make additional funding available to provide the homeless and others with special needs with move-on accommodation to relieve the pressure on existing high-care hostels.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning on Monday 17 December 1990, column 24, to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Hughes).

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the expenditure by local housing authorities on energy efficiency measures in homes since 1983.

The following figures show capital expenditure by English local authorities on:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the most recent information on the number of regional water companies that do not comply with EEC regulations on water quality.

All water companies already achieve most of the standards in the Water Quality Regulations, which incorporate the requirements of the EC drinking water directive. Where a standard is not consistently achieved at present, the company has been required to give an undertaking that it will carry out remedial action by the earliest possible date, taking practicalities into account. An up-to-date summary of the position will be given in the first annual report of the drinking water inspectorate, to be published next summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what measures he will implement to encourage local authorities to move towards a target of 50 per cent. recycling of domestic refuse where such treatment of waste is more costly that the traditional landfilling;(2) if it is proposed that under the Environmental Protection Act, municipal solid waste disposal costs will be compared with municipal solid waste recycling costs;(3) how the costs for the disposal of municipal solid wastes and recycling will be calculated; and what account will be taken of collection, transport and man hours;(4) which of the waste disposal authority or its waste collection authority in the event of collection authorities contracting directly with a waste recycler will be financially liable for the costs of an operation.

My Department will be consulting early next year about the new duty on waste disposal authorities to pay credits in respect of the costs of disposal of household waste avoided by recycling. We are currently developing a method for the calculation of credits. It will be up to each organisation which undertakes recycling to assess viability in the light of costs, benefits and credits available. We do not expect recycling to take place where it is economically and environmentally unviable.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how authorities' assets will be valued before being transferred to a local authority waste disposal contractor; and what liabilities will be attached to existing landfill sites as an ongoing financial responsibility for such local authority waste disposal contractors.

Advice on valuation of assets will be included in a draft circular giving advice on the new arrangements for waste disposal under the Environmental Protection Act and on local authority waste disposal companies. This draft circular should be available early in, the new year. Full liability for restoration and after-care costs of existing landfill sites will transfer with sites.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how duty of care responsibilities under the Environmental Protection Act will affect landfill sites currently operating, but with many years' capacity still open to them.

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 contains new measures whereby a licensee may not surrender his licence without the consent of the 'Waste Regulation Authority, and that consent may not be given unless the authority is satisfied that the condition of the land is unlikely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health. The licensee will therefore remain responsible for the monitoring of the land and any remedial action necessary until the authority accepts the surrender and issues a certificate of completion The licensee will need to ensure that the resources to enable him to meet these obligations are set aside during the active, revenue-earning, phase of the landfill. Licences already issued under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 will automatically become waste management licences when the relevant sections of the Environmental Protection Act are implemented, and they will be subject to the provisions of the new Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state the housing investment programme bids received, and the agreed level of programme, by his Department for each of the last 10 years.

The table compares local authorities' bids with the capital allocations, which provide part of the available resources to fund capital expenditure, and actual outturn.

Local authority housing capital expenditure: England: £ million
	Proposed programme	HIP allocation1	Gross expenditure outturn
1982–83	3,480	2,192	2,483
1983–84	3,560	2,233	3,176
1984–85	4,480	1,852	3,187
1985–86	4,870	1,605	2,802
1986–87	5,420	1,459	2,883
1987–88	6,040	1,400	3,151
1988–89	6,650	1,331	3,470
1989–90	6,330	1,095	34,442
1990–91	6,500	21,913	N.A.
1991–92	36,020	21,861	N.A.
1 For the years up to 1989–90 Housing Investment Programme allocations made by the Department relate to the borrowing approvals available to local authorities to finance their housing capital programmes. In addition capital expenditure could be

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements he has made for the enforcement of the general duties placed on water companies by sections 37 and 67 of the Water Act 1989 to provide water supply and sewerage in their areas.

These duties hitherto have been enforceable by my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales. Under a general authorisation given by my right hon. Friends, they are now enforceable by the Director General of Water Services, and he will deal with any complaint that a company has not fulfilled its statutory duties.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he proposes to publish details of the new fund to help finance voluntary organisations in the furtherance of policies set out in "This Common Inheritance," (Cm. 1200); and if he will make a statement.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he proposes to publish details of the new fund to help finance voluntary organisations in the furtherance of policies set out in "This Common Inheritance" (Cm. 1200); and if he will make a statement.

I am very pleased to announce that my Department has today issued invitations to voluntary groups to apply for project funding under the new environmental grant fund. The grant is available exclusively for projects which will help to further the policies set out in the White Paper "This Common Inheritance", published in September 1990.We are eager to use the new fund to support practical projects at the local level. We will particularly favour projects which show innovations or which involve new groups in environmental work. Funding will normally be in the form of a 50 per cent. contribution to the overall project cost with an unlimited proportion of this being available to meet capital costs. Projects can be funded for up to three years and will be closely monitored to assess their effectiveness.In order to bring the scheme quickly into operation, we have decided for this first year only to restrict applications to national and regional organisations. We will be discussing with the voluntary sector how the scheme might be extended for future years to target local groups directly.In this first year £650,000 is available. In 1993–94 when the fund is fully operational £1·5 million will be available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he proposes to take in regard to Leicester city council under part I of the Local Government Act 1988.

My right hon. Friend has today issued a direction under section 14 of the Local Government Act 1988 requiring Leicester city council to expose refuse collection work to competitive tendering again by 1 November 1991. He has taken this action because he was not satisfied with the response which Leicester city council made to the notice served on 11 September 1990 under section 13 of the Act.That notice set out the Secretary of State's view that Leicester city council had acted contrary to the requirement of section 7(7) of the Act (which is that, in reaching a decision to assign work to its own work force, an authority must not act in a manner having the effect or intended or likely to have the effect of restricting, distorting or preventing competition) in that, in assessing the cost of accepting a tender from an external contractor, it took account of certain fixed overhead costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he proposes to take in regard to Thurrock borough council under part I of the Local Government Act 1988.

My right hon. Friend has today issued a direction under section 14 of the Local Government Act 1988 requiring Thurrock borough council to expose street cleaning work to competitive tendering again by 1 November 1991. He has taken this action because he was not satisfied with the response which Thurrock borough council made to the notice served on 3 October 1990 under section 13 of the Act.That notice set out the Secretary of State's view that Thurrock borough council had acted contrary to the requirement of section 7(7) of the Act (which is that, in reaching a decision to assign work to its own work force, an authority must not act in a manner having the effect or intended or likely to have the effect of restricting, distorting or preventing competition) in that, in assessing the cost of accepting a tender from an external contractor, it took account of certain fixed overhead costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for discontinuation of the leasing by borough or district councils of private houses for temporary accommodation for homeless persons; what consultation he has had with boroughs principally affected; and what study he has made concerning the effects of implementing his proposal.

[pursuant to the reply, 18 December 1990, column 114–15]: The housing revenue account subsidy determinations for 1991–92 have been made today. They cover the assumptions the Government will make about rents and management and maintenance and other rules governing the calculation of each authority's subsidy entitlement. I am placing copies of the determinations in the Library.The determinations also confirm, with modifications, the new rules for subsidy on short-term leasing that were proposed in October. Local authorities have increasingly taken private houses and flats on short-term leases to provide temporary refuge for the homeless. The Government had not proposed to discontinue this. On the contrary, I want to ensure that the rules regulating councils' entitlement to subsidy on this activity leave them with the flexibility they need, and I have therefore had extensive consultations with local authorities and their representatives. In response to their views, I have had a fresh look at the rules proposed in October and am today announcing two modifications.The first is a proposal designed to help those authorities which are worried by the numbers of short-term leases approaching the end of their terms. To assist them with renewal or replacement, the rent they pay from 1 April next would be subsidisable up to a cash limit for each authority. The total national cost would be up to £25 million, to be found by a transfer from the estate action programme. I am putting this forward today as a proposal for consultation, and my Department is inviting responses from authorities by 19 January.The second modification (on which we have already consulted) recognises that short-term leases are not necessarily appropriate in the permanent housing account. They may be used for the same purpose as licensed accommodation and bed-and-breakfast provision, both of which are financed from the general fund with underlying assistance from revenue support grant. The Department is prepared to give authorities special directions to take named leases outside the housing account, and we are today telling authorities of the criteria that must be met if they wish to apply. Leases taken outside the housing account will benefit from the same rent rebate subsidy arrangements as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security will be introducing for rebates for tenants in bed-and-breakfast or licensed accommodation.On the subsidy allowances for management and maintenance expenditure, we are introducing a system that targets allowances on those authorities with the greatest problems in maintaining their estates. I have decided to introduce this targeting slightly more quickly than was proposed in October, through a larger redistribution of resources from authorities with the least needs to those in greatest need. As a result, about 40 rather than 20 authorities will receive higher increases in allowances. Overall the level of allowances will be increased in order to maintain them at this year's levels in real terms.For rent guidelines, my right hon. Friend confirms the proposals for an average rent increase of 2 per cent. above the allowance for inflation. This means an average increase of £1·85 over the guideline rents which applied this year ranging from £1·38 to £2·50 in individual councils. It is for each council to determine its actual rent level and how much to spend on management and maintenance of stock.My right hon. Friend also confirms the proposal to reduce the allowance for the rent lost on empty properties to a flat rate of 2 per cent. of dwellings.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement concerning his policy towards single, homeless people.

[holding answer 18 December 1990]: I refer the hon. and learned Member to the answer given yesterday by my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Dykes), Official Report, vol. 183, column 119.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new hostel beds have come into existence as a result of measures announced on 22 June.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given yesterday by my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Dykes) Official Report, vol. 183, column 119.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now announce the 1991–92 supplementary credit approvals for public airport companies and local authority airports.

My right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State noted in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Mr. Amos) on 26 November at column 270, that supplementary credit approvals totalling £87 million will be available for public airport companies and local authority airports for 1991–92. Taken with other resources which public airport companies expect to invest, the total will assist the airports concerned to provide facilities which they estimate could cost some £179 million in 1991–92.At this stage, we have agreed supplementary credit approvals totalling £70 million. The remainder will be issued as the year progresses. Major projects concerned include the continuation of work on phase 1 of terminal 2 at Manchester airport and joint venture projects with the private sector at Birmingham airport. Formal supplementary credit approvals for these and other projects will be issued to the local authorities shortly.The £87 million total of borrowing approvals for 1991–92 represents the second successive large increase, from £29 million in 1989–90 and £59 million in 1990–91. But these increases reflect the investment profile for phase 1 of Manchester airport's second terminal. Supplementary credit approvals will reduce substantially in the next two years and beyond, as that project is completed, and as the pressure on public sector spending continues.Local authority airports need to expand to meet a growing share of the demand for air travel, but to do so they will have to look increasingly to the private sector to take a stake in the success and the risk associated with particular projects.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many reported incidents have there been of people using British Rail fire extinguishers for solvent abuse for each of the last three years.

Her Majesty's railway inspectorate has no records of such incidents, which are not reportable by railway operators unless they result in personal injury or fatality on railway premises.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the enforcement procedures adopted by his Department relating to the transportation of (a) inflammable and (b) hazardous material by road.

Enforcement of the dangerous goods regulations is carried out by the Health and Safety Executive with the assistance of the police and the Department's traffic examiners. The main thrust of the Health and Safety Executive's inspection and enforcement policy is to consider and assess compliance during visits to employers and duty holders' premises. These visits are supplemented by roadside checks.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the current standards and regulations which apply to the transportation of (a) inflammable and (b) hazardous material by road.

The regulations, which cover all dangerous goods, are:

• The Dangerous Substances (Conveyance by Road in Road Tankers and Tank Containers) Regulations 1981.
• The Classification, Packaging and Labelling of Dangerous Substances Regulations 1984.
• The Road Traffic (Carriage of Dangerous Substances in Packages etc) Regulations 1986.
• The Road Traffic (Carriage of Explosives) Regulations 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will establish a national accident database for accidents involving the road transportation of hazardous and inflammable materials; how many such accidents have taken place within a 30-mile radius of Southampton in the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

The Health and Safety Executive maintains a database which contains information on those incidents reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. The numbers reported in HSE's area south, which covers Hampshire, Dorset, Berkshire and the Isle of Wight were:

	Number
1987–88	9
1988–89	12
1989–90	114
1 Provisional.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the schemes which are expressways as defined under the European agreement on main international traffic arteries.

The European agreement on main international traffic arteries defines three types of road: motorways, express roads and ordinary roads. The concept of the express road is not contained in English domestic law, but, in practice, there is no distinction between motorways and express roads as defined in the agreement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which of the recommendations of the Health and Safety Executive report of March 1989 into the Fengate industrial estate in Peterborough have been implemented; what additional resources have been made available to the Health and Safety Executive to undertake this matter; what additional arrangements have been made for the transportation of explosives; and if he will make a statement.

The Road Traffic (Carriage of Explosives) Regulations were made in July 1989. These regulations and the recommendations in the report are being reviewed by the Health and Safety Commission with industry and the fire services.The resource needs of the HSE are a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Employment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in descending order the London boroughs by proportion of highway in each borough with bus lanes.

The available information is given in the table. Boroughs in which there are no bus lanes are not listed.

Bus lanes in London boroughs: 1990
	Length of bus lanes (km)	Metres of bus lane per km of road
Camden	7·7	28
Islington	6·1	27
Lambeth	9·0	27
Southwark	6·5	19
Westminster	5·8	17
Hackney	4·3	17
Wandsworth	4·3	11
Tower Hamlets	2·4	11
Newham	3·0	8
Kensington and Chelsea	1·4	8
Haringey	2·4	7
Hammersmith and Fulham	1·5	7
Lewisham	2·5	6
Enfield	2·6	5
Richmond upon Thames	1·8	5
Croydon	2·5	4
Barking and Dagenham	1·0	3
Ealing	1·8	3
Waltham Forest	1·2	3
Barnet	1·7	2
Merton	0·6	2
Greenwich	0·6	1
Brent	0·6	1
Harrow	0·5	1
Hounslow	0·4	1
Redbridge	0·3	—
Kingston upon Thames	0·1	—
Bromley	0·2	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage the use of low-energy light bulbs in his Department's offices and other buildings.

Guidance on the use of low-energy light fittings has been issued throughout this Department and has already been applied in a number of its buildings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when his Department next intends to meet officials from Wembley stadium to discuss the safety of the pedestrian underpass to the underground station; and if he will make a statement.

The Department of Transport has no immediate plans to meet officials from Wembley statium. Several meetings have been held. The underpass is the responsibility of the London borough of Brent. We have provided in the 1991–92 local roads capital expenditure settlement, announced on 17 December, supplementary credit approval to enable the borough to fund a scheme to improve the underpass. I understand that Wembly plc is willing to contribute to the cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now publish the concession agreement recently signed in London on 29 October by the Minister for Public Transport and senior representatives of Laing, G. T. M. Entropeae, Barclay de Zoete Wedd, the Bank of America, and the shareholders of Severn River Crossing plc.

[holding answer 18 December 1990]: Copies of the concession agreement between my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State and Severn River Crossing plc concerning the provision of the second Severn bridge have today been placed in the House Library. Copies are also being made available to the appropriate local authorities.

To ask the Minister for the Arts (1) how he implements his superintendent powers over public libraries;(2) how he ensures the efficient operation of each public library authority as required by the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.

Statistics published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy which provide information on the public library service in England are monitored by my office, which collects supplementary information direct from the local authorities. I investigate any complaints about public library authorities through my professional library adviser. It is for the district auditor to satisfy himself that arrangements are in place within local authorities to secure value for money.In furtherance of my responsibilities to promote the improvement of the library service, I have produced two management tools on costing systems and performance indicators. A third, on objectives, will be published next year. In addition, I have awarded grants totalling £603,549 for 30 projects under my public library development incentive scheme. I also support research into public library provision leading to the publication of case studies and examples of good practice.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if there have been any items accepted in lieu of tax or allocated since an announcement was last made on the subject to the House.

Since the announcement made on 15 November at column 188, I am pleased to announce that a further offer has been accepted in principle. The offer is of a Sevres dinner service of some 350 pieces and a Louis XV bas d'armoire by Bernard Van Risenburgh and will satisfy £1·4 million tax. The acceptance of this offer will be made possible by a call on the reserve.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what progress is being made in establishing regional arts boards; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made earlier today.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service when he expects to be able to announce the result of the Cabinet Office Efficiency Unit's inquiry into the handling of ministerial correspondence with hon. Members; and if he will make a statement.

With the approval of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, the report of the efficiency scrutiny on ministerial correspondence is being made available to Members of Parliament and others today. Copies may be obtained from the Vote Office.An efficiency scrutiny was set up in July to review the methods and costs of handling ministerial correspondence, to identify good methods of operation and to make recommendations for adoption by all Departments. In carrying out it s work, the scrutiny team sought the views of Members of Parliament, Ministers and officials in Departments and members of the public.The task of Government Departments in dealing with correspondence is a very substantial one. Ministers respond to nearly 250,000 letters a year from Members of Parliament, and many more letters from the public receive official replies. The nature and volume of correspondence varies a great deal from Department to Department. Some have a heavy case load of letters which require detailed investigation of a constituent's case before a reply can be sent. A topical issue can stimulate with little warning huge influxes of letters with which Departments do not have the resources to deal and these add to the work load of Ministers and civil servants who are already busy preparing or implementing a policy. The scrutiny estimates that the cost of dealing with ministerial correspondence is of the order of £17·5 million per annum.Because Departments differ both in their organisation and in the nature and volume of their correspondence, the scrutiny does not recommend a single formula for dealing with letters, nor does it propose that uniform targets should be set, independently of the nature of each Departments' work, for the time taken to reply. The recommendations are essentially a menu of good practice, on which Departments will draw according to their particular circumstances. On this basis, the Government accept the report, which Departments will now consider with the aim of further improving their service to Members and their constituents, while making efficient use of available resources and providing better value for money.While recognising that Members of Parliament always have, and retain, the right of approaching Ministers directly, the report recommends that one important way of achieving a more efficient service is through greater decentralisation of correspondence on operational matters to agency chief executives and local offices, who have delegated responsibility for particular areas of work and can deal with Members' inquiries on day-to-day matters quickly and efficiently. The Government accept the recommendation that Members need better information on contact points, and proposes to extend future editions of the "List of Ministerial Responsibilities" to include agency chief executives and other key addresses.Other recommendations are designed to improve the way in which Departments manage correspondence and monitor their performance. They encourage more effective use of targets, and aim to increase Departments' awareness of the costs in dealing with correspondence, cutting out such factors as multiple handling and unnecessary retyping which add to costs and delay without improving the quality of replies. A need for more effective use of information technology is also identified. The report recommends that Departments consider making greater use of briefing notes for Members of Parliament to use in response to correspondence campaigns, and on other occasions when a large volume of letters is received on a single subject.Each Department will produce within three months an action plan for responding to the report.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service how many non-departmental bodies are currently in existence; and when the annual list of such bodies will be published.

On 1 April 1990, there were 1,539 public bodies. That is 16 fewer than last year and 628 fewer than in 1979. These bodies are listed in "Public Bodies 1990", published today. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.In the year to 31 March 1990, 67 bodies were abolished and 51 new bodies set up.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the United Kingdom manufacturing productivity figures for 1979, and the most recent year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Data on United Kingdom manufacturing productivity can be obtained from the CSO database, which is accessible from the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to reduce manning in the public sector; and if he will make a statement.

Future plans for manpower in the civil service and the armed forces were published in table 21.3.11 of chapter 21 of the 1990 public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 1021). The Government do not plan manpower in local authorities or public corporations, but outturn data for the whole of the public sector for the period 1978–79 to 1988–89 were provided in appendix D of the same chapter. Over that period, public sector manpower fell from 6,565,000 to 5,361,000, a reduction of 18.3 per cent.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the latest year for which figures are available what is the total (a) capital spending and (b) revenue spending for (i) local authorities, (ii) Government Departments and (iii) other bodies included in the public expenditure totals.

The latest analyses of public expenditure by economic category were published in the "Supplementary Analyses" chapter (chapter 21) of the 1990 public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 1021). Tables 21.3.5 and 21.4.7 give details of the components of current expenditure (pay, other expenditure on goods and services, subsidies and grants) and capital expenditure (net expenditure on assets, grants and lending and other financial transactions) for central Government's own expenditure and expenditure by local authorities respectively. Similar analyses of the other components of the public expenditure planning total are given in tables 21.4.1 (central Government support for local authorities), 21.5.5 (nationalised industries) and 21.5.12 (other public corporations). Updates of this information will be published in the statistical supplement to the autumn statement, the successor to the "Supplementary Analyses" chapter of the public expenditure White Paper, early in 1991.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress is being made on implementing the proposals in the Green Paper entitled "Friendly Societies: A New Framework".

Preparations for the proposed legislation are well in hand. The bulk of the instructions to counsel have been drafted and are today being sent to the Friendly Societies Liaison Committee and other interested parties for consultation. We also plan to consult on the draft clauses when they are available. A Bill will be brought forward in a future Session, when the parliamentary timetable permits.The draft instructions reflect a number of modifications to the proposals in the Green Paper, in the light of the responses received. Most are technical, but the main policy changes are:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what financial target he has set Her Majesty's Stationery Office for 1991.

I have today laid a further Treasury minute setting HMSO the financial target for 1991 of achieving a profit after interest in current cost accounting terms of £4 million. This compares with the target for 1990 of a profit after interest in current cost accounting terms of £2·9 million.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what further information his Department is seeking from the senior medical officer of the civil service occupational health service in relation to the benefit payable to Mrs. V. Chinnock of Merle Dene, Hunsdon road, Ivybridge, Devon, as a result of the injuries sustained by her husband in the royal dockyard in 1975; and if he will make a statement;(2) when he expects to finalise the award granted under the injury benefit provisions of the principal civil service pension scheme to Mrs. V. Chinnock of Merle Dene, Hunsdon road, Ivybridge, Devon, as a result of the injuries sustained by her husband in the royal dockyard in 1975;(3) when payment will begin of the benefit due to Mrs. V. Chinnock of Merle Dene, Hunsdon road, Ivybridge, Devon, as a result of the injuries sustained by her husband in the royal dockyard in 1975;(4) whether his pensions office has assessed the amount of benefit payable to Mrs. V. Chinnock of Merle Dene, Hunsdon road, Ivybridge, Devon, as set out in his letter of 22 August to the hon. Member for South Hams.

As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement explained in his letter of 22 August, Mrs. Chinnock's claim to an injury benefit award has been accepted. The award has now been finalised and will be put into payment very shortly, together with arrears due to her since her husband's death.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost to the Exchequer of allowing mortgage interest relief at the higher rate of income tax.

The cost of mortgage interest relief at a rate in excess of the basic rate of income tax in 1990–91 is provisionally estimated at £520 million. This estimate is based on the assumption that interest rates remain at their current levels.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total value of mortgage interest relief during 1988–89.

[holding answer 18 December 1990]: The total value of mortgage interest relief in 1988–89 is estimated as £5,400 million.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will show the total value of mortgage interest relief during 1989–90 by economic planning region.

[holding answer 18 December 1990]: Broad estimates, based on the regional distribution of mortgage interest relief recorded in the family expenditure survey for 1988 and 1989, are as follows:

Mortgage interest relief 1989–90
	£ million
Northern	320
Yorkshire and Humberside	470
North West	680
East Midlands	430
West Midlands	550
East Anglia	280
Greater London	1,000
Other South East	1,730
South West	660
Wales	230
Scotland	470
Northern Ireland	80
United Kingdom	6,900

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy that the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and other registered charities will remain zero-rated for VAT.

Charities as such are not zero-rated, but they benefit from various VAT reliefs on certain supplies they make and on certain goods and services they buy in, which are zero-rated by virtue of their intended use. The Government oppose any proposals for the single market which would further restrict the United Kingdom's ability to use zero rates. EC decisions in tax matters require the unanimous agreement of member states, and there is no question of any unwelcome proposals being forced upon us.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rates of duty are per centilitre of alcohol for (a) beer, (b) wine and (c) spirits.

The excise duty per centilitre of pure alcohol would be about 10·2p for a typical beer or table wine, arid 17·35p for spirits.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the yield to the Exchequer would be if the rate of duty for beer and wine were increased to that of spirits; by how much the price of a pint of beer and a bottle of wine would rise; and what would be the effect on the retail price index.

The extra yield to the Exchequer if the rate of duty per unit of alcohol on beer and wine were increased to that of spirits would be £1½ billion in 1991–92. The price of a typical pint of beer and a 75 cl bottle of table wine would rise by about 18p and 69p respectively. The impact effect on the retail price index would be to raise it by around 1 per cent. in total.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the threshold for the payment of higher rate income tax would be if it were restored to its 1988 level in real terms; and what the cost to the Exchequer would be of so restoring it.

It is estimated that the basic rate limit for 1990–91 would be £22,900 of taxable income it if were set at its 1988–89 level after allowing for the movement in the retail prices index between the two financial years. The direct revenue cost would be about £500 million in a full year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax write-off British banks have been allowed against expected non-repayment of third-world debt.

Estimates of the reduction in mainstream corporation tax receipts for provisions on doubtful sovereign debt are negligible for the years to 1985–86 inclusive, about £70 million for 1986–87, about £ ¼ billion for 1987–88, over £ ½ billion for 1988–89 and about £ ⅓ billion for 1989–90.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the reasons for his decision not to give to his Department responsibility for providing advice to governors and managers.

The Department has produced and supported a number of publications and training materials to help school governors, including a loose-leaf handbook supplied to all governors giving information about their responsibilities. Local education authorities also need to provide detailed information and training for governors, as required by the Education (No. 2) Act 1986. The Department encourages their efforts through the grants for education support and training programme, which will cover some £24 million of expenditure on governor support in the four years to 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish the latest available information on the resourcing of school libraries; and if he will make a statement.

Latest outturn data on local authority recurrent spending are from 1988–89. They do not separately identify total spending on school libraries. In that year spending on library books and on non-printed library materials was included within the £331 million of spending on books, equipment and materials in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in England. Spending on school librarians was included within the £304 million of spending on school support staff.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what funding has been made available to the National Association of Governors and Managers by his Department; and if it is his intention to provide a secretariat for the National Association of Governors and Managers.

The Department contributed £8,000 per annum in 1988–89 and 1989–90 towards the cost of improving NAGM's administration; up to £40,000 is available in the current year in support of longer-term restructuring to enable NAGM to become an effective national organisation. My right hon. and learned Friend will consider any further proposals which are based on a sound business plan designed to move the association as quickly as possible towards self-sufficiency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many representations he has received (a) for and (b) against key stage 4 of the national curriculum; and if he will make a statement.

None. It is not a question of being for or against key stage 4, but how all the objectives of the national curriculum for 14 to 16-year-old pupils can best be met within the study time available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set out the most recent estimate of the proportion of the potential school budget being delegated to schools in each local education authority in (a) inner London and (b) outer London.

Figures are as follows, taken from budget statements for 1990–91 published by local education authorities under section 42 of the Education Reform Act. The figures are applicable only for authorities with statutory schemes for the local management of schools. There are no figures for four outer London boroughs; three of these do not as yet have statutory LMS schemes in force (Croydon, Hillingdon and Newham). Waltham Forest has not yet published its section 42 budget statement. Westminster is currently the only inner London LEA with a statutory LMS scheme.

LEA	Proportion of the PSB1delegated to schools
Barnet	84·36
Havering	83·87
Brent	8·63
Sutton	83·44
Redbridge	82·71
Ealing	81·66
Hounslow	81·59
Harrow	81·52
Enfield	81·50
Bexley	81·33
Bromley	80·70
Richmond	79·98
Merton	79·79
Haringey	79·36
Kingston	78·46
Barking	77·98
Westminster	77·97

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he intends to give to local authorities about the supply of irradiated food in schools; and if he will make a statement.

No specific guidance on the use of irradiated food in schools is being issued. In common with all other catering establishments, local education authorities which choose to use irradiated products will be required so to inform consumers under the Food Labelling (Amendment) (Irradiated Food) Regulations 1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has identified any candidates within his Department for agency status under the "next steps" initiative.

Following a detailed feasibility study, I have identified pensions branch within my Department, located in Darlington, as a candidate for agency status.Agency status should enable pensions branch to operate with greater freedom and clearer responsibility towards specified targets and performance measures within an agreed framework of resources. It should increase the accountability of the managers within the branch and lead to improvements in the quality as well as the cost-effectiveness of the service provided to teachers and their employers.I have set in hand the recruitment through open competition of a new head of pensions branch, who will be appointed as the chief executive designate.A "next steps" unit has been set up within my Department to co-ordinate further work on the project, and the preparation of a draft agency document has been put in hand. If the final decision is that this part of my Department should become an agency, the aim would be to establish it not later than early 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the level of funding for universities and polytechnics in 1979 and 1989, respectively (a) as a percentage of gross domestic product, (b) in real terms and (c) in terms of resources per student at constant prices, together with the numbers of students, other than from overseas.

[holding answer 14 December 1990]: Consistent information in the form requested is not available for years prior to 1980–81. Public funding of universities in Great Britain from recurrent grant and home and EC student tuition fees and local authority expenditure on higher education (net of estimated overseas student fees and miscellaneous other income) in England have increased from £2,821 million in financial year 1980–81 to £2,968 million in 1988–89, both at 1989–90 prices, 0·7 per cent. and 0·6 per cent. of GDP respectively. Over that period, full-time equivalent home and EC student numbers increased from 469,200 to 578,900 and funding per student reflected efficiency gains by decreasing from £6,012 to £5,127, again at 1989–90 prices.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make inquiries of those European countries which have national training schemes for organisers of public firework displays with a view to setting up such a scheme in the United Kingdom.

To require organisers of public firework displays to be formally trained would discourage many smaller local displays which I want to encourage the public to attend on safety grounds. However, a large manufacturer of fireworks already offers a voluntary training scheme, which I would encourage organisers to attend.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to ensure that category 3 and 4 fireworks can be bought only from licensed outlets.

By voluntary agreement, category 4 fireworks are not sold through retail outlets. Also, my Department has asked the industry not to sell through retail outlets those category 3 fireworks which require a safe distance of a full 25 m because they are likely to be too powerful for the average back garden.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make a statement on the operation of the 1975 fireworks code; and if he has any plans to strengthen the voluntary agreement not to sell fireworks until three weeks before 5 November.

I am satisfied on the basis of the recent decline in the number of firework accidents that the existing fireworks code and the voluntary agreement on the period of retail sale of fireworks are proving to be adequate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many civil servants are currently employed (a) full time and (b) part time by his Department on (i) home defence planning, (ii) emergency planning, (iii) liaison with the NATO central supplies agency and (iv) work connected with the NATO industrial planning committee.

This work is shared between a group of seven staff in my Department. Three of these are also engaged on other duties and one works part time, making a total equivalent of five full-time staff.Much of the work of the NATO industrial planning committee concerns planning for the establishment and operation of the Central Supplies Agency, which would become operational only in times of crisis and war. The amount of staff time allocated to each subject varies with the work load, but currently it is approximately as follows:

	Percentage
Home Defence Planning	25
Civil Emergency Planning	35
Work connected with the NATO Industrial Planning Committee and the establishment and operation of the Central Supplies Agency	40

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the estimated cost in the current financial year and in 1991–92 of the programme of sectoral studies announced by his Department at the workshop on local authority essential needs in crisis and war, held on 4 September.

In this financial year we estimate spending £65,000 on the programme of sectoral studies. In view of the consistency of the findings of the studies completed so far, we concluded that doing further studies would not be worth while so we terminated the programme. Therefore, there will be no expenditure on the programme in 1991–92.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to improve standards in the marketing of credit.

The Government have over an extended period made known their view that there is a need for an improvement in credit marketing practices. They welcome the statements about the marketing and provision of credit in the draft code of banking practice and, in particular, the statement that banks and building societies will act responsibly and prudently in the marketing and advertising of credit. However, a code which applies only to banks and building societies cannot be a complete answer to the problem of irresponsible practices in the credit market. The consultation paper on the draft code acknowledges this.The Government have concluded that there is a need to tighten the legislation on consumer credit. The Department of Trade and Industry is today issuing a consultative document which gives details of proposals for new regulations under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and also for amending the Act itself. It is proposed to make four new sets of regulations under the Act.First, the Consumer Credit (Advertisements) Regulations 1989 are to be amended. The main changes will be to require advertisers to provide additional information in particular about the affordability of credit and the risks of variable interest rate agreements. In addition, advertisements for residential property loans which mention the availability of certain related services from or through the lender will need to include a statement that loans are available whether or not the related services are taken from or through the lender.Secondly, the Consumer Credit (Agreements) Regulations 1983 are to be amended. It is proposed that, with certain exceptions, regulated credit agreements will in future have to include the statement "Do not sign this agreement unless you are sure that you can afford the payments". In addition, advertisements for secured loans and foreign currency loans will have to include warnings about the special risks entailed in this type of borrowing.Thirdly, new regulations on the conduct of consumer credit business will require businesses licensed under the Consumer Credit Act to take precautions in the direct mailing of credit circulars to reduce the risk of such circulars going to minors or to people who do not wish to receive them. In addition, there will be a ban on making unsolicited increases in credit limits.The conduct of business regulations will also prohibit the use by licensed consumer credit businesses of negative options (and other techniques which rely on consumer inertia) to sell credit-related services. The decision to legislate on inertia selling was taken only after careful consideration of the proposals by the finance and insurance industries for a code of practice on the use of negative options to sell payment protection insurance. Whilst the code would have gone a considerable way to guard against the risk of consumers being induced to buy insurance which they did not really want, the Government consider it to be a matter of principle that consumers should not be charged for services which they have not positively and expressly requested.Fourthly, a new regulation on pre-agreement disclosure of information will require lenders under regulated credit agreements which are secured on property to explain to prospective borrowers the commitment entailed in variable interest rates.In addition to making these regulations, the Government intend, as soon as legislative time is available, to introduce a Bill to improve the protection provided by provisions in the Consumer Credit Act 1974 on sending credit circulars to minors and on cancellation rights as well as making the important deregulatory changes announced in the White Paper "Releasing Enterprise" in November 1988.Section 50 of the Act, which prohibits the sending of unsolicited credit circulars to minors, is to be made more effective. There have been a number of complaints from parents whose children have received credit circulars. Lenders and intermediaries who breach the prohibition can shelter behind the defence which section 50(2) provides for a person who has sent a circular to a minor if he can prove that he

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Monopolies Commission report on Northern Ireland Railways Ltd. will be published.

The report is published today. The commission found that Northern Ireland Railways was not pursuing any course of conduct which operated against the public interest.The commission recognised the dedication and resilience of Northern Ireland Railways' management team in maintaining services despite terrorism and hooliganism. While concluding that there was scope for improving efficiency and reducing costs it was impressed by the company's forward-looking investment programme and its lack of complacency in facing competition. The commission identified a number of areas where improvement was possible, in particular:

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which accountancy bodies have applied under the Companies Act 1989 for recognition as a supervisory body.

The following bodies have applied for recognition:

(i) The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales,

(ii) The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland,

(iii) The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland,

(iv) The Chartered Association of Certified Accountants,

(v) The Association of Authorised Public Accountants.

The Chartered Association of Certified Accountants has also applied for recognition of its professional qualification. As I announced in my reply of 30 October, at column 435, the Institutes of Chartered Accountants have already applied for recognition of their professional qualification.I have placed a copy of each application in the Library of the House. Certain material submitted in confidence has been excluded from the copy placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what inquiries have been received from the European Commission concerning the implementation by the United Kingdom of the 1985 EC product liability directive; what replies have been sent by his Department; and whether he will make a statement.

[holding answer 13 December 1990]: The EC Commission issued a reasoned opinion in July 1990 tinder article 169 of the EC treaty, setting out its concern over the way in which the United Kingdom has implemented the EC directive on product liability in part I of the Consumer Protection Act 1987. A full reply was sent in October 1990, and it is now for the Commission to decide whether to pursue the matter further.By mutual agreement, the Commission and all member states treat proceedings under article 169 as confidential. I am therefore afraid that I am unable to make available the details of the correspondence.

To ask the Secretary of State and Industry if he will list any opinion surveys conducted by, for or on behalf of his Department since 1 January 1985, giving the date and purpose of each survey.

[holding answer 17 December 1990]: The information is as follows:

Opinion survey	Date held
Public attitudes to biotechnology	August 1987
Awareness of single European internal market	April 1988
Attitudes to the labelling of fur products	May 1988
Attitudes of adults to the use of fireworks by themselves and children	October 1990

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the outcome of the Internal Market Council on 13 December.

[holding answer 17 December 1990]: I attended the Internal Market Council on 13 December, the last of the Italian presidency. A number of important measures were agreed.In particular, a common position was reached on the computer software directive, which will require member states to give copyright protection to computer programs. The compromise reached on reverse engineering (the term used to describe the process of finding out how a program works) provides that such processes will be allowed subject to certain conditions. This should make it possible to connect all components of a computer system, including those of different manufacturers, so that they can work together.In addition, there was political agreement on the weapons directive, which deals with the acquisition and possession of weapons (a formal adoption of a common position is likely before the end of the year); and agreement to a regulation to discourage the diversion of precursor chemicals to illicit manufacture of drugs.Common positions were also reached on two amendments to the directive on certain dangerous substances, restricting the marketing and use of cadmium (10th amendment) and ugilec 121 and 141 and DBBT (11th amendment). Subject only to a technical German reserve, a common position was also reached on an amendment to the machinery directive in order to include mobile lifting machinery.A total of six single market measures were agreed without further discussion, including a common position on the directive relating to spray suppression devices, and on the regulation allowing the use of TIR and ATA carnets as transit documents. The decision setting out mandatory testing and certification provisions within further Community technical harmonisation directives was also finally adopted.There was further discussion without agreement on a number of issues, notably the directive on the irradiation of food. No real progress was made, but the subject will be discussed again at future Councils.Internal Market Ministers discussed the Commission's report, required under article 8b of the treaty of Rome, on the progress made towards the completion of the internal market.The Commission also made a report on the importance for the single market of trans-European networks in telecommunications, transport, energy and training. A full debate is expected at February's Internal Market Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will discuss with the Securities and Investments Board the maintenance of registers of client accounts and approved auditors for client accounts.

[holding answer 18 December 1990]: This is a matter for the Securities and Investments Board. However, I understand that self-regulating organisations and recognised professional bodies hold details of the auditors of authorised firms and of firms authorised to hold client money.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if any companies in the Levitt Group were at any time holders of licences to trade in securities issued by this Department, or had applied for such licences.

[holding answer 18 December 1990]: No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps have been taken to ensure that the treatment of Cammell Laird shipyard conforms with the principles of the European Community's directive on aid to shipbuilding to ensure that the progress towards the full achievement of the internal market is carried out on an equal and equitable basis in respect of all Community yards.

[holding answer 18 December 1990]: The general question of Cammell Laird's ineligibility for intervention fund was explored in depth with the European Commission by the former Minister of State for Industry in October. The hon. Member for Birkenhead sought and received, on 5 December 1990, at column 297, at commitment that a further approach would be made to the Commission in respect of specific orders for which Cammell Laird was competing and for which the company requested intervention fund support. The particular order for which the company was then bidding has subsequently been placed with another yard which offered a different specification. We await a suitable further order on which to base a further approach to the Commission.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people were employed in Amber Valley in (a) 1979, (b) 1981, (c) 1987 and (d) 1990.

The most recent estimates of employment in parliamentary constituencies are from the September 1987 census of employment; the earliest are for September 1981. There were 29,300 employees in employment in the Amber Valley constituency in September 1981 and 34,300 in September 1987. The figures exclude the self-employed and members of HM forces.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what decision was taken by the Labour and Social Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on 26 November in respect of a European Year for Elderly People.

The 26 November meeting of the Social Affairs Council agreed the proposal for a European Year of Elderly People.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many of those currently in the United Kingdom as overseas domestic workers have work permits; and from which year of issue these date.

[holding answer 18 December 1990]: The information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many work permits for overseas workers have been issued in each year since 1970.

The number of work permit approvals for each year since 1970 are as follows:

	Main scheme	Training and work experience	Total
1970	66,470	7,549	74,019
1971	56,031	6,399	62,430
1972	46,987	5,712	52,699
1973	32,839	3,697	36,536
1974	33,045	2,903	35,948
1975	30,078	3,136	33,214