Written Answers

Written Answers To Questions

Monday 28 January 1991

Home Department

Magistrates Courts

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give an estimate of the cost of setting up and running the agency for administering the magistrates courts centrally, as suggested by his Department's scrutiny committee; and what are the comparisons with existing costs.

Coopers and Lybrand Deloitte was appointed last year to prepare such an assessment. Its report was completed in September and I refer the hon. Member to the copy that was placed in the Library at the time.

Police Searches

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Leicestershire on the circumstances surrounding the search of the home of the hon. Member for Leicester, East's constituent Mr. Peach, of 15 Rushey close, Leicester.

I understand from the chief constable of the Leicestershire constabulary that there is no record of a search being made of the home of Mr. Peach at the address given.

Women's Issues

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total annual cost of convening the ministerial group on women's issues.

I regret that this information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are on the secretariat of the ministerial group on women's issues.

At present servicing the ministerial group is part of the duty of five members of staff, the equivalent of three and a half full-time posts.

Prison Boilers

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total oil-fired boiler capacity within Her Majesty's prisons.

The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, in the year 1989–90, 41·6 per cent. of the total energy used in Her Majesty's prisons was derived from oil, representing 609,440 megawatt hours. Virtually all this would have been produced by oil-fired boilers.

Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964 with particular reference to the length of time people may be detained without trial; and if he will make a statement.

The Government have reviewed the 1964 Act in the light of recommendations made by the Butler committee on mentally abnormal offenders which reported in 1975. The Government recognise that it is desirable to amend the Act by providing for an examination by a court of the case against an accused person found unfit to plead. Under the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983, a person admitted to hospital following a finding of unfit to plead under the provisions of the 1964 Act may apply to a mental health review tribunal for his discharge in the first six months of his detention and at specified intervals thereafter.

Age Of Consent

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the age of consent in each European Community country for heterosexuals, male homosexuals and female homosexuals; and if he will say what consideration he is giving to the possibility of harmonising such laws within the European Community.

The information requested is not readily available and I will write to my hon. Friend. But the treaty of Rome authorises no harmonisation role for the European Community in this sort of area.

Television Licence Fee (Evasion)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women were committed to remand centres by individual name in 1989 and 1990 for the non-payment of fines for evasion of the television licence fee, detailing in each case the amount of the fine, the length of imprisonment and whether other offences of a similar or different nature were considered at the same time; and whether he will estimate the cost to public funds of imprisonment in each year.

The information requested is riot available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Broadcasting Ownership

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received following his announcement on 4 December 1990 about his proposed supplementary broadcasting ownership rules; and if he will make a statement.

I have received a number of representations from hon. Members and others about the proposals in my announcement on 4 December relating to dual ownership of Channel 3 licences. Some of those who wrote to me supported these proposals, but a number urged me to consider restricting co-ownership of licences for adjacent areas. I have now decided that, in addition to the proposals that I set out in that announcement, it will initially not be possible for a single person to control two licence areas that are contiguous. Two licence areas will be deemed to be contiguous if they are adjacent with a significant land border between them. This restriction will last only until the beginning of 1992. Between then and the end of 1993 all takeovers of Channel 3 licences will, by virtue of section 21 of the Broadcasting Act 1990, be prohibited unless they have the prior approval of the Independent Television Commission. Thereafter, it will be possible for a licensee to acquire a contiguous neighbour through takeover, provided that the two licences in question were not both in respect of areas designated as large.

Broadcasting (Sporting Events)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what list he has drawn up for the purposes of section 182 of the Broadcasting Act 1990.

Following consultation with broadcasters, the rights holders of the events concerned, the Sports Council and the Central Council of Physical Recreation, I have drawn up a list including 10 events. These are the same as the events included in the list drawn up for the purposes of section 14 of the Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984 which were set out in a written answer on 12 July 1985. They are:

(1) The Commonwealth Games when held in the United Kingdom.

(2) Cricket Test Matches involving England.

(3) The Derby horse race.

(4) The FIFA World Cup Finals.

(5) The FA Cup Final.

(6) The Grand National horse race.

(7) The Olympic Games.

(8) The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.

(9) The Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

(10) Additionally in Scotland, the Scottish FA Cup Final.

I am continuing to consult the interests concerned over possible changes to the list and will announce my conclusions in due course.

Bomb Scares

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice is given to police forces about how they should involve the owners and/or

Table 2
Strength by police division (at 31 December)
	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990
A Division
Police	479	452	488	490	509	497	504	491	490
Civilian	—	—	—	116	138	136	133	135	138
B Division
Police	378	361	369	375	385	386	386	397	392
Civilian	—	—	—	90	98	97	97	101	107
C Division
Police	378	364	380	380	378	386	388	383	392
Civilian	—	—	—	87	108	112	112	107	110
D Division
Police	453	448	454	453	443	438	456	446	455
Civilian	—	—	—	78	89	83	82	82	83
E Division
Police	281	283	284	286	285	299	300	294	298
Civilian	—	—	—	56	57	57	56	54	54

managers of (a) private property and (b) public property when searching for explosive material during a bomb scare.

[holding answer 24 January 1991]: Advice is given to police forces by the crime prevention centre at Stafford. However, the nature of the advice given by police forces will depend on local circumstances and needs. Crime prevention officers are attached to all forces and they will be glad to give advice to anyone who seeks it on the searching of buildings for explosive material during bomb scares.

Police Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable for the number of personnel employed by South Yorkshire police authority (a) in total and (b) for each division or equivalent, for each year since 1979, distinguishing civilian personnel separately.

The tables show the available information. No records were kept of the strength at divisional level before 1982 or of civilian staff strength at divisional level before 1985.

South Yorkshire Police
Table 1
Police and civilian strength (at 31 December)
	Police	Civilian	Total
1979	2,644	863	3,507
1980	2,842	891	3,733
1981	2,874	800	3,674
1982	2,875	768	3,643
1983	2,858	789	3,647
1984	2,873	871	3,744
1985	2,850	818	3,668
1986	2,846	939	3,785
1987	2,934	947	3,881
1988	2,941	977	3,918
1989	2,941	1,004	3,945
1990	2,981	1,020	4,001

	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990
F Division
Police	285	277	284	281	286	293	304	304	304
Civilian	—	—	—	54	62	60	63	65	64
Headquarters
Police	569	646	558	524	524	555	560	577	594
Civilian	—	—	—	335	387	402	434	460	464
Recruits in training	52	27	56	61	36	80	43	49	56

Attorney-General

Private Summons

To ask the Attorney-General what guidelines he has issued to the Treasury Solicitor on his appearance at magistrates courts for hearings relating to applications for private summons taken out against Government Ministers.

None. The Treasury Solicitor handles such matters in accordance with the ordinary arrangements for the representation of Government Ministers in relation to legal proceedings by or against them in an official capacity.

To ask the Attorney-General what was the cost to public funds of the appearance of the Treasury Solicitor at a hearing in Bath and Wansdyke magistrates court in 1990 relating to an application for a private summons taken out by Diana Francis and Joan Staines against the right hon. Member for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher).

The cost to public funds was £796·80.

Marital Rape

To ask the Attorney-General what powers are available to the prosecuting authorities where the anonymity of a victim of marital rape is prejudiced as a result of publication or broadcast of the name of the accused.

Under section 4 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976, as amended by section 158 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, after a person is accused of a rape offence it is an offence to publish or broadcast matter likely to lead members of the public to identify a woman as the complainant in relation to that accusation. The publication or broadcast of the name of a husband accused of raping his wife is likely in particular cases to lead to the identification of the complainant. The prohibition applies during the whole of the woman's lifetime, unless the courts make a specific direction to the contrary. It is a defence that the woman has given written consent for the matter to appear, but the defence is not available if any person has unreasonably interfered with her peace or comfort with intent to obtain the consent. The maximum penalty is a £2,000 fine.

Attendance Allowance

To ask the Attorney-General what was the average waiting time from the appeal being made against an attendance allowance decision and the appeal decision for the years 1988, 1989 and 1990.

The office of the social security commissioners does not record information on the average waiting times for decisions on appeals in relation to individual categories of benefit.

Prime Minister

Lithuania And Latvia

To ask the Prime Minister if he Will make direct representations to the President of the Soviet Union concerning recent actions by the Soviet Government in Lithuania and Latvia; and if he will make a statement.

We have made our concerns known very clearly to the Soviet authorities, both bilaterally and in conjunction with partners and allies. There should be no doubt of our condemnation of the actions of Soviet troops in Vilnius and Riga and their tragic consequences. We call urgently on the Soviet authorities to withdraw their troops and to negotiate seriously with the elected authorities in the Baltic states.

Lobby Reporters

To ask the Prime Minister if he will change the terms under which parliamentary lobby reporters are briefed by his press secretary so that information may be attributed to the Prime Minister's office in place of Government sources.

I have at present no plans to do so.

Saudi Arabia (Mail)

To ask the Prime Minister whether he will take steps to ensure that mail can be got through to United Kingdom civilians working in Saudi Arabia from their families, using military postal facilities if necessary and where possible.

In spite of delays caused by difficulties with air services, the Post Office is making every effort to operate the best possible service to Saudi Arabia and mail is getting through. The Ministry of Defence would be willing to consider what help it could provide, if this becomes necessary.

Royal Prerogative

To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will bring forward proposals to institute a system for notifying (a) Parliament and (b) the electorate when the royal prerogative has been exercised;(2) if he will make it his policy to introduce legislation to ensure that the authority of Parliament is required for

(a) the declaration or continuation of war and (b) other exercises of the royal prerogative;

(3) if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce ministerial responsibility to Parliament for the powers currently exercised by the royal prerogative.

[holding answer 25 January 1991]: No.

To ask the Prime Minister what arrangements exist for the Prime Minister to be notified when the royal prerogative is used.

[holding answer 25 January 1991]: With very few exceptions, the royal prerogative comprises powers that are now exercised by Ministers subject to the constitutional conventions.

Declaration Of War

To ask the Prime Minister (1) what would be the effects of an official declaration of war on the maintenance of an Iraqi diplomatic capability in the United Kingdom;(2) whether the United Kingdom is at war with Iraq;(3) what representations he has received concerning parliamentary consideration of the declaration of war.

[holding answer 25 January 1991]: The United Kingdom is not in a state of war with Iraq. British forces are engaged, together with the armed forces of Kuwait and other coalition partners, in hostilities against Iraq under the authority of the United Nations Security Council. The rules of international law applying in cases of armed conflict apply to these hostilities, notably the Geneva protocol of 1925 and the four Geneva conventions of 1949. We will observe our obligations under those treaties scrupulously and expect the Government of Iraq to do the same.

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

Advisory Companies

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley of 17 January, Official Report, column 571, if he will list the wide range of groups from which he seeks advice on presentational aspects of policy; which of them are paid and which unpaid; what are their terms of reference in each case; and if he will make a statement.

A complete list of all groups from which the FCO seeks advice could be compiled only at disproprtionate cost. The following are illustrative examples:

Mr. E. R. I. Allan OBE, is employed as a consultant to advise on British official participation in international exhibitions.

The British Atlantic Committee and Peace Through NATO advise on the presentation of defence and

Maintained school leavers in England Aggregation over 1987, 1988, 1989 Percentage of leavers with grades A-C at GCSE/O-level/CSE
	Modern foreign languages		Mathematics		English
Local education authority		rank		rank		rank
Barking	5·3	(95)	17·5	(93)	25·8	(95)
Barnet	25·8	(4)	44·5	(1)	50·5	(4)
Bexley	14·5	(47)	33·6	(16)	41·3	(32)
Brent	14·8	(44)	27·0	(63)	39·0	(44)
Bromley	18·1	(19)	33·1	(22)	43·8	(18)

disarmament issues. This advice is informal and unpaid although BAC and PTN do receive grant aid from the government.

Hariri Page were commissioned in 1990 to advise on methods of evaluating information work overseas, including market research techniques, targeting, training and reporting procedures.

Moon Communications has recently completed a consultancy on the management of FCO publications. This included the production of a design manual to ensure consistency of presentation, advice on specific publications and technical assistance on visual presentation.

Shandwick PLC have provided advice on an informal and unpaid basis on public and media response to the Gulf Crisis. Young and Rubicam have provided advice on public perceptions of the crisis on the same basis.

Latvia

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his recent meeting with the Soviet ambassador about the situation in Latvia.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs summoned the Soviet chargé on 21 January to underline our concern over the actions of Soviet troops in Riga on 20 January which resulted in a number of deaths. He again urged the Soviet authorities to withdraw their troops from the streets in the Baltic republics and to engage in serious negotiation with the democratically elected authorities in the republics.

Education And Science

Reading Standards

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what studies have been undertaken into the connection between standards of reading in primary schools and borrowing levels of books from public libraries; and if he will make a statement.

I am aware of no such studies.

Gcse

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the proportions of pupils gaining grades A to C in General Certificate of Secondary Education in (i) English, (ii) mathematics and (iii) a modern language in 1990, by rank order of education authority.

Information for 1990 is not yet available. The table gives information for leavers from maintained schools, for each local education authority, aggregated over the three years 1987–89.

	Modern foreign languages		Mathematics		English
Local education authority		rank		rank		rank
Croydon	14·3	(50)	26·8	(66)	39·5	(41)
Ealing	11·1	(82)	27·0	(62)	32·1	(79)
Enfield	18·8	(16)	33·3	(19)	42·1	(27)
Haringey	10·8	(84)	19·3	(91)	29·9	(89)
Harrow	18·1	(18)	41·0	(3)	55·2	(1)
Havering	12·7	(68)	29·7	(46)	39·3	(42)
Hillingdon	12·0	(73)	31·6	(32)	37·8	(54)
Hounslow	15·7	(38)	30·4	(42)	40·3	(39)
Kingston upon Thames	20·8	(9)	32·6	(27)	50·3	(5)
Merton	17·6	(24)	30·1	(44)	38·3	(50)
Newham	9·0	(92)	18·9	(92)	29·0	(91)
Redbridge	13·8	(54)	30·1	(45)	38·2	(51)
Richmond upon Thames	23·2	(6)	36·0	(10)	44·3	(15)
Sutton	29·1	(1)	43·7	(2)	50·3	(6)
Waltham Forest	9·7	(90)	16·2	(95)	26·2	(93)
Birmingham	12·2	(70)	21·2	(84)	32·9	(77)
Coventry	11·5	(79)	25·1	(72)	34·8	(67)
Dudley	16·0	(35)	28·0	(55)	36·8	(63)
Sandwell	8·1	(93)	16·5	(94)	26·1	(94)
Solihull	20·5	(10)	34·6	(13)	45·8	(11)
Walsall	14·0	(53)	24·2	(76)	34·8	(68)
Wolverhampton	11·6	(75)	20·8	(86)	32·5	(78)
Knowsley	3·9	(96)	14·4	(96)	18·9	(96)
Liverpool	10·8	(83)	20·6	(88)	31·2	(84)
St· Helens	13·5	(59)	26·9	(64)	33·1	(76)
Sefton	16·3	(34)	29·4	(48)	43·3	(20)
Wirral	17·1	(27)	29·6	(47)	40·8	(38)
Bolton	16·7	(30)	33·3	(18)	43·0	(23)
Bury	14·4	(49)	35·3	(12)	43·1	(22)
Manchester	9·9	(89)	20·1	(89)	28·3	(92)
Oldham	13·3	(64)	22·2	(82)	29·0	(90)
Rochdale	10·5	(85)	25·1	(73)	34·7	(69)
Salford	12·2	(72)	24·7	(75)	37·7	(56)
Stockport	16·9	(29)	33·1	(24)	46·9	(8)
Tameside	14·4	(48)	30·7	(39)	41·1	(34)
Trafford	26·1	(3)	35·8	(11)	44·1	(16)
Wigan	19·2	(15)	33·1	(23)	40·9	(36)
Barnsley	10·3	(86)	23·3	(77)	30·5	(87)
Doncaster	11·2	(80)	26·8	(65)	31·7	(81)
Rotherham	14·7	(45)	25·7	(70)	34·4	(70)
Sheffield	13·7	(57)	25·0	(74)	37·6	(57)
Bradford	13·4	(61)	20·8	(85)	31·3	(83)
Calderdale	13·2	(65)	22·8	(78)	34·2	(71)
Kirklees	17·6	(25)	27·2	(60)	37·8	(53)
Leeds	14·5	(46)	25·2	(71)	34·0	(75)
Wakefield	11·5	(78)	22·3	(81)	31·3	(82)
Gateshead	10·1	(78)	22·1	(83)	30·4	(88)
Newcastle upon Tyne	12·2	(69)	20·7	(87)	31·8	(80)
North Tyneside	13·7	(56)	28·0	(54)	39·7	(40)
South Tyneside	12·9	(67)	27·9	(57)	34·2	(72)
Sunderland	9·7	(91)	22·4	(79)	31·0	(85)
Inner London Education Authority	10·1	(88)	20·1	(90)	30·8	(86)
Avon	15·6	(39)	30·2	(43)	42·1	(26)
Befordshire	14·2	(51)	27·9	(56)	39·0	(45)
Berkshire	21·3	(7)	36·3	(9)	44·4	(14)
Buckinghamshire	26·8	(2)	39·1	(5)	49·2	(7)
Cambridgeshire	20·2	(12)	30·8	(37)	41·2	(33)
Cheshire	17·8	(21)	30·6	(40)	41·6	(30)
Cleveland	13·6	(58)	29·2	(51)	36·5	(65)
Cornwall¹	14·2	(52)	33·1	(21)	45·7	(13)
Cumbria	15·3	(41)	32·5	(29)	36·9	(62)
Derbyshire	13·4	(62)	28·8	(52)	36·9	(60)
Devon	13·3	(63)	29·3	(49)	39·2	(43)
Dorset	17·8	(22)	31·5	(33)	42·2	(25)
Durham	11·2	(81)	26·0	(69)	35·7	(66)
East Sussex	15·9	(36)	33·5	(17)	45·7	(12)
Essex	17·4	(26)	34·2	(14)	41·6	(28)
Gloucestershire	19·8	(13)	32·7	(26)	43·9	(17)
Hampshire	16·4	(32)	34·1	(15)	41·6	(29)
Hereford and Worcester	16·7	(31)	30·8	(36)	42·4	(24)
Hertfordshire	21·3	(8)	36·9	(7)	46·8	(9)
Humberside	13·8	(55)	26·7	(67)	34·1	(73)
Isle of Wight	7·2	(94)	22·3	(80)	34·0	(74)
Kent	18·0	(20)	32·5	(30)	41·0	(35)
Lancashire	15·9	(37)	30·5	(41)	38·3	(49)
Leicestershire	11·5	(77)	29·2	(50)	38·6	(47)
Lincolnshire	16·9	(28)	31·4	(34)	38·1	(52)

	Modern foreign languages		Mathematics		English
Local education authority		rank		rank		rank
Norfolk	13·4	(60)	32·5	(28)	37·8	(55)
North Yorkshire	23·8	(5)	36·6	(8)	45·9	(10)
Northamptonshire	11·6	(76)	26·5	(68)	36·9	(61)
Northumberland	15·1	(42)	32·8	(25)	41·6	(31)
Nottinghamshire	12·2	(71)	27·1	(61)	36·5	(64)
Oxfordshire	16·4	(33)	31·8	(31)	40·8	(37)
Shropshire	17·7	(23)	31·1	(35)	43·3	(21)
Somerset	15·5	(40)	30·7	(38)	38·5	(48)
Staffordshire	13·2	(66)	272	(59)	37·0	(59)
Suffolk	11·9	(74)	27·7	(58)	37·0	(58)
Surrey	19·8	(14)	39·6	(4)	52·9	(2)
Warwickshire	18·4	(17)	33·2	(20)	43·6	(19)
West Sussex	20·3	(11)	38·1	(6)	50·5	(3)
Wiltshire	14·8	(43)	28·7	(53)	38·7	(46)
ENGLAND	15·3		29·4		38·9
¹ Includes the Isles of Scilly.

Local Authority Borrowing

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the increase or decrease in local authority borrowing power for education for each local education authority for the next financial year in order of (a) cash magnitude and (b) as a percentage of last year's borrowing power.

LEA	Changes between 1990–91 and 1991–92 Annual Capital Guidelines in order of cash magnitude	LEA	Difference between 1990–91 and 1991–92 Annual Capital Guidelines in order of percentage change compared to 1990–91 Annual Capital Guidelines
	£000s		Percentage
Leeds	13,810	Leeds	539
Essex	8,315	Kingston	386
East Sussex	8,149	Kirklees	212
Kent	7,563	Hounslow	181
Derbyshire	6,678	Wolverhampton	164
Dudley	5,900	Dudley	164
Oldham	5,093	Gateshead	163
Lancashire	4,265	Oldham	149
Rochdale	3,994	Bromley	117
Hampshire	3,193	Lewisham	104
Wigan	3,085	Rochdale	98
Tower Hamlets	3,078	East Sussex	95
Newham	3,016	Croydon	88
Oxfordshire	2,850	Northumberland	81
Lincoln	2,629	Brent	80
Kirklees	2,581	Oxfordshire	76
Buckinghamshire	2,580	Wigan	70
Northampton	2,460	Westminster	64
Staffordshire	2,268	Sunderland	63
Suffolk	2,067	Essex	60
Durham	1,987	Buckinghamshire	57
Bromley	1,972	Newham	54
Surrey	1,820	Bury	54
Gateshead	1,758	Manchester	53
Cumbria	1,699	Ealing	53
Manchester	1,635	Bexley	52
Northumberland	1,583	Enfield	50
Nottinghamshire	1,451	Newcastle	49
Wolverhampton	1,285	Surrey	49
Lewisham	1,280	Stockport	48
Sunderland	1,188	Kent	47
Kingston	1,035	Derbyshire	46
Hounslow	977	Durham	40
Croydon	935	Northampton	40
Newcastle	768	Tower Hamlets	40
Enfield	655	Nottinghamshire	39
Bexley	649	Lincoln	36
Stockport	619	Staffordshire	36
Birmingham	589	Suffolk	26

The information requested is shown in the table. No conclusions should, however, be drawn from a comparison of annual capital guidelines received by an LEA in any two years. Our distribution of annual capital guidelines is made on the basis of the consistent application of objective criteria and each LEA's annual capital guidelines reflects the extent to which its plans for spending on schools and colleges match these criteria in the year in question.

LEA	Changes between 1990–91 and 1991–92 Annual Capital Guidelines in order of cash magnitude	LEA	Difference between 1990–91 and 1991–92 Annual Capital Guidelines in order of percentage change compared to 1990–91 Annual Capital Guidelines
	£000s		Percentage
Brent	546	Hampshire	24
Hereford and Worcestershire	526	Tameside	24
Ealing	473	Lancashire	23
North Yorkshire	470	Cumbria	21
Bury	440	Isle of Wight	18
Sutton	390	Barking	18
Isle of Wight	351	Hammersmith	18
Tameside	335	Sutton	13
Shropshire	263	Bolton	12
Westminster	244	North Yorkshire	11
Coventry	218	Coventry	11
Hammersmith	188	Calderdale	10
Calderdale	147	Warwickshire	9
Somerset	142	Hereford and Worcestershire	8
Warwickshire	137	Birmingham	6
Bolton	97	South Tyneside	5
South Tyneside	94	Shropshire	4
Barking	88	Walsall	3
Walsall	41	Somerset	3
Sefton	32	Sefton	1
Wirral	25	Wirral	1
City¹	2	Hertford	-0
Hertford	-2	Harrow	-2
Harrow	-17	West Sussex	-3
Islington	-69	Norfolk	-3
Barnet	-85	Bradford	-4
Norfolk	-100	Cornwall	-4
Haringey	-114	Islington	-6
West Sussex	-124	Humberside	-7
Solihull	-128	Solihull	-8
Hillingdon	-135	Barnet	-10
Isles of Stilly	-204	Cheshire	-10
Cornwall	-280	Haringey	-10
Kensington	-300	Cleveland	-11
Wandsworth	-304	Hillingdon	-12
Lambeth	-328	Salford	-12
Sandwell	-334	Avon	-13
Cleveland	-350	Kensington	-14
Bradford	-377	Bedfordshire	-18
Richmond	-435	Wandsworth	-18
Bedfordshire	-436	Gloucester	-19
Salford	-467	Sandwell	-20
Doncaster	-485	Wiltshire	-21
North Tyneside	-536	Lambeth	-22
Camden	-537	Hackney	-24
Rotherham	-550	Berkshire	-27
Cheshire	-557	Richmond	-31
Hackney	-613	Dorset	-32
Humberside	-633	Rotherham	-35
Avon	-707	Cambridge	-35
Redbridge	-825	Camden	-38
Knowsley	-907	Leicester	-38
Sheffield	-1,057	Devon	-41
Barnsley	-1,077	Liverpool	-41
Berkshire	-1,218	North Tyneside	-42
Dorset	-1,249	Sheffield	-44
Wiltshire	-1,283	Knowsley	44
Gloucester	-1,475	St. Helens	-44
St. Helens	-2,243	Waltham	-49
Merton	-2304	Redbridge	-52
Wakefield	-3119	Doncaster	-56
Greenwich	-3,173	Barnsley	-57
Waltham	-3,274	Wakefield	-58
Havering	-3,936	Trafford	-61
Liverpool	-3,979	Merton	-64
Southwark	-4,171	Havering	-67
Leicester	-4,232	Southwark	-77
Cambridge	-4,693	Greenwich	-82
Devon	-5,269	Isles of Stilly	-93
Trafford	-5,765
¹ CITY percentage not possible as 1990–91 ACG £0,000, 1991–92 ACG £2,000.

Note: It is important to note that Solihull, Cornwall and Tower Hamlets are to receive additional allocations as Supplementary Credit Approvals in 1991–92.

Solvent Abuse

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he has taken in schools to discourage children from the abuse of solvents and lighter fuels; and if he will make a statement.

The orders for national curriculum science and technology require that pupils should understand the risks associated with abuse of solvents, their effects on the human body and the need for their safe storage and use. More broadly, the National Curriculum Council has recommended that solvent and other substance misuse should be a key component in schools' health education programmes. The Department of Education and Science is supporting up to £7 million LEA expenditure in 1990–91 on preventive health education, including education about solvent abuse; and has contributed funding towards the production of a schools' video and other resources on this subject. The Department has also issued guidance to LEAs and schools on the safe handling of volatile substances.

Ba Fine Art Courses

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many undergraduate places were available on full-time BA fine art courses in each of the years 1979 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Information is not held centrally on the number of places which, within the total resources at their disposal, institutions decide to make available.

Discretionary Awards

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the value for each local education authority, in 1990 prices, of discretionary awards for the years 1979–80, 1984–85 and the latest available year.

The data requested are shown in the table.

£ thousands
Local education authority	1979–80	1984–85	1988–89
Barking	310	520	546
Barnet	1,412	1,039	493
Bexley	656	758	363
Brent	2,268	3,752	2,819
Bromley	905	714	805
Croydon	810	771	948
Ealing	1,518	943	1,425
Enfield	572	458	556
Haringey	85	1,158	²—
Harrow	742	537	518
Havering	806	537	514
Hillingdon	897	654	485
Hounslow	563	362	228
Kingston upon Thames	327	189	203
Merton	375	201	345
Newham	513	1,050	885
Redbridge	951	631	440
Richmond upon Thames	830	641	646
Sutton	663	386	307
Waltham Forest	760	593	753
ILEA	17,703	19,635	18,962
Birmingham	1,698	1,022	1,653
Coventry	972	1,077	650

Local education authority	1979–80	1984–85	1988–89
Dudley	509	551	¹—
Sandwell	658	849	1,010
Solihull	414	313	431
Walsall	585	366	1,202
Wolverhampton	377	479	384
Knowsley	959	1,528	1,111
Liverpool	2,213	2,914	2,689
St. Helens	295	312	744
Sefton	635	673	672
Wirral	1,035	1,643	1,445
Bolton	1,109	1,315	1,063
Bury	871	955	1,225
Manchester	2,764	2,026	²—
Oldham	390	782	838
Rochdale	619	414	732
Salford	972	1,160	780
Stockport	1,271	618	1,085
Tameside	468	437	360
Trafford	600	576	884
Wigan	814	225	415
Barnsley	611	739	1,229
Doncaster	788	865	778
Rotherham	¹—	323	116
Sheffield	1,661	2,600	4,178
Bradford	2,207	2,306	2,702
Calderdale	487	490	555
Kirklees	1,403	2,438	2,738
Leeds	1,852	1,881	2,999
Wakefield	457	987	²—
Gateshead	490	408	501
Newcastle upon Tyne	788	478	460
North Tyneside	905	1,158	1,049
South Tyneside	383	435	650
Sunderland	881	1,447	1,397
Isles of Scilly	50	1	1
Avon	2,479	3,732	5,228
Bedfordshire	1,245	1,021	1,380
Berkshire	1,451	2,060	2,748
Buckinghamshire	1,670	1,512	1,676
Cambridgeshire	1,514	1,576	1,560
Cheshire	2,967	4,196	4,600
Cleveland	1,321	2,577	3,397
Cornwall	1,765	508	2,316
Cumbria	1,479	2,197	3,013
Derbyshire	1,910	3,364	2,932
Devon	3,920	4,773	5,077
Dorset	2,278	3,222	4,014
Durham	728	1,487	1,693
East Sussex	3,387	1,094	1,265
Essex	12,925	4,519	4,190
Gloucestershire	2,569	2,999	2,857
Hampshire	6,662	4,836	6,172
Hereford and Worcester	1,559	1,554	1,310
Hertfordshire	3,589	3,212	3,694
Humberside	3,309	4,526	4,456
Isle of Wight	468	476	481
Kent	6,081	¹—	4,787
Lancashire	3,725	7,221	6,748
Leicestershire	2,276	4,696	5,691
Lincolnshire	1,254	2,401	2,340
Norfolk	3,433	2,754	2,693
North Yorkshire	3,924	6,747	4,572
Northamptonshire	1,720	1,352	1,085
Northumberland	1,185	1,473	591
Nottinghamshire	3,671	5,776	4,408
Oxfordshire	1,605	1,323	1,715
Shropshire	1,503	1,721	1,813
Somerset	1,133	961	1,460
Staffordshire	279	2,913	2,820
Suffolk	2,296	2,403	2,323

Local education authority	1979–80	1984–85	1988–89
Surrey	4,020	2,121	1,912
Warwickshire	1,795	1,661	1,487
West Susses	2,064	1,323	40
Wiltshire	1,962	2,397	1,919

Notes to table:

1. The data are based on ROI spending returns submitted by local authorities in England to the Department of the Environment.

2. ¹ denotes cases in which authorities did not enter a sum on their spending returns. ² denotes that data are not available because no spending return was received.

3. The data relate to spending on discretionary awards as currently categorised for the purpose of the spending returns, that is, spending on awards made under Section 1(6) or Section 2 of the Education Act 1962 (as amended) other than awards to 16–19 year olds.

4. The data have been repriced to 1990–91 prices using the current GDP deflators.

Teachers' Pay

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what assessments have been made by his Department of the likely impact on (a) teacher recruitment, (b) teacher retention and (c) wage rates of a decision by an individual local education authority to leave the national machinery for the determination of teachers' pay and conditions.

The Government believe that individual local education authorities should be free to determine the pay and conditions of their teachers locally, subject to approval by the Secretary of State of a proposal from the authority to that effect. I should expect such an authority to take account of local prospects for recruitment and retention in setting salary levels.

Charging Regulations

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to publish his Department's survey of the implications of the charging regulations under the Education Reform Act 1988; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to him on 21 November 1990, Official Report, column 117. The results of the survey will not now be available until February.

Marine Science And Technology

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to respond to the report of the co-ordinating committee for marine science and technology, published in 1990.

I have today sent a copy of the Government's response to the committee's chairman. I have arranged for copies of the response to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Overseas Development

Bangladesh

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's response to the report of the European Court of Auditors on European Community aid to Bangladesh; and what action will be taken by the United Kingdom as a result.

I have read with interest the European Court of Auditors' report on European Community aid Ito Bangladesh and the Commission's response to that report. A number of the criticisms contained in the ECA report reflect our own concerns about the need for improvements in the Commission's overall systems and practices. We shall pursue these concerns vigorously through the existing committee structure and in our bilateral contacts with the Commission.

Namibia

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support he is currently giving to new and expanding businesses and other job-creation schemes in Namibia.

At the request of the Namibian Government, we have focused our assistance initially on education and police training. We are now exploring with the Government of Namibia the scope for assistance to other sectors and, in doing so, will take careful account of the possibilities for employment creation. I shall discuss our aid to Namibia with members of her Government during my two-day visit this week, and on my return report to the House if progress has been made.

Afghanistan

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much aid Her Majesty's Government gave in 1989 and 1990 for (a) Afghan refugees in Pakistan and (b) humanitarian and development needs within Afghanistan; what plans he has for future aid; and what estimates he has of the total aid provided by international donors in 1989, 1990, and commitments for 1991, for the support of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

British aid for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and for humanitarian and development needs within Afghanistan, is provided through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Committee of the Red Cross and non-governmental organisations. Amounts provided in 1989 and 1990 are set out in the table. No decisions have yet been made on allocations for 1991.

	1989 £ million	¹1990 £ million
Afghan refugees in Pakistan	4·8	3·2
Humanitarian and developmental needs within Afghanistan	2·5	1·1
¹ estimate

Decisions on future aid will be made in the light to f developments in Afghanistan and the needs of the refugees.Details of total aid provided by international donors for Afghan refugees in Pakistan are not available. The following figures for 1989, the latest year for which figures are available, have been provided by the major international agencies:—

	1989 (US$Million)
UNHCR
In Pakistan	37·4
In Afghanistan	3·3

	1989 (US$Million)
Voluntary Repatriation Scheme	13·1
ICRC
For activities within Afghanistan and in Pakistan Swiss Francs (million)	38

National Finance

Bloodstock

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessments he has made of the implications for the bloodstock breeding industry of the changes to the administration of value added tax due to be introduced in January 1993; and if he will make a statement.

The Government are keenly aware of the problems which the bloodstock industry faces after 1992 due to the very low rates of VAT for bloodstock in France and Ireland. My right hon. Friend the then Paymaster General had discussions with representatives of the industry in November and I shall continue those discussions following a meeting which is to take place between the Horseracing Advisory Council and officials to consider possible solutions to the industry's perceived future difficulties.

Income Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what rise in income tax would be required to raise £3·6 million per day.

A yield of £3·6 million per day would be equivalent to an annual yield of about £1,300 million. Raising the basic rate of income tax by 1 p would yield about £2 billion in a full year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much income tax would have to be raised to cover expenditure of £1,008 million per calendar month.

A yield of £1,008 million per calendar month would be equivalent to an annual yield of about £12,100 million. Raising the basic rate of income tax by 6p would yield about £12,500 million in a full year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate for (a) the increase in revenue from income tax and (b) the increase in revenue from VAT, in the event of a 1p reduction in basic rate of income tax; and what is his estimate for the same tax revenues in the event of a 1p reduction in higher rate of income tax.

The direct effects of a 1p change in the basic rate of income tax and a 1p change in the higher rate of income tax are given in chapter 4 of the 1990 autumn statement (Cm 1311). Estimates of the wider effects of tax changes depend on the economic model used and on assumptions about other economic policies.

Personal Incomes

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the percentage of personal income taken by (a) income tax, (b) national insurance contributions, (c) domestic rates/community charge and (d) value added tax, in 1979 and 1990.

Figures are not yet available in respect of 1990 for these items. The percentages in 1979 and 1989 are given in the table:

As a percentage of total personal income
	1979	1989
Income tax	12·7	12·2
National insurance contributions	6·8	7·5
Domestic rates/community charge	2·1	2·7
Value added tax	4·1	5·4

Tax And Benefit Systems

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration he has given to the integration of the tax and benefit systems; and if he will make a statement.

This was discussed in chapter 6 of the 1986 Green Paper "The Reform of Personal Taxation" (Cmnd 9756). I cannot, however, anticipate my right hon. Friend's Budget statement.

Taxation

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate, on the same basis as the ready reckoner published in the autumn statement, the effect on a one-earner, two-child family of spending in 1991–92 the same sum on (a) a cut in the basic rate of income tax, (b) raising income tax thresholds above their indexed levels, (c) raising child benefit assuming (i) no change in income support and family credit rates and (ii) corresponding changes in income support and family credit rates.

[holding answer 21 January 1991]: The effects of the various changes to income tax and child benefit on a married man on average earnings with two children are given in the table. In a full year each of the changes would cost £1·95 billion, the cost of a 1p cut in the basic rate of income tax. Estimates are based on projections of the 1988–89 survey of personal incomes in line with forecasts in the autumn statement.

Increase in income after tax¹compared with indexation in 1991–92 for a married man²on average earnings³with two children
	£ per week
(a) 1p cut in basic rate	2·34
(b) Increase in main income tax allowance	1·68
(c) Increase in child benefit
(i) £6· 30 per week per child⁴	12·60
(ii) £3· 07 per week per child⁵	6·14
¹ Disregarding any change to entitlement to social security income-related benefits except in item (c) (ii).
² Assumed to have no reliefs and allowances other than the personal allowance and the married couple's allowance.
³ Average earnings assumed to be £334·1 per week.
⁴ Assuming no change in income support and family credit children's rates.
⁵ Assuming corresponding changes in income support and family credit children's rates.

Local Government Finance

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the Treasury's current assumptions on the level of local government current spending in England, Scotland and Wales in 1991–92, showing how much of this is financed by central Government grant, non-domestic rates and community charge, both gross and net of rebates, indicating the assumed default rate for community charge.

[holding answer 24 January 1991]: No assumptions have been made about the level of local authority current spending in 1991–92. But the Government have given an indication of the amount of revenue expenditure they believe would be appropriate for that year (total standard spending in England and Wales, and Government-supported expenditure in Scotland). The table shows this spending, together with the planned level of aggregate external finance, split into grant and non-domestic rate payments.

£ million
	England	Scotland	Wales
Total Standard Spending¹	39,000	5,447	2,433
Financed by:
—Aggregate External Finance	26,050	4,353	1,936
of which
Non-domestic rates	12,408	1,347	525
Grant	13,642	3,006	1,411
—Community charge (gross)	12,950	1,094	497
¹ Government Supported Expenditure in Scotland.

These calculations do not require any assumption about non-collection of the community charge. The latest estimate of the cost of community charge benefit in 1991–92 in Great Britain is just over £2 billion.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 17 January to the hon. Member for Gedling (Mr. Mitchell), Official Report, column 562, what are his estimates of the savings on community charge benefit in 1991–92 as a result of the introduction of the community charge reduction scheme.

[holding answer 24 January 1991]: Some £300 million.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will tabulate, giving the date and amount in each case, any funds which the Treasury has made available to lessen the impact of the community charge since its inception and the total cost to date.

[holding answer 21 January 1991]: Table 21.4.2 of the Government's expenditure plans 1990–91 to 1992–93 (Cm. 1021) details transitional grants in Great Britain which have been made available as part of the introduction of the new local government finance regime. Table 21.4.4 shows funding under the community charge benefit scheme. Updated tables are due to be published in early February in the supplement to the autumn statement. Announcements to date have been:

April 1989
Adjustment to income related benefits to assist community charge payments £500 (GB).
19 July 1989
Inner London education Grant 1990–91 £100 million.
Low rateable value areas grant 1990–91 £100 million.

11 October 1989
Low rateable value areas grant to be aggregated wit h Area protection grant from 1991–92 onwards. 1991–92 £400 million, 1992–93 £200 million, 1993–94 £85 million (England).
Transitional relief scheme for chargepayers, 1990–91 £300 million (England).
Community charge benefit for 1990–91 £2 billion.
Other income related benefits £0·5 billion.
6 November 1989
Transitional relief scheme (Wales) for 1990–91 £17·5 million.
13 November 1989
Additional grant of £30 million for Scotland 1990–91 to protect against withdrawal of the safety net.
19 July 1990
Transitional relief scheme for 1991–92 raised from £260 million to £570 million (England).
23 July 1990
Transitional relief (Wales) for 1991–92 and 1992–93 to be £20 million.
25 July 1990
Additional area protection grant (Scotland) for 1991–92 £15 million.
17 January 1991
Community charge reduction scheme. Additional funding 1991–92 of £1,200 million (England), £65 million (Scotland) and £42 million (Wales).

Media Advisory Service

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether the media advisory service is now operational;(2) what role the media advisory service has in liaising with the Ministry of Defence;(3) if he will list the members of the media advisory service;(4) how many personnel, and at what grade, are employed by the media advisory service;(5) what is the remit of the media advisory service; and under what guidelines does it operate;(6) if he will describe the role of the media advisory service in relation to reports from the Gulf.

[holding answer 25 January 1991]: The: media advisory service has not been activated during the: present Gulf conflict. Its remit is to provide advice to media editors in time of tension and war. Personnel are not. allocated to the media advisory service until it is activated. However, two members of staff of the Central Office of Information are engaged in the development of the service; one grade 5 and one senior executive officer.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Farm Bankruptcies

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farmers were declared bankrupt in each of the years 1979 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Figures for bankruptcies in England and Wales for the agricultural and horticultural sectors from 1979 to date are as follows:

	No. of bankruptcies	per centage of total bankruptcies
1979	55	1·7
1980	50	1·3
1981	70	1·5
1982	78	1·5
1983	98	1·5
1984	155	2·0
1985	136	2·1
1986	130	1·9
1987	172	2·4
1988	162	2·1
1989	142	1·7
¹1990	136	2·2
¹ first half.

Note: Figures from 1983 onwards were set out in 'Business Briefing' published by the Association of British Chambers of Commerce dated 9 November 1990. Previous figures were published in 'British Business' dated 29 April 1983 and 22 January 1982.

The balance sheet from British agriculture remains strong with liabilities representing less than a fifth of total assets.

Fisheries Regulations

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the disparity of fines for offences committed against fisheries regulations; and what plans he has for an overall sentencing framework for such offences.

The Department is currently reviewing the maximum level of fines for a number of fisheries offences to see whether they need increasing. The penalties imposed for fisheries offences within the maximum are a matter for the courts whose sentencing will take into account the circumstances of individual cases, including any factors pleaded in mitigation.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he plans to have with his EC counterparts on a coherent overall sentencing policy for offences committed against fishing regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Member states are responsible for the enforcement of EC fisheries regulations in their territories and fisheries limits and impose penalties for offences under national legislation.

Environmentally Friendly Farming

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he will be taking to ensure that any system of direct payments per hectare will achieve environmental goals as well as social ones.

As my right hon. Friend the Minister made clear in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth (Mr. Tredinnick) on 23 January, at column 247. we intend, in negotiations on any proposals for changes to the common agricultural policy, to argue for the closer integration of agricultural and environmental policies.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make representations to the EC Commission to ensure that the regulation EC COM(90)366 makes provision for member states compulsorily to introduce measures to ensure the continuation of environmentally friendly farming practices and the option of allowing the introduction of a scheme to reduce plant protection and fertilise inputs.

In line with our policies for designating environmentally and nitrate-sensitive areas, we favour an approach that permits the member states to target the provisions in EC(COM)366 at those areas where they would be likely to achieve the greatest environmental benefits.

Environment

City Grant Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total Government money awarded under the city grant scheme, breaking down the sum for each year and indicating how much was awarded by urban development corporations for each year; and how many jobs have been created under the city grant scheme.

The amounts of city grant approved in each financial year since the scheme's introduction in May 1988 are shown in the table. The approvals from my Department in total, including projects not yet completed are expected to provide over 21,600 jobs and those from the urban development corporations over 9,400.

Year	£ million¹	£ million²
1988–89	29·055	18·327
1989–90	72·636	11·0
³1990–91	42·330	25·485
Total	144·021	54·812
¹ City Grant from Department of the Environment.
² City Grant from the urban development corporations.
³ to date.

Local Authority Debt

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the non-metropolitan district councils in England, in ranking order of their indebtedness, in the last year for which figures are available, with the figures for their debt and their population.

I have today arranged for the available information to be placed in the Library.

Community Charge

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has received from Mid-Bedfordshire district council as to the number of those liable for community charge who have not yet received any demand for payment.

No information is collected centrally on the number of community charge demands sent out by local authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue his Department's community charge practice notes to all current members of valuation and community charge tribunals.

Each valuation and community charge tribunal has copies of the Department's practice notes on the community charge, which can be consulted by tribunal members if necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much it costs to administer the collection of 20 per cent. poll tax payments due from those on income support.

The total cost of collecting the community charge in the English local authorities is budgeted to be £413 million in 1990–91. Information is not available on the costs of administering the collection of community charges from those on income support.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many individuals have qualified for community charge transitional relief in Chelmsford in the current financial year to the latest available date.

Relief grant claim forms from the local authority indicate that 16,500 charge payers in Chelmsford have benefited from transitional relief this financial year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many individuals are liable to pay the community charge in Chelmsford in the current financial year;(2) how many individuals have not paid any community charge in Chelmsford in the current financial year to the latest available date.

Information reported by the local authority shows 117,000 people to be liable to make a payment in respect of a personal community charge by 31 December 1990; of these 4,000 had not made a payment.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing (i) the assumed poll tax he has assigned to each local authority for 1991–92 for the purposes of the community charge reduction scheme and (ii) the actual poll tax levied by each authority in 1990–91.

[holding answer 24 January 1991]: I am placing in the Library copies of a table showing the average personal community charge for each English authority in 1990–91 and the community charges which it is proposed should be used for calculating community charge reductions in 1991–92. In most cases the latter charges are derived from an authority's average personal community charge for 1990–91 adjusted to take account of the change in support per adult resulting from the replacement of the safety net and low rateable value areas grant by area protection grant. However, for a number of authorities such a calculation, if applied, would produce a charge less than the figure used as the basis of the calculation of transitional relief this year—the lower of an authority's 1990–91 actual and assumed personal community charges. In these cases, the 1990–91 figure for calculating transitional relief is to be used.In all cases if the figure derived in the way described above is greater than the personal community charge set by the relevant authority for the financial year beginning on 1 April 1991, we propose that the latter should be used for calculating entitlement to a community charge reduction.

Glass And Glazing Federation

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last met the Glass and Glazing Federation to discuss (a) quality of workmanship and possible warranty or guarantee schemes and (b) glazing companies which cannot repair unsatisfactory work because they have gone into liquidation; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has not met the Glass and Glazing Federation. However, my officials did so on 14 June 1989 to discuss these matters.

Environment And Development Conference

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will be consulting nongovernmental organisations and national bodies to assist in his preparations for the United Nations 1992 conference on environment and development.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply gave on 10 December to the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce), at column 266.

Asra Housing Association

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure that the London borough of Greenwich observes the conditions on nomination rights contained in his Department's consent of 27 November 1990 for the disposal of land at the rear of 52 to 86 Ceres road, SE18, to the ASRA (Greater London) Housing Association.

It is the responsibility of the district auditor to keep under review the legality of an authority's transactions.

Countryside Stewardship Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the nature conservation objectives of the countryside stewardship scheme; and what assessment he has made of the scheme's likely contribution to the fulfilment of international obligations under the EC Council directive on the conservation of wild birds—79/409/EEC—and the Berne convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats.

Details of the countryside stewardship scheme are being worked up by the Countryside Commission in conjunction with my Department, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Nature Conservancy Council. The scheme is intended to enhance and recreate valued English landscapes and wildlife habitats and to improve opportunities for people to appreciate and enjoy them. The commission is very aware of the need properly to integrate nature conservation considerations with those of landscape and access and involved the Nature Conservancy Council in the design of the scheme from its inception.The commission hopes to be in a position to start inviting applications to the scheme by late spring this year. Initially, countryside stewardship is likely to target chalk and limestone grasslands, heathland, waterside landscapes, coastal land and possibly some upland areas.

It is hoped that the scheme will, among other things, assist in conserving and recreating habitats of importance to species covered by the EC Council directive on the conservation of wild birds and the Berne convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats.

Recycling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his Department's criteria for recycling and recovery; and what is being done to encourage each, in light of forthcoming obligations outlined in the EC directive on waste management.

The Government's criteria for recycling and recovery are that they should take place where it makes environmental and economic sense to do so. Our policy and actions on these matters are set out in chapter 14 of the White Paper "This Common Inheritance"—CM 1200.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what provisions are required in contracts entered into by waste collection authorities and recyclers in respect of retention by a county council or waste disposal authority offering recycling facilities for the same materials.

None. Section 14(2) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 allows waste collection and disposal authorities to agree the extent to which the former may retain waste for re-use or reclamation. Section 48(2) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 will replace that provision with a permission for any waste collection authority to retain waste for the purpose of recycling unless the waste disposal authority has made arrangements with a contractor for recycling that waste and has served notice on the collection authority accordingly. Waste disposal authorities do not acquire more than a small proportion of household or commercial waste direct from the producers of the waste; most is handled first by the waste collection authority or a private waste collection company.

Bed-And-Breakfast Accommodation

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he received in response to his consultation paper about business rating and bed-and-breakfast accommodation; what was the balance of the various proposals outlined and submitted; and the details of the options he considered prior to his final decision.

We received 246 responses to the consultation paper. Taking into account the weight of responses from groups and bodies as opposed to individuals, the majority were in favour of an exemption for bed-and-breakfast operators who intended to offer accommodation in their own homes for up to six people. There was also majority support for the qualification that the exemption should apply only where use of the dwelling for bed and breakfast was subsidiary to its use as a residence. Besides the proposals set out in the consultation paper, we considered all options that were put to us in the responses.

Enterprise Zones

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table showing the cost to the Exchequer of enterprise zones in 1989–90 and the tax income forgone in 1989–90 for each enterprise zone.

[holding answer 22 January 1991]: Compensation for rate revenue forgone by local authorities is listed in the table. The latest available estimate for capital allowances is £70 million for 1987–88; this figure is only a broad indication based on several assumptions and cannot be split between individual enterprise zones.

Compensation for rates revenue forgone in 1989–90
Enterprise zone	£ million
England
Allerdale	0·168
Corby	4·623
Dudley	5·329
Glanford	0·229
Hartlepool	1·263
Isle of Dogs	16·776
Middlesbrough	1·106
North East Lancashire	2·424
North West Kent	4·764
Rotherham	2·656
Salford/Trafford	9·194
Scunthorpe	4·683
Speke	2·581
Telford	4·141
Tyneside	14·099
Wakefield	1·745
Wellingborough	1·831
Wales
Delyn	0·763
Milford Haven	0·756
Swansea	3·038
Scotland
Clydebank	¹2·747
Inverclyde	¹2·747
Invergordon	0·246
Tayside	1·902
Northern Ireland
Belfast	3·426
Londonderry	1·133
UNITED KINGDOM TOTAL	92·073
¹ Not available separately.

Planning Inquiries

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will institute procedures to ensure that in future in the event of any planning inquiry resulting from a call-in of a planning application where it is known or believed that both the applicant and the local planning authority are in support of the application, leading objectors to the application are given informal or formal notice of the date of the inquiry no later than the applicant and the local authority.

[holding answer 25 January 1991]: It is normal practice to give official written notification of the date for an inquiry into a called-in planning application to all interested parties at the same time. It is necessary, though, to contact the applicant and the local planning authority beforehand in order to agree a date and venue for the inquiry. My right hon. Friend has no plans to alter these arrangements.

Reservists (Community Charge)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the liability of reservists with regard to the poll tax during the period in which they are in the Gulf.

[holding answer 25 January 1991]: The advice issued to local authorities by my Department on 5 November 1990 about the community charge treatment of armed forces personnel serving in the Gulf indicated that it should also be applied to reservists. This would in general mean that their liability to the personal community charge should cease on the day that they are posted abroad and that no attempt to enforce payment of any sums outstanding in respect of their liability up to the date of posting should be made until their return. A copy of this advice has been placed in the Library of the House.

Ec Funding

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of European regional development fund grant received by area in Britain has gone to (a) finance debt redemption and (b) establish projects; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.I take it that the question relates to grants for local authority capital projects, which form the majority of ERDF grants in the United Kingdom,Section 63(4) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 requires local authorities in England and Wales in effect to apply capital receipts from the ERDF to debt redemption. The immediate effect of receipt is therefore a cash benefit.However, local authority capital programmes are, by virtue of ERDF grants, larger than they otherwise would be. Indirectly, therefore, ERDF grant finances additional capital expenditure.The issue raised by the hon. Member's question, seeking to distinguish between debt redemption and investment, does not therefore arise.

Transport

Civil Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of the delays to work on underground accommodation which resulted in an underspend on his Department's civil defence budget for 1989–90; when he expects the work to be completed; what is his current estimate of expected total overall expenditure on this work; and what is the purpose of the accommodation and the nature of the work to be carried out on it.

The funds granted were for building works and other services in existing underground accommodation which would be used, in crisis and war, by personnel concerned with supply and transport. The work was delayed pending a review of the use of the accommodation. A revised scheme is expected to be completed by 31 March 1991 at a total cost of £625,000.

Petrol Tankers

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many people are killed or injured each year as a result of accidents involving petrol tankers;(2) how many accidents occur each year involving petrol tankers.

I regret that the information requested is not available because the standard report form, STATS19, completed by the police for accidents involving personal injury does not identify petrol tankers as a specific category of vehicle.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals there are to require the strengthening and protection of petrol tankers to prevent rupture in the event of a road traffic accident.

None of which I am aware; all designs for petrol tankers must be approved by the Health and Safety Executive.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received about the safety of petrol tankers.

None in the last two years.

Hazardous Loads

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of accidents involving the rail transportation of hazardous and inflammable materials that have taken place within a 50-mile radius of Doncaster, for each of the last 10 years.

Her Majesty's railway inspectorate does not have information readily available in the form requested. The following figures, for the period 1984–89, are for train accidents occurring in eastern region within 50 miles of Doncaster in which it is possible to identify that dangerous or inflammable goods were carried on the train. Figures for incidents before 1984 are not available.

	Dangerous	Inflammable
1984	2	—
1985	—	1
1986	—	4
1987	—	1
1988	1	1
1989	—	—
1990	¹	¹
¹ Details not yet available.

Light Rapid Transport Systems

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the local authorities which have consulted his Department about undertaking feasibility studies and planning light rapid transport or metro systems.

Apart from the passenger transport executives in Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire, whose light rail projects are already under way, passenger transport executives and local authorities have been in touch with the Department about light rapid transit projects in a number of areas including the West Midlands, Leeds, Avon, Cleveland, Chester, Croydon, Guildford, Leicester, Nottingham, South Hampshire, Southampton and Stoke-on-Trent.

Mail Movements

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has carried out any environmental studies into the impact of the Post Office's recent decision to move short-distance mail by road instead of rail.

No. This was a commercial matter for the Post Office and British Rail.

Black Country Spine Road

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when an announcement is to be made on the results of the review of the black country spine road.

The report has not yet been received. When it is, it will be considered as quickly as possible.

Rail Investment

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make it his policy to evaluate the public service obligation grant to make it more specific in application, rail line by rail line; and if he will make a statement.

The current system of paying a single national public service obligation grant reflects the requirement on BR to maintain a service which is comparable generally with that existing on 1 April 1988. The day-to-day management of services and the precise level of service to be provided on individual lines is a matter for BR. The Department regularly considers whether this system is appropriate. However, there are no current plans to change it.

Rail Deaths

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether any inquiry will be conducted into the deaths of rail passengers who fell from InterCity trains when doors opened; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire, West (Mr. McLoughlin) on 5 December last, Hansard, Vol. 182, column 118. British Rail thoroughly investigates all incidents of this nature and makes its reports available to Her Majesty's railway inspectorate.

West Coast Main Line

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans have been put to him for improvement of the west coast main line; and if he will make a statement.

British Rail is continuing to develop plans for the west coast main line and has not yet put specific investment proposals to the Department.

Trains (Overbooking)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many representations he has received in the last year concerning the safety implications of overcrowding and double booking on British Rail trains; and if he will make a statement.

The Department of Transport received around 4,000 letters about British Rail in the last year, some of which raised questions about various aspects of overcrowding. Precise figures could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Employment

Training And Enterprise Councils

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how old the information is about local unemployment provided by the employment service to local TECs.

Questions on operational matters in the Employment Service executive agency are the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the agency's chief executive, to whom I have referred this question for reply.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the relationship and co-ordination between the employment service and local TECs.

The employment service and training and enterprise councils share a common purpose in helping local labour markets to run efficiently. It is vital that local employment service managers and individual TECs establish a relationship based on the closest possible co-operation to ensure that we maximise the contribution that each can make.Most TECs have been operating for only a short time. However, there are already many excellent examples of collaboration to build on which will support a fully co-ordinated approach to the delivery of Government employment, training and enterprise programmes and services at the local level. I know that the employment service is committed to helping TECs succeed and I am encouraged by the response by individual TECs and the very constructive dialogue which has emerged.The Government will continue to take a very keen interest in this important area.

Disability

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list recent measures to encourage blind people and the registered disabled to obtain skills or to find employment; and if he will make a statement.

People with disabilities, including visual handicaps, can register as disabled if they want to work and have a reasonable prospect of being able to obtain and keep work. Registration is open to unemployed people and to those in employment. My Department provides a wide range of services and schemes specifically designed to help people with disabilities to obtain training and to find and keep employment and develop within it. In addition, the general employment and training schemes and services provided by the Department often make special provision for people with disabilities. Some provision is specifically aimed at people with visual handicaps.My Department has recently undertaken a wide-ranging consultation exercise to obtain views on how to make the Department's services more effective for people with disabilities and we are presently considering responses. We are also consulting widely about the range of special schemes that we provide for people with disabilities, including special help for people who are visually handicapped and for people who are registered disabled.My right hon. and learned Friend announced in November that, from this April, unemployed people with disabilities will be given priority access to the Department's main employment and training programmes. These programmes include job clubs and the job interview guarantee scheme, both of which are to be expanded and have been shown to have considerable potential in helping people with disabilities.In October we launched a new symbol which can be used by employers to show publicly that they are committed to good practices and to encourage people with disabilities in seeking and keeping employment.

Self-Employed People

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the change, in numerical and percentage terms, in the number of self-employed people in (a) Scotland and (b) Great Britain between 1979 and the latest year for which figures are available.

The information is as follows:

Self-employed change between June 1979 and September 1990
	Actual (000's)	Percentage
Scotland	90	56·3
Great Britain	1,515	82·2

Earnings

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the average weekly earnings of full-time male employees in (a) Scotland and (b) Great Britain.

The information requested is published in table 12 of part A of the 1990 new earnings survey report. A copy of the report is in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the hourly rates of pay for (a) part-time female manual employees and (b) part-time female non-manual employees, in (i) Scotland and (ii) Great Britain.

Information on average gross hourly earnings for the groups specified is published in table 180 of part F of the 1990 new earnings survey report. A copy of the report is in the Library.

Equal Opportunities

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what support Her Majesty's Government are giving or planning to give to both sides of industry to enable them to take full advantage of a work force estimated to comprise 45 per cent. women by the year 2001.

The Government are firmly committed to the principle of equal opportunities for women and men and will continue to encourage both sides of industry, through education and training, to do all they can to help women reach their full potential. Employers are being urged to adopt family-friendly policies to attract and retain the women they will need.

Training

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list recent measures taken by him to encourage industry to reinvest in training; and if he will make a statement.

Many of our policies on training are designed to encourage effective investment by employers in training. The establishment of training and enterprise councils in England and Wales, and local enterprise companies in Scotland, has put employers in the lead in transforming attitudes towards training and enterprise locally. TECs and LECs are developing new approaches to encouraging employers to invest more effectively in training. TECs have recently been given new freedoms to use their substantial public resources more flexibly to this end. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State has also launched "Investors in People", a new standard for effective investment in skills by employers.These and other measures will reinforce the increasing commitment by employers to training, demonstrated by the substantial growth in recent years in the number of employees receiving training shown by the labour force survey.

Job Interviews

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make it his policy to amend the rules for covering the cost of the unemployed travelling for job interviews to take account of seasonal jobs lasting less than 12 months.

The travel-to-interview scheme aims to secure permanent jobs for unemployed people by improving the match, in the economy, between labour supply and demand, encouraging unemployed people to apply for jobs beyond daily travelling distance which they would not otherwise have considered. It is through focusing the scheme on permanent jobs that I believe the greatest impact can be obtained from the resources available and I do not therefore think it right to change the rules so as to bring seasonal jobs into scope.

Braille

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many braille terminals and printers for personal computers which can be operated on a stand-alone basis or linked as work stations to larger stations there are in his Department.

[holding answer 22 January 1991]: My Department devolves much responsibility for purchasing equipment to individual managers. Comprehensive records are not kept centrally, so a definitive reply could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I can provide the following information.There are three braille terminals and four braille printers for personal computers which can be operated on a stand-alone basis or linked to larger systems. In addition, there are at least 14 personal computers with attachments, such as speech synthesisers, which facilitate their use by visually handicapped staff.My Department also provides other specialised equipment for use by visually handicapped staff but which does not involve the use of personal computers. This equipment includes devices for producing braille print.

Trade And Industry

Ec Funding

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish in full the areas of Britain that are classified as (a) objective 1, (b) objective 2 and (c) objective 5b, as shown in the allocation of European regional development fund money; and if he will make a statement.

The areas of the United Kingdom designated for objectives 1, 2 and 5(b) of the European Community structural funds are as follows:

Objective 1

Northern Ireland.

Objective 2

The Assisted Areas of Great Britain, except those designated for Objective 5(b) and the following travel-to-work areas (TTWAs)—Birmingham (part), Bridgend (part), Cardiff (part) Cinderford and Ross-onWye, Corby, Coventry and Hinckley (part), Dudley and Sandwell (part), Kidderminster, Sheffield (part) and Whitby.

The remainder of Greater Manchester; Nottingham City (UPA); Midlothian Local Authority District (LAD) and part of East Lothian LAD; and the following TTWAs: Alnwick and Amble, Alfreton and Ashfield (part), Burnley, Burton on Trent (part), Castleford and Pontefract, Chesterfield, Goole and Selby (part), Mansfield, Pendle, Retford, Stirling (part), Wakefield and Dewsbury, Whitehaven and Worksop.

Objective 5(b)

The Highlands and Islands Development Board area; The intermediate areas of Galloway, comprising Stranraer, Newton Stewart and Stewartry TTWAs; The counties of Dyfed, Powys and Gwynedd, excluding the assisted areas adjacent to West Glamorgan and Gwent—which are designated for Objective 2—and the part of the Conwy and Colwyn TTWA in Gwynedd;

The assisted areas of Devon and Cornwall.

The Commission is understood to be considering whether to review the objective 2 list, pursuant to regulation (EEC) No. 2052/88, article 9(6). The Government believe that there should be no changes to the list at present.

Office Furniture

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (I) why his Department has awarded its new Buckinham Palace road offices' furniture contract to a manufacturer outside the United Kingdom;(2) what are his criteria for the awarding of office furniture contracts within his Department.

My Department is concerned to buy goods and services which meet its specifications at the best price. In view of our treaty commitments to the EC and GATT, the country of origin could not be of primary concern in the assessment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the present economic situation in the office furniture manufacturing and supply industry.

In recent years the office furniture manufacturing industry has expanded strongly. The performance of the industry in future will be influenced both by developments in the economy generally and by the extent to which it meets the needs of its customers.

Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department collects any statistics regarding the number of claims made by local authorities on behalf of their residents against Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd., and the outcome of such claims.

No. The return to my Department identifies the number of claims by class of business, but they are not analysed between types of policyholder.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he collects statistics about premium payments from local authorities to Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd.

No. The returns to my Department do not identify the source of premium payments.

Film Industry

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is Her Majesty's Government's policy for encouraging the film industry in the United Kingdom.

The Government provide annual support including £2 million for British Screen Finance Ltd., £1·75 million for the national film and television school and £75,000 for the Scottish production fund and are setting up the European co-production fund, with £5 million over the next three financial years. We also support the British Film Institute, the Scottish Film Council, the Arts Council's film activities in Northern Ireland and training. The Government participate in the European Community's EDIA programme and the audio-visual EUREKA programme.

Home Accident Surveillance System

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to publish the annual report on the home accident surveillance system.

The annual report for 1988 has been published and I am placing copies in the Library of the House.

Engineering Steel Exports

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what figures he has available for the latest period for engineering steel exports; and what were the comparable figures one year previously.

[holding answer 25 January 1991]: "Engineering steel" has no precise definition within United Kingdom product classifications. It has been approximated in the table by the tariff codes 72.13–72.15, 72.28.30 and 72.28.60:

Engineering Steel Exports
	Tonnes '000s	£ million
January to November 1989	1,012	302
January to November 1990	1,231	376
Increase (per cent.)	21·6	24·6

British Technology Group

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list for each year since 1979 (a) the profits of British Technology Group and (b) the returns to the Exchequer from (i) profits, (ii) sales and (iii) levies.

[holding answer 25 January 1991]: The profits before tax and the returns to the Exchequer from the National Enterprise Board and the National Research Development Corporation are shown in the tables.

National research development corporation
Profits before tax and amounts paid to Her Majesty's Government
£ millions
	Profit before tax	Dividends	Tax paid
1979	12·92	—	3·55
1980	11·85	2·00	5·25
1981	8·42	—	1·71
1982	10·39	—	4·45
1983	2·33	—	3·98
1984	5·18	—	0·93
1985	7·82	2·00	2·16
1986	7·54	2·00	4·80
1987	3·40	2·89	0·89
1988	6·22	1·00	0·62
1989	7·53	7·92	1·70
1990	9·51	2·61	2·27

Note: The 1989 dividend figure includes a special payment of £6 million made under direction from the Secretary of State.

National Research Development Corporation
Value of shares and loans in private companies held at 31 March 1990
£ thousands
	Cost on acquisition			Current book value
Company	Shares	Loans	Total	Shares	Loans	Total
Agricultural Genetic Eng. Ltd.	3,755	0	3,755	3,755	0	3,755
Polysystems Ltd.	0	656	656	0	0	0
EFI Materials Ltd.	285	0	285	0	0	0
York Ltd.	293	0	293	293	0	293
Deductive Systems Ltd.	124	0	124	0	0	0
Ferranti Creditphone Ltd.	1,341	0	1,341	1,341	0	1,341
COTAG International Ltd.	50	0	50	0	0	0
XTEC Ltd.	140	0	140	0	0	0
Lynx Group Ltd.	4	0	4	4	0	4
International Business Software Ltd.	201	194	395	201	194	395
Laser Monitoring Systems Ltd.	21	0	21	11	0	11
Sindex Speech Technology Ltd.	75	5	80	0	0	0
Prosys Ltd.	500	0	500	500	0	500
World Press Centre (London) Ltd.	125	0	125	125	0	125
Time & Data Systems Ltd.	40	0	40	40	0	40
Defense Technology Enterprises Ltd.	102	224	326	2	0	2
PERCOM Ltd.	100	0	100	100	0	100
Tangram CAE Ltd.	87	0	87	0	0	0
Straflo Ltd.	14	0	14	0	0	0
Thermal Conversion UK Ltd.	378	115	493	0	0	0
Mupor Ltd.	10	0	10	0	0	0
Biomedical Sensors Ltd.	0	225	225	0	125	125
Torotrak Holdings Ltd.	380	2,177	2,557	127	1,049	1,176
University of Warwick	0	50	50	0	50	50
Hovercraft Development Ltd.	153	0	153	153	0	153
Future Group Ltd.	600	0	600	0	0	0

National Enterprise Board
Profits before Tax and Amounts Paid to HMG
£ millions
	Profit before Tax	Interest and Dividends to HMG	Tax Paid	Net (payments to) Receipts from HMG
1979	(9·76)	30·00	0·83	253·21
1980	1·52	12·13	0·47	¹(10·51)
1981	(59·09)	2·85	2·54	¹(1,263·58)
1982	3·89	0·32	0·08	3·03
1983	0·23	0·17	0·43	32·83
1985	51·97	0·18	0·40	(166·45)
1986	5·18	0·00	5·76	(30·00)
1987	4·64	0·00	0·39	(34·04)
1988	5·68	²6·50	2·82	0·00
1989	0·59	²2·00	1·26	0·00
1990	1·23	0·00	0·06	0·00
¹ Excludes £17·4 million written off under sec. 3(i) Industry Act 1981.
² These items are dividends paid on the Board's PDC.

Notes:

1. The financial year end for the Board was changed from the 31 December to the 31 March in 1985. The figures for 1985 are therefore for a 15-month period. All other figures are for 12-month periods ending on 31 December until 1983 and on 31 March thereafter.

2. The last column Titled "Net (Payments to) receipts from HMG" are the net movements on Public Divident Capital (PDC) and Loans from the National Loans Fund (NLF). By 31 March 1987 the NEB had repaid all but £4,775—50 of its "PDC" and "NLF" funding.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list all shares held by British Technology Group in private companies and (a) their original value when acquired and (b) their current value.

[holding answer 25 January 1991]: The value of shares held and loans made by the National Development Corporation in private companies at 31 March 1990 are shown in the table. The National Enterprise Board's one live investment is 100 per cent. of the shares of Oakwood Loan Finance Ltd. which cost 1·5 million and are currently held at that value.

	Cost on acquisition			Current book value
Company	Shares	Loans	Total	Shares	Loans	Total
FBM Carbon Ltd.	55	0	55	0	0	0
INOTEC Ltd.	26	0	26	0	0	0
	8,859	3,645	12,505	6,651	1,418	8,069

Wales

Corlan Housing Association

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to make a statement on the housing association consultancy and advisory service report into the causes of the collapse of the Corlan housing association.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 17 December.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will discuss with the chairman of Tai Cymru the housing association consultancy and advisory service report into the collapse of the Corlan housing association and Tai Cymru's approval under section 9 of the Housing Act 1980 of Corlan's acquisition of land from Helical Bar Ltd. in 1988–89;(2) if he will discuss with the chairman of Cardiff Bay development corporation his role in the financial collapse of the Corlan housing association.

I have not discussed these matters with the chairmen and I assume that the hon. Gentleman is not seeking to ascribe responsibility for the financial collapse of Corlan to the chairman of the CBDC. The Department will naturally be consulting Housing for Wales and Cardiff Bay development corporation before we make a statement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether he has issued any new guidelines to Tai Cymru on the method of monitoring land acquisitions and disposals by Welsh housing associations under section 9 of the Housing Act 1980;(2) what representations he has had from housing associations regarding the system of monitoring by Tai Cymru of land acquisitions and disposals in Wales under section 9 of the Housing Act 1980;(3) if he has discussed with the chairman of Tai Cymru the reasons for its approval under section 9 of the acquisition of land by Corlan housing association from Helical Bar Ltd., in 1988–89;(4) what consultations he has had with the chairman of Tai Cymru regarding the court injunction it applied for against the HTV Wales "This Week" programme on the collapse of the Corlan housing association.

I have had no such discussions. Housing associations do not require the consent of Housing for Wales to acquire land where they do so without the benefit of housing association grant. Section 9 of the Housing Act 1980 refers to a secure tenant's right to mortgage under the right-to-buy provisions. The hon. Gentleman presumably intends to refer to section 9 of the Housing Associations Act 1985: the consent of Housing for Wales is required to any disposition of land by a registered housing association. Taking out a mortgage on land constitutes a disposition.

I understand that the Corlan housing association entered into a contract to buy the land referred to in November 1989. The association was under no legal obligation to seek Housing for Wales's approval of this acquisition and did not do so. At the end of January 1990 the association applied to Housing for Wales for section 9 consent to take out a mortgage on the land it had already purchased.

I have received no representations from housing associations relating to the granting of consents by Housing for Wales for the disposition of land under section 9 of the Housing Associations Act 1985. In May 1990 Housing for Wales substantially revised its internal procedures for handling those applications for section 9 consent that do not form part of an application for housing association grant. No new guidelines have been issued to Housing for Wales in this matter. As to the future, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 17 December.

Housing for Wales was not a party to the injunction to which the hon. Gentleman refers.

Lowland Farmers

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he proposes to take in order to assist lowland farmers in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

I recognise the importance of lowland farmers in the structure of Welsh agriculture. I will continue to seek to ensure that these farmers, along with others, are able to compete effectively and on equal terms with their counterparts elsewhere in the Community.

Beef Sector

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many beef cows there are in Wales; what were the corresponding figures for the last five years; and if he will make a statement about future prospects for the beef sector.

The information is as follows:

Number of beef cows in Wales at June:
Year	Number
1990	203,912
1989	194,266
1988	182,267
1987	178,769
1986	172,931
1985	174,586

Note: Figures are for both main and minor holdings.

The beef market continues to be underpinned by the special intervention arrangements at a cost of some £8 million a week currently; the suckler cow premium has been extended to include small milk producers, and producers in the less-favoured areas will benefit from the increase in the rate for 1991 which is at the maximum level permitted by the EC; and beef producers will also continue to benefit from the higher rate of beef special premium following the green pound devaluation agreed at last year's price-fixing.

Steel Industry (Job Losses)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many jobs were lost in the steel industry in Wales between 1979 and 1984.

Comprehensive information detailing separately the number of jobs lost or created in the industry are not available. Combined data from the British Steel Corporation and the Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau show that there were 55,000 jobs in the steel industry in Wales at the end of December 1979. In 1984 the figure was 22,000.

The Arts

Greater London Arts Association

30.

To ask the Minister for the Arts when he intends to meet the interim board of the Greater London Arts Association to discuss the future of the arts in London.

I have no plans at present to meet the governing committee of Greater London Arts to discuss the administration of arts funding in London.

Regional Exhibitions

31.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what funds have been earmarked by his office to help regional arts organisations to promote and organise touring exhibitions of paintings and sculpture drawn from permanent collections.

Government support for the promotion of organised touring exhibitions is channelled through the travelling exhibitions unit of the Museums and Galleries Commission and the visual arts department of the Arts Council. The MGC travelling exhibitions unit and the Arts Council visual arts departments are expected to spend £210,000 in the current financial year.

Enhancement Fund

32.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what guidelines he gave to the Arts Council for the use of the new enhancement fund.

The Government set out the overall objectives of the enhancement fund. These were to strengthen leading arts organisations and enhance further their current high standards, and at the same time to improve business and financial planning and to provide challenge, where appropriate, for matching funds from other sources. I subsequently approved the detailed criteria that the Arts Council proposed to use in deciding upon the allocation of awards to individual organisations.

35.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what guidelines he gave to the Arts Council for the use of the enhancement fund among clients of the Greater London Arts association.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave earlier to a question from the hon. Member for Ashfield (Mr. Haynes). The criteria that the Arts Council applied to clients of Greater London Arts were the same as those that I approved for general application.

Music Hall

34.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he has any plans to encourage financial support out of public funds for music hall; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that the Arts Council, through which Government funds for the performing arts are channelled, has no specific plans to provide funds for music hall. The Arts Council knows that it has a very small but devoted following and, together with the regional funding bodies, will consider any individual applications for financial support.

National Railway Museum

36.

To ask the Minister for the Arts when he intends to visit the national railway museum; and if he will make a statement.

I hope to visit the national railway museum in York in the near future. I met the keeper of the national railway museum during an enjoyable and informative visit I made to the science museum in South Kensington on 17 January.

Civil Service

Executive Agencies

37.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make a statement on progress under the Government's "next steps" agency initiatives.

The "next steps" initiative continues to make excellent progress; 34 agencies have now been established, and we expect that number to rise to 50 by this summer. By the end of the year we expect that "next steps" will apply to about half the civil service.

Trade Unions

39.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service when he next intends to meet the leaders of civil service trade unions to discuss morale.

I intend to follow the practice of my predecessors and meet civil service trades union representatives as appropriate.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service when he last met the leaders of trade unions representing the civil service to discuss changes to civil service conditions of work and employment.

I have not yet met the civil service trade union leaders to discuss civil service issues. I shall, of course, do so as appropriate. I did, however, meet representatives of the Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists on Monday 21 January for discussions on heritage funding issues and the national museums and galleries.

Scotland

Fishing

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, with port of registration, the Scottish-registered fishing vessels affected by the eight-day tie-up rule; and if he will make a statement.

It is not appropriate to publish what would be regarded as commercially sensitive information about individual fishing vessels. However, the skippers, or agents, of all active Scottish-based licensed fishing vessels have been informed individually by letter issued by the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department on 16 January whether or not, on the basis of the Departments' records, their vessel is expected to be affected by the new regime. The table shows the estimated number of vessels affected by the scheme based in each fishery district.

Base District	Number of Vessels in Scheme
Aberdeen	15
Arbroath	7
Ayr	2
Buckie	44
Campbeltown	1
Eyemouth	25
Fraserburgh	59
Kinlochbervie	1
Lochinver	3
Lossiemouth	47
Macduff	40
Mallaig	—
Oban	—
Orkney	12
Peterhead	66
Pittenweem	20
Shetland	26
Stornoway	—
Ullapool	—
Wick	16
Total	384

Manufacturing Gdp

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the provisional estimate for (a) 1988 and (b) 1989 of Scotland's contribution to the United Kingdom manufacturing gross domestic product, excluding continental shelf.

The table shows the estimated gross domestic product for manufacturing industries at factor cost in current prices for Scotland and the United Kingdom for 1988 and 1989. The continental shelf makes no contribution to the gross domestic product of manufacturing industries.

Gross domestic product of manufacturing industries at factor cost: current prices
	Scotland	United Kingdom	Scotland as a percentage of the United Kingdom
	£ million	£ million	per cent.
1988	7,245	91,196	7·9
1989¹	7,781	97,380	8·0
¹ provisional.

Source: Central Statistical Office.

Foxes

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will provide a breakdown of moneys allocated to Scottish fox destruction clubs since 1979.

The information is as follows:

	£
1979–80	20,633
1980–81	17,084
1981–82	22,071
1982–83	25,079
1983–84	24,563
1984–85	33,023
1985–86	33,714
1986–87	36,639
1987–88	39,854
1988–89	47,649
1989–90	58,981
1990–91	¹47,000
¹ estimated.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will give consideration to the research of Dr. Ray Hewson of Aberdeen university on fox control when allocating funds to fox destruction clubs in 1991–92; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend is currently considering the report of Dr. Hewson's research and reactions to it which he has received. He will make his views known once his consideration of the report and of further material promised in it has been completed.

Salmon

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will instruct the Salmon Advisory Committee to make an assessment of criteria for sufficient salmon returning to spawn in Scottish rivers and to draft guidelines for the proper management of net fisheries in rivers and estuaries and publish that information for the guidance of all concerned with the implementation of section 39 of the Salmon Act 1986.

No. The review of east coast salmon netting is being undertaken by Fisheries Ministers. Work on the review is being completed. It is hoped to present the report to Parliament, as required by section 39 of the Salmon Act 1986, shortly.The Salmon Advisory Committee has a full programme of work on other matters.

Cardiac Surgery

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to reduce the waiting list of those patients awaiting heart bypass surgery in Scotland.

Since central funding began in 1983, the number of heart bypass operations performed in Scotland has increased from 853 to 1,500 by December 1989. Between January and September 1990 1,074 heart bypass operations were carried out–the latest available information. This financial year, the three health boards involved have received £15·7 million for cardiac surgery services—9·5 million to Greater Glasgow, £4·9 million to Lothian and £1·3 million to Grampian. Aberdeen royal infirmary is being funded to enable it to increase its throughput from an initial level of around 50 patients a year to 300 a year by 1992. This year Greater Glasgow health board has received an additional allocation of £467,000 from the waiting list fund initiative specifically to treat an extra 80 cardiac surgery patients.On 24 January I announced a further increase in funding for the systematic expansion of the Scottish cardiac surgery programme, as the Government will provide £374,470 more to Lothian health board for this purpose during 1990–91. Having carried out 579 open heart operations in the first nine months of 1990–91, the board is well on its way to meeting its target for the year. This additional funding will further enhance the work at the royal infirmary of Edinburgh and contribute to an even better performance to reduce waiting times for surgery.The new centre to provide heart transplant surgery to be established in 1991–92 at the royal infirmary, Glasgow, which I announced on 14 January, will be a valuable addition to services already being provided in the field of cardiac surgery. It will have the capacity to carry out not only heart transplants but other cardiac procedures.

Sheltered Placement Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the level of expenditure on the sheltered placement scheme for each of the Scottish regional councils; and if he will make a statement.

Information about local authority expenditure on sheltered placements is not held centrally. However, the Employment Service contributes 75 per cent. of the cost to local authorities of providing sheltered employment. On the basis of claims made by regional and islands councils the Employment Service has estimated its contribution to the cost of providing sheltered placements in 1989–90, the latest year for which data are available. Details set out exclude data in respect of Borders regional council which has yet to submit details of its claim for support in respect of 1989–90.

Regional and island council	Amount of Employment Service contribution £
Central	27,000
Dumfries and Galloway	31,000
Fife	325,000
Grampian	150,000

Regional and island council	Amount of Employmet Service contribution £
Highland	129,000
Lothian	30,000
Strathclyde	143,000
Tayside	42,000
Orkney	13,000
Shetland	25,000
Western Isles	16,000

Given the grant rate these sums can be taken as representing three quarters of total expenditure on sheltered placements by the authorities concerned. The balance of each authority's expenditure on sheltered employment will be expenditure on sheltered workshops.

Nurses

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, under Project 2000, the students' rostered service contribution is supernumerary or part of the standard services manpower.

Project 2000 students will be supernumerary throughout their three-year training, but will be required to deliver a rostered service contribution which will normally amount to 1,000 hours and take place in the third year of the programme.

Lithotripsy

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals there are for a lithotripsy service in the west of Scotland.

The Scottish lithotripsy service is operated by Lothian health board at the Deaconess hospital in Edinburgh and treats patients referred from all over Scotland and the north of England. Demand for treatment from within Scotland would not justify the establishment of a second centre at this time.

School Catchment Areas

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what advice he has given to education authorities on parental rights when school catchment areas are subject to rezoning; and if he will make a statement.

In terms of the Education (Publication and Consultation Etc.) (Scotland) Regulations 1981, education authorities are required to publicise and to consult parents and other interested parties on any proposals to amend a school's delineated area.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list his powers to determine school catchment areas; what advice he has given to education authorities in this respect; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has no such powers, nor has he offered advice to education authorities on this matter.

Sandeels

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the existing monitoring programme of sandeels will continue during any proposed closure of the Shetland sandeel fishery and following any subsequent reopening of the fishery.

Continued monitoring of this stock by present methods and at the present level cannot be justified by comparison with other priorities in the maritime laboratory's research programme. If, following consultation, the fishery remains closed and stocks subsequently show signs of recovery, the case for monitoring will be reassessed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration has been given by his Department to the duration of any proposed closure of the Shetland sandeel fishery; and if he will make a statement.

While a final decision on the management arrangements for the Shetland sandeel fishery in 1991 is subject to consultation with interested parties, a consultation paper issued on 24 December 1990 proposes that the fishery be closed until spawning stock levels recover. It is not possible to predict how long this will take.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has any plans to make financial provision to enable those recently engaged in the Shetland sandeel fishery to convert to fishing alternative stocks during the proposed closure of the fishery.

No. Those fishing vessels normally involved in the Shetland sandeel fishery already fish for other species.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the right hon. Member for Hertfordshire, North may expect to receive an answer to his letter dated 28 September 1990 concerning sandeel fishing.

[holding answer 23 January 1991]: Further to my reply of 23 January, we have now received a copy of the right hon. Member's letter and my noble Friend Lord Strathclyde replied today.

Education Spending

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the financial consequences of his discussions on capital spending limits for education authorities announced in his revenue support statement on 17 January.

Final decisions on the distribution of the available resources have still to be taken. Authorities will be informed within the next few weeks of their capital consent allocations for 1991–92 and the two subsequent years.

New Primary Schools

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what criteria he applies to authorising the construction of new primary schools in urban areas; what advice he has given to education authorities in this respect; and if he will make a statement.

Decisions on the provision of new schools are for the education authorities. They must consider any proposals on their individual merits and my right hon. Friend has issued no guidance to authorities on the criteria they should apply.

Medical Compensation

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the amount of money paid by each of the health boards in 1990 in relation to medical compensation cases; and what was the average award.

Given the small number of cases in certain health boards, it is not appropriate on the grounds of confidentiality to publish the information in the form requested. The total amount of compensation payments, including claimants' costs, for all boards in 1990 was £1,364,446 and the average award, including claimants' costs, was £17,953.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will list areas of Scotland which he has identified for future designation as environmentally sensitive areas; and if he will make a statement.

A review of the environmentally sensitive area scheme is due to be completed in 1991. Meantime there are no plans to designate further areas in Scotland.

Environmental And Nature Conservation

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the terms of reference of the Scottish working group on education with regard to environmental and nature conservation matters.

I have placed a copy in the Library of the House, together with a list of members of the group.

Alcohol And Drug Misuse

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the voluntary organisations which have received help to combat alcohol and drug misuse, in the last financial year, giving in each case the amounts given.

[holding answer 20 December 1991]: Full details of the support given by health boards to local voluntary organisations concerned with alcohol and drug misuse are not held centrally. However, over £2 million was set aside in the health programme in 1989–90 specifically for the support of drug misuse services and a substantial proportion of this sum was used to support the work of voluntary organisations.In addition, support was given to voluntary organisations concerned with alcohol and drug misuse from centrally held funds under section 16B of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978, section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and the Local Government Grants (Social Need) Act 1969 (the urban Programme). Details of assistance given under these provision are on folllows:

Organisation	Amount (1989–90) £
Scottish Council on Alcohol	142,190
Scottish Drugs Forum	48,800
Drinkwise Orkney	13,360
Church of Scotland (Designated Place, Inverness)	6,730
Glasgow Council on Alcohol
(1) Barlinnie Addiction Project	10,522
(2) Hostels project	29,124
Ayrshire Council on Alcohol	63,444
Renfrew Council on Alcohol	38,229
Anchor House (Perth)	23,064
Aberdeen Council on Alcohol	50,995
Falkirk Drug and Solvent Abuse Project	16,015
Aberdeen Drugs Action Outreach Project	22,350
West Edinburgh Support Team	25,841
East End Drug Forum (Glasgow)	61,980
Inverclyde Drugline	43,879
St. Enoch's Drug Rehabilitation Programme	82,237
West Lothian Drug Education Project	24,898
Total	703,678

Postal Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will take steps to ensure that postal service names and areas and local government names and areas in Scotland are brought into alignment.

I have been asked to reply.Decisions concerning aspects of the day-to-day running of the Post Office, such as those relating to the designation of postal addresses and postcodes, are operational matters for the Post Office. It would not, therefore, be appropriate for me to comment on this matter in detail. However, I understand that postal addresses are sorting and routing instructions for the Post Office, allowing mail to reach its destination from any part of the country by the fastest and most economical route. They are not intended, therefore, to describe particular geographical locations, nor to correspond with geographical or political boundaries.

Outmigration

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total net civilian outmigration from Scotland in the 12 months ended June 1990.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 14 January 1991 at column 427.

Energy

Energy Conservation

10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what proposals he has to strengthen his Department's energy conservation programme.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bristol, South (Ms. Primarolo) earlier today.

British Coal Enterprise Ltd

13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his estimate of the number of new job opportunities created by British Coal Enterprise Ltd. since 1984.

I understand that British Coal Enterprise Ltd. has helped create some 68,000 new job opportunities, nationwide, since its inception in 1984.

20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what estimated funding has been allocated to British Coal Enterprise Ltd. since 1984.

Since 1984 this Government have made available some £60 million to British Coal Enterprise Ltd. to assist it in its job creation activities.

Middle East Oil

14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what contingency plans exist to safeguard and conserve oil supplies in the light of events in the middle east.

21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what plans he has to ensure the continued availability of petroleum products to retail customers in the context of the Gulf crisis.

There are ample supplies of oil at present. The United Kingdom maintains a range of contingency plans and is playing its full part in the measures announced by the International Energy Agency which are being reviewed by the governing board today.

Ukaea Police

15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the work of the UKAEA police.

The latest annual report of the chief constable of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority constabulary was published in August 1990. Copies are available in the Library of the House.

Miners' Strikes

16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the level of output lost through industrial disputes in the coal industry in 1978–79; what was the level lost in 1989–90; and if he will make a statement.

The level of output lost through industrial disputes in the coal industry in 1978–79 was 1·5 million tonnes, and in 1989–90 was 600,000 tonnes.

Piper Alpha

17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what consultations have been held between his Department and interested parties following the publication of the report of the public inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster.

Intensive discussions are proceeding with other relevant Government Departments about the transfer of responsibility for offshore safety to a new division of the Health and Safety Executive.My right hon. Friend has met representatives of the AEU and I have met the UK Offshore Operators Association. In addition, the content and implications of Lord Cullen's report have been discussed in a number of more general meetings with various groups in the oil industry.

Gulf War (Ecological Consequences)

18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his statement earlier this month on the possible environmental consequence of igniting the oilfields of Kuwait, whether any studies have been carried out by his Department on this matter.

My Department has consulted the Meteorological Office and has contributed appropriately to its study.

Electricity Generation

19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy of how many independent electricity generation projects he has been made aware.

24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy of how many independent electricity generation projects he has been made aware.

My Department is aware of around 20 major independent electricity generation projects which have been made public. My Department has also been advised, in confidence, of a number of other proposals, but it will be for the companies concerned to decide when to make public the details.

Coal Imports

22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will estimate the amount of coal imported for electricity generation for the years 1992–93 and 1993–94.

We do not make such estimates.

27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he next intends to meet the chairman of British Coal to discuss the job implications for British Coal of the level of imports.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he next expects to meet the chairman of British Coal to discuss coal imports; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend meets the chairman of British Coal regularly to discuss all aspects of the coal industry.

Unleaded Petrol

23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the increase in market share of the sale of unleaded petrol in 1989; and what was the increase in other EC countries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the increase in market share of the sale of unleaded petrol in 1989; and what were the figures in other EC countries.

The market share of unleaded petrol increased rapidly in the United Kingdom during 1989—from 4 per cent. in January to 28 per cent. by December, an overall market share of 19 per cent. for that year. The United Kingdom share has subsequently increased to 38 per cent. in December last year.The United Kingdom Petroleum Industry Association estimates that in 1989 the market share of unleaded petrol in other European Community countries was as follows: West Germany 59 per cent., Denmark 57 per cent., Netherlands 37 per cent., Luxembourg 21 per cent., Belgium 19 per cent., Eire 7 per cent., France and Italy 2 per cent., and Spain and Portugal 0·5 per cent.,Sales of unleaded petrol in Greece were negligible.

Rural Electricity Supply

26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will meet the Director General of OFFER to discuss the supply of electricity to remote rural areas.

This is a matter for the supply companies concerned, within their statutory and licence obligations. The director general is empowered to determine disputes over the terms or conditions of supply.

Gas Inspections

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will bring forward proposals to enable the Director General of OFGAS to ensure that no charges are levied on the consumer for action taken by British Gas officials inspecting domestic premises where there is a suspicion or risk of danger to the safety of the consumer.

No. British Gas is already obliged under its authorisation to make safe all gas escapes free of charge and to provide safety checks free of charge for older or disabled customers living alone.

British Coal

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he appointed a new chairman of British Coal; what terms of reference he gave him regarding the future of the industry; and what will be his yearly salary.

The new chairman of British Coal, Neil Clarke, was appointed from 1 January 1991. In accordance with the normal arrangements for nationalised industries his objectives are being agreed with him and these will be announced in the near future. Mr. Clarke's salary is £225,000 per annum. The appointment is not pensionable and his remuneration therefore includes an element in lieu of pension.

Electricity Privatisation

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what licence fees have been paid in respect of the use of "Star Trek" copyright material used in the television advertising campaign for the flotation of the electricity generating companies of England and Wales; and to whom.

The licensing arrangements entered into between Collett Dickenson & Pearce and Paramount Pictures are commercially confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy for what part the licence fees for the use of the "Star Trek" copyright in the advertising campaign for the flotation of the generating companies of England and Wales have accounted in the total costs of that advertising campaign.

The licensing arrangements are commercially confidential. It is not Government policy to give advertising budgets in advance of flotations. All expenditure, including marketing, will be reported to Parliament in the usual way.

Sizewell Computer Software

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what consultations he has had with, and representations from, the chairman of Nuclear Electric regarding the impact of developments in respect of the Controbloc P20 computer software system for the external financing limit in respect of the Sizewell B nuclear power station.

Difficulties with the Controbloc P20 computer software system have only recently arisen as a result of a review by Electricité de France (EDF). Whilst this is a matter for Nuclear Electric plc, I am advised that NE is currently reviewing the position with a view to ensuring that there is no impact on the overall construction schedule for Sizewell B.

Renewable Energy

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his Department's definition, by category, of renewable energies; and if he will list separately, by category, the ways in which the Government's recent legislation will assist each, financially and through statute.

Energy Paper 55 published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1988, copies of which are in the Libraries of both Houses, lists renewable energy technologies by economic classification. Those electricity generation technologies which are close to commercial application such as landfill gas, waste incineration, wind and hydroelectricity are eligible for contract at an above-market price under the non-fossil fuel obligation. Procedures are in hand to make the second non-fossil fuel obligation renewables order later this year.

Health

Ambulance Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his written answer of 21 January concerning response times for emergency ambulance services, if he will state the standards applicable to Greater London (a) before and (b) after the relaxations there mentioned.

Since 1974 the response standards applicable to the area covered by the London ambulance service have been:

Percentile	Minutes
50	7
95	14

Under the new classification the 50 percentile time is 8 minutes; the 95 percentile time is unchanged.

Blood Donations

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the percentage by gender of blood donated over a similar period (a) up to the Gulf war and (b) since the Gulf war.

This information is not available.

Personal Social Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when guidance will be issued on the powers and duties of local authorities to charge for personal social services; and which organisations he will be consulting.

Appropriate guidance on the powers and duties of local authorities in relation to charging for personal social services will be issued well before local authorities take over full responsibilities for community care in April 1993. Local authorities will be consulted before such guidance is issued.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any proposals to bring forward legislation to remove the responsibility for personal social services from local government.

There are no plans to do so.

Nhs Trusts

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what body will become responsible for the purchase of health services within the area of each of the district health authorities in England listed in his answer of 21 January becoming a trust on an all-authority basis in April 1992.

In all districts, district health authorities will be the purchasers of hospital and community health services for their residents. Where they exist, GP fund holders will have responsibility for purchasing a prescribed range of medical services for their patients.

Fluoride

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence he has about reduction in dental decay as a result of the addition of fluoride to drinking water.

Evidence in this country of the efficacy of fluoridation of drinking water is well documented. For example, two studies in 1987 compared samples of 14-year-old children in fluoridated south Birmingham and non-fluoridated Bolton and samples of five-year-old children in fluoridated Newcastle and non-fluoridated south Northumberland.

In the study of south Birmingham 32 per cent. of children there were shown to be free of caries compared with only 19 per cent. in Bolton. In the study of Newcastle and Northumberland 50 per cent. of the children in the fluoridated area were free of caries compared with only 32 per cent. in the non-fluoridated area. It was also found that in Northumberland 37 per cent. of the children had five or more carious teeth compared with only 16 per cent. in Newcastle.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence he has available on whether the adding of fluoride to drinking water represents any health risk to the individual.

There is no evidence to show that increasing the level of fluoride in drinking water to the optimum concentration of one part per million has any adverse effect upon health. This has been confirmed repeatedly by groups of scientific experts. Major reviews of the extensive scientific literature have been undertaken by the World Health Organisation, the Canadian Public Health Association, the US National Academy of Sciences, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.The safety of fluoridation of water supplies has been reviewed by the Royal College of Physicians, the DHSS working party on fluoridation of water and cancer and the Government's independent expert medical and scientific advisory committees on mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment.

Abortion

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has issued any instructions about the provision of abortion in those districts which have reduced their abortion services;(2) what plans he has for reducing geographical inequalities in the provision of abortion services.

The level of gynaecological provision including abortion, like any other provision within the national health service, is decided by individual health authorities. The Government believe that such decisions are best taken locally in the light of authorities' first-hand knowledge of local needs and priorities and competing claims on resources.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the ratio of NHS to non-NHS abortions in each regional health area by place of usual residence for each year since 1985.

The information requested has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were paid for by the NHS under agency arrangements in 1988, 1989 and 1990, by place of usual residence; (a) in each regional health authority and (b) in each district health authority.

Information on terminations performed in individual district health authorities cannot be released on grounds of confidentiality. Data for terminations in regional health authorities are shown in the table. The latest full data year available is 1989.

Number of terminations to residents of England and Wales carried out in each regional health authority (RHA) under agency arrangements by RHA of usual residents, 1988, 1989
		RHA of usual residence
RHA of termination	Year	England and Wales	Wales	Northern	Yorks.	Trent	East Anglian	North West Thames	North East Thames
England and Wales	1988	9,357	5	2	445	795	3	1,036	27
	1989	9,200	4	3	438	88	3	1,240	29
Wales	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Northern	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yorkshire	1988	420	0	0	420	0	0	0	0
	1989	435	0	0	434	1	0	0	0
Trent	1988	723	0	2	23	698	0	0	0
	1989	8	0	3	3	2	0	0	0
East Anglian	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North West Thames	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North East Thames	1988	9	0	0	0	0	0	7	1
	1989	7	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
South East Thames	1988	371	0	0	0	1	0	5	2
	1989	438	0	0	0	0	0	3	7
South West Thames	1988	1,318	0	0	0	0	0	1,012	24
	1989	1,504	0	0	0	0	2	1,226	21
Wessex	1988	751	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	704	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Oxford	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Western	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
West Midlands	1988	5,762	4	0	0	96	3	12	0
	1989	6,100	3	0	1	85	1	8	0
Mersey	1988	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Western	1988	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
	1989	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

RHA of termination	Year	South East Thames	South west Thames	Wessex	Oxford	South Western	West Midlands	Mersey	North Western
England and Wales	1988	591	24	682	354	95	5,296	1	1
	1989	613	42	646	390	81	5,618	3	2
Wales	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Northern	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yorkshire	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Trent	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Anglian	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North West Thames	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North East Thames	1988	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
	1989	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
South East Thames	1988	329	2	9	1	2	20	0	0
	1989	380	15	15	1	2	15	0	0
South West Thames	1988	262	16	0	4	0	0	0	0
	1989	232	17	0	5	0	1	0	0
Wessex	1988	0	6	672	4	66	1	1	0
	1989	0	9	629	2	62	1	0	0
Oxford	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

RHA of termination	Year	South East Thames	South west Thames	Wessex	Oxford	South Western	West Midlands	Mersey	North Western
South Western	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
West Midlands	1988	0	0	1	344	27	5,275	0	0
	1989	0	0	1	382	17	5,601	1	0
Mersey	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
North Western	1988	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the number of abortions for resident women of England and Wales carried out (a) in NHS premises, (b) by agency arrangements and (c) in the private sector in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990.

The data are shown in the table. The latest full data year available is 1989.

Number of terminations by category of premises (a) NHS (b) private sector¹(c) agency, England and Wales 1985–89 England and Wales residents
Year	NHS	Private sector	Agency
1985	65,176	69,996	5,929
1986	67,451	73,349	6,819
1987	69,442	78,708	8,041
1988	69,103	89,838	9,357
1989	70,722	90,541	9,200
¹ All non-NHS minus those performed under Agency arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what instructions or advice his Department has issued to health authorities in the past 10 years on the provision of NHS abortion services.

The Department discussed the findings of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' report on late abortions in England and Wales in 1985 with regional general managers and regional medical officers and health authorities were encouraged to improve their administrative referral systems. The chief medical officer and chief nursing officer issue circulars and letters to all doctors and nursing officers about aspects of abortion treatment and care when appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the proportion of the cost of an NHS abortion accounted for by the legal requirement for two doctors to assess and certify a patient's eligibility under the terms of the Abortion Act 1967.

Information is not available in the form requested, but the estimated revenue cost of an abortion in NHS hospitals is £200.

Part Iii Accommodation

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list (a) by social services authority and (b) for each of the last three years, the number of people on waiting lists for part III accommodation.

It is for each local authority to determine in individual cases if residence in part III home is appropriate. Information about the number of people who approach local authorities seeking this type of care is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list (a) by social services authority and (b) for each of the last three years (i) the average age of people in part III accommodation and (ii) the average age of people on admission to part III accommodation.

This information could be only partially obtained and then only at disproportionate cost.

Leicestershire Health Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will make a statement on funding, through the Trent region, for the Leicestershire health authority.

The Government announced on 16 January an increased initial allocation to Trent regional health authority for 1991–92 of 10·5 per cent. The regional health authority expects to be able to inform Leicestershire district health authority of its initial allocation for 1991–92 in a few weeks.

Nhs Doctors

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of doctors employed by the national health service in each year since 1974.

The information requested is given in the following table.

National health service doctors in England
Year	All staff
1974	49,107
1975	55,629
1976	57,167
1977	58,502
1978	60,001
1979	61,554
1980	63,130
1981	64,612
1982	65,991
1983	66,910
1984	67,282
1985	68,194
1986	68,839
1987	69,532
1988	70,995
1989	72,446

Notes to the table:

Figures relate to hospital and community health service medical staff holding permanent paid and honorary appointments as at 30 September each year and general medical practitioners as at 1 October each year.

Prior to 1975 comparable community health service medical staff figures are not available and are therefore not included. With the national health service reorganisation on 1 April 1974 the responsibility of this service was transferred from local authorities and the DES to the national health service.

Dental Treatment

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average charge for dental treatment, in cash and constant prices, in each year since 1979.

The table shows (in column 2) the average cash charges for dental treatment provided under general dental services in England in each financial year since 1979. The constant prices (in column 3) convert the cash prices to their 1989–90 equivalent.

Average dental charge paid by NHS patients paying the full proportion of the charge
(1) Financial year	(2) Cash price £	(3) Constant price £
1979–80	6·83	13·69
1980–81	8·88	15·50
1981–82	10·33	15·96
1982–83	12·54	18·09
1983–84	13·62	18·78
1984–85	14·72	19·32
1985–86	16·67	20·75
1986–87	17·56	21·14
1987–88	18·43	20·04
1988–89	19·84	21·10
1989–90	25·02	25·02

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the proportion of dental treatment costs met by charges to patients in each year since 1979.

The proportion of the cost of dental treatment, provided under general dental services in England in each year since 1979, met by charges to patients was as follows:

Calendar year	Total cost	Amount paid by Patients	patient charge as a percentage of total cost
1979	303,684,708	63,393,432	20·87
1980	389,766,235	89,567,462	22·98
1981	454,565,184	110,809,324	24·38
1982	510,473,259	135,713,892	26·59
1983	553,051,518	154,084,986	27·86
1984	604,598,780	167,650,236	27·73
1985	634,860,271	189,747,707	29·89
1986	698,446,424	216,927,756	31·06
1987	772,798,504	233,924,375	30·27
1988	881,697,114	270,184,733	30·64
1989	930,070,732	361,931,301	38·91
1990	984,607,527	382,676,509	38·87

Community Care

To ask the Secretary of State for Health which section is responsible within his Department for drafting the guidance for the implementation of the community care proposals.

The community services division (branch 4) is responsible to Ministers for implementation of our community care proposals. This division prepared the policy guidance which was issued in November 1990, with extensive support from the social services inspectorate, social services and health managers and professionals and other outside experts. Individual items of practice guidance are being prepared by the social services inspectorate, practitioners and academic and consultancy experts. Each is prepared within the overall implementation framework and is approved by Ministers.

Eye Tests

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of sight tests undertaken in each of the last nine quarters.

Statistics on NHS sight tests paid for by the general ophthalmic services are collected on a six-monthly basis. The figures for the latest available two years are as follows:

Great Britain	Sight tests paid for (millions)
April 1988—September 1988	6·641
October 1988—March 1989	7·754
April 1989—September 1989¹	²3·828
October 1989—March 1990¹	2·210
April 1990—September 1990¹	³2·358
¹ After entitlement to NHS tests restricted to priority groups.
² Includes 1·8 million tests conducted before April 1989.
³ Provisional.

Since 1 April 1989 many people who are not entitled to NHS sight tests (about two thirds of the population) have had private sight tests. The Department collects no figures relating to these tests: however, an independent NOP survey commissioned by the Department indicated that the total number of sight tests (private and NHS) during the first quarter of 1990 was at the level that could have been expected if trends up to 1987 had been projected forward.

Nhs Spending

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was (a) total NHS spending and (b) hospital and community health services' spending as a proportion of real national disposable income in each year since 1987–88.

The concept of "real national disposable income" is not used in United Kingdom national accounts. The table gives NHS and HCHS expenditure for the years requested as a proportion of United Kingdom gross domestic product.

Total NHS (UK) spending and hospital and community health services' spending as a percentage of personal disposable income
	Total NHS Gross Expenditure	Total NHS Gross Expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product	Total hospital and community health services' ¹ Gross Expenditure	Total health and community health services' ¹ Gross Expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product
	£ million		£ million
1987–88	21,653	5·0	16,383	3·8
1988–89	24,067	5·0	18,145	3·8
1989–90	25,986	5·0	19,646	3·8
1990–91	29,055	5·2	22,073	4·0
¹ New definition of HCHS expenditure which will be used in the forthcoming departmental report. Includes Family Health Services Authority administration, Disablement Services Authority and family health service cash-limited spending.

Health Authorities (Capital Charges)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish his initial estimates of the capital charges for each district health authority.

The information requested is not held centrally. Regional health authorities in England have supplied the following estimates of the capital charges they expect to receive from their directly managed units in 1991–92.

Region	Expected capital charges receipts (£000)
Northern	122,306
Yorkshire	131,579
Trent	164,201
East Anglian	85,591
North West Thames	181,837
North East Thames	230,072
South East Thames	185,775
South West Thames	139,009
Wessex	137,538
Oxford	118,274
South Western	100,987
West Midlands	228,143
Mersey	65,738
North Western	184,011

Social Security

Energy Efficiency

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what specific measures his Department has taken to promote energy efficiency; what further measures his Department intends to take to promote energy efficiency; and by what amount and what percentage of its total energy bill his Department's energy bill has been reduced over the past year.

The Department is committed to supporting the Government's initiative aimed at reducing consumption on the civil estate by 15 per cent. over the next five years. Performance measures have recently been introduced, and additional resources have been allocated to setting targets monitoring them and identifying opportunities for further investment. An allocation of £562,000 has been made for the financial year 1991–92, in addition to sums which will be spent as an integral part of building refurbishment and new construction projects. Particular attention is being given to boiler replacement and improvements to lighting using high-frequency, low-energy fluorescent and ultrasonic controls.The Department appointed a full-time energy manager in 1987 and has since developed a number of initiatives to improve energy efficiency in the 1,000 buildings which we wholly or partially occupy. The main achievements have been:

—a staff publicity campaign, including a poster competition and features in the staff magazine,

—over £100,000 invested in replacing tungsten lighting with compact fluorescent lighting,

—over £100,000 invested in a variety of small scale initiatives including the installation of heating and lighting controls, false ceilings and high-efficiency fluorescent fittings.

Prior to April 1990, the Property Services Agency was responsible for maintenance of the Department's buildings and undertook the bulk of investment for energy efficiency improvements, for which figures are not available.

Over the four financial years 1986–87 to 1989–90, after adjustment for area, price and weather, energy consumption in the Department increased from £9·10 million to £10·09 million (an increase of 10·88 per cent.), with an increase of £1·12 million (12·49 per cent.) in 1989–90 over 1988–89. Within these figures consumption of boiler fuels declined by 12 per cent. over the four-year period. There was, however, a substantial increase in electricity consumption as a consequence of the introduction of the Department's operational strategy computerisation programme.

Although the Department of Energy has primary responsibility for providing advice and grants on energy efficiency, our Department is supporting the promotion of the home energy efficiency scheme launched on 1 January this year. The scheme is funded by the Department of Energy but administered by the neighbourhood energy action voluntary group. Posters and leaflets are to be made available in social security offices, and the Department's officers providing information and advice services will be made aware of this scheme.

Social Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what advice he has issued to local offices in connection with the criteria for making community care grants for clothing to former prisoners other than those with illness or handicap; and if he will make a statement.

Advice on making community care grants is issued to local offices in the form of guidance contained in the "Social Fund Manual", a copy of which is in the Library. It is for the social fund officer to decide on the merits of each individual application.

Child Benefit

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing (a) what percentage of public expenditure on child benefit goes to families with equivalent income below the mean and (b) what percentage of families receiving child benefit have equivalent incomes below the mean, after housing costs in both cases.

The proportion of families receiving child benefit with household incomes below the mean of equivalised income after housing costs has changed little since 1979 and remains in the region of 70 per cent. About 74 per cent. of total Government expenditure on child benefit went to these families.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will consider making applications for child benefit more widely available through post offices, citizens advice bureaux and other public places.

There are three different claim forms for child benefit; one for a first child, another for newly born subsequent children and a third for other children who join the family. These forms are available from any social security office on request by post, telephone or personal call. In addition, leaflet FB8 "Babies and benefits", which is widely available to expectant and nursing mothers, contains a coupon which can be used to obtain the appropriate form. These arrangements, which are kept under review, are intended to ensure that claimants receive the correct form.

Income Support

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each of his Department's offices in the Doncaster area (a) how many people in receipt of income support are having deductions made at source for community charge arrears and (b) how many people are having deductions made from income support for social fund loan repayments; and what is the number of people common to both (a) and (b).

The latest available information is as follows:

Deductions from income support
	Social fund recoveries	Community charge
Doncaster East	1,264	0
Doncaster West	1,478	0
Wath on Dearne	1,155	0

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of the population in (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom, is dependent upon income support.

The information requested is as follows:

Percentage of the population dependent upon income support
	Per cent.
In Scotland	15·7
In Great Britain¹	12·6
¹ Information for the United Kingdom is not available.

Sources:

Income Support figures: Annual Statistical Enquiry May 1989.

GB population figures: OPCS

Scotland population figures: General Register Office. (Scotland).

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what arrangements are made for the payment of income support to individuals employed by companies which close down for holiday periods who receive no pay during such periods.

Income support is available to people who are on unpaid holiday only if they normally work, on average, fewer than 24 hours a week. Anyone on compulsory unpaid holiday, including a person who normally works 24 or more hours a week and does not have enough money to tide him over until his next payday may be able to get a social fund crisis loan, if this is the only means of avoiding serious risk to his health and safety.

Local Government Finance

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many individuals have qualified for community charge rebates in Chelmsford in the current financial year to the latest available date.

The information requested is not available, but at 30 November 1990 around 14,000 individuals were in receipt of community charge benefit in Chelmsford.

Source: Housing and Community Charge Benefit Management Information System November 1990 quarterly count of claims; and the Family Expenditure Survey-based analyses.

Benefit Claimants

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is, on the latest available figures, the number of claimants in receipt of (a) income support and (b) unemployment benefit, who are, at the same time, following an approved course under the 21 hours rule.

The rule enables unemployed claimants in receipt of income support to follow part-time education courses. The information requested is not available.

Social Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the main purposes/items for which crisis loans were awarded from the social fund; and what is the average value of such loans.

Information relating to 1988–89 and 1989–90 is available in the Secretary of State's annual reports, copies of which are in the Library. Information relating to 1990–91 to 31 December is shown in the table.

	Awards	Average amount £
Furniture and household items	32,694	214
Rent in advance	7,507	114
Living expenses (general)	157,950	35
Living expenses (alignment)	154,973	34
Clothing/footwear	5,907	91
Others	13,256	64
TOTAL	372,287	55

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of income support claimants are having deductions made for the repayment of social fund loans in each of his Department's offices on Merseyside.

The information requested is in the table.

Local Office	Percentage
Belle Vale	14·9
Bootle	14·5
Breckfield	14·3
City	21·5
Crosby	12·7
Edgehill	15·0
Garston	13·7
Huyton	19·0
Kirkby	15·8
Norris Green	16·7
Toxteth	15·7
West Derby	16·1

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the main purposes items for which budgeting loans were awarded from the social fund; and what is the average value of such loans.

Information relating to 1988–89 and 1989–90 is available in the Secretary of State's annual reports, copies of which are in the Library. Information relating to 1990–91 (to 31 December) is shown in the table.

	Awards	Average value £
Furniture and household items	364,470	231
Washing machine	18,579	208
Bedding	14,667	137
Clothing/Footwear	37,901	138
Others	24,013	177
Total	459,630	217

Community Care Grants

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of community care grants are paid to each of high, medium and low priority groups; and for what purposes the community care grants were paid in percentage terms for each category.

Information is not available for the number of grants paid as high, medium or low priorities.The table shows the number and percentage of grants paid for the main types of purpose for April to December 1990. Information relating to 1988–89 and 1989–90 is contained in the Secretary of State's annual reports, which are in the Library.

	Awards	Percentage of total community care grants
Furniture and Household Items	102,316	56
Washing Machines	8,329	5
Home Improvements/Repair/Maintenance	3,085	2
Removal Expenses	6,533	4
Travelling Expenses	29,714	16
Clothing/Footwear	22,309	12
Others	10,951	6
Total	183,237	100

Note: Percentages do not sum due to rounding.

Cold Weather Payments

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will conduct a review of criteria used to allocate cold weather payments to consider additional factors including storm conditions and wind chill.

In consultation with the Meteorological Office, we have recently reviewed the working of the cold weather payments scheme and are satisfied that the most important factor in measuring cold weather is air temperature. It would be extremely difficult to incorporate additional factors such as storm conditions and wind chill into a scheme which is intended to be simple to operate and easy to understand.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will revise the requirements that temperatures remain below freezing for seven consecutive days in order to qualify for a cold weather payment.

No. The scheme gives extra help towards higher heating costs resulting from a sustained period of cold weather. A period of seven consecutive days where the average daily temperature is 0 deg. C (freezing point) or below is a reasonable indication of this.

Gulf Crisis

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what benefits will be available to service men injured during the Gulf war; and for war widows and their dependants.

Service men who are injured as a result of the hostilities in the Gulf, and the widows and dependants of those who die as a result of service, will be eligible for pensions and allowances in accordance with the normal provisions of the armed forces pension schemes, administered by the Ministry of Defence and the war pensions scheme, administered by this Department. They may also be eligible for social security benefits.

Housing Benefit

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he is yet in a position to announce how housing benefit transitional payments will be treated in April.

We have made it clear from the beginning that housing benefit transitional payments will be reduced as increases in other benefits make them less necessary. We have decided on a flat rate reduction of £3 in these payments from April. The vast majority of recipients will still gain overall in cash terms from the uprating as other social security benefits are being increased by amounts significantly larger than in April 1990.

Single Parents

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total benefit entitlement of an unemployed single parent with two children aged under five years.

[holding answer 14 January 1991]: On the assumption that the qualifying conditions for each benefit are met and the entitlement to each is taken up, the benefit of an unemployed lone parent with two children aged under five years would be made up of child benefit, one-parent benefit and income support. The income support would be calculated as follows:

Applicable amounts	£
Adult personal allowance	36·70
Child's personal allowance	12·35
Child's personal allowance	12·35
Family premium	7·35
Lone parent premium	41·0
	72·85
Less income
Child Benefit (2 x £7·25)	14·50
One Parent Benefit	5·60
Income Support payable	52·75

The lone parent would also be entitled to housing benefit to meet any eligible rent and community charge benefit to cover 80 per cent. of the community charge. Those who are owner-occupiers may receive help with mortgage interest payments through income support.The children would also be eligible for free welfare foods assumed to be worth £2·10 per child per week.Families on income support also get extra help by virtue of their automatic entitlement (passport) to free prescriptions, exemption from dental and optical charges and help with patients' fares to hospital.

Income Maintenance Benefits

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what provisions exist for employees to receive income maintenance benefits during a period of compulsory unpaid holidays at their place of work; and how many people are affected by them.

[holding answer 17 January 1991]: People who normally work fewer than 24 hours a week can claim income support, or an increase in income support if it is already in payment, during a period of compulsory unpaid holiday. For those people who are normally working 24 hours or more a week and have a dependent child, family credit is available. Family credit is awarded for 26 weeks and remains in payment if an unpaid holiday falls within the period of the award. Information about the number of people affected is not available.

War Widows

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what will be the percentage increase in April in the combined value of children's allowance and child benefit payable to a war widow for the first child and each subsequent child in the family;

Uprating date¹	Value of child benefit plus children's allowance £	Average real value at April 1990 prices over the period^{2 3}£	Real value at April 1990 prices at date of uprating²£	Value as percentage of average gross weekly earnings⁴Percent.
November 1979	14·00	26·88	29·07	12·3
November 1980	15·35	26·20	27·64	11·4
November 1981	16·10	25·05	25·89	10·8
November 1982	17·10	25·40	25·88	10·6
November 1983	17·45	24·68	25·19	10·1

(2) whether war widows will benefit from the £1 increase in child benefit in April;

(3) what was the combined value of children's allowance and child benefit for the child of a war widow at current and April 1990 prices and as a percentage of average earnings, in November 1979 and as a percentage of average earnings, in November 1979 and at each subsequent uprating date; and what was the reason for any fall in real value since November 1979; and

(4) what method is used to calculate the annual uprating of war widows' children's allowance, and whether it has changed since 1979.

The present method of operating war widows' children's allowance follows that established by the last Labour Government. This method entails increasing the basic war widows' children's allowance by the increase in the retail prices index, deducting any cash increase in child benefit and adding an amount of £1·86 which was added as a transitional measure in 1977 by way of compensation to war widows for the loss of their tax allowance during the phasing in of child benefit.War widows will receive the proposed £1 increase in child benefit in April. Like other child dependency increases payable under the Social Security Act 1975, the method of uprating war widows' children's allowance entails deducting any cash increase in child benefit. Thus, from April, these allowances will be increased to £13·65 for the first qualifying child and to £14·65 for others, representing an overall cash increase of £1·25 for each child. The percentage overall increase in April for both the first and each subsequent child will be 6·05 per cent.Children's allowances are only one element of support for war widows and their families. Since 1979 several important improvements have been made to the overall position of war widows. In 1979 war widows' pensions were made tax free; in 1984 a new tier of age allowance was introduced for those over 80; in 1988 the disregard on war pensions for income-related benefits was increased to £5 and to £10 in 1990. In 1990 pre-1973 war widows were awarded special payments of £40 a week. These, too, were tax free and are also totally disregarded for the purpose of calculating entitlement to income-related benefits. Both war widows' children's allowances and war widows' pensions have consistently been set at preferential rates compared to those applicable to national insurance widows and children.Since 1983 pensions and social security benefits have been uprated annually in line with the retail price index.The table shows values of children's allowance and child benefit for the child of a war widow at current and April 1990 prices and as a percentage of average earnings.

Uprating date ¹	Value of child benefit plus children's allowance £	Average real value at April 1990 prices over the period ^{2 3} £	Real value at April 1990 prices at date of uprating ² £	Value as percentage of average gross weekly earnings ⁴ Per cent.
November 1984	17·90	23·90	24·62	9·6
November 1985	18·55	23·96	24·19	9·3
July 1986	18·65	23·54	23·93	8·8
April 1987	18·85	22·96	23·16	8·4
April 1988	19·25	22·13	22·76	7·8
April 1989	19·85	21·16	21·73	7·4
April 1990	20·65	—	20·65	7·0
¹ Uprating dates refer to the children's allowance. For all but the first date they are also the uprating dates for child benefit.
² Using general index of retail prices.
³ Average real values at April 1990 prices are calculated over the period between uprating dates (eg November 1979-October 1980).
⁴ The source of the earnings is the New Earnings Survey and the estimates used up to November 1982 are those for full-time working adults aged 21 and over whose earnings are unaffected by absence. From November 1983 the source remains the New Earnings Survey but is in respect of all full-time workers on adult rates whose earnings are unaffected by absence.

War Pensions

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has any plans to reduce and end the war pensions welfare service and the homecraft service.

There is absolutely no question of withdrawing the war pensioners' welfare service and we shall certainly not agree to anything that would damage the interests of war widows and war pensioners. The report of a routine management review of the war pensioners welfare service last year suggested no changes in the number of chief welfare officers and welfare officers, but recommended some reductions in the number of support staff and the withdrawal of the homecraft service. No decisions have been taken on these recommendations. The central advisory committee on war pensioners is being consulted about them and has agreed that a joint working party on which war pensioners' interests will be represented, should be set up to review the aims and future of the homecraft service. There will be further consultation with the central advisory committee about the welfare service later this year.

Defence

Electoral Registration

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure that service men are given equal voting opportunities with the rest of the electorate.

The electoral registration arrangements for service personnel allow those in the United Kingdom to vote in person, by post or by proxy at parliamentary and local government elections. Service personnel based overseas, like other British citizens living overseas, may vote only by proxy at parliamentary elections. All new recruits are advised of the service electoral registration arrangements and service personnel are regularly reminded of their existence to encourage them to register so that they can exercise their right to vote.

Gas Masks

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which company was awarded the contract to provide gas masks for British troops in Iraq.

None. Masks have been provided from stock for troops in the Gulf.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the filter on the gas masks issued to British troops contains any asbestos.

The filter on the respirator used by British service men does not contain any asbestos.

Gulf War (Reporting)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidelines were issued to BBC Radio in England and Wales for reporting of matters concerning the conflict in the Gulf.

Two types of guidelines have been produced. The MOD "Media Ground Rules" have been issued to British journalists in the Gulf, and "Guidance on the Release of Information" has been issued to media editors in the United Kingdom. Copies of both these documents were placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 9 January.

Irradiated Food

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, further to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields on 17 January, Official Report, column 546, what estimates he has about the costs of irradiated food; and if he will make a statement.

It is estimated that irradiation of food would increase the cost of processed food by between 5p and 15p per kilogram, dependent on the type of food to be processed. Given the competitive tendering methods the MOD applies to the procurement of food, it is unlikely that MOD would purchase irradiated food, as it would generally be more expensive than food processed by conventional means.

Gulf War

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those units on standby for the Gulf.

My right hon. Friend has already announced the deployment of the first battalion, Coldstream Guards to the Gulf to undertake prisoner handling duties. They will be assisted in their duties by two additional battalions, from the Royal Highland Fusiliers and the Kings Own Scottish Borderers, who will deploy shortly. We are also deploying a half squadron of Buccaneer aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth to enhance allied precision bombing capability. Any additional deployments of forces to the Gulf will be announced as appropriate when they arise.

Military Hospitals

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the nursing establishment of each of the military hospitals in the United Kingdom; and how many vacancies there are in the establishment, at what grades;(2) what is the total number of nurses employed in military hospitals in the United Kingdom and at what grades.

My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the names and locations of all military hospitals in the United Kingdom.

There are eight service hospitals in the United Kingdom which are located at:

Name	Location
Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar	Gosport, Hants
Royal Naval Hospital, Stonehouse	Plymouth
Cambridge Military Hospital	Aldershot, Hants.
Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital	Woolwich, London
Duchess of Kent Military Hospital	Catterick, Yorks.
The Princes of Wales (RAF) Hospital, Ely	Ely, Cambridgeshire
The Princess Mary's RAF Hospital, RAF Halton	Halton, Bucks.
Princess Alexandra Hospital, RAF Wroughton	Wroughton, Wilts.

To ask the Secretary of Stale for Defence how many agency nurses have been employed in military hospitals in the last five years for which information is available; and what were the costs of doing so.

The information requested is not held centrally and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.

Volume 184: debated on Monday 28 January 1991

Written Answers To Questions

Home Department

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