To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has received a report from the Police Complaints Authority on their supervision of the investigation of the West Midlands serious crimes squad; and if he will make a statement.

I have received a report from the Police Complaints Authority made under section 97(2) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 which I am required to lay before Parliament and publish under section 97(5) of the Act. Copies of this report have been placed in the Library and will be made available by my Department to anyone seeking a copy.In August 1989 the chief constable of the West Midlands police disbanded the serious crimes squad and asked Mr. Shaw, an assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire police, to conduct an investigation into its activities. At the same time he invited the Police Complaints Authority to supervise the investigation under section 88 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The Police Complaints Authority has issued a statement in accordance with section 89(10) of the Act confirming that the investigation has been conducted to its satisfaction.The Police Complaints Authority report falls into two parts. The first part describes the investigation of complaints relating to cases handled by the serious crimes squad. The main investigation covered the period between 1 January 1986 and the disbandment of the squad. In that period 694 arrests were recorded in the serious crimes squad's arrest book. Seventy of the people arrested as well as 16 other people, made complaints to the investigating officer. Complaints from 11 people relating to the period between 29 April 1984 and 1 January 1986 were also investigated. One case was subsequently withdrawn.The 1984 Act requires that the report on any complaint against a police officer where criminal behaviour may have taken place must be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. All the complaints just mentioned have therefore been so referred but the fact of referral does not imply that criminal offences have necessarily been committed. It is for the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide whether or not the evidence suggests that any criminal proceedings should be taken.The second part of the PCA report describes management practices prevalent during the period in question which may have contributed to the problems described. I am glad to be able to report to the House that these management practices have already been addressed by the chief constable of the West Midlands, in consultation with the west midlands police authority. A copy of a report which he has sent to me describing the action which has already been taken has been placed in the Library with the report of the Police Complaints Authority for the information of hon. Members. Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary will be monitoring the action taken in respect of all the points raised.Decisions as to whether any disciplinary action would be appropriate in respect of particular officers cannot be taken until the Crown Prosecution Service has completed its consideration of the possibility of criminal charges.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on aid to Indochina.

On the occasion of the signing of the Cambodian peace settlement on 23 October we announced a number of new aid commitments for Indochina. These commitments are targeted on the needs of the countries concerned and take into account the changed circumstances in the region.In Cambodia a key element in our aid strategy is to encourage a responsible and co-ordinated approach to the tasks of reconstruction and development, with due regard to local institutional, social and environmental factors. The success of the reconstruction and development effort will be critical to the economic progress and political stability of the country and therefore to the durability of the peace settlement. With these considerations in mind we intend to post an experienced aid administrator to our diplomatic mission in Phnom Penh as well as making available a senior medical adviser from the Overseas Development Administration to the World Health Organisation Office there. The main components in our aid programme to Cambodia will be:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can announce the figure below which from next April taxpayers will be able to submit simpler accounts to the Inland Revenue.

From next April a further half million people will be able to save themselves the time and expense of preparing detailed accounts for the Inland Revenue.The level of business turnover or gross rental income below which taxpayers may submit three-line statements instead of full accounts is to be increased from £10,000 to £15,000. The new amount will apply to accounts received by the Inland Revenue on or after 6 April 1992.This increase follows an announcement by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget, and reflects the Government's commitment to reduce taxpayers' costs by cutting down paper work where they can.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the price of the Official Report.

Following a review by Her Majesty's Stationery Office I have authorised increases of £1·50 in the prices of the Daily Parts and Standing Committee debates, with broadly proportionate increases in the prices of the Weekly Part, Bound Volumes and Indexes. Subscription rates will be adjusted accordingly and the scale of charges for reprints of Members' speeches appearing in the Official Report will also be raised. These increases, coupled with plans to enable the reports of proceedings to be "machine read" by the HMSO presses, should permit the final elimination of the revenue subsidy, which has been progressively reduced from £6·0 million in 1983–84.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the annual report and accounts of the Resettlement Units Executive Agency for 1990–91 will be available.

Copies of the annual report and accounts for 1990–91 have today been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether the annual report and accounts of the Information Technology Services Executive Agency for 1990–91 are yet available.

The annual report and accounts have today been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he plans to consult interested organisations about the content of the regulations to be made under the Child Support Act 1991.

The consultation document containing the Government's detailed proposals for the contents of the regulations arising from the Child Support Act 1991 has been published today. Copies have been placed in the Library of both Houses, and are available from the Vote Office and from the Department. Some 100 organisations with a particular interest in the subject will be sent a copy of the document and invited to submit their views by 16 December 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the names of those people appointed to be chairmen and non-executive directors of the second wave of national health service trusts.

I have today placed in the Library a list of those people appointed as chairmen and non-executive directors of the trusts established today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing and midwifery staff there were in each broad pay group in 1989 and 1990; and if he will make a statement.

The information is shown in table 1.The fall in the number of senior nurses is largely attributable to the voluntary transfer of more than 600 senior nurses to the senior manager pay structure.The fall in the number of nurse learners is largely attributable to the cessation of enrolled nurse training and to the introduction of Project 2000. The estimated number of Project 2000 students in training in 1989 and 1990 is shown in table 2. Because of their supernumerary status, Project 2000 students are not included in statistics relating to staff in post.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether subsequent to its main review of confidentiality arrangements for the computer processing of 1991 census data, the British Computer Society has reported on the documents for later completion which it wished to scrutinise.

The British Computer Society has completed this work and reported its results in the document "report of the Supplementary Review". Copies of this Report were issued with an OPCS press notice on 16 September and a copy was placed in the Library. This supplements the society's main report, published in the White Paper "1991 Census of Population: Confidentiality and Computing" (Cm 447) and completes its review. The "Report of the Supplementary Review" records that the documents reviewed meet the society's objectives, and commends the care demonstrated by the census offices' staff with regard to confidentiality.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council on 21 October.

The Foreign Affairs Council met in Luxembourg on 21 October to pursue its negotiations on the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA is intended to extend the single market to the seven countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) from 1 January 1992. My hon. Friends the Minister for Trade, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and the Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food represented the United Kingdom. Representatives of the EFTA countries were in Luxembourg. The two sides reached political agreement on all the key outstanding issues in the negotiations.On fish, the two sides agreed that under the EEA the EFTA countries will remove all tariffs on imports from the EC of fish species and products. The Community will reduce or remove tariffs on imports from EFTA of most species and products. Full tariffs will remain on certain sensitive species such as salmon, mackerel and herring. The EFTA countries have also undertaken to adapt their national legislation to avoid distortion of competition in the fisheries sector.Norway will guarantee the EC's share at north Norway of the total allowable catch for north east Arctic cod and increase it from its present level of 2·14 per cent. to 2·9 per cent. This will continue to be allocated within the Community in accordance with the present arrangements. The United Kingdom will thus receive around two thirds of this allocation. Norway will also make available to the Community a separate fixed quantity of north Norway cod: 6,000 tonnes in 1993, rising to 11,000 tonnes in 1997. The United Kingdom will not benefit from this. Iceland will make available to the Community a quantity of redfish or redfish equivalent as an exchange of fishing opportunities. The allocation of this within the Community will be decided later, though we have made clear that our historic rights in the area should be taken into account. The arrangements for allocation within the Community of fish obtained under the EEA will not prejudice the principle of relative stability or the 1992 review of the common fisheries policy.The two sides reached agreement on the cohesion fund, through which EFTA will give financial support to less favoured regions of the Community. The fund will comprise 500 mecu in grants and 1·5 becu in soft loans. Northern Ireland will be eligible. The other recipients will be Spain, Portugal, Greece and the Republic of Ireland.The Community also reached agreement in principle with Austria and Switzerland in the negotiations on Alpine transit. There will be a limited increase in the numbers of Community trucks permitted to pass through the two countries, in exchange for measures to reduce pollution and encourage the use of alternative means of transport.The two sides will now aim to complete work rapidly on the text of the draft EEA agreement, with a view to signature later this year. A statement will be made to the House prior to signature.This meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council has thus cleared the way for the conclusion of the EEA agreement. I warmly welcome this. The EEA will create the largest single market in the world and facilitate membership of the Community for those EFTA countries who wish to join. I believe that the EEA will be good for the United Kingdom, good for the Community, and good for the wider Europe.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a statement on forthcoming business in the EC Council of Ministers.

The Telecommunications Council will meet on 4 November. Ministers will discuss the draft directive on high definition television; a proposal to harmonise radio frequency bands as from 1 January 1992 for the introduction of digital short range radio; the draft directive on the harmonisation of leased lines; and the harmonisation of the internal telephone access code to 00. Ministers will also discuss the satellite communications work programme, and will make a statement on the postal services Green Paper.The Foreign Affairs Council will meet on 4 November. It will discuss EC/Jordan relations in preparation for the meeting of the EC/Jordan co-operation Council which will take place that evening. It will review the successful negotiations of the comprehensive settlement agreements signed by the Paris conference on Cambodia on 23 October. The Council will also discuss EC immigration issues possible measures against Yugoslavia and the GATT Uruguay round. Ministers will review progress in the Inter-Governmental Conference on Political Union. Ministers will also meet the Arab Maghreb Union.The Labour and Social Affairs Council will meet on 6 November. Ministers may discuss the proposed directives on the protection of pregnant workers, and working time. Ministers may also discuss the Commission report on poverty.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what change he is making to the framework document for the veterinary medicines directorate.

As part of a recent reorganisation of the duties of senior officials in my Department, the responsibility of chairing the ownership board for the veterinary medicines directorate (VMD) has been transferred from the grade 2, food safety to the chief scientific adviser. This has necessitated a minor revision to paragraph 4.3 of the VMD framework document, copies of which amendment have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has responded to the initial report of the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and I have received a first report from the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment, and we have today sent the chairman our response.I shall place copies of both the report and our response in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made towards establishing the Buying Agency as an executive agency.

I am pleased to announce that yesterday I established the Buying Agency as an executive agency within my Department. It is the fourth agency to be set up within the Department of the Environment under "next steps".The Buying Agency—TBA for short—is a public sector procurement agency. Its primary purpose is to provide the means for Government departments to obtain a wide range of engineering, building, maintenance and domestic products and services under arrangements that provide quality assurance and value for money, and which comply with public purchasing policy and regulations. Other TBA customers include the national health service and other non-departmental public bodies.