Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Monday 17 May 1993

Transport

Buses

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on the average age of buses in each of the last seven years.

The average age of Hackney buses and coaches with nine or more seats in Great Britain licensed at the end of each of the last seven years is given in the table.

Average age.
Year	Years
1986	7·8
1987	8·0
1988	8·2
1989	8·3
1990	8·4
1991	8·8
1992	9·2

Source: DVLA.

Aircraft Security

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to ensure that the Civil Aviation Authority enforces, and that British registered airlines comply with, the security regulations in regard to the quantity of baggage permitted to be brought into aircraft cabins.

The CAA recently issued a notice reminding aircraft and aerodrome operators of the measures available to them for restricting the excessive carriage of cabin baggage and of their duty to comply with them in the interest of passenger safety. The authority will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the regulations are adhered to.

Bus Services, London

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bus routes in London have been put out to tender; what savings have resulted; and how many of these tenders were won by London Buses.

London Transport operates some 650 bus routes in London. Of these, 268 have been competitively tendered, with London Buses winning 132. LT estimates that tendering has produced average costs savings, net of administration costs, of 15 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who will be responsible for responding to requests from residents' groups on residential estates in London to discuss the introduction of a bus service.

London Transport has a general duty under the London Regional Transport Act 1984 to provide or secure the provision of public passenger services for Greater London. It has no statutory obligation to respond to approaches from residents' groups, but such organisations are free to approach LT direct to discuss future bus provision.

Privilege Rail Tickets

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the number of privilege rail tickets granted under reciprocal arrangements to employees of overseas railway administrations for travel within Great Britain in 1991–92.

British Rail advises that it issued 57,023 coupons for such travel on its services in the calendar year 1991. It is not known how many of these were actually used.

Bus Operators

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the publicly or municipally-owned bus operators that are excluded from submitting tenders for the provision of services in Great Britain.

All publicly or municipally owned bus operators are free to submit tenders to provide bus services.

Robin Hood Line

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the Government will be making additional funding available for the Robin Hood line between Nottingham and Mansfield.

The Government will be making available to Nottinghamshire county council additional resources of £6·5 million for stage 2 of the Robin Hood line. These resources are in addition to the £367,000 which the Government have already made available towards the costs of stage 1 of the line. The additional resources should make it possible to extend the Robin Hood line from Nottingham at least as far as Mansfield.

Taxis

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he has had with the National Association of Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Enforcement Officers regarding two-tier taxi licensing systems, and if he will make a statement.

My officials met the National Association of Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Enforcement Officers on 5 May to discuss the licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles, principally outside London. NAPTHELO gave the Department copies of its draft proposals for the future of the taxi and private hire vehicle licensing system which we will be studying with interest.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he has taken on the recommendations contained in paragraph 23 of the report of the working party on the safety of users of taxis and minica bs in London.

I am aware of the situation outside London where there is a two-tier system for licensing taxis and private hire vehicles. I will take experience of this into account in making a decision on any changes to the licensing regime for the capital.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

The information requested is as follows:

Month	Number of Parliamentary questions answered	Number of disproportionate cost answers	Percentage
November 1991	392	2	0·51
December 1991	173	0	—
January 1992	223	0	—
February 1992	371	1	0·26
March 1992	172	0	—
April 1992	General Election	—	—
May 1992	170	0	—
June 1992	359	2	0·55
July 1992	259	1	0·38
August 1992	Recess	0	—
September 1992	Recess	0	—
October 1992	205	1	0·48
November 1992	334	1	0·29
December 1992	181	1	0·55
January 1993	196	2	1·02
February 1993	418	0	—
March 1993	392	0	—
April 1993	213	1	0·48
Total	4,058	12	0·29

Third Thames Crossing

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what cost-benefit analysis was used in selecting his Department's preferred option of a bridge, rather than a tunnel, for the A102 Blackwall third crossing; what emphasis this cost-benefit analysis gave to the impact of a bridge on the local community, business and the environment; if his Department will publish the cost-benefit analysis in full in time for the consultation phase; and if he will make a statement.

The Department has a standard cost benefit analysis for assessment of the effects of new road schemes in urban conditions—URECA—which addresses the likely change in traffic conditions and therefore the effect on the local community. The scheme's technical appraisal, which contains a summary of this analysis, is available and I will send the hon. Gentleman a copy if he wishes.A formal environmental assessment is not prepared in the early stages of a scheme. Full details of the preferred bridge option for a new crossing at Blackwall, including landscaping proposals, air quality and noise pollution assessments, were included in public exhibitions held recently as part of the current public consultation exercise.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he had with local government, community and business organisations prior to publication of his Department's consultation document on the A102 Blackwall third crossing; and how many of the organisations that he met were in favour of the Department's preferred bridge option.

Earlier this year the Department consulted on an informal basis the London boroughs of Greenwich and of Tower Hamlets and the London Docklands development corporation. It also had similar informal consultations with British Gas because of its wide-ranging Port Greenwich development proposals on its land at Blackwall peninsula and with industrialists on the north bank. The recent, widely advertised public consultation exercise is the opportunity for all interested parties to comment. Not surprisingly, the bridge option has received a mixed reaction.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a detailed environmental assessment, including analysis of noise pollution, of the planned bridge at Blackwall.

A formal environmental assessment is not prepared in the early stages of a scheme. Full details of the preferred bridge option for a new crossing at Blackwall, including landscaping proposals, air quality and noise pollution assessments, were included in public exhibitions held recently as part of the current public consultation exercise.

Oxleas Wood

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has recently received any communication from the European Commission with regard to Oxleas wood in Woolwich; and if he will make a statement.

I have recently received the European Commission's reasoned opinion on the east London river crossing. We will study it carefully but remain confident that we will be able to persuade the Commission of the merits of our case.

M6

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was paid for the land at Red Star which was bought for widening the M6 at Fulwood in Preston.

The Department does not disclose information about individual compensation claims.

Attorney-General

Crown Prosecution Service

To ask the Attorney-General what proportion of cases were discontinued by the crown prosecution service on the grounds of (a) evidential insufficiency or (b) it being not in the public interest to continue for each year since the instigation of the crown prosecution service.

Reasons for discontinuance are not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

The total numbers of defendant cases discontinued in each year were as follows:

Year	Number
1987–88	108,900
1988–89	120,714
1989–90	140,313
1990–91	151,236
1991–92	174,411
1992–93	193,774

The interim findings of Home Office research into the reasons for the termination of cases included 54 per cent. terminated on evidential grounds and 32 per cent. terminated in the public interest.

Table 1
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1987–88
	Received¹	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals
Inner London	92,761	172,251	1,825	111,506	7,208	16,162	35,550
London North	41,369	75,557	1,425	46,379	4,895	8,709	14,149
London South	35,900	67,720	1,670	50,677	5,749	6,236	3,388
Avon/Somerset	18,373	35,649	1,234	28,099	2,138	3,417	761
Herts/Bedfordshire	16,029	28,091	1,465	21,441	1,942	2,239	1,004
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	14,791	28,914	916	23,182	1,783	2,396	637
Cheshire	11,849	24,956	1,423	19,248	1,754	1,765	736
Cleveland/North Yorkshire	18,808	37,889	3,554	27,296	2,390	3,024	1,625
Cumbria/Lancashire	31,247	64,617	12,125	41,663	4,430	4,773	1,626
Derbyshire	13,666	29,377	730	24,390	1,789	1,977	491
Devon/Cornwall	16,433	31,040	2,409	23,336	2,837	2,211	247
Dorset/Hampshire	26,960	51,736	1,663	40,369	4,113	4,753	838
Durham/Northumbria	33,070	62,742	2,124	41,703	4,659	7,030	7,226
North Wales	16,263	29,036	1,069	23,534	2,249	1,425	759
Essex	14,671	27,554	223	21,299	2,908	2,311	813
Gloster/Wiltshire	14,090	27,237	633	21,677	2,299	1,858	770
Greater Manchester	46,451	82,736	689	64,604	6,249	8,565	2,629
Gwent/South Wales	37,610	70,943	2,023	55,724	7,010	4,315	1,871
Humberside	11,753	25,095	1,049	18,483	1,019	3,421	1,123
Kent	17,872	37,448	997	28,444	3,798	3,423	786
Leicester/ Northamptonshire	21,223	36,919	607	28,012	3,018	3,471	1,811
Merseyside	25,296	48,442	821	35,456	4,415	5,460	2,290
Norfolk/Suffolk	18,656	36,066	2,510	27,698	2,578	1,952	1,328
Nottinghamshire	17,560	37,200	843	33,064	890	2,955	2552
South Yorkshire	19,933	36,511	1,624	26,610	2,483	4,207	1,587
Staffordshire/Warwickshire	19,934	37,446	2,196	28,461	2,937	2,788	1,064
Sussex	20,242	41,593	1,791	32,375	4,622	2,289	516
Thames Valley	26,708	45,981	3,110	36,271	2,584	3,008	1,008
West Mercia	12,877	27,148	1,163	20,352	2,052	2,269	1,312
West Midlands	38,060	70,346	2,210	53,333	2,453	8,900	3,450
West Yorkshire	35,878	72,732	639	52,799	9,649	7,584	2,061
Total Field	786,333	1,500,972	56,760	1,107,485	108,900	134,923	92,904
¹ October 1987 to March 1988 only.
² Minus value.

Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

The minus value for Other Disposals in the Nottinghamshire Area is produced because the sum of advice only, completed, discontinued and committed to the Crown Court cases is greater than the total number of cases recorded as finalised. This result is produced because of limitations in administrative arrangements for obtaining the basic data in the Area at that time. The occurrence of such circumstances is now avoided by validity checks and controls which have since been introduced.

To ask the Attorney-General how many cases were (a) received by the crown prosecution service from police, (b) completed in the magistrates court, (c) discontinued by the crown prosecution service before or at the magistrates court hearing, (d) committed to the Crown court by the magistrates court or (e) otherwise disposed for each year since the instigation of the crown prosecution service in each crown prosecution service region.

The tables show the numbers of defendant cases in each category dealt with in the 31 areas of the crown prosecution service for each year since April 1987. Cases received for pre-charge advice are also shown. "Other proceedings", such as forfeiture under the Obscene Publications Act, have been recorded separately since 1991.

Table 2
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1988–89
	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals
Inner London	176,686	169,844	1,263	107,070	10,683	16,073	34,755
London North	83,399	74,351	1,363	47,041	5,978	9,321	10,648
London South	73,715	73,877	1,712	52,558	6,839	6,036	6,732
Avon/Somerset	38,258	37,629	1,065	29,775	2,573	3,076	1,140
Herts/Bedfordshire	32,735	31,600	1,946	24,167	2,211	2,612	664
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	28,438	25,930	1,132	19,565	1,864	2,419	950
Cheshire	24,291	23,850	1,093	18,400	2,055	1,951	351
Cleveland/ North Yorkshire	38,637	35,958	2,327	26,500	2,435	3,271	1,425
Cumbria/Lancashire	57,891	58,937	7,310	41,361	3,648	5,079	1,539
Derbyshire	24,487	24,510	2,418	18,014	1,653	2,147	278
Devon/Cornwall	31,393	31,521	2,510	23,457	2,419	1,875	1,260
Dorset/Hampshire	59,983	57,588	1,474	46,198	3,759	4,660	1,497
Durham/Northumbria	67,852	64,376	2,827	41,463	5,778	6,476	7,832
North Wales	32,068	30,284	1,038	24,273	2,793	1,558	622
Essex	30,179	30,193	469	21,549	3,572	2,433	2,170
Gloster/Wiltshire	25,960	26,156	884	20,321	2,492	1,731	728
Greater Manchester	94,678	89,938	2,209	68,370	8,207	8,622	2,530
Gwent/South Wales	72,264	70,254	2,361	53,192	7,307	4,325	3,069
Humberside	27,276	26,591	1,320	19,309	1,715	3,458	789
Kent	34,392	34,807	1,116	26,216	3,719	2,999	757
Leicester/Northamptonshire	38,384	35,616	1,022	28,046	3,186	2,487	875
Merseyside	51,872	50,438	815	38,133	4,419	5,225	1,846
Norfolk/Suffolk	37,690	37,247	3,075	29,091	2,660	2,284	137
Nottinghamshire	38,507	36,464	618	30,304	956	3,324	1,262
South Yorkshire	44,934	41,685	5,045	28,502	2,866	4,101	1,171
Staffordshire/Warwickshire	40,008	38,935	1,897	29,351	3,236	3,012	1,439
Sussex	34,598	34,527	2,480	24,671	2,385	2,456	2,535
Thames Valley	48,547	45,479	3,189	34,056	2,748	3,051	2,435
West Mercia	26,777	25,946	932	20,567	2,241	1,787	419
West Midlands	79,276	77,450	2,125	61,123	3,029	8,526	2,647
West Yorkshire	78,941	66,367	603	45,877	11,288	7,352	1,247
Total Field	1,574,116	1,508,348	59,638	1,098,520	120,714	133,727	95,749
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 3
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1989–90
	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals
Inner London	166,374	169,577	2,522	105,622	12,756	16,497	32,180
London North	82,137	73,167	1,920	46,689	7,236	8,484	8,838
London South	67,902	71,849	1,816	48,947	6,925	5,757	8,404
Avon/Somerset	37,910	38,190	1,225	29,238	2,965	2,918	1,844
Herts/Bedfordshire	32,376	32,535	1,851	23,836	2,694	2,565	1,589
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	32,495	30,527	1,020	23,591	2,410	2,559	947
Cheshire	25,452	24,749	1,143	18,664	2,369	1,978	595
Cleveland/ North Yorkshire	36,699	36,378	2,964	25,802	2,816	3,272	1,524
Cumbria/Lancashire	61,369	58,902	2,924	44,422	4,555	5,272	1,729
Derbyshire	26,755	25,840	4,264	17,096	1,798	2,282	400
Devon/Cornwall	34,051	33,937	2,320	25,240	2,518	2,606	1,253
Dorset/Hampshire	63,602	61,892	1,853	48,706	3,826	5,098	2,409
Durham/Northumbria	68,322	65,455	2,441	42,777	7,602	5,141	7,494
North Wales	34,621	32,937	865	26,121	3,477	1,597	877
Essex	34,542	34,109	176	24,359	4,592	2,432	2,550
Gloster/Wiltshire	28,221	27,270	840	20,857	2,989	1,626	958
Greater Manchester	101,713	98,186	3,099	74,557	9,143	7,756	3,631
Gwent/South Wales	76,175	71,402	3,721	52,209	8,311	4,787	2,374
Humberside	26,797	26,430	1,223	19,343	2,047	3,059	758
Kent	36,291	36,180	1,253	26,921	4,081	3,193	732
Leicester/ Northamptonshire	35,756	33,427	797	24,999	3,186	2,812	1,633
Merseyside	60,932	56,517	841	43,944	4,324	4,896	2,512
Norfolk/Suffolk	39,843	38,450	2,885	29,984	2,702	2,595	284
Nottinghamshire	41,323	39,371	894	32,848	1,674	2,811	1,144

	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals
South Yorkshire	48,632	46,277	5,669	31,325	3,468	4,188	1,627
Staffordshire/Warwickshire	45,379	43,401	1,665	32,672	3,878	3,420	1,766
Sussex	36,267	35,364	1,641	25,567	2,737	2,562	2,857
Thames Valley	49,572	49,830	2,331	32,833	2,726	2,700	9,240
West Mercia	26,363	26,149	932	20,558	2,568	1,825	266
West Midlands	80,785	77,601	1,806	59,803	4,621	8,586	2,785
West Yorkshire	82,691	79,148	5,223	50,850	13,319	7,473	2,283
Total Field	1,622,347	1,575,047	64,124	1,130,380	140,313	132,747	107,483
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 4
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1990–91
	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals
Inner London	149,066	154,355	2,518	90,613	12,507	15,997	32,720
London North	79,181	80,764	2,260	48,806	8,350	8,274	13,074
London South	65,872	65,781	1,882	43,195	6,775	6,121	7,808
Avon/Somerset	37,379	37,139	1,247	28,560	3,295	2,667	1,370
Herts/Bedfordshire	32,858	34,002	1,731	23,002	3,018	2,032	4,219
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	31,521	30,363	1,090	22,933	2,906	2,689	745
Cheshire	25,526	24,440	1,055	18,491	2,423	1,921	550
Cleveland/ North Yorkshire	38,070	36,286	2,119	25,948	3,117	3,612	1,490
Cumbria/Lancashire	63,795	59,425	1,946	43,834	5,118	6,184	2,343
Derbyshire	24,356	23,549	2,517	16,410	1,743	2,190	689
Devon/Cornwall	33,629	33,169	1,797	25,139	2,730	2,618	885
Dorset/Hampshire	62,045	61,971	1,180	48,603	3,784	5,531	2,873
Durham/Northumbria	73,573	71,632	2,725	46,092	9,319	5,425	8,071
North Wales	37,353	35,587	708	28,531	3,983	1,752	613
Essex	37,378	37,346	561	22,638	4,828	2,642	6,677
Gloster/Wiltshire	29,938	29,526	722	22,400	3,637	1,923	844
Greater Manchester	103,485	98,847	3,242	77,492	9,226	7,323	1,564
Gwent/South Wales	80,708	80,575	4,135	58,331	8,910	5,246	3,953
Humberside	27,952	27,283	1,407	19,269	1,999	3,282	1,326
Kent	33,685	34,183	1,276	24,030	4,844	3,266	767
Leicester/ Northamptonshire	36,957	38,676	922	28,211	4,128	2,870	2,545
Merseyside	61,576	58,631	671	44,591	5,236	4,800	3,333
Norfolk/Suffolk	38,674	37,232	3,453	26,968	3,142	2,561	1,108
Nottinghamshire	41,615	42,852	589	35,018	1,632	2,827	2,786
South Yorkshire	51,699	53,383	5,518	37,773	3,991	4,345	1,756
Staffordshire/Warwickshire	44,463	43,132	1,674	31,393	4,048	3,410	2,607
Sussex	35,943	35,466	1,572	25,590	2,627	2,899	2,778
Thames Valley	48,018	49,072	2,346	33,314	3,915	2,990	6,507
West Mercia	27,241	26,392	1,175	20,510	2,511	1,959	237
West Midlands	78,970	80,803	1,272	62,133	5,146	8,025	4,227
West Yorkshire	92,531	90,567	17,441	50,491	12,348	7,306	2,981
Total Field	1,625,057	1,612,429	72,751	1,130,309	151,236	134,687	123,446
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 5
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1991–92
	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals	Other Proceedings
Inner London	147,693	145,829	2,421	85,120	19,029	14,383	23,867	1,009
London North	79,637	74,897	2,233	47,219	11,778	7,480	5,307	880
London South	60,768	60,537	1,932	39,940	7,674	5,609	4,961	421
Avon/Somerset	36,472	36,832	1,074	25,461	4,550	3,042	2,174	531
Herts/Bedfordshire	31,273	33,392	2,272	20,148	4,228	1,597	4,383	764
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	29,788	28,562	1,311	20,291	3,142	2,668	908	242
Cheshire	24,766	24,901	849	17,792	2,701	2,050	850	652

	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals	Other Proceedings
Cleveland/North Yorkshire	39,989	39,471	1,686	25,401	4,371	3,865	2,149	2,000
Cumbria/Lancashire	61,855	61,726	2,428	43,100	5,914	6,293	3,625	366
Derbyshire	24,801	25,054	4,031	14,984	1,595	1,958	2,144	343
Devon/Cornwall	33,194	34,170	1,297	25,541	2,747	2,271	1,898	416
Dorset/Hampshire	63,300	65,363	1,524	49,598	4,862	5,135	3,497	747
Durham/Northumbria	67,866	66,196	2,235	44,431	9,825	5,575	3,561	569
North Wales	38,774	37,161	810	28,426	3,693	1,670	2,028	534
Essex	41,888	38,387	1,454	27,537	3,333	2,410	3,319	414
Gloucestershire/Wiltshire	32,823	32,991	964	23,292	3,826	1,818	2,570	521
Greater Manchester	102,983	102,507	2,624	71,969	9,904	7,818	6,410	3,782
Gwent/South Wales	76,878	76,416	4,147	53,035	8,648	5,089	4,262	1,235
Humberside	26,238	26,158	1,557	17,702	1,792	3,109	743	1,255
Kent	29,179	29,907	1,072	19,502	4,848	3,025	1,182	278
Leicester/ Northamptonshire	37,856	42,023	1,288	28,766	3,807	3,162	4,537	1,046
Merseyside	56,711	61,230	762	44,812	6,428	5,321	3,453	454
Norfolk/Suffolk	38,188	38,695	3,254	27,715	3,434	2,706	1,200	384
Nottinghamshire	28,302	32,536	577	22,877	4,339	2,482	1,767	394
South Yorkshire	43,538	47,227	5,317	28,105	4,652	4,322	4,343	197
Staffordshire/ Warwickshire	45,059	45,261	2,068	32,713	4,643	3,404	1,696	737
Sussex	36,194	36,320	1,878	25,557	3,664	2,709	2,145	366
Thames Valley	41,994	41,889	2,342	28,095	5,717	2,810	2,394	530
West Mercia	25,094	26,379	1,748	18,444	2,829	1,652	1,310	359
West Midlands	77,827	70,992	709	50,197	7,984	7,028	4,184	890
West Yorkshire	90,247	85,844	15,473	50,877	8,454	7,206	3,408	436
Total Field	1,571,175	1,568,853	73,337	1,058,747	174,411	129,667	110,275	22,752
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 6
Magistrates'Courts Cases 1992–93
	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals	Other Proceedings
Inner London	146,480	148,352	2,749	80,785	22,538	11,440	29,075	1,765
London North	76,838	73,918	3,781	44,749	12,284	5,556	6,498	1,050
London South	58,390	58,182	2,322	37,363	8,481	4,720	4,845	451
Avon/Somerset	34,379	34,049	1,283	22,485	4,549	2,650	2,611	471
Herts/Bedfordshire	30,415	30,408	1,814	19,159	3,881	1,787	2,757	1,010
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	31,326	28,325	1,669	20,255	3,328	2,173	720	180
Cheshire	26,300	25,749	1,478	17,752	2,653	1,976	951	939
Cleveland/North Yorkshire	40,663	40,418	2,135	26,210	5,480	3,655	1,636	1,302
Cumbria/Lancashire	62,616	61,486	2,398	43,497	6,625	5,097	3,281	588
Derbyshire	23,285	23,613	3,967	14,200	2,062	1,711	1,386	287
Devon/Cornwall	30,174.	30,985	1,428	23,106	2,659	2,026	1,394	372
Dorset/Hampshire	58,043	59,271	1,750	43,874	4,724	3,913	4,330	680
Durham/Northumbria	68,353	69,382	2,151	44,856	12,478	4,748	4,656	493
North Wales	36,250	36,436	1,218	27,077	4,175	1,665	1,757	544
Essex	39,869	41,670	2,030	28,385	3,064	1,974	6,065	152
Gloucestershire/Wiltshire	33,417	33,434	1,168	22,858	3,835	1,496	3,014	1,063
Greater Manchester	105,716	103,350	2,382	71,911	10,541	7,568	6,202	4,746
Gwent/South Wales	75,537	77,529	5,083	50,273	9,395	4,684	6,647	1,447
Humberside	24,139	24,042	1,382	16,536	1,949	2,320	379	1,476
Kent	28,463	27,643	1,125	17,907	4,865	2,366	1,156	224
Leicester/Northamptonshire	38,202	40,406	2,334	26,174	4,773	3,104	2,973	1,048
Merseyside	54,586	56,090	1,099	41,584	5,960	4,835	2,238	374
Norfolk/Suffolk	36,760	37,951	3,484	26,610	3,156	2,244	1,651	806
Nottinghamshire	27,794	28,837	523	19,876	4,083	2,530	1,501	324
South Yorkshire	39,155	39,885	5,257	22,839	6,342	3,106	2,049	292
Staffordshire/Warwickshire	46,806	45,895	2,741	33,027	4,981	2,872	1,383	891
Sussex	32,739	32,186	1,719	22,082	4,011	2,049	2,038	287
Thames Valley	45,320	45,489	3,108	28,714	6,201	2,449	4,231	786

	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals	Other Proceedings
West Mercia	27,614	26,977	1,198	19,200	3,833	1,544	908	294
West Midlands	76,593	74,305	1,545	48,616	9,986	6,524	6,095	1,539
West Yorkshire	74,364	76,249	6,228	48,403	10,882	7,300	3,212	224
Total Field	1,530,586	1,532,512	72,549	1,010,363	193,774	112,082	117,639	26,105
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

To ask the Attorney-General what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of victims who are consulted when a case is discontinued by the crown prosecution service.

The crown prosecution service does not consult victims directly. Where appropriate the victim's views are made known to the CPS through the police, who are consulted before a case is discontinued and to whom the victims charter assigns the role of keeping victims informed about proceedings. The interests of the victim are an important factor in determining the balance of the public interest.

National Finance

Profit-Related Pay

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the estimated cost in 1991–92 and 1992–93 of tax forgone by the Inland Revenue through profit-related pay schemes.

The latest information is as follows:

Estimated cost of income tax relief
	£ million
1991–92	40
¹1992–93	200
¹ Provisional.

Self-Employed People

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many self-employed people in Wales have claimed tax relief on personal pension payments in each of the last three years; and if he will indicate in each instance the number who have claimed the maximum amount of tax relief available.

In 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91, the most recent three years available, the estimated numbers of self-employed people in Wales claiming relief on pension payments are 50,000, 60,000 and 70,000 respectively. Reliable information on numbers claiming the maximum relief is not available.

Rugby Football

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment the Inland Revenue has made of the implications of the Rugby Football Union report entitled "Inducements to Move, Incentives to Stay and Other Illegal Payments", a copy of which has been sent to him; and if he will make a statement.

The Inland Revenue is aware of the Rugby Football Union report. It is making inquiries to establish whether any players have received taxable income or benefits which they have not declared. It will take appropriate action when its inquiries are completed.

Water Expenditure

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors underlie the differential categorisation of borrowing for water supply purposes by Scottish, English and Welsh local authorities as respect Government expenditure; and what plans he has to bring the positions into line.

In Scotland expenditure by local authorities on water and sewerage is subject to the same controls as other capital expenditure. No distinction is made between borrowing for water supply and for other local authority capital projects.English and Welsh local authorities have no statutory responsibility for developing and maintaining water supplies, except in the Isles of Scilly and do not therefore need to borrow to finance capital investment. Supplementary credit approvals are issued by the Department of the Environment for capital expenditure in connection with the provision of supplies in the Isles of Scilly.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

Relatively few parliamentary questions are not answered substantively by Treasury Ministers on ground of disproportionate cost.

Overseas Contracts

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy towards British subjects working on contracts in the middle east for United Kingdom companies whose salary is administered in Britain for income tax and national insurance contributions.

The tax treatment of United Kingdom citizens working abroad for United Kingdom companies, whether in the middle east or elsewhere, depends on a number of factors, including their residence status for United Kingdom tax purposes; and the terms of any relevant double taxation agreements and the length of time they spend outside the United Kingdom.

I am advised by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security that, where individuals remain ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom while working abroad, they and the United Kingdom companies to which they are contracted are liable to pay class 1 national insurance contributions for the first 52 weeks of employment in most middle eastern countries. Contributions may be paid voluntarily by the individual after that time.

Israel is the only middle eastern country with which the United Kingdom has a social security convention. Under the terms of that convention, class 1 contributions may be due for the first five years of employment there. Liability would arise under Israeli national insurance law if the employment lasted for longer than five years.

Inland Revenue Solicitor

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the future structure of the offices of the Solicitor of Inland Revenue and the Solicitor of Inland Revenue (Scotland).

The offices of the Solicitor of Inland Revenue and of the Solicitor of Inland Revenue (Scotland) were two of the executive offices of the Inland Revenue established in April 1992 as part of the Inland Revenue's response to the next steps programme, Official Report, 6 March 1992, columns 319–21. These offices have been merged for management purposes to form a single executive office under the overall management of the Solicitor of Inland Revenue. However, the post of Solicitor (Scotland) continues to exist within the new office and the holder of the post continues to act as solicitor to the Board of Inland Revenue in Scotland. A framework document for the new office will be placed in the House Library shortly.

Petrol Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the estimated amount of revenue that will be raised by (a) petroleum revenue tax and (b) petroleum excise duty in 1993–94.

[holding answer 14 May 1993]: Forecast revenues in 1993–94 from petroleum revenue tax are £0·6 billion and from excise duties applied to leaded and unleaded petrol are £9·6 billion.

National Heritage

Drama Funding

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will publish a geographical breakdown of funding for drama provided by the Scottish Arts Council; and if such funding decisions rest with members of the drama committee or the paid officers of the Scottish Arts Council.

The geographical breakdown of funding for drama by the Scottish Arts Council is set out in the table. Decisions on revenue funding for drama clients are taken by the council in the light of recommendations by the drama committee. Decisions on funding projects and schemes are taken by the drama committee.

Drama¹	£
Borders
Jane Houston Green	200
Central
Federation of Scottish Theatre Ltd.	18,000
MacRobert Arts Centre	1,900
	19,900
Edinburgh
Benchtours	3,500
Communicado Theatre Company	156,873
Celtech Events	1,000
Edinburgh Puppet and Animation Festival	3,000
Edinburgh Puppet Company	9,000
Edinburgh Touring Circuit	3,000
Fifth Estate	34,000
Grassmarket Project	1,500
Hullaballoo Childrens Theatre	30,000
Pat Keysell	1,255
Duncan Low	300
Jo McNamara	3,000
Muirhouse Festival Activities Centre	900
Boilerhouse Theatre Company	13,997
Royal Lyceum Theatre Co. Ltd.	530,271
Streets Ahead Theatre Company	1,500
Scottish International Children's Festival	20,000
The Traverse Theatre (Scotland) Ltd.	323,793
Theatre Scotland	3,000
Theatre Workshop Edinburgh Ltd.	11,500
	1,151,389
Fife
Byre Theatre of St Andrews Ltd.	129,920
Glasgow
Annexe Theatre Company	3,000
Birds of Paradise Theatre Company	4,000
Citizens Theatre Ltd.	514,786
Clanjamfrie	7,500
Clyde Unity Theatre	41,000
Fablevision	20,000
Govan Initiative	2,100
Jane Jewel	1,000
Flloyd Kennedy	200
Music Theatre Lab.	5,000
Media Theatre Company	3,000
Pen-name Theatre	40,000
Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre	3,000
Jo Smith	300
7:84 Theatre Company Ltd.	175,702
Scottish Youth Theatre Ltd.	21,000
Scottish Drama	2,000
Scottish National Association of Youth Theatre	5,000
Phyllis Steel	200
Ian Turbitt's Puppet Theatre	300
Tron Theatre Ltd.	211,839
Tag Theatre Company	151,334
Visible Fictions	15,000
Woodside Area Arts Project	1,000
Winged Horse Touring Productions	18,000
	1,246,261
Grampian
Aberdeen Art Gallery/City of Aberdeen	11,000
Banff & Buchan District Council	1,500
Crathes 1992	1,500
The Invisible Bouncers	6,000
North East of Scotland Touring Arts
Co-Ordinating Association	5,000
	25,000
Highland
Eden Court Theatre	1,000
Grey Coast Theatre Company	22,000

Drama¹	£
National Gaelic Arts Project	18,000
Clown Jewels	22,000
Ross & Cromarty District Council	1,000
	64,000
Lothian
East Lothian District Council	57,541
Strathclyde
Black Box Puppet Theatre Trust	14,628
Borderline Theatre Company Ltd.	160,476
MacMyth Project	3,000
Cumbernauld Theatre Trust Ltd.	36,500
Edward Jackson	500
Wildcat Stage Productions Ltd.	190,021
	405,125
Tayside
Dundee Repertory Theatre Ltd.	266,486
Tayside Regional Council	650
Pitlochry Festival Soc. Ltd.	227,193
Perth Repertory Theatre Ltd.	266,987
	761,316
Island Authorities
Alan Watters	3,000
Others
Assitej G. B.	500
Half Moon Young Peoples Theatre	3,000
International Workshop Festival	2,500
Medieval Players Company Ltd.	4,000
Northern Stage Company	1,000
Oily Carte Theatre Company	2,000
Ra Ra Zoo	2,000
	15,000
Total	3,878,652
¹ All companies are listed within their home region. Many spend a large proportion of their time touring outside that area.

Marble Hill Park

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what legal obligations and other responsibilities passed on the transfer of ownership of Marble Hill park and house from the Greater London council to English Heritage in respect of the maintenance of Marble Hill park as a public open space and public amenity park including the provision of sports and children's facilities and public access to Marble Hill house.

No specific legal obligations were transferred upon the abolition of the Greater London council under the terms of the Local Government Act 1985, although English Heritage accepted a responsibility as a public body to manage and maintain Marble Hill house and park. Paragraph 13 of the Local Government Reorganisation (Property, etc.) Order 1986 conferred additional powers on English Heritage to enable it to manage the park as a public open space and provide recreational facilities.

Arts Subsidies

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much subsidy from public funds has been provided to the arts in each year since 1987.

Government funding for the arts is channelled mainly through the Arts Council of Great Britain. The Arts Council's grant-in-aid for each year since 1987 is set out in the table.

Year	£ thousand
1987–88	139,300
1988–89	152,411
1989–90	155,500
1990–91	175,792
1991–92	¹194,200
1992–93	221,200
1993–94	225,630
¹ This excludes a special payment of £10–8 million to enable the English National Opera to buy the freehold of the Coliseum.

The Government also fund the business sponsorship incentive scheme, the theatres restoration fund and various research projects. For 1993–94, total central Government expenditure additional to the Arts Council's grant-in-aid will be approximately £5·6 million.Local authorities also fund activities, but no definitive figures on their overall expenditure are available.

Overseas Development

Un Conference On Environment And Development

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals the United Kingdom plans to put to the EC Development Council on 25 May, regarding progress made in following up the commitments made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

The Development Council will consider progress by the Community since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, including what the Community is doing to help developing countries implement agenda 21. As part of this, the Council will consider the findings of a series of expert groups, in which Britain has played an active part. These groups considered priorities in the implementation of agenda 21 in developing countries. Britain chaired the group which considered energy efficiency issues.

Africa (Aid)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of the overseas aid budget goes to countries in Africa; and which five countries in Africa receive the highest proportion of that aid.

In 1991–92 45 per cent. of bilateral aid which could be allocated by region went to Africa. The five top recipients were:

	£ million
Zimbabwe	37
Ghana	32
Kenya	29
Zambia	28
Uganda	26

Sub-Saharan Africa

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Overseas Development Administration's most recent assessment of the economic situation in sub-Saharan Africa; what are the economic prospects for Africa over the next 10 years on the basis of current international plans of action; and whether Her Majesty's Government will support the drawing up of a new international plan of action for economic recovery.

The situation of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the poorest, is likely to continue to be difficult and challenging. Where African Governments are implementing economic and political reforms, these are producing positive results which the United Kingdom and the rest of the international community will continue to encourage and support. This support takes the form of substantial concessional aid, debt relief measures and trading arrangements which provide good access for exports from African countries into important markets including the EC; foreign private investment can be increasingly important where African Governments create the right conditions.A framework for guiding international support is already in place at a regional level, through the global coalition for Africa and the special programme of assistance to sub-Saharan Africa and at country level. These arrangements allow African governments, OECD country Governments and key international agencies to collaborate and to co-ordinate support.

Mozambique

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what parts of Mozambique he regards, for the purpose of providing aid and development assistance, as Government controlled and what parts as RENAMO administered.

No such distinction is made for aid purposes. Aid is provided to meet identified needs wherever it is practicable to do so, taking account of the resources available and access to appraise and monitor use of the aid.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide details of the channels through which United Kingdom development assistance and food and emergency aid is distributed in Mozambique.

British food and emergency aid is provided primarily through non-governmental organisations, which are best placed to distribute to those most in need. In addition we have contributed to appeals from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Childrens Fund.Longer-term development aid is provided in the form of balance of payments aid to support Mozambique's economic reform programme channelled through the Government of Mozambique's system for foreign exchange allocation; capital aid for projects mostly channelled through British companies, and technical co-operation which funds British consultants and experts for a range of projects and training programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much (a) food and emergency aid and (b) health care and medical project assistance the United Kingdom has given to (i) Government-controlled areas in Mozambique and (ii) areas administered by RENAMO, in accordance with the October 1992 general peace accord.

As required by protocol VII of the October 1992 peace accord a donor conference was held in Rome in December. At this conference we pledged £3 million of humanitarian assistance. About £1·7 million of this has already been spent mainly for seeds and tools programmes managed by British non-governmental organisations. None of this commitment has so far been spent on medicines. Since the peace accord we and other donors have succeeded in distributing humanitarian aid much more widely throughout the whole of Mozambique, although some areas remain inaccessible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the estimated levels of diversion and/or theft of United Kingdom aid in Mozambique; and what representations he has made to, or received from, the Mozambique authorities following Mozambican Government commissions of inquiry into aid diversion and theft in Mozambique.

The only reported losses of British bilateral aid have been pilferage of food aid. We estimate the losses to be less than 1 per cent. of bilateral food aid provided in 1992. All our bilateral food aid last year was provided through British non-governmental organisations, which employ contractors, paid on performance, to store and transport the food to specific destinations. Distribution to beneficiaries is supervised by NGOs.Distribution of food and other emergency aid is monitored at regular meetings in Maputo, to some of which RENAMO are invited. Our ambassador has taken up cases of pilferage with Ministers in the Government of Mozambique and provincial governors and has received assurances that action is being taken to prevent further instances.

South Africa

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the new South Africa development division will be operational in Pretoria; and if he will publish details of its first year's budget showing the split between higher education projects and other sectors.

The new British development division in southern Africa will open on 7 June and manage our aid programmes in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. We expect the new office to run programmes totalling about £35 million per year. Nearly 40 per cent of this is currently spent on higher education, including postgraduate training awards in a variety of sectors.

China

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 7 May, Official Report, column 260, if he will list the types of information provided by (a) International Planned Parenthood Federation and (b) United Nations Fund for Population Activities to his Department concerning China's population control programme.

IPPF and UNFPA provide ODA with information about (a) China's population policy and programme (b) their current programmes of technical and financial assistance to China and (c) their planned future activities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 40, on payments to the IPPF and UNFPA, what sums are planned to be given to these organisations in 1993, or the financial year 1993–94.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan) on 10 May at columns 311–12.

Overseas Aid

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent on all aspects of overseas aid in each year since 1987.

The figures for gross public expenditure on aid to developing countries are as follows:

Year	Amount £ million
1987–88	1,410
1988–89	1,607
1989–90	1,733
1990–91	1,883
1991–92	2,021
We have also provided assistance to eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union states as follows:
1987–88	—
1988–89	—
1989–90	64
1990–91	14
1991–92	119

Full details on these figures are given in tables B1 and C1 of "British Aid Statistics 1987/88–1991/92", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

Belize

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what help the United Kingdom gives to the Belize Government for rain forest work.

[holding answer 13 May 1993]: A five-year forest planning and management project began in May 1992. The total cost to ODA is £3·73 million. In addition, we have been funding since January 1991 a three-year appointment of a tropical forestry action plan co-ordinator; and have supported a number of land use planning activities which have a direct bearing on the management of the Belize rain forest.

Education

Data Protection

To ask the Secretary of State for Education to what investigations his Department has been subject by the Data Protection Registrar in relation to a suspected breach of a data protection principle; if he will summarise the nature of each complaint and state when the complaint was made; and what remedial action was taken by his Department to ensure future compliance with the principle subject to the investigation.

The Department's data protection co-ordinator has no record on any investigation by the Data Protection Registrar of any suspected breach of a Data Protection Act principle.

Select Committee Recommendations

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many Select Committee recommendations have been made about his Department since April 1989; and how many of them have been accepted.

The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I refer the hon. Member to the "Sessional Information Digest", copies of which are available in the Library. This lists Select Committee reports and provides reference numbers to Department responses where appropriate.

Special Educational Needs

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children with special educational needs attended (a) mainstream state schools, (b) special schools, (c) mainstream state nursery schools and (d) special nursery schools at the latest available date.

The information requested is given in the following table.

Pupils with statements of special educational needs attending maintained schools in England—January 1992
	Number of pupils with statements
Nursery schools	298
Primary, middle and secondary schools	71,246
Special schools¹	79,198
¹ Includes 60 pupils attending special nursery schools.

Youth Service

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proposals the Government have to provide local authorities with appropriate guidelines to ensure the provision of a wide range of quality youth work; and what priority he considers youth service provision should be for local authorities.

The series of ministerial conferences with the youth service established that the youth service is strongly committed to the principle of local determination. It is primarily for individual local authorities to determine their priorities and the type and mix of youth work provision to meet local needs and circumstances in accordance with sections 41 and 53 of the Education Act 1944.

Pre-School Play Groups

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the estimated financial value of the contribution provided by his Department in England to pre-school play groups in respect of each pupil per session for a year.

Responsibility for playgroup matters in England rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health. The Department for Education makes an annual grant to the Pre-school Playgroups Association for its staff training activities, amounting to £887,000 in 1993–94.

Class Sizes

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what analysis has been carried out by his Department on the impact of class sizes on educational attainment, distinguishing between impact on (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils; and if he will make a statement.

The Department continues to monitor and assess research in this area.

Student Loans

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many student loans were applied for by students in Wales in each year since its inception; and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for the Student Loans Company. I will ask the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

Testing

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 10 May, c. 323, on spending on testing, if he will break down the figure given between (a) advertising and (b) production of leaflets; how many leaflets were produced; how many parents have to date asked for a copy of the leaflet; how many extra copies of the leaflet have been ordered to date; and at what cost.

The cost of advertising the leaflet "How is Your Child Doing at School?" is estimated at £415,000. Three million copies are being produced at an estimated cost of £148,000. A total of 981,000 copies of the leaflet were initially distributed to schools, libraries and LEAs at an estimated cost of £84,000. The number of requests for additional copies is still being compiled. A handout giving details about requesting copies of the leaflet will be available to people claiming child benefit at main post offices during the week beginning 31 May.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Education in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

According to the records available this Department has answered nine parliamentary questions to which substantive answers could not be given on the ground of disproportionate cost since November 1991. This figure represents 0·3 per cent. of the total number of parliamentary questions answered since that date.

Epileptic Students

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what provisions there are for providing teachers with practical advice in dealing with epileptic students; and if she will make a statement.

The Department does not itself produce advice for dealing with epileptic pupils and students; useful advice is, however, offered in information booklets produced by organisations such as the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation, the British Epilepsy Association and the National Society for Epilepsy.

House Of Commons

Garage (Car Removal)

To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if he will arrange to have the car J767 CUU removed from the House of Commons garage; and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for the Serjeant at Arms.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Genetically Modified Organisms

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to introduce compulsory food labelling for foods containing products of gene technology; and if he will make a statement.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to ensure that all foodstuffs produced involving the use of genetically modified organisms are clearly marked both individually and on their packaging to indicate this fact; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's independent Food Advisory Committee issued a consultation paper on 2 April seeking comments from interested parties on the labelling of foods produced from, or using, genetically modified organisms. Copies of the paper have been placed in the Library of the House.I look forward to receiving the Committee's considered advice which we shall consider with great care.

Animal Exports

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many live animals have been exported from the United Kingdom to each other EC member state since January.

Information on trade with other EC member states is not currently available. I shall write to the hon. Member when it is.

Iacs Forms

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of eligible agricultural holdings he estimates had not submitted a completed and admissable integrated administration and control system form by 15 May.

We have been encouraged by the very high proportion of IACS applications received by 15 May which we were able to accept as having been lodged with the Department within the deadline. We now have to carry out detailed checks to determine eligibility for payment.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

The information is as follows:

Month	Wholly disproportionate	Partly disproportionate
November 1991	3	4
December 1991	0	2
January 1992	0	0
February 1992	2	1
March 1992	1	0
April 1992	0	0
May 1992	0	0
June 1992	1	3
July 1992	1	1
August 1992	0	0
September 1992	0	0
October 1992	1	0
November 1992	2	0
December 1992	0	2
January 1993	0	0
February 1993	0	6
March 1993	0	4
April 1993	0	2
Total	11	25

These combined totals represent 122 per cent. of the written questions answered between November 1991 and April 1993

Milk Marketing Board

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the various milk marketing board liabilities which are to be transferred to residuary bodies under the terms of the Agriculture Bill [Lords]; and if he will make a statement.

Under the Agriculture Bill it would be for each milk marketing board in Great Britain to apply to Ministers after enactment for approval of formal proposals for the transfer and distribution of its property, rights and liabilities. I cannot prejudge what each board might propose or what Ministers would decide.

Granite Imports

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 10 May, Official Report, column 329, how many of the 50,000 tonnes of granite brought in from Sweden and France as part of the sea defence scheme have not been used and have consequently been removed by lorry, out of Devon, and at what cost; and if he will make a statement as to why British granite was not used.

All the granite brought in from Sweden and France was used in the sea defences at Beesands. I understand that, in addition, the contractor brought in by road some 11,000 tonnes of British rock to make up an anticipated shortfall in requirements, but in the event this was not needed for the sea defences and was removed, the immediate cost being borne by the contractor. The National Rivers Authority did not specify the source of rock when inviting tenders, only that most of it should be delivered by sea, so that the choice of British or imported rock was a commercial decision by the contractor.

Health

Health Authority Budgets

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total grant-maintained status budget for each year from 1990–91 to 1994–95 for each family health services authority and regional health authority.

Regional health authorities and family health services authorities do not have grant-maintained status budgets.

Maternity Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list by national health service region the hospitals in England which had consultant obstetric and/or general practitioner maternity beds in 1991–92 and 1992–93, with the numbers of beds of each type in each hospital and each region in each year.

The information requested for 1991–92 will be placed in the Library. Figures for 1992–93 are not yet available. Numbers of beds are now collated in terms of directly managed units and national health service trusts. Beds within one unit may be on more than one site or in more than one hospital. The information is set out in three categories: consultant, general practitioner and mixed. The category "mixed" is where bed use can be either for cases referred by consultants or by GPs.

Junior Doctors

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of whole-time equivalent junior hospital doctors and the total wage bill in each of the last five years; and what are the projected figures for the next two years.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 20 April at columns 76–78, for the available information on the junior doctors wage bill.The available information on the number of whole-time equivalent junior doctors is shown in the table. The Department does not make detailed forward projections for the number of whole-time equivalent junior doctors.

Hospital medical junior doctors 1987–1991
England—30 September each year whole-time equivalents
	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991
Senior registrar	2,865·5	2,865·4	2,980·3	3,270·8	3,399·4
Registrar	5,664·5	5,888·3	5,822·7	5,871·7	5,944·5
Senior house officer	9,371·7	9,883·5	10,563·3	10,800·9	11,210·7
House officer	2,782·1	2,861·3	2,938·9	3,013·7	3,052·5

Hiv

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will consider the preparation and publication of guidelines for a healthy life style for those who are HIV antibody positive but asymptomatic; and if she will make a statement.

Advice on healthy lifestyles for those who are HIV antibody positive but asymptomatic is primarily a matter for individual clinicians to advise on in consultation with their patients. General advice to people who are diagnosed HIV positive, including suggestions on maintaining their health and well-being, is available in various publications, including the Health Education Authority's leaflet "Being Positive—Living with HIV". Copies of this leaflet have been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proportion of funds allocated by her Department for HIV and AIDS work in each year since 1987 has been devoted to HIV prevention;(2) what proportion of funds allocated by her Department for HIV and AIDS work in each year since 1987 has been devoted to support for the voluntary sector.

The table gives details of the proportion of funding from the Department of Health which has been allocated to:

National public education programmes and telephone helpline services through the Department of Health and the Health Education Authority;

Health authorities, since 1989–90, as a contribution towards the additional costs incurred by them in developing community-based local HIV prevention initiatives; and

The voluntary sector.

Percentage
Year	Public education (DH/HEA/helplines)	Health authorities Local prevention	Voluntary sector
1987–88	29·8	—	3·5
1988–89	13·7	—	1·5
1989–90	8·4	9·8	1·1
1990–91	6·7	13·4	1·2
1991–92	6·9	12·5	1·2
1992–93	5·3	10·0	0·9
1993–94	4·8	9·0	0·8
These proportions have been calculated in relation to the total HIV/AIDS funding made available by the Department of Health to health and local authorities and non-statutory organisations.
Funding for other aspects of HIV prevention, such as infection control procedures, is not separately identifiable within total allocations.
The figures for the voluntary sector do not include any additional funding from health and local authorities. This information is not available centrally.

Maternal Mortality

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contribution the United Kingdom Government have made towards achieving the World Health Organisation target of halving the maternal mortality rates in the world by 2000; and if she will list the actions taken by her Department in furtherance of the Government's commitment to safe motherhood given in September 1989.

The Government support the World Health Organisation's "Health for All" targets, including those for maternal and child health.Efforts to reduce maternal mortality in England and Wales have met with considerable success during the past 37 years, over which period the rate has fallen from 100 to 5·6 per 100,000 total births. This success is a tribute to the long-standing co-operation between the professionals involved in maternity care.The Government are determined to build on the established excellence of national health service maternity care. An expert maternity group is currently reviewing policy on NHS maternity care, particularly during childbirth. The group's report, to be published in the summer, will be an important aid in clarifying how and where further improvements can be made. For the past four years, maternity services have featured in the NHS chief executive's annual priorities and planning guidance to health authorities. Authorities have been asked to undertake general reviews of their maternity services and to pay particular attention to specific issues such as improving access to maternity services for certain groups of women, for example, those from black and ethnic minority communities, and to arrangements for consultant cover of labour wards.

Hay Fever

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research she has conducted on the effect of air pollution on the incidence of hay fever; and what action she proposes to take.

None. The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.The Government's Advisory Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution has invited two leading research workers, who are currently undertaking studies of the relationship between levels of air pollutants in London and symptoms among hay fever sufferers, to present information to them on this topic. The Department would ask the MRC to consider any research recommendations made by the Committee.Also, the chairman of COMEAP has been instrumental in establishing a working group on the possible effects of air pollutants upon allergic diseases under the auspices of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Staff from the Department are participating in the work of this group and will contribute to its report.

Nhs Trusts

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent in each health service region on (a) printing and publication costs,, (b) publicity and public relations costs, (c) consultation and public meetings and (d) other costs connected with the proposed establishment of NHS trusts in (i) 1991–92 and (ii) 1992–93; and how much is expected to be spent in 1993–94.

Tables 1 and 2 show allocations to regional health authorities for 1991–92 and 1992–93 to cover consultation costs and trust start-up costs, including conveyancing. Detailed breakdowns of this expenditure are not available centrally. The Government are making available £2,042,000 for consultation costs and £36,271,000 for start-up and conveyancing costs for 1993–94.

Table 1
Regional allocations for public consultation on trust applications
Region	1991–92 £	1992–93 £
Northern	84,000	132,000
Yorkshire	72,000	192,000
Trent	120,000	204,000
East Anglian	36,000	120,000
North West Thames	168,000	120,000
North East Thames	108,000	156,000
South East Thames	120,000	132,000
South West Thames	48,000	84,000
Oxford	96,000	108,000
South Western	108,000	84,000
West Midlands	72,000	192,000
Mersey	96,000	84,000
North Western	72,000	84,000
Wessex	84,000	120,000
Total	1,284,000	1,812,000

Table 2
NHS trusts—Start-up and conveyancing costs
Region	1991–92 £	1992–93 £
Northern	1,506,000	2,310,000
Yorkshire	1,506,000	3,234,000
Trent	2,510,000	3,696,000
East Anglian	753,000	2,310,000
North West Thames	3,537,000	2,361,000
North East Thames	2,031,000	2,353,000
South East Thames	2,054,000	2,870,000
South West Thames	753,000	1,629,000
Oxford	1,255,000	2,079,000
South Western	2,259,000	1,180,000
West Midlands	1,506,000	3,370,000
Mersey	2,078,000	1,617,000
North Western	1,506,000	1,155,000
Wessex	1,757,000	2,310,000
Total	25,011,000	32,474,000

Diptheria

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has about the source of the diphtheria infection at Whitefield school, Nelson.

Health matters in Nelson are the responsibility of Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale district health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. W. Ashworth, chairman of the health authority, for details.

Blood Donors

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she proposes to take regarding the banning of the use of blood and blood products from paid donors.

This country is self-sufficient in blood obtained from our voluntary, unpaid donors and we do not obtain supplies from other sources. It is our long-standing policy to pursue self-sufficiency in blood products made from voluntary, unpaid donations and seek to maximise the use of those products. We also recognise the clinical freedom of doctors to prescribe other products if considered more appropriate for individual patients.

Research

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been allocated by her Department for research into (a) epidemiology, (b) aetiology and (c) the prevention of cerebral palsy in each of the last five years.

A research project into the epidemiology of cerebral palsy was carried out at the departmentally funded health care research centre between 1989 and 1991. Exact expenditure on the project is unavailable, but the total allocation made by the Department to the centre was £48,090 in 1989–90 and £35,011 in 1990–91.Departmental allocation for other research into the epidemiology of cerebral palsy in later years were:

Year	£
1990–91	15,200
1991–92	23,917
1992–93	17,083

The Department has allocated no money for research into the aetiology and prevention of cerebral palsy. The main agency through which the Government support research is the Medical Research Council which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The Department has recently commissioned a research project into the treatment of cerebral palsy at a total cost of £71,335. This project began in December 1992 and will continue until November 1994.

Mental Health Act

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the new Mental Health Act 1983 code of practice will be laid before Parliament.

Very shortly.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Health in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by her Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

The information is shown in the table.

Year and Month	Number of disproportionate cost answers	Total number of answers	Percentage of Questions receiving disproportionate cost answers
1991
November	¹11	453	2·43
December	0	211	·00
1992
January	0	357	·00
February	2	335	·60
March	3	190	1·58
April	—	—	—
May	0	195	·00
June	3	498	·60
July	4	403	·99
August	—	—	—
September	—	—	—
October	3	270	1·11
November	3	571	·53
December	1	361	·28
1993
January	3	420	·71
February	5	571	·88
March	5	624	·80
April	2	338	·59
TOTAL	45	5,797	·78
¹These questions asked for detailed information on issues relating to back and other injuries to National Health Service staff and were answered together.

Pharmacists

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations she has received on the proposals to amend the pay of pharmacists.

We have received a number of representations about our proposals for restructuring pharmacists' remuneration. We shall take these into account in the further discussions we shall be having with the pharmacists' representatives.

Tuberculosis Vaccination

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information she has about the provision of BCG vaccination to school children on a routine basis;(2) if she will list those health authorities which

(a) provide the BCG vaccination to school children on a routine basis and (b) no longer provide that vaccination;

(3) what advice she gives to health authorities which (a) no longer routinely offer BCG vaccination to school children and (b) continue to routinely offer BCG vaccination to school children.

The advice from the Department of Health is that the schools' BCG programme should continue at least until the academic year 1995–96, pending the results of a survey of the incidence of tuberculosis in this country, which is being conducted by the public health laboratory service. Authorities which have discontinued a school's programme must have in place arrangements for vaccinating clearly defined at-risk groups and for offering the vaccine to any child whose parents request it.Information on the level of BCG vaccination in schools is not available on a routine basis, but it is estimated that 75 per cent. of the children in this group are vaccinated each year, with a further 5 to 7 per cent. already tuberculin positive who therefore do not require vaccination.It is understood that a small number of health authorities—less than 10 per cent.—have discontinued the school's BCG programme, but their names are not available centrally.

Overseas Contracts

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her policy towards British subjects who work on contract in countries outside the EC which have no reciprocal arrangements with the United Kingdom on health care in cases where their salary is administered in Britain by United Kingdom employers and accordingly subject to United Kingdom taxes and national insurance.

National health service services are available only within the United Kingdom to people ordinarily resident here. United Kingdom nationals working in non-reciprocal health agreement countries are personally responsible for the costs of health care obtained abroad, but, subject to certain criteria remain eligible for NHS treatment in the United Kingdom. It is the Government's policy to negotiate reciprocal health agreements where it is practicable to do so.

Jeremiah Kearney

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will make a statement on the circumstances leading to the death of Jeremiah Kearney;(2) whether she intends to review the community care policy and procedures in the light of the death of Jeremiah Kearney.

I have asked the social services inspectorate to examine, with the local authorities, the circumstances of this case, and will write to the hon. Member when the inquiries are complete.

Manic Depression

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research is currently being undertaken to identify the cause of, and cures for, manic depression; and if she will make a statement.

The Department of Health is not currently undertaking research into the cause of, and cures for, manic depression.The main agency through which the Government support research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. I understand that it is currently funding several projects looking at manic depression.

Comfrey

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (I) what detailed studies have been undertaken into the toxicity of the alkaloids found in comfrey of which she is aware; and which were taken into account by the committee on toxicity when compiling its recent report on the toxicity of comfrey;(2) if she will list those pyrrolizidine alkaloids which were found by the committee on toxicity to be present in comfrey and which gave rise to its recent recommendation that comfrey tablets and capsules should be banned; and if she will indicate, in the case of each of those pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are known to be toxic at the levels found in these products and which are not.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) on 19 April at columns 5–6.Copies of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's analysis of comfrey products, and of the advice of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment, which includes the key studies it considered, are available in the Library.

Pharmacies

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to amend the essential small pharmacy scheme; and what estimate has been made of the impact of different options on the numbers of pharmacies which dispense less than 2,000 prescriptions a month.

The Department is discussing changes to improve the essential small pharmacy scheme with the pharmaceutical services negotiating committee. Our proposals will ensure that patients continue to enjoy reasonable access to a local pharmaceutical service.

Public Telephones

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations he has received from deaf people about the unsuitability of the new public telephone booths; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.This Department has no record of recent representations along these lines. Condition 33 of BT's licence requires BT take all reasonable steps to install in all public call boxes apparatus enabling people using hearing aids designed for use in conjunction with telephones to do so.

Prime Minister

Data Protection

To ask the Prime Minister to what investigations his Office has been subject by the Data Protection Registrar in relation to a suspected breach of a data protection principle; if he will summarise the nature of each complaint and state when the complaint was made; and what remedial action was taken by his office to ensure future compliance with the principle subject to the investigation.

My office has not been subject to any such investigations by the Data Protection Registrar.

Defence Work

To ask the Prime Minister what initiatives he is co-ordinating to encourage the allocation of defence work and related employment to the north of England and Scotland.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement on Friday 14 May at column 603.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Prime Minister in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

The information requested is available in the Library of the House. However, I have answered approximately 1,300 written questions since October 1991, just over 1 per cent. of which were not answered either wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost.

Trade And Industry

Dedicated Electricity Generation

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he published his departmental discussion document on dedicated generation; to whom it has been circulated; and when responses should be returned to his Department.

The Department of Trade and Industry's consultation paper on dedicated and own generation was issued on Tuesday 4 May to holders of electricity licences, the Director General of Electricity Supply, representatives of consumers, the electricity pool and others known to the Department to have an interest in the proposals.Copies of the paper are available from the Department of Trade and Industry, room 2.3.17a, 1 Palace street, London, SW1E 5HE, on request. Responses have been requested by Friday 28 May.

Trade Mark Reform

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he intends to introduce legislation on trade mark reform as proposed in the White Paper, Cm. 1203.

A Bill to implement the proposals in the White Paper has been fully drafted. Unfortunately, pressure on the legislative programme has been particularly severe. We will introduce legislation as soon as the parliamentary timetable permits.

Leather Goods

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to press the European Commission for an improved system of origin marking for leather goods manufactured in the EC from leather produced outside the EC; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 6 May 1993]: No. A previous attempt to interest other member states in anC-wide policy on origin marking attracted little support.

Loan Guarantee Scheme

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the overall amount guaranteed under the loan guarantee scheme in each of the last seven years, the average amount guaranteed, the number of businesses that have taken up the scheme, the number of businesses that have applied for loans under the scheme, the number of businesses that have been refused loans under the scheme and the amount paid out under defaulted loans.

[holding answer 10 May 1993]: Information on the scheme is held by financial year. The number of businesses which have taken up a loan is not available; some businesses have had two or more loans. The number of businesses which have applied for, and the number that have been refused loans is not available. The number of loans guaranteed, the overall amount guaranteed, the average amount guaranteed and the amount paid out under the defaulted loans for each of the last seven financial years has been:

	Loans guaranteed	Value £ million	Average loan £	Default cost £ million
1986–87	1,042	39·94	38,300	18·5
1987–88	1,222	45·52	37,200	9·5
1988–89	2,266	63·61	28,100	8·9
1989–90	3,204	99·40	31,000	10·1
1990–91	3,387	84·56	25,000	21·7
1991–92	2,933	69·48	23,700	31·6
1992–93	2,342	52·35	22,350	22·4

Unleaded Petrol

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of petrol sold in the years 1990, 1991 and 1992 was unleaded.

[holding answer 14 May 1993]: The proportion of petrol sold in the years 1990, 1991 and 1992 that was unleaded was 34 per cent., 41 per cent. and 47 per cent. respectively. In the first quarter of 1993 the proportion of unleaded sales reached 51 per cent.

Assisted Areas

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he intends to publish his review of the assisted areas map; and if he will make a statement.

NHS district nurses and health visitors in training: by health board, as at 30 September
	1988		1989		1990		1991		1992
	District nurses	Health visitors	District nurses	Health visitors	District nurses	Health visitors	District nurses	Health visitors	District nurses	Health visitors
Argyll and Clyde	1·0	—	6·0	9·0	2·0	18·0	6·0	11·0	—	—
Ayrshire and Arran	10·0	9·0	6·8	7·0	5·0	5·3	1·0	—	2·0	3·0
Borders	—	1·0	4·0	1·	5·0	—	4·0	—	1·0	—
Dumfries and Galloway	2·0	3·	1·0	2·0	2·0	1·0	2·0	1·0	1·0	2·0
Fife	3·0	5·0	1·0	5·0	5·0	4·0	3·0	4·0	—	1·0
Forth Valley	3·8	3·0	2·0	3·0	1·0	2·0	—	2·0	—	—
Grampian	19·0	23·0	20·0	18·0	22·0	15·0	7·0	8·0	3·5	1·0
Greater Glasgow	31·7	26·0	25·0	21·0	13·0	12·0	1·0	3·	—	—
Highland	5·0	4·0	4·0	3·0	5·0	2·0	6·0	—	5·0	—
Lanarkshire	10·0	11·0	5·0	12·0	2·0	2·0	1·0	1·0	3·0	3·0
Lothian	23·5	20·0	19·0	14·3	12·0	15·0	14·0	13·0	7·	3·0
Orkney	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Shetland	1·0	—	1·0	1·0	2·0	2·0	—	—	—	—
Tayside	8·0	10·0	5·0	6·0	11·0	8·0	4·0	6·0	7·0	6·0
Western Isles	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Scotland	118·0	115·0	99·8	102·3	87·0	86·3	49·0	49·0	29·5	19·0

[holding answer 13 May 1993]: I refer to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Stockton, South (Mr. Devlin) on 6 May, Official Report, column 206.

Scotland

Hospital Beds

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of acute beds each year since 1988–89, in each specialty in each major general hospital.

I shall write to the hon. Member direct with this information and place a copy in the House of Commons Library.

Free Prescriptions And Dental Treatment

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of people between the ages of 16 and retirement age, receive (a) free prescriptions and (b) free dental treatment.

An estimated 22 per cent. of the population between the age of 16 and state pension age are eligible for free prescriptions and 23 per cent. are eligible for free dental treatment. An estimated further 2 per cent. are entitled to some help with their dental charges.All young people under 18 receive free dental treatment.

Health Service Staff

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of (a) community psychiatric nurses, (b) district nurses and (c) health visitors in training each year since 1988–89, in each health board.

Information relating to community psychiatric nurses in training cannot be identified from data held centrally. The information requested regarding health visitors and district nurses is shown in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of nurses in training each year from 1988–89 to 1992–93.

The information requested is shown in the table.

Nurses in training as at 30 September
Year	¹Number	²P2000
1988	10,801	—
1989	10,912	—
1990	10,524	—
1991	9,989	—
1992	7,979	1,403
¹Includes basic students and pupils, plus nurses on post-basic training courses.
² Project 2000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of health care assistants employed by each health board in each year since 1988–89.

The information requested is not available centrally.

Nhs Trusts

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the salaries of the unit managers who were appointed to the position of chief executive of NHS trusts, for the year 1992–93; what are their current salaries in their new capacity of chief executive; and if he will outline any changes in their conditions of service resulting from their new posts.

This information is not held centrally.

Sub-Post Offices

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment has been made of the effect on sub-post offices in Scotland of the proposal to remove social security payments from their remit.

No proposals to remove social security payments from the remit of sub-post offices have been made.

Playgroups

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what financial assistance is available from his Department for voluntary playgroups to meet the requirements of the Children Act 1989 and other legislation; and if he will make a statement.

Financial assistance has not been made available to local groups for this purpose. Many groups in eligible areas, however, receive assistance for their general activities under the urban programme. The Scottish Pre-School Play Association also receives grants under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to provide member groups with support, advice and training.The provisions of the Children Act 1989 which govern day care, including playgroups, came into force on 14 October 1991. They were widely welcomed as a means of raising standards and improving the quality of the care provided for young children.

Paintball

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to bring the law in Scotland into line with the law in England and Wales in so far as it relates to paintball markers and the sport of paintball.

[holding answer 6 May 1993]: My right hon. Friend is currently considering what action might be appropriate in the light of the recent Appeal Court judgment that certain types of paintball guns are specially dangerous weapons as defined by the Firearms Act 1968, as amended. Responsibility for amending firearms legislation is primarily a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department.

Elderly Patients, Haddington

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the provision of additional hospital accommodation for the continuing care of elderly patients in Haddington to replace the receiving ward at East Fortune hospital.

[holding answer 13 May 1993]: It will be for the East and Midlothian Unit NHS trust, if its application for trust status is approved, to take forward plans for the replacement of East Fortune hospital, in discussion with purchasing health boards.Assessment of the need for national health service accommodation for the continuing care of the elderly in East Lothian is a matter for Lothian health board. The provision of such accommodation is a matter for the board as purchaser and, if its application for trust status is approved, the East and Midlothian NHS trust.

Hospital Consultants

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many consultants are engaged in obstetrics and gynaecology in Scotland; and how many of these are women.

[holding answer 14 May 1993]: There were 128 consultants in obstetrics and gynaecology in post in Scotland, of whom 14 were women, at 30 September 1992, the latest date for which information is available centrally.

Skye Bridge

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the length of the delays which have occurred in respect of the completion of the caissons for the Skye bridge; if he will explain the reasons for the delays and the degree of slippage in the original timetable as a result, with specific reference to weather and geological considerations; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 12 May 1993]: There has been a delay of approximately five months in placing both caissons on to the seabed from the original programme. This very difficult operation involves marine works in deep water and is highly dependent on the occurrence of suitable weather and tidal conditions. Delays due to inappropriate weather and tidal condition have also been exacerbated by the longer time being taken to prepare the seabed excavations in very hard rock. Both the design and geotechnical teams involved are ensuring that all due appropriate care is taken in this important phase of the work. By reacting appropriately to these difficult circumstances the contractor is confident that the completion date of mid-1995 will be unaffected.

House Building, Dundee

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to receive and adjudicate upon the public inquiry report on the proposal to build houses in Kellas village in the city of Dundee district.

[holding answer 13 May 1993]: The public inquiry to which the hon. Member refers was convened on 23 March 1993 to take evidence from objectors in relation to the City of Dundee district council's rural area local plan. Objections to the proposals for housing development within Kellas village were heard in relation to the local plan. The reporter appointed to conduct the inquiry will report direct to the council. The Secretary of State is therefore not called upon to intervene in this process which is essentially a matter for the local planning authority.

Employment

Genetically Modified Organisms

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many applications have so far been received by the Health and Safety Executive for permission genetically to modify organisms; and how many centres are currently known to be conducting such work.

Three notifications for consent to undertake work involving genetic modification have been received by the Health and Safety Executive and 473 centres are currently known to be conducting such work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make a statement providing details of those projects for which permission has so far been granted genetically to modify organisms indicating, in each case, whether that work has commenced; and at which centre.

No consents have so far been issued.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what consultations are made by the Health and Safety Executive before granting permission for projects involving the genetic modification of organisms.

Before issuing a consent, consultation is undertaken with the Health and Safety Commission advisory committee on genetic modification, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Department of the Environment and, in relation to their territories, the Welsh Office and the Scottish Office. Members of the public have access to information about notifications received and the opportunity to make representations while the application is being considered.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make it her policy routinely to report to Parliament details of those projects for which perMission is given genetically to modify organisms.

No. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expect to receive some hundreds of applications for consent under the Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 1992 and the detailed information provided with them is copious and technically very complex. However, information about such consents is available from HSE—although the regulations allow some sensitive items to be withheld to protect intellectual property rights. The main elements of that information are held on a public register.

Health And Safety

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what new EC regulations there are concerning health and safety for the workplace; when they will be implemented; what measures she intends to take to ensure that they are fully implemented by all employers; and if she will make a statement.

On 1 January this year, the United Kingdom introduced the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations, the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations, the Manual Handling Operations Regulations, and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (Amendment) Regulations to implement the EC framework directive on health and safety at the workplace and a series of associated directives which required implementation action by this date.There are a further seven adopted EC directives concerning health and safety at the workplace which are awaiting implementation covering biological agents at work, to be implemented by 26 November 1993; provision of safety and/or health signs at work, 24 June 1994; temporary or mobile construction sites, 31 December 1993; indicative limit values, 31 December 1993; improving the safety and health of workers in the extractive industries—boreholes, 3 November 1994, mines and quarries, 3 December 1994; and pregnant workers, 9 October 1994.In addition, there are five sets of regulations under the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 in preparation which will be brought forward to implement EC legislation covering the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances; vocational training for drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous goods by road; and the protection of workers exposed to the risks of ionising radiation.Employers have a statutory duty to comply with regulations made under the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974. The regulations which came into force on 1 January 1993 are being enforced by the appropriate authorities in the same way as other health and safety legislation. The Government appreciate that employers need time to assimilate and implement new regulations and that timescales for implementation of EC directives are short. HSE inspectors are concentrating on promoting awareness and providing guidance, particularly where requirements are new or more prescriptive than earlier legislation. They will continue to take enforcement action where significant risks exist.My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade announced a scrutiny into the way EC regulations impact upon business. The scrutiny is due to report on 27 May. We shall study its recommendations with interest.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans she has to amend the current health and safety regulations for the workplace; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. McLoughlin

Volume 225: debated on Monday 17 May 1993

Written Answers To Questions

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