To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many judges aged 70 years or over are sitting on the circuit bench (a) full-time and (b) part-time; and how many of these are recorders or assistant recorders.

As at 1 June 1993, there were 16 full-time circuit judges aged 70 or over. In addition there were 29 deputy circuit judges and 12 recorders aged 70 or over, who may sit part time. There were no assistant recorders aged 70 or over.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all the market tests that have taken place in his Department since November 1992 and indicate, in each case, whether the result was the maintenance of in-house provision, or whether the service was contracted out.

Since November 1992 the Lord Chancellor's Department has commenced market tests in eight areas: internal audit; pay services; Public Trust Office taxes division; Public Trust Office typing services; Statutory Publications Office; printing and forms supply; IT services; and court building and estates management. To date, seven separate market tests have been completed in the court building and estates management area, which all resulted in the services being contracted out. These services were formerly provided by the Property Services Agency. Save for internal audit, the market tests in the remaining areas are still proceeding and no decisions have been taken. In the case of internal audit an in-house provision has been maintained.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what grant aid is available for the purpose of restoring redundant farm houses and associated buildings in order that they may once again form the basis of an active farming unit.

If the hon. Member's focus is a Scottish one, I suggest that he writes to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of Stale for Scotland. In England, since 1989, English Heritage has been contributing funds towards the barns and walls conservation scheme, in the Swaledale and Arkengarthdale conservation area of the Yorkshire Dales national park—a joint initiative also involving the national park, Richmondshire district council, the Countryside Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Grants of up to 80 per cent. are available to farmers and landowners to enable them to bring the buildings back into working condition, using traditional materials and repair techniques. Nationally, English Heritage is able to give grants for the repair of historic buildings of outstanding historical or architectural interest—usually those listed grade I or grade II—or those situated in designated conservation areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what plans he has for the national lottery to contain an instant lottery element.

The types and mix of games for the national lottery will be for the operator to propose. The licensing of individual games under clause 6 of the National Lottery etc. Bill will be the responsibility of the director-general.

To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a further statement on the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland's progress in considering the cases referred to him by the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal in its judgment in the case of R v. Latimer and others delivered on 29 July 1992.

The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland considered the judgment of the Court of Appeal and all other then available facts and information. On 5 August 1992, 10 February 1993 and 27 April 1993 the director issued interim directions to the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary requesting that further reports, information and witness statements be obtained. The majority of these further reports, information and witness statements have been obtained by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and submitted to the director. A small number of witness statements remain outstanding.When all the matters requested in these interim directions have been received and considered, a decision as to whether criminal proceedings will be instituted will be taken. It is expected that this decision will be taken in the near future. I refer the hon. Member to the replies that I gave to the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) on 11 November 1992 at columns

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number and names of individuals and organisations who responded to the public consultation exercise on wheel clamping.

Approximately 2,400 copies of the consultation paper were distributed and 184 responses have been received. Respondents were not asked to agree to the publication of their names when their comments were invited and it would not be appropriate now to identify them. However, the table shows the categories to which these respondents belong.

	Number
Landowners:
hospitals	7
estates	10
national organisations	9
local organisations	22
individuals	8
Wheelclamping companies	11
Motorists	13
MPs and Members of the House of Lords	8
Local authorities	46
Police	23
Other bodies (including other Government departments and public and private organisations representing a wide variety of interests)	27

In addition, since 1 April 1992, we have received 199 letters forwarded by MPs and Members of the House of Lords, and 107 letters sent direct to the Home Office or other Government Departments commenting on this issue.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will agree to a pilot project on the use of the expandable side-handled baton being monitored by (a) the Association of Chief Police Officers, (b) the Police Federation, (c) the Chief Inspector of Constabulary and (d) an independent research and assessment team.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 21 June at column 2.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce tougher sentences for offenders contravening anti-rabies laws; and if he will make a statement.

The maximum penalty for offences under the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974 is an unlimited fine and/or 12 months' imprisonment. We have no plans to increase it.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the outcome of the investigations into allegations by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection in respect of Wickham laboratories.

The Home Office Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate and the Medicines Control Agency have investigated allegations made by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) into procedures and practices at Wickham laboratories.The investigation did not find substantiated some of the principal allegations against Wickham, but it did disclose poor local management, resulting in lax attitudes and practices among certain staff. These included a readiness to falsify test and environmental data on occasions. There was also one case of unnecessary animal use. Some aspects of the technical training were unsatisfactory: initial training was poorly structured and unrecorded and left some basic gaps in coverage. The system also lacked formal assessment of competence before unsupervised tasks were allocated to new employees.My right hon. and learned Friend has concluded that direct responsibility for the failures detected by the investigation lies with the individual who was line manager for the named day-to-day care person at the time to which the BUAV allegations relate, and who was himself named day-to-day care person at the time of the Home Office investigation. My right hon. and learned Friend has directed that he be replaced as named day-to-day care person and deputy project licence holder, and that his personal licence be revoked. In addition, the individual who was named day-to-day care person at the time of the BUAV investigation has been warned that particular attention will be paid to her current skills and knowledge if in future she should apply for a personal licence. A number of other members of Wickham staff have received letters of admonition, reminding them of the importance of a proper understanding of their responsibilities and obligations under the legislation.In addition to action in respect of individuals, my right hon. and learned Friend has directed:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to give the defence the right to see prosecution statements in summary trials; and if he will make a statement.

We have no plans at present to extend to defendants accused of summary offences the provisions of the Magistrates Courts (Advance Information) Rules 1985. The issue is, however, within the terms of reference of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice and we will consider carefully any recommendations it might make.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider establishing a restrospective scheme to compensate those individuals who have been disadvantaged by the unit fine system after it has been replaced.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many claims have been made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board in each of the last three years; how many have been successful; how many have gone to appeal and then been accepted; and what have been the shortest, longest and average times each year to deal with cases that have gone to appeal.

The latest available information, provided by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB), is summarised in the following tables.

Table 1 Claims received and decisions made by CICB
	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92
Claims received	53,655	50,820	61,400
Awards offered and accepted at first decision stage	25,577	32,135	35,268
Applications for appeal	7,203	8,123	9,258
Appeals heard	3,897	6,265	8,731
Successful appeals	2,349	3,055	3,981

Table 2 Time between application for appeal and hearing
	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92
	per cent.	per cent.	per cent.
Up to 3 months	1	4	3
3 to 6 months	3	8	13
6 to 9 months	6	10	15
9 to 12 months	18	11	14
Over 12 months	72	67	55
	100	100	100

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those police authorities that have been considered for amalgamation (a) during his period of office as Home Secretary and (b) during the past 10 years; and which proposals did not proceed because of the current procedure for amalgamation (i) as the only or primary reason and (ii) as a contributory reason.

[holding answer 19 May 1993]: No police authorities were considered for amalgamation during the term of office of my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke). At the time of the abolition of the metropolitan county councils, consideration was given to possible changes in the relevant police force areas. No changes were made because it was felt unlikely that reorganisation would improve effectiveness. The amalgamation procedure was not a factor in this decision.Complete records for the last 10 years are not available. However, the records that are available indicate that detailed consideration has not been given to the amalgamation of any other force areas during that time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to enhance the output and reputation of the World Service.

In discussions with the World Service in March and April this year we reached broad agreement on plans for the next funding triennium (April 1994 to March 1997), and on priority areas for development, funded from savings elsewhere in the World Service. These plans, which remain subject to the outcome of the current public expenditure survey, take account of the need to respond to changes in the former Soviet Union, and include the introduction of two central Asian languages.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many (a) diplomats and (b) trade representatives there are in each United Kingdom diplomatic post overseas.

The total number of United Kingdom diplomats (with the rank of second secretary and above) serving in United Kingdom diplomatic posts overseas is 1,263.The total number of trade representatives at these posts, including locally engaged staff, is 451.A breakdown of the figures by post is as follows:

Foreign and Commonwealth Office diplomatic post overseas
Country	Post	Number of diplomats	Trade representatives1
Albania	Tirana	1·0	0
Algeria	Algiers	7·0	1
Angola	Luanda	6·0	2
Antigua	Antigua	1·0	0

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current state of development of the proposed construction of the new transmitter in Thailand for the BBC World Service; and when the construction will be completed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which 10 countries have had the greatest growth of GDP over the last five years; and what has been the percentage change of the number of United Kingdom trade representatives in the diplomatic posts in each of these countries over that period.

The information is contained in the table.

We have reached agreement in principle with the Thai authorities for the construction of a BBC World Service relay station in Thailand. Detailed site survey work, which is required before final project approval can be given, is about to begin. The target date for completion of the project is 1996.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the United Kingdom ambassador to the United Nations has had with his American, Russian, French and Chinese counterparts in New York following the proposal by the United States ambassador that Germany and Japan be allocated permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council; and what discussions Her Majesty's Government have had with the United States Administration over the proposal.

We have regular discussions with the Americans and other permanent members of the Security Council on a range of United Nations issues, including Security Council reform. The Americans have aired their views, which are not new, in the context of the Secretary-General's request for member states to submit views on Security Council reform by the end of June. Many states, including the United Kingdom, will be sending replies and we will play a full part in the debate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the United Kingdom's contribution was to the United Nation's peace-keeping operations for each of the last 10 years; and what form each contribution took.

United Kingdom assessed contributions to the United Nations for peacekeeping operations for calendar years 1983 to 1992 inclusive are shown in table A.We also contribute contingents to a number of operations.Table B shows average manpower totals for FY89/90 onwards and the costs. Figures are not available for personnel involved in peacekeeping operations before 1989.

Table A
PKO	Total United Nations costs	United Kingdom assessment
	$	$
1983
UNEF/UNDOF	51,424,618	2,903,400
UNIFIL	204,687,820	11,562,616
TOTALS	256,112,438	14,466,016
1984
UNEF/UNDOF	35,008,804	1,980,362
UNIFIL	139,515,477	7,889,724
TOTALS	174,524,281	9,870,086
1985	17,668,157	999,159
UNEF/UNDOF UNIFIL	69,743,881	3,943,611
TOTALS	87,412,038	4,942,770

Average manpower totals deployed on United Nations peacekeeping operations
Operation	Financial Year 1989–90	Financial Year 1990–91	Financial Year 1991–92	Financial Year 1992–93	Financial Year 1993–94
UNFICYP (Cyprus)	763	778	773	786	592
UNTAG (Namibia)	170	—	—	—	—
UNIKOM (Iraq-Kuwait)	—	—	20	15	15
MINURSO (Western Sahara)	—	—	15	15	15

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution has been made by the United Kingdom towards the training of persons involved in peacekeeping by the United Nations in each of the last 10 years.

The preparation and training of United Kingdom personnel participating in United Nations peacekeeping operations is undertaken by the United Kingdom armed forces before each deployment. Over the last 10 years the United Kingdom has contributed personnel to the following peacekeeping operations:

• MINURSO—United Nations Mission for the Referendum in the Western Sahara
• UNFICYP—United Nations Peackeeping Force in Cyprus
• UNIKO—United Nations Iraq/Kuwait Observer Mission
• UNTAC—United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
• UNPROFOR—United Nations Protection Force (in the former Yugoslavia)
• UNTAG—United Nations Transitional Assistance Group (Namibia)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total of the United Kingdom's funding for overseas programmes to combat the production and trade in narcotics in each of the last five years, with each programme shown separately.

The figures for Departments' overseas programmes to combat the production and trade in narcotics for the last five years are as follows:

	Latest inflation1	Budget balance2	General government debt3	Long-term bond yield4
Belgium	2·7	-6·9	132·2	7·2
Denmark	1·1	-2·4	74·0	7·2
France	2·0	-3·9	50·1	6·9

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current (a) inflation rate, (b) budget surplus or deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product, (c) public debt as a percentage of gross domestic product and (d) long-term interest rate, of each of the EC member states.

The information requested is set out in the table.