asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will take further steps to urge the USA to intervene to secure an international conference on the Middle East.

In our regular contacts with the US Administration, we shall continue to stress that an international conference under UN auspices remains the best way forward to a negotiated settlement of the Arab/Israel dispute.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the report on death of Tyra Henry by Mr. Stephen Sedley, QC.

I have arranged today for a copy of this report to be placed in the Library.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether a nurse employed full-time in the National Health service is liable to forfeit pay if granted leave to attend a ceremony to receive an award.

There is no specific NHS condition of service providing for leave with pay to attend a ceremony to receive an award. However, health authorities may apply to the department for approval to grant special leave with pay where they consider that the circumstances of a particular case merit consideration.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the words "next year" in Lord Skelmersdale's Written Answer to Lord Winstanley's Question (HL Deb., col. 1223) refer to 1989 or 1988.

I regret that my reply to your Question on 12th January 1988, Official Report Vol. 491, col. 1223, contained an error. It should have read:

"Blood glucose testing strips are already available to diabetics through the hospital service. Our intention is to make them available on general practitioner prescription as soon as the necessary arrangements can he made to include them in the list of chemical reagents prescribable by general practitioners. We hope this will be in the course of this year."

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much money has been provided by way of grants to applicants wishing to start new businesses in the counties of Tyrone and Armagh from the UK Government and from EC sources; how many new businesses funded in this way have failed; and whether the number of failures is a higher or lower percentage than for Great Britain as a whole.

The available information is as follows. Since January 1986 the total support offered by the Local Enterprise Development Unit (LEDU) towards the establishment of new businesses in Counties Armagh and Tyrone was some £7·5 million. In the financial years 1985–86 and 1986–87, £1·4 million was paid under the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, the Industrial Development Board offered assistance totalling almost £3·5 million and commitments from the European Regional Development Fund totalled £0·75 million. Under the First Special Border Areas Measure, introduced under the non-quota section of the fund, over £67,000 was earned on new business projects between 1980 and 1985.Information on the failure rate of small businesses and comparisons with Great Britain is not readily available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will confirm that measures are now proceeding to disengage the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (DANI) from the commercial ownership, management and functions of the artificial insemination service, and from the pig carcass classification scheme and, if so, whether they will publish in the

Yes, the position in relation to artificial insemination is that the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland intends to disengage from the activity on 1st October 1988. There are approximately 90 technical staff and 20 administrative staff affected by this decision. It is hoped to redeploy all the administrative staff into other posts within the Northern Ireland Civil Service, and it may also be possible to do so in respect of a small number of the technical staff. The department is at present making available premature retirement on public interest terms to all the staff in the relevant technical group, and it will not be possible to state the extent of any compulsory redundancy exercise until these current measures are at a more advanced stage. It is not possible to state how many of the department's staff will eventually be recruited by any new AI operator.Arrangements have not yet been finalised on proposals relating to the pig carcass classification scheme.The department will be having detailed consultations with those concerned, including the industry and the trade unions.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish in the

The Northern Ireland Examiner of Statutory Rules issues reports twice each year covering the periods 1st August to 31st January and 1st February to 31st July respectively.The information given below shows the figures for the annual cycles ending 31st July each year.

Northern Ireland Department
	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	Total
Agriculture	32	39	24	34	37	166
Economic Development	44	42	25	26	31	168
Education	12	5	7	10	11	45
Environment	89	180	111	137	126	643
Finance and Personnel	15	10	19	10	10	64
Health and Social Services	81	66	71	76	117	411
	273	342	257	293	332	1,497

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish in the

The figures (at October of each year) are set out below:

1979	(a) Total	(b) Males	(c) Females
1. Less than 6 months	34,665	20,252	14,413
2. 6 months-1 year	10,114	6,418	3,696
3. Over 1 year	20,033	16,368	3,665
4. Over 2 years	11,529	9,990	1,539
5. Over 3 years	7,206	6,406	800
6. Over 5 years	2,835	2,542	293
Total Unemployed [(1)+(2)+(3)]	64,812	43,038	21,774

1983	(a) Total	(b) Males	(c) Females
1. Less than 6 months	45,467	27,826	17,641
2. 6 months-1 year	20,537	14,219	6,318
3. Over 1 year	53,839	44,427	9,412
4. Over 2 years	31,221	26,992	4,229
5. Over 3 years	18,304	16,080	2,224
6. Over 5 years	6,759	6,051	708
Total Unemployed [(1)+(2)+(3)]	119,843	86,472	33,371

1984	(a) Total	(b) Males	(c) Females
1. Less than 6 months	43,359	25,966	17,393
2. 6 months-1 year	18,641	12,524	6,117
3. Over 1 year	59,951	48,703	11,248
4. Over 2 years	37,469	31,936	5,533
5. Over 3 years	24,198	21,186	3,012
6. Over 5 years	8,623	7,751	872
Total Unemployed [(1)+(2)+(3)]	121,951	87,193	34,758

1985	(a) Total	(b) Males	(c) Females
1. Less than 6 months	44,498	26,728	17,770
2. 6 months-1 year	18,244	12,376	5,868
3. Over 1 year	59,080	48,277	10,803
4. Over 2 years	39,907	33,917	5,990
5. Over 3 years	28,006	24,370	3,636
6. Over 5 years	12,526	11,185	1,341
Total Unemployed [(1)+(2)+(3)]	121,822	87,381	34,441

1986	(a) Total	(b) Males	(c) Females
1. Less than 6 months	45,901	27,525	18,376
2. 6 months 1 year	20,483	14,101	6,382
3. Over 1 year	64,251	52,312	11,939
4. Over 2 years	42,541	36,080	6,461
5. Over 3 years	31,430	27,188	4,242
6. Over 5 years	16,345	14,566	1,779
Total Unemployed [(1)+(2)+(3)]	130,635	93,938	36,697

1987	(a) Total	(b) Males	(c) Females
1. Less than 6 months	41,729	25,182	16,547
2. 6 months-1 year	18,088	12,111	5,977
3. Over 1 year	64,884	52,921	11,963
4. Over 2 years	44,410	37,606	6,804
5. Over 3 years	32,614	28,235	4,379
6. Over 5 years	19,061	16,962	2,099
Total Unemployed [(1)+(2)+(3)]	124,701	90,214	34,487

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they last met the Local Authorities' Co-ordinating Body on Trading Standards to discuss the effectiveness of the code of conduct relating to the sales of wine by glass in prescribed measures and at agreed prices as agreed with the licensed trade; what has the last survey revealed on its compliance and whether further measures are being contemplated to make the code of conduct effective; andWhether they have discussed with the Licensed Trade and the Local Authorities' Co-ordinating Committee on Trading Standards the possibility of introducing legislation to enforce the sales of wine by measured glass and by reference to volume and what has been the outcome of any discussion on this matter.

Sales of wine by the glass were last discussed with the Local Authorities Co-ordinating Body on Trading Standards and the licensed trade in 1986. The Government have no present plans to introduce legislation to control sales of wine by the glass.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What assistance is given from public funds to people threatened by the loss of their home through repossession; and what is the cost of providing alternative accommodation for families which become homeless in these circumstances.

Possible forms of assistance include:

(i) owner occupiers on supplementary benefit can normally have the mortgage interest element, plus a small amount to reduce the debt, paid directly to the lender;

(ii) debt counselling is available from Citizens' Advice Bureaux and other bodies supported by public funds;

(iii) in any court action, legal aid may be available;

(iv) local authorities may acquire, by agreement, from defaulting mortgagors dwellings mortgaged to them, and offer a tenancy in return, or acquire dwellings by agreement for sale including sale on shared ownership terms.

When repossession is certain, people may be found accommodation by local authorities under the homelessness legislation. The cost of this to public funds will depend on the person's financial situation and the nature of the accommodation provided.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many families are now homeless because of mortgage arrears and subsequent repossession by building societies compared with the previous year, to the last convenient dates.

In October 1986 to September 1987, of the households for whom local authorities accepted responsibility to secure accommodation under the homelessness provisions of Housing Acts, an estimated 11,200 in Great Britain were attributed principally to mortgage default or arrears: the corresponding figure in the previous 12 months was 10,600. It is not known in how many of these cases the lender involved was a building society or whether repossession had actually taken place.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made so far on the Conservative Party's manifesto promise to introduce new laws giving extra protection to the landscape of our national parks

The varied responses to our proposals for landscape conservation orders contained in the consultation paper Protecting the Countryside are still under consideration. Many detailed points have been made and all require careful examination. An announcement will be made when this has been completed.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to encourage downland farmers, specifically farmers in Wiltshire and Berkshire, to restore downland to grass under their ESA schemes.

No ESAs have been or are about to be designated in either Wiltshire or Berkshire. Downland restoration to grass is encouraged in parts of Hampshire, and East and West Sussex in the South Downs ESA.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

The Government have set up a major programme—supporting expenditure of some £30 million in the next financial year—to ensure that children benefit from the use of IT right across the curriculum. The programme includes grants to LEAs for the purchase of equipment, the appointment of advisory teachers and the training of staff, and requires LEAs to produce plans for the use of IT in schools. This they are now doing. We are therefore at the beginning of a major new advance in this field.