asked Her Majesty's Government:When the Hong Kong Government White Paper on representative government will be published.

The Hong Kong Government White Paper on the development of representative government was published in Hong Kong earlier today. Copies of the White Paper have been placed in the Library of the House. The paper covers a range of issues connected with the development of representative government. The main decisions are that:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will take steps to publish lists of compliance cost assessments which departments prepare showing the impact of proposed new government regulations on businesses.

Officials in the Enterprise and Deregulation Unit are arranging for a selected list of compliance cost assessments (CCAs) to be published in the Department of Trade and Industry magazine British Business. In addition, departments will arrange for lists of CCAs to be published in appropriate publications and press notices.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their policy on space research.

The Government are committed to a programme of scientific research in space and in particular to the European Space Agency's Horizon 2000 programme. This programme has received a 20 per cent. real terms increase in funding over the last three years, and we are satisfied that the present level of planned funding will enable the objects of Horizon 2000 to be met satisfactorily.Space can also be a spur to new advances in technology by British industry. It can sometimes be a profitable area of economic activity—for example, in the field of communications. The Government are satisfied that the current level of government expenditure of some £120 million per annum is justified and we will continue to seek to use it in ways which are potentially beneficial for industry. However we do not consider that a case has been established for any increase. My right honourable and learned friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has today confirmed to the European Space Agency that Britain will not be extending its involvement in ESA by taking part in the optional programmes on the Ariane V launcher or the Columbus space station as presently proposed.Earth observation from space, however, could have significant potential. It involves the processing of remote sensing data from satellites and its supply to end-users for a range of applications. Data from the European Space Agency's first remote sensing satellite, to which the UK is contributing, will start to be transmitted by the early 1990s. To process this data we have decided to provide funds, estimated at £4 million per annum over five years, to set up an Earth Observation Data Centre as part of the National Remote Sensing complex at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough.At present there is little agreement either among manufacturing companies or users on any preferred strategy for future earth observation operations, but the Government will continue to consider the various options open to us.

asked Her Majesty's Government:By how much the £8 payment being made to severely disabled war pensioners falls short of the compensation they should receive; and why this has not yet been rectified.

The £8 payment being made to severely disabled war pensioners falls short of the benefit they would have received over the two-year period from April 1987 to April 1989, had the error in the retail price index not occurred, by amounts which range from a few pounds to over £50. Very small numbers of war pensioners come into the higher range. The position is complex and it will take time to identify categories of loss. That is why we plan to pay additional compensation in the summer.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware that some owners wishing to take advantage of the Task Force Trees grant scheme may find it impossible to plant trees before 31st March because of the expense and difficulty of clearance and the sodden state of the ground (particularly on clay); and whether they are aware that March may be too late for the planting of certain varieties.

The special grant scheme launched immediately after the great storm was designed to apply only to the current financial year. I announced on 21st January (Official Report, col. 400) that the Countryside Commission will have additional sums available of £250,000 in the current financial year and almost £800,000 in 1988–89 to assist tree planting. The commission has stated that the bulk of the additional resources in the next financial year will be allocated to private landowners through its joint schemes with local authorities.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the proposed national radiation monitoring network (RIMNET) will assemble and analyse data from Britain's sea areas as well as from "across the country", which implies land only.

The national radiation monitoring network (RIMNET), is a land-based monitoring system located within the United Kingdom. It does not directly cover the sea areas. In the event of an overseas incident the Government would implement an appropriate marine surveillance programme as part of the national response plan for catering for nuclear accidents abroad. This might include monitoring of seafoods, fishing and other vessels, and oil platforms. International agreements provide for early warning of any nuclear incident abroad, and the overseas data made available under these agreements will be used in meteorological models to predict the approach of any radiation cloud.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the cost of the Nature Conservancy Council employing a helicopter for the stag cull at Craig Meagaidh during the 1987 season.

I will arrange for the Chairman of the Nature Conservancy Council to write to my noble friend on what is a detailed matter concerned with the Nature Conservancy Council's operational decisions.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are their plans for the future of REPLAN, which is concerned with improving educational opportunities for unemployed adults, after 1989.

My right honourable friends the Secretaries of State for Education and Science and for Wales have reviewed the progress made by REPLAN in 1987 and have agreed to extend the programme until 31st March 1991.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to increase the pensions of elderly war widows so as to bring them into line with the pensions paid to war widows more recently widowed.

All war widows receive a war pension under the scheme administered by the Department of Health and Social Security. However, as a result of improvements made to the Armed Forces occupational scheme in 1973 a pension is also paid, under that scheme, to the widows of servicemen who were serving on or after 31st March 1973 and who die as a result of their service.As I explained in the answer which I gave to the Lord Chelwood on 23rd July 1987 (

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they accept the conclusions of the report of the Priorities Board for Research and Development in Agriculture and Food that

The noble Lord is referring to a report to the Priorities Board for Research and Development in Agriculture and Food written by the Sheep Research Consultative Committee. The priorities board has yet to complete its assessment of the RCC's recommendations, one of which was that research should be undertaken on the development of mechanised means to assist the assessment of fat depth and leanness in both the live animal and the carcase. Research is already under way at the Institute of Food Research in Bristol to develop objective methods of measurement.