asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the present rates of London and Inner London weighting paid to civil servants by grade and how many are in receipt of these payments.

All non-industrial civil servants below Grade 3 receive London Weighting at the following rates:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, given their stated aim of creating a climate where family companies can flourish, it is their intention that clearance under Section 53(2) of the Finance Act 1982 will in all cases be refused on the death of a controlling shareholder where sufficient dividends can be voted by the executors to enable the inheritance tax liability to be met by instalments on the basis that hardship would not arise as the executors control the company and thus control the flow of dividends.

I understand that there have been very few cases of the kind in question. However, where the company has surplus funds sufficient to discharge the inheritance tax liability, the Inland Revenue take the view that there would be no hardship since the liability could be met by dividend payments from the company. If the noble Lord has a particular case in mind, I would be very happy to ask my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to look into it.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps they are taking to defend the reputation of the staff in the women's prisons against the allegations made by Mrs. Jean Ritchie in her book Myra Hindley:

The material contained in the hook does not call for any response from Her Majesty's Government.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will give details of urban regeneration grants so far approved, and of the time taken to approve them in each case; and how many applications are still under consideration.

The information requested is listed below.Six projects have been offered urban regeneration grant. These are:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made since their statement of 16th November 1987 concerning financial assistance to haemophiliacs infected with the AIDS virus.

Our announcement indicated that the Government would make an ex-gratia grant of £10 million to enable the Haemophilia Society to establish a special trust fund to provide financial help to haemophiliacs infected with the AIDS virus and their families. A charitable trust fund to be known as the Macfarlane Trust has now been established. Letters exchanged with the Haemophilia Society and the trust deed incorporating the objects of the trust have been placed in the Library.It will be the duty of the trustees to ensure that payments from the trust are made in the most effective way and take into account the differing circumstances of those affected. However to ensure that all the £l0 million reaches those in need, regulations have been laid which disregard any payment from the trust fund when deciding entitlement to housing benefit and which also protect the confidentiality of the individual by making it unnecessary to report payments to the local authority. Similar regulations and arrangements have been introduced for income support and family credit. Because the Macfarlane Trust is charitable, beneficiaries will not be liable to income tax on payments made to them.Now that the Macfarlane Trust has been established the £10 million is being paid to the Haemophilia Society.