asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware of any contribution financial or other made by the building industry or any enterprise or institution or body directly or indirectly involved with it or any part of it to any political party, directly or indirectly, before or during the period leading up to the last general election; if so, to which party and by which body and what were the sums involved; and if not, whether they can state with certainty that no such contributions were made.

The Government are aware that parts of the building industry have made contributions to political parties. However, Government departments do not maintain records of such contributions in the form and detail requested. Schedule 7 of the Companies Act 1985 requires companies that have given in excess of £200 for political purposes in a financial year to record in the directors' report the identity of the part and the amount covering the last general election.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether in respect of each of the 10 licences that they have granted to allow the shooting of Greenland Whitefronted geese, they will state the number of birds that have so far been shot under each licence; what procedures they have for checking reports of birds shot; and whether licence holders are required to hand over to them any birds shot, or whether such birds may be sold.

Thirteen licences have been issued to date. The purpose of shooting is to complement and enhance the effectiveness of other scaring methods. At the most recent count, 28 Greenland Whitefronted geese had been killed under licence. Eight of the licensees had killed no geese; one had killed 19 geese; another had killed 3 geese and three had each killed 2 geese. Information about the numbers of birds shot is obtained directly from licensees by officials of my department. Licensees are required to submit the carcases to the Nature Conservancy Council for inspection; the dead geese may not be sold.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether in respect of the 28 applications for licences to shoot Greenland Whitefronted geese that they have recently received, what views the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) expressed about whether these licences should be granted, and in particular, in respect of the 10 licences that they have granted, whether the NCC agreed in advance that these licences should be granted.

Thirty-one applications to shoot Greenland Whitefronted geese have been received from occupiers of land on Islay and 13 have been granted. The Nature Conservancy Council were given advance notice of the intention to issue these licences but it was not possible to obtain their agreement because they are opposed in principle to the granting of licences to shoot Greenland Whitefronted geese.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are satisfied that the financial position of the University of Aberdeen has not adversely affected the quality of training at Scotland's oldest university and whether this will be affected by the handover from the University Grants Committee to the University Funding Council.

It is the University Grants Committee's task, as it will be for the proposed Universities Funding Council, to secure the effective use of the public funds at its disposal. The committee is in continuing discussion with Aberdeen University about appropriate academic and financial plans for the institution.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have had any discussions with the United States drug enforcement authorities about the emergence of Mexican "black tar" heroin and whether there are any indications that it has yet appeared in the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom enforcement authorities know, through regular exchanges of information with their United States counterparts, that in recent years Mexican "black tar" has increased its share of the illicit heroin market in the United States. There are no indications that it has yet appeared in this country.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the average purity of the heroin and cocaine seized by the police and analysed in the Home Office and Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratories in 1987.

The available figures are based on information from forensic science laboratories in England, Wales and Scotland. The average purity for heroin was 29·5 per cent. The average purity for cocaine was 59 per cent.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Of the 10 people convicted of murder for a second time since 1965, what proportion had initial murder convictions which would have been classified as "capital" under the 1957 Homicide Act.

This would have been for the court to decide in all the circumstances of the individual case. On the basis of the information which is available, it is likely that two of the initial convictions for murder would have been classified as "capital" under the Homicide Act 1957.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many convictions for murder were there in each year from 1957 to 1987.

The number of persons convicted of murder is published annually in Table S2.1(A) of Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, Supplementary Tables Volume 2, copies of which are in the Library; the figures for 1957–86 are given in the following table. The corresponding figure for 1987 is not yet available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether a dispensing doctor who mixes ointments or medicines according to the written instructions of a hospital consultant will be regarded as the producer under the EC regulations for product liability for drugs and appliances;Whether dispensing doctors will be regarded under EC regulations for product liability for drugs and appliances as producers if they dilute any ointment or medicine.

The EC requirements concerning product liability are contained in a directive of the Council (Number 85/374/EEC). The provisions of that directive have been implemented in Part 1 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987. The points raised in the Questions are matters which it would be for the courts to determine.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many elective orthopaedic operations were carried out in the Worcester Health District each year from 1983 to 1987 inclusive; and the average length of the waiting list for elective orthopaedic surgery for each of those years.

The available information is given in the tables.In-patient waiting list for traumatic and orthopaedic surgery in Worcester and district DHA, at 31st March:

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend to publish the first report on AIDS and Drug Misuse by the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs.

We have today published the first report on AIDS and Drugs Misuse from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).The Government welcome the ACMD's advice on a subject which has serious and wide-ranging public health implications. The spread of the AIDS virus through shared injecting equipment adds a new dimension to drug misuse. It presents a grave threat, not only to drug misusers themselves, but also to the babies of infected mothers, to the sexual partners of drug misusers and from them to a wider population.The report is concerned with measures to prevent the spread of infection. As it makes clear, the prevention of drug misuse is now more important than ever before. It is self-evident that if people do not start using drugs in the first place then they do not put themselves at risk of infection through this route. We remain therefore determined to prevent the misuse of drugs, both through tough law enforcement measures to reduce the supply of illicit drugs, and through effective education and information to make it less likely that young people will be tempted to try them. Our strategy will continue to be taken forward through the ministerial group on the misuse of drugs.But we must recognise that there is a population currently at risk of acquiring the AIDS virus through their injecting drug misuse, and we accept the ACMD's advice that services should be developed in order to make contact with as many of that population as possible. In recent years we have invested in a significant expansion of drug misuse services, and emphasised the need for the community-based response which the report endorses.The report makes a number of recommendations on ways in which services might seek to attract drug misusers, to keep them in contact, and to change their behaviour away from practices which might result in their becoming infected, or passing on infection. Services should be prepared as necessary to advise and encourage drug misusers to reduce the health risks associated with their drug misuse—to themselves and to others—as an intermediate goal in getting them to stop drug misuse altogether. Some of the recommendations will require detailed consultation with interested agencies, but in the meantime we are making copies of the report available to health and local authorities in England. My right honourable friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales will be taking parallel action for health and local authorities in those countries.The ACMD recommends that sterile injecting equipment should be widely available, through an expansion of syringe exchange schemes, and sales through pharmacies. We have considered this recommendation carefully in conjunction with the preliminary findings of an evaluation of 15 pilot syringe exchange schemes around the country. While the evaluation points to some promising features of such schemes, we do not consider that we yet have sufficient evidence to recommend an expansion of schemes in England. We accept however that some local agencies in England and Wales have already decided to set up their own exchange schemes, and that more may do so. In order that such schemes should operate as effectively and responsibly as possible, we intend to make available guidance based upon the principles underlying the pilot schemes and drawing on the early lessons of the evaluation. Similar action will be taken in Wales, and further consideration will be given there to the place of needle exchange in broader projects of treatment, counselling and rehabilitation with appropriate professional support.The report also deals with the treatment of drug misusers in prison, and welcomes the policy statement issued to prison medical officers and others concerned in September 1987. My right honourable friends the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland have considered the ACMD's recommendation concerning the availability of condoms in prison, but believe that it fails to take account of all the relevant factors, including the effect which a resulting increase in homosexual activities would have in terms of risk of HIV infection and otherwise. They do not intend to make any change in present policy in this respect.We endorse the ACMD's view that there will be a continuing need for national and local publicity about the link between AIDS and drug misuse. Last year we launched two parallel campaigns designed to deter young people from starting to use drugs, and to warn of the particular dangers—of which AIDS is the most serious—of injecting drug misuse. We are evaluating those campaigns and will be considering future information needs in the light of the evaluation findings.The measures advocated by the report will require that all professionals and other staff in contact with drug misusers are adequately trained to deal with the new demands made upon them. We will be discussing with the relevant training bodies how best to ensure this. In Wales, the Welsh Committee on Drug Misuse will be consulted on the way ahead as regards both training and publicity aspects.Finally, we intend to monitor carefully the measures we are taking, to assess their effectiveness.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the commissioner appointed under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 will present his annual report; and if he will make a statement.

A copy of the 1987 annual report by Lord Justice Lloyd has been laid before the House today in accordance with Section 8(7) of the Interception of Communications Act 1985. The confidential appendix to the report has been excluded from that copy in accordance with Section 8(8) of the Interception of Communications Act 1985. I am grateful to the commissioner for his work on the report and the reassurance it contains, that care is taken by all concerned to observe not only the letter but also the spirit of the Act. The commissioner's report suggests a small number of improvements to the procedures observed in dealing with these cases. Careful consideration is being given to ways of implementing these suggestions.