asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about Government funding to Short Brothers plc, for the year ending 31 March 1987.

Following consideration of Shorts' 1985 corporate plan update, the Government have authorised an external funding limit of £36 million covering the period 1 April 1986 to 31 March 1987. The Government are, however, concerned about the downturn in Shorts' financial performance in 1985–86 and will be reviewing shortly the strategic plans for the business with the company. In addition, the normal close monitoring of the company's performance will be maintained.Government policy in relation to those dealing with the company remains as stated in the House of Commons on 23 December 1981, at column

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the cash limit for Northern Ireland departmental services for 1986–87.

The cash limit for Northern Ireland departmental services (NIDI) for 1986–87 has been increased by £7·9 million, from £2,292·2 million to £2,300·1 million. This reflects three additions: £1· million in respect of a final assessment of the net changes to the Northern Ireland programme to reflect changes in comparable programmes in England in the 1985 public expenditure survey; £5·2 million following the package of enterprise and employment measures for Northern Ireland announced on 26 March; and £1·6 million to enable hospital and community health services to continue to be delivered and developed as planned following the decision to implement from 1 July 1986 the recommendations of the NHS pay review bodies as announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 May, at columns 239–44. These three increases are offset by a reduction reflecting a transfer of £0·5 million from the NIDI cash limit to the cash limits of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland in respect of the transfer of milk quota announced on 18 September. The total increase of £7·9 million is being met from the reserve and does not therefore add to the total of public expenditure.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has given his approval to the Science and Engineering Research Council's proposal to move the Royal Greenwich Observatory from Herstmonceux to Cambridge.

My right hon. Friend has now given the necessary approvals in principle in connection with the Science and Engineering Research Council's proposal to move the Royal Greenwich Observatory to Cambridge.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he proposes to make any changes to the local authority capital cash limits.

To provide for supplementary capital allocations totalling £5·4 million which have been agreed for the fire and civil defence authorities in Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear for 1986–87, the cash limit DOE-LA1 (capital expenditure in England by local authorities) has been increased by £5·4 million, from £2,361·2 million to £2,366·6 million and the cash limit HO-LA1 (local authority expenditure for capital projects on magistrates courts, probation and police service) has been correspondingly reduced from £132 million to £126·6 million. This transfer will have no effect on the public expenditure planning total for 1986–87.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes are to be made to his Department's control over capital allocations for police, magistrates' courts and probation office buildings.

Following consultations with the relevant representative organisations, two Home Office circulars were issued on 11 November setting out new procedures for obtaining Home Office approval for schemes for police, magistrates' courts and probation office buildings and capital allocations for such schemes.The main purpose of the changes is to provide a framework for getting better value for money from these capital allocations and the specific grant which the Home Office pays in respect of expenditure arising from them, and to reduce the level of central Government involvement in the detail of individual schemes.The principal change is that instead of the detailed submissions required under the existing unit cost control system, The responsible authorities will send to the Home Office investment appraisals of schemes estimated to cost £1 million or more. This will place more clearly on the authorities responsibility for obtaining value for money in individual schemes. The new procedures will operate from 15 December.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action the Government propose to take to deal with the potential problem of designer drugs.

The Government are grateful to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for its prompt and thorough examination of this problem. In the light of advice from the council, and following consultations with the interested trade and professional bodies, we propose to counter the serious threat which these substances pose by extending the controls of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and its regulations to cover certain uncontrolled analogues of the drugs fentanyl and pethidine. As a first step, the necessary modification order is being laid before Parliament today. If approved by both Houses, the new controls would come into operation on 1 April 1987.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when the provisions of the Housing and Planning Act 1986 on the right to buy will be brought into force.

A commencement order will shortly be made bringing sections 1 to 4 into operation on 7 January. From that date the discount scale for flats bought under the right to buy will run from 44 per cent. by 2 per cent. steps to 70 per cent., and there will be new protections against unexpectedly high service charges. For both houses and flats the period during which there is a liability to repay discount on resale will go down from five to three years. This will apply to former tenants who have already bought their homes at a discount, provided that they do not sell before 7 January.Section 5, which concerns loans in respect of service charges, and section 8, which provides for the right to buy to be preserved when tenanted property is transferred to the private sector, will be brought into force early next year when the regulations for which the sections provided have been prepared.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has reached a decision on the proposals to control the erection of livestock units near residential property set out in his Department's consultation paper on 23 January 1984.

We have considered the many representations received in response to the Department's consultation paper, which proposed that the erection of livestock units within 100 m of residential and similar property should require specific planning permission. At present many such livestock units benefit from the deemed planning permission given by class VI of the General Development Order.It was clear from the responses to the consultation paper that the erection of livestock buildings near residential and other property is an issue about which many individuals and organisations feel strongly. The vast majority of respondents considered that the problems caused by the erection of new livestock units, particularly those of noise and smell, would not adequately be dealt with by requiring that only those within 100 m of existing residential property should be the subject of specific planning permission. On the other hand, it is important not to impose new burdens on the farming industry without clear justification.We have reconsidered the proposals against that background and have concluded that it would be appropriate to set the boundary within which new livestock units in England and Wales should require specific planning permission at 400 m from existing permanent buildings (except other farm buildings, or special industrial buildings: that is, those comprised in classes V-IX of the current Use Classes Order). The controls will apply to all units erected for housing livestock; it would not be practicable to seek to distinguish "intensive" livestock units from those where livestock are housed more traditionally. They will also apply to the erection or construction on farm land of buildings or structures designed to deal with the waste products of the animals housed in the unit—for example, slurry tanks or lagoons — and to construction of sewage sludge lagoons on agricultural land.I should emphasise that the Government are seeking to ensure only that, in certain defined circumstances, livestock units shall require prior planning permission, in the same way as most other types of development. It remains our policy that there is a general presumption in favour of allowing applications for development, having regard to all material considerations, unless that development would cause demonstrable harm to interests of acknowledged importance.These changes will be brought into effect by means of amendments to class VI of the General Development Order, as part of the further amendments to and simplification and consolidation of the order which we hope to lay before Parliament later this Session.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the material interest rules in sections 285 and 303 Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970, in particular as they apply to approved employee share schemes.

Yes. The present rules require that, where an individual has an interest in a trust, any shares in that trust and the personal holdings of the trust's other beneficiaries have to be aggregated with the individual's own holdings, and those of his close relatives, in determining whether he has a "material interest" in a company. It has been suggested that this rule may operate too restrictively in connection with approved employee share schemes — employees who have a "material interest" in a company cannot participate in such schemes. To remove any possible doubts about the operation of the "material interest" rules, which apply to various parts of the tax code, we propose introducing in next year's Finance Bill:

(i) a minor modification to section 303 as it applies for all purposes, and

(ii) minor amendments to the approved employee share scheme legislation.

Further details, including the proposed starting dates for these changes, are given in an Inland Revenue press release, copies of which I am placing in the Library. This also outlines some complementary arrangements which do not require legislation.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service what arrangements are to be made to provide hon. Members with information about the amendments contained in the resolution tabled on 12 November updating schedule 1 to the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975.

A detailed explanatory note is available from the Vote Office.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the light of the Stock Exchange and International Securities Regulatory Organisation merger, what discussions he has had regarding the access available to British investment firms in Japan.

I welcome the vote by Stock Exchange members in support of the merger with the International Securities Regulatory Organisation. This is a considerable step forward both in terms of strengthening the central market in equities and putting into place the new self-regulatory structure.London's strong position as an international financial centre means that I welcome the participation in the United Kingdom's financial markets of foreign companies of high repute. But I am also concerned to see that our firms have reciprocal opportunities in markets overseas, especially in the world's leading financial centres. That is why the Financial Services Act, which will come into force during 1987, contains reciprocity powers applicable to every investment firm doing business here, irrespective of the form of authorisation to do investment business under the Financial Services Act.I would expect Japan to provide British firms reciprocal access to their markets, in particular to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Although I understand that further securities branch licences are to be issued to British firms, I do not consider that such reciprocal access has yet been provided.I shall be visiting Japan towards the end of this month. During my visit I shall be discussing with the Japanese authorities the access for British firms to Japanese financial markets, including the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking following the House of Lords judgment in the case of Williams v. Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Action is in hand to implement the obligations confirmed by the judgment. Consultations will shortly take place with the remaining tenants to establish how this can best be arranged.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has reached a decision on the proposals to control the erection of livestock units near residential properties set out in the consultation paper issued by the Scottish Development Department on 23 January 1984.

I have carefully considered the representations received in response to the consultation paper, which proposed that buildings for housing pigs and poultry and associated structures should need planning permission if they were to be larger than 465 sq m in area and erected within 400 m of residential and similar properties. At present many such buildings benefit from the deemed planning permission given by class V of the General Development Order. The proposals were generally welcomed and were accepted by the National Farmers Union of Scotland. Several respondents, including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, suggested that control should be extended to cover buildings housing rabbits and animals bred for their skins and fur and we have amended our proposals accordingly. I should emphasise that in proposing such controls we are not seeking to prevent the establishment of such buildings, only to ensure that they require planning permission in the same way as most other types of development. These changes will be brought into effect by means of amendments to class V of the General Development (Scotland) Order, as part of the further amendments to and consolidation of the order which we hope to lay before Parliament during this Session. At the same time we intend to clarify the test governing the exercise of class V rights.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to rationalise the powers of the Ministry of Defence police force.

It is the Government's intention to introduce such a Bill in this Session. The Bill will make provision for the Defence Police Federation.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the further development of the Rapier air defence system.

The development of Rapier field standard C has been proceeding for some time under a limited contract. I am glad to be able to say that a contract to cover the completion of the development programme and the supply of an initial quantity of equipment for service with the Army and the Royal Air Force has been placed with the Army weapons division of British Aerospace.Rapier FSC is being developed to match the greatly increased sophistication of the threat anticipated in the 1990s and beyond, and will provide a major enhancement to our air defence capability.The total value of the contract, including that of the work already done, is close to £1,000 million. British Aerospace and the Ministry of Defence have agreed on incentive pricing arrangements, bounded by a maximum price to the Ministry, for the whole of this work.It is expected that contract will provide employment for about 10,000 people at the "peak" of the programme.