asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what requests for funding into research related to Reyes syndrome have been made to his Department; and what was the response.

The Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid through the Department, is the main Government agency for the promotion of medical research in the United Kingdom. I understand that the MRC has received two requests from the National Reyes Syndrome Foundation of the United Kingdom outlining proposed research studies. These requests were transferred to the council from the Department of Health and Social Security. The applicants have been invited to submit detailed project grant applications to the council.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what representation he has on each of the 14 Manpower Services Commission sector groups connected with the job training scheme;(2) what representation he has on the advisory group for the development of the job training scheme;(3) what representation he has in the modular accreditation development programme for the job training scheme;

Class	Vote	Description of Expenditure	Current cash limit	£'000 Revision	Revised cash limit
XII	1	Schools, further education and other services	211,094	–130	210,964
XII	3	Universities, etc.	1,564,274	–1,507	1,562,767
XII	4	Central Administration	53,604	+1,032	54,636
XII	5	Research Councils etc.: Agricultural and Food Research Council	52,679	+4,470	57,149
XII	8	Research Councils, etc.: Science and engineering Research Council	315,529	+658	316,187
XII	9	Research Councils, etc.: Economic and Social Research Council	23,634	+186	23,820

Supplementary Estimates for Votes 4, 5, 8 and 9 will be presented for parliamentary approval.The increase on Vote 4 is required to cover the part-year costs of an increase in the Department's manpower ceiling at 31 March 1987 from 2,417 to 2,450 and to meet other increases in the level of activity. The Department's running cost target for 1986–87 has accordingly been revised from £54 million to £55 million.

The Department is not represented on the groups referred to by the hon. Member. They are, I understand, informal groups involving the major examining and validating bodies. The MSC has brought them together with the immediate purpose of examining the qualifications which might most appropriately be made available for the new scheme. I understand that the MSC will be further consulting the National Council for Vocational Qualifications, on which Her Majesty's Inspectorate has an observer, on the issues relating to qualifications which arise from the job training scheme. Mr. Oscar De Ville, chairman of the NCVQ, has said that the council will work closely with the MSC to help ensure that the qualifications are of high quality and are relevant to the standards required by employers.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to involve Her Majesty's inspectorate in ensuring the quality of education and training delivery in the job training scheme.

Where Her Majesty's inspectors observe job training scheme provision in the course of their inspections of colleges they will discuss their judgments about its quality with those concerned and comment, as appropriate, in their published reports on the colleges. In addition, I understand that the MSC's training standards advisory service is likely to be involved in inspecting the quality of the new scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for education and Science if he will give details of any revised cash limits for his Department's votes for 1986–87.

Cash limits for six of the Department's Votes for 1986–87 have been revised to reflect estimated outturn. The adjustments are as follows:The increase on Vote 5 is required to assist with staff redundancy costs following the contraction of commissioned research and development work.On Vote 8 the increase is required to enable the payment by the council of contributions towards the United Kingdom subscription to the European Space Agency on behalf of the department of the Environment and the Department of Transport.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is yet in a position to make an announcement about finance for water authorities' flood defence work in 1987–88.

Yes. The Secretary of State for Wales and I have reviewed the arrangements for grant-aid for water authorities' flood defence works. Under current arrangements the grant rates for each water authority are recalculated annually. We have decided to end these arrangements and to substitute a system under which each water authority in England and Wales, or, as appropriate, local land drainage committee, will qualify for one of four grant rates, depending on its resources and flood defence requirements. The grant rates will be 15, 35, 45 and 55 per cent. There will also continue to be a sea defence supplement of 15 per cent.; and we are increasing the maximum rate of grant for sea defence schemes from 61 to 65 per cent. The new arrangements will provide the water authorities with a firmer basis for forward planning.I am today notifying the water authorities in England of their new grant rates and of their grant earning ceilings for flood defence works for 1987–88. Most areas will qualify for higher rates of grant than in the current year. In particular, all areas with significant sea defence works will receive higher grant rates. In England as a whole this extra grant will amount to £4·5 million, making a total grant commitment of £16·6 million. Almost half the extra money will be devoted to the east coast sea defences. It has been possible to accept in full the Anglian water authority's bid for resources for 1987–88, with the result that Anglian is expected to receive over £3 million more than the sum originally allocated for 1986–87. Most of the remainder of the extra grant will be devoted to a major sea defence scheme at Seaford in Sussex.The increased grant for 1987–88 follows an increase of £1·25 million in grant-aid in the current year, most of which was spent on works on the east coast.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby on 17 December 1984, Official Report, column 34, concerning monetary compensatory amounts, what effect the recent realignment of currencies within the European monetary system has had or will have on the coefficient used in calculating the monetary compensatory amounts; what effect this has on the prices paid to farmers in the United Kingdom and in other EEC countries; and if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing (a) the increase in the central rate of the European currency unit in each year since 1973, and (b) the increase in the rate for common agricultural policy prices and the corresponding increases for the United Kingdom and West Germany.

Following the EMS realignment on 12 January, the coefficient used in calculating MCAs has been increased by approximately 2·54 per cent. This has no effect on CAP support prices, expressed either in ecus or in national currencies. The ecu, which was created in 1979, has both a central rate and one or more representative rates for CAP purposes (green rates) against the national currencies of each member state. It is therefore not possible to provide the table requested.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has regarding proposals to purchase land on the site of Lyminge forest in Kent; whether discussions have taken place with the Forestry Commission; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) on 29 October 1986, at columns 165–66.Outline planning permission for a leisure development at this site was not granted, and the land has not been placed on the market.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if there have been any applications to the United Kingdom Government to carry out a test-burn of toxic PCB wastes at sea in 1986 or 1987.

No.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent sales of food have been negotiated in relation to the provision of butter and beef to the Soviet Union; and what is the sale price in terms of pence per pound.

[pursuant to his reply, 3 February 1987, c. 574.]: The most recent sale of butter to the USSR was in November 1986. None was sold from the United Kingdom. Had any sales taken place from the United Kingdom, the price would have been approximately 10p/lb.The regulation under which intervention beef could have been made available to traders for bulk sales to third countries including the USSR, was agreed in December 1985. No sales have taken place recently from the United Kingdom. The most recent prices (in sterling terms) at which this beef would have been made available to traders are as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will list in the OfficialReport those projects supported by Her Majesty's Government which assist African countries to prevent the spread of AIDS;(2) whether he has received any representations from developing countries requesting help to combat the spread of AIDS;(3) whether he has received any representations from the World Health Organisation requesting help to combat the spread of AIDS;(4) what proportion of his Department's overall budget is spent helping African and other developing countries to tackle AIDS;(5) whether any consideration is being given to increasing resources available to African countries to combat AIDS.

We believe that support for programmes co-ordinated by the World Health Organisation is the most effective way of assisting developing countries to cope with AIDS. We have recently given £250,000 to the WHO's global AIDS programme for work in such countries; this represents about 0·02 per cent. of the estimated net aid programme for 1986–87. The WHO is planning expansion of its work as a matter of urgency. When we have details, we expect to provide some additional support.In response to a few direct requests for assistance from aid recipient countries, we are providing specialist advice, training and some small items of medical equipment.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made by his Department on the long-term effect of AIDS on the economic position of eastern and central African countries.

Our assessment is that the spread of AIDS, if unchecked, would have a serious detrimental effect on the economic and social development of any country. ODA officials, in consultation with other concerned organisations, are considering what analytical work is needled to determine the relationship between AIDS and economic and social change in developing countries.

asked the Attorney-General on what date he became aware of the involvement of Duncan Campbell in a proposed BBC television programme on the Zircon satellite.

I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's answer to him on 26 January 1987.

asked the Attorney-General on what date he consulted Treasury Counsel, as referred to by the Solicitor-General on 27 January, Official Report, column 274, about the possibility of obtaining an injunction against the New Statesman in connection with publication of material about the Zircon satellite.

On 20 January 1987.

asked the Attorney-General if he will place in the Library a record of discussions between his office and Mr. Duncan Campbell in 1986 concerning publication of material about the Zircon project.

There have been no such discussions.

asked the Attorney-General how many written communications passed between himself and Mr. Duncan Campbell in 1986; and if he will place copies in the Library.

Three written communications passed between my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General and Mr. Duncan Campbell in 1986, one from Mr. Campbell and two from the Attorney-General. None of them contained any reference to satellites, intelligence gathering or GCHQ.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications he has received for fishing licences in the Falkland Islands exclusive fisheries zone; from which countries these applications have been made; and how many from each country.

A total of 532 applications for licences to fish in the Falkland Islands interim conservation and management zone (FICZ) from 1 February until 30 June 1987 were received by the Falkland Islands Government. The table gives a breakdown by country and fishery. A number of these applications applied to both of the two fishing grounds for which licences have been granted.

Country	Area A (Illex squid fishery) North of 51°20'	Area B (Loligo squid fishery) South of 51°20'
Japan	146	19
Republic of Korea	117	9
Taiwan	116	0
United Kingdom	3	4
Spain	29	65
Poland	42	27
Netherlands	9	9
France	1	1
Federal Republic of Germany	2	2
Italy	9	9
Greece	0	1
Chile	1	2
(Flags of Convenience)	15	9
Total	490	157

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many settlement applications at the post in Dhaka were (a) received, (b) granted, (c) refused, (d) deferred at first interview, (e) lapsed, (f) outstanding and (g) outstanding and awaiting first interview for each quarter since the beginning of 1985.

I have been asked to reply.The information requested is given in the following table.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the maximum, minimum and average times taken between the deferral of a decision on a settlement application made at the post in Dhaka and the interviewing of the sponsor in the United Kingdom.

I have been asked to reply.I regret that the information requested is not readily available.

asked the Lord Privy Seal when Her Majesty's Government expect to reply to the first report of Session 1986–87 from the Treasury and Civil Service Committee on Ministers and Civil Servants, and to the first report of Session 1986–87 from the Liaison Committee on Accountability of Ministers and Civil Servants to Select Committees of the House of Commons.

The Government's response to both reports is published today as a Command Paper (Cmnd. 78). Copies of the response have been placed in the Library.

asked the Prime Minister if any evidence was provided to the police by Nezar Hindawi regarding Syrian involvement in terrorist activities in Europe; and if she will make a statement.

It would not be in the public interest, nor would it assist our efforts to counter terrorism, to confirm or deny the precise source of evidence in a particular case.The evidence produced at Nezar Hindawi's trial is, of course, now a matter of public record.

asked the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to Peterhead.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on her correspondence with the Today newspaper about its proposal for a 100 per cent. membership card scheme for football supporters.

Today newspaper, and a number of other organisations and individuals, have written to me in support of membership schemes. I have welcomed the support for such schemes which the Government believe will assist in identifying, isolating and deterring troublemakers.

asked the Prime Minister (1) if, pursuant to her answer of 26 January, Official Report, column 18, she will give details of the sense in which the Government became aware of the British Broadcasting Corporation's plan for one or more programmes entitled "The Secret Society";(2) what was the nature of the information available to Her Majesty's Government before the week beginning 6 October about the British Broadcasting Corporation's intentions to make one or more programmes on the Zircon satellite.

I have nothing to add to my reply to the hon. Gentleman on 26 January, at column 18, or to the reply of my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to the hon. Gentleman on 29 January, at column 335.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 5 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 5 February.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 5 February.

This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, including one with the President of the Commission of the European Communities. In addition to my duties in this House I shall be having further meetings later today.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions his Department has had with the Caterpillar Tractor Company about its future plans in the light of the redundancies announced at its Uddingston plant; and if he will make a statement.

At a meeting on 20 January my right hon. and learned Friend conveyed to senior representatives of the company the Government's concern at the announcement of its intention to close the Uddingston plant. This development was in strong contrast with the company's statement last September that the plant was a "Plant with a Future" and would be the subject of a £62·5 million investment programme. My right hon. and learned Friend formally asked that the closure decision should be reconsidered. A meeting with my officials took place on 2 February at which the company gave further details of the background to the closure decision. A telex from the company president reconfirming the closure decision was received on 3 February. My right Hon. and learned Friend has made clear his disappointment at this news but has also underlined his continuing readiness to consider any proposal to retain viable manufacturing and employment at the Uddingston facility.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what level of funding was given by the Scottish Office to the Highlands and Islands Development Board in 1985–86, and 1986–87; and what is the proposed level for the financial year 1987–88.

the information is contained in table 3.16 of the "Government's Expenditure Plans 1987–88 to 1989–90" (Volume II, Cmnd. 56-II).The HIDB's gross expenditure comprises not only the amounts shown above, but income generated from receipts. The expected level of receipts in 1987–88 will enable the gross expenditure to exceed that in 1986–87 in real terms.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many National Health Service hospitals have been opened in Scotland; and what is the bed gain as a result of these openings, for each year since 1979.

Details of all hospital developments are not held centrally as minor capital projects are delegated to health boards. The information for major capital projects is as follows. The total planned bed complement is shown for each year, but it should be noted that many of the beds provided are replacements for outdated facilities elsewhere and are not additions to overall complement:

Year	Number of hospitals	Number of beds
1979	2	90
1980	10	372
1981	6	1,022 (+95 day places)
1982	5	210 (+46 day places)

Year	Number of hospitals	Number of beds
1983	10	912 (+95 day places)
1984	6	510 (+30 day places)
1985	4	1,220 (+180 day places)
1986	4	1,115 (+10 day places)

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has any plans to review the present boundaries of the lord-lieutenancies within Grampian region.

The areas in which lord-lieutenants in Scotland discharge their functions are determined by Order in Council. I do not propose to advise Her Majesty to adjust the boundaries within Grampian region as assigned under the Lord-Lieutenants Order 1975 (1975 No. 428).

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his latest estimate for the number of homeless people in Scotland; and if he will make a statemem.

For the number of homeless persons in Scotland, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Shettleston (Mr. Marshall) on 23 January, at column 759.The very difficult problems which can arise in dealing with homeless people call for the exercise of good housing management and close co-operation between all the agencies involved. The Government have offered practical guidance on meeting the housing needs of single people in part 7 of the "Scottish Housing Handbook" and provide funding to several voluntary organisations concerned with the homeless nationally. My right hon. and learned Friend believes that housing authorities are now adopting a more flexible approach to homeless persons in their allocation policies and in the use of their existing stock. The 12·5 per cent, increase in capital investment on the housing revenue account provisionally announced for 1987–88 will enable authorities which have this as a priority to do more for the homeless.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of crimes of violence against the person in Scotland (a) in the 12 months ended April 1979 and (b) in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.

For the purpose of this reply, the term "violence against the person" is taken to include all non-sexual crimes of violence (group 1 of the standard classification) apart from robbery, those crimes of indecency (group 2) which contain a violent element, and certain crimes involving malicious and reckless conduct.Following the revision, with effect from 1980, of the classification of crimes and offences, recorded crime figures for earlier years are available on a calendar year basis only. For this reason, figures for the 12 months to April 1979 are not available. However, in 1978 there were 7,466 crimes of violence against the person recorded in Scotland. In the period December 1985 to November 1986, 13,091 crimes of violence against the person were recorded in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how much money was spent in Scotland on research into cures for alcohol addiction in each of the past five years;(2) how much money was spent in Scotland on research programmes on alcohol addiction in each of the past five years.

The information is not available in the form requested. The figures for research projects on alcohol addiction funded by the Scottish Home and Health Department are as follows:

	£
1981–82	42,064
1982–83	48,099
1983–84	41,952
1984–85	69,648
1985–86	81,160

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many deaths were recorded as due to diseases normally associated with alcohol addiction in Scotland in each of the last five years;(2) how many deaths were recorded in Scotland in each of the past five years from diseases normally associated with alcohol addiction.

The figures are as follows for deaths from selected causes, in Scotland, in the years 1981–1985.

Deaths From Selected Causes—Scotland, 1981–1985
International Classification of Diseases Codes*
Year	291	303	305·0	425·5	571·0–3	Total
1981	2	130	23	8	167	330
1982	1	123	44	9	163	340
1983	6	112	35	9	177	339
1984	2	106	40	11	193	352
1985	2	124	44	14	193	377
* ICD 291 — Alcoholic psychosis.
ICD 303 — Alcoholic dependence syndrome.
ICD 305·0 — Non-dependent abuse of alcohol.
ICD 425·5 — Alcoholic cardiomyopathy.
ICD 571·0 — Alcoholic fatty liver.
·1 — Acute alcoholic hepatitis.
·2 — Alcoholic cirrhosis of liver.
·3 — Alcoholic liver damage unspecified.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money was spent in Scotland in each of the past five years on curing people addicted to or misusing alcohol.

This information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hospital beds in Scotland were taken up in each of the past five years by patients suffering from physical and psychiatric ailments normally associated with alcohol addiction or alcohol misuse.

The average daily number of beds in NHS hospitals in Scotland in the last five years for which information is available, occupied by patients for whom the principal diagnosis is alcoholic psychosis, alcohol dependence syndrome, non-dependent abuse of alcohol, alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver ad other chronic liver disease without mention of alcohol was as follows:

	Number
1980	693
1981	651
1982	624
1983	654
1984	640

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide grant-aid under the Further Education (Scotland) Regulations to the Scottish community halls advisory service following the representations made to him by that organisation.

I shall consider this proposal against competing applications for grant from other voluntary organisations. Those concerned will be advised of the outcome early in the new financial year.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many notifications have been given of new services, alterations to services or withdrawal of services, respectively, by bus operators in each region and islands area since 26 January.

Registrations of bus services in Scotland are the responsibility of the traffic commissioner for the Scottish traffic area. However, I understand that in Scotland there have been 57 new services registered to operate from 26 January 1987, 220 variations to existing services and 69 withdrawals of previously registered services. These figures are still provisional and are not available broken down by region and islands area.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what representation there is from his Department on the modular accreditation development programme for the job training scheme;(2) what representation there is from his Department on the technical group of the job training scheme;(3) what representation there is from his Department on the advisory group for the development of the job training scheme;(4) what representation there is from his Department on each of the 14 Manpower Services Commission sector groups connected with the job training scheme.

The Scottish Office is not directly represented on any of the groups established under the modular accreditation development programme, that is, the advisory group, the technical control group, or the 14 sector working groups. However, one of Her Majesty's inspectors of schools in Scotland, seconded from the Scottish Education Department to the Manpower Services Commission, is the chairman of the technical control group. Also, the Scottish Vocational Education Council is represented on all these groups as one of the four accreditation bodies.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide details of the number of pupils for whom education authorities in Scotland provide free school transport.

	Pupils Attending Primary Schools	Pupils Attending Secondary Schools	Pupils Attending Special Schools or Classes	Total Pupils
Free transport provided under section 50 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980	37,915	99,061	9,456	146,432
Free transport provided in spare seats under section 51(2) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980	2,736	1,072	—	3,808
Scotland Total	40,651	100,133	9,456	150,240

I have arranged for a copy of the return from each authority to be placed in the Library.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has completed his review of the regulations affecting the installation, pre-connection, inspection and designation of maintenance contractors of single line call routeing apparatus; and if he will make a statement.

Not yet, hut I expect that the Director General OFTEL will shortly give advice on these matters to the Secretary of State.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will set out in the Official Report the tonnage of merchant ships ordered by United Kingdom companies for registration outside the United Kingdom in each year since 1983, together with the latest available figure for 1986.

Records do not allow us to identify the tonnage of merchant ships ordered by United Kingdom companies for registration outside this country, since such tonnage is accounted to the country of registration. We can, however, identify the gross tonnage under construction abroad which was intended for United Kingdom registration when first ordered, but was subsequently registered outside the United Kingdom. This information is as follows:

	'000 gross tonnes
1983	147
1984	306
1985	63
January-September 1986	35

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what efforts he is making to improve the performance of British motor components manufacturers.

The information taken from the survey of school transport undertaken in September 1986 is as follows:

The Government have created a climate in which industry, including motor components manufacturers, can prosper. It is for the components manufacturers, as for industry generally, to take advantage of this climate. Through their national quality campaign the Government have sought to encourage industry to raise the quality of products made in the United Kingdom. Industry, too, can play its part, as illustrated by Jaguar's "Pursuit of Excellence" awards, recognising the achievements of its best component suppliers, which the Government warmly welcome.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much financial assistance was given to brewing and distilling companies under the various industry acts in England, Wales and Scotland, respectively, in each of the past five years.

I shall reply to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will propose to timeshare developers the inclusion with their sales literature of his Department's recently published consumer leaflet, entitled "Your Place in the Sun, or is it, The Time Share Buyer's Check List"; and if he will make a statement.

I have no plans at present to make such a proposal. But several timeshare developers have already requested and been sent supplies of the leaflet, which I understand they will be issuing to their customers.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what investigation his Department has made of the practice of time share developers offering unsolicited gifts to potential customers apparently picked at random and approached directly; and if he will make a statement.

The offering of "gifts" in return for viewing a time share development or attending a presentation is a form of sales promotion and as such is controlled by means of the British code of sales promotion practice. The code is administered by the Advertising Standards Authority.My Department has referred a number of such cases to the authority for investigation and the authority has secured changes in the wording of promotional literature of certain companies operating in this way.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the firm that was building the CR6 taxi will repay some of the moneys received for the development of the vehicle from the Government; and if he will make a statement on the latest position with regard to the company's proposal to introduce a new taxi capable of carrying wheelchair-bound passengers based on the FX4.

Following negotiations with my Department last year, Manganese Bronze Holdings plc agreed to repay a significant proportion of the grant for the CR6 taxi project made under the support for innovation scheme. The company is already providing to order a version of the FX4, the FX4W, which can carry wheelchair-bound passengers.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will instruct the British Steel Corporation to make public any proposals which it is submitting under the Eurofer plan to the EEC;(2) if the British Steel Corporation's Eurofer proposals contain any further cuts in steel-making in Scotland.

The Eurofer plan is a matter for the European steel producers, and potential contributions by BSC and other United Kingdom and European steel producers to remove excess steel capacity are necessarily confidential at this stage. BSC accepts that any contribution it makes must be consistent with the strategy announced in August 1985, and must not prejudice strategy decisions thereafter. This position was reaffirmed in the answer my right hon. Friend gave to the right hon. Member for Swansea (Mr. Williams), on 28 January 1987, at column 326.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what training and instructions are given to Royal Ulster Constabulary headquarters mobile support units on how to shoot at targets.

[pursuant to his reply, 28 January 1987, c. 301]: The training and instructions to all member of the RUC on the use of firearms are in accordance with the "Manual of Guidance on Police use of Firearms" issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers joint standing committee on the police use of firearms. Officers allocated to duties with HMSU receive additional training commensurate with the duties they perform.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what training is received by headquarters mobile support units in the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

[pursuant to his reply, 28 January 1987, c 301]: Officers attached to headquarters mobile support units are regular members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. They receive additional in-force training to enable them to carry out the duties assigned to the units.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will make a statement on his policy concerning the use of informers and their application by the Northern Ireland special branch;(2) what instructions have been given to Royal Ulster Constabulary officers concerning the use of informers; and to whom the Home Office guidelines have been circulated in the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

[pursuant to his reply, 28 January 1987, c. 301]: Instructions to RUC officers on the use of informers are in accordance with the Home Office guidelines on the subject which have been promulgated to the force, and which are also an integral part of detective training. It would not he in the public interest to make them publicly available.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what regulations govern the transport of nuclear fuel and fuel flasks; if he has any plans to review these regulations; and if he will make a statement.

The regulations and conditions for the transport in this country of all radioactive materials (including nuclear fuel) are based on the internationally accepted standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety series No. 6. A copy is held in the Library. For United Kingdom road consignments these are given effect by the following:

The Radioactive Substances (Carriage by Road) Great Britain Regulations 1974 (S.I. 1974 No. 1735) and Amendment Regulations 1985 (S.I. 1985 No. 1729).

The Radioactive Substances (Carriage by Road) Northern Ireland Regulations 1983 (S.R. 1983 No. 344) and Amendment Regulations 1986 (S.R. 1986 No. 61).

For rail consignments:

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to amend the regulations relating to safety matters on the carrying of immersion suits on United Kingdom registered fishing vessels; and if he will make a statement.

The carriage of life-saving appliances on fishing vessels is currently under examination by the Department in consultation with the fishing industry as part of the review of the Fishing Vessel (Safety Provisions) Rules 1975.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish in the Official Report the number of fishermen who were (a) drowned, (b) killed in accidents on board and (c) injured in accidents on board whilst working on United Kingdom registered fishing vessels in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986.

The numbers of deaths and of accidents to fishermen reported to the Department are

Number of deaths and accidents
	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Drownings1
Fishing vessels 24 m and over	—	—	1	—	—
Fishing vessels under 24 m	4	12	11	20	—
Fishing vessels 40 m and over	—	—	—	—	—
Fishing vessels between 24·4 m and 40 m	—	—	—	—	8
Fishing vessels between 10 m and 24·4 m	—	—	—	—	8
Deaths due to other accidents
Fishing vessels 24 m and over	3	2	1	1	—
Fishinc vessels under 24 m	10	7	—	1	—
Fishing vessels 40 m and over	—	—	—	—	—
Fishing vessels between 24·4 m and 40 m	—	—	—	—	—
Fishing vessels between 10 m and 24·4 m	—	—	—	—	1
Non-fatal accidents
Fishing vessels 24 m and over	90	64	73	37	—
Fishing vessels under 24 m	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	—
Fishing vessels 40 m and over	—	—	—	—	2 14
Fishing vessels between 24·4 m and 40 m	—	—	—	—	36
Fishing vessels between 10 m and 24·4 m	—	—	—	—	37
1 Drownings include recorded as missing at sea
2 One non crew member is excluded
n/a = not available

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to change the Fishing Vessel (Safety Provisions) Rules 1975; and if he will make a statement.

My Department is reviewing the Fishing Vessel (Safety Provisions) Rules 1975 in consultation with the fishing industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will state the closing date for submissions on the first stage reports of the London road assessment studies;(2) what public involvement there will be in drawing up the terms of reference for the next stage of the London road assessment studies.

We have not set any deadline and will take account of comments and suggestions at any stage. We will be discussing the terms of reference for the next stage of the studies with the local authorities concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals have been made to his Department in the past year regarding the re-introduction of tram services in London.

None.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is his estimate of the proportion of cars and car-derived vans on the road, manufactured after October 1981, which are not fitted with rear restraints.

We think that from 90 to 95 per cent. are not fitted with rear adult belts. Some of these vehicles will have one or more child restraints.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish details of road casualties and casualty rates in 1985 for Great Britain by parliamentary constituency.

Road accident data are not coded to parliamentary constituencies. I regret that this information is not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what are the latest unadjusted figures for unemployment in (a) Newport, (b) Gwent and (c) Wales; and if he will give the equivalent figures for 1979 on the most nearly comparable basis.

In December 1986 the numbers unemployed in Newport TTWA, Gwent and Wales were 12,558, 27,923 and 173,546 respectively. Precise comparisons with the position in 1979, however, cannot be made as methods of compilation and collection have altered, and there have been some boundary changes in the intervening period. On the basis of the definitions then in use, the figures for Newport TTWA, Gwent and Wales in December 1979 were 6,274, 14,734 and 85,177 respectively.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the average net receipt to public funds per unit of public sector housing sold; and what is the average cost of replacing that unit, both figures at the latest available date.

The average net selling price and the average cost of providing new local authority dwellings during 1985 were £8,800 and £26,800 respectively. Similar information relating to Housing Association dwellings is not collected centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the date of the last inspection of the Welsh College of Music and Drama by Her Majesty's inspectors of education; and if he will make a statement.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate undertook a formal inspection of certain aspects of provision at the Welsh College of Music and Drama between 17 and 21 November 1986. The inspectorate's findings will be submitted to me as part of its report about initial teaching training provision in the public sector institutions in South Glamorgan.

asked the Secretary of' State for Wales what information he has as to the number of households in (a) Clwyd and (h) Wales which are one-parent families; and how many of them are (i) divorced mothers, (ii) separated mothers, (iii) unmarried mothers, (iv) divorced fathers and (v) widowed mothers.

Estimates based upon information from the 1984 and 1985 labour force surveys in which some 3,000 households in Wales were sampled each year, are as follows. The samples are too small to provide reliable estimates of numbers of lone fathers in Wales or of lone parents in Clwyd.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many one-parent families in (a) Clwyd and (b) Wales in each year from 1981 to 1985, inclusive, included a head of the household who was unemployed.

The information requested is not available. However, the 1981 census of population recorded 1,528 unemployed heads of lone adult households with children in Wales, of whom 195 lived in Clwyd.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what are the numbers of available beds in National Health Service hospitals in Wales for each year since 1979 expressed as totals and by specialties.

Information on numbers of available beds is given in the regular publication "Bed Use Statistics", copies of which are available in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many National Health Service hospitals have been opened in Wales; and what is the bed gain as a result of these openings for each year since 1979.

The information is given in the following table:

Hospital	Opening Date	Bed Gains
Ysbyty Glan Clwyd	May 1980	Reduction of 67
Mold Community Hospital	April 1984	19
Ysbyty Gwynedd	July 1984	71
Princess of Wales District General Hospital	October 1985	13
Morriston District General Hospital	October 1985	66
Ystradgynlais Community Hospital	March 1986	Reduction of 19
Wrexham Maelor District General Hospital	June 1986	29

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what are the numbers of staff employed by the National Health Service in Wales expressed as whole-time equivalents as well as actual full-time and part-time numbers.

At 30 September 1985, the latest date for which the required information is available, the National Health Service in Wales (including the Welsh Health Common Services Authority) employed the equivalent of 55,321 whole-time staff. This comprised 41,087 full-time staff and 23,832 part-time staff.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will expedite consideration of the application by Lumi-Low for selective financial assistance and regional aid; and if he will make a statement;(2) if he will explain the delay in processing the application by Lumi-Low for regional aid; and if he will make a statement.

The company is aware that further consideration of its application for regional selective assistance depended on its providing essential supporting information, which it did not supply until 4 February 1987.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what action he proposes to take to enable Spectrum Packaging to remain at Deeside industrial park; and if he will make a statement.

I am well aware of the background to this case. The Welsh Development Agency has worked hard to encourage Spectrum Packaging to continue production at Deeside industrial park. The decision on where to locate rests with the company.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the alleged pollution from polychlorinated biphenyls caused by Re-chem International in Torfaen, near Pontypool.

There is no evidence that the operations of the Re-chem International plant near Pontypool result in the presence of PCBs or other toxic substances in the local environment at levels significantly different from those in areas remote from chemical incineration or other industrial operations.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Merionnydd Nant Conwy on 15 January, Official Report, column 283, concerning reports received from the radioactive waste management advisory committee, what is the title of the relevant paper mentioned in his reply; and if he will place a copy of this paper in the Library.

It is not the practice to make publicly available individual papers submitted to the radioactive waste management advisory committee.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much duty was collected on (a) domestically produced cigarettes and (b) imported cigarettes in 1985–86; what are his estimates for the current financial year; what representations he has received regarding the respective treatment as regards duty of imported and domestically produced cigarettes; and if he will make a statement.

It is estimated that the tobacco products duty collected in 1985–86 on domestically produced and imported cigarettes was £3,660 million and £391 million respectively. Forecasts of receipts are not made at this level of detail.Several representations about the duty on imported and domestically produced cigarettes have been received.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that registration fees to a self regulating organisation are an allowable deduction from the income arising out of such registration.

I take it that the question refers to self-regulating organisations for investment businesses under the Financial Services Act.The tax deductibility of initial and periodic registration fees to these organisations will depend on the precise nature and purpose of the payments. It will not be possible to determine their tax treatment until the SROs have been established and their rules have been formulated.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest figure for the proportion of the European Commission budget spent on (a) all fisheries support, (b) the social fund and (c) the regional fund.

The figures in the 1986 budget as adopted, the latest available, are:

	per cent.
(a) Fisheries support (title 4)	0·5
(b) Social fund (chapters 60 and 61)	7·2
(c) Regional fund (chapters 50 and 51)	6·7

The Community has not yet adopted a budget for 1987.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was raised from taxes on alcohol in the last financial year for which figures are available.

It is estimated that the revenue raised from taxes on alcohol in the financial year 1985⁃86 is as follows:

£ million
Excise duty	VAT1	Total
4,197	2,060	6,257
1 Estimate based on consumers' expenditure data.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the percentage of total mileage of company cars spent on private motoring.

I shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which social security benefits, including pensions, are subject to taxation; and which are not subject to taxation.

The following social security benefits are taxable: retirement pension, widow's pensions, widowed mother's allowance, widow's allowance, industrial death benefit, invalid care allowance, unemployment benefit, and supplementary benefit paid to the unemployed and to strikers.The remaining social security benefits (including any child additions to the benefits listed above) are not taxable.Payments made by employers under the statutory sick pay scheme are taxable.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any changes are proposed in the cash limit and running costs limit for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class XIX vote 2 will be increased by £1,971,000, from £393,768,000 to £395,739,000. This is primarily to cover the cost of increased legal charges falling on the department, and other additional costs associated with drugs investigation work; £161,000 is for work carried out for the Department of Transport whose running costs limit is being reduced by the same amount as announced by the Secretary of State for Transport on 2 February (Official Report, c. 531); £60,000 is for charges raised by the Scottish courts administration whose original estimate incorporated a reduction of that amount; and £1,750,000 will be charged to the reserve. The department's gross running costs limit will be increased by £1,971,000 from £384,123,000 to £386,094,000.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what circumstances there will be mutual inspection of passenger luggage by United Kingdom Customs and Excise officials at Frethun and by French customs officials at Ashford.

[pursuant to his reply, 2 February 1987, c. 539]: None. The treaty provides for the juxtaposition of frontier controls in respect of shuttle train services. Inward and outward inspection checks on luggage by United Kingdom and French customs officials will be undertaken on a consecutive basis at the Frethum and Cheriton terminals. It is proposed that there will be clearance arrangements at Ashford by United Kingdom customs for passengers joining or leaving through rail services at British Rail's proposed international station.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether French Customs and Excise officials will examine passenger luggage on trains using the Channel fixed link on the train; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 2 February 1987, c. 539]: I refer the hon. Member to my reply to his questions on 23 January, Official Report column 783–84.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many meetings have taken place between the French and United Kingdom authorities responsible for Customs and Excise examination on future Channel tunnel traffic.

[pursuant to his reply, 2 February 1987, c. 539]: Customs officials take part in all meetings of the frontier control working groups, which have been held at approximately monthly intervals since last June.

asked the Paymaster General how many staff are currently employed by jobcentres, for each Manpower Services Commission region; and how many staff, by region, are planned for 1987–88, 1988–89 and 1989–90.

The information is not available in the precise form requested. Statistics on the allocation of staff are maintained by programme other than location. In March 1987 there will be 9,835 people employed, nationally, mainly in jobcentres, on programmes which cover the principal jobcentre activities, including helping long-term unemployed people through job clubs and the restart programme. The comparable planning figure for 1988 and 1989 is 10,318 in each year.Figures for the total number of staff allocated, by programme, to individual regions of Manpower Services Commission employment and enterprise group are available for 1987 and 1988 but will take some time to extract. I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as I have the information and will place a copy of my letter in the Library.

asked the Paymaster General, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Greenock and Port Glasgow on 17 November 1986, Official Report, column 68, when the hon. Member can expect to receive the promised letter about the Manpower Services Commission's inquiry into the funding of certain community programme projects; and if he will make a statement.

I shall write to the hon. Member shortly about the outcome of the Manpower Services Commission inquiry.

asked the Paymaster General if he will make a statement on the progress to date of the job restart scheme; and if he will indicate the number and types of work mainly involved.

The restart programme has been making good progress. By 8 January 1987, 779,051 people had been interviewed. A worthwile offer that might lead to employment had been made to around nine out of 10 of those interviewed. The restart programme offers counselling interviews at which long term unemployed people are helped to identify and find possible ways of getting back to work. These include job interviews (including those where the jobstart allowance may be payable), opportunities for further training or for places on the community programme, the chance to join a jobclub, take up a place on a restart course or develop an idea about self employment with the help of the enterprise allowance scheme.We have no means of knowing exactly how many people have found work after taking part in the programme. Some people have been placed in jobs as a direct result of their restart interview. Many others have found jobs because they are given information, advice and other help at the interview or in one or other of the opportunities offered at the interview. We do not follow up each individual and are unable to give details of the types of work which people enter.

asked the Paymaster General if he will give the figures for the latest date available for the Burnley job club of (a) total participants to date, (b) how many are currently in employment and (c) how many are employed through the community programme.

A total of 136 people joined Burnley job club between 27 May 1986 and 9 January 1987. Of the 103 who left, 66 (64 per cent.) went into jobs and 9 (9 per cent.) into the community programme. It is not known how many are currently in employment.

asked the Paymaster General if he will list in the Official Report the job clubs in Lancashire and indicate the number of members at each club at the latest date for which figures are available.

The number of members in each Lancashire job club, on 2 February, was as follows:

	Number
Accrington	19
Blackburn	26
Blackpool South (1)	27
Blackpool South (2)	28
Burnley	32
Chorley	25
Fleetwood	20
Lancaster	17
Nelson	24
Preston (1)	32
Preston (2)	24
Skelmersdale	23

asked the Paymaster General what was the total number of apprentices in the north-west region in 1978 and each subsequent year.

Unemployment by age analysis—Exeter parliamentary constituency
	October 1983		October 1984		October 1985		October 1986
	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females
Under 25 years	1,160	695	1,292	833	1,213	888	1,104	772
25— 49 years	1,300	458	1,399	606	1,464	626	1,498	663
Over 50 years	549	162	619	204	592	214	634	203
TOTAL UNEMPLOYED	3,009	1,315	3,310	1,643	3,269	1,728	3,236	1,638

asked the Paymaster General what is the number of (a) men and (b) women who were registered as unemployed in the London borough of Wandsworth on 31 January.

The information is not available. The January 1987 unemployment count date was the 8 January and these figures will be released at 11.30 am on 12 February 1987.

asked the Paymaster General what has been the period of time broken down into categories of (a)

Estimates of the numbers of persons undertaking an apprenticeship in the north-west region are available from the labour force survey as follows:

Year (Spring)	Number of apprentices (thousands)
1979	39
1983	41
1984	37
1985	43

Separate information relating to apprenticeships included in the regular employees in employment estimates for manufacturing industries in the north-west region is available as follows:

Year (March)	1 Number of apprentices (thousands)
1981	18·6
1982	15·4
1983	12·7
1984	11·2
1985	9·3
1986	7·7
1 Many of those receiving apprenticeship training under YTS (since 1983), specifically those without a contract of employment, are not counted as employees and are therefore not included in these figures. With the move away from traditional apprentice training in many industries some long duration schemes of a type which previously could have involved apprenticeships may not now be so classified.

asked the Paymaster General what are the unemployment figures broken down by male, female and under 25 years, 25 to 50 years of age and over 50 years of age for each of the past four years, in the parliamentary division of Exeter.

The table gives the numbers of unemployed male and female claimants in the age groups requested for October of each year since 1983 in the Exeter parliamentary constituency. The comparison is affected by the change in the compilation of unemployment statistics in March 1986.The information is available in the Library.three months,

The following information is in the Library. The table shows the numbers of unemployed male and female claimants who had been unemployed for the durations requested at 9 October 1986, the latest date for which such an analysis is available, in the London borough of Wandsworth.

Unemployed claimants in the London Borough of Wandsworth at 9 October 1986
	Male	Female
Under 3 months	2,714	1,707
3 to 6 months	1,442	848
6 to 9 months	1,163	564
9 months to 1 year	739	347
1 to 2 years	1,952	689
2 to 3 years	1,082	333
Over 3 years	2,020	461
Total unemployed	11,112	4,949

asked the Paymaster General how many people were employed in the brewing and distilling industry in the United Kingdom in the last year for which figures are available.