To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to prohibit the sale of weapons of war and other lethal or dangerous implements; and if he will make a statement.

The sale of firearms generally is governed by the provisions of the Firearms Act 1968, and imitation firearms by the Firearms Act 1982. Firearms legislation is currently under review and we will make an announcement about further controls shortly. We also propose in the Criminal Justice Bill to take powers to prohibit the sale of specified weapons (other than firearms) for which there is no legitimate use and to make it an offence to be in possession of a bladed or sharply pointed article in public without good reason.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the numbers of known injuries or damage to property caused by the illegal use of fireworks over the last 12 months.

Information is not available centrally on injuries or damage to property caused by the illegal use of fireworks. The only available information is that collected annually by the Department of Trade and Industry from hospitals in Great Britain on all injuries caused by fireworks during a four-week period in October and November. Eight hundred and forty-six such injuries were reported in the relevant period in 1986. Corresponding information for 1987 is not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he will take to stop the selling of replica firearms; and if he will make a statement.

Under the Firearms Act 1982, imitation firearms capable of ready conversion to fire live ammunition are already subject to the same stringent controls imposed on actual firearms by the Firearms Act 1968. We do not think that it would be sensible to restrict or try to control the sale or possession of toy or imitation guns which are not capable of being converted to fire live ammunition. There are already many such imitations or toys in circulation, and realistic imitations can easily be constructed by those intent on a criminal act.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to increase the penalties available to the courts in cases of organised dog fighting and badger baiting, and if he will make a statement.

The Government entirely share the public abhorrence of the barbaric practices of dog fighting and badger baiting. The maximum penalties for such activities, provided under the Protection of Animals Act 1911, were recently doubled, to a fine not exceeding level 6 on the standard scale (£2,000) or six months' imprisonment, or both. In the case of badgers, additional protection against cruelty is provided by the Badgers Act 1975, as amended by the Wildlife and Countryside (Amendment) Act 1985. We believe that the maximum penalties available under these Acts are substantial and appropriate to the gravity of the offences. We shall however be giving support to the proposals by my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Mr. Browne ) to increase substantially the maximum penalties for attendance at animal fights or baiting.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, pursuant to the answer of 12 November, he will provide the information requested in relation to exclusion orders involving persons living in the west midlands for the period from the coming into force of the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1974 until the end of 1975.

Two people known to have been living in the west midlands were made the subject of exclusion orders under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974 between November 1974 and the end of 1975.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has of the weight of dog excrement deposited on the streets of Britain each year; and if he will increase the penalties on dog owners who allow their pets to foul pavements.

We have made no such estimate. Under existing legislation the maximum penalty which local authorities may prescribe in their byelaws for offences of this nature is a fine at level 2 on the standard scale (currently £100), and we have no plans to increase the level.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Horne Department if he has yet decided upon the Nottinghamshire constabulary's appeal for additional police officers; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend will in due course decide on the application by the Nottinghamshire police authority for 63 additional police posts, in the light of the advice received from Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary. He will at the same time be considering the applications outstanding from other police authorities for increases in establishments. Since May 1979, a total of 114 additional police posts has been approved for the Nottinghamshire constabulary, and the existing establishment is 2,259.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his Department's estimate of the number of residents in the United Kingdom who are eligible to apply for registration as British citizens on or before 31 December, the proportion of these who are mentally ill and the number of mentally ill people eligible to apply who are wholly dependent on benefits or assistance.

It is not possible to give any such estimates as the necessary statistical data is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests, (b) prosecutions and (c) convictions there have been under the Sexual Offences Act 1985 in each identifiable area of England and Wales.

The Act came into force in September 1985. 21 prosecutions were recorded in England and Wales in 1985.The information held centrally for 1986, which may be incomplete, is given in the table. There is no power of arrest under this Act.

Males proceeded against or found guilty under the Sexual Offences Act 1985
England and Wales 1986
Police force area1	Proceeded against	Found guilty
Avon and Somerset	2	2
Bedfordshire	4	1
Cleveland	2	2
Gloucester	1	1
Greater Manchester	73	66
Leicestershire	10	10
Lincolnshire	1	—
Merseyside	7	7
Metropolitan police	10	8
Norfolk	13	13
Northamptonshire	1	1
Nottinghamshire	1	1
South Yorkshire	2	1
Staffordshire	11	3
West Midlands	68	63
West Yorkshire	13	9
South Wales	1	1
England and Wales	220	189
1 No prosecutions were recorded in the other 26 police force areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many neighbourhood watch schemes there are in north Wales; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that there are currently 1,135 neighbourhood watch schemes in the north Wales police area covering approximately 22,500 households, almost double the number a year ago. We are encouraged by the involvement of the community in crime prevention indicated by the increase in the number of schemes during the last 12 months.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take in the light of the recommendations in the report by Dr. Trevor Bennett relating to difficulties with neighbourhood watch schemes; and if he will make a statement.

The research carried out by the Cambridge Institute of Criminology provided some useful lessons on the design and implementation of schemes which have been studied by the Metropolitan police and the Home Office. The Metropolitan police is revising its policy guidelines on the operation of neighbourhood watch in the Metropolitan police district. The Home Office is producing a good practice guidance note for the police and members of the public taking account of Dr. Bennett's research and of the experience of other police forces and communities throughout England and Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many neighbourhood watch schemes operate according to his Department's guidelines and if he will make a statement.

Neighbourhood watch is essentially a locally based voluntary activity and it is for individual local communities and the police to develop schemes tailored to meet particular local needs and requirements. The guidelines on implementation issued by the Home Office in 1984 simply set out the basic broad concept of neighbourhood watch in order to assist this process. Information on how individual schemes operate is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been for industrial espionage and related offences in the years, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested is not available. It is not possible to identify separately offences involving industrial espionage.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the circular letter he sent to all chief officers of police, dated 8 September and signed J. H. Chilcot; and if he will make a statement on his reasons for sending the instructions contained in the letter.

A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library. Its purpose was to ask each chief officer to review his criteria under the law as it stands in respect of applications to acquire, or to continue to possess full bore self-loading rifles and carbines; and to ensure that each application was carefully scrutinised so that the chief officer could be satisfied that a good reason, commensurate with the weapon, existed for its possession and that such possession did not constitute a danger to the public safety or to the peace, as required under the Firearms Act 1968.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been undertaken by his Department to identify the particular areas of concern in his proposals to amend the Firearms Act 1968; and when that research was conducted.

In studying firearms controls we have drawn on experience of the operation of the existing legislation and considered the views of the police, shooting interests and a number of other bodies. We have also taken fully into account concerns expressed in Parliament and by members of the public.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 16 July, Official Report, column 600, if he is now in a position to supply the information previously asked for relating to aircraft losses.

Since 1 January 1979, 156 British service personnel have lost their lives in military aircraft accidents during routine operations. In these accidents, 242 aircraft suffered irreparable damage. The costs of these aircraft, at the time of their purchase, is estimated to have been some £580 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what charge is to be paid by Her Majesty's Government for the use of the NAVSTAR guidance satellite; what are the implications of this for the independence of Trident; and if he will make a statement.

We do not anticipate that any charges will be imposed for the use of NAVSTAR. As Trident will not be dependent in any way on this system, there are no implications for the independence of the United Kingdom Trident force.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the contracts for chemical and biological research which his Department has placed directly or indirectly with United Kingdom universities and polytechnics; what is their total value; and if he will indicate which of these were initiated by the chemical defence establishment at Porton.

The MOD currently has 77 contracts or agreements for research into chemical or biological defence with United Kingdom universities and polytech-nics. The total value of these agreements and contracts is £7·8 million and all were originated by the chemical defence establishment, Porton Down. It is not our policy to give details of these contracts and agreements.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has as to what criteria will be used in determining which four British institutions take up the Japanese offer of four seats on the Tokyo stock exchange.

The Tokyo stock exchange announced on 19 October the criteria for vetting candidates for the 22 new seats. These include the applicant's scale of business, its financial standing, its past business performance, the length of time it has engaged in securities business in Japan and its operational capability as a potential member of the exchange. A special admission fee of 500 million yen is payable, plus some additional costs. Determination of new members is subject to the approval of the exchange's ad hoc committee on membership structure and the board of governors of the exchange. The number and names of successful British candidates will not be known until next month.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will provide estimates of his allocations for (a) regional, (h) inner city aid and (c) nationalised industries finance for 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91.

Information on the allocation of the total amounts provided for regional assistance and inner city aid for the three years 1988–89 to 1990–91 will be included in the public expenditure White Paper to he published in January.The 1988–89 external financing limits for the nationalised industries sponsored by the Department were published recently in the Autumn Statement and show a total negative external financing requirement of £125 million. The Autumn Statement also gives the aggregated plans for all nationalised industries in 1989–90 and 1990–91, but I am unable at this stage to publish separate details for those nationalised industries sponsored by my Department. These will also be included in the public expenditure White Paper next January.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if his Department is making contingency plans to help British industry in the event of a world recession.

My Department's policies are designed to help industry strengthen its competitiveness and ability to adapt to changes in the market, so that it can respond effectively to whatever contingencies arise.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will refer the failure of the directors of Lonrho plc to comply with paragraph 43 of schedule 4 to the Companies Act 1985 in respect of the company's 1985–86 accounts to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

I have given careful consideration to the issues raised in connection with Lonrho's accounts for 1985–86 and have concluded that no further action is called for.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the average sum spent per employee on education training by British manufacturing industry; and what information he has about the equivalent sums in France, West Germany and Italy.

It is estimated that roughly £160 per employee per year was spent on training by British manufacturing industry in 1984. Direct comparison of this figure with spending by companies overseas is not possible. Better estimates of costs and volumes of training in Britain are expected to be available in 1988 as part of the study of funding of vocational education and training currently being undertaken by the Manpower Services Commission.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps Her Majesty's Government propose to take, in particular using tax incentives, to impress training expenditure in British manufacturing industry.

Employers have the chief responsibility for meeting their own skill needs. The Government have already given a lead by their own investment in training unemployed people and school leavers.Special tax arrangements to encourage employers to provide training for their staff already exist. To make these more widely known the Manpower Services Commission plans to publish a booklet in December entitled "Tax, Training and Education : A Guide for Employers, Education and Training Providers".

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what environmental considerations are taken into account when capital development loans are agreed either directly or through multilateral agencies.

The environmental factors needing consideration vary depending on the nature of the project being supported and its proposed location. In our bilateral programmes project managers are required to operate in accordance with written guidance and a checklist, which I shall send to the hon. Member. The guidance is currently being reviewed. Multilateral agencies are responsible for appraising their own proposed investments. Her Majesty's Government have made it clear to the management of those to which we belong that we expect them to take full account of environmental factors, and to have operational guidelines for their staff and consultants. We will continue to monitor their practices in this regard.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what attitude Her Majesty's Government's representatives on the World Bank took on the question of the loan to Brazil for the Grande Carajas project.

It is not the policy of Her Majesty's Government to disclose the line taken by our executive director in discussions in the World Bank's board.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his reply of 2 July, Official Report, column 140, whether, in the light of progress made by the veterinary departments of the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh in their plans for closer co-operation, the University Grants Committee's review will now be confined to the four English universities with veterinary schools.

I understand the University Grants Committee will shortly be deciding the coverage of the review of veterinary education in the light of the proposals recently submitted by the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will list, by local authority, the number of appeals under the Education Act 1980, for each year since 1983, together with the school population for each authority listed.

Information is not available in the form requested.The appeal arrangements set out in the Education Act 1980 applied for the first time to school admissions for September 1982. From informal inquiries made of local education authorities in England at the time, I understand that in 1983 about 10,000 parental appeals were heard against a decision not to offer a place at the school of their choice. Similar inquiries in 1985 suggested a figure of 9,000 appeals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the distribution of the special additional allocations of £9·4 million for education capital expenditure in 1987–88 which he announced on 3 November.

Local education authorities have today been informed of their supplementary allocations of prescribed capital expenditure for 1987–88. These are as follows:

Capital expenditure at county and controlled schools and further education establishments
Local Education Authority	Supplementary allocation for 1987–88 (£ 000's)
Greater London
Barking	12
Barnet	35
Bexley	23
Brent	18
Bromley	19
Croydon	29
Ealing	20
Enfield	55
Haringey	98
Harrow	14
Havering	27
Hillingdon	19
Hounslow	23
Kingston-upon-Thames	10
Merton	36
Newham	124
Redbridge	35
Richmond-upon-Thames	11
Sutton	12
Waltham Forest	84
Inner London	893
Metropolitan Districts
West Midlands
Birmingham	265
Coventry	51
Dudley	83
Sandwell	87
Solihull	18
Walsall	86
Wolverhampton	51
Merseyside
Knowsley	15
Liverpool	115
St. Helens	25
Sefton	41
Wirral	55
Greater Manchester
Bolton	69
Bury	34
Manchester	71
Oldham	51
Rochdale	23
Salford	26
Stockport	44
Tameside	87
Trafford	17
Wigan	42
South Yorkshire
Barnsley	22
Doncaster	47
Rotherham	56
Sheffield	108
West Yorkshire
Bradford	330
Calderdale	89
Kirklees	50
Leeds	191
Wakefield	68
Tyne and Wear
Gateshead	52
Newcastle upon Tyne	30
North Tyneside	22
South Tyneside	27

Local Education Authority	Supplementary allocation for 1987–88 (£000 's)
Sunderland	50
Non-Metropolitan Counties
Isles of Scilly	—
Avon	326
Bedfordshire	64
Berkshire	101
Buckinghamshire	54
Cambridgeshire	127
Cheshire	126
Cleveland	78
Cornwall	205
Cumbria	100
Derbyshire	359
Devon	158
Dorset	112
Durham	88
East Sussex	74
Essex	204
Gloucestershire	130
Hampshire	319
Hereford and Worcester	137
Hertfordshire	80
Humberside	129
Isle of Wight	22
Kent	327
Lancashire	343
Leicestershire	228
Lincolnshire	81
Norfolk	109
North Yorkshire	116
Northamptonshire	65
Northumberland	71
Nottinghamshire	151
Oxfordshire	43
Salop	67
Somerset	100
Staffordshire	126
Suffolk	104
Surrey	103
Warwickshire	61
West Sussex	59
Wiltshire	108

To ask the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to Corfe Mullen in the constituency of Dorset, North.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister whether she will take steps in the near future to facilitate the creation of an enterprise zone in Greenock and Port Glasgow.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 5 November, at column 805.

To ask the Prime Minister if, pursuant to her reply to a supplementary question asked by the right hon. Member for Strangford (Mr. Taylor) on 29 October, Official Report, column 449, Her Majesty's Government propose to include provisions for Northern Ireland in the Education Bill and in any other forthcoming United Kingdom legislation.

The forthcoming Education Bill will not generally extend to Northern Ireland, though legislation enacted for Great Britain, normally sets the pattern for Northern Ireland. Such comparable legislation, like most other legislation for Northern Ireland, would be enacted by Order in Council.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to Pulloxhill in the county of Bedfordshire.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to visit Wales.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to Leith.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on her programme for visits to all inner-city areas.

In September I undertook a number of such visits, including to Glasgow, Teesside and the west midlands. I visited factories, housing projects, enterprise zones, and urban development corporations, and met many local people and their representatives.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to make an official visit to Warwickshire.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister whether she will amend the terms of reference or the staff counsellor for the security and intelligence services, Sir Phillip Woodfield, so as to allow him to act retrospectively and counsel past employees of the service.

The staff counsellor is not precluded from counselling former members of the security and intelligence services, where appropriate.

To ask the Prime Minister how many Ministers have rooms in the Richmond yard development; and what is the total office space allocated to them.

The six Ministers at the Department of Health and Social Security are to move to Richmond House and will occupy rooms in the restored Georgian building. The total office space to be occupied by Ministers is 3,127 sq ft.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list the numbers of civil servants in each grade, together with the average space allocated to them, in the Department of Health and Social Security, Welsh Office, Cabinet Office and Inland Revenue, respectively, in the Richmond yard development.

Department of Health and Social Security staff are moving in two phases. The first group, which is due to move by the end of 1987, will total about 174, and the details are as follows. The exact number who will take up occupancy by the end of the second phase, due in March 1988, is not yet decided.

Grade	Number	Total space for grade (sq ft)	Average (sq ft)
Grades 1–3 and equivalents	11	4,785	435
Grade 4	1	400	400
Grade 5	4	950	237
Grade 6	—	—	—
Grade 7	9	1,450	161
Senior Executive Officer	9	1,157	128
Higher Executive Officer	14	1,728	123
Executive Officer	21	2,626	125
Administrative Officer	37	3,435	93
Administrative Assistant	13	1,348	103
Senior Personal Secretary/ Personal Secretary/Typist	25	1,930	77
Non clerical	30	3,897	130
	174	23,706

The Cabinet Office has been allocated 4.500 sq ft, the Welsh Office 3,000 sq ft, and the Inland Revenue 2,000 sq ft. Details of their occupancy are not yet available.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on the proposals she intends to submit to the December meeting of the European Council on budgetary control and the common agricultural policy.

At the European Council I shall continue to make clear the need for agreement on effective and binding control over Community spending, in particular agricultural spending, through the strenghtening of budgetary discipline and the introduction of stabilisers on agricultural commodities.

To ask the Prime Minister what was the cost of the preparations for the cancelled state visit of the President of Italy; and if she will make a statement.

President Cossiga, to his very great regret, was obliged to cancel his visit because of domestic political circumstances.The cost to British Government funds of the preparations was about £112,000.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 19 November.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 19 November.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 19 November.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 19 November.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 19 November.

This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. I later visited the scene of last night's terrible fire at King's Cross, where I met representatives of the emergency services. I also visited some of the injured at University College hospital, as well as members of the hospital staff. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what amount of capital investment and capital repayment charges are being paid currently by British Coal in respect of colleries which closed (a) since 1960, (b) since 1985 and (c) at any time.

£415 million and £450 million of the British Coal Corporation's debt was written off in the capital reconstructions under the Coal Industry Acts of 1965 and 1973 respectively. In more recent years, the book value of closed collieries has been written off at the time of closure by means of a terminal depreciation charge. Government deficit grant has been made available to cover these charges, interest on borrowing, and other costs where they have not been met from the corporation's revenues. It follows that the corporation has been carrying no continuing financial burdens in respect of such collieries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he last met the chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board; and what matters were discussed.

I meet Lord Marshall regularly. A wide range of topics relating to the industry are discussed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what proportion of his Department's research and development expenditure was devoted to alternative sources of electricity generation during the last year for which figures are available.

My Department's expenditure on non-nuclear research development and demonstration in 1986–87 was £45·4 million of which £7·6 million supported projects concerning alternative energy sources capable of electricity generation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what advertising agents have been appointed by his Department, or by the Central Office of Information on behalf of his Department, to handle campaigns involving the communication of information on subjects for which his Department is responsible to Parliament during the year 1985–86; what was the subject of each campaign; arid how much was spent on each campaign.

Advertising agencies appointed during 1985–86 to handle advertising for my Department by agency, campaign and expenditure are shown in the table. The totals may include some promotional expenditure besides advertising such as seminars, exhibitions and leaflets. The figures provided are in full cost terms including VAT where applicable. Expenditure in 1985–86 was higher than usual because of my Department's promotion of Energy Efficiency Year 1986.

Advertising Agency and Campaign	Amount spent with Agency£
Saatchi & Saatchi Compton—Energy Efficiency	4,267,000
Golly Slater & Partners—Cardiff Energy Action	109,900
Charles Barker—Offshore Supplies Office	96,000
Doyle Dane Bernbach—Energy Saver Shows	12,255

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the total capital expenditure by the Central Electricity Generating Board in each financial year since 1975–76 in constant prices (using implied GDP deflator at factor costs) taking 1986–87 as the base.

The capital expenditure figures requested by the hon. Member at 1986–87 prices using implied GDP deflator at factor cost are as follows:

	£ million
1975–76	1,217
1976–77	1,248
1977–78	1,045
1978–79	967
1979–80	985
1980–81	954
1981–82	1,070
1982–83	1,086
1983–84	1,098
1984–85	953
1985–86	764
1986–87	616

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy for what purpose he has granted an exploration licence to Seismograph Services (England) Ltd. on behalf of the licence holder Fina Explorations Ltd. in respect of the parishes of Whitmore, Swynnerton, Keele, Astbury cum Morton, Alsager and the boroughs of Newcastle, Congleton and Stoke City; and what precise consultation he has had with the county councils on this matter.

The parishes and boroughs listed by the hon. Member are covered by petroleum exploration licence EXL 067, operated by Fina Petroleum. The choice of seismic contractor is a commercial matter for the licensee. Prior to carrying out any seismic surveys under the licence the licensee is required to consult with the relevant mineral planning authorities, who are the Staffordshire and Cheshire county councils.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will explain the basis upon which his Department calculates the figures for the United Kingdom share of orders placed on the United Kingdom continental shelf.

The figures for the United Kingdom share of orders placed on the United Kingdom continental shelf are based on data collated from returns supplied by each operator under a voluntary arrangement agreed with the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association.The United Kingdom share represents the value of the contracts and main sub-contracts placed with United Kingdom-based companies which through employment, manufacturing or sub-contracting make a substantial contribution to the United Kingdom economy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, pursuant to his written answer of 5 November to his hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest, Official Report, column 794, he will state what further meetings of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council are planned; and what dates and agenda have been fixed.

No meeting of the Council is planned at the moment. The co-ordinating committee is due to meet shortly, although the date and agenda have not yet been fixed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will initiate at the next meeting of the Council of European Foreign Ministers a task force of experts to investigate recent evidence that weapons grade nuclear materials from facilities under safeguards in the European Community have been illicitly sold on the black market in the Sudan; and if he will make a statement;(2) what information he has about alleged illegal attempts by the Governments of (i) Israel, (ii) Libya, (iii) Iran, (iv) Iraq, (v) India, (vi) Argentina, (vii) South Africa, and (viii) Pakistan to obtain unsafeguarded plutonium and enriched uranium on the black market, particularly in Khartoum, which have been diverted from facilities in the European Community; and if he will make a statement.

We have no evidence to support allegations that weapons grade nuclear material has been on sale in the Sudan or indeed elsewhere. We also have full confidence in the stringent security precautions and accounting systems that exist at United Kingdom and other Community nuclear installations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British nationals have been (a) arrested, (b) tried and (c) imprisoned in South Africa for each year since 1979.

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he is willing to hold a public inquiry regarding the proposal to dump domestic waste at Magheramorne quarry, Lame.

The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland will consult Larne borough council shortly on the planning application for the proposed waste disposal facility at Magheramorne quarry. The Department does not consider that, at this late stage in the processing of this application, a public inquiry would be warranted. Matters relating to leachate, etc., may be dealt with under any water act consent, and the operation of the waste disposal site and measures to prevent public health nuisance would be controlled by licence issued by Lame borough council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place a copy of the "Divis Biannual Review", presented to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive board in April, in the Library.

This is a matter for the chairman of the Housing Executive who has advised me that no biannual or other review of the decision to replace the Divis complex has been carried out. The document presented to the Housing Executive board in April 1987 was an internal planning report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many listed buildings in Wales have been downgraded by Cadw in the years 1984, 1985 and 1986, respectively.

My right hon. Friend downgraded one listed building in 1984, seven in 1985 and four in 1986.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will authorise an independent inspection and valuation of the painting of Dame Adelina Patti in Craig y Nôs castle, to establish whether the painting was painted by either Friedrich Karl Steinhardt or Jakob Steinhardt.

A valuation of the portrait has been made by Messrs. Phillips, Fine Art Auctioneers, who have reported that the painting is by Friedrich Karl Steinhardt.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people were self-employed in Wales in 1981; how many are self-employed at the latest recorded date; and if he will make a statement.

It is estimated that there were 115,000 self-employed people in Wales at June 1981; the figure for June 1987 is provisionally estimated to be 162,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people were in full-time employment in Clwyd in May 1979; how many are in full-time employment now; and if he will make a statement.

The number of people in full-time employment in Clwyd in May 1979 and now is not available. The nearest available figures, for June 1978 and September 1984, show that the number of full-time employees in employment (which excludes the self-employed) in Clwyd was 103,942 and 90,618 respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many haemophiliacs in Wales are known to be infected with HIV; and if he will make a statement.

The most recent information available indicates that 49 haemophiliacs in Wales have been identified as being HIV positive.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many haemophiliacs in Wales have developed (a) full-blown AIDS, (b) prodromal symptoms of AIDS and (c) HIV positivity;(2) what information he has regarding the number of haemophiliacs treated in Wales who have received blood products contaminated with the AIDS virus.

[holding answers 12 November 1987]: Haemophiliacs are treated at a number of centres throughout Wales and information on those who have received blood products contaminated with the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) or who have developed prodromal symptoms is not held centrally.The most recent information available indicates that 49 persons in Wales with haemophilia have been identified as being HIV positive. It is not possible to estimate the number who will go on to develop AIDS. I understand that fewer than 10 haemophiliacs in Wales have been identified as having developed AIDS.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of poorer households in Wales with an income of less than £75 per week, after taxes, referred to in the document "Paying for Local Government — The Need For Change"; and if he will make a statement.

The estimated number of households in Wales with an income after taxes of less than £75 a week is 187,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what further attempts he proposes to make to avert the closure of the GEC factory at Treforest; and if he will make a statement.

The decision to close the Treforest operation is one for the commercial judgment of the company. None the less, the company is aware of the regional assistance which may be available towards a project which can meet the relevant criteria and safeguard the jobs at risk.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the meetings he, other Ministers or officials in his Department have had with officials of GEC Ltd. regarding its intended closure of its Treforest factory; what information he has recived from the company as to the likely number of job losses; and if he will make a statement.

Neither I nor other Ministers have met the company since the announcement of the closure, but officials of our Department have spoken to representatives of the company about the intended closure.The Welsh Office stands ready to discuss with the company, or any other party, proposals which may lead to the safeguarding of the 233 jobs that may be lost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will list by local authority the number of appeals under the Education Act 1980 for each year since 1983, together with the school population for each authority listed beside it.

Information on appeals by parents who fail to obtain their first choice of school for their children is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what remuneration the current chairman of the Welsh Sports Council receives; and how many days per month he is expected to devote to the business of the Welsh Sports Council.

The chairman of the Sports Council for Wales receives £7,572 per annum for a time commitment of one and a half days per week.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his reply of 13 July, Official Report, column 349, what is the latest information on the numbers of establishments accepted for Crown hotel classification in each category; how many hotels have failed to meet the specification; and if he will make a statement.

According to the English Tourist Board, the information as at 20 October 1987 is as follows:

Category	Number
Listed	2,042
1 Crown	580
2 Crowns	2,802
3 Crowns	1,709
4 Crowns	1,134
5 Crowns	236
Total	8,503

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many applications for loans under the career development scheme have been made to date in each pilot area and in total; and in each case how many were rejected.

As at 16 November 1987 the total numbers of applications and formal rejections notified to my department by participating banks for each of the four pilot areas and in total was as follows:

£	Aberdeen	Bristol/Bath	Greater Manchester	Reading/Slough	Total
300–499	2	15	12	1	30
500–1,000	20	40	69	36	165
1,001–2,000	6	22	22	30	80
2,001–3,000	13	26	21	24	84
3,001–4,000	14	14	8	11	47
4,001–5,000	13	23	8	33	77
All values	68	140	140	135	483

£500 was the minimum level for career development loans from the start of the scheme on 15 April 1986. This was reduced to £300 in November 1986.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the progress of the career development scheme to date in each of the pilot areas.

The career development loan scheme has made an encouraging start in all the pilot areas. Greater Manchester, with the largest population, continues to attract most applications but the level of interest has steadily grown in the three other areas.A wide variety of training has been made possible by the scheme, including post-graduate courses in management, personnel and marketing; courses to gain professional qualifications in law and accountancy; secretarial, driver training, hairdressing, and hotel and catering courses. Over three quarters of trainees completing their courses are already in employment and over half of these were unemployed when they made their applications.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many loans have been made under the career development scheme to date in each pilot area and in total;

	Number of career development loan applications	Number of formal rejections
Aberdeen	159	91
Bristol and Bath	202	62
Greater Manchester	385	245
Reading and Slough	170	35
Total of four areas	916	433

The participating banks receive a greater number of additional inquiries about the scheme which are withdrawn before being formally rejected. Detailed statistics are not kept on these.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many loans between (a) £500 to £1,000, (b) £1,000 to £2,000, (c) £2,000 to £3,000, (d) £3,000 to £4,000 and (e) £4,000 to £5,000 have been made under the career development scheme to date in each of the pilot areas and in total;(2) how many loans have been made under the career development scheme in each pilot area and in total to date, the value of which are

At 16 November 1987, the number of career development loans notified to my Department by the participating banks was as follows:(2) what is the total value of loans made under the career development scheme to date in each pilot area and in total.

At 16 November 1987 the number and value of career development loans notified to my Department by participating banks for each of the four pilot areas and in total was as follows:

	Number of loans	Value of loans £
Aberdeen	68	175,604
Bristol and Bath	140	301,555
Greater Manchester	140	210,503
Reading and Slough	135	332,020
TOTAL	483	1,019,682

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will investigate alleged sweatshop conditions in Leicester.

The Health and Safety Executive is investigating and will continue to investigate alleged sweatshop conditions in the city of Leicester.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the youth training schemes provided at the latest available date, together with the number of places each is offering, for the area of the parliamentary constituency of Chelmsford.

The information is not available in the precise form requested. The YTS managing agents, and the places offered by each, at October 1987 in the Chelmsford local authority district, which includes the Chelmsford parliamentary constituency, are as follows:

Provider	Places offered
British Horse Society	28
Cramphorns plc	47
Chelmsford Post Office Letter District	64
Chelmsford Youth Training, Essex County Council	194
Eastern National Bus Company	17
Elim Church	78
English Electrical Valves	127
Essex County Council Clerical Scheme	103
Essex Training Ltd.	148
Fellowship Afloat	24
Maldon YTS	217
Marconi Communications Ltd.	110
Marconi Radar Ltd.	33
Marconi Research Ltd.	31
RHP Group plc	29
Martin Retail Group plc	49
Writtle Agricultural College	113
Total	1,412

The following list shows providers whose schemes in Essex are administered by the Manpower Services Commission large companies unit. It is not possible to separately identify places offered in the Chelmsford local authority district.

Provider	Places offered
Abbey National Building Society	17
Association of British Travel Agents	31
Alliance and Leicester Building Society	2
Anglian Water Authority	8
Argyll Stores	8
Arrow Training	6
B & Q	19
Boots	12
British Association of Professional Hairdressing Employers	46
British Federation of Care Home Providers	2
British Office Systems and Stationery Federation	8
British Home Stores plc	11
British Insurance Brokers Association	24
British Printing Industry Federation	22
British Rail	13
British Holiday Homes and Parks	7
British Retail Florists	3
Builders Merchants Federation	19
Burtons Group plc	22
Clothing and Allied Products Industry Training Board	30
C & A Modes	2
Central Electricity Generating Board	13
Construction Industry Training Board	288
Co-Operative Retail Society	7
Comet plc	5
DER	12
Debenhams	35
Dewhurst/Baxters	12
Eagle Star Insurance	2

Provider	Places offered
Dixons	5
Edmund Walkers Holdings	3
Electrical Rental	11
Electricity Council	34
Essex Leisure Ltd	4
Federation of London Clearing Banks	30
Footballers' Association Further Education and Vocational Training Society Ltd	16
Ford Motor Company	101
Fosters Menswear	4
Glass Training Ltd	4
Habitat	2
Halifax Building Society	6
Granada Television Rentals	1
Home Charm Group plc	6
Home Insulation	2
Hotel and Catering Training Board	112
J.A.S. Smith (Cleaners) Ltd	3
K Shoes	2
Kwikfit Euro	3
Littlewoods plc	2
Lunn Poly Travel	6
London Industrial Training	5
Marks and Spencer plc	20
Midland Bank plc	16
Midland Group Training Services Ltd	12
Ministry of Defence	6
Mothercare Ltd	12
Motor Agents Association	85
Marine Training and Development	43
Meat East Anglian Traders	30
National Computer Centre	9
National Institute of Hardware	6
Newey and Eyre Ltd	3
National Pony Society	10
National Supervisory Council for Intruder Alarms	2
Nationwide Anglia Building Society	9
Partco Ltd	7
Plastics Processing Industry Training Board	10
Post Office Engineering	2
Quarry Products Training Council	3
Oxford Forestry Group	4
Property Services Agency	1
Rumbelows	20
Safeway	8
J. Sainsbury plc	4
Scaffolding GB Ltd.	3
Shoe Repair Industry Training Association	7
Standard Motorist Ltd.	6
Sutcliffe Catering	4
Southampton Engineering Training Group	3
Sperrings	3
Timber Trades Training Association	6
Timpson Shoe Repairs	2
Trust House Forte	1
W. H. Smith & Son	3
Wolseley Plumb Centres	3
F. W. Woolworth plc	11
Woolwich Building Society	3
Tesco Stores plc	12
Waitrose Ltd.	8

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people aged 16 and 17 years were unemployed in October 1987 in the area of the parliamentary constituency of Chelmsford.

The following information is in the Library. On 8 October 1987 the number of unemployed claimants in the Chelmsford parliamentary constituency aged 16 was 47. Those aged 17 similarly numbered 47.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will tabulate in full such research findings as may be available to him showing what proportion of the reduction in unemployment quarterly since June 1986 comes from (i) increased employment in service industries, (ii) a slower rate of job loss in manufacturing, (iii) the expansion of special measures, and within that (iv) the higher availability for work rules and (v) the application of the restart programme.

I have nothing to add to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment to the hon. Member on Wednesday 28 October at column 289.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many health and safety inspectors' hours are spent each week on average, inspecting or monitoring premises and conditions of work for (a) YTS trainees, (b) community programme workers and (c) JTS workers in the Dundee area.

The information as requested is not available. When carrying out inspections health and safety inspectors examine the health and safety conditions of all persons, regardless of whether they are engaged in Government schemes or not. No distinction is therefore made between those premises at which people are engaged on YTS, community programme schemes and the job training scheme, and those where they are not.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many health and safety inspectors were employed in Dundee during each year since 1974.

The number of factory and agricultural inspectors in the Dundee local office of the HSE's Scotland east area office at 1 April are as follows:

	Factory inspectors	Agricultural inspectors
1 April 1985	3	1
1 April 1986	3	1
1 April 1987	3	1
I November 1987	3	1
Figures for earlier years are not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will place in the Library his study of the effect on unemployment levels of Government schemes.

We have carried out a number of evaluations of our various employment, enterprise and training measures. If the hon. Member could specify precisely which study he is referring to, I will look into the matter.

To ask the Minister for the Arts how many people visited museums and galleries, outside London, in each of the past three years.

Information held on the Museums Association database indicates that some 38 million visits were made to museums and galleries outside Greater London in 1985 and 39·7 million visits in 1986. Information for 1984 is not available.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what proportion of his Department's expenditure, during the last year for which figures are available, was spent in each of the standard regions in England and Wales.

The total subsidies made available by the Arts Council to the English RAA's and by the Welsh Arts Council to the Welsh RAA's in the financial year 1986–87 is as follows :

	£	Per cent. (of £135·6million) ACGB Grant for 1986–87
England
Eastern Arts	1,715,344	1·265
East Midlands	1,809,737	1·335
Greater London	8,427,313	6·215
Lincolnshire and Humberside	904,490	0·667
Merseyside	1,096,830	0·809
Northern	3,543,845	2·613
North West	1,982,320	1·462
Southern	1,298,559	0·958
South East	1,231,962	0·909
South West	1,555,765	1·148
West Midlands	2,291,310	1·690
Yorkshire	2,084,900	1·538
	£	Per cent. of WAC grant for 1986–87 of £7,610,000
Wales
North Wales	218,094	2·866
South East Wales	320,226	4·208
West Wales	210,952	2·77

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will list in the Official Report the members of the board of the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

The current trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund are:

• The Right Hon. Lord Charteris of Amisfield (Chairman)
• The Baroness Airey of Abingdon
• The Most Hon. Marquess of Anglesey
• Professor F. G. T. Holliday
• Sir Martin Jacomb
• Clive Jenkins, Esq.
• Charles Kinahan, Esq.
• Michael McCrum, Esq.
• Sir Norman Macfarlane
• Professor B. R. Morris
• Commander L. M. M. Saunders-Watson

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many abortions were performed on resident and non-resident women during 1986 at each of the following gestational ages: ^*18 weeks, 19 weeks, 20 weeks, 21 weeks, 22 weeks, 23 weeks, 24 weeks and 25 weeks and over, respectively; on what grounds these were performed; what were the ages of the women; and what was the number performed in National Health Service establishments and the number performed in approved places.

There were no abortions performed in approved places at these gestational ages in 1986. Of the 160 performed in NHS establishments, one was for a non-resident woman. The numbers by gestational age and grounds and by age group are set out in the tables.

Table 1
Terminations after 18 weeks in Scottish hospitals by age of mother, 1986
Age	number
<16	9
16–19	39

Table 2
Terminations in Scottish hospitals by gestation and statutory grounds, 1986
Gestation(weeks)	One ground recorded						More than one ground	Total
	1	2	3	4	5	6
18	—	52	—	13	—	—	5	70
19	—	20	—	11	—	—	3	34
20	—	12	—	18	—	—	1	31
21	—	3	—	5	—	—	—	8
22	—	5	—	2	—	—	1	8
23	—	—	—	4	—	—	—	4
24	—	—	—	2	—	—	1	3
25 and over	—	—	—	1	1	—	—	2
Total	—	90	—	59	1	—	10	160
Key to statutory grounds:
1. Risk to life of pregnant woman.
2. Risk to physical or mental health of pregnant woman
3. Risk to physical or mental health of existing children.
4. Risk of abnormality to foetus.
Emergency:
5 To save life of pregnant woman.
6 To prevent permanent injury to physical or mental health of pregnant woman.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the nurse-patient ratio for each year since 1979 in the Argyll and Clyde health board area.

The information requested is not available centrally, but the table shows the average number of whole-time equivalent nurses (including qualified, unqualified and learner nurses) per occupied bed in each year to 31 March:

	Number
1979	1·0
1980	1·0
1981	1·1
1982	1·1
1983	1·1
1984	1·1
1985	1·2
1986	1·2
1987	1·3

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many people are being served by dial-a-ride operations (a) in Scotland and (b) in Greater Glasgow;(2) how many dial-a-ride services are at present operating

Information is not held centrally about Dial-a-Ride services or the number of people using them. Two such services, however — Paisley-Pollok and Easterhouse — are known to be operating with support from Strathclyde regional council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average of National Health Service beds daily available in the hospitals of Scotland.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 November to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang) at column 684.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many persons in (a) each district and islands council area, (b) each regional authority area and (c) Scotland receive (i) rates rebates and (ii) water rates rebates; and if he will estimate (iii) the total amount paid on rebates and (iv) the total number of rebate recipients for each of the above.