Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Tuesday 19 January 1988

Defence

Hospitals

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many beds there are in service hospitals in the United Kingdom; what is the current percentage of their occupancy by patients; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Mr. Jessel) on 13 January 1988, Official Report, columns 200–202.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many beds there were in service hospitals in 1979 and in the latest year for which information is available.

The information requested for the United Kingdom, which is based on average figures of beds available in 1979 and the current actual figures for beds available on 6 January 1988 is:

Beds available for use in Military hospitals
	1979	1988
RNF Haslar	365	228
RNH Plymouth	209	98
BMH Aldershot	229	261
Princess Louise unit Aldershot¹	64	—
BMH Catterick	170	130
BMH Woolwich	458	427
RAF(H) Ely	142	170
RAF(H) Halton	170	170
RAF(H) Wroughton	280	238
Military wing Belfast²	68	58
RAF(H) Nocton Hall³	142	—
¹ This unit is now incorporated in the BMH Aldershot facilities.
² This unit is attached to Musgrave Park civilian hospital.
³ This unit is now closed.

Tyneham

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if it is his intention to restore the village of Tyneham to those remaining of its original inhabitants; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 13 January 1988]: There are no plans to review the use of Lulworth training area which encompasses Tyneham village.

Prime Minister

Windscale Fire

To ask the Prime Minister if, pursuant to her answer of 11 January, Official Report, column 2, she will give the number of papers on the Windscale fire in 1957 withheld under the terms of the Public Records Act.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) on 14 January at column 353.

European Court Of Justice

Q42.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to the European Court of Justice.

I have at present no plans to do so.

Bilton

Q43.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to make an official visit to Bilton, near Rugby.

I have at present no plans to do so.

Efficiency Unit (Progress Reports)

To ask the Prime Minister if she will give the title of each progress report that has been made to her by the efficiency unit since its inception; and, in each case, when she received the report and whether it was subsequently published.

The efficiency unit reports to me from time to time on a variety of matters. The unit's reports "Consultancy, Inspection and Review Services in Government Departments", which I received in July 1984, and "Making Things Happen: a report on the implementation of government efficiency scrutinies", which I received in May 1985, were published. The unit also keeps me in touch with progress on the central scrutiny programme: topics included are listed annually, most recently in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Mr. Howarth) on 6 April 1987 at column 23.

Engagements

To ask the Prime Minister to list her official engagements for Tuesday 19 January.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 19 January.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later this afternoon. This evening I am speaking at the Britain-Australia Society's bicentennial celebration at the Guildhall.

Inner Cities

To ask the Prime Minister if she will publish in the Official Report details of measures which the Government have introduced since May 1979 to deal with urban dereliction and inner city decay; and what further measures the Government propose to introduce to improve the quality of the environment, the opportunity for employment and the encouragement of the private sector to invest in inner urban areas.

I have been asked to reply because of my responsibility, under the Prime Minister, for the coordination of Government action on inner cities and for its presentation.Since 1979 the Government have developed a range of policies and initiatives to deal with urban dereliction and inner city decay through encouraging development and raising business confidence. The following measures cover initiatives in England; my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales have also developed a range of programmes and initiatives to encourage urban regeneration.

Urban Development Corporations

Urban development corporations have been set up with powers to acquire, reclaim and service land, bring land and buildings into effective use, promote new development and housing and support community facilities. The London Docklands and Merseyside development corporations have been in operation since 1981. Four more were set up in 1987: Trafford Park, Teesside, Tyne and Wear and the Black Country. The London and Merseyside corporations have helped to create or retain nearly 14,000 jobs.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment announced on 7 December 1987 three new urban development corporations — in Bristol, Leeds and Central Manchester, and the extension of the Black Country development corporation to Wolverhampton;

Derelict Land Grant

Derelict land grant encourages the reuse of land which has been so damaged by former industrial or other development that it cannot be used without treatment. In assisted areas and derelict land clearance areas grants for reclamation are paid at 100 per cent to local authorities and at 80 per cent. to private sector owners. Elsewhere the rate is 50 per cent. for all applicants. Priority is given to schemes which will provide land for housing, industry and commerce. Through derelict land grant over 1,000 hectares are reclaimed every year;

Land Registers

Land registers of unused and underused land owned by public authorities are held by the Department of the Environment to help prospective developers to obtain the release of particular sites. The Department has powers to direct public owners to sell land which is registered on the open market. The land registers currently contain some 40,000 hectares; over 20,000 hectares have been removed from the registers since they were introduced in 1981;

Urban Development Grant

The Government introduced urban development grants in late 1982 to encourage the economic and physical regeneration of inner urban areas by attracting private sector investment in projects which would not otherwise take place in these areas. Nearly £130 million in urban development grants have been approved which will lever at least £526 million of private investment;

Urban Regeneration Grant

Urban regeneration grant, introduced under the Housing and Planning Act 1986, promotes the economic and physical regeneration of older urban areas affected by urban change, by enabling the private sector to redevelop large sites and refurbish large groups of buildings. Grant is paid direct to private sector owners and developers;

Estate Action

Estate Action was launched in June 1985 to work with local authorities to develop innovatory solutions to problems arising on their rundown housing estates. They included new ways of running estates such as tenant management cooperatives or trusts, measures to diversify tenure, involving private sector finance and estate-based management initiatives to give tenants greater involvement and control. Over 100 new schemes were launched in 1987/88;

Task Forces

In 1986 the Government launched inner city task forces in inner city areas to encourage local enterprise and initiatives and motivate communities. Sixteen task forces, which are currently the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry, are now operating. More than 200 companies are already working with the task forces whose business development funds, aimed at new and small businesses, have so far assisted over 160 businesses;

Enterprise Zones

As an experiment to encourage development by deregulation, 17 enterprise zones have been set up in England since 1981. These help to unlock land for industry and commerce by removing tax burdens and relaxing administrative and planning controls. The zones have led to the development of 700 hectares of land. A total of £90 million has been spent to improve their infrastructure and release their potential;

Local Enterprise Agencies

In co-operation with Business in the Community, the Government support a network of local enterprise agencies, with special emphasis on developing those inner city areas.

Since 1979 the Government have recast the interdepartmental urban programme, which supports some 12,000 inner city projects annually, to give priority to area-based regeneration involving the private sector. They have also strengthened the Government's contribution to local regeneration by the formation, in 1985, of city action teams to bring together the relevant programmes of the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Employment and Manpower Services Commission and the Department of the Environment. Other Departments' programmes, for example, Home Office crime prevention and ethnic community initiatives and inner city school-employer and adult training initiatives supported by the Department of Education and Science, have contributed significantly to inner city regeneration.

The Government intend to build on these substantial achievements by taking further steps to involve the private sector in inner city regeneration and widen the choice and opportunities open to inner city residents. The measures proposed in the White Paper "DTI—the department for Enterprise" (Cmnd. 278), laid before the House on 12 January, include significant proposals to encourage enterprise and industry in inner city areas. For example, the new consultancy initiatives will offer higher levels of grant in urban areas to encourage the growth and development of small firms.

Environment

Ettingshall Park Farm Estate

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the residents of Ettingshall Park Farm estate in Wolverhampton will receive information about the results of the investigation of old limestone workings in the area; and what advice he will give the residents about the long-term stability of their homes and the effect on property values of these investigations.

The Department recently approved 100 per cent. derelict land grant to enable Wolverhampton metropolitan borough council to undertake further site investigations of the abandoned limestone mines which underlie parts of Ettingshall Park Farm estate. The results will be available this summer. It will be for the borough council to assess them and keep local residents informed. What happens next will depend on the outcome of the site investigations. However, the Department secured an agreement last year that insurance cover and mortgage lending will be available on normal terms for properties in limestone areas. This should help to protect the confidence of householders concerned. Further details are set out in the DOE news release of 6 April 1987.

Local Authorities (Disposal Of Land)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Burnley on 12 January, if he will list in the Official Report those authorities directed to dispose of land under section 98 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 in the last 12 months.

The authorities are:

Barking and Dagenham LB
Barrow-in-Furness BC
Blackburn BC
Burnley BC
Cheshire CC
Doncaster MBC¹
Kingston upon Hull City Council²
Kingston upon Thames LB
Kirklees MBC¹
Leicestershire CC
Macclesfield BC
Mansfield DC
North Hertfordshire DC
Rotherham MBC
Sheffield City Council
Southwark LB
Sutton LB¹
York City Council¹

Notes:

¹ Two directions.

² Four directions.

Rating Reform

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what sources, other than the electoral register, will be available to those responsible for compiling the register of those liable to pay the community charge.

Each community charge registration officer will be able to require other registration officers, his own and other local authorities, and electoral registration officers to supply information from their records. In addition, CCROs will be able to obtain information from a responsible person at each address and from persons subject to the community charge.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if (a) service personnel or (b) students who use a parental address as a home base and electoral address are to be liable for the community charge.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: United Kingdom service personnel will generally be liable to pay the personal community charge at their sole or main residence. A minority of service men—those who reside in properties designated in the interests of national security or because the turnover is too rapid to make registration for the personal charge practical — will pay a contribution, similar to that paid by residents of properties designated for the collective community charge, which will be passed on by the Government to the relevant local authority.Full-time students will be liable to pay 20 per cent. of the personal community charge at their term-time address.

Water (Privatisation)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for the future of the water companies after the water authorities have been privatised.

The Government intend to bring the statutory water companies under the same system of regulation as the privatised water utilities and to remove current controls over dividends and related restrictions. It is also proposed to give the companies the option of becoming public limited companies. Last year the Department sent the Water Companies' Association two consultation papers on these matters:

(i) Statutory water companies: removal of financial controls

(ii) Statutory water companies: conversion to public limited companies.

Copies of these papers have been placed in the Library of the House.

Nature Reserves

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if it is his policy to direct the Nature Conservancy Council to sell off its holdings in the three national nature reserves at Whitford, Gower Coast and Oxwich.

I have asked the Nature Conservancy Council to consider whether there is greater scope for national nature reserves to be held in private ownership under conservation safeguards. The council's advice is expected later this year. The council does not own the reserves at Whiteford or Gower Coast, and owns only part of the reserve at Oxwich.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a list of each national nature reserve in (a) Wales, (b) England and (c) Scotland, indicating for each reserve its total area and the proportion (i) owned by private landowners, (ii) owned by the Nature Conservancy Council and (iii) owned by other public bodies.

Some of this information is available in the NCC's published annual report, though not in this precise form. It will take a little time to produce the full information requested, but I will do this as soon as possible.

Merseyside Residuary Body

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the present situation respecting the Merseyside residuary body; how long it is expected to remain in existence; how much it has cost in each year of its existence; what its budget is expected to be in 1988–89; and if he will make a statement.

The Merseyside residuary body and other residuary bodies are required to use their best endeavours to secure that their work is completed as soon as practicable and in any event within five years of the date of abolition of the Merseyside county council.The cost of the Merseyside residuary body since its inception in 1985 is shown in its annual statements of accounts for 1985–86 and 1986–87, published on 18 November 1986 and 25 November 1987 respectively. Copies of these documents are available in the Library of the House. Costs in respect of 1987–88 will not be known until the 1987–88 accounts have been audited and certified. Budget estimates for 1988–89 are matters for the residuary body.

Croxteth Hall Country Park, Liverpool

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on progress towards the setting up of the trust to administer Croxteth hall country park, Liverpool.

I am still considering this matter.

Docklands (London)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of unemployed in the three docklands boroughs in July 1981 and at the latest available date; and what is the change as a percentage.

I have been asked to reply.On 10 December 1987 the number of unemployed claimants in the London boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Newham were 18,737, 14,243 and 14,405 respectively. Unemployment figures for London boroughs are derived from the ward-based system and are available only from June 1983.

Fuller Peiser

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all consultancies carried out by the London-based agents Fuller Peiser since 1983 on behalf of his Department.

[pursuant to his reply, 14 January 1988, c. 358]: Fuller Peiser was commissioned in September 1985 to schedule and value the assets to be licensed by the Ministry of Defence to the commercial contractors of the royal dockyards at Devonport and Rosyth; that commission was let by the Property Services Agency on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. The commercial contractors began their operations in the dockyards on 1 April 1987 and Fuller Peiser completed its commission in December 1987.

Housing Benefit

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received on the housing benefit system; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.The Secretary of State is required formally to consult only the local authority associations and we have received representations from all six of the associations on the housing benefit reforms. In addition, many comments and suggestions have been received during the process of reform from other organisations and individuals. All of these were considered carefully in the context of finalising the details of the new scheme.

Employment

Manufacturing Industry

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the present average number of hours overtime a week worked per operative in British manufacturing industry, ignoring short-time working.

The average number of hours of overtime per operative in manufacturing industries in Great Britain in November 1987 was 3·7, seasonally adjusted.

Yts

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how often, on average, a YTS scheme may expect to be inspected by the Training Standards Advisory Services.

There are currently 3,150 organisations approved by the Manpower Services Commission to organise and deliver YTS training programmes. The Training Standards Advisory Service expects to visit every approved training organisation at least once within a five-year period. The comprehensive inspections which the service carries out are additional to the regular monitoring of YTS delivery carried out by MSC area and regional office staff.

Work Accidents

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many reported accidents at work there have been in each year since 1979 in (a) Waltham Forest, (b) London and (c) nationally.

The available information for accidents to employees is as follows:

	Reported accidents to employees at work, resulting in:
	Death		Major injury¹	Over three day absence²
(a) in Waltham Forest³
1981	ֵ		15	747
1982	0		15	777
1983	ֵ		11	ֵ
1984	1		10	ֵ
1985	0		15	ֵ
1986⁶	0		5	ֵ
1986–87⁵	0		47	345
(b) in London⁴
1981	ֵ	⁷	1,021	33,609
1982	ֵ		1,210	32,234
1983	ֵ		1,168	ֵ
1984	ֵ		1,104	ֵ
1985	ֵ		1,175	ֵ
1986⁶	ֵ		264	ֵ
1986–87⁵	19		1,774	13,303
(c) in Great Britain reported to all Enforcing Authorities
1979	492		ֵ	509,000
1980	440		ֵ	407,000
1981	449		12,312	422,028
1982	469		12,286	377,038
1983	463		12,453	ֵ
1984	437		12,494	ֵ
1985	399		13,176	ֵ
1986⁶	91		3,871	ֵ
1986–87⁵	357		19,927	155,751

ֵ not available.

¹ Major injuries were first defined under the Notification of Accidents and Dangerous Occurences Regulations (NADOR), 1980. Data are therefore not available before 1981. The definition was widened from April 1986 with the introduction of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurences Regulations (RIDDOR), 1985. Figures for 1986–87 are therefore not comparable with those for earlier years.

² For 1979–80, over three day absences leading to claims for industrial injury benefit from DHSS, years starting on 1st Monday in June; for 1981–82 these claims as notified to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for calendar years. This source was effectively abolished in 1983. From April 1986 the information is reported to enforcing authorities under RIDDOR. It is not comparable with that for the earlier years and may be subject to under-reporting. Data for 1986–87 exclude over three day injuries reported to Her Majesty's Mines and Quarries Inspectorate, other than those reported to them by British Coal. They also exclude such injuries reported to the Petroleum Engineering Division.

³ Those injuries reported to the London borough of Waltham Forest (data not available for 1981 and 1983). Non fatal injuries also include those reported to Her Majesty's Factory and Agricultural Inspectorates, and known to have occurred in Waltham Forest.

⁴ Those injuries known to have occurred in any of the London boroughs and reported to them or to Her Majesty's Factory and Agricultural Inspectorates. Local Authority figures are based on voluntary returns from the 33 London boroughs. Not all the London boroughs return figures in each year.

³ and⁴ Fatal and major injuries reported to Local Authorities will include a relatively small number of injuries to the self employed. These could not be distinguished from injuries suffered by employees, without disproportionate cost.

⁵Provisional data for the year 1 April to 31 March.

⁶ January to March.

⁷Total 192.

Labour Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people have been unemployed for more than one year in the Peterlee and Seaham areas.

On 8 October 1987, the numbers of unemployed claimants in the local authority wards¹ which most closely correspond to the Peterlee and Seaham areas, who were unemployed for one year or more were 1,426 and 873 respectively.

¹ Note—The wards which cover Peterlee are Shadforth, Acre Rigg, Blackhalls, Dene House, Easington Colliery, Easington Village, Eden Hill, Haswell, Hordern North, Hordern South, Howletch, Passfield, Shotton, South Hetton. The wards which cover Seaham are Dawdon, Deneside, High Colliery, Murton East, Murton West, Park, Seaham, South.

Jobcentres

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his policy regarding the provision of jobcentre facilities via other agencies in communities not served by jobcentres; and will he list such agents.

My Department's policy is to provide jobcentre facilities for everybody who needs them. In some parts of the country, especially rural areas, a community may be served by a jobcentre which is some distance away. Very often in these circumstances, arrangements have been made to provide a service to the community through initiatives such as local displays of vacancies and information, the use of freefone, mobile jobcentres, and the payment of interview fares for all unemployed people who travel more than three miles to attend an interview at their jobcentre.The employment service is also seeking to provide jobclub services in such areas through agents normally chosen by competitive tender. Such agents include chambers of commerce, local education authorities and private training providers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the jobcentres which have closed in Wales in each year since 1979, and those which have moved from their own premises to be administered by other agencies.

The following jobcentres have closed in Wales since 1979:

1980

Abergele¹
Burry Port¹
Rhos¹

1982

Pembroke Dock site office¹

1983

Bethesda
Llandovery
Swansea (Castle street merged with Swansea, Grove House jobcentre)
Cardiff (St. Mary street merged with Cardiff, The Friary jobcentre)

1985

Bridgend industrial estate (merged with Bridgend jobcentre)

¹ Employment office offering service similar to those provided by jobcentres.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those agencies used by the Manpower Services Commission in Wales which offer on behalf of the Manpower Services Commission those services usually available at jobcentres; and if he will make a statement.

The Manpower Services Commission ceased to have responsibility for jobcentres from 26 October 1987. From that date the employment service of the Department of Employment took control of the operations of the jobcentres as well as the unemployment benefit offices.There are no agencies used by the employment service or the Manpower Services Commission in Wales which offer the full range of services usually available at jobcentres. There are currently 37 jobclubs in Wales which are operated by agents on a contract basis. Arrangements are being made for a list of these to be forwarded to the hon. Member separately. Jobclubs are also situated in jobcentres and operated by jobcentre staff. The employment service offers a wide range of services, of which jobclub is only one.

Energy

Alternative Sources Of Energy

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what funding is currently provided towards research into renewable energy; and whether he has plans to increase such levels of funding in the future.

Nearly 250 research, development and demonstration projects on renewable energy valued at over £60 million are currently in progress. In the financial year 1987–88 the estimated outturn of spend in this area is about £19 million. This includes external contributions from the private and public sectors and the European Commission. In 1988–89 my Department plans to increase its expenditure on renewables R and D by 15 per cent.

Nuclear Fuel

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what criteria he uses in deciding the appropriateness of taking safeguards issues into account in relation to considerations of security and commercial sensitivity over the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and the handling of plutonium.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply from my hon. Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Mr. Goodlad) to the then hon. Member for Walthamstow, Mr. Deakins, on 23 July 1985 at column 474.

Cegb (Privatisation)

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he next intends to meet the chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board to discuss privatisation.

My right hon. Friend and I meet Lord Marshall, the chairman of the CEGB, regularly to discuss our proposals for the privatisation of the electricity supply industry.

Coal Industry Dispute

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will reconsider his decision not to undertake discussions with the chairman of British Coal regarding the reinstatement of the more than 200 miners sacked during the 1984–85 coal strike; and if he will make a statement.

No. The dismissal and re-employment of mineworkers is a matter for the management of the British Coal Corporation.

Fast Breeder Reactor Programme

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what forward plans exist for a fast breeder reactor programme in the United Kingdom.

The commercial ordering of fast breeder reactors is a matter for the Central Electricity Generating Board. I will ask the chairman to write to my hon. Friend.

British Coal Enterprise

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what loans British Coal Enterprise has given to operators of licensed mines and private opencast site operation in the county of Durham over the last two years; and if he will indicate to whom the assistance was made and the location of the mines and opencast sites.

This is a matter for British Coal Enterprise Ltd., and I am asking the chairman to write to the hon. Member.

Nuclear Power Station (Hinkley Point)

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many objections to the proposed nuclear power station at Hinkley Point have been received from (a) Northern Ireland and (b) outside the United Kingdom; when he expects the public inquiry into the station at Hinkley Point to be held; and whether objectors from outside the United Kingdom will be allowed to participate at any public formal hearings into the Hinkley Point proposal.

The objections to Hinkley Point C received by my Department pursuant to section 34 of the Electricity Act 1957 include three from outside the United Kingdom, all from the Republic of Ireland. None has been received from Northern Ireland.Details of the public inquiry into the proposal will be announced in due course. Overseas individual objectors have no entitlement to appear at the inquiry, but the inspector may decide that they should be allowed to do so.

British Nuclear Technology

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he was consulted on the formation of the consortium British Nuclear Technology; and if he will make a statement.

British Nuclear Fuels plc consulted my Department before the consortium was formed.

Wales

Sexual Harassment

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his Department's policy on sexual harassment at work; whether guidance on reporting complaints has been issued to all staff; how many complaints have been reported in the past five years; and what disciplinary action has been taken.

My Department's policy is that sexual harassment at work is not tolerated and is dealt with as a disciplinary matter through the usual Civil Service complaints procedures. Guidance on reporting complaints has been issued to my staff. No complaints have been reported in the past five years.

Employment Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are at present employed in the coal industry in Wales; and what are the corresponding figures for 1978, 1968 and 1958.

Available data are National Coal Board/British Coal estimates of the average numbers on colliery books in Wales.

	(thousands)
1958	108
1968	52
1978–1979	29
1986–1987	13

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are at present employed as farm labourers in each county in Wales; and what are the corresponding figures for 1978, 1968 and 1958.

Figures for family and hired workers in each county in Wales are shown in the following table. Fully consistent data are not available for each of the years requested.

	Clwyd	Dyfed	Gwent	Gwynedd	Mid Glamorgan	South Glamorgan	West Glamorgan	All Glamorgan	Powys	Wales
1958
Regular Workers	5,835	10,495	2,765	5,303	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	3,074	5,876	33,348
Seasonal and Casual Workers	764	2,266	612	787	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	659	887	5,975
Total	6,599	12,761	3,377	6,190	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	3,733	6,663	39,323
1968
Regular Workers	3,167	6,068	1,544	2,522	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	1,658	3,461	18,420
Seasonal and Casual Workers	540	1,971	441	475	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	626	651	4,704
Total	3,707	8,039	1,985	2,997	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	2,284	4,112	23,124
1978
Regular Family Workers	960	2,277	494	896	219	115	160	494	1,264	6,385
Regular Hired Workers	1,637	2,134	588	957	178	288	161	627	1,101	7,044
Total
Regular Workers	2,597	4,411	1,082	1,853	397	403	321	1,121	2,365	13,429
Seasonal and Casual Workers	1,257	3,829	614	1,018	434	285	352	1,071	1,276	9,065
Total	3,854	8,240	1,696	2,871	831	688	673	2,192	3,641	22,494
1986 (Latest Available)
Regular Family Workers	763	1,966	460	791	171	108	163	442	1,095	5,517
Regular Hired Workers	1,061	1,760	512	773	152	287	124	563	1,030	5,699
Total
Regular Workers	1,824	3,726	972	1,564	323	395	287	1,005	2,125	11,216
Seasonal and Casual Workers	1,100	3,301	649	1,093	409	212	391	1,012	1,514	8,669
Total	2,924	7,027	1,621	2,657	732	607	678	2,017	3,639	19,885

Notes:

1. Figures are for June each year and relate to main holdings only. However, from time to time, particularly between 1958 and 1968, the definition of a main holding has changed slightly.

2. Regular workers includes those working full-time and part-time.

3. Figures are not available prior to 1970 showing family and hired workers separately.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are employed in the iron and steel industries in Wales; and what are the corresponding figures for 1978, 1968 and 1958.

Figures for 1978 and 1987 are given in the following table. Comparable figures for earlier dates are not available.

Date	British Steel Corporation Manpower	Private Sector Manpower
September 1978	51,840	¹6,567
September 1987	18,550	2,379
¹ At the end of December. All other figures relate to September.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are employed in transport in Wales at present; and what are the corresponding figures for 1978, 1968 and 1958.

The data available are shown in the following table. "Transport" has been defined for 1978 as minimum list headings 701–707 and 709 in the 1968 standard industrial classification (SIC), and for 1984 as classes 71–77 in the 1980 SIC (full details of SICs can be obtained from CSO publications). An indication of the effect of these differences of definition is given by figures from the 1981 census of employment.

	1968 SIC	1980 SIC (thousands)
June 1978	42·1
(September 1981	37·6	36·8)
September 1984	—	31·2

Welsh Language

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects the new working party on the Welsh language to meet for the first time; and when he expects they will be in a position to report.

The first meeting of the working party will be held on 25 January, and we will report as soon as is practicable.

Acute Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will now answer the question asked by the right hon. Member for Swansea, West Official Report, column 4, 7 December 1987 as to what action has been taken about the requirement that Welsh health authorities save 0·5 per cent. a year on spending on acute services in hospitals; and when.

Health authorities in Wales are required to increase significantly the efficiency of all their activities, and not only those in the acute sector. Since 1983 there has been a specific requirement that the proceeds of the first 0.5 per cent. of cash releasing efficiency savings, as a proportion of recurrent revenue budgets, should be reinvested to develop services for elderly people, those with mental handicaps and those suffering from mental illness. £6 million is to be redeployed in 1987–88 as a result of this initiative.From 1988–89 no minimum level of redeployment of efficiency savings will be stipulated by the Department. However, health authorities will be expected to continue to maintain a high standard of services for these patient groups and the Department will continue to monitor as part of the annual review process the extent to which health authorities have been able to continue a measure of redeployment of efficiency savings.

Welsh Health Promotion Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what allocation of resources is to be made to the Welsh Health Promotion Authority for the financial year 1988–89.

Subject to parliamentary approval, we propose to allocate £1·792 million in 1988–89 to the Welsh Health Promotion Authority in support of its existing functions and of its strategy development in the context of annual review. This will represent a further and substantial additional commitment of resources to the WHPA over the £1·198 million allocated in 1987–88.

Written Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of the 21 written questions on the Order Paper for Thursday 14 January for answer by him on that date were answered on that date; if he will distinguish between (a) questions for written priority answer and (b) questions for ordinary written answer; and if he will further indicate how many questions received (i) holding answers and (ii) substantive answers.

Of the 21 written questions tabled for answer on Thursday 14 January, 13 questions were for priority written answer and eight were for ordinary written answer. Twelve of the priority written questions received substantive replies and one a holding reply.A full answer in relation to the holding reply was sent on Monday 18 January.

Welsh Development Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what, at 1988 prices, has been the level of Government subvention to the Welsh Development Agency in each year since its establishment.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: The mainstream subvention to the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) at 1987–88 prices is as follows:

	£ million
1976–77	24·0
1977–78	52·5
1978–79	46·7
1979–80	36·3
1980–81	63·4
1981–82	57·6
1982–83	52·9
1983–84	46·0
1984–85	46·7
1985–86	35·7
1986–87	36·7
1987–88 budget	46·4
1988–89 plan	62·0

Special provision of about £120 million was also made available to the WDA to tackle the needs of Wales arising from the steel closure. The annual additional expenditure was as follows:

£ million
	Cash	1987–88 prices
1978–79	15·5	31·4
1979–80	27·5	47·7
1980–81	22·3	32·6
1981–82	33·2	44·9
1982–83	13·8	17·2
1983–84	5·6	6·7

Direct subvention is only part of what the Government make it possible for the WDA to spend. The agency's budget is enhanced by capital and current receipts, mainly from the factory rents and sales. It is the combination of direct subvention and the use of receipts that provides the important figure of how much the Government approve for the WDA to spend each year.The gross mainstream expenditure is as follows:

£ million
	Cash	1987–88
1976–77	22·8	58·3
1977–78	33·3	74·8
1978–79	36·7	74·5
1979–80	35·1	60·9
1980–81	65·7	96·2
1981–82	54·4	72·5
1982–83	62·4	77·6
1983–84	61·9	73·6
1984–85	74·7	85·1
1985–86	66·7	71·6
1986–87	72·9	76·0
1987–88	86·5	86·5
1988–89	113·0	108·1

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Environmentally Sensitive Areas

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has plans to monitor the condition of environmentally sensitive areas; and if he will make a statement.

We are in the process of establishing a monitoring programme for environmentally sensitive areas. This will collect and analyse data on landscape, wildlife, historic features, farming practices and socio-economic developments. Our objective will be to assess the scheme's effects of these inter-related items. I hope to publish a first report, as required by section 18(8) of the Agriculture Act 1986, during the course of 1988.

Beef (Intervention Stocks)

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the present extent of overhang of beef intervention stocks; how this compares with the situation at this time in 1986 and 1987; and what are the prospects for 1988.

A note setting out the volume of intervention stocks in the EC and the United Kingdom on the latest available dates, which includes figures for beef, is deposited in the Library of the House and is updated monthly. Prospects for 1988 will depend on the development of the market, Commission proposals for stock disposal and sales opportunities.

Farm Incomes

To ask the Minister of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food what was the percentage change in farm incomes in the United Kingdom for the

Percentage changes in net value added at factor cost in EC Member States
	1979 to 1980	1980 to 1981	1981 to 1982	1982 to 1983	1983 to 1984	1984 to 1985	1985 to 1986¹
Belgium	+6	+12	+10	+15	0	0	-3
Denmark	+11	+20	+29	-10	+37	-5	-2
Federal Republic of Germany	-10	+8	+22	-18	+17	-11	-11
Greece	+30	+24	+28	+6	+32	+18	- 19
France	-4	+7	+32	0	+8	-1	+2
Ireland	-9	+16	+23	+13	+17	-9	-5
Italy	+14	+8	+13	+21	+2	+2	+6
Luxembourg	-6	+13	+47	-10	+3	+1	+2
Netherlands	+1	+27	+11	+1	+6	-4	+1
Spain	+9	-5	+20	+14	+19	+4	+1
United Kingdom	+8	+16	+18	-5	+21	-14	+6
EC 112	+4	+7	+18	+2	+10	-2	+3
Source: Eurostat.
¹ Provisional estimates.
² Data for Portugal not yet available.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the percentage change in farm incomes in England and in each of the standard English regions for the most recent 12-month period for which information is available; and what were the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.

most recent 12-month period for which information is available; and what were the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.

The information requested is set out in the table:

Percentage changes in United Kingdom farm income 1978–79 to 1985–86
	Percentage
1978 to 1979	-9
1979 to 1980	-9
1980 to 1981	+30
1981 to 1982	+28
1982 to 1983	-19
1983 to 1984	+46
1984 to 1985	-48
1985 to 1986	+31

A White Paper will be published shortly giving data for 1987.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the percentage change in farm incomes in the European Community and each of the member states for the most recent 12-month period for which information is available; and what were the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.

Comparable estimates of net farm income as defined in the annual review of agriculture White Paper are not available from all EC member states. The table gives net value added at factor cost in agriculture (net product): which includes incomes accruing to all agricultural workers, whether principals or hired, landlords or commercial debt holders.

The percentage changes in the estimated farm income in England for the period 1978–79 to 1985–86 are as follows:

	Percentage
1979	-1
1980	-4
1981	+22

	Percentage
1982	+25
1983	-17
1984	+41
1985	-43
1986	+28

The percentage changes to the estimates of farm income attributed to each of the eight English regions for the years 1983–85, the only data readily available, are set out in the table:

Percentage changes in farm income of English regions 1982–83 to 1984–85
	1982 to 1983	1983 to 1984	1984 to 1985
Northern	-10	+41	+47
Yorkshire and Humberside	-21	+78	+45
East Midlands	-11	+100	-49
East Anglia	-25	+100	-46
South East	-32	+40	-34
South West	-14	-55	-13
West Midlands	-12	+27	-66
North West	+2	-22	0

Milk

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many dairy farmers in England do not produce milk up to their allocated quota; and if he will make a statement.

Levy liability is calculated on the basis of the net excess over quota in the England and Wales Milk Marketing Board area as a whole, and separate figures for England are not available. In the 1986–87 quota year 16,611 dairy farmers in England and Wales produced less than their allocated quota.At the end of each quota year, unused quota is utilised mainly to offset the supplementary levy liability of over-quota producers, and thereby provides an important element of flexibility within the system.

Horse Markets And Sales

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the Farm Animal Welfare Council to improve conditions at horse markets and sales; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: The Government response to the report on the welfare of livestock at markets, announced in October, accepted that legislation should be introduced to cover horse markets and other sales. Proposals for a new order and code of practice will be issued for consultation later this year.

Education And Science

Aberdeen University

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received concerning the funding of Aberdeen university; and if he will make a statement.

We have received many representations about the funding of Aberdeen university. The university is in discussion with the University Grants Committee about the careful planning needed for the transition to the funding levels indicated by the committee's more objective resource allocation model introduced in 1986–87.

Education Councils (Representation)

13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he will take to ensure that women are properly represented on the proposed National Curriculum Council and the National Exams and Assessment Council.

Our first priority must be to appoint as members people with the relevant knowledge and experience so that the councils undertake effective, informed and independent roles. In doing so, we shall apply Government policy, which is that women are to be considered equally with men when appointments are made to public bodies; and we therefore expect several of their members to be women.

Education Reform

15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received concerning the changes in funding for higher education contained in the Education Reform Bill.

27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received concerning the Education Reform Bill as it affects higher education.

We have received a number of comments on various aspects of the higher education provisions.

16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proposals he has to ensure that any programme of national assessment in state schools is free from sex bias; and if he will make a statement.

The report of the task group on assessment and testing, published last week, includes recommendations on ways of dealing with gender bias in the proposed assessment arrangements within the national curriculum. We have welcomed the broad framework of the report and will be considering its detailed recommendations, together with any comments received on them.

26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received concerning the opting-out proposals in the Education Reform Bill.

37.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received on the opting-out proposal in the Education Reform Bill; and if he will make a statement.

I refer hon. Members to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Kent (Mr. Rowe) earlier today.

39.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received seeking further detail on the proposed foundation subjects in secondary schools in the Education Reform Bill.

The overwhelming majority of the responses we have received were in favour of the fundamental principles of breadth and balance in the school curriculum. These principles were first set out by the Government in the White Paper "Better Schools"; the Education Reform Bill will guarantee them through the requirement for all pupils to study the national curriculum foundation subjects.

46.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received with regard to the proposed national core curriculum and the promotion of equal opportunities for girls and boys in schools and colleges.

Several responses to the consultation document on the national curriculum have referred to the promotion of equal opportunities for girls and boys. Many have welcomed our proposals as a means of ensuring that all pupils, regardless of sex, experience the same broad, balanced and relevant curriculum.

53.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make it his policy to ensure that schools will be provided with sufficient resources in order to pursue the national curriculum to which he is committed.

It will be for local authorities and schools to ensure that their spending is directed towards implementing the national curriculum within planned overall levels of resources. The Government will also assist the development of aspects of the national curriculum through the education support grants and in-service training grants programme.

59.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has received further representations about the Education Reform Bill; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend welcomes the fact that he continues to receive many representations from organisations and the general public on the proposals in the Bill. To date, the Department has received more than 20,000 responses, all of which, except those from members of the public, are lodged in the Libraries of the House.

64.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what further representations he has received on the national curriculum since the Education Reform Bill was published.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, South (Mr. Yeo) earlier today.

65.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received on the religious education provision of the Education Reform Bill; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has received some 50 letters commenting on the position of religious education in the Education Reform Bill. The Government believe strongly that religious education must continue to be taught in our schools in accordance with the relevant provisions of the 1944 Education Act. The Education Reform Bill reinforces these provisions and generally strengthens the position of religious and moral education in the school curriculum.

68.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what guidelines have been issued for the establishment of temporary governing bodies for schools to be formed as the result of reorganisation.

Annex 1 of circular 7/87, issued by the Department in August last year, gives guidance on the provisions of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 relating to the establishment of temporary governing bodies for new and newly-maintained schools, including new schools formed as a result of statutory reorganisations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how the development of the technical and vocational education initiative curriculum will be reconciled with the core curriculum.

TVEI will operate within the framework of the national curriculum, and the continuing updating of the TVEI curriculum criteria will take account of that framework. Within both TVEI and the national curriculum there will be much scope for innovative curricular planning and development, nationally and locally, in what is taught and how.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are his proposals in respect of schools with units for those with partial hearing which choose to opt out of the state system under the proposals in the Education Reform Bill as to how far they will be required to maintain the level of special provision.

The Education Reform Bill provides that a school which becomes grant maintained may not undergo a significant change of character as part of the process of changing its status. My right hon. Friend would regard any proposal to cease existing provision for the partially hearing as a significant change of character. The admissions policies of grant-maintained schools will require the Secretary of State's approval and there will be arrangements for dealing with complaints if parents feel that these policies are not being complied with. The school's grant will equate to funding it would have received had it remained within local authority control. Additional costs incurred in respect of children with special needs will therefore be taken into account in exactly the same way as for a similar LEA-maintained school.

Grant-Maintained Schools

17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received concerning the composition of governing bodies for grant-maintained schools.

A number of respondents to our consultation paper on grant-maintained schools commented upon the proposed composition of the schools' governing bodies. We have not received any more recent representations.

45.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will issue guidelines to schools on the requirements of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 for admission and selection procedures for grant-maintained schools.

The relevant provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 will be extended to cover the governing bodies of grant-maintained schools. Schools applying to become grant-maintained will be advised of this and of the requirement to agree their admissions arrangements with the Secretary of State.

Overseas Students

18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many overseas students attended British universities on the most recent date for which figures are available; and what was the comparable figure 10 years previously.

In autumn 1986 there were 42,000 overseas students at universities in Great Britain. In 1976 the comparable figure was 35,600.

Teachers (In Loco Parentis)

19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his policy towards the responsibilities and role of teachers in loco parentis; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend's policy is to support governing bodies, head teachers and teachers in exercising their responsibility for maintaining discipline in schools.

Universities (Women Entrants)

20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will meet the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals to discuss recruitment and promotion prospects for women within British universities.

33.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will consider meeting the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals to discuss the problems of women academic staff who are employed on short-term and temporary contracts.

No. Universities are autonomous institutions. Matters relating to the employment of women academic staff are, within the law, entirely for them.

Disabled Students

21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he last met representatives of disablement organisations to discuss his Department's policy towards disabled school children and students.

On 1 December 1987 my right hon. Friend, and my hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security and the Disabled, met the Prince of Wales and members of His Royal Highness's advisory group on disability to discuss the further and continuing education of people with special needs.

City Technology Colleges

22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many local education authorities have now shown interest in the establishment of city technology colleges.

Discussions have been held with a number of local education authorities about the establishment of city technology colleges.

58.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received on city technical colleges; and if he will make a statement.

The Department frequently receives letters or arranges discussions about various aspects of the city technology colleges programme. The majority of approaches are constructive.

Teachers (Pay)

23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish the submissions to the interim advisory body on teachers pay and conditions; and if he will make a statement.

28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish the submissions to the interim advisory body on teachers pay and conditions; and if he will make a statement.

30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish the submissions to the interim advisory body on teachers pay and conditions; and if he will make a statement.

A number of submissions from different bodies have been made to the interim advisory committee on teachers' pay and conditions. It is for the committee to consider whether to make them more widely available. I understand that the committee has decided that the principal consultees should have the opportunity to consider each other's submissions.

24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he expects to receive any interim report from the Chilver committee inquiry into teachers' pay, with particular reference to hours worked by teachers; and if he will make a statement.

The interim advisory committee on school teachers' pay and conditions has been asked to submit its advice by 31 March 1988. I have no indication that the committee intends to submit an interim report in advance of that date.

50.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to increase the money available for the current year's teachers' pay award; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has asked the interim advisory committee to make recommendations about teachers' pay in 1988 which do not cost more than an additional £300 million in the 1988–89 financial year and he has no plans to change that remit.

67.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will now take steps to restore teachers' negotiating rights on pay and conditions of service; and if he will make a statement.

The Government published a Green Paper, "Teachers' Pay and Conditions: A Consultative Document" (Cm. 238) last autumn which proposed the establishment of a teachers' negotiating group which would provide for future negotiations for teachers' pay and conditions. Comments on the proposals in the Green Paper were requested by the end of this month.

Kingshurst, Solihull

25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many applications for admission have been received by the new city technology college in Kingshurst, Solihull; how many places are available; and if he will make a statement.

More than 700 inquiries were received about the 180 places available in September 1988 at the city technology college, Kingshurst. By the closing date of 21 November 1987, 315 firm applications had been made and offers of places have now been made.

Nursery Education

29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish the numbers of children receiving nursery school education, expressed as a percentage of the nursery school child population, in (a) Gwent, (b) Wales and (c) Great Britain.

The numbers of full-time and part-time pupils under five in January 1986, the latest year for which comparable figures are available, attending nursery schools in Gwent, Wales and Great Britain expressed as a percentage of the estimated 3 and 4-year-old population are as follows:

	Percentage
Gwent	10·0
Wales	5·6
Great Britain	6·6

Some children aged under five are educated in nursery classes in primary schools. They are not included in the above figures.

43.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of children under five years with working mothers received nursery education provision between 1980–81 and 1986–87; and if he will make a statement.

This information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when his Department intends to update its January 1986 statistics on the provision of education for the under-fives.

It is hoped to publish the statistical bulletin on "Pupils Under Five Years in Each Local Education Authority in England—January 1987" in April.

Teachers (Women)

31.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the proportion of (a) secondary teachers and (b) secondary head teachers who are women; and if he will make a statement.

In March 1986, the latest date for which figures are available, 46·5 per cent. of full-time teachers and 16·8 per cent. of full-time head teachers in maintained secondary schools in England and Wales were women.

36.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what guidelines his Department issues to education authorities to encourage back into teaching those women who have taken a career break; and if he will make a statement.

None. I am giving further consideration to the use of career breaks to improve the opportunities for women to return to teaching in consultation with the Equal Opportunities Commission, Engineering Council and the local authority associations. The teaching unions will also be consulted.

38.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will give the proportion of (a) primary teachers and (b) primary head teachers who are women.

In March 1986, the latest date for which figures are available, 78·7 per cent. of full-time teachers and 46·2 per cent. of full-time head teachers in maintained nursery and primary schools in England and Wales were women.

40.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of teachers qualified to teach mathematics, physics and craft design and technology is women; and if he will make a statement.

Information from the 1984 sample survey of staffing in maintained secondary schools in England indicated that of the full-time teachers having a post-A-level qualification in mathematics, physics and CDT, the following were women:

	Percentage Women
Mathematics	34
Physics	21
CDT (design based)	8
CDT (craft based)	3

Corresponding information for primary schools is not currently available. Data from the primary school staffing survey which was carried out by the Department in March 1987 are expected to be available shortly.

Education Standards

32.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what further plans he has to raise standards in education.

All the Government's policies are designed to raise standards in education. In particular, the Education Reform Bill contains provisions to raise standards in schools, further and higher education.

Undergraduates (Female)

34.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of part-time undergraduates are female: and whether he has any proposals to seek to increase that proportion.

In 1986–87, the latest year for which figures are available, about 45 per cent. of part-time students taking first degree courses were women. The Government encourage all women and men to make the most of the extensive higher education opportunities open to them.

Full-Time Education

35.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what percentage of girls stay in full-time education after the age of 16 years, by local education authority; and if he will make a statement.

The percentage of 16-year-old girls in full-time education at maintained schools and further education establishments in the academic year 1986–87 in each English local education authority was as follows:

Academic year 1986–87
16-year-old girls in full-lime education (percentage of age group)¹
Local education authority	percent.
Barking	29
Barnet	71
Bexley	49
Brent	67
Bromley	62
Croydon	53
Ealing	62
Enfield	56
Haringey	55
Harrow	81
Havering	45
Hillingdon	48
Hounslow	60
Kingston upon Thames	67
Merton	55
Newham	48
Redbridge	53
Richmond upon Thames	66
Sutton	63
Waltham Forest	47
Inner London	55
Birmingham	46
Coventry	43
Dudley	40
Sandwell	35
Solihull	52
Walsall	40
Wolverhampton	38
Knowsley	37
Liverpool	44
St. Helens	43
Sefton	56
Wirral	50
Bolton	42
Bury	54
Manchester	46
Oldham	33
Rochdale	37
Salford	41
Stockport	48
Tameside	45
Trafford	46
Wigan	47
Barnsley	39
Doncaster	34
Rotherham	44
Sheffield	40
Bradford	38
Calderdale	45
Kirklees	48
Leeds	43
Wakefield	40
Gateshead	34
Newcastle upon Tyne	38
North Tyneside	50
South Tyneside	36
Sunderland	37
Avon	48
Bedfordshire	55
Berkshire	57
Buckinghamshire	58
Cambridge	51
Cheshire	53
Cleveland	45
Cornwall²	56
Cumbria	47
Derbyshire	47
Devon	52

Local education authority	per cent.
Dorset	50
Durham	42
East Sussex	58
Essex	46
Gloucestershire	49
Hampshire	57
Hereford and Worcester	55
Hertfordshire	58
Humberside	38
Isle of Wight	60
Kent	54
Lancashire	46
Leicestershire	49
Lincolnshire	49
Norfolk	48
North Yorkshire	57
Northampton	48
Northumberland	46
Nottinghamshire	41
Oxfordshire	56
Salop	54
Somerset	49
Staffordshire	45
Suffolk	43
Surrey	69
Warwickshire	58
West Sussex	56
Wiltshire	56
¹ The number of 16-year-old girls expressed as a percentage of the total number of 15-year-old girls in maintained secondary schools one year earlier.
² Including Isles of Scilly.

42.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to meet the Association of Metropolitan Authorities to discuss the staying-on rate in education at the age of 16 years; and if he will make a statement.

49.

My right hon. Friend has no plans at present to meet the Association of Metropolitan Authorities to discuss the staying-on rate in education at the age of 16 years. But he is always willing to receive representations from the association, whether on that or other issues.

72.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to meet the Association of County Councils to discuss the staying-on rates in education at the age of 16 years; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has no plans at present to meet the Association of County Councils to discuss the staying-on rate in education at the age of 16 years. But he is always willing to receive representations from the association, whether on that or other issues.

Children (Special Education Needs)

41.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to increase the level of expenditure on the teaching of children with special educational needs; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend announced last November that the Government would be providing for local education authorities to spend nearly £13·9 billion on education in 1988–89. Within this figure some £570 million is being provided for special education. We also announced recently an increase in the amount of Government grant available to local education authorities in 1988–89 to support in-service training for teachers and others in the education service. With that support, LEAs propose to spend £9·8 million next year on training to meet the needs of pupils with disabilities of sight and of hearing and severe learning difficulties, and training for "designated" teachers to meet special educational needs in ordinary schools. The comparable figure for 1987–88 is estimated at £7·1 million.

51.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to increase the level of funding for the integration of children with special educational needs into mainstream school classes; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend does not determine the level of funding for children with special educational needs who are integrated into mainstream classes. That is a matter for individual local education authorities. Where the child has a statement, the authority is under a duty to provide for all the identified educational needs of that child. In general, resource allocation is a matter for local priorities.

Schools (Ministerial Visits)

44.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many school visits he has made over the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

During 1987 my right hon. Friend visited some 44 schools, including four independent schools, in 24 local education authorities. He also saw schools in the United States of America and France. My right hon. Friend is grateful to all those who welcomed him to their schools and thus enabled him to broaden his knowledge of their work and circumstances.

Scottish Universities

47.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to meet the University Grants Committee to discuss the future of the Scottish universities; and if he will make a statement.

77.

There is no need for such a meeting. The Government fully support the University Grants Committee's more objective approach for allocating recurrent grant. The impact of standard criteria on individual universities has varied depending on their previous funding level and their research record.

Dyslexia

48.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what resources his Department devotes to monitoring the incidence of dyslexia.

The Department does not monitor the incidence of particular learning difficulties. It is for local education authorities to assess the needs of children in their areas who are experiencing learning difficulties and to ensure that provision is available for their educational needs.

Higher Education

52.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on information available to him on the financial position of students in higher education in (a) Britain and (b) other European Economic Community countries.

Students in higher education in Great Britain are more dependent on maintenance grants than those in other European Community countries. But a precise comparison of financial circumstances is very difficult because of the variety of forms that student support may take. The student support review group, under my chairmanship, is examining the available evidence.

University Grants Committee

54.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he next expects to meet the chairman of the University Grants Committee; and what subjects he anticipates will be discussed.

60.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he next expects to meet the chairman of the University Grants Committee; and what subjects he anticipates will he discussed.

61.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he next expects to meet the chairman of the University Grants Committee; and what subjects he anticipates will be discussed.

My right hon. Friend meets the chairman of the University Grants Committee frequently in the course of normal business.

School Inspectors

55.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many of Her Majesty's inspectors for schools and colleges are women; and what proportion of the total this represents.

As of 1 January 1988 there were 113 women HMIs in post, representing 24 per cent. of the total.

Education Fees

56.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he is yet in a position to make a statement on his plans to introduce the charging of fees for areas of educational provision; and if he will make a statement.

71.

We are considering the points made in response to the consultation document "Charging for School Activities" by some 450 organisations and individuals, and will bring forward proposals as soon as possible.

Academic Staff

57.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will take steps to increase the proportion of academic staff in each of the following categories (a) women, (b) blacks, and (c) those from a working class background; and if he will make a statement.

The Government are not involved in the recruitment of staff. That is a matter for the employers. Between 1982 and 1986 the number of women academic staff employed full-time in universities, polytechnics and other colleges of higher and further education increased by about 20 per cent., or some 5,000 teachers. The overall proportion of full-time academic staff who were women increased during this period from 19·2 per cent. to 22·3 per cent. Statistics on the ethnic origins and social background of academic staff are not collected centrally.

Teachers (Recruitment)

63.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he plans to introduce any initiatives to assist teacher recruitment in the Greater London area.

Yes. We are planning, in conjunction with the teaching as a career unit (TASC), to mount a special careers fair to attract more people into teaching in London and the south-east, particularly in shortage areas. We are in close touch with the local authority associations and with individual LEAs involved over teacher recruitment problems in Greater London. We and TASC already have an energetic national publicity campaign, involving advertising, conferences and exhibitions to promote the attractions of teaching and to improve recruitment to initial teacher training. Its impact can be measured by the fact that recruitment to initial teacher training courses is up this academic year by 13 per cent.

Private Schools

63.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his latest estimate of the proportion of secondary children in private schools.

The number of pupils in England aged 11 to 15 attending independent schools as a proportion of the pupils in this age group in school in January 1987 was 7·7 per cent.

Adult Education Bursary Scheme

66.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will amend the adult education bursary scheme on mature students' additional payments to enable mature students who have been unemployed for a considerable period of time to be eligible for this payment.

Bursaries for students resident in England and attending long-term residential colleges are made in accordance with the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations. Bursary-holders are therefore eligible for the older students allowance only if they satisfy the relevant requirements of those regulations. The regulations are reviewed annually, but I cannot yet say whether there will be any change in the conditions of eligibility for the older students allowance for the next academic year.

Schoolgirls (O-Levels)

69.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the percentage of girls who received five or more O-levels, by local education authority, at the latest date available.

The proportion of girls leaving local authority maintained schools with five or more higher grades at O-level or CSE are shown in the table.

Girl leavers from maintained schools percentage achieving five or more higher grades¹at GCE O level or CSE data averaged over the academic years 1983–84, 1984–85 and 1985–86
	Percentage
Barking	9·4
Barnet	42·0
Bexley	26·3
Brent	19·1
Bromley	31·1
Croydon	25·0
Ealing	19·8
Enfield	25·7
Haringey	18·9
Harrow	39·7
Havering	24·6
Hillingdon	27·7
Hounslow	20·2
Kingston-upon-Thames	38·6
Merton	25·0
Newham	12·2
Redbridge	26·1
Richmond-upon-Thames	27·2
Sutton	35·2
Waltham Forest	14·4
ILEA	17·6
Birmingham	19·3
Coventry	21·6
Dudley	23·7
Sandwell	14·9
Solihull	29·4
Walsall	19·0
Wolverhampton	17·6
Knowsley	11·0
Liverpool	19·3
St. Helens	23·1
Sefton	25·2
Wirral	25·0
Bolton	28·6
Bury	27·6
Manchester	18·6
Oldham	19·9
Rochdale	20·2
Salford	17·6
Stockport	25·5
Tameside	25·4
Trafford	34·5
Wigan	26·8
Barnsley	17·0
Doncaster	19·0
Rotherham	19·4
Sheffield	19·8
Bradford	16·8
Calderdale	22·2
Kirklees	26·2
Leeds	23·0
Wakefield	16·2
Gateshead	17·3

	Percentage
Newcastle-upon-Tyne	17·2
North Tyneside	23·1
South Tyneside	21·1
Sunderland	21·5
Avon	25·4
Bedfordshire	27·5
Berkshire	27·8
Buckinghamshire	32·9
Cambridgeshire	27·1
Cheshire	28·1
Cleveland	26·5
Cornwall	26·7
Cumbria	25·0
Derbyshire	23·2
Devon	24·4
Dorset	29·7
Durham	20·2
East Sussex	28·0
Essex	26·5
Gloucestershire	29·3
Hampshire	27·0
Hereford and Worcester	28·8
Hertfordshire	31·8
Humberside	20·8
Isle of Wight	19·3
Kent	28·3
Lancashire	25·8
Leicestershire	23·3
Lincolnshire	25·1
Norfolk	24·1
North Yorkshire	34·2
Northamptonshire	20·6
Northumberland	31·3
Nottinghamshire	19·8
Oxfordshire	28·2
Shropshire	29·6
Somerset	24·1
Staffordshire	24·6
Suffolk	22·4
Surrey	35·3
Warwickshire	27·7
West Sussex	32·9
Wiltshire	24·3
Total England	24·7
¹ Higher grades defined as O-level grades A to C and CSE grade 1.

Source: School leavers Survey—data subject to sampling error.

Teachers (Training)

70.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a statement on the Government's policy on the initial training of teachers.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I recognise the importance of initial teacher training for the quality of teaching in schools. We are therefore concerned to develop a high quality, robust and cost-effective training system.In 1984, the then Secretaries of State published detailed criteria against which initial teacher training courses would be assessed for approval, and established the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education to review initial teacher training courses and advise on whether they met the criteria. In carrying out its task, the council is able to take into account reports of Her Majesty's inspectorate which are being made on all the initial teacher training institutions concerned.I have recently asked the members of the council to continue to serve until the end of 1989. I shall be considering what arrangements should thereafter be made for the approval of initial teacher training courses.

My right hon. Friend and I periodically review the total numbers of students to be admitted to initial teacher training courses, and the distribution of these numbers between the university sector and the polytechnics and colleges sector, between primary and secondary courses and, within secondary courses, between different subjects taking into account inter alia the pattern of the existing teaching force and the forecast requirements of the maintained system. The most recent review covered intakes for the period 1987–89.

Target entry numbers for initial teacher training institutions in England and Wales have already been established for 1988 and 1989. For later years, my right hon. Friend and I propose that intakes for 1990 should be determined for that year alone in order to allow for the conduct of a major planning exercise to cover intakes for the three years 1991 to 1993. This arrangement will allow fuller account to be taken of the teacher requirements of the national curriculum in the light of consultation on the attainment targets and programmes of study for the core and foundation subjects which may be recommended by subject working groups as and when they are established. It will also ensure that the new Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council and Universities Funding Council., as well as the Wales Advisory Body, will be able to play their appropriate parts.

My right hon. Friend and I plan to bring forward early next year proposals for intakes to initial teacher training for the year 1990 which will then be subject to discussion with those concerned, including teacher training institutions, the funding councils and the Wales Advisory Body as appropriate. We would expect to bring forward proposals for the three-year period 1991 to 1993 as a basis for consultation early in 1990.

Design And Technology (Girls' Schools)

73.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he will take to improve facilities for the study of design and technology in single sex girls' schools.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced last November a very large increase in allocations to local education authorities for capital expenditure in maintained colleges and schools—some 24 per cent. over the current year. It will be for local education authorities to decide how they will use these resources having regard to the particular needs of their area, which might include the provision of improved facilities for design and technology in single-sex schools.

School Transport

74.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will change the regulations concerning school transport; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has no plans at present to amend the existing legislation on school transport.

Special Schools

75.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how special schools, currently financed by the Inner London education authority, will be controlled if the Inner London education authority's responsibilities have been transferred to other authorities.

Under clause 114 of the Education Reform Bill, inner London boroughs applying to become LEAs will be required to demonstrate that they can secure adequate educational provision for all pupils and students in their area, including those with special educational needs. With their applications, boroughs will have to provide a list of the property they consider necessary to carry out this responsibility. This would normally include all the ILEA schools, including special schools, within the area of the borough, plus ILEA establishments elsewhere which provide a major service to residents of the borough. When an order is made transferring educational functions to a borough, the council of that borough will become the local education authority for the purposes of the Education Acts.

Departmental Staff

76.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of civil servants at grade 5 level and above in his Department is female.

The proportion of women at grade 5 level and above, including Her Majesty's inspectorate, is approximately 13 per cent.

Schools (Opting Out)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many representations he has received from local education authorities concerning his proposals for schools to opt out of local education authority control.

My right hon. Friend has received formal responses from 70 local education authorities to his consultation paper on grant-maintained schools.

Maintained Schools

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many surplus places there are in maintained schools in the primary and secondary sectors, in each local education authority.

The Department does not routinely collect information about the number of surplus places in individual local education authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will place in the Library the relevant standard number for entry into each maintained school in 1979, and the admissions limit of each maintained school for 1986–87.

The Department does not have a central record of standard numbers or planned admissions limits for individual schools. LEAs and governors have a duty annually to publish planned admissions limits in respect of each school in their literature for parents, and some of this information is available to the Department. I would not consider it sufficiently complete to justify placing in the Library.

Children (Secondary Schools)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children did not obtain their first choice of secondary schools in each of the last three years, in each local education authority.

Information is not available in the form requested. From informal inquiries made of local education authorities in 1983, I understand that about 10,000 parental appeals were heard against a decision not to offer a place at the school of their choice. Similar inquiries conducted in 1985 suggested a figure of 9,000 appeals. These figures did not however differentiate between appeals in respect of primary and secondary school admissions. Nor did they reveal how many parents did not get their first choice for their child, but decided not to appeal.

Maintained Catholic Schools

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will estimate the full-year cost to his Department of increasing the grant to maintained Catholic schools to 100 per cent.; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. friend pays maintenance contribution to the governors of voluntary aided and special agreement schools in England in respect of their expenditure on both repairs to the school buildings and capital projects. It is not possible to show separately the contribution made to the governors of Roman Catholic aided schools. Contributions are not made by my right hon. Friend in respect of voluntary controlled schools; these are wholly maintained by local education authorities.Maintenance contribution at the rate of 85 per cent. is paid on governors' eligible expenditure. An increase in the rate to 100 per cent. for the forthcoming financial year would require provision to be increased from £74·1 million to £87·2 million, a rise of £13·1 million.

Secondary Schools, Cumbria

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list all secondary schools in Cumbria, stating how many pupils are currently in each school and how many empty places exist in each school.

The local education authority informs me that there are 44 maintained secondary schools in Cumbria. The numbers on roll as at 1 January 1987, the number of empty places and the capacities based on the DES work station method were:

School name	Number on roll as at 1 January 1987	Capacity	Empty places as at 1 January 1987
1 Alston, Samuel King's	114	177	63
2 Appleby Grammar	564	540	-24
3 Aspatria, Beacon Hill	314	451	137
4 Barrow, Alfred Barrow	663	972	309
5 Barrow, Sixth Form College	485	491	6
6 Barrow, Parkview	1,277	1,637	360
7 Barrow, St. Bernard's	745	737	-8
8 Barrow, Thorncliffe	941	1,267	326
9 Barrow, Walney	828	1,004	176

School name	Number on roll as at 1 January 1987	Capacity	Empty places as at 1 January 1987
10 Brampton, William Howard	920	1,269	349
11 Cleator Moor, Ehenside	536	578	42
12 Carlisle, Harraby	611	1,120	509
13 Carlisle, Morton	1,286	1,467	181
14 Carlisle, Newman	609	657	48
15 Carlisle, St. Aidan's	911	1,243	332
16 Carlisle, Trinity	1,672	1,747	75
17 Cartmel Priory	379	443	64
18 Cockermouth	1,007	1,303	296
19 Coniston, John Ruskin	230	258	28
20 Dalston, Caldew	984	1,101	117
21 Dalston, Dowdales	730	821	91
22 Carlisle, Eden	295	232	-63
23 Egremont, Wyndham	1,131	1,618	487
24 Kirkbie Kendal	1,019	1,051	32
25 Kendal, Queen Katherine	1,167	1,288	121
26 Keswick	797	842	45
27 Kirkby Lonsdale Queen Elizabeth	617	721	104
28 Kirkby Stephen Grammar	408	469	61
29 Longtown, Lochinvar	289	399	110
30 Maryport, Netherhall	1,061	1,332	271
31 Millom	800	1,090	290
32 Milnthorpe, Dallam	598	1,496	898
33 Penrith, Queen Elizabeth Grammar	594	629	35
34 Penrith, Ullswater	1,290	1,364	74
35 Sedbergh, Settlebeck High	203	218	15
36 Silloth, Solway	243	335	92
37 Ulverston Victoria High	1,536	1,613	77
38 Whitehaven	1,778	2,023	245
39 Whitehaven, St. Benedicts	832	917	85
40 Windermere, The Lakes	880	922	42
41 Wigton, Nelson Thomlinson	951	1,080	129
42 Workington, St. Joseph's RC	502	589	87

Number of classes of 31 or more pupils in maintained primary schools and expressed as a percentage of all classes in these schools
	1979		1983		1987
January of each year	Classes	Percentage	Classes	Percentage	Classes	Percentage
Barking	113	19·7	36	6·7	21	3·9
Barnet	226	25·1	78	8·9	70	8·3
Bexley	264	37·4	188	31·4	118	19·6
Brent	120	13·2	58	7·3	27	3·6
Bromley	220	24·6	151	19·8	132	18·6
Croydon	270	25·4	171	18·5	137	16·1
Ealing	190	17·5	83	8·7	89	10·5
Enfield	355	41·7	165	21·0	155	21·9
Haringey	108	14·2	6	0·9	7	1·1
Harrow	183	25·6	97	14·9	112	19·7
Havering	250	29·2	98	12·9	103	15·3
Hillingdon	193	26·3	146	21·7	93	14·3
Hounslow	157	23·5	97	15·0	96	15·6
Kingston upon Thames	105	26·9	88	24·7	82	25·1
Merton	90	25·2	57	18·1	58	19·7
Newham	95	11·3	37	4·8	18	2·6
Redbridgc	215	32·9	169	29·0	224	41·3
Richmond upon Thames	100	27·2	42	11·9	40	12·0
Sutton	159	33·5	132	33·6	99	26·5
Waltham Forest	184	22·7	103	15·6	65	11·4

School name	Number on roll as at 1 January 1987	Capacity	Empty places as at 1 January 1987
43 Workington, Southfield	1,201	1,219	18
44 Workington, Stainburn	917	1,128	211
43, 44 (Workington, 6th form)	105	—	-105
Totals	35,020	41,858	6,838

Disruptive Pupils

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those education authorities in England which provide special schooling for disruptive pupils who have been suspended from their usual school, and those education authorities which provide no alternative to the usual school and instead suspend disruptive pupils.

As local education authorities have a variety of ways in which to provide for the educational needs of disruptive pupils, I will write to my right hon. Friend explaining the position.

Primary Schools (Class Sizes)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the number of classes of 31 pupils and over in the maintained primary sector in each education authority for each year since 1979, showing what percentage such classes are of the total number of classes in each authority.

The information requested for each local education authority in England for the years 1979, 1983 and 1987 is given in the table. Information for all of the other years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The analyses relate to classes taught by one teacher on a selected period within the day of the census count in January of each year and may not be representative of the pattern of classes over the academic year as a whole.

	1979		1983		1987
January of each year	Classes	Percentage	Classes	Percentage	Classes	Percentage
Inner London	840	11·1	199	3·0	99	1·7
Birmingham	1,496	38·6	1,242	38·0	867	27·1
Coventry	308	24·3	243	24·1	155	16·5
Dudley	497	46·5	219	21·9	215	22·4
Sandwell	457	35·9	242	21·6	196	19·3
Solihull	264	30·4	148	21·9	157	25·7
Walsall	217	19·1	73	7·1	97	10·9
Wolverhampton	217	21·0	57	5·9	86	9·9
Knowsley	224	29·5	123	20·0	59	9·8
Liverpool	335	15·6	230	12·8	186	10·8
St. Helens	259	32·6	156	22·8	112	19·2
Sefton	399	34·6	175	17·8	175	19·7
Wirral	382	29·8	268	23·0	140	13·3
Bolton	456	46·1	280	33·0	276	34·4
Bury	212	31·4	141	24·5	121	23·1
Manchester	283	15·1	274	18·7	201	14·5
Oldham	340	40·7	227	29·2	219	31·2
Rochdale	196	25·7	127	18·4	148	25·9
Salford	279	28·6	97	11·4	111	14·7
Stockport	498	50·4	194	22·1	187	22·3
Tameside	322	37·8	178	23·2	155	23·4
Trafford	193	24·3	155	25·5	164	28·7
Wigan	385	29·0	226	20·7	215	22·8
Barnsley	230	25·2	66	8·3	55	7·7
Doncaster	171	14·3	82	7·7	85	9·0
Rotherham	324	31·6	147	16·3	68	7·8
Sheffield	370	17·0	131	7·4	100	6·4
Bradford	209	14·4	121	9·9	130	11·1
Calderdale	240	30·3	99	13·4	129	20·0
Kirklees	509	36·6	300	23·9	200	16·5
Leeds	787	37·9	432	24·2	311	19·4
Wakefield	317	29·2	170	19·1	139	15·5
Gateshead	103	11·7	36	4·5	23	3·1
Newcastle-upon-Tyne	62	6·3	32	3·8	101	14·2
North Tyneside	69	10·3	39	6·5	13	1·9
South Tyneside	62	9·1	24	4·3	41	7·6
Sunderland	321	26·1	156	14·4	114	10·7
Isles of Stilly¹	1	10·0	0	0·0	0	0·0
Avon	1,059	37·3	898	34·2	976	39·0
Bedfordshire	316	19·3	266	19·9	248	19·0
Berkshire	671	29·4	479	23·1	512	27·0
Buckinghamshire	645	28·0	598	27·8	717	36·9
Cambridgeshire	542	25·5	468	24·5	448	24·1
Cheshire	1,027	29·1	722	23·1	875	30·6
Cleveland	550	24·0	230	11·0	241	12·4
Cornwall	477	32·2	381	28·0	355	26·6
Cumbria	391	21·7	174	10·6	180	11·9
Derbyshire	1,020	30·9	642	21·8	556	20·3
Devon	923	31·5	637	23·7	526	20·0
Dorset	536	33·6	388	28·1	412	31·7
Durham	454	18·4	361	17·7	358	18·9
East Sussex	520	27·7	291	17·0	420	26·2
Essex	1,753	35·0	1,114	24·4	968	22·2
Gloucestershire	604	34·4	416	27·0	397	27·6
Hampshire	1,795	34·2	1,367	29·9	1,031	23·6
Hereford and Worcester	611	32·5	555	33·7	409	24·7
Hertfordshire	824	24·7	646	21·6	529	18·6
Humberside	544	17·6	272	9·9	309	12·3
Isle of Wight	82	32·3	44	19·5	54	24·3
Kent	1,668	34·4	1,374	33	1,234	30·6
Lancashire	1,844	37·8	1,260	29·3	1,249	31·2
Leicestershire	684	21·5	489	17·1	412	15·1
Lincolnshire	574	28·0	521	30·2	511	31·5
Norfolk	545	20·6	394	16·1	368	16·7
North Yorkshire	554	23·6	429	20·9	340	17·3
Northamptonshire	561	29·9	298	17·1	315	19·2

	1979		1983		1987
January of each year	Classes	Percentage	Classes	Percentage	Classes	Percentage
Northumberland	257	31·5	193	27·2	220	31·1
Nottinghamshire	1,291	37·4	403	12·5	225	7 8
Oxfordshire	394	26·2	339	26·2	251	19·4
Shropshire	422	30·3	203	15·5	165	13·6
Somerset	463	36·2	395	34·7	324	27·9
Staffordshire	1,017	26·5	439	13·1	523	18·0
Suffolk	404	22·8	205	12 6	186	11·9
Surrey	777	22·4	522	17·6	430	16·2
Warwickshire	527	26·2	412	23·6	335	22·3
West Sussex	660	34·4	462	25·6	366	20·6
Wiltshire	482	26·2	394	24·4	266	17·1
England	44,899	27·4	28,792	19·9	25,837	19·2
¹ In 1983 and 1987 there were no classes of 31 or more pupils.

Capital Expenditure Allocation (Leicestershire)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the proposed capital expenditure allocation for 1988–89 for the Leicestershire local education authority, in the light of discussions on 17 November 1987 between his Department, the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr. Jackson), and representatives of the authority.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend to my hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry) on 18 December. Leicestershire's allocation for 1988–89 is 34 per cent. higher than its initial allocation for 1987–88. Allocations in respect of prescribed expenditure are unhypothecated and it is for Leicestershire LEA to decide how to use the resources available to it for capital expenditure.

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

Mrs Eugenia Lutskaya

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Russians about the plight of Mrs. Eugenia Lutskaya of Leningrad, who first applied in 1973 to go to Israel, where her daughter and grandchildren live, and of her husband Mikhail, who has been told he can leave Russia but without his wife.

We regularly make representations to the Soviet authorities on behalf of divided Soviet families. My right hon. and learned Friend last raised these issues with the Soviet Foreign Minister at Brize Norton on 7 December, when he handed over lists of cases about which representations had been made to the Government, including that of Mrs. Eugenia Lutskaya Kalendarev.

Nuclear Reprocessing Equipment And Technology

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy on the export of nuclear reprocessing equipment and technology;(2) whether the Government intend to adhere to the agreements reached in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and published by the International Atomic Energy Authority as Infcirc 254; and if he will make a statement;

(3)if he will make a statement on Government policy on the export of nuclear material and equipment.

We subscribed formally to the Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines in January 1978.Our current policy on exports of nuclear equipment, material or technology remains as set out in the answer given on 31 March 1976 to the then hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. Carter), at columns 514–16. This policy is based on the Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines. It applies equally to nuclear reprocessing equipment and technology.

Detention Without Trial (Malaysia)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Malaysia concerning the detention of prisoners without trial.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Norwood (Mr. Fraser) on 13 January at column 289.

Children's Rights

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will make a statement outlining the progress which has been made concerning the rewording of the United Nations declaration on the rights of the child; and why such a rewording is necessary;(2) if he will make it his policy that any reworded declaration on the rights of the child should retain within its preamble a statement on the need to provide legal protection before as well as after birth;(3) if he will make it his policy that any reworded declaration on the rights of the child should reaffirm the principle which the current declaration contains that the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration in the enactment of laws;(4) if he will make it his policy that any reworded declaration on the rights of the child should reaffirm the principle which the current declaration contains that the child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be given the special treatment, education and care required by his particular condition;(5) on what date the declaration on the rights of the child was ratified by Her Majesty's Government:

(6) what steps he has taken to ensure that the United Nations declaration on the rights of the child is consistent with Her Majesty's Government's policy on abortion.

The declaration of the rights of the child was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1959. As a declaration, it is not open for signature or ratification, and there are no moves to reword or amend it. However, the UN Commission on Human Rights is currently engaged in drafting a convention on the rights of the child. This will be binding on those states which ratify it.In our approach to the draft convention, which is still undergoing its first reading, we shall have both our national policies and the principles of the declaration firmly in mind. Much work remains to be done before negotiations can be completed.

East Timor

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to ensure that the United Kingdom vote in the United Nations will be used to support the decision taken by the United Nations sub-commission on the prevention of discrimination to include the situation on East Timor on the Commission's agenda for its February meeting.

We do not yet know whether member states of the United Nations Commission for Human Rights will wish to take up the sub-commission's recommendation that East Timor be included on the Commission's agenda in February. Our practice since 1982 has been to abstain on resolutions on East Timor whilst expressing support for the Secretary General's role in encouraging a settlement between the parties.

Northern Ireland

Lever Brothers

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what contracts Her Majesty's Government have with Lever Brothers for the supply of its products in Northern Ireland; and what is his estimate of the effect on his Department's budget of the price increases recently announced by the company.

None of the major public sector organisations in Northern Ireland has direct contracts with Lever Brothers. Where Lever Brothers products are used they are purchased through local suppliers on a competitive tender basis. If, as a result of this recent price increase, Lever Brothers products cease to be competitive, alternatives are readily available and these will be purchased. I do not therefore expect the Lever Brothers decision to have any material effect on my Department's budget.

Nuclear Explosions (Emergency Plans)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what emergency plans exist in Northern Ireland in the event of an explosion at a nuclear installation in Great Britain; and if he will make a statement.

Contingency plans provide for continuous monitoring to identify any potential hazard, to determine the appropriate remedial measures, and to provide advice and information to the public. These plans were reviewed following the Chernobyl incident. Improvements are being made where necessary, in particular to effect full integration within the national radiation monitoring system now being upgraded throughout the United Kingdam.

Potato Cyst Nematodes

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what period for consultation will be provided in connection with the proposed new draft plant health order in relation to potato cyst nematodes (eelworms).

Proposals for a draft plant health order were sent to interested organisations on 27 November 1987 with a request for comment by 22 December. A meeting between the Department of Agriculture and those organisations which have expressed reservations on the proposals has been arranged for 29 January. The Department will then consider the contents of the order in light of views expressed.

Mr Desmond O'hare

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has received the bill from the Republic of Ireland authorities for the cost of hospital care for Mr. Desmond O'Hare, following his injuries as a result of being shot by the Southern Irish police; whether Her Majesty's Government are responsible for the payment of health and hospital charges for United Kingdom citizens wounded as a result of terrorist activity in the Republic of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the claim by the Republic of Ireland that the United Kingdom will have to pay about £10,000 towards Mr. O'Hare's hospital bill.

A bill has not been received from the Republic of Ireland in respect of the recent medical treatment provided for Mr. O'Hare. Citizens of the United Kingdom are entitled under EC regulations to obtain free medical treatment in the Republic of Ireland as a result of an accident or emergency while on a temporary visit there.The costs incurred by each country in treating the others' nationals are calculated annually on the basis of average costs and average numbers of people moving between the two countries. A cash settlement is made to balance the account. The calculation of the amount to be paid is not based on the cost of treatment in individual cases.

Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in which daily newspapers (1) in the United Kingdom and (2) outside the United Kingdom the vacancies for (a) a senior house officer in anaesthetics and (b) a senior house officer in accident and emergency at the Royal Victoria hospital, Belfast, were advertised; what was the reason for spending public money on such advertisements outside the United Kingdom; and what assessment was made, before advertisements were placed outside the United Kingdom, as to whether there was a shortage of qualified persons in the United Kingdom for such posts.

In deciding the extent to which any posts should be advertised, Health and Personal Social Services employing authorities in Northern Ireland act in accordance with the Department of Health and Social Service's guidelines on recruitment advertising. These guidelines, which are similar to those which apply in the National Health Service, permit an employing authority to determine the most cost-effective way of advertising posts. The two cases referred to by the hon. Member fall within the jurisdiction of the Eastern health and social services hoard. I am assured that the board took full account both of responses to previous advertisements and of its knowledge of the likely availability of candidates locally in deciding to advertise these two posts. The posts were advertised in the Belfast Telegraph, the British Medical Journal, and the Irish Times.

Bypass (Glynn)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make financial provision for a bypass at Glynn, Larne, in accordance with the Department of the Environment's 1978 10-year plan for such a scheme.

The Glynn bypass was included in the East Antrim area plan 1975–95, which was adopted by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland in 1979. However, the intervening years have seen a reduction in the funding available for capital roads projects. It is not now anticipated that a bypass to Glynn will be constructed in the foreseeable future.

Housing Executive (Expenditure)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the likely effect on employment levels in the Northern Ireland construction industry of the new expenditure limits set for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

Until the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the other housing agencies have determined the distribution of resources available to them in 1988–89 over their capita] and revenue programmes, it will not be possible to estimate the number of jobs in the construction industry being supported by the housing programme.

Harland And Wolff

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funds will be made available to Harland and Wolff in 1987–88.

The Government have set the company's external financing limit for 1987–88 at £63.2 million, made up of direct cash support amounting to £58.6 million supplemented by external borrowings of up to £4.6 million to cover any work in progress costs incurred on the AOR contract.

Rating Reform

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the implications for ratepayers in Northern Ireland of the proposal to introduce the poll tax in Humberside.

None. There has been no linkage between the levels of rates in Northern Ireland and Humberside since 1976–77.

Written Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of the 12 written questions on the Order Paper for Thursday 14 January for answer by him on that day were answered on that date; if he will distinguish between (a) questions for written priority answer and (b) questions for ordinary written answer; and if he will further indicate how many questions received (i) holding answers and (ii) substantive answers.

None receive a substantive answer. Interim replies were sent to the three questions tabled for priority written answer. Substantive answers to two of these were sent on 15 January and the third received a substantive answer on 18 January.The nine questions for ordinary written answer are being dealt with within the normal time scale for such questions.

Elected Representatives

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list in the Official Report the individuals and organisations from which representations were received in relation to the discussion paper "Elected Representatives and the Democratic Process in Northern Ireland", indicating in each case whether they supported or opposed the proposal for a declaration on proscribed organisations.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: Reponses to the discussion paper have been received from the following organisations: the Alliance party of Northern Ireland, Antrim borough council, Ards borough council, the Association of Local Authorities of Northern Ireland, Ballymena borough council, Ballymoney borough council, Banbridge district council, Belfast city council, Carrickfergus borough council, Coleraine borough council, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, Cookstown district council, Down district council, the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland, the Labour party, Labour party 87 (Newtownabbey branch), Limavady district council, Magherafelt district council, Newry and Mourne district council, Newtownabbey borough council. North Down borough council, Omagh district council, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Quaker Peace and Service, the Social Democratic and Labour party, the South Antrim Unionist Association (Glengormley branch), the South West Herts Labour party, the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights, the Ulster Unionist party, and the Workers' party. In addition, we have received 21 letters from individuals, whose names it would be inappropriate to list.A wide range of views have been offered on the proposed non-violence declaration to be made by district council candidates. Some 22 of the comments from organisations and individuals broadly support such a declaration, while 19 are broadly opposed and 11 offer no clear view. We are still analysing these comments however, and no decision on the proposal has yet been reached.

Home Department

Criminal Injuries Compensation Board

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take to reduce the backlog of applications at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Darling) on 20 November 1987 at columns 716–7.

Breath Tests

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will call for a report from each chief constable in England and Wales of (a) the number of breath tests administered between 20 December and 2 January, for such other dates over the Christmas period for which figures are available, (b) the number of such tests which proved positive, (c) the number of positive tests as a percentage of total tests administered and (d) the number of road accidents recorded in the same periods, for each of the last five years up to 1987–88; and if he will also provide this information for the Metropolitan police area;(2) if he will call for a report from each chief constable in England and Wales of

(a) the number of breath tests administered in each of the past five years, (b) the number of such tests which proved positive, (c) the number of positive tests as a percentage of total tests administered, (d) the number of road accidents recorded in these years and (e) the number of fatal road accidents recorded in these years; and if he will also provide this information for the Metropolitan police area;

(3) if he will call for a report from each chief constable in England and Wales as to the number of fatal road accidents in their police authority area between 20 December and 2 January, or such other dates over the Christmas period for which figures are available, for each of the last five years up to 1987–88.

Information on breath tests required and results, by police force area, is published annually in a Home Office statistical bulletin "Statistics of Breath Tests—England and Wales", copies of which are in the Library.Statistics on road accidents in the past 10 years are contained in the Department of Transport's publication "Road Accidents Great Britain 1986 — The Casualty Report", a copy of which is in the Library.The official breath test and road accident statistics for 1987 will not be available until the second half of this year.The Association of Chief Police Officers has, however, collated provisional figures for the number of positive breath tests in the Christmas period, and the number of road accidents involving death or serious injury, in each police force area. These are given in the table:

Police force area	Number of positive breath tests (19 December to 1 January)	Number of road accidents involving death or injury (same period)
Avon and Somerset	100	117
Bedfordshire	51	52
Cambridgeshire	44	56
Cheshire	88	97

Police force area	Number of positive breath tests (19 December to 1 January)	Number of road accidents involving death or injury (same period)
City of London	19	8
Cleveland	60	43
Cumbria	44	40
Derbyshire	63	81
Devon and Cornwall	134	138
Dorset	60	36
Durham	57	44
Dyfed-Powys	33	40
Essex	149	195
Gloucester	82	80
GMP	303	246
Gwent	50	20
Hampshire	152	163
Hertfordshire	72	102
Humberside	95	97
Kent	126	154
Lancashire	155	141
Leicestershire	53	68
Lincolnshire	48	72
Merseyside	110	141
Metropolitan	1,124	¹—
Norfolk	38	68
Northamptonshire	26	53
Northumbria	111	112
North Wales	91	45
North Yorkshire	60	55
Nottinghamshire	97	96
South Wales	140	104
South Yorkshire	121	66
Staffordshire	78	115
Suffolk	45	85
Surrey	86	74
Sussex	148	108
Thames Valley	243	154
Warwick	21	63
West Mercia	93	83
West Midlands	268	214
West Yorkshire	212	183
Wiltshire	59	49
Total	5,259	¹3,958
¹ Accident figures for Metropolitan police not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers were breathalysed in England and Wales in (a) the four weeks to Christmas and (b) the week up to and including new year's day; how many of those tested were over the legal limit; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given earlier today to the questions from the hon. Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett).

Firemen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when retained firemen were first required to train for a minimum of two hours per week.

Responsibility for determining nationally the hours of attendance for training for retained firefighters lies with the National Joint Council for Local Authorities' Fire Brigades. I understand from the council that retained firefighters had an obligation to attend for training and maintenance duties for an average of two hours a week from at least the early 1960s, and probably from well before then. But the obligation on retained firefighters to attend for an average of two hours per week was, in fact, increased to three hours (though at the discretion of the fire authority) in 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the training hours for retained firemen were last reviewed.

In 1987, and by the National Joint Council for Local Authorities' Fire Brigades. The council notified fire authorities in October 1987 that the obligation of retained firefighters to attend for training and maintenance duties for an average of two hours a week had been increased by an additional hour per week on average at the discretion of the fire authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost per hour nationally of training retained firemen.

This information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Sexual Harassment

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his Department's policy on sexual harassment at work; whether guidance on reporting complaints has been issued to all staff; how many complaints have been reported in the past five years; and what disciplinary action has been taken.

The Civil Service policy on sexual harassment is set out in the programme of action to achieve equal opportunities for women in the Civil Service which was published by the Cabinet Office (Management and Personnel Office) in 1984. Sexual harassment at work is not tolerated and is dealt with as a disciplinary matter through the usual civil service complaints procedures.All Home Office staff have been advised that complaints should normally be made to their head of division or, where that is not appropriate, to the head of their personnel management division. Two complaints have been reported to personnel management divisions. One led to a formal reprimand and transfer to other duties, the other was found to be unsubstantiated. No central records are kept of complaints resolved by local management.

Firearms

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with which overseas Governments he has consulted on his proposals to change the law on firearms.

None.

Police National Computer

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to make an announcement about plans for a replacement police national computer; and if he will make a statement.

The outdated mainframe computers presently providing the PNC service are about to be replaced by two new processors which will run the existing applications on the basis of the existing software. This new equipment will secure the present PNC service to the police until the work now in hand on the next generation PNC has been completed. This work includes a comprehensive survey of both user requirements and available computer technlogy as well as the implementation of a new packet-switched network.

Lindholme Prison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any prisoners, other than those in categories C and D, have been sent to Her Majesty's prison, Lindholme, for training or for other reasons; and if he will make a statement.

No prisoners in categories other than C and D have been sent to HMP Lindholme.

Police (Durham)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Durham as to police manning levels in the sub-divisions of Seaham and Peterlee over the last three years.

I understand from the chief constable of Durham that the information requested is as follows:

	Seaham		Peterlee
On 31 December	Establishment	Strength	Establishment	Strength
1985	59	57	117	115
1986	59	56	117	112
1987	59	57	117	118

Malicious Food Contamination

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Metropolitan police commissioner on the procedures which are followed by the Metropolitan police for investigating reports of malicious contamination of food products and for alerting other police forces about such cases.

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that as soon as a case of malicious contamination of food products is reported to the police, it is immediately brought to the attention of the Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Operations), specialist operations. He is responsible for deciding what action should be taken, for co-ordinating the investigating and deciding whether other police forces should be alerted.

Alcohol Misuse

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress the ministerial group on alcohol misuse has made, with particular reference to young people and alcohol; and if he will make a statement.

The group has agreed on a wide range of measures to tackle alcohol misuse. Account was taken of the views of the working group on young people and alcohol, chaired by the noble Baroness, Lady Masham of Ilton, which reported to the Standing Conference on Crime Prevention last November. The measures planned include legislative changes as well as steps to secure better health education and more effective local action.The main legislative proposals are to amend the Liquor Licensing Bill to tighten the offence of selling alcohol to under-age drinkers, to increase penalties for those found guilty of doing so and to make it an offence for wholesalers to sell alcohol to people under 18. There are also plans to require both pre-packaged and dispensed drinks to be labelled with their alcoholic strength and draft regulations will be circulated shortly. The Government welcome efforts already being made to promote non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beers and wines, but will be asking the industry to do more as well as to play its part in helping people understand the relative strengths of different drinks.The Government will be asking the IBA and the Advertising and Cinema Advertising Standards Authorities in conjunction with the industry to re-examine their codes of practice on advertising alcohol. We see no need for a voluntary ban on advertising alcohol if these codes are tightened up and more effectively applied. We shall also be asking the BBC and IBA to review the way alcohol is presented to television viewers, both in individual programmes and cumulatively.Effective health education is a priority. The health education bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and the Department of Health and Social Security, Northern Ireland will be taking the lead on this. But other Government Departments will also be playing their part; for example, the Department of Education and Science will shortly be launching a pack to help youth workers advise young people on substance misuse, including alcohol, and, with the Health Education Authority, considering a pack for use in schools.Another major aim is to encourage effective local action. We look to local services and organisations to work together, identifying particular problems in their area and working out a programme for dealing with them. This is not just a matter for the health services. The social services, education and youth services, police, probation and magistrates all have an interest as do local businesses, the local drinks industry and many voluntary organisations. A great deal is already being done, but there is scope for better co-ordination and targeting of resources.Our programme includes both steps which can be taken now and longer term measures. It links in with other Government policies on health education and the health service, on crime prevention and on drinking and driving to which both the Government and the police are devoting considerable resources with encouraging results. It is also consistent with our policies that consumers should be able to have greater freedom to make informed choices about what they are buying.

Radio Broadcasting

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on the Government's plans for the future of radio broadcasting.

In February 1987 we published a Green Paper entitled "Radio: Choices and Opportunities". It set out, as a basis for public discussion, proposals for the development of new and less-regulated radio services with the aim of broadening the range of choice for listeners. There were more than 500 responses, most from individual members of the public. I am grateful to all those who contributed their comments and ideas.The response to the Green Paper confirms our view that the time is now right for major change. We have been well served by radio broadcasters. Standards have been high. But we have less radio than other countries. In many parts of the country listeners have no service other than the BBC. There are many tastes and interests which existing services can at best satisfy only to a limited extent. New frequencies will soon be available for broadcasting. In due course several hundred new stations are in prospect. We need to have a framework in place within which opportunities for new and more diverse services can be taken up, and existing commercial broadcasters can be given much greater freedom to develop their services.We shall accordingly bring before Parliament legislative proposals based on the Green Paper. We aim to provide, alongside the existing BBC services, opportunities for national commercial radio and for the expansion and deregulation of local radio. All these services will be free of the existing constricting statutory requirements which have applied to independent local radio. They will instead be subject to light regulation designed to protect the consumer rather than direct the broadcaster. Programme operators, at the national and the local level, will be responsible for their own services, subject to requirements of accuracy, balance and decency. The key test which stations will have to pass to obtain a licence to broadcast is that of widening the range of consumer choice. They will have to live up to their promises to their audiences if they want to keep those licences. Radio stations will also be able to organise their own transmission arrangements, rather than having them provided by the IBA under the constraints imposed by the 1981 Act. In doing so they will be required to meet certain technical standards to ensure that they do not cause interference to other radio services.At the national level, a spectrum will be available for at least three services operating alongside the BBC. Each service will be expected to provide a diverse programme service calculated to appeal to a variety of tastes and interests and not limited to a single format. They will provide the BBC with the stimulus of competition on a broad range of its services. We propose that these licences should be assigned by competitive tender, between those applicants whose programme plans would, in the authority's judgment meet the test already described. As envisaged in the Green Paper, a new VHF frequency will be available for one of these services; for the other two, frequencies will need to be reassigned from the BBC.So far as local and community services are concerned, deregulation will have two effects. First, existing independent local radio stations will be given, on the basis canvassed in the Green Paper, the freedom to develop new styles of broadcasting which they have sought. Second, new local and community services will be given the opportunity to start broadcasting, to enhance the range of programming and the diversity of consumer choice. The number of services, and their scale, will depend on local demand and wishes. We want the authority to operate flexibly, encourage partnership and frequency sharing where this seems sensible.Many people were disappointed last year when we did not proceed with an experiment on community radio in advance of legislation. Our proposals now will provide the basis for a lively future for community radio, to strengthen that combination of local identity and cultural diversity which lies at the heart of a flourishing community.There will be a continuing need for an authority to issue licences and supervise performance. The Green Paper identified a number of options for its constitution. After careful thought we have concluded that it would be right to establish a new Radio Authority, with radio at the centre of its attention. The IBA has earned our respect and gratitude for its development of local radio services under the duties laid upon it 15 years ago. But it has major challenges ahead of it in the field of television. We have judged that it would not be sensible to ask the IBA at the same time to take on the task of developing a new and greatly expanded radio system, operating under a new and much lighter set of rules.The authority will be assigned frequencies suitable for sound broadcasting. On the basis of these frequencies it will invite applications for licences to broadcast at national and local levels. To ensure that that spectrum is used efficiently, and that listeners have as wide a choice as possible, stations will in general be expected to broadcast on single frequencies and use equipment which meets a good technical specification. The Radio Authority will inspect equipment as necessary.So far as the BBC is concerned, the Green Paper proposed that the corporation should continue to decide how best to meet its public service broadcasting obligations within the resources at its disposal. I can confirm that it remains our policy. We expect that BBC services, too, will increasingly in future be broadcast on single frequencies.Our proposals are, above all, intended to benefit the listener. It may take a little time for the public to become accustomed to new kinds of service and to single frequency broadcasting. But we believe that the expansion of radio which I have outlined can only be to the good of broadcasters and listeners alike.

Passports

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date the immigration and nationality department began to issue applicants with documents confirming that their passports had been submitted to the Department and could not immediately be traced.

It has been the practice for some years to issue such a letter to an applicant whose passport cannot immediately be traced. The purpose is to help the applicant, where necessary, to obtain an emergency or replacement travel document.

Public Inquiry Office, Lunar House

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what he estimates to be the number of people who attended the public inquiry office at Lunar house in December 1987; and how many of those were seeking the return of passports sent to the immigration and nationality department.

In December last, 50,569 people attended the public inquiry office at Lunar house, Croydon. Of the 19,978 people who made inquiries about immigration matters, 2,865 sought the return of their passports for urgent travel. The remaining 30,591 made inquiries about citizenship but corresponding figures for those seeking return of passports are not available.

Registration And Naturalisation

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many application forms for (a) registration of adults, (b) registration of children and (c) naturalisation were (i) sent out and (ii) returned in each month of 1987 to the latest available date.

Figures for issue of application forms are in table 1. Monthly figures of bulk issues from store are available only in respect of forms affected by the 31 December 1987 deadline. For other forms, totals for the year 1987 are given where available. Figures for form B (registration of British Dependent Territories Citizens etc.) are not available at present.

Table 1
	Adult registration¹		Registration of minors	Naturalisation
	Form R	Form W1	Form MN1	Form AN
January	4,500	1,500
February	10,000	3,000
March	7,000	4,000
April	12,000	4,000
May	30,000	10,000
June	13,000	6,000
July	53,000	6,000
August	50,000	6,000
September	25,000	17,000
October	30,000	10,000
November	60,000	3,000
December	50,000	15,000
TOTAL	344,500	85,500	29,500	1,53,500
¹ Form R is for registration by virtue of residence since 1 January 1973; Form WI is for registration by virtue of marriage.

Figures for applications received in case-working groups are in table 2:

Table 2
	Adult registration¹	Registration of minors	Naturalisation
January	2,368	662	1,557
February	3,306	777	420
March	3,274	678	523
April	2,649	473	430
May	1,394	500	2,401
June	2,003	610	2,256
July	3,985	781	1,773
August	4,669	1,008	2,939
September	4,007	873	2,190
October	4,397	878	2,282
November	9,495	1,782	4,235
December	5,890	863	1,690
TOTAL	59,034	9,885	22,696

These figures do not include an estimated 210,000 applications received since mid-September 1987 which are being sorted and prepared for consideration.

Mail

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he estimates that mail received by his Department in mid-December will be dealt with.

The time taken to deal with correspondence overall in the immigration and nationality department varies considerably according to the nature of the subject matter. It will, however, be some time before all the very large intake of mail received by mid-December is processed.

Departmental Expenditure

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the budgeted expenditure on salaries for (a) the immigration and nationality department and (b) the immigration service for 1987–88; and what was the actual expenditure under both of those headings between 1 April and 31 December 1987.

The budgeted expenditure on salaries in the financial year 1987–88 for the immigration and nationality department as a whole, and for the immigration service, and actual expenditure from 1 April 1987 to 31 December 1987, are set out in the table:

Salaries expenditure in the immigration and nationality department 1987–88
(£000)
	Immigration and nationality department	Immigration service
Budget	42,791	30,629
Outturn to 31 December
1987	32,222	23,113

Incoming Mail, Lunar House

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the procedure for dealing with and recording incoming mail at Lunar house; and at what stage applications for British citizenship are separated from applications for variation of immigration leave.

On receipt at Lunar house the IND post room separates the mail by appearance and form of address into broad categories of general letters, applications for variation of leave, and applications for citizenship. Mail sent by recorded delivery or registered post is recorded on receipt; other mail is recorded when opened and separated into categories.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff, of what grade and at what salary, were employed at Lunar house to deal with incoming mail on (a) 1 June 1987 and (b) 1 December 1987; how many extra staff were employed for this purpose between 1 June and 31 December 1987; on which date and at what grades.

Separate information about staff in the immigration nationality department post room dealing with incoming mail is not readily available. The number, grading and salaries of staff involved in all aspects of mail handling was:

	Number	Salary Range £
1 June 1987
Executive Officer	1	5,550–9,854
Administrative Officer	3	3,664–7,091
Administrative Assistant	31	3,314–5,799
Senior Paperkeeper	1	5,747–6,590
Paperkeeper	5	5,832–6,141
Total	41

	Number	Salary Range £
1 December 1987
Executive Officer	1	5,820–10,100
Administrative Officer	3	3,664–7,247
Adminstrative Assistant	42	No change
Senior Paperkeeper	1	6,047–6,890
Paperkeeper	5	No change
Total	52

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the number of letters which had been received but not opened at Lunar house on (a) 1 November 1987, (b) 1 December 1987 and (c) 21 December 1987; what is his estimate of how many such letters are applications for variation of leave; what was the date of receipt of mail being dealt with at Lunar house on 21 December 1987; and if he will make a statement.

The estimated number unopened items of mail is as follows. The estimated number of such letters which relate to applications for variations of leave is shown in brackets.

1 November 1987: 65,500 (16,000)
1 December 1987: 92,500 (24,000)
21 December 1987: 145,000 (30,500)

The date of receipt of mail being dealt with on 21 December by the immigration and nationality department post room varied, according to the nature of the correspondence, between the end of September and early December.

National Finance

Developing Countries (Loans)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will extend the repayment period on official loans to developing countries from 10 years to 20 years.

The United Kingdom has almost completed its programme of converting old aid loans into grants to the least developed countries. To date seven sub-Saharan African countries have been granted repayment periods of between 15 and 20 years on their officially guaranteed debts when rescheduling through the Paris club.

Vat (Education)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the value of staff time or secondments to either a city technology college or local education authority school is calculated for value added tax purposes.

A taxable person who supplies such services free of charge and without conditions or contractual obligations is supplying free services which are outside the scope of the tax. If the recipient educational establishment pays for the services, the value for tax is the monetary consideration. If there were any form of obligation on the recipient (whether or not there were also a monetary consideration), this would be seen as a non-monetary consideration whose value for tax purposes would be the open market value of the services.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the value of donation of computer equipment by the manufacturer or user to either a city technology college or local education authority school is calculated for value added tax purposes.

If a taxable person donates equipment without conditions or contractual obligations, the value for tax is the cost of the equipment—that is, either the price at which the donor bought it or the full cost of its manufacture by him. If, however, there were any form of obligation on the recipient of the donated equipment, this would be seen as a non-monetary consideration and the value for tax would be the open market value of the equipment.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the value of donation of computer software by the author or user to either a city technology college or local education authority school is calculated for value added tax purposes.

A taxable person who donates, without conditions or contractual obligations, computer software which has been individually commissioned by the recipient educational establishment is supplying free services which are outside the scope of the tax. The donation of other software is a supply, the value of which for tax purposes is the cost—that is, either the price at which the donor bought the software or the full cost of its production by him.If, however, there were any form of obligation on the recipient of the donated software (whether the latter were individually commissioned or not) this would be seen as a non-monetary consideration and the value for tax would be the open market value of the goods or services involved.

Overseas Debt

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what have been the levels of repayment of debt to British (a) Government and (b) non-Government institutions for Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Chad, by each year since 1979.

The amounts paid directly to the United Kingdom Government by Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Chad for aid loans made by the Overseas Development Administration are listed in the table. Information on amounts paid to non-Government institutions is not available.

Repayment of Overseas Development Administration Loans 1979–86
	Ethiopia £	Sudan	Somalia	Chad
1979–80	35,625	—	—	—
1980–81	71,250	—	—	—
1981–82	90,247	—	—	—
1982–83	90,250	—	—	—
1983–84	90,250	—	—	—
1984–85	9,500	—	—	—
1985–86	—	—	—	—

Share Schemes

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many independent unquoted companies, which are not subsidiaries of public limited companies, have introduced Finance Act 1978 or 1984 share schemes.

One hundred and fifty one unquoted companies which are not subsidiaries of public limited companies have introduced share schemes approved under the Finance Act 1978. I regret that this information is not readily available in relation to Finance Act 1984 schemes.

United States Dollar

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further measures he will be prepared to take if the actions already taken fail to reduce the decline of the US dollar.

Since the beginning of the year, the dollar has risen against all the major currencies, including sterling.

Civil Servants (Merit Payments)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the number of civil servants receiving merit payments in 1986–87.

A total of 3,828 civil servants received merit payments in the financial year 1986–87 under the performance bonus experiment.This scheme was introduced for grades 3–7 in 1985 as a three-year experiment. It has already been partly replaced by newly developed performance related pay arrangements for grades 2 and 3 and an interim scheme for grades 4–7.We believe that the link between pay and performance in the Civil Service should be strengthened. When the flexible pay system for scientific, professional and technical grades comes into effect this year over 80,000 staff will be covered by performance-related pay arrangements. We hope that it will be possible to bring other groups into such schemes in due course.

Building Societies Commission

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what since its inception has been the total cost of administering the Building Societies Commission.

Between 25 September 1986, when the Building Societies Commission was constituted, and 31 March 1988, it is estimated that gross expenditure by the Commission will be about £3 million. This cost is met by a general charge levied on building societies together with fees for specific activities.

Business Expansion Scheme

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, pursuant to his reply of 18 December 1987, Official Report, column 847, he will indicate the grounds on which the names of companies obtaining assistance under the business expansion scheme are regarded as being confidential; and if he will make a statement.

The Inland Revenue has a statutory duty not to disclose any information concerning the affairs of a taxpayer. It is for this reason that 1 am unable to identify the companies which have obtained assistance under the business expansion scheme.

Value Added Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the change in Treasury income during the 1988–89 financial year resulting from raising value added tax to (a) 16 per cent. and (b) 20 per cent.

The estimated net additional revenue in 1988–89 would be:

Rate of value-added tax Per cent.	£ million
16	945
20	4,560

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the revenue during the 1988–89 financial year which would result from imposing value added tax on (a) new building work and (b) publications, other than books, where the use of new paper is greater than 80 per cent.

(a) It is estimated that the net additional revenue in a full year at 1988–89 prices from the imposition of value added tax at the standard rate on new building work would be £1,250 million. Because of the uncertainties involved in estimating the effects of such a change on the construction sector, this estimate should be taken as no more than an indicator of the order of magnitude.

(b) I regret the information is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, in the light of the recent pronouncement by Lord Cockfield regarding proposed European Commission measures for the completion of the internal market in the EEC, he will make a statement on his policy towards imposing value added tax on books, newspapers and periodicals.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: Decisions on changes in value added tax are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget judgment. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has already made it clear that the United Kingdom will not accept proposals which restrict our right to apply zero-rating.

Sporting Rights (Revaluation)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the likely cost to public funds of the current revaluation of sporting rights in England and Wales; and what proportion of this is attributable to the revaluation of riparian rights.

The information available at present is not sufficient for an estimate to be made of the likely costs of revaluing either sporting or riparian rights.

Tobacco (Taxation And Pricing)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what basis he has agreed to meet representatives of the tobacco industry to discuss tobacco taxation and pricing policy; and why he refused to meet representatives of the medical profession to discuss the same issue.

Treasury Ministers generally meet a number of representative bodies to discuss their representations in the run-up to the Budget, including one representing the tobacco industry. I am to meet representatives from the British Medical Association shortly.

Oil Prices

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will indicate the effect on projected Government oil revenue resulting from a fluctuation in oil prices per barrel of (a) 5 cents, (b) 15 cents, (c) 50 cents, (d) $1 and (e) $5 above and below a price of $18 per barrel;(2) if he will indicate the effect on projected Government oil revenues resulting from a fluctuation in the price of the United States dollar against the £ sterling by

(a) 1 cent, (b) 5 cents, (c) 15 cents and (d) 50 cents above and below the exchange rate assumed in his Autumn Statement of 3 November 1987.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: The effects on oil tax revenues of different oil prices and dollar exchange rates are subject to wide margins of error. On the basis of forecasts prepared for the 1987 Autumn Statement, a sustained change of $1 a barrel with a constant exchange rate would lead to a change of about £0·3 billion in North sea tax revenues for 1988–89. A 10 per cent. change in the exchange rate with a constant dollar oil price would give a change of about £0·5 billion. Smaller changes in prices or exchange rates would lead to approximately pro rata effects, but the results of larger changes would depend on their effect on other factors such as oil companies' exploration and investment decisions.

Taxes (European Community)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has as to the standard rate of income tax in each of the 12 European Community countries and as to the corporation tax rate in each of the 12 European Community countries.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: A standard or basic rate of income tax is found only in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, where the rates are 35 per cent. and 27 per cent respectively. In the other European Community countries the scales of income tax rates do not include a standard or basic rate. The current ranges of nominal income tax rates are set out in Table 1:

Table 1
Range of nominal income tax rates
	percentage
Belgium	24·71
Denmark	22·40
France	5·57
Germany	22·56
Greece	10·63
Italy	12·62
Luxembourg	10·56
Netherlands	14·72
Portugal	6·58
Spain	25·56

Notes:

1 These rates are from the central government income tax scales on employment income.

2 There are also local income taxes on individuals in Belgium and Denmark.

3 The rates shown are the latest enacted rates.

Table 2 sets out the corporation tax rates in each of the 12 European Community countries.

Table 2
Corporation tax rate
	Percentage
Belgium	43
Denmark	50
France	42
Germany	56
Greece	49
Ireland	50
Italy	36
Luxembourg	36
Netherlands	42
Portugal	35
Spain	35
United Kingdom	35

Notes:

1. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, have lower rates or special reliefs for smaller companies.

2. There are also local income taxes on companies in Germany, Italy and Luxembourg.

3. The following countries have different rates for distributed profits: Germany (36 per cent.); Greece (Nil); Portugal (35 per cent.).

4. Ireland has a 10 per cent. rate for manufacturing companies.

5. Greece has a 44 per cent. rate for industrial companies.

6. The rates shown are the latest enacted rates.

National Insurance

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated full-year revenue effect in 1987–88 and 1988–89 of (a) abolishing the upper earnings limit for employees' national insurance contributions, (b) allowing personal allowances against such contributions and (c)(a) and (b) together.

[holding answer 17 December 1987]: Estimates given in the table are based on projections of the 1984–85 survey of personal incomes and are therefore provisional.

Full Year Reduction (-)—Increase (+) in Yield from Employees National Insurance Contributions (£ million)
	At income levels of
	1987–88	1988–89
(a) Abolition of upper earnings limit	1,200	1,400
(b) Charge contributions above personal allowances only	-4,100	-4,400
(c)(a) and (b) together	-2,900	-3,000

These estimates make no allowance for behavioural or other changes.

Exchange Rate

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what dollar—£ sterling exchange rate he assumed when making his Autumn Statement of 3 November 1987.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: The Autumn Statement forecast assumed that sterling would remain close to its then recent levels.

Scotland

Nhs (Administration)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the percentage change in the number of administrative staff in the National Health Service in Scotland since 1979; and if he will make a statement.

The information held centrally is not in precisely the form requested. Data on administrative and clerical staff are subdivided by pay scale, which does not coincide in all cases with grade. The available information is published in "Scottish Health Statistics", copies of which are held in the Library.

Prison Population

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of the rise in prison population which took place between 1980 and 1987 was the result of increases in the number of prisoners on remand.

Prison population figures for 1987 are not yet available. Figures for earlier years are given in the Scottish Home and Health Department statistical bulletins "Prison Statistics Scotland", copies of which are in the Library.

Rating Reform

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what specific factors or formulae he has decided to use in order to calculate the amount of revenue support grant to be paid to particular local authorities when the poll tax is introduced in Scotland.

The Government have proposed to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that the distribution of revenue support grant should be based on the client group assessments of relative expenditure need, which are presently used for rate support grant distribution, estimates of authorities' non-domestic rate income and estimates of adult population. It is also proposed to have grant safety nets to phase in gradually some of the changes in the distribution of grant which may arise from the move to the new grant system. The details of these arrangements are subject to the outcome of discussions with COSLA, which are continuing.

Fines

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration he has given to the implementation of the recommendations contained within the Association of Directors of Social Work report on fines and fine default, with particular reference to (a) the introduction in Scotland of a day fines system and (b) the provision of alternative means of enforcement of payment of fines.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave him on 11 January 1988, at column 149.

Sentencing Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of those remanded in custody by Scottish courts in 1986 subsequently received a custodial sentence.

This information is not available.

Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to issue a code of practice relating to the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984.

My right hon. and learned Friend appointed a working group last year to produce a draft code of practice. I expect to receive it shortly and it will be issued for comment in due course.

Operating Theatres

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of operating theatre time on a weekday basis is used in each health board in Scotland; and what proposals he has for improvement on this figure;(2) what estimates are available to him on the extent to which full use of operating theatres in National Health Service hospitals is inhibited by lack of properly qualified nursing staff and the money to pay for them;(3) if he will take steps to increase the number of beds and staff in National Health Service hospitals to increase operating theatre utilisation and throughput;(4) what estimates are available to him as to the extent to which loss of operating theatre time in Scotland is due to

(a) lack of surgeons, (b) lack of anaesthetists, (c) lack of operating theatre staff, (d) lack of beds, (e) cash restrictions on health boards and (f) other causes;

(5) if he will take steps to reduce the power or influence of consultants in the use of operating theatre time in Scotland.

Information about theatre utilisation and the causes of any underutilisation is not held centrally. Efficiency in the use of clinical resources including theatres is a matter for individual health boards and their staff. The output of the acute hospital services has increased markedly in recent years and levels of efficiency are now much greater. The recent report from the National Audit Office on the use of operating theatres in the NHS in England indicates, however, that significant improvements could be made. I shall continue to encourage health boards in Scotland to further efforts.

Remand Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, for each sheriff court district in Scotland, the percentage of those remanded by the sheriff who are remanded on bail, excluding motoring offences.

This information is not available.

Garnock Valley

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he or any of his ministerial colleagues have any plans to visit the Garnock Valley.

Neither my right hon. and learned Friend, nor I, nor any other of our ministerial colleagues have plans for such a visit at present, although I hope to meet the Garnock Valley development executive later in the year.

Farm Incomes

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give (a) the total income of Scottish farmers in each of the past five years and (b) the equivalent income which would have been achieved in the event of the green pound being brought to parity.

Information about the total incomes of Scottish farmers, including income from nonagricultural activities is not available for this period. However, the aggregate net agricultural income of Scottish farmers between 1982 and 1986 was as follows:

	£ million
1982	140
1983	96
1984	186
1985	36
1986	91

An estimate for 1987 and possible revisions to 1986 and 1985 will emerge from this winter's annual review of agriculture, which is now in its late stages.The effect of the green pound on farmer's incomes is to a large extent indirect and no estimates are available of the effects of different rates on income levels for the five-year period, during which time sterling's green rate has been both above and below its market rate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the percentage change in farm incomes in Scotland for the most recent 12-month period for which information is available; and what were the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.

Farm income figures are published in the form of aggregate net agricultural income, excluding income from non-agricultural activities. The following are the percentage changes in aggregate net agricultural income in Scotland between calendar years from 1979 to 1986. An estimate for 1987 will emerge from this winter's annual review of agriculture, which is in its late stages.

	Percentage
1979 to 1980	-61
1980 to 1981	+185
1981 to 1982	+65
1982 to 1983	-31
1983 to 1984	+93
1984 to 1985	-80
1985 to 1986	+152

Sexual Harassment

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his Department's policy on sexual harassment at work; whether guidance on reporting complaints has been issued to all staff; how many complaints have been reported in the past five years; and what disciplinary action has been taken.

The Civil Service policy on sexual harassment is set out in the programme of action to achieve equal opportunities for women in the Civil Service which was published by the Cabinet Office (Management and Personnel Office) in 1984. Sexual harassment at work is not tolerated and is dealt with as a disciplinary matter through the usual Civil Service complaints procedures. My Department's staff have been informed of this and also about how to make complaints of sexual harassment.In the past five years seven complaints have been reported in my Department. Where the complaint has been substantiated, disciplinary action has ranged from a formal warning to forfeiture of pay.

Salmon

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will describe the formula used to assess those rating values which are based upon the annual statistical returns on Scottish salmon and sea trout catches.

Determination of rateable values is the statutory responsibility of assessors who operate independently of central and local government and who must be prepared to justify the valuations they make before the courts. Information about individual valuations is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to check the accuracy in the annual statistical returns on Scottish salmon and sea trout catches prior to their being used to assess future rating values; and if he will make a statement.

Forms are checked to ensure that relevant parts have been completed and that there are no inconsistencies in the entries, for example between numbers and weights of fish reported as caught. As the statistics are published by salmon fishery region and statistical district it is unlikely that the information could be used by assessors to assist in the determination of the rateable value of individual fisheries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any information which might explain the annual variations in statistical returns on salmon catches over the past five years in the Scottish salmon fishery statistical districts of (a) the Isle of Lewis, (b) Harris and (c) the Uists; and if he will make a statement.

The information available to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland is not sufficient to give specific reasons for the variations in the salmon catches for the salmon fishery statistical districts specified. Fluctuations in reported annual salmon catches can occur for a number of reasons. These include variations in the abundance of salmon, salmon runs not conforming with the fishing seasons, variations in the fishing effort throughout the fishing season or from one fishing season to another, changes in climatic conditions and variations in completeness of reported catch statistics.

Free Milk

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children under five years of age and cared for by recognised childminders are currently in receipt of free milk; and how many childminders are involved.

The information available for the quarter August to October 1987 is as follows:

Number of children in Scotland under five years of age receiving free milk while cared for by a childminder: 576.

Number of registered childminders in Scotland claiming reimbursement for cost of milk supplied: 232.

Midwifery Students

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many intakes of midwifery students were cancelled in Scotland in each year ended 30 September in 1985, 1986 and 1987; and what are the most recently available staffing figures.

In the years mentioned only one course, at Glasgow Northern College of Nursing and Midwifery in August 1987, was cancelled. That was because of a lack of numbers The number of qualified midwives, including community midwives and community nurses with combined duties, in the NHS in Scotland at 30 September 1987 (provisional figure) was 4,115 (3,504 whole-time equivalent) and the number of student midwives was 988.

Rural Transport

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the uptake of rural transport innovation grants, showing the number of applications, the number and value of grants paid, and the reasons for any refusals, in each region; how much of his budget for this scheme has not been used; and if he has any plans to promote public transport in rural Scotland.

The information about the uptake of rural transport innovation grant is set out in the table. Grant totalling £39,601 was approved on rural transport schemes in 1986–87 and a further £41,099 has been approved in the current financial year to date. Provision of £170,000 has been available in both 1986–87 and 1987–88.Since the scheme began in June 1986, 10 applications for grant assistance have been rejected because they did not meet the criteria. Applications were mainly rejected because the service was already operating, or duplicated an existing service, or was not in a rural area.In an effort to encourage further interest in the scheme a publicity leaflet/poster was widely distributed in August 1987 to regional and islands councils, district and community councils and to various voluntary organisations. Further promotion of the scheme will be considered as appropriate.

Regional/Islands council	No. of applications received¹	No. of Grants Approved	Value of Grants Approved £
Borders	1	1	2,000
Central	—	—	—
Dumfries and Galloway	5	3	32,330
Fife	—	—	—
Grampian	—	—	—
Highland	3	—	—
Lothian	1	—	—
Strathclyde	5	1	12,250
Tayside	3	2	32,000
Orkney	—	—	—
Shetland	—	—	—
Western Isles	2	1	2,120
¹ Includes two applications (one in Strathclyde, one in Western Isles) which are under consideration.

Written Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of the 20 written questions on the Order paper for Thursday 14 January for answer by him on that date were answered on that date; if he will distinguish between (a) questions for written priority answer and (b) questions for ordinary written answer; and if he will further indicate how many questions received (i) holding answers and (ii) substantive answers.

Of the 20 written questions for answer by me on the Order Paper for Thursday 14 January, 16 questions for written priority answer were answered on that day. Ten of these received substantive replies and six holding replies were issued. Four questions for ordinary written answer were not answered. In addition, a question for ordinary written answer by the Secretary of State for the Environment was answered by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for home affairs and the environment.

Rescue Archaeology

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of Government expenditure on rescue archaeology over the past five years has been spent on the Western Isles; and if he will make a statement.

Figures are available only from 1984–85. Since then, and including estimated expenditure in 1987–88, 3·6 per cent. of Scottish Office expenditure on rescue archaeology has been on projects in the Western Isles.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been spent from Government funds on rescue archaeology in (a) the Orkneys and (b) the Western Isles over the last five years.

Figures are available only from 1984–85. Since then, and including estimated expenditure in 1987–88, Scottish Office expenditure on rescue archaeology projects has been £573,000 (Orkney) and £109,000 (the Western Isles).

Catering And Domestic Service Contractors (Meeting)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the meeting held on 2 October 1987, attended by representatives of the trade associations for catering and domestic services contractors and by health board chairmen and general managers, referred to in paragraph 1 of the letter issued by the Scottish Home and Health Department to health board general managers under the signature of Hugh Morrision, dated December 1987.

The meeting on 2 October 1987, which I inaugurated, was a seminar of which no formal minutes were made. The subsequent discussion at the seminar was reported to me by my officials.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which companies and health boards were represented, and by whom, at the meeting on 2 October 1987 attended by representatives of the trade associations for catering and domestic services contractors and by health board chairmen and general managers.

All Scottish health boards and the Common Services Agency were represented by their chairmen and general managers or other senior health board managers. Presentations were made by the trade associations representing the catering and domestic services sectors and by Grant Thorton Management Consultants.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has as to who called the meeting on 2 October 1987, attended by representatives of the trade associations for catering and domestic services contractors and by health board chairmen and general managers.

The seminar held on 2 October 1987 was organised by the Scottish Home and Health Department.

Health Board General Managers (Correspondence)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the intended status of the letter from his Department to health board general managers, dated 10 December 1987, and issued over the signature of Hugh Morrison.

The letter of 11 December 1987 conveyed to boards and the Common Services Agency the action which boards are required to take to invite competitive tender for certain NHS support services. The letter makes it abundantly clear that boards are to comply with its terms.

Nurses

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what conveniently available figures he has for the shortage of paediatric intensive care nurses in Scotland.

No information is routinely collected centrally on paediatric intensive care nurses as a separate group. There is no evidence from health boards of any shortage.

Trade And Industry

Rolls-Royce (Seminar)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will provide a list of personnel from his Department attending the lunch and cocktail party and winter seminar organised by Rolls-Royce plc on 13 January; and what was the purpose of their attendance.

Two officials from the Department attended the winter seminar as part of their responsibilities for maintaining contacts with companies in the aerospace sector.

Yorkshire And Humberside (Aid)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the total expenditure on (a) regional development grant and (b) selective assistance to (a) Grimsby travel-to-work area, (b) county Humberside and (c) Yorkshire and Humberside, in each year from 1978–79.

Expenditure under the regional development grant and regional selective assistance schemes was as follows:

Regional development grant (RDG)¹
£ million
	Grimsby^{2 3} travel-to-work-area (TTWA)	Humberside²county	Yorkshire and Humberside
1978–79	1·9	11·3	30·2
1979–80	1·3	6·3	21·5

	Grimsby^{2 3} travel-to-work-area (TTWA)	Humberside ² county	Yorkshire and Humberside
1980–81	2·1	10·3	38·7
1981–82	3·3	18·1	47·1
1982–83	2·3	20·0	36·4
1983–84	2·5	16·5	23·5
1984–85	3·8	16·2	26·8
1985–86	1·2	9·4	24·2
1986–87	4·1	15·4	27·1
¹ Consists of the original RDG scheme and the revised scheme introduced in November 1984·
² The original RDG scheme element of these data includes only individual payments of over £25,000: payments below this size cannot be attributed to geographical areas smaller than planning regions·
³ Data for the original scheme only· Grimsby TTWA was downgraded from Development Area to Intermediate Area in November, 1984 and thus there have been no payments to this area under the revised RDG scheme·

Regional selective assistance ¹
£ million
	Grimsby travel-to-work-area (TTWA)	Humberside county	Yorkshire and Humberside
1978–79	0·1	0·7	5·2
1979–80	0·2	0·8	6·8
1980–81	0·3	0·8	6·6
1981–82	0·1	0·7	7·1
1982–83	0·1	1·0	10·6
1983–84	0·2	1·8	8·8
1984–85	0·2	3·0	9·7
1985–86	0·2	2·7	8·3
1986–87	2·2	3·7	10·1
¹ Industrial and training grants only. Details of expenditure under the business improvement services and exchange risk guarantee schemes are not available at TTWA, county or regional level.

Corby (Grants)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the total payments made of regional development grants (new scheme) in each year since 1980 to companies in the Corby travel-to-work area.

Payments made to applicants in the Corby travel-to-work area under the regional development grant scheme introduced in November 1984 were as follows:

	£ million
1985	0·8
1986	4·7
1987	5·7

The 1987 figure is provisional.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the total payments made of regional development grants (old scheme) in each year since 1980 to companies in the Corby travel-to-work area.

Payments made to applicants in the Corby travel-to-work area under the original regional development grant scheme in each year since 1980 were as follows:

	£ million
1980	—
1981	2·4
1982	6·1
1983	6·5

	£ million
1984	3·3
1985	1·8
1986	3·3
1987	0·6

The figures quoted are the totals of individual payments of over £25,000 since payments below this size cannot be attributed to a geographical area smaller than a planning region. The 1987 figure is provisional.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what are the total payments made under the investment support scheme for microelectronics each year since 1980 within the Corby travel-to-work area;(2) what are the total payments made under the investment support for microelectronics 2 scheme in the Corby development area in each year since 1980.

No such payments have been made in the period since 1980.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what were the total payments made of assistance under section 8 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 in each year to companies in the Corby travel-to-work area.

Such information is available for assistance under section 8 of the Industry Act 1972 and section 8 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 through support for major projects; investment support for fibre optics and opto-electronics; investment support for microelectronics; support for advanced manufacturing project planning and implementation; the microelectronics industry support scheme; computer aided design and test equipment support for the innovation-linked investment scheme.Payments in respect of projects located in the Corby travel-to-work area were:

	£
1984	39,317
1986	20,320
1987	2,835

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the total payments made of selective financial assistance under section 7 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 in each year to companies in the Corby travel-to-work area.

Payments of regional selective assistance under section 7 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 (and previously under section 7 of the Industry Act 1972) in the Corby travel-to-work area have been as follows:

	£ million
1980	—
1981	0·3
1982	1·7
1983	6·3
1984	7·0
1985	3·3
1986	2·2
¹1987	2·0
¹ Provisional.

Notes:

1.The figures comprise industrial grant payments and expenditure under the business improvement services scheme.

2. The figures exclude expenditure on the exchange risk guarantee scheme as it is not possible to provide details on a travel-to-work area basis.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the total payments made under parts I, II and III of the Industrial Development Act 1982 and parts 1(2) and II of the Industry Act 1972, in each year since 1980 to recipients in the Corby travel-to-work area.

Total payments made under the relevant schemes in the Corby travel-to-work area were:

	£ million
1980	—
1981	2·7
1982	7·8
1983	12·8
1984	10·3
1985	5·9
1986	10·2
1987	¹8·4
¹ Provisional.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the total payments made under the innovation-linked investment scheme in the Corby development area in each year since 1980.

There have been no such payments.

Private Mines (Durham)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what regional development grants and regional selective assistance grants have been made to operators of licensed mines and private opencast site operations in the county of Durham over the last three years; and if he will indicate to whom the grants have been paid and the location of the private mines and opencast sites.

Mining is not a qualifying activity for reginal development grant. One offer of regional selective assistance has been made to the mining sector in the county of Durham over the past three years: an offer of £940,000 to Weardale Holdings. In addition some payments have been made in this period as a result of offers made in earlier years.

Durham (Regional Aid)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will indicate the amount of regional development grants and regional selective assistance grants made in (a) the county of Durham, (b) the new town industrial estate of Peterlee and (c) the Easington district council area over the last five years.

The amount of regional support made available in county Durham, Peterlee and Easington between January 1983 and December 1987 is as follows:

£ million
	County Durham	Peterlee	Easington
Regional Selective Assistance offered	26·1	6·3	8·8

County Durham

Peterlee

Easington

Payments under original Regional Development Grant Scheme (RDGI)

22·1

10·2

—

Approvals under revised Regional Development Grant Scheme

32·4

6·5

8·1

The RDG I figures relate to published information for employment office areas and identify individual payments in excess of £25,000. The Department does not maintain more detailed statistics. Since Easington falls within the Sunderland employment office area a breakdown of RDG I is not available. Likewise specific records are not available on the industrial estate mentioned and therefore the figures quoted relate to Peterlee new town.

British Steel Corporation

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) if he will list the intended capital expenditure of the British Steel Corporation by plant over each of the next three years;(2) if he will list the following figures for the British Steel Corporation's financial performance for each year

	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87
Turnover £ million	3,105	2,954	3,443	3,231	3,358	3,736	3,735	3,461
Net profit (loss) £ million	(1,784)	(1,020)	(504)	(869)	(256)	(383)	38	178
Liquid steel production (million tonnes)	14·1	11·9	14·1	11·7	13·4	13·0	14·0	11·7
Number of United Kingdom employees at year end (000's)	166·4	120·9	103·7	81·1	71·1	64·5	54·2	52·0
Productivity (man hours per tonne liquid steel)	13·2	14·5	9·4	9·3	7·1	7·0	6·3	6·2
Capital expenditure £ million	261	148	164	122	164	210	220	269

Further to the above table, on 3 December 1987 BSC announced a half-year profit for 1987–88 of £190 million. The corporation is currently planning capital expenditure of £256 million in 1988–89, £274 million in 1989–90 and £288 million in 1990–91.

Easington

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proposals he has to encourage the development of high technology industry in the district of Easington following the winding-up of the Peterlee and Aycliffe development corporation.

Industry in Easington will be greatly encouraged by the enterprise initiative, with major new inititatives on design, marketing, quality, manufacturing technology, business planning, business information systems, exports, research and technology and business education backed up by investment and innovation grants for small firms (with fewer than 25 employees) and regional selective assistance where clearly necessary to bring about good projects.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will visit Easington to meet those industrialists whose firms have benefited from regional development grants.

since 1978–79 in turnover, net profit or loss, liquid steel production, numbers employed, productivity in terms of man hours per tonne and capital expenditure;

(3) if he will detail capital expenditure in each or the British Steel Corporation's integrated steel plants in each year since 1978–79;

(4) if he will list the following figures for each of the British Steel Corporation's integrated plants for each year since 1978–79 in turnover, net profit or loss, liquid steel production, number employed, productivity in terms of man hours per tonne and capital expenditure.

BSC publishes capital expenditure and performance figures for the corporation as a whole. A more detailed breakdown by plant is unavailable since this information is commercially confidential. The same is true of plans for future capital expenditure at individual plants. The table gives the figures since 1978–79 for the corporation as published in the report and accounts for 1986–87:

I shall be pleased if it proves possible for me to revisit Easington, where industrialists retain access to regional selective assistance, where clearly necessary, to bring about good projects.

Libya

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the value of exports to Libya from the United Kingdom during 1985–86, 1986–87 and 1987 to date.

United Kingdom exports to Libya for 1985, 1986 and 1987 are £237·2 million, £260·5 million and £202·8 million respectively.

Higher Educational Establishments (Equipment)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps have been taken to encourage companies to donate equipment to higher educational establishments; and if he will make a statement.

The Government look to higher educational establishments to increase their links with companies and encourages industry to further those links and donate cash, equipment or staff time. There are a number of tax incentives available to encourage company donations, including donations of equipment, to higher education.

Bsc (Land Holdings)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much land surplus to operational requirements is owned, whether freehold or leasehold, by the British Steel Corporation.

At the end of December 1987, the British Steel Corporation owned 1,200 acres of land which were recorded as unused or underused under part X of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980.

Regional Selective Assistance

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if Her Majesty's Government's provision for regional selective assistance paid from 31 March onwards includes any assessment in respect of money obtained from the EEC European regional development fund.

In setting the levels of public expenditure on regional selective assistance, Her Majesty's Government take into account the amount of support expected from the European regional development fund. The Supply Estimates to be published in March will give details of the receipts forecast from the fund in 1988–89.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give the forecast for regional selective assistance for the years 1988–89 and 1989–90, and the latest forecast outturn for 1987–88.

Expected expenditure by my Department on regional selective assistance in 1988–89 and 1989–90 is £161·5 million and £147·6 million, respectively. The decline between the two years is mainly due to an expected reduction in expenditure on the temporary scheme of assistance for small and medium-sized firms and on the exchange risk guarantee scheme. Provision for expenditure on RSA in 1987–88 currently stands at £121·6 million.

Notes:

(1) All figures are not of recoveries and domestic receipts but gross of expected EC receipts.
(2) The following items are included in RSA for the purpose of departmental expenditure estimates:
— project and training grants.
— assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises in certain areas affected by rundown in steel, shipbuilding, textile fisheries and tin mining.
— guarantees for loans from the European Investment Bank and European Coal and Steel Community.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish the criteria under which assessments for regional selective assistance (a) are, and (b) will be, made.

The criteria against which applications are appraised are set out in my Department's booklet "The Regional Initiative: Guide to Regional Selective Assistance", copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether any account of the size of an applicant firm will be taken in assessing eligibility for regional selective assistance.

Applications from firms of all sizes are considered against the same criteria but simplified procedures apply to grants of £25,000 and under.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what percentage of decisions on eligibility for regional selective assistance it is contemplated will be based on advice from (a) private consultants or (b) Department of Trade and Industry officials;(2) whether he will list the types of private sector organisations that will be eligible to receive public money in order to give advice on eligibility for regional selective assistance.

There are no present plans to submit applications to private consultants for advice. However, proposed offers of £100,000 and over are submitted for advice to the relevant regional industrial development board or to the industrial development advisory board, which consist of people from the private sector with relevant experience. Large applications are appraised by the Department's industrial development unit which consists mainly of private sector secondees.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will make an estimate of the proportion of regional selective assistance recouped by the Inland Revenue as taxable profits.

No. This will depend on the tax position of companies in receipt of regional selective assistance, which is likely to vary widely.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many successful applications for regional selective assistance were made in the United Kingdom in each year from 1979–80 to 1986–87; and how many are forecast for 1987–88.

The number of successful applications for regional selective assistance in Great Britain in each full year from 1979–80 was as follows:

	Number
1979–80	1,055
1980–81	382
1981–82	830
1982–83	1,011
1983–84	1,097
1984–85	897
1985–86	1,012
1986–87	1,388

Note: These figures are for successful applications for industrial and training grants only.

The number in 1987–88 is expected to be around 1,600.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many of the successful applications for regional selective assistance in 1986–87 were for sums in excess of £100,000.

A total of 303 successful applications made during 1986–87 in Great Britain received offers of regional selective assistane of over £100,000.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the total value of regional assistance given to companies in the Castleford travel-to-work area for each year since 1979.

Payments of grant under the regional selective assistance and original regional development grant schemes to companies in the Castleford and Pontefract travel-to-work area since 1979 were:

	£'000
1979	275
1980	1,173
1981	534
1982	423
1983	43
1984	139
1985	17
1986	12
1987	—

Noses:

1. The regional development grant element of these data is comprised of individual payments of over £25,000; payments of smaller amounts cannot be attributed to a geographical area smaller than a planning region.

2. Castleford and Pontefract ceased to be an assisted area in 1982.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what checks will be made under his proposed new regional investment grant to ensure that firms achieve the promised number of jobs; and how this system of monitoring will compare with the existing procedures for monitoring regional selective assistance.

The creation of jobs will not be a condition of the new regional investment grant but the scheme is expected to have a beneficial effect on employment and we shall be setting up arrangements to evaluate this on a sampling basis.Under regional selective assistance companies in receipt of offers of assistance are required to submit annual audited reports on the progress of the project and to inform the Department if they fail to reach or maintain the level of jobs specified in the offer. Projects benefiting from regional selective assistance are normally visited at least once during the period in which these conditions apply.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many posts at each regional office in England, Scotland and Wales will be redundant as a result of the recently announced changes in regional policy.

The number of posts devoted to the administration of the revised regional development grant scheme in my Department's regional offices is approximately 160. The need for work on regional development grants will gradually cease over a number of years. Depending on their terms and conditions of employment, staff will either be redeployed, where possible, or found alternative posts.The administration of the scheme in Scotland and Wales is the responsibility of the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales respectively.

Pens (Safety)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) whether he will introduce legislation to ban pen tops of the type that caused the death of Billie Walker of Braunstone, Leicester;(2) whether he will institute research into the safety of pens available to schoolchildren;

(3) whether he will consult Biro Bic Ltd. to seek the voluntary withdrawal by it from the market of pens with the type of tops which caused the death of Billie Walker of Braunstone, Leicester.

[pursuant to his reply, 13 January 1988, c. 318]: Following the completion, in September 1986, of research initiated by my Department which concluded that the risk of asphyxiation of children due to the inhalation of pen tops could be reduced by a design modification, officials met representatives of the major pen manufacturers and other interested organisations. The findings of the report were discussed and details of the type of design identified as safer were made available. It is encouraging that some manufacturers have already modified their products and that the others intend to do so when the next generation of pens is introduced. My Department has taken the opportunity recently to remind suppliers, through the relevant trade associations, of their responsibilities under the general safety requirement of the Consumer Protection Act 1987.As manufacturers appear to be acting voluntarily I do not consider further action is necessary at this stage. The research findings have also been made available to the authorities concerned with consumer product safety in a number of overseas countries.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the criteria that constitutes identifiable and significant benefits for eligibility for regional selective aid as from April; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: In order to qualify for regional selective assistance projects must create or safeguard employment in the assisted areas. They should have good prospects of achieving commercial viability so that the employment benefits are durable. They should also strengthen the regional and national economy, for example by improving productivity, increasing exports or introducing new technology. Any adverse impact on employment in other firms is taken into account. Service sector projects which serve only a local market do not generally qualify for RSA.The full list of criteria is set out in the Department's booklet "The Regional Initiative: Guide to regional selective assistance" and in the guidance notes issued with the application form. The RSA scheme has operated successfully against these requirements for a number of years.

National Girobank

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in what form he proposes to seek parliamentary approval for any change in the status or ownership of national Girobank.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: I would naturally expect to inform Parliament of any decision to change the status or ownership of Girobank. Parliamentary approval would be sought if required.

Regional Policy

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list, for development and intermediate areas, the various schemes that will apply as from April for the promotion of regional policy and the encouragement of business enterprise, together with details of the level of financial assistance and any associated conditions.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: From April 1988 the following schemes of assistance will apply under the DTI regional initiative:Regional Selective Assistance, available in development and intermediate areas:

(a) Project grants based on the fixed capital costs of a project and the number of jobs expected to be created or safeguarded. The level of grant is negotiated, within certain EC and national limits, as the minimum necessary for the project to proceed.

(b) Training grants at up to 80 per cent. of eligible costs.

To be eligible for assistance projects should be viable, create or safeguard employment, offer regional and national economic benefits, and need assistance to go ahead.

Consultancy Assistance

(a) A free 2-day Business Review.

(b) Assistance for consultancy projects of 5–15 man days on:

marketing
design
quality
manufacturing strategy and systems
business planning
financial and information systems.

Assistance is normally at the rate of half of the agreed consultancy cost. But in the development and intermediate areas, and in urban programme areas, the assistance is at the rate of two thirds of the agreed consultancy cost to reflect the particular need to stimulate increased use of consultancy in those areas. This assistance is available to independent firms or groups with fewer than 500 employees.

Investment grants of 15 per cent. of the cost of fixed assets up to a maximum grant of £15,000, and innovation grants of 50 per cent. of the agreed project cost up to a maximum grant of £25,000, will be available to independent firms with fewer than 25 employees in development areas. These two schemes are being targeted at the development areas in recognition of the particular difficulties in those areas in raising finance for business development and stimulating innovation. Further details of these two new grants will be published nearer the date of their introduction on 1 April.

In certain parts of the assisted areas (and some non-assisted areas) the following are also available:

(a) Exchange risk cover on foreign currency reconversion loans from the European Coal and Steel Community up to a maximum of £500,000 per project; and

(b) Temporarily, business improvement service grants to help support the development of small firms.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if the reforms of regional policy which he announced on 12 January require the prior approval of the European Commission before they are implemented; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: The regional policy changes which were announced on 12 January included plans to grant or alter state aid, of which the European Commission must be informed in accordance with article 93(3) of the EC treaty. The Commission has been informed of these plans and has decided to raise no objections to them.

Regional Assistance (Sunderland)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the total value of regional assistance given to companies in Sunderland for each year since 1979.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]:The total value of regional assistance given to companies in Sunderland for each year since 1979 is as follows:

£ million
	RSA offered	RDG I paid	RDG II offered
1979	1·1	1·5	—
1980	3·6	1·2	—
1981	2·2	2·6	—
1982	1·8	2·7	—
1983	2·5	1·6	—
1984	38·0	2·1	—
1985	1·6	1·6	3·1
1986	2·5	1·2	5·8
1987	3·3	1·2	6·8

The RSA figure for 1984 includes the £35 million offered in respect of the Nissan project. The RDG I figures relate to published information for the Sunderland employment office area and identify individual payments in excess of £25,000. The Department does not maintain more detailed statistics. The RDG II scheme commenced in November 1984 and there were no offers in that year.

Social Services

British Paediatric Association

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department has considered an application for an exhibition relating to the British Paediatric Association to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.

I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Services Committee, arrangements have been made with the authorities of the House for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall during the week commencing 22 February.

Registration Of Deaths

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to introduce legislation to permit registration of death to be made either at the place of death or at the place of normal residence; and if he will make a statement.

At present, information for the registration of a death may be given only to the registrar of the sub-district in which the event occurred.A change similar to the one which my hon. Friend is seeking has been considered on a number of occasions, most recently in the efficiency scrutiny into the registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales which reported in 1985. The scrutiny favoured the introduction of a system which would enable a death in England or Wales to be notified to any registrar of deaths in those countries, provided that certain other associated changes affecting death registration and the reporting of deaths to a coroner could also be made.As my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State announced in the other place on 3 December 1987

—

Official Report, House of Lords, column 1230—the Government intend to legislate along the lines of the scrutiny proposals in the present Parliament should a suitable opportunity occur. To that end, consultations have been opened on the scrutiny recommendations including those on death registration. It is as yet too early to predict the outcome of those consultations.

Hip Replacement Operations (Barnet)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many hip replacement operations have been carried out in the Barnet health authority since 1978.

I regret that this information can be produced centrally only at disproportionate cost. My hon. Friend may wish to write to the chairman of the health authority for the information he requires.

Obstetric Units

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will publish in the Official Report a list of each obstetric unit for each health authority in England and if he will indicate for each unit (a) whether there is a designated consultant anaesthetist whose duties include the organisation of an obstetric anaesthetic service and ensuring that the health authority is fully aware of any deficiencies in this service, (b) whether there is a consultant anaesthetist on call and readily available on a 24 hour, seven day a week basis, (c) whether suitable facilities for the storage of blood exists, (d) whether a quantity of Group 0 Rh-ve blood is held, (e) whether there exists a 24 hour on-request epidural service, (f) whether an anaesthetic audit is undertaken; and (g) whether the equipment required in the labour suite and the obstetric theatre include an emergency electricity supply;(2) if he will indicate for each obstetric unit in England whether the anaesthetic equipment includes

(a) an anaesthetic machine, (b) difficult intubation kit, (c) a DC defibrillator, (d) anaesthetic gas scavenging facilities, (e) an automatic pulmonary ventilator with disconnect alarm and (f) refrigerator for the storage of drugs;

(3) if he will indicate for each obstetric unit in England whether there is (a) an ECG monitor with recorder, (b) an inspired oxygen concentration meter, (c) an automatic blood pressure measuring device, (d) an end tidal carbon dioxide meter, (e) a peripheral nerve stimulator, (f) apparatus for measuring central venous pressure, (g) pulse aximeter, (h) blood storage refrigerator, (i) pressure infusion bags, (j) a blood warming device, (k) blood filters, (l) neonatal resuscitation equipment that includes a temperature measuring device; and (m) neonatal equipment for maintaining the temperature of the neonate.

The information requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The Maternity Services Advisory Committee in 1984 provided guidance to health authorities on the equipment to be included in new delivery suites and in the upgrading of existing buildings. This guidance, which has been commended to health authorities, is followed wherever possible. The functioning of obstetrics departments is a matter for the health authority concerned.

Hospital Broadcasting Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will meet the chairman of British Telecom to discuss the threat to hospital broadcasting services from substantial increases in British Telecom line charges.

No. The organisation of hospital broadcasting services is for local decision. I understand there have been no significant changes in British Telecom charges likely to affect hospital broadcasting services since November 1986.

Lloyd George Stationery

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department has reviewed the use, size and availability of Lloyd George stationery for recording medical histories by family practitioners; and if he will make a statement.

In 1974 a joint working party of the Health Departments for England, Wales and Scotland, health authorities and general medical practitioners recommended the replacement of the A5 size medical record envelope (familiarly known as the "Lloyd George envelope") in general practice by an A4 size folder. Since then some practices have converted their records to A4 size. Supplies of the A5 envelope continue to be available to practices which have not converted their records.

Medical Professionals

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will review the current level of integration of medical professionals into the general management system; and if he will make a statement.

We have no plans to carry out a review. A considerable number of medical staff have become general managers and we welcome the contribution which they are making to the Health Service.

Consultants

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what guidance is issued to employing authorities regarding the negotiation of contracts with consultants.

Guidance on the contracts of consultants is contained in "Personnel Memorandum PM(79)11", a copy of which has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his policy on the payment of different rates to consultants employed by the National Health Service in different geographical areas.

Consultants working in the London area receive London weighting. Apart from this, all consultants are paid on a single national scale, which is the subject of a recommendation by the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration.

Supplementary Benefit

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people claimed supplementary benefit in Rhondda constituency in (a) 1979 and (b) 1985; what percentage change that represents; and what was the percentage change in (i) staff handling supplementary benefit and (ii) all staff at local offices of his Department for the same period.

Information is not available in the precise form requested. The Rhondda constituency is served by Porth and Rhondda, West local offices of the Department, although the boundaries are not conterminous.The number of people in receipt of supplementary benefit, and the percentage increase between the years requested, is as follows:

	Porth	Rhondda West	Totals	Percentage increase
1979	2,984	5,150	8,134	—
1985	4,227	7,825	12,052	48

Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action in May of each year.

The staffing figures for 1979 are no longer available. Details of the percentage change in staffing cannot therefore be supplied.

Severe Weather Payments

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his answer of 18 December 1987, Official Report, column 935, if he will publish a similar table of severe weather payments which includes figures for the Castle Gate office of his Department in proportion to its Nottingham, North constituency clients.

The total and weekly number of exceptionally cold weather payments made by the Castlegate office last winter is as follows. Information on what proportion of those payments was made to claimants in the Nottingham, North consituency is not available but is likely to be very small, since only a small part of that constituency lies within the area covered by the Castlegate office.The figures given are for the statitical weeks ending on the dates specified. I regret that my reply on 18 December, at column

935, in relation to the local offices which cover most of the Nottingham, North constituency, wrongly stated that the figures were for the weeks commencing on those dates.

Number of exceptionally cold weather payments made by Nottingham Castlegate office by week of payment in the winter of 1986–87
Payment made in week ending	Number of £5 weekly payments made
20 January 1987	200
27 January 1987	1,957
3 February 1987	1,115
10 February 1987	363
17 February 1987	252
24 February 1987	137
3 March 1987	139
10 March 1987	46
17 March 1987	64
24 March 1987	22
31 March 1987	—
7 April 1987	20
14 April 1987	18
21 April 1987	—
28 April 1987	8
5 May 1987	6
19 May 1987	—
26 May 1987	—

Payment made in week ending

Number of £5 weekly payments made

2 June 1987

TOTAL

4,351

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his answer of 18 December 1987, Official Report, column 935, which were the two weeks for which help in the form of severe weather payments was available in the Nottingham area.

Exceptionally cold weather payments were available in the Nottingham area for the weeks commencing 12 and 19 January 1987.

Nurses

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list those (a) health authorities and (b) teaching hospitals which are running courses designed to retrain and possibly re-employ previously qualified nurses who wish to return to the nursing profession, giving in each case the number of places and applicants for each year since such courses have been in operation, and the steps taken to advertise the availability of the courses.

The information is not available centrally.It rests with health authorities to match the provision of courses for those wishing to return to nursing with the service need. Every encouragement is given to health authorities to attract qualified nurses to return. Planning and organisation of these courses is a matter for individual health authorities, depending on their staffing needs.Such courses are usually publicised within the community.

Social Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services on what principles area allocations of money to the social fund were decided; and for what reasons some areas have received smaller allocations than are being disbursed at the present time.

An explanation of the basis of social fund allocations to local offices for 1988–89 is available in the Library.

Mentally Handicapped People (Board And Lodging)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy to make the levels of board and lodging allowance for the mentally handicapped more flexible to take account of the variety of support needs of the mentally handicapped: and if he will make a statement.

Supplementary benefit assistance with residential care and nursing home fees does not, and was never intended to, provide help with all levels of needs. It is not the only source of support for mentally handicapped people. Health and local authorities have powers and duties to help where particular needs arise.Sir Roy Griffiths has been asked to conduct an overview of community care and to make recommendations on the most effective use of public resources. His conclusions are expected shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy to ensure that the growth in board and lodging allowances for the mentally handicapped will allow for inflation; and if he will make a statement.

People in homes for the mentally handicapped who are entitled to supplementary benefit (from next April income support) can receive help in full with any increase in charges, subject to national limits on the overall weekly charge which can be met, which from next April will be £200 per week (nursing homes) and £160 per week (residential care homes). This represents increases of 14 per cent. and 19 per cent. respectively since April 1985 when the present system was introduced, reflecting the fact that we already take movements in homes' costs and charges into account when setting limits. The increase in the retail prices index since April 1985 has been 9 per cent.

Prescriptions (Cost Of Items)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to introduce legislation to make it a requirement for pharmacists to inform patients when an item ordered by prescription is cheaper when bought over the counter.

We have no plans to do so.

General Practice Finance Corporation

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what discussions he has had with the general medical services committee of the British Medical Association, and the General Practice Finance Corporation, about changing the constitution of the General Practice Finance Corporation to allow the maximum use of private sector funds; and if he will make a statement.

In the past year, I have met representatives of the General Medical Services Committee of the British Medical Association (GMSC) on three occasions and representatives of the General Practice Finance Corporation (GPFC) on five occasions, which included two meetings jointly with the GMSC, to discuss changing the constitution of the GPFC to allow the maximum use of private sector funds. As I said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Mr. Hayward) on 25 November 1987, at columns 248–49, we shall be carrying forward this proposal in further

	Yorkshire Region Net revenue expenditure¹(£ thousands)			Pontefract District Net revenue expenditure¹(£ thousands)
		1986–87 prices			1986–87 prices
	Cash	Using gross domestic product deflator	Using HCHS pay and price deflator	Cash	Using gross domestic product deflator
1978–79	311,657	606,348	692,814	ֵ	—
1979–80	377,972	629,188	696,980	ֵ	—
1980–81	490,154	688,216	706,312	ֵ	—
1981–82	542,779	694,082	722,982	ֵ	—
1982–83	578,533	690,126	723,166	20,046	23,913
1983–84	613,596	699,773	730,179	21,299	24,290

discussion with the GPFC and the GMSC. Powers to enable such a change to take place are included in clauses 1 to 3 of the Health and Medicines Bill.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services on what date he received the annual report of the General Practice Finance Corporation; and why it has not yet been laid before Parliament.

A copy of the corporation's annual report was received on 1 December. The report is being studied prior to arranging for it to be laid before Parliament.

Invalid Care Allowance (Seaham And Peterlee)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will indicate the number of people within the area covered by his Department's Peterlee office and Seaham office who are in receipt of invalid care allowance.

I regret that the information requested is not available.

Emphysema

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has now received the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council's report on its investigation into the cause of emphysema among coal miners; and if he will make a statement.

We have not yet received this report. I am advised that it will now be submitted in February. Careful consideration will then be given to its recommendations.

Nhs Funding (Yorkshire)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the amount of Government funding for each year since 1979 to (a) Pontefract district health authority and (b) the Yorkshire regional health authority, based on (i) actual amounts, (ii) in real terms at the current year's prices and (iii) in real terms at the current year's prices based on information he may have for National Health Service inflation costs.

The available information is shown in the table. Information is not available on a district basis for the years prior to the 1982 reorganisation of the National Health Service. Comparable information for 1987–88 will not be available until after the end of the financial year.It is inappropriate to revalue district health authority expenditure by reference to centrally assessed movements in hospital and community health services pay and prices as the local composition of that expenditure can differ significantly from the national average.

	Yorkshire Region Net revenue expenditure ¹ (£ thousands)			Pontefract District Net revenue expenditure ¹ (£ thousands)
		1986–87 prices			1986–87 prices
	Cash	Using gross domestic product deflator	Using HCHS pay and price deflator	Cash	Using gross domestic product deflator
1984–85	651,050	711,173	732,431	22,644	24,735
1985–86	694,253	715,172	742,156	24,249	24,980
1986–87	742,884	742,884	742,884	26,375	26,375
¹ As shown in health authorities' summarised accounts.

ֵ Not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the sum to be allocated to the Yorkshire regional health authority out of the additional funds made available in the financial year 1987–88; and how much of that sum is to be allocated to the Pontefract district health authority.

Yorkshire regional health authority has been allocated £4·7 million from the additional £75 million available this year. It is for the region to decide how to distribute these funds amongst its districts.

Pontefract Health Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has received from the Pontefract district health authority about its projected deficits from 1987–88 and 1988–89; and what action he proposes to take in response.

I am fully aware of Pontefract's financial position. I am sure the hon. Member will have welcomed

Manned Vehicles
Shift period	Division					Total
	North East	North West	South East	South West	Regional training center	London ambulance service
Early
31 December 1987	44	44	31	34	6	169
1 January 1988	40	45	29	33	6	162
2 January 1988	38	39	28	31	6	142
3 January 1988	36	37	23	30	3	129
4 January 1988	45	47	32	37	6	167
5 January 1988	44	45	29	36	6	160
6 January 1988	44	46	31	37	6	164
7 January 1988	43	46	32	37	8	164
Late
31 December 1987	32	40	23	31	6	132
1 January 1988	38	44	29	31	6	148
2 January 1988	38	43	23	31	6	141
3 January 1988	29	39	23	28	3	122
4 January 1988	40	44	27	30	6	147
5 January 1988	41	44	29	32	6	152
6 January 1988	41	43	29	32	8	151
7 January 1988	37	42	30	30	6	146
Night
31 December 1987	25	21	12	14	6	¹78
1 January 1988	23	26	15	13	6	89
2 January 1988	25	24	14	12	6	81
3 January 1988	25	26	16	15	6	88
4 January 1988	23	26	17	16	6	88
5 January 1988	22	26	17	17	6	88
6 January 1988	23	27	17	16	6	89
7 January 1988	24	26	17	17	6	90
¹ Plus preplanned support of 20 ambulances provided by St. John Ambulance Association giving a total of 98.

my right hon. Friend the Minister for Health's announcement on 16 December of an additional £75 million for health authorities in England for this financial year. £4·7 million of this has been allocated to Yorkshire regional health authority. Distribution of this money and of the annual allocation for 1988–89 to district health authorities in Yorkshire are matters for the regional health authority. The hon. Member may therefore wish to approach the chairman of Yorkshire regional health authority for further information.

Ambulances

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many ambulances of the London ambulance service, per sector, were available for emergency duty on 31 December 1987, 1 January 1988 and each subsequent day until 7 January.

The information requested is as follows:

Social Security Reform

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services which voluntary organisations he intends to consult about the need to assist those severely disabled people who will receive reduced benefit from April 1988; what he will be asking them to do; and if he will make a statement.

I have had a number of informal and exploratory talks. Those who gave me their views did so in confidence. I shall make a further announcement when the details of the scheme have been decided.

Cleveland County Council (Letters)

To ask the Secretary of State for 582Social Services when his housing benefit department at New court, Carey street, will be able to reply to the letters from Cleveland county council welfare rights department dated 8 May 1987, 3 July 1987, 15 July 1987 and 4 November 1987, all of which related to housing benefit circulars.

A reply has now been sent to Cleveland county council welfare rights department in response to its letters about housing benefit circulars.

Aids

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services when he will respond to the Advisory Council on Drug Abuse's report on drug addiction and AIDS.

We have very recently received the first report of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on drug misuse and AIDS. We expect to respond shortly, after appropriate consideration.

Efficiency

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) when he will publish the statistics comparing efficiency and performance between hospitals and health authorities;(2) if he will list the top 10 health districts in the United Kingdom for efficiency in ear, nose and throat surgery.

[holding answer 14 January 1988]:The Department will publish the annual set of performance indicators based on 1986–87 data in February 1988. This set, like those for earlier years, will be available in the Library. Performance indicators address some but not all aspects of efficiency. Since there is no one measure of the efficiency of a service, it is not therefore possible to publish a ranking list. Efficiency can be characterised only by analysis of a range of local data such as cost per case; manpower, capital and bed utilisation; percentage of day cases. Of these data only a few, for example bed utilisation and day cases, are available nationally at the ear, nose and throat specialty level, and these form part of the performance indicator set.

Children In Care

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children were in care by local authority area in 1986, or the most recent year available; how many of these children are available for adoption; and how many children in care were adopted in each of the last five years.

[holding answer 15 January 1988]:The information available is given in the tables. Information is not collected centrally on the number of children in care available for adoption.

Table 1
Children in care of local authorities in England by local authority area, at 31 March 1986
	³Number
England¹	66,700
Cleveland	979
Cumbria	493
Durham	894
Northumberland	325
Gateshead	338
Newcastle Upon Tyne	826
North Tyneside	372
South Tyneside	332
Sunderland	389
Humberside	1,348
North Yorkshire	755
Barnsley	273
Doncaster	272
Rotherham	255
Sheffield²	820
Bradford	948
Calderdale	357
Kirklees	541
Leeds	1,453
Wakefield	389
Cheshire	1,017
Lancashire	2,328
Bolton	395
Bury	271
Manchester	1,555
Oldham	321
Rochdale	495
Salford	534
Stockport	352
Tameside	309
Trafford	298
Wigan	333
Knowsley	383
Liverpool	1,281
Sefton	406
St. Helens	284
Wirral	503
Hereford and Worcester	674
Shropshire	569
Staffordshire	1,199
Warwickshire	535
Birmingham	2,218
Coventry	578
Dudley	296
Sandwell	463
Solihull	262
Walsall	393
Wolverhampton	585
Derbyshire	1,174
Leicestershire	1,050
Lincolnshire	832
Northamptonshire	796
Nottinghamshire	1,821
Bedfordshire	787
Berkshire	794
Buckinghamshire	613
Cambridgeshire	852
Essex	1,189
Hertfordshire	892
Norfolk	795
Oxfordshire	572
Suffolk	507
Camden	344

	³ Number
Greenwich	383
Hackney	755
Hammersmith	404
Islington²	769
Kensington	278
Lambeth	810
Lewisham²	587
Southwark	643
Tower Hamlets²	915
Wandsworth	572
Westminster	260
City of London	5
Barking	228
Barnet	132
Bexley	196
Brent	355
Bromley	245
Croydon	456
Ealing	363
Enfield	254
Haringey	411
Harrow	91
Havering	176
Hillingdon	166
Hounslow	289
Kingston upon Thames	143
Merton	175
Newham	438
Redbridge	256
Richmond upon Thames	103
Sutton	185
Waltham Forest	320
Dorset	631
Hampshire	2,270
Isle of Wight	124
Kent²	1,681
Surrey	797
East Sussex	790
West Sussex	776
Wiltshire	694
Avon	1,172
Cornwall	357
Devon²	897
Gloucestershire	521
Somerset	445
¹ Figures are provisional and subject to revision.
² Figures estimated using returns for earlier years.
³ Rounded to nearest hundred.

Table 2
Children in care in England who were adopted during the year ended 31 March, 1982–1986
Year	Number
1982	1,828
1983	2,044
1984	1,912
1985	1,905
¹1986	1,916
¹ The figure for 1986 is provisional and subject to revision.

Central Nottinghamshire Health Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will itemise all closures of all National Health Service psychiatric establishments from 1979 to 1987, inclusive, in both the Central Nottinghamshire area health authority and Trent regional health authority areas.

[holding answer 15 January 1988]:The information requested is given in the table. There were no closures of psychiatric hospitals in Central Nottinghamshire.

Mental Illness hospitals closed since 1979 in Trent Regional Health Authority
District and Hospital	Date of Closure
Southern Derbyshire
Blakely	1984
Rykneld	1986
Grange Childrens Unit	1987
Etwall	1987
North Lincolnshire
Lawn	1984
Nottingham
Coppice	1984
Rolherham
Swallow Nest	1985

Mentally Handicapped People

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the levels of mentally handicapped patients registered in the Central Nottinghamshire health authority area for each year 1979 to 1987, inclusive.

[holding answer 15 January 1988]: The numbers of people in National Health Service mental handicapped hospitals and units in the Central Nottinghamshire health authority on 31 December are given in the table. The people concerned are not registered and may not have been resident in the area of the health authority before their admission as patients. Figures for 1987 are not yet available.

Numbers of people in mental handicapped hospitals and units in Central Nottinghamshire Health Authority at 31 December.
Year	Number
1979	497
1980	463
1981	451
1982	426
1983	418
1984	390
1985	377
1986	362

Efficiency Savings

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will tabulate in the Official Report the respective sums for each financial year since 1980–81 described, or having effect, as efficiency savings for each regional health authority in England and Wales, together with the respective regional and global totals expressed, in actual money terms and in 1988 purchasing power, respectively.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]: The tables show for each regional health authority in England, the totals of achieved efficiency savings and cash-releasing cost improvements expressed both in cash terms and at 1986–87 price levels (the latest available) for each year from 1981–82. Figures for 1980–81 are not available centrally. Information on the savings achieved in 1987–88 will be available later this year. The information for Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Efficiency savings and cash releasing cost improvements at cash prices
£ million
Region	¹ 1981–82	¹ 1982–83	² 1983–84	¹ 1984–85	¹ 1985–86	¹ 1986–87
Northern	1·20	2·10	2·70	4·00	5·20	8·90
Yorkshire	0·60	2·00	3·10	7·10	10·00	11·80
Trent	1·50	2·10	3·70	8·00	13·20	12·10
East Anglian	0·80	0·60	1·60	3·30	2·90	4·50
North West Thames	1·20	1·80	3·30	10·60	14·30	15·80
North East Thames	1·50	4·10	420	11·70	17·10	16·40
South East Thames	2·10	3·00	3·60	14·00	14·30	12·70
South West Thames	1·20	1·20	2·80	6·90	8·50	10·90
Wessex	0·20	1·30	2·20	4·20	4·70	8·50
Oxford	0·20	0·60	1·80	3·70	4·80	4·60
South Western	1·00	1·00	2·70	4·70	6·20	6·60
West Midlands	1·30	1·40	4·20	13·50	12·00	13·70
Mersey	1·10	2·00	2·30	6·00	8·40	10·70
North Western	1·30	2·30	3·80	7·50	13·60	14·10
Total new savings (in cash terms)	15·20	25·50	42·00	105·20	135·20	151·30
Cumulative savings (in cash terms)	—	40·70	82·70	187·90	323·10	474·40
¹ Cash savings reported by regions.
² In 1983–84, regional health authorities were expected to achieve the efficiency savings shown, equivalent to some 0·5 per cent. of their cash allocations, but detailed returns were not requested.

Efficiency savings and cash releasing cost improvements at constant prices
£ million
Region	¹ 1981–82	¹ 1982–83	² 1983–84	¹ 1984–85	¹ 1985–86	¹ 1986–87
Northern	1·60	2·63	3·21	4·50	5·56	8·90
Yorkshire	0·80	2·50	3·69	7·99	10·69	11·80
Trent	2·00	2·63	4·40	9·00	14·11	12·10
East Anglian	1·07	0·75	1·90	3·71	3·10	4·50
North West Thames	1·60	2·25	3·93	11·93	15·29	15·80
North East Thames	2·00	5·13	5·00	13·16	18·28	16·40
South East Thames	2·80	3·75	4·28	15·75	15·29	12·70
South West Thames	1·60	1·50	3·33	7·76	9·09	10·90
Wessex	0·27	1·63	2·62	4·73	5·02	8·50
Oxford	0·27	0·75	2·14	4·16	5·13	4·60
South Western	1·33	1·25	3·21	5·29	6·63	6·60
West Midlands	1·73	1·75	5·00	15·19	12·83	13·70
Mersey	1·47	2·50	2·74	6·75	8·98	10·70
North Western	1·73	2·88	4·52	8·44	14·54	14·10
Total	20·25	31·88	49·98	118·35	144·53	151·30
Cumulative savings (constant prices)	—	52·12	102·10	220·45	364·98	516·28
¹ Cash savings reported by regions.
² In 1983–84, regional health authorities were expected to achieve the efficiency savings shown, equivalent to some 0·5 per cent. of their cash allocations, hut detailed returns were not requested.

Mr B Ingram, South Tyrone Hospital

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services for what reason he has not replied to the letter of 7 July 1987 addressed to the Parliamentary Secretary on medical laboratory scientific officers from the Chief Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer, Mr. B. Ingram, of South Tyrone hospital.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]:Mr. Ingram's letter was one of 620 received as part of a coordinated campaign during the period of the medical laboratory scientific officers' pay negotiations in 1987. Ministers were fully aware of the issues involved and official replies to those letters were sent out on their behalf. The response to Mr. Ingram was sent by an executive officer in the health authority personnel division in July 1987 and Mr. Ingram responded to such a reply in a further letter dated 31 July 1987.

Chorion Villus Sampling

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many district health authorities in England provide chorion villus sampling to pregnant women; and under what circumstances;(2) what information on chorion villus sampling and amniocentesis is available for pregnant women who wish to have screening; and through what channels the information is made available.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]:The information requested is not held centrally. Facilities for amniocentesis testing are available through all consultant units. The decision to offer chorion villus sampling and aminiocentesis to a pregnant woman is a matter of clinical judgment, and will depend on the risk in her particular case of the foetus having a detectable abnormality. The Medical Research Council, which receives its grant from the DES, is conducting a randomised controlled trial comparing amniocentesis with chorionic villus sampling; twenty-three centres in the United Kingdom are participating. An information booklet is available to participants and I will arrange for a copy to be sent to the hon. Member. The Department's view is that the procedures and their implications should be fully explained to the mother to enable her to make an informed decision. She should also be told who will give her the results and when she can expect to be notified.

Day Nurseries

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to the percentage of (a) three-year-olds and (b) four-year-olds who have places in local authority day nurseries.

[holding answer 18 January 1988]:Information is not collected centrally on the individual age of children using local authority day nurseries. Over the period 1982–86, the number of children on the registers of local authority day nurseries increased from 31,700 to 34,900 an increase from 1·1 per cent. to 1·2 per cent. of the population aged under five years.

Nurses, Midwives And Health Visitors (Review Body Membership)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the current membership of the Independent Review Body for Nursing Staff, Midwives and Health Visitors, showing the nominating or originating body and period of tenure in each case.

Members of the Independent Review Body for Nursing Staff, Midwives and Health Visitors are appointed by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. The current membership of the review body is shown in the table:

Name	Appointed	Appointed Ends
Sir James Cleminson, MC, DL,(Chairman)	1987	1989
Sir John Herbecq, KCB, (Deputy Chairman)	1983	1990
Miss Beryl Cooper, QC	1983	1990
Mrs. Suzette Harold	1983	1988
Principal Graham Hills	1983	1988
Mrs. Jennifer Hughes	1983	1988
Mr. Ian Phillips, F. Eng	1983	1990
Professor George Thomason, CBE	1983	1688

Grade	Number of staff	Civil Service equivalent	Salary range £
Above £22,548·00
Clerk of the House	1	Grade 1	65,000
Clerk Assistant	1	Grade 2	43,500–45,500
Clerk of Committees	1	Grade 2	43,500–45,500
Speaker's Counsel	2	Grade 3	34,000–37,000
Principal Clerks (I)	7	Grade 3	34,000–37,000
Serjeant at Arms	1	Grade 3	34,000–37,000
Librarian	1	Grade 3	34,000–37,000

Nurses (Overtime)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what he estimates to be (a) the percentage of nurses working overtime, and (b) the cost of this work to the National Health Service.

[pursuant to his reply 16 December 1987, c. 598]:Nurses who are graded up to and including senior nurse 7 are entitled to recompense for overtime worked. Of these nurses, 38 per cent. received at least one payment during the year 1986–87 at a total estimated cost to the National Health Service in Great Britain of £47·1 million.

Benefits (Rhondda)

Information is not available in the precise form requested. The Rhondda constituency is served by Porth and Rhondda West local offices of the Department, although the boundaries are not conterminous.The number of people in receipt of supplementary benefit, and the percentage increase between the years requested, is as follows:

	Porth	Rhondda West	Totals	Percentage Increase
1979	2,984	5,150	8,134	—
1985	4,227	7,825	12,052	48

Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action in May of each year.

The staffing figures for 1979 are no longer available. Details of the percentage change in staffing, cannot therefore be supplied.

House Of Commons

Parliamentary Salaries

To ask the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will give figures and grades, titles and ranks for all Officers of the House of Commons whose salaries are (a) higher and (b) lower than those of hon. Members.

The information requested is set out in the following table:

Grade	Number of staff	Civil Service equivalent	Salary range £
Head of Administration	1	Grade 3	34,000–37,000
Principal Clerks (II)	2	Grade 4	30,344–31,844
Accountant	1	Grade 4	30,344–31,844
Editor	1	Grade 4	30,344–31,844
Deputy Principal Clerks	16	Grade 5	24,765–28,215
Deputy Serjeant at Arms	1	Grade 5	24,765–28,215
Deputy Librarian	1	Grade 5	24,765–28,215
Assistant Librarian	2	Grade 5	24,765–28,215
Head of Establishments Office	1	Grade 5	24,765–28,215
Deputy Accountant	1	Grade 5	24,765–28,215
Speaker's Secretary	1	Grade 5	24,765–28,215
Computer Officer	1	Grade 5	24,765–28,215
Below £22,548.00
Deputy Assistant Librarian	9	Grade 6	18,786–25,335
Deliverer of the Vote	1	Grade 6	18,786–25,335
Deputy Head of Establishments Office	1	Grade 6	18,786–25,335
Senior Assistant Accountant	1	Grade 6	18,786–25,335
General Manager RD	1	Grade 6	18,786–25,335
Deputy Editor	1	Grade 6	18,786–25,335
		95 per cent.
Assistant Serjeant at Arms	1	Grade 6	17,847–24,068
		93 per cent.
Principal Assistant Editors	4	Grade 6	17,471–23,562
		83 per cent.
Assistant Editors	4	Grade 6	15,592–21,028
Senior Clerks	22	Grade 7	15,030–20,292
Deputy Assistant Serjeant at Arms	2	Grade 7	15,030–20,292
Senior Library Clerks	12	Grade 7	15,030–20,292
Assistant Accountants	4	Grade 7	15,030–20,292
Internal Auditor	1	Grade 7	15,030–20,292
Staff Inspector	1	Grade 7	15,030–20,292
Deputy General Manager RD	1	Grade 7	15,030–20,292
Catering Accountant RD	1	Grade 7	15,030–20,292
		90 per cent.
Deputy Deliverer of the Vote	1	Grade 7	13,527–18,263
Assistant Clerks (A)	7	HEO (D)	10,900–13,900
Assistant Library Clerks	4	HEO (D)	10,900–13,900
Assistant Clerk (T)	1	AT	8,000–10,150
Assistant Library Clerk (T)	3	AT	8,000–10,150
Speaker's Chaplain	1	SEO (9½ hours)	3,656

Notes:

1. The above salaries which were effective from 1 April 1987, do not include Inner London Weighting (£1,527 per annum).

2. Where the mean of the salary scale quoted above is greater than £22,548 (basic salary of a Member) the recipient is deemed to have a higher salary than that of a Member. If the mean of the scale is less than £22,548 the recipient is deemed to be paid less than a Member.

Transport

Sexual Harassment

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his Department's policy on sexual harassment at work; whether guidance on reporting complaints has been issued to all staff; how many complaints have been reported in the past five years; and what disciplinary action has been taken.

The Civil Service policy on sexual harassment is set out in the programme of action to achieve equal opportunities for women in the Civil Service which was published by the Cabinet Office, Management and Personnel Office, in 1984.Sexual harassment at work is not tolerated and is dealt with as a disciplinary matter through departmental complaints procedures. Guidance on reporting complaints has been issued to all staff. I am arranging for a copy of the Department's guidance to be placed in the Library. No central record of complaints was kept until mid-1986. Since then there has been one complaint which has been fully investigated.

It is not the Department's practice to publish the disciplinary action taken in individual cases.

National Dock Labour Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the number of ports in the national dock labour scheme in 1958, 1968, 1978 and each year since 1983, and the percentage of all United Kingdom ports those figures represent in each of these years.

The scheme, when first made in 1947, listed 80 ports in Great Britain to which it applied. One port has been added to the list and one deleted from it. Over time several of the other listed ports have fallen into disuse, have ceased to handle cargo, or have been amalgamated. There are now about 60 ports within the scheme. In total there are around 300 harbours or ports in Great Britain. Cargo is handled at about one third of them.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list by each port in the United Kingdom (a) the total value of imports; (b) the total value of exports; (c) the total tonnage of imports and (d) the total tonnage of exports, in 1958, 1968, 1978 and for the latest available date; and if he will sub-divide the list into those parts within the national dock labour scheme and those outside it and show the total figures for each category in each of the above years in each sub-division;(2) if he will give the percentage of traffic handled by

(a) national dock labour scheme ports and (b) non-national dock labour scheme ports, as a percentage of total British foreign trade in 1958, 1968, 1978 and each year since 1983.

Information on value is available only for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise trade ports which in many cases include both national dock labour scheme and non-scheme components.Tonnages of export, import and coastal traffic are published annually, for each port in Great Britain with significant freight traffic, in "Port Statistics", copies of which are in the Library. In the latest volume, table 1.3 gives the total traffic through each port for 1965, 1970, 1975 and 1980 to 1986. Table 1.6 provides the import and export detail for the latest year.Details for earlier years, and for the intervening years of table 1.3, can be found in earlier editions. Prior to 1980, corresponding information was published by the National Ports Council in the "Annual Digest of Port Statistics", but there are no data prior to 1965. In these tables the following are scheme ports:

London
Medway
Whitstable
Southampton
Poole
Plymouth
Fowey
Par
Falmouth
Bristol
Gloucester and Sharpness
Newport
Cardiff
Penarth
Barry
Port Talbot
Swansea
Liverpool
Garston
Manchester
Fleetwood
Barrow

Passenger Mileage on Public Transport within London and the South East
	LRT Tube		LRT Bus		BR NSE
	bn miles	Percentage increase over 1980	bn miles	Percentage increase over 1980	bn miles	Percentage increase over 1980
1980	2·6		2·6		8·1
1981	2·5	-4	2·5	-4	8·0	-1
1982	2·3	-12	2·3	-12	7·0	-14
1983	2·7	4	2·4	-8	7·8	-4
1984
1984–85	3·3	27	2·6	—	7·5	-7
1985
1985–86	3·7	42	2·6	—	7·8	-4
1986
1986–87	3-9	50	2-6	—	8·3	2

Whitehaven
Workington
Silloth
Ayr
Clyde (including Ardrossan and Greenock)
Aberdeen
Dundee
Forth
Blyth
Tyne
Sunderland
Seaham
Tees and Hartlepool
Hull
Goole
Grimsby and Immingham
Boston
Wisbech
Kings Lynn
Great Yarmouth
Lowestoft
Ipswich

The percentage of all non-fuel seaport traffic (including coastal) tonnage handled by the ports listed above in 1965, 1968, 1978 and 1986 was 92, 89, 77 and 70 per cent. respectively.

Carlisle To Settle Railway

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to complete his review of the Carlisle to Settle railway line.

As soon as we are clear about the extent of any local authority and private sector funding that may be offered to help with the cost of repair of the Ribblehead viaduct or revenue support for services on the line.

Passenger Miles (Greater London)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will tabulate in the Official Report any official estimate of the numbers of passenger miles travelled within the Greater London area for each of the principal modes of private and public transport for each of the years since 1980, showing for each the percentage variation from that or other convenient base year.

The information requested is as follows:

Reliable estimates of overall traffic levels in London are not currently available. What evidence there is suggests that car passenger mileage has changed little since 1980.

Air Traffic (London)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he, or the Civil Aviation Authority, possesses concerning the amount, categories and general monitoring of all air traffic in uncontrolled air space below and surrounding the London terminal control area.

Civil aviation safety regulation is wholly the responsibility of the Civil Aviation Authority. There is no requirement for pilots of aircraft flying in uncontrolled air space to inform air traffic services units of their presence or of their intended routings. I understand that the authority has no comprehensive information of the amount and categories of aircraft flying in the uncontrolled air space below and surrounding the London terminal control area, but that the authority monitors air traffic in uncontrolled air space on a sample basis so as to establish requirements for specific air traffic services.

Civil Aviation Authority (Air Traffic Control Services)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he is advised by the Civil Aviation Authority of the scale of charges for air traffic control services provided by them; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend promulgates the Civil Aviation Authority's charges by statutory instrument for the following air traffic control services:

1. En-route navigation services.

2. Shanwick oceanic control area navigation services.

3. Navigation services for helicopter flights from any place in the United Kingdom to offshore installations in the North sea area.

4. Aerodrome navigation services at BAA plc airports.

At other airports where the Civil Aviation Authority provides air traffic control services under contract, the charges are covered by contracts and are confidential to the airports and the authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current annual value of contracted air traffic approach control services provided by the Civil Aviation Authority.

	Motor Cycles	Heavy Goods and Public Service Vehicles	Cars and Light Goods Vehicles	Total
1983	93,132	2,182,551	10,303,544	12,579,227
1984	96,365	2,240,980	10,641,587	12,978,932
1985	90,212	2,270,545	10,928,451	13,286,208
1986	72,575	2,383,008	12,017,349	14,472,932
1987	55,712	2,633,202	12,954,154	15,643,068

Note: The above figures are based on toll records: the statistics for 1983 and 1985 include estimated figures for the days on which tolls were not collected.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to table 5.1 in the Civil Aviation Authority's annual report and accounts for 1986–87.

London City Airport

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was paid and by whom, for the land upon which the London City airport was constructed.

London City airport is privately owned. The terms on which the land was made available are a commercial matter between the airport and the landowners.

Road Dressing

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what investigations have been undertaken by his Department into alternative methods of surface dressing of roads, so as to minimise or avoid inconvenience to road users caused by flying chippings; and with what result.

Research into road surface dressing has been carried out by the Department's Transport and Road Research Laboratory. The results are incorporated into Road Note 39 "Recommendations for Road Surface Dressing". Trials of new techniques and materials are continuing and the recommendations contained in the above document may be reviewed in the light of the results obtained.

Severn Bridge

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what will be the effect on the traffic capacity of the Severn bridge of the strengthening work thereon.

Completion of the strengthening work will permit the removal of the traffic restrictions that had to be imposed on the crossing. For example, single-lane operation in the eastbound direction in the early mornings will no longer be necessary. As a result there will be some increase in the traffic capacity.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the statistics for traffic utilisation of the Severn bridge, for each of the last five years.

The traffic figures on the Severn crossing for the last five years are as follows:

Belfast Pilotage Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has as to the state of working arrangements between pilots and the Belfast Pilotage Authority.

I understand that there has been disagreement between the Belfast Pilotage Authority and the pilots about the extent to which standby time should be reflected in pilots' earnings and about rota arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what steps he intends to take to ensure that the Belfast Pilotage Authority promotes appropriate byelaws under section 16 of the Pilotage Act 1983 for duty requirements for pilots;(2) if he will exercise his powers under section 16(2)

(b) of the Pilotage Act 1983 to direct the Belfast Pilotage Authority to submit appropriate byelaws to formalise its requirements for pilots in respect of hours of duty and terms of service.

Section 16 of the Pilotage Act 1983 empowers the Secretary of State to direct a pilotage authority to submit a byelaw to him for confirmation only where a body or persons set out in section 16(1) of the Act have made representation to him that such a byelaw should be brought into force. The Secretary of State has received no such representation for a byelaw to define terms of service, hours of duty or other duty requirements for Belfast pilots.

Belfast Harbour

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received concerning the proposal of the competent harbour authority in Belfast to move the boarding and landing station from its present location to a position in the main navigation channel; and if he will take steps to ensure that the competent harbour authority consults all interested parties before any action is taken.

I have received no representations on this matter. Following implementation of the Pilotage Act 1987, the location of boarding and landing stations, and the extent to which there should be consultation on the matter, will be for the competent harbour authority to decide, subject only, where boarding and landing requirements are to be contained in a pilotage direction concerning compulsory pilotage, to the statutory obligation on the authority to consult shipowners and any other local harbour operators before giving such a direction.

British Rail (Surplus Land)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much land, surplus to operational requirements, was owned by British Rail on 30 September 1987; and what discussions he has had with the chairman of British Rail concerning progress in selling such land.

I understand from the BR Property Board that the total was some 17,300 acres. We have asked British Rail to dispose of all its surplus land and property as rapidly as possible. I discussed a variety of matters with the chairman of the BR Property Board in December, including progress in this area. I will write to my hon. Friend with further information.

Heavy Lorries

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the total amount of fuel tax on dery collected from operators of all heavy goods vehicles above 3·5 tonne gross vehicle weight for each of the years 1984–85, 1985–86 and 1986–87; and the amount of vehicle excise duty collected from operators of vehicles between 36 and 38 tonnes for each of these years.

Following is the information for the United Kingdom:

Motoring taxes on licensed heavy goods vehicles
£ million
	Fuel tax (on derv) on goods vehicle over3.5 tonnes gvw	Vehicle excise duty on vehicles between 36 and 38 tonnes
1984–85	816	55
1985–86	866	77
1986–87	959	95

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the cost of the additional amount of road damage which will occur in a year as a result of the raising of the gross weight limit for two-axled rigid vehicles from 16·26 tonnes to 17·00 tonnes.

This change in gross weight comes into effect on 1 April 1988. The effect on road wear and tear will depend on the number of vehicles authorised for use at the higher weight, their mileage and lading. The Department will be monitoring this. The information will become available in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish in the Official Report, classified in convenient groups, the total amount of vehicle excise duty collected for lorries exceeding 3·5 tonnes, for the last three years for which the information is available.

Following is the information for the United Kingdom:

Vehicle excise duty on lorries over 3£5 tonnes gvw
£ million
	Rigid lorries	Articulated lorries
1984–85	188	206
1985–86	220	213
1986–87	223	220

Rural Transport Development Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many inquiries from prospective operators have been received in respect of grants from the rural transport development fund; how many applications have been made, how many grants have been given; and of what amounts.

Since the fund was set up in 1986 the Development Commission, which administers it on behalf of the Department of Transport, has received 794 inquiries and 187 applications. A total of 110 grants have been approved, of which 95 have been paid so far. The average grant approved for 81 scheduled services, mainly by minibuses and taxis, is about £8,500. Additionally, 18 county transport advisers have been appointed with help from the fund at an average grant of £6,250 pa for up to three years, and 11 other projects, such as publicity and surveys, have been approved at an average of £4,000. The commission has made grants of £650,000 so far, but has a total commitment of over £1 million.

Roads Maintenance (Statistics)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide statistics of the total cost of motorway and other roads repairs and maintenance during the years 1981 to 1986 with estimates of the percentage of roads deterioration attributable to (a) wear and tear, (b) damage caused by lorries, (c) damage caused by cars and light vehicles and (d) damage caused by other transport modes.

Expenditure on carriageway maintenance in recent years has been as follows:

£ millions, at 1985–86 prices (England only)
	National roads (motorway and trunk)	Other roads
1981–82	¹	390
1982–83	147	412
1983–84	125	386
1984–85	149	370
1985–86	123	379
¹ Not available.

The percentages of road deterioration due to weathering and traffic wear (or "damage") are not known.Traffic wear is due mostly to vehicles with high axle loadings. These are mostly heavy goods vehicles, but also include some public service vehicles. On trunk roads the heaviest vehicles with four or more axles are responsible for three quarters of the damage. On principal roads the proportion is about one half, and on other roads about one third.

Traffic Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide details of the increased totals in road traffic in the years from 1981 to 1986 for (a) lorries, (b) cars and (c) other transport modes and his forecast of the likely future trends in increased traffic for the next five years.

The information requested can be obtained from table 2.1 and table 2.42 of "Transport Statistics Great Britain 1976–86", a copy of which has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Traffic (Damage)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide details of recent assessments of the damage caused to the environment by the impact of various modes of transport, lorries, cars and other road users.

The information is not readily available. A further response will be provided shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the most recent estimates of the cost of damage to sewers and other underground services caused by the impact of various transport modes, specifying separately lorries and cars and other road users.

No estimates have yet been made of this. It is difficult to assess the contribution which lorries make to the failure of underground services. Evidence to date suggests that this occurs only exceptionally and where apparatus is in a poor condition. A research project is in preparation to establish whether a significant relationship exists between failure rates and levels of traffic.

Volume 125: debated on Tuesday 19 January 1988

Written Answers To Questions

Defence

Hospitals

Tyneham

Prime Minister

Windscale Fire

European Court Of Justice

Bilton

Efficiency Unit (Progress Reports)

Engagements

Inner Cities

Environment

Ettingshall Park Farm Estate

Local Authorities (Disposal Of Land)

Rating Reform

Water (Privatisation)

Nature Reserves

Merseyside Residuary Body

Croxteth Hall Country Park, Liverpool

Docklands (London)

Fuller Peiser

Housing Benefit

Employment

Manufacturing Industry

Yts

Work Accidents

Labour Statistics

Jobcentres

Energy

Alternative Sources Of Energy

Nuclear Fuel

Cegb (Privatisation)

Coal Industry Dispute

Fast Breeder Reactor Programme

British Coal Enterprise

Nuclear Power Station (Hinkley Point)

British Nuclear Technology

Wales

Sexual Harassment

Employment Statistics

Welsh Language

Acute Services

Welsh Health Promotion Authority

Written Questions

Welsh Development Agency

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Environmentally Sensitive Areas

Beef (Intervention Stocks)

Farm Incomes

Milk

Horse Markets And Sales

Education And Science

Aberdeen University

Education Councils (Representation)

Education Reform

Grant-Maintained Schools

Overseas Students

Teachers (In Loco Parentis)

Universities (Women Entrants)

Disabled Students

City Technology Colleges

Teachers (Pay)

Kingshurst, Solihull

Nursery Education

Teachers (Women)

Education Standards

Undergraduates (Female)

Full-Time Education

Children (Special Education Needs)

Schools (Ministerial Visits)

Scottish Universities

Dyslexia

Higher Education

University Grants Committee

School Inspectors

Education Fees

Academic Staff

Teachers (Recruitment)