Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Monday 8 February 1988

Transport

Buses (Revenue Support)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list information available to him on the savings that have accrued from the changes in revenue support for bus transport since the Transport Act 1985 in (a) Shropshire county council and (b) Berkshire county council.

The two councils have reported spending on passenger transport revenue support as follows:

£ million
	Shropshire	Berkshire
1985–86	0·787	1·613
1986–87	0·837	1·340
1987–88 (Budget)	0·880	1·083

Pin-Ups

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will issue instructions for the removal of all offensive pin-ups in all his departmental premises.

£ million
Route	Title	Works cost estimate	Forecast expenditure in 1988–89
(A) Schemes for which statutory procedures have been completed
M5	Widening—Catshill to Lydiate Ash	22	9
M20	Maidstone to Ashford (two contracts)	62	17
M40	Gaydon Bypass	28	11
M62	Eastbound Climbing Lane J21–22	3	3
M62	Westbound Climbing Lane J24–25	2	2
A1	Dishforth Interchange	6	2
A6	Barton Bypass	6	2
A11	Thetford Bypass	7	4
A16	Boston to Algakirk	7	3
A21	Robertsbridge Bypass	3	1
A27	Pevensey Bypass	6	2
A35	Charmouth Bypass	6	2
A36	Steeple Langford Bypass	2	1
A40	Swakeleys Road Junction Improvement	8	6
A41	Bicester Bypass Stage 1	3	1
A46	Newark Relief Road	27	12
A47	Guyhirn Diversion	3	1
A52	Nottingham Outer Ring Road, Abbey Street Grade Separated Junction	4	2
A282	Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Approach Roads	20	4
A303	Sparkford Bypass	6	3
A406	Chingford Road to Hale End Road	38	18
A435/A422	Alcester Bypass	7	4
A565	Derby Road Improvement	2	1
	Sub total (a) 23 Schemes	278	111

Guidance was issued to all managers last July asking them to ensure that potentially offensive material is not displayed in the work place.

Aircraft (Passenger Seats)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will raise at his next meeting with the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority the provision by commercial airlines of seats for passengers obliged to occupy smoking seats against their wishes.

There are no plans to do so. Generally this is a matter which is best left to the commercial judgment of individual airlines. The authority is able to take the views of users into account in all transport licensing cases where standards of services are at issue.

Road Costs

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all the motorway and trunk road contracts in England with a works cost of £1 million or more which his Department intends to award in 1988–89 showing, in each case, the total value of the contract and the expenditure likely to be incurred in that year.

The table lists schemes which we plan to start in 1988–89. The list is provisional and currently under review. Actual starts 1988–89 may differ from this list as progress is dependent on outstanding statutory procedures and other factors. Other schemes not on the list may start in 1988–89 if progress with statutory procedures is faster than currently expected.

Route	Title	Works cost estimate	Forecast expenditure in 1988–89
(B) Schemes for which some statutory procedures have not been completed
M3	Compton to Bassett widening	27	10
A30	Launceston to Plusha	6	3
A35	Axminster Bypass	6	0
A36	Beckington Bypass	4	1
A36	Codford Bypass	2	1
A43	Blisworth Bypass	11	0
A303	Ilchester to South Petherton	9	2
A435	Sedgeberrow Bypass	1	1
A604	Ml to Al Link	60	15
A650	Drighlington Bypass	5	1
A696	Woolsington Bypass	9	2
	Sub total (b) 11 Schemes	140	36

(c) In addition, further contracts are expected to be let on schemes which will be under construction at 31 March 1988 as follows:

Route	Title	Contract cost estimate (£ million)
M40	Banbury Bypass Contract 2	23
M40	Banbury Bypass Contract 4	45
A2	London Boundary to M2 Improvement Contract 4	2
A19	Peterlee Grade Separated Junction Stage 2	3
	Sub total (c) 4 Contracts	73

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the form of his answer of 2 April 1987,

£ million
Route	Title	Works cost estimate	Estimated date for start of works
(A) Schemes which had completed all their statutory procedures:
M62	Eastbound climbing lane (Junctions 21–22)	3	Spring 1988
M62	Westbound climbing lane (Junctions 24–25)	2	Spring 1988
A2	London boundary to M2 Improvement Contract 4	1	Autumn 1988
	Sub total (a)	6
(B) Schemes for which statutory procedures has still to be completed:
M3	Compton to Bassett widening	27	Early 1989
A6	Barton bypass	6	Mid 1988
A27	Penvensey bypass	6	Mid 1988
A41	Bicester bypass	3	Autumn 1988
A52	Nottingham outer ring road Abbey Street grade separated junction	4	Spring 1988
A140	Dickleburgh bypass	2	Spring 1989
A435/A422	Alcester bypass	7	Autumn 1988
A696	Woolsington bypass	9	Late 1988
	Sub total (b)	64

London Underground Ltd

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans London Underground Limited has for franchising or contracting the managements of stations to commercial or voluntary bodies.

I understand there are no such plans.

Official Report, column 571–72, all the motorway and trunk road contracts with a works cost of £1 millon or more which his Department had intended to award in 1987–88 but no longer anticipated doing, with, in each case, an indication of when the contract might be let.

Construction has started or is expected to start as planned on 29 of the schemes listed in my answer of 2 April 1987. Current estimates of dates for start of works on the remainder are as follows:

Herald Of Free Enterprise

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the items of cargo carried on board the Herald of Free Enterprise at the time of her sinking whose carriage on board a passenger vessel breached regulations; and if he will make a statement.

My Department has been informed by the authorities in Belgium that although one lorry on board was carrying a cargo declared to be cyanide solutions, they found it to consist of several drums and plastic pails containing substances that are banned from carriage in a passenger ship.The Belgian authorities have asked for assistance in following up certain lines of inquiry in the United Kingdom. Since a prosecution is being considered in Belgium, it would not be proper to disclose further details.

Toxic Waste (Transportation)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he is satisfied that adequate checks exist over the manifests of cross-Channel ferries in order to detect the carrying of toxic chemical wastes; and if he will make a statement.

The onus to ensure that dangerous goods manifests are correct is placed upon the shipper and the ship operator in the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 1981, as amended.My marine surveyors do carry out spot checks on the dangerous goods manifests, but this can ensure only that the goods can be carried on the vessel inspected and that they are correctly located. It is not possible to detect from the dangerous goods manifest undeclared or wrongly declared dangerous goods.

Environment

South West Housing Society

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what public funds have been made available to the South West Housing Society Ltd., Bull Wharf, Redcliff street, Bristol BSI, for each year that funds were provided.

Joint Manpower Watch-Quarter 51
Numbers of staff by function: Bolton
Population—261,000
12th September 1987
	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1 Education—Teaching	3,010	52·5	450	43·1					3,460	27·6
2 Other	687	12·0	323	30·9	484	22·5	1,946	53·9	3,440	27·4
3 Construction	58	1·0	2	0·2	470	21·9	6	0·2	536	4·3
4 Transport
5 Social Services	620	10·8	121	11·6	353	16·4	1,003	27·8	2,097	16·7
6 Total (1–5)	4,375	76·3	596	85·7	1,307	60·8	2,955	81·9	9,533	76·1
7 Libraries	125	2·2	58	5·6	23	1·1	96	2·7	302	2·4
8 Recreation	88	1·5	5	0·5	400	18·6	293	8·1	786	6·3
9 Environmental Health	65	1·1	5	0·5	25	1·2			95	0·8
10 Refuse	11	0·2			107	5·0			118	0·9
11 Housing	240	4·2	15	1·4	76	3·5	36	1·0	367	2·9
12 Planning	100	1·7	9	0·9					109	0·9
13 Chief Executive	31	0·5	2	0·2					33	0·3
14 Finance	171	3·0	13	1·2					184	1·5
15 Secretarial	112	2·0	31	3·0	51	2·4	94	2·6	288	2·3
16 Legal	13	0·2							13	0·1
17 Engineering	162	2·8	1	0·1	144	6·7			307	2·4
18 Architecture	76	1·3							76	0·6
19 Estates	27	0·5							27	0·2
20 Personnel	22	0·4	1	0·1					23	0·2
21 Management Service
22 Computing	67	1·2	2	0·2					69	0·6
23 Consumer Protection	13	0·2							13	0·1
24 Other Administration	9	0·2	4	0·4					13	0·1

In recent years the Department of the Environment has paid the society the following amounts in housing association grant, revenue deficit grant and grant in relief of tax:

Financial Year	Grant Paid In Year(£)
1972–73	77
1973–74	4
1974–75	Nil
1975–76	812
1976–77	479
1977–78	1,432
1978–79	Nil
1979–80	1,178
1980–81	50,000
1981–82	443,812
1982–83	2,005
1983–84	27,563
1984–85	86,842
1985–86	329,289
1986–87	200,886
1987–88	332,553

Local Government Employees (Greater Manchester)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the number of employees of each of the 10 metropolitan borough councils in Greater Manchester broken down by function, subject and area.

The tables show the results of the September 1987 survey of the joint manpower watch for the metropolitan borough councils in Greater Manchester. Information collected under section 56 of the Local Government Act 1985 for these authorities is available in the Library of the House.

	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
27 Technical Services
28 Central Service (13–27)	703	12·3	54	5·2	195	9·1	94	2·6	1,046	8·3
29 Fire Service—Regular
30 Others
31 Other Services	27	0·5	3	0·3	15	0·7	134	3·7	179	1·4
32 Total (7–12, 28–31)	1,359	23·7	149	14·3	841	39·2	653	18·1	3,002	23·9
33 General Service (1–32)	5,734	100·0	1,045	100·0	2,148	100·0	3,608	100·0	12,535	100·0
34 Agency Staff
35 Magistrates Courts	37	0·0							37	0·0
36 Probation—Officers
37 Others

Joint Manpower Watch—Quarter 51
Numbers of staff by function: Bury
Population—174,000
12th September 1987
	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1 Education—Teaching	1,723	51·7	194	25·7					1,917	26·4
2 Other	378	11·3	375	49·7	151	18·9	1,374	57·5	2,278	31·3
3 Construction	9	0·3			219	27·4	2	0·1	230	3·2
4 Transport
5 Social Services	333	10·0	49	6·5	92	11·5	818	34·3	1,292	17·8
6 Total (1–5)	2,443	73·3	618	82·0	462	57·9	2,194	91·9	5,717	76·6
7 Libraries	73	2·2	40	5·3	2	0·3	12	0·5	127	1·7
8 Recreation	65	2·0	20	2·7	185	23·2	32	1·3	302	4·2
9 Environmental Health	41	1·2			4	0·5			45	0·6
10 Refuse	23	0·7	2	0·3	77	9·6			102	1·4
11 Housing	92	2·8	29	3·8	4	0·5	11	0·5	136	1·9
12 Planning	60	1·8	3	0·4					63	0·9
13 Chief Executive	46	1·4	4	0·5					50	0·7
14 Finance	136	4·1	3	0·4					139	1·9
15 Secretarial	30	0·9	8	1·1			48	2·0	86	1·2
16 Legal	23	0·7							23	0·3
17 Engineering	108	3·2	4	0·5	52	6·5			164	2·3
18 Architecture	58	1·7	4	0·5					62	0·9
19 Estates	25	0·8	1	0·1	1	0·1	4	0·2	31	0·4
20 Personnel	14	0·4	1	0·1					15	0·2
21 Management Service	13	0·4	5	0·7					18	0·2
22 Computing	14	0·4							14	0·2
23 Consumer Protection	9	0·3							9	0·1
24 Other Administration	6	0·2	1	0·1			1	0·0	8	0·1
27 Technical Services	49	1·5	8	1·1					57	0·8
28 Central Service (13–27)	531	15·9	39	5·2	53	6·6	53	2·2	676	9·3
29 Fire Service—Regular
30 Others
31 Other Services	5	0·2	3	0·4	11	1·4	86	3·6	105	1·4
32 Total (7–12, 28–31)	890	26·7	136	18·0	336	42·1	194	8·1	1,556	21·4
33 General Service (1–32)	3,333	100·0	754	100·0	798	100·0	2,388	100·0	7,273	100·0
34 Agency Staff
35 Magistrates Courts	22	0·0	8	0·0					30	0·0
36 Probation—Officers
37 Others

Joint Manpower Watch—Quarter 51
Numbers of staff by function: Manchester
Population—455,000
12th September 1987
	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1 Education—Teaching	6,995	38·5	3,965	76·0					10,960	26·0
2 Other	3,057	16·8	715	13·7	1,108	11·4	5,948	65·7	10,828	25·7
3 Construction	769	4·2	8	0·2	4,379	44·9	21	0·2	5,177	12·3
4 Transport
5 Social Services	2,037	11·2	293	5·6	1,159	11·9	2,498	27·6	5,987	14·2
6 Total (1–5)	12,858	70·9	4,981	95·5	6,646	68·1	8,467	93·5	32,952	78·1
7 Libraries	471	2·6	80	1·5	162	1·7	22	0·2	735	1·7
8 Recreation	537	3·0	53	1·0	1,277	13·1	157	1·7	2,024	4·8
9 Environmental Health	384	2·1	8	0·2	56	0·6	10	0·1	458	1·1
10 Refuse	110	0·6	5	0·1	944	9·7	5	0·1	1,064	2·5
11 Housing	843	4·6	23	0·4	243	2·5	34	0·4	1,143	2·7
12 Planning	163	0·9	2	0·0					165	0·4
13 Chief Executive	15	0·1	1	0·0					16	0·0
14 Finance	548	3·0	9	0·2					557	1·3
15 Secretarial	337	1·9	22	0·4	92	0·9	125	1·4	576	1·4
16 Legal	120	0·7	1	0·0					121	0·3
17 Engineering	631	3·5	1	0·0	136	1·4	4	0·0	772	1·8
18 Architecture	500	2·8	2	0·0					502	1·2
19 Estates	101	0·6	2	0·0	10	0·1	4	0·0	117	0·3
20 Personnel	32	0·2	5	0·1					37	0·1
21 Management Service	55	0·3	2	0·0					57	0·1
22 Computing	128	0·7	8	0·2					136	0·3
23 Consumer Protection	81	0·4			13	0·1	4	0·0	98	0·2
24 Other Administration	51	0·3	3	0·1					54	0·1
27 Technical Services
28 Central Service (13–27)	2,599	14·3	56	1·1	251	2·6	137	1·5	3,043	7·2
29 Fire Service—Regular
30 Others
31 Other Services	181	1·0	6	0·1	183	1·9	219	2·4	589	1·4
32 Total (7–12, 28–31)	5,288	29·1	233	4·5	3,116	31·9	584	6·5	9,221	21·9
33 General Service (1–32)	18,146	100·0	5,214	100·0	9,762	100·0	9,051	100·0	42,173	100·0
34 Agency Staff
35 Magistrates Courts	164	0·0	8	0·0					172	0·0
36 Probation—Officers
37 Others

Joint Manpower Watch—Quarter 51
Numbers of staff by function: Oldham
Population—220,000	12th September 1987
	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1 Education—Teaching	2,523	52·1	433	47·1					2,956	28·0
2 Other	510	10·5	289	31·4	370	18·2	1,650	60·1	2,819	26·7
3 Construction	114	2·4			518	25·5			632	6·0
4 Transport
5 Social Services	508	10·5	70	7·6	337	16·6	772	28·1	1,687	16·0
6 Total (1–5)	3,655	75·5	792	86·1	1,225	60·8	2,422	88·2	8,094	76·8
7 Libraries	68	1·4	69	7·5	7	0·3	27	1·0	171	1·6
8 Recreation	110	2·3	7	0·8	327	16·1	123	4·5	567	5·4
9 Environmental Health	63	1·3	3	0·3	17	0·8	2	0·1	85	0·8
10 Refuse	11	0·2			167	8·2	2	0·1	180	1·7
11 Housing	148	3·1	8	0·9	101	5·0	44	1·6	301	2·9
12 Planning	100	2·1	4	0·4					104	1·0
13 Chief Executive	34	0·7	1	0·1					35	0·3
14 Finance	231	4·8	15	1·6	4	0·2			250	2·4
15 Secretarial	68	1·4	9	1·0	9	0·4	20	0·7	106	1·0
16 Legal	30	0·6							30	0·3

	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
17 Engineering	137	2·8	4	0·4	131	6·4	5	0·2	277	2·6
18 Architecture	31	0·6							31	0·3
19 Estates	31	0·6							31	0·3
20 Personnel	20	0·4	1	0·1					21	0·2
21 Management Service	22	0·5							22	0·2
22 Computing	33	0·7							33	0·3
23 Consumer Protection	15	0·3							15	0·1
24 Other Administration	9	0·2	3	0·3					12	0·1
27 Technical Services
28 Central Service (13–27)	661	13·6	33	3·6	144	7·1	25	0·9	863	8·2
29 Fire Service—Regular
30 Others
31 Other Services	27	0·6	4	0·4	46	2·3	100	3·6	177	1·7
32 Total (7–12 + 28–31)	1,188	24·5	128	13·9	809	39·8	323	11·8	2,448	23·2
33 General Service (1–32)	4,843	100·0	920	100·0	2,034	100·0	2,745	100·0	10,542	100·0
34 Agency Staff
35 Magistrates Courts	40	0·0	2	0·0	2	0·0	16	0·0	60	0·0
36 Probation—Officers
3 Others

Joint Manpower Watch—Quarter 51
Numbers of staff by function: Rochdale
Population—206,000
12th September 1987
	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1 Education—Teaching	2,437	50·3	373	38·3					2,810	26·7
2 Other	512	10·6	368	37·8	404	26·1	1,671	52·6	2,955	28·0
3 Construction	74	1·5			215	13·9			289	2·7
4 Transport
5 Social Services	546	11·3	67	6·9	224	14·5	1,172	36·9	2,009	19·1
6 Total (1–5)	3,569	73·7	808	83·0	843	54·5	2,843	89·5	8,063	76·5
7 Libraries	78	1·6	66	6·8	10	0·6	22	0·7	176	1·7
8 Recreation	108	2·2	12	1·2	286	18·5	56	1·8	462	4·4
9 Environmental Health	59	1·2	2	0·2	40	2·6	62	2·0	163	1·5
10 Refuse	22	0·5	1	0·1	146	9·4			169	1·6
11 Housing	245	5·1	32	3·3			9	0·3	286	2·7
12 Planning	80	1·7	6	0·6					86	0·8
13 Chief Executive	4	0·1							4	0·0
14 Finance	156	3·2	12	1·2					168	1·6
15 Secretarial	88	1·8	16	1·6	24	1·6	83	2·6	211	2·0
16 Legal	29	0·6							29	0·3
17 Engineering	133	2·7	10	1·0	162	10·5	2	0·1	307	2·9
18 Architecture	105	2·2			1	0·1			106	1·0
19 Estates	28	0·6	3	0·3			3	0·1	34	0·3
20 Personnel	29	0·6							29	0·3
21 Management Service	22	0·5	3	0·3					25	0·2
22 Computing	47	1·0	1	0·1					48	0·5
23 Consumer Protection	9	0·2							9	0·1
24 Other Administration	16	0·3	1	0·1					17	0·2
27 Technical Services
28 Central Service (13–27)	666	13·8	46	4·7	187	12·1	88	2·8	987	9·4
29 Fire Service—Regular
30 Others
31 Other Services	14	0·3	1	0·1	35	2·3	97	3·1	147	1·4
32 Total (7–12, 28–31)	1,272	26·3	166	17·0	704	45·5	334	10·5	2,476	23·5
33 General Service (1–32)	4,841	100·0	974	100·0	1,547	100·0	3,177	100·0	10,539	100·0
34 Agency Staff

	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
35 Magistrates Courts	40	0·0	6	0·0			1	0·0	47	0·0
36 Probation—Officers
37 Others

Joint Manpower Watch—Quarter 51
Numbers of staff by function: Salford
Population—243,000
12th September 1987
	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1 Education—Teaching	2,846	47·2	746	61·2					3,592	27·5
2 Other	751	12·5	223	18·3	354	18·3	2,345	60·4	3,673	28·1
3 Construction	218	3·6			433	22·4			651	5·0
4 Transport
5 Social Services	656	10·9	75	6·2	386	20·0	1,176	30·3	2,293	17·6
6 Total (1–5)	4,471	74·2	1,044	85·6	1,173	60·7	3,521	90·7	10,209	78·2
7 Libraries	112	1·9	74	6·1	10	0·5	29	0·7	225	1·7
8 Recreation	150	2·5	72	5·9	360	18·6	99	2·6	681	5·2
9 Environmental Health	92	1·5	3	0·2	1	0·1			96	0·7
10 Refuse	38	0·6			290	15·0			328	2·5
11 Housing	331	5·5	8	0·7	59	3·1	26	0·7	424	3·2
12 Planning	116	1·9	2	0·2					118	0·9
13 Chief Executive	12	0·2							12	0·1
14 Finance	177	2·9	1	0·1					178	1·4
15 Secretarial	90	1·5	3	0·2	3	0·2	35	0·9	131	1·0
16 Legal	36	0·6							36	0·3
17 Engineering	112	1·9	1	0·1	17	0·9	58	1·5	188	1·4
18 Architecture	56	0·9							56	0·4
19 Estates	45	0·7							45	0·3
20 Personnel	63	1·0	6	0·5					69	0·5
21 Management Service	17	0·3							17	0·1
22 Computing	74	1·2	1	0·1					75	0·6
23 Consumer Protection	14	0·2	2	0·2	1	0·1	3	0·1	20	0·2
24 Other Administration	8	0·1	2	0·2					10	0·1
27 Technical Services
28 Central Service (13–27)	704	11·7	16	1·3	21	1·1	96	2·5	837	6·4
29 Fire Service—Regular
30 Others
31 Other Services	14	0·2			20	1·0	110	2·8	144	1·1
32 Total (7–12, 28–31)	1,557	25·8	175	14·4	761	39·3	360	9·3	2,853	21·8
33 General Service (1–32)	6,028	100·0	1,219	100·0	1,934	100·0	3,881	100·0	13,062	100·0
34 Agency Staff
35 Magistrates Courts	43	0·0	14	0·0					57	0·0
36 Probation—Officers
37 Others

Joint Manpower Watch—Quarter 51
Numbers of staff by function: Stockport
Population—289,000
12th September 1987
	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1 Education—Teaching	2,245	48·1	874	53·0					3,119	27·8
2 Other	613	13·1	358	21·7	314	18·0	1,835	58·0	3,120	27·8
3 Construction	104	2·2			317	18·2			421	3·7
4 Transport
5 Social Services	503	10·8	184	11·2	302	17·3	818	25·9	1,807	16·1
6 Total (1–5)	3,465	74·2	1,416	85·9	933	53·4	2,653	83·9	8,467	75·4
7 Libraries	113	2·4	81	4·9	18	1·0	61	1·9	273	2·4

	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
8 Recreation	156	3·3	64	3·9	342	19·6	246	7·8	808	7·2
9 Environmental Health	65	1·4	3	0·2	36	2·1	4	0·1	108	1·0
10 Refuse	25	0·5	3	0·2	126	7·2			154	1·4
11 Housing	125	2·7	5	0·3	89	5·1	28	0·9	247	2·2
12 Planning	87	1·9	5	0·3					92	0·8
13 Chief Executive	27	0·6	2	0·1					29	0·3
14 Finance	133	2·8	9	0·5					142	1·3
15 Secretarial	172	3·7	48	2·9	22	1·3	34	1·1	276	2·5
16 Legal	31	0·7	2	0·1					33	0·3
17 Engineering	113	2·4			141	8·1			254	2·3
18 Architecture	60	1·3							60	0·5
19 Estates	21	0·4							21	0·2
20 Personnel	12	0·3	2	0·1					14	0·1
21 Management Service	14	0·3							14	0·1
22 Computing	27	0·6	9	0·5					36	0·3
23 Consumer Protection	11	0·2							11	0·1
24 Other Administration	9	0·2			12	0·7	6	0·2	27	0·2
27 Technical Services
28 Central Service (13–27)	630	13·5	72	4·4	175	10·0	40	1·3	917	8·2
29 Fire Service—Regular
30 Others
31 Other Services	3	0·1			27	1·5	131	4·1	161	1·4
32 Total (7–12, 28–31)	1,204	25·8	233	14·1	813	46·6	510	16·1	2,760	24·6
33 General Service (1–32)	4,669	100·0	1,649	100·0	1,746	100·0	3,163	100·0	11,227	100·0
34 Agency Staff
35 Magistrates Courts	50	0·0	7	0·0	2	0·0	1	0·0	60	0·0
36 Probation—Officers
37 Others

Joint Manpower Watch—Quarter 51
Numbers of staff by function: Tameside
Population—215,000
12th September 1987
	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1 Education—Teaching	2,352	49·1	547	54·4					2,899	26·6
2 Other	495	10·3	193	19·2	344	17·2	1,815	58·7	2,847	26·2
3 Construction	128	2·7			673	33·7	3	0·1	804	7·4
4 Transport
5 Social Services	437	9·1	119	11·8	162	8·1	882	28·5	1,600	14·7
6 Total (1–5)	3,412	71·2	859	85·5	1,179	59·0	2,700	87·4	8,150	74·9
7 Libraries	92	1·9	48	4·8	3	0·2	25	0·8	168	1·5
8 Recreation	142	3·0	29	2·9	248	12·4	138	4·5	557	5·1
9 Environmental Health	61	1·3	1	0·1	73	3·7	4	0·1	139	1·3
10 Refuse					163	8·2			163	1·5
11 Housing	160	3·3	8	0·8	50	2·5	60	1·9	278	2·6
12 Planning	78	1·6							78	0·7
13 Chief Executive	2	0·0							2	0·0
14 Finance	168	3·5	39	3·9					207	1·9
15 Secretarial	79	1·6	9	0·9	17	0·9	61	2·0	166	1·5
16 Legal	34	0·7	2	0·2					36	0·3
17 Engineering	155	3·2	3	0·3	212	10·6	1	0·0	371	3·4
18 Architecture	55	1·1							55	0·5
19 Estates	42	0·9	2	0·2					44	0·4
20 Personnel	215	4·5			38	1·9	2	0·1	255	2·3
21 Management Service	25	0·5							25	0·2
22 Computing	50	1·0	4	0·4					54	0·5
23 Consumer Protection	10	0·2							10	0·1
24 Other Administration	8	0·2							8	0·1
27 Technical Services
28 Central Service (13–27)	843	17·6	59	5·9	267	13·4	64	2·1	1,233	11·3
29 Fire Service—Regular

	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
30 Others
31 Other Services	2	0·0	1	0·1	14	0·7	99	3·2	116	1·1
32 Total (7–12 + 28–31)	1,378	28·8	146	14·5	818	41·0	390	12·6	2,732	25·1
33 General Service (1–32)	4,790	100·0	1,005	100·0	1,997	100·0	3,090	100·0	10,882	100·0
34 Agency Staff
35 Magistrates Courts	41	0·0	10	0·0					51	0·0
36 Probation—Officers
37 Others

Joint Manpower Watch—Quarter 51
Numbers of staff by function: Trafford
Population—218,000
12th September 1987
	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1 Education—Teaching	1,857	50·0	146	22·7					2,003	23·9
2 Other	369	9·9	304	47·3	172	16·0	1,466	49·7	2,311	27·6
3 Construction					177	16·5			177	2·1
4 Transport
5 Social Services	377	10·2	86	13·4	67	6·2	1,106	37·5	1,636	19·5
6 Total (1–5)	2,603	70·1	536	83·4	416	38·7	2,572	87·3	6,127	73·2
7 Libraries	75	2·0	43	6·7	3	0·3	26	0·9	147	1·8
8 Recreation	111	3·0	29	4·5	265	24·7	139	4·7	544	6·5
9 Environmental Health	83	2·2	4	0·6	13	1·2	4	0·1	104	1·2
10 Refuse	7	0·2			154	14·3			161	1·9
11 Housing	113	3·0			43	4·0	44	1·5	200	2·4
12 Planning	83	2·2	2	0·3					85	1·0
13 Chief Executive	24	0·6	1	0·2					25	0·3
14 Finance	162	4·4	3	0·5					165	2·0
15 Secretarial	56	1·5	18	2·8	9	0·8	68	2·3	151	1·8
16 Legal	29	0·8							29	0·3
17 Engineering	118	3·2			134	12·5			252	3·0
18 Architecture	98	2·6							98	1·2
19 Estates	15	0·4							15	0·2
20 Personnel	21	0·6	4	0·6					25	0·3
21 Management Service	29	0·8							29	0·3
22 Computing	23	0·6	1	0·2					24	0·3
23 Consumer Protection	10	0·3							10	0·1
24 Other Administration	5	0·1	1	0·2					6	0·1
27 Technical Services	43	1·2			6	0·6	2	0·1	51	0·6
28 Central Service (13–27)	633	17·1	28	4·4	149	13·9	70	2·4	880	10·5
29 Fire Service—Regular
30 Others
31 Other Services	3	0·1	1	0·2	31	2·9	92	3·1	127	1·5
32 Total (7–12 + 28–31)	1,108	29·9	107	16·6	658	61·3	375	12·7	2,248	26·8
33 General Service (1–32)	3,711	100·0	643	100·0	1,074	100·0	2,947	100·0	8,375	100·0
34 Agency Staff
35 Magistrates Courts	29	0·0	2	0·0	1	0·0	9	0·0	41	0·0
36 Probation—Officers
37 Others

Joint Manpower Watch—Quarter 51
Numbers of staff by function: Wigan
Population—307,000
12th September 1987
	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1 Education—Teaching	3,701	56·8	190	17·9					3,891	27·1
2 Other	628	9·6	700	65·8	442	18·6	2,480	56·5	4,250	29·6

	Non manual				Manual				Total
	Full time		Part time		Full time		Part time
Service	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
3 Construction	130	2·0			729	30·6	6	0·1	865	6·0
4 Transport
5 Social Services	556	8·5	40	3·8	299	12·6	1,469	33·5	2,364	16·5
6 Total (1–5)	5,015	76·9	930	87·4	1,470	61·8	3,955	90·1	11,370	79·2
7 Libraries	133	2·0	52	4·9	7	0·3	27	0·6	219	1·5
8 Recreation	135	2·1	23	2·2	366	15·4	36	0·8	560	3·9
9 Environmental Health	70	1·1	1	0·1					71	0·5
10 Refuse	24	0·4			372	15·6	6	0·1	402	2·8
11 Housing	231	3·5	2	0·2	49	2·1	83	1·9	365	2·5
12 Planning	87	1·3							87	0·6
13 Chief Executive	3	0·0							3	0·0
14 Finance	208	3·2	27	2·5					235	1·6
15 Secretarial	134	2·1	11	1·0			76	1·7	221	1·5
16 Legal	31	0·5							31	0·2
17 Engineering	162	2·5	2	0·2	64	2·7			228	1·6
18 Architecture	52	0·8	1	0·1					53	0·4
19 Estates	61	0·9	4	0·4					65	0·5
20 Personnel	44	0·7	1	0·1					45	0·3
21 Management Service	4	0·1							4	0·0
22 Computing	33	0·5	1	0·1					34	0·2
23 Consumer Protection	12	0·2							12	0·1
24 Other Administration	18	0·3	6	0·6					24	0·2
27 Technical Services	26	0·4	1	0·1					27	0·2
28 Central Service (13–27)	788	12·1	54	5·1	64	2·7	76	1·7	982	6·8
29 Fire Service—Regular
30 Others
31 Other Services	38	0·6	2	0·2	51	2·1	208	4·7	299	2·1
32 Total (7–12, 28–31)	1,506	23·1	134	12·6	909	38·2	436	9·9	2,985	20·8
33 General Service (1–32)	6,521	100·0	1,064	100·0	2,379	100·0	4,391	100·0	14,355	100·0
34 Agency Staff
35 Magistrates Courts	46	0·0	2	0·0			12	0·0	60	0·0
36 Probation—Officers
37 Others

Rights Of Way

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to make it compulsory upon owners of passages or places over which there are public rights of way to erect a notice stating the name and address of the owner.

No. It would appear both unnecessary and inappropriate to impose such a burden on landowners. In cases where applicants to modify the definitive map and statement of public rights of way have been unable to identify owners and occupiers, they may apply to the certifying authority for a dispensation.

Planning Appeals (Worthing)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many appeals against refusal of planning permission by the Worthing borough council have been made to him in each of the last five years; and on how many occasions he has reversed the council's decision.

The table shows the number of planning appeals received against decisions of the Worthing borough council between 1 January 1984, the earliest date from which this information is available, and 30 September 1987, the number decided in each period and the number allowed.

Year	Appeals Received	Appeals Decided	Appeals Allowed
1984	26	23	6
1985	40	26	10
1986	38	39	15
January to September
1987	32	25	10

Pin-Ups

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will issue instructions for the removal of all offensive pin-ups in all his departmental premises.

Guidance was issued to all managers last July asking them to ensure that potentially offensive material is not displayed in the work place.

Swimming Instructors

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities provide training for swimming instructors.

This information is not held centrally. I am advised, however, that during the year ending 30 September 1987, the Amateur Swimming Association issued approximately 11,300 certificates of competence for the teaching and coaching of swimming.

Green Belt (Hertfordshire)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the area of designated green belt land in the Hertfordshire, West constituency (a) in 1979 and (b) at the present time.

Approximately 4,770 hectares of land in the Hertfordshire, West constituency were designated green belt when the Hertfordshire county structure plan was approved in 1979. This position has not changed since.

Crown Suppliers

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will put in the Library a full copy of the Coopers and Lybrand report and the Dewi Jones report on the Crown Suppliers.

Summaries fo the Dewi Jones and Coopers and Lybrand reports have been prepared and copies have been placed in the Library. We do not propose to publish them in full because they contain commercially confidential information.

Illuminated Signs

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about his proposals to withdraw the need to seek planning approval to put up illuminated signs; and if he will make a statement.

A total of 28 of the 46 organisations consulted last October have so far responded to the proposals, which were confined to certain specified types of illuminated signs. Some representations have also been received from individuals, amenity groups, and local authorities. My right hon. Friend will now be considering, in consultation with the Secretary of State for Wales, whether, and to what extent, to implement the proposals. If my hon. Friend wishes to submit any representations, he is welcome to do so.

Thamesmead

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how he exercised nomination rights to Thamesmead following the abolition of the Greater London council and prior to the transfer of Thamesmead from the London residuary body to Thamesmead Town Ltd.

The joint committee of the London area mobility scheme acted as agents for my right hon. Friend.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many properties are being registered by Thamesmead Town Ltd. in the London borough of Greenwich.

Thamesmead Town has applied to the Greenwich rent officers for rent registrations of 2,401 tenancies.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what additional resources are being made available to the rent officer service in Greenwich and Bexley, now that Thamesmead Town Ltd. has applied to the rent officer for registration of all the tenancies for which they are responsible.

No increase in the number of rent officers or support staff were required for the Greenwich rent officer service due to agreed spare capacity, but additional machines and other equipment have been provided at a cost of approximately £4,000. For the Bexley rent officer service, approval has been given to two additional rent officer posts and to two additional support staff posts, one on a temporary basis. Additional machines have been provided for the Bexley service at a cost of approximately £1,700.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many tenants of Thamesmead Town Ltd. have received his Department's leaflet giving advice to tenants about their rights in the rent registration procedure.

The Bexley rent officer service have issued copies of the Department's booklet "Regulated Tenancies" to all tenants concerned in the 2,983 applications submitted to them by Thamesmead Town. The Greenwich rent officer service have issued 1,800 tenants with copies of the booklet in respect of the total of 2,401 applications which Thamesmead Town submitted to them. Now that further stocks of the booklet are available the Greenwich rent officer service are issuing copies to the remaining 601 tenants.

Homelessness

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress his Department has made in finalising the text of a leaflet on homelessness, the initial draft of which was circulated for consultation to interested voluntary agencies on 8 April 1987; and when his Department plans to publish and distribute this leaflet.

We expect to publish a leaflet later this year. It will need to take account of further evidence now becoming available on local authorities' operation of the homelessness legislation.

Housing Waiting Lists

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many households were housed by each London borough from its waiting lists through allocation procedures (a) during 1983–84; (b) during 1984–85; (c) during 1985–86, and (d) during 1986–87.

Local authorities' annual housing investment programme returns include the numbers of dwellings let on secure tenancies, in the years ending 31 March, to households under normal waiting list allocation procedures. Figures for individual authorities appear in column D9C of the "HIP1 all items print" for 1984 and 1985 and in column E9C for 1986 and 1987; copies of all these documents are in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing those housing authorities where the council housing waiting list is of six months duration or less; if he will publish separately a list of those housing authorities who have had 100 or more council dwellings vacant for periods of three months or more; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested is not available centrally. However, English local authorities' housing investment programme returns include the number of their dwellings that have been vacant for more than six months and those authorities reporting 100 or more such dwellings vacant at April 1987 are listed in the table. Most of these dwellings were not available for letting, as they were undergoing or awaiting works, or awaiting sale or demolition.

Authorities with 100 or more dwellings vacant for more than 6 months at April 1987
	Number vacant over 6 months	Percentage of stock
Newham	2,626	8·1
Hackney	2,214	4·8
Manchester	2,034	2·1
Tower Hamlets	1,965	4·0
Sheffield	1,857	2·1
Sandwell	1,297	2·4
Salford	1,177	2·9
Southwark	1,154	1·9
North Tyneside	990	305
Sunderland	962	1·9
Islington	954	2·3
Lambeth	910	1·9
Bradford	777	2·1
Leeds	647	0·7
Wolverhampton	639	1·6
Nottingham	620	1·4
Camden	594	1·7
Newcastle upon Tyne	580	1·3
Lewisham	568	1·4
Wandsworth	544	1·4
Calderdale	471	3·1
Coventry	411	1·7
Brent	404	2·0
Kingston upon Hull	398	0·9
Hammersmith and Fulham	389	2·1
Oldham	388	1·6
Portsmouth	382	1·7
Haringey	367	1·5
Leicester	355	1·1
Greenwich	346	1·0
Birmingham	334	0·3
Westminster	327	1·5
Walsall	310	0·8
Derby	306	1·5
Burnley	305	4·3
Gateshead	304	0·9
Langbaurgh	298	1·8
Knowsley	283	1·1
Doncaster	273	0·8
Southampton	260	1·2
Preston	224	2·1
Test Valley	216	3·0
Wirral	209	0·9
Kirklees	202	0·6
Barnsley	192	0·6
Rochdale	186	0·9
Waltham Forest	175	0·8
Middlesbrough	155	0·9
North Bedfordshire	137	1·7

	Number vacant over 6 months	Percentage of stock
Kensington and Chelsea	135	1·5
Easington	133	0·7
Dudley	133	0·4
Merton	133	1·1
Ealing	132	0·7
Redbridge	129	1·2
Bristol	122	0·3
Carlisle	119	1·0
Rochester upon Medway	111	1·1
Hartlepool	110	1·0
Trafford	104	0·8
Redditch	103	1·0
Sedgefield	102	0·7
Norwich	102	0·4
Stockton-on-Tees	101	0·5

Note:

Liverpool did not provide this information, but reported 4,164 dwellings (6·5 per cent. of stock) vacant for more than a year.

Toxic Waste

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the firms licensed to import toxic chemical waste materials into the United Kingdom.

Imports of special waste are subject to the same controls as indigenous waste and must be disposed of at a licensed facility. No import licence is necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the quantities of toxic chemical waste imported to Britain in each of the past 10 years; and what were their countries of origin.

No records are held centrally of imports of waste imported into the United Kingdom. The amounts of special waste imported each year between 1983 and 1986 are as follows:

Year	Amount
1983	14,824
1984	5,000
1985	24,548
1986	53,000

Full details of countries or origin are not available, but major sources are Netherlands, Irish Republic and Belgium.

Nature Reserves

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.

[pursuant to his reply, 19 January 1988, c. 602]: The information is as follows:

Ownership of National Nature Reserves (NNRs), January 1988
		Per cent owned by:
Name of NNR	Declared Areas(HA)	Private Landowners	Nature Conservancy Council	Other Public Bodies
ENGLAND
Ainsdale Sand Dunes	492	—	100	—
Arne	9	—	100	—
Asby Scar	166	—	100	—
Ashford Hill	20	—	100	—
Aston Rowant	111	64	36	—
Avon Gorge	63	100	—	—
Axmouth-Lyme Regis	—	—	—	—
Undercliffs	321	83	17	—
Barnack Hills and Holes	23	100	—	—
Barton Hills	44	100	—	—
Beacon Hill	40	—	100	—
Blackwater Estuary	1,031	100	—	—
Blean Woods	90	—	100	—
Blelham Bog	2	100	—	—
Bovey Valley Woodlands	73	—	96	4
Braunton Burrows	604	100	—	—
Bredon Hill	36	—	100	—
Brettenham Heath	234	100	—	—
Bridgwater Bay	2,564	4	2	94
Bure Marshes	451	100	—	—
Castle Eden Dane	221	—	100	—
Castle Hill, Lewes	47	—	—	100
Castor Hanglands	90	50	—	50
Cavenham Heath	204	15	85	—
Chaddesley Woods	102	—	100	—
Chartley Moss	42	100	—	—
Chippenham Fen	104	100	—	—
Clawthorpe Fell	14	100	—	—
Colne Estuary	576	46	—	54
Colt Park Wood	8	—	100	—
Coom Rigg Moss	36	—	—	100
Cothill	2	100	—	—
Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods	295	100	—	—
Dendles Wood	30	—	100	—
Dengie	2,011	—	—	100
Derbyshire Dales	320	35	50	15
Downton Gorge	48	100	—	—
Ebbor Gorge	41	100	—	—
Forge Valley Woods	63	—	—	100
Fyfield Down	230	100	—	—
Gait Barrows	69	—	100	—
Gibraltar Point	414	—	—	100
Glasson Moss	58	—	100	—
Grain Heads Moss	18	—	—	100
Hales Wood	8	—	—	100
Hamford Water	688	100	—	—
Ham Street Woods	97	—	100	—
Hartland Moor	243	100	—	—
Hickling Broad	487	100	—	—
Highbury Wood	47	—	100	—
High Halstow	52	100	—	—
Holkham	3,925	100	—	—
Holme Fen	259	—	100	—
Holt Heath	488	100	—	—
Holton Heath	117	100	—	—
Kingley Vale	146	32	68	—
Knocking Hoe	9	100	—	—
Lady Park Wood	45	—	—	100
Leigh	257	—	—	100
Lewes Down	49	100	—	—
Lindisfarne	3,278	100	—	—
Ling Gill	5	—	100	—
The Lizard	712	21	79	—
Lullington Heath	63	—	—	100
Martin Down	301	11	46	43
Moccas Park	139	100	—	—
Monks Wood	157	—	100	—
Moor House	3,894	—	100	—
Morden Bog	149	42	—	58
Mottey Meadows	32	9	91	—
Muston Meadows	9	100	—	—

		Per cent owned by:
Name of NNR	Declared Areas(HA)	Private Landowners	Nature Conservancy Council	Other Public Bodies
Newham Bog	13	100	—	—
North Fen	2	100	—	—
North Meadow, Cricklade	40	—	100	—
North Solent	763	100	—	—
Old Winchester Hill	61	—	100	—
Orfordness-Havergate	225	48	52	—
Park Wood	15	—	100	—
Parsonage Down	276	—	100	—
Pevensey Levels	52	—	100	—
Pewsey Downs	166	46	54	—
Prescombe Down	47	100	—	—
Ribble Marshes	2,302	—	100	—
Rodney Stoke	35	—	100	—
Rostherne Mere	152	48	52	—
Roudsea Woods and Mosses	276	100	—	—
Rusland Moss	24	80	20	—
Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes	440	73	27	—
Scar Close	93	100	—	—
Scolt Head Island	737	100	—	—
Shapwick Heath	304	100	—	—
Stiperstones	436	—	100	—
Stoborough Heath	110	—	100	—
Stodmarsh	163	—	52	48
Studland Heath	631	100	—	—
Swanscombe Skull Site	2	—	100	—
Swanton Novers Woods	60	100	—	—
The Flits	21	100	—	—
The Swale	216	24	76	—
The Wash	97	100	—	—
Thetford Heath	100	100	—	—
Thursley	325	—	100	—
Tring Reservoirs	20	100	—	—
Upper Teesdale	3,497	99	—	1
Upwood Meadows	6	100	—	—
Walberswick	514	92	8	—
Weeting Heath	137	100	—	—
Westleton Heath	47	—	100	—
Winterton Dunes	105	100	—	—
Woodwalton Fen	208	100	—	—
Wren's Nest	30	—	—	100
Wynbunbury Moss	15	—	100	—
Wychwood	262	100	—	—
Wye	132	—	100	—
Wylye Down	34	—	100	—
Wyre Forest	357	52	16	32
Yarner Wood	150	—	100	—
NNRs Declared since April 1987
Barrington Hill	18	—	100	—
Banacre	231	100	—	—
Chippenham Fen	7	100	—	—
Gordano Valley	66	100	—	—
Hog Cliff	88	—	100	—
Ludham Marshes	73	—	100	—
Swanton Novers	18	100	—	—
Winterton Dunes	4	100	—	—
SCOTLAND
Abernethy Forest	1,921	100	—	—
Achanarras Quarry	44	—	100	—
Allt Nan Carnan	7	100	—	—
Beinn Eighe	4,758	11	89	—
Ben Lawers	3,974	100	—	—
Ben Lui	798	47	53	—
Ben Wyvis	5,673	59	41	—
Blar Nam Faoileag	2,126	100	—	—
Blawhorn Moss	69	—	100	—
Braehead Moss	87	—	100	—
Caenlocham	3,639	92	—	8
Caerlaverock	5,501	100	—	—
Cairngorms	25,949	92	8	—
Cairnamore of Fleet	1,922	32	68	—
Claish Moss	563	—	100	—
Clyde Valley Woodlands	51	47	53	—

		Per cent owned by:
Name of NNR	Declared Areas(HA)	Private Landowners	Nature Conservancy Council	Other Public Bodies
Coille Thocabhaig	81	100	—	—
Corrieschalloch	5	40	20	40
Cragbank Wood	9	—	100	—
Craigellachie	260	100	—	—
Greag Meagaidh	3,948	—	100	—
Dinnet Oakwood	13	100	—	—
Dunnet Links	433	76	24	—
Flanders Moss	210	100	—	—
Forvie	973	100	—	—
Glasdrum	169	—	100	—
Glen Diomham	10	100	—	—
Glen Nant	59	100	—	—
Glen Roy	1,168	—	100	—
Glen Tanar	4,185	96	4	—
Gualinn	2,522	100	—	—
Harmaness	964	100	—	—
Inchnadamph	1,295	100	—	—
Invernaver	552	100	—	—
Inverpolly	10,857	99·9	0·1	—
Isle of May	57	100	—	—
Keen of Hamar	30	100	—	—
Kirkconnell flow	142	100	—	—
Loch a'Mhuilinn	67	100	—	—
Loch Druidibeg	1,677	38	62	—
Loch Leven	1,597	100	—	—
Loch Lomond	428	83	17	—
Loch Maree Islands	200	80	—	20
Loch Sunart Woodlands	163	—	43	57
Mealdarrock	205	—	100	—
Milton Wood	24	100	—	—
Moine Mhor	493	—	100	—
Monach Isles	577	100	—	—
Morrane Birkwood	225	100	—	—
Morton Lochs	24	—	100	—
Mound Alderwoods	267	100	—	—
Muir of Dinnet	1,415	100	—	—
Nigg and Udale Bays	640	100	—	—
North Rona and Sula Sgeir	130	100	—	—
Noss	313	100	—	—
Rannoch Moor	1,499	—	100	—
Rassal Ashwood	85	100	—	—
Rhum	10,684	—	100	—
St. Abbs Head	77	100	—	—
St. Cyrus	92	100	—	—
St. Kilda	853	100	—	—
Silver Flowe	191	—	—	100
Strathfarrar	2,189	100	—	—
Strathy Bog	281	100	—	—
Taynish	370	2	98	—
Tentsmuir	505	76	24	—
Tynron Juniper Wood	5	100	—	—
Whitlaw Mosses	19	100	—	—
WALES
Alit Rhyd y Groes	70	38	62	—
Cadair Idris	403	9	91	—
Caunant Llennyran	9	—	100	—
Coed Camlyn	64	—	100	—
Coed Cymerau	26	—	—	100
Coed Dolgarrog	69	—	—	100
Coed Ganllwyd	27	100	—	—
Coed Corawen	13	38	62	—
Coed Rheidol	—	—	100	—
Coed y Rhygen	28	—	76	24
Coed Tremadoc	20	84	16	—
Coedydd Aber	169	17	81	52
Coedydd Maentwrog	68	100	—	—
Cors Bodeilio	6	—	100	—
Cors Caron	792	5	95	—
Cors Erddreiniog	67	47	53	—
Cors Geirch	16	—	100	—
Cors y Llyn	25	67	33	—
Craig Cerrig Gleisiad	282	18	82	—
Craig y Cilau	64	100	—	—

		Per cent owned by:
Name of NNR	Declared Areas(HA)	Private Landowners	Nature Conservancy Council	Other Public Bodies
Crymlyn Bog	63	11	—	89
Cwm Clydach	24	—	100	—
Cwm glas Crafnant	15	100	—	—
Cwm Idwal	398	100	—	—
Dyfi	2,098	74	26	—
Gower Coast	47	100	—	—
Haffod Garregog	87	100	—	—
Morfa Dyffryn	202	100	—	—
Morfa Harlech	884	100	—	—
Nant Irfon	142	—	100	—
Newborough Warren/Ynys	—	—	—	—
Llanddwyn	1,297	23	8	69
Ogof Ffynnon Ddu	413	—	100	—
Oxwich	288	12	88	—
Penhow Woodlands	24	—	—	100
Rhinog	598	—	100	—
Rhos Goch	45	—	100	—
Rhos Llawr Cwrt	35	—	100	—
Skomer	308	5	95	—
Stackpole	199	100	—	—
Scanner Rocks	5	—	—	100
Ty Canol	69	—	—	100
Whiteford	782	100	—	—
Ynys Enlli—Bardsey	180	100	—	—
Y Wyddfa—Snowdon	1,678	100	—	—
Total	163,765	—	—	—

Local Authority Services

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his answer of 21 January, Official Report, column 828, on enabling powers on charging for local authority services, he proposes to introduce the necessary enabling power in the form of a separate Bill.

[holding answer 28 January 1988]: We shall use the most suitable legislative available vehicle. I shall write to the hon. Member on the subject.

Monument (Millbank Gardens)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans for the restoration and maintenance of the monument in Millbank gardens in commemoration of the emancipation of slaves.

[holding answer 5 February 1988]: Repairs to the stonework inside the Buxton memorial and to the gargoyles will shortly be carried out. Of the eight statues around the top of the memorial only three remain at present. One has been removed for repair and four were stolen. Remodelled and recast replacements will be positioned on the memorial.

Leeds-Bradford Airport

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to announce the findings of the Leeds-Bradford airport public inqurity into extended flying hours; and if he will make a statement.

The inspector has completed his report of the inquiry and his findings are now being carefully considered. When this has been concluded, a decision will be issued jointly by the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Transport.

Whilst every effort will be made to reach the decision with the minimum of delay, I cannot predict at this stage when that will be.

Overseas Development

Overseas Aid (Warship Purchases)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in the Official Report, details of any projects which have been agreed or are presently being considered which would use any part of the United Kingdom or European Community aid budgets or ATP provisions for the purchase of frigates or any other warships by an overseas Government.

There is none. Neither the overseas aid budget nor the European Community aid programmes are used for military or para-military purposes.

Research

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all the research agreements and contracts which his Department has with the university of York; and into what subjects the research is being carried out.

We have no such research agreements or contracts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all the research agreements and contracts which his Department has with the university of Loughborough; and into what subjects the research is being carried out.

The Overseas Development Administration has the following current research projects contracted to Loughborough university:

Development of Simple Pump Technology for Irrigation—Phase II (Costing £116,708)

Reduced Cost Sewerage System—Phase I (£12,410)

Use of Floating Macrophytes to Remove Plant Nutrients from Treated Refluents (£36,776)

Simple Pump Technology for Irrigation—Phase I (£12,678)

Design and Operation of Septic Tank Systems (£27,067)

Boithuthong Community Centre, Bophuthatswana

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the total cost to the small projects scheme of contributions made to the Boithuthong community centre, Garankuwa, Bophuthatswana.

An allocation of £2,000 has been approved towards the cost of a building and equipment for this centre, which is a non-governmental institution. No funds have so far been spent.

Chancellor Of The Duchy Of Lancaster

Empty Houses

29.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many empty houses there are on the Duchy of Lancaster estates.

There are currently six houses or cottages vacant on the Duchy of Lancaster's estates.

Trade And Industry

Pin-Ups

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will issue instructions for the removal of all offensive pin-ups in all his departmental premises.

This Department is to issue shortly a further notice to its staff on the subject of sexual harassment at work, which will include a reminder to managers that they must take prompt action against unacceptable behaviour such as the display of sexually offensive photographs or posters.

Balance Of Trade

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give for standard industrial classification orders 3302 and 3341 (a) annual output, (b) United Kingdom market size and (c) balance of trade for each year since 1983 and for as much of 1987 as is possible; and if he will give the figures on a similar basis for standard industrial classifications 3302 and 3341, together with standard industrial classifications 3301, 3443, 3453 and 3454.

The information that is available is shown in the tables:

Activity Headings 3302+3441⁵
£ million
	Annual Output¹	UK Market Size²	Trade Balance³
1983	2,953	3,868	-915
1984	3,994	5,007	-1,013
1985	5,127	5,808	-681

Annual Output

UK Market Size

Trade Balance

1986

4,728

5,698

-970

1987⁴

2,752

3,333

-581

Activity Headings 3301+3302+3441+3443+3453+3454 ⁵
£ million
	Annual Output ¹	UK Market Size ²	Trade Balance ³
1983	6,987	9,002	-2,015
1984	8,731	10,767	-2,036
1985	10,171	11,785	-1,614
1986	10,051	11,921	-1,870
1987⁴	5,565	6,538	-973
¹ Annual Output=Total Sales of Principal Products by UK manufacturers.
² UK Market Size=Annual Output — Exports (fob) Imports (cif).
³ Trade Balance=Exports (fob)—Imports (cif).
⁴ First six months only, not seasonally adjusted.
⁵ Activity Heading:

3301—Office machinery.

3302 Electronic data-processing equipment.

3441—Telegraph and telephone equipment.

3443—Radio and electronic capital goods.

3453—Electronic sub-assemblies and active components.

3454—Electronic consumer goods and miscellaneous equipment.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the United Kingdom's deficit in manufactured trade with Japan, Korea, Taiwan, West Germany and the whole of the EEC including Germany, respectively, in the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available.

The information is in the table.

United Kingdom crude balance of trade in manufactures¹1987
	£ billion
Trade with:
Japan	-4·2
South Korea	-0·6
Taiwan	-0·7
F R Germany	-7·5
European Community	-11·1
¹ Standard international trade classification Sections 5 to 8.

Figures are on the overseas trade statistics basis: imports, but not exports, are valued inclusive of insurance and freight charges.

Britoil

To ask the Chancellor to the Duchy of Lancaster what advice he has received from the Director General of Fair Trading on the proposed takeover of Britoil by BP; and if he will refer the bid to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.

My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State announced on 4 February his decision not to refer the proposed acquisition by the British Petroleum plc. of Britoil plc. to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. This decision was in accordance with the advice of the Director General of Fair Trading.

Decentralisation Of Trade

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on his Department's plans for the decentralisation of trade policy.

My Department has no plans to decentralise trade policy.

Confidential Letters (Leaks)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will direct his Permanent Under-Secretary, Sir Brian Hayes, to prepare a report on leaks of confidential letters from his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Any such direction would be superfluous. It is already Sir Brian Hayes's practice to institute an inquiry when there appears to have been an unauthorised disclosure of confidential information and it seems possible that investigation might identify its source. The reports of such investigations are submitted to Ministers.

Home Department

Police National Computer

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much he plans to spend over each of the next three years on interim arrangements in connection with the police computer; when the new permanent system (a) was and (b) is now scheduled to be operative; what has caused the delay in its introduction; why the current system is no longer suitable; if a new tender has been put out for the mainframe and terminals for the interim system; and if he will make a statement.

The capital cost of the interim equipment is about £3·75 million, but this is offset by savings of about £950,000 a year in terms of maintenance, power and other costs. Taking account of the residual value of new hardware, the interim arrangements are likely to cost about £65,000 a year.The interim equipment was necessary to replace processors which could no longer be economically maintained. It was procured by single tender action from the supplier of the present PNC equipment as no other firm could supply processors which would run the existing PNC software. No new terminals have been procured.The next generation PNC is expected to be operational in 1990, as originally planned.

Metropolitan Police (Sickness And Injury)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Belfast, South on 22 January, Official Report, column 869, how many of the total days off sick or injured by members of the Metropolitan police were attributable to (a) injury and (b) sickness; and if he will give this information for the last five years, stating average days off per capita.

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that information in the form requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the numbers of officers injured on duty, who were placed on the sick list, are as follows:

	Numbers
1983	1,911
1984	1,926
1985	2,593
1986	2,234
1987	2,164

Remand Prisoners

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men (b) women were held on remand in magistrates' court cells in England and Wales on the 25 January 1988; and if he will list the magistrates' courts.

I am informed by the Metropolitan police that the police cells at Highbury Corner, Camberwell Green and Marylebone magistrates' courts held 32, 29 and nine prisoners respectively on 25 January 1988. Records do not distinguish between numbers of men and women held.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the longest period of time a person had been held on remand in a magistrates' court cell as of 25 January.

The information required is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who has the responsibility for visiting and checking the conditions in which people being held in magistrates' court cells are kept; and to whom are reports sent as to such conditions.

It has been decided that lay visitor panels should have this responsibility. Arrangements for such visits in London will be introduced as soon as consultations with the Metropolitan police and the clerks to the courts concerned are satisfactorily completed. It is intended that reports on visits should go to a responsible senior police officer and to the Secretary of the Lay Visitors' Panel. It will be open to the latter to send a copy of a report also to my right hon. Friend as the police authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the weekly cost of keeping a person in a magistrates' court cell; and who pays this cost.

The average weekly cost of keeping a prisoner in police or magistrates' court cells, based on the latest accounts submitted by police forces, is £1,008. The cost is borne on the prison department Vote.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with panels of lay visitors as to the position of people being held in remand in magistrates' court cells.

The Department is discussing with the Metropolitan police guidelines for lay visitors who visit remand prisoners held in police cells and magistrates' courts cells. We have also approached the clerks of the five magistrates' courts in London in which remand prisoners are held about access by lay visitors. When consultations are complete, the guidelines will be circulated to lay visitor panels.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the conditions under which people being held in magistrates' court cells are allowed visits; and if he will make a statement.

There are no general rules applying to visitors to persons held in magistrates' courts cells. I understand from the commissioner that in the Metropolitan police district prisoners detained in cells at magistrates' courts are allowed to receive visits from their legal representatives, probation officers and social workers preparing social inquiry reports. Such visits would be refused only if there was good reason. The police also do what they can to facilitate visits by friends and relatives, but arrangements vary and depend on such factors as the facilities available and other calls on police resources.

Metropolitan Police (Heathrow)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officers of the Metropolitan police were stationed at Heathrow airport in each of the last five years; and what percentage this represented of the total strength of the Metropolitan police in the same period and at the latest available date.

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the information requested is as follows:

Date	Officers on policing duties at Heathrow	Strength of the force	Per cent.
31 December 1983	394	26,729	1·47
31 December 1984	407	26,766	1·52
31 December 1985	401	26,705	1·50
31 December 1986	401	26,920	1·49
31 December 1987	411	27,355	1·50

Alcohol Sales (Under-Age Persons)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has as to how many convictions there have been of (a) public house licensees or managers or (b) managers of off-licences or shops for offences involving the sale of alcohol to underage persons in (i) Somerset and Avon and (ii) England and Wales, in each of the last five years.

The available information, which may he incomplete, is given in the table. The other information requested is not held centrally.

Persons convicted of offences under section 169(1) of the Licensing Act 1964
Year	England and Wales	Avon and Somerset
1982	187	19
1983	188	22
1984	164	9
1985	170	12
1986	165	7

Police Sub-Stations

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has issued any guidelines to chief constables concerning (a) the opening hours of police substations and (b) levels of staffing at police sub-stations.

No. These are operational matters which chief officers of police must decide.

Members' Representations

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations were made by hon. Members to his Department in each year from 1983 to 1987.

The available information relates to the number of cases of ministerial correspondence recorded in my Department as the result of representations made to Home Office Ministers, and is as follows:

	Number
1983	25,642
¹1984	26,200
1985	31,853
1986	33,015
1987	27,561
¹ The figures for 1984 is an estimate since precise figures are not available for November and December of that year.

Although the great majority of the cases relate to representations made by right hon. and hon. Members, these figures include ministerial correspondence with noble Lords and others.

Television Licences (Students)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward legislation to relieve students living in university accommodation from the requirement to have a full television licence if they operate a television in their own room.

There are no plans to do so. The full television licence already permits members of the licence holder's family who are living away from home as full-time students at an educational establishment to use portable television sets powered only by internal batteries.

Knives

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been convicted of carrying knives in the Metropolitan police area for the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available.

The readily available information relates to possession of offensive weapons without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. A total of 1,840 persons were found guilty of such offences in the Metropolitan police district in 1986.

Shotgun Cartridges

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on his intentions as to whether to classify further shotgun cartridges under section 1 control.

Our intentions are set out in the Firearms (Amendment) Bill, which lowers the diameter of shot above which a cartridge is subject to control under section 1 of the Firearms Act 1968 from 0·36 inch to 0·23 inch.

Immigration

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners are being held awaiting removal or deportation for overstaying under the immigration rules; and what is the breakdown of ethnic origin of these prisoners.

The information requested is not maintained centraly and could be provided only at disproportionat cost. Statistics relating to immigration control do not include the ethnic origin of the persons concerned.

Persons refused initially¹an entry clearance²to the United Kingdom
Number of persons
Year	Bangladesh	India	Pakistan	Sri Lanka	Ghana	Nigeria	Hong Kong
1977	5,660	2,400	3,970	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ
1978	3,230	2,300	4,540	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ
1979	2,660	2,120	4,760	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ
1980	3,240	1,980	3,290	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ
1981	3,200	1,280	3,010	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ
1982	4,670	1,410	2,900	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ
1983	5,820	1,670	2,320	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ
1984	4,270	1,250	1,860	ֵ	ֵ	ֵ	³80
1985	4,900	1,160	1,680	⁴570	ֵ	ֵ	160
1986	3,680	1,760	2,150	660	³480	ֵ	110
1987⁵	2,300	4,810	6,600	680	2,050	⁶2,640	110
ֵ Not available.
¹ Including those subsequently successful on appeal.
² Excluding persons refused a certificate of entitlement to, or a confirmation of, the right of abode.
³ October to December only.
⁴ 30 May to December only.
⁵ January to September, unless otherwise stated. The increase in refusals in 1987 in India and Pakistan reflected the introduction of the Visa requirement on 15 October 1986.
⁶ February to September only.

Royal Prerogative

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will issue a directive to the Director General of the security services clarifying the extent to which security operations which would otherwise be criminal offences can be made lawful under the terms of the royal prerogative.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, West (Mr. Jones) on 29 January at column 397.

Radio

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what powers the Radio Authority will have to arrange cross-subsidies to assist with the cost of transmission in remote rural areas;(2) what are his intentions on facilitating transitional arrangements for the transfer of responsibilities for radio broadcasting from the Independent Broadcasting Authority to the new Radio Authority.

We shall be discussing the transitional arrangements with the Independent Broadcasting Authority and other organisations with an interest. The position of stations in remote rural areas will be one of the matters for discussion.

Entry Clearance

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list in the Official Report the number of refusals for entry clearance from all countries for each year from 1977 to 1987, broken down by country; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested is available centrally only for certain countries, and is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether radio stations will be able to make their own transmission arrangements on both VHF and MF under the new arrangements proposed.

Stations will become responsible for their own transmission arrangements irrespective of whether they broadcast on VHF, MF or both.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Radio Authority will be required to ensure that national and local radio stations provide an adequate service of national and international news.

We do not envisage a general requirement on stations licensed by the Radio Authority to provide any given amount of news although any news given will have to satisfy the criteria set out in paragraph 7.7 of our Green Paper "Radio: Choices and Opportunities" (Cm. 92).

Prison Education

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if Her Majesty's Government have any plans to alter the way in which prison education is currently delivered through local education authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Under current arrangements the great majority of education for people in custody is provided by teachers who are employed by and professionally responsible to the local education authority. The Government have no plans to change this means of providing education. As part of the ongoing work of the prison education branch, agreement has been reached with the local authority associations to set up a working party on the role of local education authorities in providing education in prison. The aims of the working party are set out in the Government reply to the second report from the Education, Science and Arts Committee (Cm 298), copies of which are in the Library.

London City Airport

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 28 January, Official Report, column 307, why it is not possible to identify police costs associated with London City airport; and if he will make a statement.

The costs of the attendance of police officers in response to particular incidents as required and in order to direct traffic in the vicinity cannot be separately identified from the costs of policing the surrounding area.

Prevention Of Terrorism

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will seek the renewal of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1984; and if he will make a statement.

A draft order was laid on 25 January under section 14(10) of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1984. If the draft order is approved by Parliament, the Act will continue in force for a further 12 months. I have received the report from Viscount Colville of Culross on the operation of the Act in 1987 and copies have been placed in the Library. The report is supplementary to his review of the Act as a whole, publication of which was announced to the House on 9 December at column 167.

Attorney-General

File (Disappearance)

To ask the Attorney-General if a report was made to the Director of Public Prosecutions following the disappearance of a file belonging to Mr. Colin Wallace from the office of the hon. Member for Southend, East (Mr. Taylor) in March 1986.

I understand that no report has been received by the Director of Public Prosecutions relating to any such event.

Mr Holroyd And Mr Wallace

To ask the Attorney-General what was the outcome of the active consideration given to certain reports that appeared about Mr. Holroyd and Mr. Wallace, referred to in the Official Report, 23 February 1987, column 16.

I refer the hon. Member to the Answer given on 3 March 1987 to my hon. Friend the Member for Southend, East (Mr. Taylor) by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Services in which he said that the various allegations made by Captain (Retd.) Holroyd and Mr. Colin Wallace over many years about the conduct of the security forces in Northern Ireland had been fully and carefully investigated since they left the Province in 1975; no evidence had been discovered as a result of these investigations to substantiate any of their allegations.

Unification Church

To ask the Attorney-General which religious organisations were approached for assistance when preparing the now abandoned appeal against the decision not to remove charity status from the Unification Church.The Attorney-General: Such an approach was made to the Church of England. I also received representations from the following organisations:

The Churches Main Committee
The Council of Christians and Jews
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
The Ayra Samaj in London
the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

To ask the Attorney-General which of the Christian religious organisations, approached for assistance when preparing the appeal against the decision not to remove charity from the Unification Church, were prepared to state that the Unification Church was not a bona fide Christian organisation.

The Church of England expressed no view on whether or not the Unification Church is a bona fide Christian organisation. It did, however, declare doubts about the wisdom of attempting to prove in secular court proceedings that the Unification Church is not an organisation of Christian character. It expressed the view that the issues were very far from simple, requiring as they did the making of theological distinctions between orthodoxy, heresy and Christian deviations. Similar views have also been expressed by other Christian Churches and Church organisations.

Herald Of Free Enterprise

To ask the Attorney-General if any proceedings are to be initiated against Townsend Thoreson Ltd. in respect of alleged illegal carriage of toxic chemical wastes aboard the Herald of Free Enterprise.

The capsize of the Herald of Free Enterprise and matters relating to it are under investigation by the police. When that investigation is complete, the Director of Public Prosecutions will consider the question of any criminal proceedings.

Crown Prosecution Service

To ask the Attorney-General how many persons are employed in the Crown court sections of the Crown prosecution service, area by area; and how many in each area are legally qualified as either solicitor or barrister-at-law.

Crown court sections within the Crown prosecution service are staffed by law clerks supported by administrative staff. The function of law clerks is to prepare papers for counsel, liaise with the police, and to represent the Crown prosecution service in court. It is not a requirement that they should hold legal qualifications. The numbers of law clerks employed in the Crown court sections are detailed on the attached schedule.

CPS Area	Numbers of Staff Employed in the Crown Court Section
	Law Clerks	Administration Staff
Avon/Somerset	15	3
Beds/Herts	13	5
Cambs/Lincs	12	3
Cheshire	9	2
Cleveland/North Yorks	17	0
Cumbria/Lanes	16	11
Derbyshire	9	4
Devon/Cornwall	14	0
Dorset/Hants	18	4
Durham/Northumbria	26	9
Essex	12	2·5
Glos/Wilts	7	6
Greater Manchester	36	3
Humberside	8	6
Kent	16	6
Leics/Northants	14	0
London-Inner	113·5	32
London-North	52·5	15
London-South	41·5	10·5
Merseyside	30	9
Norfolk/Suffolk	9	1

CPS Area	Numbers of Staff Employed in the Crown Court Section
	Law Clerks	Administration Staff
North Wales/Dyfed	9	3·5
Nottinghamshire	12	7
South Wales/Gwent	22	3
South Yorkshire	15	5
Staffs/Warwicks	15	0
Sussex	11	4
Thames Valley	19	10
West Mercia	8	4
West Midlands	35	9
West Yorkshire	32	0

Figures taken from Staff in Post details at 31 December 1987.

Public Accounts Commission

Costs

32.

To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission what was the cost of the Public Accounts Commission's work during 1987.

These costs, which relate primarily to the time of the nine Members of the House who serve as Members of the Commission, are not quantifiable.

Prime Minister

Engagements

To ask the Prime Minister if, further to her reply to the hon. Member for Houghton and Washington of 26 January, Official Report column 133, she will give the time, nature and duration of her meetings on Monday 18 January between 12 pm and 6 pm.

No.

Minister For Social Security And The Disabled

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list the interdepartmental responsibilities of the Minister for Social Security and the Disabled.

The Minister for Social Security and the Disabled has particular responsibility for coordinating policy on disablement and for benefits, aids and services for disabled people. These functions are discharged in conjunction with other departmental Ministers as necessary.

Security And Intelligence Services

To ask the Prime Minister (1) whether she will amend the terms of reference of the staff counsellor for the security and intelligence services, so as to allow him to counsel military intelligence officers as well;(2) whether she will amend the terms of reference of the staff counsellor for the security and intelligence services to counsel any individuals who have anxieties about the service;(3) whether she will amend the terms of reference of the staff counsellor for the security and intelligence services, so as to allow him to counsel military information officers as well.

No.

Departmental Correspondence

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to her written answer of 11 December 1987, Official Report, column 278, in what circumstances she is prepared to give information on correspondence received from third parties.

I have nothing to add to the reply already given to the hon. Gentleman on 11 December, at column 278.

National Health Service

To ask the Prime Minister if she will give the date and place of any official statement by any Minister of the Crown prior to 11 June 1987 concerning the proposed review of the finances of the National Health Service.

There was no such statement.

South Africa And Namibia

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list the names of all the South African citizens and Namibian citizens she has met in an official capacity over the past two years.

My normal practice will continue to be not to provide detailed information about my meetings with private individuals. Meetings in recent years with Chief Buthelezi, Bishop Tutu, Chief Mabuza, and Mrs. Helen Suzman were made public at the time.

Trade Unions

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list in the Official Report the trade unions she personally, or officials acting on her behalf, met during the past five weeks; and where these meetings were held.

As I have told the House before, my normal practice is neither to confirm nor to deny whether meetings with private individuals have taken place, even in those cases where no such meeting has occurred.

Stalker Report

To ask the Prime Minister what representations she has received from the Irish Government concerning the Stalker report and the Royal Ulster Constabulary's alleged shoot-to-kill policy; and if she will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement issued following the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference on 2 February, a copy of which is available in the Library.

Secret Services (Papers)

To ask the Prime Minister if she will arrange for the early release of papers relating to the activities of the secret services at the time of the fall of the Gough Whitlam Government in Australia; and if she will make a statement.

The release of records will continue to be dealt with in the normal way in accordance with the provisions of the Public Records Acts.

Education And Science

Young People (Full-Time Education)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will take steps to put beyond doubt the right of every young person, including those with special educational needs, aged between 16 and 19 years who seeks it to receive appropriate full-time education; and if he will make a statement.

Clause 81 of the Education Reform Bill, which clarifies the existing law on this point, puts beyond doubt the duty of local education authorities to provide full-time education for all who seek it up to the age of 19, including those with special educational needs.

School Crossing Patrols

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many unmanned school crossing patrols there are (a) in the United Kingdom as a whole and (b) in north Yorkshire; and what proportions these numbers represent of the total number of school crossing patrols in each case.

My Department does not collect information about school crossings and patrols.

Higher Education (Research)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has had in support of the recommendation from the Advisory Board for the Research Councils to differentiate between three levels of higher education institutions in the level and scope of their research activity; and what reply he has given to the board.

A substantial majority of the 250 submissions which my right hon. Friend has received about the ABRC's discussion document "A Strategy for the Science Base", accept the need for greater differentiation of research roles in higher education; but most do not support the board's recommendation that this should be at the institutional level. My right hon. Friend will be making a statement on policy for the science base later this year.

Inner London Education Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received about the future of the Inner London education authority; and if he will make a statement.

Since the introduction of the Education Reform Bill, the Department of Education and Science has received some 1,200 letters about education in inner London. My right hon. Friend announced on 4 February at columns 1178–9 that the Government had decided to introduce amendments to the Education Reform Bill, with the aim of transferring responsibility for education to the inner London boroughs and the City of London from 1 April 1990.

Swimming Pools

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has on the number of swimming pools under the control of local education authorities in England and Wales; and what proportion are open-air.

Information about the number of such swimming pools is not available.

Secondary Schools

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set out in a table for each local education authority (a) the number of children starting secondary schools at the start of the 1987–88 academic year, (b) the number of complaints he has received or been notified of where parents are not satisfied with their child's allocated school for 1987–88 and (c) the number of children who, following complaints, were subsequently reallocated to the school of their choice in 1987–88.

Information on the number of children admitted to secondary schools at the beginning of the academic year 1987–88 has not been collected centrally. Information on complaints in respect of individual local authorities cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.Where parents do not get the school they want for their child, it is open to them to appeal to an independent local appeal committee, whose decision is binding on the local education authority or school governors concerned. From informal inquiries made in 1985, it appeared that some 9,000 such appeals were made in that year, of which around 40 per cent. were decided in the parents' favour.The Secretary of State does not consider an admissions complaint unless the case has first been referred to the independent local appeal committee, and his powers of intervention in such local matters are extremely limited. In calendar year 1987, the Secretary of State received over 380 complaints about school admissions decisions in England but did not consider that there were grounds to intervene under sections 68 or 99 of the Education Act 1944 in any of these cases. It is not known how many of the pupils concerned were subsequently allocated a place at their preferred school or at another school acceptable to their parents.

Business And Technician Education Council

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the future of the Business Technician Education Advisory Council and its services.

I understand that my hon. Friend is referring to the Business and Technician Education Council. This is a non-departmental public body established in 1983 as a successor to the former Business Education Council and Technician Education Council, themselves established in the mid-1970s to validate a wide range of vocational courses and examinations at technician level and equivalent. It is one of many bodies, operating in the vocational qualifications field, albeit the only one with NDPB status under my Department. It has an important part to play in the much wider rationalisation of vocational qualifications now being undertaken under the aegis of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications. The council is currently taking steps to improve the marketing of its qualifications and its links with other bodies, and is reforming its structures and services to those ends. My right hon. Friend welcomes these steps, and looks to the council to continue its efforts to improve its own efficiency and responsiveness to the changing context in education and training.

Schools (Opting Out)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many bodies representing schools in the Easington area have expressed an interest to his Department in opting out of local government control.

All individual schools which have approached the Department about this proposal have done so on the basis that their interest will be treated in confidence.

Education Reform

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report his recent correspondence with the court of the University of Edinburgh on the Education Reform Bill, initiated on 22 January; and if he will make a statement.

The exchange of correspondence is as follows.

22 January 1988

The Rt. Hon. Kenneth Baker, M.P.,

Secretary of State for Education and Science,

Elizabeth House,

York Road,

LONDON SE1 7PH.

Dear Secretary of State,

Education Reform Bill

The University Court of the University of Edinburgh, which is the University's supreme governing body established under the Universities (Scotland) Acts, has discussed those sections of the Education Reform Bill which are of direct relevance to universities. The Court instructed us to write to you to convey its dismay and anxiety over a number of proposals in the Bill as it is now before Parliament.

The Court was particularly concerned at two aspects— the powers to be vested in the Secretary of State, and the powers to be given to the Commissioners to be established under the Bill. Under section 94(1), the Secretary of State may by order confer or impose on either of the Funding Councils such additional functions as he thinks fit, and under section 94(3) "the Secretary of State may make grants to each of the Funding Councils … subject to such conditions as he may determine;" the Court regards these powers as unnecessarily wide and as an unnecessary accretion of authority to the executive arm of government. Similarly, section 132(1) of the Bill provides that "for the purposes of performing the duty imposed on them by section 131 … the Commissioners may make such modifications to the statutes of any qualifying institution as they consider necessary or expedient," subject to the approval of Her Majesty in Council, while under section 135(2), an Order in Council may amend, repeal, or revoke, any provisions of an Act of Parliament—such as, presumably, one of the Universities (Scotland) Acts; the Court has grave reservations about the constitutional propriety of thus over-riding the statutory provisions of Parliament. Finally with regard to the proposed Commissioners, the Court takes strong exception to the sweeping powers conferred under Schedule 9, Section 4, under which the Commissioners may, apparently without any constraint, "do anything which appears to them necessary or expedient for the purpose of … their functions," including requiring any University Officer "to furnish any information or to produe any documents relating to the institution …".

£ million at 1987–88 prices
	1982–83 outturn	1983–84 outturn	1984–85 outturn	1985–86 outturn	¹ 1986–87 outturn	² 1987–88 estimated outturn	1988–89 plans	1989–90 plans	1990–91 plans
Schools	9,531	9,646	9,441	9,244	10,005	10,633	10,630	10,635	10,654
Higher and further education	4,930	4,960	4,946	4,751	4,789	4,904	4,866	4,851	4,806
Miscellaneous educational services research and administration	826	878	888	888	930	975	1,032	1,071	1,090
Research Councils and related bodies	589	604	612	618	635	657	669	675	655
Total Department of Education and Science	15,876	15,980	15,888	15,502	16,358	17,169	17,197	17,232	17,205

The Court's attention has also been drawn to the lack of any reference in the Bill to the maintenance of academic freedom; the Court hopes that this omission will be rectified.

Copies of this letter are being made available to the Press, and the text will be published in the University of Edinburgh Bulletin. A copy is also being sent to the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Yours sincerely,

Archie MacPherson Rector

A. M. Currie

Secretary to the University

A MacPherson Esq BA

Rector

University of Edinburgh

Old College

South Bridge

EDINBURGH EH8 9YL

Dear Rector

Thank you for you letter, also signed by Mr Currie, of 22 January to the Secretary of State about the provisions in the Education Reform Bill relating to the universities. I am replying as these are matters for which I have responsibility within the Department.

We have received many letters on similar lines about the proper balance between necessary central powers and institutional autonomy. Detailed discussions of the Bill's higher education provisions will begin shortly in the Commons Standing Committee and a large number of relevant amendments have already been tabled which will allow these matters to be properly explored. I obviously cannot prejudge the outcome of this or the debate that will continue through the Bill's Parliamentary passage.

Yours sincerely

Robert Jackson

Education Expenditure

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report a table, based on table 12.1 of the public expenditure White Paper Cmnd. 288-II, with all figures converted to 1987–88 prices and in the manner of his reply, Official Report, 29 January 1987 columns 509–14.

The information requested is set out in the table. The figures have been revalued using the GDP (market prices) deflator, which is assumed to rise by 4·25 per cent. in 1987–88, 4·5 per cent. in 1988–89. 3·5 per cent. in 1989–90 and 3 per cent. in 1990–91. All figures in the table have been rounded to the nearest £1 million, so that the totals shown may not equal the sum of their rounded components.

	1982–83 outturn	1983–84 outturn	1984–85 outturn	1985–86 outturn	¹ 1986–87 outturn	² 1987–88 estimated outturn	1988–89 plans	1989–90 plans	1990–91 plans
Central government
Voted in Estimates Schools
Building grants to voluntary and special schools	48	45	52	58	50	55	68	70	74
Music and ballet schools	4	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4
Assisted places scheme	11	18	25	32	40	49	53	55	54
City technology colleges	—	—	—	—	—	4	18	30	30
Higher and further education (including teacher training)
Universities
Capital	151	141	137	144	154	154	147	141	142
Current	1,568	1,555	1,527	1,478	1,474	1,562	1,614	1,620	1,609
Voluntary and direct grant institutions
Capital	5	5	6	5	5	7	6	5	5
Current	107	105	97	92	91	95	93	90	90
Adult education	14	15	15	16	16	16	17	16	16
Postgraduate awards to humanities students and other student awards	8	5	5	4	5	6	5	5	5
Miscellaneous services, research and administration
Youth service	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Research programme and other education services	19	23	24	25	24	27	45	69	75
Administration and inspection costs	40	53	55	55	57	58	65	63	63
Compensation payments	5	5	6	6	6	7	7	7	7
Research Councils etc. Capital	96	90	88	97	96	93	85	99	77
Current (including postgraduate science awards)	494	513	523	521	538	564	584	576	578
Total voted expenditure	2,573	2,581	2,568	2,541	2,564	2,703	2,812	2,855	2,833
Other central government Schools	-5	-4	-4	-4	0	0	0	0	0
Total central government	2,569	2,576	2,563	2,537	2,564	2,703	2,812	2,855	2,833
Of which: Total central government capital expenditure	296	277	282	302	307	310	309	318	300
Local authorities
Relevant current spending Schools
Under fives	342	352	377	377	411	441	443	456	463
Primary schools	2,926	2,876	2,832	2,809	3,118	3,370	3,403	3,486	3,539
Secondary schools	4,416	4,447	4,397	4,248	4,645	4,957	4,895	4,819	4,797
Special schools	476	491	492	497	523	544	546	541	538
Meals and milk	512	507	488	468	471	469	431	416	404
Transport	230	233	227	224	219	213	205	204	205
Non-maintained school fees	143	140	138	126	125	125	123	118	114
Teachers' centres	29	28	31	34	37	39	42	42	41
Child guidance	35	34	35	38	41	45	45	45	45
Pupil support	32	32	37	37	38	38	38	38	38
Higher and further education
Advanced further education	759	757	763	776	782	780	774	782	789
Non-advanced further education	1,094	1,108	1,137	1,053	1,100	1,098	1,104	1,084	1,045
Adult education	95	102	106	109	116	123	125	127	127
Discretionary students awards and support	151	157	162	163	176	189	200	200	200
Miscellaneous services, research and administration
Youth service	121	130	133	135	143	150	160	163	162
Recreational services and research	57	65	66	62	66	68	75	76	75
Administration and inspection costs	543	568	573	578	610	642	664	677	691
Total relevant current spending	11,960	12,026	11,994	11,735	12,622	13,291	13,273	13,273	13,273
Non-relevant current spending Mandatory student awards³	833	874	848	764	733	742	733	732	728

	1982–83 outturn	1983–84 outturn	1984–85 outturn	1985–86 outturn	¹ 1986–87 outturn	² 1987–88 estimated outturn	1988–89 plans	1989–90 plans	1990–91 plans
Local authority capital⁴
Schools	332	338	311	297	284	281	316	311	309
Higher and further education	145	137	142	146	137	134	50	50	49
Miscellaneous education services Youth service	15	12	13	12	12	12	8	7	7
Other education services	22	17	15	10	7	7	6	6	5
Total local authority capital	514	505	482	466	441	434	379	374	371
Total local authorities	13,308	13,404	13,324	12,965	13,795	14,467	14,385	14,378	14,372
Total Department of Education and Science	15,876	15,980	15,888	15,502	16,358	17,169	17,197	17,232	17,205
¹ The 1986–87 figures incorporate a distribution by sector of total current spending by local authorities based on thcr provisional outturn expenditure on education.
² The 1987–88 figures incorporate a provisional distribution by sector of total current spending by local authorities based on their budgets.
³ Includes payments to public sector higher education institutions as reimbursements of fees for EC students.
⁴ Local authority capital expenditure figures are net of receipts attributable to education. They include provision for the Urban Programme.

Teachers (Pay)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many responses he has received to the Green Paper on teachers' pay and conditions; and if he will make a statement.

Thirty-seven responses to the Green Paper, "Teachers' Pay and Conditions: a Consultative Document" (Cm 238), have so far been received in the Department from organisations and two from individuals.

Pupil Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will now publish in the Official Report for each of Waltham Forest, Merton, Enfield, Haringey, Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Hillingdon, Kingston, Sutton,

Pupils aged 11 to 15 in all maintained schools
	Number of pupils studying in the authority	Pupils from authority studying in other LEAs	ILEA pupils studying in the authority	Pupils from other¹LEAs studying in the authority	Net inflow (-) or outftow(+)
	(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)	(e)
At January 1987
Barnet	15,448	948	342	2,530	-1,582
Brent	10,798	2,801	133	654	2,147
Ealing	13,091	1,839	94	699	1,140
Enfield	15,645	938	61	1,045	-107
Haringey	8,740	1,786	455	827	959
Harrow	9,625	1,367	7	540	827
Hillingdon	12,876	618	2	668	-50
Kingston	7,025	662	58	885	-223
Merton	8,466	728	384	1,116	-388
Newham	13,334	468	46	399	69
Richmond	6,925	857	741	1,758	-901
Sutton	10,017	1,033	43	1,432	-399
Waltham Forest	12,203	839	32	300	539
ILEA	104,574	4,647		5,817	-1,170
At January 1986
Barnet	15,860	931	323	2,405	-1,474
Brent	11,660	2,735	129	718	2,017
Ealing	13,909	1,874	87	637	1,237
Enfield	16,332	876	59	1,087	-211
Haringey	9,369	1,966	369	694	1,272
Harrow	9,964	1,397	7	464	933
Hillingdon	13,632	553	1	752	-199

Harrow, Newham and Richmond, and for the area covered by the Inner London education authority (a) the number of secondary pupils (b) the number of pupils studying in another local education authority area (c) the number of pupils educated who come from the Inner London education authority area, (d) the number of pupils educated from other local education authority areas and (e) the net inflow-outflow of pupils for the last date for which figures are available and in each of the past four years.

[holding answer 4 February 1988]: The following information relates to pupils aged 11 to 15 in all maintained schools and is taken from authorities' regular returns to the Department for rate support grant purposes. The figures for January 1987 and the previous three years are as follows:

	Number of pupils studying in the authority	Pupils from authority studying in other LEAs	ILEA pupils studying in the authority	Pupils from other ¹ LEAs studying in the authority	Net inflow (-) or outftow(+)
	(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)	(e)
Kingston	7,251	588	51	818	-230
Merton	8,958	683	394	1,153	-470
Newham	13,898	524	39	371	153
Richmond	6,971	922	657	1,535	-613
Sutton	10,260	1,002	38	1,301	-299
Waltham Forest	13,034	843	34	318	525
ILEA	109,739	4,572		6,202	-1,630
At January 1985
Barnet	16,182	912	285	2,248	-1,336
Brent	12,533	2,576	124	723	1,853
Ealing	14,678	2,018	76	561	1,457
Enfield	17,092	846	78	1,160	-314
Haringey	10,069	2,014	309	625	1,389
Harrow	10,349	1,354	10	478	876
Hillingdon	14,047	517	6	508	9
Kingston	7,386	527	61	685	-158
Merton	9,415	58S	365	1,079	-494
Newham	14,499	463	48	363	100
Richmond	6,981	1,015	567	1,330	-315
Sutton	10,521	932	35	1,225	-293
Waltham Forest	13,668	742	27	286	456
ILEA	116,146	4,475		6,166	-1,691
At January 1984
Barnet	16,388	882	260	2,087	-1,205
Brent	13,419	2,460	98	692	1,768
Ealing	15,449	1,991	98	581	1,410
Enfield	17,850	766	76	1,189	-423
Haringey	10,982	1,907	285	600	1,307
Harrow	10,716	1,304	14	414	890
Hillingdon	14,731	439	5	529	-90
Kingston	7,713	444	77	635	-191
Merton	9,835	538	318	1,157	-619
Newham	15,164	397	47	333	64
Richmond	6,879	1,076	480	1,028	48
Sutton	10,906	948	50	1,141	-193
Waltham Forest	14,370	690	19	270	420
ILEA	123,436	4,366		5,898	-1,532
¹ Including pupils from ILEA (c).

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

Pin-Ups

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will issue instructions for the removal of all offensive pin-ups in all his departmental premises.

In accordance with item 69 of the programme of action for equal opportunities for women in the civil service, published by the Cabinet Office (Management and Personnel Office) in 1984, all staff in the diplomatic and aid wings have been notified that the display of sexually offensive material in the workplace will be regarded as a serious matter and may be dealt with as a disciplinary offence.

Diplomatic Personnel

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the number of diplomatic personnel who are resident in the constituency of Kensington; and what is the number of members of their families resident in Kensington.

I regret that the information requested is not available.

Bophuthatswana

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what interpretation of the relationship between the territory of modern Bophuthatswana and the native reserves established for the Southern Botswana by British Governments is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards Bophuthatswana based.

Our policy is based on the fact that Bophuthatswana was created out of the Republic of South Africa, as a key element in the policy of separate development, to which we are wholly opposed.

Falkland Islands

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries have applied for licences for fishing in the Falkland Islands control zone next season; what fees are being levied; and what limits are to be placed on times of fishing, location, species and catch size.

For the 1988 fishing season, the Falkland Islands Government received licence applications to fish in the Falkland Islands interim conservation and management zone for fishing vessels from the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, France, Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Poland, Chile, Taiwan, Republic of Korea and Japan. The season for finfish began on 1 January and for Loligo squid, on 1 February. The Illex squid season begins on 1 March. The seasons end on 30 June. Copies of the fees schedule, and information on the mesh regulations and fishing areas have been placed in the Library of the House, as have details of licence allocations for 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many licenses issued for fishing in 1987 in the Falkland Islands protection zone were not taken up and reallocated and how many were awarded to undertakings, individuals or companies whose primary business was not fishing.

I will reply as soon as possible.

Ec Legislation (Plain Language)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he supports the campaign launched by the consumers in the European Community Group and European Research into Consumer Affairs for plain language in European Community proposals and legislation; and if he will encourage Ministers to promote this issue within the Community at every opportunity.

Yes.

Herald Of Free Enterprise

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Belgian authorities about the carriage of toxic chemicals on board the Herald of Free Enterprise and on the discovery, subsequent to the vessel foundering of toxic items which are now being held in Belgium; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend has had no contact with the Belgian authorities on this matter. I understand, however, that there have been contacts between other Departments and the Belgian authorities on this subject.

Nuclear Exports (Japan)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Her Majesty's Government expect to communicate to the European Commision full details of any draft nuclear export agreements with Japan for technology and nuclear materials transfer, in compliance with article 103 of the Euratom Treaty.

[holding answer 25 January]: We have no agreement with Japan for technology and nuclear materials transfer. The hon. Member may have in mind the contract between British Nuclear Fuels Plc and Japanese Nuclear Fuel Services. I am advised that this contract does not fall within the scope of article 103 of the Euratom treaty.

House Of Commons

Energy Conservation

34.

To ask the Lord President of the Council whether there have been any consultations on the introduction of new energy conservation measures in the House.

Energy conservation measures are included in the Parliamentary Works Office programme of work. I understand that the proposals for 1988 will be coming forward for consideration by the Accommodation and Administration Sub-Committee shortly.

Official Report

To ask the Lord President of the Council what action he will take to prevent the number of mistakes now appearing in the Official Report.

I assume the hon. Gentleman is referring to some minor typographical errors. The attention of Hansard is automatically drawn to any lapses. The quality of the printing of Hansard is under regular review by a liaison committee consisting of senior Official Report and HMSO personnel, and remains higher than that of any comparable daily publication.

Privy Council Office (Periodicals)

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will list all the periodicals subscribed to by the Privy Council since 1970.

The information requested is not available for the period before 1980. The periodicals subscribed to by the Privy Council Office since 1980 are as follows:

Campaign*
Economist Farmers Weekly*
Financial Weekly*
Listener
New Scientist
New Society
New Statesman
Now*
Private Eye
Spectator
Times Literary Supplement
Tribune
UK Press Gazette*
* No longer obtained.

Other periodicals are borrowed from other sources, as and when required.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Breeding Sows

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list in the Official Report the numbers of breeding sows in each English and Welsh region and county pig herd for each year from 1979 to date of the most recently available figures.

The information is contained in the table.

County by Standard Statistical Region	Total breeding pig herd 1979–86
	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
England and Wales	717,672	701,116	713,883	736,195	727,395	690,098	715,167	714,539
Cleveland	4,229	4,015	3,877	4,323	4,246	4,004	3,869	4,351
Cumbria	6,064	6,514	6,386	6,164	6,345	6,415	6,373	6,223
Durham	4,820	4,911	5,245	4,841	4,976	5,000	5,158	5,184
Northumberland	2,913	2,863	2,668	2,672	2,476	2,449	2,302	2,289
Tyne and Wear	802	607	567	612	561	376	474	385
North Region	18,828	18,910	18,743	18,612	18,604	18,244	18,176	18,432
Humberside	73,568	73,919	76,144	78,954	78,696	78,774	81,363	83,142
North Yorks (North Allerton)	35,051	35,243	48,952	54,890	54,357	56,429	59,935	61,363
North Yorks (Beverley)	—	—	8,814	9,458	9,808	9,151	9,653	11,078
North Yorks (Harrogate)	20,120	21,276	—	—	—	—	—	—
South Yorkshire	6,124	6,074	6,069	5,857	6,381	5,959	5,895	6,609
West Yorkshire	12,247	11,946	11,873	13,149	12,490	12,201	15,181	15,319
Yorks and Humberside	147,110	148,458	151,852	162,308	161,732	162,514	172,009	177,511
Derbyshire	5,342	4,813	4,982	6,096	5,680	5,505	5,381	5,537
Leicestershire	8,050	7,327	7,408	7,552	6,476	6,476	6,558	6,769
Lincolnshire	31,799	33,359	32,592	32,839	31,150	31,150	31,069	31,661
Northamptonshire	8,184	8,270	8,356	8,576	7,945	7,945	7,778	7,683
Nottinghamshire	14,517	14,373	14,928	14,474	15,114	15,114	14,790	14,707
East Midlands Region	67,892	68,142	68,266	69,537	70,244	66,190	65,576	66,357
Cambridgeshire	25,072	22,258	22,387	22,825	21,902	19,271	18,133	17,453
Norfolk	57,901	56,451	58,056	59,547	58,360	54,493	56,992	57,231
Suffolk	61,187	60,811	60,832	63,491	60,155	56,050	57,223	55,914
East Anglia Region	144,160	139,520	141,275	145,863	140,417	129,814	132,348	130,598
Bedfordshire	8,468	7,973	7,811	8,005	8,123	7,616	8,864	8,564
Berkshire	9,196	8,718	9,063	9,562	9,462	8,585	8,985	8,631
Buckinghamshire	7,963	7,260	7,526	7,136	6,901	6,522	6,190	6,038
East Sussex	5,774	5,226	5,298	5,351	4,996	4,030	4,381	4,321
Essex	25,561	23,504	23,069	21,668	20,267	19,161	19,351	18,692
Greater London (East)	306	258	285	311	249	236	373	487
Greater London (South East)	1,697	1,661	1,518	1,609	1,308	1,155	1,257	1,113
Hampshire	15,993	15,224	16,180	16,745	17,566	14,994	16,838	17,557
Hertfordshire	6,163	6,134	5,918	5,946	5,393	4,372	4,161	3,794
Isle of Wight	1,396	1,344	1,164	1,120	1,205	1,195	1,235	1,058
Kent	13,519	12,923	12,218	12,269	11,495	10,350	9,704	9,715
Oxfordshire	22,060	22,524	22,051	23,683	24,824	24,523	27,490	26,194
Surrey	6,426	6,210	6,204	6,025	5,870	4,934	4,775	4,216
West Sussex	7,081	8,104	8,891	9,075	8,969	7,974	7,748	8,057
South East Region	131,608	127,063	127,196	128,505	126,628	115,647	121,352	118,437
Avon	5,160	5,010	5,138	4,933	4,943	4,576	4,592	4,647
Cornwall	13,084	11,373	11,770	12,133	11,461	10,172	10,393	9,965
Devon	23,208	22,663	22,332	22,717	22,379	21,412	23,104	23,820
Dorset	11,432	13,401	13,774	14,306	13,753	14,327	15,066	13,110
Gloucestershire	8,280	7,615	8,062	8,585	8,476	7,953	8,004	7,952
Isles of Scilly	2	2	1	3	2	2	2	2
Somerset	18,670	17,084	18,565	19,135	19,058	17,149	19,015	19,953
Wiltshire	15,716	15,477	16,839	17,155	16,844	17,130	17,145	18,118
South West Region	95,552	92,625	96,481	98,967	96,916	92,721	97,321	97,567
Hereford and Worcester	15,209	15,252	15,188	15,359	15,364	14,266	14,451	14,492
Shropshire	16,657	16,406	17,428	17,800	17,673	16,474	16,155	15,616
Staffordshire	12,013	11,450	11,650	11,779	12,842	12,619	13,357	13,569
Warwickshire	6,721	6,114	6,095	6,128	6,178	5,871	5,807	5,295
West Midlands	2,462	2,167	2,421	2,658	2,552	2,297	2,573	2,672
West Midlands Region	53,062	51,389	52,782	53,724	54,609	51,527	52,343	51,644
Cheshire	11,678	11,419	11,586	11,728	12,508	11,450	12,148	11,457
Greater Manchester	4,649	4,083	4,172	4,354	4,453	3,641	4,063	3,846
Lancashire	24,906	22,743	24,557	24,394	23,681	22,881	23,346	22,010
Merseyside	1,379	1,369	1,488	1,479	1,228	1,141	978	1,130
North West Region	42,612	39,614	41,803	41,955	41,870	39,113	40,535	38,443

County by Standard Statistical Region			Total breeding pig herd 1979–86
	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
England	700,824	685,721	698,398	719,471	711,020	675,770	699,660	698,989
Clwyd	3,402	3,366	3,387	3,327	3,371	2,788	3,221	3,252
Dyfed	4,797	4,321	4,498	4,646	4,680	3,974	4,098	3,878
Gwent	1,993	2,048	1,844	2,722	2,766	2,830	2,902	3,315
Gwynedd	1,977	1,677	1,525	1,689	1,359	1,040	1,123	1,116
Mid Glamorgan	544	481	563	542	546	395	448	409
Powys	3,119	2,562	2,578	2,480	2,345	1,935	2,260	2,137
South Glamorgan	837	797	944	1,141	1,109	1,137	1,208	1,189
West Glamorgan	182	143	143	177	199	229	247	254
Wales	16,848	15,395	15,485	16,724	16,375	14,328	15,507	15,550

Pins-Ups

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will issue instructions for the removal of all offensive pin-ups in all his departmental premises.

Guidance has already been issued in my Department which makes clear that sexual harassment at work is not tolerated and in particular requires managers to ensure that potentially offensive material is not displayed in the workplace.

Affatoxin

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will make a statement about the recent import of peanuts containing five times the safe amount of affatoxin and their subsequent sale as wild bird seed;(2) if he will introduce a statutory limit on the proportion of affatoxin contained in imported foods destined for wild animals.

Controls which exist for levels of contaminants in feeding stuffs for domesticated animals and birds do not cover materials fed to wild birds; these controls are harmonised throughout the European Community and I am not aware of any plans to extend them to wild species.

Milk

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total volume of milk production in the United Kingdom for each of the last 10 years.

The information is as follows:

Year	'000 tonnes
1978	17,905
1979	17,830
1980	17,819
1981	17,610
1982	18,457
1983	18,923
1984	17,873
1985	17,680
1986	17,856
1987	¹16,976
¹ Provisional.

Sources: EEC Dairy Facts and Figures/Milk Marketing Board.

Radioactivity (Cumbria)

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what experimental work he is undertaking or sponsoring, within the restricted area of Cumbria, into the effects of radioactivity following the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

I am arranging for a copy of my Department's post-Chernobyl agricultural research programme to be placed in the Library of the House.

Energy

Anglo-French Electricity Supply Link

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what is the ratio of United Kingdom imports to exports of electricity supply via the electricity supply link between the United Kingdom and France for the years 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987;(2) if he will make a statement on the performances of the United Kingdom and France electricity supply link; and what are the export figures via the link from the United Kingdom to France for the years 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987, expressed in gigajoules.

The existing cross-channel electricity supply link between England and France was not fully commissioned until October 1986.In 1985–86 France supplied the CEGB's system with 103 GWh (370,799 GJ) of electricity. There were no exports from England and France.In 1986–87 electricity exports from England to France were 188 GWh (676,798 Gil, while imports from France amounted to 6590 GWh (23,723,934 GJ). This represents a ratio of exports to imports of 1:35.

Electricity System (Emergencies)

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on his recent visit to the headquarters of the Central Electricity Board's national grid control system of Southwark; what arguments were put to him about the technical value of the coherence of the electricity system in times of emergency; and what his response was.

I visited the Central Electricity Generating Board's national control centre twice last autumn, and had wide-ranging discussions.

L A W Mining Company Ltd

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has as to licences granted by British Coal to L. A. W. Mining Company Ltd. and the dates when such licences were granted.

This is a matter for the British Coal corporation, and I have asked the chairman to write to the hon. Member.

Nuclear Safety

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what representations he has received concerning the future of the mobile maintenance unit based at Llandegai Owynedd and Fiddler's Ferry and the scientific services department based at Llandegai and Manchester; and if he will make a statement.

I have received no representations.

Coal Imports

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will issue a direction to the Central Electricity Generating Board not to purchase foreign coal, and in particular coal exported from South Africa, for use in its power stations; and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for the Central Electricity Generating Board. However, I understand that the CEGB does not import any coal from South Africa.

Scotland

Rating Reform

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what additional regulations or advice his Department will produce to ensure that the collection of personal data for use in the community charge register complies with the terms of the first data protection principle; and if he will make a statement;(2) what additional regulations or advice his Department will produce to ensure that the disclosure of personal data from the community charge register complies with the terms of the third data protection principle; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend is considering this matter. Compliance with the Data Protection Act 1984 and the data protection principles is a matter for individual community charge registration officers and local authorities.

Community Charge Register (Access)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he intends to allow police, district health and social security specialist units or immigration officers routine access to the community charge register.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 January 1988 at column 324.

Schools (Clydesdale)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many pupils are at each primary and secondary school in Clydesdale constituency; and what is the teacher-pupil ratio at each school;

(2) if he will give, in respect of present primary and secondary schools in Clydesdale (a) the number of pupils in each school, (b) the number of teachers in each school and (c) the expected numbers resulting from falling rolls anticipated in 1991.

Information on individual schools in Clydesdale can be obtained from Strathclyde regional council.

Strathclyde Structure Plan

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the effect that his draft decision letter on the Strathclyde structure plan 1986 update will have on development of the green belt in Strathclyde.

The Strathclyde structure plan update (1986) proposes no substantial changes to the structure plan policies concerning the Clyde Valley green belt. In his draft modifications to the update my right hon. and learned Friend equally proposes no important changes to these policies. The draft modifications to the proposals in the update concerning residential development require additional land to be made available for housing in certain areas. The identification of sites would be a matter for district councils, in consultation with local housebuilders. The effect on the existing green belt is unlikely to be significant.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to take account of evidence that 700 houses are now being built and 1,700 others are planned to be built on land previously rejected by house builders before issuing his final decision letter on the Strathclyde structure plan 1986 update.

Yes.

Pre-Court Diversion Schemes

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to publish the findings of his Office's research into pre-court diversion schemes.

A decision on the publication of two relevant reports on the subject will be taken when the second has been received.

Aids

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has about the decision of the United States national institutes of health to instruct all biological laboratories to review their safety guidelines following the reported infection of two laboratory workers with the AIDS virus after working with concentrated samples; and whether he will carry out such a review of procedures in medical and biological laboratories in Scotland.

We are aware of the decision of the United States national institutes of health. Following a review of procedures relevant to potential occupational HIV infection which was carried out by the advisory committee on dangerous pathogens, in July 1986 the Scottish Home and Health Department drew the attention of all health boards to revised guidelines drawn up by the committee. These guidelines have been endorsed by the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive.

Domestic Violence

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what stage his Department has reached in its consideration of guidelines on police response to domestic violence.

Draft guidelines on the investigation of complaints of domestic violence are in course of preparation and will be the subject of consultation with relevant interests shortly.

Road Contracts

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all the motorway and trunk road contracts in Scotland with a works cost of £1 million or more which his Department intends to award in 1988–89 showing, in each case, the total value of the contract and the expenditure likely to be incurred in that year.

Consideration of the major trunk road contracts to be awarded in 1988–89 is not yet complete. My right hon. and learned Friend's normal practice is to announce in March of each year those major schemes which he expects to start in the following year.

Residential Care And Nursing Homes

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what response he has sent to age Concern Scotland regarding its document "The Case for Change" relating to residential care and nursing homes in Scotland; and what discussions he proposes having on the document.

I received the letter from Age Concern Scotland on 21 January. I am studying the proposals it contains and expect to reply shortly.

School Meals And Milk

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children in (a) Tayside region and (b) Dundee district authority aea will lose entitlement to free school meals and free welfare milk after the Social Security Act 1986 is fully implemented in April; and how many of these children attend schools for those with special educational needs.

This information is not held centrally.

Labour Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, for each local authority ward, in the Dundee district council area, the percentage of the working population who are unemployed at the latest available date; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1983.

The information requested is not available, as unemployment percentage rates are calculated only on a travel-to-work area, regional authority and Scotland basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish figures for unemployment in the Dundee, East constituency for each year since 1979; and what percentage of the total working population this represents in each year.

Unemployment statistics on a parliamentary constituency basis are available only from June 1983. The table shows the number of unemployed claimants in the Dundee, East parliamentary constituency for December 1987 (the latest date for which information is available) and the corresponding figures for previous years. Unemployment percentage rates for parliamentary constituencies are not available.

Dundee, East Parliamentary Constituency December	Number of Unemployed Claimants
1983	8,015
1984	8,192
1985	8,245
1986	7,748
1987	7,004

These figures are not directly comparable due to a change in the compilation of the statistics in March 1986. This information is available in the Library.

Schools (Assaults)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what statistics are kept on the number of assaults taking place in schools in (a) Scotland as a whole, (b) Tayside region and (c) Dundee district authority area; and if he will give the number of assaults on (i) teachers and (ii) pupils per year since 1979 in each of these geographical areas.

Information on the number of assaults taking place in schools is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the numbers of prosecutions taking place in each year since 1979 for assaults on teachers and pupils in Scottish schools.

I regret that the information requested is not available.

Homelessness

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what sums have been allocated to each Scottish local authority for the relief of homelessness in each year since 1979.

In determining housing revenue account capital allocations, my right hon. and learned Friend takes account of housing authorities' planned programmes for tackling the needs of their areas, including the needs of the homeless. The allocations issued are not, however, hypothecated for specific purposes and it is for each authority to determine its own policies and priorities and to programme expenditure accordingly, within the resources available to it.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of homeless households in Scotland became homeless through mortgage arrears in each year since 1979; and if he will give this information for (a) Scotland as a whole and (b) each district council.

For Scotland as a whole, the proportions of households categorised as homeless who quoted a court order for mortgage default as a reason for the loss of their last or present accommodation are as follows:

	per cent.
1984–85	2·7
1985–86	3·3
1986–87	3·0

This category was not separately identified prior to March 1984.

Number of applications front homeless households in priority need
Areas	Financial Years
	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87
SCOTLAND	6,419	6,029	7,326	7,492	6,984	8,338	8,815	7,318
Borders
Berwickshire	6	0	6	3	6	6	2	4
Ettrick and Lauderdale	22	13	21	21	14	9	10	6
Roxburgh	25	12	14	25	13	26	17	24
Tweeddale	11	11	19	0	0	—	—	—
Central
Clackmannan	239	200	230	230	183	196	183	104
Falkirk	101	64	116	147	174	1,473	1,156	351
Stirling	119	115	105	153	223	152	0	1
Dumfries and Galloway
Annandale and Eskdale	29	22	26	27	28	14	14	6
Nithsdale	115	83	116	130	138	135	127	149
Stewartry	21	15	11	16	20	20	24	20
Wigtown	63	61	36	18	30	28	39	63
Fife
Dunfermline	181	212	245	245	214	263	367	337
Kirkcaldy	157	97	116	129	145	99	126	132
North East Fife	23	41	25	31	29	36	42	34
Grampian
Aberdeen	210	143	191	149	163	200	365	373
Banff and Buchan	23	19	27	13	5	18	28	46
Gordon	16	24	19	16	25	51	49	52
Kincardine and Deeside	12	3	9	8	9	1	0	2
Moray	73	94	80	101	86	60	68	56
Highland
Badenoch and Strathspey	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Caithness	6	3	12	5	2	1	0	0
Inverness	78	59	83	74	115	67	48	46
Lochaber	19	20	58	41	32	32	20	34
Nairn	11	11	10	29	32	13	16	23
Ross and Cromarty	21	33	11	0	0	20	14	19
Skye and Lochalsh	20	20	10	15	16	21	24	26
Sutherland	0	1	0	0	0
Lothian
East Lothian	24	51	103	115	106	164	127	58
Edinburgh	267	206	203	192	164	253	445	575
Midlothian	30	27	145	56	61	41	70	99
West Lothian	104	75	176	98	62	67	83	72
Strathclyde
Argyll and Bute	113	80	83	70	55	58	64	86
Bearsden and Milngavie	3	0	0	0	15	25	26	23
Clydebank	21	61	119	87	130	291	252	103
Clydesdale	26	15	24	14	11	21	31	45
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	23	72	62	169	16	118	61	0
Cumnock and Doon Valley	26	28	26	27	28	38	37	34
Cunninghame	224	185	222	255	227	254	272	245
Dumbarton	82	94	158	80	72	120	245	334
East Kilbride	74	76	109	102	95	109	134	147
Eastwood	7	5	9	8	9	10	7	6
Glasgow	1,822	1,879	1,714	2,339	1,949	1,545	1,267	1,198
Hamilton	150	117	221	86	137	86	96	76
Inverclyde	188	210	208	154	152	170	209	214
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	61	94	117	54	28	51	193	66
Kyle and Carrick	156	121	260	218	244	234	221	238
Monklands	99	72	139	75	86	88	134	111
Motherwell	428	364	597	522	541	292	162	109
Renfrew	366	379	464	579	495	560	927	485
Strathkelvin	140	136	133	73	63	58	102	173

Information at district council level is being prepared and I shall write to the hon. Member about this as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of homeless households in priority need in Scotland in each year since 1979; and if he will give this information for Scotland as a whole and for each district council area.

The table sets out the information requested, on a financial year basis:

Areas	Financial Years
	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87
Tayside
Angus	84	49	55	78	67	55	90	121
Dundee	198	155	165	171	185	399	602	549
Perth and Kinross	55	67	166	200	223	244	150	190
Orkney Islands	10	4	9	2	10	8	2	2
Shetland Islands	15	18	23	19	23	26	49	28
Western Isles	24	13	20	23	28	12	18	23

Notes:

1986–87—Returns are still outstanding for a few districts.

Blanks indicate no returns received to date.

Schools (Expenditure)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the capital allocation for expenditure on schools in 1987–88 made by his Department to each education authority in Scotland.

Local authorities in Scotland receive an allocation of consent to incur liability to meet capital expenditure on schools, further education colleges and community education buildings. Within this overall level of consent they are free to determine which education building projects will proceed. They are also free to transfer consent between certain other capita programmes. Information on the level of the total capita allocations for education, and on the assumed schools element included in that total, for 1987–88 is given in the table.

£000 at cash prices
Region/Island Authority	Total allocation for education 1987–88	Assumed schools element
Borders	1,134	932
Central	3,065	2,854
Dumfries and Galloway	1,506	929
Fife	4,180	3,553
Grampian	3,965	2,845
Highland	3,020	2,181
Lothian	6,647	4,842
Strathclyde	20,378	18,239
Tayside	3,440	2,715
Orkney	975	923
Shetland	840	679
Western Isles	4,360	3,533

Notes:

1. Total allocation figures include where appropriate, assumed levels of capital financed from current revenue.

2. Both sets of figures include the enhancement of consent issued in August 1987 for the purchase of equipment for science, technological and computing studies courses in secondary schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the bid by each Scottish local education authority to his Department for a capital allocation for expenditure on schools for 1987–88.

The bids made by local authorities in Scotland for consent to incur liability to meet capital expenditure on their education programmes in 1987–88 and the amounts included in such bids for school building, are given in the table.

£000 at cash prices
Regional-Islands Authority	Total bid for education building	Bid for school building
Borders	1,348	1,122
Central	3,008	3,118
Dumfries and Galloway	3,387	1,545
Fife	6,573	5,034
Grampian	3,312	2,657
Highland	4,130	3,446
Lothian	8,555	5,836
Strathclyde	24,888	22,161
Tayside	3,701	2,862
Orkeny	967	910
Shetland	983	643
Western Isles	5,158	3,783

Rates Relief

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of those who are eligible to vote in local government elections in (a) Tayside region and (b) Dundee district authority are (i) domestic ratepayers, (ii) spouses of domestic ratepayers and (iii) people who receive any relief from domestic rates because of special needs.

This information is not held centrally.

Epilepsy

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he intends to issue further guidance to health boards in Scotland on the provision of health services for patients with epilepsy to that issued in 1968 in the Hutchinson report "The Medical Care of Epilepsy in Scotland;" and if he will make a statement.

I have no plans to issue such guidance.

Doctors And Consultants (Telephones)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about arrangements for funding emergency repair cover for the house telephones of doctors and consultants working in the National Health Service in Scotland.

British Telecom is in the process of changing the arrangements for the operation and funding of emergency repairs to telephones at National Health Service premises and at the homes of key personnel. The Scottish Home and Health Department is consulting interested parties about ways of ensuring that key personnel (including general practitioners and hospital consultants) can be contacted quickly in cases of urgency, even when there is a fault on their home telephone line. The Department aims to identify arrangements which represent good value for public money, do not conflict with the terms of service of the key personnel concerned and, above all, are effective.

Fine Defaulters

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the percentage of inmates in Scottish prisons sent there due to fines defaults for each year since 1974.

The available information is set out in the table:

Fine Defaulters as percentage of Total Average Daily Population in Penal Establishments in Scotland
	Percentage
1974	5·7
1975	6·6
1976	6·6
1977	5·9
1978	6·1
1979	6·4
1980	7·9
1981	5·1
1982	4·8
1983	4·5
1984	5·4
1985	5·8
1986	5·9
1987	5·2

Prison Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total number of inmates in Scottish prisons in each year since 1974.

The average daily penal population in 1987 is provisionally estimated as 5,446. For earlier years, corresponding figures are given in appendix 2 of the annual reports "Prisons in Scotland" for 1985 and 1986.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of inmates in Scottish prisons aged (a) between 16 to 18 years (b) between 18 to 21 years and (c) between 21 to 25 years.

Detailed information is not available on the age distribution of the penal population in Scotland. The average daily penal population in 1987 is provisionally estimated as 5,446—of these 987 were young offenders under sentence, aged under 21.An analysis by age of remand, direct sentenced and fine default receptions in 1986 was published in tables 8, 10 and 19 of Scottish Home and Health Department statistical bulletin No. 6/1987, "Prison Statistics Scotland 1986" (copies of which are available in the Library).

Education (Under-Sixes)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will publish a report on the Scottish Education Department's review of provisions for the under-sixes.

The review has been discontinued and I do not intend to publish a report.

Islay (Wild Birds)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will describe the measures taken to prevent disturbance to wild birds in the proposed special protection area known as the Rinns, by the licensed shooting of white-fronted geese on Islay.

The special interest of the Rinns of Islay, including the habitats of wild birds, is protected by the area having been notified as a site of special scientific interest by the Nature Conservancy Council. None of the licences issued for the shooting of white-fronted geese on Islay permit shooting on land contained within the Rinns SSSI.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the impact of the killing of white-fronted geese on Islay on the conservation efforts and the distribution of the Greenland race of the species; and if he will make his policy to refuse any further applications for licences.

As the primary objective is to scare the geese away from land being cropped, we would expect only a relatively small number to be shot.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will be measuring the effectiveness of the licences recently issued for the killing of white-fronted geese; and if a report will be made.

The issue of licences to shoot white-fronted geese is part of an overall package of measures to contain the geese within protected areas and other land providing their natural habitats. The effects of the measures are being monitored and a report will be compiled at the end of the over-wintering period.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider giving financial compensation to the farmers on Islay for damage caused by white-fronted geese and withdrawing the licences issued for shooting; and if he will make a statement.

The Nature Conservancy Council has agreements with farmers within the sites of special scientific interest to compensate for goose damage. The protection of crops and improved grassland outwith these areas is essential to the continued viability of agricultural production on Islay and a more widely based compensation policy would not offer an appropriate solution.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of white-fronted geese killed to date; and if he anticipates issuing any further licences for killing them.

Shooting is primarily intended to scare the geese and inquiries made by officials of my Department have indicated that in the period to 31 January 1988 none had been killed. The position is being kept under review and consideration will be given to the case for issuing further licences if it can he demonstrated that serious damage to crops or improved grassland is being caused by the geese.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to the reply of 20 January, OfficialReport, column 720, he received any advice from the Nature Conservancy Council in respect of the licences to shoot white-fronted geese.

The Nature Conservancy Council was given advance notice of the proposal to issue licences to shoot white-fronted geese. It indicated that it could not support the proposal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to the reply of 20 January, Official Report, column 720, he will detail the terms of the respective licences to shoot white-fronted geese, including the number of birds permitted to be killed under each licence.

Since the licence is a lengthy document I am sending a copy to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to the reply of 20 January, Official Report, column 720, he will indicate the evidence he considered in assessing the serious damage to crops for the purposes of issuing licences to kill white-fronted geese; and if he will indicate the extent to which alternative solutions were considered and tested.

On receipt of an application for a licence to protect a farm from serious damage by white-fronted geese, experienced members of my Department's agricultural staff report on the numbers of geese feeding and the extent of the damage being caused to crops and grassland. A licence would not normally be issued unless significant numbers of geese were feeding on the land. White-fronted geese are difficult to keep away from crops for any length of time, and shooting is needed to complement other methods of scaring.

Employment

London Docklands

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether the Manpower Services Commission has any projects targeted on London docklands apart from the general programmes.

In addition to the Manpower Services Commission's mainstream programmes which are designed to respond to local needs in London docklands, as elsewhere, the MSC has a number of other initiatives. For the London docklands these include a local collaborative project, which aims to establish a long-term partnership between employers and training providers and a local employer network to encourage the involvement of employers in local vocational education and training issues.

Pin-Ups

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will issue instructions for the removal of offensive pin-ups in all his departmental premises.

The programme of action to achieve equality for women which the Cabinet Office (Management and Personnel Office) issued in 1984 recommended that Departments should advise their staff that sexual harassment at work was not tolerated and would be treated as a disciplinary offence. The guidance issued to my staff gives examples of what might constitute sexual harassment. These include

"displays and circulation of sexually offensive material, for example pin-ups".

I do not therefore consider that any further instructions are needed.

Wages (Underpayment)

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many cases of underpayment the wages inspectorate investigated in each of the past five years in (a) the Northunnel travel-to-work area, (b) the Chester travel-to-work area and (c) the Runcorn travel-to-work area; how many checks were the results of complaints by staff; how many the result of routine spot checks; and what were the outcomes.

Statistics are not compiled for areas smaller than the nine wages inspectorate divisions.

Accidents At Work

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the number of (a) accidents, (b) serious injuries and (c) deaths arising at the workplace for each year since 1975.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) Official Report 16 December 1987, at column 578.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any information on the breakdown of accidents at work in small companies since 1975.

I regret that the information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, some details on this can be found in the publication "Health and Safety Statistics 1984–85", copies of which were placed in the Library.

Major Accident Hazards

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report a list of those industrial installations in west Glamorgan which are covered by the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1984 (S.I. 1984, No. 1902); and whether the amending European Community directive 87/216 has yet been applied to any of them.

The industrial installations in west Glamorgan notified to the Health and Safety Executive under the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1984 are;

1. BP Chemicals Limited, Port Talbot;

2. British Gas Corporation, E M Edwards Works, Jersey Marine, Neath;

3. BP Oil (Llandarcy) Refinery Limited, Llandarcy, Neath;

4. BP Oil (Llandarcy) Refinery Limited, Queens Dock, Swansea;

5. Calor Gas Limited, Aberdulais;

6. Inc (Europe) Limited, Clydach.

Compliance with the EC directive 87/216 is required by 24 September 1988. Regulations to implement the directive in Great Britain are currently being prepared.

Labour Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many constituencies in (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole have had a higher percentage rate of unemployment than Dundee East for each year since 1979.

The information requested is not available. Unemployment rates are not calculated for areas smaller that travel-to-work areas.

Employees in Employment in Great Britain
June of each year	Agriculture and Horticulture¹(0100)	Coal Extraction and Solid Fuels (111)	Shipbuilding and Repairs (3610)	Iron and Steel (2210)
1977	358,000	312,000	142,000	222,000
1978	354,000	308,000	141,000	199,000
1979	339,000	299,000	135,000	191,000
1980	332,000	298,000	122,000	168,000
1981	324,000	285,000	113,000	130,000
1982	320,000	271,000	114,000	114,000
1983	312,000	257,000	109,000	95,000
1984	302,000	234,000	89,000	85,000
1985	304,000	219,000	82,000	83,000
1986	292,000	183,000	79,000	75,000
1987	283,000	154,000	72,000	72,000
¹ Figures in brackets denote Groups and Activity Headings of the Standard Industrial Classification 1980.

The figures are unadjusted for the effects of seasonal variations.The estimates for shipbuilding and repairs and iron and steel are subject to considerable potential estimation error due to the relatively small number of employees in these industries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current estimate for unclaimed benefit in (a) Scotland as a whole, (b) Tayside region and (c) Dundee.

I have been asked to reply.For statistical reasons it is possible to provide take-up estimates only for Great Britain as a whole. A convenient summary of the national position is shown on pages 272 and 273 of the 1988 public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 288).

Wales

Cancer Screening

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any proposals to increase the level of provision of mammography units and cervical cancer screening units in Wales.

The number of mammography units in Wales is to be increased as part of the centrally funded breast screening programme. The provision of cervical screening is the responsibility of district health authorities. Some £800,000 a year of central funding has been allocated over the last two years to help authorities develop and extend the service they provide.

Regional Development Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his most up-to-date estimate of the planned

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many people have been employed in the agricultural industry in each of the last 10 years;(2) how many people were employed in the coal mining industry in each of the last 10 years;(3) how many people were employed in the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industries in each of the last 10 years;(4) how many people were employed in the steel industry in each of the last 10 years.

The available information is as follows:provision for payment of regional development grant, separately for old scheme and new scheme

(a) gross and (b) net of European regional development fund receipts, for 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91.

Planned regional development grant provision in Wales is as follows:

£ million
	Old scheme	New scheme
1987–88	22·0	34·0
1988–89	17·0	46·5
1989–90	2·0	40·0
1990–91	0·6	27·0

These figures are gross of receipts from the European regional development fund. The provision for ERDF receipts towards RDG expenditure is £3·8 million in 1987–88 and £1·5 million in 1988–89. Information is not available at this stage on the likely level of ERDF receipts beyond 1988–89. The United Kingdom will, however, continue to claim reimbursement from the European Commission in respect of both regional development grant schemes.

14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total value of grants which Wales has received from the European regional development fund in each of the last three years.

Net commitment to Wales from the European regional development fund was £54·9 million in 1985, £59·5 million in 1986 and £53·8 million in 1987.

Regional Aid

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether regional selective assistance will be available for United Kingdom firms moving from one region of the United Kingdom to Wales, or opening new branches in Wales following the change in policy announced on 12 January.

Regional selective assistance will continue to be available for all qualifying projects which improve employment opportunities in the assisted areas. Projects which move from elsewhere in Great Britain will be eligible for assistance on the additional employment which they create. Since 1984 relocation projects involving no net increase in jobs have not normally been assisted and that policy has not changed as a consequence of the announcements made on 12 January.

Bus Deregulation

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the results to date of the deregulation of buses in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Initial research by the Department of Transport's Transport and Road Research Laboratory indicates that overall bus deregulation in Wales has been successful. Monitoring of the position is continuing.

Bypasses

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many road bypass schemes have been completed in Wales since January 1987.

Two; the A48 Crosshands-Llanddarog bypass and A483 Ruabon bypass and Wynnstay link.

Measles, Whooping Cough And Polio

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he plans any new schemes to increase parental compliance with the need for increased vaccination against measles, whooping cough and polio;

Children vaccinated as percentage of the total born in the second previous year
Health Authority and year	Measles	Diphtheria	Whooping Cough	Tetanus	Polio
Clwyd
1981	50·1	81·2	39·8	81·3	81·5
1982	53·6	82·8	45·6	82·8	83·3
1983	54·9	84·9	52·8	84·9	85·3
1984	57·1	83·9	59·7	84·0	84·1
1985	64·4	86·0	59·7	86·0	86·1
1986	71·4	87·1	62·7	87·2	87·3
East Dyfed
1981	27·9	86·1	27·3	87·9	81·2
1982	30·8	86·4	31·1	86·6	82·3
1983	45·1	83·7	33·6	83·7	83·8
1984	53·5	86·5	44·9	86·5	86·5
1985	63·3	87·7	47·0	87·7	87·9
1986	65·0	88·6	50·0	88·7	88·2
Gwent
1981	48·4	84·2	30·5	84·2	85·0
1982	51·7	85·3	38·0	85·5	86·2
1983	54·4	86·2	46·7	86·3	87·1
1984	57·4	85·9	53·9	85·9	86·2
1985	62·5	87·4	52·2	87·4	87·8
1986	64·6	87·2	54·1	87·2	87·7
Gwynedd
1981	33·9	80·6	27·6	80·8	80·5

(2) by what percentage the uptake of (a) measles, (b) triple vaccine, including whooping cough, and (c) poliomyelitis vaccination fails short of the target level of 90 per cent. in each of the health authorities in Wales for each of the last six years.

Considerable efforts, including notably the designation of an appropriate individual in each district health authority to co-ordinate immunisation activity, have been made in recent years to achieve a significant improvement in the uptake rates for vaccination against a range of childhood infectious diseases. A public education campaign aimed both at raising awareness of the need for children to be protected against these illnesses and at motivating parents and health professionals alike has been promoted by Health Departments. There has been a marked improvement in the rates of vaccination against each of these diseases in all Welsh district health authorities, though some remain disappointingly low. Our officials will be considering with the Welsh Health Promotion Authority and district health authorities what further measures might be appropriate to achieve further improvement. In particular, consideration will be given to sensitive and appropriate methods of overcoming the resistance which continues to be evident in relation to the take-up of vaccination against both measles and whooping cough. The introduction of the new combined vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella later this year is expected to play a major part in this process.Health authorities in Wales were advised of the target uptake rate of 90 per cent. by 1990 for measles immunisation only in August 1985. At the same time they were invited to establish their own individual targets for diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and poliomyelitis. The tables set out the percentage uptake rates for immunisation against each of these diseases, by health authority, for the years 1981 to 1986 inclusive.

Health Authority and year	Measles	Diphtheria	Whooping Cough	Tetanus	Polio
1982	37·5	82·2	35·8	82·3	81·9
1983	37·1	79·8	44·5	80·0	80·0
1984	46·0	81·5	52·9	81·6	81·1
1985	58·4	86·2	55·8	86·2	85·6
1986	68·0	89·9	60·1	89·9	90·1
Mid Glamorgan
1981	28·6	76·1	18·6	76·2	76·8
1982	34·7	79·7	24·1	79·6	80·9
1983	36·6	80·1	31·7	80·1	80·7
1984	40·8	79·1	42·1	79·0	79·6
1985	48·5	81·2	42·3	81·2	81·5
1986	50·2	81·0	43·7	81·1	81·5
Pembrokeshire
1981	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
1982	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
1983	61·8	88·9	60·6	88·8	89·1
1984	64·0	85·8	64·0	85·8	85·7
1985	71·3	87·8	64·1	87·9	88·1
1986	76·7	87·4	64·8	87·5	87·5
Powys
1981	53·2	74·6	32·4	74·5	74·3
1982	56·4	91·8	46·9	92·1	93·2
1983	60·7	91·0	40·4	91·0	91·6
1984	64·9	91·1	63·3	91·3	91·4
1985	70·8	94·5	61·9	94·6	94·5
1986	76·9	95·9	65·1	95·5	96·5
South Glamorgan
1981	27·2	69·0	22·4	69·0	69·1
1982	34·7	77·8	31·6	77·8	78·4
1983	37·6	77·0	40·4	77·1	77·2
1984	42·2	75·2	47·6	75·2	74·9
1985	53·8	78·4	49·5	78·4	77·1
1986	55·6	79·0	52·0	79·0	79·1
West Glamorgan
1981	22·7	70·3	19·1	70·3	70·8
1982	25·9	75·2	24·4	75·2	75·4
1983	31·4	76·7	33·7	76·9	77·2
1984	35·9	76·3	43·0	76·3	76·3
1985	49·9	79·7	43·9	79·7	80·1
1986	56·5	84·0	51·3	84·0	85·0
Wales
1981	35·0	77·8	26·2	78·0	77·6
1982	39·3	81·4	32·7	81·5	81·7
1983	43·9	81·8	41·6	81·9	82·3
1984	48·3	81·3	49·9	81·3	81·1
1985	57·3	83·7	50·4	83·8	83·7
1986	61·3	84·9	53·3	84·9	85·2

n/a—Not available.

Obstetric Units

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of the obstetric units run by general practitioners for each area health authority in Wales have no provision of anaesthetic services.

This is a matter of operational policy for the health authorities concerned and I suggest that the hon. Gentleman writes to the district general managers.

Aids

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has about the decision of the United States national institutes of health to instruct all biological laboratories to review their safety guidelines following the reported infection of two laboratory workers with the AIDS virus after working with concentrated samples; and whether he will carry out such a review of procedures in medical and biological laboratories in Wales.

The Department receives advice on such matters from the Government's Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens and the expert advisory group on AIDS.In July 1986 comprehensive advice was issued to all concerned in the ACDP document "LAV/HTLVIII—the causative agent of AIDS and related conditions—revised guidelines". Guidance is constantly under review to ensure that it reflects the latest expert opinion both in the United Kingdom and abroad. We have no plans to initiate a special review to supplement these arrangements.

Hospital Waiting Lists

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has as to the median waiting time for operations in each Welsh health district for the 10 most common types of operation; and if he will make a statement.

I shall write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Labour Statistics

12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many men and how many women were in full-time employment in June 1979 and December 1987 in (a) Bridgend, (b) Mid Glamorgan and (c) Wales.

In Wales, total male employment was 618,000 in June 1979 and 486,000 in September 1987 (the latest available date); equivalents for full-time female employment are 250,000 and 210,000 (these figures exclude self employed). Figures for Bridgend and Mid Glamorgan are not available, nor are separate figures for full-time male employees.

Gwynedd Health Authority

19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met the chairman of Gwynedd health authority; and what matters were discussed.

My right hon. Friend and I, together with the Minister of State, met the chairman of Gwynedd health authority on 15 December 1987, when the authority's financial position and plans for financial recovery were discussed.

Rating Reform

28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on his policy with regard to the charge which will be payable for static caravans used as second or holiday homes under the community charge in Wales; and whether he will make it his policy that the charge will he the same as in England and Scotland.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave today to my hon. Friend the Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett).

Defence

Army Vehicles

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received about army vehicles driving on public highways after dark without lights; and what steps are taken to warn other road users when this occurs.

No representations have been received about army vehicles driving on public highways after dark without lights. It is against regulations for army vehicles to use the public highway after dark unless in exceptional circumstances a special exemption has been secured; no such exemptions have been sought in recent years.

Black Officers

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the name and rank of the highest ranking black officer in the armed forces; and if he will make a statement.

The armed forces are fully integrated, non-discriminating organisations and no records are kept of the ethnic origins of personnel. Therefore, no information can be provided on the origins, number or rank of those from the ethnic minorities.

Defence Procurement

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will give the value of procurement business given to Moores Wallisdown Ltd in each o' the years from 1980 to 1985 separately.

The overall value of HQ contracts placed with Moores Wallisdown Ltd. is as follows:

	£ '000
1982–83	30
1983–84	161
1984–85	nil
1985–86	238

Information for earlier years could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will state the value of procurement business given to Altonjet in the years 1985, 1986 and 1987 separately.

We have no record of any HQ contracts having been placed with this company. No central record is maintained of orders placed locally and an investigation could only be carried out at disproportionate cost.

Research Contracts

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many research agreements or contracts his Department has currently placed with the University of Southampton; and what are the subjects into which the research is being carried out;(2) how many research agreements or contracts his Department has currently placed with the University of Birmingham; and what are the subjects into which the research is being carried out;(3) how many research agreements or contracts his Department has currently placed with the University of Aston in Birmingham; and what are the subjects into which the research is being carried out.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bow and Poplar (Mrs. Gordon) on 14 January at column 775.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many research agreements or contracts the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment has currently placed with universities and other establishments of higher education; and what is the total cost of these agreements and contracts.

The Atomic Weapons Establishment has currently 41 research contracts or agreements placed with universities and other establishments of higher education. The total value of these agreements and contracts is £2 million.

Service Engagements (Termination)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many soldiers from each regiment of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers left the Army without completing three years service; in each year since 1979;(2) how many soldiers from the Parachute Regiment left the Army before completing three years service in each year since 1979;(3) how many soldiers from the Royal Welsh Fusiliers left the Army before completing three years service, in each year since 1979;(4) how many soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders left the Army before completing three years service, in each year since 1979;(5) how many soldiers from each regiment of the Royal Engineers left the Army before completing three years service, in each year since 1979;(6) how many soldiers from each regiment of the Royal Signals left the Army before completing three years service, in each year since 1979.

I will write to the hon. Member.

Captain Fred Holroyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if any assistance was given by his Department to the Royal Ulster Constabulary inquiry in 1982 into the allegations of Captain Fred Holroyd, retired.

Yes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what full and careful investigations were carried out into the allegations made by Captain Holroyd, retired, and Mr. Colin Wallace, referred to in the Official Report, 3 March 1987, column 577, and when.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) on 20 July 1987, at column 93.

Nuclear Tests (Radiation Victims)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence up to which date the recent National Radiological Protection Board report studied mortality in relation to Britain's nuclear test veterans; by how many since that date the number of deaths from multiple myeloma among nuclear veterans has increased; and if he will make a statement.

In planning the conduct of the study, before any mortality data had been obtained, NRPB decided that it would attempt to take account of all deaths prior to 1 January 1984. The main results of the study refer to that date, although the authors refer in passing to some notifications received later than the above cut-off date. The Government, in the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key) on 28 January at column 309, have already said they would co-operate in implementing the recommendations by NRPB to continue the study for a further period of 10 years. The further data to which the hon. Member refers will be included in that extension to the study.

European Fighter Aircraft

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to receive notification from his West German counterpart of his Government's agreement to the further development phase of the European fighter aircraft.

The co-ordination of four separate national approvals is necessarily complex, and allowance must be made for the different timings involved. We are encouraging our partners to reach their decisions as quickly as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the F18 fighter aircraft or any of its derivatives meets the agreed operational requirements of the proposed European fighter aircraft.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a further statement on the future progress of the European fighter aircraft project.

Further to the reply I gave to the hon. Members for Caerphilly (Mr. Davies) and for Motherwell, North (Dr. Reid) on 10 November 1987 at column 157, the processing of national development submissions in each of the four partner nations is continuing. The development phase will be formally launched as soon as these activities have been brought to a successful conclusion. We expect this to be in the next few months.

Service Personnel (Electors)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will detail the process by which members of each branch of the armed services may register as electors.

Service personnel are encouraged to register as voters and may then vote in local, parliamentary and European elections. They register by service declaration form F/Vote/33 available in all ships, units or stations. Service declarations do not have to be completed annually. They are valid for the whole of the individual's service but may, of course, be amended.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are taken to encourage service personnel in each branch of the armed forces to register as electors.

It is our aim to achieve the highest possible level of service registration and we use a variety of means to encourage service men to register, including annual Defence Council instructions to commanding officers, compulsory displays of noticeboard information material, articles and advertisements in service magazines and newspapers, and radio broadcasts on British forces broadcasting services. All recruit training includes a period on voting rights and registration procedures. Families posted overseas are issued with further advice. Registration performance is monitored by each of the three services.

Departmental Correspondence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the written answer of 11 December 1987, Official Report, column 312, to what inquiries about correspondence between third parties and his Department he is willing to respond.

I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave on that occasion.

Army Chaplains

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many chaplains are currently attached to the Army; and how many are of each rank.

(holding answer 4 February 1988): There are currently 160 chaplains in the Regular Army. The numbers in each rank are:

1 Major General (Chaplain General)
1 Brigadier (Deputy Chaplain General)
9 Colonels (1 Principal Roman Catholic Chaplain, 8 Chaplains Class I)
35 Lieutenant Colonels (Chaplains Class II)
64 Majors (Chaplains Class III)
50 Captains (Chaplains Class IV)

In addition, there are 108 chaplains commissioned into the Territorial Army and 140 Army Cadet Force chaplains. All TA and ACF chaplains join as chaplains class IV (Captains) and can attain the acting rank of chaplain class III (Acting Major) after six years service.

Northern Ireland

Ruc (Injury And Sickness)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Belfast, South of 27 January, Official Report, column 292, how many of the total days off sick or injured by members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary were

Kneecapping cases
			Compensation refused		Compensation awarded
Year	Claims received	Claims withdrawn	By Secretary of State	By courts	By Secretary of State	By courts	Claims outstanding	Compensation paid (£)
1977	15	1	3	3	7	1	—	16,841
1978	19	3	5	2	8	1	—	29,797
1979	14	2	3	2	6	1	—	16,200
1980	18	2	6	1	6	3	—	36,100
1981	37	2	1	9	17	7	1	170,600
1982	28	3	—	2	13	8	2	168,150
1983	6	—	3	2	1	—	—	1,750
1984	5	—	—	—	3	—	2	85,500
1985	3	—	—	—	—	—	3	—
1986	2	—	—	—	—	—	2	—
1987	5	—	—	—	—	—	5	—
Totals	152	13	21	21	61	21	15	524,938

United States Politicians (Visits)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many locally and nationally elected United States politicians have been invited during each of the last 10 years to visit Northern Ireland at public expense; what positions they held; what was the full cost attributable to (a) injury and (b) sickness; and if he will give this information for the last five years, stating average days off per capita.

The information in respect of the regular RUC is as follows:

	Injury on duty	Average per member	Sickness	Average per member
1983	14,233	1·78	77,155	9·64
1984	17,444	2·15	92,604	11·39
1985	21,351	1·58	111,318	13·48
1986	23,527	2·86	124,780	15·15
1987	Figures not yet available

Positive Vetting

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office between 1965 and 1985 failed positive vetting.

As the Government have made clear previously, it would be inconsistent with the confidentiality of the positive vetting procedure to give information of this kind.

Criminal Injury Claims

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what figures are available to indicate the numbers of criminal injuries claims for each year since 1975 arising from so-called punishment attacks, the total amounts of compensation paid and the number of cases contested in court.

[holding answer 29 January 1988]: The information that is readily available relates only to criminal injury claims for punishment shootings in the form of "kneecapping" and is as follows:in each case; how many were involved in each party; how many brought their spouses or other relatives; and, in those cases, who paid.

[holding answer 3 February 1988]: Invitations to United States politicians to visit Northern Ireland at public expense are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary.

National Finance

Mortgage Tax Relief

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals received mortgage tax relief in shared accommodation, not counting married couples; and what was the value of such relief in the last year for which figures are available.

It is tentatively estimated that about 500,000 individuals (excluding married couples) are involved in multiple borrower mortgages. The direct revenue cost in 1987–88 of the additional mortgage interest relief which is available to sharers is estimated to be about £25 million.

Capital Gains Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the revenue derived in the last year for which figures are available from capital gains tax on assets held for more than (a) 10 years, (b) 15 years and (c) 20 years.

The liability to capital gains tax, expressed as a proportion of the total net liability accruing on the disposal of assets during 1985–86, is estimated to be about (a) 50 per cent., (b) 30 per cent. and (c) 20 per cent. respectively. These figures exclude tax on the capital gains of companies chargeable to corporation tax.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received regarding the effects of capital gains tax upon the deployment of investment in British business.

My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations.

Income Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any estimate of what a 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p, 5p, 6p and 7p cut in the standard rate of income tax would represent as a percentage pay increase for a man on national average earnings.

Increase in income after tax and national insurance (£ per annum) compared with indexation in 1988–89
	Multiple of average male earnings¹
	1/2	3/4	1	11/2	2	5
Increased derived from:
(a) 2 pence cut in basic rate
(i) single	77	141	204	331	459	1,222
(ii) married couple wife not earning	48	112	176	303	430	1,194
(iii) married couple wife earning2	82	188	294	505	716	1,985
(b) reduction of all higher rates of income tax to 40 per . cent.
(i) single	—	—	—	—	87	5,971
(ii) married couple wife not earning	—	—	—	—	15	5,685
(iii) married couple wife earning2	—	—	—	—	87	7,794
¹ Average male earnings assumed to be £244·70 per week; an increase of 6·5 per cent. on 1987–88 in line with the assumptions used by the Government Actuary for reviewing National Insurance contributions (paragraph 3.02 of the Autumn Statement 1987).
² Assuming that the wife's earnings are the same multiple of average earnings as her husband's.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what was the estimated income tax forgone in 1986–87

The information is in the table:

Reduction in basic rate of income tax
Increase in income after tax as a percentage of gross earnings for a married man on average earnings, 1988–89
Pence	Per cent.
1	0·7
2	1·4
3	2·1
4	2·8
5	3·4
6	4·1
7	4·8

It is assumed that the man's earnings are his only source of income. Average earnings are those for men in all occupations paid at adult rates who work a full week and whose pay is unaffected by absence. This figure is projected to 1988–89 in accordance with the assumptions given to the Government Actuary for reviewing national insurance contributions in paragraph 3.02 of the Autumn Statement 1987. The married man's allowance for 1988–89 is calculated by reference to the statutory formula for indexation.

Income Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what additional annual income net of tax and national insurance would result from (a) a 2p cut in the basic rate of income tax and (b) the reduction of all high rate income tax bands to 40 per cent. for (i) a person, (ii) an income tax payer, (iii) a household and (iv) average family of four.

[holding answer 29 January 1988]: The effects of the proposed changes depend on the level of income. Estimates are given in the tables, for selected specimen incomes. The income tax changes are compared with the 1987–88 tax regime indexed to 1988–89 according to the statutory provisions and disregard any changes in the social security income related benefits to which the family may be entitled. The number of children in a family would not affect the tax liability.by the Treasury from taxpayers earning

(a) between £20,000 and £50,000 and (b) more than £50,000 as a result of beneficial loans from employers;

(2) what was the estimated income tax forgone in 1986–87 by the Treasury from taxpayers earning (a) between £20,000 and £50,000 and (b) more than £50,000 as a result of loans from an employer to purchase a residence;

(3) what was the estimated income tax forgone in 1986–87 by the Treasury from taxpayers earning (a) between £20,000 and £50,000 and (b ) more than £50,000 as a result of loans from an employer to purchase a car.

[holding answers 4 February 1988]: Employees earning at a rate of £8,500 or more per year and all directors who receive an interest-free or cheap loan from their employer are liable to income tax on the difference between interest calculated at the official rate and the actual interest paid. When the benefit of the cheap loan is less than £200 in the year, no tax is charged. Estimates of the cost of this tax exemption are not available.Tax is not charged if the loan is such that any interest paid on it would be eligible for tax relief—for example, qualifying loans up to £30,000 to purchase a main residence. It is estimated that the total income tax forgone as a result of this exemption is around £100 million, but I regret that it is not possible to estimate the cost attributable to those earning over £20,000 per year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the estimated income tax forgone in 1986–87 by the Treasury from taxpayers earning (a) between £20,000 and £50,000 and (b) more than £50,000 as a result of personal equity plans.

[holding answer 4 February 1988]: The income tax relief on personal equity plans is in respect of dividend and interest payments on investments. Since personal equity plans were not available until January 1987, the income tax forgone in 1986–87 was negligible.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the estimated income tax forgone in 1986–87 by the Treasury from taxpayers earnings (a) between £20,000 and £50,000 and (b) more than £50,000 as a result of savings-related share option schemes.

[holding answer 4 February 1988]: The total cost of income tax forgone in 1986–87 as a result of approved savings-related share option schemes is estimated at £50 million. I regret that it is not possible to subdivide this between different income groups.

[holding answer 4 February 1988]: The cost of income tax forgone in 1986–87 as a result of approved Finance Act 1984 share option schemes is negligible since options must generally be held for at least three years in order to qualify for relief.

Income Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many earners did not directly benefit from the cut in the standard rate of income tax in 1987–88; and how many earners would not benefit from a further cut in the standard rate to 25 per cent. in 1988–89, assuming indexation of personal allowances.

[holding answer 26 January 1988]: It is estimated that in 1987–88 and 1988–89 between 3 and 3·5 million earners (including part-time workers) would have insufficient income to benefit from reductions in the basic rate.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of reintroducing a reduced rate band of income tax, worth the same as that band in 1978–79 in real terms, in 1988–89.

[holding answer 26 January 1988]: The full-year direct revenue cost of reintroducing a reduced rate band of income tax in 1988–89, charging the first £1,650 of taxable income at 19 per cent. and worth the same to taxpayers in real terms as the band in 1978–89, would be about £3 billion. The cost assumes indexation of the current income tax bands and allowances according to the statutory formula.

Budget Statement

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about his forthcoming Budget Statement.

My right hon. Friend has received a large number of representations covering a variety of proposals.

Luncheon Vouchers

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received seeking a review of the 15p tax-free allowance on luncheon vouchers; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations. Decisions on changes in taxation are a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer and will be announced in his Budget Statement.

Pension Funds

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will detail the type of information requested on pension funds by the Inland Revenue (technical division) special office, Sheffield.

Tax-approved pension funds are exempt from tax only on their income and gains derived from holding investments. In each case, inquiries have been made to establish whether the tax exemption applies to all the fund's activities.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, pursuant to his answer of 25 January, Official Report, column 85, he will list the 12 pension funds from whom information has been requested.

[holding answer 4 February 1988]: No. Information about particular taxpayers is confidential to the Inland Revenue.

Private Health Insurance

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received seeking relief from the taxation of employees' contributions to private health care insurance.

My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations.

Deputy Secretaries

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the responsibilities of each of the deputy secretaries in his Department and the number and ranks of staff reporting to each.

The information as at 1 January 1988 is as follows:

Deputy Secretary (Grade 2) Overseas Finance

Responsibilities:
European Community Group
Aid and Export Finance Group
Senior UK Director of the European Investment Bank
United Kingdom representation at international financial and economic meetings
Two Grade 3, four Grade 5 and 38½ other staff

Deputy Secretary (Grade 2) Public Finance

Responsibilities:
Fiscal Policy Group
Financial Institutions and Markets Group
Monetary Group
Public Sector Finances Group
North Sea Development and Policy
Three Grade 3, eight Grade 5 and 99 other staff

Deputy Secretary (Grade 2) Industry

Responsibilities:
Public Enterprises Group
Industry, Agriculture and Employment Group
Two Grade 3, five Grade 5 and 64 other staff

Deputy Secretary (Grade 2) Public Services

Responsibilities:
Social Services and Territorial Group
Local Government Group
Home, Transport and Education Group
Treasury Officer of Accounts and Purchasing
Financial Management Group
Running Costs Group
Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency
Chairman of the Public Expenditure Survey Committee
Chairman of the Procurement Policy Committee
Seven Grade 3, 18 Grade 5 and 635 other staff

Deputy Secretary (Grade 2) Deputy Chief Economic Adviser

Responsibilities:
Public Enterprises Analytic Unit
Manpower Statistics
Economics of Taxation
Public Expenditure Economics and Operational Research
Micro Economic Analysis of Trade Issues
One Grade 3, seven Grade 5, 56½ other staff

Establishments and organisation group, econonic briefing division, the information division and the rating of Government property department (1,046 staff) report direct to the permanent secretary; the defence policy and material group, the general expenditue policy group and the central unit on purchasing (87½ staff) to the second permanent secretary (public expenditure); the forecast and analysis group and the medium-term and policy analysis group (36 staff) to the chief economic adviser; the international finance group (24 staff) to the second permanent secretary finance; the pay and personnel management group, the Civil Service catering organisation and superannuation division (982½ staff including 598½ industrial civil servants at CISCO) to the second permanent secretary (Civil Service management and pay); and the accountancy advice group (43 staff) reports to the accountancy adviser to the Treasury and the head of the Government accountancy service.

Inland Revenue (Sheffield)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who is the head of the Inland Revenue (technical division) special office, Sheffield.

Mr. M. G. Longden.

Pin-Ups

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will issue instructions for the removal of all offensive pin-ups in all his departmental premises.

Sexual harassment at work, of which the display of sexually offensive material is a form, is not tolerated and is dealt with, if appropriate, as a disciplinary matter through the usual Civil Service complaints procedures. Against the background of the general instructions and guidance which already exist, there is no evidence to suggest that any further instructions to deal with this particular form of sexual harassment are warranted in the Treasury.

London Weighting

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the cost to the Exchequer of paying London weighting to those civil servants in receipt of such weighting over the last five years for which figures are available.

The estimated cost to the Exchequer of paying London weighting to civil servants in the last five financial years has been:

	£ million
1983–84	126·4
1984–85	126·8
1985–86	133·2
1986–87	141·3
1987–88	147·8

These figures exclude additions to ERNIC, superannuation and pensions as a consequence of London weighting.

Flotations

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how long before flotation stockbroking firms were invited to make proposals for the tender and how long before flotation the firm eventually used was actually chosen, in the cases of (a) British Telecom, (b) British Gas and (c) Britoil.

In the case of British Telecom, stockbroking firms were invited to tender in a press notice issued in October 1983. The broker was appointed in December 1983, and flotation took place in November 1984.In the case of the 1985 Britoil sale, brokers were invited to tender and were appointed in May 1985. The sale of the Government's residual shareholding was in July 1985.In the case of British Gas, brokers were invited to tender in June 1985 and the broker was appointed in July 1985. The flotation took place in November 1986.

Income Distribution

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update his reply of 8 April 1987, Official Report, columns 263–4, to give the income distribution table for 1987–88, and his estimate for 1988–89.

Distribution total income¹1987–88
Numbers
	Tax units aged under 65			Tax units aged over 65
Range of total income Lower limit	Single people	Married couples without wife's earned income	Married couples with wife's earned income	Single people	Married couples without wife's earned income	Married couples with wife's earned income
£ per annum	'000s	'000s	'000s	'000s	'000s	'000s
1,000²	1,160	200	20	30	10	5
2,000²	1,090	230	70	340	30	10
3,000	980	160	70	410	90	30
4,000	910	190	100	250	180	90
5,000	1,020	210	100	140	180	90
6,000	920	270	150	100	160	70
7,000	850	350	180	70	110	70
8,000	650	370	240	100	70	60
9,000	600	410	270	50	50	60
10,000	760	800	740	80	50	80
12,000	460	830	1,260	70	60	70
15,000	310	520	1,530	50	40	80
20,000	100	180	660	30	20	50
25,000	40	90	310	10	10	20
30,000	50	110	340	20	20	20
50,000	20	40	70	5	10	10
¹ Total income for income tax purposes.
² Excluding those who have no Inland Revenue tax record because their earnings are below the PAYE reporting limit.

Distribution total income¹1988–89
Numbers
	Tax units aged under 65			Tax units aged over 65
Range of total income Lower limit	Single people	Married couples without wife's earned income	Married couples with wife's earned income	Single people	Married couples without wife's earned income	Married couples with wife's earned income
£ per annum	'000s	'000s	'000s	'000s	'000s	'000s
1,000²	1,090	200	20	30	10	5
2,000²	1,000	220	60	280	20	10
3,000	890	140	60	390	50	20
4,000	840	190	90	260	180	90
5,000	960	190	100	160	160	80
6,000	870	190	110	110	170	80
7,000	830	280	150	60	130	60
8,000	710	330	190	80	90	60
9,000	560	380	240	70	50	50
10,000	980	820	620	90	70	90
12,000	590	890	1,110	80	60	80
15,000	360	700	1,650	50	40	80
20,000	150	220	820	30	20	50
25,000	50	100	410	20	20	30
30,000	60	130	450	20	20	30
50,000	30	60	100	10	10	10
¹ Total income for income tax purposes.
² Excluding those who have no Inland Revenue tax record because their earnings are below the PAYE reporting limit.

Tax Allowances

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update his reply of 1 May 1986, Official Report, column to show what extra revenue would result from allowing all tax allowances, both personal and non-structural, at the standard rate of tax only.

[holding answer 26 January 1988]: The direct revenue cost at 1987–88 levels of income

[holding answer 26 January 1988]: The latest available estimates are given in the tables. They are based on projections from the 1984–85 survey of personal incomes and are therefore provisional.of allowing personal tax allowances at rates in excess of the basic rate of income tax is estimated to be about £810 million. Information on the similar cost of other income tax reliefs is available only in respect of mortgage interest, retirement annuity premiums, employees' superannuation contributions, the business expansion scheme, and donations to charities; in total it is about £750 million. It is not possible to estimate precisely the combined yield from restricting these reliefs and personal allowances to the basis rate, but it is thought to be about £1,750 million. These estimates make no allowance for any possible behavioural effects if allowances and reliefs were to be restricted to the basic rate.

Forestry

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implication of Her Majesty's Government policy on the fiscal regime for forests of the report by the economic consultancy PIEDA, commissioned by the Council for the Protection of Rural England on tax relief for forestry, a copy of which has been forwarded to him; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 1 February 1988]: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will give careful consideration to this report along with the many other representations he receives at this time of year.

Toxic Waste

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what physical checks are made by Customs and Excise officers at all ports registered to receive toxic waste containers, to assess if the inventory carriage notes are commensurate with the materials carried.

[holding answer 5 February 1988]: Customs and Excise officers do not normally make physical checks to assess whether inventory carriage notes are commensurate with the materials carried in toxic waste containers.

Privatisation

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has anything to add to his answer to the hon. Member for Bridgend of 14 January, Official Report, at column 388, concerning privatisation.

[holding answer 4 February 1988]: I have nothing to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths) on 14 January.

Number of patients by specialty on in-patient waiting list as at 31 March 1981 to 1987 for Macclesfield District Health Authority
Specialty	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987
General medicine	0	1	0	0	18	0	0
Geriatrics	51	27	13	14	11	0	8
General surgery	1,144	1,024	1,047	1,127	550	364	261
Ear, nose and throat	179	153	149	127	85	181	37
Traumatic and orthopaedic	590	658	555	463	326	310	270
Ophthalmology	0	0	0	0	0	0	71
Urology	0	0	0	0	0	0	100
Oral surgery	135	118	75	65	40	53	43
Orthodontics	0	0	0	0	3	2	2
Gynaecology	372	334	337	231	201	249	139
Mental handicap	0	8	10	3	3	0	0
Mental illness	53	48	34	17	0	0	0
Total	2,524	2,371	2,220	2,047	1,237	1,159	931

Mentally Ill People

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the cost per annum of caring for mentally ill patients at the lowest and highest dependency level.

Social Services

Sheffield

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the figures for Sheffield health authority's in-patient waiting lists for each of the years from 1979 to the latest year for which figures are availble.

The information requested is given in the table.

Total number of patients on the in-patient waiting list for Sheffield District Health Authority from 31 March 1979 to 31 March 1987.
Year	Position at	Total number of in-patients
1979	31 March	12,111
	31 September	11,277
1980	31 March	10,919
	31 September	10,673
1981	31 March	10,932
	31 September	11,280
1982	31 March	11,924
	31 September	14,678
1983	31 March	14,216
	31 September	13,489
1984	31 March	12,488
	31 September	12,549
1985	31 March	11,659
	31 September	11,307
1986	31 March	11,903
	31 September	11,002
1987	31 March	11,051

Macclesfield Health Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will tabulate by specialty the waiting list figures in the Macclesfield health authority as at 31 March in each year since 1981.

The information requested is given in the table.

The Department does not collect information on costs of caring for the mentally ill by dependency level. Health Service costing returns indicate that the cost per in-patient week in a mental illness hospital is £296 at 1987–88 prices.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what action he proposes to take in response to the criticisms of deficiencies in regional hospital authority plans identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General in the report on community care, HC 108; and what assessment he has made of the impact of such deficiencies of the ability of his Department to formulate an accurate national overview on community care for the mentally ill;(2) if it would assist his Department, in overseeing and guiding the development of community care policies, if some aspects of regional health authority plans could be produced to a standard format; what assessment he has made of the areas which could be standardised; and if he will make a statement;(3) what action he proposes to take to ensure that information about the planned level of local authority services for the mentally ill is included in future National Health Service plans, in the light of the Comptroller and Auditor General's identification of the need for a balanced consideration of the service changes proposed.

We are considering how we can specify clearly in future planning guidance the key quantitative information we expect plans to contain. This consideration includes services for mentally ill people in the community, whether provided by health authorities themselves or by other agencies.

Hospitals (Funding)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will revise his policy of 1982 of not giving extra resources allocated to run newer bigger hospitals in areas where they have been built.

Special protection within regional health authority allocations for the revenue consequences of capital schemes ceased in 1977–78, when the recommendations of the resource allocation working party were implemented. Regional health authorities are responsible both for planning their capital investment with regard to the likely availability of revenue, and for ensuring that their annual revenue allocations to districts are sensitive to service plans, including new capital developments.

Hospital Hostels (Places)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many places in hospital hostels or their equivalent are available in each district health authority.

"Hospital hostel" is the name that has been given to a form of accommodation commended in the 1975 White Paper "Better Services for the Mentally Ill" (Cmnd. 6233) in which a small group of long stay patients requiring 24-hour medical and nursing supervision are provided with in-patient care in an informal domestic environment. We intend such units to form a permanent part of district psychiatric services; a number of evaluations have reported encouragingly on the quality of life obtained. I regret that present statistics do not distinguish places in this type of accommodation from other accommodation for psychiatric in-patients.

Motor Oil

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any proposals for the compulsory labelling of motor oil, warning of the possible link between used motor oil and skin cancer; and if he will make a statement.

The evidence from animal tests suggests that repeated exposure to used engine oil could lead to the development of skin cancers. However, there is no evidence of an increase in skin cancers among motor mechanics. Any risk will be reduced if those exposed follow good hygiene practice, including using clean protective overalls and washing their hands.Labelling is not a matter for the Department. I understand that my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Employment and for the Environment are considering the need for warnings, including labelling. Some manufacturers already label their oils and others are considering doing so. The trade associations recommend that vehicle and workshop manuals include a warning to follow good hygiene practice when changing the oil in vehicles.

Residential Care Homes

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list the residential care homes for the elderly run by local authorities in which cases of neglect and cruelty towards residents have resulted in disciplinary action or criminal prosecution against members of staff; and if he will make a statement;(2) if he will list those members of staff of municipal residential care homes for the elderly and handicapped who have been disciplined or prosecuted for neglect or cruelty towards residents.

Disciplinary proceedings against local authority staff are a matter for the local authority concerned, while prosecutions are for the police and the Director of Public Prosecutions and the information requested is not recorded centrally.

Resettlement Unit, Bishopbriggs

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has reviewed the guarantee given in 1986 that the resettlement unit at Bishopbriggs would not be closed until he is satisfied that there are suitable alternative facilities; and if he will make a statement.

Since the Government's policy on resettlement units was announced on 5 February 1985, it has been our aim to ensure that suitable alternative schemes are in operation before the units close. That is still our objective and review teams and officials are working towards it, making useful progress in respect of most of the units.In the case of Bishopbriggs resettlement unit progress has been slow. Although we cannot guarantee that, regardless of eventualities, the unit will remain open indefinitely, we do believe that it should be possible to provide suitable alternative facilities before closure.

Retirement Pensioners

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to uprate the 25p additional amount paid to retirement pensioners aged 80 years and over; and if he will make a statement.

We have no plans at present to increase the 25p addition. Basic pension is however increasing by £1·65 for a single person and £2·65 for a couple in April.

Special Payments

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women in the Seaham and Peterlee area will not receive the recently announced £8 special payment because their pension is paid from their husband's pension book; and if he will take steps to rectify this anomaly.

There are no married women whose retirement pensions are paid from their husbands' order books; all have their own order books and are therefore eligible for an £8 special payment.

Basingstoke And North Hampshire Health Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what has been the approved financial programme of the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority for each year since 1974–75, expressed (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms (based on 1987–88) and (c) as a real term percentage increase or decrease on each preceding year and on the 1974–75 approved financial programme;(2) what has been the cost of the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority's development schemes for each year since 1974–75, expressed

(a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms (based on 1987–88) and (c) as a real term percentage increase or decrease on each preceding year and as a real term percentage increase or decrease on the 1974–75 development scheme;

(3) what directly allocated growth and capital funding the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority has received each year since 1974–75, expressed (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms (based on 1987–88) and (c) as a real term percentage increase or decrease on each preceding year and on the 1974–75 allocations;

	Per annual accounts	At 1987–88 prices	As a percentage of total revenue expenditure		Annual increase/(decrease) in real terms at 1987–88 prices
	£'000s	£'000s	Annual figure	Increase/(decrease) in annual figure	£'000s	Per cent.
1982–83	23,581	29,384	74·95	—	—	—
1983–84	25,038	29,807	74·55	(0·40)	423	1·44
1984–85	26,375	30,058	74·43	(0·12)	251	0·84
1985–86	27,477	29,550	73·69	(0·74)	(508)	(1·69)
1986–87	29,666	30,927	74·27	0·58	1,377	4·66

1. The figures have been expressed at 1987–88 prices by the use of the Gross Domestic Product deflator.

2. Prior to 1 April 1982 the authority's predecessor health district formed part of the Hampshire area health authority and district based figures were not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what have been the costs incurred in each year since 1974–75 by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority for (i) cleaning, (ii) catering and (iii) laundry services, expressed (a) in cash terms, (b) in

(4) by how much in each year since 1974–75 funds budgeted by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority for annual National Health Services pay settlements have exceeded, or been exceeded by, the cost of such settlements expressed (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms (based on 1987–88) and (c) as a percentage excess-deficit.

Allocations to the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority and the other information my hon. Friend requests are matters for the Wessex regional health authority. He may like to contact the regional chairman for the information he requires.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what funds the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority has raised in each year since 1974–75 through cost improvement programmes-savings against previous years or self-generated additional income, expressed (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms (based on 1987–88) and (c) as a real term percentage increase or decrease on each preceding year and on the 1974–75 cost improvement programme.

In 1986–87, the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority reported cash savings of £419,000 from its cost improvement programme. Information is not available centrally for earlier years, but the hon. Member may wish to approach Wessex regional health authority for this information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the percentage cost in each year since 1974–75 to the approved financial programme of the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority of wages and salaries of National Health Service employees, expressed (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms (based on 1987–88) and (c) as a percentage increase or decrease for each year.

Following is information derived from the annual accounts of the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority since its establishment on 1 April 1982.real terms (based on 1987–88) and

(c) as a percentage increase on the cost of the previous year and on the 1974–75 costs.

Following is the information requested derived from the annual accounts of the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority since its establishment on 1 April 1982:

	Domestic/cleaning services				Catering services				Laundry services
	Expenditure per annual accounts	Expenditure at 1987–88 prices	Per cent. increase/(decrease) at 1987–88 prices		Expenditure per annual accounts	Expenditure at 1987–88 prices	Per cent. increase/(decrease) at 1987–88 prices		Expenditure per annual accounts	Expenditure at 1987–88 prices	Per cent. increase/(decrease) at 1987–88 prices
	£000	£000	over previous year	over 1982–83	£000	£000	over previous year	over 1982–83	£000	£000	over previous year	over 1982–83
1982–83	2,120	2,642	—	—	1,588	1,979	—	—	211	263	—	—
1983–84	2,171	2,585	(2·16)	(2·16)	1,663	1,980	0·05	0·05	223	265	0·76	0·76
1984–85	2,147	2,447	(5·34)	(7·38)	1,739	1,982	0·10	0·15	227	259	(2·26)	(1·52)
1985–86	2,046	2,200	(10·01)	(16·73)	1,829	1,967	(0·76)	(0·61)	210	226	(12·74)	(14·07)
1986–87	1,931	2,013	(8·50)	(23·81)	1,870	1,949	(0·92)	(1·52)	196	205	(9·25)	(22·05)

Notes:

1. The figures have been expressed at 1987–88 prices by the use of the Gross Domestic Product deflator.

2. Prior to 1 April 1982 the authority's predecessor health district formed part of the Hampshire Area Health Authority and district based figures were not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many in-patient cases have been treated by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75 and what has been the percentage increase or decrease on the preceding year and on the 1974–75 number of in-patient cases;(2) how many day-patient cases have been treated by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75; and what has been the percentage increase or decrease on the preceding year and on the 1974–75 number of day-patient cases;(3) how many out-patient cases have been treated by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75; and what has been the percentage increase or decrease on the preceding year and on the 1974–75 out-patient cases;(4) how many patients have been treated for chronic renal failure in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority district since 1974–75, or the year in which such treatment became significantly available, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on the previous year and on the first year of significant statistics;(5) how many hip replacement operations have been performed in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority district since 1974–75, or the year in which such treatment became significantly available, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on the previous year and on the first year of significant statistics;(6) how many coronary artery by-pass grafts have been performed in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority district since 1974–75, or the year in which

NHS hospitals, Basingstoke and North Hampshire District Health Authority All specialties
Year	Number	In-patients per cent. change over previous year	Per cent. change over 1974	Number	Day cases per cent. change over previous year	Per cent. change over 1974	Number	Out-patients per cent. change over previous year	Per cent. change over 1974
1974	16,713	0	0	3,341	0	0	78,724	0	0
1975	15,540	-7·0	-7·0	3,548	6·2	6·2	60,647	-23·0	-23·0
1976	17,143	10·3	2·6	5,000	40·9	49·7	71,796	18·4	-8·8
1977	17,871	4·2	6·9	3,551	-29·0	6·3	76,533	6·6	-2·8

such treatment became significantly available, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on the previous year and on the first year of significant statistics;

(7) how many surgical beds have been available in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority each year since 1974–75, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on the previous year and on the 1974–75 number of surgical beds;

(8) how many patients have been treated in surgical beds in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on the previous year and on the 1974–75 number of patients;

(9) how many general medical beds have been available in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on the previous year and on the 1974–75 number of general medical beds;

(10) how many patients have been treated in general medical beds in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on the previous year and on the 1974–75, number of patients;

(11) how many geriatric patients attended day units in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority district in each year since 1974–75 expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on each preceding year and on the 1974–75 number of geriatric patients.

I regret that I cannot give my hon. Friend all the information he seeks. The available information is given in the tables. My hon. Friend may like to approach the chairman of the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority for the further information he requires.

Year	Number	In-patients per cent. change over previous year	per cent. change over 1974	Number	Day cases per cent. change over previous year	per cent. change over 1974	Number	Out-patients per cent. change over previous year	per cent. change over 1974
1978	19,395	8·5	16·0	2,996	-15·6	-10·3	84,445	10·3	7·3
1979	17,864	-7·9	6·9	3,065	2·3	-8·3	89,592	6·1	13·8
1980	19,704	10·3	17·9	4,188	36·6	25·4	92,490	3·2	17·5
1981	19,563	-0·7	17·1	4,188	0·0	25·4	98·338	6·3	24·9
1982	20,148	3·0	20·6	4·053	-3·2	21·3	99,882	1·6	26·9
1983	20,701	2·7	23·9	3,533	-12·8	5·7	105,677	5·8	34·2
1984	22,171	7·1	32·7	3,291	-6·8	-1·5	104,603	-1·0	32·9
1985	22,128	-0·2	32·4	4,117	25·1	23·2	103,510	-1·0	31·5
1986	23·201	4·8	38·8	4,431	7·6	32·6	107,532	3·9	36·6

Surgical specialties
	Daily average of available beds			In-patients
Year	Number	Per cent. change over previous year	Per cent. change over 1974	Number	Per cent. change over previous year	per cent. change over 1974
1974	304·5	0	0	7,114	0	0
1975	300·2	-1·4	-1·4	6,206	-12·8	-12·8
1976	278·2	-7·3	-8·6	7,336	18·2	3·1
1977	287·7	3·4	-5·5	7,563	3·1	6·3
1978	299·3	4·0	-1·7	8,104	7·2	13·9
1979	299·7	0·1	-1·6	7,809	-3·6	9·8
1980	308·5	2·9	1·3	8,503	8·9	19·5
1981	314·4	1·9	3·3	8,866	4·3	24·6
1982	313·2	-0·4	2·9	8,970	1·2	26·1
1983	296·9	-5·2	-2·5	9,374	4·5	31·8
1984	315·6	6·3	3·6	9,805	4·6	37·8
1985	308·5	-2·2	1·3	9,170	-6·5	28·9
1986	288·7	-6·4	5·2	9,090	-0·9	27·8

Medical specialities
	Daily average of available beds			In-patients
Year	Number	Percentage change over previous year	Percentage change over 1974	Number	Percentage change over previous year	Percentage change over 1974
1974	82·0	0	0	2,772	0	0
1975	85·0	3·7	3·7	2,669	-3·7	-3·7
1976	91·9	8·1	12·1	2,845	6·6	2·6
1977	89·9	-2·2	9·6	3,111	9·3	12·2
1978	104·3	16·0	27·2	3,500	12·5	26·3
1979	98·4	-5·7	20·0	3,089	-11·7	11·4
1980	101·9	3·6	24·3	3,356	8·6	21·1
1981	103·1	1·2	25·7	3,375	0·6	21·8
1982	106·2	3·0	29·5	3,763	11·5	35·8
1983	110·5	4·0	34·8	3,631	-3·5	31·0
1984	113·4	2·6	38·3	4,083	12·4	47·3
1985	115·8	2·1	41·2	4,051	-0·8	46·1
1986	115·0	-0·7	40·2	4,163	2·8	50·2

Geriatric regular day cases: Total attendances
Year	Number	Percentage change over previous year	Percentage change over 1982
1974	n.a.	—	—
1975	n.a.	—	—
1976	n.a.	—	—
1977	n.a.	—	—
1978	n.a.	—	—
1979	n.a.	—	—
1980	n.a.	—	—
1981	n.a.	—	—
1982	1,131	—	—
1983	2,608	130·6	130·6
1984	2,913	11·7	157·6
1985	2,893	-0·7	155·8
1986	2,455	-15·1	117·1

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many visits by health visitors have been made in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority district in each year since 1974–75; and what has been the percentage increase or decrease on the preceding year and on the 1974–75 number of visits;(2) how many people have been visited by health visitors in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health

Persons visited by health visitors (first visit)
Basingstoke and North Hampshire District Health Authority
	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Number of persons visited by Health Vistors	13,883	13,696	13,986	14,102	14,239
per cent. change year by year	—	-1·3	2·1	0·8	1·0
per cent. change from 1982	—	-1·3	0·7	1·6	2·6

Notes:

1. A visit includes each occasion when professional help or advice is given by health visiting staff.

2. The "first visit" refers to the first visit received by a person from any member of the health visiting staff during the calendar year for any problem.

3. Visits to households where there is tuberculosis or other infectious diseases are not included in this table.

Total visits made by health visitors
Basingstoke and North Hampshire District Health Authority
	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Total visits	46,484	44,569	46,958	49,135	49,430
per cent. change year by year	—	-4·1	5·4	4·6*	0·6
per cent. change from 1982	—	-4·1	1·0	5·7	6·3

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the cost of capital projects undertaken by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75, expressed (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms based on 1987–88 figures

Total capital expenditure
	Per annual accounts	At 1987–88 prices	Percentage increase/(decrease) at 1987–88 prices
	£000	£000	On preceding year	On 1982–83
1982–83	2,427	3,024	—	—
1983–84	2,356	2,805	(7·24)	(7·24)
1984–85	3,081	3,511	27·17	16·10
1985–86	3,314	3,564	1·51	17·86
1986–87	3,682	3,838	7·69	26·92

Notes:

1. The figures have been expressed at 1987–88 prices by the use of the Gross Domestic Product deflator.

2. The figures include sums in respect of capital schemes within the district recorded in the annual accounts of the Wessex Regional Health Authority. Expenditure incurred by the latter authority for the region as a whole is excluded.

3. Prior to 1 April 1982 the authority's predecessor health district formed part of the Hampshire Area Health Authority and district based figures were not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many places there have been in adult training centres for the mentally handicapped in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75, or the first year of the significant availability of such places, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on the previous year and on the 1974–75 figure, or the first significant year;(2) how many adults attended training centres for the mentally handicapped in the Basingstoke and North authority district in each year sinc 1974–75; and what has been the percentage increase or decrease on the preceding year and on the 1974–75 number of people visited.

Basingstoke and North Hampshire District Health Authority was formed in 1982. Comparable figures are not available before that date when these data were collected by area health authority only. The available information is given in the table.and

(c) as a real term percentage increase or decrease on each preceding year and on the 1974–75, capital project cost.

Following is the information derived from the annual accounts of the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority since its establishment on 1 April 1982:Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75, or the first year of the significant availability of places at such centres, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on the previous year and on the 1974–75 figure, or for the first significant year.

Information on the number of places for mentally handicapped people in adult training centres is given in the table. It is based on the number of places reported by Hampshire social services department. The information my hon. Friend seeks on the number of people attending adult training centres is not available centrally. He may wish to approach the Hampshire social services department for the further information he requires.

Number of places for mentally handicapped people in adult training centres in the area covered by Basingstoke and North Hampshire DHA, and percentage changes, 1982–87.
		Percentage Change
	Number of places (at 31 March)	On 1982	On previous year
1982	232	—	—
1983	232	0·0	0·0
1984	246	6·0	6·0
1985	246	6·0	0·0
1986	252	8·6	2·4
1987	252	8·6	0·0

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what funds have been devoted by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority to the care and treatment of the mentally ill in each year since 1974–75, expressed (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms based on 1974–75 and (c) as a real term percentage increase or decrease on each preceding year and on the 1974–75 allocation.

Information on health authority expenditure by type of patient is not collected centrally: hospital costing returns submitted to the Department show expenditure on hospitals of different types and costing returns in respect of community health services show expenditure relating to the major areas of activity only.Following is information derived from the hospital costing returns submitted by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority since its establishment on 1 April 1982:

Revenue expenditure on hospitals categorised "mental illness"
	Per costing returns	At 1987–88 prices	Percentage increase/(decrease) at 1987–88 prices
	£000	£000	On preceding year	On 1982–83
1982–83	8,285	10,324	—	—
1983–84	8,645	10,291	(0·32)	(0·32)
1984–85	8,800	10,029	(2·55)	(2·86)
1985–86	9,104	9,791	(2·37)	(5·16)
1986–87	9,429	9,830	0·40	(4·78)

Notes:

1. The figures have been expressed at 1987–88 prices by the use of the Gross Domestic Product deflator.

2. The figures exclude expenditure on hospitals categorised "mental handicap" and expenditure incurred for the mentally ill within community health services. The latter costs are not separately identifiable centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many mentally ill patients have been treated

NHS Staff by Main Staff Groups: in Post Basingstoke and North Hampshire District Health Authority 30 September
Whole-time Equivalents¹
	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Medical and Dental²	100	90	100	90	90
Nursing and Midwifery³	1,710	1,730	1,710	1,660	1,680

by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on each previous year and on the 1974–75 number of patients.

The number of admissions of in-patients into mental illness hospitals and units, managed by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority, for each year since 1974, are shown in the table.The figures do not relate to individuals, and will include patients who have been discharged and readmitted during each year.

Year of admission	Number of admissions of mentally ill patients	Percentage change in admissions on previous year	Percentage change in admissions on 1974
1974	1,001	¹	¹
1975	982	-1·9	-1·9
1976	1,103	+12·3	+10·2
1977	1,060	-3·9	+5·9
1978	1,138	+7·4	+13·7
1979	1,129	-0·8	+12·8
1980	1,278	+13·2	+27·7
1981	1,252	-2·0	+25·1
1982	1,034	-17·4	+3·3
1983	1,133	+9·6	+13·2
1984	1,102	-2·7	+101
1985	1,305	+18·4	+30·4
1986	1,518	+16·3	+51·6
¹ Not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority district have received help to pay for residential and nursing care in each year since 1974–75, expressed also as a percentage increase or decrease on each previous year and on the 1974–75 number of patients.

People in independent residential care or nursing homes can claim supplementary benefit to help with their fees. Information on the numbers claiming supplementary benefit in homes in the area of the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority could be obtained for this period only at disproportionate cost.Health authorities may enter into contractual arrangements with private health care providers, but must meet the costs incurred. Health authorities have no power to pay part of the costs of a patient's care in private establishments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people, divided into convenient categories of employment, particularly specifying nursing staff, have been employed by the Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority in each year since 1974–75.

Because of the 1982 NHS reorganisation, figures on a consistent basis are not held centrally for years prior to 1982.The available information from 1982 is shown in the table.

	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Professional and Technical (Excluding Works)	200	220	220	230	250
Works	20	20	20	20	20
Maintenance	90	90	80	80	70
Administrative and Clerical	360	390	370	380	380
Ancillary	740	730	710	660	600
Total NHS Staff	3,230	3,270	3,220	3,110	3,080
Source: DHSS Annual Censuses of NHS Medical and Non-medical Manpower.
¹ Figures are independently rounded to the nearest ten (10) whole-time equivalents.
² Includes permanent paid, honorary and locum staff. Excludes all Consultants and Senior Registrars whose contracts are held by the regional health authority.
³ Includes agency staff.

Drugs

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what measures he proposes to take to control the rising cost of the drugs bill to National Health Service hospitals.

The Department is taking a wide range of measures to control the drugs bill in National Health Service hospitals. In the last year each region has reviewed pharmaceutical buying and has drawn up an action plan to ensure maximum value for money, particularly in high-spend, high-volume medicines.The Department has also encouraged the formulation of local multi-disciplinary drug and therapeutic committees to promote the rational and economic use of drug therapy. These are now commonplace within health authorities, and an effective means they are adopting to achieve their objective is the use of hospital drug formularies. Following the Nuffield report, the Department is also reviewing clinical pharmacy which could further assist in improving the cost-effectiveness of expenditure on drugs in hospitals.

Agency Staff

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what measures he proposes to take to control charges imposed on the National Health Service by agencies which provide locum staff replacements for hospitals;(2) what approaches he has made to the Wessex region with regard to the control of charges imposed on the National Health Service by agencies providing locum staff replacements for hospitals within the Wessex region;(3) what approaches or responses he has received from the Wessex region with regard to the control of charges imposed on the National Health Service by agencies providing locum staff replacements for hospitals within the Wessex region.

The Basingstoke and North Hampshire health authority has expressed concern, in correspondence with officials, about the costs of locum medical staff engaged through agencies. A number of regional health authorities are currently collaboratng with the aim of containing such costs. We intend to consider the need and scope for central action in the light of their progress.

Basingstoke District Hospital (Appointments)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in each year since 1974–75 have been taken to and from Basingstoke district hospital for day appointments by the ambulance service.

I am sorry that the information my hon. Friend seeks is not available centrally. He may like to contact the chairman of the Winchester health authority, which is responsible for the Hampshire ambulance service, for the information he requires.

Thamesmead Town Limited

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many applications for housing benefit by tenants of Thamesmead Town Ltd. include service charges; and what advice has been provided by his Department to Thamesmead Town Ltd., Greenwich council and Bexley council about the eligibility of service charges for housing benefit.

Information on the number of applications for housing benefit by tenants of Thamesmead Town Ltd. which include service charges is not held centrally. Advice on both the existing regulations and the regulations which take effect in April has been issued to all authorities with responsibility for the administration of housing benefit, including the London boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley. The most recent guidance makes it clear that our policy remains that charges for services which the tenant has no option but to pay and which are connected with the provision of adequate accommodation should be eligible for housing benefit.

Minister For The Disabled

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the responsibilities of the Minister for Social Security and the Disabled.

The Minister for Social Security and the Disabled has particular responsibility for co-ordinating policy on disablement and for benefits, aids and services for disabled people. These functions are discharged in conjunction with other departmental Ministers as necessary.

Aids

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has about the decision of the United States national institutes of health to instruct all biological laboratories to review their safety guidelines following the reported infection of two laboratory workers with the AIDS virus after working with concentrated samples; and whether he will carry out such a review of procedures in medical and biological laboratories in England.

We are aware of the recent decision of the United States national institutes of health to instruct all biological laboratories to review safety guidelines. Such a review was carried out in the United Kingdom by the advisory committee on dangerous pathogens which, in 1986, issued revised guidelines on the safe handling of laboratory specimens containing the AIDS virus — including working with concentrated samples. These guidelines apply to all medical and biological laboratories in the United Kingdom and have been endorsed by the health departments, the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive.

Abortions

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy to (a) gather and (b) publish the names of individual doctors concerned in abortions after 18 weeks' gestation carried out in the private sector; and if he will make a statement.

Information about doctors carrying out abortions in all private sector places approved under the Abortion Act is provided to the Department on a confidential basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the figure for the number of abortion notifications mentioning rape in cases where abortions were performed at or after 18 weeks' gestation in the latest period for which figures were collected.

Statistics on the number of abortion notification forms which mention rape may be provided reliably only for the period from 1 January 1987. The provisional number of abortion notification forms with any mention of rape, for gestation at 18 completed weeks and over for the period 1 January to 31 October 1987 inclusive is one.

London Ambulance Service

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of fully equipped emergency ambulances in the London ambulance service on 31 December 1987; what are the changes planned in that number for future years; and if he will make a statement.

There were 363 emergency ambulances on 31 December 1987. Of these, the 263 "front-line" ambulances were all equipped with "motivus resuscitation packs"; the rest were day ambulances which are otherwise fully equipped but do not carry resuscitation packs.Following a detailed examination of day ambulances, the London ambulance service found that the work allocated to them could be more effectively dealt with by transferring the patient workload to non-emergency vehicles and front-line ambulances. On average, 450 walking and chair case patients per day will be transferred to non-emergency vehicles and 97 stretcher case patients per day will be transferred to front-line ambulances. Front-line and non-emergency staff complements are to be amended to take up the transferred work.As a result of removing the patient demand from 100 day ambulances, the total emergency fleet size of ambulances will be reduced as follows:

During Year	Fleet Size
Ended 31 December 1987	363
1987–88	351
1988–89	314
1989–90	273

This planned reduction of 90 ambulances will be closely monitored by the London ambulance service and pursued only if there proves to be sufficient flexibility in the fleet to deal with peaks in demand and large-scale incidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of crews of emergency ambulances rostered, or planned for, by the London ambulance service during each 24-hour cycle of normal weekdays in 1987; whether any changes are planned in that number for the future; and what are the reasons for any change of policy.

The number of crews of emergency ambulances rostered by the London ambulance service during each 24 hours of normal weekdays in 1987 and planned for the future are:

Shift period	Number of rostered crews in 1987	Number of rostered crews planned
Early shifts	170	188
Late shifts	154	151
Night shifts	94	90

The London ambulance service's aim is to achieve a better balance of resources throughout London in line with patterns of demand and a more effective relief system for covering absences. This will bring about a further improvement in the response time of ambulances to emergency incidents. Relief staff will be increased from 164 to 270, thereby increasing the actual number of manned front-line ambulances.The effect on the staffing levels of the service, including additional ambulance persons to convey non-emergency patients transferred from day ambulances is as follows:

	Proposed	Change
Staff rostered on front-line ambulances (including extra staff for day ambulance stretcher cases)	1,161	+17
Relief staff	270	+106
Emergency service staffing		+123
Day ambulance staff	0	-200
Non-emergency ambulance personnel	853	+93
Whole service	2,284	+16

Sight Test

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many sight tests were carried out under the National Health Service during the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available; and if he will make an estimate of the number of such tests for which payment will be demanded, allowing for the proposed exemptions, if the charges proposed in the Health and Medicines Bill are enacted.

Some 10·75 million sight tests were conducted in England under the NHS in the 12-month period to 30 June 1987. We estimate that around 70 per cent. of sight tests would in future be paid for privately.

Claimants (Wales)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the total number of claimants (a) claiming for board and lodging from his Department and (b) with dependent children in the latest year for which figures are available (i) in Wales and (ii) in each of the Department of Employment travel-to-work areas in Wales.

In May 1987 an estimated 8,000 people were claiming for board and lodging accommodation charges in Wales. Less than 500 had dependent children. I regret that the information requested on the numbers in each of the Department of Employment travel-to-work areas in Wales is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. These estimates have been obtained from the Department's May 1987 quarterly

	2 August 1983	31 July 1984	31 July 1985	13 August 1986	29 July 1987
Cleveland
(Eston, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Stockton)	67,458	75,340	79,214	78,781	74,048
Northumberland
(Ashington, Berwick, Blyth, Hexham)	19,543	20,218	21,298	21,229	21,235
Durham
(Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, Darlington, Durham, Peterlee, Scaham, Stanley)	59,262	62,557	65,603	65,263	63,247
Tyne and Wear
(Gateshead, Houghton-le-Spring, Jarrow, Newcastle St. James, Newcastle East, Newcastle West, North Shields, South Shields, Sunderland North, Sunderland South, Wallsend)	144,005	153,122	160,354	158,940	157,404

Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action at the dates specified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people were receiving supplementary benefit for 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87 and the

	2 August 1983	31 July 1984	31 July 1985	13 August 1986	29 July 1987
Darlington	12,779	13,406	14,467	15,005	14,481
Bishop Auckland	13,587	14,510	14,937	15,212	14,290
Peterlee	6,411	7,046	7,392	7,316	7,304

Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action at the dates specified

Social Security Reform

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the basis and the sources from which he compiled the estimated number of claimants in Great Britain who will be eligible for transitional payments under the income support scheme.

The source used for estimating the number of transitional additions under income support is the 1986 annual statistical inquiry, the latest information available, uprated to take account of subsequent increases in benefit rates. The rules governing the award and calculation of transitional additions have been applied to this information to provide the estimates.

statistical inquiry. The sample size for this exercise is too small to obtain a precise figure of the number of claimants with dependent children.

Supplementary Benefit (North-East)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people were receiving supplementary benefit for 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87 and the latest figures for 1987–88, for (a) Cleveland, (b) Durham, (c) Northumbria and (d) Tyne and Wear.

Information is not available in the precise form requested. The Department's local offices serving each district are listed although the boundaries are not conterminous.The number of people in receipt of supplementary benefit is as follows:latest figures for 1987–88, for his Department's local offices at

(a) Darlington, (b) Bishop Auckland and (c) Peterlee.

The number of people in receipt of supplementary benefit for the years requested is as follows:

Rpi Error

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps are being taken to rectify the anomaly as between persons with multiple benefits payable from one payment book receiving one payment and those with separate books for different benefits receiving one payment for each benefit, under the scheme intended to correct the effect of the error in the retail price index.

We do not propose to alter the arrangements for the special payments exercise, which is designed to combine as far as possible fairness with speed of payment. Having benefits combined on one order book does not automatically mean that the claimant has suffered more than once from the error in the RPI. The ex-gratia special payments fully compensate the great majority of people who have combined books: less than 10 per cent. of them will be under-compensated for the RPI error because of the method of payment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many representations he has received regarding the offer of only one special payment to cover more than one social security benefit, following the error in the retail price index.

About 40.

Social Security (Young Claimants)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate how many 16 and 17-year-olds who are not still in education deliberately choose to remain on social security rather than take a job or accept a training place.

I refer the hon. Member to the information contained in my hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. McKay) on 7 December 1987, at column 57, and also to the reply which my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Employment gave to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East (Mr. Nellist), on 17 November 1987, at column 509.

Nhs Pay Deal

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether Her Majesty's Government will fully fund the 1988–89 Health Service workers' pay deal;(2) whether Her Majesty's Government will pay the 1988–89 Health Service workers' pay rise from 1 April.

The additional funds which health authorities have been given for 1988–89 are intended to cover all pay and price rises. The Government will await the recommendations of the review bodies before taking any decisions on implementation and funding.

General Practitioner Consultations

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the estimated cost of each general practitioner consultation in England in 1986–87.

I regret that the information requested is not available.

Oldchurch Hospital, Romford

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to the results of the experimental reception system in the accident and emergency department Oldchurch hospital, Romford; and if he will make a statement on its possible adoption throughout the National Health Service.

I understand that the nurse practitioner scheme, introduced in the accident and emergency department at Oldchurch hospital in 1986, has enabled patient care to be improved by reducing waiting times and inappropriate attendances.We welcome the scheme and the recognition given to it by the award of the RIPA-Hay first prize for managerial innovation in the public sector in 1987 to Barking, Havering and Brentwood health authority. I understand that the health authority will shortly be publishing information about the scheme to other health authorities.

Nurses (Shifts)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has received concerning the present pattern of nurses shifts; and if he will make a statement.

I am not aware of any representations, although I am aware of some local difficulties over proposed changes in the pattern of nurses shifts.Detailed rostering arrangements are for local decision. Following reports by our auditors in 1983 of apparently wasteful use of nursing time due to log shift overlaps in some places, health authorities were asked to review this matter generally. Several health authorities have managed to re-order their nursing rosters to achieve more efficient working patterns without detriment to the service. It is important that others do the same and all should keep shift patterns under constant review.Health authorities are asked to report any changes in the deployment of nursing staff in their short-term programmes and the matter will also feature in the normal review process as necessary.

Single Payments

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the expenditure on single payments by each local office of his Department as a sum per head of the claimants registered with each office.

[holding answer 14 January 1988]: The information the hon. Member seeks has now been placed in the Library.

Public Expenditure

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the relevant figures in table 14.1 of Cm. 288-II adjusted by the hospital and community health services pay and price deflator.

[holding answer 26 January 1988]: The figures requested are given in the table for the years from 1982–83 to 1986–87. No forecasts of pay and price movements have been made for subsequent years. In addition health authorities had the benefit of recurrent savings of the order of £400 million over this period at 1986–87 prices from cash-releasing cost-improvement programmes.

Hospital community health and related services
£ million
	1982–83 outturn	1983–84 outturn	1984–85 outturn	1985–86 outturn	1986–87 outturn
Current expenditure
Gross	10,355	10,364	10,356	10,368	10,421
Charges	90	96	96	99	101
Net	10,264	10,267	10,260	10,270	10,320
Capital expenditure
Gross	835	846	915	940	961
Receipts	23	39	57	90	149
Net	812	808	859	850	812

Note: The above figures are at 1986–87 price levels, after adjusting for HCHS current and capital pay and price inflation.

Mentally Handicapped Patients

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the amount of his Department's allocation specifically for the care of mentally handicapped patients.

[holding answer 5 February 1988]: In the main the Department does not allocate funds for specific purposes. Within a national framework of health care priorities it is for each health authority to determine how its resources, including allocations, should be used.

Volume 127: debated on Monday 8 February 1988

Written Answers To Questions

Transport

Buses (Revenue Support)

Pin-Ups

Aircraft (Passenger Seats)

Road Costs

London Underground Ltd

Herald Of Free Enterprise

Toxic Waste (Transportation)

Environment

South West Housing Society

Local Government Employees (Greater Manchester)

Rights Of Way

Planning Appeals (Worthing)

Pin-Ups

Swimming Instructors

Green Belt (Hertfordshire)

Crown Suppliers

Illuminated Signs

Thamesmead

Homelessness

Housing Waiting Lists

Toxic Waste

Nature Reserves

Local Authority Services

Monument (Millbank Gardens)

Leeds-Bradford Airport

Overseas Development

Overseas Aid (Warship Purchases)

Research

Boithuthong Community Centre, Bophuthatswana

Chancellor Of The Duchy Of Lancaster

Empty Houses

Trade And Industry

Pin-Ups

Balance Of Trade

Britoil

Decentralisation Of Trade

Confidential Letters (Leaks)

Home Department

Police National Computer

Metropolitan Police (Sickness And Injury)

Remand Prisoners

Metropolitan Police (Heathrow)

Alcohol Sales (Under-Age Persons)

Police Sub-Stations

Members' Representations

Television Licences (Students)

Knives

Shotgun Cartridges

Immigration

Royal Prerogative

Radio

Entry Clearance

Prison Education

London City Airport

Prevention Of Terrorism

Attorney-General

File (Disappearance)

Mr Holroyd And Mr Wallace

Unification Church

Herald Of Free Enterprise

Crown Prosecution Service

Public Accounts Commission

Costs

Prime Minister

Engagements

Minister For Social Security And The Disabled

Security And Intelligence Services

Departmental Correspondence

National Health Service

South Africa And Namibia

Trade Unions

Stalker Report

Secret Services (Papers)

Education And Science

Young People (Full-Time Education)

School Crossing Patrols