To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what would be the value to the average ratepayer in Wales, in 1988–89 prices, if domestic rate relief were at 33·5 p in the pound.

£42·20 (compared with the present value of £23·30) for domestic ratepayers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the amount of Government financial assistance to sport in Wales since 1979.

Direct central Government support for sport and recreation in Wales is provided by way of grant-in-aid to the Sports Council for Wales. From 1979–80 to 1986–87, which is the last year for which outturn figures are available a total of £22·5 million was paid in grant. In the same period central Government support of £4·3 million

	Designated	Expenditure £ million	Employment
Delyn enterprise zone	21 July 1983	6·6	+1,200
Swansea enterprise zone	11 June 1981	10·8	+1,900
Milford Haven enterprise zone	24 April 1984	6·1	+420

Regional industrial assistance paid to individual companies on the zones is not included.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much of the planned provision for the Welsh Development Agency, at constant prices, is expected to be from (a) rents, sales and services and (b) Government funding, in each of the years 1988–89 and 1990–91.

The information is as follows:

£ million, 1987– prices1
	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91
Rents, sales and other receipts	46·1	47·5	47·8
Net provision	62·0	58·3	57·7
1 The planning figures have prices using the GDP deflator.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the amount of public expenditure under the urban programme in Wales for each year since 1979.

Capital and revenue public expenditure under the urban programme (including urban development grant) in Wales for each year since 1979 is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent on the renovation of public and private housing stock in Wales since 1979.

Local authorities and housing associations have, since April 1979, spent £570 million on the renovation of public housing and £414 million on the renovation of private housing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list (a) the amount of Government financial assistance to, and (b) the number of jobs created in, each enterprise zone in Wales since their designation.

Welsh Office expenditure, by way of payments under the urban programme and of compensation in respect of rate relief, is estimated as follows:

	£ million
1979–80	4·2
1980–81	8·7
1981–82	9·1
1982–83	17·4
1983–84	15·0
1984–85	20·8
1985–86	24·9
1986–87	126·5
1987–88	126·5
1 Estimated.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will direct the West Glamorgan health authority to ensure that the names of the people undertaking the inquiry into the intensive baby care unit at Morriston hospital are made public and that the results of the inquiry are published.

I understand that West Glamorgan health authority has initiated an internal inquiry following serious allegations about the special-care baby unit, Morriston hospital. The inquiry team will consist of the chairman of the authority and two members to be specified. The intention is for their report to be presented to a meeting of the authority in March 1988. In the circumstances I have no reason to consider the issue of a direction to the authority on this question.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the chairman of British Rail about the replacement of Glanrhyd bridge on the central Wales line.

I met the chairman of British Rail on 5 February 1988. I am pleased to say that the chairman informed me that he hoped a new bridge would be in place by the autumn of this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of gross national product was allocated to official overseas development aid in 1987.

This information will not be available until later this year.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if has any proposals to enlarge the scope for public libraries to generate increased revenues; and if he will make a statement.

I have today presented to Parliament a Green Paper, "Financing our public library service: Four subjects for debate." In it, I ask for views on the best means of achieving the Government's objectives of supporting the provision of the free basic library service at public expense, while at the same time enlarging the scope for library authorities to generate increased income by joint ventures with the private sector and by charging for specialised services.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to close Earlsfield police station in Wandsworth, London, SW18; and if he will make a statement.

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that there are no plans to close Earlsfield police station.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost per inhabitant of policing London; and what is the average cost per inhabitant of policing areas outside London.

Expenditure per thousand population for each police force in England and Wales is given in "Police Statistics 1986–87 Actuals" published by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, a copy of which is in the Library.The publication recognises that because of differences between the Metropolitan police and other forces direct comparisons of costs may be misleading.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to what steps the police are taking to ensure that sentries on duty outside the royal palaces and royal residences, and their horses, are not subjected to unpleasant attentions from tourists and others; and if he will make a statement.

The police have the necessary powers to deal with any difficulties which may arise.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the total output of lawn mowers, the percentage exported and the proportion of the domestic market taken by imports in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) West Germany and (c) Japan in 1958, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975 and in each year from 1979 to 1987.

The available information for the United Kingdom is shown in the table. That for West Germany and Japan could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

£ million
	Sales1	Exports	Imports
1975	40·4	10·4	1·5
1979	86·9	17·2	9·0
1980	98·1	18·3	10·4
1981	108·6	18·1	12·4
1982	99·2	17·3	14·9
1983	101·8	15·7	12·6
1984	103·6	20·1	20·0
1985	115·7	22·9	20·5
1 Output figures relate to sales by manufacturers in the United Kingdom with a minimum employment of 25 in years up to 1980 and 50 from 1981 onwards.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he has given his authority under section 6(2)(b) of the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 for the use by the Labour party of a design so nearly resembling the Red Cross designated in section 6(1) of the Act as to be capable of being mistaken for or understood as referring to that emblem.

No authority has been given in the matter by either the Secretary of State or by the Board of Trade.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has on attempts by the Danish Government to secure marmosets from the United Kingdom for the purpose of chemical warfare research; whether he intends to take steps to prevent those animals being exported for such purposes; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 16 February 1988]: I have been asked to reply.The Department has no information on attempts by the Danish Government to secure marmosets from the United Kingdom for the purpose of chemical warfare research.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many civil servants are employed in his Department; what are their average weekly working hours; and how many are (a) on flexitime, (b) on job-sharing schemes, (c) on a four-day working week or nine-day fortnight and (d) able to retire with full pension rights at 60 years.

Numbers employed fluctuate over time; currently the Department employs around 1,000 civil servants whose normal hours are 41 per week for full-time staff, and of whom 10 per cent. are on flexitime. Four are on job-sharing schemes and two are on a four-day working week. All except casual staff acquire the pension rights provided by the principal Civil Service pension scheme; last year five out of 34 officers who retired qualified for a full pension.

£/tonne
Calender year	Belgium	France	Federal Republic of Germany	Spain3	Portugal3	Financial year	United Kingdom2
19781	27·70	15·80	11·91	—	—	1978–79	1·60
1979	31·16	16·56	13·69	—	—	1979–80	2·30
1980	27·75	15·17	12·19	—	—	1980–81	2·30
1981	25·46	11·95	10·94	—	—	1981–82	3·28
1982	16·47	17·72	8·65	—	—	1982–83	4·96
1983	15·47	19·19	12·06	—	—	1983–84	12·71
1984	20·09	19·87	12·30	—	—	1984–85	87·15
1985	21·68	22·00	11·72	—	—	1985–86	6·37
1986	34·90	23·76	21·25	—	—	1986–874	10·02
19874	57·55	22·16	29·45	12·08	4·92
1 It is not possible to make absolute comparisons between the figures from different member states as the numerical basis may vary.
2 United Kingdom figures are on a financial year basis. The others are in calender years.
3 Spanish and Portuguese data are not available prior to 1987.
4 1987 data are the latest published estimates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what, according to his best estimate, is the proportion of the whole amount of money spent on student grants is accounted for (a) in theory and (b) in practice by parental contributions for each year since 1979 until the latest year for which the Government can estimate.

The information relates to mandatory and full-value discretionary awards made by local

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the reports of incidents at Hinkley Point power station from 1985 to date, indicating (a) in which cases the alarm was sounded and (b) in which cases the alarm failed to sound.

Since 1985 there have been three incidents at the Hinkley Point site reported to the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate under the arrangements reported to Parliament on 26 July 1982 and revised on 30 April 1987. These occurred on 25 October 1985, 29 November 1985 and 31 October 1986, and details are included in the Health and Safety Executive's quarterly statement on nuclear incidents, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. Only the incident on 29 November 1985 included the declaration of a site incident requiring the sounding of the site's sirens, and I am advised that they performed satisfactorily.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish the average level of Government subsidy per tonne of deep-mined coal in each year since 1978 in each of the member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

[holding answer 11 February 1988]: The OECD does not publish details of aid to member states' coal industries. The information in the table has been obtained from European Commission publications.education authorities in England and Wales. Assessed parental contributions are expressed as a percentage of the combined total of all assessed contributions (from parents, spouses and students themselves) and LEA expenditure on maintenance awards.

Academic years	Percentage
1979–80	19·3
1980–81	19·0
1981–82	21·3
1982–83	23·7
1983–84	24·4
1984–85	31·3
1985–86	36·8

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science to what extent there is a shortfall in providing examiners and moderators for the forthcoming GCSE examinations.

The GCSE examining groups are responsible for recruiting and employing GCSE examiners and moderators, and I understand that they are currently reviewing progress.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to encourage the teaching of English grammar; and if he will make a statement.

The Government attach great importance to the study of English language. Last year my right hon. Friend established a committee under the chairmanship of Sir John Kingman to advise on what, in general terms, children need to know about how the English language works, and in consequence what they should have been taught and be expected to understand on this score at ages 7, 11 and 16. The committee's report is expected next month. Under our proposals for a national curriculum, English will be a core subject. A working group will be established after Easter, following and building on the work of the Kingman committee, to advise on attainment targets for ages 7, 11, 14 and 16 and the associated programmes of study for all aspects of English.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, where the physical capacity of a school is above the 1979 intake, he will then allow that capacity to be the determining factor in deciding how many pupils should be admitted; and if he will make a statement.

Under the existing legislation, admissions authorities for maintained schools are at liberty to set admissions limits above the standard number of such schools if they so wish.Under the provisions of chapter II of the Education Reform Bill, if admissions to a school are higher than the existing standard number in the school year immediately prior to implementation of the new legislation, that number will become the new standard number for the school and therefore the number up to which the school must be prepared to admit. If LEAs and governors agree that a school can admit pupils in excess of the standard number, they will be able to do so without reference to the Secretary of State, and if there is no agreement, there is provision in the Bill for the matter to be referred to the Secretary of State for decision.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many more staff he expects to employ at his Department for the purposes of recalculating grants for the 12 inner London local education authorities;(2) how many more staff he expects to employ in his Department for the purpose of administering capital expenditure bids for the proposed 12 inner London local education authorities following the abolition of the Inner London education authority;(3) whether he is able to make any estimate as to additional staffing requirements in his Department in connection with the administration of grant-related in-service training after the proposed date of transfer of the functions of the Inner London education authority to the inner London boroughs;(4) whether he will estimate the staffing implications for his Department of the monitoring and approval of local management schemes proposed by inner London boroughs prior to the proposed transfer of functions to them after the abolition of the Inner London education authority.

[holding answer 18 February 1988]: My right hon. Friend is setting up a special unit in the Department of Education and Science to advise and assist boroughs in preparing to take over responsibility for education. The unit will be mainly formed by the reallocation of existing staff, but two new posts have been allocated.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set out his estimate of the aggregate of the appropriate levels of spending for inner London councils on the education service in 1990–91; and what is the Inner London education authority's estimated spending in 1987–88 in cash terms and in volume terms.

[holding answer 18 February]: It will be for each council to determine the appropriate level of spending on the education service in 1990–91. The Inner London education authority's budgeted spending for 1987–88 at outturn prices, as shown in its published estimates, is £1,024·7 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many extra staff will need to be employed, and at what cost, to provide returns under statutory requirements to collect statistics and information in the proposed 12 inner London local education authorities, following the abolition of the Inner London education authority.

[holding answer 18 February 1988]: It will be for each inner London council to determine the staffing they consider appropriate for the collection of statistics.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will initiate a study on the implication for teachers' working time arising from the recommendations of the assessment and testing group's report;(2) if he has assessed the cost and resource implications of the task group's report on assessment and testing; and if he will make a statement;(3) what is his estimate of the cost of implementing the recommendations of the assessment and testing group, arising from his answer of 12 January,

My right hon. Friend has invited the task group on assessment and testing to undertake a more detailed study of arrangements for implementing and administering the national assessment system proposed in its recent report. The group's advice on this, and public reaction to its report, should enable the organisational and resource implications to be gauged.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was (a) the expenditure per pupil and (b) the average size of classes in (i) infant, (ii) primary and (iii) secondary schools in (1) England, (2) East Sussex and (3) the borough of Eastbourne on the available date closest to 3 May 1979; and what are the equivalent figures for the latest available date, adjusted in the case of expenditure for inflation.

The available information is given in the table. Information in respect of separate districts within local education authorities is not held centrally.

	Nursery schools	Primary schools	Secondary schools
Net institutional recurrent expenditure per pupil (£)1
England
1979–802	1,305	609	980
1985–86	1,370	815	1,175
East Sussex
1979–802	1,295	670	970
1985–86	1,190	760	1,085
Average class size3
England
1979–80	not available	25·4	20·9
1985–86	not available	25·5	20·3
East Sussex
1979–80	not available	25·2	21·4
1985–86	not available	26·3	21·0
1 Net institutional recurrent expenditure covers the cost or salaries and wages, premises and certain supplies and services. It does not include the cost of school meals, central administration and inspection, debt charges or revenue contributions to capital outlay.
2 The cash prices for 1979–80 have been repriced to 1985–86 prices using the gross domestic product (market prices) deflator.
3 The analyses are in respect of classes taught by one teacher in a specified period on the day of the census count in January each year and may not be representative of the pattern of classes over the academic year as a whole.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the number of children who will no longer qualify for free school meals on the Isle of Wight after 1 April (a) numerically and (b) expressed as a percentage.

Children currently receiving free school meals at the LEA's discretion or because the family is in receipt of family income supplement will no longer do so when the Social Security Act 1986 comes into effect on 11 April. In October 1986, the latest date for which data are available, the number of children receiving free school meals in these two categories was 446, or 6 per cent. of the total number of pupils taking meals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much time has been spent by arms control officials in his Department on work specifically relating to naval arms control during the last six months.

It is not possible to quantify separately the time devoted by FCO officials to different arms control issues. However, naval matters constitute one aspect of their work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list any naval arms control proposals put forward by the Government during the last 10 years.

A bilateral agreement was concluded with the Soviet Union in 1986 on preventing incidents at sea. The text of this agreement was laid in the House as Command Paper No. 57 in January 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what naval arms control measures he is putting forward in response to Mr. Gorbachev's statement in October 1987 that nuclear weapons should be withdrawn from the Soviet Baltic fleet and from the Baltic and Leningrad military districts, that an Arctic peace plan should be drawn up, that there should be a Nordic nuclear free zone and that consultations should begin on limiting military activity in the Baltic sea, North sea, Norwegian sea and Greenland sea.

We have made clear in the course of bilateral contacts that proposals aimed at limiting freedom of movement on the high seas would create difficulties for the Alliance given its need to reinforce Europe by sea in times of crisis. As far as the proposal for a Nordic nuclear-free zone is concerned, our view is that such a zone would do little to enhance international security because of the direct relevance to the Nordic area of nuclear and conventional forces stationed elsewhere.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the San José IV ministerial conference.

We will make available to the House the economic and political communiqués which we expect the conference to adopt once it has taken place on 29 February to 1 March.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from the Governments of (a) the United States of America, (b) the other countries of the EEC, (c) Argentina and (d) other countries, regarding the proposed military exercise in the Falkland Islands from 7 to 31 March; and what has been the nature of the representations in each case.

We have had discussions with a number of interested Governments regarding the reinforcement exercise to take place in the Falkland Islands from 7 to 31 March. The content of these discussions is confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of the London Docklands development corporation's budget has been spent using its powers under the Inner Urban Areas Act to give grants and loans to existing firms in docklands.

LDDC has spent £1,984,253 to date—which is 0·5 per cent. of its grant-in-aid.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much public money the London Docklands development corporation has received to date.

To date the London Docklands development corporation has received £387·1 million grant-in-aid.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment who is responsible at the London Docklands development corporation for liason with the Docklands Forum following the dismissal of Mr. John Mills.

The LDDC board is to consider which of its members should represent the corporation on the Docklands Forum.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps are being taken to appoint a new deputy chairman of the London Docklands development corporation.

Consultations are continuing and an announcement will be made as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many civil servants are employed in his Department; what are their average weekly working hours, and how many are (a) on flexitime, (b) on job-sharing schemes, (c) on a four-day working week or nine-day fortnight and (d) able to retire with full pension rights at 60 years.

On 1 February 1988 there were 32,820 staff employed in my Department (including the PSA); 741 of these work part-time, including job-sharers. Separate figures for job-sharing schemes are not available. Non-industrial staff in central London work 41 hours per week (gross); elsewhere 42 hours. Industrial staff work 44 hours per week, gross. The average weekly hours of part-time staff is 19·7 hours.Most full-time staff work a five-day week—except those working shifts. Numbers of staff working a four-day week or nine-day fortnight are not readily available.Flexible working hours agreements operate on a local basis; there are currently 115 local schemes in operation. Staff are free to participate in them, or not to do so, if they wish. Figures for participants are not kept centrally.All staff are entitled to retire on pension at age 60. Maximum pension rights normally accrue after 40 years total service; 4,128 of present non-industrial staff would have 40 years service by age 60. Those with shorter service do, however, have the opportunity to purchase some additional qualifying years for pension purposes. Corresponding figures for industrial staff are not readily available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans Nirex has to create nuclear waste disposal dumps in Lancashire and Cumbria, other than Sellafield; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend expects UK Nirex Ltd to make proposals early in 1989 for a deep dual-purpose disposal facility for two-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste, after evaluation of the response to the discussion document "The Way Forward" and scientific studies. At this stage neither Nirex nor the Government has any firm proposals for the siting of a radioactive waste repository and no part of the country can be ruled out.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he proposes to take to compel those local councils which are not using, under-using, inefficiently managing, or wasting £100 billion of assets, as identified in the recent Audit Commission report on local authority property assets, to dispose of those assets; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Mr. Trippier) gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Mr. Evans) on 17 February 1988 at column 660.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to make a decision about the Moore Manor park development near Runcorn.

I hope to do so shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when, pursuant to his answer of 17 February, Official Report, column 968, he expects to announce the areas he intends to designate as urban development corporations; and if he will detail the locations under consideration.

My right hon. Friend expects to make a further announcement shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will announce his decision on the revised Northamptonshire county structure plan.

The modifications which the Secretary of State proposes to make to the submitted replacement plan will be published in the near future. There will then be an opportunity for representations to be made on them to my right hon. Friend before he makes his final decision on the plan.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the composition of the community charge implementation unit; what are its terms of reference; and if it will publish guidance for local authorities.

The implementation sub-group of the community charge working group was established in November 1987 to provide a forum for discussion of issues arising from the implementation of the community charge. The group comprises officials of the Department of the Environment, the Department of Health and Social Security and the Welsh Office, the Association of Metropolitan Authorities, Association of District Councils, Association of County Councils, the London Boroughs Association and the Association of London Authorities.The terms of reference of the group are to consider the practical issues arising from registration for, and billing, collection and recovery of the community charge, with a view to

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the implications of the recent planning consent granted by Westminster city council for the redevelopment of the St. George's hospital site, Hyde park corner, for the implementation of the conditions laid down in his appeal decision of 21 December 1982; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that Westminster city council has resolved to grant planning permission and listed building consent for the redevelopment as an hotel and offices of the St. George's hospital site. The planning permission is subject to a section 52 agreement and the listed building consent to further procedures, including consideration by HBMC and possible notification to the Secretary of State. If permission is subsequently granted it is for the owner to decide whether to take up the new permission or that granted on appeal in 1982, provided the latter is still valid.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many Ministry of Defence houses in (a) Scotland and (b) Renfrew, West and Inverclyde have been sold in each year since 1979.

[pursuant to his reply, 22 February 1988, c. 62]: The answer given to the hon. Member on Monday 22 February was not given in full. The complete answer is as follows:

a. Scotland	Year	b. Renfrew, West/Inverclyde
5	1979–1981	Nil
7	1982	Nil
13	1983	1
12	1984	5
12	1985	6
13	1986	1
57	1987	46
Nil to date	1988	—

To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to pay an official visit to a National Health Service hospital.

I visit a number of hospitals during the course of each year, but I have no immediate plans for further visits at present.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on Government support for the confectionery industry.

The confectionery industry continues to be important both to the economy as a whole and to our exports. The Government's policies seek to promote a climate within which industry is encouraged to compete effectively, and with special and increasing emphasis on the opportunities offered by the wider internal market of the Community.Currently food manufacturers are eligible to apply for assistance towards new capital investment under Government schemes administered by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of the Environment. These include a variety of measures described in the recent White Paper "DTI — the department for Enterprise". The industry is also covered by a range of measures from information and counselling to financial incentives designed to assist small business, including those in the confectionery manufacturing sector.

To ask the Prime Minister, what plans she has to visit Poland.

I hope to visit Poland this year.

To ask the Prime Minister what plans the Government have to celebrate the year 2000.

None as yet.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 February.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 February.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 February.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 February.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 February.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 23 February.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty The Queen.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on her recent visit to the Channel tunnel.

I visited Shakespeare Cliff on 5 February and met representatives of Eurotunnel and the various contractors working on the Channel tunnel. I was most impressed by the substantial progress they have clearly made with this most exciting civil engineering project.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of entrants to the job training scheme have obtained a credit or qualification as a direct result of their time on the scheme since its inception.

Information on credits or qualifications is not yet available. The Manpower Services Commission has commissioned a follow-up survey which will give information on qualifications. The results should be known in the spring.

Table 1
ILO/OECD unemployed1looking for work as an employee2and wanting a full or part-time job or having no preference Spring 1987, thousands
	Full-time		Part-time		No preference
	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females
Great Britain	1,105	431	68	421	127	167
Northern	90	25	*	25	*	12
Yorkshire & Humberside	114	37	*	40	14	15
East Midlands	70	30	*	36	10	*
East Anglia	27	14	*	17	*	*
South East	221	104	25	105	21	33
of which Greater London	119	44	*	39	13	13
South West	54	33	*	36	*	13
West Midlands	130	38	*	45	17	22
North West	157	65	*	57	17	23
Wales	73	26	*	21	*	*
Scotland	169	58	*	40	21	28
1 People without a job who were available for work and had either looked for work at some time in the last four weeks or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained.
2 People looking for work as self-employed were not asked if they would prefer to work full or part-time.
* Sample size too small for a reliable estimate.

Table 2
unemployed1persons looking for work as an employee2 and wanting a full or part-time job or having no preference Spring 1987, thousands
	Full-time		Part-time		No preference
	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females
Great Britain	1,106	433	58	368	124	153
Northern	92	26	*	22	4	11
Yorkshire and Humberside	111	37	*	33	14	14
East Midlands	73	31	*	30	*	*
East Anglia	27	15	*	13	*	*
South East	222	107	21	97	22	31
of which Greater London	117	45	*	36	12	12
South West	52	33	*	31	*	11
West Midlands	128	40	*	36	16	19
North West	155	62	*	55	15	21
Wales	77	24	*	17	*	*
Scotland	169	58	*	32	20	24

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will show by region, including Greater London, and by male and female, the numbers of people who were (a) without jobs and who looked for work in the four weeks before their labour force survey interview and were available to start work within two weeks, who wanted full-time jobs, the number who wanted part-time jobs and the number who had no preference, (b) unemployed according to the standard labour force survey definition who were looking for full-time jobs and the number looking for part-time jobs and the number who had no preference, (c) in part-time jobs who were looking for a different job with longer hours or looking for an additional job, (d) looking for a different job with shorter hours, (d) claimants not unemployed by the definition using broad International Labour Organisation guidelines on the grounds that they were employed and (f) claimants not unemployed by the conventional labour force survey definition on the grounds that they were employed.

[holding answer 22 February 1988]: The available information from the preliminary results of the 1987 labour force survey is as shown in the following tables:

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment under what circumstances and which categories of claimants are issued with the form CFN 982A at unemployment benefit offices; and what instructions are issued to benefit staff.

[holding answer 22 February 1988]: Form CF(N)982A is a questionnaire issued by unemployment benefit offices to claimants who do not qualify for unemployment benefit on their United Kingdom contribution record but who have been employed abroad in an EC country or a country with which the United Kingdom has a reciprocal agreement.Completed questionnaires enable inquiries to be made to establish whether any contributions paid abroad may assist claimants to qualify for unemployment benefit. Completed forms are forwarded to the overseas branch of the DHSS.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish the JEFF Research Ltd. survey of 1,400 employers referred to in the "Training for Employment" White Paper (Cm. 316).

[holding answer 22 February 1988]: I plan to publish details of the results of the IFF Research Ltd. survey, quoted in the White Paper, "Training for Employment" (Cm. 316) in the Employment Gazette shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the unemployment totals for Cunninghame, North constituency by ward in (a) January 1983, (b) January 1987 and (c) January 1988.

Unemployment statistics on a ward basis are available only from June 1983. The table shows the number of unemployed claimants by ward in the Cunninghame, North parliamentary constituency for January 1984, 1987 and 1988.

	Unemployed claimants
Ward	January 1984	January 1987	January 1988
Ardrossan North	536	581	454
Ardrossan South	593	616	572
Arran	296	260	273
Beith	321	368	305
Dalry	298	321	305
Fairlie, Skelmorlie and Cumbrae	212	250	220
Garnock East	267	281	277
Kilbirnie North	382	399	351
Kilbirnie South	459	467	372
Largs North	279	265	284
Largs South	158	195	198
Saltcoats East	558	520	478
Saltcoats North	513	501	408
South Beach	370	507	448
West Kilbride	312	330	264
Total	5,554	5,861	5,209

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.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total number of unemployed people in (a) the Dundee, East constituency and (b) the Dundee travel-to-work area who are (i) under 25 years, (ii) between 25 years and 35 years, (iii) between 35 and 50 years and (iv) over 50 years on the latest available date.

[holding answer 15 February 1988]: The number of unemployed claimants on 8 October 1987 is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many young people under 25 years in (a) the Dundee, East constituency and (b) the Dundee travel-to-work area have been unemployed for more than one, two, three and four years on the latest available date.

[holding answer 15 February 1988]: The numbers of unemployed claimants under 25 years of age on 8 October 1987 are shown in the table.

Duration Unemployed	Dundee, East Parliamentary Constituency	Dundee Travel-to-Work Area
Up to 1 year	1,693	3,554
1 to 2 years	396	759
2 to 3 years	185	332
3 to 4 years	96	161
over 4 years	140	245
Total	2,510	5,051

This information is available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give what information he has about voluntary and charity contributions to the Health Service for each year since 1979.

Information on voluntary contributions to the Health Service is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what sums were collected by each health board from non-United Kingdom residents for hospital charges in 1985–86 and 1986–87; and what is the estimated net sum after deductions of costs of administration.

The amounts collected are given in the table. The administrative costs associated with the collection of income are not separately identifiable.

Income from patients resident outside United Kingdom
Board	1985–86 £	1986–87 £
Argyll and Clyde	2,057	11,006
Ayrshire and Arran	7,220	8,375
Borders	3,064	3,450
Dumfries and Galloway	8,303	1,112
Fife	3,297	4,988
Forth Valley	2,296	8,699
Grampian	23,555	14,241
Greater Glasgow	68,022	159,809
Highland	13,828	21,758
Lanarkshire	3,880	1,773
Lothian	126,884	89,490
Orkney	686	565
Shetland	—	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the area of land newly afforested in the United Kingdom in 1987.

In the year to 31 March 1987, the Forestry Commission planted 5,342 hectares and grant-aided the planting of 19,147 hectares by the private sector. In addition, a total of 831 hectares was planted in Northern Ireland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases have occurred since 1972 where solicitors have been found to have passed on to a third party or parties, from clients held in police custody, information which has interfered in the police investigation of the case or any subsequent prosecution.

I regret this information is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to introduce home security grants for tenants and home owners.

Not at present.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people are over (a) 65 years, (b) 75 years and (c) 85 years in each region in Scotland.

The registrar general's population estimates for 30 June 1986 are as follows:

	Ages
	65+	75+	85+
Scotland	742,568	308,871	56,704
Regions
Borders	18,855	8,320	1,593
Central	37,296	15,123	2,708
Dumfries and Galloway	24,154	10,047	1,890
Fife	50,413	20,648	3,681
Grampian	69,309	30,346	5,837
Highland	28,146	12,129	2,242
Lothian	109,641	47,261	9,109
Strathclyde	328,266	131,200	23,149
Tayside	64,488	28,064	5,391
Islands Areas
Orkney	3,224	1,404	257
Shetland	3,132	1,444	288
Western Isles	5,644	2,885	559

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many places there are in local authority residential care for the elderly for each region; and what has been the percentage change since 1979;(2) how many places there are in private residential care homes for the elderly; and what has been the percentage change since 1979;(3) how many places there are in homes for the elderly owned or operated by churches, charities, housing associations or other voluntary organisations; and what has been the percentage change since 1979.

Provisional figures are available separately for places in voluntary and private homes for the elderly in 1987, but for 1979 a single total only is available. There were 2,306 places in private homes and 4,441 places in voluntary homes in 1987 an increase of 30·1 per cent. over the 1979 total. The information requested on places in local authority homes for the elderly is as follows:

Places in local authority residential homes for the elderly
	19871(Number)	Change since 1979 (per cent.)
Regions
Borders	348	+6·7
Central	469	+61·7
Dumfries and Galloway	328	+2·5
Fife	699	+37·6
Grampian	990	+5·0
Highland	457	+3·6
Lothian	1,417	+16·0
Strathclyde	3,904	-4·5
Tayside	1,046	+8·6
Orkney	70	0
Shetland	70	+14·8
Western Isles	195	+61·2
Scotland	9,993	+6·8
1 Provisional.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report his Department's staff targets for the Scottish hospital and community health services for each year from 1979 up to the latest year for which figures are available.

The Scottish Home and Health Department does not set annual targets as such. In medical services the establishment of senior registrars is determined annually. Targets are being negotiated with health boards for the numbers of recruits to nursing training and annual discussions take place with health boards about requirements for staff in certain professions allied to medicine. health boards are being encouraged to develop manpower planning in the context of the Department's monitoring of progress towards the priorities set out in "Scottish Health Authorities Priorities for the Eighties"—the SHAPE report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the proportion of Scottish gross domestic product spent on (a) the Health Service as a whole, (b) hospital and community health services and (c) family practitioner services, for each year from 1970 until the latest year for which figures are available.

Information in the form requested is only available from 1974–75 and is set out in the table:

NHS Expenditure as a proportion of Scottish gross domestic product*
	(a)	(b)	(c)
	Total national health service	Hospital and community health services	Family practitioner services
	Percentage	Percentage	Percentage
1974–75	6·4	4·9	1·1
1975–76	6·7	5·1	1·2
1976–77	6·5	4·9	1·2
1977–78	6·5	4·9	1·2
1978–79	6·6	5·0	1·3
1979–80	7·0	5·2	1·3
1980–81	7·8	5·9	1·4
1981–82	8·1	6·1	1·5
1982–83	8·0	6·0	1·6
1983–84	8·0	5·9	1·6
1984–85	8·1	6·0	1·6
1985–86	7·9	5·8	1·6
* calculated at factor cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his reply of 20 January, Official Report, column 719, he is in a position to announce the publication of the Government's conclusions following consultations on recommendations made!by the Widdicombe Committee.

We are not yet in a position to announce a publication date.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his reply of 20 January, Official Report, column 716, he is in a position to announce the publication date of the report on the working of the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981.

I regret that I can not yet announce the publication date of the report of this research; I shall write to the lion. Member when it has been determined.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide a table showing, for the latest available year, the number of operations or theatre lists cancelled in Lothian and Fife health boards, by specialty.

The information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many successful applications have been made by housing authorities in relation to housing action area and improvement order declarations for an enhanced level of approved expense for grant purposes.

In the period from May 1983 to date, approval has been given to 626 applications by local authorities for increases in the maximum eligible expense limits in respect of 4,375 houses and non-residential premises within housing action Areas. Approvals relating to improvement order cases cannot be separately identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many housing action area and improvement order declarations have been made by each local authority in Scotland over the last 10 years.

In the 10-year period to 1987 the total number of housing action areas declared by each of the Scottish local authorities and submitted to the Secretary of State as draft resolutions is set out in the table. Information on the number of improvement orders made by local authorities is not held centrally.

Housing action areas declared in Scotland (1 January 1978–31 December 1987)
	Number
Borders Region
Berwickshire	—
Ettrick and Lauderdale	9
Roxburgh	4
Tweeddale	2
Central Region
Clackmannan	12
Falkirk	10
Stirling	22
Dumfries and Galloway Region
Annandale and Eskdale	—
Nithsdale	2
Stewartry	—
Wigtown	—
Fife Region
Dunfermline	1
Kirkcaldy	68
North East Fife	—
Grampian Region
Aberdeen City	54
Banff and Buchan	4
Gordon	—
Kincardine and Deeside	—
Moray	—
Highland Region
Badenoch and Strathspey	—
Caithness	—
Inverness	2
Lochaber	1
Nairn	—
Ross and Cromarty	2
Skye and Lochalish	—
Sutherland	4
Lothian
East Lothian	7
Edinburgh City	57
Midlothian	1
West Lothian	—
Strathclyde Region
Argyll and Bute	151
Bearsden and Milngavie	2
Clydebank	8
Clydesdale	6
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	2
Cumnock and Doon Valley	—
Cunninghame	48
Dumbarton	4