To ask the Secretary of State for Employment why no prosecutions were undertaken in the period covered by the Mines and Quarries Inspectorate's report for the period ended March 1986 in the light of the number of accidents therein reported.

The Health and Safety Executive's inspectors make use of a range of enforcement techniques from advice and persuasion, through the issues of enforcement notices to prosecution. Prosecution is regarded as the last resort and was not judged to be appropriate in any case during this period.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many unemployed benefit claimants there were in each parliamentary constituency at January; and how many of them were (a) aged under 25 years, (b) aged under 25 years, and unemployed for 12 months or more, (c) aged under 25 years, and unemployed for six months or more or (d) of any age and unemployed for 12 months or more.

I am sending the hon. Member a table showing the number of unemployed claimants in each parliamentary constituency in Great Britain, for each of the age and duration categories requested, on 14 January 1988, which is also available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in what form figures for the accident rate on building sites are collected.

Accident rates are calculated nationally for the construction industry by dividing the total number of relevant accidents to employees reported to the Health and Safety Executive by the estimated total number of employees in the construction industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has as to how many local authorities (a) have a designated tourism office, (b) have a department or sub-department of tourism, or (c) have a tourism officer employed within an economic development unit.

This information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, I welcome the fact that a large and increasing number of local authorities have staff with specific responsibilities for developing tourism within their areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects the European Transport Ministers to discuss the question of cabotage rights for European shipping within the European Economic Community.

My right hon. Friend intends to raise the question of shipping cabotage at the Transport Council of Ministers next month with a view to a more substantive discussion at a subsequent Council under the current German presidency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what is the official definition of a risk-bearing air miss;(2) what is the official definition of a reported air miss.

In the Civil Aviation Authority's published air miss statistics, air misses are categorised as A, B, or C depending upon whether there was a definite risk, a possible risk, or no risk of collision. Risk-bearing air misses are those in categories A and B.In the same context a reported air miss means an air miss reported by any civil or military pilot in United Kindom air space. Reports are filed when a pilot considers that his aircraft may have been endangered by the proximity of another aircraft to the extent that a risk of actual collision existed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the value of the inner-city partnership programme for Lambeth for 1988–89 in real terms as a percentage of the allocation for 1986–87/88.

The 1988–89 allocation is 82 per cent. of the 1986–87 allocation and 88 per cent. of the 1987–88 allocation, at 1988–89 prices. But in 1986–87 Lambeth underspent its allocation by over 13 per cent. and estimates for 1987–88 indicate an underspend of a similar proportion. The allocation for 1988–89 is a slight increase on the estimated 1987–88 out turn at 1988–89 prices.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the London Residuary Body will transfer the open space on the junction of Bruce road and Powis road, E3, to the London borough of Tower Hamlets with a view to incorporating it into Bromley recreation ground and enabling plans for an under-fives playground to proceed; and if he will make a statement.

The future of this site is currently under discussion by the LRB and the council of the London borough of Tower Hamlets. It is open to the London residuary body to make a proposal to the Secretary of State for the transfer of this property to the council under section 67 of the Local Government Act 1985.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply of 1 February to the hon. Member for Cornwall, South-East (Mr. Hicks) Official Report, columns 429–30, what are the criteria used to determine the allocation of money for housing projects for the homeless to the local authorities listed.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) on 20 January at cols. 749–52.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with the presidents of the home country Rugby football unions concerning crowd control before, during and immediately after major rugby matches.

I last met the president of the Rugby Football Union on 16 December 1987 and I had brief discussions with the presidents of the Welsh and Scottish Rugby Unions on 20 February 1988. The question of crowd control was not discussed at either meeting.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total number of full-time equivalent employees of the Northamptonshire county council as at the end of December 1979, December 1983, December 1984, December 1985, December 1986 and December 1987.

The results of the joint manpower watch December 1987 survey are not expected until towards the end of March 1988. The numbers of staff employed by Northamptonshire county council, at September for each year, are as follows:

	Full-time	Part-time	Total Staff (FT + PT)
1979	1	1	1
1980	9,775	8,532	18,307
1981	9,471	8,321	17,792
1982	10,327	8,527	18,764
1983	10,264	8,330	18,594
1984	10,331	8,480	18,811
1985	10,347	8,837	19,184
1986	10,163	9,362	19,525
1987	10,123	9,656	19,779
1 Data not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the latest derelict land survey.

The returns for the next derelict land survey are due in by the beginning of October. Information will then be analysed, and we expect to be in a position to publish the results of the survey in the summer of 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 1 February regarding a representation to meet his officials over the Wimpey no-fines properties in Blallenall, Walsall.

I replied to the hon. Member on 24 February.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if the Property Services Agency is using external accountancy practices to check consultants' fees; how many instances of discrepancies have been discovered; and if he will list, by directorate and region, the amounts received from refunds or by a subsequent reduction of fees;(2) pursuant to the answer of 2 February,

There were no cases of irregularity arising from the employment of Maurice Baguley and Partners, on the maintenance management contract at the PSA district works office at Westminster, which was successfully completed in June 1987. No inquiries have therefore been instituted. The case to which I referred in my answer to a previous question, columns 531–32, related to an employee of the consultants T. Dunwoody and Partners who are employed at Teddington district works office on a similar contract.The procedural irregularity was uncovered during one of the routine management checks carried out at all district works offices which were instituted as part of the agency's drive to maintain efficiency and probity in its operations. Subsequent inquiries included interviews with the consultancy partners and the consultants' employee involved and also checks on all other contracts handled by that employee. It was following his interview that the employee handed in his resignation. There was no evidence whatsoever that any other employee of the consultants' firm was involved or had acted irregularly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment who are the landlords and freeholders of Lambeth bridge house, Great Westminster house and Horseferry house; and whether the owners have recently expressed any concern about the state of repair of these buildings.

The landlords and freeholders of Lambeth bridge house, Great Westminster house and Horseferry house are, respectively, Adamant Investment Corporation Ltd., Legal and General Assurance Society Ltd. and Pearl Assurance Ltd.I can confirm that discussions have been held between PSA and the landlords of Lambeth bridge house and Horseferry house on the extent of necessary repairs and maintenance. Work on both buildings will commence in the next financial year. Repairs to Great Westminster house are the responsibility of the landlord. I am advised that the landlord does not propose to effect any repairs and intends instead to demolish and redevelop the building. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food staff are due to leave the building by September this year, on lease expiry.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the projects funded in each of the London boroughs through the urban programme announced on 9 February.

The allocations announced on 9 February were provisional, and do not relate to an approved list of projects. They are subject to approval of the inner area programmes submitted by each authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether domestic rateable values will continue to be used for water charging purposes once they are abolished for local authority purposes.

It is clearly not in the interests of consumers that the water industry should continue to use rateable values for water charging purposes indefinitely, once domestic rates are abolished for local authority purposes from 1990. The Government therefore intend to amend the Local Government Finance Bill to prohibit the use of all rateable values, both domestic and non-domestic, for water charging purposes from 1 April 2000. This will give each water undertaker a period of 10 years after domestic rates are abolished in which to choose and introduce alternative means of charging.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the number of occasions where consultants employed by the Property Services Agency have been discovered by it to have overcharged for consultancy services; and if he will also identify in relation to each occasion the amount of money subsequently repaid, or the amount of subsequent fee reduction.

[holding answer 22 February 1988]: As part of the agency's established procedures, PSA staff check all fee accounts submitted by consultants. Any inaccuracies or overcharging are dealt with immediately, normally by making the necessary adjustments to the consultants fee account before payment. Most adjustments are of a routine nature and bearing in mind that thousands of consultants' accounts are submitted on a monthly basis, no central record is kept of such adjustments.On some very large projects a firm of chartered accountants is being employed by PSA to conduct an independent audit on certain aspects of the consultants' bills. To date bills from nine major consultants have been audited by the firm and savings of over £1 million representing some 2·5 per cent. of consultant fees have been made in the fees claimed. The commissions concerned were let by two directorates, the Directorate of Defence Services 1 and the Directorate of Civil Accommodation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of all spending over budget in the last financial year by each department of the London Docklands Development Corporation.

Provision was made for LDDC's expected expenditure by votehead, as recorded in table 1 of class X, vote 3, of the main Supply Estimates (HC 227—IX, X: March 1987). A further £2,163 was transferred from the Merseyside development corporation when it became clear that MDC would not require its full allocation. Of this transfer, £1,163,000 was allocated to votehead (F) and £1,000,000 to votehead (G). Virements between other voteheads were either within the LDDC's delegation limits, or were approved by the Department. Outturn compared with final provision, as amended, in 1986–87 was therefore as follows:

£ thousands
	Final Provision	Outturn
A. Running costs	9,500	10,624
B. Estate management; maintenance, rates, security	3,900	3,301
C. Environment improvement works	6,200	7,100
D. Land purchase	15,000	12,800
E. Land reclamation and site preparation	8,118	8,364
F. Provision and renewal of gas, water, etc main services	13,600	5,363
G. Roads and transport	26,500	8,701
H. Support for industry — grants and loans under the Inner Urban Areas Act 1978	700	483
I. Support for voluntary organisations and social facilities	3,900	4,114
J. Docklands Light Railway	6,000	5,554
K. Housing	200	—
Gross Total	65,781	66,404
Deduct: (Y) receipts used to offset items A and B	900	1,523
Net Total	64,881	64,881
1 Plus 1,163 transfer.
2 Plus 1,000 transfer.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the concerns of the United Kingdom acrylic yarn spinners about imports from Turkey have been raised with the European Economic Community in Brussels recently; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs informed the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 22 February of the industry's serious concern about these imports. I have previously indicated to my hon. Friend that there was an overriding need to agree textile restraint arrangements with Turkey. Nevertheless, I have ensured that our growing concern at the import levels for acrylic yarn is made clear to our Community partners and the Commission. They have been told of the mounting evidence of damage from Turkish imports to United Kingdom acrylic yarn producers who have been forced to introduce extensive short-time working. I shall continue to monitor the domestic situation closely. If sufficient justification for seeking action from the Commission emerges, I shall act accordingly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans for the conversion of the pension funds of academic and technical officers in former British dependencies into pay-as-you-go schemes.

Four Indian family pension funds were converted into "pay-as-you-go" schemes in 1985. Nine colonial widows' and orphans' pension funds — Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Malaysia (Sabah), Malaysia (Sarawak), Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Zambia — were converted in 1986. Three others — Guyana, Kenya (European Officers) and Kenya (Asian Officers)—will be converted once the apportionment of assets to be vested under the British Government's control has been agreed with overseas Governments concerned. The overseas superannuation scheme and the overseas service pensions scheme and fund are also scheduled for conversion in due course. None of these funds and schemes are exclusively confined to academic and technical officers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the last audit was done on the pension funds of academic and technical officers in former British dependencies; and when the next one will take place.

Funds under the control of the Overseas Development Administration are audited annually. We do not have comprehensive information on funds administered by other Governments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken to ensure that all those entitled to benefit from the pension funds of academic and technical officers in former British dependencies are in receipt of those entitlements.

The primary responsibility for ensuring that any entitlements are put into payment rests with the beneficiary concerned. However, the Overseas Development Administration is also attempting to establish the present whereabouts of several thousand former contributors and contingent beneficiaries, the great majority of whom served on short-term contracts in the former British dependencies and who, for one reason or another, have lost contact with the schemes. In addition, upon receipt of notification of the death of an officer, the ODA checks whether any widow's or dependants entitlement exists under the funds and schemes under its control.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the pension funds for British academic and technical officers in former overseas dependencies run by the Overseas Development Administration are indexed; how this has been applied; and from what date the indexation began.

The pension funds and schemes administered by the Overseas Development Administration are not themselves index-linked, but all expatriate officers' individual pensions awarded under those schemes are elegible for an index-linked pension supplement under United Kingdom pension increase legislation. The date from which pensioners have the benefit of indexation varies with their individual circumstances.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commomwealth Affairs how many pension funds for British academic and technical officers in former overseas dependencies are run by the Overseas Development Administration; and if he will list them.

Forty-eight widows' and orphans' pension schemes and funds are administered by the Overseas Development Administration. Details are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the criteria used by his Department for assessing whether or not those working in former British dependencies prior to independence were public officers.

The term "public officer" does not identify a single group of officers who worked in the former British dependencies. In broad terms, it covers those who worked in a territory's central Government service. But each country's law and administrative procedures have their own variations and exceptions: an assessment of whether an individual was a public officer for any particular purpose can only be made in context.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many non-administrative officers in former British dependencies received lump sum compensation on independence; and what criteria were used in assessing who received such compensation.

No central record exists of the occupational status of the tens of thousands of overseas officers whose pensions are the responsibility of the British Government, or of whether they received compensation for loss of career. The information could be compiled only at disproportionate cost. The criteria for determining eligibility for compensation, which varied from territory to territory, were set out in each country's schemes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 9 February, Official Report, column 125, why it is not possible except at disproportionate cost to state (a) how much money given by Her Majesty's Government was applied for training and scholarships for (i) Greek Cypriots and (ii) Turkish Cypriots in the last three financial years and (b) how many (i) Greek Cypriots and (ii) Turkish Cypriots received training or scholarships funded wholly or partly by Her Majesty's Government in the last three financial years.

Within the technical assistance training programme expenditure on training and scholarships for the period in question is not recorded separately in terms of whether the recipients are from the Greek or Turkish parts of the island. The costs are attributed to the country as a whole as expenditure is incurred. To determine the sums expended by community would require examination of all the files of those who received awards in the three years concerned.Following my earlier reply, arrangements are being made to ensure that in future both numbers of recipients and sums expended from aid funds on each community are recorded.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many three and four-year-old children in each local education authority area in England are in (a) full-time and (b) part-time nursery education in private nursery schools; and what percentage of the estimated three and four-year-old population in each local education authority area this represents for the last year for which figures are available.

This information is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many three and four-year-old children in each local education authority in England are in (a) full-time and (b) part-time nursery education, in nursery schools and nursery classes of primary schools, excluding any children in reception classes in primary schools and any children in private schools; what percentage of the estimated three and four-year-old population in each local education authority area this represents; and what is the average hourly attendance, per week, of these children in (i) full-time and (ii) part-time nursery education, for the last year for which figures are available.

The information requested on the numbers and percentages of children in maintained nursery education in January 1987 is given in the table. Information on the average hourly attendance of these pupils is not collected centrally.

Full-time and part-time pupils aged three and four in nursery schools and classes—January 1987
	Full-time	Part-time	Percentage2
Barking	95	861	24·5
Barnet	148	1,706	24·7

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set out, in respect of each inner London borough council (a) the actual number of staff transferring to it on 1 April 1986 as a result of the abolition of the Greater London council and (b) his estimate of the number of staff to be transferred to it at 1 April 1990 as a result of the abolition of the Inner London education authority.

[holding answer 18 February 1988]: Some 100,000 staff were transferred from the Greater London council to successor authorities by the main statutory order. Of these, the majority transferred to the joint authorities and the Inner London education authority, and separate figures by boroughs are not available. My right hon. Friend has said that we expect block transfer arrangements to cover well over 80 per cent. of ILEA staff, that is over 56,000 full-time equivalent staff.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of National Health Service prescriptions issued per year in Wales in respect of single-course treatments for which more than one prescription charge was levied; and what are the revenues accruing.

This information is not available.It is not possible to identify from information given on prescription forms whether the items being prescribed are for a single course of treatment or otherwise.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he now anticipates building of the Felinheli (Port Dinorwic) bypass in Gwynedd will begin; and when he proposes to go out to tender with regard to this scheme.

The Felinheli (Port Dinorwic) bypass is programmed to start in the period January 1988-December 1990, as set out in "Roads in Wales 1985". Invitation of tenders will depend on the satisfactory completion of statutory procedures and the availability of financial resources.

Eye tests by hospital opticians1
	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Clwyd	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
East Dyfed	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Pembrokeshire	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Gwent	—	—	—	—	—	—	119
Gwynedd	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Mid Glamorgan	215	86	77	152	41	90	51
Powys	28	64	49	36	27	36	39
South Glamorgan	12	36	44	27	50	32	46
West Glamorgan	118	22	200	620	331	517	518
Wales	373	208	370	835	449	675	773
1 First attendance as an out-patient.

Dental inspections by the community dental service1
	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	21986–87
Clwyd	47,687	59,584	64,030	54,259	48,045	44,667	43,357
East Dyfed	54,967	54,959	33,601	34,839	32,901	31,915	38,494
Pembrokeshire			16,091	15,508	17,406	19,861	17,269
Gwent	68,063	66,385	60,562	77,991	60,344	65,431	56,609
Gwynedd	16,941	11,349	12,082	12,426	20,266	21,799	19,125
Mid Glamorgan	90,742	99,859	92,070	84,760	86.396	77,365	72,369
Powys	17,987	22,071	16,708	20,275	18,423	19,200	22,109
South Glamorgan	44,056	44,694	45,205	45,128	41,555	43,383	41,768
West Glamorgan	42,303	42,276	43,036	40,971	45,486	49,366	53,157
Wales	382,746	401,177	383,385	386,157	370,822	372,987	364,157
1 Includes first and subsequent inspections.
2 Financial year 1986–87.

Hospital Out-patients (dental)1
	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Clwyd	2,987	3,027	2,941	2,897	2,635	3,180	3,573
East Dyfed	996	937	1,036	1,642	1,461	1,715	1,933
Pembrokeshire	356	908	687	670	641	725	768
Gwent	2,072	2,258	2,717	3,210	3,103	3,237	3,154
Gwynedd	1,506	1,452	1,455	1,451	1,567	1,812	1,364
Mid Glamorgan	1,357	1,506	1,686	2,573	2,878	2,845	2,303
Powys	—	—	—	129	191	178	227
South Glamorgan	22,451	21,906	18,413	18,383	19,878	21,980	20,927
West Glamorgan	4,352	3,884	4,317	4,848	5,033	4,887	4,114
Wales	36,077	35,878	33,252	35,803	37,387	40,559	38,363
3 First visit as an out-patient (dental surgery and orthodontics).

(thousands)
	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Eye tests by the General Ophthalmic Service in Wales	576	489	499	519	561	597	623
Dental examinations by the General Dental Service in Wales	1,458	1,467	1,542	1,580	1,637	1,665	11,751
1 Financial year 1986–87

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) eye tests and (b) dental examinations took place in Wales in each of the years 1980 to 1986 by area health authority; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 30 November 1987, c. 405–8]: I regret that the last line of the table—namely, that part which related to dental examinations by the general dental service—contained errors. The following table provides the amended information:

To ask the Attorney-General whether the review of the Government's legal service will examine and make recommendations on all aspects of the management of legal staff of the Crown prosecution service and the office of the procurator fiscal.

The terms of reference of this review are to consider:

1. what legal services are needed by the Government;

2. how those services can most effectively and economically be provided and organised, taking account of the Government's policies of privatisation and of contracting out;

3. what changes are needed in the management of legal staff in Government service, including their recruitment, retention, training, deployment and remuneration, so as to make best use of them;

and to make recommendations.The review will therefore cover the work of the Crown prosecution service and, I understand, the office of the Procurator Fiscal. However, it is unlikely to look in detail at the structure and organisation of the Crown prosecution service because the department is so new.

To ask the Attorney-General whether he is satisfied with the workings of the Crown prosecution service; and whether he will make a statement.

The Crown prosecution service has now been in existence for almost 18 months throughout England and Wales, and slightly longer in the old Metropolitan local authority areas. It has had a difficult time, principally because it has not yet been able to recruit all the lawyers needed, and this has placed great strains on its staff, who have had to work long and hard to cope with these shortages. I am more than satisfied with their work.There has also been a considerable amount of criticism of the service's work. Some of it has been well founded; more of it has not, deriving from shortcomings for which the service itself was not responsible. Despite its problems the Crown prosecution service is fulfilling the tasks set for it; there is now a prosecution service in every area of the country, national policies on prosecutions have been developed and implemented, and there is increasing evidence of an improvment in the quality of cases coming before the courts. The Director of Public Prosecutions has decide on a management strategy for the future of the service which will build on these achievements.

To ask the Attorney-General what changes have taken place in the remuneration of the staff of the Crown prosecution service since their salaries were debated in the House on 11 December 1985, Official Report columns 1009–24.

In addition to the 1986 and 1987 Civil Service pay awards the following changes have been made to the pay of staff employed within the Crown prosecution service:1. An allowance payable to Crown prosecutors and senior Crown prosecutors working within the London, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, Kent and Thames Valley areas of the Crown prosecution service. This allowance is also payable to grade 6 lawyers working within the London, Surrey, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire areas.

To ask the Attorney-General how many officers have been seconded from outside London to London in each quarter since the Crown prosecution service was set up; what was the extra cost of such secondments, and what is the present shortfall of staff (a) generally and (b) in the London area.

The number of officers seconded from outside London to the three London areas since the Crown prosecution service became fully operational on 1 October 1986 was as follows:

• 126 in the quarter ended 31 December 1986;
• 160 in the quarter ended 31 March 1987;
• 132 in the quarter ended 30 June 1987;
• 33 in the quarter ended 30 September 1987;
• 26 in the quarter ended 31 December 1987.

The extra cost of such secondments was approximately £630,000.As at 30 January 1988 the Crown prosecution service had vacancies for 718·5 staff. Of these 253 were within the London area.

To ask the Attorney-General what is his response to the recommendations of the working group of the Law Commission on commonhold (Cm. 179); and if he will make a statement.

The working group report Cm. 179, to which my hon. Friend refers, was published in July last. It makes far-reaching recommendations. A decision on implementation will be taken when these have been fully considered.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will give details of arrangements for designated non-smoking areas in Government buildings.

[holding answer 25 February 1988]: This information is not held centrally. It is for each Government Department to determine arrangements for non-smoking areas in its buildings taking account of local circumstances.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make it his policy to ban smoking in all Government offices; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 25 February 1988]: It is for individual Government Departments to decide what measures to take to restrict smoking in their offices. I encourage Departments to take whatever steps are practicable to achieve this and have asked Departments to give every encouragement to local managers to conduct surveys of the attitudes of their staff with a view to extending non-smoking areas in offices.In my own Department, management, staff and trade unions are co-operating in a trial ban on smoking at the workplace. I will pass on the lessons from this exercise to other Government Departments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what plans he has to publish details of out-patient waiting times on a district by district basis; and if he will make a statement.

Number of patients on in-patient waiting list at 31 March, 1981 to 1987, for Leicestershire District Authority.
Specialty	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987
General medicine	10	4	3	3	15	3	6
Neurology	0	0	0	0	0	0	11
Cardiology	165	250	298	230	172	225	183
Rheumatology	0	0	0	6	15	0	4
Geriatrics	87	67	51	70	65	61	10
Units for younger disabled	6	11	15	12	11	16	0
General surgery	1,232	894	983	668	912	1,172	928
Ear, nose and throat	759	870	852	887	1,208	1,371	1,553
Traumatic and orthopaedic	2,113	2,112	1,969	1,596	1,391	1,226	1,340
Ophthalmology	621	442	465	492	515	573	727
Radiotherapy	34	59	47	71	82	106	14
Urology	147	113	377	358	331	396	452
Plastic surgery	602	500	555	436	553	818	1,091
Thoracic surgery	154	173	246	282	358	307	446
Oral surgery	127	225	374	373	557	482	260
Gynaecology	815	836	603	655	1,040	1,124	1,151
Mental handicap	49	42	37	37	33	0	0
Mental illness	17	0	4	2	0	7	15
G.P. other	3	3	1	1	4	4	9
Psychogeriatric	41	70	86	59	57	61	68
Forensic Psychiatry	0	0	0	0	11	10	10
Total	6,982	6,671	6,966	6,238	7,330	7,962	8,278

Information on out-patients waiting times is not at present collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting time nationally for the results of cervical cancer smear tests; and what is the average waiting time for women in north Staffordshire.

I regret that this information is not held centrally in the form requested. According to Health Circular HC(88)1, published on 12 January, the target for laboratories is that they should aim to send the result of a cervical smear to the doctor who submitted it within a maximum of one month of receiving it. Health authorities in England reported that in December laboratories serving 56 out of 191 districts were not achieving this target. The average processing time for these 56 districts was seven weeks. Where backlogs do exist they are being tackled mainly by the recruitment arid training of more staff, by the use of other laboratories and by overtime working.The average processing time in North Staffordshire districrt health authority in the same period was eight weeks.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the waiting list figures by specialty in the Leicestershire health authority as at 31 March for each year from 1981 to 1987.

The requested information is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many cervical cancer screening laboratories there are in Great Britain; what is the ratio of adult women to laboratories; what are the levels of staffing per laboratory; and how much funding each laboratory receives.

In 1986 in England there were 196 NHS laboratories. The number of women aged 20 to 64 (the eligible age group for routine screening within the computerised call and recall system) was 13·69 million, a ratio of 69,871 women to each laboratory. If they were all screened every five years, this would generate an average of 13,974 smears a year for each laboratory. On average in 1986 the number of cervical smears screened per laboratory was 18,923 and the average number of staff was 4·4^*. Information on funding is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will introduce an integrated National Health

The number of patient on the in-patients waiting list in Crewe District Health Authority by specially as at 31 March 1981–87
Specialty	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987
General medicine	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Dermatology	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Geriatrics	3	3	0	1	7	0	0
General surgery	2,186	2,366	2,499	2,169	2,343	1,681	915
Ear, nose and throat	521	702	747	675	736	654	195
Traumatic and orthopaedic	160	222	290	198	361	330	335
Ophthalmology	140	182	151	161	153	202	219
Urology	308	325	505	471	689	682	665
Oral surgery	183	219	297	353	405	362	356
Gynaecology	592	653	698	644	754	766	824
Mental handicap	16	15	15	15	15	15	0
Psychogeriatric	0	0	0	4	4	0	0
Total	4,109	4,687	5,202	4,691	5,467	4,695	3,512
of which percentage waiting over a year	37·5	43·4	42·6	42·6	44·2	44·7	37·6

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services for how long supplementary benefit single payments were made in the United Kingdom; what was the cost thereof for 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86 and 1986–87; and what are the latest figures for 1987–88.

Regulated single payments have been made since November 1980. The information requested on expenditure is given below:

	£ million
1983–84	183
1984–85	266

As my hon. Friend will be aware, the Government are undertaking a wide-ranging, internal review of the National Health Service. At this stage we are not ruling out any proposals for reform.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will tabulate by specialty the number of cases dealt with by the Crewe district health authority for each year since 1979.

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Mr. Goodlad) on 17 December 1987 at column 715.

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

The information requested is given in the table.

	£ million
1985–86	368
1986–87	365
1987–881	166
1 8 April 1987 to 12 Janary 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report for each local office in Great Britain the single payment expenditure for the 32 weeks ended on 7 April 1987 and for the corresponding period in 1985–86 and 1984–85, and the supplementary benefit case load for each in the same period.

The single payment expenditure by each of the Department's local offices in Great Britain for the 32 weeks ended on 7 April 1987 is available in the table "Supplementary Benefit Single Payment Expenditure, 27 August 1986 to 7 April 1987".The number of people receiving supplementary benefit, by local office, on 10 February 1987 is available in the table, "Analysis of Supplementary Benefit Claimants as at 10 February and 28 July 1987".Copies of each of the tables are in the Library.Similar information for the corresponding periods in 1984–85 and 1985–86 is not available in the form requested and would be disproportionately costly to obtain.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to transfer mentally handicapped patients from the Church Hill House hospital, Bracknell, to community care settings; and if he will make a statement.

It is for the health authority and the local authority to co-operate to provide a comprehensive range of co-ordinated health and social services for mentally handicapped people and their families. The total number of residents at Church Hill House is expected to fall from 220 in April 1987 to 165 by April 1990. Community provision is expected to increase by 75 long-term beds and 29 short-term care beds. The East Berkshire health authority has also made significant progress in the provision of four community teams and a range of day care in co-operation with social services to ensure that people in the community are adequately supported. A decision about the remaining residents and the long-term future of the hospital will be taken in the light of the success in developing new services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy to encourage general practitioners to purchase health centres from health authorities.

We already provide financial incentives to general practitioners to purchase health centres offered for sale by health authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total number of people claiming sickness and invalidity benefit at the present time; and what was the number of people claiming sickness and invalidity benefit in February 1987.

The total number of people claiming sickness and invalidity benefit as at 9 February 1988 was 1,298,000, and at 10 February 1987 was 1,297,000 (figures rounded to the nearest thousand).

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy to encourage dispensing chemists to issue a receipt for each dispensed prescription showing the cost of the drugs dispensed.

We have no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the estimated population for each of the last 10 years for the South-East Thames regional health authority area and each of its constituent district health authority areas; and what estimates are available for the future.

The latest available information is given in the table. Population projections based upon the mid 1985 estimates have been produced for each year up to 2010. The projected figures for a selection of years are given in the table.

Persons (thousands)
	Estimated Resident Population at Mid Year
Health Authority	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981
(a) Actual South East Thames RHA	3,601	3,585	3,580	3,587	3,589
Brighton DHA	302	300	299	298	298
Eastbourne DHA	205	208	210	212	213
Hastings DHA	151	151	152	153	154
South East Kent DHA	252	253	253	255	256
Canterbury and Thanet DHA	284	285	287	291	293
Dartford and Gravesham DHA	221	222	224	225	224
Maidstone DHA	185	186	187	189	190
Medway	315	316	318	320	322
Tunbridge Wells DHA	200	200	199	199	200
Bexley DHA	217	217	216	217	217
Greenwich DHA	214	213	214	216	216
Bromley DHA	299	299	298	298	299
West Lambeth DHA	184	176	170	166	163
Camberwell DHA	233	227	224	222	222
Lewisham and North Southwark DHA	339	333	329	326	323

	Estimated Resident Population at Mid Year
Health Authority	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
South East Thames RHA	3,585	3,586	3,595	3,602	3,619
Brighton DHA	299	300	299	297	298
Eastbourne DHA	216	218	221	224	228
Hastings DHA	155	157	159	162	164
South East Kent DHA	257	257	260	262	264
Canterbury and Thanet DHA	295	294	296	300	301
Dartford and Gravesham DHA	224	223	223	221	221
Maidstone DHA	191	192	194	194	196
Medway	322	322	321	322	324
Tunbridge Wells DHA	199	198	198	196	196
Bexley DHA	218	218	218	219	220
Greenwich DHA	216	216	216	216	218
Bromley DHA	298	299	298	298	297
West Lambeth DHA	159	158	157	163	164
Camberwell DHA	216	214	216	212	212
Lewisham and North Southwark DHA	321	320	319	317	317

	1991	1996	2001
(b) Projected (1985-Based) South East Thames RHA	3,685	3,758	3,822
Brighton DHA	298	301	304
Eastbourne DHA	236	245	252

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to ensure the compiling of statistics to indicate the scale of repetitive strain injury problems in Britain.

I regret we cannot do so as such problems are mostly treated by general practitioners. The cost of compiling comprehensive statistics on the wide range of conditions treated by general practitioners would greatly exceed the benefits obtained from the information.