To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the amount and type of each grant made available to North Wales Newspapers Limited to assist in the relocation and re-equipping of the company's premises from Oswestry in Shropshire to Mold, Clwyd; what information he has as to the proportion of the company's costs for (a) rebuilding, (b) relocating and (c) new plant and equipment which were met by such aid; if the company gave any information or undertakings on the creation of new jobs as a result of the move or about the continued employment of existing staff after the company's relocation; and if any assurances or undertakings were given on the maintenance of terms and conditions of employment, including trade union recognition, for existing staff after the company's relocation.

Details of regional selective assistance offers (exceeding £5,000 and regional development grant payments cumulatively exceeding £25,000 in any quarter) to individual companies are published in British Business following a payment under the grant concerned. No information has been published about grants payable to North Wales Newspapers Ltd. in respect of this project. Both the RSA and RDG schemes are linked to the provision of employment opportunities but aspects relating to the terms and conditions of employment and trade union recognition are not subject to the formal criteria of the schemes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total grant to the Wales Tourist Board in cash terms and expressed at constant 1988 prices in each of the past 10 years.

The information is as follows:

Net expenditure for Wales tourist board
(£ thousand)
Year	Current prices	1Constant 1987–88 prices
1978–79	3,200	6,507
1979–89	3,400	5,916
1980–81	4,000	5,870
1981–82	4,887	6,530
1982–83	5,362	6,682
1983–84	4,827	5,746
1984–85	6,177	7,039
1985–86	7,579	8,151
1986–87	7,746	8,075
1987–882	8,707	8,707
1 The figures have been converted to 1987–88 prices using the gross domestic product (market price) deflator.
2 Estimate of likely outturn.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements are in place for liaison and co-operation between the Wales Tourist Board and the Welsh Development Agency; and if he will make a statement.

The Wales Tourist Board and the Welsh Development Agency work closely on a wide range of issues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total annual expenditure and the number of staff employed in the community nursing service in each Welsh health district.

The information requested is set out in the following table:

District Health Authority	Community Nurising Expenditure 1986–87 £ Thousand	Community Nursing Staff Whole-Time Equivalents
Clwyd	5,309	375
East Dyfed	3,574	244
Pembrokeshire	1,467	111
Gwent	6,407	415
Gwynedd	3,478	235
Mid Glamorgan	7,160	489
Powys	1,617	112
South Glamorgan	5,348	425
West Glamorgan	5,076	366
Total Wales	39,436	2,772

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Caernarfon of 10 December 1987, Official Report, column 216, what progress has been made in securing an early and favourable decision by the European Community Commissioner on the integrated operations programme for Dyfed, Gwynedd and Powys.

I went to Brussels on 3 February to discuss integrated operations programmes with Commissioner Varfis and I understand that he intends to consult the other Commissioners about the Dyfed, Gwynedd and Powys programme before the end of this month.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the progress of PICKUP in Wales.

The Welsh Office joined the PICKUP programme in 1984 with the appointment of the PICKUP agent for Wales. I am pleased to be able to report that progress to date has been steady and continuous. A second full-time officer was appointed in September 1987 who is primarily engaged in the development of in-service training for college lecturers involved with running PICKUP courses.The eight local education authorities in Wales have appointed PICKUP co-ordinators with funding from education support grant arrangements and six of the colleges of the University of Wales have received Welsh Office funding to promote and develop PICKUP provision through the appointment of co-ordinators.Major advances have been achieved through the local collaborative project programme, funded jointly with the MSC, with a total of 30 projects being commissioned during 1986–87 involving some 140 firms and 24 colleges. An important feature of the LCP programme was the launch in 1987 of the Technology Centre for Wales, located with WINTECH, the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, and the Language Exports Centre for Wales based at University College, Swansea.The Wales Advisory Body has also been actively concerned with the development of PICKUP activities, allocating funds to the Polytechnic of Wales and five higher education institutions to fund the appointment of PICKUP co-ordinators. Also, three of the colleges of the University of Wales have successfully bid for PICKUP funding from the University Grants Committee.The response from participants has also been encouraging. A survey of PICKUP activities in colleges undertaken in November 1986 indicated that some 6,800 individuals were receiving updating/re-training during that month. The last two years have seen increases of about 40 per cent. in the number of PICKUP courses provided and 100 per cent. in the number of students benefiting from those courses.

To ask the Minister for the Arts by what means and at what annual cost the implementation of the Arts Council's equal opportunities policy is monitored.

[holding answer 4 March 19881: As regards council staff, an equal opportunities policy is part of the council's personnel work, and monitored by its senior management. In respect of its clients the council looks at their equal opportunities policies as part of its evaluation procedures.No separate account is kept of the cost in either case.

To ask the Minister for the Arts how many (a) black, (b) Asian and (c) other ethnic minority people are employed (i) full-time and (ii) part-time in the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House and the English National Opera as (1) artists, (2) administrators, (3) secretaries and (4) cleaners, caretakers and caterers.

[holding answer 4 March 1988]: This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Minister for the Arts how many (a) black, (b) Asian and (c) other ethnic minority people are employed (i) full-time and (ii) part-time at the Arts Council in (1) executive, (2) clerical and secretarial and (3) ancillary, cleaning, caretaking and catering grades.

[holding answer 4 March 1988]: The reply is based on ethnic monitoring questionnaires voluntarily completed by staff; not all questionnaires were returned. Answers relate only to full-timers; no part-timers were identified in any ethnic minority group.

	Blacks	Asians	Other ethnic minorities
Executive	5	1	1
Clerical	5	3	3

The Arts Council employs no ancillary grades directly.

To ask the Minister for the Arts how many (a) black, (b) Asian and (c) other ethnic minorities people are employed (i) full-time and (ii) part-time at the Office of Arts and Libraries in (1) executive, (2) clerical and secretarial and (3) ancillary, cleaning, caretaking and catering grades.

[holding answer 4 March 1988]: The reply is based on ethnic monitoring questionnaires voluntarily completed by staff in post on 1 October 1987; not all questionnaires were returned.

	Black	Asian	Other ethnic minorities
Executive	0	0	0
Clerical	11	21	0
1 Full-time.
2 Part-time.

The Office of Arts and Libraries has only a small staff and employs no ancillary grades directly.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has about the starting rates and top rates of income tax and the level of gross income at which those rates become payable in (a) Canada, (b) France, (c) Germany, (d) Italy, (e) Japan and (f) the United States of America, for a married couple with no children.

The information requested is given in the table:

Country	Starting rate Per cent.	Starting rate threshold	Top rate Per cent.	Top rate threshold
		£		£
Canada	25·5	5,003	43·5	25,000
France	12·8	6,698	56·8	53,463
Germany	22	3,439	56	65,670
Italy	22	3,358	62	253,924
Japan	17·5	4,286	78	152,607
United States of America	15	5,086	34·7	22,086
United Kingdom	25	4,096	40	19,301

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a further statement on the level of share ownership in Great Britain.

A joint Treasury/stock exchange survey carried out in January and February this year shows that:

Nine million people, or 20 per cent. of the adult population, now own shares, compared to 19·5 per cent. one year ago, and seven per cent. in 1979.

13 per cent. hold shares in privatised companies, and six per cent. own only privatised shares.

Three per cent, hold shares in the company for which they work.

The increase in share ownership is widely spread; two thirds of British shareholders come from outside the ranks of managers and the professions; similarly, two thirds come from outside the south-east.

I am placing copies of the survey report in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the total reduction in income tax liability from introducing independent taxation in 1990–91; and how that reduction will be distributed amongst taxpayers at different levels of income.

The proposals for independent taxation of personal income outlined in the Budget are estimated to reduce income tax liability by about £670 million in a full year at 1990–91 levels of income and reduce income tax receipts by £500 million in 1990–91. The distribution of the full year cost by income of the individual taxpayers who benefit is as follows:

Income £000s	Cost £ million
0 to 5	260
5 to 10	100
10 to 15	60
15 to 20	50
20 to 25	50
25 to 30	50
30+	100
All	670

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the charities which are to receive donations from the Government in respect of the underpayment of public service pensions, indicating the sums likely to be received by each.

Pursuant to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, South (Sir W. Clark) on 18 December at columns 845–6, the arrangements have yet to be settled, but I hope to make a statement in the near future.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received concerning possible amendment of the Credit Union Act 1979; and what response he has given.

I have recently received four letters enclosing a copy of the same letter from the acting secretary of Glasgow Licensed Taxi Trade Credit Union, who seeks increases in the limits in the Act on the amount of shares in which a member of a credit union may have or claim an interest and in the total amount on loan to a member of a credit union at any time. I will be replying to the representations in due course and I will also write to my hon. Friend.

To ask the Attorney-General what steps Her Majesty's Government will take to make information about land ownership more publicly accessible; and if he will make a statement.

The Land Registration Act 1988, which implements the Law Commission's recommendation in the report Law Corn. No. 148 that the register of title at the Land Registry should be made open to public inspection, received Royal Assent on 15 March. The Act will be brought into force by commencement order made by the Lord Chancellor.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to her oral reply to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Foot), Official Report, 4 March, column 1284, if she will set out the basis for her statement that the Soviet Union probably has more nuclear warheads than any other country.

My reply to the right hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Foot) reflected the fact that, while there is broad parity in the number of strategic systems held by the Soviet Union and the United States, in the intermediate and short-range category the Soviet Union has many more nuclear capable forces deployed than NATO, as indicated in figures 15 and 16 in annex A to the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1987, a copy of which is in the Library.No estimate of warhead numbers can be precise, particularly because we cannot assess the number of nuclear warheads held in reserve by the Soviet Union, but on the basis of the number of deployed launchers the Soviet Union retains a considerable advantage over all NATO countries.

To ask the Prime Minister whether she will provide particulars of all lease-back transactions entered into by Government Departments or agencies since 1 June 1979 showing (a) capital sums received from leases in respect of the assets comprised in the transaction, (b) the time terms of the leases concerned (c) the annual lease rental payable to the leasors by lease-back agreements and (d) the date of the respective transactions.

Guidance to Departments emphasises the importance of avoiding unconventional financing which does not provide benefits sufficient to offset any extra costs. Records of departmental assets are not held centrally.

To ask the Prime Minister what criteria Her Majesty's Government proposes to use in making appointments to the Broadcasting Standards Council; and if she will make a statement.

These appointments, as in other such cases, will be made on the basis of personal distinction, experience and ability.

To ask the Prime Minister what factors are delaying an announcement of the membership of the Broadcasting Standards Council; and if she will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary hopes to make an announcement before long.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the implications for development will be taken into account when consideration is given to granting a licence for the export of infantry radars to the Sudan.

It has been the practice of successive Governments not to discuss their consideration of export licence applications for individual export orders. However, each application is judged on its merits taking into account all relevant factors including the nature of the equipment, its destination and end use.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if, in the light of the statement by Sir Nicholas Browne-Wilkinson in the High Court on 9 March in connection with the Westminster Property Group, he will again refer the papers relating to the group's activities to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Sir Nicholas Browne-Wilkinson has directed that a copy of his judgment be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for him to reconsider whether any criminal charges can properly be formulated against Mr. Raper. The Director of Public Prosecutions will contact my Department on this matter if necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation to require labelling of cosmetics to indicate whether or not they have been tested on animals.

I have no plans to do so.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of lancaster what steps were taken to ensure delivery to the House of Her Majesty's Government's brochure entitled "Action for Cities"; what requests were made to his Department in this respect; when copies first were supplied to the Vote Office of the House; and if he will make a statement.

Copies of the Government's "Action for Cities" document were placed in the Library of the House by 11 am on 7 March. One hundred copies of the document were delivered to the Vote Office before 3 pm that day, a further 200 copies were delivered at 3.30 pm, and 200 more on 8 March. In addition, on 7 March I sent personal copies with a letter to 200 hon. Members with urban constituencies.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the estimated cost to the Government of producing the booklet and accompanying materials of "Action for Cities".

The total estimated cost of producing the 37,000 copies to date of the "Action for Cities" document and the associated press notices issued by Government Departments on 7 March is £72,900. This expenditure is designed to attract further involvement and financial commitment to the inner cities from the private sector, and is a small part of the approximately £3,000 million each year already committed by the Government to a wide range of policies to help regenerate our inner cities.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the total print of the documents associated with the Government's campaign "Action for Cities"; and what was the final cost.

The print to date is 37,000 copies of the document "Action for Cities", 2,000 press notices on each of the 12 announcements about new action by Government Departments and 2,000 press notices summarising these announcements. The total cost is about £72,900. This expenditure is designed to attract further involvement and financial commitment to the inner cities from the private sector, and is a small part of the approximately £3,000 million each year already committed by the Government to a wide range of policies to help regenerate our inner cities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether, in view of the fact that Easter is a movable feast, he will take steps to fix 1 May each year as the eligibility date for pupils where entitlement to start school depends on the start of the summer term.

No. The Government have no plans to alter the requirement for schools to admit children at the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday. It is open to local education authorities and schools to admit children earlier than this and it is clear that most are doing so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to speed up the payment of section 2 moneys due to church school authorities.

My right hon. Friend is aware that there have been delays in the making of orders under section 2 of the Education Act 1973. Officials are considering a number of measures to improve the present regrettable situation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from local authorities and other bodies in Durham concerning the release into the community of mentally disordered offenders; and if he will make a statement.

We have received no such representations. If, however, the hon. Member has a particular case in mind I would be ready to consider his views about it.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Amnesty International's call for a major review of current Home Office procedures for dealing with applications for political asylum in the United Kingdom.

I met representatives of Amnesty International on 11 February to discuss their proposals. I stressed at that meeting that the United Kingdom will continue to carry out its obligations under the 1951 refugee convention and that since 1979 we have granted refugee status to over 8,000 applicants and admitted 20,000 Vietnamese refugees as well as allowing over 7,000 applicants who did not qualify for refugee status to remain here on an exceptional basis. Moreover, much of what Amnesty proposes represents current Home Office practice. There does, however, have to be an effective procedure for distinguishing between applications which meet the requirements of the UN convention and those which do not and, in this context, I cannot accept Amnesty's main recommendation that those who are refused asylum on arrival at a port should have a right of appeal exercisable before removal. The experience of other European countries reinforces our view that such a system would be likely to encourage abuse of our asylum procedures.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to review the use by local authorities of moneys granted under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966; and if he will make a statement.

Improved arrangements for monitoring the use made by local authorities of posts funded under section 11, introduced in the Home Office circular of 1 October 1986, now apply to all posts approved or reviewed since that date and are being extended to all other funded posts. We shall be considering whether any further changes are needed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to screen all prisoners at the reception stage for HIV-1 and HIV-2.

Screening of all prisoners at the reception stage is already undertaken in the form of medical inquiry and investigation. Routine blood testing is not practised and there are no plans to introduce it.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies he has made of recent developments in polyester security glazing film; and if he intends to encourage the use of this form of window protection for police cars and police stations.

Two studies of the resistance of various types of glazing, with and without the addition of polyester film, were conducted in 1986 and their findings were made available to chief constables. Further related work is now in progress.Since 1977 the Home Office has recommended that wherever necessary windows in new police stations should be shatter-proof or protected by film.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied with the present facilities for tactical weapons training; whether he has yet established common physical standards for firearms officers in all English forces; how many forces still lack counselling facilities for officers who may suffer post-shooting traumas; and what response he has made to the recommendation at paragraph 130 of the Home Office working group on police use of firearms that a chief superintendent with knowledge of firearms be seconded to assist Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary.

The Home Office working group on the police use of firearms made 36 recommendations for the improvement of policy and procedures relating to the issue to and use by the police of firearms in England and Wales, all of which we support. The majority of recommendations have already been implemented, but there are some on which further work is still required. A working party of the Association of Chief Police Officers is giving urgent attention to identifying a suitable site for a tactical training facility. A second ACPO working group is considering how best to develop a range of physical fitness and medical standards to meet the requirements of each category of firearms specialisation. Although there are some forces where work is still in progress to build into operational contingency plans provision for counselling facilities for officers involved in shootings, most of those forces have made interim arrangements for such counselling to be provided. The suggestion that a chief superintendent with knowledge of firearms should be seconded to assist Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary is being actively pursued by the inspectorate.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the powers contained in the Prevention of Terrorism Act were used at any time in the events leading up to the shooting of three people in Gibraltar; and if he will make a statement.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the lack of outstanding initial, re-inspection and routine fire prevention inspections in each county in the United Kingdom as an annual figure expressed in officer man years for each of the last 10 years;(2) if he will list the lack of outstanding initial, re-inspection and routine fire prevention inspections for private residential homes in each county in the United Kingdom as an annual figure expressed in officer man years for each of the last 10 years.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken by the Home Office forensic science service to improve the quality of scientific evidence provided by the service in criminal cases.

Substantial improvements have been made. Since 1979, there have been formal arrangements to monitor the quality of work in the Home Office forensic science service. These are based on a regular series of open and "blind" trials, organised both within each laboratory, and centrally by the service's research establishment. They cover the problems normally found in case work in a range of disciplines. The results of such trials are thoroughly reviewed, with a view to further improvements in case work procedures; in 1986 a general review of the quality assurance arrangements concluded that they were effective and economical.These are supplemented, first, by regular inspections of the major Departments of each laboratory by senior officers from other laboratories in the service, and, secondly, by a scientific advisory group, chaired by Sir Ronald Mason FRS, and comprising eminent scientists, which was established in 1986, to advise the service on the development of its scientific standards.Linked to the efforts to improve the quality of the service's work is an extensive training programme at the service's training unit at Birmingham. This provides an induction course for all newly appointed scientific staff; courses on specific techniques and instruments; and a course to prepare staff to give evidence in court. In 1987, 214 staff received training at the unit, varying from a day to a week.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted rapists have been paroled during the past 10 years; and how many have committed subsequent offences.

[holding answer 15 March 1988]: The table shows the numbers of persons with a principal offence of rape who were paroled from determinate sentences (excluding life) between 1977 and 1986, together with the numbers considered. To provide information on the number of these parolees who were reconvicted subsequently, whether for rape or any other offences, would involve disproportionate cost. Since 1983, prisoners given sentences of more than five years for rape have been granted parole, other than in wholly exceptional circumstances, for only a few months towards the end of the sentence where this seems likely to reduce the long-term risk of reoffending.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes he proposes to make to the arrangements for the remand in custody of juvenile boys.

[holding answer 29 February 1988]: It is the Government's policy, consistent with the terms of the Bail Act 1976, that remands in custody should be restricted to those cases where they are unavoidable, given all the circumstances of the case. There is a particularly strong argument for keeping untried juveniles out of custody wherever possible, especially when they might otherwise have to be held in an overcrowded local prison. The scope for remanding juveniles in custody has been progressively restricted. After careful consideration and having due regard to the need to maintain adequate safeguards for the public, the Government propose to restrict further the circumstances in which juveniles may be remanded in custody.The only juveniles who may now be remanded in custody are 15 and 16-year-old boys certified by the courts as being too unruly to be safely remanded to local authority care. The unruliness certification procedure is available for two categories of boys; those charged with or previously convicted of an offence of violence or charged with an offence carrying a penalty of at least 14 years imprisonment; and those remanded in care who have persistently absconded or been seriously disruptive. Under the Government's proposals, the procedure will still be available for 15 and 16-year-old boys but the categories will be narrowed. The first will he limited to boys charged with or previously convicted of an offence carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, the second to those remanded in care who pose a substantial risk to themselves or others. Certain other changes to the procedure are also proposed. The changes will reduce the numbers of juveniles remanded in custody, while ensuring that the courts retain all necessary powers for the protection of the public. The details of the proposals are set out in a consultation paper published today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times the British ambassador to the Irish Republic has been called to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin during the past three months; and what matters the Government of the Irish Republic expressed concern about.

The British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland regularly visits the Department of Foreign Affairs, at his request or at that of the Department. A variety of subjects of interest to both Governments have been raised at these meetings. He has been summoned to the Department only once in the past three months, to discuss the operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act on 7 March.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy that responses received to consultative documents issued by his Department be made publicly available in his Department's library, except where the respondent has specifically asked that this not he done; and if he will arrange for this procedure to be made clear when future consultative documents are issued.

Although Foreign and Commonwealth Office consultative documents are few in number we have a clear policy to make as much information available as possible while preserving the confidentiality essential to the effective working of Government.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has regarding the arrest of 14 British citizens in Brussels during a demonstration outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation headquarters on 2 March; and if he will make representations to his counterpart in Belgium regarding the conditions of their detention.

A group of British citizens were taken into custody by the Brussels town police on 2 March 1988 and held for between eight and 10 hours. They were detained under normal police procedures for reasons of security and public order.We have no evidence to suggest that their conditions of detention were different from those which a Belgian citizen could expect if detained in similar circumstances.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to the evidence given on 10 March, by the EEC Energy Commissioner to the European Parliament special inquiry committee on nuclear materials mismanagement in the EEC, on the specific current location and present safeguard arrangements for (a) 180 kg of United Kingdom origin civil plutonium exported to Belgium under an agreement of 3 May 1968, and (b) 200 kg of United Kingdom civil origin plutonium exported to NUKEM, at Hanun in the Federal Republic of Germany under an agreement dated 4 August 1969.

As far as we are aware, no evidence was given on either of these exports.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he possesses on the statement and hearing by the EEC Environment Commissioner before the European Parliament special inquiry committee into nuclear waste and nuclear materials transport in the EEC, held at Strasbourg on 10 March.

Mr. Clinton Davies, Commissioner for the Environment, stated that the Commission had so far found no irregularities in the mode of transport or of the containers used in the transport of radioactive material between Belgium and Federal Germany and Commission experts had found that the radioactivity of discharges from Mol had remained within Community public health limits. However, there had been irregularities in the labelling and recording of nuclear waste sent from Mol and the Commission would now consider the need for Community legislation in this area.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what evidence he has, and from what source, of Soviet development of tactical air-launch cruise missiles; and if he will make a statement.

The Soviet Union deploys a wide range of tactical air-launched cruise missiles and continues to develop new and more advanced weapons systems of this type. It would not be in the interests of security to comment on the source of this information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements he has made to ensure that British vessels do not sail within Soviet territorial waters without authority; and if he will make a statement.

The commanding officers of Royal Navy vessels are, of course, made fully aware of our obligations under international law and are issued with such other instructions as are considered appropriate for the areas to which they may be deployed. The details of such instructions are classified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his NATO allies to ensure that none of the member states' vessels sail within Soviet territorial waters without authority; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend regularly has discussions with his NATO colleagues on a wide range of defence matters of mutual interest. It is not our general practice to disclose the details of such discussions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the conduct of the recent military exercise in the South Atlantic.

Exercise Fire Focus, designed to practise the reinforcement of the Falkland Islands, is still in progress, and it would be premature to comment on its conduct.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his most recent discussion with his French counterpart on matters of mutual interest.

When my right hon. Friend met M. Giraud in the context of the Anglo-French summit on 29 January they discussed a range of issues including equipment collaboration and European security co-operation. The talks were a valuable continuation of the close bilateral dialogue which we enjoy with France on defence matters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans to review the benefits paid by his Department to Falkland war widows: and if he will make a statement.

I have no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will place in the Library a copy of the report on the causes of the electrical malfunction affecting the cooling system of the nuclear reactor of the submarine HMS Resolution on 26 January.

No. Since it is not generally our practice to comment on matters affecting the operation of Her Majesty's submarines, the report in question will be classified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his North Atlantic Treaty Organisation counterparts regarding the deployment of binary munitions in western Europe.

My right hon. Friend has regular discussions with his NATO counterparts on a full range of defence issues. I have nothing further to add to the reply of my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 24 July 1986 at column 490.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the normal procedure of inquiry when someone is killed or injured as a result of opening of fire by a member of the armed forces.

Cases of death or serious injury in the United Kingdom as a result of a service man opening fire would normally be investigated by the civil police and, in the case of death, by a coroner's inquest. The services would, of course, co-operate with the civil authorities in these investigations. The procedure for the investigations of incidents overseas will depend upon the jurisdictional arrangements that apply in the country concerned.The form of any separate service inquiry would depend on the cirumstances of the particular incident. Where one was required the service police would carry out an initial investigation which would, if necessary, be followed by a service board of inquiry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total expenditure in cash terms and at constant 1988 prices of the Scottish Development Agency on the tourism industry in each year since the establishment of the Scottish Development Agency; and what percentage these figures represent of the total expenditure of the Scottish Development Agency in each of these years.

The Scottish Development Agency's activity in tourism is concerted with the Scottish Tourist Board, the Highlands and Islands Development Board and other interested bodies in Scotland. The agency has provided loan and equity finance for tourism projects which meet its normal investment criteria, and has also funded tourist projects under the local enterprise grants for urban projects scheme and the programme for rural initiatives and developments. Expenditure on tourist projects from these sources is as follows:

Expenditure on tourism by SDA
	Cash terms £ million	Per cent. SDA expenditure	Real terms £ million	Per cent. SDA expenditure
1983–84	0·143	0·17	0·170	0·17
1984–85	0·240	0·3	0·273	0·3
1985–86	0·235	0·3	0·253	0·3
1986–87	4·62	6·4	4·82	6·4

The above table represents 14 investments. Prior to 1983–84 separate figures were not kept. In addition, the SDA funds feasibility studies, land engineering and property development projects which may have a tourist element.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will instigate a survey by the Scottish Home and Health Department into the extent of infertility in Scotland and the case for increased staff at infertility clinics in each health board area.

The Government have for some time recognised the importance of developments in the alleviation of infertility. We shall consider the need for a review of infertility services in Scotland when consideration has been completed of the Warnock report on human fertilisation and embryology.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of acute surgical beds in each hospital in each health board in Scotland.

The information requested is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will make a statement on the provision of education for the under-sixes;(2) what was the cost of producing the review of education provision for the under six-year-olds prior to its abandonment;(3) why his Department cancelled the review of education provision for the under six-year-olds; and if he will make a statement.

The review was discontinued to allow resources to be concentrated on more urgent matters. Work on it formed part of the overall functions undertaken by Her Majesty's inspectorate of schools and professional staff in the social work services group, and was not separately costed. I see no case at present for changing the existing arrangements under which regional and Islands councils have discretion over the extent and content of provision for pre-school children.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of (a) physiotherapists, (b) speech therapists, (c) radiographers, (d) chiropodists, (e) occupational therapists, (f) dieticians and (g) laboratory technicians employed by Fife health board in the last five years for which information is available; and what current vacancies, if any, there are.

The information requested on numbers of staff employed by Fife health board is shown in the table. The number of vacancies is not available centrally.

Qualified staff in post in Fife Health Board at 30 September
Whole-time equivalent
Staff Group	1983	1984	1985	1986	11987
Physiotherapists2	49·5	52·7	61·4	63·2	66·9
Speech therapists	22·0	21·5	23·7	25·3	26·0
Radiographers	36·3	35·3	36·6	37·5	38·3
Chiropodists	43·8	43·7	44·0	44·3	46·1

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the members of Fife health board, their respective dates of appointment and their respective periods of appointment.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 3 November 1987 at columns 687–8 to the hon. Member for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth (Mr. Hogg). All members of Fife health board are currently on four-year periods of appointment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list (a) the capital expenditure and (b) the revenue expenditure incurred by Fife health board in the last five years for which information is available; and what is the projected capital and revenue expenditure in the current year.

The information is as follows:

Nursing, staff Doctors and Paramedical staff employed by Fife health hoard at 30 September
Whole-time equivalent1
Staff Group	1983	1984	1985	1986	31987
Nursing staff	3,253·9	3,261·1	3,444·2	3,548·6	3,549·0
—qualified	1,811·9	1,848·0	1,920·8	2,025·7	2,060·7
—in training	591·0	581·0	620·5	625·0	586·0
—unqualified	851·0	832·1	902·9	897·9	902·3
Paramedical Staff2	204·5	212·4	237·4	249·5	271·5
General Medical Practitioners1	186·0	187·0	193·0	192·0	194·0
Hospital Doctors	190·9	194·1	197·6	197·3	202·4
1General medical practitioners are shown as head count.
2Includes qualified and unqualified staff.
31987 data are provisional

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many patients are currently undergoing kidney dialysis, by each health board area.

This information is not available in the form requested. Only five health boards provide renal dialysis services. The number of patients being treated by the various forms of dialysis by each of those boards at 31 December 1986 is as follows:

	Number
Grampian	59
Greater Glasgow	384
Highland	24
Lothian	147
Tayside	74
	688

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the numbers of (a) nurses, (b) paramedical staff, (c) general practitioners and (d) hospital doctors employed by Fife health board in the last five years for which information is available; and what current vacancies there are.

The information requested on numbers of staff employed by Fife health board is shown in the table below. The number of vacancies is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many patients are awaiting kidney dialysis, by each health board area.

All patients who are referred to consultants for treatment for end-stage renal failure receive renal dialysis timeously provided that it is the consultant's clinical judgment that they would benefit from it.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the average number of nurses available for each kidney dialysis machine in each health board area;(2) what is the percentage of time that kidney dialysis machines are either being used or are being prepared for use in each health board area.

This information is not centrally available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he intends to provide extra funding to provide for nursing staff to allow the kidney dialysis machines at Edinburgh Western general infirmary to operate at maximum capacity.

For 1988–89 Lothian health board has been allocated £266·427 million for net revenue expenditure on hospital and community health services, an increase of 5·3 per cent. over the equivalent figure for 1987–88. It is for individual boards, in the light of their knowledge of local needs, to decide on the provision of particular services and priorities between services. I understand that the board is preparing a report on the future provision of renal services in their area and that some neighbouring boards are also considering provision of this service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many kidney dialysis machines there are in each health board area; and in which hospitals.

Information on the number of kidney dialysis machines in hospital use is not available centrally. Hospitals with renal units where dialysis is carried out are listed below. Many patients are dialysed outside hospital, either on a machine in their home or using the continuous peritoneal ambulatory dialysis technique. My officials are at present considering the geographic coverage provided by the service.

• Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
• Dundee Royal Infirmary
• Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
• Glasgow Royal Infirmary
• Raigmore Hospital, Inverness
• Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow
• Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow
• Western General Hospital, Edinburgh
• Western Infirmary, Glasgow

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, further to his reply of 24 February, Official Report, column 237, which health boards have met which private hospital operators.

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report all public and quasi-public body appointments for which he is responsible.

The bodies to which I make appointments are listed in "Public Bodies—1987" which is available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any modifications to the Government's forestry policy policy are envisaged as a result of the changes to the forestry tax and grant arrangements announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget Statement.

The changes to the tax and grant arrangements announced by my right hon. Friend are designed to provide a simpler and more widely acceptable system of support for private forestry. There has not, however, been any fundamental change in the Government's policy for encouraging forestry, in an environmentally acceptable way. This is reflected in the Forestry Commission's statutory duty to endeavour to achieve a reasonable balance between forestry and environmental considerations.My right hon. Friends, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State for Wales, and I remain of the view that a healthy forestry industry is in the national interest and that long term confidence in both forestry and wood processing industries in this country is fully justified. Last year in the context of new policies for alternative land use we announce an expansion of the forestry programme to 33,000 hectares of new planting a year, with particular emphasis on the private sector and with due regard to environmental considerations. The planting of a higher proportion of trees on low ground of better quality was also to be encouraged.These policies remain unchanged, and to this end planting grants will be substantially increased. The expansion of planting in recent years has led to a significant and welcome growth in the United Kingdom of a modern wood processing industry through developments such as the Shotton Paper Company in Wales and Caledonian Paper in Scotland. The industry will in turn help to meet the growing demand for wood products and, together with the new planting programme, this will ensure that forestry contributes to employment in rural areas. Increased planting on better land will also provide an alternative-to agricultural production and thereby assist in the reduction of agricultural surpluses.4. The environmental effects of the changes will be positive for a number of reasons. First, the new arrangements for Government financial assistance for planting will strengthen the careful scrutiny and consultation procedures undertaken by the Forestry Commission, because it is very unlikely that any sizeable scheme will go ahead unless the commission has approved it for grant purposes. In considering applications the commission will continue to observe its published management guidelines relating to broadleaved woodland and will introduce similar guidelines for all types of woodland as part of the new scheme. Its procedures for dealing with applications for planting grants should thus gain in effectiveness as a means of controlling the environmental impact of forestry and ensure that the right trees are planted in the right places.5. Second, the increased planting grants will incorporate a substantial differential in favour of broadleaved planting, so that the share of broadleaves in total planting can be expected to continue to increase. Third, there will be a new supplement for planting on arable or improved grassland. Full details of a new Forestry Commission grant scheme reflecting these new arrangements will be announced next week.6. Finally, the increased grants will be available for replanting in existing forest areas. In considering applications for replanting grants the Forestry Commission will follow policies which are designed to convert forests of an even age into attractive and more varied landscapes with a mixture of types and ages of tree.7. The changes that have been announced, together with the new grant scheme to be announced next week, are designed to encourage the achievement of the Government's aims for forestry in a manner which is acceptable in environmental and land use terms and which appeals to a wider range of interests. Forestry has an important role to play in the well being of this country. The industry has the support of this Government and has an assured future.8. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Environment, is today making a separate announcement on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and himself, about environmental guidance on the approval of grant applications for afforestation in England.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for the Manpower Services Commission area manpower board covering Dundee, the most recent monthly statistics for new JTS showing entrants in the latest available period, and the number of cumulative entrants since the scheme started and a breakdown of entrants which shows how many were male and female, the length of time they had been out of work, their ethnic backgrounds and whether or not they had any disabilities.

[holding answer 10 March 1988]: The new job training scheme figures for Grampian and Tayside area manpower board are given in the table.

	Number
Number of entrants in February 1988	244
Cumulative entrants April 1987 to February 1988	1,585

Table 1
Unemployed six months or more in January each year Travel-to-work areas in Tayside
Previous TTW As	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983
Arbroath	339	343	506	850	914
Blairgowrie	138	170	224	320	398
Dundee	4,167	4,223	6,159	8,976	8,945
Forfar	128	113	255	537	538
Montrose	226	214	436	496	513
Perth	695	769	1,024	1,654	1,811
Tayside	5,693	5,832	8,604	12,833	13,119

Current TTW As	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988
Arbroath	819	757	909	965	828
Blairgowrie and Pitlochry	657	690	706	784	599
Brechin and Montrose	591	642	714	819	761
Crieff	179	218	225	235	198
Dundee	9,962	10,036	10,318	9,797	8,512
Forfar	618	550	635	684	561
Perth	1,470	1,465	1,662	1,865	1,480
Tayside	14,296	14,358	15,169	15,149	12,939

Table 2
Unemployed 6 months or more in January each year. Jobcentre areas in Tayside
	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985
Arbroath	339	343	506	850	914	1,085	1,050
Blairgowrie	138	170	224	320	398	451	465
Dundee	4,167	4,223	6,159	8,976	8,945	9,767	9,837
Forfar	128	113	255	537	538	610	545
Montrose	226	214	436	496	513	547	575
Perth	695	769	1,024	1,654	1,811	1,802	1,862
Tayside	5,693	5,832	8,604	12,833	13,119	14,262	14,334