To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much the Medical Research Council will spend on research into (a) mental health and (b) schizophrenia in the forthcoming year; what this

	Mental Health	Percentage of MRC Budget	Schizophrenia	Percentage of MRC Budget
	£ million		£ million
1981–82	7·8	8	*	*
1982–83	7·9	8	*	*
1983–84	8·4	8	*	*
1984–85	9·2	8	0·5	0·5
1985–86	9·1	8	0·5	0·5
1986–87	9·4	8	0·5	0·4
* Figures not available

Expenditure in these areas in the forthcoming year will be determined by the Medical Research Council in the light of its scientific priorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he plans to take to ensure the continuation of the child guidance service in inner London after the abolition of the Inner London education authority.

My right hon. Friend will wish to discuss this matter with the inner London councils, the Inner London education authority and the relevant district health authorities, with a view to ensuring that an effective child guidance service is available to each new LEA.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children it is estimated will no longer qualify for free school meals in Bradford from April 1988; and if he will make a statement.

In October 1987, about 7,850 pupils in Bradford received free school meals, either because their families were in receipt of family income supplement, or through the operation of LEA discretion. From 11 April, the families of those in the former category will receive a cash benefit of £2·55 per week throughout the year under the new family credit scheme, which will also cover many in the latter category. Nationally, it is estimated that about 100,000 more school age children will benefit under the family credit scheme compared with those who currently receive free school meals under family income supplement and LEA discretionary schemes combined.

I am advised by the Medical Research Council that expenditure on mental health (including addiction) and schizophrenia research from 1981–82 to 1986–87 was as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about the joint matriculation board's report on the number of pupils taking O and A-level examinations in French.

The 1986–87 annual report of the Joint Matriculation Board shows a decrease in the number of French A level candidates, but an increase in the proportion taking French 0-level and joint O-level/CSE. Comparable figures for all examination boards are not yet available. Under the Government's proposals for a national curriculum, a modern foreign language is a foundation subject at secondary level and will therefore form part of the curriculum for all pupils between the ages of 11 and 16. We expect the majority to want to offer it for public examination at age 16 and hope that the greater numbers studying a language to age 16 will also result in an increase in those continuing their studies to A or AS-level.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress on agreements to exchange and report information among member countries of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The information requested is not yet available, as the International Atomic Energy Agency has not completed drawing up a list of member states which have entered into such agreements. The United Kingdom has entered into such agreements with Norway and Denmark and is currently discussing agreements with the Soviet Union, the Netherlands and the Irish Republic. The United Kingdom also has an agreement on similar lines with France, which was signed in 1983.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he proposes to take following the European ministerial conference in Hamburg on central American affairs.

We continue to give firm support to the peace process. The commitments which the Community and its member states have entered into are recorded in the political and economic communiqués, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss the imprisonment of Sita Ram Maskey with the Nepal Government.

Mr. Maskey was imprisoned in May 1987 under Nepal's Public Security Act. His case is cited in the Amnesty International report on Nepal published in November last year. We have drawn the attention of the Nepalese Government to this report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations

Receptions (1) juveniles into prison department establishments in England and Wales: by type of reception 1982–86.
Type of reception	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Untried	1,545	1,510	1,439	1,484	21,570
Percentage of receptions of all ages	3	3	3	3	3
Convicted unsentenced	2,063	961	451	450	2450
Percentage of receptions of all ages	9	5	2	2	3
Sentenced3	7,008	6,615	6,461	5,784	4,277
Percentage of receptions of all ages3	10	9	9	8	6
1 Total receptions cannot be calculated by adding receptions in each category, because there is double counting.
2 Provisional figures.
3 Excluding fine defaulters and non-criminal prisoners.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many 14-year-olds were in prison establishments on the last occasion for which figures are available; what information he has about the institutions in which they were held; how many were on remand; what information he has about the crimes for which those convicted were so convicted; how many previous convictions they had; and what information he has as to their ethnic origins.

Vasili Shipilov was included on a list of human rights cases which my right hon. and learned Friend handed to Mr. Shevardnadze during his visit to the Soviet Union in February this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the longest time that anyone has been in a closed camp for refugees in Hong Kong.

The longest time any refugee has been in a closed centre in Hong Kong is five years eight months.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of offenders under the age of 17 years (a) detained and (b) imprisoned for each of the last five years; and if he will express the figures as a percentage of the total number of prisoners detained and imprisoned for each of the years.

The readily available information is given in the table. It is derived from chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 of "Prison Statistics, England and Wales, 1986" (Cm. 210), copies of which are in the Library.(2) if he will show for each county or police force area

The home address of persons held in prison department establishments in England and Wales is not recorded centrally. The readily available information is given in the tables. There were no 14-yearold females held or males held on remand.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on which other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development or European Community countries place 14-year-olds in prison institutions.

Comprehensive reliable information is not readily available. From such information as we have, some form of custodial sanction appears to be available for 14-year-old offenders in the following member countries of the OECD or the European Community: Canada, France, the German Federal Republic, Greece, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United States. The member countries where such sanctions appear not to be available are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Spain and Sweden. We have no information about the remaining countries.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what inquiries have taken place into possible contacts between the Economic League and police forces in regions other than North Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.

We are not aware of any such inquiries.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women have received custodial sentences for non-payment of rates for each of the last five years.

Information on the number of persons received on committal by magistrates' courts in default of payment of rates in each of the last 11 years is published annually in "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (table 6.2 of the latest volume, for 1986, Cm. 210) copies of which are in the Library. The following table gives corresponding details of those received in 1982 to 1986 following committal by county courts.Persons received into prison department establishments in England and Wales on committal by county courts for non-payment of rates: by sex, 1982–86.

Number of persons1
Sex	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Males	5	11	26	9	17
Females	1	—	1	1	—
1 Based on information recorded centrally which is approximate. Checking of individual cases would involve disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what facilities exist for recreation and exercise, and how many square feet of exercise space are available, at each of Her Majesty's prisons at Birmingham, Leeds, Pentonville, Manchester, Wandsworth, Wormwood Scrubs and Holloway.

The information is as follows:

	Facilities	Approximate outside exercise space square feet
Birmingham	gymnasium, multi-gymnasium, fitness/weight-lifting room, recreation room	65,000
Leeds	gymnasium, weight-training room	32,900
Pentonville	gymnasium, weight training room, remedial exercise room	87,800
Manchester	gymnasium, sports hall, weight-training room	30,900
Wandsworth	gymnasium, multi-purpose room	62,000
Wormwood Scrubs	gymnasium, multi-gymnasium, sports hall	72,600
Holloway	gymnasium, sports hall, swimming pool	27,000

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours' exercise per week prisoners receive at each of Her Majesty's prisons at Birmingham, Leeds, Pentonville, Manchester, Wandsworth, Wormwood Scrubs and Holloway.

Seven hours, weather permitting. In addition, there are varied opportunities for physical training.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought under the provisions of the Video Recordings Act 1984; and with what result.

The Video Recordings Act 1984 is being introduced in stages, the first of which came into effect on 1 September 1985. The data held centrally, which may be incomplete, show no record of any prosecutions under the Act in 1985 and two in 1986. I would also refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) on 27 November at columns 365–66.

To ask the Attorney-General on how many nights in each of the past five years juries in criminal trials have been sent to an hotel whilst considering a verdict; and what has been the total cost in each of those years.

This information is not readily available. It can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will set the precise responsibility which the Secretary of State for the Environment has in relation to forestry.

The Secretary of State for the Environment is responsible for environmental matters in England, and has an overall responsibility for nature conservation in the United Kingdom. He is therefore consulted by the Ministers with direct responsibility for forestry about the environmental implications of forestry policies. He is also consulted about those applications for planting grant on which the Forestry Commission has sought the views of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, as Forestry Minister for England, because there is an unresolved objection on environmental grounds from the relevant body or local authority.

To ask the Prime Minister what procedures exist within the appropriate Departments to prevent the export of British military equipment to the Palestine Liberation Organisation; and whether she is satisfied that they are effective.

Export control procedures for military equipment seek to take account of all relevant factors, including the type of equipment, its proposed destination and its end use. It has been the practice of successive Governments not to disclose the nature of the checks made.I am satisfied with the general effectiveness of the controls.

To ask the Prime Minister by which Department information was possessed that the Lebanese company engaged in the transaction with Racal-Tacticom in 1982 had links with the Palestine Liberation Organisation; and when it was made known to that Department.

I have nothing to add to the reply given to my hon. Friend on 18 March, at column 688, by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

To ask the Prime Minister what was the purpose of the exercise involving the deposit and subsequent collection of litter in St. James' park on 22 March; what was the cost; and if she will make a statement.

I attended the launch on 22 March of the Tidy Britain Group's series of projects designed to deal more effectively with the litter problem. The cost of the launch was less than £60.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what private hospitals are being paid to perform the heart operations necessary to enable the South Glamorgan health authority to meet his target of 600 heart operations per year; and how much each hospital has charged per operation done to meet this target.

South Glamorgan health authority is funded by the Department to provide an agreed level of open heart operations. The involvement of the private sector by the health authority in order to meet the agreed target is a matter for the authority. As a consequence, the information requested is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if the cardiac surgeons employed by the South Glamorgan health authority are fulfilling their contracted National Health Service sessions to meet his target of 600 operations per year.

The consultant contracts are held by South Glamorgan health authority. The information requested is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many farmers in Wales have received fee-paying service from the Agricultural Development Advisory Service during the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement;(2) how many farmers in Wales have applied during the last 12 months for the fee paying service given by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service; and if he will make a statement.

It is no) possible to distinguish between those who apply for, and those who receive, chargeable non-statutory advice: ADAS would seldom be unable to provide a service sought by a potential customer. In the first 11 months of the scheme, chargeable advice was provided to 4,731 customers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much revenue has been received by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service for fee-paying service to farmers in Wales during the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

In the 11 months to 29 February 1988, receipts for advisory services totalled £502,258.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much of the Agricultural Development Advisory Service staff in Wales are fluent Welsh speakers; and if he will make a statement.

The number of fluent Welsh speakers employed by the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service in Wales is 133.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are employed by the Agricultural Development Advisory Service in Wales; what were the corresponding figures for the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

The number of people currently employed by the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service in Wales is 354.The information for 1 April (the nearest available date) in earlier years is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to review the service given by members of the Agricultural Development Advisory Service in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Services provided by ADAS are kept under continued review to ensure that the best possible advice is always available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to meet the chairman of the Wales and Marches Postal Board to discuss proposals to improve postal services in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

No. My hon. Friend met the chairman of the Post Office Board, Wales and the Marches, on 17 February. They discussed a wide range of issues related to the provision of postal services in Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has as to how many people are employed by private health service contractors in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Information on the number of people employed by private firms providing services to the NHS is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has as to how many people are employed in the brick industry in Wales; and how many were employed in 1979.

Up-to-date information is not available, but census of employment data show there to have been 1,300 people employed in the manufacture of bricks, fireclay and refractory goods in 1978; and about 800 in the nearest comparable categories, structural clay products and refractory goods, in 1984.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the average rent per council house in Wales in (a) 1979 and (b) 1987; and if he will make a statement.

The average weekly net unrebated rent of local authority dwellings in Wales was £6·32 in April 1979 and £17·91 in April 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are engaged in Government employment and training measures in Wales; what was the figure for expenditure on the YTS in 1986 and 1987; and if he will make a statement.

The number of people engaged in the following programmes in Wales at 31 January 1988 is as follows:

	Number
New Job Training Scheme	1,241
Youth Training Scheme	23,691
Enterprise Allowance Scheme	5,289
Community Programme	19,695
Community Industry	871
Job Release Scheme	712
Job Share Scheme	85
Jobstart Allowance	286
New Workers Scheme	1,930

No figures are available for the voluntary projects programme. For the adult training programme, the only available information is that between 1 April 1987 and 31 January 1988 a total of 18,495 took part.Expenditure on YTS in the 1986–87 financial year was £51,985,000. The latest estimate of expenditure for the 1987–88 financial year is £58,092,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the number of full-time staff employed by Welsh local authorities in 1979 and 1987; and if he will make a statement.

The number of full-time staff employed by Welsh local authorities in December 1979 was 108,388. The corresponding figure for December 1987 was 98,123.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy towards home confinement in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

District health authorities were given appropriate guidance in WHC(86) 69 issued in December 1986. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary for State of Wales if he will make a statement on the implications of the privatisation of the electricity industry for employment in Wales.

Employment in the privatised electricity industry in Wales will, as at present, be a matter for the industry itself. Electricity privatisation will bring new opportunities for the industry, for its employees and for the economy as a whole.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received from the local authority associations in Wales about the poll tax; and if he will make a statement.

We have received a number of written and oral representations from the Welsh local authority associations about the community charge.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made on the implementation of breast screening in Wales.

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Deidre Hine has been appointed as director of the breast screening service in Wales. She is taking up her post, which is on the staff of the university of Wales college of medicine, today Premises have been acquired at 18, Cathedral road, Cardiff to house the Welsh breast screening centre. Screening should start at the centre later this year and the service will spread to the rest of Wales as quickly as possible. Our aim is for all parts of the Principality to be covered by a high-quality service by 1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the cost of his two Welsh export breakfasts; and how many (a) business men and (b) officials he expects to attend.

[holding answer 24 March 1988]: The catering costs, the hire of the venues, the costs associated with the presenter, the speakers, the equipment and the road crews came to £29,488·94 inclusive of VAT. The audiovisual element will be used generally by Welsh Office export staff and will feature in other presentations. Together, the two breakfasts stimulated a terrific turnout of almost 1,200 business men and women. Sixteen of my officials attended the Cardiff event, and 10 were at Rhyl. The breakfasts have already resulted in a considerable increase in inquiries for export services and have been widely praised by those who attended.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons were employed in the tourist industry in (a) the Bradford and (b) the Keighley travel-to-work areas at the latest convenient date.

The latest estimates of employees in employment in tourism-related industries, which relate to September 1984, are 8,200 for Bradford and 1,200 for Keighley. These estimates do not include the self-employed, for whom considerable estimates are not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many people were on the enterprise allowance scheme in the London borough of Lewisham in 1986 and 1987, respectively; what proportion of these small businesses employed more than 25 people (a) in the first year of trading and (b) in the second year of trading; and what proportion failed in the first year of trading;(2) if he will bring forward proposals to monitor the success rate of businesses started under the enterprise allowance scheme.

The information is not available in the form requested. In the wider (inner London south) area, comprising Lewisham, Southwark, Greenwich, Bromley and Bexley, 1,506 people entered the enterprise allowance scheme in the 1986–87 financial year and 2,337 have joined so far in the 1987–88 financial year. Nationally, the rate of drop out during the allowance year has fluctuated within the range 11 to 16 per cent. since the scheme began.The success rate of businesses started under the enterprise allowance scheme is already monitored though a programme of national surveys which was established when the scheme began. Latest evidence shows that 74 per cent. of those who complete a full year on the scheme are still trading six months after the allowance has ended, and 65 per cent. two years after the allowance has ceased.The surveys also show that for every 100 businesses continuing six months after the allowance has ended, 71 people, in addition to the recipient of the allowance and any business partner, are employed at that time. Two years after the allowance has ceased, the number of additional people employed rises to 114 per 100 firms surviving.Of those businesses which are employing others, at the 18-month point less than 1 per cent. are employing more than 20 people; the corresponding figure at the three-year point is around 3 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the companies and organisations that have been invited to tender for Manpower Services Commission training project programmes in the last two years.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many training project programmes were put to tender in 1985, 1986 and the latest figure for 1987 by the Manpower Services Commission; and what was the average value of the tenders.

The Manpower Services Commission did not keep a computerised central record of projects put out to tender until April 1987. From 1 April 1987 to 24 March 1988, 131 projects supporting the Manpower Service Commission's training programmes were tendered. The average contracted cost of these projects was £68,000. Information on the average value of individual tenders is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any plans to look into restrictive labour practices.

As part of their general concern to see the elimination of restrictive practices in all areas the Government have today referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC) certain questions as to possible restrictive labour practices in television and film production, tinder the terms of section 79 of the Fair Trading Act 1973.The reference has been made jointly by my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department and myself, in exercise of the powers conferred by the Act.The practices specified in the reference are those of

To ask the Secretry of State for Employment what change there has been in the numbers earning double, treble and quadruple national average earnings since 1978–79; and what regional breakdown is available.

[holding answer 24 March 1988] The numbers in the United Kingdom earning double, treble and quadruple national average earnings are estimated to have increased between 1978–79 and 1986–87 by 150,000, 90,000 and 50,000 respectively. These numbers include the self-employed. Regional data are not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people aged 16 to 17 years completed a YTS training course in the London borough of Lewisham in 1987.

[holding answer 23 March 1988]:Forty-nine young people completed a YTS training course in the London borough of Lewisham in 1987.Two-year YTS commenced in April 1986 and young people who started a YTS course since then are not due to complete their training until 1988. Some 468 young people started YTS courses in Lewisham in 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many patients with a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia psychosis have been discharged from mental hospitals in Scotland in each of the last 10 years.

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the estimated cost to each of the regional authorities of Dumfries and Galloway, Highland and Border, of upgrading rural roads, bridges and other infrastructure to facilitate the extraction of plantation timber from remote hill and upland areas; and if he intends to lay business rates on such plantations in order to contribute towards the cost of such infrastructure.

The only information available is estimates prepared by the local authorities. Dumfries and Galloway regional council has prepared a programme totalling £13·3 million of road schemes to assist in the extraction of timber up to 1995. Highland regional council has included in its financial plan a total of £3·7 million for this purpose for the period up to 1992–93. Borders regional council is at present in discussion with the Forestry Commission in order to update its programme of schemes.It is not intended to change the existing arrangements for the application of agricultural derating to woodlands.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish for each regional procurator fiscal jurisdiction (a) the number of pathologists employed, part-time or full-time, on sudden death procedure and (b) the number of police surgeons accredited to deal with sudden death procedures.

Pathologists are not employed by procurators fiscal but are instructed to perform autopsies in individual cases. It is only possible to provide the numbers of pathologists who are regularly instructed by procurators fiscal in each regional fiscaldom and these are as follows:

	Number
Glasgow and Strathkelvin	10
Grampian, Highlands and islands	5
Tayside, Central and Fife	3
Lothian and Borders	12
South Strathclyde, dumfries and Galloway	16
North Strathclyde	10

Police surgeons have a variety of duties but may be asked by procurators fiscal to assist them in sudden deaths cases. Figures are only available for the number of police surgeons in each police area rather than in each regional fiscaldom and are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will state the total hectareage for which moneys have been paid out under the forestry grant scheme from its inception in October 1981;(2) if he will state the total amount paid out under the forestry grant scheme from its inception in October 1981.

The total amount paid out in grants to February 1988, the latest date for which information is available, was £23 million. This related to applications concerning 110,000 hectares of land.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has now received any proposals concerning the possible importation of electricity from Iceland; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) on 23 March 1988 at column 140.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has concerning the results of the aerial survey of Uist and Galloway undertaken by the Scottish universities research and reactor centre; what action he proposes to take as a result; and if he will make a statement.

The results of the survey were presented to Scottish Office officials on 25 March and they are currently being assessed.The survey was part of a research programme initiated by the Scottish universities research and reactor centre and was one in which the Scottish Office had expressed an interest. Preliminary examination of the result indicates that they are not greatly different from what would be expected for the areas concerned from a knowledge of the rainfall during the passage of the cloud and of other factors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider commissioning the Scottish universities research and reactor centre to undertake a full aerial survey of radioactivity in Scotland to determine the residual post-Chernobyl effects and other concentrations of radioactivity.

Aerial surveying for deposited radioactivity is still at the development stage and is not yet proven or available for wider use. The widespread monitoring which was undertaken following the Chernobyl accident identified the areas of highest deposition and more detailed monitoring of the environment, livestock, crops and foodstuffs has been concentrated in those areas. The work is still continuing, and has shown that, except as regards sheep, radioactivity values, including those in soils, are well below levels at which action would be necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the posts previously held by the recently appointed permanent under-secretary to the Scottish Office, giving for each post the date appointed and the grades at which the post was held.

Mr. Hillhouse joined the Civil Service in 1960. He first entered the Government communications headquarters and then transferred in 1962 to the Scottish Office, where he was assigned as an assistant principal to the Scottish Education Department, spending his first four years on a variety of short-term assignments. His career subsequent to his promotion to principal in 1966 is outlined below:—

Date	Post
3 October 1966	SED—Finance—Principal
20 September 1971	Treasury, on secondment—Principal
26 August 1974	Scottish Office—Management group support staff—Assistant secretary
20 May 1975	Scottish office—Finance co-ordination Assistant secretary
3 October 1977	Scottish home and health department—Police services—Assistant secretary
1 August 1980	Scottish office—Principal finance officer—Under secretary
1 August 1985	SED—Under secretary
1 December 1987	SED—Secretary grade 2

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what direct personal contact he had with the Ford Motor company in the two weeks immediately preceding the announcement that the company would not be locating an electrical and electronic manufacturing plant in Dundee.

None. During that period all contacts with the company were being maintained through my officials in Locate in Scotland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Greenock and Port Glasgow on Monday, 21 March, Official Report, column 15, he will estimate the number of jobs created by the Inverclyde initiative; of these, how many are full-time, and how many are part-time; and how many have been filled by (a) males and (b) females.

(Thousands)
	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987
Eye Tests	58·7	58·5	59·2	61·1	63·7	66·2	69·4	71·5	Not yet available
Dental Examinations	1	1	1	216·8	224·3	225·6	230·2	239·6	240·0

The Inverclyde initiative aims to stimulate local economic activity and create opportunities for employment. It does not in itself directly create new jobs. Information in the form requested is not therefore available.Between March 1985, when the Inverclyde initiative was launched, and March 1988, 11,661 new permanent jobs and approximately 1,300 new temporary jobs have been created in Inverclyde district. A breakdown between full and part-time, male and female, is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the major trunk road projects which have been started during 1987–88 and those which lie expects to start in 1988–89.

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) eye tests and (b) dental examinations took place in the Tayside health board area broken down into districts in each year since 1979.

[holding answer 24 March 1988]: The information for Tayside health board area is set out in the table. Disaggregated information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he will next be meeting the chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board; and what subjects he expects to discuss.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he last met the chairman of the Central Electricity Board; and what matters were discussed.

I refer my hon. Friend and the hon. Gentleman to the answer given earlier today to the hon. Member for Motherwell, North, (Dr. Reid).

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what provision he anticipates being made to ensure that nuclear power stations have full insurance cover after privatisation.

There are established arrangements under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 to provide compensation for claims for injury or damage arising from a nuclear incident. These arrangements satisfy our obligations under the relevant international conventions and are in line with the arrangements in force in most other western European countries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the Gas Consumers Council document entitled "An analysis of Gas Disconnections."

I welcome the Gas Consumers' Council's report on disconnections. The council has found no evidence of a harder attitude on disconnections by British Gas since privatisation, but its report does recommend a number of important improvements to British Gas procedures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what steps his Department takes to monitor the operation of the voluntary code of practice on gas disconnections; and if he will make a statement.

The code of practice on gas disconnections is not voluntary; it is required under condition 12 of British Gas authorisation. Under the condition, it is the responsibility of the Gas Consumers' Council and the Director General of Gas Supply to monitor the operation of the code.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what organisations he has consulted since the publication of his White Paper on electricity privatisation.

I am now discussing detailed arrangements with a wide range of parties, including the management, the unions and consumer bodies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what requirement he has placed upon the Central Electricity Generating Board to ensure that any coal-fired power stations sold by it to other generators maintain the highest standards of pollution control of gas and particulate emission, noise and wind-borne dust.

It is the responsibility of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution to determine whether and to what extent pollution control equipment is required at such stations. The level of noise generated is a matter for the appropriate local authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many organisations have written to him as a result of the publication of his White Paper on electricity privatisation.

I have received representations from electricity consumers, unions, other interested bodies and nationalised industries and members of the public both before and since the publication of the White Paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list his official outside advisers, including City institutions and others, who are being consulted on future plans for electricity privatisation.

My official outside advisers on electricity privatisation are Kleinwort Benson Limited, Touche Ross and Co., Slaughter and May, Merz and McLellan, and Professor Stephen Littlechild of Birmingham university.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what representations he has received in connection with the powers of the regulator proposed by him for the electricity supply industry after privatisation.

I have received a number of representations on the proposed powers of the regulator.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he last met representatives of (a) the Confederation of British Industry and (b) pensioners' organisations to discuss the proposed 9 per cent. increase in electricity charges; what is his latest estimate of the effects upon (i) the average costs of industry and (ii) the average costs of a pensioner couple living on the minimum state pension and supplementary benefit; and if he will make a statement.

I last met representatives from the CBI on 8 March and a pensioners' organisation on 15 December last year. The effect of the electricity tariff rises this April will be to increase industry's average costs by between one fifth and one eighth of 1 per cent; and to increase the average pensioner couple's household expenditure by about 35p a week.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what quantity of unprocessed uranium was purchased from South Africa by British Nuclear Fuels during the last year; and if he will make a statement.

None. British Nuclear Fuels plc does not purchase unprocessed uranium from South Africa or anywhere else.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he next expects to meet the chairman of the Electricity Council, and what subjects he proposes to discuss.

I meet the chairman of the Electricity Council, Sir Philip Jones, regularly to discuss various matters, including the privatisation of the electricity supply industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what are the latest figures for productivity in the coal mining industry.

Deep-mined revenue output per man shift was 3·90 tonnes for the week ended 12 March.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what are the latest figures for productivity in the coal mining industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give the latest production figures for output per manshift in British Coal; and what were the comparable figures three years ago.

Deep-mined revenue output per man shift was 3·90 tonnes for the week ended 12 march. The average for 1984–85 was 2·08 tonnes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the tonnage expected to be produced by deep-mined and opencast operations in Scotland in 1988.

Output forecasts are a matter for British Coal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he last met the chairman of Nirex; and what subjects he discussed.

I last met the chairman of UK Nirex on 1 December 1987. We discussed a number of issues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what measures are currently being considered by his Department's Energy Efficiency Office; and if he will make a statement.

My Department's Energy Efficiency Office continues to study a wide range of measures to help in improving efficiency in the use of energy. It is currently consulting with outside bodies about the possible development of schemes designed to recover the EEO's costs. I hope to announce the outcome of this work before the summer recess.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what recent representations he has received seeking reconsideration of his decision not to raise with the chairman of British Coal the reinstatement of miners sacked during the 1984–85 coal strike; and if he will make a statement.

None, apart from those of the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to receive an application from the Central Electricity Generating Board for a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth on the Medway.

The timing of an application for Kingsnorth, if made, will be a matter for the CEGB.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the type of sites viable for giant windmills; and what representations he has received about the extent of visual intrusion consequent upon any projected building of such windmills.

The types of site considered to be viable for medium and large-scale wind turbine generators are those having medium to high wind speeds, in open terrain and which are located sufficiently far from the nearest habitation.I have received a small number of representations from members of the public on experimental medium-sized machines currently under test.An assessment of the environmental implications and public acceptability of renewable energy sources is a key element of my Department's current research and development programme. The programme is also examining constraints on the United Kingdom's total wind energy resource that would be imposed by such environmental factors as national parks, areas designated as being of outstanding natural beauty and urban land.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to meet electricity area board chairmen; and what subjects he proposes to discuss.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to meet electricity area board chairmen; and what subjects he proposes to discuss.

I meet the area board chairmen from time to time to discuss various matters including the privatisation of the electricity supply industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to announce the next offshore oil licensing round.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries (Sir H. Monro) on 24 March 1988, at columns 179–80.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on his policy regarding public funding of combined heat and power schemes.

My Department encourages the evaluation of CHP schemes by assisting some feasibility studies by industry and commerce to establish whether CHP is the most energy efficient and economic option. If these studies show the developer that CHP is economically viable and affordable, then there is no need for public subsidy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he next intends to meet the chairman of British Coal to discuss the long-term future of the coal industry.

I meet the chairman of British Coal at regular intervals to discuss all aspects of the coal industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what representations he has received on the proposed level of financial support for the coal mining industry in 1988–89 and 1989–90; and if he will make a statement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what representations he has received about the level of financial support planned for the coal mining industry in 1988–89 and 1989–90.