To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what assessment he has made of the implications for the United Kingdom's international commitments, and their effect on the conduct of foreign policy, of the proposed privatisation of the electricity supply industry.

I do not expect our international commitments to be affected by electricity privatisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give the sums expended on television and press advertising in order to make the general public aware of (a) the operations at Sellafield in each of the years since its name was changed and (b) the privatisation of British Gas.

The advertising costs incurred by Government during the flotation of British Gas plc amounted to £24·6 million, including VAT, of which TV and press advertising amounted to £21·1 million.Advertising by British Nuclear Fuels plc is a matter for the company. I am asking the chairman to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps he proposes to take to reduce the period of time between receipt of notices of appeal from people removed from the country and the forwarding of explanatory statements about their removal to the appellate authority;(2) if he will give for each year since 1979 the minimum delay time and the maximum delay time between the receipt of notices of appeal from people removed from the country and the forwarding of explanatory statements about their removal to the appellate authority;(3) if he will give for each year since 1979 the total number of immigration officers employed to prepare explanatory statements about removals and the total number of notices of appeal against removal received;(4) when he expects that an explanatory statement in respect of the removal of Mr. Asaddar Ali, HO Ref. A371529, will be forwarded to the appellate authority.

[holding answer 23 May 1988]: The explanatory statement in respect of the removal of Mr. Asaddar Ali was forwarded to the appellate authority on 23 May. I regret the delay in doing so. Procedural checks have been introduced to ensure that all appeals from abroad against removal are dealt with as quickly as possible. The rest of the information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he is yet in a position to make a statement on 155 mm self-propelled howitzers for the Army.

Following careful evaluation and extensive discussions of the competitive proposals put forward by industry to replace the 105 mm Abbot self-propelled howitzers, I have decided to place a contract with Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited for further work on its AS 90 155 mm howitzer. This contract, worth some £4 million, will be to finance additional work designed to demonstrate more fully the performance of VSEL's design to the British Army's specification. It will at the same time secure the Ministry of Defence option prices for any subsequent production orders. Pending a final decision on production we shall, however, continue to monitor the development in the United States of improvements to the current M109 howitzer.We intend in this way to preserve the benefits of the original competition whilst creating a sound basis on which a decision on full production can be made early next year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the sums expended on television and press advertising to make the public aware of the Nirex document "The Way Forward" and the consultation process it inaugurated.

This is a matter for Nirex.

To ask the Secretary of State For the Environment when new planning guidance on opencast coal mining will be issued; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales have today issued minerals planning guidance note 3 on opencast coal mining. The advice in this new document replaces guidance set out in DOE circular 3/84 (WO 13/84) on the exercise of planning control over opencast working. The new guidance advises mineral planning authorities on the balance which needs to be struck between the economic benefits of developing this source of low-cost energy and the protection of the environment. The guidelines give details of the national policy considerations and the specific impacts which need to be taken into account when determining planning applications for opencast mining.The guidelines point out that it is for industry to decide the level of opencast output for which they wish to aim in any period; but it is for mineral planning authorities to determine the acceptability of specific projects having regard to both the benefits of opencast coal and the particular proposal, and the environmental and other material considerations relating to the specific site.The guidelines emphasise the role that opencasting can play in clearing dereliction and improving other despoiled land and encourage the industry and mineral planning authorities to discuss and agree a forward programme of sites within which individual proposals can be considered on their merits.I hope these guidelines will mark the start of a new chapter of positive and constructive co-operation between the industry and mineral planning authorities to ensure this important resource is extracted in an environmentally acceptable way.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement on the Government's policy towards the plans of some local authorities to dispose of their entire housing stock.

In principle, I welcome proposals by local authorities to transfer their housing into alternative ownership, as long as the terms are right.I have today sent guidelines to local authorities, describing the terms on which I might be prepared to grant consent to an application from a local authority to dispose of all or a substantial part of its housing. Copies of the guidelines have been placed in the Library of the House and in the Vote Office.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library copies of water authorities' reports for 1986 detailing works which failed to comply with discharge consent conditions.

[holding answer 7 June 1988]: Individual returns from water authorities detailing sewage treatment works which failed to comply with numerical discharge consent conditions in 1986 were not considered suitable for placement in the Library. However, a summary of the returns detailing numbers of noncompliant works per water authority was published by the Department in chapter 3 of the 1987 edition of the "Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics", issue no. 10For 1987 water authorities were asked to provide more detailed returns in a format which should permit a more rigorous analysis of a causes of failure and proposals for remedial action.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give figures in real terms at 1987 prices for his Department's expenditure on environmental research and protection in total and broken down into expenditure related to (a) radioactive waste, (b) air pollution, (c) water and (d) countryside for each year since 1974 for which figures are available.

[pursuant to his answer, 19 May 1988, c. 580]: The figures for 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84 and 1984–85 are as follows:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many sub-post offices were closed (a) in 1986 and (b) in 1987; and if he will make a statement.

This is an operational matter for the Post Office. However, I understand that in 1986, a total of 179 sub-post offices were closed and in 1987 the number was 186.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer of 17 May, Official Report, column 377, what are (a) the necessary equipment performance requirements laid down by his Department and (b) the frequencies made available to users of radio surveillance equipment.

There is a range of equipment performance specifications published by the Department and made available from its radiocommunications division's library. The appropriate specifications and frequencies available would depend on the precise purpose to which the equipment is to be put. For example, surveillance equipment may be used to counter criminal activities—by anti-theft devices in retail outlets for instance—or for monitoring the performance of malfunctioning of machinery and industrial processes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what measures are taken by his Department to establish that licensed radio surveillance equipment is being used for legal purposes.

The Wireless Telegraphy Acts are primarily concerned with preventing radio interference. Illegal surveillance of the kind that I think my hon. Friend has in mind is intended to go undetected and, therefore, would be unlikely to cause interference. The investigation of offences under other legislation would be a matter for the police.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the percentage of farmland in each grade in each Welsh county.

The information requested is given in the table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the terms and conditions of members of local consumer advisory committees in Wales.

The Select Committee on Welsh Affairs recommended in its report "Establishment of Local Consumer Advisory Committees (HCP 335 Session 1981–82)" that the maximum period of continuous service for a member of a local consumer advisory committee in Wales should be six years. This was accepted by the Government when the committees were established in November 1982. However, following representations from the Welsh Water Authority, I have decided to utilise powers available to me under section 24A(6) and (7) of the 1973 Water Act to revoke this requirement—which I feel is an unnecessary restriction of Welsh local consumer advisory committees as compared to the consumer consultative committees in England.In addition I have also agreed to an amendment to schedule 2, paragraphs 2 and 3, to describe more adequately the category of members intended to represent fishing interests and an amendment to paragraph 3 of the report to remove an anomaly which existed between that paragraph and paragraph 4 of schedule 2. This latter amendment will allow a representative other than the chairman of each of the water company consumer committees to be appointed to the Dee and Clwyd local consumer advisory committee. A copy of the report as modified has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in what ways he expects that the repair by British Rail of one of the 24 arches on the Ribblehead viaduct will help to end the uncertainty about the cost of restoring the viaduct.

I hope that it will enable more precise estimates to be made of the work required, and hence the costs of repairing the viaduct as a whole. British Rail is keeping English Heritage and Cumbria county council informed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has made any studies of the options for combining private sector finance and tolls in the provision of fast lanes on United Kingdom motorways.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what amount of room the authorities will require in a train using the Channel tunnel; and whether any special construction of rolling stock will be required.

I understand that customs and immigration authorities are currently discussing with BR their requirements for accommodation and facilities on trains proceeding via Olympia to points beyond London. The agreed requirements will be taken into account in the specification for the new rolling stock that BR and their French and Belgian counterparts intend to order for services through the tunnel. Present planning is for customs and immigration controls on services to Waterloo to be exercised at the terminal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to hold a public inquiry under the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 into the death of Robert Gee of 72 Rotterdam road, Lowestoft, in an offshore standby vessel accident in 1987 in Morecambe Bay; and if he will make a statement.

On 19 January a coroner's inquest returned a verdict of death by misadventure having taken account of investigations by one of my Department's marine surveyors. Revised safety procedures have been brought into operation which should prevent a repetition of the tragic accident and further inquiry would serve no useful purpose.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if anyone has been commissioned by the Government to consider options for the sale of British Rail.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what arrangements his Department has made to ensure satisfactory levels of day care for mentally ill and mentally handicapped patients leaving long-stay hospital care; and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for determining the level of local day care needs rests with individual health and local authorities.The table indicates the increase in day care places for mentally ill and mentally handicapped people over the period 31 March 1981 to 31 March 1986 (the latest date for which figures are centrally available).

	1981	1986
Mental Illness
Day hospital places	15,300	18,660
Local authority and voluntary day centre places	17,600	19,200

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the state of the National Health Service in Cornwall.

Health services in Cornwall are improving markedly. Over the four years to 1986 the number of in-patient cases has risen from 36,400 to 41,600; the number of out-patient attendances from 199,800 to 223,400; and day cases from 6,400 to 9,800. Major developments are planned or in progress at Trelisk and West Cornwall hospitals. The care of patients requiring long-term care is being taken out of institutions into small community-based units.All these measures have been made possible by the increased allocation of resources to the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly health authority—revenue spending has increased from £56·7 million in 1982–83 to £74·8 million in 1986–87, 10·7 per cent. in real terms, and the initial revenue allocation for 1988–89 is £84·418 million—and by the health authority's own efforts in sustaining significant cost improvement programmes including some rationalisation of services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of ambulance service personnel in England and Wales have received training in intravenous infusion, intrubation, cardiac defibrillation and other advanced life-saving skills.

Health authorities are responsible for the extended training of ambulance crews, the provision of appropriate equipment, and the extent to which this is implemented taking account of local resources, circumstances and priorities. The information requested is not available centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many ambulance service personnel are employed in England and Wales; and what proportion of these are emergency ambulance crews.

At 30 September 1986 the number of whole-time equivalent ambulance staff (including officers) in post in England was approximately 19,000. Information on the number or proportion of these who are emergency crews is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The ambulance service in Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the average cost of a National Health Service issued hearing aid;(2) how many hearing aids are currently issued annually by the National Health Service

I am afraid that the information my hon. Friend seeks is not available centrally. Responsibility for the central purchase of NHS hearing aids and their supply to hearing aid centres throughout the United Kingdom was transferred to the Mersey regional health authority in April 1985. My hon. Friend may therefore care to contact the regional chairman direct.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will make it his policy to allow users of hearing aids to put towards the cost of an aid of their choice a voucher from the National Health Service equal to the average cost of a hearing aid issued free by the National Health Service.

We will bear my hon. Friend's suggestion in mind.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many applications for single payments were made in (a) Shetland and (b) Orkney in each financial year since 1984–85; and how many were refused.

The Department's office at Lerwick is responsible exclusively for Shetland, but Wick office, which is responsible for Orkney, serves in addition part of the mainland. The numbers of single payment decisions made representing awards and refusals in the last four statistical years are given in the table.

	1984–851	1985–86	1986–87	1987–882
Wick
Awards	3,364	4,637	5,032	4,936
Refusals	467	956	1,771	1,951
Lerwick
Awards	362	607	792	527
Refusals	59	130	303	234
1 The Department's statistical years run from April to April.
2 The figures for 1987–88 are provisional and subject to amendment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations have been received by his Department in respect of the proposed safety regulation under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 to ban oral tobacco products; what proportion of these were in support of and against the proposals; and if he will make a statement.

A total of 274 representations have been received, of which 248 were in support of the Government's proposals and 26 were against. United States Tobacco International Inc. has indicated a wish to make further representations and has been offered until 27 June to do so. A similar offer has been made to Svenska Tobaks. A decision on the proposals will be made when all the responses have been fully considered.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has any plans in relation to the six-months qualifying period for attendance allowance, in the light of the abolition of the attendance needs addition, previously available to supplementary benefit claimants; and if he will make a statement.

We have no plans to change the six-months' qualifying period for attendance allowance. Severely disabled people who have claimed the allowance and are waiting to qualify can apply to the Independent Living Fund for help with the cost of domestic assistance or personal care.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information is available to his Department concerning the number of people who die each year whilst awaiting a decision on their attendance allowance.

I regret that the requested information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will give for each of his Department's local offices the latest available figure for the average length of time it takes to decide an attendance allowance claim;(2) what is the combined average length of time taken by his Department's local offices to decide an attendance allowance claim; and what standards are laid down by his Department on the turnaround time which offices should aim to achieve.

Attendance allowance claims are processed centrally and figures are not kept on a local basis. Since 1983 the average time taken to decide claims has been reduced from 12·5 weeks to 9·8 weeks. Our aim is further to reduce this time to eight weeks.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what financial assistance is currently given to parents whose children suffer from Prader-Willi Syndrome; and if he will make a statement about any help that is proposed.

The disability benefits available for children are attendance allowance and mobility allowance. Entitlement to these allowances is not related to the specific diagnostic condition, but children who suffer from Prader-Willi Syndrome may qualify if they satisfy the eligibility criteria in terms of their need for attendance or their inability to walk.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will make a statement about the recent meeting between the Minister for Health, the right hon. Member for Braintree (Mr. Newton) and consultants from St. Peter's hospital, Henrietta street, London WC2.

On 26 May I met representatives of the St. Peter's group of hospitals, with the general manager of North East Thames regional health authority, about proposals by Bloomsbury health authority to relocate the hospitals in the group on the site of the Middlesex hospital.In the light of the concerns expressed, we have asked regional officers to satisfy us that the proposed timetable for the relocation of St. Peter's hospital is feasible. At the same time we wish all those concerned to complete as soon as possible the details of the plans for the St. Peter's group as a whole to move on to the site of the Middlesex hospital, while maintaining the group's identity and corporate spirit, and ensuring that it continues to flourish as a national and international centre of excellence in urology and nephrology.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects the Independent Living Fund to being operations; and if he will make a statement.

The trust deed was signed this morning and the Independent Living Fund is now formally established. The trustees have already begun work on determining how the fund will operate. Payments from the fund can be made immediately.I have today laid regulations before the House which will have the effect of disregarding, for the purposes of family credit and income support, payments of income or capital from the fund. A similar regulation in respect of housing benefit will be laid as soon as possible but arrangements have been made to ensure that no beneficiary of the fund will suffer a financial loss because of this unavoidable delay.I have placed in the Library a copy of the press release issued by the Department. This contains a copy of the trust deed and biographical notes on the 10 trustees.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will support the breastfeeding promotion initiative being developed by the National Childbirth Trust Breastfeeding Promotion Group, La Leche League and the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers.

The Government have been concerned at recent evidence that breastfeeding, which is best for both mother and baby, has become less popular, particularly among poorer women. We warmly welcome the new initiative, which has been actively encouraged by the Department, to form local breastfeeding groups. It is intended to recruit volunteer helpers among mothers and health and education professionals to support and promote breastfeeding, and to explain and promote breastfeeding to young people including through health education in schools.This is a gratifyingly early response to the key recommendations in "Present day practice in Infant Feeding: Third Report" from the chief medical officer's Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) which was published in January. The initiative will be launched in detail at a seminar in October, the costs of which are to be underwritten by the Government.We consider that breastfeeding is very important for the health of future generations. The total estimated funding for the breastfeeding activities of the organisations concerned—the National Childbirth Trust Breastfeeding Promotion Group, La Leche League and the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, for the next two years is expected to rise to at least £100,000 and will be reviewed in 1990. Further measures in line with the COMA recommendations will be announced shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the calculations on which he based the figure of £25 million for the first year cost of paying future increases to British pensioners living in Canada, which was contained in his observations on the parliamentary petition of the hon. Member for Harborough dated 12 April.

[holding answer 26 May]: The figure of £2·5 million in observations on this petition for the first year cost at 1988 rates of paying pension increases to British pensioners in Canada was wrongly printed on the Order Paper as £25 million.I regret that the figure of £2·5 million was itself incorrect. The cost has now been recalculated on the basis of statistics for December 1987 at which date the number of pensioners in Canada was 76,152. The current cost of the pensions payable to these pensioners is estimated, on the basis of a sample, to be approximately £61·5 million, while the cost if the pensions were not frozen would have been about £106 million before the last uprating. The hypothetical cost of the 1988 uprating has been calculated by applying this year's uprating factor of 4·2 per cent. to this nominal cost of £106 million, giving a figure of £4·4 million. This recosting also shows that to pay full United Kingdom rates of pension immediately to all British pensioners in Canada would cost an extra £48·6 million and to do the same for all pensioners abroad would cost about £205 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, what guidance is given to jobcentres to

Employees in Employment—June of each year
thousands
		Manufacturing industries	Percentage change since previous year	Non manufacturing industries	Percentage change since previous year
1. North West Region
	1965	1252	n/a	1593	n/a
	1966	1251	-0·1	1611	1·1
	1967	1203	-3·8	1589	-1·4
	1968	1199	-0·3	1569	-1·3
	1969	1199	—	1556	-0·8
	1970	1186	-1·1	1525	-2·0
	1971	1155	n/a	1564	n/a
	1972	1107	-4·2	1592	1·8
	1973	1110	0·3	1643	3·2
	1974	1083	-2·4	1619	-1·5
	1975	1035	-4·4	1639	1·2
	1976	999	-3·5	1639	—
	1977	999	—	1647	0·5
	1978	991	-0·8	1660	0·8
	1979	971	-2·0	1705	2·7
	1980	931	-4·1	1713	0·5
	1981	810	-13·0	1656	-3·3
	1982	744	-8·1	1627	-1·8
	1983	694	-6·7	1608	-1·2
	1984	669	-3·6	1620	0·7
	1985	653	-2·4	1632	0·7
	1986	626	-4·1	1636	0·2
	1987	612	-2·2	1650	0·9
	19871	607	—	1680	—
2. England
	1965	7,354	n/a	12,121	n/a

Jobcentre staff are instructed to encourage employers, where appropriate, to remove or broaden age limits attached to notified vacancies. If an employer insists on an age limit the vacancy will be accepted, but jobcentre staff may subsequently approach the employer on behalf of an otherwise eminently suitable jobseeker who is outside the stated limits. Information is not available on the number of employers who accede to these requests.The Government will continue to point out to employers that it is not in their interests to impose unnecessary age restrictions when recruiting staff.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report the number of employees in employment for each year since 1965, broken down into all manufacturing and non-manufacturing groups, for the north-west region and for England, together with the year-on-year percentage changes in employment patterns.

The Department's statistics are arranged according to the standard industrial classification 1980 and a consistent series is only available from June 1971. Figures prior to that date are classified according to the standard industrial classification 1968. The available information is as follows. The figures have not been adjusted for the effects of seasonal variations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the percentage of (a) female and (b) male unemployment in 1985, 1986 and 1987 in each of the English regions.

Unemployed adult claimants: seasonally adjusted
Annual Average Rates: percentage of working population
	1985		1986		1987
Region	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
	per cent.	per cent.	per cent.	per cent.	per cent.	per cent.
South East	9·5	6·5	9·7	6·6	8·5	5·5
Greater London	10·5	6·9	10·9	7·1	9·9	6·1
East Anglia	8·9	7·3	9·0	7·6	7·8	6·1
South West	10·6	8·3	10·7	8·6	9·4	7·3
West Midlands	15·1	10·0	14·9	10·0	13·3	8·8
East Midlands	11·6	8·3	11·6	8·3	10·8	7·3
Yorkshire and Humberside	14·6	9·2	15·1	9·5	14·1	8·4
North West	17·1	10·1	17·4	10·2	16·2	9·1
North	18·8	11·2	18·8	10·9	17·8	9·6

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the total cost of the job training scheme; and if he will also express this figure as a per capita cost of each (a) entrant to the job training scheme, (b) person leaving the job training scheme and (c) person obtaining a vocational qualification from the job training scheme.

[holding answer 17 May 1988]: In 1987–88 the provisional total cost of the job training scheme, excluding administrative costs, was £64·7 million. On that basis, the per capita cost was £646 per entrant and £939 per leaver. Information on the per capita cost of people leaving the job training scheme with a vocational qualification is not available.

The following information is in the Library. The table shows the average number of unemployed male and female claimants, seasonally adjusted and excluding school leavers, expressed as a percentage of the working population for each of the years requested and for each of the English regions.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last discussed with the National Farmers Union the stewardship of ancient monuments and sites of special scientific interest on agricultural land.

My officials and I are in frequent contact with the National Farmers Union to discuss a wide range of subjects, including the good stewardship of ancient monuments and sites of special scientific interest on agricultural land.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many babies born in Scotland were HIV positive at birth;(2) how many babies have been born in Scotland to mothers who are HIV positive.

Babies are not routinely tested at birth for HIV antibodies. However, to the end of March 1988, reports had been received of a total of 66 infants-children, excluding haemophiliacs, born in Scotland, who have antibodies to HIV. Of this total, 38 were born to mothers who are known to be HIV positive.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what criteria are applied by his Department with regard to the disclosure to third parties of ministerial replies to hon. Members, without the consent of the hon. Member concerned.

I would hope to avoid disclosing to third parties any correspondence with an hon. Member which might cause him or his constituents embarrassment, for example because it dealt with personal matters or with other matters that had been raised on a confidential basis. But where a number of Members have written to me about an issue which has aroused wide interest, there have been occasions when copies of replies sent by me or on my behalf have been distributed quite widely. If a particular case is causing the hon. Member concern, he may care to write to me.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) whether he will publish in the Official Report a copy of the letter sent by the chairman of the Scottish Special Housing Association to him dated 20 April regarding the association's housing stock in Shetland:(2) whether he has received a formal request from the chairman of the Scottish Special Housing Association for consent to the transfer to Shetland islands council of 55 of the association's houses in Shetland.

The chairman of the Scottish Special Housing Association, Mr. Derek Mason, wrote to my right hon. and learned Friend on 20 April about the future ownership of the association's houses in Shetland, in the light of representations which had been made by a number of tenants, and I have replied to Mr. Mason's letter. It is not normal practice to publish correspondence between Government Ministers and chairmen of non-departmental public bodies.As the hon. Member is aware, the original proposal put forward by the SSHA for the future of their housing stock in Shetland involved complete withdrawal from ownership. Tenants were offered the option of having their houses transferred into the ownership of Hjaltland housing association. If a majority of tenants had wished to pursue that option, the SSHA wished to be able to offer the remaining minority of tenants the option of having their houses transferred into the ownership of Shetland islands council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many representations he has now received from people in Moray about the case for retaining local general practitioners' maternity units and for establishing a specialist obstetric unit in Elgin.

My right hon. and learned Friend and I have received 62 representations from people in Moray about the future of maternity services provision there.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report, the latest total number of representations he has received advising him of support for a provision for opting out within the Scottish school system, showing, where possible, where these representations have come from (a) recognised official organisations, or (b) individuals within each district council area.

I have nothing to add to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Rutherglen (Mr. McAvoy) on 25 May at columns 185–86.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the report by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment on the incidence of leukaemia around Dounreay will be published.

The report has been published today and copies placed in the Library. The committee has emphasised both the small numbers of leukaemia cases involved, and that any conclusion based on these numbers must be subject to a degree of uncertainty. Nevertheless it concludes that there is evidence of a raised incidence of leukaemia among young people living in the vicinity of Dounreay. In the committee's view, this evidence, taken in conjunction with that relating to the area around Sellafield, tends to support the hypothesis that some feature of the two nuclear plants that the committee has examined leads to an increased risk of leukaemia in young people living in the vicinity of those plants.The committee does, however, point out that conventional dose and risk estimates suggest that neither authorised nor accidental discharges could be responsible. Estimates of radiation doses to young people resident in Thurso have been made by the NRPB, on behalf of the committee. These estimates suggest that, using conventional dose modelling procedures, the risk attributable to the doses received by local young people from the discharges is very small indeed, being of the order of only 0·005 of a case.The committee does, however note uncertainties about dose and risk calculations especially in respect to exposure of the foetus and small child. The report identifies a number of possible explanations, but does not point to any particular one, and therefore considers all possible explanations need to be investigated further. Recommendations for these further investigations are made.The Government are grateful to the committee for its report. A great deal of work is already being done to investigate this problem. There are clearly uncertainties in relation to the causes of elevated rates of leukaemia which can occur in a variety of locations. The Government accept, in principle, all the committee's recommendations for further work. It is hoped that this work will advance our knowledge in this area.The recommendations specific to Scotland are:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many representations he has received regarding the reduction in grant to the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 27 May 1988]: I have received 64 representations, most of which clearly derive from contacts initiated by the council itself. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Renfrew, West and Inverclyde (Mr. Graham) on Tuesday 12 April at column 46.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on the labour markets in the regions of recent economic trends.

The recent favourable performance of the United Kingdom economy has benefited the labour market in all regions. Unemployment has fallen significantly in all regions over the past year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current United Kingdom volume share of world trade in manufactures.

In 1987 the estimated United Kingdom volume share of total world trade in manufactures was about 7½ per cent. As chart 3·5 in the FSBR shows this share has been broadly stable since 1981, after previous decades of decline.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans his Department has to assist the economic development of Merseyside.

The Government's economic policies, continued in my right hon. Friend's latest Budget, promote an environment for business to prosper and provide strong encouragement to economic development in all areas of the United Kingdom. Over the last year the north-west has seen one of the largest falls in unemployment in the United Kingdom.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the differential impact of Government policy on economic development in the regions.

The best way to encourage economic development in the regions is through sound economic policies, designed to promote healthy, non-inflationary growth in the national economy, backed up by an effective regional policy. These are the policies the Government are pursuing.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the European Commission's latest cash position and the implications for the United Kingdom.

The European Commission estimates that its spending obligations under provisional twelfths this month will exceed the available resources. The Commission has informed us that it expects to have to overdraw its accounts with member states in accordance with article 12(2) of Council regulation 2891/77. The amount involved for the United Kingdom is expected to be of the order of £98 million. As I explained to the House on 19 May at column 1151 the Government are obliged to meet an article 12(2) request provided it is genuinely needed to cover a prospective cash deficit and provided that it would not involve exceeding the own resources known to be available for the year. We will accordingly meet this request directly from the Consolidated Fund, in accordance with section 2(3) of the European Communities Act 1972. Repayment of any drawing under this facility will be made by deduction from future own resources payments.The article 12(2) facility does not affect the total amount which the Community is authorised to spend during the year. The Commission's request does not, therefore, involve any net addition to public expenditure.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Home Civil Service staff are employed by United Kingdom Government Departments in Northern Ireland.

[holding answer 7 June 1988]: Five thousand and one, as at 1 April 1987. In addition there were some 29,500 staff in the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of his officials at administrative grade are qualified, respectively, at (a) O level, (b) A or S level, (c) diploma and (d) university degree level in (i) French and (ii) another European Community language; and what procedures are operated by his Department to ensure that documents of the European Communities placed before the House are properly translated.

[holding answer 7 June 1988]: Qualifications in French and other European Community languages held by Treasury staff are as follows:

	French	Other Community language
O-level	212	67
A/S level	89	54
Diploma	—	—
University degree	12	8

The figures for O and A-levels take no account of qualifications held by those whose schooldays predate the GCE. Responsibility for the translation of European Community documents placed before the House rests with the Commission and Council Secretariat of the European Communities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support he is giving to the proposal that Hong Kong should host Expo 1997; and if he will make a statement.

We are aware of interest in Hong Kong in the idea of a world exhibition in 1997. Discussions are still at a very preliminary stage.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he intends to take to encourage an early withdrawal of South African troops from Namibia.

We shall continue to press South Africa to agree to the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 435. We believe that the current United States-led negotiations offer the best prospect of such a settlement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what visits have been made by Foreign Office Ministers to the Falklands since 1979.

Since 1979 there have been eight visits by Ministers at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further steps he is taking to improve the United Kingdom's relations with China.

Relations between Her Majesty's Government and China are good. We were pleased to entertain Mr. Wu Xuegian in March and I met the new Foreign Minister Mr. Qian Qichen at the United Nations yesterday.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Chinese Government about the consistency of the draft Basic Law for Hong Kong with the joint declaration on the future of Hong Kong.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he plans to make to the Government of China in relation to the Basic Law of Hong Kong.

The drafting of the Basic Law is the responsibility of the Chinese Government. If there are points which we consider are inconsistent with the joint declaration, we shall make our views known to the Chinese authorities clearly and firmly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to meet the Prime Minister of Denmark.

My right hon. and learned Friend hopes to meet the Prime Minister of Denmark at the European Council at Hanover on 27–28 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent contacts he has had with the Hungarian Government.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary had the pleasure of meeting the Hungarian Prime Minister, Mr. Karoly Grosz, during his successful visit to London in May. He also met the Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Kovacs, in February.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he now expects Mr. Charles Powell to return to the Foreign Office from his secondment to No. 10 Downing street.

In due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when last he visited Belize.

My right hon. and learned Friend has yet to visit Belize. I visited Belize on 7–9 May this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what items were discussed during the visit of the Under-Secretary of State to Belize.

A wide range of subjects were discussed at my meetings with Belize Government Ministers and business men including the Belize/Guatemala territorial dispute, the British garrison, the international drugs problem and prospects for the Belize banana industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received a request from the Central American Governments for the Government to send civilian or military personnel to monitor the Esquipulas peace plan.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made by Her Majesty's Government regarding the failure of Honduras to meet the terms of the Esquipulas II peace accord.

We and our EC partners have on a number of occasions called on all the signatories of the Esquipulas II peace accord to fulfil their outstanding obligations under the accord without delay.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he expects to meet the Soviet Foreign Minister to discuss conventional force levels in eastern Europe before 31 October; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend met Mr. Shevardnadze in New York on 6 June. They discussed a range of issues including arms control. The Warsaw pact's superiority in conventional forces is at the heart of the security situation in Europe. Highly asymmetrical reductions—including reductions of forward—deployed Soviet forces-will be need to redress the conventional imbalance and establish stability.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last visited Bermuda.

My right hon. and learned Friend last visited Bermuda on 6–7 January 1987. I visited on 10–12 May 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response he has received from the Soviet authorities following his most recent representations in Moscow on further releases of Jewish refuseniks.

Of the 47 refuseniks on the list handed to Mr. Shevardnadze in February this year 11 have so far been given permission to leave the Soviet Union. Seventy-nine of the 117 refuseniks on lists handed over in 1987 have been given permission to leave, including Vladimir Tufeld, whose pleas to be allowed to join his critically ill wife in the United States were taken up personally by my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary on several occasions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will seek a further opportunity of raising with the Soviet Foreign Minister the plight of long-term refuseniks including Inna and Yuly Kosharovsky, Vladimir and Bella Kislik and Vladimir and Carmella Raiz who are still waiting for exit visas.

Members of the Kosharovsky, Kislik and Raiz families have all been included on lists of refuseniks which my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary has on various occasions handed to the Soviet Foreign Minister, Mr. Shevardnadze. We shall be drawing attention to these and all other unresolved cases on our lists during the forthcoming bilateral human rights consultations at official level.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to meet representatives of the Polish Solidarity movement; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans at present to meet representatives of the Polish Solidarity movement. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister hopes that circumstances will make it possible for her to visit Poland later this year. She would expect to meet Solidarity representatives then. We continue to urge on the Polish authorities the need to ensure freedom of association and individual liberties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to meet the President of the United States of America.

My right hon. and learned Friend met President Reagan during his recent visit to London and expects to meet him again later this month at the Toronto economic summit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last visited Mexico.

My right hon. and learned Friend last visited Mexico from 4–6 January 1987. I visited on 1–3 June 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to meet the Prime Minister of Norway to discuss the implications for Anglo-Norwegian relations of the issue of acid rain.

No. But my right hon. and learned Friend met the Norwegian Foreign Minister on 16 March. We maintain close contact at all levels with the Norwegian Government on environmental issues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current state of United Kingdom-Soviet relations.

Relations are at their best for many years, with an active high level political dialogue. Fundamental differences remain but these are discussed frankly with the aim of finding solutions wherever possible. We shall continue to work for further improvements in all areas of bilateral relations and in particular for increased informal exchanges of all kinds between our peoples.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he intends to make to the Government of Chile in relation to the continued imprisonment of the Socialist party leader, Clodomiro Almeyda.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he intends to make to the Government of Chile in relation to the continued imprisonment of the Socialist party leader, Clodomiro Almeyda.

The Chilean Government have been told on several occasions of our concern and that of our European Community partners about Senor Almeyda since his arrest in 1987. We remain in touch with our European Community partners on this issue.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last visited the West Indies.

My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans at present to pay an official visit to the West Indies. I paid an official visit to Jamaica on 12–15 May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the United Nations special session on disarmament in New York.

The third United Nations special session on disarmament began on 31 May and will continue until 25 June. It provides an opportunity for all countries to take part in full discussion of arms control and disarmament issues. My right hon. and learned Friend addressed the special session on 7 June. We shall be working for a consensus to build on the momentum created by recent agreements, and to encourage further progress in arms control.I have arranged for a copy of a memorandum that sets out the approach of the British Government to the special session to be deposited in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when next he plans to meet the Head of State of Turkey.

My right hon. and learned Friend looks forward to meeting President Evren when he pays his state visit to the United Kingdom from 12 to 15 July, at the invitation of Her Majesty the Queen.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met the Canadian high commissioner; and what matters were discussed.

My right hon. and learned Friend has frequently met the Canadian high commissioner. They have discussed a wide range of topics of mutual interest.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent factors and events have influenced Anglo-Irish relations.

Many factors, including ties of geography and history, and our membership of the European Communities influence the United Kingdom's relations with the Republic of Ireland. There is a broad range of important mutual interests. We are able to discuss events affecting Anglo-Irish relations including the need for the closest possible co-operation against terrorism as they arise in the framework of the Anglo-Irish Agreement and through other channels.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further measures he is taking to improve Anglo-Irish relations.

We continue to take every opportunity to develop closer relations with the Republic of Ireland, in constructive pursuit of our many shared interests. In particular, we are fully committed to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. It provides a firm basis on which to continue to develop detailed co-operation in a variety of areas of high priority concern to both countries, including further resolute action against terrorism.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further representations he has received on human rights violations in Ethiopia.

We are well aware of the public concern about human rights violations in Ethiopia and receive frequent representations. We have raised the matter on numerous occasions with the Ethiopian Government and shall continue to do so. We warmly welcome the recent release from detention of the seven female members of the former royal family. We hope very much that this will be followed by the release of the three male members of the royal family and other political prisoners.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to develop relations between Britain and Austria.

We shall continue to develop contacts between Britain and Austria in ways which appropriately reflect the good relations between our nations and Governments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what items have been included on the agenda of the forthcoming bilateral commission on human rights with the Soviets.

For our part, we propose to discuss freedom of expression, religious tolerance, the right to leave and re-enter one's own country, the political abuse of psychiatry, legal reform and other CSCE-related humanitarian issues. We shall be pressing for recent improvements in Soviet practice to be codified into effective legislation, as well as raising all those human rights cases on our lists which remain unresolved and other individual problems. The Soviet side will no doubt raise aspects of concern to them about human rights in Britain.