To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list the certificate of education courses available (a) in English, and (b) in Welsh;(2) if he will list, by secondary school, the subject entries and number of candidates

Certificate of education courses are administered by the Welsh joint education committee (WJEC). Information relating to courses is not held by the Department; any such requests should be directed to the WJEC.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many statemented children there are at present in Welsh medium or bilingual primary and secondary schools, and at Welsh units, in each Welsh local education authority area.

The information as at January 1987 is as follows:

Number of statemented pupils in Welsh medium or bilingual schools or Welsh units
Local education authority	Primary	Secondary
Clwyd	43	20
Dyfed	98	15
Gwent	6	—
Gwynedd	181	117
Mid Glamorgan	69	43
Powys	30	4
South Glamorgan	5	—
West Glamorgan	15	1

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many statemented children in each Welsh education authority area have been transferred from Welsh medium or bilingual schools as a result of the statementing.

This information is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has as to the numbers of the following professionals by local education authority in Wales; and in each case how many are able to carry out their work through medium of Welsh as well as English (a) educational psychologists, (b) educational social workers, (c) speech therapists, (d) advisory teachers in social and emotional problems, (e) special education advisers, (f) education welfare officers and (g) advisory teachers for the hearing impaired, visually impaired, etc.

Information on the number of specialist advisers employed by local education authorities is not held centrally. For information about the number of speech therapists, I refer the hon. Gentleman to my hon. Friend's reply to him of 1 March.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will meet Clwyd county councillors to discuss the Caergwrle bypass;(2)if he will meet Caergwrle residents who oppose the Caergwrle bypass green route;(3)if he will establish a public inquiry into the proposals for a Caergwrle bypass; and if he will make a statement;(4)if he will give financial assistance to Caergwrle, Clwyd, residents who seek to oppose the Caergwrle bypass green route.

This is a county road scheme and therefore a matter for Clwyd county council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy not to enter into any new long-term commitment for the Overseas Development Administration's London accommodation in the current financial year.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the cost to the Overseas Development Administration for the rental of Eland house over the last three years; and what has been the total cost to public funds of renting that building.

The rent paid by the Overseas Development Administration to the Property Services Agency for Eland house under the property repayment services arrangements for each of the last three financial years was as follows:

1985–86	1986–87	1987–88
2,175,838	1,927,294	2,212,976

Civil accommodation for Government Departments is held in the name of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and managed by the PSA. The rents of leasehold buildings are determined on a strictly commercial and therefore confidential basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will place in the Library details of any representations he has received concerning automatic membership of student unions; and if he will make a statement;

Students become members of the student union of their university, polytechnic or college of further or higher education by virtue of their being enrolled at the institution. They are not normally required to pay any subscription as a member and can decide whether or not to take part in the union's activities. As indicated in my right hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Mr. Janman) on 18 April, the Government intend shortly to gather up-to-date factual information on the services available to students from their unions. Since the general election I have met the National Union of Students once to discuss the issue of union membership. The issue has also figured during visits I have made to institutions of higher and further education. In addition, over the period 1 June 1987 to 31 May 1988 we have received some 30 letters from hon. Members and members of the public about membership of local unions and a further 30 letters concerning membership of the National Union of Students. The letters have been evenly divided between those in favour of and those opposed to the present system of membership.I do not consider it appropriate to deposit this correspondence in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he hopes to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for South Hams dated 23 March, enclosing a letter from Mr. H. W. Steggles of Eastern Hill, Middlecombe, Noss Mayo, Plymouth, dated 15 March.

I replied to my hon. Friend on 8 June. I regret the delay in replying.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has about the public spending per head of senior school population in pounds sterling for Germany, France, the United States of America and Italy.

For international returns, data for the senior school population are included with non-advanced further education and therefore cannot be identified separately.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what evidence he has about the rate at which head teachers are now seeking early retirement, what comparable information he has on previous years; and to what factors he attributes the trend.

For teachers as a whole, premature retirements have in recent years consistently accounted for about 60 per cent. of all retirements. Premature retirement has kept open promotion opportunities for teachers and improved the age structue of the profession. Information about premature retirements of head teachers is available only combined with information on college prinicpals and up to 1986–87. The number of premature retirements in these groups fell by 17 per cent. in 1986–87 compared with 1985–86. Pension is based on the best 12 months' salary over the last three years of service. It is likely that teachers were postponing retirement in 1986–87 in order to improve their pensions by awaiting the effect on pensions of the substantial pay increases of 25 per cent. between March 1986 and October 1987. We would expect premature retirements to rise again by 1988–89 as these increases feed through into pension entitlements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what difficulties are being experienced in the recruitment of headteachers.

Good up-to-date information is not available. The interim advisory committee on teachers' pay found no particular evidence of serious recruitment problems affecting heads and deputies. The Department estimates that at January 1988 approximately 300 headteacher posts were vacant, that is only slightly more than 1 per cent. of headteacher posts.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his assessment on the effect on the balance of payments current account of raising the minimum age requirement for the driving of (a) motor cars and (b) all motor vehicles to 18 years.

Information on which to base an assessment is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his assessment of the impact on the United Kingdom balance of payments current account of the Japanese Government's present discriminatory system of liquor taxation.

We are currently awaiting the Japanese Government's response to the recommendations of the general agreement on tariffs and trade that the discriminatory element in Japanese taxation of imported wines and spirits should be removed. We expect substantially increased exports of Scotch whisky to Japan following tax reform.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what are the running costs per year of the North Peckham task force;(2) how much Daniel Levy, the North Peckham task force leader, is paid per year.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to a similar question from her on Tuesday 12 April.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the current volume of Israeli exports to the United Kingdom; what is the make-up of those exports; and what were the comparable figures for each year from 1966 to 1987.

The current value of imports from Israel for the first four months to April 1988 are £167.00 million.

United Kingdom imports from Israel
Table 1	Value £ thousands
Division	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Total trade	44,856	54,745	57,805	69,740	78,893	91,183	125,785	159,680	176,414	219,297
Of which:
05
Vegetables and fruit	24,234	32,558	33,233	35,325	39,241	47,107	58,744	67,724	76,515	86,099
84
Articles of apparel and clothing accessories	1,282	1,622	1,912	2,545	5,061	8,259	12,350	17,595	21,531	29,121
65
Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles NES, and related products	1,598	1,137	1,264	1,279	2,170	1,842	2,601	5,427	8,327	13,583
89
Miscellaneous manufactured articles NES	756	1,102	762	1,364	1,421	1,283	1,566	2,502	3,142	5,446
66
Non-metallic mineral manufactures NES	3,994	4,416	6,019	9,787	8,115	10,809	18,794	18,587	31,987	27,504
29
Crude animal and vegetable materials NES	147	249	458	331	405	586	924	2,145	5,804	10,579

United Kingdom imports from Israel
Table 2	Value £ thousands
Division	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	April 1988
Total trade	232,746	255,866	276,011	313,677	392,744	403,952	385,175	437,014	167,049
Of which
05
Vegetables and Fruit	83,464	95,288	97,237	100,420	113,402	142,562	107,384	123,687	55,301
84
Articles of apparel and clothing accessories	38,710	46,359	54,438	62,792	69,808	71,379	73,077	71,022	24,125
65
Textile yarn, Fabrics, made-up articles NES and related products	13,431	16,718	16,674	20,177	25,627	31,319	35,550	38,171	14,634
89
Miscellaneous manufactured articles NES	7,672	9,803	11,084	11,452	16,247	16,609	17,509	24,418	7,601
66
Non-metallic mineral manufactures NES	19,644	21,890	17,287	15,125	13,795	14,137	16,272	22,052	7,207
29
Crude animal and vegetable materials NES	6,231	7,719	6,627	8,604	9,565	12,608	13,023	14,585	9,343

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) to whom the data are given which are supplied by applicants wishing to sell computers who are required to complete his Department's computer questionnaire; and if he will make a statement;

Applications for export licences and supporting data are considered by DTI officials and, in many cases, by officials of other Departments from whom the DTI seeks advice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are being taken to ensure that private entrances and exits, leading on to and off the main Belfast to Dublin road, in the immediate vicinity of the existing customs station at Newry, are kept clear of parked vehicles.

[holding answer 7 June 1988]: Prohibition of waiting by vehicles in the vicinity of the existing customs station, Newry, introduced by the Department of the Environment (NI) in 1981 and 1982 remain in force. Police and traffic wardens make every effort to ensure that traffic regulations in operation in the area are enforced.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the total staff and administration cost to his Department of the Chernobyl accident.

[holding answer 7 June 1988]: Precise figures are not available but staff costs incurred, in the main by the Department of Agriculture, Northern Ireland, are estimated at around £300,000. Some £70,000 has been spent on the purchase of produce for testing, live monitoring equipment and paint in connection with the operation of the mark and release scheme. A further £12,900 has been paid in compensation to producers affected by the movement restrictions on sheep.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make it his policy to monitor the numbers of gas disconnections; and if he will make a statement.

The numbers of gas disconnections are monitored by the Gas Consumers Council and Ofgas, and will continue to be so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the progress of plans to privatise electricity.

Discussions with the industry are continuing satisfactorily and our aim is to introduce legislation at the earliest opportunity.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he is considering, in his proposals for electricity privatisation, a system of compensating owners of power stations which are not being run at any given time because they are too expensive.

Arrangements governing the future operation of power stations will be set out in the power supply contracts. These should provide proper incentives to generators to provide supplies as economically as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy which nuclear power station Magnox reactors are currently out of operation; and when he expects each of them to he back in service.

I understand that the following four of the CEGB's Magnox reactors are out of service: Bradwell R1, Trawsfynydd R1, Berkeley R1 and Dungeness `A' R2. Bradwell R 1 and Trawsfynydd R1 are expected to return to service in June while Berkeley R1 and Dungeness 'A' R2 are expected to return in July.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the United Kingdom continues to act as guarantor power for Cyprus; what information he has as to how many Turkish and Greek troops there are in Cyprus; how many troops from each of these countries are authorised to be in Cyprus; and what estimate he has as to how many non-Cypriots are resident in the Turkish and Greek sectors of the island.

The United Kingdom continues to fulfil its obligations under the 1960 treaty of guarantee, by consulting our fellow guarantor powers from time to time.We estimate that there are between 28,000 and 30,000 Turkish troops and between 2,500 and 3,500 Greek troops stationed in Cyprus. The 1960 treaty of alliance provided for 650 Turkish troops and 950 Greek troops. We estimate that there are about 35,000 non-Cypriot settlers in the north. We have no figures for non-Cypriots resident in the south.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received concerning the implications for international relations of the proposal by the British Broadcasting Corporation to broadcast a concert celebrating the 70th birthday of Nelson Mandela.

The South African Government have made representations about the programme to us through the embassy at Pretoria.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people awaiting trial before magistrates and Crown courts were remanded in custody on 1 June; of that number, how many were held (a) in youth custody or juvenile remand centres, (b) in prisons, (c) in police stations, (d) in Army or other service establishments or (e) in other institutions; and if he will make a statement.

The most recent readily available information for prison department establishments is given in the following table. No untried prisoners were held in a youth custody centre or in Rollestone Army camp. In addition on 30 April, about 1,080 prisoners, most of whom were on remand, were held in police cells at police stations and magistrates courts.

Population of untried prisoners in Prison Department establishments on 30 April 1988; by type of establishment and age group
Type of establishment	14–20	21 and over	All ages
Remand centres	2,164	1,321	3,485
Prisons	526	4,851	5,377
All establishments	2,690	6,172	8,862

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the Army or other service establishments used to hold people remanded in custody awaiting trial before either magistrates or Crown courts on 1 June.

Only two Army camps have been brought into use as temporary prisons and these held no untried prisoners on 1 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the establishments, other than youth custody or juvenile remand centres, prisons, police stations, or establishments of the armed forces, which were used to hold people remanded in custody awaiting trial before either magistrates or Crown courts on 1 June.

Police cells at certain magistrates' courts were the only other type of accommodation used for untried prisoners on 1 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the people remanded in custody awaiting trial before magistrates or Crown courts on 1 June had been held in custody for a continuous period greater than (a) 12 months and (b) six months.

The latest information for untried prisoners on the length of time since initial remand in custody, relates to 30 June 1987 and is given in the reply I gave to a question from the hon. Member for St Helens, South (Mr. Bermingham) on 27 May 1988 at columns 379—80.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many of the people remanded in custody awaiting trial before magistrates or Crown courts on 1 June were women;(2) if he will list the establishments in which women were held on remand, and the numbers of women held in each one, on 1 June.

The most recent readily available information for prison department establishements relates to 30 April and is given in the following table. On that date no female prisoners were held in police cells at police stations or magistrates' courts.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Birkenhead will receive a reply to a letter written to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Grantham (Mr. Hogg) on 28 April, regarding the case of Mr. Roc Sandford.

I wrote to the hon. Member yesterday.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of visitors to the United Kingdom from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand in each of the years from 1976 to 1987 inclusive, broken down by country.

Information on the numbers of visitors admitted to the United Kingdom by nationality is published annually in table 1 of "Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom" (Cm 166 for the issue for 1986), copies of which are in the Library. The issue for 1987 will be published next month; however the figures requested for 1987 are as follows:

Nationality	Visitors given leave to enter for less than 12 months
	Ordinary	Business
Indonesia	9,560	2,000
Malaysia	32,500	4,750
Philippines	14,900	1,710
Singapore	23,800	4,290
Thailand	13,100	2,700

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were involved in the security exercise at Gatwick airport on 7 June; how many vehicles were stopped and searched; on whose authority the exercise was mounted; and what was the total cost involved in the exercise.

The security operation held at Gatwick airport on 7 June by the Sussex police was a routine operation and was approved by the Home Office. Because of the nature of the deployment it would not be appropriate to provide details of the number of police officers involved or the costs of the operation. The operation involved no change in the standard force procedures for stopping and searching vehicles.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had with disability organisations concerning the increase from 5p to £5 in the concessionary television licence for elderly and disabled people living in residential care; and if he will make a statement.

There was no need for consultation on this issue.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated net revenue will be from the recent increase in television licence fees for elderly and disabled people who live in sheltered housing or in residential homes.

About £2 million a year, which will cover the costs of collection and extensions to the scheme.

To ask the Attorney-General what is the current position regarding the inquiry relating to McDonald Wheeler Fund Management Ltd.; and if he will make a statement.

The director of the serious fraud office now has the conduct of the inquiry to which my hon. Friend refers. It is being pursued by a team of police officers, accountants and lawyers, but it is not yet complete.

To ask the Attorney-General what has been the total cost so far in terms of legal and other fees, travelling and expenses, Civil Service time and all other charges relating to the worldwide attempts by Her Majesty's Government to prevent the publication and distribution of the book "Spycatcher", including actions to prevent Mr. Peter Wright from receiving royalties from sales.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of yesterday to the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick).

To ask the Attorney-General what were the reasons for his intervention with regard to the Joseph Rowntree charitable trust and the Joseph Rowntree memorial trust following the trusts' public stance on the takeover bids for Rowntree plc by Nestle and Suchard.

A request for information was made on my behalf to the trustees of the Joseph Rowntree charitable trust and the Joseph Rowntree memorial trust in exercise of my responsibilities as protector of charity under the Crown, in the light of a report in The Daily Telegraph on 2 June.

To ask the Attorney-General whether he consulted the charity commissioners or any other body before making representations to the trustees of the Joseph Rowntree memorial and charitable trusts regarding their charitable responsibilities to their beneficiaries in the context of the proposed takeover of Rowntree plc.

The Treasury Solicitor sought information from officials of the Charity Commission as to the likely identities of the charitable trusts referred to in The Daily Telegraph's report of 2 June and requested copies of the relevant trust documents. No other body was consulted before these inquiries were made on my behalf.

To ask the Attorney-General when the social security commissioners will be ready to send the submission on the appeal made by Miss M. Murphy, promised within 30 days on 12 April, to Mr. A. McGuiness and Miss Murphy.

Copies of the document to which the hon. Member refers were sent to Mr. McGuiness and Miss Murphy on 8 June 1988.

To ask the Attorney-General what plans he has to introduce legislation relating to the parental rights of unmarried fathers; and if he will make a statement.

Part II of the Family Law Reform Act 1987 contains a number of provisions which improve the legal position of unmarried fathers. Other plans and priorities will determine when resources can be made available for the purpose of bringing part II into force, but the Lord Chancellor will keep the matter under close review.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue effect in 1988–89 of (a) abolishing the high rate of income tax, (b) abolishing all personal tax reliefs other than the personal allowances, and (c) the net revenue effect of combining both measures.

The direct cost in income tax revenue for a full year at 1988–89 levels of income of abolishing the higher rate of income tax is estimated at £2·7 billion. The direct cost in capital gains tax revenue on disposals in 1988–89 is estimated at £0·2 billion.Information on income tax reliefs is available only in respect of mortgage interest, retirement annuity premiums, employees' superannuation contributions and the business expansion scheme. The total direct revenue yield from abolishing these reliefs is estimated at £6·7 billion. The capital gains tax cost would be small.The net effect of abolishing these reliefs and the higher rate of tax would be a yield of some £3 billion. This estimate includes the consequential effects on revenue from capital gains tax on disposals in 1988–89. The income tax component makes no allowance for possible behavioural effects arising from the changes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to publish at the time of his Budget statement a full study of the redistributive effects of the taxation changes he is introducing.

There are no plans at present to add to the substantial amount of information already published on the effect of Budget proposals.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures showing, for families with one to four children, the income break-even levels, in £ sterling per week as a percentage of average male manual earnings, at which child benefit entitlement is the same as income tax liability.

The table sets out the weekly income levels for a married man whose wife is not working at which income tax liability equals child benefit entitlement at 1988–89 levels.

Break-even levels
Number of children	£ per week	As a percentage of average male manual earnings1
1	107·75	52·0
2	136·75	65·9
3	165·75	79·9
4	194·75	93·9
1 Average manual earnings for male aged over 21 working a full week are estimated to be £207·40 per week in 1988–89.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give for 1978–79 and 1988–89 or the most recent year available the total income before and after tax at constant prices for (a) the top 1 per cent., (b) the top 5 per cent. and (c) the top 10 per cent. and each 10 per cent. thereafter down to the bottom 10 per cent., including both working and non-working households in the figures and the percentage of income before and after tax accruing to each group.

[holding answer 7 June 1988]: Estimates for the years 1978–79, 1981–82 and 1984–85 of shares of income, before and after tax, received by quantile groups are contained in "The distribution of income in the United Kingdom 1984–85", published in the November 1987 edition of Economic Trends.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the income tax remitted to taxpayers at all levels since 1979; and if he will make a statement.

The amount of income tax remitted to taxpayers at all levels since 1979 was:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report his estimate of the gain to the revenue in a full year of increasing the rates of corporation tax and advance corporation tax, respectively, to 52 per cent.

The yield from increasing the main rate of corporation tax to 52 per cent. would be about £11 billion at 1987 levels of company profits and dividends. The additional yield from increasing the advance corporation tax rate and small companies rate to 52 per cent. would be about £2 billion. These estimates take no account of possible behavioural effects following such a change.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement concerning the decision of the Inland Revenue to cease the practice of enclosing pre-paid envelopes in correspondence with taxpayers.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 29 January 1988 at column 420 and to the Inland Revenue press release of the same date.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the total cost of mortgage interest tax relief for the United Kingdom as a whole and for England, also expressed in terms of the cost per mortgagor receiving tax relief and the cost per owner-occupied dwelling, for the financial years 1979–80 to 1987–88; and what is the estimated cost in respect of 1988–89.

Estimates for the United Kingdom for the years 1979–80 to 1988–89 and for England from 1979–80 to 1982–83 are given in the table. Figures for 1983–84 onwards include the cost of relief given to non-taxpayers.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the total value of mortgage interest relief forgone as tax income by the Inland Revenue, the total number of recipients of this relief and the average amount of relief received per mortgagor, respectively, in the United Kingdom, in England and in Greater London in each tax year from 1978–79 to 1987–88; and if he will give an estimate for 1988–89.

[holding answer 7 June 1988]: Estimates for the years 1978–79 to 1982–83 have been derived from the results of the survey of personal incomes and are given in the table.

Mortgage interest tax relief
	Total cost	Number of mortgagors	Average cost of relief
	£ million	thousands	£
1978–79
London	170	680	250
England	995	5,010	200
United Kingdom	1,110	5,600	200
1979–80
London	235	760	310
England	1,300	5,250	250
United Kingdom	1,450	5,890	245
1980–81
London	280	710	395
England	1,735	5,210	335
United Kingdom	1,960	5,860	335
1981–82
London	290	660	440
England	1,820	5,190	350
United Kingdom	2,050	5,850	350
1982–83
London	260	620	420

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the total cost of identifiable public expenditure; according to the main functions for housing in the years 1980–81 to 1987–88; and what was the expenditure per head of population for each of those years.

The table shows, in £ million and £ per head of the population, public expenditure on the housing function which can be identified as having been incurred in one of the four countries of the United Kingdom.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table comparable with that

Sales of Land and Buildings by Department, 1979–80 to 1990–91 (£ million)
	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91
	outturn	outturn	outturn	outturn	outturn	outturn	outturn	outturn	estimated outturn	plans	plans	plans
Defence	45	66	54	41	32	28	60	76	68	81	50	50
Foreign and Commonwealth Office1	—	—	2	—	3	2	12	6	10	10	10	10
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food2	9	21	13	12	11	11	20	31	29	10	10	10
Trade and Industry3	3	3	2	7	11	16	10	—	—	—	—	—
Employment	—	—	—	1	1	1	—	3	4	—	—	—
Transport	32	44	66	41	44	53	51	51	90	47	40	40
DOE-Housing	544	792	1,392	1,965	1,525	1,355	1,286	1,497	2,063	1,665	1,750	1,830
DOE-Other Environmental Services	121	192	215	288	314	394	458	634	883	853	720	690
Home Office and Legal departments4	22	26	26	39	70	69	70	90	48	65	50	40
Education and Science	20	25	47	46	46	79	101	118	114	105	110	110
Arts and Libraries	—	8	2	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—
DHSS-Health and Personal Social Services	15	22	25	27	45	64	103	164	221	212	210	210
DHSS-Social Security	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Scotland	42	81	133	190	230	251	228	245	292	292	260	240
Wales	19	27	102	137	90	82	84	92	116	111	110	110
Northern Ireland	1	—	1	3	3	4	4	8	13	13	10	10
Chancellor's Departments	—	—	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Other Departments5	5	9	7	16	8	8	24	39	38	35	40	50
Total	879	1,316	2,092	2,816	2,436	2,419	2,512	3,054	3,989	3,500	3,360	3,420
1 Including Overseas Development Administration.
2 Including Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce and Forestry Commission.
3 Including Export Credits Guarantee Department.

The table shows sales of land and buildings by Department for the years 1979–80 to 1990–91. The figures included sales by local authorities and new towns as well as central Government and are consistent with the figures published in the 1988 public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 288).

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the assumption on the rise in house prices in 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91 built into the figures given for receipts from sales of housing in table 3.6 Cm. 288–1.

It is not Government practice to publish assumptions which may be market sensitive.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the assumptions on interest rates for 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91 used in calculating table 2.17 of Cm. 288–1.

It is not the practice to give interest rate assumptions, which are market sensitive.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many chartered accountants are employed in the Civil Service.

About 275, or around a third of fully qualified accountants in the Civil Service.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the employment effect of (a) reducing the income tax take from higher-rate payers by £2 billion in a full year, (b) reducing the income tax take for standard rate payers by £2 billion in a full year and (c) increasing by £2 billion the resources of the National Health Service.

It has not been the practice to publish estimates of the economic effects of changes in taxation or public expenditure.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals are being made to the European Commission on taxation on tourists, in the light of the introduction of the European single market; and what representations he has received seeking a tourism or landing tax in the United Kingdom.

The Government have made no proposals to the European Commission on taxation of tourists. My right hon. Friend has received a small number of representations about imposing a tax on arrivals in or departures from the United Kingdom.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is his estimate of the cost of raising the tax allowance to £3,498, £3,848, £4,233, £4,656, £5,122, £5,634, respectively, for single pensioners aged 65 to 79 years;(2) what is his estimate of the cost of raising the tax allowance to £3,641, £4,005, £4,406, £4,846, £5,331, and £5,864, respectively, for single pensioners aged 80 years and over;

[holding answers 23 May 1988]: The estimated costs of increasing the age allowances from the levels proposed in the 1988 Budget are shown in the tables. All estimates are based on a projection of the 1985–86 survey of personal incomes and are therefore provisional.

Personal allowance	1988–89 Full year cost	Personal allowance	1988–89 Full year cost
£	£ million	£	£ million
Single aged 65–79		Single aged 80 years and over
13,180	—	13,310	—
3,498	60	3,641	15
3,848	115	4,005	35
4,233	170	4,406	50
4,656	225	4,846	65
5,122	285	5,331	80
5,634	325	5,864	95

Personal allowance	1988–89 Full year cost	Personal allowance	1988–89 Full year cost
£	£ million	£	£ million
Married aged 65–79		Married aged 80 years and over
15,035	—	15,205	—
5,538	85	5,726	5
6,093	165	6,298	15
6,702	245	6,927	20
7,372	325	7,621	25
8,109	400	8,383	35
8,920	480	9,221	40
1Proposed level of allowance in 1988–89.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pensioner tax units there are for the following levels of gross taxable earnings (a) £3,000 to £4,000, (b) £4,000 to £5,000, (c) £5,000 to £6,000, (d) £6,000 to £7,000, (e) £7,000 to £8,000, (f) £8,000 to £9,000, (g) £9,000 to £10,000, (h) £10,000 to £11,000, and (i) over £11,000, respectively.

[holding answer 23 May 1988]: Estimates are given in the table. The estimates are based on projections of the 1985–86 survey of personal incomes and the 1985 family expenditure survey and are therefore provisional.

Range of total income1	Estimated number of aged tax units2 in 1988–89
£ per year	thousands
3,000-	1,100
4,000-	860
5,000-	490
6,000-	290
7,000-	200

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence why there has been a consistent loss of professional and technological staff from his Department over the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

The number of MOD professional and technical officers (P and TOs) fell from 23,400 to 14,700 between 1 April 1983 and 1 January 1988. Most of this reduction is accounted for by the transfer out of MOD employment of P and TOs in the royal dockyards (3,200) and the royal ordnance factories (2,700). The balance is attributable partly to the general reduction in MOD manpower numbers and partly to a shortfall in replacing normal losses.As stated in paragraphs 518 to 520 of the "Statement on Defence Estimates 1988" the problems of recruitment and retention of civilian staff are being tackled in several ways: for P and TOs especially, by improved pay arrangements, a new recruitment strategy, and building on the progress made by the formation of the defence engineering service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost of the upgrading of the navigation attack system for the Royal Air Force Jaguar aircraft.

The update to the Jaguar navigation attack system is nearing completion at a cost of some £40 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost of the chaff and flare dispensers for Royal Air Force Jaguar aircraft.

My noble Friend the Minister of State for Defence Procurement will write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much longer the Royal Air Force Jaguar aircraft will remain in Royal Air Force service.

The Jaguar is planned to remain in service with the Royal Air Force until it is replaced by the European fighter aircraft, which we hope will enter service in the mid-1990s. This process is expected to be completed around the turn of the century.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Tornado F2/3 aircraft have been delivered to the Royal Air Force to date.

By the end of May 1988, a total of 94 aircraft had been delivered.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence why there is no mention of No. 51 squadron in the appendix to the current year's "Statement on Defence Estimates".

Annex C of volume 1 of the "Statement on the Defence Estimates 1988" is primarily concerned with front-line units. 51 squadron is not classified as a front-line unit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost of the strengthening of runways and taxiways at Royal Air Force Waddington for AWACS aircraft.

The cost of strengthening the runways and taxiways at Royal Air Force Waddington for the Boeing E-3 aircraft, AWACS, is £6·5 million. However, the opportunity has also been taken to carry out simultaneously other routine airfield pavement maintenance work at a further cost of approximately £1 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Agusta helicopters are in service with British forces.

A small number of Agusta helicopters are in service with British forces. It is not our practice to publish numbers of operational aircraft.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ask the National Radiological Protection Board to examine the incidence of (a) cataracts, (b) arthritis, (c) diabetes and (d) deformed children amongst nuclear test veterans.

As the right hon. Member is aware, the NRPB has after careful consideration of all the data available to it, made recommendations for relevant follow-up studies in its report. The Government have endorsed these recommendations which do not include the diseases referred to, which in any event are not included in any national register.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 27 May, when he expects the investigation into the loss and subsequent discovery of a document concerning routine refit work on HMS Hermione to be completed.

The investigation has been completed. It is not our normal practice to disclose the results of such investigations. However, I am satisfied that the loss of the document in question was accidental and measures have been taken to try and prevent a recurrence.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many troops were involved in the security exercise at Gatwick airport on 7 June; what was the purpose of the exercise; what equipment was deployed; and if any military personnel searched vehicles.

This was a routine security operation in support of the police. Such operations are conducted regularly for deterrent purposes. It is not the policy to give details of operational matters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in each of the years 1980–81 to 1987–88 and in projections for each year until 1990–91, how many school leavers aged 15, 16 and 17 years entered the employment market; how many of these gained places on the YTS or its predecessors; how many entered employment; how many were unemployed; of those entering the YTS, how many had employee status; and in the years after the introduction of the two-year YTS, how many second year trainees there were and how many of these had employee status.

The information which is available is given in the tables:

Table 1
Young People in the Labour Market—Great Britain Thousands
Young People leaving School for the Labour Market1					YTS Entrants (Financial year) Beginning in Year Shown)
(Academic Year Ending in Year Shown)
	Age 15	Age 16	Age 17	All
1981	500	70	60	630	n/a
1982	480	90	70	640	n/a
1983	490	90	80	660	333
1984	490	80	70	640	356
1985	470	80	70	620	350
1986	460	80	60	600	344
1987	440	80	60	580	2328
Projections
1988	410	80	60	550	331
1989	380	70	60	510	363
1990	360	70	60	480	358
1 Age at beginning of academic year and excluding leavers from further education. Figures may not add up due to rounding.
2 Provisional figure.

Table 2
Young People1 in training on YTS—Great Britain thousands
	All	With Employee Status	In First Year	In Second Year
January
1985	276	19	n/a	n/a
1986	274	22	n/a	n/a
1987	318	44	266	52
21988	395	57	243	152
1 Aged 18 or under at previous 31 August. Training Commission estimates based on information from the YTS Management Information System.
2 Provisional figures.

The other information requested is not readily available on a comparable basis and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.