To ask the Attorney-General how many extradition warrants are currently in existence for persons wanted for questioning in the United Kingdom about Irish Republican Army terrorist offences.

Warrants are not sought in order to obtain the return of fugitives from the Republic of Ireland for questioning by the police. They are sought only where there is sufficient admissible evidence to found a prosecution. It would not be in the public interest to give any details as to the number of warrants in existence in relation to terrorist offences.

To ask the Attorney-General, what steps are currently being taken to ensure that police officers from the United Kingdom are present in Irish courts to officially identify persons facing extradition proceedings to the United Kingdom.

The Irish authorities, who present applications to the Irish courts for the return of fugitives under the backing of warrants procedure, indicate to our authorities whether and, if so, what evidence will he needed from the United Kingdom as a matter of Irish law. The evidence as to identity which will be presented by the Irish state in any particular case will depend on the circumstances of that case, in the light of the view taken by the authorities in the Republic of the requirements of Irish law.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what evaluation his Department has conducted of the effects of the deficits facing (a) Dundee, (b) Aberdeen, (c) St. Andrews, (d) Strathclyde, (e) Stirling, (f) Heriot Watt, (g) Glasgow and (h) Edinburgh universities;(2) what extra allowance is under consideration for

Some Scottish and other universities are facing particularly difficult decisions on how best to plan an appropriate range and quality of provision with the resources at their disposal. The University Grants Committee monitors all institutions' planning and offers financial support from the restructuring programme for which £250 million has been set aside over three years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what discussions his Department has had with representatives of (a) Dundee, (b) Aberdeen, (c) St. Andrews, (d) Strathclyde. (e) Stirling, (f) Heriot Watt, (g) Glasgow and (h) Edinburgh universities about the effects of their cash shortfalls and the possible loss of staff.

In my year as Parliamentary Under-Secretary, I have visited six of the eight Scottish universities and discussed a wide range of higher education matters with staff and students. In addition, I receive many representations about their funding position.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what allowance has been made for the reduction in investment income which (a) Dundee, (b) Aberdeen, (c) St. Andrews, (d) Strathclyde, (e) Stirling, (f) Heriot Watt, (g) Glasgow and (h) Edinburgh universities have suffered as a result of the stock market crisis of October 1987 and of changes in interest rates.

As autonomous institutions universities are responsible for the management of their own financial affairs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to ensure that the Universities Grants Committee is able to meet the costs of academic pay rises in full.

It is for the universities to reach pay settlements with their staff which they can finance from within their income, from the Government and other sources.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many of the United Kingdom's 1,500 most potentially dangerous workplaces the technology division of the Health and Safety Executive has inspected and certified for fire precautions since 1976.

Of the approximately 1,300 premises which are subject to the Fire Certification (Special Premises) Regulations 1976, the HSE has issued approximately 600 fire certificates and surveyed a further 35. This is part of a continuing programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many of the United Kingdom's 1,500 most potentially dangerous workplaces the technology division of the Health and Safety Executive plans to inspect in the next 12 months.

Of the approximately 1,300 premises which are subject to the Fire Certification (Special Premises) Regulations 1976, HSE inspectors from the technology division expect to visit 215 in 1988–89. Some 600 certificates have already been issued, a further 35 premises have been surveyed and listed major hazard sites are also subject to other visits by HSE inspectors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what are the current numbers of applications for employment in Britain under the overseas labour scheme; and what were the figures for the years 1982 to 1987;(2) what are the current numbers of staff employed in the overseas labour section of the Department of Employment in the current year and each year from 1982 to 1987;(3) what is the average length of time it takes to deal with an application under the overseas labour scheme;(4) how many specialist

There are currently 4,320 work permit applications under consideration by the overseas labour section. Equivalent figures for earlier years are not available. At present the overseas labour section is taking 8–12 weeks on average to process applications.The information relating to specialist Gujarati, Punjabi and Bangladeshi cooks is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The current number of staff in post in the overseas labour section is 63. The total number of decisions made on aplications and the number of staff employed for each year from 1981–82 to 1987–88, are given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to the answer of Tuesday 28 June, Official Report, what is his estimate of the net cost in a full year of the employment training scheme taking into account the cost of benefits which would otherwise have to be paid.

The best estimate at present of expenditure on employment training in a full year is about £1.5 billion. Of this, the estimated cost of training allowances, including premiums over and above benefit levels, is £770 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all publications, and their date of publication, initiated by his Department in connection with the community charge, together with the cost of each and public funds; and if he will give the cost of newspaper and television advertising to date in connection with the communiity charge.

Two publications have been produced as part of the public infomation campaign of the community charge in Scotland. The leaflet "The New Community Charge" was published on 24 November 1987 at a total cost of about £17,000. The booklet "You and the Community Charge—A Step by Step Guide" was published on 3 March this year at a cost of about £246,000. Both these figures include distribution costs. The total cost of newspaper advertisiong so far is about £218,000. There has been no television advertising.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what further proposals he has for advertising in connection with the introduction of the poll tax in Scotland; and what will be the estimated costs.

The public information campaign on the community charge in Scotland will include further press adverisements at appropriate points in the run-up period to introduction on 1 April 1989. No estimates of cost are available at this stage.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Londonderry of 16 June, Official Report, column 194, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the Thames Valley police as to how many (a) persons who made written statements to police officers, and (b) solicitors representing persons who made written statements to police officers, concerning matters leading up to the shootings by the late Michael Ryan in Hungerford, have requested copies of these written statements from any police officer or civilian; what were the dates of such requests; whether copies have been given or sent to those persons or their solicitors; and when the chief constable or other police officers or civilians intend to deal with those requests to which they have not as yet given an answer.

Since I answered the hon. Member's question on 16 June I have been informed by the chief constable of the Thames Valley police that his force has traced one such request, which was made by a firm of solicitors in early May. That request was for a copy of a statement taken by the Wiltshire police and the solicitors were therefore advised to contact the chief constable of Wiltshire. I have been further informed that two complaints were made against the Thames Valley police in the aftermath of the Hungerford shootings and that it is possible that some requests have been made and met for copies of statements taken in connection with the investigation of these complaints. But no central record has been kept of any such requests and detailed checking would therefore be necessary in order to establish if any were made and if so what happened to them. This could only be done at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the extent to which financial inducements are being offered by people abroad in return for engagements or marriage with a United Kingdom resident for the purposes of assisting immigration into the United Kingdom.

No such information is now available, nor is it likely to become available. The discouragements to such practices already in the immigration rules will be reinforced by the recent repeal of section 1(5) of the Immigration Act 1971.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the number of stages in immigration appeal systems in all Council of Europe member states, including the United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom the appeals system consist of two tiers. Appeals are normally heard by an adjudicator sitting along in the first instance but there is an avenue of appeal, usually with leave, to the tribunal if either party is dissatisfied with the adjudicator's decision. Information on immigration appeals systems which operate in other Council of Europe countries is not readily available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy that no one who has been associated with illegal radio broadcasting stations will be considered for any licence to run an approved community radio station; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Edgbaston (Dame Knight) on 21 June, at column 485.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he now expects to announce further details regarding the legislative implementation of his Department's policy on community radio stations; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to his earlier question on 25 May, at column 172.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unopened items of mail there are at Lunar House, Croydon, as at 28 June.

On 28 June there were 870 items unopened mail in the immigration and nationality department. All these were applications for citizenship received since 10 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to publish his views on the DNA tests pioneered by Dr. Jefferies of Leicester university.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the Hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on Thursday 16 June, at columns 200–1.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the total grants to the National museum of Wales for every year since 1978–79 up to and including that planned for 1988–89; and if he will break the figures down for (a) current expenditure, (b) capital expenditure arid (c) purchase grants.

The information is shown in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what Welsh local authorities spent on (a) the arts, (b) museums and (c) libraries in every year since 1978–79; and if he will estimate their expenditure on each in 1988–89.

Details of expenditure on (a) museums and art galleries and (b) libraries are given in the following table. They illustrate the increases that have taken place every year since 1978–79. No information is held centrally on expenditure on the arts although such information is published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in "Leisure arid Recreation Statistics".

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement, following the recent consultation exercise, on the proposals to bring competition to the management of local authority sport and leisure facilities.

My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment, for Wales and for Scotland have considered very carefully the wide-ranging responses to consultation. They have decided that the competitive tendering regime provided for in part I of the Local Government Act 1988 should be applied to the management of sport and leisure facilities. We will therefore lay an order under section 2(3) of the Act to make the management of sport and leisure facilities a defined activity for the purpose of the Act. Before laying the order we shall undertake the consultation as provided for by section 2(4) of the Act.My hon. Friend the Minister with responsibility for sport has provided a very detailed explanation of the proposals for implementation in his statement earlier today. In Wales, competition will be implemented in five stages over a two-year period beginning 1 February 1992. the two-year period acknowledges the low threshold of private sector capacity in this field in Wales at present. The local authority groupings used in the main implementation programme for services defined by the Act will also apply to sport and leisure facilities.I have arranged for copies of a schedule giving full details of implementation by date and local authority grouping to be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the trade difference with other European Economic Community countries in manufacturing goods, excluding precious stones, for the first five months of the year, at an annualised rate.

There was a crude deficit of £5·8 billion in the first five months of the year, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. Annualised figures can be an unreliable guide to the outturn for the year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) if Hubday Ltd. of the Isle of Man has applied to his Department for permission to export toxic wastes to Guinea-Bissau;(2) if Bis Import-Export Ltd. of London has applied to his Department for export licences to ship

[holding answer 28 June 1988]: It has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on individual licensing matters. Export licences would be required for the export of any toxic or radioactive wastes containing chemicals or materials specified in the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what arrangements were made to fly the Union flag on the Department of Agriculture (Northern Ireland) buildings at the Mall, Armagh, on the date of Her Majesty's official birthday; whether the Union flag was flown on that day; whether the person responsible for flying the Union flag at these premises had been advised of the appropriate dates to fly the Union flag; and what further arrangements are being made to ensure that advice as to the matter is being implemented.

I regret that the Union flag was not flown on the Department of Agriculture drainage office in the Mall, West, Armagh, on the occasion of Her Majesty's official birthday on 11 June 1988. The Department of Agriculture advises staff in writing each year of all days which the Union flag is to be flown. The date appointed for the official celebration of Her Majesty's birthday, which is variable, is subsequently confirmed by telephone. It appears that this latter advice was not received in the Armagh office in respect of Her Majesty's official birthday. Arrangements have now been made for the date to be confirmed in writing each year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Northern Ireland civil servants are on secondment to various Departments in the Home Civil Service.

There are 1,244 complemented posts in the Northern Ireland Office allocated to civil servants who are seconded from the Northern Ireland Civil Service. Three of these are serving in the Northern Ireland Office (London); the remainder serve in Northern Ireland. A further three Northern Ireland civil servants are on secondment to the Overseas Development Agency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the average time taken to satisfy a housing transfer request in East Antrim.

This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. I understand from the chief executive that the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many representations have been received in opposition to educational attainment testing at seven years for primary school children.

Approximately 5,500 responses to the consultative document have been received, but not all of these have been analysed at this stage. However, many of the submissions contain detailed and constructive comments upon particular aspects including testing at age seven and these simply could not be summarised in general categories such as "for" and "against".

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to ensure that sewage treatment facilities will be provided for the treatment of sewage at Ashvale park, Islandmagee, where untreated sewage is currently being discharged into the sea.

There are no plans at present to alter the arrangements for disposing of sewage from the Ashvale park area of Islandmagee.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to provide closer links between primary and secondary schools.

The Department of Education will continue to encourage the establishment of links between primary and secondary schools, particularly where they are to the benefit of the pupils in their educational and social development.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the extensions and modernisations carried out in 1986, 1987, and 1988 in maintained schools in Northern Ireland.

The following extensions and modernisations have been approved to begin construction at maintained schools in Northern Ireland in the financial years 1986–87, 1987–88 and 1988–89.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he has any plans to seek to create a single elected education authority for Northern Ireland.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the strength of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve for each year from 1980.

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the processing of single payment claims, indicating the month in which the non-urgent claims now being processed in each social security office were made.

At 11 April 1988 there were approximately 80,000 single payment claims to be processed. This number had reduced to 18,446 by 24 June 1988, the latest date for which figures are available. Information is not collected on the urgency or otherwise of claims and information on the various dates of the claims now being processed could only be obtained at disproportionate cost and with consequent delays to their clearance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland wht consideration has been or is being given to making special staffing arrangements to have the outstanding single payment claims processed as soon as possible.

Extra staffing resources, including overtime and detached duty staff, have been allocated to social security offices as necessary to ensure that the outstanding single payment claims are processed as quickly as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Department of Health and Social Services estimate that each social security office will have completed their processing of single payment claims.

It is estimated that all single payment claims will have been cleared in 26 offices by 30 June 1988, in a further six offices by the end of July and in the remaining two (Londonderry and Strabane) by the end of August.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether AI Services (NI) Society Ltd. will be required to provide its service to persons who are not members of the society.

[holding answer 24 June 1988]: No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has agreed to AI Services (NI) Society Ltd. charging clients any fee in addition to the normal charge for the artificial insemination service which it is to provide; whether it will be free to charge such additional fees; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 24 June 1988]: In making its application for the licence, AI Services (Northern Ireland) Society Ltd. indicated that each user of the service would be required to purchase a share in the society. The level fee is a matter for the society.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information he has as to how many shareholders there were in AI Services (Northern Ireland) Society Ltd. when he decided to give it the licence to provide an artificial insemination service for cattle producers.

[holding answer 24 June 1988]: In submitting their application for the licence, Al Services (Northern Ireland) Society Ltd., a proposed new industrial and provident society or co-operative limited company, indicated support from 11 founder society members with some 16,700 individual members.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Slough of 7 June, Official Report, column 465, on maintaining contacts with a wide range of political opinion in southern Africa, he will list those political leaders in Bophuthatswana with whom his officials have had contact in the last 12 months.

Within the limitations of our policy of non-recognition, our embassy in South Africa maintains contact with a range of political and community leaders in Bophuthatswana.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to which Comecon countries permit small independent businesses to exist and own business assets.

The position varies considerably among the 10 CMEA member countries. Small independent businesses are most developed in Poland and Hungary, and least in Romania, where they are not permitted. They operate chiefly in the services sector. I am writing to my hon. Friend about the detailed position in each country.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last visited the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg.

My right hon. and learned Friend last visited the European Parliament on 10 December 1986 to report on the United Kingdom's Presidency of the Council. I regularly visit the European Parliament during its plenary sessions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the head of British interests in Argentina will meet the chief executive of the Argentine Broadcasting Authority to discuss English language transmissions to the Falkland Islands.

No such meeting has been requested and we have no plans at present to arrange one.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the cost to his Department of the immigration appeals system for the last five years.

It is not possible to isolate or apportion the cost of the immigration appeals system within the overall cost of the entry clearance operation overseas since the staff concerned spend varying amounts of their time on appeal-related work.However, the appeals system has significant manpower implications. A recent exercise undertaken in respect of visit appeals only showed that, in the Diplomatic Service, an estimated 53·5 United Kingdom based man-years are taken up by the preparation of explanatory statements plus the need for more in-depth interviews and note-taking at a conservative estimated cost of around £5 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statment on Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the draft United Nations convention on the rights of the child indicating any articles to which Her Majesty's Government object or seek to amend.

We support the draft United Nations convention on the rights of the child and have played a leading role in its drafting. There are no articles to which we object but they are seeking amendments to clarify or modify the text of the following articles to ensure that they are consistent with United Kingdom legal and administrative provisions: articles 2, 3(3), 4(1), 4(2), 5(bis), 6(1), 6(2), 6(bis), 7, 7(bis), 8, 10, 11(1), 11(2), 15(3), 18(2), 18(ter), 18(quinto), 18(sixt), 19, 20.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken to ensure that a healthy diet is available to all; and if he will make a statement.

We have acted to ensure that there is a plentiful supply of wholesome and varied food, at competitive prices, which is compositionally and hygienically safe and that there is adequate information available so that all consumers can make informed choices and obtain a balanced diet which is best suited to their individual health and lifestyle requirements.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much his Department has spent on investigating the disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy for each year since 1980.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy was first identified in December 1986. The cost of investigatory and research work from then until 31 March this year has been about £420,000.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the arrangements with the European Economic Community for 1992 will involve any relaxation of United Kingdom quarantine and rabies rules; and if he will make a statement.

The Government have no plans to relax the rabies controls, including the quarantine requirements.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what further assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the mark and release scheme in preventing radioactive sheep from entering the food chain; and if he will make a statement.

The mark and release scheme permits sheep that have been live-monitored to leave the restricted areas. Those above 1,000 Bq/kg are marked with a distinctive paint mark to ensure that they are not slaughtered until restrictions on them are lifted. Sheep were marked blue between 28 September 1987 and 10 January 1988. Restrictions on blue-marked sheep were lifted on 1 June 1988.Radioactivity levels in sheep fall at a rapid and steady rate once they have left the restricted area. The biological half life of the caesium in sheep grazing clean pasture is 10 days. Farmers outside the restricted area were therefore able to have blue-marked sheep remonitored and if they were no longer above the action level they were released from restriction by attaching a distinctive ear tag. It was not necessary to await a change of colour for such remonitoring to take place. 5,500 blue-marked sheep were remonitored; 33 were found to he above the action level in late 1987. These were subsequently remonitored and levels had fallen as expected. No blue-marked sheep have been found above the action level since January and the Ministry is entirely satisfied that no blue-marked sheep above the action level entered the food chain.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what green pound changes were recommended for each country of the EEC in the proposals agreed by 11 member states at the recent Council meeting; and what effect these will have on the penalties for the overproduction of cereals agreed by Heads of Government at the meeting of the European Council in February.

[holding answer 27 June 1988]: The answers to my hon. Friend's question are given in the following table, the final column of which shows the effect that the proposed green rate changes, agreed by eleven member states at the end of the recent Agriculture meeting in Luxembourg on 17 June, would have on cereal support prices in national currencies. The decisions reached by the European Council in February 1988 on cereals stabilisers are not affected. The maximum impact on effective cereals support, if the stabiliser mechanisms are fully triggered by this year's harvest, would be a 3 per cent reduction in all member states in the 1989–90 marketing year, plus an increase in the co-responsibility level from 3 per cent. to 6 per cent. from 1 July this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Burnley given on 21 June, if he will now make it his policy to keep statistics on the movement of nuclear waste within United Kingdom airspace.

No. Safety is ensured by prescribing design standards for the containers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to report to the House the full details of the disposal by National Bus Company of its assets with the names of the companies concerned and the details of the transactions.

I hope to make a statement on the aggregate proceeds of the disposal programme shortly. Details of individual transactions will not be disclosed for commercial reasons.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many appeals against planning refusals in the county of Cambridgeshire he has received in each of the last 10 years; how many he approved or rejected in each of the years; and if he will give the same figures for East Anglia as a whole and for England and Wales over the same period.

The comparative figures requested are readily available only for the period since 1 January 1984. These are given in the table. Decisions issued in a particular year do not necessarily relate to the appeals received in that year; and some of the appeals received were withdrawn before being determined.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the latest figures for the number of council tenants who were in arrears for their rent payments.

Latest estimates of the number of local authority tenants in arrears with their rent and rates are published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in "Housing Rent Statistics at April 1987", which is in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the latest figures available to him on the number of mortgage repossessions by building societies.

For the latest available figures, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Mr. Soley) on 27 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his answer of 23 June, giving illustrative community charge figures, he will deposit in the Library a table showing all the variables needed to calculate the figures, including data for each local authority, class of local authority and England as a whole.

I have today placed in the Library a note setting out the data sources and calculations used to produce the figures given in my reply of 23 June together with a table showing the relevant data for each local authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the membership of the Sports Council.

In recent years, the Sports Council has played an important role in encouraging the extensive increase in opportunities for people to participate in sport. In Great Britain, overall levels of participation have risen from 17 million in 1977 to 23 million in 1986 and are continuing to rise. A wider variety of sports are being played, and in some areas we have seen higher levels of performance and achievement. Sports men and women have ever rising expectations of the facilities they need, as well as more exacting requirements for specialist support at the highest levels of achievement.These trends suggest that, in common with the roles of the governing bodies, the role of the Sports Council is vital to the future of sports at all levels. To fulfil that role, the Sports Council needs to he able to respond quickly and flexibly to changing demands and expectations.In my open letter of 19 November to the Chairman of the Sports Council, I asked whether there is a case for a smaller membership of the council. I have now considered the responses to that question and the further comments which I have received from the Central Council of Physical Recreation. Many respondents took the view that the Sports Council in its present form is too large and unwieldy. I share that view and intend, therefore, to reduce the membership of the Sports Council to less than half its present size. This will bring the size of the Council into line with that of the other non-departmental public bodies sponsored by my Department.To bring about this change, I have today written to those members of the council whose appointments expire today to tell them that they are not to be reappointed. I have also written to a number of others, inviting them to resign with effect from 31 July. I have it in mind to make a number of new appointments on that date.In the course of my review of sports policies, I will be considering a number of issues during the rest of this year. In particular, I want to examine how we might place greater emphasis on the work of the regional councils for sport and recreation in the context of developing the role of the new Sports Council.I am certain that the Sports Council will wish to develop new consultative arrangements, involving the chairman of the regional councils for sport, the governing bodies of sport, local authorities, sportsmen and women, and others. The form of that consultation will be a matter for the new council to consider.This is the first in a series of important initiatives setting the scene for the structure and direction of sports policy for the 1990s.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will announce the Government's decisions, following the recent consultation exercise, on the proposals to bring competition to the management of local authority sport and leisure facilities.

I refer my hon. Friend to the statement that I made earlier today.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service which private office telephone numbers have changed since the February edition of the Cabinet Office publication "List of Ministerial Responsibilities"; which have numbers yet to be changed on present plans; when those changes will be complete; and when this document will be available reprinted to include these changes.

[holding answer 27 June 1988]: I am sending details of changes in private office telephone numbers since February to my hon. Friend and will place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House. No further changes are anticipated until March 1989. In accordance with normal practice. I expect the next edition of the list of ministerial responsibilities to be published during the summer recess.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amounts of income tax were or are payable by a single person with the following gross earnings in each of the specified years: (a) £4,000 in 1985–86, (b) £4,210 in 1986–87, (c) £4,440 in 1987–88 and (d) £4,680 in 1988–89.

The information is in the table. It is assumed that no allowances or reliefs other than the single personal allowance are claimed.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the hon. Member for Taunton can expect to receive a reply to his question tabled for answer on 17 June relating to income tax payable at certain levels of income.

[holding answer 30 June 1988]: Today.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what were the total grants made under the business sponsorship incentive scheme to arts organisations in Wales for each year since its inception; and what was the total related sponsorship for the same years.

Awards paid and related sponsorship in each financial year amounted to:

To ask the Minister for the Arts what proportion of total central Government spending on Wales was represented by central Government expenditure on arts, museums and libraries in Wales in 1987–88 and 1988–89.

In Wales, central Government spending on arts, museums and libraries in 1987–88 and 1988–89 from my programme and that of the Secretary of State for Wales represents approximately 1·5 per cent. of total central Government spending there.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what information he has as to how many clients of the Arts Council have equal opportunities policies.

The Arts Council expects all its clients to have equal opportunities policies, and monitoring of these policies forms part of the Arts Council's regular evaluation of its clients.

To ask the Minister for the Arts (1) what has been the level of expenditure per capita on libraries in each of the past 10 years;(2) what has been the level of expenditure, per capita. on libraries in

Expenditure per capita over the last 10 years in respect of the British Library, which is the only library expenditure borne on the Vote of my Department was:

To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will publish a table showing (a) the total budget, (b) earned income and (c) income from sponsorship and expressing both (b) and (c) as a percentage of (a) (i) the Tate gallery, (ii) the National gallery, (iii) the British museum, (iv) the Victoria and Albert museum, (v) the National portrait gallery, (vi) the Science museum, (vii) the National maritime museum, (viii) the National museum of photography, television and film, (ix) the Natural history museum, (x) the Imperial war museum and (xi) the Yorkshire sculpture park in each of the last five years.

The information that the hon. Member has requested is not held centrally and cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost. Levels of grant-in-aid and non-grant income for the national museums and galleries that I sponsor are published annually in the Supply Estimates.

To ask the Minister for the Arts (1) what information he has as to what has been the education budget of (a) the Tate gallery, (b) the National gallery, (c) the British museum, (d) the Victoria and Albert museum, (e) the National portrait gallery, (f) the Science museum, (g) the National maritime museum, (h) the Natural history museum, (i) the Imperial war museum, (j) the National museum of photography, television and film and (k) the Yorkshire sculpture park in each of the last five years;(2) what information he has as to what has been the advertising and marketing budget for

The budgets of individual institutions cannot be broken down to give the detail the hon. Member has requested without disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will undertake an investigation into the effects of his recent social security changes on war widows.

War widows' pensions were not affected by the recent changes: they were uprated in line with the retail prices index on 11 April in the normal way. In general, war widows receiving social security benefits as well as war widows' pensions are affected in the same way as any other recipients, except that for income-related benefits the statutory disregard of war widows' pension has been increased by 25 per cent. to £5. In addition, war widows who satisfy the conditions can receive the new £1,000 lump sum paid to national insurance widows as well as the standard or lower rate of war widows pension. Local authorities have retained the discretion to disregard war widows' pensions in calculating entitlement to housing benefit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what action is being taken by the chairman of the distinction awards committee in the light of the criticisms by the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration in its 18th report;(2) what advice or instructions have been given to local distinction awards committees in the light of criticisms made by the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration in its 18th report.

In its 18th report, the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body asked the Health Departments and the professions to consider a number of changes to the distinction awards system. We are currently considering those recommendations and will then discuss with the profession any proposals for change.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish guidelines for district health authorities on income generation.

Guidance to health authorities was issued on 5 April in the form of a letter from the NHS management board director of financial information. A copy has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services when he anticipates announcing the date of the changes in payment for the sight test.

Subject to the enactment of the Health and Medicines Bill, it is expected that free NHS sight tests will be confined to groups of patients specified in the Bill or in regulations with effect from 1 April 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what part his Department played in the recent investigation into the running of a London borough of Greenwich children's home at Green lane, SE9; and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for investigating allegations of malpractice at Green lane Community Home lies with the London borough of Greenwich. The Department's social services inspectorate has, however, been kept informed of progress and developments in the inquiry undertaken by the borough and has been able to offer professional advice and support. A thorough management investigation by senior council officers is considered an appropriate way of dealing with allegations of the kind that have been made.The council has asked the social services inspectorate to scrutinise the investigation and the findings recorded in the report of its social services committee working party in relation to the allegations. The inspectorate has undertaken to offer comment on any pertinent professional and service issues and this will be done as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he proposes to take with respect to the projected £1·25 million overspend in the current financial year by the Leeds Western area health authority; and if he will make a statement.

It is the responsibility of Leeds Western health authority to consider how the recently identified overspending should be addressed, in consultation with Yorkshire regional health authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his latest estimate of the annual cost to local authorities of providing post-qualifying training to social workers.

Information on costs to local authorities of providing post-qualifying training to social workers is not held centrally. Information provided by the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work is that 249 social workers were admitted to post-qualifying courses in 1987. About half of these were seconded by their employers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what measures he is taking to ensure that the true redundancy and severance pay implications for health authorities of private contractors' tenders for hospital services are independently assessed.

Tendering and contractual matters are already subject to independent audit. Additionally, guidance to health authorities already makes it clear that authorities must give an estimate of redundancy costs that arise if a contract is awarded to an outside contractor, when issuing tenders. Authorities may also consider spreading those costs over a period longer than the intended contract period where local circumstances make this appropriate. The 1987 National Audit Office report on competitive tendering in the NHS concluded that procedures for evaluating tenders and awarding contracts were being implemented fairly and in accordance with departmental guidance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has taken steps to ensure that health authorities properly estimate the value of existing plant and machinery when they require private contractors to purchase it as part of a tender for hospital services; and whether he will ensure that such estimates are reviewed independently.

Detailed guidance to health authorities on this type of contract stresses the need for authorities to arrive at valuations which are seen to be fair and realistic

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he will take to ensure that successful in-house tenders for hospital services are properly monitored.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to ensure that health authorities monitor the costs of successful in-house lenders for hospital services.

Guidance to health authorities already stresses the continuing need for effective monitoring and control of contracts whether held by in-house teams or private contractors. To assist health authorities in this task the Department part-financed a study on contract monitoring for domestic, catering and laundry services sponsored by the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust. The study, carried out by outside consultants, resulted in the publication of a practical guide and handbook on the management and monitoring of contracts for these services, which was issued by the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust to health authorities last November arid includes specific guidance on contracts awarded in-house.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how much his Department has spent on training staff employed in benefit offices in the administration of the new social security rules.

£21 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children have been admitted to hospital during each of the past five years following accidents suffered while using baby-walkers or other infants' walking devices.

I have been asked to reply.Home accidents to children under five years old using baby-walkers are recorded in the Department of Trade and Industry's home accident surveillance system (HASS) which covers a sample of accident and emergency (A and E) Departments in 20 hospitals in England and Wales.The most recent five-year period for which HASS figures are available is 1982–86. In these years HASS recorded the following number of accidents: