To ask the Attorney-General what plans there are to alter the status of the Wales and Chester circuit; and if he will make a statement.

There are no plans to alter the status of the Wales and Chester circuit.

To ask the Attorney-General if he now has information relating to fees claimed by prosecuting counsel and defence costs payable out of the legal aid fund for each of the trials associated with alleged football violence which have been abandoned in the current year.

The fees payable to prosecuting counsel in these cases have not yet been finally assessed. Defence costs are determined by an officer of the Crown Court upon receipt of the lawyers' claims for fees. A number of claims have been received, but not all, so these fees also have not yet been finally assessed.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's assessment of the specific (a) advantages and (b) disadvantages to the United Kingdom of the establishment of the European single market.

The establishment of the single market will bring great advantages for United Kingdom business through increased trading opportunities elsewhere in the Community. Greater competition in the United Kingdom market from firms in other member states will mean new challenges for our companies, but will also stimulate efficiency and bring benefits to consumers.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will expedite the revision of the Palace of Westminster directory to take account of the new telephone numbers of Government Departments, particularly the Departments of Environment and Transport.

The Palace of Westminster telephone directory is being reprinted at present and revised telephone numbers supplied by Government Departments will be included in the reprint. The next issue will be available in August.As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport informed my hon. Friend in his written answer on 4 July at column

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants were deported in each of the past 10 years.

The numbers removed as illegal immigrants are published in table 23 of "Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom 1987" (Cm. 415), copies of which are in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the 27 HIV positive cases in Her Majesty's prison Brixton in 1985–86 came to be identified as such.

HIV antibody positive prisoners are identified at Brixton prison as at other prison service establishments, by medical inquiry and examination. Brixton reported no such cases in 1985–86.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, pursuant to his answer of 14 June, Official Report, column 95, he will give the details and outcome of the four prosecutions in 1979 referred to therein.

The information requested is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost of the special constabulary in the last financial year for which figures are available; and what percentage of total police costs for that year were attributable to the special constabulary in respect of each police force in England and Wales.

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last conducted a review of the recruitment, deployment, pay and conditions of special constables; and if he will make a statement.

In December 1987 my right hon. Friend convened a national conference on the special constabulary. The conference was attended by senior police officers from every force in England and Wales and members of the special constabulary and other observers. All aspects of the special constabulary were discussed, with particular emphasis on how to increase its strength and improve its deployment. A report of the conference has been circulated to all forces and we are considering further action on a number of the issues raised.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the establishment of special constables in each police force in England and Wales in the latest year for which statistics are available; and if he will make a statement.(2) what was the establishment of special constables in each police force in England and Wales in each of the years 1979 to 1985; and if he will make a statement.

There is no centrally approved establishment figure for special constables. Their appointment is at the discretion of individual chief officers, who are encouraged to enrol as many specials as they can usefully train and deploy. The number of special constables in each force, as at 31 December, in the years 1979 to 1987, is shown in the table:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Her Majesty's prison Medomsley, Consett, County Durham (a) was refurbished and (b) is expected to be reoccupied; and what are the reasons for the delay.

Her Majesty's prison Medomsley has not been subject to general refurbishment, but a new kitchen has recently been constructed and some additional office accommodation provided. The establishment was temporarily closed in October last year so that the staff could be deployed to areas of pressing need in other prisons. No date has yet been fixed for reoccupation of the establishment.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) pursuant to the answer of 27 June, Official Report, column 34, what information his Department collects regarding the downgrading of category B prisoners to category C;(2) pursuant to the answer of 27 June,

From information supplied by prison department establishments holding sentenced adult male prisoners, a central computer system, the prison index, maintains information on prisoners' current security categories. This infomation is used to compile statistics showing the distribution of prisoners by their current security categories. The prison index is not capable of analysing information relating to previous security categories which would be required to monitor the numbers of prisoners downgraded from category B to category C. Work is in hand to replace the prison index by a more modern and more powerful system which will enable this information to be extracted.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in each of the past five years his Department has authorised joint security operations between the police and military personnel.

The military are under a common law duty to assist the police when called upon to do so. This assistance does not necessarily require the approval of my Department, and no central records are kept of the number of occasions when military assistance is provided.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) killed and (b) injured on the mainland as a result of Irish Republican Army and Irish National Libertion Army terrorist attacks since 1969.

[holding answer 1 July 1988]: Information is not available in the form requested. The number of homicides in England and Wales attributed to acts of terrorism connected with Northern Ireland since 1974 is published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", copies of which are in the Library (Table 4.5 of Cm. 233 gives figures for 1976–86). There were 90 such deaths in 26 incidents during the period 1972 to 1987. Information on the number of terrorist incidents causing injury is only complete since 1980. During the period 1980 to 1987 there were 10 such incidents in which some 220 people were recorded as having been injured.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what impact the completion of the internal market in the European Community will have upon the ability of member countries to offer for sale tickets in a national lottery in other member states.

[holding answer 28 April 1988]: There are no measures in the single market programme at present specifically relating to lotteries and, in their absence, the controls which United Kingdom law places on lotteries would not appear to be affected.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the total police costs arising from the visit to London by President Reagan on 2 June.

[holding answer 10 June 1988]: I understand from the Metropolitan police and the City of London police that the additional costs of the visit amounted to about £7,800.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the future of the assessment of performance unit and. its proposed role within the development of a national curriculum.

The assessment of performance unit will continue its programme of surveys of pupils' performance in language, science, maths, design and technology and foreign languages. In addition to offering insight into pupils' performance to help teachers and teacher training, data from the surveys will form part of a baseline against which to evaluate the introduction of the national curriculum in future years. On completion of the survey programme, the work of the APU will be subsumed by that of the School Examinations and Assessment Council and the National Curriculum Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in the Official Report the names of those organisations and individuals who have made representations to him concerning automatic membership of student unions; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply of 10 June at column 691. Most of the representations received have been from members of the public including constituents' letters forwarded by hon. Members. It would not be appropriate to list the names in the Official Report.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the current rate of inflation in house prices.

Department of the Environment estimates show that the prices of dwellings purchased in the United Kingdom with building society loans rose on average by 21 per cent. between the first quarter of 1987 and the first quarter of 1988.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the trend in the number of civil servants over the past five years.

The number of civil servants at 1 April 1988 was 579,627, reflecting a reduction of 7·1 per cent. on the total for five years ago of 623,972. The detailed trend is shown in the table.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what proportion of executive officer and clerical officer entrants to the Civil Service in 1987 were graduates.

The Civil Service Commission recommended for appointment to executive officer and equivalent grades 4,052 candidates in 1987 of whom 2,281 (56 per cent.) were graduates.Figures for the number of graduates appointed as administrative officers (formerly clerical officers) are not available as recruitment is carried out locally by individual Government Departments and not by the Civil Service Commission.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what has been the level of expenditure, per capita, on arts in (a) Great Britain and (b) England in each of the last 10 years.

The annual grant from the Office of Arts and Libraries to the Arts Council, the British Film Institute, the Crafts Council and the National Film and Television School, per head of the whole population, amounted to the following sums in each of the last three years:

To ask the Minister for the Arts what has been the level of expenditure, per capita, on museums in each of the past 10 years.

The expenditure on museums and galleries borne on the votes of the Office of Arts and Libraries and its predecessors in each of the last 10 years per head of United Kingdom population in each of those years has been as follows:

To ask the Minister for the Arts what has been the level of expenditure on housing the arts in each of the last 10 years.

The information that is readily available relates to Arts Council expenditure in Great Britain over the last three years. It is as follows:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what response he has received from private sector industry in the north-west to his inner-cities initiative.

The private sector has responded very well to our inner-cities policies in the north-west. The Action for Cities working breakfasts held in Manchester and Liverpool attracted over 400 business men, almost one third of whom have already offered to help. Examples of the offers of help from the private sector include secondments, use of a redundant sports centre to help handicapped and able-bodied unemployed people, free consultancies and land use for investment and managed work space purposes We are also making encouraging progress in the three inner city task forces based in the north-west that are working with 23 businesses which have committed funds of almost half a million pounds.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he last met the chairman of the Post Office; and what matters were discussed.

I last met the chairman of the Post Office on 4 July and our discussion covered a broad range of topics on the activities and performance of the Post Office group.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he last met representatives of the Society of British Aerospace Manufacturers; and what matters were discussed.

I last formally met representatives of the Society of British Aerospace Companies on 18 November 1987. A wide range of topics covering the aerospace industry was discussed.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimates exist as to the number of household accidents involving personal injury that may be avoided by the fitting of electric plugs as standard by manufacturers of household electrical equipment.

It is estimated that fitting plugs to electrical appliances as a standard requirement would have little effect on the number of household accidents.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has about the importation of marine coral and associated products into the United Kingdom by weight and value in each year from 1979.

The information is given in the table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, in the light of the imminent coming into force of section 1 of the Immigration Act, he will withdraw the Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 1988 (S.I. 1988, No. 925).

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will establish an inquiry into the administration of the British embassy in Islamabad; and if he will make a statement.

No special inquiry is planned.In September 1988 the embassy will be visited by a team of diplomatic service inspectors as part of the normal inspection cycle of posts overseas. The inspectors will review all aspects of the mission's work, including procedures and staffing levels.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to publicise (a) the increase in visa fees which took effect on 1 June and (b) the change whereby fees for visa settlement are now paid by all applicants.

Details of the fee increases and notice of the change to charging on a per capita basis were given in my reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Central (Mr. Lord) on 7 June at column 467, copies of which were widely distributed to the press. No other publicity in this country is contemplated. However, a table of fees is exhibited by all diplomatic service posts overseas at which fee-bearing services are provided.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action Her Majesty's Government has taken, and proposes further to take, in the light of the evidence submitted to him by Amnesty International of human rights abuses in Colombia; and if he will make a statement.

The Amnesty International allegations concerning the human rights situation in Colombia are of considerable concern. We continue to make our desire to see an improvement clear to the Colombian Government. I understand that the Colombian Government have responded formally to the Amnesty International report. It should be remembered that the Colombians face very serious levels of terrorist violence, and have already prosecuted members of the security forces for human rights offences.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has to reimburse local authorities in Scotland in respect of the shortfall in income from the community charge as a result of the exemptions for full-time students.

The distribution of revenue support grant will take into account the reduced level of community charge payable by full-time students.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of full-time students in each of (a) the regions and (b) districts of Scotland who will be eligible for exemption from 80 per cent. of the community charge.

The information will not be available until the community charge registration process is complete. The latest estimates by region, rounded to the nearest 1,000 are given below:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total number of inquiries received by his Department over the past five years on the eligibility of private companies for European regional development fund mobile infrastructure funding; what is the total number of occasions in those five years on which his Department have responded that private companies are not eligible for such funding; and if he will make a statement.

My Department receives numerous inquiries and meets frequently various organisations on matters relating to the European regional development fund. The number of inquiries relating specifically to the eligibility of private companies for mobile infrastructure funding is not available but there have been several such inquiries since Scotland first secured funding for the Hebridean Isles ferry in 1984—the first country to do so. The regulation governing the operation of the fund provides for assistance only to public authorities or other authorities responsible in the same way as a public authority for carrying out infrastructure investments. Inquirers are informed accordingly.Recently, and in the light of various privatisation measures, the European commission has indicated a willingness to consider applications from privatised industries. However, the criteria applied, which include a requirement for statutory or other similar control over the company, are such that it is unlikely that most privately owned companies and their investments can qualify for assistance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether privately owned transport companies are eligible for European regional development fund mobile infrastructure funding.

The regulation governing the operation of the European regional development fund allows aid for infrastructure projects to go to public authorities or to any other organisation responsible in the same way as a public authority for carrying out infrastructure projects. It is unlikely, therefore, that most privately owned transport companies would be eligible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many trainees on (a) YTS or (b) Manpower Services Commission schemes are currently employed in private hospitals or other private medical businesses in Scotland.

This information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the size of the fall in unemployment since June 1987, based on his Department's estimates of the labour force and of employment for this period.

Unemployment change cannot be meaningfully estimated in this way as any such comparison would be affected by a range of definitional and technical factors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average hourly rate of pay of (a) part-time and (b) full-time employed women.

The available information is published in table 178 of part F of the report on the new earnings survey 1987 for part-time female employees, and in table 1 of part A for full-time female employees. A copy of the report is in the Library.