Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Wednesday 13 July 1988

National Finance

Tax Harmonisation

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when a consultative document on direct tax harmonisation within the European Community is to be published.

The European Commission has not yet published its draft proposals for harmonisation of the business tax base. If in due course these are communicated formally to the Council of Ministers we will then consider how to proceed.

Corporation Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to discuss with other European Finance Ministers any proposals to introduce reciprocal arrangements throughout the European Community to allow companies to set advance corporation tax against their tax liabilities arising in other European countries.

We have at present no plans to do so.

Income Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received concerning the effects of income tax cuts since 1979 on the regions of the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

I am not aware of any recent representations on this point. The income tax cuts we have achieved since 1979 will provide a stimulus to enterprise and initiative in all regions of the country.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of taxpayers in (a) England, (b) Scotland, and (c) Wales pay income tax in the highest band.

The latest available information by country is for 1985–86. In that year the following percentages of single people and married couples liable to tax were liable at (i) a higher rate, (ii) the highest rate of income tax: England (i) 5·0 per cent., (ii) 0·6 per cent.; Scotland (i) 4·3 per cent., (ii) 0·3 per cent.; Wales (i) 3·4 per cent., (ii) 0·2 per cent. Members of Her Majesty's forces and the Merchant Navy are excluded.

Consultants

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the cost to Her Majesty's Stationery Office of employing management or computer consultants for each year from 1983 to 1987.

The cost for each financial year is assessed as being:

Year	£
1983–84	70,000
1984–85	150,000
1985–86	400,000
1986–87	550,000
1987–88	400,000

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract extant in Her Majesty's Stationery Office as at 1 January 1987, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment.

The following is the information requested:

Company	Assignment
Touche Ross	Supply Computer Project
Price Waterhouse	CAPO Computer Project
Binder Hamlyn	Accounting systems upgrade
David Harris Associates	Financial consultancy
Management Partners	Marketing advice

Net Overseas Assets

96.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the most recently available figures for Britain's net overseas assets.

The United Kingdom's net overseas assets were estimated at some £90 billion at end-1987, second only to those of Japan.

Value Added Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to review the default surcharge and the effect it has had on the receipts of value added tax; and if he will make a statement.

The Government, in accordance with the announcement in May 1986 in their White Paper—"Building Businesses … Not Barriers"—reviewed the operation of the default surcharge provisions before the 1988 Budget.It was apparent from that review that the default surcharge had not been in operation long enough for significant conclusions to be drawn. A further review of the impact and operation of the surcharge is now to be made and trade and other interested bodies are invited to contribute.Contributions should be sent to:

HM Customs and Excise
VAT Control Division B2
11th Floor
Alexander House
21 Victoria Avenue
SOUTHEND ON SEA
Essex
SS99 1AH

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to review the rules for relief from value added tax on bad debts; and if he will make a statement.

The Government announced in May 1986 in their White Paper—"Building Businesses … Not Barriers"—that a review of the arrangements for value added tax relief on bad debts would take place within two years. That review has now begun and trade and other interested bodies are invited to contribute.

Contributions should be forwarded to:

HM Customs and Excise
VAT Control Division C2
St. John's House
Merton Road
BOOTLE
Merseyside
L20 3NN

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the proposed penalty for persistent value added tax misdeclaration will be applied automatically; and if he will make a statement.

This new penalty provision replaces the previous automatic third test for the serious misdeclaration penalty provided for in section 14 of the Finance Act 1985. It will not be automatically applied. When the thresholds of £100 or 1 per cent. are exceeded Customs will first consider whether the nature of the errors justifies the issue of a warning letter, or the imposition of a penalty. In no circumstances will a penalty be imposed without the case first being referred to Customs' head office. It will only be imposed on the most careless traders who persist in making significant errors even after receiving a formal written warning. The application of this new penalty will be closely monitored and kept under review.

Funeral Services (Vat)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy that essential funeral services will continue to be exempted from value added tax.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has no plans for changes in this area.

Oyston Estates Agency Ltd

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether all investigations into the tax affairs of Oyston Estates Agency Ltd. and related companies by the Inland Revenue are complete.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: Confidentiality precludes the Inland Revenue from commenting on the tax affairs of any particular company.

Rating Reform

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance he has given, or intends to give, to the Inland Revenue in the current revaluation of non-domestic premises in England and Wales prior to the introduction of the non-domestic rate in 1990; and if he will make it his policy to ensure that the seasonal nature of trade in holiday areas is taken into account in fixing new valuations.

[holding answer 7 July 1988]: The chief valuer's office is responsible for giving guidance to valuation officers in the compilation of valuation lists. Rating assessments are based on rental values; accordingly, in areas where the seasonal nature of trade has an effect on rental values, this will be reflected in the rating assessments.

Private Medical Insurance

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate, for each of the last five years, the cost of providing tax relief on private medical insurance (a) throughout the United Kingdom, and (b) in Scotland;(2) what was the estimated cost to the Treasury of relief to

(a) companies, (b) employees, (c) self-employed, and (d) other sources in each of the last five years, as a result of contributions to private health care premiums, in (i) the United Kingdom, and (ii) Scotland.

[holding answers 28 June 1988]: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the costs of extending income tax relief to all private medical insurance premiums. Under present legislation, relief is available only on premiums paid by employers on behalf of employees whose earned income, including the value of benefits, is less than £8,500 per year. The cost of this relief is about £10 million per year in the United Kingdom and about £1 million in Scotland.The estimated direct revenue cost of giving relief on all premiums, based on present levels of contributions, is about £240 million, of which about £10 million would be incurred in Scotland. These estimates make no allowance for any behavioural changes.

Estates (Inheritance)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the number of estates valued at (a) £0·5 million to £1·0 million and (b) over £1 million which were inherited free of inheritance tax in each year between 1978–79 and 1987–88 with projection for 1988–89.

[holding answer 27 June 1988]: Comprehensive information is available only for years to 1985–86 and refers to numbers of estates where the net assets of the estate were within the requested ranges. These were as follows:

	£0·5 million to £1·0 million	Over £1 million
1978–79	23	11
1979–80	32	7
1980–81	53	18
1981–82	54	13
1982–83	61	18
1983–84	155	31
1984–85	143	32
1985–86	152	53

Civil Service

Staff Dismissals

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will list, for each grade, the number of civil servants dismissed for any reason, during each of the past nine years.

I have been asked to reply.I am writing to my hon. Friend with the information requested, and will arrange for a copy to be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Transport

Channel Tunnel

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the Government's current role in promoting the development of infrastructure projects associated with the construction of the Channel tunnel.

I have responsibility for approving proposals from British Rail for railway infrastructure investment in connection with the tunnel. I have already approved in principle a package of investment proposed by the board not exceeding £550 million in total to enable Channel tunnel rail services to commence in 1993. Under section 40 of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987, the board is required to publish a plan by the end of 1989 setting out its proposals for international through services beyond London and the associated infrastructure investment. The board is this week publishing its report on the need for additional rail capacity in the longer-term between London and the tunnel.We have direct responsibility for motorways and other trunk roads. A number of major trunk road improvements are programmed, in particular on the M20/A20 and A259 routes. The trunk road programme is kept under review, and schemes are added as the need is identified. We also support local authority road improvements on roads of more than local importance with transport supplementary grant (TSG). Kent county council is receiving TSG for schemes made necessary by the tunnel in addition to its main accepted road programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has received from the British Railways Board its report on rail capacity between London and the Channel tunnel.

I received the report on Monday 11 July. I understand from BR that it will be published on Thursday 14 July, and that BR will be sending copies to all hon. Members. Copies will also be placed in the Library of the House.

Bridges

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report, for the last two years, all local authority bids to his Department for bridge maintenance work, together with the grants finally provided by his Department.

Local authority bridge maintenance work is generally classed as current expenditure. Support is provided within the rate support grant mechanism. It is not the subject of specific bids. Bids for transport supplementary grant (TSG) are made for some capital expenditure on bridges. Where TSG is paid it will generally be towards a block of eligible expenditure within which individual bridgeworks are not separately identifiable.

Nuclear Waste

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what basis with regard to enstimated times of arrival of emergency services to the scene of accidents involving the transportation of nuclear waste, safety procedures for dealing with such accidents are framed.

The emergency services would reach the scene of an accident in less than half an hour and would then if necssary be able to summon expert radiological assistance.There has been no accident involving the tranport of irradiated nuclear fuel which resulted in any release of the radioactive contents.

Consultants

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the cost to his Department of employing management or computer consultants for each year from 1983 to 1987.

The cost of employing management and computer consultants for each financial year from 1984 to 1987 was:

	£ million
1984–85	0·980
1985–86	1·254
1986–87	1·847
1987–88	2·195

Information for 1983–84 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract extant in his Department as at 1 January 1987, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment.

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

Traffic Flows (London)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on the methods available to his Department for measuring traffic flows in London;(2) if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway) of 16 May,

Official Report,column 360, he will publish the information contained in the table for each borough individually; and if he will make a statement.

Information on traffic flows in London and on the data collection methods used is given in the Department's statistics bulletin (87) 37 "London traffic monitoring report for 1986". Copies are in the Library.Estimates of average traffic speeds in the individual boroughs during the period 1983 to 1986 are given in tables A2 to A4. Information for earlier years was published by the Greater London council in its "Traffic Monitoring Review 1984". I have placed copies of the relevant tables from this publication in the Library.

Psv Driving Tests

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the current period of delay between date of application and dates offered for a test by those currently applying for PSV driving tests in each traffic area, and the national average.

This information is not readily available. The period includes assessment of a candidate's suitability to hold a PSV licence. The time taken to complete checks on health and character can vary considerably.The Department aims to provide a test within four weeks of a positive decision on suitability. Waiting periods for HGV and PSV driving tests are overall still rather longer than we would wish. Steps are being taken to reduce them.If my hon. Friend has knowledge of any specific problem perhaps he would let me have details.

Roads (London)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take immediate steps to publish in full the four recently completed consultants' reports on road and traffic proposals for London; and if he will make a statement.

It is wrong to say the consultants have completed reports.Nearly three weeks ago, on 23 June, at column

637, I stated that the working papers would be placed in the Library and that the consultants would discuss options with the boroughs participating in the studies.

There is a wrong report in today's Guardian that the public cannot have the consultants' working papers.

Over two weeks ago, on 27 June, at column 122, I stated that the working papers can be purchased from the consultants.

I refer the hon. Member to the consultants' stage 1 reports published in December 1986, the terms of reference for stage 2 published in July 1987 and the objectives of the studies developed in discussion with boroughs.

London Assessment Studies

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what objectives have been set for the London assessment studies.

We developed the following objectives in consultation with the boroughs concerned and their associations.1. TO PROMOTE ACCESSIBILITY

1.1 To increase opportunities for all people to gain access to employment, places and services and to improve ease of access to them.³

1.2 To provide or promote adequate access from the study areas to national transport systems.⁴

2. TO SUPPORT EMPLOYMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH AND REGENERATION

2.1 To support policies for employment, economic growth and regeneration particularly for inner city areas.⁵

3. TO DEVELOP AN EFFICIENT TRANSPORT SYSTEM

3.1 To encourage greater efficiency in the use of transport in London whilst still allowing freedom of choice.²

		Original loans cancelled
Country	Date cancellation agreement signed	Date of loan	Original value	Amount waived (principal + interest)
			(£ millions)	(£ millions)
Mozambique	October 1983	1976	5·000	5·000
		1977	5·000	5·000
		1977	9·315	9·315
		1978	2·500	2·500

3.2 To provide or promote transport infrastructure and management which achieves adequate return on investment.⁶

3.3 To reduce congestion costs to industry and commerce, including public transport.

4. TO IMPROVE THE ENVIRONMENT

4.1 To keep car traffic entering central London to a manageable level.

4.2 To conserve and improve the quality of the environment.⁷

4.3 To provide opportunity for removing traffic, particularly heavy lorries, from unsuitable roads.

4.4 To provide relief to shopping areas and residential streets.

4.5 To improve the condition and appearance of existing roads, and to ensure any new infrastructure is designed with sensitivity for the environment.

5. TO ENHANCE SAFETY FOR TRAVELLERS

5.1 To improve the safety and personal security of all travellers within the transport system.^{8 9}

5.2 To identify locations with high accident rates and to take action to improve safety.

Note:

1. The studies will develop options designed inter alia to meet these objectives and the views of the public will be taken into acount in reaching decisions on them.

² It should be noted that these objectives cannot be considered individually, they need to be considered together. For example freedom of choice should not be regarded as an absolute condition and will be assessed as it relates to the other objectives.

³ Regard will be given to the provision of transport, to meet the needs of different groups of travellers and potential travellers and to its contribution to the improvement of opportunities for groups and individuals in the community suffering transport disadvantage.

⁴ Objective 1.2—'national transport systems' includes those sections in other parts of London. Accessibility will be considered in relation to the Secretary of State's general responsibility for transport.

⁵ 'Policies' includes approved central and local government plans and guidance by the Secretary of State for the Environment, taking into account advice by SERPLAN and LPAC.

⁶ Provision of infrastructure and management for private and public transport will be assessed on a comparable basis.

⁷ 'Environmental factors' include noise, pollution, visual impact, severance, townscape, ecology.

⁸ 'All travellers' include cyclists, pedestrians and users of public transport and private vehicles.

⁹ Objective 5.1 includes the need to design facilities to minimise the risk of harassment.

Overseas Development

Aid Loans

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries that have had their aid loans cancelled by the United Kingdom Government since 1983 (a) by date of loan, (b) by name of country, (c) by amount of loan and (d) by date of cancellation.

The information is as follows:

		Original loans cancelled
Country	Date cancellation agreement signed	Date of loan	Original value	Amount waived (principal + interest)
			(£ millions)	(£ millions)
East African Community	July/August/October 1984¹	1961/1963²	1·000	0·469
		1961³	8·500	3·263
		1965	3·150	0·904
Ethiopia	January 1985	1971	0·197	0·010
		1971	0·660	0·275
		1972	0·384	0·129
		1973	0·341	0·275
		1973	2·416	1·879
Ghana	June 1985	1967	3·766	1·988
		1968	4·624	2·752
		1969	5·400	2·565
		1970	3·700	1·943
		1971	2·492	2·575
		1971	1·200	0·400
		1975	10·050	8·654
		1978	19·981	17·981
		1981	9·994	9·994
¹ Agreements were signed with each member country (Uganda in July, Kenya in August and Tanzania in October).
² Entry covers two related loans which were subsequently treated as one.
³ Entry covers five related loans which were subsequently treated as one.

In addition, an agreement is due to be signed during 1988 with Senegal which will waive £1·071 million (interest and principal) on a loan of original value £1·000 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries that have negotiated with the United Kingdom Government better rescheduling terms for their aid loans since 1983 (a)

Rescheduling loans Terms

Original loans covered by the rescheduling loans Terms

Country

Year signed

Total rescheduled (£ millions)

First repayment date

Final repayment date

Payments per year

Interest rate (per cent.)

Year signed

Total value (£ millions)

First repayment date

Final repayment date

Payments per year

Interest rate (per cent.)

Bolivia

1986

0·054

30 June 1990

31 December 1996

1973

0·422

15 December 1975

15 December 1997

Brazil

1984

0·961

20 May 1984

1 July 1992

1973

10·000

20 May 1978

20 November 1998

Costa Rica

¹1984

0·380

30 September 1984

30 June 1989

1973

3·000

15 August 1973

15 February 1998

¹1984

0·549

30 September 1984

31 March 1992

As for previous rescheduling loan

Jamaica

²1984

5·235

31 December 1984

15 August 1993

1978

20·000

17 July 1981

17 January 2003

1978

2·750

21 March 1979

21 March 2003

1978

2·750

30 May 1982

30 November 2003

1979

2·000

19 April 1983

19 October 2004

1981

6·000

23 July 1984

23 January 2006

1981

5·000

December 1984

June 2006

1982

2·500

18 December 1985

18 June 1992

1982

3·000

June 1986

December 1992

²1984

0·629

15 August 1985

15 August 1989

As for previous rescheduling loan

²1985

3·030

31 March 1991

September 1995

As for previous rescheduling loan

Zambia

³1983

0·322

December 1983

June 1988

1973

1·014

31 December 1980

30 June 1998

1978

9·260

30 September 1985

31 March 2003

1978

20·000

February 1986

August 2003

1980

10·000

24 July 1987

24 January 2005

⁴1983

0·680

December 1983

June 1993

As for previous rescheduling loan

⁴1984

0·865

December 1989

June 1994

As for previous rescheduling loan plus 1983 rescheduling loans

⁴1986

2·527

December 1991

June 1996

As for previous rescheduling loan

¹ These loans cover payments from two separate periods of the same original loan.

² These loans cover payments from three separate periods of the same eight original loans.

³ These loans cover payments from two separate periods of the same four original loans.

⁴ These loans cover payments from two separate periods of both the orginal four loans and the two 1983 rescheduling loans.

Following recent agreements in the Paris club, the Government are at present negotiating bilateral rescheduling agreements with Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria and the Philippines.

Mekong River Basin

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the extent of participation by Her Majesty's Government in the United

by date of orginal loan, (b) by name of country, (c) by amount of orginal loan, (d) the orginal terms for repayment and (e) the revised terms for repayment.

Following agreement in the Paris club certain payments of principal and interest due in respect of past aid loans have been rescheduled. The information on such rescheduling since 1983 is as follows:Nations project for the Mekong river basin; what proposals are being discussed for the resumption of the original programme; and if he will now reappraise the opportunities offered by that project in the light of recent changes in the area.

We expect to spend about £100,000 in the current financial year in support of two projects managed by the interim Mekong committee. While there has been no attempt as yet to reconstitute the full committee, we are monitoring current political developments closely.

Scotland

Occupational Therapists

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table in the Official Report showing for each health board area in Scotland the total

Number expressed as a rate per 1,000 population
Health Board	Number in post¹	Population
		Total	Age 65–74	Age 75–84	Age over 85
Argyll and Clyde	23·1	0·05	0·62	1·13	4·86
Ayrshire and Arran	17·0	0·05	0·52	0·92	4·32
Borders	6·7	0·07	0·64	0·99	4·00
Dumfries and Galloway	17·3	0·12	1·21	2·09	8·68
Fife	32·5	0·09	1·08	1·88	8·28
Forth Valley	26·8	0·10	1·20	2·12	9·32
Grampian	50·5	0·10	1·29	20·5	8·34
Greater Glasgow	120·7	0·13	1·40	2·44	10·64
Highland	10·3	0·05	0·64	1·03	4·35
Lanarkshire	17·0	0·03	0·41	0·82	3·95
Lothian	126·7	0·17	2·02	3·29	13·24
Orkney	0·6	0·03	0·33	0·51	2·01
Shetland	1·0	0·04	0·60	0·86	3·21
Tayside	51·6	0·13	1·41	2·24	9·26
Western Isles	—	—	—	—	—
¹ As at 30 September 1987 (WTE).

Privatisation

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement outlining his plans to privatise the historic buildings directorate and the Registrar's Department; what consultations he has had with interested parties; and what time scale is proposed to implement the plans.

I have no plans to privatise the historic buildings and monuments directorate of the Scottish Development Department or the Department of the Registers for Scotland (DRS). I did, however, decide that HBMD and DRS should be candidates for agency status under the next steps initiative announced by the Prime Minister on 18 February and the two trade union sides concerned were so informed on 29 April. Detailed proposals are now being drawn up and full consultations with the trade union side have been promised. No decision

Qualified nurses working in psychiatry as at 30 September (WTE)
	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987
Mental illness	5,081·5	5,315·5	5,445·8	5,466·2	5,737·8	5,839·2
Mental Handicap	1,419·8	1,517·0	1,606·0	1,582·7	1,597·3	1,681·4
TOTAL	6,501·3	6,832·5	7,051·8	7,048·9	7,335·1	7,520·6

Psychiatric Hospitals

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many psychiatric hospitals there are in Scotland; and how many beds there are in each of them.

For statistical purposes psychiatric hospitals are customarily taken to include mental

number of occupational therapists, the number per 1,000 of the population and the number per 1,000 of the population aged over 65 years, over 75 years and over 85 years.

The table below sets out for each health board area in Scotland at 30 September 1987, the whole-time equivalent number of occupational therapists in post broken down into the categories as set out in the question. The figures given relate to occupational therapists employed by health boards only and do not include those employed by local authorities.has yet been taken that either HBMD or DRS will become an agency; there is accordingly no time scale at present for implementation.

Nurses (Psychiatric Qualifications)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nurses there are currently employed by the National Health Service in Scotland who are qualified in psychiatric nursing; and if he will give the comparable figure for each of the last five years for which information is available.

Information is not held centrally in precisely the form requested. The available information, which relates to the whole time equivalent number of qualified nurses working in the specialties of mental illness and mental handicap, is set out.hospitals, psychiatric units in general hospitals and mental handicap hospitals. In the year ending 30 September 1987 there were 30 mental hospitals, 28 psychiatric units in general hospitals and 16 mental handicap hospitals in Scotland. The average available staffed beds in each is given in the table.

Table 1
Mental hospitals in Scotland
Average available staffed beds: year ending 30 September 1987
Health board and hospital	Beds^{1 2}
Argyll and Clyde
Argyll and Bute hospital	383
Ravenscraig hospital	346
Dykebar hospital	584
Ayrshire and Arran
Ravenspark hospital	219
Ailsa hospital	588
Borders
Dingleton hospital	336
Dumfries and Galloway
Crichton Royal hospital	623
Fife
Stratheden hospital	741
Stratheden young peoples unit	45
Glenlomond hospital	87
Forth Valley
Bellsdyke hospital	853
Grampian
House of Daviot hospital	136
Kingseat hospital	491
Kingseat rehabilitation centre	11
Royal Cornhill hospital	677
Bilbohall hospital	149
Greater Glasgow
Gartloch hospital	652
Stoneyetts hospital	225
Woodilee hospital	821
Leverndale hospital	891
Gartnaval Royal hospital	567
Highland
Craig Dunain hospital	655
Lanarkshire
Hartwood hospital	1,354
Lothian
Herdmanflat hospital	252
Rosslynlee hospital	270
Royal Edinburgh hospital	917
Bangour Village hospital	576
Tayside
Royal Dundee Liff hospital (including child psychiatry unit)	570
Murray Royal hospital	402
Sunnyside Royal hospital	436
Total number of hospitals	30
Total average available staffed beds	14,857
¹ Includes some beds in specialties other than psychiatric or mental handicap specialties.
² Average available staffed beds.

Table 2
Psychiatric units attached to general hospitals
Average available staffed beds: year ending 30 September 1987
Health board and hospital	Beds¹
Argyll and Clyde
Vale of Leven district general hospital	28
Inverclyde Royal hospital	56
Hawkhead hospital	94
Thorn hospital	2
Royal Alexandra hospital	31

Health board and hospital	Beds¹
Ayrshire and Arran
Crosshouse hospital	60
Borders
Mountview hospital	11
Fife
Victoria hospital	120
West Fife district general hospital	120
Grampian
Royal Aberdeen children's hospital	10
Glen O'dee hospital	5
Inverurie hospital	30
Ugie hospital	30
Greater Glasgow
Duke Street hospital	41
Stobhill hospital	70
Southern general psychiatric unit	150
Gartnavel general hospital	36
Royal hospital for sick children	6
Lanarkshire
Coathill hospital	7
Monklands district general hospital	58
Lothian
Victoria hospital	90
City hospital	20
Royal hospital for sick children	24
Tayside
Ninewells hospital	31
Ashludie hospital	24
Forfar infirmary	26
Stracathro hospital	24
Western Isles
Lochmaddy hospital	1
Total number of units	28
Total average available staffed beds	1,205
¹ Average available staff beds in psychiatric or mental handicap hospitals.

Table 3
Mental handicap hospitals in Scotland
Average available staffed beds, year ending 30 September 1987
Health Board and Hospital	Beds^{1 2}
Argyll and Clyde
Elderslie hospital	20
Merchiston hospital	270
Ayrshire and Arran
Dunlop house hospital	70
Fife
Lynebank hospital	409
Forth Valley
Royal Scottish national hospital	961
Grampian
Woodlands hospital/Wellwood unit	145
Ladysbridge hospital	548
Greater Glasgow
Lennox castle hospital	1,062
Waverley park hospital	100
Highland
Craig Phadrig hospital	215

Health Board and Hospital	Beds^{1 2}
Lanarkshire
Bellefield hospital	94
Birkwood hospital	267
Kirklands hospital	217
Lothian
Gogarburn hospital	532
Tornaveen house	10
Tayside
Strathmartine hospital	542
Total number of hospitals	16
Total average available staffed beds	5,462
¹ Includes some beds in specialties other than psychiatric or mental handicap specialties.
² Average available staffed beds.

Rates

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in Scotland paid rates (a) before and, (b) after 1 April 1988.

At 1 April 1987 rates were payable in respect of approximately 2 million domestic and non-domestic subjects in Scotland. A corresponding figure for 1 April 1988 is not yet available.

Sewage

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report, for each local authority in Scotland responsible for sewage disposal, each sewage outfall which discharges directly into the sea, showing (a) how far into the sea the outfall pipe travels before discharge, (b) how much sewage each year is discharged, (c) whether the discharge is of treated or untreated sewage and (d) the proximity of the nearest public bathing beaches to the sewage outfall.

There are some 1,600 local sewage outfalls in Scotland, just over half of which discharge directly to estuaries or to the sea. The detail sought is too lengthy for inclusion in the Official Report. However, a summary of much of this information is contained in a technical report "Sewage Works and Discharges Archive Report 1987" produced by the Scottish Development Department and I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library.For the location of bathing waters identified in terms of the EC bathing water directive, I refer the hon. Member to my written answer of 29 June to my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries, (Sir H. Monro) at column

247.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report those sewage authorities who regularly dump sewage at sea, indicating (a) the areas permitted for dumping purposes, (b) the volumes and types of sewage dumped and (c) the proximity of the nearest public bathing beaches to the dumped sewage.

Lothian regional council is licensed to dump annually a total of 500,000 metric tonnes wet weight of sewage sludge containing not more than 25,000 metric tonnes of dry solids at sites off Bell Rock and St. Abbs Head which is defined as within 1½ nautical mile radius of centre co-ordinates 56° 25' N 02° 10' W and 56° 04·5' N 02° 07·25' W respectively. Dumping alternates between each site every six months.Strathclyde regional council is licensed to dump annually a total of 1,800,000 metric tonnes wet weight of sewage sludge containing not more than 90,000 metric tonnes of dry solids at Garnock Head dumping ground which is defined as within ½ nautical mile radius of centre co-ordinates 55° 39·8' N 05° 00·8' W.In the Firth of Clyde the water at Saltcoats/Ardrossan lies closest to the licensed dump site. In the Firth of Forth the water at Dunbar lies nearest. Both waters meet the standards of the EC directive.

Wales

Hospitals (Gwent)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list all the hospitals in the area of the Gwent health authority, with the average number of both patients and staff for each of them in each of the last 12 years.

The information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. My hon. Friend may, however, wish to refer to the following Welsh Office publications, copies of which are held in the Library of the House. "Bed Use Statistics" (which includes annual numbers of in-patients, day cases and out-patients by hospital) and "Health and Personal Social Services Statistics for Wales" (which provides a manpower summary for each district health authority).

Ciliau Moor Common (Slurry Tank)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 30 June, to the hon. Member for Caerphilly, why his Department does not have a record of the builders of the slurry tank on Ciliau Moor common; if he will take steps to find out who the builders were; when construction of the slurry tank on Ciliau Moor common was completed; and if he will summarise the views of the Open Space Society and the Countryside Commission in their replies to him concerning the construction of a slurry tank on Ciliau Moor common.

The Welsh Office has no practical need to have on record either the name of the contractor who undertook these private building works or the date of their completion. It is not the practice of the Department to publicise or summarise views expressed by bodies consulted on developments on common land.

Valleys Programme

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether Bedwas, Machen, and Maesycummer, Mid Glamorgan, are included within the boundaries of the area defined for the purposes of his recently announced valleys programme.

Maesycummer is within the area covered by the new valleys programme. Bedwas and Machen are outside.

Green Belt

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list by county the area of land designated as green belt up to (a) 1979 and (b) 1987 in Wales.

There are no statutory green belts in Wales.

Waste Tipping

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will call a conference of local authorities in Wales to discuss and monitor the tipping of poisonous and industrial waste from overseas in quarries and other similar locations in Wales; if he will draw up and publish a register of licensed tipping locations entitled to receive poisonous and industrial wastes; if he will consult the appropriate local planning authorities to devise a 24-hour monitoring of tipping sites to ensure that the appropriate regulations are adhered to; and if he will make a statement.

Regular meetings, instituted with the support of the Welsh Office, are held by the waste disposal authorities in Wales to discuss any matters relating to waste disposal.Each wast disposal authority is required by statute to maintain a public register containing copies of all waste disposal licences.Arrangements for the supervision of the operation of licensed waste disposal sites are the responsibility of the appropriate waste disposal authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a list of those companies in the United Kingdom who trade in the tipping of contaminated soils, industrial waste and poisonous by products and who tip at locations in Wales; if he will list those ports in Wales through which contaminated wastes from overseas are imported; what steps are taken to ensure that at these ports of entry there s sufficient professional inspection of both the substances and the ships' documents; and if he will make a statement.

Information on companies trading in wastes is not maintained centrally and information on waste imports is not maintained in the form requested. In 1986–87 special waste was imported through the ports of Newport, Holyhead, Briton Ferry and Fishguard.In relation to contaminated soil, plant health legislation prohibits imports from outside Europe. Soil from European countries must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate signed by the plant health authority in the exporting country, confirming freedom from pests and disease, without which customs officials will not permit consignments to enter the United Kingdom. In relation to special wastes, it is the

Date of judgment	Name of case: subject matter	Outcome
13 August 1981	Young, James and Webster (closed shop)	Breach of Article 11.
22 October 1981	Dudgeon (homosexuality: Northern Ireland)	Breach of Article 8.
5 November 1981	X (mental patient: right to have detention reviewed)	No breach of Article 5(1). Breach of Article 5(4).
25 February 1982	Campbell and Cosans (corporal punishment in state schools: respect for parents' philosophical convictions)	No breach of Article 3. Breach of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1.
25 March 1983	Silver (prisoners' correspondence)	Breach of Articles 6(1), 8 and 13.

responsibility of the waste disposal authority in the area of which the waste enters the country, to ensure that the waste is disposed of at appropriately licensed sites.

Consumer Protection

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will increase financial resources to local authorities to allow greater involvement of trading standards officers and departments in supporting the community with advice and assistance and fairly enforcing trading laws and consumer protection measures; and if he will make a statement.

The rate support grant for Wales includes an element for the local authority trading standards service. This provides adequate resources for the enforcement of trading standards and consumer protection legislation.I have no plans to amend the 1988–89 rate support grant provision which allowed for a nominal increase in consumer protection provision over the previous year of 7·4 per cent. My proposals for local authority relevant expenditure and grant in 1989–90 were announced to Parliament on 7 July. My view of service priorities for 1989–90 will be formally set out in the rate support grant report to be published later in the year. It is, however, entirely for local authorities to allocate block grant to particular services in accordance with their own priorities.In addition, the Department of Trade and Industry funds the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux which provides the necessary support services for local citizens advice bureaux in England and Wales. Citizens advice bureaux, most of which receive financial support from local authorities, provide advice and assistance to local communities throughout Wales. I see no reason to alter these well established arrangements.

Attorney-General

European Convention On Human Rights

To ask the Attorney-General on how many occasions since 1979 the British Government have been subject to legal challenge in courts in the United Kingdom or in Europe on account of alleged breaches of the European convention on human rights; and if he will list in each case the substance of the alleged breach and the outcome of any legal proceedings.

The European convention on human rights is not part of the law of the United Kingdom; an allegation of a breach of the convention's provisions cannot therefore found a cause of action in the courts of this country. The European court of human rights has delivered 22 judgments since 1979 in cases concerning the United Kingdom (excluding article 50 judgments, which concern damages and costs), of which the details are as set out:

Date of judgment	Name of case: subject matter	Outcome
28 June 1984	Campbell and Fell (prison visitors; conduct of disciplinary proceedings)	Breach of Article 6 in two respects and of Articles 8 and 13. No breach of Article 6 on the other points at issue.
2 August 1984	Malone (telephone tapping)	Breach of Article 8.
28 May 1985	Ashingdane (detention of mental patient)	No breach of Article 5(1), 5(4) or 6.
28 May 1985	Abdulaziz, Cabales and Balkandali (immigration: discrimination on grounds of sex)	Breach of Articles 13 and 14 in one respect. No other breach of Article 13 or 14. No breach of Article 3 or 8.
21 February 1986	James (leasehold reform)	No breach of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, or of Articles 6(1) and 13.
8 July 1986	Lithgow (aircraft and shipbuilding nationalisation)	No breach of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, or of Article 14, 6(1) or 13.
17 October 1986	Rees (transsexual)	No breach of Article 8 or 12.
26 October 1986	AGOSI (forfeiture by customs)	No breach of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.
24 November 1986	Gillow	Breach of Article 8 in one respect. No breach of Article 8 in other respects, or of Article 6 or 14.
2 March 1987	Weeks (parole)	No breach of Article 5(1). Breach of Article 5(4).
2 March 1987	Monnell and Morris (criminal appeals)	No breach of Article 5(1), 6(1), 6(3)(c) or 14.
8 July 1987	O (child care)	Breach of Article 6(1). No breach of Article 8.
8 July 1987	H, W, B, R (child care)	Breach of Articles 6(1) and 8.
27 April 1988	Boyle and Rice (prisoners' correspondence and visits)	No breach of Article 13. Breach of Article 8 in respect of one letter.

Lonrho Plc

To ask the Attorney-General when the Crown Prosecution Service received from the City of London police the papers relating to the Liechtenstein subsidiaries of Lonrho plc, Blorg and Contango.

The Director of Public Prosecutions first received papers from the City of London police in August 1986. He concluded that no further action was called for, a view which was shared by the then Attorney-General. Further papers have been submitted to the Director by the police and others on a number of occasions since. The Director has found no reason to depart from the conclusion reached in 1986.

Judicial Studies Board

To ask the Attorney-General, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Barking

Establishment and staffing at the land registry office at Coventry
	1 June 1987¹		1 June 1988¹
	Establishment	Staff in post	Establishment	Staff in post
Lawyers
Grade 5	—	—	1·0	—
Grade 6	—	—	—	—
Grade 7	3·0	1·0	2·0	4·0
Administration
Grade 7	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0
Senior executive officer	6·5	2·0	8·0	6·0
Higher executive officer	13·0	5·0	14·0	12·0
Executive officer	52·0	15·0	61·0	34·0
Administrative officer	88·0	26·0	109·5	100·0
Administrative assistant	51·0	13·0	58·0	38·0
Secretarial category
Typing manager	3·0	1·0	3·0	2·0

(Ms. Richardson) 28 October, Official Report, column 272, whether he has any proposals to change the criteria for selection of appointees to the Judicial Studies Board.

No.

Land Registry

To ask the Attorney-General what, by grade, is the current establishment at Her Majesty's Land Registry, Gloucester; how this has varied in each of the last three years; and how many officers have been in place against establishment in each of the past three years.

[pursuant to his reply, 30 June 1988, c. 293–94]: Additional information classified by grades is as set out in the tables.

	1 June 1987 ¹		1 June 1988 ¹
	Establishment	Staff in post	Establishment	Staff in post
Typist	26·0	12·0	29·0	18·0
Support grades ²
Telephonist	1·0	1·0	—	—
Office keeper	1·0	—	—	—
Senior paperkeeper	4·0	—	—	—
Paperkeeper	20·5	1·0	—	—
Senior messenger	1·0	—	—	—
Messenger	4·0	—	—	—
Security guard	1·0	1·0	—	—
Assistant CH. Repro. officer	1·0	—	—	—
Reprographics operator 1	1·0	—	—	—
Reprographics operator 2	2·0	—	—	—
Support manager 3	—	—	2·0	—
Support grade band 1	—	—	8·0	3·0
Support grade band 2	—	—	31·5	27·0
Totals	280	79·0	328	245·0
¹ These figures should be viewed in conjuction with those for the Gloucester District Land Registry.
² Support Grades were restructured into 5 grade bands with effect from 1.1.88.

Note: Casual staff have not been included in these figures.

Establishment and staffing at the Gloucester District Land Registry
	1 June 1986		1 June 1987 ¹		1 June 1988 ¹
	Establishment	Staff in post	Establishment	Staff in post	Establishment	Staff in post
Lawyers
Grade 5	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0
Grade 6	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0
Grade 7	4·0	4·0	4·0	4·0	3·0	4·0
Administration
Grade 6	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0
Grade 7	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0
Senior Executive Officer	17·0	17·0	18·0	17·0	16·0	18·0
Higher Executive Officer	28·0	28·5	30·5	29·5	32·0	29·5
Executive Officer	136·5	124·5	132·0	129·0	110·0	128·0
Administrative Officer	226·0	229·5	223·0	213·0	233·5	247·0
Administrative Assistant	147·5	122·0	156·0	131·0	65·5	132·0
Secretarial Category
Chief Typing Manager	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0
Typing Manager	5·0	5·0	5·0	5·0	4·0	5·0
Typist	75·0	66·0	69·5	54·5	44·0	55·5
Support Grades ²
Telephonist	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	—	—
Office Keeper	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	—	—
Chief Paperkeeper	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	—	—
Senior Paperkeeper	8·0	8·0	9·0	8·0	—	—
Paperkeeper	48·5	43·5	49·0	42·0	—	—
Senior Messenger	3·0	3·0	4·0	3·0	—	—
Messenger	13·0	11·5	13·0	12·5	—	—
Porter/Messenger	5·0	5·0	7·0	5·0	—	—
Security Guard	2·0	2·5	2·0	1·5	—	—
Night Watchman	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	—	—
Chief Reprographics Officer	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	—	—
Assistant Chief Reprographics Officer	1·0	1·0	1·0	1·0	—	—
Leading Reprographics Officer	1·0	—	1·0	1·0	—	—
Reprographics Operator 1	6·0	7·0	6·0	5·0	—	—
Reprographics Operator 2	6·0	4·0	7·0	4·0	—	—
Support Manager 2	—	—	—	—	1·0	1·0
Support Manager 3	—	—	—	—	4·0	4·0
Support Grade Band 1	—	—	—	—	15·0	17·0
Support Grade Band 2	—	—	—	—	57·0	60·0
TOTALS	743·0	692·0	747·0	676·0	¹590·0	706·0
¹ See also the establishment and staffing figures for the Coventry office.
² Support Grades were restructured into five grade bands with effect from 1 January 1988.

Note:

Casual staff have not been included in these figures.

Mr Dermot Purdy

To ask the Attorney-General when the Crown Solicitor for Northern Ireland expects to have completed his work regarding the superannuation case of Mr. Dermot Purdy, 11A Stockbridge road, Donaghadee; and when he will be in a position to have the case listed in court.

I have been asked to reply.While Mr. Purdy's solicitors have been in correspondence with the Crown Solicitor, no proceedings have been instituted by or on behalf of Mr. Purdy. If such proceedings were to be commenced the listing of the case in court would be a matter for Mr. Purdy's solicitors.

Home Department

Careless Driving

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers have been (a)

Offences and alleged offences of careless driving etc.¹: written warnings issued, proceedings at Magistrates' courts and findings of quilt at all courts by selected police force areas
England and Wales 1983–86	Numbers of offences
			Police force area(s)
	Nottinghamshire		Metropolitan Police and City of London		North West Region²
	Number	Number per 10,000 population³	Number	Number per 10,000 population³	Number	Number per 10,000 population³
Written warnings issued
1983	117	1·2	854	1·2	1,647	2·4
1984	29	0·3	1,732	2·4	1,247	1·8
1985	59	0·6	1,777	2·5	2,236	3·3
1986	99	1·0	1,557	2·1	1,882	2·7
Proceedings at Magistrates' courts
1983	1,544	15·6	13,826	19·1	27,438	39·8
1984	1,126	11·3	15,244	21·2	25,040	36·4
1985	1,349	13·4	13,265	18·3	25,819	37·6
1986	1,161	11·5	10,641	14·7	22,588	32·9
Findings of guilt at all courts
1983	1,419	14·3	12,631	17·5	25,256	36·6
1984	1,042	10·4	14,037	19·5	22,858	33·2
1985	1,249	12·4	11,930	16·5	23,277	33·9
1986	1,052	10·5	9,600	13·2	20,014	29·2
¹ Mainly driving without due care and attention.
² Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside police force areas.
³ Based on mid-year population figures.

Driving Offences

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the distribution by sex of drink-driving offenders;(2) what is the distribution by sex of offenders convicted of driving without due care and attention.

In 1986, 95 per cent. of those found guilty of driving and so on after consuming alcohol or taking drugs were males, and for careless driving and so on 86 per cent. Information on the age and sex of offenders is published annually, by broad offence group in a Home Office statistical bulletin "Offences Relating to Motor Vehicles, England and Wales". Table 8 of the issue for 1986, number 36/87 is the latest available and copies of this bulletin are in the Library. The offence of driving without due care and attention is grouped together with other offences of careless driving and so on, and findings of guilt

cautioned, (b) prosecuted and (c) convicted for driving without due care and attention in Nottinghamshire, London and the north-west; and if he will express these figures as a proportion per 10,000 drivers in the said area, for each of the last five years.

The available information is for 1983 to 1986 and is shown in the table. Information collected centrally on written warnings does not distinguish the specific offence of driving without due care and attention from other offences of careless driving etc. with which it is grouped. Figures for proceedings and findings of guilt for this specific offence, which form the vast majority of the offences in this group, could be broken down by police force area only at disproportionate cost. The figures are related to the home population of the police force area concerned although the offenders may not have been resident in the area; information on the number of drivers in each area is not available.for this specific offence, which forms the vast majority of the offences in the careless driving category, could be broken down by sex of offender only at disproportionate cost. The figures for 1987 will be published later this year.

Drivers (Retests)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions magistrates' courts have used their power to oblige a driving offender to take a retest; and what information his Department possesses on the ages and physical states of the said offenders, for each of the last five years.

In 1987, about 600 disqualifications were imposed by magistrates' courts, where there was also a requirement for the offender to take a driving test. This information is published annually by broad offence group in "Offences Relating to Motor Vehicles, England and Wales, Supplementary Tables". Table 13 of the issue for 1986 is the latest available and copies of this and earlier bulletins are available in the Library. The Department does not collect information on the medical state of these offenders, and for most motoring offences information is collected on their age only if they are aged under 21. In 1987, over 90 per cent. of those required to take a driving test were aged over 21. Figures for 1987 will be published later this year.

Glen Parva

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to cope with the current problems at the Glen Parva centre for young offenders; and if he will make a statement.

Apart from the temporary closure of a unit for inmates with special problems, the only specific problem of which we are aware is a shortage of staff, requiring the redeployment of some works officers to discipline duties. We expect this to be resolved as more staff are allocated to the establishment within the next few months.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects that the special unit for inmates with special problems, opened in April 1986 at the Glen Parva centre for young offenders and recently closed, will be reopened.

The unit opened in April 1986 is planned to reopen as soon as staff can be made available, and within this financial year; another unit with psychiatric support continues to provide a therapeutic environment for disturbed young offenders at Glen Parva.

Unpaid Fines

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each of the nine inner London petty sessional divisions, how many cases of unpaid fines still await collection; and at what time point unpaid fines are written off as uncollectable.

The information requested is not readily available. I will reply as soon as possible.

Detention Centres (Closures)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement in respect of Her Majesty's detention centre, Gringley on the Hill, Nottingham, and Her Majesty's detention centre, North sea camp, Lincolnshire, as to (a) why these detention centres were closed and (b) what future plans his Department has for them.

Her Majesty's detention centre, Gringley was temporarily closed on 7 March this year. Her Majesty's detention centre, North sea camp ceased to accommodate detention centre trainees on 18 September 1987 but was maintained by a small complement of staff to provide daytime work for parties of prisoners from Her Majesty's prison Morton hall. This action was taken in response to the decline in demand for detention centre accommodation and it enabled staff at both establishments to be deployed in the most effective way to other prison service establishments where they were more urgently needed.

North sea camp has now converted to an open training prison for adult male prisoners and on 4 July this year began to build up a residential population which will increase to 202 as soon as resources allow.

The future of the establishment at Gringley is under review.

Market Harborough Fire Station

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the number of firemen stationed at the Market Harborough fire station will reach establishment; and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for the provision of the fire brigade in the area rests with Leicestershire county council. We understand that, whilst the authority is unable to say when the full establishment at Market Harborough will be reached, efforts are continuing to attract suitable recruits. We are satisfied that, despite the current shortfall, the nationally recommended standards of fire cover are being met.

European Convention On Human Rights

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his Department's practice with regard to progressing any legislative or policy plans where it is advised that they may be challenged under the European convention on human rights.

When consideration is being given to legislative and other proposals full account is taken of the United Kingdom's obligations under the European convention on human rights and of any risk of challenge thereunder.

Official Secrets Act

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will amend the proposals in paragraph 47 of his White Paper on the reform of section 2 of the Official Secrets Act (Cm 408) so that designation, as proposed therein, shall relate to the nature of the material disclosed rather than the position of the individual civil servant.

As the White Paper explains, the Government believe that any unauthorised disclosure by a member of the security and intelligence services is harmful, and should be caught by the criminal law. The same consideration applies to disclosures by certain officials who work closely with those services.

Sanctuary

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take urgent steps to end the practice of the claiming of sanctuary in England and Wales.

Sanctuary was abolished by Parliament in 1623. I think it would be wrong to allow anyone to defy a lawful decision merely by entering a religious building. I reserve the right to secure the removal of anyone who has done so if that is necessary to uphold the rule of law.

Remand Prisoners

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were remanded to all prisons in England and Wales for the purposes of psychiatric reports in each year from 1980 to 1987.

[holding answer 12 July 1988]: The readily available information is given in the table. Information for 1987–88 is not yet available.Psychiatric reports prepared in prison department establishments in England and Wales on persons remanded in custody for reports.

	Number
1980	8,155
1981	8,003
1982	8,032
1983	8,193
¹1984–85	9,102
²1985–86	7,084
³1986–87	6,367
¹ 1 January 1984 to 31 March 1985.
² Financial year, 1 April to 31 March.

Education And Science

Further Education

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what further measures he proposes to take to ensure that further education responds to the changing employment demands of industry and commerce.

One purpose of the Education Reform Bill is to help further education colleges respond better to the needs of industry and commerce. The Bill will, if enacted, reform the selection and composition of college governing bodies, increasing the proportion of governors representing employment interests. It will also require the delegation to governing bodies of responsibility for the management of colleges, so that they can respond more quickly and effectively. Meanwhile, the Training Commission is continuing to develop its procedures for ensuring that LEA plans for further education take full account of labour market needs. And the National Council for Vocational Qualifications is working to establish a more rational structure of vocational qualifications which will ensure that trainging delivered through the further education system is more relevant to employment needs.

Japanese Language

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress is being made in his discussions on ways of enhancing Japanese language training for exporters.

At present there is nothing I can add to the reply given to my hon. Friend on 16 June at column 186. I will write as soon as there is progress to report.

Under-Fives

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, what action he intends to take to ensure that provision for under-fives in primary school is appropriate to their stage of development.

Where such provision is adequately resourced, it can and does fully meet the needs of the four-year-olds concerned. One current problem some LEAs face in this area is a shortage of teachers with relevant experience and my right hon. Friend has recently proposed a new national priority area addressed directly to this in my Department's 1989–90 training grants scheme for in-service teacher training.

Violence In Classrooms

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the response of the various teachers' unions to the setting up of the Elton inquiry on violence in school classrooms.

All the unions representing school teachers and head teachers in England and Wales have responded positively to the establishment of the inquiry into discipline in schools, by submitting detailed written evidence for the committee of inquiry's consideration. The National Union of Teachers and the National Association of Head Teachers have mounted special surveys amongst their members, and a number of individual local union branches have also submitted evidence.

Computerised Lathes

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many computerised lathes there are in (a) schools and (b) technical colleges in the United Kingdom.

This information is not collected centrally.

Religious Education

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many qualified teachers in religious education would be needed to ensure that at least one specialist in this subject is on the staff of every primary and secondary school in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Twenty-three thousand, six hundred and fifty-three in England. There are 4,221 secondary and 19,432 primary schools in England. A special survey of secondary school staffing in 1984 suggests that there were 16,900 full-time and 1,700 part-time secondary teachers who held a post A-level qualification in which religious education was a main or second subject or who had attended an in-service course in RE of at least one term's full-time duration. A similar survey of primary school staffing in 1987 suggests that 16,700 full-time and 2,700 part-time primary school teachers held a post A-level qualification in which religious education was a main or second subject or who had in the previous five years attended an in-service course in RE of at least one term's full-time duration.The position in Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Teachers (Leaving Statistics)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers left the profession in the last full year for which figures are available, in (a) the 50 to 54 years age group, (b) the 55 to 59 years age group and (c) the 60 years and over age group for reasons of (i) retirement, (ii) infirmity and (iii) other; and what percentage of all teachers in each of these age groups these teachers represent.

The numbers of full-time school teachers in the given age bands leaving the maintained, assisted and grant-aided sector in the financial year 1985–86, and the percentage they make up of their respective age groups, are as follows:

Age	Number	Percentage of age group
50 to 54	3,490	7·5
55 to 59	5,014	17·0
60 and over	3,592	39·0

Information on how many of these left for reasons of retirement, infirmity and other is not readily available.

Consultants

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the cost to his Department of employing management or computer consultants for each year from 1983 to 1987.

The cost to the Department of employing management or computer consultants for each financial year from 1984–85 to 1987–88 is given in the table.

	£
1984–85	69,300
1985–86	105,847
1986–87	229,842
1987–88	328,677

Similar information for 1983–84 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract extant in his Department as at 1 January 1987, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment.

The following contracts to management or computer consultancy firms were extant in the Department as at 1 January 1987:

Name of Firm	Assignment
CCTA	Education Information Study
Deloittes. Haskins and Sells	Financial management advice and assistance to the University Grants Committee.
Deloittes, Haskins and Sells	Review of audit controls over teachers' pensions (payments and contributions.
Loughborough Consultants Ltd	Analysis of universities' responses to the Jarratt report.
Spicer and Peglar Associates	Assessment of Data Envelopment Analysis as a technique for comparing education performance.

Name of Firm

Assignment

Butler Cox

Office Systems Strategy Study

Phlebotomus Fever

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list contracts between the Natural Environment Research Council and the United States Army research institute on infectious diseases in respect of the phlebotomus fever group of viruses.

The Natural Environment Research Council institute of virology has one such contract with the United States Army medical research institute for infectious diseases. The contract is to help diagnose infections in humans and animals, and develop candidate vaccines.

Gcse (Animal Experimentation)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received concerning questions on the subject of animal experimentation set by the southern examining group as part of its general certificate of secondary education examination paper.

None. My right hon. Friend and I have received representations concerning stimulus material relating to animal experimentation supplied by the southern examining group for its English syllabus C.

Examinations (Resource Material)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what steps he takes to ensure that the resource material supplied as background to candidates for general certificate of secondary education exams is impartial;(2) if he will make it his policy to require examining boards to ensure that material supplied to students by them on the subject of animal experimentation includes material from those individuals or organisations involved in such work.

The independent GCSE examining groups are responsible for GCSE syllabuses and examination material. The Government look to these bodies to avoid bias in all its aspects, in line with the national criteria for the GCSE. It is for the groups and the Secondary Examinations Council to ensure that the GCSE national criteria are enforced.

Environment

Isle Of Dogs Enterprise Zone

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much tax and rates have been forgone in the enterprise zone on the Isle of Dogs.

The tax forgone in the Isle of Dogs enterprise zone cannot be identified. By 31 March 1988, about £16·7 million of rates revenue forgone had been reimbursed to the relevant local authorities.

Canary Wharf

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total public subsidy to Canary wharf to date.

There is no direct subsidy. Improvements costing some £250 million are being made to the public infrastructure to serve developments in that part of docklands which includes Canary wharf.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many jobs he estimates that Canary wharf will provide.

Between 50,000 and 60,000.

London Docklands Development Corporation

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much land, previously owned by the London borough of Tower Hamlets, has been acquired by the London Docklands development corporation since its inception.

About 75 acres.

New Towns Commission And Council House Sales (Corby)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many New Towns Commission and council houses have been sold in the Corby district up to the present date.

I assume that my hon. Friend is interested in sales since 1979. The number of dwellings that each district council has reported selling in the period from 1 April 1979 to 31 December 1987 is given in the table placed in the Library in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Mr. Baldry) on 9 June at column 654. During the same period sales were reported of four of the new town dwellings.

Controlled Wastes Inspectorate

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to increase the staff of the controlled wastes inspectorate.

The controlled wastes inspection branch of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution is at full complement. I have no plans to increase this level of staffing for the fulfilment of current responsibilities.

Football (Crowd Behaviour)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next expects to have talks with the football authorities about crowd behaviour; and if he will make a statement.

I am in the process of setting up a working party to examine the details of the proposed national membership scheme. The Football League and the Football Association will be represented on the working party which will have its first meeting, under my chairmanship, in the very near future.

Sites Of Special Scientific Interest

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, by region and county, the sites designated as of special scientific interest, and the area of each, up to (a) 1979 and (b) 1987 in England.

The information is not readily available in the form requested and could not be obtained except at disproportionate cost. I am arranging, however, to send the hon. Member, and place in the Library, lists of SSSIs in England as at 31 December 1987 showing the site area, whether the site had been notified under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and those subsequently denotified.

Consultants

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the cost to the Property Services Agency of employing management or computer consultants for each year from 1983 to 1987.

Expenditure by the Property Services Agency on management or computer consultants for the financial years 1983–84 to 1987–88 was:

	Cost
	£
1983–84	147,927
1984–85	152,721
1985–86	697,767
1986–87	2,322,106
1987–88	4,623,999

The figures quoted are for financial years as the breakdown by calendar year is not readily available and could be provided only at the expense of considerable staff effort. The figures for 1983–84 are for computer consulting only.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the cost to his Department of employing management or computer consultants for each year from 1983 to 1987.

Following is the information for DOE(C)

	£ million
1983–84	3·9
1984–85	3·7
1985–86	2·5
1986–87	3·6
1987–88	4·6

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract extant in the Property Services Agency as at 1 January 1987, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment.

The following consultancy contracts were extant in the Property Services Agency as at 1 January 1987:

Project	Consultancy Firm
1. Civil Estate Record Information Systems	United Information Services Ltd.
2. Support for Installation of the Interim RHQ Computing Facility	Digital Equipment Co. Ltd.
3. Infrastructure—Technical Support	PACTEL

Project	Consultancy Firm
4. System Support for Staff Allocation Model (SAM)	SIA Ltd.
5. Support for VME Transition	ICL
6. Support for VME Transition	W. S. Atkins Ltd.
7. IT Standards—DITSTAN 1	BIS Applied Systems Ltd.
8. Support to IT Committee	Coopers & Lybrand
9. Support for Accountancy Package—LAFIS	ICL
10. SSADM Support for Repayments Project	ICL
11. Support for Professional Computing Transition Project	Ove Arup and Partners
12. Support for PRIME Bureau Service at Croydon	Primary Systems Ltd.
13. Oracle Consultancy Support—PSA IMNEW Project	Oracle Corporation UK Ltd.
14. IT Standards—DITSTAN II	BIS Applied Systems Ltd
15. Support for Project Support Office	Coopers & Lybrand
16. Quality Assurance Repayments Re-Write Project	Coopers & Lybrand
17. Measured Term Contracts Feasibility Study	United Information Services Ltd.
18. Whitgift PABX Project Manager	BIS Applied Systems Ltd.
19. DWO PABX Replacement Technical Support	BIS Applied Systems Ltd.
20. Hastings PABX Technical Support	BIS Applied Systems Ltd.
21. Edinburgh PABX Technical Support	BIS Applied Systems Ltd.
Management Consultancy Contracts
22. Commercial Accounts Study	Deloitte, Haskins & Sell
23. Evaluation Word Processing Market	Dialatron
24. Support for PSA Data Admin. Function	PACTEL
25. Directly Employed Labour Management Study	MCP Management Consultants
26. Privatisation of TCS	Coopers & Lybrand

Urban Programme

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the amount of urban programme funding made available to each local authority for the current financial year and the amount this represents per head of population in each area.

Fifty seven authorities have received allocations of urban programme resources for 1988–89, which reflect authorities' overall need as well as their urban programme performance. The amounts are shown in the table, together with the amount per head of population.

	1988–89 UP resources £ million cash	UP £ per head of 1986 Population
Partnership Authorities
Birmingham	24·1	24·6
Hackney	9·7	51·6
Islington	9·7	57·4
Lambeth	11·8	48·0
Liverpool	20·4	42·4
Manchester/Salford	22·2	32·1
Newcastle/Gateshead	16·8	34·5

	1988–89 UP resources £ million cash	UP £ per head of 1986 Population
Programme Authorities
Barnsley	1·5	6·8
Blackburn	4·0	28·8
Bolton	3·8	14·3
Bradford	4·5	9·7
Brent	3·9	15·3
Bristol	1·5	3·8
Burnley	1·8	20·4
Coventry	4·8	15·4
Derby	1·4	6·5
Doncaster	1·8	6·0
Dudley	1·3	4·2
Greenwich	1·9	8·7
Halton	1·4	11·6
Hammersmith and Fulham	4·3	28·6
Haringey	2·3	11·5
Hartlepool	1·8	19·3
Kensington and Chelsea	1·9	13·5
Kingston Upon Hull	4·9	19·0
Kirklees	0·8	2·2
Knowsley	4·0	23·9
Langbaurgh	1·8	12·0
Leeds	4·4	6·2
Leicester	5·4	19·3
Lewisham	2·0	8·4
Middlesbrough	5·5	38·1
Newham	2·3	11·0
North Tyneside	3·4	17·8
Nottingham	5·5	19·8
Oldham	3·7	16·8
Plymouth	1·0	3·9
Preston	2·0	16·0
Rochdale	3·6	17·4
Rotherham	1·8	7·0
St. Helens	1·7	9·0
Sandwell	4·9	16·2
Sefton	1·5	5·0
Sheffield	5·5	10·3
South Tyneside	4·4	28·0
Southwark	2·3	10·4
Stockton-On-Tees	1·4	7·8
Sunderland	4·4	14·8
The Wrekin	0·6	4·4
Tower Hamlets	4·5	29·5
Walsall	1·5	5·7
Wandsworth	4·5	17·5
Wigan	2·2	7·2
Wirral	3·5	10·2
Wolverhampton	5·4	21·4

Notes:

¹ Population is estimated as at mid-1986.

² The table does not include residual payments on the traditional urban programme to certain other local authorities.

Animal Welfare

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will list those public agencies answerable to his Department which are jointly or solely responsible for the enforcement of legislation, by title and purpose, concerned with the welfare of farm animals; and. if he will give for each of the last three years for which figures are available, the budget staffing of each agency.

None.

Rates (Payment)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discretion local authorities have as to whether to collect the 20 per cent. rates from people claiming housing benefit or income support in the form of 10 monthly payments to cover the year's total bill.

All ratepayers have the right to pay their rates in 10 monthly instalments. Local authorities may collect rates from their own tenants with rent, which may be on a weekly or fortnightly basis and they may make similar arrangements with other landlords also.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received with respect to tenants living in private accommodation and housing associations, being expected to pay their rates cost in a manner less favourable than those living in local authority accommodation; and if he will make a statement setting out Her Majesty's Government's policy in respect of these arrangements, indicating what guidance has been given to housing associations by his Department.

I have received no such representations recently and have no proposals to issue guidance on the subject. Domestic rates will cease to be payable on 31 March 1990.

Rating Reform

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received in favour of the retention of the rating system.

	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Department of the Environment—Housing
Local authorities—other current expenditure	34,402	45,153	47,661	56,388	54,777	58,000	53,000	53,000	55,000
Department of the Environment—other environmental services
Environmental research	16	40	20	97	59	75	181	186	191
Royal palaces, royal parks and royal armouries	5,898	6,271	7,581	7,631	6,478	7,099	9,930	9,560	9,800
Historic buildings, ancient monuments and national heritage	1,135	1,214	1,528	1,742	2,053	2,150	2,318	2,376	2,435
Local environmental services and other local authority current	587,980	579,885	701,771	761,392	832,242	780,242	715,661	743,733	766,829
Departmental administration	14,359	6,527	3,616	4,320	7,510	7,086	6,678	6,896	7,119
Total Department of the Environment—Housing	34,402	45,153	47,661	56,388	54,777	58,000	53,000	53,000	55,000
Total Department of the Environment—Other	609,388	593,937	714,516	775,182	848,342	796,652	734,768	762,751	786,374
GRAND TOTAL¹	643,790	639,090	762,177	831,570	903,119	854,652	787,768	815,751	841,374
¹ Figures in table are consistent with Cm. 288.

Inner Urban Areas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will update the table given in answer to the then hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree, in the Official Report, column 324–30, 14 May 1981, using the most recent statistics; and if he will extend the table to include any local authority whose area is covered by an urban development corporation city action team, or inner city task force.

[holding answer 12 July 1988]: Statistics for the 43 districts then designated under the Inner Urban

A summary of the 1,217 responses received by 31 October 1986, when the consultation period on the Green Paper ended, was placed in the Library on 15 December 1986. Overall, those respondents who supported the abolition of domestic rates outnumbered those who supported retention by 2 to 1.Since June 1987, my Department has received some 10,900 letters containing a variety of comments on specific aspects of our proposals, or requesting further information. The letters do not readily lend themselves to an analysis of correspondents' views.

Public Expenditure Survey

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a detailed breakdown for the years 1982–83 to 1990–91, by nature of item and functional area of charge, of the receipts to his programme, DOE—housing and DOE—other environmental services, classified as charges for the purposes of the public expenditure survey.

[holding answer 7 July 1988]: The table gives figures consistent with those given in the answer the hon. Member received from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 27 May at columns 375–76. The figures relate to income from charges in respect of programme expenditure and exclude capital receipts and receipts in respect of running cost expenditure.Areas Act given by the Secretary of State in 1981 were largely based on the 1971 census. Information for all local authorities in England based on the 1981 census are contained in my Department's publication "Census Information Note 2: Urban Deprivation". This was put in the Library of the House on 15 February 1983. This provides information on nine indicators:

(i) unemployed persons;

(ii) overcrowded households;

(iii) single-parent households;

(iv) pensioners living alone;

(v) households lacking exclusive use of basic amenities;

(vi) population change (1971–81);

(vii) standardised mortality rates;

(viii) low-skilled economically active persons; and

(ix) residents living in households where the head of household was born in the New Commonwealth or Pakistan.

More recent statistics are available only for:

(a) population estimates-mid—1986;

District	Population estimate¹ mid 1986	Estimated population change² 1981–86		Mortality ratio³ (England and Wales = 100) 1986	Unemployment May 1988 ⁴
		Number	Per cent.		Number	Per cent.
Birmingham	1,004,100	-16,700	-1·6	108	68,728	14·5
Gateshead	207,300	-5,900	-2·8	112	13,177	13·1
Hackney	187,199	+2,000	+1·1	101	16,837	19·3
Islington	168,000	+1,900	+1·1	100	13,349	15·9
Lambeth	245,000	-8,000	-3·2	100	19,661	15·3
Liverpool	483,000	-33,700	-6·5	114	47,261	19·9
Manchester	451,400	-11,200	-2·4	117	36,245	17·7
Newcastle	281,400	-2,700	-1·0	108	20,383	115·7
Salford	239,300	-7,700	-3·1	117	14,022	12·2
Barnsley	222,200	-3,600	-1·6	110	14,916	14·8
Blackburn	139,100	-3,500	-2·5	121	6,763	10·5
Bolton	261,600	-700	-0·3	117	13,099	10·6
Bradford	463,100	-1,800	-0·4	111	22,586	10·7
Brent	255,700	+1,500	+0·6	94	13,899	10·6
Bristol	391,500	-9,800	-2·4	100	17,908	9·7
Burnley	88,200	-6,000	-6·4	121	4,124	9·2
Coventry	310,400	-9,000	-2·8	103	18,107	12·1
Derby	216,200	-1,200	-0·6	108	11,864	11·7
Doncaster	289,300	-1,600	-0·6	108	19,294	14·7
Dudley	300,900	+100	0·0	106	13,722	9·3
Greenwich	217,800	+2,200	+1·0	102	11,020	10·7
Halton	123,200	0	0·0	114	8,113	14·6
Hammersmith and Fulham	150,800	-500	-0·3	97	9,774	12·3
Haringey	196,100	-11,100	-5·4	103	14,354	13·7
Hartlepool	90,700	-4,200	-4·4	124	7,359	16·6
Kensington and Chelsea	137,400	-2,700	-1·9	98	7,040	9·8
Kingston-upon-Hull	258,000	-15,700	-5·7	105	18,845	15·5
Kirklees	376,600	-600	-0·2	112	14,504	8·4
Knowsley	163,800	-10,200	-5·9	107	15,263	18·5
Langbaurgh	146,800	-4,100	-2·7	113	10,172	15·1
Leeds	710,900	-6,700	-0·9	101	31,587	9·5
Leicester	281,100	-2,100	-0·7	104	13,723	10·3
Lewisham	232,000	-4,400	-1·9	95	14,260	12·2
Middlesbrough	144,300	-6,300	-4·2	119	12,498	18·2
Newham	205,200	-7,600	-3·6	104	13,357	13·4
North Tyneside	192,300	-6,300	-3·2	110	11,381	12·1
Nottingham	227,800	-400	-0·1	111	19,001	14·9
Oldham	220,000	-1,400	-0·6	117	9,860	9·2
Plymouth	256,000	+3,100	+1·2	98	12,886	11·7
Preston	125,000	-1,400	-1·1	111	6,816	11·7
Rochdale	206,600	-1,600	-0·8	114	10,027	10·1
Rotherham	252,100	-600	-0·2	106	16,171	14·0
St. Helens	187,900	-2,300	-1·2	115	11,136	12·7
Sand well	301,100	-8,700	-2·8	106	18,643	12·7
Sefton	298,000	-2,400	-0·8	104	16,869	12·1
Sheffield	534,300	-13,300	-2·4	105	34,556	13·8
South Tyneside	156,900	-5,100	-3·1	119	12,036	16·1
Southwark	216,000	-2,300	-1·1	101	17,163	15·9
Stockton-on-Tees	175,800	+1,900	+1·1	105	11,605	14·2
Sunderland	297,700	+ 400	+1·1	112	22,785	16·9
The Wrekin	130,200	+4,700	+3·7	104	6,899	12·3
Tower Hamlets	152,800	+7,600	+5·2	106	13,520	19·3
Walsall	261,800	-5,900	-2·2	110	13,809	10·8
Wandsworth	257,100	-4,900	-1·9	104	11,337	8·7
Wigan	306,600	-3,700	-1·2	114	16,178	11·2
Wirral	334,800	-5,800	-1·7	104	20,701	13·4
Wolverhampton	251,900	-4,700	-1·8	106	16,583	14·0
¹ Registrar General's population estimate at mid-1986.

Source: OPCS Monitor PP1 86/2.

² Registrar General's estimate of population change: mid-1981 to mid-1986.

Source: OPCS Monitor PP1 86/2.

³ Standardised mortality ratios (SMR) are calculated as the number of actual deaths in each area in 1986 as a percentage of deaths which would have been expected if the local populations had experienced the sex and age specific mortality rates observed in England and Wales as a whole. Since 1983 SMRs do not include adjustment factors for institutional populations and deaths.

Source: Key Population and vital Statistics 1986: OPCS Series VS No. 13, PP1 No. 9.

(b) population change—1981–86;

(c) standardised mortality ratios; and

(d) unemployment.

This information, for the 57 local authorities in England which benefit from the urban programme, city action teams or the Department of Trade and Industry's inner city task forces, is shown in the table.

⁴ The ratio of the economically active population registered as unemployed as at 12 May 1988. The denominators used in calculating the percentage rates of uemployment are the 1981 census numbers of economically active.

Source:Department of Employment and OPCS.

Pool Cars

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received regarding criminal offences associated with the use of pool cars; what plans he has for curtailing the abuse of pool cars; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.We have found no record of this Department having received any representations on this subject. The investigation of criminal offences is a matter for the police to whom evidence of specific offences should be passed.

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

South Africa

To ask the Secretry of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what detailed analysis his Department has made of the effects of comprehensive economic sanctions against South Africa in relation to the living standards of black South Africans.

There is no doubt that, as a wide range of assessments have confirmed, comprehensive economic sanctions would seriously damage the living standards of black South Africans.

Departmental Survey Research Expenditure

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the level of expenditure on survey research for his Department for each year since 1982; and if he will make a statement.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office expenditure in the financial years 1986–87 and 1987–88 on survey research is shown below. No surveys were undertaken prior to 1986–87. The figures include expenditure for both the diplomatic and aid wings.

Year	Expenditure £
1986–87	11,195
1987–88	4,323

Consultants

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the cost to his Department of employing management or computer consultants for each year from 1983 to 1987.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office expenditure in the financial years 1986–87 and 1987–88 on management and computer consultancy is shown below. The figures include expenditure for both the diplomatic and aid wings.

Consultancy	1986–87	1987–88
	£	£
Management	68,329	257,272
Computer	783,103	1,171,347

Prior to 1986–87 consultancy expenditure was not separately identified in the FCO's accounts. Information for earlier years is therefore not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract extant in his Department as at 1 January 1987, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment.

On 1 January 1987 the following management and computer consultancy contracts were extant in both diplomatic and aid wings of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office:

Management consultancies
None
Computer consultancies
Data General	Management accounting and information system
Kinesis Computing Limited	Development of overseas systems
Towngate Software Limited	Development of an overseas accounting system
Computer Sciences Limited	FOLIOS consultancy studies
Logica United Kingdom Limited	FOLIOS consultancy studies
Systems Designers plc	FOLIOS consultancy studies
The Instruction Set	FOLIOS consultancy studies
Psychometric R and D Limited	(i) A financial estimates system
	(ii) An overseas estates financial system
Price Waterhouse	Computerisation of administration records

European Convention On Human Rights

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his Department's practice with regard to progressing any legislative or policy plans where it is advised that they may be challenged under the European convention on human rights.

When consideration is being given to legislative and other proposals, full account is taken of our obligations under the European convention on human rights and of any risk of challenge thereunder.

Wormhoudt Massacre

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date his Department handed over to the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany the British files on the Wormhoudt massacre.

We are in touch with the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany about the most convenient way to make the information available to them.

Defence

Mod Envelope Form 565

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will change the size of MOD envelope 565 so as to enable it to be fitted into the slots in the Members' Letterboard without being folded.

MOD form 565 is a Post Office approved envelope which is designed to take a standard A4 size sheet of paper, folded twice. It was selected for reasons of economy and standardisation and I have no plans to reduce its size.

Greenham Common

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 6 July, if there is any construction work on existing buildings currently being undertaken at Greenham Common.

As part of the continuing routine maintenance programme at RAF Greenham Common, a hangar and a small storage warehouse are currently being refurbished.

Low Flying

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish in the Official Report figures for low-level flights over southern Scotland, giving an up-to-date table supplying the most recent figures for the table last published in the Official Report 1 May 1987, column 298, in his written answer to the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire.

Movements in southern Scotland during 1987 and for the first three months of 1988 are given below in column 2. The number of movements in a flight is variable but around 2·5 on average.

1	2	3	4
Year	Movements in southern Scotland	Complaints from southern Scotland	Complaints from Borders Region
1987	21,453	304	126
1988	2,220^*	152^**	46^**
^* Up to 31 March
^**Up to 30 June

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing low flying over southern Scotland as a proportion of all low-level flights in the United Kingdom from 1980 to the latest date for which figures are available.

Numbers of flights have been directly recorded only since 1984. The proportion of low-flying activity experienced in southern Scotland in terms of aircraft movements is given below. The area in question represents approximately 9 per cent. by area of the United Kingdom low-flying system.

Proportion of United Kingdom low-flying movements over southern Scotland
Year	Per cent.
1980	3·8
1981	4·4
1982	4·3

Year	Per cent.
1983	4·8
1984	5·7
1985	6·3
1986	6·1
1987	6·8
1988	2·6

Air Search And Rescue

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the rescue missions flown by the 22 SA R flight based at RAF Chivenor to convey injured or sick people to hospitals in north Devon or elsewhere; and if he will identify how many involved service personnel and how many involved civilians.

During 1987, the last complete year for which records are available, search and rescue helicopters from Royal Air Force Chivenor conveyed 29 people to hospitals in north Devon and elsewhere, of whom 28 were civilians.

Employment

Job Training Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, for each of the Manpower Services Commission's areas in Greater London, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, the Birmingham and Solihull Manpower Services Commission area and for Great Britain as a whole, what are the most recent monthly statistics for new JTS showing (a) entrants in the latest available period, and the number of cumulative entrants since the scheme started, (b) a breakdown of entrants which shows how many were male and female, the length of time they had been out of work, their ethnic backgrounds and whether or not they had any disabilities, (c) the number of trainees in the latest available period who entered work placements and the cumulative total of how many are in work places at the latest available date, and (d) trainees who left the scheme in the latest available period, and the number of cumulative leavers since the scheme started; for all those trainees who have left the scheme how many (i) found work, (ii) failed to attend, (iii) went on to another course of training or education, (iv) completed the course, (v) left for sickness or (vi) went back into unemployment; and what is the total number of currently filled places.

At 25 March 1988, the latest date for which figures are available, some 30,435 formerly unemployed people were participating in the new job training scheme (NJTS). The breakdown is set out in the tables. Information on the immediate destinations/reasons for leaving of trainees who have left the scheme are not completed at a Training Commission area office level, as only a minority of trainees inform managing agents of their destinations on leaving NJTS.More reliable information about job entry rates and other trainee destinations is being gathered by independent follow-up surveys. The first such survey will provide some information on trainees who left NJTS between October 1987 and December 1987, and will be available for Great Britain shortly. Response rates have varied significantly by area; consequently information at that level is unlikely to be available.

Table 1
TC—Greater London
	London North	London East	London South	London West	Inner London North	Inner London South
No. of Entrants in latest available period (March)	106	310	114	79	169	131
Cumulative Entrants since Scheme started (April-March)	1,712	1,649	1,121	1,124	1,647	2,366
Cumulative
(a) Male	1,138	974	704	624	662	1,627
(b)Female	574	506	354	421	985	712
(c) Length of time out of work
(1) 6–12 months	809	668	486	478	810	989
(2) Over 12 months	412	331	266	280	485	606
(3) Over 24 months	491	481	306	287	352	744
(d) Declared Ethnic Background
(1) White	787	784	641	464	786	939
(2) Black-African Caribbean descent	470	265	188	201	510	798
(3) Indian Sub-Continent descent	198	257	83	187	118	125
(4) None of those	185	129	102	128	141	264
(5) Not declared	72	45	44	65	92	213
(e) Declared disability	21	81	43	20	36	86
Entered first practical experience placements in March	28	35	20	26	60	49
In practical experience (not cumulative total) placements at latest date (end March)	223	190	123	103	527	523
Cumulative leavers	1,306	1,009	730	917	1,077	1,573
March leavers—non cumulative	114	75	44	76	146	158
Footnotes:
1. Due to difficulties in data collection some of the information given above is incomplete.
2. In the main, new job training scheme trainees undertake individually designed packages of training and practical experience, flexible in nature and of varying length. The scheme does not offer courses as such and trainees may and do leave at any time to pursue other opportunities.

Table 2
TC—Merseyside and Manchester
	Manchester Central	Manchester East	Manchester North	Merseyside
No. of entrants in latest available period (March)	358	212	203	261
Cumulative entrants since scheme started (April-March)	3,104	1,773	1,737	2,964
Cumulative
(a) Male	2,438	1,427	1,358	2,162
(b) Female	665	346	179	902
(c) Length of time out of work
(1) 6–12 months	1,173	729	687	987
(2) Over 12 months	713	437	409	715
(3) Over 24 months	1,193	607	639	1,247
(d) Declared ethnic background
(1) White	2,279	1,475	1,386	2,539
(2) Black/African Caribbean descent	209	37	22	23
(3) Indian sub-continent descent	104	66	72	11
(4) None of those	429	167	206	301
(5) Not declared	83	28	49	41
(e) Declared disability	160	51	95	58
Entered first practical experience placements in March	120	96	99	116
In practical experience (not cumulative total) placements at latest date (end March)	546	325	368	527
Cumulative leavers	2,159	1,295	1,203	2,173
March Leavers—non cumulative	272	184	130	227

The survey will be repeated quarterly and the information base will become fuller, and therefore more reliable at area level, over time.

Notes:

1. Due to difficulties in data collection some of the information given above is incomplete.

2. In the main, new job training scheme trainees undertake individually designed packages of training and practical experience, flexible in nature and of varying length. The scheme does not offer courses as such and trainees may and do leave at any time to pursue other opportunities.

Table 3
TC—Birmingham, Solihull and Great Britain
	Birmingham and Solihull	Great Britain
No of entrants in latest available period (March)	264	10,806
Cumulative entrants since scheme started (April—March)	3,044	100,107
Cumulative
(a)Male	2,164	70,059
(b)Female	880	23,690
(c)Length of time out of work
(1) 6 to 12 months	1,147	40,680
(2) Over 12 months	706	22,001
(3) Over 24 months	1,191	10,844
(d)Declared ethnic background
(1) White	1,784	75,908
(2) Black-African Caribbean descent	511	4,875
(3) Indian sub-continent descent	413	3,583
(4) None of those	275	7,155
(5) Not declared	61	2,356
(e)Declared disability	50	3,567
Entered first practical experience placement in March	102	3,961
In practical experience (not cumulative total) placements at latest dale (end March)	517	18,018
Cumulative leavers	2,160	61,057
March leavers—non cumulative	245	7,664
Footnotes:
1. Due to difficulties in data collection some of the information given above is incomplete.
2. In the main, new job training scheme trainees undertake individually designed packages of training and practical experience, flexible in nature and of varying length. The scheme does not offer courses as such and trainees may and do leave at any time to pursue other opportunities.

Eetpu (General Secretary)

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to meet the general secretary of the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met the general secretary of the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union on a visit to the EETPU's training centre on 19 April.

Low-Income Households

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will take action to include details of (a) travel-to-work expenses, and (b) work-related childcare costs in the family expenditure survey with a view to their being taken into account in the equivalent scales used in future editions of "Households Below Average Income", and in the assessment of replacement ratios.

The quality of the family expenditure survey results depends on there being strict limits on the amount and kind of information that is collected. The detailed information obtained is designed to meet a wide range of different requirements and is agreed between Government Departments. Travel-to-work expenses and work-related child care costs are included in expenditure but are not separately identified. My 'Department is prepared to consider any changes to the contents of the survey provided there is sufficient support for these and compensating reductions can be made elsewhere.Equivalence scales as used in "Households Below Average Income" and replacement ratios are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Plant Health Inspectorate

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, in the light of the recent discovery of another outbreak of rhizomania, he proposes to increase the resources directed to the plant health inspectorate; and if he will make a statement.

We are taking a number of steps to protect the United Kingdom sugar beet crop from further outbreaks of rhizomania. These include the fumigation of and quarantine conditions imposed on the Suffolk farm where the 1987 outbreak occurred, the very extensive surveying of beet-producing areas since 1983. the monitoring of particular imports where rhizomania could be a risk, however small, the reduction of soil tolerances on imports of potatoes and other vegetables and the disposal of waste fom imported vegetables to approved sites only. Rhizomania was recently discovered in soil from the wrapped root balls of Acers imported from the Netherlands. This single finding of rhizomania did not constitue an outbreak of the disease. The discovery was a result of the vigilance of the plant health inspectorate, and I am satisfied that the resources available to the inspectorate are sufficient to enable it to carry out its task effectively.

Durum Wheat

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why the Council of Ministers agreed to a 12·5 per cent. increase in the aid to producers of durum wheat to coincide with the 5·2 per cent. reduction in the intervention price; and if he will make a statement.

The EC Commission's proposal on durum wheat, to which 11 Member states have provisionally agreed as part of the price-fixing package, is in line with the Commission's continuing policy of gradually reducing the durum wheat intervention price to reach a relationship of 120 per cent. with the common wheat intervention price by 1992–93. Durum wheat is a surplus product. However, durum production is important in certain less-favoured regions" in southern Europe where it is the only option for large numbers of farmers. The increase in the production aid per hectare, which is paid only in these less-favoured regions is intended by the Commission to cushion the impact of the intervention price reduction on these farmers' incomes. We have consistently argued that this aid is not an appropriate measure for dealing with what is largely a social and structual problem.

Toxic Waste

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has of the hazard to fishing vessels from the burning of toxic waste in ships on the North sea; and if he will make a statement.

I have no evidence to indicate that the burning of toxic waste in ships on the North sea in accordance with the established rules poses any hazard to fishing vessels. There is only one internationally approved sea incineration site which is located in Dutch waters about 100 miles from the Netherlands coast and about 150 miles from the British coast. This site is out of the way of established shipping lanes and fishing grounds. Furthermore, incineration vessels are subject to controls to prevent incineration taking place within range of other vessels.

Animal Welfare

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will list those public agencies answerable to his Department which are jointly or solely responsible for the enforcement of legislation, by title and purpose, concerned with the welfare of farm animals in general, at farms, in transit, at markets and slaughterhouses; and if he will give, for each of the last three years for which figures are available, the budget and staffing of each agency.

The state veterinary service, which is part of my Department, is the main body responsible for animal welfare on the farm. It also co-operates with local authorities, which are principally responsible for enforcement of the legislation on welfare in transit, in markets and in abattoirs. My Department's budget and staffing for animal welfare work, most of which is accounted for by the state veterinary service, is estimated to be as follows:

	Cost £ million	Manpower
1985–86	3·4	127
1986–87	3·1	124
1987–88	3·4	132

New Zealand Butter

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Commission of the European Economic Community is meeting to discuss New Zealand butter access; and if he has advised the Commission of the views of Her Majesty's Government on the issue.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe (Mr. Morris) on 11 July. The EC Council of Ministers, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, is due to take a decision on future access for New Zealand butter before 1 August 1988.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has received any request from representatives of the New Zealand Government to inform the European Economic Community of the views of Her Majesty's Government on New Zealand butter access; and if he will make a statement.

Yes; and I will ensure that those views are communicated to the European Commission at the appropriate time.

Food (Information)

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take steps to ensure that Government and industry provide full and open access to all relevant information about food, in particular safety and technical data.

The Government regularly publish the reports of their advisory committees on food safety, notably the food advisory committee, the committee on toxicity of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment, and the steering group on food surveillance.

Northern Ireland

Ministerial Visits

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many ministerial visits were undertaken by his colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988.

The figure is estimated at something in excess of 1,000, as Ministers regularly visit all parts of the Province as part of their duties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many ministerial visits were undertaken in Northern Ireland by all Ministers in the four years prior to November 1985.

I do not have details of all the visits by Ministers in 1981–85, but I understand that they maintained the same practice of frequent visits to all parts of the Province.

Belvoir Park Hospital

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the impact of the decline of the number of physicists and technicians in the radiotherapy unit in Belvoir park hospital, Powdersburn on the treatment of patients and servicing the unit.

I am not aware of any decline in the number of physicists and technicians at the radiotherapy unit in Belvoir park hospital.

Belvoir Estates, Castlereagh

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the water trench was excavated across the roadway in Belvoir Estates, Castlereagh, opposite 11 Castledillon road; and what proposals there are to reinstate the roadway surface over this trench.

Excavations to lay a water main in Castledillon road were made on 4 June 1986, and the trench reinstated the same day. As the road surface is satisfactory, the Department has no plans to carry out further reinstatement works.

Winnie Thompson

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how long has Winnie Thompson of Victoria gardens, Ballyhalbert, County Down, been on the waiting list at Musgrave hospital, Belfast for a hip replacement operation; and when this operation is expected to take place.

This is a matter for the Eastern health and social services board. However, I understand Mrs. Thompson's GP wrote to Musgrave park hospital on 23 April 1988 to make an appointment for her to be examined and assessed by an orthopaedic consultant. Because of the heavy demands on the orthopaedic service, the Eastern board has not yet been able to arrange such an appointment. It is therefore not possible at this stage to say whether a hip replacement operation would be appropriate in Mrs. Thompson's case and if so when it is likely to take place.

Fair Employment

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the practising definition of affirmative action which his Department will use in relation to fair employment; and if he will make a statement.

The White Paper on Fair Employment (paragraph 3.20) defines affirmative action as

"special measures taken to promote a more representative distribution of employment in the workforce and designed to give all sections of the community full and equal access to employment opportunities".

Affirmative action programmes thus provide the frame-work within which appointment on merit can properly operate, by removing any unnecessary obstacles which are preventing a wider range of applicants from coming forward, and by broadening the field from which employees are drawn.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what provisions of additional staff have been made for the Fair Employment Commission to carry out its increased work load and responsibility.

The staffing of the Fair Employment Agency has already been doubled over the past three years. This provision will be kept under review to ensure that the resources provided for the new Fair Employment Commission are fully commensurate with its functions and responsibilities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the estimated cost to an average employer of implementing the Government's required monitoring system.

It is difficult to define an average employer. All public sector and most private sector employers will be required to monitor. The cost in any particular case will depend on the size of the work force and the nature of the employer's personnel information system.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which meetings of the Fair Employment Tribunal will be open to the public and press; and what criteria will be used to decide whether to hold the proceedings in camera.

Para 2.23 of the White Paper indicated that the procedures and general approach of the Fair Employment Tribunal will be similar to those which apply in sex discrimination cases before the industrial tribunals. Like the industrial tribunals, the Fair Employment Tribunal will have a discretion to hear cases in private if the tribunal considers this appropriate in the circumstances of the case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what provisions will be made for the individual claimant unable to afford the cost of prosecuting a case to the new Fair Employment Tribunal; and if he will make a statement.

The White Paper indicated (paragraphs 2.13–2.14 and 2.23) that the Fair Employment Commission will have a discretion to assist individual complainants before the new tribunal where a question of principle arises; where it would be unreasonable to expect the individual to pursue the case; and where any other special considerations apply. Whether a case is taken directly or assisted by the commission, the commission will also be able to give general advice to any individual about the anti-discrimination law and about how a case can be pursued.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what evaluation process will be used to determine the success of the Fair Employment Commission after it has been established; and if he will make a statement.

The White Paper indicated that the effectiveness of the new legislation will be continuously evaluated and formally reviewed after five years. That process will include an evaluation of the commission's experiences in conducting pattern and practice cases, as well as other information on improvements in employment and recruitment practices. The impact of the new legislation and the commission established under it will best be measured by assessing the changes that take place in the future experiences of under-represented groups in gaining access to employment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what time scale he will be expecting compliance from employers on matters of registration and monitoring in relation to fair employment policies.

The Government's intention is that there should be prompt compliance with the new legislation, and there will be statutory time limits both for registration and for the submission of monitoring returns. The detailed provision will be addressed when the Bill is before the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he will take to ensure the protection of other religious minorities besides Catholics; and if he will make a statement.

The present legislation already affords protection against discrimination to persons of all religious beliefs. The intention is that the substantially strengthened provisions of the proposed new legislation should continue to afford protection to persons of all religious beliefs.

Royal Ulster Constabulary Disciplinary Hearing

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will announce the choice of chief constable to conduct the Royal Ulster Constabulary disciplinary hearing; and if he will make a statement.

The choice of a chief constable to conduct any disciplinary hearing in respect of the Royal Ulster Constabulary is a matter for the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. I understand that he intends to announce a chief constable to hear the disciplinary charges arising out of the report by Mr. Charles Kelly as soon as possible.

Social Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the number and total value of social fund payments in each social security office in Northern Ireland from April 1987 to April 1988.

[holding answer 7 July 1988]: The available information is as follows:

Social Fund payments
6 April 1987 to 8 April 1988
Social security office	Total	Total paid
	Number	£
Andersonstown	476	67,370
Antrim	363	50,614
Armagh	380	67,361
Ballymena	389	58,230
Ballymoney	330	56,955
Ballynahinch	80	11,092
Banbridge	238	46,381
Bangor	204	33,266
Carrickfergus	187	26,683
Coleraine	306	44,352
Cookstown	317	62,740
Corporation Street	772	117,957
Downpatrick	196	23,207
Dungannon	396	79,943

From 11 April 1988 to 31 May 1988
Social Security Office	Awards				Amounts			Budget
	Budget Loans	Crisis Loans	Community Care Grants	Total	Loans (£)	Grants (£)	Total (£)	Loans (£)	Grants (£)	Total (£)
Andersonstown	100	61	34	195	32,790·33	4,835·05	37,625·38	96,883·83	50,577·08	147,460·91
Antrim	154	97	12	263	39,538·07	3,644·25	43,182·32	46,161·97	19,583·00	65,744·97
Armagh	13	18	16	47	3,959·40	2,793·09	6,752·49	34,724·18	18,304·88	53,029·06
Ballymena	92	70	6	168	25,455·18	863·00	26,318·18	40,650·92	21,477·97	62,128·89
Ballymoney	42	16	3	61	10,887·58	215·72	11,103·30	29,033·37	15,351·95	44,385·32
Ballynahinch	10	3	5	18	1,984·24	1,392·80	3,377·04	4,492·86	2,429·48	6,922·34
Banbridge	11	8	2	21	4,567·34	129·60	4,696·94	17,066·54	9,110·79	26,177·33
Bangor	61	37	25	123	13,764·13	7,272·12	21,036·25	18,889·72	10,056·67	28,946·39
Carrickfergus	51	42	19	112	14,337·78	3,726·05	18,063·83	17,647·97	9,283·34	26,931·31
Coleraine	72	54	17	143	15,174·75	8,007·25	23,182·00	45,768·93	24,079·54	69,848·47
Cookstown	34	19	13	66	9,297·71	3,451·40	12,749·11	27,902·28	14,600·11	42,502·39
Corporation Street	107	142	15	264	31,446·01	6,517·12	37,963·13	115,667·90	60,615·29	176,283·19
Downpatrick	31	29	17	77	7,542·66	358·41	7,901·07	17,615·43	9,300·74	26,916·17
Dungannon	30	21	11	62	12,694·23	2,261·90	14,956·13	43,372·34	22,962·73	66,335·07
Enniskillen	29	21	3	53	6,824·79	2,368·20	9,192·99	32,389·43	17,401·26	49,790·69
Falls	108	137	12	257	25,388·01	1,119·65	26,507·66	80,591·58	42,174·01	122,765·59
Holywood Road	103	60	22	185	24,735·21	4,655·15	29,390·36	52,259·04	27,651·54	79,910·58
Kilkeel	5	0	15	20	1,486·95	865·92	2,352·87	5,317·12	2,844·48	8,161·60
Knockbreda	49	20	17	86	12,525·39	4,469·65	16,995·04	28,513·47	15,317·34	43,830·81
Larne	61	36	5	102	13,365·61	615·40	13,981·01	17,310·01	9,031·00	26,341·00
Limavady	46	3	21	70	11,116·21	3,347·31	14,463·52	16,239·00	7,839·95	24,078·95
Lisburn	196	40	22	258	46,508·15	4,844·10	51,352·25	77,658·53	41,383·28	119,041·81
Londonderry	42	68	41	151	15,475·60	16,821·53	32,297·13	125,006·50	65,191·47	190,197·97
Lurgan	19	72	18	109	8,449·98	1,005·92	9,455·90	90,950·64	47,849·89	138,800·53
Magherafelt	13	13	37	63	3,540·19	9,337·76	12,877·95	46,790·00	24,623·00	71,413·00
Newcastle	7	12	7	26	1,968·37	326·60	2,294·97	8,252·36	4,374·79	12,627·15
Newry	36	23	38	97	11,267·14	5,256·05	16,523·19	74,819·00	39,297·00	114,116·00
Newtownabbey	68	137	25	230	18,710·69	1,500·70	20,211·39	29,128·80	15,434·36	44,563·16
Newtownards	28	21	4	53	7,220·10	675·50	7,895·60	15,301·45	8,170·92	23,472·37

Social security office	Total	Total
	Number	£
Enniskillen	478	80,383
Falls Road	754	134,005
Holywood Road	443	73,800
Kilkeel	107	18,406
Knockbreda	251	38,404
Larne	179	27,212
Limavady	281	40,543
Lisburn	315	63,859
Londonderry	1,327	201,731
Lurgan	457	86,173
Magherafelt	329	59,677
Newcastle	129	18,705
Newry	658	106,904
Newtownabbey	285	41,998
Newtownards	243	36,032
Omagh	384	61,439
Portadown	212	42,848
Shaftesbury Square	323	50,771
Shankill	303	51,103
Strabane	471	93,465
TOTALS	12,563	2,073,609

Because of industrial action in June 1987 the figures are incomplete. Five offices having failed to provide information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what were the claims to the social fund and loans and grants paid by the social fund in each social security office since 11 April; and what was the budget for that period;(2) what is the number and value of community care grants made by each social security office since 11 April.

[holding answer 8 July 1988]: Details of the claims to the social fund were given in my reply of 8 July 1988. Information about the numbers and amounts of awards and the budgets for the period 11 April 1986 to 31 May 1988 (the latest date for which information is available) is given in the table.

Social Security Office	Awards				Amounts			Budget
	Budget Loans	Crisis Loans	Community Care Grants	Total	Loans (£)	Grants (£)	Total (£)	Loans /£)	Grants (£)	Total (£)
Omagh	43	19	6	68	15,028·34	1,110·60	16,138·94	42,535·49	22,381·65	64,917·14
Portadown	20	34	18	72	7,382·20	3,020·00	10,402·20	22,448·30	11,960·00	34,408·30
Shaftesbury Square	50	80	14	144	15,122·46	4,773·89	19,896·35	62,607·70	32,745·25	95,352·95
Shankill	114	105	18	237	33,131·76	2,928·11	36,059·87	40,636·26	21,613·19	62,249·45
Strabane	42	26	15	83	13,251·39	4,852·47	18,103·86	43,033·40	22,689·39	65,722·79
TOTAL	1,887	1,544	553	3,984	515,937·95	119,362·27	635,300·22	1,467,666·31	767,707·34	2,235,373·65

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list by office for each complete month since the introduction of the social fund the actual expenditure and the expenditure as a percentage of the monthly budget on budgeting loans, crisis loans and community care grants.

Expenditure on Budgeting and Crisis Loans
11 April—30 April 1988
May 1988
Social Security Office	Expenditure	As a Percentage of Profile	Expenditure	As a Percentage of Profile
Andersonstown	5,827·41	32·33	26,962·92	34·19
Antrim	7,105·88	82·08	32,432·19	86·47
Armagh	115·91	1·80	3,843·49	13·58
Ballymena	1,674·15	22·17	23,781·03	71·84
Ballymoney	2,093·59	38·72	8,793·99	37·21
Ballynahinch	—	—	1,984·24	54·18
Banbridge	455·26	14·38	4,112·08	29·58
Bangor	1,712·73	48·61	12,051·40	78·42
Carrickfergus	1,487·80	45·22	12,849·98	89·49
Coleraine	3,669·81	43·02	11,504·94	30·89
Cookstown	931·14	17·98	8,366·57	36·81
Corporation Street	3,827·13	17·82	27,618·88	29·31
Downpatrick	491·30	15·03	7,051·36	49·14
Dungannon	2,749·60	34·07	9,944·63	28·16
Enniskillen	740·65	12·33	6,084·14	23·05
Falls	5,004·25	33·37	20,383·76	31·07
Holywood Road	3,937·69	40·45	20,797·52	48·90
Kilkeel	—	—	1,486·95	35·79
Knockbreda	1,704·91	30·17	10,820·48	47·32
Larne	943·45	28·97	12,422·16	88·38
Limavady	605·00	21·28	10,511·21	78·46
Lisburn	10,135·71	69·73	36,372·44	57·62
Londonderry	3,139·42	13·54	12,336·18	12·11
Lurgan	3,182·65	18·85	5,267·33	7·11
Magherafelt	816·42	9·41	2,723·77	7·14
Newcastle	110·76	7·24	1,857·61	27·62
Newry	2,017·05	14·53	9,250·09	15·17
Newtownabbey	3,325·53	61·07	15,38516	64·96
Newtownards	727·55	25·59	6,492·55	52·11
Omagh	445·24	5·65	14,583·10	42·07
Portadown	485·00	11·65	6,897·20	37·71
Shaftesbury Square	2,547·43	21·91	12,575·03	24·66
Shankill	4,208·20	55·45	28,923·56	87·51
Strabane	2,406·03	30·07	10,845·36	30·95

Expenditure on Community Care Grants
	11 April—30 April 1988		May 1988
Social security office	Expenditure	As a per cent, of profile	Expenditure	As a per cent, of profile
Andersonstown	1,313·10	13·99	3,521·95	8·54
Antrim	nil	nil	3,644·25	24·22
Armagh	nil	nil	2,793·09	18·72
Ballymena	6·00	0·15	857·00	4·89
Ballymoney	nil	nil	215·72	1·72
Ballynahinch	nil	nil	1,392·80	70·36
Banbridge	nil	nil	129·60	1·74
Bangor	1,675·60	88·75	5,596·52	68·51
Carrickfergus	1,012·65	58·36	2,713·40	35·94
Coleraine	1,090·00	24·36	6,917·25	35·28
Cookstown	1,260·80	46·31	2,190·60	18·44
Corporation Street	2,595·00	23·05	3,922·12	7·94

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: Social security offices do not have monthly budgets but managers do draw up monthly profiles of anticipated expenditure. On the basis of these profiles, the information for the periods 11 to 30 April 1988 and 1 to 31 May 1988 (the latest date for which information is available) is given in the table.

	April—30 April 1988		May 1988
Social security office	Expenditure	As a per cent, of profile	Expenditure	As a per cent, of profile
Downpatrick	140·61	8·16	217·80	2·87
Dungannon	229·00	5·38	2,032·90	10·86
Enniskillen	nil	nil	2,368·20	16·69
Falls	521·40	6·67	598·25	1·74
Holywood Road	1,564·99	30·43	3,090·16	13·72
Kilkeel	nil	nil	865·92	38·96
Knockbreda	2,061·95	67·47	2,407·70	19·63
Larne	23·50	1·38	591·90	8·07
Limavady	1,325·00	90·01	2,022·31	31·75
Lisburn	892·00	11·62	3,952·10	11·72
Londonderry	69·02	0·57	16,752·51	31·53
Lurgan	187·60	2·11	818·32	2·09
Magherafelt	1,150·42	25·14	8,187·34	40·83
Newcastle	164·60	20·27	162·00	4·54
Newry	929·80	12·75	4,326·25	13·51
Newtonabbey	23·00	0·80	1,477·70	11·74
Newtownards	390·00	25·69	285·50	4·29
Omagh	550·00	13·24	560·60	3·07
Portadown	485·00	21·91	2,535·00	26·00
Shaftesbury Square	990·00	16·28	3,783·89	14·19
Shankill	340·80	8·50	2,587·31	14·69
Strabone	nil	nil	4,852·47	26·24

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list by office for each complete month since the introduction of the social fund the types of needs for which budgeting loans, crisis loans and community care grants were awarded and the number of awards falling under each type of need, and the proportion of expenditure on budgeting loans and crisis loans provided to assist (a) claimants making new and fresh applications for income support who are being paid in arrears, (b) payments towards board and lodging expenses and (c) payments towards rent in advance.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list by office for each complete month since the introduction of the social fund the number of applications for budgeting loans, crisis loans and community care grants rejected and the reasons for such rejection, and the number of applications rejected on the grounds of inability to repay (a) crisis loans and (b) budgeting loans, and the status of those rejected, including the number of pensioners, unemployed and single parents who were rejected.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: The numbers of applications for budgeting loans, crisis loans and community care grants which have been rejected during the periods 11–30 April 1988 and 1–31 May 1988 (the latest date for which information is available) are shown in the table.

Applications Rejected—May 1988
Social security office	Budgeting Loans	Crisis Loans	Community care grants	Total
Andersonstown	23	4	7	34
Antrim	53	2	2	57
Armagh	9	1	9	19
Ballymena	51	nil	1	52
Ballymoney	13	1	1	15
Ballynahinch	3	1	2	6
Banbridge	3	nil	2	5
Bangor	19	nil	4	23
Carrickfergus	32	2	9	43

Social security office	Budgeting Loans	Crisis Loans	Community care grants	Total
Coleraine	30	5	4	39
Cookstown	6	nil	5	11
Corporation Street	30	1	14	45
Downpatrick	9	nil	7	16
Dungannon	4	nil	3	7
Enniskillen	8	4	12	24
Falls	30	nil	4	34
Holywood Road	29	5	8	42
Kilkeel	2	nil	2	4
Knockbreda	45	nil	5	50
Larne	33	1	2	36
Limavady	29	10	13	52
Lisburn	75	nil	2	77
Londonderry	27	1	33	61
Lurgan	9	7	9	25
Magherafelt	6	nil	nil	6
Newcastle	2	nil	3	5
Newry	17	6	14	37
Newtonabbey	33	1	12	46
Newtownards	11	nil	3	14
Omagh	5	nil	4	9
Portadown	20	nil	7	27
Shaftesbury Square	32	3	9	44
Shankill	100	2	7	109
Strabane	11	nil	2	13
Total	809	57	221	1,087

Applications rejected: April 1988
Social security office	Budgeting loans	Crisis loans	Community care grants	Total
Andersonstown	2	4	6	12
Antrim	26	nil	1	27
Armagh	1	nil	nil	1
Ballymena	7	nil	1	8
Ballymoney	5	2	1	8
Ballynahinch	nil	nil	nil	nil
Banbridge	4	nil	nil	4
Bangor	12	1	3	16
Carrickfergus	14	3	6	23
Coleraine	17	7	1	25
Cookstown	2	nil	2	4
Corporation Street	7	6	1	14
Downpatrick	1	2	2	5
Dungannon	3	nil	nil	3
Enniskillen	4	1	2	7

Social security office	Budgeting loans	Crisis loans	Community care grants	Total
Falls	5	1	nil	6
Holywood Road	8	2	1	11
Kilkeel	nil	2	nil	2
Knockbreda	4	6	1	11
Larne	3	nil	nil	3
Limavady	2	8	nil	10
Lisburn	8	nil	nil	8
Londonderry	2	1	4	7
Lurgan	5	7	1	13
Magherafelt	nil	nil	nil	nil
Newcastle	3	2	3	8
Newry	6	nil	4	10
Newtonabbey	11	7	5	23
Newtownards	5	2	nil	7
Omagh	nil	nil	nil	nil
Portadown	nil	2	nil	2
Shaftesbury Square	1	7	nil	8
Shankill	8	2	5	15
Strabane	7	1	nil	8
Total	183	76	50	309

Single Payments

To ask the Secretary of Ireland what is the number and tot payments made by each social security Ireland in 1988.

[holding answer 7 July 1988]: The information is given in the table.

Details for the period: 16 December 1987 to 31 May 1988¹
Social security office	Number of payments	Value (£)
Andersontown	5,942	943,629.13
Antrim	8,168	690,811.97
Armagh	5,196	531,834.98
Ballymena	4,944	451,472.80
Ballymoney	2,607	287,789.63
Ballynahinch	613	61,945.13
Banbridge	3,945	391,585.34
Bangor	1,930	189,736.69
Carrickfergus	2,107	193,618.30
Coleraine	4,323	471,925.66
Cookstown	2,948	517,060.82
Corporation Street	11,650	1,312,717.70
Downpa trick	2,352	253,136.53
Dungannon	3,466	700,371·48
Enniskillen	3,449	326,191.87
Falls Road	13,262	1,364,383.70
Holywood Road	7,659	835,818.55
Kilkeel	1,277	155,174.05
Knockbreda	3,408	288,883.94
Larne	3,106	253,250.76
Limavady	4,202	457,403.89
Lisburn	7,727	976,914.57
Londonderry	7,636	1,098,950.69
Lurgan	6,002	926,881.54
Magherafelt	2,925	590,827.48
Newcastle	2,038	181,315.07
Newry	11,855	1,332,727.39
Newtownabbey	2,760	227,554.77
Newtownards	1,364	156,202.99
Omagh	2,889	421,173.90
Portadown	4,618	466,008.97
Shaftesbury Square	9,744	883,158.60
Shankill	4,229	390,405.14
Strabane	3,359	561,643.99
Total	163,700	18,892,508.02
¹ Data were collected on a four-week basis prior to 11 April 1988 and on a calendar month basis since that date.

Homelessness

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will identify submissions in response to the draft Housing (NI) Order 1988 which expressed concern about the lack of funding for voluntary organisations providing accommodation for the homeless.

[holding answer 5 July 1988]: Submissions on the draft Housing (Northern Ireland) Order received from the following 23 groups or individuals expressed concern about the lack of funding for voluntary organisations providing accommodation for the homeless.Alliance Party

Belfast Housing Aid
Coleraine Borough Council
Council for the Homeless
Dungannon and District Housing Association Ltd.
Gingerbread
International Year of Shelter for the Homeless
Limavady District Council
Lower Lenadoon Housing Action Committee
Magherafelt District Council
Newry and Mourne District Council
Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders
Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureau
Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action/Tenants Participation Advisory Service
Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations
Northern Ireland Youth Forum
Omagh District Council
Probation Board for Northern Ireland
Salvtion Army Social Services
Simon Community (Northern Ireland)
Sinn Fein
R. Story, Esq.
Youth Homelessness Group

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will identify submissions in response to the draft Housing (NI) Order which expressed concern about the quality of temporary accommodation or the length of time which homeless people will have to spend in such accommodation.

[holding answer 5 July 1988]: Submissions on the draft Housing (NI) Order received from the following 36 groups or individuals expressed concern about the quality of temporary accommodation or the length of time which homeless people will have to spend in such accommodation.

Age Concern
Alliance Party
Association of District Committees for the Health and Personal Social Services (NI)
Belfast Housing Aid
Belfast Law Centre
Coleraine Borough Council
Council for the Homeless
Down District Council
Gingerbread
International Year of Shelter for the Homeless
Labour Party
Limavady District Council
Lower Lenadoon Housing Action Committee
Magherafelt District Council
Rev. W. McCrea MP
National Union of Students/Union of Students in Ireland
Newry and Mourne District Council
Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders
Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureau
NI Committee Irish Congress of Trade Unions
NI Committee Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Youth Committee)

Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action/Tenants Participation Advisory Service
NI Youth Forum
Omagh District Council
Open Door Housing Association
Probation Board for NI
Salvation Army Social Services
Shelter NI
Simon Community NI
Sinn Fein
Social Democratic Labour Party
R. Storey Esq
SHAC (Students Housing Association Co-op Ltd)
Western Group Environmental Health Committee
The Workers Party
Youth Homelessness Group NI

Housing Order

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the organisations or individuals who submitted written comments in response to the draft Housing (NI) Order 1988.

[holding answer 5 July 1988]: The following 58 groups submitted written comments during the consultation period of the draft Housing (Northern Ireland) Order.

Age Concern
Alliance Party Association of District Committees for the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland)
Ballymena Central YMCA
Belfast Housing Aid
Belfast Law Centre
Coleraine Borough Council
Community Technical Aid
Contact Youth Counselling Services
Council for the Homeless
Down District Council
Dungannon and District Housing Association Ltd.
Eastern Group Public Health Committee
Fermanagh District Council
Gingerbread
Institution of Environmental Health Officers
International Year of Shelter for the Homeless
Labour Party
The Law Society of Northern Ireland
Limavady District Council
Lisburn Borough Council
Lower Lenadoon Housing Action Committee
Magherafelt District Council
Rev. W. McCrea MP
National Union of Students/Union of Students in Ireland
Newry and Mourne District Council
North Down Borough Council
Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureau
Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders
Northern Ireland Committee/Irish Congress of Trade Unions
Northern Ireland Committee/Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Youth Committee)
Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action/Tenants Participation Advisory Service
NI Federation of Housing Associations
Northern Ireland Housing Council
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Northern Ireland Youth Forum
Omagh District Council
Open Door Housing Association
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland
Probation Board for Northern Ireland
Queen's University Social Work Department
Rent Officer for Northern Ireland
Salvation Army Social Services
Shelter (Northern Ireland)
Simon Community (National Office)
Simon Community (Northern Ireland)
Sinn Fein

Social Democratic and Labour Party
Southern Group Public Health Committee
R. Storey, Esq.
Strabane District Council
SHAC (Students Housing Association Co-op Ltd.)
A. Cecil Walker MP
Western Group Environmental Health Committee
Western Health and Social Services Board
Women's Forum Northern Ireland
The Workers Party
Youth Homelessness Group

Housing Benefit

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's central computerised system of payment will be used to operate the system of transitional protection for housing benefit claimants;(2) if during the period of transitional protection for housing benefit claimants he intends to operate an opting-in system.

[holding answer 30 June 1988]: The housing benefit transitional payment scheme will be administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive for tenants and by the Department of the Environment rating division for owner-occupiers. As far as possible both organisations will identify housing benefit losers likely to qualify for transitional payments and will issue invitations to them to apply.A leaflet will also be made available, including an application form, for any housing benefit loser who has not been contacted by the end of August and thinks he or she may qualify.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the numbers of gainers and losers in Northern Ireland as a result of the housing benefit changes as a whole, and the numbers of people who have gained (a) more than £5, (b) between £4 and £5, (c) between £3 and £4, (d) between £2 and £3, (e) between £1 and £2, and (f) less than £1, and the numbers who have lost (i) less than £1, (ii) between and £2, (iii) between £2 and £3, (iv) between £3 and £4, (v) between £4 and £5, (vi) between £5 and £10, (vii) £10 and £15 and (viii) more than £15.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: The only information readily available is as follows:

Ranges	Gainers	Losers
Under £1 pw	39,672	11,320
£1 to £1·99	30,476	6,977
£2 to £2·99	3,250	3,351
£3 to £3·99	2,498	1,880
£4 to £4·99	2,279	1,236
£5 and over	6,057	6,633
Totals	84,232	31,397

Note:

The figures relate to tenants who renewed their claims to housing benefit in April 1988 and take no account of awards expected to be made by way of transitional protection.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what arrangements will be made in Northern Ireland to limit the losses caused by the changes in housing benefit implemented in April.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: A housing benefit transitional payments scheme, similar to the scheme announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services on 27 April 1988, will operate in Northern Ireland.The scheme will be administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland.

Budgeting Loans

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the number and total value of budgeting loans given by each social security office since 11 April.

[holding answer 8 July 1988]: The information for the period 11 April 1988 to 31 May 1988 (the latest date for which information is available) is given in the table.

Budgeting Loans Awarded: 11 April 1988–31 April 1988
Social Security Office	Number	Amounts (£)
Andersonstown	100	27,780·02
Antrim	154	34,389·61
Armagh	13	3,388·09
Ballymena	92	22,255·18
Ballymoney	42	10,127·58
Ballynahinch	10	1,826·00
Banbridge	11	3,903·94
Bangor	61	12,503·58
Carrickfergus	51	12,337·86
Coleraine	72	12,825·84
Cookstown	34	8,757·38
Corporation Street	107	25,048·80
Downpatrick	31	6,484·00
Dungannon	30	11,237·06
Enniskillen	29	6,140·00
Falls	108	19,677·38
Holywood Road	103	22,156·21
Kilkeel	5	1,486·95
Knockbreda	49	11,092·54
Larne	61	11,643·70
Limavady	46	10,991·10
Lisburn	196	44,781·83
Londonderry	42	10,124·60
Lurgan	19	4,553·01
Magherafelt	13	3,113·30
Newcastle	7	1,451·00
Newry	36	10,225·53
Newtownabbey	68	11,980·86
Newtownards	28	6,470·94
Omagh	43	13,656·96
Portadown	20	5,615·20
Shaftesbury Square	50	11,697·51
Shankill	114	26,916·03
Strabane	42	10,869·60
Total	1,887	437,509·19

Income Support

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the total amount of weekly payments of income support paid by each social security office in Northern Ireland.

[holding answer 8 July 1988]: I regret that the information is not readily available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the number of people in receipt of income support in each social security office in a given week.

: [holding answer 8 July 1988]: The information is as follows:

Number of people receiving Income Support on 31 May 1988
Social security office	Number
Andersontown	7,538
Antrim	5,275
Armagh	4,679
Ballymena	5,701
Ballymoney	4,303
Ballynahinch	1,377
Banbridge	3,212
Bangor	4,304
Carrickfergus	2,795
Coleraine	5,830
Cookstown	3,488
Corporation Street	11,873
Downpatrick	2,247
Dungannon	5,885
Enniskillen	7,464
Falls Road	8,946
Holywood Road	8,189
Kilkeel	1,332
Knockbreda	5,965
Larne	2,651
Limavady	3,133
Lisburn	5,909
Londonderry	14,671
Lurgan	5,343
Magherafelt	4,979
Newcastle	1,792
Newry	9,720
Newtownabbey	5,181
Newtownards	3,849
Omagh	5,248
Portadown	3,661
Shaftesbury Square	6,362
Shankill	5,072
Strabane	5,867
Total	183,841

Benefits

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the latest figures available for the take-up in Northern Ireland of (a) supplementary benefit, (b) family income supplement and (c) housing benefit, in the private and public sectors.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: The available information is 65 per cent.¹ for family income supplement and 88 per cent.² for housing benefit in the public sector.

¹ The figure relates to employees only, the sources being data from the Family Resources and Household Finances Surveys (1979–80).

² The figure relates to tenants, the source being a survey undertaken on behalf of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in 1984.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will provide the latest estimates for unclaimed benefit as a whole in Northern Ireland.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: I regret that no such information is available.

Family Credit

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will provide figures of the number of people in Northern Ireland who have lost entitlement to free school meals and free milk and vitamins as a result of the change from family income supplement to family credit.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: Precise figures are not available but just under 15,000 families who were in receipt of family income supplement immediately prior to its replacement in April by family credit would have lost entitlement to either free school meals or free welfare foods (or both). Cash help of £2·55 a week for each child was included by way of compensation for this loss in the succeeding family credit award.

Widow's Pension

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland are likely to lose money as a result of the raising of the age of entitlement to widow's pension from 40 to 45 years on 11 April; and how many will lose as a result of the increase in the age for reduction of widow's pension introduced in April.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: It is estimated that 40 people a year in Northern Ireland will not be entitled to widow's pension as a result of the raising of the age of entitlement from 40 to 45 from 11 April 1988. It is also estimated that 180 people a year will have a reduced rate of widow's pension as a result of the raising of the age of entitlement to the full rate from 45 to 50 from that date. All such people will be entitled to the new lump sum widow's payment of £1,000.

Sewage Pumping Station (Donaghadee)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proposals there are to construct a sewage pumping station at Quarry green, near Copelands marina, Donaghadee; when he expects to receive an application for planning approval for this proposal; in what way the public of Donaghadee will be consulted; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: A proposal to construct a pumping station at Quarry green, Donaghadee, as part of a sewerage improvement scheme, has been discussed with Ards borough council on two occasions and with individual councillors and county officials. Further meetings with councillors and representatives of the local residents' association are planned. An application for outline planning permission was made on 27 June, and this will be advertised in the local press and notified to the immediate neighbours in the normal way.

Salmon Fishing (Foyle)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table in the Official Report to show (a) the commercial catch and (b) the rod catch of salmon in the Foyle system for each of the last 15 years, indicating for each year what percentage of the total catch was taken by rod fishermen, and the sums collected from (i) rod licences and (ii) commercial fishermens' licences.

[holding answer 12 July 1988]: The information requested for commercial and rod catches, the percentage of rod catches and the revenue from rod and commercial licences for the years 1973–87 is provided in the table. It must be borne in mind that very few rod anglers make returns, whereas all commercial fishermen are required to make returns.

Foyle Fisheries Commission—Salmon catches plus licence revenue
1973 to 1987
	Numbers of commercial caught salmon	Numbers of rod caught salmon	Percentage of catch taken by rod	Commercial licence revenue (£)	Rod licence revenue (£)
1973
61,7	1,018	1·6	12,661	6,718
95
1974	78,051	1,967	2·5	12,406	8,357
1975	54,904	792	1·4	12,431	9,268
1976	38,931	663	1·7	17,707	9,848
1977	39,258	886	2·3	17,739	12,770
1978	47,911	1,907	4·0	22,625	18,547
1979	37,003	966	2·6	21,740	20,262
1980	49,223	1,134	2·3	23,257	27,678
1981	34,781	1,517	4·4	25,232	28,916
1982	60,157	2,125	3·5	27,338	28,691
1983	83.252	831	1·0	32,763	29,800
1984	29,532	379	1·3	35,488	29,455
1985	40,521	1,814	4·5	36,314	38,942
1986	46,354	1,172	2·5	37,307	44,113
1987	18,483	390	2·1	35,750	47,907

Energy

Electricity Producers Insurance Company

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions he had with the chairmen of the Central Electricity Generating Board and the South of Scotland Electricity Board prior to the establishment of the Electricity Producers Insurance company Ltd.

The Central Electricity Generating Board informed my Department of its intention to set up the company jointly with the South of Scotland Electricity Board. The decision to set up the company was a commercial matter for the boards.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what proposals he has for the Electricity Producers Insurance company in the light of the proposed privatisation of the electricity industry.

That is a matter on which we are consulting the industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has as to which electricity boards own shares in the Electricity Producers Insurance company

The Central Electricity Generating Board's report and accounts for 1986–87 state on page 11 that the Electricity Producers Insurance company is jointly owned by the board and the South of Scotland Electricity Board.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what information he has as to why the Electricity Producers Insurance company is incorporated in the Isle of Man;(2) what information he has as to who are the directors of the Electricity Producers Insurance company.

These are commercial matters for the Central Electricity Generating Board and the South of Scotland Electricity Board. I have asked the chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board to write to the hon. Member.

Non-Fossil Fuels

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if, when setting the non-fossil fuel obligation for the electricity industry, he will include electricity generated from methane produced from sewage, biomass, municipal waste and other sources not derived from natural gas.

The details of the non-fossil fuel obligation are still under discussion. However, my current intention is that methane produced from sources other than natural strata should be classified as a non-fossil fuel.

Piper Alpha Disaster Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what arrangements he intends to make with respect to payments of the Government's contribution to the Piper Alpha disaster fund.

As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced on 8 July, the Government intend to contribute £1 million to the Piper Alpha disaster fund. Parliamentary approval for this expenditure will be sought in a Supplementary Supply Estimate for the Department of Energy's class VI, vote 2. Pending that approval, urgent payment of the full contribution will be made by a repayable advance from the contingencies fund.

Trade And Industry

Law And Order (Inner Cities)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held concerning inner-city policy in relation to law and order issues; and if he will make a statement.

24.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held concerning law and order and inner-city policy; and if he will make a statement.

72.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held concerning inner-city policy and law and order issues; and if he will make a statement.

I have had a number of discussions with those involved in inner-city regeneration and the action for cities campaign. The Government are agreed on the importance of a safe secure environment in attracting investment and raising the confidence of inner-city residents. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has launched a number of key initiatives on crime prevention measures and has already established the first three safer cities projects in urban areas to reduce crime, lessen the fear of crime and encourage enterprise and a sense of community.

Transport (Inner Cities)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held concerning transport in relation to inner-city policy; and if he will make a statement.

Inner city transport is, of course, a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, but transport issues are raised from time to time in discussions I have with inner-city business men.

Inward Development

16.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if his Department has any plans to provide assistance to inward development schemes.

Regional selective assistance is available to attract inward investment projects which meet the scheme's criteria.

Enterprise Initiative

17.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the response to the enterprise initiative.

The enterprise initiative continues to be a tremendous success. We remain on course to achieve our White Paper target of 1,000 supported consultancies per month in 1988–89.

Departmental Logo

19.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received seeking the withdrawal of the logo currently used by his Department and the restoration of an insignia which clearly indicates that he and his Department are in the service of the Crown, including reference to the position of the Secretary of State as President of the Board of Trade; what response he has made; and if he will make a statement.

I have received no such representations.

Distribution Industry (Investment)

20.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has regarding the investment intentions in 1988 of the distribution industry; and what are the comparable figures for 1987.

The Department of Trade and Industry carries out a regular survey of industry's investment intentions. While the survey does not include estimates for the distribution industries alone, the latest survey indicates a level of investment in 1988 by the construction, distribution and selected service industries of £16·3 billion in 1980 prices. This represents an increase of 10 per cent. on the record 1987 level of £14·8 billion.

Barlow Clowes

21.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received about his Department's role in relation to Barlow Clowes fund management companies since his statement of 13 June, Official Report, columns 24–32.

Over the last month my Department has received a very large number of representations from hon Members and from the public, many of which refer to my Department's role in relation to Barlow Clowes.

77.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects to be able to publish the findings of Sir Godfray Le Quesne's inquiry into his Department's handling of Barlow Clowes' licences.

I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley (Mr. Cran) of 29 June 1988, at columns 237–38. Subject to no legal impediment as to content or timing, I propose to publish Sir Godfray Le Quesne's report as soon as practicable after it is completed.

Inner Cities

22.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what evidence from abroad he has considered in deciding on his policy towards inner cities.

I see a good deal of material about inner-city policy abroad, including information about various initiatives and projects in the United States, some of which I visited last January.

Exporters (Performance)

23.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the performance of Britain's exporters over the last year.

In the 12 months ended May total export volume increased by 2½ per cent.

Steel Quotas

25.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received on the removal of steel quotas within the European Community; and if he will make a statement.

Over the last 12 months I have received a number of representations on behalf of consumers pressing for the early removal of the European steel production quota system. I attended the Industry Council's meeting on 24 June when we decided that quotas should expire at the end of last month.

91.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the effects of the ending of European steel quotas on steel consumers and users.

The ending of the European steel production quota system will be of significant benefit to steel users. It is expected that quota liberalisation will increase consumer choice, and reduce costs since producers will no longer be liable to fines for exceeding production limits.

European Regional Development Fund

26.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the total United Kingdom level of receipts from the European regional development fund, in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

United Kingdom receipts from the European regional development fund totalled £391 million in 1987. I look forward to the fund continuing to make its important contribution to British regional development.

Trade Gap

27.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on measures being proposed to reduce Britain's visible trade gap.

The trade balance can be affected by a variety of market factors, but the Government will stick to the firm monetary and fiscal policies essential to strong economic performance. Wherever practicable my Department is ready to give assistance to firms seeking to improve their competitive strength and trade performance, as, for example, through the recently introduced enterprise initiative.

52.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's visible trade gap.

In the five months ended May 1988 there was a deficit on visible trade of £7 billion.

Japan

28.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent steps he has taken to ensure that trade with Japan is on a fully reciprocal basis.

As a result of pressure from the United Kingdom and our trading partners, Japan has stimulated domestic demand-led growth, and imports have increased rapidly. United Kingdom exports to Japan are up by almost 30 per cent. over the last 12 months. We and the European Community are continuing to press the Japanese authorities to remove the remaining problems of market access.

Action For Cities (Campaign)

29.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the response of the private sector to the six action for cities breakfast presentations.

Over 1,200 senior business men attended the six working breakfasts and about a quarter have already made specific offers of help. The offers included secondments, managed workshop space, industry/education links and free advice to inner city businesses. These offers are being pursued by the city action teams and I am receiving reports on the progress made in taking them up.

Imports

30.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the change in the volume of imports in the last year; and if he will make a statement.

Total import volume in the year ended May was 9 per cent. above that in the previous year.

Eureka Programme

31.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the average time taken from originating application to final go-ahead to approve applications for funding under the Eureka programme.

It has taken, on average, six months, from date of receipt to date of formal offer for my Department to process applications for funding Eureka projects.

78.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many United Kingdom firms and research institutes are associated with Eureka projects; how many projects now have full United Kingdom participation; and what is the total value of these projects.

About 140 firms and research organisations from the United Kingdom are currently associated with Eureka projects: 74 Eureka projects—with a total value of £1·2 billion—now have full United Kingdom participation.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many projects are currently being researched in the United Kingdom under the auspices of the Eureka programme; if he will list those projects in the Official Report; and if he will make a statement relating to their progress.

[holding answer 12 July 1988]: As detailed, firms and research organisations from the United Kingdom are currently participating in 74 agreed projects and 13 EUREKA proposals. In addition, there are formal expressions of interest from United Kingdom industry in a further 22 EUREKA projects. I am placing in the Library of the House a synopsis of all EUREKA projects and proposals.The indications are that projects are progressing satisfactorily. However, EUREKA is a comparatively new initiative with projects tending to come to fruition some three to four years after they start. Therefore, the majority of these projects are just beginning to get under way, are in their definition phases, or are in the very early stages of their implementation phases.

York Borg Warner, Basildon

32.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received from York Borg Warner of Basildon about the implications for British industry of the proposed European Economic Community regulations on the standardisation of components for the air-conditioning and cooling system industry.

A letter has been received from the director of manufacturing at York International about the difficulties it has experienced when trying to export to certain EEC countries because of various national inspection codes. My Office has written to the company and the official responsible for such matters will also follow up his earlier contact.It is because of such difficulties that my Department places so much importance on the efforts now being made towards the completion of the single market by 1992 and proposed measures aimed at both pressure vessels and machinery safety should help to make it easier for manufacturers of air-conditioning equipment to sell their products into the European Community.

Manufacturing Output

33.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the most recent figure for output in manufacturing industry; and what was the figure for the same month in 1973.

In April 1988 manufacturing output was at a level of 114·8, based on 1980 equal to 100. This is 2 per cent. more than the level of 112·6 for April 1973. But my hon. Friend will appreciate that monthly data can be erratic. A firmer basis for comparison would be that in the three months to April 1988 manufacturing output was broadly unchanged from the same period in 1973 though over 21 per cent. higher than in the trough of the recession in 1981.

Single Market

34.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will make a statement on the completion of the single market in the light of the outcome of the Hanover summit.

The Hanover European Council agreed that the objective of completing the single market is now irreversible. Almost 200 separate measures have already been agreed, including over 50 in the first half of this year alone. Notable agreements reached over the last month on the liberalisation of capital movements, the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and the opening up of the international road haulage market are a clear demonstration that barriers to trade in the Community are being cut, to the benefit of both business and the consumer. The Council also set out four priority areas for further work : opening up of public purchasing; further liberalisation of banking and other financial services; common standards for manufactured products; and intellectual property. We strongly endorse these priorities, and will be working to ensure that the momentum is maintained towards completion of the single market.

Northern Region

35.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many companies in the northern region have taken advantage of his Department's new initiatives.

In the period from 13 January 1988, when the DTI's enterprise initiative was launched, to 30 June 1988, the DTI received from firms in the northern region 467 applications for the consultancy initiatives and 64 applications for regional enterprise grants. In addition, there have been 85 applications from firms in the region for DTI's competition for innovation, the small firms merit award for research and technology.

36.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he will next be visiting the Northern Council of the Confederation of British Industry to discuss investment and industry in the northern region.

43.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he will next be visiting the Northern Council of the Confederation of British Industry.

90.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he will next be visiting the Northern Council of the Confederation of British Industry to discuss regional policy.

I have no present plans to visit the Northern Council of the CBI although I do meet regularly northern businesses both here and during my frequent visits to the region. In my two recent visits to Teesside and to Newcastle I was encouraged to hear business people themselves confirming the reports of industrial progress and prospects for further growth which have figured in successive CBI surveys.

39.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received concerning the shortage of factory space in the northern region; and if he will make a statement.

My colleagues and I have received a number of representations from hon. Members and others about the rising demand for factory space in the northern region, which is one consequence of the general improvement in economic conditions in the area.

71.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has concerning the average level of rents for factory units above 7,000 sq ft in the northern region.

Rents for work space in the northern region vary widely according to their type, size, age and location. I understand that the rents currently charged or being sought by English Estates for units about 701 sq metres (7,546 sq ft) in the region between about 40p and 650p per sq ft.

94.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received on behalf of constituents of the hon. Member for Durham, North concerning the shortage of factory space in the northern region; and if he will make a statement.

My colleagues and I have received a number of representations from hon. Members and others about the rising demand for factory space in the northern region which is one consequence of the general improvement in economic conditions in the area. These include the paper submitted by the hon. Member himself.

Financial Services Act

37.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he is taking to assess the workings of the Financial Services Act; and if he will make a statement.

57.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he is taking to measure the success of the working of the Financial Services Act.

The Secretary of State and the chairman of the SIB have agreed to take stock on a regular basis to assess the development of the new regulatory regime and its impact on investment businesses.

95.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent representations he has received regarding the operation of the Financial Services Act.

I continue to receive comments on the operation of the Act, many of which are for the SIB to deal with.

Securities And Investments Board

38.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent discussions he has had with the newly appointed chairman of the Securities and Investments Board.

I last met the chairman of the Securities and Investments Board on Monday 4 July.

Rb 235524 L Engine

40.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he has received an application for launch aid from Rolls-Royce for the RB 235.524 L engine.

Yes. I am considering the application.

Oftel

41.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will urgently introduce legislation to strengthen the powers of Oftel in relation to the protection of domestic and commercial telephone consumers against overcharging and service deficiencies.

No. Consumers are already benefiting from Oftel's activities in these areas. The Director General of Telecommunications has wide-ranging powers which he exercises very effectively and he has not asked for these to be augmented.

Girobank (Sale)

42.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what consultations he has had with representatives of sub-postmasters and mistresses about the forthcoming sale of Girobank.

The Post Office is selling Girobank, and consultations with its agents and employees are a matter for the Post Office.

70.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made on the privatisation of Girobank.

The Post Office has informed me that 100 bodies have registered an interest in buying Girobank.

Balance Of Trade

44.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the cumulative balance of trade for the last 12 months; and what measures are being taken to improve it.

In the 12 months ended May, the current account was in deficit by £7·1 billion. The trade balance can be affected by a variety of market factors, but the Government will stick to the firm monetary and fiscal policies essential to strong economic performance. Wherever practicable my Department is ready to give assistance to firms seeking to improve their competitive strength and trade performance, as, for example, through the recently introduced enterprise initiative.

Regional Policy

45.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on recent developments in the Government's regional policy.

47.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on recent developments in the Government's regional policy.

The recent DTI White Paper announced significant changes to regional policy designed to make it more effective. My Department's enterprise initiative aims to encourage enterprise and growth throughout the country, but recognises that special help is needed in some areas. Regional selective assistance continues to be available to firms in the assisted areas; regional enterprise grants to support investment and innovation projects are available for firms in the development areas with fewer than 25 employees; and in all assisted and urban programme areas the DTI will pay a higher level (two thirds) of the cost of consultancy projects designed to improve key management functions.

Motor Industry (Estimating Work)

46.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will refer to the Director General of Fair Trading the practice by certain motor agents and dealers of charging consumers for giving an estimate.

No. I am not aware of this practice being widespread or giving rise to consumer complaints. The Director General of Fair Trading has a duty under the Fair Trading Act 1973 to keep under review trading practices which may adversely affect the economic interests of consumers, and I am sure that he would look into this practice if he considered it appropriate to do so.

Trade Deficit

48.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his latest estimate of the trade deficit for the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

In the 12 months ended May, the current account of the balance of payments was in deficit by £7·1 billion.

66.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with which European Economic Community countries Britain is currently running a trade deficit.

In the 12 months to May 1988 United Kingdom visible trade was in deficit with the following EC member states:

Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Denmark, Belgium-Luxembourg and Portugal.

83.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the cumulative trade deficit over the past 12 months; and what steps are being taken to improve it.

87.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the cumulative trade deficit over the past 12 months; and what steps are being taken to reduce it.

100.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the cumulative trade deficit so far in the current year.

In the five months ended May, the current account of the balance of payments was in deficit by £4·7 billion.

Post Office Counters

49.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the future of Post Office Counter Services.

The Post Office's proposals for the future of its counters subsidiary will be considered in the context of the revised counters business plan which will be submitted to me later this year.

99.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what response he will make to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report on Post Office Counters.

The Post Office is currently considering the MMC's many recommendations. A statement setting out an initial response to the MMC's findings will be made within three to four months of the report's publication, in the light of the Post Office's reactions.

Next Step Strategy

50.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to implement the next steps strategy within his Department.

My right hon. and noble Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and I intend to apply the recommendations in the report "Improving Management in Government: The Next Steps" as rapidly and extensively as possible. We announced in February that the Companies Registration Office was a candidate for transformation into an agency. We hope that the agency will be operational la ter this year. The Department contains a number of other units which are principally involved in the delivery of services and are potential candidates for transformation into executive agencies. They include the DTI research establishments other than the national engineering laboratory, the insolvency service, and business statistics office, the patent office, export services, radiocommunications division, and DTI regional offices. We will be considering over the next year or two whether these units will benefit from conversion into agencies.

United States Export Administration Act

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what further measures he proposes to take to minimise the adverse repercussions for United Kingdom trade of the United States of America's Export Administration Act.

The Government have rejected on many occasions United States claims to extraterritorial jurisdiction—including those in the United States Export Administration Act—which infringe on United Kingdom sovereignty. Any British firm experiencing difficulties in the course of legitimate trading in or from the United Kingdom should contact the Department of Trade and Industry. Measures to help resolve specific problems will be considered on a case-by-case basis as they arise. Under the Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980, the Secretary of State has discretionary powers to prevent United Kingdom companies complying with foreign claims to jurisdiction in the United Kingdom.

Manufacturing Industry (Investment)

54.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has regarding the investment intentions in the current year of manufacturing industry; and what was the comparable figure in 1987.

The latest investment intentions survey carried out by my Department indicates that in 1988 investment in manufacturing industry, including leased assets, will amount to about £8·7 billion at 1980 prices. Investment in 1987 was £7·4 billion at 1980 prices.

58.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the current level of manufacturing investment; and what was the level in 1979.

The latest year for which investment statistics are available is 1987 when investment in manufacturing industry, including leased assets, was £7·4 billion at 1980 prices. The corresponding investment in 1979 and 1983 was £8·2 billion and £5·6 billion, respectively, at 1980 prices.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will take steps to increase investment in manufacturing industry.

Investment decisions are for firms themselves to make. But the excellent prospects for growth in manufacturing investment reflect the success of policies designed to provide a climate in which industry can perform effectively, which we shall continue to pursue. This success is demonstrated by the strong growth in manufacturing investment since early last year, as well as by the results of my Department's latest survey of investment intentions.

Inner Cities (Employment)

55.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held concerning employment and inner-city policy; and if he will make a statement.

84.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held concerning employment and training and inner-city policy; and if he will make a statement.

Employment and training initiatives form an important part of the work undertaken by the inner city task forces and city action teams. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment is introducing measures to appoint specialist Training Commission and employment service staff in inner city areas, extend and improve basic skills training and encourage more employers to become training providers. My right hon. Friend is also introducing the new employment training programme for adults which will provide substantial new help to enable inner city residents to obtain the skills they need to take up job opportunities.

Corporate Headquarters

56.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the number of corporate headquarters whose ownership has been transferred from the regions and nations to London and the south-east since 1979.

I regret that this information is not available.

Oecd Countries (Deficit)

59.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development countries are running a greater trade deficit than the United Kingdom per head of population.

The most recent data for OECD countries generally relate to 1987. In that year the following countries had larger estimated current account deficits per capita:

Norway, the United States, Denmark, Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Iceland, Canada, Greece, Sweden and France.

Open For Business Campaign

60.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what results his Department's Europe open for business campaign has achieved to date.

Since our campaign was launched in March, there has been a major increase in awareness of the single market.Over 100,000 inquiries for further information have been received, most via our 1992 telephone hotline, and business awareness of the 1992 target date is now about 80 per cent.The next step is to ensure that firms take action to seize the single market opportunities.

Airbus Project

61.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a further statement on the progress being made at Airbus Industrie in relation to the Airbus project.

At the last meeting of the aerospace Ministers of the Airbus partner countries which I attended, the partners in Airbus Industrie were asked to report progress on implementing the recommendations of the Airbus "wise men's" report when the Ministers next meet, in early September. I look forward to hearing that report which I hope will confirm that the partners are on course to the introduction of the new arrangements for management of the project by the agreed deadline of the end of this year.

Inner Cities (Environmental And Local Government Policy)

62.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held concerning environmental and local government matters and inner-city policy; and if he will make a statement.

65.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held concerning environmental and local government issues and inner-city policy; and if he will make a statement.

Environmental and local government matters are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment but are frequently raised in discussions I have with local business men and others involved in inner-city regeneration and the action for cities campaign. In these discussions we agree about the importance of improving the environment of inner cities in order to attract investment and encourage development. The Government support this through, for example, the urban programme, derelict land grant and the new city grant, which are aimed at attracting private investment. Business men also raise with me the need for local authorities to help create the right climate for enterprise by removing unnecessary obstacles to growth and reducing the rate burden on business. The Government are supporting this objective through, for example, the proposal for a national non-domestic rate which will directly benefit many inner-city businesses.

British Shipbuilders

63.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he last met the chairman of British Shipbuilders; what matters were discussed; and if he will make a statement.

I last met Mr. Lister on Thursday 7 July. We discussed the present position of British Shipbuilding and its various businesses in some detail.

Commercial Vehicle Production

64.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the level of commercial vehicle production in May 1988; and what are the comparable figures on output and export figures for (a) the six months to May 1988 and (b) the previous six month period.

Provisional figures show that in May 27,384 commercial vehicles were produced in the United Kingdom, 8,462 of which were for export.For the six months to May, 139,422 commercial vehicles were produced, 38,080 for export; comparable figures for the previous six months are 125,911 and 29,619 respectively.

Mercury Telecommunications Systems

67.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what evaluation of Mercury Telecommunications Systems has been undertaken with respect to the possible use by his Department; what were the results; and if he will make a statement.

In conjunction with the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), an evaluation of the use of Mercury Telecommunications Systems exchange lines was carried out by my Department based on telephone traffic for our headquarters building at 1–19 Victoria street. This established that worthwhile savings could be made. Mercury telephone lines were therefore installed at 1–19 Victoria street in February 1988. The first account received has confirmed that savings are being made and the Department is therefore now liaising with CCTA for the early introduction of Mercury to other DTI buildings in the Whitehall area. Discussions are also currently taking place with Mercury for possible connection of other DTI buildings outside the Whitehall area.

Overseas Earnings

68.

To ask. the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what forecast he has for the overseas earnings of (a) the courier and express service industry, (b) the ship broking industry, (c) the education services industry and (d) the investment management industry.

There are no official forecasts of the overseas earnings of these sectors. However, the British Invisible Exports Council surveys the prospects of the overseas earnings of a number of service sectors, and publishes its findings.

Industrial Competitiveness

69.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has recently received from the Confederation of British Industries on the competitiveness of British industry.

Most of the contacts that my Department has with the Confederation of British Industry involve matters 'with a bearing on United Kingdom competitiveness in one way or another.

British Firms (American Acquisitions)

73.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has as to acquisitions of American companies by British firms.

The available information relates to the value of the acquisitions of share and loan capital of United States companies by United Kingdom companies. Only those funded from the United Kingdom are included. The acquisition of holdings of 20 per cent. and above of United States companies' share capital and increases in existing holdings are shown indistinguishably. Information about takeovers of United States companies (the acquiring of more than 50 per cent. of United States companies' share capital) could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The following is the information:

	£ million
1981	1,633¹
1982	946¹
1983	1,082¹
1984	1,565
1985	1,754
1986	4,481
¹ Excludes acquisitions by oil companies.

Source: Table 3.5 Business Monitor MA4.

Telecommunications Hardware

74.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the balance of trade in telecommunications hardware between the United Kingdom and the rest of the European Economic Community; and what was the figure in 1984.

The crude balance of trade with the United Kingdom's 11 EC partners in telecommunications hardware, as defined by the principal products of the standard industrial classification activity heading 3441, for 1987 showed a deficit of £60·2 million. In 1984 the crude balance of trade was £20·8 million in deficit.

Inner-City Policy

75.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held with representatives of the Confederation of British Industry concerning the co-ordination of inner-city policy; and if he will make a statement.

82.

To ask the Chancellor to the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held with representatives of the Confederation of British Industry concerning the co-ordination of inner-city policy; and if he will make a statement.

I met representatives of the CBI on 6 May to discuss proposals for a special CBI initiative to encourage inner-city regeneration and business leadership. I very much welcome this initiative, which was launched in Newscastle on 14 June.

Polypropolene Filament Yarn

76.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he is taking to halt the allegedly illegal subsidy by the French Government to Filature du Hainaut in the light of the implications for competition for British manufacturers of polypropolene filament yarn; and if he will make a statement.

We are considering the position. The EC Commission has been investigating whether the proposed aid is consistent with the objectives of the EC synthetic fibres discipline in relation to state aid and it has yet to announce its conclusions.

Trade Figures

79.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether his Department is planning to make any changes in the way United Kingdom trade figures are presented after the completion of the European single market in 1992; and if he will make a statement.

The presentation of United Kingdom trade statistics after the completion of the European single market in 1992 has yet to be decided. Member states are currently involved in discussions with the European Communities' statistical office about possible alternative methods of collecting the figures if Customs' documentation—the current source of the figures—should disappear with the removal of customs boundaries.It is hoped that a draft proposal for a method of collecting trade statistics after 1992, to be applicable in all member states, will be available later this year.

Commercial Developments

80.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations from chambers of commerce about proposed commercial developments he has received in the past two months.

I have received no such representations.

Caravans (Fire Safety)

81.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received from the caravan industry concerning the impact of the proposed Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations upon the sale of new and secondhand units; and when he expects to make an announcement upon the subject.

I made an announcement on 29 June at columns 382–3.

Mobile Phones

85.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the need for further research in the field of mobile phone technology.

The dynamic growth of the United Kingdom cellular radio market demonstrates the demand for mobile telephony. Despite the advent of digital cellular technology in 1991, new technologies and means of exploiting new radio frequencies will be needed to meet the growth of demand well into the 1990s.Relevant research of limited scope is provided for under the EC RACE programme, but the main RACE priority is integrated broadband networks. The LINK programme of research in personal communications which we recently announced is therefore designed to supplement the RACE activity. Our ambition is nothing less than offering the consumer a real choice of local telephone connection much sooner as a result of intensifying collaborative research. I hope our European partners will put increased resources into mobile radio R and D in due course.

Electrical Appliance (Plugs)

86.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will introduce regulations to require the fitting of electrical plugs to all household electrical appliances as standard by the manufacturers of such products.

No. This is a question for manufacturers or retailers to decide in the light of consumer demand.

Support For Design Scheme

88.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what evaluation there has been of his support for design scheme.

An independent evaluation report on the support for design scheme was published on 21 June. It shows the scheme to have been beneficial and cost effective. Full account was taken of it in planning the consultancy elements of the enterprise initiative. Such evaluation is important to ensure that our services to industry are an effective use of public funds.Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

Research And Development

92.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his estimate of the total expenditure on civil research and development during the last three years in the United Kingdom; and what equivalent figures he has for (a) the Federal Republic of Germany, and (b) France.

The available information relates to 1985. For that year the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has estimated gross expenditure on research and development (R and D), performed in a number of member countries, excluding expenditure on R and D for defence purposes, financed by national Defence Ministries. For the United Kingdom this was £6·4 billion, for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) £10·8 billion and for France £6·8 billion. Expenditure for the FRG and France has been converted from national currencies to pound sterling using purchasing power parities calculated by OECD.

Knitwear And Hosiery Industry, Leicester

93.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will make a statement concerning his policy towards support for the knitwear and hosiery industry in Leicester.

The Government's policy is to help firms to help themselves. Eligible firms are able to apply for assistance with consultancies under the enterprise initiative. They may, for example, seek help for exporting, research and technology, and for consultancy support for further development of their business.Financial support under the textile and clothing education equipment scheme has been provided to Leicester polytechnic. In the inner cities context, the potential for the possible development of training and employment packages has been explored with local organisations by the Government's Highfields task force. As a result the task force is supporting a number of projects including the refurbishment of new premises for the Textile Arts Centre Ltd.; this will offer an additional 15 weaving and knitting YTS places and in-house training to City and Guilds standard. Task force support for the local Shama women's centre has resulted in 70 hosiery and knitwear overlocking and lock-stitching training places being provided.The knitwear industry also benefits from the provisions of the multi-fibre arrangement and other trade agreements limiting imports from low-cost countries.

Gas Prices (Report)

97.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on gas prices for industrial consumers to be published.

The Monopolies and Mergers Commission is due to submit a report to my right hon. and noble Friend on the supply of gas to contract customers by 24 August 1988. The report will be published as soon as practicable after it has been submitted and considered.

Manufacturing Trade Deficit

98.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the cumulative trade deficit in manufactures so far in the current year.

In the five months ended May, trade on manufactures was in deficit by £5·2 billion.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the cumulative trade deficit in manufactures so far this year; and what steps are being taken to improve it.

In the 12 months ended May, the current account was in deficit by £7·1 billion. The trade balance can be affected by a variety of market factors, but the Government will stick to the firm monetary and fiscal policies essential to strong economic performance. Wherever practicable my Department is ready to give assistance to firms seeking to improve their competititive strength and trade performance, as, for example, through the recently introduced enterprise initiative.

Manufacturing Trade Balance

101.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the change in the manufacturing trade balance since 1979.

Trade in manufactures on a balance of payments basis was in surplus by £2·8 billion in 1979 and in deficit by £6·5 billion in 1987.

Furs (Labelling)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement about the labelling of furs.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Sir E. Griffiths) on 20 June, at columns 404–405, in which I indicated that, because of legal difficulties which had been raised, it would not be possible to proceed with the proposed Fur Marking Order in the way originally envisaged. I understand, however, that the European Commission is considering action on this subject. Commissioner Clinton Davis announced on 5 July that it was looking carefully at the idea that furs imported into Europe should bear labels indicating whether those who trapped the animals used leg-hold traps.

Education And Teaching (Inner-City Policy)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held concerning education and teaching and inner-city policy and if he will make a statement.

Existing and potential inner-city employers frequently emphasise to me the importance of education and training in enabling inner-city residents to take advantage of the growing number of employment opportunities. The Government are encouraging links between inner-city schools and employers through, for example, compacts which assure school leavers who reach required standards of a job or job interview. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment is offering financial support for a further 12 compacts in inner-city areas in England. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science has recognised the importance of providing good science and technology-based education for inner-city children by promoting city technology colleges and all inner-city schools will benefit from his education reforms and introduction of the new national curriculum.

Safety Footwear

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will take steps to ensure that the proposed common European standard for safety footwear will allow for all types of construction, particularly welted footwear.

The BSI will ensure that United Kingdom safety footwear manufacturers' interests are taken into account in the framing of a common European standard.

Departmental Shareholdings

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list all shareholdings in public and private companies still held by his Department.

Department of Trade and Industry
Details of shares and other securities held
	Nominal amount
Description of holdings	31 March 1987	31 March 1988
	£	£
John Bastie of Greenock (Holdings) Ltd.
£1 'B' Redeemable Participating Preference Shares	40,000	¹—
£1 'C' Redeemable Preference Shares	310,000	¹—
Standard Mills (Rochdale) Ltd.
£1 'A' Redeemable Preferences Shares	300,000	300,000
British Aerospace plc.
£1 Special Rights Preference Share	1	1
Jaguar plc.
£1 Special Rights Redeemable Share	1	1
Rolls-Royce plc.
25p Ordinary Shares	127,000,000	²—
20p Ordinary Shares	—	²50,000
£1 Special Share	—	1
Short Brothers Ltd.
£1 'A' 12 per cent. Preference Shares	4,840,000	4,840,000
£1 Ordinary Shares	342,000	342,000
Rover Group plc.
50p Ordinary Shares	2,755,841,688	2,755,841,688
British Telecommunications plc.
£1 Special Rights Redeemable Preference Share	1	1
25p Ordinary Shares	7,596	³5,502
¹ These shares were transferred to Vickers pic. for a nominal consideration.
² The holding of 25p ordinary shares reported at 31 March 1987 was converted to 20p ordinary shares as a prelude to the April 1987 privatisation.
³ The 31 March 1987 holdings, previously reported with a nominal value of £4,753, have since been found to have been understated.

Export Promotion

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what were the main conclusions reached by his Department's central policy unit in its review of export promotion; and if he will make a statement.

No. The review was part of my Department's advice upon the policy that my right hon. and noble Friend could consider adopting towards export services.

Computer Work Stations

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many computer work stations there are in his Department; what is the ratio of work stations to civil servants; and how he expects this to change over the next five years.

Currently there are 4,000 computer work stations in the DTI. The ratio of work stations to civil servants is about 1:3. In five years' time the number of work stations could double to 8,000, resulting in a ratio of two work stations for every three civil servants. However, these future estimates are speculative.

Senior Information Technology Strategy Committee

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the composition of the senior

Listed are details of all shares and other securities held by my Department as at 31 March 1988. Also shown are the details for 31 March 1987. This information is published annually in the "Supplementary Statements to the Consolidated Fund and National Loans Fund".information technology strategy committee in his Department; and how many times in the past year its meetings have been attended by Ministers.

The Department's resource management group (RMG) oversees strategic decisions on departmental IT on the recommendations of the departmental committee on information technology (DECIT). RMG consists of the permanent secretary and deputy secretaries in the Department. DECIT has representatives from all the major IT user areas as well as the IT directorate and has a CCTA representative. If my hon. Friend wishes to have a full list of members, perhaps he will let me know and I will write to him. Ministers do not attend these committees but may discuss developments with senior officials as necessary.

Departmental Staff Training

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many of the staff in his Department at grades 1, 2 and 3 have attended courses or training on information technology awareness or management in the last 12 months.

In the financial year 1987–88 five staff at grade 3 level received training in information technology management.

Counsel's Opinion

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on how many occasions his Department has sought the opinion of independent counsel since 1979; and if he will list the subjects concerned.

The information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Furthermore, the details of any subjects upon which the opinion of independent counsel has been sought by the solicitor to the Department since 1979 are confidential, and therefore could not be disclosed.

Legislative And Policy Plans

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his Department's practice with regard to progressing any legislative or policy plans where it is advised that they may be challenged under the European Convention on Human Rights.

When consideration is being given to legislative and other proposals, full account is taken of the United Kingdom's obligations under the European convention on human rights and of any risk of challenge thereunder.

Allen And Hanbury Ltd V Generics (Uk)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what advice he has received from independent counsel as to whether the judgment of the House of Lords in Allen and Hanbury Ltd. v. Generics (UK) is conclusive of the question whether applications to settle terms for a licence of right under the Patents Act 1977 would give rise to property within the meaning of the European Convention on Human Rights; and whether he will make a statement.

It is not the practice of the Government to respond to inquiries about the source of their legal advice.

Education (Inner-City Policy)

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has held concerning education and inner-city policy; and if he will make a statement.

Existing and potential inner-city employers frequently emphasise to me the importance of education and training in enabling inner city residents to take advantage of the growing number of employment opportunities. The Government are encouraging links between inner-city schools and employers through, for example, compacts, which assure school leavers who reach required standards of a job or job interview. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment is offering financial support for a further 12 compacts in inner-city areas in England. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science has recognised the importance of providing good science and technology based education for inner-city children by promoting city technology colleges and all inner-city schools will benefit from his education reforms and introduction of the new national curriculum.

Privatisation

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on his assessment of the results of his privatisation policy.

The Government's privatisation policy has been a considerable success. Companies exposed to the commercial disciplines and freed from political control become more efficient, self-reliant, flexible and responsible to their cutstomers' needs. Privatisation has also led to wider share ownership giving people including employees in some of the industries concerned a direct stake in the success of British industry. I am pursuing the policy with plans for the privatisation of British Steel and Girobank, which I have already announced to the House, and my right hon. and noble Friend has successfully negotiated the return of the Rover Group to the private sector.

Social Services

Carers

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the most recent estimate available to him of the number of carers in Britain; and what proportion of these are known to service agencies and supported in their efforts.

The most recent estimate of the number of carers in Britain comes from the carers data collected in the 1985 general household survey. This shows that one adult (that is, people in private households aged 16 years and over) in seven (14 per cent.) was providing informal care. Information on the proportion of these who are known to service agencies is not held centrally. However, the survey showed that 47 per cent. of the main dependants of carers received regular visits from a variety of health, social and voluntary services. Further information is contained in the informal carers report published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.

Marginal Tax Rates

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many (a) earners, (b) families and (c) families with children, have effective marginal tax rates in excess of 40 per cent. taking into account income tax, national insurance contributions and the withdrawal of income-related benefits.

On the basis of the assumptions set out in "Impact of The Reformed Structure of Income Related Benefits" October 1987 (copies of which are in the Library), 585,000 couples and single people below pension age where the principal earner is in full-time work are estimated to have combined income tax and benefit withdrawal rates in excess of 40 per cent. Of these, 525,000 have children. Among the couples, it is estimated that in broad terms there might be between 65,000 and 70,000 spouses who may have combined rates in excess of 40 per cent.

Unemployment And Poverty Traps

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what effect his social security reforms have had on the unemployment and poverty traps.

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Mr. Riddick) on 12 July at columns 172–73.

Benefits (Payment)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what alternative arrangements he has made for the payment of benefits after the closure of the Abingdon street post office, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset.

The main Burnham post office is only half a mile from the former Abingdon street post office, and additional staff have been provided there to cope with the increased callers.

Competitive Tendering

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied that competitive tendering for support services within the National Health Service is operating on the basis of free and fair competition; and if he will make a statement.

Yes, I am satisfied. The Department's National Health Service procurement directorate, together with regional health authorities, has been charged with ensuring that this is so, with following up any complaints, and ensuring that corrective action is taken where appropriate. If my hon. Friend has any particular examples in mind I should be pleased to have details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy that health authorities should be required to give his Department prior notification of their intention to terminate a contract for hospital services with a private contractor; and if he will establish for those parties the right of appeal to his Department in the event of a dispute about the reasons for termination.

This is essentially a contractual matter between the two parties involved. A district health authority is required to refer a proposal to terminate a contract prematurely to the appropriate regional health authority to ensure that all reasonable efforts have been made to get the contract to work. If the region agrees with the proposal it then has to consult the Department, setting out the reasons for the proposal. The contractor is free to discuss such proposals both with the regional health authority, and with the Department's National Health Service procurement directorate, in cases of dispute.

National Health Service (Complaints)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether family practitioner committees are intended to monitor complaints which they receive in a similar manner to that specified for district health authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Family practitioner committees are asked to review regularly the incidence and nature of complaints in their area. The decisions on all formal investigations are taken by the family practitioner committees. Reports of all cases dealt with informally are made to the family practitioner committees.

Life Expectancy

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he intends to implement to ensure that the equality of life expectancy is increased in the north with the south.

Geographic variation in life expectancy is a complex and long-standing phenomenon which must be viewed against the background of a steady improvement in the overall health of the nation. Health inequalities between regions are to be found in many countries. In terms of equality in age at death, England stands up well in international comparison.Unhealthy lifestyles and unhealthy diets create major risks to health. We are determined that all social groups throughout the country should have the information they need to make wise choices to protect their health.The Government have taken a number of steps to promote good health and to ensure the equitable distribution of health care resources. The Government have pursued a policy of allocating health authority resources so as to ensure, over time, equal opportunity of access to health care for people in equal need, using the resource allocation working party's approach. Substantial progress has been made in bringing regions closer to their RAWP targets, and this year all regions are within 4 per cent. of target. The review of the RAWP formula carried out by the NHS management board has explored the scope for improving the way in which the current formula measures relative need across the country. The resulting recommendations are being considered and an announcement will be made shortly.

Patients (Confidentiality)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he intends to take against those health authorities which break patients' confidentiality, by passing on information to private health companies and other organisations.

I am not aware of any such breaches of confidentiality by health authorities, but if the hon. Member has details of specific examples I would be happy to have inquiries made.

Nhs (40Th Anniversary)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how much public money has been spent in England and Wales in celebrating the 40th anniversary of the National Health Service; and if he will list the health authorities which have held such celebrations.

I am aware that many health authorities have celebrated the anniversary in a variety of ways. However, details of individual health authorities' celebrations and related expenditure are not held centrally. The Department has spent the following sums of money from its administration vote:

£12,750 on a reception for long-serving Health Service staff;
£34,500 supporting a video produced by the National Association of Health Authorities for training and information purposes; and
£3,200 on an entrance hall exhibition for the reception and various headquarters buildings of my Department.

These sums relate to England only and I refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for

Counsel's Opinion

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services on how many occasions his Department has sought the opinion of independent counsel since 1979; and it' he will list the subjects concerned.

The Department regularly seeks the opinion of independent counsel over a wide range of civil litigation, criminal prosecutions, social security topics, health matters and employment law cases. The precise information requested is, however, not readily available and could be identified only at disproportionate cost. It would not be proper to reveal the precise nature of the problem on which the advice of counsel was sought in any particular instance.

European Convention On Human Rights

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his Department's practice with regard to progressing any legislative or policy plans where it is advised that they may be challenged under the European convention on human rights.

Students (Medical And Dental Treatment)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in view of difficulties and costs which would otherwise he incurred, he will advise full-time students to seek medical and dental treatement during term-time rather than during vacations wherever possible.

In general, people should seek advice and treatement whenever they feel the need to do so. Student grants are deemed to cover their requirements during the short vacations but not the long vacations. They could however claim exemption from charges at any time of the year on the grounds of low income.

Health Authorities (Publications)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list those health authorities which publish a newsletter or other periodical publications; and if he will list details of the cost thereof in each case.

Many health authorities produce a variety of publications. Information on the numbers, types and frequency of publications and their associated production costs is not held centrally.

Sight Tests

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what statistical or other evidence, excluding that on trends in dental treatment, is available to him to support the Government's assertion that a charge will not deter people from having a sight test.

I refer the right hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms. Harman) on 11 February 1988 at column 351. It is also relevant to note that a study by the Economist advisory group has shown that the great majority of those using spectacle vouchers, "top up" the voucher values by an average of between £14–24 depending on the type of voucher, despite the fact that spectacles are available within voucher values.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what discussions he has had with the major multiple opticians on their intentions over charging for sight tests; and what was their response.

I and my hon. Friends the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member For Derbyshire, South (Mrs. Currie), and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Lords have met representatives of a number of optical bodies including those representing the major corporate bodies, to listen to their views on the provisions of the Health and Medicines Bill relating to sight tests. The level of fees for private sight tests will be entirely a matter for the companies concerned. We have not received from them to date any specific indication of the fees they propose to charge.

Glaucoma And Diabetic Retinopathy

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (I) if he will list the medical research which he has considered on referral rates for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy;(2) if he will list the medical research which he has considered on the early identification and treatment of macular degeneration.

We have recently received a considerable amount of information relating to research into the incidence of diseases of the eye. There has been extensive correspondence in the specialist journals concerning the results of various studies, much of which has been referred to in the course of proceedings on the Health and Medicines Bill.

Portsmouth And Havant (Drug Use)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he proposes to take in the light of the report from the Policy Studies Institute about illicit drug use in Portsmouth and Havant, a copy of which has been sent to him; and if he will make a statement.

I have read the Policy Studies Institute report. The findings on the level of illicit drug use among school pupils and its greater incidence among smokers and drinkers are broadly in line with findings from the surveys commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Security, copies of which are in the Library.The view of the Policy Studies Institute that the school survey suggests

"that alarmist anti-drug publicity is more likely to attract vulnerable people to drugs than put them off"

is quite astonishing. It did not ask the school sample any questions at all about the anti-drug advertising. Instead it concludes that, because children who claimed more risky, anti-authority type behaviour were more likely to have tried drugs, anti-drug advertising will not work. In the development of all the Government's campaigns we have

been well aware of this risk and have therefore avoided creative executions with which young people could identify. The young man on the poster has not been used since 1986.

The Policy Studies Institute concludes that because most of the heroin users interviewed were critical of the campaign such publicity campaigns are counterproductive for many at risk. However, there is no evidence that it showed any of the advertising material to the drug users that it interviewed. Its sample did not represent the main target groups for the Government advertising. I understand that some 41 users were interviewed; all were hard drug users already heavily involved in drugs (31 were current heroin users, 40 had tried it. Fourteen were current needle users, 38 had used needles in the past). Nearly all were aged 20 or over.

Department of Health and Social Security research among drug users, conducted by Andrew Irving, has been far more extensive than the Policy Studies Institute research. In the most recent study 208 drug users, in five locations, aged between 14 and 24 were interviewed. The Government's anti-heroin campaign was mainly targeted at young people (aged 13 to 20) who might be tempted to try drugs, and surveys suggested that the most recent anti-injecting campaign also had a powerful effect on users.

Tracking by RBL involves regular sampling of about 700 young people. These evaluations show that the campaigns are being widely noticed, that young people are aware of the way in which heroin can damage their health, and relationships with other people, and that resistance to illicit drug use is high.

Whilst drug taking may be associated with under-age smoking and drinking, this does not imply that a combined campaign tracking all three issues would be appropriate. The Government's anti-drug campaign is not an isolated event and is but one element in its health promotion strategy. The HEA runs anti-smoking and anti-drinking educational programmes and so do local health and education authorities including those in Hampshire.

Endometriosis

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many reported cases of endometriosis there have been, by health authority, for the past two years.

[holding answer 11 July 1988]: The latest centrally available information is from a 10 per cent. sample of in-patients treated in NHS hospitals in 1984 and 1985. The numbers treated in individual health authorities are too small for reliable estimates to be made. Regional figures are given in the table.

Estimated number of in-patients with main diagnosis of endometriosis (ICD 617¹), discharged from NHS hospitals, England, 1984 and 1985
Region of treatment	1985	1984
Northern	550	570
Yorkshire	620	570
Trent	710	610
East Anglian	320	460
North West Thames	430	490
North East Thames	880	620
South East Thames	350	520
South West Thames	560	440
Wessex	220	210
Oxford	480	450
South Western	330	320
West Midlands	690	440
Mersey	270	(140)
North Western	660	940
SHA's	(40)	(30)
England	7,110	6,810
¹ International classification of diseases—9th revision.

Figures in brackets should be treated with caution as they are based on small sample numbers.

Volume 137: debated on Wednesday 13 July 1988

Written Answers To Questions

National Finance

Tax Harmonisation

Corporation Tax

Income Tax

Consultants

Net Overseas Assets

Value Added Tax

Funeral Services (Vat)

Oyston Estates Agency Ltd

Rating Reform

Private Medical Insurance

Estates (Inheritance)

Civil Service

Staff Dismissals

Transport

Channel Tunnel

Bridges

Nuclear Waste

Consultants

Traffic Flows (London)

Psv Driving Tests

Roads (London)

London Assessment Studies

Overseas Development

Aid Loans

Mekong River Basin

Scotland

Occupational Therapists

Privatisation

Psychiatric Hospitals

Nurses (Psychiatric Qualifications)

Rates

Sewage

Wales

Hospitals (Gwent)

Ciliau Moor Common (Slurry Tank)

Valleys Programme

Green Belt

Waste Tipping

Consumer Protection

Attorney-General

European Convention On Human Rights

Lonrho Plc

Judicial Studies Board

Land Registry

Mr Dermot Purdy

Home Department

Careless Driving

Driving Offences

Drivers (Retests)

Glen Parva

Unpaid Fines

Detention Centres (Closures)

Market Harborough Fire Station

European Convention On Human Rights

Official Secrets Act

Sanctuary

Remand Prisoners

Education And Science

Further Education

Japanese Language

Under-Fives

Violence In Classrooms

Computerised Lathes

Religious Education

Teachers (Leaving Statistics)

Consultants

Phlebotomus Fever

Gcse (Animal Experimentation)

Examinations (Resource Material)

Environment

Isle Of Dogs Enterprise Zone

Canary Wharf

London Docklands Development Corporation

New Towns Commission And Council House Sales (Corby)

Controlled Wastes Inspectorate

Football (Crowd Behaviour)