To ask the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to Okeford Fitzpaine.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to make an official visit to Sawbridge near Rugby.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to pay an official visit to north Devon in the next 12 months.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will publish in the Official Report in tabular form details of all the regulatory units or structures operating within Government Departments during each of the past five years including the number of civil servants working in them, together with their grades and salaries and the proportion of administrative and professional staff, the average period in which they are in post and if any fees paid for licences granted cover the cost of the regulatory procedures involved.

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

To ask the Prime Minister why the Department of Social Security uses a multiplier different from that used by the Department of Employment to calculate weekly benefit savings; what multipliers are used; what consideration has been given to alternative multipliers; and if she will make a statement.

The multiplier used by the Department of Social Security in calculating benefit savings is 32 and is based on a study by the Department's operational research services, a copy of whose report was placed in the Library on 12 June 1985.The Department of Employment uses a multiplier of 22. The difference reflects the type of fraud involved and varying methods of investigation. The Department of Employment's multiplier is being further considered by a study involving that Department's research and evaluation branch.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has made any formal response to the European Community Environment Commissioner following his speech in Blackpool in early October criticising her address to the Royal Society in September and Her Majesty's Government's record on the environment.

No. I have received no communication from the European Community Environment Commissioner.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will seek to use in 10 Downing street the silver tableware produced in the silver schools of the London county council and belonging to the former Greater London council and now held in storage by the London residuary body.

No.

To ask the Prime Minister what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards involvement by the education system in business and vice versa; what is her assessment of the mutual advantages of such a relationship; what are the implications for this policy of the decision by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to charge value added tax on gifts by business to universities; what steps she proposes to take to reverse that decision; and if she will make a statement.

The Government have introduced a wide range of initiatives which enable the education system at all levels to develop effective continuing partnerships with business, to provide a mutual awareness of opportunities and transfer of knowledge and expertise.There is no VAT on unconditional gifts of money to universities. Nor does the mere acknowledgement of such support attract VAT, for example the naming of a university chair after the donor. But where payment is conditional upon the university supplying clearly identifiable benefits in return, VAT is chargeable. This has always been the position and each case is considered on its particular facts.

To ask the Prime Minister what was the total number of sight tests carried out under the National Health Service in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland during 1987.

The information is as follows: (a) 651,175; (b) 1,021,712; (c) 242,709.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 October.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 October.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 October.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 October.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 October.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 October.

This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will arrange for a copy of the statement made by the Minister for Overseas Development to the conference on the environment and the Pacific region, held in London in early October, to be placed in the Library; and if he will make a statement on the outcome of the conference.

I have arranged for a copy of my speech to be placed in the Library.A report of the conference, including recommendations made at it, is being prepared by the Commonwealth Institute, which hosted the event with strong support from the New Zealand Government. It should be available next month.The conference discussed a wide range of environmental issues of concern to Commonwealth countries in the Pacific. It was attended by Government representatives and other individuals from those countries, from Australia and New Zealand and from the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will state the latest available figures by land and type of technical assistance and bilateral aid given to Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, E1 Salvador, Belize, and Mexico; and when was the last time a project for such aid or assistance was approved for Nicaragua.

The figures for bilateral aid in 1987 are as follows:

£'000
	Financial aid	Technical cooperation
Costa Rica	12,228	356
Panama	—	72
Nicaragua	—	—
Guatemala	—	1
El Salvador	367	44
Belize	1,385	693
Mexico	30	600
1 Provided through the Commonwealth Development Corporation.

The last direct bilateral aid to Nicaragua was for scholarships which finished in 1986. We have also provided aid for projects jointly funded with British voluntary agencies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what resources are devoted in (a) Basildon and (b) England and Wales to the training of teachers in detecting and teaching dyslexic children; and if he will make a statement.

The allocation of resources, both for in-service training of teachers (apart from the LEA training grants scheme) and for the education of particular groups of children is a matter for determination by each local education authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is his Department's latest estimate of dyslexic children and adults respectively; and how this compares with each of the last five years;(2) what is his Department's latest estimate of dyslexic

Since the implementation of the 1981 Education Act in 1983, this Department has not collected national or local statistics of children by category of handicap. This information is not therefore available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what research his Department is carrying out into dyslexia; and if he will make a statement;(2) how much was spent by his Department on carrying out research into dyslexia; and if he will make a statement.

My Department is not funding any research in this field at the present time. A total of five projects on specific learning difficulties were funded by this Department in recent years. Details of these projects, their completion dates, the researchers and the level of funding are (i) The prevalence and characteristics of children with specific learning difficulties, April 1983, Dr. D. A. Dobbins, £157,546 (ii) Development of a classroom-based integrated diagnostic/remediation procedure for failing readers, April 1983, Mr. G. E. F. Trickey, £98,385 (iii) The teaching of seven-year-old dyslexic pupils, June 1982, Professor P. R. Miles, £4,600 (iv) Action research project for dyslexic pupils 1981–82, June 1982, Mr. V. Tyre and Mr. P. Young, £40,750 (v) Follow-up study of 90 dyslexic pupils, June 1982, Professor T. R. Miles, £630.In addition, my Department sponsored a seminar held on 22 May 1984, to disseminate the findings of the first four of the above research projects. Given this considerable funding effort, I think it is now appropriate that the Department's research funding into children with special educational needs should concentrate on other aspects of concern in the special education field.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received from the British Dyslexia Association; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has received no representations from the British Dyslexia Association in recent months.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many (a) teachers, (b) lecturers, and (c) non-teaching staff were employed in the public sector education system in the Basildon area for each of the last five years.

Figures for Basildon are not available because the Department does not collect this information below the level of the local education authority. The numbers employed in the public sector education system in Essex are as follows:

	Teachers1	Lecturers2	Non teaching staff3
			Full-time	Part-time4
January
1984	12,643	2,195	3,340	13,861
1985	12,788	2,184	3,353	14,240
1986	12,401	2,223	3,376	15,077
1987	12,285	2,198	3,347	15,688
1988	12,398	2,187	3,379	16,174
1 Teachers in maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools and those providing education otherwise than at school. As recorded by the local education authority on Form 618G.
2 Full-time equivalent lecturers in further education establishments adult education centres and youth clubs and centres, as recorded by the local education authority on Form 618G.
3 From Essex's Quarterly Manpower Information Reports for preceding December.
4 Number of staff (ie head count.). Full-time equivalents based on national factors are not thought to be reliable for individual authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the achievements of his Department in reducing drug abuse; and if he will make a statement.

Education support grants have been provided by the Department for the last three years to facilitate the employment by local education authorities of drugs education co-ordinators. the third year of funding in 1988–89 will support 70 per cent. of LEA expenditure of up to £2·3 million. Support in 1989–90 will amount to 50 per cent. of LEA expenditure up to a total of £2·4 million. In 1989–90 the Department is also for a third year supporting drugs education in-service traning for teachers under the LEA training grants scheme. The Department will fund 70 per cent. of the cost of such training up to a total expenditure of £1·7 million by LEAs. It is too early to judge the effectiveness of these measures in reducing drug abuse.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress is being made on fostering links between business and schools; and if he will make a statement.

Links between business and schools provide a valuable means of introducing children to the realities of industry, both its responsibilities and its opportunities. At present, two out of three children, before they leave school, receive direct experience of industry through a work experience placement. My Department is working with the DTI and Training Commision to ensure that all children benefit from this experience.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he anticipates that the first testing of seven-year-olds will be introduced into schools in England and Wales.

The first national assessment of seven year olds is planned for 1991. The first fully reported run will be in 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will consider extending the closing date for responses to the consultative report, "Mathematics for Ages 5–16";(2) how many individuals and organisations have applied for the consultation document, "Mathematics for Ages 5–16", and have not yet been sent one.

The National Curriculum Council is responsible for consultations on the document "Mathematics for Ages 5–16". The NCC has distributed over 85,000 copies of the document, including some 40,000 copies to statutory consultees and schools and some 45,000 on request to other individuals and organisations. All requests received up to 24 October have been dealt with.The NCC's 26 October deadline for comments on the proposed attainment targets and programmes of study has given statutory consultees up to 10 weeks to react. There is no case for extending this deadline.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what new arrangements he proposes to apportion the costs of provision of joint police forces and fire services between Lothian region and Borders region on the introduction of the community charge legislation in April 1989.

The new basis of apportionment of costs will require to be incorporated in schemes made by Lothian and Borders regional councils. These schemes have not yet been formally submitted to the Secretary of State for his approval, but I understand that the two councils are proceeding on the basis that both police and fire costs should be apportioned on the basis of population as estimated under paragraph 2(3) of schedule 4 to the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he now expects the work on the replacement rail bridge on the A1 trunk route at Cockburnspath to commence.

Work is expected to start during the last week in November or the first week in December.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the percentage of hospital consultants in Scotland who are female.

At 30 September 1987 female hospital consultants represented 12·1 per cent. of all hospital consultants employed by the National Health Service in Scotland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to increase the number of female consultants and general practitioners giving unrestricted medical services.

I am currently considering measures to improve career patterns for young doctors in the hospital service in Scotland, as part of a drive to improve our hospital medical staffing structure. These measures include improved training programmes, better career advice and counselling, and more part-time registrar posts. All of these should help hospital doctors—including women doctors—to achieve their full career potential.In the White Paper "Promoting Better Health" we announced our intention to discuss with the profession what arrangements might be made to ensure that more women are encouraged to enter and remain in general practice. This subject forms part of the confidential discussions at present taking place with the profession on the various proposals in the White Paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 28 July, Official Report, column 472, what information he now has as to the current bed occupancy of wards 7 and 8 at Lennox castle hospital.

I have had inquiries made of the greater Glasgow health board.Wards 7 and 8 are for mentally handicapped people with behavioural disturbance. Eight of the 12 places in ward 7, the admission unit, are occupied. Further increases to the target occupancy level of 90 per cent. are dependent upon the rate of referrals from general practitioners and other consultants. Six of the 12 places in ward 8, the intensive care unit, are occupied. A further four residents will be admitted next week, taking the ward to its target occupancy level.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has concerning the current nurse staffing at Lennox castle hospital and the expected increase for 1987–88 and 1988–89.

I have had inquiries made of the greater Glasgow health board.The average whole-time equivalent nursing staff at Lennox castle hospital has increased from 617 in 1987–88 to 634 in the period April to September 1988. Since 1986–87 the ratio of residents to nurses has improved from 1:0.52 to 1:0.69, an increase of 33 per cent. in the total number of nurses per resident. The health board has allocated £466,000 in the current financial year for increases in nursing staff at the hospital. This is equivalent to £599,000 in a full year and will be used to improve the proportion of trained nurses, and increase their total number.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration has been given to the inclusion of non-British graduates employed by Health Care International in the Scottish Medical and Dental Defence Union scheme.

Consideration of what indemnification to provide against claims for damages made against its medical and other staff is a matter for Health Care International.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of magnetic resonance imaging scanners in Scotland.

There are three nuclear magnetic resonance imaging scanners in National Health Service hospitals in Scotland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing levels of rent arrears for public sector housing in Scotland and in each district and islands area, for each month since 1 April 1987.

Information on local authority, new town and SSHA rents and rent arrears is collected centrally from authorites on an annual basis at 30 September each year. Figures for 1987 are set out in the table.

Rent arrears for Scottish public sector housing as at 30 September 1987
	£
Scotland	26,658,649
Local Authority	24,441,926
Berwickshire	40,908
Ettrick and Lauderdale	29,501
Roxburgh	158,920
Tweeddale	9,950
Clackmannan	501,064
Falkirk	477,299
Stirling	466,600
Annandale and Eskdale	99,888
Nithsdale	126,891
Stewartry	27,523
Wigtown	99,446
Dunfermline	460,340
Kirkcaldy	462,442
North East Fife	67,633
Aberdeen	802,565
Banff and Buchan	253,788
Gordon	64,638
Kincardine & Deeside	39,669
Moray	48,770
Badenoch and Strathspey	12,838

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of the 24 separate patrols undertaken in the current financial year up till 19 October by helicopters hired for surveillance of Scottish inshore fisheries have been specifically or mainly for the surveillance of salmon fisheries.

The 24 flights by helicopters in the current financial year up to 19 October were specifically for the surveillance of Scottish inshore fisheries and, as such, each flight was dedicated to protect the various sectors and detect infringements in those waters. Such flights are not aimed at any one individual component of the inshore fisheries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has received any requests from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority to conduct test drilling at its Dounreay site in preparation for Nirex's search for a suitable site for a repository for low and intermediate-level nuclear waste.

No such requests have been received.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current level of applications for the set-aside scheme for Scottish farmers; and what is the acreage per Scottish region and per parliamentary constituency which will be removed from agricultural use as a result of (a) applications already processed and (b) applications pending decision.

The information is not available in the form requested. Provisional returns indicate that over 400 applications were submitted by the closing date of 21 October and that almost 15,000 hectares of eligible land have been proposed for withdrawal from production this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been, to the latest available date, the expenditure incurred by his Department in (a) advertising the set-aside scheme, (b) offering advice to National Farmers Union offices and individual farmers and (c) approved annual payments for the transfer of land to non-agricultural purposes.

(a) No expenditure has been incurred by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland on paid advertisements. The cost of an explanatory leaflet on registration for set-aside sent to all arable farmers in Scotland was about £2,000;

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the total number of teachers employed in Scottish day schools by age band and by sex.

The full-time equivalent numbers of teachers in education authority and grant-aided schools at September 1987 are given in the table.

Age	Male	Female	Total
<24	223·9	1,464·7	1,688·6
25 to 29	1,136·2	3,519·1	4,655·3
30 to 34	2,599·3	5,044·6	7,643·9
35 to 39	3,881·9	5,866·5	9,748·4
40 to 44	2,946·7	5,531·2	8,477·9
45 to 49	1,963·9	4,478·7	6,442·6
50 to 54	1,756·5	3,474·7	5,231·2
55 to 59	1,297·8	2,637·0	3,934·8
60+	607·9	555·1	1,163·0
TOTAL	16,414·1	32,571·6	48,985·7

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of (a) male and (b) female members of the directorate in each of the Scottish education authorities.

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list any day schools in each region and division which have a person other than a registered teacher employed as head teacher.

Information is not held centrally on the registration status of teachers in particular posts. However, in terms of the Schools (Scotland) Code 1956, as amended, education authorities can only employ registered teachers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to assist and co-ordinate action by Scottish local authorities for the safe disposal of unwanted domestic refrigerators and other equipment containing chlorofluorocarbons.

The vaporisation of chlorofluorocarbons does not present any significant risk to human health and no advice to local authorities is considered necessary.There is at present no environmentally safe disposal method that local authorities could use, but my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment through his Department actively pursues means to reduce emissions with user industries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many houses have been repossessed as a result of mortgage default in the Glasgow, Govan constituency in each of the last five years.

This information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many (i) gas bill and (ii) electricity bill debts he estimates there are in Wales, expressed as a percentage of domestic credit customers for each of the years 1986, 1987 and for each of the months of 1988.

This is a matter for the chairmen of the utilities concerned. I have asked them to write to the hon. Member with the information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he proposes to initiate discussions between the gas and electricity boards and the local authority associations consequent upon the implementation of the new housing benefit regulations, with a view to minimising indebtedness.

No. Both industries operate a code of practice on the payment of bills which contains a number of safeguards for those in genuine difficulty and sets out a variety of "pay as you go" schemes to help consumers. The code stresses the importance of consumers who are having difficulty paying their bills informing their gas or electricity supplier at an early stage.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if, pursuant to his reply on plutonium on 20 July, Official Report, column 666, he will publish in the Official Report the figures for 1987–88 on plutonium produced at nuclear power stations, civil plutonium stocks and reprocessing activities at Sellafield.

The information requested was published on 13 October 1988 and placed in the Library of the House. A copy was also sent to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he has any plans to include nuclear installations in the regulations covered by the control of industrial major accident hazards programme.

Consideration is being given to the possibility of applying to nuclear installations arrangements of a kind comparable with those provided for under the CIMAH regulations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if his Department's research programme or that sponsored by his Department through the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, into decommissioning of nuclear plants, has taken into account the implications of bacteriological contamination of nuclear reactor cores and radioactively contaminated pipework.

The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's programme of research into reactor decommissioning relates primarily to gas cooled reactors where problems of bacteriological contamination are not expected to occur. Such contamination would be taken fully into account were it to become a relevant issue.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many prosecutions his Department has taken against companies for breaches in health and safety law on offshore gas and oil platforms; how many of these prosecutions have been successful; and what were the mean and modal fines imposed.

Details are available only from 1977. Since then 57 prosecutions of companies have been brought for breaches of health and safety requirements on offshore installations. 43 of these resulted in convictions. The mean and modal fines imposed were £1,100 and £500 respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will list the requirements, showing the Acts under which they appear, for safety training for contract workers on oil and gas rigs.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places a general obligation on all employers —whether they are operators or contractors—to provide training to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their employees. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application Outside Great Britain) Order 1977 extended this obligation offshore.In addition, there are specific requirements under both the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971 for the training of employees working with lead, asbestos and ionising radiations, and for medical staff and radio operators. There are also requirements for the appointment or competent persons to be responsible for the control and safety of operations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what resources of his Department were involved in work subsequent upon the Piper Alpha incident.

Twenty of my Department's staff were engaged at various stages of the work leading to the interim report of the Piper Alpha technical investigation into the causes of the disaster, which was released by Lord Cullen, the chairman of the forthcoming public inquiry, on 29 September 1988. My Department has so far authorised payments of about £200,000 for goods and services supplied in connection with work following the disaster under the authority of the advance from the Contingencies Fund which my right hon. Friend announced on 21 July 1988, at columns 835–36, in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell).

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will indicate the differences on the practices and procedures covering health and safety as between onshore and offshore installations; and whether he has any plans to harmonise them.

The general provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 applies both onshore and offshore. Safety onshore is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment.It is not possible to list all the differences in practices and procedures, since they are not all governed by regulations. The offshore safety regime has been designed to take into account the special requirements of the offshore environment. Where appropriate, onshore regulations are already applied offshore.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if his Department has made any approach to the science policy research unit in Sussex university to obtain copies of the "trad", "mod" and "tech" computer simulations of the electricity supply system in the United Kingdom as part of his departmental input to the Hinkley Point inquiry.

My Department has made no such approach.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will instruct the chairman of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority to inform the EC Energy Commissioner, M. Nic Mosar, that the European Commission has permission to release details of the 180 kg of United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority origin plutonium exported to Belgium under an agreement between the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and Euratom of 3 May 1968, in regard to the Commission response to written question 2932/87 by Llewellyn Smith MEP, given on 21 September.

No. This information is commercially confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will obtain for his departmental library a copy of the book "Magnox, the Reckoning", published by Friends of the Earth on 10 October.

A copy is on order for my Department's library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his policy towards his departmental witness at the Hinkley Point C public inquiry answering questions on the merits of departmental policy.

As recognised in rule 12(3) of the rules governing the Hinkley inquiry procedure, it is not customary for an official representative of a Government Department to answer questions on the merits of Government policy. As was made clear by my representative at the first Hinkley pre-inquiry meeting, I see no reason for my Department's witness to do so in this case: the merits of the relevant Government policy have been and will be the subject of parliamentary debate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement upon the import of uranium from Namibia since 1977.

Imports of uranium ore from Namibia for the United Kingdom's civil nuclear programme were made from 1977 to 1984 by the Central Electricity Generating Board, on behalf of the British Civil Uranium Procurement Directorate. There are no plans to import further supplies from Namibia.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he envisages any changes in responsibility for the nuclear safety research programmes at present funded by his Department.

Following discussions with interested parties, it has been decided that the Health and Safety Commission will take over the Department of Energy's responsibility for contracting research programmes related to the safety of established thermal nuclear power systems. The transfer covers the existing programmes funded by my Department and carried out by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority on pressurised water reactor safety and advanced gas-cooled reactor safety, together with relevant parts of the general nuclear safety programme. The transfer to the Health and Safety Commission will take place on 1 April 1990 and the Health and Safety Commission's responsibilities will be managed on its behalf by the Health and Safety Executive. The Health and Safety Executive has considerable technical expertise and experience in managing research programmes.Following a review to be carried out by the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's nuclear safety research programmes to decide on the areas of work appropriate for them to sponsor, the Health and Safety Executive will, on the Health and Safety Commission's behalf, recover, from nuclear site licensees and licence applicants, the costs of research for which it becomes responsible under the new arrangements. Legislation to enable this will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time permits.My Department will continue to fund directly a programme of generic nuclear safety research to enable the authority to carry out wider ranging work which is not related to nuclear systems currently licensed or contemplated for licensing in the United Kingdom and is therefore not appropriate for the Health and Safety Commission to sponsor under these arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement about the current level of support for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's programme of research in controlled thermonuclear fusion.

The Government earlier this year supported the European Council of Minister's decision to extend the life of the Joint European Torus (JET) project at Culham by two years to the end of 1992, to enable it to complete its agreed scientific objectives. This will mean further expenditure on JET of £75 million a year, which is partly funded by the United Kingdom. As a consequence, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority will continue to carry out research and development in support of JET and its programme of work on the tokamak route to fusion. Support for other lines of fusion research will be reduced gradually. Additional resources will be made available to enable the UKAEA's laboratory at Culham to expand its commercial work, building on the laboratory's existing success in marketing its expertise and the high quality and reputation of its staff.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has any changes to announce to his Department's cash limits for 1988–89.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the cash limit for class VI, vote 3 is increased by £0·90 million from £25·888 million to £26·788 million. This is to cover expenditure in relation to the Piper Alpha technical investigation and public inquiry. This increase is offset by a reduction of £0·90 million in the cash limit for class VI, vote 2 from £278·822 to £277·922 million. These changes will not therefore lead to an increase in the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he has fixed the date for the public inquiry into the proposals by the Central Electricity Generating Board to construct the Fawley B power station and coal jetty.

[pursuant to the reply, 13 June 1988, c.31]: On 3 February 1988 the Central Electricity Generating Board applied for my consent under the Electricity Act 1909 to construct a coal-fired generating station at Fawley in Hampshire. The board was required to advertise this application, following which I received some 4,000 objections to it, including ones from the relevant local planning authorities. A public inquiry into the application is therefore necessary. Since the application to construct the generating station was made the Government have announced their plans for the privatisation of the electricity supply industry and have been preparing for its precise implementation in consultation with the industry.The CEGB has told me that, in its assessment of future electricity demand and the needs of the industry, it believes that Fawley B is needed. However, after privatisation, the decision whether the power from the station is needed will rest with the distribution companies who will succeed the area boards. In the CEGB's view Big "G", who will own and operate Fawley B if it is built, will not wish to proceed with the station unless he has assurances from the area boards that they wish to take the power from it. Discussions between the generation and distribution sides of the industry are in progress, but the area boards are not yet in a position to give the assurances sought.Against that background the CEGB feels that it should not proceed with the application until the area boards are in a position to give definite assurances and has therefore asked that the public inquiry arrangements should not be made for the time being.After careful consideration I have decided that I will not proceed for the present with the public inquiry arrangements, but I have asked the CEGB to let me know by 1 May 1989 whether it wishes to proceed with the application or to withdraw it. Should the CEGB tell me that it wishes to proceed, in order to ensure fairness to all concerned, I will require it to readvertise the application so that any person, who is not already registered as an objector, will have the opportunity so to register.In the circumstances, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has decided that the board's present application to him for an order to be made under the Harbours Act 1964 in respect of a jetty associated with the generating station should not proceed further, although if next year the CEGB indicates that it wishes to proceed with the power station application, he recognises that this would be likely to be accompanied by a fresh application under the Harbours Act 1964.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is proposed to consider changes in the law relating to the investigations of complaints against the police, in the light of representations from the chairman of the Police Complaints Authority.

I intend shortly to circulate a consultation document seeking comments on the recommendations in the authority's triennial review report for 1985–88. When I have received these I shall consider how best to take forward the recommendations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the size of the grant to INFORM: and for how many years it has been made;(2) on what terms INFORM receives a Government grant.

A grant of £25,000 was first made to INFORM (Information Network Focus on Religious Movements) for the period 1 October 1987 to 31 March 1988 and a further sum of £45,000 is being paid in 1988–89. It is proposed to give £35,000 and £15,000 in 1989–90 and 1990–91 respectively, subject to review of INFORM's performance. No money will be paid thereafter.The grant is made to assist INFORM in its work of providing impartial information about cults, by providing a contribution towards its administrative expenses. Conditions relating to accounting and reporting arrangements are attached to the grant.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is satisfied with the progress being made in the preparation of fire brigade war plans; and if he will make a statement.

Fire brigade war emergency planning in England and Wales is under review in conjunction with Her Majesty's inspectorate of fire services. It is expected that initial findings will be available in early 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what auxiliary fire equipment held in store for civil defence purposes is available in emergency to organisations other than local authority fire services; what restrictions are placed on its use; and what arrangements are made for the crewing of the appliances.

Auxiliary fire equipment held for civil defence purposes, including "Green Goddess" appliances, pipes, hoses and other ancillary equipment can be made available on loan to any competent organisation or authority which may be responsible for dealing with emergencies. They would not normally be available in other than exceptional circumstances. Restrictions apply so as to preclude modification of the equipment or loan to a third party without Home Office consent; and a charge would normally be made. Arrangements for the crewing of appliances would normally be a matter for the borrowing organisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further response he has had to his proposals on crime prevention; and if he will make a statement.

There has been an encouraging response to our crime prevention policy, which stresses the role of the whole community in tackling crime. For example: there are now nearly 60,000 neighbourhood watch schemes across the country covering some three and a quarter million households; there have been nearly 200,000 separate requests for copies of our crime prevention handbook, over 1·5 million of which have been distributed; and all of the nine areas invited to take part in the first year of our safer cities programme have expressed an interest in participating, and in three of these work has now begun.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many persons have been (a) charged with and (b) convicted of cruelty to animals in 1988; what were the figures for each of the last five years; and what percentage the former is of the latter;(2) how many persons have been

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to his question yesterday. Information for 1988 is not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further representations he has received on capital punishment; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 22 July, at column 876.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been (a) charged with and (b) convicted of, (i) murder, (ii) child destruction, (iii) illegal abortion, (iv) rape, (v) unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 13 years, (vi) unlawful sexual intercourse with a defective and (vii) manslaughter in (aa) the Basildon area and (bb) England and Wales in each year since 1958.

The information requested in respect of England and Wales for all the offences specified except unlawful sexual intercourse with a defective is published annually in volumes 1 and 2 of "Criminal statistics, England and Wales Supplementary tables".Details for the Basildon area are not available, but the following table gives information for Billericay petty sessional division and Chelmsford Crown court for 1986 and 1987. Comparable data for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.For offences of procuring an illegal abortion, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to his question yesterday.

Persons proceeded against and found guilty of selected offences England and Wales
Number of persons1
	1986	1987
Billericay psd:
Proceeded against4
Murder	3	—
Manslaughter2	—	1
Child destruction	—	—

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is yet able to announce the level of the television licence fees to take effect from 1 April 1989; and if he will make a statement.

On 27 October last year, at column 204, I announced that the licence fees for the three years starting from 1 April 1988 would be calculated in accordance with changes in the retail prices index, which determine the rate of increase of pensions and other state benefits.The RPI figure for September, published on 14 October, showed a year-on-year increase of 5·9 per cent. I have accordingly decided that from 1 April 1989 the colour licence fee should be £66 and the monochrome fee £22. The necessary regulations will be laid before the House in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the processing time for passport applications at all United Kingdom passport offices; what further progress has been made towards computerisation of passport offices and dispersal of work on postal applications from London to Glasgow; and if he will make a statement.

Processing times for 14 October are shown in the table, together with those of six months and a year ago for the purpose of comparison. Urgent applications are given priority and are not normally subject to any delay.

Passport Office Average time between receipt of application and issue of passport (working days)
	24 October 1988	24 April 1988	23 October 1988
London	13	56	144
Glasgow	12	33	9
Peterborough	8	30	13
Newport	11	19	10
Liverpool	8	14	4
Belfast	2	3	2
1 Resulting from the effects of industrial action.

The issue of machine readable passports in the European Community common format, which commenced in Glasgow on 15 August, is progressing satisfactorily, and plans for the next phase of the computerisation programme are well advanced. The phased transfer of postal applications from London to the computerised and enlarged Glasgow passport office commenced on 4 October. We aim to complete the dispersal of jobs and transfer of work from London to Glasgow by May 1989 when the London passport office will deal only with applications lodged by callers and all applications posted from the Greater London area will be handled in Glasgow. In association with these changes, the London public counter will, from 31 October 1988, close at 4 pm as opposed to 4.30 pm at present, though arrangements to deal with urgent inquiries up to 6 pm will remain.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many ministerial certificates, by grade or group, have been issued under section 138(4) of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many of those issued have been renewed;(2) for what period ministerial certificates issued under section 138(4) of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 are valid; after what period they are renewable; and to which classes of Crown employees they are generally issued.

[holding answer 28 July 1988]: There has been no change since my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister replied to the right hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Dr. Owen) on 31 January 1984, at column 120.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on how many health authorities have organised campaigns to promote better health by means of self-help since January 1987; and if he will make a statement.

Although detailed information is not available, I understand that nearly all health authorities mount health education campaigns which include a strong element of self-help. Health promotion is normally considered as part of ministerial reviews and we expect all health authorities to make active progress on the prevention of ill health through health promotion.During the first year of the "Look After your Heart" campaign, grants were made to 95 health authorities to support heart disease prevention projects at local level, and 57 health authorities took stands and four showed their "health buses" at the first anniversary event of "Look After your Heart" at the National Exhibition centre, Birmingham in May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to review the administration of payments made to haemophiliacs suffering with HIV infection.

A new charitable trust, known as the Macfarlane trust, was established on 10 March 1988 specifically to give financial help to haemophiliacs infected with HIV and to their dependents. The Government made an ex-gratia payment to the trust of £10 million and by regulations have ensured that payments from the trust are disregarded for the purposes of housing benefit, income support and family credit. A majority of the trustees were appointed by the Haemophilia society. I believe that we have thereby fulfilled the promise made to the House by my predecessor on 17 November 1987.It is now a matter for the trustees to allocate their funds in the way which will best meet the needs of those eligible for assistance. I understand that so far the trust has received about 350 applications and made some 297 payments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give, for 1984 and each subsequent year for which figures are available, the number and age breakdown of children placed for adoption; how many of these children were placed for adoption while in local authority care; and how many of the latter were placed without parental consent.

The available information on placements for adoption is set out in the table, which shows children and young persons placed for adoption by the local authority during the year ending 31 March 1984, by age group, for both children in local authority care and other children. Comparable information is not available for later years. However, some information on placements for adoption is available for the year ending 31 March 1987 and provisional estimates show that about 900 children in local authority care were placed for adoption at that date.No figures are collected centrally on the number of children placed for adoption from care without parental consent.

Children and young people placed for adoption by the local authority by whether child was in care and by age group during the year ended 31 March 1984, England and Wales
	Children who were in the care of the local authority	Other children	Total
Under one	831	517	1,348
1 to 4	434	103	537
5 to 9	270	71	341
10 to 15	112	16	128
16 and over	10	3	13
Age not known	106	49	155
TOTAL	1,763	759	2,522

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the number of magnetic resonance imaging scanners in National Health Service hospitals paid for by charitable donations.

To date the capital cost of nine magnetic resonance scanners in National Health Service hospitals has been paid for by charitable donation. One of the nine received some contribution from the Department of Trade and Industry and another from a regional health authority.The revenue costs of all National Health Service scanners are paid from a variety of sources and include charitable donations, research bodies such as the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research Campaign, with approximately 50 per cent. receiving funding either wholly or in part from district health authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the number of magnetic resonance imaging scanners in National Health Service hospitals and the number in the private sector.

There are 19 magnetic resonance imaging scanners in National Health Service hospitals, including Scotland, and five in the private sector.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for increasing the number of magnetic resonance imaging scanners in National Health hospitals.

Within the total resources available to them, health authorities determine their own level of spending on capital equipment in the light of local knowledge, health needs and requirements. The Government believe that decisions about the relative priority of particular equipment, such as magnetic resonance imaging scanners, amongst the competing demands for resources, are best taken locally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will consider amending the current birth, marriage and death certificates for England and Wales to include the additional information already required in Scotland.

Yes. We will consider my hon. Friend's suggestion. I refer him to my announcement on 29 July 1988 at column 803, that a consultative document is to be issued on reforming the registration service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what sum of money he has (i) earmarked and (ii) paid to the British Telecom authorities for priority fault repair services for general practitioners.

Negotiations with British Telecom over these costs are still in progress. Formal agreement on a price framework may be reached in November. Meanwhile a without prejudice payment of £1,363,900 in respect of services for family practitioners was made in March 1988 to cover a 10 month period to 31 March 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence exists for a causal relationship between exposure to radiation doses and cancer.

Evidence over many years from laboratory research in animals and from epidemiological studies suggest that exposure to various forms of radiation can cause certain cancers. The available evidence has been reviewed by international groups including the International Commission for radiation protection, the committee on the biological effects of ionising radiation and the United Nations scientific committee on the effects of radiation whose reports are publicly available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the rate of overall illegitimate births as a percentage of all births in each of the past 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested is as follows:

Percentage of births occurring outside marriage, United Kingdom 1978 to 87
Year	Percentage
1978	10·0
1979	10·6
1980	11·5

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he intends to take for the assessment and rehabilitation of those patients previously diagnosed as suffering from mental disorders, whose difficulties are subsequently discovered to arise from profound deafness; and if he will make a statement.

All staff working with mentally disordered people need to be alert to the possibility of hearing loss and this was drawn to the attention of staff working with mentally handicapped people in the 1984 report "Helping Mentally Handicapped People with Special Problems". Where hearing impairment is suspected, the patient is referred for skilled audiological advice. Future action must depend on the particular circumstances of the case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to improve the facilities for members of the public visiting St. Catherine's house, Kingsway, London, to consult the births, marriages and deaths registers; and if he will make a statement.

I am aware that at peak times the public search room at St. Catherine's house can become uncomfortably crowded. However, it now includes all the ground floor space available in that building and there are no immediate opportunities for further expansion: improvements to other facilities such as public telephones and the general decor are being made. The need for people to visit the search room personally is also being diminished by the sale of microfilm copies of the registration indexes to local record offices, libraries and other interested bodies, and OPCS is looking at ways in which the indexes might be made available for sale in the microfiche form which will be easier to store and handle.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision is made for reimbursing chronically ill patients who use their own transport when travelling for treatment at hospital in a separate health district; how many reimbursements were made in the last year for which figures are available; and what was the average reimbursement made.