To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to end the imposition of tolls on the Severn bridge; and if he will make a statement.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to require that all commercial vehicles entering the United Kingdom by sea pass over a weighbridge before travelling on the public roads; and if he will make a statement.

We are about to install automatic equipment in the main ferry ports which will indicate whether incoming vehicles are overloaded. This will supplement the existing weighbridges used by the Department's traffic examiners.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what was the number of air traffic controllers employed at each of Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports for each of the past 20 years;(2) what was the number of new air traffic controllers employed in positions in England in each of the past 20 years;(3) what was the total number of air traffic controllers employed in England in each of the past 20 years;(4) what has been the capital investment in air traffic control systems for each of the past 20 years;(5) what was the capital expenditure on air traffic control facilities at Heathrow airport, both on general facilities and on computer systems, in each of the 10 years prior to privatisation.

These matters have all been within the responsibility of the Civil Aviation Authority and the National Air Traffic Services since 1972. I suggest the hon. Member writes to the chairman of the authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the capital expenditure on general facilities at Heathrow by the airport authority itself in each of the 10 years prior to privatisation.

The Department does not hold this information.For the years 1977–78 to 1983–84 such information was given in the authority's annual report and accounts, which are in the Library; for the three subsequent years I suggest the hon. Member approaches BAA plc direct.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether contracts have yet been let for the southern section of the M3 extension.

Necessary works in advance of the main contract for the Compton to Bassett section of the M3 are under way. We hope to invite tenders for the main contract shortly to enable work to start this summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has now received the independent inspector's report on the latest public inquiry about the final link between the M27 and M3 motorways; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. The inspector's report of the reopened inquiry into the Bar End to Compton section of the M3 extension was received at the end of November. It will be considered together with that of the 1985 inquiry inspector. The reports cover the many complex issues covered at the inquiries. My right hon. Friends will announce their joint decisions as quickly as they can.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what permission needs to be sought by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, British Nuclear Fuels Limited or commercial handlers of nuclear materials to transport by air radiotoxic materials such as plutonium or tritium within the United Kingdom, or from the United Kingdom.

The consignors of all radioactive materials by air must satisfy the Department of Transport that the arrangements comply fully with the national and international regulations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to review the safety of air transportation of dangerous toxic cargoes, including radio isotopes, depleted uranium, radioactive wastes and plutonium.

The transport of radioactive materials by all modes of transport must comply fully with the national and international regulations which are under continuous review by the International Atomic Energy Agency.The IAEA is currently undertaking a special review to decide whether any regulatory changes are needed to cover the particular circumstances of air transport.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if, during the next meeting of the Council of European Transport Ministers, he will make it his policy to initiate an EEC review of the hazards of the air, sea, road and rail transport of radiotoxic nuclear materials.

The transport of all radioactive materials must comply with the international regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is a United Nations body. These are under continuous review. All EEC countries are member states of the IAEA, and there is no need for a special EEC review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to set up a review study of the rail transport of spent nuclear fuel on the north and south London rail network lines, to study the appropriateness of the routeing and the preparedness of emergency plans in the event of an accident involving the significant release of radioactivity.

All movements of spent nuclear fuel must comply with regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The required design of the steel flasks ensure that even in the event of a severe railway accident there would be no significant release of the contents. Long-standing and well-rehearsed emergency arrangements exist to provide a rapid response to any incident involving nuclear materials in transit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has as to the time and date when the Boeing Aircraft Company first became aware of wiring problems in their 757 aircraft; when the Federal Aviation Authority was notified; when the federal authority gave instructions that the aircraft were to be checked; what the time and date was when the Civil Aviation Authority was notified; and when the Civil Aviation Authority notified United Kingdom airlines operating these aircraft.

I understand that the United States Federal Aviation Administration and the Boeing Company are investigating the chronology of the notification of wiring faults in the hold fire warning and extinguishing system of the Boeing 757.My information is that the Civil Aviation Authority was notified by the FAA, by telephone, at 5.30 pm on Friday, 13 January, that an airworthiness directive was being issued which concerned the wiring of the B757 hold fire warning and extinguishing system. By 7.30 that evening the CAA had notified all United Kingdom operators of the forthcoming airworthiness directive.On Saturday morning, 14 January, the full airworthiness directive was received by the CAA by telex. The CAA confirmed immediately that all United Kingdom operators of the aircraft had received the telex. Action was by then under way and by the end of the morning British Airways, for example, had already inspected and cleared 12 of their B757s.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his provision for the urban programme for 1988–89 and for the next three years at cash prices and at 1987–88 constant prices.

The Department of Transport's cash provision for the urban programme in 1988–89 and each of the succeeding three years is £11 million. This is £10 million per annum at 1987–88 constant prices.In addition to the urban programme works, which are administered by the Department of the Environment, urban areas receive substantial benefit from the Department of Transport's other programmes, including those for trunk road construction, local authority roads and public transport.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes he proposes to make to the cash limits on his votes and to his Department's running costs limit.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the cash limits for my votes are to be changed as follows:

£'000
	Current cash	Change	Revised cash
	limit		limit
Class VIII Vote 1	1,027,307	14,145	1,041,452
2	215,838	3,390	212,448
4	122,453	1,130	123,583

The increase in class VIII, vote I will be charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure. This increase takes account of a reduction of £1,585,000 to compensate for an overspend of the cash limit in 1987–88. This follows the normal practice of reducing the cash limit for one financial year by the amount of the previous year's overspend.The reduced cash limit on class VIII, vote 2 takes account of transfers of:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) whether he intends to introduce further measures to curb the practice known as telephone cold calling;(2) how many representations he has received since 1 January 1988 regarding the sale practice known as telephone cold calling; and if he will make a statement.

My Department has received 39 complaints from consumers about unsolicited telephone sales calls since 1 January 1988. The Office of Fair Trading, the Office of Telecommunications and local authority trading standards departments have also received complaints about this practice. The British Direct Marketing Association is planning to introduce a telephone preference service which would enable telephone subscribers to choose to have their details excluded from lists used by direct selling organisations. Discussions about the form of such a service are taking place with the Office of Fair Trading and other interested Government bodies. My Department is keeping in touch with these developments.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the number of staff in his Department, by grade, in receipt of local pay additions outside London and the south east economic planning region; what are the different amounts paid to staff by grade; whether this figure varies due to location; what qualifying period of scale-related criteria is used; and whether this varies by location.

Nine administrative officers, four administrative assistants and two personal secretaries are receiving local pay additions in offices of the Department of Trade and Industry in Cambridge, which is outside London and the south-east economic planning region. The annual salaries of the administrative officers and administrative assistants are increased to £300 above the national rate in the first year of service in the Department; thereafter annual salaries are increased to £600 above the national rate, except where staff are on the maximum of their salary scale, when the annual salaries are increased to £400 above the national rate. The annual salaries of personal secretaries are adjusted in the same manner, except that they are increased to £600 above the national rate in the first year of service. The criteria for payment of these additions do not vary between offices.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made in the review of support for civil aircraft and aero engine research.

In the White Paper "DTI—The Department for Enterprise" (CM 278, January 1988) my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced that the Government intended to review during 1988 the Department's support for civil aircraft and aeroengine research and demonstration.A comprehensive review has now been carried out by officials of my Department and implementation of the recommendations is under way. It concluded that there is a continuing need for the Government to fund research in support of the United Kingdom civil aircraft industry in view of the particular circumstances of this international market. At the same time, the review recommended that the Government should seek measures in the international arena to reduce the market distortions which play their part in making such Government support necessary. We are considering further how to take this forward.As a result of the review, we shall be taking a number of steps and introducing procedures that are designed both to bring the support in line with wider Government and departmental research objectives and to ensure that we obtain good value for money from the funding. These include withdrawing near market support and encouraging more collaborative research. Because of the particular nature of the industry we shall continue, exceptionally, to make available support for longer-term single company research projects in the airframe, aeroengine and helicopter sectors, limited to a maximum funding of 25 per cent. of total project costs. Also, for research carried out either in Government research establishments or agencies, we shall in future expect aerospace companies, as major beneficiaries of the work, to contribute to the funding, usually by seconding staff to the research teams.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many days he has allowed for consultation between the date of the announcement of the proposed takeover of Century Newspapers Ltd., Belfast, by Thompson Regional Newspapers and the date when the submissions must be received by him before a decision on referral to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, what is the normal period for such consultation; and whether he has received any representations from the National Graphical Association and the National Union of Journalists about the possibility of a monopoly of newspaper ownership being created in Northern Ireland.

[holding answer 16 January 1989]: On 10 January my Department issued a press notice inviting comments on the proposal by 17 January. The Department's procedures for a formal consultation period were introduced in October 1988. This is the fist application for consent to a newspaper merger under the financial urgency provisions received since then. I have received seven representations on the proposal including a full submission from the National Graphical Association.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will set up an inquiry into the working of the net book agreement with a view to examining its effect on booksellers, publishers and book purchasers; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 19 January 1989]: The Restrictive Practices Court has considered the net book agreement on two occasions and has found it not to be contrary to the public interest. Under the relevant legislation, the Director General of Fair Trading may apply to the court for a review of its decision if at any time he considers that there has been a material change in circumstances on which the original judgment was based. It is not open to Ministers to make such an application.In the circumstances it would serve no useful purpose for the Government to set up an inquiry. However, the Government have proposed fundamental reforms to restrictive trade practices legislation under which, among other things, it is intended that arrangements such as the net book agreement which have been cleared under existing legislation should be reconsidered in due course by the appropriate competition authority under criteria laid down in the new legislation.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the allocation for the inner cities initiative for 1988–89 and each of the next three years at cash prices and at 1987–88 constant prices.

The inner cities unit of my Department has an allocation of £21·3 million for 1988–89 (£20·0 million in 1987–88 constant prices). Information about planned expenditure in the following three years will shortly be published in the public expenditure White Paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, in view of the greater use now being made of the United Nations Security Council in the sphere of conflict resolution, the Government have raised the issue of Eritrea in informal contacts in Security Council circles; and if he will make a statement.

We are concerned about the continuing conflict in Eritrea and take every opportunity to urge all those involved to reach a solution by negotiation. We do not believe it would be helpful to raise the issue in the Security Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the total number of British embassies and high commissions; what is the number of staff employed in them, and what is the total annual cost.

There are 130 embassies and high commissions, and 78 subordinate and miscellaneous other posts. The total running cost in financial year 1987–88 was £241·4 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give for the last full year for which figures are available the number of meetings of the United Nations Security Council; and the number of times it voted.

Between 16 June 1987 and 15 June 1988 (the last full year for which figures are available), the United Nations Security Council held 67 meetings, and voted 33 times.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he proposes to take with regard to the administration of the British Antarctic Territory; and whether he will make a statement.

The British Antarctic Territory was established as a separate dependent territory in 1962. Since then, as a matter of convenience, the territory has been administered by an high commissioner resident in Stanley. Following consideration of the future administrative needs of the territory, we have decided that from 1 July this year the administration of the BAT will be repatriated to London and that the commissioner will be a senior official of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The present high commissioner has been informed and is informing the Falkland Islands Councillors. The British Indian Ocean Territory has been similarly administered from London since 1977.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set out in the Official Report his Department's capital allocation in real terms to Warwickshire county council for each year since 1978–79.

The information requested for the years 1981–82 to 1989–90 is set out in tables 1 and 2. Before 1981–82 local education authorities did not receive block allocations but were notified annually, in the context of a rolling programme, of a limit on the value of building starts in the following year.

Table 1
Warwickshire Lea Prescribed capital expenditure 1981–82 to 1989–90
	Cash Prices	1Constant Prices
	£000s	£000s
1981–82	1,366	1,843
1982–83	1,367	1,722
1983–84	1,991	2,398
1984–85	1,428	1,637
1985–86	1,703	1,853
1986–87	1,236	1,301
1987–88	1,162	1,162
1988–89	1,375	1,294
1989–90	1,729	1,550
1 These figures are calculated at 1987–88 prices using the GDP deflator.

Table 2
Allocations/or capital expenditure by Governors of Aided Schools in Warwickshire 1981–82 to 1989–90
	Cash prices	Constant prices
1981–82	—	—
1982–83	259	326
1983–84	346	417
1984–85	110	126
1985–86	245	267
1986–87	19	20
1987–88	80	80
1988–89	715	673
1989–90	631	566

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the figures for the total number of teachers employed in schools maintained by the local education authorities of Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Hereford/Worcester.

The total number of full-time equivalent teachers in January 1988 were as follows:

LEA	Qualified teachers within schools1	Total number of teachers paid by the local education authority2
Derbyshire	7,859	8,353
Staffordshire	8,124	8,746
Nottinghamshire	8,315	8,702
Hereford and
Worcester	4,894	5,273
1 Full-time equivalent qualified teachers within maintained nursery primary and secondary schools.
2 The total number of full-time equivalent teachers including qualified teachers, student teachers and instructors employed for service in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the figures for the total number of pupils attending schools maintained by the local education authorities up to the age of 19 years, in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Hereford/Worcester.

The total number of pupils up to and including those aged 19 and over attending maintained schools in January 1988 were as follows:

LEA	Pupil Numbers1
Derbyshire	143,000
Staffordshire	160,998
Nottinghamshire	154,699
Hereford and Worcester	96,527
1 Total number of pupils in secondary and special schools maintained nursery, primary, middle, Includes those attending part-time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has made compensation regulations under section 24 of the Superannuation Act 1972.

My right hon. Friend has made the following compensation regulations under section 24 of the Superannuation Act 1972

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if his Department has plans to increase funds available for the education of children with special educational needs.

The Government's expenditure plans for 1989– provide for local authorities to spend £59 million, or over 10 per cent., more in cash on maintained special schools than was allowed for within the 1988–89 plans, at a time when pupil numbers in special schools are declining. Expenditure on pupils with special educational needs in ordinary schools cannot be separately identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps his Department is taking to safeguard special educational needs after the implementation of the Education Act 1988.

The Education Act 1988 contains many safeguards for children with special educational needs. The National Curriculum Council and the Schools Examination and Assessment Council are fully aware of the particular difficulties faced by such children. The Government believe that all children, including those with special educational needs will benefit from the provisions of the 1988 Act. Nevertheless, provision for children with special educational needs will continue to be monitored after the implementation of the Act, as it is at present, by Her Majesty's inspectorate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what research he is supporting into infectious mononucleosis—known as glandular fever; arid what are the prospects of developing a successful anti-body to the Epstein-Barr virus.

The Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid from this Department, is currently supporting a virological study of Paul-Bunnell negative glandular fever at the communicable diseases division of the MRC clinical research centre. In addition, the MRC and university departments and medical schools support a range of basic research which may have relevance to glandular fever.The council's sub-committee on herpes virus vaccines has recently concluded that it is now possible to undertake studies of whether an Epstein-Barr virus antigen will stimulate immunity in humans. Proposals for such studies are presently being formulated.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to the cost to public funds of Mr. Viraj Mendis's maintenance and tuition at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology between 1973 and 1979.

I understand that Mr. Mendis is recorded as having supported himself during his attendance at the university of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology between 1973 and 1979. However, the tuition fees charged to overseas students at that time were subsidised and an element of the cost of Mr. Mendis' tuition will therefore have been met through the public funding of higher education institutions. It is not possible to quantify this element.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in the Official Report for each academic or calendar year since 1970 (a) the total number of teachers on list 99, (b) the number included on the list under each of the four principal reasons for inclusion, (c) the number removed and granted permission to resume teaching and (d) the number subsequently relisted; and if he will make a statement on the operation of the list 99 process.

The table shows the number of persons added to list 99 in each financial year from 1 April 1970 to 31 March 1988 categorised as requested, and the number of persons removed from the list in each year. The total number of persons on list 99 at present is 1,471. The other information requested is not available.List 99 contains the names, dates of birth, and departmental reference numbers, of teachers, youth workers, and others whom the Secretary of State has directed should be excluded wholly or partially from

Year	Number of persons included on list 99 categorised by type of misconduct					Total	Number of persons removed from list 99
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)
1970–71	55	3	19	4	2	83	19
1971–72	49	8	7	2	4	70	6
1972–73	53	2	10	3	3	71	14
1973–74	21	1	3	—	1	26	9
1974–75	44	1	7	—	—	52	14
1975–76	32	—	5	1	5	43	7
1976–77	30	2	3	—	3	38	10
1977–78	22	I	—	1	1	25	11
1978–79	16	1	1	1	4	23	10
1979–80	31	1	4	—	1	37	6
1980–81	29	—	4	1	4	38	4
1981–82	34	2	7	—	2	45	7
1982–83	28	1	7	—	3	39	1
1983–84	25	2	5	—	7	39	6
1984–85	35	2	6	—	1	44	6
1985–86	31	7	9	—	4	51	3
1986–87	47	7	10	—	1	65	8
1987–88	28	7	2	3	7	47	6

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when was the last independent review of university lecturers' pay; what it recommended; and to what extent its findings have been implemented.

Since 1970 the pay of university lecturers has been settled by negotiations between employers and employees under an independent chairman. The last such settlement was in 1987: it provided for pay rises of 16·6 per cent. with effect from 1 December 1986 and a further 7·4 per cent. with effect from I March 1988. Those increases have been implemented.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his provision for the urban programme for 1988–89 and for the next three years at cash prices and at 1987–88 constant prices.

My right hon. Friend has made provision for education projects under the urban programme of:

£ million
	Cash	1987–88 prices
1988–89 forecast outturn	44	41
1989–90 plans	45	42
1990–91 plans	46	43
1991–92 plans	47	44

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the relevant current expenditure on schools for under-fives in 1988–89 and for the next three years.

Information for local authority actual spending on education in 1988–89 is not yet available. Provisional outturn spending on under-fives in 1988–89 is £495 million, a 25 per cent. increase in cash over spending in 1986–87. The Government's plans for spending in 1989–90 provide for £536 million to be spent on the under-fives, a further cash increase of over 8 per cent. over provisional outturn in 1988–89. The information requested on spending on under-fives beyond 1990 is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to be able to make his first decisions about the applications by schools to opt out under the Education Reform Act 1988.

[holding answer 23 January 1989]: The first schools have now published proposes for grant-maintained status, and a number of others are preparing to do so. My right hon. Friend will determine such proposals as quickly as the statutory procedures and his consideration of all the relevant factors permit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those hospitals in Wales which have (i) echo cardiagrams, and (ii) lithotripsy machines; and if he will make a statement.

Information on the acquisition of echo cardiagram equipment by NHS hospitals in Wales is not held centrally. No NHS hospital in Wales has yet acquired a lithrotripter. The Welsh Office is currently considering proposals for the provision of a lithotripsy service in Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement concerning his plans to safeguard the schooling of children with special needs.

The Education Act 1981 and the Education Reform Act 1988 make comprehensive provision to safeguard the schooling of children with special educational needs. The Department is also issuing this week for consultation a draft circular on procedures for assessments and statements of special educational needs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the impact of the

Nursery Schools1
Welsh counties	1977–78	1978–79	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88
Clwyd	15·3	16·7	18·3	19·6	20·8	20·1	19·9	19·7	19·6	18·6	16·5
Dyfed	190	16·8	15·4	17·7	18·9	20·1	18·5	18·9	22·4	22·4	22·7
Gwent	18·3	20·7	19·9	21·2	21·6	23·6	23·0	22·8	22·5	22·8	23·1
Gwynedd	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Mid Glamorgan	17·8	18·9	19·4	18·9	18·8	19·1	19·2	19·2	18·7	20·4	19·4
Powys	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
South Glamorgan	20·2	20·3	20·4	17·9	18·8	19·1	18·8	18·1	18·4	19·5	18·6
West Glamorgan	19·2	21·0	18·5	16·0	23·5	23·7	22·7	24·0	29·1	23·4	23·4

Primary Schools1
Welsh counties	1977–78	1978–79	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88
Clwyd	23·2	23·0	23·1	22·9	23·3	23·2	23·2	23·4	23·8	24·1	24·0
Dyfed	19·0	19·3	18·4	18·8	19·1	19·2	19·0	19·7	20·7	20·6	20·8
Gwent	23·8	22·7	22·8	22·8	22·8	22·1	22·3	22·3	22·2	21·9	22·5
Gwynedd	21·3	21·0	20·5	19·9	19·5	19·8	19·7	20·0	20·2	20·4	20·3
Mid Glamorgan	23·8	23·3	23·6	23·6	23·5	23·5	22·3	22·9	22·9	23·3	22·9
Powys	18·3	18·1	18·7	18·7	19·5	18·8	18·6	19·5	19·5	19·3	19·3
South Glamorgan	23·2	23·4	23·2	22·8	22·9	22·9	22·9	22·8	22·9	22·9	22·7
West Glamorgan	21·8	21·2	21·1	20·7	21·2	21·4	21·5	21·7	21·6	21·2	21·3

Secondary schools1
Welsh counties	1977–78	1978–79	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88
Clwyd	16·9	16·9	17·0	17·0	17·2	16·9	16·7	16·8	16·7	16·5	15·9
Dyfed	17·9	17·1	16·8	16·6	16·4	16·4	16·1	16·1	16·0	15·8	15·5
Gwent	16·7	16·5	16·1	16·6	16·4	16·1	15·8	15·8	15·5	15·3	15·0
Gwynedd	17·3	16·8	16·2	16·1	16·0	16·0	15·5	15·6	15·2	15·3	14·8
Mid Glamorgan	17·2	16·9	16·8	16·8	17·6	17·4	16·6	16·7	16·7	16·5	16·0
Powys	16·3	16·2	16·0	15·9	15·7	15·9	15·5	15·2	14·9	14·8	14·5
South Glamorgan	17·2	17·0	16·8	16·9	16·9	16·7	16·7	16·6	16·5	16·5	16·4
West Glamorgan	16·7	16·4	16·4	16·1	16·0	15·8	15·7	15·9	15·6	15·3	14·8

Special schools1
Welsh counties	1977–78	1978–79	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88
Clwyd	8·6	7·3	8·5	8·6	8·6	8·4	8·5	8·2	7·9	7·7	7·2
Dyfed	7·6	7·2	7·5	7·5	1·2	7·2	7·5	6·7	6·8	6·8	6·7
Gwent	8·4	8·9	8·6	8·3	8·5	7·8	7·1	7·2	7·3	7·6	6·8

The Education Reform Act offers the opportunity for a significant improvement in the provision made for children with special educational needs. The entitlement of all children to a basic curriculum from five to 16, together with the extensive flexibility which the Act provides for this to be tailored to the needs of individual children, sets a framework which should encourage a better educational experience for many children with special needs. Further work is being undertaken to provide their teachers, with helpful guidance in the light of the Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table in the Official Report showing pupil-teacher ratios in schools in each Welsh local education authority by type of school for the latest available date for which such information is available; and if he will give the figures for the previous 10 years.

Pupil-teacher ratios within maintained schools are shown by type of school in the following tables:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimates he has as to the number of second houses liable for community charge in each district council area.

The Welsh Office is presently consulting on where the boundary between domestic and non-domestic properties should be drawn and thus which properties should be subject to the standard community charge. It is therefore not yet possible to provide the figures requested. General information on second homes is, however, available, and table 2.7 of the 1986 Welsh intercensal survey, a copy of which is in the Library, provides estimates of their distribution among districts. These figures can only provide a broad indication of this distribution as they are derived from a sample survey of about 60,000 Welsh households and there are some difficulties in distinguishing between second homes and other categories of housing in a general survey of this type.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for the Pembroke constituency the number of registered places in residential homes for the elderly in (a) each local authority home and (b) each privately owned home; and if he will indicate in each case the number of beds provided for people requiring nursing care.

The information requested is given in the following tables.

Local authority homes for the elderly in the Pembroke constituency as at 31 March 1988
Home	Number of residential1 places
Heywood	18
Havenhurst	38
Prendergast House	36
Riverside Home	40
Merlin House	41
Sunnybank Home	58
1 Local authority homes do not provide nursing beds.

Private Homes for the Elderly in the Pembroke Constituency as at 31 March 1988
Home	Number of Residential Places	Number of Nursing Places1
Bangeston Hall	27	—
Ridgeway Home for the Elderly	25	20
Glenwood House	16	—
Parc-y-Llyn	11	15
Montrose	12	—
Nightingales	10	—
Cartref	24	—
Brooklands	7	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was Welsh Office expenditure on environmental research in Wales in each year since 1979; and if he will make a statement.

The information is as follows:

	£000s cash
1979–80	93
1980–81	80
1981–82	126
1982–83	165
1983–84	187
1984–85	205
1985–86	270
1986–87	887
1987–88	367

The increase in expenditure in 1986–87 was due to payments for studies relating to: the redevelopment of Cardiff bay, the staging of a national garden festival in Wales, and the intensive monitoring of sheep and other agricultural produce following the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total expenditure on local authority environmental health services in Wales and the number of environmental health officers employed, in each year since 1979; and if he will make a statement.

Expenditure on local authority environmental health staff and the staff employed in each financial year since 1979–80 is shown in the following table:

	Current expenditure	Capital expenditure	Environmental health officers and support staff
	(£000)	(£000)	(fte)1
1979–80	12,373	508	1,258
1980–81	16,142	746	1,253
1981–82	18,111	608	1,235
1982–83	20,368	580	1,238
1983–84	22,011	750	1,292
1984–85	23,093	721	1,407
1985–86	24,312	609	1,353
1986–87	25,511	1,071	1,342
1 In March each financial year.

Information on the number of Environmental Health Officers alone is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many junior hospital doctors work (a) more than 104 hours a week in (i) Wales, (ii) Clwyd health authority, (iii) East Dyfed health authority, (iv) Gwent health authority, (v) Gwynedd health authority, (vi) Mid Glamorgan health authority, (vii) Pembrokeshire health authority, (viii) Powys health authority, (ix) South Glamorgan health authority, and (x) West Glamorgan health authority and (b) more than 112 hours a week in (i) Wales, (ii) Clwyd health authority, (iii) East Dyfed health authority, (iv) Gwent health authority, (v) Gwynedd health authority, (vi) Mid Glamorgan health authority, (vii) Pembrokeshire health authority, (viii) Powys health authority, (ix) South Glamorgan health authority, and (x) West Glamorgan health authority.

Information about the hours worked by junior hospital doctors is not available centrally. The numbers of junior doctors who are contracted for the standard working week and to be available on standby or on-call together totalling more than 104 hours is eight out of a total of approximately 1,400 junior doctors in Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has of the scale of pollution in Wales from road vehicle emissions of (a) carbon monoxide, (b) hydrocarbons, and (c) nitrogen oxides; and if he will make a statement.

Information about emissions from road vehicles is not held in this form but total United Kingdom figures are published annually in the Department of the Environment's "Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics".Nitrogen dioxide figures can be taken as an adequate indicator of the level of road vehicle pollution. A United Kingdom wide survey of Nitrogen dioxide made for the Department of the Environment by Warren Spring laboratory in 1986 showed levels in Welsh cities to be generally below the average for the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has on the number of noise pollution complaints received by environmental health officers in Wales; what are the sources of that noise pollution; and if he will make a statement.

The information is not maintained centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of water pollution incidents in Wales for each year since 1979 and the sources of that pollution; and if he will make a statement.

The annual reports of the Welsh water authority, copies of which are in the Library, contain some references to the number of pollution incidents affecting water in the Welsh water authority's area.The detailed information is not held centrally, so I have asked the chairman of the Welsh water authority to write to the hon. Gentleman.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the numbers of lakes in Wales without fish due to pollution or acid rain; what steps he is taking to improve the situation; and if he will make a statement.

There is no definite evidence to show that any lake in Wales has become fishless because of the effect of acid rain. However, it is generally accepted that acidic deposition can bring about the acidification of lakes in areas with sensitive strata. The Welsh Office, with the Department of the Environment, funds an extensive programme of research with the aim of assessing the relative contribution which air pollution, afforestation, land type, land use and practice makes to the acidification of Welsh lakes and the effect that acidification has on fish populations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the latest waiting list figures for (a) in-patients for each Welsh health authority, (b) in-patients for each Welsh health authority (i) waiting more than one month for an urgent operation and (ii) waiting more than one year for a non-urgent operation and (c) out-patients.

All the information requested by the hon. Gentleman is contained in the 10th issue of the "Welsh Hospital Waiting List Bulletin," a copy of which is in the Library.

To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to meet President Bush.

I met Mr. Bush in November. On present plans, we shall next meet at the economic summit in Paris.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to pay an official visit to Ash-cum-Ridley.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will transfer all responsibility for matters relating to food to the Ministry of Health.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Holland with Boston (Sir R. Body) on 17 January 1989, at column 128.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 January.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 January.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 January.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 January.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 January.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 January.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 January.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 January.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 January.

This morning I 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 Prime Minister if she will now review the decision not to release all the documents in respect of the fire at Windscale in 1957.

The release of public records is governed by the requirements of the Public Records Acts. I have nothing to add to the replies that I gave the hon. Gentleman on 19 January 1988 at column 597 and to the hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) on 14 January 1988 at column 353.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what change has been agreed in the 1988–89 cash limits for overseas aid.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary spring supplementary estimate the cash limit for the overseas aid vote (class II, vote 5) will be increased by £51,204,000 from £1,223,114,000 to £1,274,318,000. The change includes allowance for the increase in the overall provision for overseas aid announced on 14 November 1988 (at column 371). Voted provision is being further increased by £1,400,000 for emergency assistance provided in the current financial year following the earthquake in Armenia. The increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure. The running costs limit for the Overseas Development Administration within the voted provision will be reduced by £1,000 to £42,932,000. This decrease will be matched by an increase in the running costs limits for the Office of the Minister for the Civil Service (class XX, vote 1) and reflects the transfer of costs for recruitment under the direct entry grade 7 competition, 1988.

To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioner, how many oral parliamentary questions he has answered by written reply because the question was not reached at Question Time, for the most recent year for which figures are available.

In 1988, of a total of 38 oral questions, 10 were answered as written replies because the question was not reached in the time allotted.

To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, if he will make a statement about the number of (a) clergy who are likely to retire and (b) ordination candidates during the next 15 years.

It is estimated that the number of clergy retiring over the next 15 years will average 410 per year. Taking into account the numbers likely to move in and out of the parochial ministry in mid career, it is estimated that to produce a stable total number of full-time male clergy over the same period would require an ordination rate of about 375 a year. This would represent an increase over the recent steady average, which is about 320 a year. However, any shortfall could be made up, at least in part, by the increased numbers of women entering the ministry.

To ask the Attorney-General what is the number of (a) the Land Registry Office's backlog of substantive searches,(b) its backlog of preliminary searches and (c) the extra staff who have been taken on to deal with the backlog.

The total number of applications held at the Land Registry at the various stages of processing at the end of December 1988 was 1,171,402. Preliminary searches have always received priority. 90 per cent. of these searches are processed within four working days. Since April 1988 over 2,000 staff have been recruited and trained. An additional authorisation in August of 900 posts was approved to meet the high intakes.

To ask the Attorney-General what estimates he has as to the cost of court proceedings in the case of Mr. Viraj Mendis.

The costs of court proceedings in the case of Viraj Mendis include the costs of Mr. Mendis's original application to the Queen's Bench Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal, and his two recent applications for judicial review relating to his deportation to Sri Lanka. He received legal aid for all these applications.The fees payable to Mr. Mendis's legal advisers have not yet been finally assessed by the court. The legal aid administration has not, therefore, yet received any claims in respect of those costs. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has provided details of the legal costs incurred by the Home Office, in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon) on 23 January 1989.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service how many oral parliamentary questions he has answered by written reply because the question was not reached at Question Time, for the most recent year for which figures are available.

[holding answer 19 January 1989: In 1988 a total of 60 questions were tabled to the Minister for the Civil Service, of which 18 received a written reply. These figures do not include oral questions which were subsequently withdrawn, unstarred or transferred to other Departments.

To ask the Minister for the Arts how many oral parliamentary questions he has answered by written reply because the question was not reached at Question Time, for the most recent year for which figures are available.

[holding answer 19 January 1989]: In 1988 a total of 222 questions were tabled to the Minister for the Arts, of which 186 received a written reply. These figures do not include oral questions which were subsequently withdrawn, unstarred or transferred to other Departments.

To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will publish in the Official Report the attendance figures for 1988 reported by the national museums and galleries in England for which he is responsible, broken down into the individual institutions but including their outstations, with figures in each case of the percentage increase or decrease on the attendance figures for 1987.

[holding answer 16 January 19891: The estimated number of visitors during 1988 to the 11 national museums and galleries for which I am responsible are as follows:

	Estimated attendance in 1988	Percentage change from 1987
British Museum	4,172,472	+ 4·1
British Museum(Natural History)	1,671,380	- 16·4
Imperial War Museum	1,086,587	-8·3
National Gallery	3,228,153	-9·5
National Maritime Museum	707,399	+ 60·0
National Museum and Galleries on Merseyside	1,525,672	+14·8
National Portrait Gallery	638,595	+ 8·1
Science Museum	3,861,433	-18·4
Tate Gallery	12,091,267	+ 20·0
Victoria and Albert Museum	1,430,637	+ 2·3
Wallace Collection	157,524	-6·3
TOTAL	20,571,119
1 Figure includes Tate Gallery Liverpool which opened in May 198S.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether there have been any instances of rewarding staff through merit pay for carrying through a successful competitive tendering exercise.

Merit pay is awarded by individual Departments and the information requested is riot available centrally. Personal salary details, as opposed to the pay rate for the job are, however, normally confidential to the individual concerned.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the information relating to official debts by all developing countries outstanding at the end of 1987 in the same format as that given as at the end of 1986 to the hon. Member for Eccles (Miss Lestor) on 18 April 1988, Official Report, columns 328–30.

I regret that this information is not yet available.

Taxes and Royalties attributable to United Kingdom and UKCS oil and gas (and gas levy) at 1978–791prices
£million
Financial Year	1978–79	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88
Royalty	289	537	716	917	1,000	1,117	1,365	1,092	471	490
Supplementary Petroleum Duty	—	—	—	1,331	1,468	—	—	—	—	—
Petroleum Revenue Tax2	183	1,228	1,740	1,570	2,006	3,529	4,039	3,384	609	1,120
Total Corporation tax before ACT set-off	93	214	246	447	319	514	1,365	1,545	1,372	680
ACT set-off	40	67	70	177	124	252	696	573	579	340
Mainstream CT	53	147	176	270	196	262	669	972	792	340
Total3 Revenues	565	1,979	2,703	4,265	4,793	5,160	6,769	6,021	2,451	2,290
Gas Levy	—	—	—	252	289	306	281	279	264	245
1 By reference to movements in the GDP deflator.
2Includes Advance Petroleum Revenue Tax (APRT).
3Constituent figures do not add up due to rounding.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make a statement on the up-to-date situation regarding the application for a Loch Awe Protection Order under the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976.

On 26 September 1988 the consultative committee on freshwater fisheries decided that it could not recommend that the Secretary of State should grant proposals for statutory protection of freshwater fishing rights in Loch Awe, Loch Avich and the River Avich.My right hon. and learned Friend is currently considering whether to accept or to reject the proposals or to hold a local inquiry in the light of the consultative committee's advice, the views of objectors and the comments of the proposers. A decision will be announced as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he proposes to take to limit the amount of compensation paid to farmers and landowners to prevent them damaging areas of special conservation interest.

While my right hon. and learned Friend makes payments to facilitate the conservation of certain areas, compensation payments in relation to sites of special scientific interest are made by the Nature Conservancy Council from funds provided by the Department of the Environment.

To ask the chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table, similar to table 18 on page 72 of the current edition of "Development of Oil and Gas Resource of the United Kingdom", showing taxes and royalties attributable to United Kingdom and United Kingdom continental shelf oil and gas, at constant Prices.

[holding answer 23 January 1989]: The figures are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the Lord Advocate proposes any changes to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service cash and running cost limits for 1988–89.

The cash limit on class XI, vote 14 will be reduced by £100,000 from £21,267,000 to £21,167,000 and the running costs limit by £100,000 from £18,820,000 to £18,720,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many jobs in each classification have been created to date by the East End Executive, Glasgow.

[holding answer 16 January 1989]: Such statistics are not held centrally. I understand that the East End Executive's records show that, from its inception in August 1987 until 31 December 1988, businesses in receipt of advice and counselling from the executive have provided a total of 1,627 jobs in the area; of these, 558 were in manufacturing industry and 1,069 in the service sector.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total number of authorised places in employment training in 1988–89 and 1989–90.

[holding answer 19 January 1989]: There is provision for 41,473 employment training places in Scotland in 1988–89 once the programme is fully operational. Provision for 1989–90 has not yet been finalised.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total amount of planned expenditure on employment training in 1988–89 and 1989–90.

[holding answer 19 January 1989: Up to £180 million is available for employment training in Scotland in 1988–89. Expenditure plans for 1989–90 have not yet been finalised.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to reduce the number of authorised employment training places.

[holding answer 19 January 19891: Provision for employment training in Scotland is kept under review in the light of changing circumstances including the level of long-term unemployment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give in percentage form the local government rate support grant settlement for each of the years 1977–78 to 1987–88.

[holding answer 23 January 1989J: The information requested is as follows:

Scotland
	Percentage
1977–78	68·5
1978–79	68·5
1979–80	68·5
1980–81	68·5
1981–82	66·7
1982–83	64·2
1983–84	61·7
1984–85	60·2
1985–86	57·7
1986–87	56·1
1987–88	55·5

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many gipsies have been encamped at the junctions of the Middletown-Rookford roads, Armagh, during December 1988; how many caravans were there; how many caravans were burnt; what assistance he has given towards the replacement of damaged caravans; on how many occasions the Royal Ulster Constabulary and fire authority were called to this camp in December; whether the gipsy children attended school; what financial and social assistance was given to these gipsies; how many of them came from the Republic of Ireland; what action he took to remove them; and whether any public nuisance was caused by them.

During December 1988 some 40–50 travelling people were encamped at the junctions of the Middletown/Rookford roads, Armagh. Two of the 19 caravans on the site were burnt. No claim under the Criminal Damage (Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 has been received for damage caused during December 1988 to property at that location.I understand that the Royal Ulster Constabulary was called to the site on 16 occasions during December 1988. The Northern Ireland Fire Authority was called to the site on two occasions in December.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will provide details of the budgetary provision for 1987–88 and 1988–89 for the community unit of management in north and west Belfast; and if he will make a statement.

The final budget allocation to the north and west Belfast community unit of management in 1987–88 was £18,250,758, including capital. The unit's initial budget allocation for 1988–89 was £18,410,452. In addition, in 1988–89 the unit received an additional allocation of £611,250 through the "Making Belfast Work" initiative. The final budget allocations for 1988–89 have not yet been determined.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the standards of health of the population of north and west Belfast.

A recent report by the Eastern health and social services board indicates that in general morbidity and mortality rates are higher among the population in north and west Belfast than in other parts of the city. Action is being taken on a number of fronts to tackle this problem. These include the allocation of special funds for health related projects in north and west Belfast as part of the "Making Belfast Work" initiative, which also aims to relieve social deprivation; the setting up of an action team to improve low immunisation uptake rates; and the participation of Belfast in the World Health Organisation's healthy cities project.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action is to be taken on the Eastern health board's complementarity study on the Royal Victoria hospital, Belfast City hospital and Mater hospital; and if he will make a statement.

The recommendations of the complementarity study have recently been considered by the Eastern board and have now been included in the board's draft operational plan for 1989–90 as a basis for consultation. When this process has been completed I will wish to discuss with the chairman the board's conclusions.