To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will make it his policy to offer to (a) the United States of America and (b) the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom expertise in the destruction or disablement of their chemical biological or toxic warfare agent stockpiles;(2) if he has any plans to offer to

Information on the destruction of chemical weapon stockpiles is widely available. A number of countries have tabled papers on the subject at the negotiations in Geneva aimed at achieving a global ban on chemical weapons. In particular, Britain has tabled two papers in 1979 and 1988 on the destruction of the pilot nerve agent production plant at Nancekuke, Cornwall.We would, of course, consider approaches from any country for technical advice on the disposal of such weapons. We have no particular expertise in the destruction of biological weapons.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to request the incoming United States Secretaries of Defence and State that the United States of America implement a moratorium on its new binary chemical weapons development programme.

No. The unilateral United States moratorium on chemical weapons production from 1969 to 1987 was not matched by the Soviet Union, which has the world's largest and most sophisticated chemical weapons capability. In the face of this, the continuing disparity between our assessment of, and Soviet claims about, the size of their stockpile, and in the absence of a comprehensive convention banning these weapons, we support the United States modernisation programme as a means to maintain a limited but credible deterrent capability.The eventual United States binary stockpile will, in fact, be smaller than their limited and aging unitary stockpile, which is already being destroyed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, during his recent visit to the Gulf states he raised with any of the heads of state or Government ministers whom he met the possibility of sales of United Kingdom nuclear reactor and fuel service technology to their country.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, during his recent meeting with Saudi Government ministers during his Gull state tour he took the opportunity to welcome the recent accession of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty by Saudi Arabia.

Yes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will arrange for copies of videos and transcripts of the Central television 12-part series on the nuclear age to be put in his Departmental library.

No. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office library does not normally stock audiovisual material or transcripts of television programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he made any application under the Public Records Act of 1958 in accordance with paragraphs 26 and 27 of the White Paper on Modern Public Records, Cmnd. 8531, to withhold beyond 30 years papers concerning the background to the signing with the United States Government of the Anglo-American mutual defence agreement on atomic energy matters in July 1958.

Records may be retained or closed for longer periods than 30 years under appropriate sections of the Public Records Act 1958 and in accordance with established criteria. It has been the practice of successive administrations not to disclose the content of records which are so withheld from public release.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his arms control and disarmament research unit has examined the potential benefits to future Soviet tank division readiness and efficiency from the redeployment of Soviet tank technicians from obsolete tanks to be withdrawn under the commitment made by president Gorbachev in his speech to the United Nations in December; and if he will make a statement.

We are examining the effect which the cuts in Soviet forces announced by Mr. Gorbachev on 7 December, on which he and Mr. Shevardnadze elaborated on 18 and 19 January, might have on Soviet military capabilities. We welcome the statement that 5,300 of the 10,000 Soviet tanks to be withdrawn will be modern, although it is disappointing that only 5,000 of the 10,000 will be destroyed. A number of detailed questions remain to be answerd about how the cuts will be implemented, including the question of how residual forces might be redeployed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has received any representations on the level of compensation paid to former Japanese prisoners of war; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. The question of compensation was dealt with in the 1951 treaty of peace with Japan. The total sum made available to the United Kingdom for compensation was £4,816,473, including £174,871 contributed by the Thai Government for work done on the Burma-Siam railway.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representations he has received regarding his decision to attend Emperor Hirohito's funeral.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State has received 57 letters regarding his decision to attend the late Emperor of Japan's funeral, including 25 letters from hon. Members.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government have yet determined the conditions under which they would be prepared to write off their development loans to Zambia.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave the hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith) on 14 November 1988 at column 366.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much of the debt owed by each of the 17 most indebted countries is owed to (a) Her Majesty's Government and (b) British banks.

As at 31 March 1988 amounts outstanding to the Overseas Development Administration from the 17 countries classified by the World Bank as highly indebted were as follows:

£
Argentina	—
Bolivia	270,856·48
Brazil	3,416,096·55
Chile	—
Colombia	2,847,924·56
Costa Rica	3,214,041·25
Cote D'Ivoire	1,814,770·77
Ecuador	7,557,273·24
Jamaica	49,180,720·59
Mexico	—
Morocco	—
Nigeria	5,175,084·04
Peru	4,194,608·65
Philippines	5,481,634·67
Uruguay	—
Venezuela	—
Yugoslavia	—

The latest available figures on amounts at risk to ECGD were published in its "Summary of audited trading results 1986/87". Claims by United Kingdom commercial banks on developing countries are listed in table 15 of the Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the net financial transfer of resources to the 17 most indebted countries during 1988; and if he will make a statement.

Figures for net resource transfers in 1988 are not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what contribution he is making towards the implementation of the decisions taken at the Commonwealth Ministers' meeting at Vancouver to establish a Commonwealth distance learning project; and whether he will make a statement;(2) what action he has taken to implement the decisions taken by Commonwealth Ministers at Vancouver about a Commonwealth distance learning project; and whether he is yet in a position to make a statement.

The United Kingdom is playing a major part in the new Commonwealth of learning, a distance learning network to help students in one country take advantage of educational facilities in another. An important requirement for the network will be a comprehensive information unit and credit transfer register. Her Majesty's Government have agreed to finance these developments by building on existing facilities at the British Open university.Discussions have already taken place and a meeting of representatives of user institutions is being held at the Open university in February. A proposal will then be placed before the board of governors of the Commonwealth of learning, on which the United Kingdom is represented, at its second meeting in March.The cost of these developments will be between £1 million and £2 million over five years and is additional to the support which Her Majesty's Government will continue to give to distance education under its bilateral aid programme.

To ask the Attorney-General what is the number of staff in the Crown Prosecution Service, 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.

Local pay additions are not paid to members of the Crown Prosecution Service employed outside London and the south-east economic planning region.

To ask the Attorney-General what is the number of staff in the Lord Chancellor's 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.

The number of staff in the Lord Chancellor's Department by grade in receipt of local pay additions outside London and the south east economic planning region is as follows:

	Number
EO	6
AO	13
Typist	5

All are paid at the same rate of £300 per annum on completion of six months service.

To ask the Attorney-General what is the number of staff in Her Majesty's Land Registry, 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.

There are no Land Registry staff, outside London and the south east economic planning region, in receipt of local pay additions.

To ask the Attorney-General what criteria were used by the Lord Chancellor in determining the reasons for the witholding of papers from release at the Public Record Office for 1958 concerning the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

The Public Records Act 1958 makes provision for records to be retained or closed from access for periods longer than 30 years. Records are retained or closed from access in accordance with established criteria, which were set out in paragraphs 24–31 of the White Paper "Modern Public Records", Cmnd. 8531, March 1982.

To ask the Attorney-General on how many occasions his Department has been informed by the prosecuting authorities of the Republic of Ireland that witnesses have refused to travel to the Republic to give evidence in cases involving the Criminal Law Jurisdiction Act 1976.

I am not aware of any occasion when information of such refusal has been communicated by the prosecuting authorities of the Republic of Ireland to my Department.

To ask the Attorney-General whether any changes will be made to the Lord Chancellor's Department's cash limit and running costs limit for 1988–89.

Yes. Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the cash limit for the Lord Chancellor's Department, class XI vote 5 will be increased by £9,999,000 from £207,384,000 to £217,383,000. This increase reflects an increase of £8,000,000 to take account of a projected shortfall in receipts from civil court business fees; an increase of £2,000,000 to maintain progress on the court building programme; and a reduction of £1,000 to £213,803,000 in the running cost limit. The running costs limit decrease will be offset by a corresponding increase in the running costs limit for the Office of the Minister for the Civil Service (class XX, vote I) and reflects the transfer of costs for recruitment under the direct entry grade 7 competition 1988.The cash limit increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he intends to issue a Welsh Office version of the Department of Eduction and Science handbook "Our Changing Schools."

We have no plans at present to do so. The Welsh Consumer Council published in 1988 a guide for parents with children starting school.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 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.

A total of 240 oral questions were tabled to the Secretary of State for Wales between 1 January and 31 December 1988; of these oral questions 100 were answered by written reply because they were riot reached.The figure does not include oral questions which were subsequently withdrawn, unstarred or transferred to other Departments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to build the Cardigan bypass within the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. Details of the timing will be given in the forthcoming edition of "Roads in Wales"

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to give financial aid or a loan to the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society during the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society has recently made an application to my Department which is under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will state for each of the districts within mid-Glamorgan the number of jobs (a) lost and (b) created for the 12 months ended (i) December 1987 and (ii) December 1988.

Comprehensive information on jobs lost and created is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the saving achieved in building the Gresford to Pulford bypass as a result of the prior singling of the Wrexham to Chester railway line.

About £300,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he is able to announce his decisions on local authority higher education provision in 1989–90; and if he will make a statement.

Having consulted the Welsh joint education committee and the Welsh counties committee I have decide that the higher education quantum for 1989–90, formerly known as the advanced further education quantum, ahould be set at £39.4 million. This represents a 7.7 per cent. increase between 1988–89 and 1989–90.I have received advice from the Wales advisory body for local authority higher education on the planned disposition of academic provision, the number of student places on higher education courses in local authority colleges in Wales and the distribution of the higher education quantum. The WAB proposals provide a growth of 2.9 per cent. between the target of 13,589 full-time equivalent students in 1988–89 and the target student numbers of 13,986 for 1989–90. They provide for continued emphasis to be given to courses in science, engineering and other vocational disciplines and for sub-degree and part-time provision to be protected. The proposals for distributing the quantum relate to the proposals for target student numbers by institution, mode of attendance and subject, and allow additional funding for degree and postgraduate courses. WAB has considered bids from institutions against the £400,000 set aside for selective initiatives and has proposed that this money be used to fund the following initiatives:

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if there are any proposals to change the 1988–89 cash limit for the office of the Minister for the Civil Service.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the cash limit for the Office of the Minister for the Civil Service (class XX, vote 1) will be increased by £2,889,000 from £30,994,000 to £33,883,000. The increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure. The increase is required to cover the cost of physical security improvements to the Downing street complex and other buildings; refurbishment and maintenance in 10 Downing street and uprating of the telecommunications system (this charge is partially offset by appropriations in aid); charges by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the provision of conference officers for visits overseas by the Prime Minister (previously provided as an allied service); additional costs associated with the running of a competition for recruitment of direct entry grade 7 staff (this charge is offset by a corresponding decrease of £92,000 in the votes for the various Departments who are participating in the scheme). The increase also reflects the decision to disburse to charities and benevolent associations the savings to the Exchequer arising from the underpayment of public service pensioners as a result of the miscalculation of RPI increases.The above increases have a consequent effect on the Department's running costs limit which will increase by £831,000 from £28,773,000 to £29,604,000.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will make a statement on the progress of the construction of the British Library.

Satisfactory progress on stage 1A of the new British Library, currently under construction at St. Pancras, is being maintained. Stage 1A is on target to be completed in 1993 within the cash target of £300 million which I announced last November. The current position is that, measured in expenditure terms, stage 1A is 24 per cent. complete.The completion phase is now at the outline sketch design stage and progressing satisfactorily. This final phase of the building is being planned so that the whole new British Library will be complete and fully operational in 1996.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what child care provision the Office of Arts and Libraries provides for pre-school age children of employees; what child care provision, for school holiday or after-school care, is provided for employees' children aged five and over; what plans there are for increasing provision in the next five years; and how these are to be funded.

The Office of Arts and Libraries does not at present provide child care facilities for its employees. The Cabinet Office, with which the Office would be associated in this matter, is considering the need to do so.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if there have been any items accepted in lieu of tax or allocated since he last made an announcement on the subject to the House.

Since my announcement on 19 December at column 2, I am pleased to announce that three items have been accepted in lieu of tax; a drawing by Rubens, a sculpture by Naum Gabo, and "The Artist's Studio" by Peter Tillemans. The tax liability satisfied was £50,000, £286,610 and £52,270 respectively. The Tillemans painting will go to the Castle museum, Norwich but a decision over the allocation of the other two items has not yet been taken.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will give details of any proposed changes to the cash limits of his Department's votes in 1988–89.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the cash limits of the following votes will be increased as indicated:

Class and Vote	Current Cash Limit £	Change £	Revised Cash Limit £
XIII, 1	153,576,000	+500,000	154,076,000
XIII, 2	174,362,000	+5,200,000	179,562,000

Additional provision of £500,000 is being sought in a spring Supplementary Estimate on class XIII, vote 1. The grant-in-aid to the Tate gallery is to be increased by £800,000 to meet completion costs of building projects which exceed previous estimates. That increase will be partly met from savings of £300,000 elsewhere on the vote.Additional provision of £5·2 million is being sought on class XIII, vote 2. The main Estimate provision for assets accepted in lieu of tax is to be augmented by £5·7 million but this additional provision is partially offset by savings of £500,000 elsewhere on the vote.The increase of £5,700,000 on these two votes has been charged to the reserve and will not, therefore, add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many Rolls-Royce engines have been sold to (a) Malaysia and (b) Singapore air carriers in each of the last 10 years.

Rolls-Royce plc has provided my Department with the following details of engines supplied for civil purposes to Malaysia and Singapore:

	Number
Malaysia
1980	1 Dart
1982	10 RB211-524
1986	1 RB211-524
1987	I RB211-524
Singapore
1979	2 Dart
1980	1 Dart
1987	2 Spey

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will provide funds for those non-Confederation of British Industry member firms unable to afford the £1,725 fee for attendance at the Confederation of British Industry's Initiative 1992 seminars.

The DTI does not subsidise attendance at private sector conferences on the single European market. Our "Europe Open for Business" campaign provides a comprehensive service free of charge to help firms prepare for the single market challenge. This includes access to a database listing hundreds of conferences and seminars throughout the country.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster excluding media advertising (a) how much has been spent on preparing British industry for the creation of the European single market in 1992 and (b) how this money has been spent.

Excluding advertising, some £3.65 million has been spent on DTI's campaign to encourage firms to prepare for the single European market. The expenditure includes detailed and comprehensive literature on the single market programme; a major series of business conferences; a national telephone inquiry service (01–200 1992) and mailing operation; the 1992 'Spearhead' computer database; video materials; and research into business preparations.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give details of Ministers' visits to the Peckham area in connection with the north Peckham task force, including the name of the Minister, the date of the visit, and the purpose of the visit.

The information is as follows and relates to visits since the launch of the task force in May 1986:

Date
1 July 1986	Kenneth Clarke, Paymaster General and Sir George Young, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at DoE, to look at projects in development.
4 March 1987	Kenneth Clarke, Paymaster General opened the south east adult training project and looked at other task force funded projects.
22 September 1987	Kenneth Clarke, inaugurated the task force and Lloyds business development fund.
20 January 1988	Robert Atkins, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at DTI—familiarisation visit.
1 February 1988	John Patten, Minister of State at the Home Office inaugurated the task force/Brook Street project.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to encourage manufacturers to produce dioxin-free disposable nappies and disposable paper products; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on 28 November, at column 96. I understand that the quantities of dioxin which may occur in these products are very small. I will consider the matter further when the expert advice from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the committee on toxicity at the Department of Health is available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many overseas companies have set up operations in Britain over the past year.

[pursuant to his answer 18 January 1989, c. 231.]: Toyota has for some time been considering setting up a car manufacturing plant in the European Community and has engaged consultants to help them assess the options. The Government believe that at this stage the United Kingdom is the lead candidate as a location for the project. Feasibility studies are in hand based on a plant producing up to 200,000 cars a year, with a local (EC) content level rising after a transitional period to 80 per cent. The project would create up to 3,000 direct jobs.My right hon. and learned Friend has made it clear to Toyota that it would receive a warm welcome from the Government if it were to decide to locate the project in the United Kingdom, and he has invited the company to work closely with the Department of Trade and Industry in pursuing its feasibility studies.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to make it a criminal offence for a prostitute knowingly to infect a person with HIV or hepatitis B.

We have considered most carefully whether it should be an offence for one person knowingly to pass HIV on to another, but have concluded, for the present, that this would not be justified, principally because:

(a) there is little evidence that reckless infection is a problem or that people who are HIV antibody-positive are deliberately infecting others;

(b) any such offence would be difficult to prove and probably unworkable in practice;

(c) it is doubtful whether an offence would deter; and

(d) the introduction of an offence might well be counter-productive, discouraging those at risk from being tested and, arguably, thereby contributing to the spread of the disease.

Similar considerations apply in relation to hepatitis.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what, in respect of the payment of local pay additions in the Metropolitan police, are the different amounts paid to staff, by grade; whether this sum varies due to location; what qualifying period of scale-related criteria is used; and whether this varies by location.

I understand from the Commissioner that the information is as follows:

Grade	Location	£ per annum
Executive Officer(excluding those in ADP field)	Jubilee House	600
Administrative Officer(excluding those in receipt of specialist allowances)	All	600
Administrative Assistants(excluding those in receipt of specialist allowances)	All	300
Senior Personal Secretary	Inner London	700
Personal Secretary	Elsewhere	600
Typing Manager	Inner London	700
Typist	Elsewhere	600
Trainee Typist
Knowledge of London Examiner (Grades I and II)	All	600
Area Traffic Warden Controller	All	450
Senior Traffic Warden Controller	All	450
Traffic Warden Controller	All	450
Traffic Warden Supervisor	All	450
Traffic Warden	All	375

No qualifying periods are required except for traffic wardens who receive local pay additions after one year's service. This does not vary by location.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that the fire tenders known as Green Goddesses and equipment to be used in an emergency are maintained at a high state of readiness for immediate use.

Yes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, further to his answer of 12 January, Official Report, columns 487–8, to the hon. Member for Battersea (Mr. Bowis) about the explosives find in Battersea, he will make a further statement about the subsequent police raid on 21 December on premises in Leyton.

Following the discovery of the cache at Staplehurst court, Battersea and in an effort to trace possible witnesses, police made inquiries at a number of addresses including one in Leyton. They were satisfied that the occupants of the Leyton address were not connected with any terrorist organisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the cost of policing matches involving Football League clubs in each of the last five football seasons;

Club	1983–84 £	1984–85 £	1985–86 £	1986–87 £	1987–88 £
Arsenal	108,076·00	110,024·92	141,636·43	160,581·23	161,875·96
Brentford	23,388·43	39,254·80	33,351·45	31,095·05	34,078·68
Charlton	11,387·11	21,512·63	41,572·66	74,500·35	49,273·65
Chelsea	107,811·24	177,138·67	167,815·67	142,615·45	168,257·86
Crystal Palace	22,144·55	52,710·05	39,918·13	44,755·58	37,173·59
Fulham	40,745·69	34,171·18	42,351·03	34,814·48	26,526·79
Leyton Orient	9,547·73	13,777·59	14,947·57	14,225·96	17,509·17
Millwall	18,300·89	39,280·96	50,093·27	43,658·14	57,693·28
Queen's Park Rangers	49,685·61	65,986·81	96,304·41	95,717·26	129,564·28
Tottenham Hotspur	200,864·02	156,247·01	195,159·92	171,440·49	153,785·36
West Ham United	104,530·17	102,908·85	119,049·89	146,478·51	176,303·08
Wimbledon	19,556·66	24,951·89	22,718·80	57,469·45	81,354·26
Total	716,038·10	837,965·36	964,919·23	1,017,351·95	1,093,395·96

There is no central record of the costs of policing matches or of contributions made by clubs outside London. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he intends to review the possibility of extending the present rules governing refunding of television licences.

We have no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions there have been in each of the last three years for unauthorised fly posting; and if he will make a statement.

Information collected centrally does not distinguish illegal bill posting from other offences against the Town and Country Planning Acts 1968–71.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the research on child sexual abuse undertaken by his Department (a) since 1979, (b)

I understand from the Commissioner that the payments made by football League clubs in London over the past five years are as follows:currently underway, and

The Home Office has conducted no major research studies specifically focusing on child sexual abuse. It has, however, published two short articles in the Home Office research and planning unit's research bulletin —copies of which are in the Library—which deal with various aspects of child abuse. These are:

Child Homicide and Child Physical and Sexual Abuse 1986, Research Bulletin No. 20.

Child Molestation. A Research Note 1987, Research Bulletin No. 23.

The Home Office is funding a research project on the experiences of "Children as Victims of Crime". This study will shed light on experiences of sexual abuse as well as other types of crime. The grant made in respect of this project is £98,000. Moreover, a contract has recently been let to examine the effectiveness of live TV links for child witnesses in the Crown courts, including cases of child sexual abuse. The cost of this research is £45,000.Planning of our programme of research for the financial year 1989–90 is under way. We are considering research needs in respect of child sexual abuse and discussions are being held with the Department of Health on this important topic.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will consider introducing an experimental scheme making the attendance at court mandatory for parents of children under the age of 17 years who are on trial.

Where juveniles are charged with criminal offences, it is normally right for their parents to attend court with them. The law already imposes a duty on the court, where it considers the parents' attendance desirable, to require them to attend unless it would be unreasonable to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been under paragraph 100(2) of the Road Vehicle (Construction and Use) Regulations for failing to secure a loose bulk load, in the most recent period for which figures are available.

The information collected centrally on court proceedings does not separately distinguish contravention of regulation 100(2) of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986. The available information relates to offences of causing danger by reason of the number of passengers carried, by insecure load, by weight or distribution, and is published annually in "Offences relating to motor vehicles England and Wales, Supplementary tables" (table 5 of the issue for 1987, the latest available). Probably of the order of 90 per cent. of these offences will have related to the load carried. This publication also gives, table 20, the available information on the issue of fixed penalty notices, which may be issued as an alternative to prosecution for certain loading offences, including the one in question.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met representatives of the Association of Chief Police Officers; and what matters were discussed.

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) on 15 December at column 708.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will take steps to ensure that the abolition of a defendant's rights of peremptory challenge in jury trials will not in any way weaken the fairness of the jury system.

We believe that abolition of peremptory challenge will increase the fairness of the jury system. We have no present plans for further changes, but we will of course keep the working of the system under review.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to widen choice for radio listeners.

We have endorsed IBA proposals to award 20 contracts for incremental radio stations. The first five will be announced in the spring. We have also agreed that a separate contract should be advertised for a station covering Heathrow and Gatwick airports. In addition we have authorised BBC and independent local radio stations to provide separate programmes if they wish on each of their current frequencies. The White Paper "Broadcasting in the '90s" makes further proposals to allow the expansion of radio in due course, in particular the establishment of independent national radio stations and up to several hundred local and community radio stations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last had a meeting with the Association of Chief Police Officers; and what matters were discussed.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) on 15 December at column 708.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make an up-to-date statement on the case of Viraj Mendis.

Further to the reply given to a question from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Sparkbrook (Mr. Hattersley), on 18 January, Mr. Mendis applied for judicial review of my right hon. Friend's refusal to reverse the decisions to refuse refugee status and to make a deportation order against him. The Divisional court and the Court of Appeal rejected this application on 19 January.No satisfactory assurance was received about Mr. Mendis' admissibility to a third country, and he was removed to Sri Lanka on the 12.15 pm Air Lanka flight from Gatwick airport on 20 January.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the total cost to public funds in respect of Mr. Viraj Mendis including legal costs, transport costs and supplementary benefit payments since the time at which his overstay in the United Kingdom commenced.

It is not practicable to quantify the staffing and other resources spent by the Home Office in connection with Mr. Mendis' case, but these were considerable. Costs incurred by other Departments are a matter for my right hon. and hon. Friends the Ministers concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has reviewed all the statutory provisions bearing upon the disclosure of official information, other than the Official Secrets Act, to ensure that they are consistent with the principles and provisions concerning liability to criminal prosecution for disclosure of official information contained in the Official Secrets Bill; and if he will make a statement.

The purpose of the Official Secrets Bill is to replace section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 in accordance with the principles set out in the White Paper published in June 1988 (Cm 408). The Government are aware of other legislation containing specific offences relating to the disclosure of particular information provided under statutory requirements and it referred to these in its White Paper at paragraph 35. Any consideration of such offences needs to be made in the context of the specific provisions to which they relate.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the date on which the papers relating to the family of KMA (Ref. No. K362905/3) were received by his Department; and when he expects to have processed this case and advised the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of his conclusions.

I regret that when I wrote to the hon. Member on 13 January I was not aware that the referral papers had been received in the Home Office on 5 December but were not linked with the file. The entry clearance officer in Bombay was instructed on 25 January to issue suitable entry clearance.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is anticipated that companies running the proposed football identity card scheme should have access to the police national computer.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the recent level of arrests for narcotics-related offences.

Figures for the number of people arrested for drug-related offences are not collected centrally. Figures available for people dealt with at court or cautioned are published regularly and 1987 figures can be found in chapters 5 and 7 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1987". Also, figures for people whose offences are settled by compounding or who are given informal warnings can be found in the Home Office statistical bulletin "Statistics on the Misuse of Drugs 1987".

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is (a) the total number of females who served all or part of a prison sentence during 1987 accompanied by a dependent child or baby in England and Wales, and (b) the proportion and number of such females who had committed an offence involving robbery or violence; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 24 January 1989]: During 1987, 129 females served all or part of a prison sentence accompanied by their babies. Of these, 20–16 per cent.—had committed an offence involving robbery or violence.

To ask the Secretary of State far Northern Ireland what arrangements he is proposing to make for the future of Belfast city airport in the context of the sale of Short Brothers; and if he will make a statement.

The future of Belfast harbour airport will depend largely on the outcome of the process to privatise Short Brothers plc. An information memorandum on Shorts was recently issued to a selected number of prospective purchasers inviting them to submit preliminary proposals for the company. This memorandum was issued to only those parties interested in purchasing the company as a whole. In the detailed negotiations which will follow the proposals of possible purchasers, the future of the harbour airport will be covered, but meanwhile there will be no change in its operation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, North, Official Report, 20 January, columns 335–36, if he will identify those recommendations contained in paragraphs 15.5 to 15.123 of the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights' "Report on Fair Employment" (Cm. 237) which have been incorporated (a) in full and (b) in part in the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Bill 1988, indicating in which clauses of the Bill they can be found.

An analysis of the kind requested would be inappropriate given the complexity of the issues involved. The Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Bill reflects those recommendations of the SACHR report which relate to the meaning of discrimination and equality of opportunity, the scope of new legislation, the encouragement of equality of opportunity in practice, new institutional arrangements, the conduct of strategic investigations and new duties on employers to monitor the religious composition of their work force. In addition, the Government fully endorses the SACHR's general principles on the provision of equality of opportunity. The Bill's provisions dealing with the registration and certification of employers, the enforcement powers of the fair employment tribunal and the disqualification of employers from public sector grants and contracts reflect concerns expressed by SACHR, but address the issues by means different from those recommended in the report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will publish the proposed code of practice refered to in the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) bill 1988 two clear sitting days before the Second Reading of the Bill.

No. The code will be drawn up by the Fair Employment Commission, and will therefore be available until the commission has been established. However, I intend to make available before Committee stage a preliminary draft of the revised "Guide to Effective Practice", which will serve as the first code once the Bill receives Royal Assent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he intends to publish the drafts of seven sets of regulations referred to in the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Bill 1988.

It is not normal practice to publish drafts of subordinate legislation of this kind. However, I expect to be able to inform the House during Committee stage of the likely content of the main regulations referred to in the Bill.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if, pursuant to his reply of 13 January to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, North, he will list in the Official Report the employers in respect of whom section 42 certificates under the Fair Employment Act were issued.

[holding answer 18 January 1989]: It is not the policy of the Fair Employment Agency to release the names of parties in individual complaint cases. Of the 18 section 43 certificates referred to in my reply of 13 January, five involved either the Northern Ireland Office or Northern Ireland Departments whilst the remaining 13 concerned public bodies in Northern Ireland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is is his estimate of the number of cases of toxocariasis which occur each year in Northern Ireland; what is the distribution of such cases, over the last few years; and whether there is any evidence as to whether the incidence of the condition has been affected by the dog licensing scheme operating in Northern Ireland.

[holding answer 24 January 1989]: Information about cases of toxocariasis is not available. It is not possible, therefore, to say if the incidence of the disease has been affected by the current dog licensing scheme.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the rate of inflation (a) now and (b) last January.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the rate of inflation (a) now and (b) last January.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the rate of inflation (a) now and (b) last January.

6·8 and 3·3 per cent. respectively.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what forecast he has made of the rate of inflation in six months' time.

The Autumn Statement contains the latest published forecast for retail prices index inflation in 1989.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give his latest forecast for the rate of inflation in 1989.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest forecast for the rate of inflation in 1989.

The Autumn Statement contains the latest published forecast for retail prices index inflation in 1989.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the number of countries in the European Community which have a lower rate of inflation than the current rate in the United Kingdom.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Barnsley, Central (Mr. Illsley) on 20 January at column 358.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Government expect to achieve the objective of zero per cent. inflation.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Government expect to achieve the objective of zero per cent. inflation.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Government expect to achieve the objective of zero per cent. inflation.

The Government's resolve against inflation remains firm, as shown by recent policy actions in raising interest rates to keep downward pressure on inflation. The ultimate objective remains stable prices.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if there are any plans to change the system of collation of national income statistics.

The CSO are always looking for ways to improve the accuracy and completeness of the national accounts. The Government established last summer a review to make recommendations for cost-effective improvements. It has now been completed and a comprehensive report will be published in due course.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next expects to meet his counterparts in the other major industrial countries.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next expects to meet his counterparts in the other major industrial countries.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next expects to meet his counterparts in the other major industrial countries.

The G7 Finance Ministers will be meeting in Washington next week.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which regions adult unemployment has fallen over the past year.

Adult unemployment has fallen sharply in every region of the United Kingdom over the last year, but fastest in the west midlands, the north west and Wales.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which regions adult unemployment has fallen over the past year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which regions adult unemployment has fallen over the past year.

Adult unemployment has fallen sharply in every region of the United Kingdom over the last year, but fastest in the west midlands, the north west and Wales.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the fall in the number of long-term unemployed aged 18 to 24 years since October 1986.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the fall in the number of long-term unemployed aged 18 to 24 years since October 1986.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the fall in the number of long-term unemployed aged 18 to 24 years since October 1986.

The latest available figures, for October 1988, show that the number of long-term unemployed aged between 18 and 24 has fallen by one half since October 1986.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the latest exchange rate policy.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on exchange rate policy.

The Government's policy is unchanged. The need to reduce inflation is paramount and a firm exchange rate is essential to achieve this objective.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next expects to meet the managing director of the International Monetary Fund and the President of the World Bank; and what matters they propose to discuss.

I expect to see the managing director of the IMF at the G7 meeting in Washington next week.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from charities concerning the European Court of Justice ruling on value added tax on new buildings.

My right hon. Friend and I have received a large number of representations from charitable bodies about the impact of the recent European court judgement on VAT zero rates, and I and customs officials have also held meetings with representative groups. The points made are being carefully considered and I will make an announcement soon.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much a person on average earnings spends as a proportion of his total income on value added tax now; and what is the comparable figure for 1978–79.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much a person on average earnings spends as a proportion of his total income in value added tax now; and what is the comparable figure for 1978–79.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much a person on average earnings spends as a proportion of his total income on value added tax now; and what is the comparable figure for 1978–79.

Estimates of VAT payments as a proportion of total income (ie including unearned income) are not available. Estimates of VAT payments as a proportion of gross earnings were given as part of an answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Hornchurch (Mr. Squire) on 10 January 1989 at columns 634–56.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received regarding the future policy on taxation of those items at present exempt from value added tax.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has received a number of representations about the future policy on taxation of items at present exempt from value added tax.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received regarding the imposition of value added tax on books, periodicals and newspapers.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has received a number of representations in favour of maintaining VAT zero rating for books, periodicals and newspapers.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest figures for the growth of manufacturing investment.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest figures for the growth of manufacturing investment.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest figures for the growth of manufacturing investment.

In the first three quarters of 1988., manufacturing investment was 11 per cent. higher than in the same period a year earlier.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the growth of total fixed investment in the United Kingdom since 1981.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the growth of total fixed investment in the United Kingdom since 1981.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the growth of total fixed investment in the United Kingdom since 1981.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the growth of total fixed investment in the United Kingdom since 1981.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the growth of total fixed investment in the United Kingdom since 1981.

In the first three quarters of 1988 total fixed investment was 43 per cent. higher in real terms than in 1981.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the ratio between the growth of investment and the growth of consumption over the past five years.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the ratio between the growth of investment and the growth of consumption over the past five years.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the ratio between the growth of investment and the growth of consumption over the past five years.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the ratio between the growth of investment and the growth of consumption over the past five years.

Investment has grown over one and a half times faster than consumption over the past five years up to the third quarter of 1988.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the growth in total investment in 1988.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the growth in total investment in 1988.

Total investment was forecast in the Autumn Statement to increase in real terms by 12 per cent. in 1988.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on current foreign investment and capital flows into the United Kingdom.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on current foreign investment and capital flows into the United Kingdom.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths) on 23 January at column 374.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide the latest available data on net flows of (a) direct investment, (b) portfolio investment and (c) banking flows into the United Kingdom in 1988.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, South (Mr. Griffiths).

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the growth in total investment in 1988.

Total investment was forecast in the Autumn Statement to increase in real terms by 12 per cent. in 1988.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest information on the growth of unit labour costs in manufacturing industry.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest information on the growth of unit labour costs in manufacturing industry.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest information on the growth of unit labour costs in manufacturing industry.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest information on the growth of unit labour costs in manufacturing industry.