To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to increase the number of students from west Africa who are offered places in further education or higher education in the United Kingdom; what is the present total of such students; and if he has any target figures for future years.

In 1986–87, the latest year for which there are complete figures, there were almost 4,000 students from west African countries studying at universities and public sector institutions of higher and further education in the United Kingdom. Her Majesty's Government gave, under various schemes, financial support to a large proportion of these students. The number of students receiving such support will he nearly 1,700 in the current financial year. We expect this figure to increase in future years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in full all post mortem reports on the body of Rudolf Hess.

No. Publication is a matter for Hess's family.

To ask the Prime Minister how many times she has met Mr. Rupert Murdoch at 10 Downing street in the last 12 months.

As I have told the House before, my normal practice is neither to confirm nor deny whether meetings with private individuals have taken place, even in those cases where no such meeting has occurred.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will put his proposals for a student top-up loan scheme out for competitive tendering by banks and building societies.

I am exploring with a variety of private sector financial institutions and other potential agents the most cost-effective approach to the administration of top-up loans. The scheme offers the financial institutions access to over 2 million graduate accounts: I expect there to be competition for this opportunity.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has on the number of children of pre-school age in inner London cared for in a creche within an ILEA adult education institute; and what plans have been made to ensure that resources are made available to individual boroughs to maintain and expand this service.

The information requested is not available centrally. The provision of creches for adult education students and staff will be a matter for the inner London boroughs to consider, in the light of the overall resources available to them.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the standing arrangements for the distribution of documents relating to the national curriculum to (a) schools, (b) parents and (c) others; and whether he has any plans to change those arrangements.

Arrangements for the distribution of particular documents are made in the light of their nature and status. Circulars, statutory orders and regulations which concern the curriculum responsibilities of head teachers and school governing bodies are sent direct to all schools. Under regulations to be made under section 22 of the Education Reform Act, parents will have access at the school to all such documents. Copies are sent to LEAs and representative bodies, which are also consulted on draft documents; such drafts are available to others on request.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in the Official Report the titles of documents relating to the national curriculum which have been made available to schools; and in respect of each document (a) how many have been sent to each school and over what period following publication, (b) whether any charge has been made, and (c) whether any delays in dispatch have occurred.

My Department has sent out two final circulars relevant to chapter 1 of the ERA—circular 1/89 on local arrangements for the consideration of complaints, and circular 3/89 on religious education and collective worship. Both were sent free of charge to all maintained schools—two copies to every head teacher and one for each governing body. The full circulation took just over two weeks in each case, because of heavy pressure on the dispatch services. The National Curriculum Council is responsible for the distribution of proposals for statutory attainment targets and programmes of study. It has sent copies of such proposals covering mathematics, science and primary English to all maintained schools.A number of draft documents and consultation papers relevant to chapter 1 of the ERA have been sent to LEAs and representative organisations, but made available free of charge to schools and others on request. There have been no delays in dispatching these documents, but postal delays may have affected delivery of some.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the non-financial assistance being given to the Grant-Maintained Schools Trust.

My Department provides information on the Government's grant-maintained schools policies to anyone who seeks it: the Grant-Maintained Schools Trust has from time to time sought and received such information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has made any representations to the Charity Commission about the application by the Grant-Maintained Schools Trust for charity status.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has given any financial support to the Grant-Maintained Schools Trust.

No. My right hon. Friend is, however, currently considering an application by the Grant-Maintained Schools Trust for financial support in connection with the provision or proposed provision of educational services in grant-maintained schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list all local education authorities in England in rank order of expenditure per secondary pupil per year, starting with the highest spending authority, together with their position in the table of examination results for school leavers achieving five or more O-levels at grade A to C or CSE grade 1, in the latest year for which figures are available and in which these examinations were sat.

The information is as follows

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will list the number of children sitting (a) CSE exams, (b) O-level exams, and (c) A-level exams in each local education authority in England as a percentage of the total number in the relevant year groups in each authority for the latest available year in which their examinations were sat;(2) if he will list by each local education authority in England the total number of children achieving

The information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will list the average waiting times for the following operations at each of the district general hospitals in Wales (a) hip and knee replacements, (b) hernias, (c) cataracts, (d) ear, nose and throat and (e) varicose veins.

Information is not available for patients currently on waiting lists. The average waiting times given in the table relate to patients admitted on waiting list and booked or planned cases, and discharged during 1987. Information is given for each of the main general acute hospitals and each of the teaching hospitals in Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report details of the localities and the numbers of each qualifying group which obtained free butter and beef under the European Community free food scheme in each year during which the scheme was operated.

The EC surplus food scheme has operated for one year and a list of the organisations designated to operate the scheme was placed in the Library of the House on 21 April 1988 by the then Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, my right hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer). The information on numbers of each qualifying group is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the allocation to Wales of free butter and beef under the European Community free food scheme in each of the years during which the scheme operated.

In Wales 176 tonnes of butter and 332 tonnes of beef were allocated to and distributed by designated organisations under the EC surplus food scheme in 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list in the Official Report the names and locations of charitable organisations who applied for free butter and beef under the European Community free food scheme in each year during which the scheme was operated and those who were designated to operate the scheme.

Charitable and non-profit-making organisations were invited to apply to operate the EC surplus free food scheme in 1988 and 1989. The list of designated organisations has been placed in the House. As organisations and individuals submitted applications on a confidential basis it is not possible to release details of those who were unsuccessful.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list all local education authorities in Wales in rank order of expenditure per secondary pupil per year, starting with the highest spending authority, together with their position in the table of examination results for school leavers achieving five or more O-levels at grades A to C or CSE grade 1 in the latest available year for which figures are available and in which these examinations were sat.

The information requested is available for the 1986–87 financial and academic years and is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make an announcement about his plans to introduce a new urban investment grant in Wales.

The consultation exercise which we conducted recently prompted a positive response from the public and private sectors alike. With very few exceptions, the proposal to simplify the grant regime aimed at stimulating private sector investment in rundown sites in all deprived urban areas of Wales was welcomed. As a result of the views expressed I have decided that the threshold for the new grant will be set at the lower level of £150,000 when the grant is introduced in April of this year. Detailed guidance notes setting out arrangements for the new scheme are now available. Copies of the notes have today been sent to all those who responded to the consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's contribution to the combating of desertification in north Africa.

We contribute to the fight against desertification through our participation in the work of a number of multilateral institutions. We also support measures to combat desertification in countries bordering the Sahara through our contribution to the European development fund; our share of projects that have been approved so far under the sixth EDF amounts to some £24 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, during the recent ministerial visit to Zambia, he held discussions regarding British aid.

During her recent visit my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs held discussions which included reference to present and future British aid.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure co-operation between the Overseas Development Natural Resources Institute and national institutions concerned with pest control.

The ODNRI has a long history of collaboration with centres of pest expertise in Britain and abroad. The role of such links is carefully considered when customer divisions in the ODA commission work from the institute. The £7 million special programme to support pest control in Africa, on which I instructed the institute to embark in 1987, is an excellent example. Under it the ODNRI is collaborating with eight institutions in Britain and 12 in developing countries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what practical steps are being taken by the Department to offer an aid package to help resettlement of refugees and economic recovery in northern Somalia in the light of Government moves to encourage an end to internal hostilities in Somalia.

We have given some £275,000 in support of the relief activities of British voluntary agencies in the wake of the civil conflict in northern Somalia. We stand ready to give prompt and sympathetic consideration to further requests from such organisations for humanitarian assistance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 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.

Relations with the International Monetary Fund are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. As regards a meeting with the president of the World Bank, I can add nothing to the reply which I gave to the hon. Lady on 23 January, at column 370.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on British aid to the Caribbean countries.

In the most recent year for which figures are available (1987), British bilateral aid to the Caribbean amounted to £29·06 million. I recently visited several countries in the Caribbean and heard for myself the appreciation with which our aid programme is received.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current level of official development assistance to Bangladesh.

Net official development assistance from the United Kindom to Bangladesh in 1987—the latest year for which figures are available—was £34·8 million. I anticipate that in the current financial year total expenditure will be about £50 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current United Kingdom contribution to the international fund for agriculture development, and on current negotiations on future funding.

Since its establishment in 1977, the United Kingdom has committed some £47 million to IFAD, including £7 million to its special programme for sub-Saharan African countries affected by drought and desertification. Disbursements against these pledges total roughly £28 million to date. Negotiations for the third replenishment of IFAD's resources are in progress. A statement is awaited from OPEC donors on their intended level of support.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will indicate the assistance offered to Malawi during the last three years and how it was used.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on British aid to Malawi.

British bilateral aid to Malawi in the latest three years for which figures are available was as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the annual meeting of the Southern Africa Development Co-ordination Conference.

I attended the annual consultative conference of the Southern Africa Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) in Luanda on 2 and 3 February. As my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, informed the House on 2 February, at column 333, I was able to announce continued British support for SADCC. Both SADCC member states and donor representatives considered the conference a success.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he is considering the relocation of further London-based posts with the Overseas Development Administration to the administration's offices in East Kilbride.

I have recently decided that 15½ posts concerned with personnel issues and the engagement of consultants should be relocated from London to East Kilbride. I have at present no plans for the relocation of further London based posts, although the position will be kept under review.The Overseas Development Administration already has over 40 per cent. of its headquarters staff in East Kilbride and by the end of 1990 will have nearly 60 per cent. of its total staff outside London.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on current progress on the Lome IV negotiations.

Negotiations on a successor to the third Lome convention, which expires in February 1990, were opened formally in October last year. The first EC-ACP ministerial negotiating meeting, which I shall be attending, is in Brazzaville later this week.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further assistance he is giving to efforts to preserve the tropical rain forest in Brazil.

We are supporting research in forest regeneration through the Maraca rain forest project. As I told the hon. Member for Glasgow, Provan (Mr. Wray) on 19 January, we also support the efforts of the World Bank and other international organisations to strengthen the application of environmental considerations in Brazil.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans to meet representatives of the Colombian Government to discuss rural development programmes involving alternative crops for areas where narcotics are grown.

I have no plans to do so. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs discussed the problem of drug control with Colombian Ministers and officials during his visit to Colombia last August. Her Majesty's Government are already assisting Colombia in the control of drugs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the field tests of the new manual to help project managers decide how much environmental assessment is required in the case of each aid project.

The draft manual was field tested by Overseas Development Administration staff on visits to a number of countries and was found to be a useful tool for helping to assess environmental concerns. Comments and suggestions for improvements in substance and format, from staff and from over 50 international bodies and non-governmental organisations, are being incorporated in the final version.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met Ministers of the Tanzanian Government to discuss future aid projects in that country; and what projects were discussed.

My right hon. and learned Friend visited Tanzania last September. He discussed a number of potential aid projects in the transport and natural resources sectors. He also signed an agreement for a further £6 million of project aid. He stressed the importance of Tanzania's economic reform programme in support of which Britain has pledged over £80 million in the last two years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to announce the 1988 level of United Kingdom official development assistance as a proportion of gross national product.

I hope to be able to provide this information before the end of June.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the Crown Agents holding and realisation board last met, and what was discussed.

The Crown Agents holding and realisation board last met on 27 April 1988. At that meeting, members noted a report on the status of CAHRB loans and investments and approved the annual accounts for 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration he gives, when allocating aid, to projects which safeguard and provide for the development of natural resources.

Helping to develop natural resources has long been an important part of our aid programme, the prime aims of which are poverty alleviation and sustainable development. We are currently pursuing an initiative to commit more of our resources to forestry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to increase the financial support available to voluntary agencies for their long-term development work.

Subject to parliamentary approval, I propose to make a total of £16 million available to British voluntary agencies in 1989–90 under our joint funding scheme. This represents an increase of 43 per cent. on this year's allocation of £11·2 million. Our total support for the voluntary agencies last year came to more than £42 million, approximately half of which was spent on long-term development work. The increases I am announcing today are in recognition of the important role that many voluntary agencies play in promoting economic and social development at a grassroots level amongst some of the poorest communities in developing countries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what research his Department has commissioned into the socio-economic impact of AIDS on developing countries.

My Department has commissioned three research projects into the socio-economic impact of AIDS in developing countries: "A review of sources on sexual behaviour"; "Traditional Health practitioners and the spread of the HIV virus"; and "Community coping mechanisms in circumstances of exceptional demographic change". In addition, we are funding a major research project on the demographic and economic impact of AIDS in developing countries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment why the restart interview form in section 7 dealing with qualifications ignores Scottish educational qualifications.

Question 7 of the restart interview form contains a space in which details can be inserted of qualifications held which are not included on the form.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what number of adjudication officers were in post at the end of each reporting year since 1983; and what proportion of such officers had over 12 months' experience of adjudication work.

Three annual reports of the chief adjudication officer have been published, covering the years 1984–85, 1985–86 and 1986–87. The information given in these reports is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he proposes to ratify International Labour Organisation convention No. 138 on the minimum age for the employment of children.

No. The Government have no intention of introducing legislation to effect the changes that ratification of this convention would require.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people use the unemployment benefit office in Langley park, Durham, and with what frequency.

There are 245 people registered a s unemployed at Langley park part-time unemployment benefit office, of whom 185 attend fortnightly and 60 attend quarterly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill of 3 February, what considerations of policy led to the conclusion that the amendments to legislation required to give further effect to the provisions of the International Labour Organisation convention No. 111 are unnecessary and undesirable.

The main consideration is the difference between United Kingdom law and the terms of the convention concerning the Civil Service and armed forces. Nationality rules for these two groups are specifically excluded from the scope of the Race Relations Act 1976.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present establishment figure for prisoners at Lindholme prison; what are the actual figures for prisoners held at the latest available date; and if he will make a statement.

The certified normal accommodation at Her Majesty's prison Lindholme is 1,001. Two

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list in the Official Report the number of police employed to cover the Richmond division of the North Yorkshire police area annually from 1979 to the latest available date.

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice or training his hundred and fifty of these places have been taken out of use for refurbishment and upgrading of physical security standards. The establishment's population on Tuesday 7 February was 723.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list in the Official Report the village and main police stations in the Richmond division of the North Yorkshire police area in the latest year for which figures are available; and which have opened and closed since 1979.

The current list of main and village police stations is as follows:Department offers to airlines on United Kingdom immigration legislation and rules; and if he will encourage airlines to ensure that their staff at ports outwith the United Kingdom are made aware of current legislation and rules.

Advice and training is provided to airlines, on request, in the context of the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 1987. Our policy is to encourage carriers to take advantage of such advice and training which, subject to the payment of travelling and subsistence costs by the airline, extends to their staff outside the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list for every week of 1988 the number of (a) notices served, (b) representations made, (c) cases where discretion was exercised, (d) demands made, (e) payments made and (f) payments waived under the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 1987;(2) if he will list for each week in 1988 the number of persons and their nationality refused entry on arrival at

I will write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for every week in 1988 the average occupancy and the number of nights that accommodation was full at (a) Harmondsworth, (b) Annexe (building JA), (c) Queen's building, (d) Beehive and (e) Latchmere.

The available information is as follows: