To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Minister of State during his recent visit to Baghdad raised with the Iraqi Foreign Minister the reported use of chemical weapons by Iraqi forces and the reported repression of the Kurdish population; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 20 February to the hon. Member for Hamilton (Mr. Robertson). I also discussed the position of the Kurdish population of Iraq and human rights in the country during my visit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the forthcoming CSCE forum on information in London, including the membership of the British delegation.

The Information Forum is part of the Helsinki process and will deal with flows of information between East and West. Lord Rees-Mogg will lead the British delegation. We are currently considering the composition of the remainder of the delegation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list, by meeting, date, and policy issue those occasions where the European Community Council of Ministers has reached a decision binding on all by qualified majority vote; and if he will break down the votes cast for and against by member state on each occasion.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 19 October 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government have ever discussed at an official level with the Federal Republic of Germany, the implications of their declaration on the application of the European Community treaties to Berlin, Cmnd. 455, for German reunification.

Discussions between the Three Allied Powers (the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and France) and the Federal Republic of Germany relating to the application of the European Community Treaties to Berlin take place from time to time in the context of Allied rights and responsibilities relating to Berlin and to Germany as a whole.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions on which the United Kingdom has been responsible as principal originator for the addition of protocols to the treaties upon which the European Community is founded, with reasons given for the action.

There have been none.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government have, at any time in the past 10 years, discussed at an official level with the Federal Republic of Germany alone, or together with other states, the issue of German reunification.

We have made clear, in contacts with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, our view that real and permanent stability in Europe will be difficult to achieve so long as the German nation is divided against its will.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government policy towards the reunification of Germany.

As my right hon. and learned Friend told my hon. Friend, the Member for Bedfordshire, South-West (Mr. Madel), on 8 February, successive British Governments have taken it as axiomatic that real and permanent stability in Europe will he difficult to achieve so long as the German nation is divided against its will.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what rules on the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality have been adopted by the Council to give effect to article 7 of the treaty establishing the European Economic Community.

The Treaty provisions on nondiscrimination have been embodied in many Community instruments since 1957. Detailed information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the current names, age and categories of United Kingdom members of the European Community Economic and Social Committee.

Following is the information requested:

• Group 1 (Employers):
• Mr. Ian Campbell CVO (66),
• Miss E. G. Dodd (63),
• Mr. K. J. Gardner FRSC (65),
• Mr. C. A. Hancock (53),
• Mr. J. A. de Normann (66),
• Mr. W. G. Poeton (62),
• Mr. K. M. Tamlin (60),
• Mr. F. G. Whitworth (63);

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards the further enlargement of the European Community.

We share in the consensus amongst member states that at least until 1992 the priority for the Community must be consolidation—in particular the completion of the single market and the full absorption of Spain and Portugal—not enlargement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many states have formaly indicated a wish to enter into dialogue with the European Community with a view to ultimately becoming members.

Only one country, Turkey, has a formal application to join the European Community on the table. Morocco applied to join the Community in 1987, but the Council of Ministers took the view that this application should not be pursued. Norway completed accession negotiations in 1972, but did not in the event join the Community.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who may submit new protocols to the treaties upon which the European Community has its legal foundation; and what is the procedure for their assessment and final acceptance.

The procedure for amendments to the Treaty of Rome is laid down in article 236 of that Treaty. Similar provisions appear in article 204 of the Treaty establishing the EAEC and in article 96 of the Treaty establishing the ECSC.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government, as a member of the United Nations Security Council, will press for an international peace settlement on Kampuchea.

We are already working for a peaceful settlement in Cambodia. We welcome current developments towards that goal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Government of Bangladesh on human rights issues.

We have made clear to the Bangladesh Government the concern felt in this country about human rights issues. They were discussed most recently during the visit of President Ershad. Some hon. Members had the opportunity to raise these issues with President Ershad on 15 February.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council held on 20 February.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary and I attended the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 20 February. Much of the day was taken up with discussion in the framework of political co-operation of relations with Iran in the light of the threats against Mr. Salman Rushdie. My right hon. and learned Friend has already reported to the House on this.The Council again discussed the dispute with the United States over the EC directive banning imports of meat from animals treated with hormones. The Commission reported agreement with the United States Administration of the establishment of a high-level group to find ways of resolving the dispute within 75 days. To the extent that United States suppliers send hormone-free meat to the EC, United States retaliatory measures would meanwhile be reduced. In view of this progress the Council took no decision to implement counter-retaliation. The Council adopted a regulation requiring national controls on the export of eight key chemical weapons precursors. This followed agreement at the EPC ministerial meeting on 14 February on the case for such a regulation. Though we already have strict controls on these and other CW precursors, the Government welcome this action.The Presidency reported on the outcome of the first substantive EC/ACP ministerial negotiating meeting on the renewal of the Lomé convention, which was held in Brazzaville on 16/17 February, and attended by my hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development.The Council adopted negotiating mandates for trade and co-operation agreements with Poland and Bulgaria, discussed the Community's relations with Eastern Europe; and agreed a Community position for the San Jose V meeting on 27/28 February with the Central American states in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.The Council discussed proposals introduced by the Netherlands Foreign Minister for improving coordination between the Community and the Council of Europe. This will be further discussed at the March Foreign Affairs Council.An EC/Tunisia Cooperation Council was held in the margins of the Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether there have been any recent changes in the amount of meat and bone meal exported from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland.

I have no evidence of any changes in such exports.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether there have been any recent changes in the amount of meat and bone meal imported into Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland.

I have no evidence of any changes in such imports.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table in the Official Report to show the amounts of meat and bone meal imported into and exported from Northern Ireland, with the countries of origin and destination, in each of the last 12 months or as much of such information as is available to him.

The information available from Customs and Excise records relates only to trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and is as follows:

Imports and exports of meat and bone meal
1988	To Northern Ireland Tonnes	From Northern Ireland Tonnes
January	2,252	149
February	2,373	250
March	2,757	391
April	2,118	142
May	1,966	233
June	2,272	174
July	1,776	153
August	2,668	102
September	5,227	87
October	2,160	278
November	1,263	272
December	1,285	323

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether any persons convicted of fraud have been employed (1) directly or (2) as consultants by the Industrial Development Board.

I am not aware of any consultant or person directly employed by IDB who was convicted of fraud.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table showing the expenditure on school meals for each year between 1978–79 and the latest date available, in current and constant prices.

Net expenditure on school meals and milk is as follows:

Financialyear	Cash£000	At 1987–88prices £000
1978–79	17,031	34,761
1979–80	19,670	34,537
1980–81	18,088	26,813
1981–82	17,381	23,455
1982–83	19,152	24,121
1983–84	21,572	25,986
1984–85	22,417	25,704
1985–86	24,739	26,913
1986–87	25,580	26,929
1987–88	23,950	23,950

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects Lord Colville's report on the operation of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Acts of 1978 and 1987 to be available.

I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has had any indication of the European Commission's view of the Government's proposal to restrict any one shareholding in the privatised water industry in Wales to 15 per cent.

I refer the hon. Lady to the reply given to the hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael) on 20 February at column 456

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those trunk road schemes in Wales on which he anticipates public inquiries being held during the current year with, where known, the likely date of the inquiry.

The information is as follows:

Schemes in respect of which an Inquiry date has been fixed:—
Scheme	Date
A5 Ty-Nant to Dinmael Improvement (Clwyd)	24–27 January
A55 Rhuallt Hill Improvement (Clwyd)	7–17 February
M4/A4042 Brynglas Tunnels/Malpas Road Relief Scheme (Gwent)	Commenced 14 February
A458/A453 Welshpool Relief Roads (Powys)	Commencing 4 April

Schemes in respect of which Inquiries are anticipated but no dates yet fixed:
Scheme
A465	Aberdulais to Glynneath Improvement (West Glamorgan)
A487	Caernarfon to South of Port Dinorwic Improvement (Gwynedd)
A4042	Penperlleni Bypass (Gwent)
A487	Pont Seiont to Bontnewydd Improvement (Gwynedd)
A494	Mold Bypass (Clwyd)
A4060	Pentrebach to Mountain Hare Improvement (Mid Glamorgan)
A470	Llanbynmair Improvement (Powys)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the present levels of gross domestic fixed capital formation in Wales; and what is the percentage change over (a) 1988 and (b) the period 1978–79 in both cash and real terms, and expressed in real terms as a percentage of gross domestic product on equivalent industries.

The latest figure for gross domestic fixed capital formation for selected industry groups¹ in Wales is £1,505 million in 1986. Comparable figures are not available for 1978–79.Note:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the average gross domestic product per head in Wales in each year since 1979, in real terms.

The information is as follows:

GDP/Head at 1987 Prices1
Year	£
1979	4,440
1980	4,234
1981	4,115
1982	4,305
1983	4,467
1984	4,325
1985	4,719
1986	4,893
21987	4,991

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the average weekly wage of (a) full-time and (b) part-time workers for Wales for (i) males and (ii) females.

In April 1988 the average gross weekly earnings of full-time adult males and females on adult rates of pay in Wales were £217·80 and £150·30 respectively. The figure for part-time females was £58·70. Data for part-time males is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total number of people in each income quintile in Wales; and how many (a) families with children, (b) single-parent families, (c) pensioners and (d) disabled people are in each income quintile.

Information by income quintile is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the expenditure on school meals for each year between 1978–79 and the latest date available, in current and constant prices.

Expenditure on school meals and milk for the period requested is given in the following table:

School meals and milk—net current expenditure
Year	Cash (£000)	1986–87 prices (£000)
1978–79	24,673	48,089
1979–80	26,066	43,472
1980–81	23,455	33,026
1981–82	24,303	31,152
1982–83	27,008	32,311
1983–84	27,772	31,778
1984–85	29,745	32,396
1985–86	28,535	29,487
1986–87	29,601	29,601
11987–88	30,219	28,704
1 Data is provisional

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give for each Welsh district council for each of the past 10 years (a) the number of home improvement grant applications, (b) the number approved, (c) the total value of the grants applied for, (d) the total value of the grants approved, (e) the percentage that (d) represents of (c) and (f) the total allocation to each authority in each year; and if he will make a statement regarding the likely effect of the proposed charges in the Local Government and Housing Bill on home improvement grants.

I shall write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what a typical ward sister would pay in each Welsh district (a) in rates, (b) in community charge and (c) in a system of capital value rates plus local income tax paid in the proportions of 80–20, respectively, if she lived in a typical house paying at present average rates for the district.

Illustrative community charge figures and average domestic rates for each Welsh district were published in the Official Report on 29 July 1988 at column 656–58. I have made no detailed estimates of the impact of a system of capital value rates and local income tax in Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if there is to be any change to the cash limit for class XVII vote 2 for the current financial year.

Yes. The cash limit on class XVII vote 2 is to be reduced from £76,700,000 to £76,525,000 by a reduction of £175,000 in the grant-in-aid provision for the Development Board for Rural Wales. This will enable me to make a corresponding sum available from spare housing subsidy provision in the demand-led class XVII vote 3 to pay a grant to the DBRW under section 11 of the Development of Rural Wales Act 1976 towards the cost of making an immediate start on a programme of housing maintenance at Newtown in Powys.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (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 Wales as a percentage of the total number in the relevant year groups in each authority for the latest available year in which these examinations were sat;(2) if he will list by each local education authority in Wales the total number of children achieving

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the negotiations with the European Space Agency concerning United Kingdom industrial participation in the polar platform satellite.

The European Space Agency and its member states are currently reviewing alternative concepts for the polar platform in the light of studies led by British Aerospace and Matra respectively. The United Kingdom will be seeking the most cost-effective solution consistent with our objective of securing the progressive commercialisation of earth observation. British industry can expect to play a leading role in the development of whichever platform is selected to meet this end.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what regulations govern the time limits within which liquidations of companies and businesses must be completed.

There are no statutory time limits within which a liquidation must be completed but the insolvency rules 1986 provide that when the liquidator in an insolvent liquidation has realised such of the company's assets as he can without needlessly protracting the liquidation he shall declare a dividend, if funds are available for that purpose. number of pupils in the relevant year group in each authority, for the latest available year in which these examinations were sat.

[holding answer 13 February 1989]: The information is not available in the form requested. It is impossible to identify a relevant year group for each type of examination. Pupils take CSE and o-level examinations in years 4 to 5 and all years of the 6th form. In 1986–87 the number of pupils attempting such exams exceeded the number of pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year (5th formers). Similarly pupils take A-levels in the first, second and third years of the 6th form. The following table is based on a survey of 1987 school leavers. It shows the number of pupils attempting and achieving success in examinations as a percentage of all those who left school. The results will be subject to some sampling errors.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to his answer of 15 February to the hon. Member for Devon, North if he will make it his policy to collect statistical and other details on franchise businesses; if he will establish a franchise unit within his Department; and if he will make a statement.

I am not persuaded that the Government need such data and I am not clear what would be the objectives of a franchise unit.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what efforts were made to ensure that the £10 million worth of contracts arising from the construction of the British Aerospace air combat manoeuvering platform went to British fabrication yards.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs during oral questions on 15 February 1989 Official Report column 299 and reiterate that it is not for Government to interfere in the commercial decisions of companies.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in respect of which takeover bids his Department received three deputations of hon. Members in 1988.

Ministers in this Department met approximately 10 deputations of hon. Members in 1988 about takeover bids which included Nestle's bid for Rowntree, Goodman Fielder Wattie's bid for Ranks Hovis McDougall, and Elders IXL's bid for Scottish & Newcastle Breweries.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) if, pursuant to his answer of 15 February, he will give further details of the consideration given to early-day motions on takeover bids;(2) what weight he gives to the number of hon. Members who have signed an early-day motion on a takeover bid.

Due consideration is of course given to all early-day motions. However, the weight attributed to that consideration may vary.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he has taken to inform furniture retailers of the new foam insulation regulations coming into force on 1 March.

A total of 1,500 copies of the draft regulations were sent out on 1 March 1988. I then relied upon the usual channels of communication. The final regulations were submitted to Parliament in July, and interested parties were informed. These included the media generally, the trade press, local authority trading standards departments and all relevant trade associations. I am advised that the foam suppliers in particular have been meticulous in advising their customers about how their products comply with the new legal requirements. Guidance notes for the trade, which take account of initial reactions to the regulations, are being prepared and will be widely distributed soon.I have not written to every furniture retailer in the country. The Department does not have a list of all such retailers' names and addresses.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what provisions (a) Royal Mail (Letters), (b) Royal Mail (Parcels) and (c) Post Office (Counters) make to accommodate safely registered disabled persons in workplaces; and if there are safe areas of work specifically reserved for their disabled employees;(2) how many people who are profoundly deaf are currently employed by Royal Mail (Letters) within the grade of postman/postwoman;(3) what is the number of people employed by the Royal Mail (Letters) on permanent sorting duties whose normal mobility is restricted by having to use a wheelchair;(4) what is the number of people currently employed by the Post Office within

Questions of employment in the letters, parcels and counters businesses of the Post Office, including employment of different categories of people and facilities provided for them, are a matter for the Post Office. I am asking the Post Office to contact the hon. Member about these questions.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will take steps to introduce the separate logging of the quantities of exported dog pelts and cat skins.

No. There is insufficient trade to justify separate monitoring of such goods.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will raise in the European Council of Ministers the need for arrangements to be in place before 1992 to prevent knitwear imports from Third world countries entering the Federal Republic of Germany through the German Democratic Republic and purporting to be manufactured in COMECON countries; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 21 February 1989]: Under the terms of inner German trade, goods originating in the German Democratic Republic may enter the Federal Republic of Germany free of import duty. This arrangement does not apply to other member countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON). The Federal authorities monitor consignments of textiles to ensure compliance with the origin requirements, and United Kingdom officials will shortly review these and other procedures with the Economics Ministry in Bonn to minimise the risk of abuse of inner German trade in the run-up to 1992 and beyond. If my hon. Friend is aware of any specific cases arousing concern I should be grateful if he would bring them to my attention.

To ask the Attorney-General if he has any proposals for the reform of the process of house purchase and the practice of estate agents.

So far as reform of the process of house purchase is concerned, improvements in practice are needed rather than legislation and I welcome the work of the professions and the conveyancing standing committee of the Law Commission in this area. The practice of estate agents is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. I understand that consultations are continuing with estate agents' representatives and other interested groups.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list Government stocks which have sinking funds and are likely to be redeemed ahead of the final date for repayment; and whether he is obliged to redeem such stocks as soon as the sinking fund is sufficient to repay them.

[holding answer 20 February 1989]: There are two United Kingdom Government securities with sinking funds:

3½ per cent. conversion loan (denominated in sterling); and Fifteen year 8 7/8 per cent. Bonds due 1993 (denominated in $ US).

In addition, guaranteed 4½ per cent. Bonds and Irish Free State 4½ Land Bonds, have a Government guarantee and sinking funds.Terms and conditions of these securities are set out in their prospectuses. It is not the Government's practice to comment on any discretion the prospectus may afford.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the increased revenue in 1988–89 if (a) the personal income tax allowances, (b) mortgage interest, (c) superannuation and personal pension contributions and (d) self-employed retirement annuity premiums were restricted to basic rate tax; by how much child benefit could be increased if all the extra revenue were used for this purpose; what would be the redistributive effects, by family type and income decile; and how many working families with children would be lifted off entitlement to family credit.

[holding answer 31 January 1989]: Almost two-thirds of those who would pay more tax as a result of restricting personal allowances and other tax reliefs to the basic rate currently pay tax at the basic rate only: those near the top of the basic rate band would be pushed into paying tax at the higher rate. About 3½ million single people and married couples would pay more income tax: of those, about 2¼ million currently pay tax at the basic rate only.Revised estimates of the direct revenue yield in 1988–89 if the allowances and reliefs had been restricted to the basic rate are:

	£ million
a. Personal allowances	1,160
b. Mortgage interest relief	330
c. Employees' superannuation and personal pension contributions	200
d. Retirement annuity relief1	100

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response he is able to make to the World Development Movement's charter for Lomé 4, in particular its requirement that Lomé 4 should assist the poorest farmers, support environmentally suitable development, reduce child mortality and improve other key health indicators and assess the impact of all projects on women; and if he will make a statement.

I welcome the charter's emphasis on support for the poorest, on improvement in environmental monitoring and assessment, on assistance to the health sector and on ensuring that the interests of women are properly taken into account. These are issues to which we attach great importance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring of British bilateral aid to Bangladesh is undertaken by representatives of Her Majesty's Government.

Our aid is monitored through regular visits by Overseas Development Administration staff, from both London and our south east Asia development division in Bangkok. The aid section of the British High Commission in Dhaka is responsible for day-to-day oversight of the programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to announce the education support grant guidelines for 1989–90.

My right hon. Friend announced on 15 December 1988 the allocations to individual LEAs of expenditure to be supported through ESGs in 1989–90. My right hon. Friend yesterday met representatives of the local authority associations for preliminary discussions about the content and scale of the 1990–91 programme. He will be announcing shortly a list of proposed activities for support in 1990–91 in the light of yesterday's discussions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children leave school before they are aged 16 years.

It is estimated that, in England, during the academic year 1986–87, some 107,000 pupils left school before their 16th birthday.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will receive copies of all reports given by the independent data and safety monitoring committee to the chairmen of the MRC/INSERM co-ordinating committee of the trial on the benefits of zidovudine for healthy people who are HIV positive; and if he will make a statement;(2) pursuant to his reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, on 7 February,

My right hon. Friend does not expect to receive copies of such reports; the conduct of the trial is a matter for the Medical Research Council and INSERM. the number of participants enrolled on the trial up to 15 February 1989 was 218 in the United Kingdom and 84 in France.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science pursuant to his answer of 9 February, Official Report, column 750, if he will express the figures contained in his answer as a percentage of total university lecturing staff for each of the years 1980 to 1987.

The information on lecturers leaving universities in Great Britain to take up employment or study abroad as a percentage of lecturers in post in the previous year is as follows:

	Non-clinical	Clinical	All
1980	0·7	1·8	0·8
1981	0·6	1·4	0·6
1982	0·6	1·4	0·7
1983	0·4	2·1	0·5
1984	0·5	1·0	0·5
1985	0·4	1·1	0·5
1986	0·6	1·2	0·6
1987	0·5	1·0	0·6

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about advice available to students on choosing subjects for the GCSE examination.

Schools are best placed to advise their pupils on choosing appropriate subjects at GCSE. In addition to giving pupils individual advice, many schools issue guidance booklets on their GCSE choices. DES publicity recommends that parents should make sure that their children take English, maths and science at GCSE.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science which university laboratories concerned with animal experimentation use animals not bred specifically for this purpose; and who supplies the animals concerned.

This information is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing the expenditure on school meals for each year between 1978–79 and the latest date available, in current and constant prices.

The information is given in the table:

Net expenditure on school meals and milk1—England
	Cash Terms £ million	1986–87 Real Terms2 £ million
1978–79	388	756
1979–80	422	704
1980–81	397	559
1981–82	397	509
1982–83	411	492
1983–84	427	489
1984–85	432	471
1985–86	435	450
1986–87	459	459
1 Net expenditure includes the salaries and wages of staff engaged in the preparation and supervision of the meal, the cost of food and overheads less the income received from pupils and adults who pay for their meals. It does not include any capital or capital financing costs. The figures include the costs of the school milk service which have not been collected separately since 1981–82.
2 The cash figures for the earlier years have been repriced to 1986–87 real terms using the gross domestic products (market prices) deflator.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to increase the financial independence of universities and polytechnics.

Under the Education Reform Act, polytechnics in England are being re-established as institutions independent of local education authorities, with funding from the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council. Following the Act, there is a wide-ranging debate on the funding of higher education which the Government want to see develop and mature further. However, we are actively considering the possibility of some shift in the flow of public funds from the grants to be disbursed by the higher education funding councils towards students' fees met under the mandatory awards arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information has been given by his Department or by those acting on its behalf, directly or indirectly, to journalists or others, which has specified in respect of complaints relating to the conduct of ballots for grant-maintained schools, the names of the local education authority concerned and the nature of the complaint; when; by whom; and to whom.

When asked about concerns relating to the conduct of ballots my Department has referred to reports which have appeared in the media.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what decisions he has made on the applications which he has received for grant-maintained status.

I have today informed the governing bodies of Skegness grammar school, Lincolnshire and Audenshaw high school, Tameside that I have approved their proposals that their schools should become grant-maintained from September 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in the Official Report the measures which have been taken by Her Majesty's Government since 1985 in respect of teacher shortages; what was the total cost of each measure; and if he will make a statement on their effect.

The table shows the principal measures taken since the introduction of our action programme on teacher shortages in 1986, and their costs to date.

Measures	Total cost £ million
(i) Bursary scheme for trainee teachers in maths, physics, CDT	6·381
(ii) Support for LEAs in-service training in shortage subjects in order to upgrade teachers' skills and conversion of teachers in other subjects to maths, physics and CDT	35·5
(iii) Support for new initiatives in higher education institutions and the Open University for new types of initial and in-service training provision, including distance learning packs and more flexible training arrangements	6·4
(iv) TASC (Teaching as a Career) Unit to promote teaching as a career and improve recruitment practices among local education authorities and initial teacher training institutions	0·725
(v) TASC advertising and publicity campaigns	1·179
(vi) Production of video teaching programmes by the BBC, Thames TV and Yorkshire TV for in-service training use	0·435
(vii) Pump priming support for local initiatives to improve supply in shortage subjects	0·050
(viii) Taster courses for mature people and others to encourage entry or return to teaching	0·040
(ix) Regional conferences with the Scientific Technology Regional Organisation (SATRO) on how industry can help to alleviate shortages	0·010

It is too early to make a definitive assessment of the effectiveness of the action programme. We have commissioned an independent evaluation of all our teacher shortage initiatives from the University of Bath. The first report of the findings of that study was published last June and is available in the Library. A final reort is due this autumn. I am, however, satisfied that our action programme is effective.The bursary has been successful in reversing the decline in recruitment to initial teacher training courses in shortage subjects. Recruitment to maths, physics and CDT has increased by 27·8 per cent., 24·9 per cent. and 38·2 per cent. since 1986. The fall in vacancy figures suggests that our measures generally are having an impact on shortages.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has yet decided upon arrangements for the future administration of the Inner London Education Authority's residential special schools located outside Inner London.

My right hon. Friend has received the report of the working party that he set up last year to consider the future of ILEA's residential special schools located outside Inner London. A copy has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken by his Department to eradicate the circulation of racist literature to black prisoners.

The Prison department's race relations policy statement, and other guidance issued to governors, makes it abundantly clear that racist language and literature will not be tolerated. Any governor who becomes aware that racist literature is being circulated in his or her establishment would be expected, with the assistance of the establishment's race relations liaison officer, to ensure that the matter is fully investigated and that, wherever possible, those responsible for its circulation are identified and dealt with appropriately.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the Government's policy on the confidentiality of a person's HIV status in United Kingdom prisons; if he will outline who is told when a person is diagnosed HIV antibody positive or with AIDS and for what reasons; and what measures are taken regarding a HIV antibody positive prisoner and for what reasons.

The importance of preserving medical confidentiality has been stressed in guidance on the management of prisoners with HIV infection which has been issued to governors, medical officers and prison service staff in England and Wales. However, the Department considers that it has a duty to ensure, on grounds of health and safety, that staff with an operational need to know are informed of the presence and identity of prisoners who are a potential risk to them and to other prisoners.We have, therefore, established a system under which such members of staff are informed of prisoners who are subject to viral infectivity restrictions (VIR). Since such restrictions, which are at the discretion of the medical officer but will usually determine the prisoner's living accommodation and may limit access to certain regime activities, may be applied to prisoners with HIV or other infective conditions disclosure of VIR status does not entail disclosing a diagnosis.Practice elsewhere in the United Kingdom is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Northern Ireland.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money was paid to local authorities under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 in each of the last 10 years.

The amount of grant paid under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 to local authorities in respect of each of the last 10 years for which information is available is given in the table. Grant is paid at the rate of 75 per cent. of an authority's eligible expenditure. Figures for 1987–88 are not yet available as a number of authorities have not yet submitted audited claims.

Year	Grant
1977–78	24,656,387
1978–79	28,273,873
1979–80	34,481,552
1980–81	45,767,083
1981–82	54,754,571
1982–83	65,305,918
1983–84	174,017,662
1984–85	172,819,943
1985–86	180,808,402
1986–87	187,177,400
1 Provisional figure.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials from his Department have acted as observers on the council of the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders and its network of advisory committees since 1979.

The information requested is as follows:

Home Office observers
	NACRO council	NACRO advisory committees
1979–80	1	5
1980–81	1	7
1981–82	1	8
1982–83	1	7
1983–84	1	8
1984–85	1	11
1985–86	1	10
1986–87	1	11
1987–88	1	8

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has had on the Carlisle report on the parole system; and if he will make a statement.

We have received a number of representations. We have asked interested individuals and organisations to send us their comments by 10 March. We shall then consider the recommendations carefully in the light of the responses we have received.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office if he will provide the age and service profile of senior probation officers and their position on the salary scale; and what would be the cost of abolishing the first five salary incremental points.

The 1,066 senior probation officers in post in April 1988 were distributed across the salary scale as follows:

Point on scale	Percentage of SPOS
1	4
2	4
3	8
4	8
5	9
6	8
7	5
8	4
9	3
10	47

If all officers on points one to five were moved to point six, the cost would be £380,000 in the first year—excluding any consequential increase for officers already at or above point six. Information on the age and service profile of senior probation officers is not available centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, if available at all.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what medical attention has been offered to Paddy Armstrong, currently being held in Her Majesty's Prison, Gartree; and if he will make a statement on his medical condition.

Specific clinical information pertaining to individual prisoners is confidential and is not normally disclosed. I have no information which suggests that Mr. Armstrong's general medical condition is other than satisfactory.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what medical attention has been offered to Gerard Conlon, currently being held in Her Majesty's Prison, Long Lartin; and if he will make a statement concerning his medical condition.

Total admissions of passengers excluding those exempt from requiring entry clearance1 by certain nationalities and ports in 1988
Number of persons
Nationality	January	February	March	April	August	September
Heathrow
India	7,900	7,100	7,400	5,200	14,100	15,600
Pakistan	3,600	3,100	3,900	4,900	8,100	6,600
Bangladesh	900	800	1,100	1,300	1,800	1,400
Ghana	1,100	1,100	1,200	1,200	2,200	2,200
Nigeria	4,700	4,700	3,500	1,200	6,500	7,200

Specific clinical information pertaining to individual prisoners is confidential and is not normally disclosed. I have no information which suggests that Mr. Conlon's general medical condition is other than satisfactory.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times Gerard Conlon, currently being held in Her Majesty's Prison, Long Lartin, has been moved since first being held in 1974.

I shall write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what action he intends to take following the evidence on cat thefts contained in the recentPetwatch special report, a copy of which he has been sent;(2) which police forces record reported losses of cats.

It is for the chief officers to decide how reports of stolen or missing property are recorded. We are not persuaded that the information contained in the National Petwatch report necessitates any new action on cat theft.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to extend the scope of section II of the Local Government Act 1966 to include within its remit non-commonwealth refugees.

The possibility of legislative changes, which would be necessary if the scope of the grant under section II of the Local Government Act 1966 were to be extended to cover communities from outside the Commonwealth, was within the terms of reference of the scrutiny of the grant system which my right hon. Friend announced in reply to a question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Brent, North (Sir R. Boyson) on 26 May 1988 at column 279. My right hon. Friend is at present studying the report of the scrutiny.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will indicate for each week in 1988 the number of passengers arriving at (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick and (c) Dover holding entry clearance and arriving from each of (i) India, (ii) Pakistan, (iii) Bangladesh, (iv) Ghana and (v) Nigeria.

[holding answer 13 February 1989]: The available information is compiled only on a monthly basis and relates to total admissions of passengers excluding those exempt from requiring entry clearance. The data available for 1988 is given in the following table.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list the minimum and maximum number of separate registers in which residents of the United Kingdom are given separate numbers; and if she can estimate the cost and number of people needed to maintain all such registers.

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Prime Minister what meetings she has had with General Hershad, President of Bangladesh; and what subjects were discussed.

I had talks with, and gave dinner for, President Ershad on 16 February. The talks covered both bilateral and regional issues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for East Lothian on 20 January, Official Report, column 343, he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Advisory Council on Research and Development at which the decision was made concerning the closure of the offshore wave energy programme.

A copy of a summary of the main conclusions and recommendations of the Advisory Council on Research and Development on the wave energy programme was placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 27 April 1982.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what progress has been made by his Department in the consideration of the potential of offshore wind power during the past seven years.

The technical potential of offshore wind power has been estimated at around 140 Twh/year at an expected cost of electricity in the range 4…2– 7…4 p/kWh. These estimates are based on collaborative studies which were jointly funded by my Department and the CEGB, and have taken into account constraints imposed by other offshore activities. The extent to which any of this resource could be economically exploited will be the subject of further work.The United Kingdom has also participated in an International Energy Agency (IEA) study of offshore wind energy conversion systems which considered the technical and economic problems of exploiting this resource.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the estimated value of the electricity supply system covering (a) Merseyside and (b) the north-west.

This is a matter for the electricity supply industry. I shall ask the chairman of the Merseyside and North Wales and the North Western Electricity boards to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what assessment he has made of the proposed Anglo-American consortium plans for a safe integrated reactor.

The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority has informed my Department of its interest in developing a 300MWe reactor as a member of the SIR consortium. The consortium's proposals are at an early stage and I shall be kept informed of developments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list by year, port and tonnage the amount of foreign coal imported into England and Wales for the last five years.

The information requested is as follows:

Port	Quantity (000 tonnes)
	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988
Middlesbrough	1,447	2,352	2,610	2,501	2,878
Port Talbot	2,023	1,834	1,558	1,958	1,997
Immingham	225	615	1,349	669	999
London (including Tilbury)	239	1,515	404	538	743
Medway	120	723	661	556	565
Sunderland	23	88	243	198	418
Trent	11,415	1963	778	335	386
Hartlepool	8	101	295	354	314
Cardiff	—	113	247	222	294
Goole	73	48	36	236	286
Kings Lynn	1	1	—	117	117
Newport (Gwent)	32	181	83	5	116
Portsmouth	205	210	7	59	92
Swansea	—	5	—	—	92
Grimsby	—	—	—	—	88
Avonmouth	16	78	96	60	86
Colchester	554	326	196	91	71
Liverpool	38	371	143	65	31
Exeter	134	70	14	10	18
Others	280	412	136	147	146
Total	6,835	10,006	8,856	8,122	9,739
1 Imports recorded under port of Scunthorpe.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has regarding the likely growth of nuclear power generation in the three counties of Yorkshire over the next 15 years.

My right hon. Friend has received no application from the CEGB for consent to construct any nuclear power station in Yorkshire. It is for the CEGB to decide whether and when to apply for consent to construct any new power station.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list his latest estimate of the level of employment in British Coal in the Yorkshire coalfields in 1990 and 1995.

This is a matter for the British Coal Corporation and I have asked the chairman to write to the hon. Member.