To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the railways inspectorate has completed its study of London Underground's management systems.

I understand that the study has been completed. I am expecting the report in a few weeks.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to introduce an order to resolve the legal uncertainty about fire certification on the London Underground.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Public Transport to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 1 February at columns 209–10. The order came into force on 1 April.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to make regulations under section 12 of the Fire Preventions Act 1971 to require specified fire precautions at all Underground stations.

My right hon. Friend expects to do this in May. Detailed consultation is now being undertaken on their content.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek a report from the chief constable of Essex on what steps he intends to take to investigate the bugging of meetings of objectors to the pressurised water reactor at the Sizewell inquiry.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been placed in segregation by the governor of Her Majesty's prison, Albany in the last six months for suspected criminal offences; and how many of these have actually been charged with an offence.

During the six months ended 31 March 1989, 25 prisoners at Albany prison were placed in segregation pending investigation of matters which might have led to criminal charges. None of these was charged with a criminal offence.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he intends to seek powers to proscribe any British branch of the Hizbollah formed in the United Kingdom.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether consideration is being given to the possible withdrawal from the prison service of prison officer dog handlers.

Consideration is being given to the use of other grades of staff for some tasks now undertaken by prison officers. This includes some tasks in dog sections.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether consideration is being given to the employment of private agencies to police penal establishments with dogs as an alternative to prison officer dog handlers.

No current consideration is being given to the employment of private agencies in this area.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much has been spent on the assisted places scheme in each of the last five years; and what is the estimate for the current year.

The information requested is as follows:

Financial year	Expenditure (£ million)
1984–85	22·2
1985–86	29·6
1986–87	37·9
1987–88	46·0
1988–89	152·3
1989–90	259·0
1 Forecast outturn.
2 Provision in Estimates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what has delayed the finalisation of his Department's 1989–90 estimates for advertising, publicity and publications;(2) whether the estimates for his Department's spending on advertising, publicity and publications for 1989–90 have yet been finalised.

The estimated expenditure on Departmental advertising, publicity and publications for 1989–90 has now been determined at £2·4 million.In addition, the Department estimates that expenditure on publications and information concerned with the national curriculum will be about £2–7 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science why the estimated expenditure by his Department on publications, videos, exhibitions etc. in 1988–89 exceeded by £1 million the estimate he gave to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras on 21 July 1988, Official Report, column 744; and if he will make a statement.

Expenditure in 1988–89 is higher than the original estimate because of the need to give certain of the Department's publications a wide circulation and because of additional publications such as "Our Changing Schools: a handbook for parents". This is an example of a publication giving valuable information for parents which has been very well received. Well over 3 million copies have been distributed.

To ask the Attorney-General what resources in the Crown prosecution service are allocated to offences relating to drug trafficking.

Drug trafficking cases are dealt with as part of the normal work of the Crown prosecution service. Resources are allocated as required by the number and weight of such cases. In addition it is the policy of the Director of Public Prosecutions that at least one lawyer in each of the 31 Crown prosecution service areas should have attended a specialist training course with regard to the provisions of the Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986. That person will, in addition to his normal casework, either deal personally with cases arising under this Act or provide advice and assistance to colleagues who are dealing with such cases.

To ask the Attorney-General what has been the change in waiting times from committal for trial until start of hearings in the northern circuit since 1979.

The table shows the change in waiting times, since 1979, both for those committed in custody and those committed on bail.

Average Waiting Time in weeks from date of committal to start of hearing—Northern Circuit
	Committed in custody	Committed on bail	Total Committals
1979	11·3	17·5	16·2
1980	10·4	16·7	15·6
1981	9·6	15·1	13·9
1982	12·1	15·2	14·5
1983	8·9	12·6	11·8
1984	8·3	12·1	11·2
1985	8·7	11·4	10·7
1986	8·4	10·8	10·2
1987	7·3	10·0	9·2
1988	7·5	10·6	9·7

To ask the Attorney-General (1) how many additional civil servants he estimates will be required if the recent Green Papers on the legal profession are implemented;

The Green Papers are consultation documents, which seek the views of both the public and the legal profession on the Government's provisional proposals for changes in the way in which legal services are to be provided in the future. No firm estimates based on settled policy can therefore be made, but it is anticipated that the implementation of the proposals contained in the Green Papers would not entail any additional cost to public funds but would be broadly cost neutral.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Czechoslovakian Government with regard to the case of Vaclav Havel.

We have made repeated representations to the Czechoslovak Government over Vaclav Havel, most recently on 23 February. I take this opportunity to reiterate that we deplore the treatment of Havel, who is a distinguished writer; such treatment is contrary to Czechoslovakia's commitments under the Vienna concluding document.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the United States bipartisan accord on central America; and if he will make a statement.

The accord announced on 24 March explicitly offers United States support for the peace and democratisation process in central America, and for the goals embodied in the Esquipulas II agreement. It puts emphasis on the need for democratisation in Nicaragua, and calls for progress towards strengthening civilian leadership, the defence of human rights and the consolidation of free, open, safe political processes elsewhere in the region. It calls for credible standards of compliance, strict timetables and effective means of verification. It supports the use of "incentives and disincentives" to achieve these United States policy objectives.United States policy is of course a matter for the United States. But we have consistently supported the peace process and we welcome the United States Government's new diplomatic strategy. For our part, we shall continue to urge on all parties the need for early and full compliance with the commitments which the central American presidents freely undertook in the Esquipulas, Alajuela and El Tesoro summits.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of how many families with children would not have gained from an increase in child benefit in April; and if he will make a statement.

Increasing child benefit would not help the 1.5 million families who receive income-related benefits. We believe it best to concentrate help on those who most need it. That is why almost all children in families claiming income-related benefits will get an extra 50p per week this April over and above the amount needed to maintain the real value of benefits. These benefits do hit their targets. Experience shows that almost £9 out of every £10 of available income-related benefits is claimed, and nearly four out of five families eligible actually get them. For families who do not rely on income-related benefits (and around 70 per cent. of them have incomes above average male earnings), £7.25 child benefit a week per child is a worthwhile recognition of the extra cost of bringing up a family.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many workers currently earn below the national insurance contributions lower earnings limit; and how many of them are (a) part-time women, and (b) part-timers.

About 2.5 million people will earn less than the lower earnings limit in 1989–90; 95 per cent. are part-timers, and about seven out of eight of these are women.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if Her Majesty's Government have investigated or intend to investigate the allegations that blueback or whitecoat seal skins have been illegally imported into the United Kingdom in contravention of Community directive 85/444; and if he will make a statement;(2) if Her Majesty's Government intend to support an indefinite extension of the European Economic Community import ban on seal skins in Community directive 85/444; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the replies that I gave to the hon. Member for Moray (Mrs. Ewing) on 6 March 1989 at column 426.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library the handbook of guidance notes for inspectors holding public inquiries into rights of way cases.

Guidance for inspectors dealing with rights of way casework is to be found in section D8 of the inspector's handbook. A copy of the handbook is already in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the functions and responsibilities transferred from the London residuary body to the City of London since its inception.

Particular responsibilities for Hampstead heath, some pipe subways, some records, portraits and paintings and the sub-mariners war memorial have been transferred on agreed terms to the corporation of the City of London from the London residuary body.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the item proposed by the London residuary body to be transferred from the Middlesex Guildhall collection to the London borough of Harrow.

[holding answer 4 April 1989]: The London residuary body hopes that all the items making up the Middlesex Guildhall collection will be transferred to one owner. Discussions on this are in hand with the London borough of Harrow.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has regarding the relocation of the London residuary body; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 4 April 1989]: This is a matter for the London residuary body.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment to whom the London residuary body's freehold interest in Wilton's Music Hall was sold; and what was the disposal price.

[holding answer 4 April 1989]: the disposal of Wilton's Music hall has yet to be completed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why he rejected the possibility of a transfer of Hampstead heath from the London residuary body to the London borough of Camden; and if he will make a statement.

The transfer of Hampstead heath to. the London borough of Camden was not proposed to my right hon. Friend by the London residuary body.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has regarding the whereabouts of the tape recordings of the last meeting of the Greater London council, held on 27 March 1986; and if he will make a statement.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has regarding the terms of the proposed purchase of county hall by the County Hall Development Group plc; and what is the envisaged timetable for the adaptation of county hall.

The terms are for the vendor and purchaser to agree. The developers have recently submitted a planning application for proposed changes to the County hall complex.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the Football Association and the Football League to submit their proposals for a national membership scheme for football to him; when he expects to have concluded his consideration of the proposals; and when he estimates that the scheme will be fully implemented.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the Football Spectators Bill, we hope that a body set up by the Football Association and the Football League will be appointed as the Football Membership Authority to run the national membership scheme. To that end they are already engaged in detailed consideration of the proposed scheme through the establishment of a joint working party.Provided that the Bill achieves the Royal Assent by the summer recess the football authorities are aiming to submit a draft scheme by 31 August and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will then consider the draft in the autumn. It is expected that the scheme will be implemented in full in spring 1990 subject to the appropriate technology being in place.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why the London borough of Harrow was chosen to accept responsibility for the Middlesex Guildhall colection; and what other London boroughs were approached.

[holding answer 4 April 1989]: The London borough of Harrow, whose boundaries formerly fell within the area of Middlesex county council, expressed an interest in assuming responsibility for the Middlesex Guildhall collection.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the terms of the proposed agreement between the London residuary body and the London borough of Harrow in respect of the Middlesex Guildhall collection; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 4 April 1989]: Discussions continue about the terms of a possible agreement.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has regarding the cost of the restoration work needing to be made on the George III tapestry currently within the Middlesex Guildhall collection; who will be responsible for the restoration costs; where the tapestry is to be located; and under whose responsibility.

[holding answer 4 April 1989]: The scale of costs for this restoration has not been established as yet. The London residuary body proposes to meet the restoration costs. On restoration it is planned the tapestry will be placed in the Middlesex Guildhall building. Negotiations on the long term responsibility and care of the tapestry are continuing.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will reconsider his decision not to analyse high levels of dust in office accommodation at the Palace of Westminster.

[holding answer 4 April 1989]: I have nothing to add to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member on 7 March 1989 at column 458

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those water authorities that have tested, or are testing, treated water derived from overground or river sources for the presence of cryptosporidia; and how many tests have revealed the presence of cryptosporidia.

[holding answer 6 April 1989]: This information is not held centrally. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith) on 5 April 1989 on the presence of cryptosporidia in water supplies in the Oxford area of Thames water authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when production orders for DROPS equipment will be placed.

Following demanding and very satisfactory validation and field user trials, I am pleased to announce that at the end of March this year we took up production options within existing contracts, announced by my predecessor on 5 December 1986 at column 840, with Leyland DAF for the medium mobility vehicle, including the load handling system, and with Paccar UK Ltd. (Foden Trucks Division) for flatracks. Production options on other DROPS equipments will be exercised when trials requirements have been satisfied.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has discussed the possibility of the United States navy accepting and disposing of redundant submarine reactors on behalf of the United Kingdom.

This possibility has not been formally discussed with the United States authorities and we have no present plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when and why his Department discontinued the practice of publishing unit production costs.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Rhondda (Mr. Rogers) on 14 January 1988 at column 373.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received on the effects of Lonrho's attempts to frustrate British arms sales to Kenya; and if he will make a statement.

None.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list all those who accompanied her on her recent visit to Africa; and what their duties were.

On my visit to Africa I was accompanied by four officials and 11 support staff. It would not be appropriate to list their names and duties.

To ask the Prime Minister how many of those officials who accompanied her on her recent visit to Africa were press and public relations staff.

Two.

To ask the Prime Minister what is the provisional estimate of the cost of her recent visit to Africa; and whether all the cost was met from public funds.

The provisional estimate of the cost of my recent visit to Africa is £66,000. The cost was met from public funds.

To ask the Prime Minister what was the final cost of her previous trip to Africa, to which she referred in her answer to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras on 14 January 1988, Official Report, column 353.

The final cost of this visit was £56,542.

To ask the Prime Minister whether Mr. Bernard Ingham or the Head of the Central Office of Information is the centre of advice on the propriety of Government publicity and advertising as defined in evidence to the Public Accounts Committee following the former's take-over of the latter's previous role as head of profession for Government information officers.

Ministers in charge of Departments are responsible for ensuring that Government conventions on publicity and advertising are complied with. The Cabinet Office provides guidance to Departments on the conventions governing propriety. The Cabinet Office also advises the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who adjudicates on these matters in cases of doubt.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, in view of the complaints received regarding the adequacy of the reheating of cook-chill food on wards at Clayton hospital, Wakefield, and the evidence of breaches of his Department's 1980 guidelines, he will order the immediate suspension of cook-chill catering in this hospital and the reintroduction of conventionally cooked meals.

Since cook-chill catering was introduced at the Clayton hospital on 6 March 14,000 cook-chill meals have been consumed by patients. As at 5 April the district health authority had received a total of five complaints, three of which were from the same patient. Only one related to cook-chill food. All five complaints were passed to the hon. Member who relayed them to the press before seeking an explanation from the health authority. As a result the local press produced biased and inaccurate reports of complaints which in my judgment would certainly not justify the suspension of the successful and popular introduction of cook-chill catering in this hospital.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has for switching liability for negligence claims against hospital doctors from medical defence organisations to health authorities; and if he will make a statement.

The rising cost of medical defence subscriptions has been of concern to doctors and to the Government for some years. In 1988 and 1989 the Government are reimbursing two thirds of the cost of defence subscriptions to hospital doctors on whole-time contracts and to doctors on part-time contracts who work wholly for the National Health Service. This is an interim arrangement following a recommendation by the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body in its 1988 report.On 20 March 1989 we issued a consultative paper proposing that health authorities should take financial responsibility for negligent acts and omissions of their medical and dental staff in the course of their National Health Service employment. We have asked for comments from interested organisations by 5 May.A copy of the paper has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will request the chairman of the Shropshire health authority to respond promptly to the letter from the hon. Member for Ludlow dated 22 March relating to Broseley hospital.

I understand that the district general manager for the Shropshire district health authority wrote to my hon. Friend on 3 April in the absence of the chairman on holiday.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he now expects to reach a decision on the proposed removal of the neurosciences unit from the Brook hospital, Woolwich.

Within a matter of days.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will give for each district health authority the percentage increase, and the national ranking of that percentage increase, in the gross demand waiting list figures between March and September. 1988 for (a) obstetrics and gynaecology, (b) trauma and orthopaedics, (c) paediatric surgery, (d) cardiothoracic surgery, (e) general surgery, (f) ear, nose and throat and (g) all specialties;

[holding answer 22 March 1989]: The information requested has been placed in the Library. Reasons for the variations between districts in the number of cases on individual waiting lists include the size and age structure of the population and the extent of local development of specialised services. Not all health authorities have these specialties.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he anticipates announcing his conclusions of the review into restrictive trade practices policy.

Within the next few months.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the impact of the publication, "Home Sweet Home," a guide for first-time buyers, issued by the Office of Fair Trading; and whether he has any plans to make its availability more widely known through an advertising campaign in the national and regional press, and in magazines and journals specifically catering for the first-time buyer age-group.

I am advised that this publication has been well received by the public. One million copies of the edition applicable to England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 200,000 copies of the edition applicable to Scotland have been distributed.The question of publicity for the leaflet is a matter for the Director General of Fair Trading. I will ask him to write to my hon. Friend.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what additional measures are being taken to reduce the burden of licensing requirements under the Wireless Telegraphy Acts.

My Department is today laying a set of regulations under section 1 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 which will further reduce licensing requirements, in line with intentions expressed in the White Paper "Releasing Enterprise" (Cm 512), published in November 1988.The regulations are designed to exempt certain low-power radio devices for industrial and non-industrial use from licensing requirements: induction, telemetry and telecommand, speech communications, field disturbance, alarm and general purpose devices. This covers a wide range of devices, including certain industrial remote control equipment and some security and burglar alarms, to domestic items such as garage door openers, and children's toys.This is a far-reaching piece of deregulation, affecting industrial, retail and scientific users, and the general public. It is estimated that a further 25,000 licences will no longer be required. For the present the new arrangements will not apply in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, but free, once-and-for-all licences will be issued for devices which would otherwise be exempt.The regulations are due to come into force on 1 May 1989.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the total amount spent by his Department in 1988 on management and computer consultancy contracts, excluding hardware and software purchases; and if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract awarded by his Department in 1988, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment.

Firm	Subject of assignment
London Transport International	South American Transport Study
Data Dictionary Systems Ltd.	Draft ISO Standard Study
Organisation and Systems Innovations Ltd.	Export System Application Study
Logica (UK) Ltd.	Vanguard Studies
ISC Electronic Systems Ltd.	Vanguard Study
Plessey Co.	Cellular Radio Study
Coopers Lybrand and Associates	Single Advisory Service
Ernst and Whinney Ltd.	Single Advisory Service
KPMG Peat Marwick McLintock	Foreign Inward Investment Agencies Review
ICL (UK) Ltd.	Mail Network Project
Policy Studies Institute	Britain in 2010
Chesking Consultants	VLSI Computer Aided Design Study
Wellace Ltd.	Civil Spectrum Review
City and Corporate Counsel Ltd.	Japan '88 Campaign Support
KMPG Peat Marwick McLintock	Shipbuilding Study
Organisation and System Innovations Ltd.	Vanguard Study
Arthur D Little Ltd.	Vanguard Study
KPMG Peat Marwick McLintock	Vanguard Study
Langton Ltd.	Vanguard Study
Hoskyns Group Ltd.	Vanguard Study
P A Consulting Group	Vanguard Study
CAP Industry Ltd.	Vanguard Study
Scicon Ltd.	Vanguard Study
Price Waterhouse and Co.	Vanguard Study
Marketing Solutions Ltd.	OSI Studies
Pinnacle Ltd.	OSI Studies
Technology Appraisals	OSI Studies
Coopers Lybrand and Associates	Vanguard—VADS Study
Baker and Smith Ltd.	Vanguard—Development Programme
P A Computers and Telecommunications Ltd.	Software Engineering Projects
J Westgate (Consultants) Ltd.	OSI Standardisation
Logica (UK) Ltd.	OSI Standardisation
CAP Industry Ltd.	OSI Standardisation

[holding answer 4 April 1989]: My Department's expenditure on consultants employed to improve the efficiency of the Department in the financial year 1988–89 is estimated to be £6,749,000, of which £3,612,000 is for computer consultancy contracts excluding hardware and software purchases. Expenditure on management consultants is not recorded separately from other consultancy spend. The following is the list of management or computer consultancy contracts awarded for the 1988 calendar year:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) if he will review the decision on the publication of the report on the acquisition of House of Fraser plc in light of the recent publication of documents relating to the acquisition; and if he will make a statement;(2) when he now expects to receive the report of the serious fraud squad on the material contained in the report on the acquisition of House of Fraser plc; and if he will make a statement.(3) if he will invite the inspectors who produced the report into the acquisition of House of Fraser plc to review their powers under section 436 of the Companies Act 1985, in light of the publication of papers relating to the acquisition since the report was submitted to him; and if he will make a statement.

No. My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State has made it abundantly clear that the inspectors' report will be published at the earliest possible moment consistent with the even-handed administration of justice.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what initiatives he intends to put to the European Council of Research Ministers in Brussels on 14 March.

I have been asked to reply.I represented Her Majesty's Government at the meeting of the Community's Council of Ministers (Research) in Brussels on 14 March.The Council adopted the following four programmes within the overall provisions of the Community's 1987 to 1991 framework programme for research and development:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to ensure that when the Scottish Grand Committee sits in the Scottish Assembly building, the notice at the public entrance gives details of the time the public can enter; and if he will ensure that the public are given access to wait in the cloakroom area until admitted to the gallery, and that such admission to that area be from 10 am.

At present members of the public are normally admitted to meetings of the Scottish Grand Committee in the Crown Office building from 10.20 am but are allowed to enter earlier at officials' discretion if the weather is inclement. I have decided that in future members of the public will be admitted to the public gallery from 10 am. The notice at the public entrance will so indicate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many tree preservation orders have been made in each region in Scotland (a) for individual trees and (b) for groups of trees or woods, and what area is covered by the latter case.

Information concerning the numbers of preservation orders or their area is not held by the Scottish Development Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what debt Scottish Homes has inherited from the Scottish Special Housing Association; and if he will show a breakdown by amount and interest rate.

Scottish Homes inherited the total amount of loans outstanding to the Scottish Special Housing Associaion as at 31 March 1989, which totalled £596 million. The breakdown by amounts and interest rates are as follows:

Interest rate	Loan outstanding
2·500	2,530,826·84
3·000	12,951,131·11
3·125	511,402·14
3·750	2,555,008·26
4·000	3,939,574·13
4·250	13,019,915·31
5·000	2,541,755·50
5·125	1,683,873·58
5·375	1,704,769·61
5·500	9,966,733·13
5·625	4,120,670·15
5·750	7,232,054·02
6·000	27,287,559·17
6·250	1,407,179·75
6·375	1,214,675·39
7·375	10,412,689·91
7·750	6,536,406·52
8·125	3,735,625·90
8·250	7,936,655·77
8·875	4,934,512·12
9·000	6,727,927·57
9·125	11,860,970·95
9·250	22,707,207·68
9·375	4,629,167·17
9·500	23,990,296·06
9·750	15,994,104·90
9·875	2,899,460·35
10·375	965,176·17
10·500	28,446,130·63
10·625	5,494,428·86
10·750	24,344,310·20
11·000	29,741,832·19
11·125	15,256,405·17
11·500	7,535,106·16
12·375	7,645,554·56
13·000	19,053,159·71
13·125	20,771,610·44
13·500	28,404,386·56
13·750	25,026,871·38
13·875	23,669,144·80
14·000	23,443,179·14
14·125	7,724,149·82
14·250	67,806,283·50
14·375	17,118,260·15
14·625	8,353,939·69
15·875	6,539,888·91
16·375	13,926,504·30

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will seek a report from the chief constable of Strathclyde region on what steps he intends to take to investigate the bugging of various residences and establishments in Helensburgh by David Coughlin.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the excuses given by employers in the midlands who were discovered in 1988 to have been paying wages below the statutory minimum.

Specific information could be provided only at disproportionate cost, but such underpayment as occurs can often be attributed to ignorance or inadvertance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the names and addresses of those employers in the midlands who on check in 1988 were found to be paying wages below the statutory minimum.

No. The inspectorate treats all its inquiries and investigations as confidential and the results are disclosed only to those involved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of trainees on employment training (a) in London and (b) nationally have been placed with employers for 60 per cent. of their time for work experience.

The information requested on the percentage of trainees placed with employers for 60 per cent. of their time for work experience is not available. It is estimated that at any one time 17 per cent. of trainees in London and 21 per cent. nationally are on placements with employers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employers' organisations have requested the abolition of the wages councils; and if he will list them.

It is not the Department's practice to reveal the content of submissions made by individual organisations. The employer organisations which responded to the Government's consultation document on wages councils were listed in the reply given to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) on 23 March, Official Report, column 798. As that reply shows, 37 out of 68 employer organisations supported abolition.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the average total gross payments per week to workers in the national dock labour scheme and the average total gross payments per week for all employees in Great Britain.

[holding answer 6 April 1989]: The average total gross payments per week to workers in the dock labour scheme was £341·83 in March 1989. The latest available estimate of average total gross payments per week for all full time, adult employees in Great Britain was £234 in January 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the total amount spent on vocational education and training (a) from public expenditure, (b) by employers and (c) by the armed services in each year since 1970 in cash and at 1988 prices.

[holding answer 4 April 1989]: The Manpower Services Commission was established in 1974 and expenditure figures can be provided only from the financial year 1974–75 onwards.The total expenditure on vocational education and training by the Manpower Services Commission and the Training Commission was as follows:

	Cash value	At 1988 prices
	£ million	£ million
1974–75	96·4	318·5
1975–76	171·7	468·2
1976–77	256·0	598·1
1977–78	292·0	625·3
1978–79	373·6	728·6
1979–80	451·4	735·1
1980–81	560·4	810·4
1981–82	749·1	981·7
1982–83	868·5	1,087·8
1983–84	1,049·5	1,249·0
1984–85	1,144·1	1,283·5
1985–86	1,256·9	1,352·7
1986–87	1,441·4	1,491·5
1987–88	1,613·1	1,613·1

Records of the annual amount spent by employers and by the armed forces on vocational education and training are not kept by the Training Agency. However, a survey carried out for the Training Agency indicated that employers spent a total of some £18 billion on training over the 12 months to the summer of 1987, of which the armed services spent some £2 billion. Comparable figures are not available for earlier years.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has received any representations about the introduction of a quota scheme for cereals.

The Government have received representations from trade organisations and individuals both for and against the introduction of a quota scheme or similar compulsory output restrictions for cereals. I am opposed to any such supply control arrangements for cereals, which would tend to ossify production patterns, to penalise efficient enterprises and would be very difficult to administer fairly throughout the European Community.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which member states have proposals, following the agreement by the EEC Council of Agriculture Ministers to measures to comply with the ruling by the European Court of Justice in the Mulder case, to allocate milk quota to producers who were involved in an EEC non-marketing scheme which expired between 1 October 1983 and 31 December 1988.

A Council regulation providing for milk quotas to be made available to former milk producers who took part in the 1977 non-marketing of milk and dairy herd conversion schemes, and who completed their obligations after 31 December 1983, was published in the Official Journal on 29 March. It is directly applicable in all member states. Publication of a further Commission regulation, laying down detailed rules on the handling of applications by member states, is expected shortly.In the United Kingdom application forms will be available from divisional offices of my Ministry and of the Welsh Office Agriculture Department, and from the Agriculture Departments of Scotland and Northern Ireland. The closing date for applications will be 28 June 1989.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he now expects to introduce his salmon dealer licensing scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Work on the scheme is still in hand and I cannot give a firm indication of our proposed timetable at this stage. Nevertheless, the Government recognise the importance of the proposals which will be presented as soon as possible.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of river and ground water pollution by silage effluent.

As well as offering 50 per cent. grants for silage effluent facilities, the highest in the European Community, my Department provides free initial advice to farmers on pollution avoidance and is helping the Department of the Environment prepare regulations on minimum standards for silage plant. We fully support tough action by the water authorities over prosecutions of farmers who pollute rivers.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of all herds confirmed as including cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy had (a) one animal, (b) two animals, (c) three animals and (d) more than three animals, infected.

Up to 31 March, the percentage of herds with confirmed BSE cases in each category is as follows:

(a) herds with 1 confirmed case—72·2 per cent.

(b) herds with 2 confirmed cases—15·4 per cent.

(c) herds with 3 confirmed cases—6·2 per cent.

(d) herds with more than 3 confirmed cases—6·2 per cent.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the results of the vote in the International Whaling Commission on the United Kingdom resolution against current Japanese research whaling.

The United Kingdom was seriously concerned about the current Japanese feasibility programme of whaling for scientific purposes. We therefore proposed a resolution in the International Whaling Commission calling on Japan to refrain from carrying out its programme until the various doubts had been resolved. I am pleased that the resolution has been supported by 16 of the 32 members of the International Whaling Commission eligible to vote, with only four votes against and four abstentions. We however required 17 votes for the resolution to take effect. Nevertheless the result very clearly demonstrates the unease and concern of the large majority of the International Whaling Commission members who chose to vote about whether the Japanese programme is fully justified and has fully satisfied criteria for sound scientific research. We consider that Japan should pay firm heed to this concern and will continue to work through the International Whaling Commission to this end.