To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with other aid Ministers to seek to reschedule overseas debts in Tanzania.

In 1979 Britain wrote off all aid debts owed by Tanzania, amounting to some —3·4 million. We have continued to urge others to follow this example for Tanzania and other low-income African countries undertaking programmes of structural adjustment. Tanzania has also benefited from concessional rescheduling of its official debt in the Paris Club, following the agreement reached last summer at the Toronto summit on the basis of the initiative launched by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the present aid projects funded by his Department in Sri Lanka.

Our grant aid is largely concentrated on transport, power, natural resources and education. In Colombo we are funding two major projects, to rebuild two main roads and to improve the power distribution network. We are preparing a forestry project. Under our training programme more than 200 Sri Lankans were in Britain last year. From our —20 million relief and reconstruction grant, which is mainly for the north and east, we are providing railway track, double-decker buses, lorries and trucks and finance for the rehabilitation programmes of the Save the Children Fund and Oxfam. Under the aid and trade provision, we are helping to finance the Samanalawewa hydro-electric project, the supply of potable water to three districts and the provision of 600 bus bodies.

	1979–80 £ million	1980–81 £ million	1981–82 £ million	1982–83 £ million	1983–84 £ million	1984–85 £ million	1985–86 £ million	1986–87 £ million	1987–88 £ million
(a) Central Government
(i) Cash terms	100	150	170	187	181	161	173	177	166
(ii) Real terms	100	127	131	134	124	105	107	106	95
(b) Local Government
(i) Cash terms	100	107	107	132	161	145	138	173	195
(ii) Real terms	100	90	82	95	110	95	85	104	111

The real terms figures have been derived by excluding the effect of general inflation as measured by the gross domestic product deflators at market prices.For consistency with later years, the figures for central Government expenditure up to 1984–85 have been

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) which officials of the Overseas Development Administration have met during the course of 1988 with researchers at the Adam Smith institute, to discuss the possibility of Britain supplying aid and assistance for the privatisation of industries in the developing world; and if he will make a statement;(2) from whom he has sought advice on matters relating to the possibility of offering British privatisation expertise to Third world nations.

There was a range of contacts between officials and outside bodies, including the Adam Smith Institute, concerned with the development of the private sector overseas, including privatisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when work was last commenced on a new section of the M4 motorway; what has been the increase in traffic on the Baglan-Lonlas area since that time; and if he will reconsider his start dates for this new section of the M4, in particular the new bridge and the connecting road to Baglan.

Work on the most recent section of the M4, the Bridgend northern bypass, started in 1978 and was completed in 1981. Traffic volumes on the A48 between Baglan and Lonlas have increased by some 50 per cent. since 1978 but are still within the design capacity of the road.The programme set out in "Roads in Wales 1989" for completing the Baglan-Lonlas section by mid 1994 is the most practical one. The Earlswood to Lonlas scheme is planned to start in the current financial year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total (a) central Government and (b) local government capital expenditures in each year from 1979–80 to 1987–88, expressed in cash and in real terms, taking 1979–80 as 100.

Gross central Government and local authority capital expenditure within my responsibility for the years 1979–80 to 1987–88, taking 1979–80 as 100, is estimated to have been as follows:adjusted to include regional development grant expenditure in Wales. Prior to November 1984, this expenditure was the responsipility of the Department of Trade and Industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the average cost of council houses sold in Wales regardless of discount, for each year since 1979 to date, and the average monthly cost over each year of the same period of repayment per —1,000 borrowed of mortgages provided by local authorities.

The average market price of local authority dwellings sold is given in the following table:

	£
11980	11,012
1981	13,868
1982	13,521
1983	14,562
1984	15,272
1985	16,348
1986	17,448
1987	18,746
1988	20,115
1 Based on sales from April to December 1980.

The average monthly cost of repayment per —1,000 borrowed of mortgages provided by local authorities is not centrally available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to publish, "Roads in Wales 1989", by the end of April.

"Roads in Wales 1989" was published on 10 April. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects the start of the new crossing of the river Dee north of Queensferry, as referred to in "Roads in Wales 1989", and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for Clwyd county council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, at the latest available date, what was the average selling price after discount of a local authority unit of accommodation; and what is the average cost of building a new local authority unit of accommodation.

The average selling price after discount of local authority dwellings sold during 1988 was —9,883. The average cost of building a new local authority unit of accommodation during the same period is estimated to have been —35,450.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if his Inspector has now decided the outcome of the appeal by I. G. Hale, application number 2/2/89/0082/03, relating to the forecourt walls adjoining Ramsay road, and Sunnybank, in the village of Clydach.

This application has not come before my right hon. Friend on appeal. I understand that it was approved by Lliw Valley borough council on 16 March 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a report on the progress he has achieved in his initiative to bring about the merger of the National Farmers Union and the Farmers Union of Wales.

As I have previously observed to the hon. Gentleman, the future relationship of the FUW and the NFU in Wales is a matter for those unions and progress towards any merger can be measured only by them.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the dates during 1988 when he met representatives of the Farmers Union of Wales; and what subjects were discussed.

During 1988 I met representatives of the Farmers Union of Wales on four occasions. Dates and details of subjects discussed are as follows:

• 10 February 1988—To discuss a wide range of agricultural subjects including extensification, stabilisers and milk quotas.
• 10 May 1988—Speech to the FUW annual general meeting about sheepmeat regime and general matters of interest to the agriculture industry.
• 19 July 1988—At the Royal Welsh show to discuss general subjects of current interest to the agriculture sector.
• 20 October 1988—To discuss hill livestock compensatory review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the dates during 1988 when he met representatives of the National Farmers Union; and what subjects were discussed.

During 1988 I met representatives of the National Farmers Union (Wales) on five occasions. Dates and details of subjects discussed are as follows:

• 30 March 1988—To discuss a range of agricultural issues.
• 19 July 1988—At the Royal Welsh show to discuss general subjects of current interest to the agriculture sector.
• 27 October 1988—To discuss hill livestock compensatory allowances review with the NFU (Wales).
• 27 October 1988—To discuss the HLCA review.
• 8 December 1988—To discuss a range of agricultural issues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give for each education authority and for Wales as a whole the 1988 figures for the percentage of schoolchildren (a) taking purchased school meals, (b) taking free school meals and (c) taking school meals in total.

The information in respect of 1988 is in the following table:

Percentage of schoolchildren present: Taking school meals
	Purchased	Free	Total
Clwyd	35·6	10·7	46·3
Dyfed	51·3	12·5	63·8
Gwent	39·0	16·3	55·3
Gwynedd	43·0	13·8	58·8
Mid Glamorgan	34·4	17·5	51·9
Powys	50·8	5·4	56·2
South Glamorgan	25·6	16·5	42·1
West Glamorgan	33·6	156	49·2
Wales	37·4	14·6	52·0

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give for September 1988 for each health district and for Wales in total the waiting list figures for (a) urgent in-patients, (b) non-urgent in-patients, (c) urgent in-patients waiting a month or more, (d) non-urgent in-patients waiting a year of more, (e) out-patients and (f) out-patients waiting three months or more.

Comprehensive information about waiting lists at 30 September 1988 will be published in Welsh Hospital Waiting List Bulletin 1989, No. 1, during the week beginning 15 May 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what local development projects have been undertaken in Wales; and what are their costs.

[holding answer 11 April 1989]: The following list gives details of local development projects since the initiative began in Wales in November 1986:

	Contractor	Description	Cost£ ('000)
1.	British Coal Enterprise, Cardiff	Small Firms' Training Needs	18
2.	Cambrian Manpower Development Unit, Aberystwyth	Environmental Training Needs in Industry in Wales	5
3.	Cardiff Bay Development Corporation	Training Study of South Glamorgan Labour Market	18·775
4.	Cardiff Chamber of Commerce	Cardiff Training Development Project	25
5.	Carmarthen College of Technology and Art	Organic Farming	46·7
6.	Nature Conservancy Council	Environmental Manpower Project	12
7.	People and Work Unit, Newport	Small Businesses	30
8.	Swansea College of Further Education	Learning Skills for Adults	20
9.	Swansea College of Further Education	Learning Skills for the Unemployed	25·224
10.	Welsh Joint Education Committee	Tourism	20
11.	Gwent Local Employer Network	Consultancy Survey	7·9
12.	Cardiff Chamber of Commerce II	Dissemination of Good Practices from 1st LDP	13·9
13.	People and Work Unit Newport	Training Needs of Business for Community Benefit	28·2
14.	Cardiff Media City	Identification of Training Needs in Media	10

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give from the 1988 census the latest figures for uptake of school meals, giving for each education authority the percentage of children taking (a) purchased meals, (b) free meals and (c) meals in total.

The figures are given in the table. They relate to maintained primary, secondary and special schools and are based on the numbers of pupils present in schools on the day in October 1988 on which the survey was carried out.The full results of the survey are contained in the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy publication "School Meals Statistics at October 1988" which will shortly be available in the Library.

Number of pupils
Percentage
Local education authority	Taking paid meals	Taking free meals	Taking meals in total
ILEA	39·3	28·6	68·0
Barking and Dagenham	28·9	10·2	39·1
Barnet	51·0	8·0	59·0
Bexley	25·6	5·9	31·5
Brent	n/a	n/a	n/a
Bromley	33·2	5·7	38·9
Croydon	36·9	8·4	45·3
Ealing	32·3	12·7	45·1
Enfield	32·0	8·2	40·2
Haringey	33·6	19·5	53·1
Harrow	44·9	4·7	49·5
Havering	29·7	4·6	34·3
Hillingdon	37·0	6·4	43·5
Hounslow	51·0	10·3	61·3
Kingston-upon-Thames	39·4	4·9	44·3
Merton	24·6	6·7	31·3
Newham	22·7	17·1	39·8
Redbridge	38·6	5·9	44·5
Richmond upon Thames	24·9	5·8	30·7
Sutton	46·8	4·6	51·3
Waltham Forest	33·4	16·2	49·7
Bolton	38·0	15·3	53·4
Bury	35·9	11·3	47·2
Manchester	n/a	n/a	n/a
Oldham	34·1	19·1	53·2
Rochdale	36·5	18·7	55·2
Salford	36·9	24·1	61·0
Stockport	33·1	10·0	43·1
Tameside	38·6	15·1	53·7
Trafford	37·6	13·0	50·6
Wigan	33·9	13·4	47·3
Knowsley	13·7	38·8	52·4
Liverpool	n/a	n/a	n/a
St. Helens	40·7	16·6	57·3
Sefton	29·0	17·4	46·4
Wirral	31·3	21·4	52·7
Barnsley	47·7	16·2	63·8
Doncaster	50·5	18·2	68·7
Rotherham	34·2	16·8	50·9
Sheffield	34·4	19·4	53·8
Gateshead	36·5	20·4	56·9
Newcastle upon Tyne	30·3	30·4	60·7
North Tyneside	44·9	17·8	62·7
South Tyneside	35·5	21·6	57·0
Sunderland	34·9	22·6	57·5
Birmingham	27·8	26·3	54·2

Local education authority	Taking paid meals	Taking free meals	Taking meals in total
Coventry	23·3	19·9	43·2
Dudley	26·7	12·6	39·3
Sandwell	29·3	19·1	48·5
Solihull	34·4	9·7	44·0
Walsall	38·2	18·3	56·5
Wolverhampton	16·9	18·1	35·0
Bradford	34·7	21·0	55·7
Calderdale	40·9	12·9	53·9
Kirklees	n/a	n/a	n/a
Leeds	40·6	14·7	55·4
Wakefield	48·5	13·8	62·3
Avon	29·5	10·6	40·1
Bedfordshire	38·7	9·4	48·1
Berkshire	36·0	4·9	40·9
Buckinghamshire	n/a	n/a	n/a
Cambridgeshire	26·6	6·4	33·0
Cheshire	37·0	11·1	48·1
Cleveland	42·5	24·9	67·5
Cornwall	41·3	9·2	50·4
Cumbria	48·7	9·4	58·1
Derbyshire	62·5	10·5	73·0
Devon	40·8	11·0	51·8
Dorset	17·3	4·4	21·8
Durham	45·9	16·2	62·1
East Sussex	34·1	8·0	42·1
Essex	29·6	6·5	36·1
Gloucestershire	23·0	6·9	29·9
Hampshire	24·4	6·6	31·0
Hereford and Worcester	19·4	6·6	26·0
Hertfordshire	44·8	5·1	49·8
Humberside	35·9	14·4	50·3
Isle of Wight	35·0	10·4	45·5
Kent	35·1	7·0	42·1
Lancashire	36·7	13·9	50·6
Leicestershire	31·7	8·9	40·6
Lincolnshire	17·1	6·0	23·1
Norfolk	26·7	9·4	36·1
Northamptonshire	26·6	7·2	33·8
Northumberland	44·7	9·7	54·4
North Yorkshire	43·7	6·3	50·0
Nottinghamshire	34·0	14·0	48·0
Oxfordshire	37·7	4·8	42·6
Shropshire	41·3	10·5	51·8
Somerset	34·3	5·7	40·0
Staffordshire	30·9	9·8	40·6
Suffolk	39·9	6·7	46·7
Surrey	41·2	3·7	44·9
Warwickshire	28·5	7·3	35·8
West Sussex	40·6	4·1	44·8
Wiltshire	31·7	5·5	37·1
Isles of Scilly	5·5	0·9	6·4
n/a = Not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions have taken place as to the feasibility of introducing an employee share ownership scheme in any future privatisation that his Department may sponsor.

On 22 March 1989, heads of agreement were approved for the sale of Harland and Wolff plc to a management-employee buy-out team backed by Mr. Olsen. Employees of Harland and Wolff plc will have an opportunity to acquire shares in the new company. The Government have to date had no discussions on the feasibility of introducing an employee share ownership scheme in the context of the privatisations of Short Brothers plc and Northern Ireland Electricity.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will publish a table in the Official Report to show how many privately held (a) shotguns, (b) ·22 rifles, (c) rifles of larger calibre, (d) hand-guns, (e) air and gas-operated weapons and (f) antique firearms, have been lost or stolen each year from 1976 to the latest available date; how many of each such category were subsequently recovered; and how many in each category are known to have been used in criminal, including terrorist, activity or as much of such information as is available to him.

[holding answer 23 March 1989]: Information is not readily available in the form requested. However, such information as is available is contained in the following tables.

Table 1
Firearms stolen from civilians
Year	Shotguns	Rifles1	Pistols/ revolvers	Antiques	Air weapons
1976	128	23	8	1	18
1977	53	8	8	—	7
1978	35	3	3	—	3
1979	34	3	2	—	7
1980	38	7	—	2	8
1981	69	7	8	2	13
1982	60	9	13	2	5
1983	64	4	13	4	8
1984	78	4	11	1	9
1985	79	11	8	—	9
1986	96	9	4	—	20
1987	91	17	17	—	13
1988	59	6	10	—	9
21989	7	4	2	—	—
1 Including ·22 calibre.
2 To 21 March.

Table 2
Firearms stolen from civilians and recovered between 1976 and 1989 (to 21 March)
Shotguns	Rifles	Pistols/revolvers	Antiques	Air weapons
365	30	41	—	31

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans the Government have to introduce a poll tax in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 10 April 1989]: The Green Paper of January 1986 "Paying for Local Government", which formed the basis for the Great Britain reforms, made it clear that the proposals did not apply to Northern Ireland. This reflected the fact that local government arrangements in Northern Ireland are significantly different from those in the rest of the United Kingdom and we have no present plans to replace the existing system.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will announce the composition of the United Kingdom delegation for the 41st session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The 41st Session Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will be opened in Strasbourg on 8 May 1989. The delegation from the United Kingdom for the session will consist of 11 Members of the Conservative party, six Members of the Labour party and one Member of the Social and Liberal Democrats party. I have also appointed a number of substitute delegates.The appointments of representatives and substitutes have been made on the basis of nominations by the leaders of those parties concerned.The same delegation will be representing the United Kingdom Parliament at the assembly of the Western European Union, which next meets in Paris on 5 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the fall in unemployment during the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

In March 1989 the level of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the United Kingdom was 1,918,100 compared with 2,453,900 in March 1988—a fall of 535,800 or 21·8 per cent. on a consistent basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which areas he now considers to have a labour shortage.

Thanks to the very strong growth in employment, unemployment rates have been falling since July 1986. By March 1989 there were 48 travel-to-work area with unemployment rates below 4 per cent. and 16 travel-to-work areas below 3 per cent.As unemployment has fallen, some shortages of labour have appeared. Occupations most in demand are in higher level skills such as professional engineers, computer specialists and managers and in craft skills.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide a breakdown of the —55 million surplus of the construction industry training board; what information he has as to what this sum will be spent on; why the board has —74 million invested in financial institutions; on what authority the board makes such investments; and when this authority was last reviewed.

The latest available accounts are for the financial year ending 31 March 1988. Detailed information is included in the 1987–88 annual report, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.Section 17(5) of the Industrial Training Act 1982 permits a board to invest any money in a manner approved by the Training Commission. The latest advice was given to all industry training boards in October 1986 when certain categories of investment were given general approval by the commission.The board will need to draw substantially upon its accumulated fund in order to finance training commitments already entered into and its planned increase in training effort to meet skill shortages which prevail in the industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what technical queries he received from the European Commission regarding the European social fund applications for 1989 by Cornwall county council;. what steps were taken to answer those technical queries; and if he will make a statement.

My Department was advised by the European Commission that Cornwall county council's 1989 European social fund applications, in common with over 150 other UK applications, were being rejected because the Commission considered that the expenditure costs quoted were too high and not sufficiently justified for the type of training being given.Officials from my Department made representations to the Commission on behalf of all the applicants so affected, but have not so far been successful in changing the Commission's decision.Because of the difficulties that the rejection to these applications is causing Cornwall county council, my Department has written again to the European Commission with a request that the social fund applications be reviewed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the largest 100 companies which have contracted directly as training managers under the employment training scheme.

[holding answer 12 April 1989]: This information is not available in the form requested. Organisations are contracted as training managers by their capability to provide and meet employment training standards, and not by their size. I am sending the hon. Member a list of all private sector firms acting as training managers as at 20 February 1989 and am also arranging for a copy to be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in view of the steadily increasing use of visual displays units, when he expects to recommend standards to be introduced, especially with regard to the adoption of the ALARA principle of keeping radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable.

[holding answer 12 April 1989]: The introduction of such standards for VDUs is unnecessary as these machines do not pose a radiation risk. I hope that national and international standards on some ergonomic aspects of VDUs will be published within a year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current average waiting time at Glasgow passport office between the receipt of (a) an application for a passport and (b) an application for renewal of an existing passport and the issue of the new passport.

Straightforward non-urgent postal applications of all types are being processed at the Glasgow passport office in an average of 33 working days. Urgent applications are given priority and are processed in accordance with travellers' requirements.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the survey into the possible use of Newchurch hospital, as a prison, took place; and what conclusions were reached.

Newchurch hospital is not being considered as a possible site for a prison establishment and no such survey has been made.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, following the deaths of four horses and injury to others at Aintree racecourse on 8 April, he will consider instituting proceedings against the racecourse authorities under the provisions of the Protection of Animals Act 1911.

No. The prosecution of offences is not the responsibility of my right hon. Friend. If the hon. Member believes he has evidence that an offence has been committed, he should communicate it to the chief officer of police concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether new applicants are being accepted for work as prison officers in the north-west of England.

No. For the time being, the prison service in England and Wales is recruiting only for posts in London and the south-east. All applicants are therefore invited to confirm that they are willing and able to work at any establishment in that area.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the increased percentage stake in Satellite Information Services which has been recently announced for the Horserace Totalisator Board; and on what terms it will be allocated.

I understand that the board may increase its shareholding in Satellite Information Services from 5 to 6 per cent. and will be entitled to purchase these additional shares at the same price per share as that achieved for those shares in the company which are to be made available in a private placing.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce the membership of the Firearms consultative committee.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Waterside (Mr. Colvin) yesterday.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of a body belt on an inmate at Lindholme prison in 1987.

A governor may order an inmate in a prison service establishment to be put under restraint in a body belt where this is necessary to prevent the inmate from injuring himself or others, damaging property or creating a disturbance. The prison medical officer must be informed whenever a governor orders an inmate to be put under restraint.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions body belts have been used on inmates of Lindholme prison since 1987; what category of prisoner was involved in each case; and for how long the device was applied on each occasion.

Body belts were used to restrain prisoners at Lindholme prison on one occasion in 1987 and twice in 1988. The prisoners were all in category C and were kept in body belts for an average of 1 hour 45 minutes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many men have been convicted at South West London magistrates court for kerb-crawling activities in the Bedford Hill area of Wandsworth during the last three years;(2) how many people have been convicted at South West London magistrates court in each of the last three years for living off the immoral earnings of prostitutes;(3) how many convictions there have been at South West London magistrates court of women convicted of soliciting for prostitution in the Bedford hill district of Wandsworth during the last three years.

The information held centrally, which may be incomplete, is given in the table. It is not possible to identify separately those offences which occurred in the Bedford hill area of Wandsworth. Information for 1985 and 1986 was provided in a reply given to a question from the hon. Member on 12 November 1987 at column 206.

Persons found guilty of offences relating to prostitution at South Western magistrates court
Offence	1987
Kerb-crawling	—
Soliciting for prostitution	399
Living on earnings of prostitution	—

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a list, broken down by port of entry, of the number of occasions since the latest immigration guidelines were introduced that hon. Members have made representations to immigration officials to change their decision to refuse entry and the number of times the immigration officials have agreed to do so.

The information is not available in the form requested. The available information about requests to immigration officers to defer removal following refusal of leave to enter was contained in my reply to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) on 15 March at column 231.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in the area including Nottingham (a) were imprisoned, (b) had attachments to earnings, and (c) had distraint warrants issued for non-payments of rates in each of the years from 1979.

Estimates of numbers of rate defaulters committed to custody by courts in Nottinghamshire are given in the table below; provision of information for other years would involve disproportionate cost. Information on attachment of earnings orders and distraint warrants is not recorded centrally.

Committals to custody for non-payment of rates by courts in Nottinghamshire
	Estimated number
1979	20
1983	20
1987	10
1988	5

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current number of applications at his Department from Tamils from Sri Lanka seeking to be granted refugee status in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

No distinction is made in statistical records between Tamils and other Sri Lankans. For the latest available information, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 11 January 1989 at column 683.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the average recommended minimum length of sentence to be served, in cases of attempted murder in each year since 1979.

The information is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he is having with election returning officers in the United Kingdom to ensure that access is possible for disabled people at all polling stations in their areas.

None at this time. Section 18 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, as amended by the Representation of the People Act 1985, places a particular obligation on district and London borough councils to designate as polling places, so far as is reasonable and practicable, only places which are accessible to disabled voters. This requirement is supplemented by Home Office guidance to returning officers, which states that the long-term objective should be to have polling stations which are all capable of easy access by disabled people, and that the Treasury will provide grants towards the cost of portable ramps so that wheelchairs can enter polling stations easily.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, pursuant to the answer of 16 February, Official Report, columns 327–38, he will place in the Library anonymised summaries of the convictions for officers in connection with the employment of children in (a) non-industrial, (b) industrial and (c) agricultural undertakings for the most recent year for which figures are available; and if he will make it his policy to make such summaries available in future years.

[holding answer 10 April 1989]: The available information relates to prosecutions in 1987 under sections 18, 19, 20 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 notified to the Home Office. There were eight such prosecutions and eight convictions, all leading to fines and no other disposals. Equivalent figures for 1988 will become available later in the year and can be made available on request.

To ask the Lord President of the Council what estimate he has made of the costs of keeping the House open for sittings which go beyond 10 pm.

When a sitting of the House goes beyond 10 pm a wide diversity of costs are incurred.

	1988–891			1989–902
	Excise duties £ billion	VAT £ billion	Total receipts £ billion	Excise duties £ billion	VAT £ billion	Total receipts £ billion
Spirits	1·6	0·6	2·2	1·7	0·7	2·3
Beer	2·1	1·3	3·4	2·1	1·4	3·5
Wine	0·7	0·5	1·2	0·8	0·5	1·3
Made wine	0·1	3—	0·1	0·1	3—	0·1
Cider and perry	0·1	0·1	0·1	0·1	0·1	0·1
TOTALS	4·5	2·4	7·0	4·7	2·6	7·3
1 Latest estimates.
2 Forecasts.
3 Below £50 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many United Kingdom citizens are (a) currently serving sentences and (b) awaiting sentencing in Libyan prisons.

There are no British nationals known to be currently detained in Libya.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he is having with the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics with a view to a greater exchange of cultural co-operation between Great Britain and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions there have been major currency realignments within the exchange rate mechanism of the European monetary system; and if he will give the relevant dates and adjustments.

There have been 11 realignments of the currencies in the exchange rate mechanism of the European monetary system since its inception in 1979. Details are set out in the Commission booklet, "The EMS: Ten Years of Progress in European Monetary Co-operation", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest estimated receipts in 1988–89 and 1989–90 from excise duties and value added tax on spirits, beer, wine, made-wine, cider, perry and low-duty alcohol products, respectively.

[holding answer 13 April 1989]: The information is as follows:

Anglo-Soviet cultural exchanges have developed considerably in recent years. During Mr. Gorbachev's recent visit we agreed to start negotiations on a new, more wide-ranging cultural agreement, which we hope to sign next year. The agreement will set out the basic principles of our co-operation and will in due course lead to the establishment of cultural centres in London and Moscow, with guaranteed free and unimpeded public access.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information his Department has as to what agreements exist for tourism between Britain and countries in eastern Europe; and if he will make a statement.

There are no agreements at Government level on tourism between Britain and countries in eastern Europe. The Vienna concluding document, which those countries have accepted, calls for improvement of the infrastructure of tourism, removal of restrictive measures that hinder its development, and the encouragement of individual travel. Her Majesty's Government attach importance to the fulfilment of these provisions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Government of China about the abuse of human rights in Tibet.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 22 March to the right hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Mr. Steel) at column 621.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will arrange for the British post in Bombay to issue a visit visa to Mrs. Sakina Najmuddin Badruddin so that she can join her family in paying respects to her father who died in the United Kingdom last December;(2) when Mr. Latifa Begum, who was born on 7 March 1955, and her four children, applied to the British post in New Delhi for entry clearance to enter the United Kingdom; and when they will be interviewed;(3) why Mrs. Zaffar Iqbal Raja, ref. V 431489, was refused a visa by the British post in Islamabad to visit the United Kingdom; what is Mr. Raja's occupation and family circumstances; and if he will reconsider Mr. Raja's application.

In accordance with the recent guidelines on the handling of representations by Members of Parliament in immigration cases, issued to Members on 14 December 1988, I have referred the question to the correspondence unit of migration and visa department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The hon. Member will receive a reply from the unit in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish in the Official Report a list showing expenditure on programmes for old age as a proportion of gross domestic product at market prices, for European Community member states, for each year since 1983.

The most recent information is as follows:

	1983	1984	1985
Belgium	7·8	7·8	—
Denmark	10·2	10·2	10·1
Federal Republic of Germany	8·0	7·8	—
Greece	—	—	—
Spain	—	—	—
France	9·1	—	—
Ireland	5·7	5·6	5·5

	1983	1984	1985
Italy	7·7	7·7	7·6
Luxembourg	6·7	—	—
Netherlands	8·8	—	—
Portugal	—	—	—
United Kingdom	9·5	9·6	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish in percentage terms the number of applications to him under the hardship clause of the Social Security Act 1988 (a) submitted through each Department of Social Security local office and (b) submitted on a Department of Social Security regional basis, which are successful in their intent; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the television-based advertising campaign for family credit will be launched; and if he will make a statement.

The family credit television campaign started yesterday and will run throughout Great Britain for eight weeks until 7 June. This phase of the campaign will cost 2·3 million. In addition, an outdoor campaign on posters and bus sides will commence throughout Great Britain on 1 May for two months until the end of June. The total cost of this aspect of the campaign will be £1·3 million. A further £;1 million has been allocated for other promotional activities during the remainder of this financial year. These will include providing adequate supplies of leaflets and posters in sub-post offices, community and health centres and other places used frequently by mothers with children.The campaign emphasises working families' eligibility for family credit, including those with take-home pay levels as high as £175 per week in some cases. It sets out to dispel misconceptions about ineligibility for family credit because of home ownership, self-employment and lone parent status, and points out that it is a weekly tax-free payment and not a loan.We have already arranged for a copy of the advertising research on which the campaign is based to be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for what period 16 and 17-year-olds estranged from their parents will be able to claim income support; and if he will make a statement.

Regulations have yet to be made, but we intend that 16 and 17-year-olds who are estranged from their parents will be eligible to receive income support during the same period as the child benefit extension period—that is, until the end of the calendar year for summer school leavers and for 12 weeks in the case of those leaving at Christmas or Easter. During that time the guarantee of an offer of a YTS place will be met. Once eligibility for income support on this basis runs out, the "severe hardship" provision will be available where necessary. Those not required to be available for work or training will continue to be eligible for income support at all times.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how he proposes that the housing benefit will reflect the community charge in 1990; and if he will make a statement.

From April 1990, help for people on low income in paying the community charge will be provided through a community charge benefit scheme. This will be separate from the housing benefit scheme, though the rules of the two schemes will be aligned as closely as is possible. The local authority associations and the Social Security Advisory Committee are now being consulted on draft Community Charge Benefits (General) Regulations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will place in the Library a copy of the memorandum from his Department to which reference is made in the Evening Times article of 10 April, a copy of which has been sent to him.

No. The document referred to was only interim advice. Full instructions to local offices will be issued in the near future and I will arrange for a copy of these to be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether under S.I. No. 507 (S.59) any deduction for poll tax payments from persons on income support can be made by his Department without its first having received a specific request, naming an individual or couple, from the levying authority.

No. The levying authority must first have obtained a summary warrant in respect of the debt.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his policy on imposing deductions of poll tax payments from persons on income support before appeals have been dealt with by a tribunal.

If an appeal is made, deductions will continue pending the tribunal's decision.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether the spokeswoman referred to in the article printed in the Evening Times, a copy of which has been sent to him, had his authority to state that a person on income support could be left with 10p of an income due to deductions arising from non-payment of the poll tax; and if he will provide an example of how this can happen.

The provision for 10p to remain in payment is in regulation 2 of the Community Charges (Deductions from Income Support) (Scotland) Regulations (SI 1989 No. 507) and derives from the provision in paragraph 2 of schedule 9 to the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 (SI 1987 No. 1968) dealing with other deductions from income support for debts to third parties. Its purpose is to avoid extinguishment of entitlement. For example, the deduction for a single person will be £1·75p a week. If the person's income support is less than £1·85p per week because of other income, the deduction for community charge arrears could not be made.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the maximum weekly deduction for non-payment of the poll tax from (a) a single person aged 18 years, (b) a single person aged 25 years, and (c) a married couple, all receiving full income support and without savings, and assuming they have no other deductions for housing and fuel.

The information requested is as follows:

(a) and (b) £1·75p a week; (c) £2·75p a week if both partners are debtors to the levying authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether the powers of his Department to deduct sums from income support where the recipient has failed to pay his or her poll tax are subject to a time to pay direction under the Debtor (Scotland) Act 1987.

No. In terms of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 (as amended by the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987) section 1(5)(ee), the court cannot make a time direction in an action by or on behalf of a levying authority for the payment of any community charge.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the Royal Air Force's front-line aircraft is not fully operational.

It has been the policy of successive Governments not to provide detailed information about the operational readiness of elements of the armed forces. All Royal Air Force aircraft assigned to operational duties are fully manned and equipped and thus able to undertake their designated missions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his (a) Belgian, (b) Canadian, (c) Danish, (d) French, (e) Greek, (f) Norwegian, (g) Spanish and (h) West German counterparts regarding the United States' new competitive strategies doctrine.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received of an alleged near miss by two low-flying military aircraft over Cannington, Somerset, on Friday 7 April; and if he will make a statement.

There has been no report of an alleged airmiss involving military aircraft over Cannington, Somerset, on Friday 7 April.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement as to the tender process and timings he intents to adopt for the southern section of the M40 extension.

We plan to invite competitive tenders later this month and to expedite our normal arrangements for their submission and evaluation. Subject to the outcome and to the satisfactory completion of the statutory procedures this should enable construction to start this summer.The contract will include provision for a bonus for early completion and a charge for late completion in relation to the contractor's own tendered period. This should ensure completion of the M40 as soon as practicable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the amount of road investment in the United Kingdom, France and West Germany for each of the last five years.

The information readily available is as follows:

Capital expenditure on road infrastructure National currency—millions
	United Kingdom	Federal Republic of Germany	France
1983	1,425	13,550	26,900
1984	1,570	13,450	28,800
1985	1,678	13,250	35,700
1986	1,801	14,500	37,800
1987	1,871	—	—

Exchange rates taken from CSO "Economic Trends"
	DM	FF
1983	3·870	11·5471
1984	3·791	11·6349
1985	3·784	11·5494
1986	3·193	10·1569
1987	—	—

Sterling—millions
	United Kingdom	Federal Republic of Germany	France
1983	1,425	3,501	2,330
1984	1,570	3,548	2,475
1985	1,678	3,502	3,091

	United Kingdom	Federal Republic of Germany	France
1986	1,801	4,555	3,722
1987	1,871	—	—

The information for the United Kingdom and West Germany comes from the latest ECMT publication "Statistical Trends in Transport". That for France was obtained from the statistical office of the French Transport Ministry in November 1988. ECMT is currently collecting the relevant information for 1987—it should be available in the autumn.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations has he received from commuters about lack of staff and information at British Rail stations; whether he has any plans to alter the quality of service objectives set for British Rail to take account of these representations; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 13 April 1989]: We regularly receive representations on all aspects of the quality of service of British Rail. There are already quality of service objectives covering train enquiry bureaux and queuing times at ticket offices. Staffing matters generally are the responsibility of the British Railways Board and we have no plans to introduce objectives to cover staffing levels at stations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to change British Rail's quality of service objectives to seek a reduction in overcrowding on trains; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 13 April 1989]: We are discussing with BR new quality of service objectives for the provincial sector. We shall be reviewing BR's other quality of service standards in setting new objectives for the period from 1990 to 1993.The Government have approved increasing levels of investment to reduce overcrowding and to meet the agreed quality of service objectives on all passenger sectors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the extent to which British Rail is meeting the quality of service objectives set by him with regard to train punctuality and cancellations.

[holding answer 13 Apri11989]: The results available to the Department for the first three quarters of the financial year 1988–89 are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to change British Rail's quality of service objectives to take account of the need for improved standards of cleaning on British Rail trains; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 13 April 1989]: We have no plans to change British Rail's carriage cleaning objectives. BR is making every effort to achieve the standards that have already been agreed.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the estimated cost to his Department of administering his scheme to control the numbers of edible dormice.

Licences to trap edible dormice are issued as a small part of my Department's general licensing responsibilities under the Widlife and Countryside Act 1981. There is no specific scheme of control. The administrative cost of issuing licences in 1989 is estimated at £80.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his assessment of the damage inflicted to the commercial timber industry by the six edible dormice, the destruction of which he authorised in 1988.

Damage to commercial woodland by edible dormice is assessed by local Ministry biologists. The dormice strip off bark, mainly from larch trees. Such damage occurs in very localised areas but can considerably reduce the long-term value of the stands of trees affected. The success of control varies markedly from year to year but actual trapping occurs only when damage becomes apparent and local Ministry staff have been notified.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has made any assessment of the impact on British agriculture of Britain becoming a member of the European monetary system; and if he will make a statement.

The United Kingdom is already a member of the European monetary system (EMS). Were we to join the exchange rate mechanism (ERM) of the EMS, within what is known as narrow-band divergence limits, there would be implications for the monetary compensatory amounts (MCAs) applied to trade in agricultural products.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) on how many occasions during 1988 cattle submitted for slaughter at European Economic Community export approved slaughterhouses were identified by ante-mortem veterinary inspections as bovine spongiform encephalopathy suspect; and in how many of these cases bovine spongiform encephalopathy subsequently was confirmed by post-mortem inspection.(2) how many cattle entered for slaughter at non-EEC export approved slaughterhouses during 1988 were found, on inspection, to be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy;

[holding answer 13 April 1989]: We consider this monitoring very important indeed. It is essential that no animals slip through. There has been no evidence of negligence. Thorough inspection has resulted in 63 suspect cases of BSE, 40 of which were subsequently confirmed, being reported from markets and slaughterhouse from 21 June 1988, when the disease was made notifiable, to the end of the year. During this period a total of 2,186 cases were confirmed.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his proposals for compulsory sheep dipping in 1989.

[holding answer 7 April 1989]: The Government have examined the arrangements for controlling sheep scab with a view to securing effective regulation while avoiding unnecessary burdens on the industry.It has been decided that there will be a single compulsory national dip in the autumn of 1989 and a further dip in the autumn of 1990. A system of movement controls will be introduced following this autumn's dip and arrangements for 1991 onwards will be decided in the light of the effectiveness of the new measures. The dates of the compulsory dip will be announced after consultation with the industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by year for the last 10 years and to date for 1989, the number of cases of meningitis treated in the Trent regional health authority, the years in which there were clusters, the number of fatal cases and the number of cases involving children under five years and of school age.

Table A
Number of cases of (a) all forms of meningitis (b) meningococcal meningitis notified in Trent Regional Health Authority, 1979–891 all ages and selected age-groups.
Notifications
	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	11989
Acute Meningitis All forms
All ages	84	74	93	104	91	103	135	170	186	309	71
0–4	30	28	30	42	47	48	56	88	79	117	41
5–14	25	12	25	19	16	15	21	26	37	39	5
Acute Meningococcal Meningitis
All ages	58	76	27	26	41	33	44	69	72	111	33
0–4	28	39	14	11	22	15	23	34	43	61	17
5–14	15	25	6	7	7	2	9	9	9	15	3
1 1 January–31 March (1988 and 1989 provisional).

Table B
Number of deaths with meningococcal infection1 as underlying cause of death, usual residents of Trent Regional Health Authority, all ages and selected age-groups, 1979–1987.
Deaths
	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987
Meningococcal Infection
All ages	11	11	6	4	14	6	11	10	15
0–4	6	4	4	2	7	1	7	8	7
5–14	1	2	—	1	1	—	—	—	1
1 International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 9th Revision 036·0

Table C2
Numbers (10 per cent. sample) of hospital inpatient cases recorded with meningococcal infection1 as principal diagnosis, Trent Regional Health Authority, 1979–85.
Trent RHA—Region of treatment
	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985
Numbers	11	8	6	8	14	4	6
1 ICD 9th Revision 036·0
2 These data are taken from the Hospital in-patient inquiry, a 10 per cent. sample of NHS non-psychiatric in-patient records. The last data year for this study was 1985.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information his Department collects on the movement of people after discharge from mental illness hospitals;(2) what information is collected by his Department about people who have been discharged from mental illness hospitals.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has about the mental health history of the boarders in each local authority area in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.Since 1 April 1987, annual figures are collected about the intended destination of patients on completion of a

The information is not available in the precise form requested. In particular, data on clustering of cases within a local authority area are not available, since addresses are not noted on the infectious disease notification reports sent by regional health authorities to the OPCS.The tables show the nearest equivalent readily available data.duration of stay within National Health Service hospitals and units in a district health authority in England. The destinations recorded are:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychosis were discharged from mental illness hospitals in each of the last three years; and how many of them were taken into local authority residential care in the same year.

The table shows the number of discharges, excluding deaths and transfers, with a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia from National Health Service mental illness hospitals and units in England for the latest three years for which information is available. The figures are for discharges, and not individual patients, since the same patient may be discharged more than once during the year.

Discharges1 from mental illness hospitals and units, with a diagnosis of schizophrenia2, England 1984–86
Year	Numbers
1984	23,879
1985	24,091
1986	23,975
1Excludes deaths and transfers to other hospitals.
29th Revision, International Classification of Diseases, 295·0–295·9.

Information is not collected by diagnosis on the numbers of people entering into care, or taking up accommodation, provided by the local authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people discharged from hospital following a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychosis and subsequently taken by the police under section to hospital have been refused admission in each health region in each of the last three years.

This information is not centrally available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collects about admission under section and refusals of admissions under section to mental illness hospitals; and if he will make a statement.

From 1987 information has been collected centrally about the number of patients detained, within each district health authority, under each of the following sections of the Mental Health Act, 1983: section 2, 3, 4, 35, 36, 37/41, 37, 37(4), 38, 44, 46, 47/49, 47, 48/49, 48, 135 and 136. This information is available correlated to the mental category and sex of patient. Comparable information is available for earlier years and is contained in the Department's statistical note 1/88, a copy of which is in the Library. No information is centrally available on the refusal of hospitals to admit patients under sections of the Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people discharged from mental illness hospitals after a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychosis having been proved vulnerable boarders subsequently became voluntary boarders in each of the last two years in each health region.

The information requested is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential places in the community are currently available for those discharged from mental hospitals in each health region; what is the current rate of occupancy; and what are the projected figures for the next two years.