To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of properties owned by his Department and suitable for residential accommodation have been empty for (i) up to a year and (ii) over a year; and where these properties are located, by region of the United Kingdom or local authority area.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether the Spanish Government informed the British authorities that the Renault car parked at Main street, Gibraltar, on 6 March 1988, was followed by surveillance officers of the Spanish authorities to the frontier of Gibraltar on 6 March; and if it was then followed by British authorities until it was parked;(2) whether the Spanish authorities have confirmed to him the statements of Tomaz Rayo Valenzuela and Manuel Gimenez that the Spanish police discovered D. McCann and S. Savage staying at the hotel Escandinavia, Torremolinos, on 5 March 1988 and informed the British authorities;(3) why the Spanish police were requested not to follow D. McCann and S. Savage on 6 March 1988.

I refer the hon. Member to the statement given by my right hon. and noble Friend Lord Trefgarne in another place on I March at column 1124.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer why the Inland Revenue charge a higher interest rate on moneys owed to it by taxpayers than the rate that it applies to moneys repaid by it to taxpayers.

The present rates of interest charged by the Inland Revenue on unpaid tax and paid on overpaid tax are the same (11·5 per cent.).

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has as to (a) the number of employers involved in, and (b) the total annual cost to the Exchequer of, the current take-up of relief available for the establishment of workplace nurseries by employers, under (i) the 4 per cent. per annum relief scheme and (ii) the special provision for enterprise zones.

I regret that this information is not available centrally.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to raise the limit for the P11D form and if he will make a statement.

There are no plans to do so.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the limit for the P11D form was raised to £8,500; and what would be the equivalent figure in current monetary terms.

Employees whose earnings, including the value of benefits, are at a rate of £8,500 or more per year are liable to tax on benefits in kind. All directors are liable regardless of the level of earnings. The earnings threshold—also known as the P11D limit—was set at £8,500 in 1979–80 and, if it had been indexed in line with inflation according to the statutory formula for increasing personal allowances and thresholds, the threshold in 1989–90 would be £18,100.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy towards indexing the limit for the P11D form in line with inflation.

The Government have at no time sought to increase the threshold at which employees pay tax on benefits in kind, since in principle all employees should pay income tax on the whole of their earnings whether received in cash or in kind.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employers currently receive dispensation from the Inland Revenue from completing the P11D form; and how many employees benefit from such dispensations.

It is estimated that, at December 1988, about 23,000 employers had dispensations from reporting employees' expenses payments on forms P11D, an increase of 29 per cent. on the number at October 1987. When a dispensation exists in relation to expenses payments P11Ds may still need to be completed in relation to benefits in kind.The number of employees covered by dispensations in 1985–86 is estimated to be about 2·7 million. Figures for later years are not yet available but, as there has been a substantial increase in employers receiving dispensations, it is estimated that over 3 million employees are now covered by them.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many representations he has received, since 15 March 1988, about the withdrawal of tax relief on increases in parental contributions to covenants for students; whether he plans any changes in these arrangements; and if he will make a statement.

Treasury Ministers have received some 200 representations about various aspects of the changes introduced last year to the tax treatment of student covenants. No separate record has been kept of those which relate to increases in parental contributions for students.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any plans to reform or abolish stamp duty; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer, 19 April 1989]: In my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's recent Budget he proposed both to abolish stamp duty on life policies and to adapt the charge on share transfers to forthcoming developments in methods of share dealing.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the money taken by the purchase of premium bonds is spent on (a) administration and (b) prize money.

[pursuant to his reply 7 March 1989 c. 493]: I regret that there was an error in the reply. Premium bond prize money is a charge on the National Loans Fund not the Consolidated Fund.

To ask the Attorney-General what steps the Lord Chancellor is taking to reduce the risk of mortgage fraud arising from delays in the Land Registry; what is the current backlog; what is his target for the interval between receipt and completion of inquiries; when he expects this to be achieved; and how long he plans to maintain that performance once achieved.

There does not appear to be any evidence that mortgage fraud occurs because of delays in completing applications at the Land Registry. Such frauds occur in areas of the conveyancing process with which the Land Registry is not directly involved.The Land Registry has target completion times of 14 weeks for first registrations, 12 weeks for dealings with part of the land in a title and four weeks for dealings with the whole title. The present backlog of applications which have not been dealt with within these target completion times is 586,000.The targets referred to will be achieved within the next year if activity levels in the property and financial markets do not increase. Once they are achieved the chief land registrar will look to improve the service further.

To ask the Attorney-General on what criteria the Lord Chancellor chose 1992 as the date by which local advisory committees on appointing magistrates should make their membership publicly known.

Advisory committees are reconstituted every three years. By the end of 1992 any serving members who do not wish their names to be disclosed will have had an opportunity to retire.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make it his policy not to consider future applications for power stations until after negotiations with affected local authorities have taken place.

Present legislation provides for the relevant planning authorities to be consulted about such applications when they are made. Similar provision is made in the Electricity Bill currently before Parliament.Furthermore, I understand that it is normal practice for an applicant to discuss a proposed development informally with the planning authorities before submitting his application to my right hon. Friend.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what percentage of properties owned by his Department and suitable for residential accommodation have been empty for (i) up to a year and (ii) over a year; and where these properties are located, by region of the United Kingdom or local authority area.

My Department owns no such properties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) if, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill of 9 December, Official Report, column 373, he will state the error limits allowed in calculating the amount of plutonium produced by British civil nuclear power stations in the year ended 31 March 1988;(2) what criteria his Department uses in allowing error limits to be set for the calculations of the amount of plutonium generated by British civil nuclear power stations.

My Department does not set specific error limits in the calculation of plutonium content, but expects the operators to achieve the highest possible accuracy in their estimates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the population figures within a 100-mile radius for each nuclear power station in the United Kingdom.

Most of the population of the United Kingdom live within a 100-mile radius of a nuclear power station.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on additionality with respect to European Community funding as it applies to Northern Ireland.

We shall adhere to the additionality conditions included in the new regulation co-ordinating the EC's three structural funds.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the number of representations he has received for and against the Government's students loan plan.

Representations expressing a variety of views have been received from four Members of Parliament, two district councils, the Fair Employment Agency, local representatives of the National Union of Students and other student bodies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he had received any representations from banking institutions in the last month with regard to the proposed introduction of student loans; and if he will make a statement.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he is taking action to secure devolved government in Northern Ireland, either within or outside the framework of the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

We are exploring the possibilities for political movement. I would not at this stage try to draw any conclusions from these exploratory discussions, which are still in progress, though all the main political parties have said they support devolution. I hope that responsible political leaders and interested groups will take this opportunity to convey their views on these important matters and they can do it either within or outside the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will make a statement on the security situation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will make a statement on the security position in Northern Ireland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the security situation in Northern Ireland.

Since 9 March, 10 people have died in incidents arising from the security situation. These deaths included two senior police officers, one UDR soldier and seven civilians. They also included the murder of a young girl killed by a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA without warning in Warrenpoint on 12 April. Thirty people were also injured in this appalling attack. The Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for five of these murders, whilst Loyalist paramilitary organisations are believed to have been responsible for the other five.The resolute efforts of the security forces have resulted in 74 people being charged with serious offences, including 12 with murder and 13 with attempted murder since the beginning of the year. A total of 123 weapons, over 14,500 rounds of ammunition and 215 lb of explosives have been recovered in Northern Ireland. I understand that the Garda Siochana has recovered 39 weapons, 11,500 rounds of ammunition, and 230 lb of explosives.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he last met representatives from the education and library boards in Northern Ireland; and what was discussed.

I met a deputation from the Association of Education and Library Boards on 21 March 1989 when resolutions adopted at the association's 1988 annual meeting were presented and discussed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on the review of the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the review of the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

Work is continuing on the review under article 11 of the Anglo-Irish Agreement of the working of the intergovernmental conference. It is intended that the review be concluded, and the results made public, at the next meeting of the conference to be held in a few weeks.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to encourage the exchange of touring arts companies between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

There has been, and continues to be, a healthy exchange of touring arts companies between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The Government, however, are not directly involved in these arrangements. In Northern Ireland, as in the rest of the United Kingdom, the support of artistic ventures is the responsibility of the Arts Council and the council and the arts organisations themselves encourage and arrange tours by individual artists and companies to and from Northern Ireland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the system for fixing release dates for prisoners serving sentences of indeterminate length.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill (Mr. Alton).

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he next proposes to have discussions with Ministers of the Government of the Republic of Ireland; and what matters he will discuss.

I last met Irish Ministers on 5 April. No firm date has yet been announced for the next meeting of the conference, but I expect this to be done quite soon.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he last met the Prime Minister of the Irish Republic; and what subjects were discussed.

I last met the Taoiseach in Dublin on 13 September prior to the intergovernmental conference on that day. The subjects discussed are confidential. I meet the deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Lenihan, regularly in the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will provide more funds to the Royal Ulster Constabulary to enable community policing in the North Down area to be fully restored.

The Police Authority grant for 1989–90 is £415 million. This represents an increase of some £30 million over the previous year. It is primarily the responsibility of the Chief Constable and the Police Authority to determine priorities and allocate resources.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he last met representatives from the health and social services boards in Northern Ireland; and what was discussed.

I met board representatives on 23 March. We discussed the proposals in the White Paper "Working for Patients".

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he intends to introduce legislation to bring Northern Ireland into line with Great Britain regarding illegal slaughtering and unfit meat trading.

Northern Ireland legislation on the slaughter of animals is already in line with Great Britain. Legislation governing trade in unfit meat is in line with England and Wales, but differs from Scotland. The Department of Health and Social Services is currently considering whether the Northern Ireland law on unfit meat should be improved by including some provisions equivalent to those applying in Scotland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will indicate the exact procedure used and documentation required to transport live fish in Northern Ireland.

The movement of live fish, ova and fry requires a permit issued under section 14 of the Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966. Permits may be obtained by making application to fisheries division, Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, Castle buildings, Stormont, Belfast.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were arrested, detained and subsequently released without charge under section 12 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act in each of the years from 1984 to 1988.

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he last met representatives from the medical and nursing profession in Northern Ireland; and what was discussed.

I have discussed "Working for Patients" with a variety of interests including representatives of the medical, nursing and management professions and members of health and social services boards and I will be meeting several more delegations shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the use of plastic bullets in Northern Ireland.

Plastic baton rounds are used by the security forces in Northern Ireland only when their use is judged to be the minimum and reasonable amount of force necessary to protect life, property and to prevent serious crime. In certain circumstances, particularly during vicious and widespread rioting when lives are put seriously at risk, the use of plastic baton rounds is the most effective way of restoring order. This method of riot control is designed to ensure that the risk of injury or death is kept to a minimum.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he next expects to discuss the question of state subsidies with representatives of Harland and Wolff; and if he will make a statement.

I have no plans to discuss the question of state subsidies with representatives of Harland and Wolff. I can confirm, however, that following the signing of the heads of agreement discussions between my officials and the MEBO/Olsen team are continuing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what arrangements have been made to appoint a new Comptroller and Auditor-General for Northern Ireland.

Her Majesty the Queen has graciously approved the appointment of Dr. W. H. Jack CB, former permanent secretary at the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, to this office in succession to L.V.D. Calvert CB who is retiring.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will consider reintroducing income support to 16 and 17-year-olds who do not receive an offer of a YTS place at the termination of their period of bridging allowance or extended child benefit.

[holding answer 19 April 1989]: In line with the policy of maintaining parity in social security provision, the rules for paying income support to 16 and 17-year-olds in Northern Ireland are kept in line with those for the rest of the United Kingdom. At present income support is payable under the normal rules to a number of 16 and 17-year-olds, for example, if they are incapable of work or have a child. Claims for income support under the "severe hardship" provision will be considered from any 16 or 17-year-old who is actively pursuing a place in the youth training programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many 16 and 17-year-olds who remain unemployed after the ending of the bridging allowance payments or extended child benefit (1) applied for severe hardship grants from the social fund or (2) received severe hardship grants from the social fund for each month, October 1988 to March 1989, inclusive.

[holding answer 19 April 1989]: Severe hardship payments are made under the income support scheme rather than the social fund and the available information is set out in the table below:

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will assess the likely implications of the transmission by Channel 4 of public service broadcasts emanating from his Department of the White Paper "Broadcasting in the 90s: Competition, Choice and Quality".

There is no reason to suppose that the proposals in the White Paper will alter the present arrangements whereby public service messages are broadcast by Channel 4.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of properties owned by his Department and suitable for residential accommodation have been empty for (i) up to a year and (ii) over a year; and where these properties are located, by region of the United Kingdom or local authority area.

The Employment Department group has title, either freehold or leasehold, to 36 residential properties. Of these, one flat in Morden, Surrey has been vacant for more than a year, while major repairs and refurbishment works are carried out. Two houses associated with Letchworth skillcentre, and intended for keyworker staff, have been unoccupied since December 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when his Department received applications for work permits from Mr. Pat Mastandrea amd Mr. Gary Davey of Sky Television; if the applications were successful; and if he will make a statement.

Details of work permit applications are confidential between this Department and the applicant's employer or his accredited representative.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what criteria have to be satisfied before a non-EC national can obtain employment in the United Kingdom.

Work permits are issued in respect of a specific post. In general work permits for normal employment are granted only in respect of jobs requiring professional qualifications or administrative, executive or high technical skills for which suitable resident labour is not available. The pay and conditions offered should be at least as good as those offered in the area for similar work and the overseas worker should normally be aged between 23 and 54 years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received on the subject of workfare schemes.

[holding answer 18 April 1989]: My right hon. Friend receives, from time to time, representations both for and against the introduction of a workfare scheme in this country.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list all current publicity campaigns being conducted by or for his Department and the Training Agency, respectively, or ones planned for the first three months of 1989–90, indicating those which involve television advertising and the starting and finishing dates of each campaign.

[holding answer 19 April 1989]: The current publicity campaigns and those planned by my Department for the first three months of 1989–90 are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the present aid projects funded by his Department in the west bank and the Gaza strip; what have been the projects so aided in each of the preceding five years; and what has been the cost of each.

Over the past five years the Overseas Development Administration's bilateral assistance to the west bank and Gaza has been provided through contributions to projects undertaken by British nongovernmental organisations; by training awards for Palestinians to study in Britain; and by book presentations to educational institutions. Details are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many farms in Wales were visited by his staff and advised about methods of controlling agricultural pollution in each of the last five years.

Information on the number of farms visited to provide advice on pollution control is not available. The Agricultural Development and Advisory Service takes every opportunity to discuss pollution control measures in the course of farm visits made for other purposes, and provides advice free.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received about the denial of human rights in Wales; and which organisations made these representations.

The information is not available. The question of human rights can be interpreted as covering an extremely wide range of issues for which my Department is responsible. Some representations received from both organisations and individuals, may raise allegations of denials of human rights. No central record is kept of such representations or of the organisations making them.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how teacher salary costs are calculated in Wales for the local management formula for primary schools in the calculation of school budgets.

Under local management of schools primary schools budgets will be determined by a formula based largely on age-weighted pupil numbers. At least 75 per cent. of the resources so distributed must be in proportion to age-weighted pupil numbers. In deciding how heavily to weight each age of pupils, LEAs will need to make assumptions about teaching costs for each age group. These assumptions will be based on average teacher salaries. However, Welsh Office circular 36/88 recognises that in the case of small schools there may be variations between the actual teaching costs and the LEA's average costs, due to teachers' position on the main scale and the incidence of salary safeguarding. LEAs may therefore adjust schools' budgets to reflect this factor. In general, however, the degree of protection should be tapered according to the size of school, so that budget shares of larger schools are not adjusted.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what percentage of officers in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. respectively, and overall in his Department are (a) women and (b) members of ethnic minorities.

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when his Department last conducted a survey of the ethnic origin of its employees; when it next plans to do so; and whether he will make a statement.

My Department carried out a survey of the ethnic origin of its employees in May 1988. The ethnic origin of all new entrants is known and I have no present plans for another survey.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at his Department.

My Department is an equal opportunity employer. It gives equal consideration, regardless of colour, race, ethnic or national origins, to all candidates in its promotion and recruitment procedures. This applies to all levels of management.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people were (a) working in local government in Wales, and (b) working in the different occupational categories in local government in Wales in 1979, 1985 arid each subsequent year.

The information requested is published table 47 of "Welsh Local Governmental Financial Statistics No. 12, 1988", copies of which are available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people were working in the water industry in Wales in 1979, 1985 and each subsequent year.

The number of people working in the water industry in Wales is not available in the exact form requested. Figures are available for the Welsh water authority's area of supply and those people employed by the Wrexham and East Denbighshire water company and the Chester water company. These are detailed in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people were working (a) in education and (b) the different occupational categories in education in Wales in 1979, 1985 and each subsequent year.

Information for the maintained! sector is given in "Welsh Local Government Financial Statistics, No. 12, 1988" (table 47) copies of which are available in the Library of the House. Directly comparable figures for the independent sector are not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people were working (a) in the Welsh Office, and (b) in the different occupational categories in the Welsh Office in 1979, 1985 and each subsequent year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the design load of that part of the road from Baglan to the point of the road over the bridge at the roundabout for Swansea or Carmarthen; and whether it has been exceeded in each of the last 10 years.

The existing road is heavily loaded, but no single traffic capacity figure is available since that depends on many factors, especially junctions. Delays tend to occur particularly at peak periods at Baglan roundabout, but work will start shortly on a scheme to alleviate this. Further relief will be achieved with the completion of the final section of the M4 in 1994.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the sewerage outfalls from Wales into the Bristol channel, together with industrial discharges; and whether he has made any assessment of how many more outlets can be allowed before the water quality off south Wales and north Devon would require the European Community to take legal action over the failure of many beaches to meet European Community bathing water standards.

Sewerage outfalls from Wales direct to the Bristol channel are listed in the following table. Information on industrial discharges, which are the responsibility of the Welsh water authority, is not centrally available.

The number of permanent staff working in my Department in 1979, 1985 and each subsequent year and their occupational categories are set out in the following table. Direct comparisons between individual occupational categories after 1986 are however not possible since in following years they were affected by changes arising from the introduction of unified grading and the expansion of the open structure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many red kites have been found dead in mid-Wales during each of the past three years; what has been the cause of death in each case; and how many prosecutions for the use of illegal poison have been taken out in the same period.

The Department is involved only if red kites are suspected of dying from pesticide poisoning. In 1986, there were three such incidents in mid-Wales, each involving one red kite. In one case the cause of death was not established. In the other two cases the insecticide Fenthion was indentified as the cause of death and although circumstances suggested its illegal use as a poison, this could not be cofirmed. There were no cases recorded in 1987 or 1988. So far this year there have been two incidents involving two and four birds respectively and these cases are still under investigation. There have been no prosecutions in Wales for illegal poisoning of red kites since the beginning of 1986.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number of farms, number of sheep and number of acres subject of post-Chernobyl restrictions as at February; and if he will make a statement.

Approximately 416 holdings, 300,000 sheep and 210,000 acres. Restrictions will be lifted as soon as it is possible to do so without compromising food safety.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will list (a) the number of dwellings owned, (b) the number of dwellings built, (c) the number of dwellings sold and (d) the number of dwellings purchased from the private sector, in each year since 1980 by each housing authority in Wales.

[holding answer 11 April 1989]: The information requested is given in the following tables: