To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many bail hostels for women will be established in the next three years; and where they will be located.

To date we have agreed proposals to provide a total of 32 additional places in approved hostels for women on bail by April 1990. These will be at hostels in Basildon, Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff and inner London. Plans for the following two years have not yet been agreed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inmates at present serving a life sentence in England and Wales are over the age of 60 years.

According to records held centrally on 31 May 1989, 81 males and three females aged over 60 years were serving life sentences in prison service establishments in England and Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the number of people deported from the United Kingdom during each of the last five years.

Information on the number of persons removed from the United Kingdom under the deportation process in the years 1984 to 1988 is published in table 24 of "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 1987" (Cm. 415) and in table 14 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin Issue 10/89 "Control of Immigration: Statistics—Fourth Quarter and Year 1988", copies of both of which are in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of persons (a) detained by the Metropolitan police on suspicion of being an illegal entrant and (b) subsequently not charged for 1988 and in each month in 1989 to the nearest available date.

Information is not available in the form requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the numbers of illegal entrants to the United Kingdom detected in each quarter in 1988 and in each month in 1989 to the nearest available date;

Information for 1986 to 1988 on the number of notices of intention to deport issued and the number of persons against whom action was commenced as illegal entrants are published in tables 13 and 14, respectively, of Home Office statistical bulletin issue 10/89 "Control of Immigration: Statistics—Fourth Quarter and Year 1988", a copy of which is in the Library. The next issue of the bulletin giving information for the first quarter of 1989 will be published around the end of the month.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are applied in determining whether a notice of intention to deport should be considered and signed by a member of the immigration and nationality department or by a member of the immigration service.

The issue of a notice of intention to deport may be authorised by designated members of the immigration service not below the rank of inspector in cases where an officer of the service, in the course of carrying out his duties, discovers a person who is liable to deportation under section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971 as an overstayer or for working in breach of conditions. The issue of a notice in all other circumstances is authorised by members of the deportation section of the immigration and nationality department.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to increase the allowance that can be paid to members of the prison board of visitors; and if he will make a statement.

Allowances for travelling expenses for board members were increased on 1 January 1989, and they will shortly be notified that allowances for loss of earnings have been increased with effect from 15 May 1989. These rates are tied to those paid to justices of the peace.Members of boards of visitors who serve on local review committees receive travelling expenses in line with Civil Service mileage allowances, which were increased with effect from 1 July 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received with regard to allowing female overseas students to be joined by their husbands for the duration of their studies in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Two representations have been received recently on this subject: replies have been sent to both.Although the rules make no formal provision for husbands to accompany or join their wives who are studying in the United Kingdom, entry clearance may be granted for this purpose where there are compassionate circumstances. We have considered whether the rules ought to go further, but have concluded that they should not. One of the basic purposes of immigration control is to restrict the numbers coming to live or take employment in this country. Changing the rules so that they allowed female students to be accompanied by their husbands would represent a considerable relaxation in the control, which could result in substantial additional numbers coming to work in the United Kingdom.

Representations of wrongful conviction and consequent references to the Court of Appeal under section 17(1)(a) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968
Period	Number of representations considered	Number of cases referred to the Court of Appeal	Appeals allowed by the Court of Appeal	Appeals dismissed by the Court of Appeal
1 October 1984 to 30 September 1985	770	2	1	1
1 October 1985 to 30 September 1986	773	4	1	3
1 October 1986 to 30 September 1987	784	6	3	3
1 October 1987 to 31 March 1988	274	23	—	2
1 April 19881 to 31 March 1989	536	32	1	—
1 The method of collecting statistics was revised in April 1988.
2 One case awaiting determination at 31 March 1989.
3 One case awaiting determination at 31 March 1989

In other cases free pardons were granted and relevant figures are given in a reply today to another question from the hon. Member.In the other cases considered it was decided that there were no grounds in the information available for intervention in the conviction.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal convictions, disregarding motoring offences, were quashed by him without reference to the Court of Appeal for each year since 1980.

My right hon. Friend has no power to quash a conviction. In addition to his powers under section 17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 to refer a case to the Court of Appeal, he may, in exceptional circumstances, recommend to Her Majesty the Queen that a free pardon should be granted. This course is normally followed in respect of summary convictions where there is no power to refer the case back to the courts for their consideration.The following free pardons have been granted in the years 1980–88 (excluding motoring offences):

	Number
1980	15
1981	14
1982	10
1983	11
1984	16
1985	6
1986	7
1987	13
1988	9

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why 19 days after notifying the constituent of the right hon. Member for Swansea, West,

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of alleged miscarriage of criminal justice were considered by the C3 department of the Home Office for each year from 1980; how many of these were referred to the courts; how many of these were rejected; how many were dealt with in other ways; and how many convictions were quashed.

Information in the form requested is available only from 1 October 1984, as follows:Mr. Wai Man Chung, that entry clearance to United Kingdom from China had been granted to his wife, Mrs. Shi Jian Chung, his Department had not notified the visa section at the Foreign Office of its decision, so that it could notify the embassy in Peking.

A letter authorising the issue of a visa to Mrs. Chung was sent to the migration and visa department of the Foreign Office on 26 May—the same day that Mr. Chung was notified of the decision. The migration and visa department has confirmed that instructions to issue Mrs. Chung with a visa were sent to Peking on 16 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure that private sector companies tendering for local authority contracts maintain the existing employment conditions of local authority employees.

None. Companies which are successful in winning local authority contracts under the compulsory competition regime will no doubt consider whether it is advantageous to employ all or some of the authority's relevant work force, but they are under no obligation to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will ensure that a copy of the section 7(1) submission submitted to him concerning possible housing development at High Warren, Appleton is made available to the Member for Warrington, South.

I have not received a submission under section 7(1) of the New Towns Act 1981 for housing development at High Warren, Appleton. I have however asked new town development corporations to ensure that they have satisfactory arrangements in place for informing hon. Members with a constituency interest of section 7(1) applications in which they have expressed an interest.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements he intends to make to ensure that hon. Members whose constituencies were affected by new town section 7(1) submissions receive copies of such submissions as a matter of course from new town development corporations.

I have asked new towns development corporations to ensure that they have satisfactory arrangements in place for informing hon. Members with a constituency interest of section 7(1) applications under the New Towns Act 1981 in which they have expressed an interest.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from environmental organisations about his proposed relaxation of controls over illuminated advertisements; and what has been his response.

Joint representations opposing the introduction of "deemed consent" provisions for illuminated advertisements were made on 29 March by the Association of Conservation Officers, on behalf of 11 local authority, professional and conservation organisations. The Georgian group subsequently supported these representations. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of my reply.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements his Department has made to consult local authorities over grant funding of secondary housing co-operatives to promote tenant management co-operatives in council housing under section 16 of the Housing and Planning Act 1986; what consultation there has been over which organisations receive such funding and at what level and what steps his Department has taken to consult local authorities to co-ordinate funding on tenants' intiatives in council housing.

There are no existing formal arrangements for consulting local authorities over section 16 grant funding of secondary agencies. Where necessary, the Department will discuss applications with the relevant authority.Local authorities were invited to submit evidence on matters, including section 16, to the recent housing co-operatives review. The Government are now considering the review committee's report.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how much money the Housing Corporation allocated in 1989–90 for the construction of wheelchair housing (a) in total cash terms, and (b) as a percentage of the total budget each year for the last six years;

This information is not held by the Department. The distribution of public funds to individual housing associatons and projects is largely a matter for the Housing Corporation to determine within the broad policy framework established annually in discussion with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. I have therefore asked the Housing Corporation to respond to my hon. Friend direct.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of local authority housing built in 1989–90 and in each of the last six previous financial years is wheelchair housing.

New wheelchair dwellings completed by English local authorities as a percentage of their total new housebuilding completions are as follows:

	Percentage
1983–84	1·0
1984–85	1·4
1985–86	1·0
1986–87	1·3
1987–88	1·3
1988–89	1·5

Information for 1989–90 is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to introduce a scheme to convert council house rents into mortgages along the lines of that announced by the Scottish Office; and if he will make a statement.

No. The Scottish scheme will entail voluntary sales to tenants of Scottish Homes. There is no organisation in England equivalent to Scottish Homes for these purposes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many planning appeals were lodged with his Department in 1974, 1979, 1984 and the last full year for which figures are available; and, for each year, how many were allowed.

The information requested is as follows:

Year	Appeals Received	Appeals Allowed
1974	13,324	2,715
1979	12,990	2,602
1984	16,192	3,773
1988–89	28,659	7,734

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is in a position to give further details of the share offer arrangements for employees of the privatised water authorities.

The Government welcome the opportunity which privatisation of the water authorities provides for employees to become shareholders in the new plcs. I can now announce the following special arrangements for eligible employees of the new water plcs and their wholly owned subsidiaries:

(i) employees will be offered free shares worth around £70 at the offer price plus about £2 of shares for every year of continuous service with their new company and the predecessor water authority up to a date close to flotation. In addition, people who were employed by the predecessor water authority on 1 April 1974, when the authority took over from bodies previously responsible for water supply and sewerage services, will be treated as having an additional five years' entitlement;

(ii) employees will also be offered two free shares for each one bought at the full offer price on a matching basis up to a maximum of £400 worth of free shares; under this element of the package, if an employee bought shares worth £200 at the offer price he would receive shares worth in total £600;

(iii) employees will be able to buy up to a maximum of £2,350 worth of additional shares at a discount of 10 per cent. from the full offer price;

(iv) employees applying for shares will be treated on a priority basis over the general public, up to an individual limit of shares worth £12,000 at the offer price; this is in addition to the free, matching and discount shares.

The free and matching shares will be available to employees who satisfy certain minimum qualification periods on length of employment and hours worked per week. The discount and priority shares will be available to all employees at a date close to the flotation date.We have also decided that pensioners of a new water plc, its wholly owned subsidiaries or its predecessor water authority should be able to apply on a priority basis, over the general public, for shares up to an individual limit of £12,000 at the offer price.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those buildings which are rented, leased or owned by the Property Services Agency which have lain vacant for more than the last 12 months.

[holding answer 13 June 1989]: Yes. The list is as follows.

Schedule of buildings rented, leased or owned by the PSA which have been vacant for more than 12 months as at 9 June 1989
Property	Local authority area
UBO Palmers Green, N13	Enfield
Dale House, Cardinal Road, Feltham	Hounslow
87 Burlington Road, New Malden, Surrey	Kingston upon Thames
Alpine Avenue Standard Office Buildings, Tolworth	Kingston upon Thames
29 Abbotsbury Road, Morden	Merton
17 Victoria Road, Strechford	Birmingham
58–72 John Bright Street, Birmingham	Birmingham
Britannia House, Station Street, Burton on Trent	East Staffordshire
County Court Offices, Bank Place, Nottingham	Nottingham
CG Lookout, Spurn Point, Humberside	Holderness
Storage Depot, Tyne Mills, Hexham	Tynedale
22 and 29 The Springs, Wakefield	Wakefield
Longworth Road, Horwich	Bolton
Storage Depot, Hob Lane, Dunham Hill	Chester
Storage Depot, Meadowview, Mickle Trafford	Chester
Magowan House, 11A West Street, Portadown	County Armagh
116A Bradshawgate, Leigh	Wigan
224–226 Queens Road, Aberdeen	City of Aberdeen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many copies of his Department's leaflet "The Community Charge (The So-called 'Poll Tax'): How It Will Work For You" have been mailed to addresses in Scotland; what was the cost of distributing this material outside England; and if he will now write to those households in Scotland which received the leaflet to explain the error.

[holding answer 19 June 1989]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) yesterday. I naturally regret the fact that a comparatively few leaflets were wrongly delivered to Scottish households, but I do not think it necessary to write to each household concerned. The mailing house concerned has apologised for the mistake.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many planning applications have been made to date in respect of land on which set-aside payments are being made by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; and, of these applications, how many have been successful.

[holding answer 19 June 1989]: Only a small proportion of set-aside proposals will need planning permission. The Department does not collect information from local planning authorities in the form requested, and I understand it is not included in the records of applications for set-aside payments kept by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the letter written by officials in his Department and sent to water authorities on 14 February giving advice on how to deal with the EC directive on water quality.

[holding answer 19 June 1989]: No. The letter referred to was a working document on the assumptions to be made in compiling expenditure projections for the purpose of k setting (k is the initial limit on price increases to be contained in companies instruments of appointment under the Water Bill). The letter made it clear that these assumptions would be subject to review until the end of the k setting process. We will state the assumptions underlying ks once they are determined.We have made it clear to water authorities and companies that expenditure arising from any obligations left out of initial k, for example because the costs are too uncertain for inclusion, and expenditure arising from new obligations imposed after ks are set, will be eligible for consideration in reviews of charges by the Director General of Water Services.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what his current estimate is for complying with EC directive 80/778/EEC in each of the water authority areas.

[holding answer 19 June 1989]: The Government are fully committed to compliance with the EC drinking water directive as quickly as possible, taking account of practicalities. Water undertakers in England and Wales have drawn up improvement programmes for supplies which regularly or intermittently fail to comply with the directive in certain respects. Only when these programmes have been thoroughly assessed will it be possible to estimate the time scale for compliance with the directive.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, further to his replies of 4 May, Official Report, columns 247–50, with regard to environmental assessment, he will (a) list those matters taken into account when determining whether environmental assessment is required, (b) give details of the methodology used, (c) specify what criteria and thresholds are used, (d) indicate why some extensions of mineral workings required environmental assessments and others did not, (e) indicate why environment assessment was required in the case of one shopping complex and not in the case of other shopping complexes and retail parks, (f) give details of what information was given to the relevant local authorities following these directions and (g) indicate what information has been given to other local authorities subsequent to these directions in order to help them apply the Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988 consistently.

[holding answer 19 June 1989]: In accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988, environmental assessment is required of all projects of the types listed in schedule 1 to the regulations and of any project of a type listed in schedule 2 which is likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size or location. Guidance on which projects are likely to have significant environmental effects so as to require environmental assessment is given in DOE circular 15/88, which also sets out indicative thresholds and criteria to which the Secretary of State has regard when considering whether to direct that assessment is required. Decisions on the need for environmental assessment turn on the facts of individual cases, and locational considerations may lead to different conclusions in respect of similar types of development. The regulations require the Secretary of State to give reasons when he directs that environmental assessment is required. Copies of decision letters are sent to the applicant and to the local planning authority, which is required to make a copy available for public inspection in the place where the planning register is kept. We are considering how best this information can be made more widely available to assist both developers and local planning authorities in the application of these regulations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the Scottish Enterprise proposals.

We are currently reassessing the proposals in the Scottish Enterprise White Paper in the light of all the responses received and will announce our detailed decisions in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are his Department's estimates for the numbers of people aged 65 to 74 years, 75 to 79 years and over 80 years in the years 2000 and 2020 in Scotland; and what percentage increase this represents in each category over the actual figures for the last year in which they are available.

The information is set out in the table.

	Year 2000		Year 2020
Age group	Projected population	Percentage change from 1988 mid-year estimate	Projected population	Percentage change from 1988 mid-year estimate
65–74	427,703	-1·6	500,785	15·2
75–79	160,311	1·4	161,124	1·9
80 and over	188,592	16·4	213,814	32·0

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what additional funds he is making available to health boards to enable practice surgeries in rural areas to meet the requirements of the new contract.

[holding answer 16 June 1989]: Funding for general medical services following the introduction of the new contract for GPs will be determined in the course of the Government's public expenditure survey 1989. The funds will take full account of the new contract, including those aspects which relate to rural practices.At present public expenditure on family practitioner services generally is planned to increase from £496 million in 1988–89 to £610 million in 1991–92, an increase of 23 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the primary purpose of the new radar equipment at Fylingdales.

The modernised radar system at RAF Fylingdales will perform the same functions as the present system, which is to provide early warning of strategic ballistic missile attack.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the cost of installing the new early warning radar equipment at Fylingdales comes from United Kingdom sources.

The modernised radar system itself will be constructed by an American company, at United States Government expense. British companies will carry out all the work to be undertaken in the United Kingdom on the infrastructure for the facility, at British Government expense. This infrastructure work, for which contracts are shortly to be awarded, will amount to some 27 per cent. of the total.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what programmes are under way to develop protection for United Kingdom military communications satellites from anti-satellite systems.

The potential threat to United Kingdom military communications satellites from such systems is kept under constant review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what programmes are under way to develop the use of satellite-laser systems for communications with submarines (a) in co-operation with the United States of America and (b) by the United Kingdom alone.

It is not our practice to comment on operational matters of this kind.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research is currently under way concerning the development of an anti-satellite weapon programme.

No such research is carried out by the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints about low flying were received by his Department in 1988 from addresses in the Cunninghame, North constituency.

In 1988 the Ministry of Defence received a total of four complaints or inquiries about military low flying from addresses in the Cunninghame, North constituency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he has any information on military helicopters authorised to operate at low level in Scotland on 5 May 1988, additional to that given in his reply to the hon. Member for Cunninghame, North on 27 May 1988, Official Report, column 391;(2) pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Cunninghame, North of 22 December 1988,

Timings given for the movements of the Army Air Corps helicopter were expressed in British summer time. This helicopter, which began its sortie from RAF Leuchars, was carrying out a navigation exercise. I have nothing further to add to my reply to the hon. Member on 22 December 1988, at column 368, or to my letter of 24 February 1989 to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Cunninghame, North of 22 December 1988, Official Report, column 368, if he will state the reasons for not listing medical establishments over which military low flying is prohibited.

I have nothing further to add to my reply to the hon. Member on 22 December, at column 368.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the notice of proposed development relating to the proposed trial ELF transmitter at Glengarry forest to be submitted to the Highland regional council.

Preparation of the notice of proposed development continues, but completion will take some time and it is not possible to say precisely when it will be submitted.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any proposals for reviving the sale of commissions as part of the Government's programme of privatisation.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the dates of movement and final destinations of any aircraft from the collection of historic aircraft at RAF St. Athan which have been (a) sold, (b) scrapped and (c) moved to other locations since 1987; and what were the reasons for any such moves.

A review of the RAF's policy on historic and non-flying display aircraft resulted in a decision in early 1988 to disband the RAF St. Athan regional collection of historic aircraft. Transfers effected to date are as follows.The remaining aircraft will be disposed of progressively over the next few months. It is not intended to scrap any, but those not required elsewhere within the service will be sold.

Disbandment of the RAF St. Athan regional collection of historic aircraft
Transfers effected up to 21 June 1989
Year and aircraft
1988
Messerschmitt Me 163B	Gifted to the German Air Force
Auster T7	Transferred to the regional collection at RAF Cosford, for display
1989
Kawasaki	Transferred to the regional collection at RAF Cosford, for display
Messerschmitt Me 262A	Transferred to the regional collection at RAF Cosford, for display
Mitsubishi	Transferred to the regional collection at RAF Cosford, for display
Fiesler Storch	Transferred to the regional collection at RAF Cosford, for display
Percival Proctor	Transferred to the RAF museum at Hendon for display
Swift	Transferred to the RAF museum at Hendon for display
Meteor F8	Transferred to RAF Finningley as a gate guardian
Spitfire Mk9E	Transferred to RAF Abingdon as a reserve for the battle of Britain memorial flight

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if it is intended to maintain a collection of historic aircraft at RAF St. Athan.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessments were made of (a) current and (b) projected peacetime loss rates of the Tornado F2 and F3 in RAF service prior to the decision to order an additional attrition replacement batch in 1988.

No Tornado F2s or F3s have been lost to date. The predicted peacetime attrition rate is classified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration is being given to the placing of further attrition replacement orders for (a) air defence Tornados and (b) strike/attack/reconnaissance Tornados.

The need for additional attrition aircraft is kept under review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what projected peacetime attrition rate was assumed for the Tornado air defence variant in calculating the size of the original order for 165 aircraft for the Royal Air Force;(2) what proportion of the original order of 165 Tornado air defence variants for the Royal Air Force was made up of attrition replacement aircraft.

The information requested is classified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has on the presence of (a) Army and (b) Royal Navy Ford Escort estate staff cars in Argyll on 5 May 1988.

The information requested is not readily available and could not be provided without disproportionate effort and cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the total number of Buccaneer aircraft procured for the Royal Air Force have been lost in accidents so far.

Of the total number of Buccaneer aircraft taken into RAF service, 19·17 per cent. have been lost in accidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the total number of Hunter aircraft procured for the Royal Air Force have been lost in accidents over the aircraft's service life so far.

Of the total number of Hunter aircraft taken into RAF service, 32·36 per cent. have been lost in accidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the total number of Jaguar aircraft procured for the Royal Air Force have been lost in accidents so far.

Of the total number of Jaguar aircraft taken into RAF service, 23·76 per cent. have been lost in accidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the total number of Lightning aircraft procured for the Royal Air Force were lost in accidents over the aircraft's service life.

Of the total number of Lightning aircraft taken into RAF service, 45·58 per cent. have been lost in accidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the total number of Phantom aircraft procured for the Royal Air Force have been lost in accidents so far.

Of the total number of Phantom aircraft taken into RAF service, 22·54 per cent. have been lost in accidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the written guidance issued to armed service units in respect of poll tax payment.

I have placed copies in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he is now able to make a statement on the procurement of 155 mm self-propelled howitzers for the Army.

In my reply on 8 June 1988, at column 586, to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Berkshire, East (Mr. MacKay), I announced the award of a contract to Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited (VSEL), worth some £4 million, for further work on its AS90 self-propelled howitzer. This was to enable it to demonstrate more fully the performance of its design against the British Army's specification and to secure option prices for any subsequent production orders. In the interim period we have also closely followed the development in the United States of the M 109 howitzer improvement programme.Following a very careful and detailed evaluation of the two systems, and subject to the agreement of satisfactory terms, I have decided to place a contract with VSEL for the completion of development and a production order for 179 AS90 self-propelled howitzers. This contract, with initial spares and support, is worth some £300 million. I have also arranged an option for a further quantity of howitzers which may be exercised during the next two years.The new weapon will replace our 105 mm Abbot guns and will significantly enhance artillery firepower. Its introduction will mark a further step in our planned programme to ensure that the armed services are equipped with up-to-date and highly capable equipment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he is in a position to use a golden share over any takeover of Rosyth dockyard and under what condition.

[holding answer 12 June 1989]: No takeover of Rosyth dockyard is proposed. The special share held by Secretary of State is in the Rosyth Royal Dockyard plc and not the Dockyard Management Company, in which Thorn EMI currently holds a 35 per cent. shareholding. Any change in the share ownership of the management company must receive the prior written approval of the Secretary of State.

To ask the Prime Minister what action she is taking to provide United Kingdom research into the alternatives to products of tropical rain forests.

The Forestry Commission has an active programme of research into the cultivation of native trees which are capable of producing wood that can be used in place of tropical timber.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the world environment.

I regularly receive representations about the many major environmental initiatives which this Government have taken at both the national and international level. Most recently, many nations have supported our call in the United Nations for an international framework convention on global climate change.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding recent events in China.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding recent events in China.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding recent events in China.

Yes, I have received many representations expressing shock and outrage at recent events in China. These are of course sentiments that I and the Government share.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the issue of the procedures adopted in determining which directives are subject to majority vote or unanimity; and if she will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the replies to him of 6 and 15 June.

To ask the Prime Minister what is Her Majesty's Government's policy for solving the crisis of debt repayment for developing countries.

The Government support the internationally agreed strategy which was reaffirmed and extended at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on 3 and 4 April.

To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to pay an official visit to Bradford.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if Her Majesty's Government have any proposals to seek a revision to the list of United Kingdom shipyards with access to the European Community shipbuilding intervention fund; and if she will make a statement.

As the hon. Member will be aware, the intervention fund is not an EC fund but a subsidy arrangement operated by Her Majesty's Government within the term of the EC sixth directive on aids to shipbuilding. We have no plans to revise current arrangements governing access to intervention fund by individual yards.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East on 12 June, Official Report, column 265, if she will give the amounts spent on electoral registration advertising for each of the past seven years at current prices.

Expenditure on electoral registration advertising over the last seven years, revalued at 1989 prices, has been as follows:

	£
1982–83	123,762
1983–84	153,631
1984–85	163,240
1985–86	184,243
1986–87	356,494
1987–88	294,190
1988–89	322,833

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 20 June.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 20 June.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 20 June.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 20 June.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 20 June.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today.

To ask the Prime Minister what response her press secretary made to the Institute of Professional Civil Servants when it asked him to support a proposed code of ethics for the Government information service.

It is not my usual practice to publish exchanges of this kind.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list those gifts received in her official capacity over the last year while on foreign visits and during visits of foreign dignitaries to Britain which have required an import licence under the CITES.

[holding answer 13 June 1989]: In the last year I have received three items of silver and ivory jewellery from my visit to Zimbabwe. These items have all been deposited with Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. In view of the ban on ivory imports announced by the Government on Friday 9 June, I have decided that these items should be retained by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. Information on gifts given by foreign dignitaries during visits to Britain is a matter for them, but I am not aware of any such gifts which I have received in an official capacity which have required an import licence under the CITES.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list in the Official Report those water power rights which have been acquired by the Government as a consequence of the activities of the drainage division of the Department of Agriculture, indicating how many have been wholly and how many partially acquired.

In the course of drainage division activities the Government wholly acquired water rights on two occasions, once in the upper main drainage scheme and once in Broughshane flood protection scheme. In both cases the right was expunged by removal of a weir and infill of a millrace.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what requirement he has to determine the mean, low water and maximum flow of a river at the sites of water mills, and the capacity of any water turbine, pelton wheel, or waterwheel being installed.

There is no statutory requirement to determine the mean, low water and maximum flow of any watercourse.It may be necessary when consenting to a new installation to establish the capacity of any water turbine, pelton wheel or waterwheel being installed to ensure that it does not adversely affect the flow of water in a watercourse. It is usually the case that an existing weir or dam is used as a source of power, leaving the regime of the watercourse unchanged.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps his Department is taking to increase employment opportunities in Northern Ireland.

The Department of Economic Development, and its two industrial development agencies, the Industrial Development Board and Local Enterprise Development Unit undertake a wide range of programmes to assist the private sector to create new employment in Northern Ireland. In the year to 31 March 1989 the two agencies made financial offers to companies which could lead to the creation of 10,234 jobs. A wide range of advisory, training and other services is also available to assist firms to develop and to become more competitive. In addition it is planned to provide in the present financial year 12,400 work experience and training places to assist the long-term unemployed to re-enter the labour market and to provide 13,800 places for youth training.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the number of new jobs created in the tourist industry in Northern Ireland in the last five years.

Information on tourism-related employment as a whole is estimated only at national level. The available information for regions relates specifically to employees in employment in the hotels and catering industry. Employment in this sector in Northern Ireland increased by 1,810 (or 12 per cent.) over the last five years, to March 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table in the Official Report showing (a) how many void dwellings there are in the area covered by each district office of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive as at the latest available date, (b) how many dwellings in each such area have been void for more than three months and (c) the reasons for such voids or as much of such information as is available to him.

This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. I am advised by the chairman of the Housing Executive that at 1 May 1989 the number of void dwellings, that is dwellings on which the executive is not seeking to collect rent, in each district office and the number void for more than 13 weeks in each such area is as follows:

District	Total number voids	Total number voids vacant more than 13 weeks
Belfast 1	110	101
Belfast 2	396	333
Belfast 3	299	245
Belfast 4	525	468
Belfast 5	726	639
Belfast 6	264	218
Belfast 7	250	224
Belfast Total	2,2570	2,228
Bangor	52	30
Newtownards 1	76	54
Newtownards 2	24	10
Castlereagh 1	58	25
Castlereagh 2	12	5
Lisburn 1	94	47
Lisburn 2	30	21
Lisburn 3	8	4
Downpatrick	178	116
South East Total	532	312
Banbridge	69	50
Newry 1	136	83
Newry 2	49	24
Kilkeel	14	11
Armagh	87	65

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what recent representations he has received from the leader of the Kwanyamas tribe on behalf of eight other Namibian tribes about the role of the Namibian Council of Churches as the sole and authentic agent of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the administration of the returning South West Africa People's Organisation refugees to Namibia; and if he will make a statement;(2) what recent representations he has received from the leader of the Kwanyamas tribe on behalf of eight other Namibian tribes about the intimidatory actions of the NANSO student organisation; and if he will make a statement;(3) what recent representations he has received from the leader of the Kwanyamas tribe on behalf of eight other Namibian tribes about the protection of citizens in the northern and eastern territories of Namibia from the People's Liberation Army of Namibia following the demobilisation of the South West Africa Territory Force; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gabriel Kautuima, senior headman of the Kwanyama tribe, met an official of the FCO on 16 June and handed over a copy of a petition submitted to the United Nations special representative for Namibia and the Administrator General of Namibia on the matters referred to in my hon. Friend's questions. Mr. Kautuima was assured of our continued commitment to the United Nations plan for Namibian independence and our support for the efforts of the United Nations Secretary General and his staff to ensure that the best possible conditions prevail for the holding of free and fair elections in Namibia.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proposals his Department has (a) to promote school exchanges with the Soviet Union and (b) to promote the learning of the Russian language in schools; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend visited the Soviet Union last October and concluded an agreement with the Soviet chairman of the State Committee for Public Education which envisaged a programme of up to 50 school exchanges on each side by the end of the 1991–92 academic year. In this, the first year of the programme, 10 school exchanges on each side have been arranged and are under way. In the next academic year, 1989–90, it is proposed that 20 school exchanges can be arranged, rising to 35 exchanges in academic year 1990–91 and 50 exchanges in academic year 1991–92. At that stage up to 2,000 pupils from each country will be involved.The aim of the programme is to use the medium of school-to-school twinning to promote a greater degree of mutual understanding among young people of both countries through a wide programme of exchange of schoolchildren and teachers, letters, photographs, tapes and project work, for example in mathematics, science and computing. Language-based exchanges will be a significant component, but the intention is to include also the study of subjects in which the practical elements can be shared.The national curriculum will include a modern foreign language as a foundation subject at secondary level to be studied by all pupils between the ages of 11 and 16. Russian is among those modern foreign languages specified in the Education (National Curriculum) (Modern Foreign Languages) Order 1989 as eligible to be taught as a national curriculum foundation subject. Within this framework, my right hon. Friend is encouraging schools to offer a greater diversity of languages, including Russian, and we are providing education support grants for pilot projects in some local education authorities in England to promote the preparation and implementation of plans for language diversification.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing teacher vacancies by region in January 1989, distinguishing between vacancies in (a) nursery and primary schools and (b) secondary schools.

Full information on the number of teacher vacancies in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in England in January 1989 is not yet available. Figures for those regions where the data are complete are as follows:

	Nursery and primary schools	Secondary schools
North	92	62
Yorkshire and Humberside	200	155
North West	307	219
East Midlands	145	145
West Midlands	222	262
East Anglia	47	59
Greater London	n/y/a	n/y/a
Other South East	617	542
South West	181	161

n/y/a=Not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many teachers have resigned during the academic year 1988–89;(2) what steps he takes to monitor the number of resignations of teachers.

Information on the number of teachers resigning during the academic year 1988–89 is not yet available.Detailed annual returns of teachers in service are made by local education authorities at 31 March, together with information on those entering and leaving service during the previous year. The returns from some authorities are subject to considerable delay, and the most recent period for which complete data are available is the year ending March 1987. The number of teachers leaving full-time service in the maintained nursery, primary and secondary sector in England in that year was 28,960, of which 2,840 were aged 60 or over.Following a recent report by the management consultants Logica, a number of proposals are being pursued to improve the flow of teacher information to the Department. These include measures to improve the timeliness of the annual returns and the completeness of termly appointment and withdrawal notifications.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he intends to introduce legislation to amend the Education Acts to bring all unpaid workers in voluntary organisations within the scope of the training grants scheme.

All aspects of the scheme are under regular review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects his proposals for attainment targets and programmes of study in design and technology 5 to 16 to be published for consultation.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I have now formulated our proposals for attainment targets and programmes of study for design and technology for pupils aged five to 16 in the light of the report from the national curriculum design and technology working group. We are very grateful to the working group for its prompt and helpful report.I have today referred our proposals to the National Curriculum Council to start the consultations in England required by the Education Reform Act. My right hon. Friend will be initiating consultations as required by the Act in Wales. I have asked the council to report to me on the outcome of the consultations, with advice and recommendations, by 3 November 1989. I have placed a copy of our proposals and of the working group's report, with my letter to the council, in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many planning appeals were lodged with his office in 1974, 1979, 1984 and the latest full year for which figures are available; and, for each year, how many were allowed.

The information is shown in the following table:

Section 36 planning appeals
Year	Lodged	Allowed
1974	676	127
1979	844	164
1984	806	229
1988	1,133	325

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions during the past five years he has called in planning decisions for a final decision.

My right hon. Friend and his predecessor have, since June 1984, called in for their own determination 17 applications for planning permission.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he has taken to promote the cause of preventive medicine in Wales, in particular in relation to the high incidence of heart disease in the Principality.

The promotion of good health and the prevention of ill health has been one of the Government's major priorities for the health services in Wales for some years. Within the drive for better health we established the Welsh Health Promotion Authority in 1987 to have specific responsibility for the subject, including the operation of the Welsh heart programme—"Heartbeat Wales". This was to augment the work already being carried out by district health authorities and primary care services. Their priorities in relation to health promotion, which include action to combat heart disease, were set out in the corporate management programme for the Health Service in Wales, issued by the Department last year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the companies taking part in compact schemes with schools in Wales.

Many schools in Wales have links with business and industry, some of which may be along the lines of a compact, but information is not held centrally on which companies are involved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number and location of community hospitals which have been built or adapted in Clwyd and Gwynedd since 1974.

The information requested is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a list of those companies in Gwynedd which have been invited to participate in training and enterprise councils.

Copies of the TEC prospectus have been sent to all employers with a work force of 20 or more. I understand that a number of different interest groups have started discussions about TECs in Gwynedd but no bid has yet been received.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the names of people from Gwynedd whom he has appointed to public and statutory bodies since June 1987.

We do not collect information on where public appointees come from, but as an example the hon. Gentleman may know that the current chairman of the Welsh Development Agency came from Gwynedd.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are his Department's estimates for the numbers of people aged 65 to 74 years, 75 to 79 years and over 80 years in the years 2000 and 2020 in Wales; and what percentage increase this represents in each category over the actual figures for the last year in which they are available.

Current estimates and the most recent projected figures for the age groups requested are shown in the following table:

Elderly Population of Wales
Thousand
		Projected Population2
		Year 2020		Year 2020
Ages	1988 mid-year estimate1	Number	Percentage change1988–2000	Number	Percentage change 1988–2020
65–74	271·7	260	-4·3	317	+16·8
75–79	96·6	108	+11·9	+11·1	+14·6
80 and over	102·3	127	+24·4	144	+41·0
1 Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.
2 Government Actuary's Department 1987 based population projection.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to be able to publish the results of the application for assistance under the urban development programme in respect of a supermarket development at Holyhead.

Applications for urban investment grant are treated in confidence. An application for urban investment grant support towards development at Holyhead has not been made to the Department. Decisions on full appraisal of UIG grant applications are made within 10 weeks of all the appropriate information being received by the Welsh Office.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now provide the information required by the European Commission for the multi-annual guidance programme, in order to unlock the grants approved for construction of new beam trawlers and other fishing vessels.

The Commission will continue to suspend construction aid for United Kingdom fishing vessels until we can demonstrate sufficient progress towards meeting our programme targets. We are currently considering with the industry various options for reducing fleet capacity.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what research has been undertaken into the effect of food irradiation on the nutritional content of food; and with what results.