To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy towards the culling of baby harp seals.

Since there are no harp seals which are native to the United Kingdom, the question of culling does not arise in this country.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what basis his Department considers requests by prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentences in another United Kingdom jurisdiction.

My Department, in conjunction with the Scottish and Northern Ireland Offices, has recently reviewed the policy governing requests by prisoners to be transferred to another jurisdiction in the United Kingdom. Any inmate in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland who applies to be transferred to either of the other jurisdictions to serve the rest of his or her sentence will normally be transferred, provided that (1) the inmate would have at least six months left to serve in the receiving jurisdiction before his or her date of release; (2) the inmate was ordinarily resident in the receiving jurisdiction prior to the current sentence; or his or her close family currently reside there and there arc reasonable grounds for believing that it is the inmate's firm intention to take up residence there on release; and (3) both Departments concerned are reasonably satisfied that the inmate will not, if transferred, disrupt or attempt to disrupt any prison establishment, or otherwise pose an unacceptable risk to security.Even if these conditions are met, however, transfer may be refused if it is considered that the inmate's crimes were so serious as to render him or her undeserving of any degree of public sympathy or to make it inappropriate that the inmate should benefit from a substantial reduction in time left to serve, if that would be a consequence of transfer. Similarly, transfers may be refused if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the inmate's primary intention in making the application is to secure a reduction in the time left to serve. On the other hand, an application that does not meet these conditions may nevertheless be granted where there are strong compassionate or other compelling grounds for transfer.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the new immigration rule which prevents visitors switching to student status whilst in the United Kingdom will be applied to visa nationals only; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. The generous provisions in the current rules have been abused by some who are not students but whose aim is to take work or to remain here permanently. Many of these enter as visitors and subsequently switch to student status, but have no intention whatsoever of pursuing genuine study here. The "no-switching" provision is designed to prevent this abuse and has been confined to visa nationals because the available evidence suggests that passengers from visa countries are the major source of the abuse. Hence, while in recent years visa nationals have made up only about 20 per cent. of those admitted to the country as students, they have constituted 60 per cent. of grants of extensions of stay as a student to those originally admitted as visitors. Further, two exercises conducted by the immigration service and the police against suspect educational establishments revealed that, of some 6,000 alleged students on the books of these establishments, 95 per cent. were visa nationals and 95 per cent. of these had been orginally admitted as ordinary or business visitors. The educational facilities offered were adequate for only a fraction of the number on the books.The change is therefore necessary to ensure the effective operation of the visa system. It would he wasteful of resources and unnecessary to extend it to non-visa nationals; in particular such an extension would require the needless issue of over 100,000 additional entry clearances worldwide each year. Visa nationals will still be able to come to the United Kingdom for study, even if they have been unable to finalise all the arrangements beforehand, provided that they make their intentions clear and obtain the necessary visa in advance. Genuine visitors will not be affected in any way.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the number of claimants who made application, were awarded and accepted (a) social fund loans, (b) community care grants at each of the social security offices in South Down for the financial year 1988–89.

The information for the period 11 April 1988 to 31 March 1989 is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pensioners at each of the social security offices in South Down no longer qualify for housing benefit as a result of the recent pension increase.

The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of the total social fund expenditure has been written off as unrecoverable for the financial year 1988–89.

Total social fund expenditure in the period 11 April 1988 to 31 March 1989 was £18,485,998. It was not practicable to pursue recovery of funeral payments of £934,665 and loans of £1,952. These figures are provisional.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his reply of 18 April, Official Report, column 130, to the hon. Member for

[holding answer 22 June 1989]: One claim was settled on 15 April 1988, the other two on 5 April 1989. It is not possible to give any indication of when the eight other claims will be processed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many units of accommodation there are in each Housing Executive estate within Armagh city; how many units are currently unoccupied at each estate; how many units of each estate are presently vandalised or boarded up; and how many new units of accommodation does the executive propose to construct in Armagh city in each of the next five years.

[holding answer 15 June 1989]: This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. I am advised by the chairman that at 1 May 1989 the number of units of accommodation, the number of units unoccupied and the number of units vandalised or boarded up in each estate in Armagh city are as follows:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the value of the early repurchases of Government bonds since the April Budget.

Q2 figures will be published in the August Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin. Net transactions, including redemptions, for March and April are published in table F of the Bank of England's monthly monetary statistics.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the operation of the value added tax cash accounting scheme; and whether he has any plans (a) to adjust the turnover level of £250,000 to take into account changes to the retail prices index and (b) to review the level of the threshold.

The cash accounting scheme was introduced on 1 October 1987 and is available to businesses with an annual taxable turnover not exceeding £250,000. It is used by about 60,000 businesses. Customs and Excise have recently consulted representative bodies and small businesses to consider all aspects of the scheme with the aim of improving take-up. The views of those who responded are currently being considered and the outcome of the consultation will be announced in due course. The existing turnover limit is significantly higher than that originally proposed and required the formal agreement of the European Commission. Any further increase would also have to he approved by the Commission.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the individual amounts of debt repayments written off in each of the privatisations and sale of Government assets since 1979 and the aggregate of these write-offs.

The normal practice on privatisation of a nationalised industry or company wholly or majority owned by Government is to repay, rather than write off, debt. This repayment may be financed from the company's existing resources, the injection of new equity or new debt finance. In some cases the Government have provided the finance to repay debts, for example, by an equity injection.National loans fund debt has been written off only in the cases listed in the table, totalling £3,014,662,728. These write-offs had no direct effect on public expenditure since they represented a reconstruction of the balance sheets of the industries concerned. In each case, having had NLF debt written off, the successor company issued new equity or debt securities to be held by the Secretary of State as assets on the consolidated fund pending realisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has received a letter dated 16 May from the chairman of the West Midlands passenger transport authority seeking a meeting between him and a delegation of members of the authority to discuss the electrification of the Birmingham cross-city railway line; and if he will meet such a delegation in the near future.

I have agreed to meet the chairman of the West Midlands PTE when I have had BR's formal submission on this scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the annual cost of the major research programme designed specifically to help identify further ways of reducing pedestrian casualties to which he refers in his pedestrian safety proposals published in April.

The cost of the research programme referred to in the Department's leaflet on pedestrian safety is roughly £1·6 million in the current year. It is likely to increase next year.Over 40 per cent. of the current figure is being spent on research aimed primarily at pedestrian safety. The remainder will benefit pedestrians along with other road users.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish in the Official Report the terms of reference and time scale to which private interests will need to work in order to bring about the construction of British Rail's proposed fast rail link from the Kent coast to London.

These are matters for British Rail to discuss with the private interests concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those private companies who have approached his Department in connection with alternative methods of finance for the Birmingham north orbital route; and the date of their first approach.

Some approaches have been made but these must remain commercially confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 16 June, Official Report, column 550, to the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley relating to MV Majestic, what futher details he has of the nature of the underwater obstruction referred to.

The investigation is continuing. It is known that the nets caught on an obstruction on the sea bottom but the nature of the obstruction has not been determined.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he proposes to bring forward legislation to implement his proposals in "The Road User and the Law".

Legislation will be brought forward as soon as parliamentary time is available.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if, further to his reply of 16 March, Official Report, column 311, he will list the further occasions on which the Government have introduced the guillotine this Session.

The information requested is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what action he intends to take on the problem of medical physicists leaving National Health Service hospitals in south Wales.

The number of medical physicists—whole-time equivalents—employed by health authorities in Wales over the past four years is given in the table. The management side of the Scientific and Professional Staffs Council is currently investigating the recruitment and retention of scientists, including medical physicists, within the NHS generally.In Wales, medical physicists have been included in staff groups designated for detailed scrutiny as part of the 1989 manpower resource planning exercise being undertaken by all district health authorities under the auspices of the manpower steering group, established by my Department, with the intention of examining manpower requirements over the next 10 years. Those plans will also examine wastage and recruitment rates for the purpose of identifying potential staffing difficulties and to enable action to be taken at the local or all-Wales level to forestall problems. Work is also in hand by the manpower steering group on a study of medical physics and bio-engineering in the NHS in Wales, which will address the question of staff retention, particularly in the area of equipment management.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list in the Official Report the outstanding capital projects and their estimated cost throughout Wales proposed by the Welsh water authority which plan to alleviate dry weather water shortages; and if he will make a statement;(2) if he will list in the

No. This is a matter for the Welsh water authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has about the effectiveness of the Government television advertising campaign on unleaded petrol.

In a survey conducted during the week commencing 21 April, 60 per cent. of those interviewed, when prompted, were aware of the advertisement. This put it in the top 10 TV advertisements most remembered by the public.The advertisements ran from 1 to 14 April and were shown on all commercial TV stations in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that 76 per cent. of all adults had the opportunity to see them at least once and 33 per cent. at least four times. On average the target audience of all motorists responsible for purchasing petrol had four opportunities to see the advertisement.The unleaded petrol share of the market has increased dramatically from 6·4 per cent. in March to 19·3 per cent. in May.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many jobs have been created within the Teesside urban development corporation zone since its inception; how many jobs were created as a consequence of the direct intervention of the corporation; and what has been the cost per job.

Comprehensive figures on the total number of jobs created within the Teesside development corporation area since its inception are not readily available. The corporation estimates, however, that up to the end of March 1989, 1,459 permanent jobs had been created within the UDA, in projects assisted by the corporation, at a cost per job of £984. The Government also have two task forces and an action team contributing to the regeneration of inner cities on Teesside, and unemployment in the 15 wards within the Teesside DC zone has fallen by over one third in the two years since May 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to reply to queries about the closure of All Souls burial ground raised by the parochial church council of All Souls Living Church council, Haley hill, Halifax, on 3 May 1988, 23 September 1988, 14 March 1989 and 16 May 1989; and why it is still waiting for a reply.

The Department replied on 22 June. I very much regret the long delay in replying due to an oversight which has now been rectified.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated cost of the minority language versions of the community charge leaflet, "The Community Charge (The So-called Poll Tax): How It Will Work For You."

Translations in eight languages are being produced, in initial print runs of 10,000 each. The total cost is estimated at £40,000 approximately.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on progress on the implementation of poll tax registration by local authorities, with reference to support facilities provided by his Department.

Community charges registration officers (CCROs) have until 1 December 1989 to compile their registers. I believe that most CCROs are making good progress. To assist CCROs and authorities with implementation generally, the Department has issued 18 practice notes, and laid the regulations as soon as was practicable after the enactment of the primary legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he intends to issue any further advice to community charge registration officers on the information which can be properly sought through community charge registration forms;(2) if he intends to issue a leaflet to every household in England and Wales informing potential poll tax payers of their precise rights and duties in completing registration forms;

[holding answer 19 June 1989]: The Department has given clear and explicit advice to local authorities and community charges registration officers on this matter, and, in conjunction with the local authority associations, issued a model registration form last autumn. It is for registration officers to ensure that their requests for information comply with their statutory powers and the Data Protection Act.Registration officers may require only such information as is necessary for them to carry out their statutory functions, which are to compile and maintain the register. Advice on the information that needs to be sought from the public in order to compile the register was provided to registration officers in community charge practice note number 3. Advice on the requirements of the Data Protection Act is contained in community charge practice notes numbers 4 and 10 which deal specifically with the data protection aspects of registration, and the need to register as a data user. Practice note number 8 contains the model registration form, and advises registration officers to ensure that any requests for information additional to that needed for registration purposes should be clearly indicated, so that people would know that they did riot have to supply it. Practice note number 16, on joint and several liability, specifically points out that joint and several liability is not a registration matter, and advises against including questions on relationships on registration forms.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has made to his counterpart Ministers in the EEC concerning the shooting and trapping of protected bird species during migration; and if he will seek to persuade them to enforce in full the provisions of the appropriate European legislation.

[holding answer 22 June 1987]: The EC directive 79/409 EEC on the conservation of wild birds requires all member states to protect migratory and other birds. The Government fully support the directive and its enforcement. It is the responsibility of the EC Commission to ensure that adequate measures are taken.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the effect on recovery by Barlow Clowes investors in the United Kingdom of last Friday's High Court ruling authorising the transfer of funds from the British-based to the Gibraltar-based operation.

It is too soon to make any such assessment.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects to be able to provide sufficient information about the Barlow Clowes collapse to make a full statement to the House.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration is currently considering the role of my Department in this matter. In addition, there are a number of actions before the courts. It is too soon to say when all these matters will be resolved.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether there are any outstanding requests from the ombudsman to his Department in connection with the cases currently under investigation by him arising out of the Barlow Clowes collapse.

My Department is co-operating fully with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and endeavours to respond to all his inquiries as quickly as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 14 March, Official Report, column 143, what appraisal he has made of the possible effects on the ecology of the Antarctic as a result of the passage of the Antarctic Minerals Bill.

We believe that the Antarctic minerals convention provides protection of the Antarctic environment of a very high order. Its entry into force will protect the Antarctic environment against uncontrolled minerals exploitation. We are proceeding with the Antarctic Minerals Bill to enable the United Kingdom to ratify the Convention.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 14 March, Official Report, column 143, what steps he is taking to negotiate specific treaty obligations to protect the Antarctic in the event of an oil spill or blowout.

Control of marine pollution and therefore of oil spills in Antarctica is on the agenda of the XV Antarctic treaty consultative meeting in Paris in October.There can be no oil exploration in Antarctica, and therefore no blowouts, until the Antarctic minerals convention comes into force and a liability protocol has been negotiated and has itself entered into force. The convention contains strict safeguards for the protection of the Antarctic environment, and requires that no minerals activity can take place until the capacity exists to respond effectively to accidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will detail the moves, in which the United Kingdom is participating being taken to oppose a return of the Khmer Rouge army in Cambodia.

The surest way to prevent the Khmer Rouge returning to power by force is a political settlement under which Cambodians can freely elect a Government of their choice. We are actively involved in international efforts to achieve such a settlement, both multilaterally and in bilateral contacts with those most closely concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the projected public expenditure savings arising from the introduction of a central DNA testing scheme for those seeking entry clearance to the United Kingdom; and if he will identify the savings to his Department.

We need practical experience of the numbers who will be processed under the scheme to judge what, if any, resource savings may be achievable. The scheme will be voluntary and take-up will vary from post to post. The position will be closely monitored.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how many independent boarding schools are accepted by his Department as suitable to receive grant payment for the education of children employed by the foreign service; how many children are currently in receipt of this financal assistance; how often members of his Department visit the schools to satisfy themselves about the education and the welfare provided for young people; and how often financial assistance has been withdrawn because a school has failed to meet the required criteria,(2) what criteria are used for judging the quality and academic achievements of independent boarding schools before agreeing to provide finance for members of the foreign service wishing to have their children educated at these schools.

As I explained in my written answer of 16 June at column 562, diplomatic service staff may receive an allowance to send their children to any registered independent boarding school in the United Kingdom, provided it offers the full range of subjects normally offered by a state day school and in a form generally available in the state system. Within that broad range parents accept responsibility for choosing a school whose record of accomplishments appears to suit the requirements and capabilities of their children. All such schools will have been approved by the Department of Education and Science and will be inspected periodically by one of Her Majesty's inspectors. We have neither the expertise nor the resources to duplicate the work of that Department.Allowances are currently paid in respect of 881 children attending a total of 355 schools. There has never been a case of allowances being withdrawn as a result of a school's performance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when instructions were sent to the British embassy in Islamabad to issue a visa to Mr. Zahood Ahmed to enter the United Kingdom; when Mr. Ahmed, whose date of birth is 22 July 1967 and whose Home Office reference is A412361, first applied for entry clearance; when Mr. Ahmed's appeal against refusal to grant him a visa was upheld; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to his reply, 12 June 1989 c. 310]: 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 Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Mr. Afzal Kahn, whose date of birth is 18 November 1969, and whose reference is IMM 92807, applied for entry clearance to the United Kingdom at Her Majesty's embassy in Islamabad; when his application was refused; and when an explanatory statement setting out the detailed grounds of refusal was despatched to Mr. Khan or his representation.

[pursuant to his reply, 12 June 1989, c. 310]: Mr. Khan applied for an entry clearance at the embassy in Islamabad on 18 November 1987. His application was refused on 25 September 1988 and the embassy received an appeal from him on 10 November 1988. I regret that due to pressure of work at the embassy the explanatory statement has not yet been despatched. It is, however, nearing completion and will be forwarded to the appellate authority very shortly.

To ask the Prime Minister what benefits have been brought to (a) Doncaster and (b) South Yorkshire from membership of the European Community.

The European regional development fund has made grants during the last four years of some £53 million to South Yorkshire, of which about £11 million went to Doncaster. Low interest loans worth £750,000 for Doncaster and £13 million for South Yorkshire have been obtained from the European Coal and Steel Community. In the last three years the European social fund made grants of some £1·65 million to Doncaster, within £11·4 million for South Yorkshire as a whole.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to her answer of 20 June Official Report, column 78, when she returned from Zimbabwe; when the articles were deposited with Her Majesty's Customs and Excise; whether an import licence under CITES was applied for in respect of these items; when she decided that they should be retained by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise; on what date and by what means she informed Her Majesty's Customs and Excise of her decision; if she will describe the three items of silver and ivory jewellery and state a valuation of each item; and whether she took any steps to determine the origin and the legality of the ivory contained in the ivory jewellery.

I returned from Africa on 2 April 1989. I deposited the articles with Her Majesty's Customs and Excise as soon as I was informed that the requirements for importation had not been completed. I have nothing further to add to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member on 20 June.

To ask the Prime Minister whether at her recent meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister she asked him whether he accepted Security Council restriction 242.

During my talks with Mr. Shamir, I stressed that, to be successful, negotiations on a middle east settlement must be held on the basis of territory for peace as called for in resolution 242. Mr. Shamir has not so far given any commitment on this point.

To ask the Prime Minister who indicated on behalf of Her Majesty's Government that they would consider a request from the Malaysian Government for overseas aid, contained in correspondence concerning the sale of arms to Malaysia that preceded the signing of the memorandum of understanding in 1988; and what period of time elapsed before Her Majesty's Government stated that it would not be acceptable to link aid with the defence sales package.

[holding answer 22 June 1989]: The Government made clear to the Malaysian Government on a number of occasions in 1988 that we were most willing to consider Malaysian requests for aid. However, as indicated in the answer given to the hon. Member on 13 June by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence made it clear in his letter to the Malaysian Finance Minister of 28 June 1988 that the provision of overseas aid as an integral part of a negotiated agreement on the defence package was not possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what advice he has received concerning the cost of a recommended diet for people with AIDS or HIV infection; and if he will make a statement;(2) what is his estimate of the current underprovision of benefit for a person on income support who has been recommended a diet for someone with AIDS or HIV infection who

The supplementary benefit scale rates did not include a specific amount for food. It was for individuals to decide how best to spend their money in the light of their own needs and preferences. The same is true of income support. The estimates requested cannot therefore be made.I am aware that people with AIDS are frequently advised to follow a high protein, high calorie diet. I have been advised that a diet giving 150 per cent. of normal protein and calorie requirements can be devised to meet the needs of individual patients. Such a diet was costed at £14·19 per week (1986 prices) in an article by MacDonald and Forsythe from St. James' university hospital, Leeds, which was published in "Human Nutrition: Applied Nutrition" in 1986.I am also aware that people with HIV infection, but who are otherwise healthy, are advised to follow a healthy eating plan which is simply a normal balanced diet. Such a diet was costed by Macdonald and Forsythe in their article at £9·46 for a moderately active man.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the normal level of state pension available to (a) a single male and (b) a married couple in each European Community country for those aged 60, 65, 70, 75 and 80 years who have no private resources or pension including social security payments unrelated to living condition, but related to age subsequent to the increases in benefit about to be made available.

I refer my hon. Friend to the Department's publication "Tables of Social Benefit Systems in the European Communities (Position at 1 January 1988)", a copy of which is in the Library. These tables set out the levels of pension in the national currencies together with the sterling equivalent converted according to the OECD's purchasing power parity figures as shown in the introduction to the tables.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the success rate in obtaining community care grants in the offices covering the Peckham constituency for applicants (a) assisted and (b) not assisted by an advice worker.

I regret that the information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security why the budget for social fund loans and grants in the offices covering the Peckham constituency was not increased in the current financial year.

A note explaining the basis of allocation of social fund budgets to local offices for 1989–90 is in the Library. The allocation formula was applied in exactly the same way to all local offices.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of National Health Service beds are occupied by people over 70 years of age.

The information available centrally is that in 1987–88, 53 per cent. of NHS beds were occupied by patients aged 65 years and over, and 34 per cent. by patients aged 75 years and over.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has received about illness caused to individuals from bathing in coastal waters on either side of the Bristol channel.

I am not aware at present of any reports of any adverse effects to health caused by bathing in coastal waters in the Bristol channel.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the latest position in relation to the shortage of blood for liver and kidney transplants.

There was a temporary shortage of blood following the late May bank holiday. There has now been an excellent response from donors, and national stocks are again sufficient for all operations to go ahead.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to instigate any new studies into the nature and incidence of post-abortion syndrome; and if he will make a statement.

We await the report of a joint Royal College of General Practitioners/Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists study "Attitudes to Pregnancy". A large body of data from this United Kingdom study, which was funded by the Department, is currently undergoing careful analysis. I understand that the report should be available later this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of non-National Health Service abortions performed in each gestational week according to licensed clinic in 1987 and 1988.

The table shows the readily available data. Details relating to numbers performed by individual licensed clinics cannot be released for reasons of confidentiality.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice his Department gives to women about the risks of abortion to their mental and physical health; and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for the clinical judgment of the medical staff involved in the light of all the relevant facts about the woman's condition.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the latest medical evidence available to him as to the earliest gestation age at which an unborn child may be capable of being born alive; and if he will make a statement.

The 22nd gestational week is considered by doctors to be the earliest time that there is the slightest possibility of a foetus being born alive, since before then the lungs are not mature enough to function even if ventilated. Between the 22nd and 24th week of gestation the chance of being born alive and the chance of surviving afterwards increase, but up to 24 weeks both are rare. Whether or not any particular foetus is capable of being born alive must be a matter for the clinical judgment of the doctor concerned in the full knowledge of the circumstances of the particular case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the procedure adopted by his Department in checking and approving abortion notification forms.

All operating doctors are required to notify the chief medical officer, within seven days, of each abortion they perform. The detailed information in these forms is scrutinised by staff authorised by the chief medical officer to ensure that they do not indicate any contravention of the abortion law.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he received in 1987 and 1988, respectively, on (a) abortion and (b) human embryo experimentation; how many were hostile to each of these practices; and what percentage the latter represents of the former.

In 1987 and 1988 we received some 9,000 representations about abortion issues and 500 about human embryo experimentation. Most were from members of the public and the views expressed varied widely. Any analysis on the lines requested would involve disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement concerning the circumstances in the national blood transfusion service that has caused the recent cancellation of operations and on the action he is now taking to prevent a repetition of such circumstances.

The recent shortage of blood which led to the postponement of a small number of operations in some regions arose primarily because blood donors were not coming forward in sufficient numbers to maintain supplies.The fine weather, bank holidays, and transport striked contributed to the fall in numbers of donations.The national directorate of the blood transfusion service will be improving its monitoring of blood stocks and donor attendances so that timely steps can he taken to encourage donors to attend blood donor sessions in the future.The temporary shortage of blood following the late May bank holiday has now been corrected.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he or his Department have had any representations from, or meetings with, SERCO plc; and if he will make a statement;(2) what recent meetings he or his Department had with Capita plc; and if he will make a statement.

The director of NHS procurement, Mr. Tom Critchley, has had two meetings in March and May with the director of Capita Health Care group to discuss the services which that company, in collaboration with SERCO plc, is prepared to offer by way of facilities management or technical and non-clinical support services to the NHS. The meetings were part of a wider series of meetings which Mr. Critchley and officials from the NHS procurement directorate have had with a number of service companies able and ready to bid for NHS site management contracts covering a range of different support services. By way of explanation I refer the hon. Member to paragraph 9.11 of the White Paper "Working for Patients".

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the latest figures for venereal disease as a total and then disease by disease; and if he will give an indication of the trends in this group of diseases.

The available information is given in the table. This relates to new cases seen at NHS genito-urinary medicine clinics over the last 10 years. Not all patients seen at clinics have conditions which are sexually transmitted, and some do not require treatment. Some patients have more than one condition, and are counted under each condition found. Discernible trends over the last ten years are:

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Southend, East on 14 June, Official Report, column 909, if he will list the issues which the Commission proposes to deal with in social measures related to the European Economics Community and the draft directives issued to date; and if he will seek the guidance of the Commission on what social issues it will be presenting directives on the basis of majority voting.

[holding answer 21 June 1989]: The European Commission has put forward a preliminary draft proposal for a "Community charter of fundamental social rights", which it proposes should be adopted as a solemn declaration of the 12 heads of state and Government. The preliminary draft proposal invites the Commission to draw up a programme of work by June 1990. A copy of the preliminary draft has been deposited in the Library, and an explanatory memorandum has been provided to the Select Committee on European Legislation. The preliminary draft is not based on any article of the treaty and is proposed as a political statement.The following draft legislation proposals, which have not yet been agreed, have been issued to date:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress on the new command system for the type 23 frigate programme.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. and learned Member for Fife, North-East (Mr. Campbell) on 6 June at column 124.