To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence he has of initiation rites in police forces; and what procedures there are for ensuring that young recruits are able to complain to an independent person.

I have no evidence that this kind of conduct is widespread but, where it occurred, it would be likely to constitute a disciplinary offence. A police officer who was the victim of such an offence would be expected to bring the matter to the attention of a supervising officer or his Police Federation representative. In addition, every police officer has the right to ask for an interview with HM inspector of constabulary, during the annual inspection of the force, to discuss any grievance over his treatment.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present position of staffing levels at Wandsworth prison; and if he will make a statement.

There are 445 officers, including principal and senior officers, at Wandsworth compared with 437 at 1 April 1989. The total full and part-time staff at the prison now stands at 584.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department expects to reply to the current year's report by the board of visitors of Wandsworth prison; and if he will make a statement.

I shall be writing shortly to the chairman to thank him for the 1988 report of the board of visitors. The recommendations of the board are receiving detailed consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the chief constable of the West Midlands; and what matters were discussed.

My right hon. Friend last met the chief constable on 16 September 1988 in the course of a visit to the West Midlands police force. A range of topics was discussed as is usual in such occasions.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passport applications by United Kingdom citizens now remain uncleared.

The latest available figures are for the week ended 2 July, when about 500,000 applications remained outstanding, a reduction of over 36,000 from the previous week. Following the settlement of the recent industrial dispute at the passport offices, efforts are being made to reduce the backlog of applications as quickly as possible, and a number of special measures are being taken to ease the difficulties facing the travelling public. These were described in the reply given by my right hon. Friend to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) on 4 July, at columns 99–100.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the report he has now received regarding allegations of Nazi war crimes committed by those now resident in the United Kingdom.

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster, North (Mr. Wheeler) on 27 June 1989 at column 399.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much section 11 money has been made available to (a) local education authorities and (b) other bodies; and for what purposes in the past year, five, 10 and 15 years ago, respectively; and if he will make a statement.

The amount of grant paid under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 for 1987–88, the most recent year for which actual expenditure figures are available, and for five, 10 and 15 years previously was as follows:

Year	Total grunt £	Education £	Other £
1972–73	7,787,873	5,904,346	1,883,527
1977–78	24,745,627	20,777,102	3,973,525
1982–83	65,817,318	51,342,459	14,474,859
1987–88	72,851,394	55,052,417	17,798,977

The majority of section 11 funded posts involve educational expenditure and are mainly concerned with the teaching of English as a second language. Grant is also paid for posts concerned with bilingual classroom assistance, adult education, youth work, education welfare and home-school liaison.Other principal users for section 11 apart from education span the range of local authority responsibilities including social services, business development, housing and environmental health, translation and interpretation services. The Government are presently considering the results of the scrutiny report into section 11 funding and will announce its conclusions in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing the times of sunrise and sunset on the first day of each month in 1992 in (a) Dumfries, (b) Edinburgh. (c) Dundee, (d) Aberdeen, (e) Inverness, (f) Thurso and (g) Lerwick, respectively, under (i) the status quo and (ii) single-double summer time as described in his Department's Green Paper on summer time.

The information is not immediately available. I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the letter in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the safer cities initiative and the ban on drinking in public places.

The experimental byelaw in Stockton-on-Tees, which makes it an offence to drink alcohol in designated public places, came into force on 5 April. The byelaw is in force in five other local authority areas—Bath, Coventry, Restormel (Cornwall), Rushmoor (Hampshire) and Scarborough—and will be in force in Chester shortly. The experiment is due to run for two years and will be closely monitored by participating local authorities, the police and the Home Office. Preliminary results are encouraging. The byelaw has been shown to be popular in most places and public drinking on the streets has largely stopped: the relatively few number of police requests to desist have almost always been heeded. There have been just six prosecutions, three in Bath and three in Coventry. A Home Office crime prevention unit paper containing the results of a survey, of Coventry city centre users, on the byelaw has recently been published. The survey shows that nine out of 10 users of the city centre who were questioned welcomed the introduction of the ban.The safer cities programme is making good progress. Three projects are fully operational, at Bradford, Nottingham and Wolverhampton. They have already started crime prevention work there, most of it improving physical security but some directed to lessening the fear of crime and to preventing offending by young people. Projects at Lewisham and Birmingham begin this month. Five further projects are due to begin operating by the end of September, and six more by the start of the new year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the names of the people and of the stations that have been granted a community radio licence.

The incremental local radio scheme is administered by the IBA. To date they have offered franchises to the following:

Name of applicant	Proposed station name	Coverage area
Clement Mclarty	FTP	Bristol
Ravinder Jain	West London Radio	Hounslow/Ealing/ Southall
Mike Shaft	Sunset Radio	Manchester
Daniel Macleod	Stirling Community Radio	Stirling
Ashok Joshi	Radio Harmony	Coventry
Dr. Zannetos Tofallis	London Greek Radio in association with WNK Radio	Haringey
Stephen Oates	Isle of Wight Radio	Isle of Wight

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing (a) how many cable franchises have been granted, (b) which communities they serve, (c) how many cable franchises are switched on, (d) which communities they serve, (e) the estimated subscribers in each case and (f) whether interactive services are provided.

I understand from the cable authority that a total of 41 cable franchises have been granted, of which 16 have been licensed by the cable authority, and 11 of which are operational. A further 30 franchises have been advertised by the authority. The granting of a cable franchise has no standing in law. It is simply an indication that the cable authority intends to award a licence under the Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984 to the franchise holder provided it meets certain conditions.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the west midlands as to whether Detective Sergeant Brian Morton was in Queen's road police station when the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings were being interviewed.

I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that general records that would show the whereabouts of officers are destroyed after seven years. The information requested is therefore not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the west midlands as to during which years the following officers served in the west midlands serious crimes squad: Detective Chief Inspector John Moore (retired), Detective Superintendent James Kelly, Detective Superintendent Alan Watson, Detective Sergeant Michael Hornby, Detective Constable Rex Langford, Detective Chief Inspector Roger Ball (retired), former Detective Sergeant Michael French, former Detective Constable John Brand, former Detective Sergeant Roy Bunn, former Detective Sergeant Ray Bennett, former Detective Constable Alan Buxton (retired), former Detective Sergeant David Millichamp, former Detective Constable Thomas Sutcliffe, former Detective Constable Terence Woodwiss and former Detective Sergeant Colin Morris.

I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that the information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) pursuant to his answer of 5 July, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the west midlands as to which officer involved in the Ronnie Boldon case was also involved in the questioning of those later convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings;(2) pursuant to his answer of 5 July, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the west midlands police force as to which two officers involved in the Derek Gordon case were also involved in the questioning of those convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings.

No, in the absence of any evidence to suggest that there was anything untoward in their involvement in the matters referred to.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 5 July, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the west midlands as to how many complaints have been received against Detective Sergeant Michael Hornby since 1974; what action was taken in 1980 on the one occasion he was disciplined; and what was the nature of the complaint against him.

I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that the recorded information relating to the earlier years covered by the hon. Member's question is not fully comprehensive and it is not therefore possible to establish the exact number of complaints made against Detective Sergeant Hornby. As discipline records are destroyed after seven years, the other information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 5 July, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands police for a report as to what reason Police Cadet Adrian Dart gave for his resignation.

I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that Mr. Dart was a probationary constable who resigned from the force in March 1984 and that he is now pursuing a claim for wrongful dismissal. In these circumstances, it would not be right to comment on the circumstances of his resignation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 5 July, if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the West Midlands police on the nature of the offences for which Detective Superintendent Kelly was reprimanded.

It would not be right to give details of the offences. I understand from the chief constable of the West Midlands police that they have no bearing on the current allegations of malpractice within the serious crime squad, and that Mr. Kelly was not a member of the squad at the time.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners whose parole eligibility date has passed are awaiting decisions by the parole board on recommendations by the local review committee; and what is the current average time lapse between that date and the decision being made.

Statistics are not readily available in the form requested. For further information, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Bermingham) on 4 July 1989 at column 95.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost of keeping prisoners after their parole eligibility date whilst awaiting decisions by the parole board on recommendations by the local review committee.

It is not possible to distinguish the cost of keeping prisoners eligible for parole from that of other prisoners. The average weekly cost of keeping a prisoner in a penal establishment in 1987–88, the latest period for which information is available, was £275.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to privatise the National Stud; and if he will make a statement.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received the second annual report of the Animal Procedures Committee; and when he intends to lay copies of the report before Parliament.

I have laid before Parliament copies of the report, which is published today by HMSO as HC458.This report reflects the continuing contribution which the Animal Procedures Committee is making towards the effective operation of the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, the protection of animals used in scientific procedures and the debate over how animal procedures should be regulated.I welcome the report's conclusion that

To ask the Minister for the Arts whether the museum of the moving image has achieved the targets set out for it at its inception.

The Museum of the Moving Image had a target of 435,000 visitors in its first year and this target is expected to be reached by the end of July, two months ahead of schedule. Over 53,000 schoolchildren have visited the museum emphasising its educational appeal.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will state the names of persons and their occupational posts who are to serve on the Library and Information Services Council for England working party on public library objectives, and the terms of reference of this working party.

The Library and Information Services Council (England) has appointed the following to serve on its working party on public library objectives:

• Mr. Royston Brown, Management Consultant (Chairman)
• Mr. A. R. Blick, Co-ordinator of Information Services, Beecham Group plc
• Mr. R. Bowden, Deputy Chief Executive, the Library Association
• Mr. W. A. Butler, Assistant to the Chief Inspector of Audit, The Audit Commission
• Mr. P. F. Cox, City Librarian, Westminster City Council
• Mr. A. Howson, Director of Libraries and Museums, Falkirk District Council (nominated by the Library and Information Services Council (Scotland))
• Mr. D. Leabeater, Senior Research and Development Officer, National Consumer Council
• Mr. D. Lindley, Head of Library Services, Books for Students
• Dr. R. A. McKee, Chief Librarian and Arts Officer, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
• Mr. D. Welch, Chief Librarian, South Eastern Education and Library Board, County Down (nominated by the Library and Information Services Council (Northern Ireland))
• Mr. W. G. Williams, County Library and Museums Officer, Clwyd County Council (nominated by the Library and Information Services Council (Wales))

The terms of reference are: to examine the present nature of current public library objectives (including unpublished material), and to develop a model set of objectives from which any library authority might select those appropriate to its own circumstances, and which could provide a starting point for the development of exclusive local objectives. The model set of objectives should preferably be in the form of a manual for publication, and the objectives should be capable of performance measurement.To suggest ways of testing/developing/promoting the model set of objectives.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to disperse Civil Service manpower to the South Western region.

As I announced to the House on 9 February 1989, at columns 751–52, individual departments are reviewing the location of their work with a view to finding locations offering easier labour markets and better value for money, and departmental Ministers will be announcing their decisions.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the rate of exchange between the United Kingdom and Canada at present; and what it was one year ago.

[holding answer 5 July 1989]: At close of business on 5 July the exchange rate was C$2.0570/£ against C$1.9252/£ a year ago.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list all LINK schemes so far approved with the expenditure on each and the location of sites at which the research is carried out.

To date, 17 LINK programmes have been approved, with total expected expenditure of nearly £245 million. The list gives approved expenditure for each programme.Project selection under these announced programmes is still at an early stage, but already agreement has been reached with 60 collaborators from industry and the universities; these are also listed.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what is the value of the EEC telecommunications initiative programme; and how much he expects to be spent in Britain;(2) which regions of the United Kingdom are participating in the EEC telecommunication initiative; and if he will list the projects, with their programme spend value, in each region.

The policy towards telecommunications in Europe adopted by the Council of Ministers is of significant value to the United Kingdom as a major influence on the liberalisation of European telecommunications markets.If the hon. Member has in mind direct financial receipts, the only EEC telecommunications initiative to provide funding on a regional basis is the Special Telecommunications Action for Regional Development (STAR). Northern Ireland, alone in the United Kingdom, qualifies for support under this programme, and has been allocated 25 mecu—about £16·9 million—of the 780 mecu —about £527 million—total programme funding.The only other exclusively telecommunications EEC initiative involving the provision of financial assistance is the Research and Development in Advanced Communications Technologies in Europe (RACE) programme of collaborative R and D projects. Total expenditure authorised by the Council of Ministers on the definition and main phases is 571 mecu—about £386 million. Of the 541 mecu allocated so far United Kingdom companies and other bodies may be expected to receive 161 mecu—about £105 million.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proportion of the following items sold in Britain in 1988 were imported (a) colour television sets, (b) electric toasters, (c) micro wave cookers, (d) goods vehicles, (e) cameras, (f) personal computers, (g) ball point pens, (h) pocket combs, (i) tooth brushes, (j) crockery, (k) cutlery and (l) saucepans.

The available information is shown in the table.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many jobs have been created in each task force area; how many were not funded by temporary employment programmes, including the employment training schemes; how many led to full-time and permanent, longer than one year, employment; how many were in effect self-employment; and how many went to black and ethnic minority groups.

[holding answer 10 July 19891]: The information sought about the breakdown of jobs created by task forces is not available in the form requested, nor could it be practically obtained by the task forces. However, the table gives estimates of total anticipated jobs and training places created, and businesses helped directly by projects in each task force since inception.

	Jobs created	Training places created	Businesses assisted
Bristol	307	1,034	572
Coventry	379	1,784	83
Doncaster	536	2,424	1,372
East Birmingham	127	1,319	77
Handsworth, Birmingham	849	1,069	361
Hartlepool	301	2,130	590
Chapeltown/Harehills, Leeds	111	822	93
Leicester	606	1,148	260
Middlesbrough	432	2,080	60
Moss Side, Manchester	247	3,229	120
North Kensington	820	2,500	85
North Peckham	500	3,600	1,463
Nottingham	308	1,855	269
Preston	655	1,315	483
Rochdale	72	890	810
Spitalfields	232·5	2,140	324
Wolverhampton	408	600	115
TOTAL	6,890.5	29,939	7,137

Separate records on ethnic minority jobs are not kept. However, the evaluation report on the Handsworth task force, prepared by PA Cambridge Economic Consultants—available in the House Library—noted that 69 per cent. of the jobs created by the task force, at the time of writing the report, were taken up by members of ethnic communities (paragraph 7.2.3).

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what criteria have been used to select inner city areas for task force status.

[holding answer 10 July 1989]: A range of criteria are used including the levels of local long-term unemployment, other indicators of deprivation and the ethnic minority proportion of the population. Task forces must also be located within the 57 urban priority areas.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the total expenditure on inner city task forces in each year since their inception; how much of that expenditure has been provided from private sources; and how much has gone to national organisations and how much to local community organisations.

[holding answer 10 July 1989]: Over £100 million has been committed to task force areas since their inception. The table shows total committed spend on task force projects by calendar year—the figures for 1986 are included in the 1987 total as they were not separately collected. Besides the financial contribution shown in the table, the private sector also provides other assistance such as secondees, advice, loan of premises/equipment etc.

(£'000)
	1986–7	1988	11989	Total
Total spend committed	35,254	53,347	14,103	102,704
Task Force contribution	12,701	20,207	5,632	38,540
Private sector contribution	4,591	9,215	2,336	16,142
Public sector contribution	17,962	23,925	6,135	48,022
1 To 31 March 1989.

Committed expenditure is counted for the year in which the project has received approval to go ahead, although not all the money may be spent in the same year. We do not keep separate information on how much money has gone to national or local organisations.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the total cost of the advertising campaign for the enterprise initiative; and what has been the average cost per take-up.

Expenditure on advertising the enterprise initiative since January 1988 has been about £19 million. The enterprise initiative covers a number of schemes and services for firms and there is no single measure of take-up which would justify the calculation of an average cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many sites in Wales are authorised to discharge radioactive liquid waste to the public sewer.

There are currently 55 authorisations under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 to dispose of liquid radioactive waste. The authorisations prescribe discharge into drainage systems which could include public sewers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report a list of those premises in Wales registered under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 being monitored by a commercial company on behalf of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.

The following sites are subject to monitoring by a contractor as part of the national environment monitoring programme conducted by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report the number of premises in Wales registered under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960; and if he will separately distinguish how many are sited in each parliamentary constituency.

There are 640 registrations covering Wales under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960. Details are not maintained by parliamentary constituency. A list of registrations by county is provided in the DOE/ Welsh Office/Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution publication "List of Registrations in England and Wales issued under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 for the keeping and use of radioactive materials and mobile apparatus", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report a list of any premises in Wales currently subjected to an environmental audit by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.

There are no premises in Wales currently subjected to an environmental audit by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will detail all the submissions from each local education authority for funding of national priority areas under the training grants scheme and the amount of funding allocated for each submission.

The total expenditure to be supported under the local education authority training grants scheme is determined each year by my right hon. Friend. Expenditure under the scheme is divided between national priorities, as specified by my right hon. Friend, and local priorities which are determined by the authorities themselves. Eligible expenditure on training in Wales in 1989–90 will total £13·18 million, of which £5·58 million is expenditure on national priorities and £7·6 million on local priorities. Authorities are free to spend more on in-service teacher training than the amounts specified as eligible for specific grant under the scheme. Allocations are in the main calculated pro rata to the authorities' student population. The allocation of expenditure to each authority for 1989–90 is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any proposals relating to the future organisation of the statutory agencies responsible for nature conservation and the countryside in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has today announced our intention to reorganise the agencies responsible for nature conservation and countryside matters in Great Britain.Legislation will be brought before the House at the earliest opportunity to give effect to the proposed changes. Responsibilities for nature conservation and countryside matters in Wales are currently undertaken by the Nature Conservancy Council and the Countryside Commission. These agencies are funded by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. My right hon. Friend and I are agreed that the present functions of those two agencies in Wales should in the future be exercised by a single separate Welsh body appointed by and directly responsible to the Secretary of State for Wales. This new body will incorporate the functional responsibilities of the present offices in Wales of the Nature Conservancy Council and the Countryside Commission with full executive authority for its work in Wales, compared with the current advisory role of the two committees for Wales. This will give continuity to much of the work now carried out by the existing organisations and will provide valuable expertise for the new body. It also means that decisions affecting Wales will in future be taken in Wales. A single body attuned to the needs of the Principality will be of undoubted benefit to Wales.The proposals represent a significant change in arrangements and should result in improvements in the efficiency, accountability, and above all the sensitivity of administration for conserving and managing the unique natural assets of Wales. The arrangements should also ensure that full regard is given to the protection of the environment without damage to our natural resources.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government support the United States Congress proposal to link aid to E1 Salvador to respect for human rights.

Respect for human rights is one of several factors that we take into account when determining the level and nature of our bilateral aid to individual countries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, during the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Ministers of Her Majesty's Government intend to ask Pakistan to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and to discuss the status of nuclear programme development in the sub-continent.

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister raised non-proliferation matters with Ms. Bhutto during her visit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Czech Government about the detention of Karel and Jindriska Korinek, in a psychiatric hospital; and if he will make a statement.

We have been in touch with the Czechoslovak authorities for some time about the Korineks, most recently on 6 July. We will continue to follow the case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make inquiries of the Government of Indonesia about reports of killings, arrests and reported disappearances in Bacou, East Timor which began on 5 May.

We are aware of these reports. Her Majesty's embassy has not been able to substantiate them.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those nature reserves assisted by grant from the Nature Conservancy Council where it has been made a condition of grant that the shooting of birds or other creatures will continue.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment on 4 July 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made with the brief, "The Scottish Office and its Activities," issued in June 1988; and whether he still intends to appoint consultants in terms of that brief to raise the profile of the Scottish Office.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on Tuesday 7 March 1989, at column 483.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if there are any plans to increase the maximum claim in the small claims procedure in the sheriff court; and if he will make a statement.

The small claims procedure came into operation on 30 November 1988 and I understand that my noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate has no plans at present to increase the upper financial limit of £750. The operation of the new procedure is being monitored by the central research unit of the Scottish Office and by a research team from the law schools of the universities of Strathclyde and Dundee.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he has any proposals to issue licences for traditional pearl fishing in Scotland; and if he will make a statement;(2) if he has considered proposals to place the freshwater mussel, margaritisera margaritisera, on the schedule of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as a protected species; and if he will make a statement.

I am currently considering with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment whether increased protection should be afforded to the freshwater pearl mussel.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the present organisation of the statutory agencies responsible for nature conservation and countryside in Scotland.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has today announced our intention to reorganise the agencies responsible for nature conservation and countryside matters in Great Britain.With the growing interest and concern in all aspects of our environment, I am clear that we need a more integrated approach to nature conservation and countryside matters in Scotland. Our scenery, habitats and wildlife—indeed our natural resources as a whole—are priceless assets and they have characteristics which are distinctive to Scotland. We must ensure that we protect and manage them wisely. To achieve this the machinery of Government should be organised effectively and be on a basis that can best take account of Scottish conditions. I consider that the establishment of a single body with responsibility for the natural heritage in Scotland is the right approach. A single agency could take a more comprehensive view of the many issues presently facing us and help to secure our natural heritage, resources and countryside for the benefit of future generations. The experience and expertise of the existing agencies will complement each other in this task, giving an integrated approach to conservation and countryside matters in Scotland.I propose to create such an agency in two stages. First, as my right hon. Friend has announced, legislation will he brought before the House at the earliest opportunity to establish a separate Nature Conservancy Council in Scotland. The Government will ensure that the new Scottish body is fully equipped to continue to carry out its present duties towards nature conservation. I would then bring forward a Scottish Bill to merge the proposed Scottish Nature Conservancy Council with the Countryside Commission for Scotland to create a single natural heritage body. I would appoint its members and it would report directly to me. The new body will have full executive responsibility for its work in Scotland and be sponsored by my Department. Our proposals represent a significant change from present arrangements. They will result in substantial improvements in the effectiveness, accountability and, most important of all, in the sensitivity of administration in the vital task of conserving and managing Scotland's natural heritage.I am publishing a consultation paper inviting views on the principles of these proposals. Copies are being placed in the Library. I hope that there will be a large and positive response.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to ensure that (a) merchant seamen and (b) Royal Navy seamen, who are away from shore for more than six months in a year, are treated equally in respect of liability for the poll tax.

[holding answer 10 July 1989]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer which my hon. Friend the Minister of State gave him on 2 May 1989, Official Report, columns 17–18. Anyone who is dissatisfied with the decision of the registration officer has a right of appeal, first to the registration officer and then to the sheriff.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many banks and building societies have indicated that they are willing to administer the student loans scheme.

It is for the individual banks and other financial institutions to reach their own decisions in the light of the detailed negotiations now under way, but it is clear from the discussions that have already taken place that there is substantial interest in participating in the top-up loans scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current number of places on planning courses in universities and polytechnics; and what was the number in each of the previous three years.

The numbers of higher education students on planning courses were as follows:

	1984	1985	1986	1987
Universities (GB)1: full-time and sandwich students	1,316	979	1,002	1,124
Polytechnics (England)1: full-time and sandwich students	2,180	2,090	2,075	2,158
part-time (including evening only) students	951	958	924	1,145
1 The subject classification for universities was changed between 1984 and 1985.

The figures for universities for 1984 are not therefore directly comparable with those for the later years. The subject classification for polytechnics differs from that for universities. There is therefore incomplete comparability between university and polytechnic figures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what sanctions the Government intend to use against local authorities and governing bodies which fail to bring their school premises up to the standard required by 1991 in accordance with the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981;(2) whether the Government intend to implement fully the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981 by insisting that school premises are up to the minimum standard by 1991 as determined by those regulations.

The duty of ensuring that school premises conform to the standards prescribed by the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981 rests with local education authorities and governors. Local authorities have been aware since 1981 of the requirements of the regulations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to amend the law relating to the statutory school starting age in order to make starting school dependent on certification of completion of a basic child immunisation programme; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave to him today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what estimates he has made of the numbers of young people who will be in secondary education in 1990–91 beyond their 18th birthday; what are his estimates of the relevant numbers in (a) 1991–92 and (b) 1992–93; and if he will make a statement.

The Department projects that there will be some 19,600 pupils in English secondary schools in 1990–91 aged 18 or over at the start of the academic year. The corresponding numbers in 1991–92 and 1992–93 are projected to be 18,600 and 17,700 respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in the City of Durham constituency receive severe disablement allowance.

I regret that the information is not available in the precise form requested.The City of Durham constituency is served by the Department's local office in Durham but their boundaries are not conterminous. The numbers of people receiving severe disablement allowance at the Durham local office as at 31 May 1989, the latest date for which the information is available, were 449.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what number of families are now in receipt of family credit and living in the area covered by Durham department of social security.

At the end of June 1989 the number of families receiving family credit who, at the time their awards were made, were living in the area covered by the Durham local office was 705.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what safeguards, under the Data Protection Act, will exist to ensure that information will be confidential to Department of Social Security staff only when local Department of Social Security offices are computerised.

The Department keeps the security of its computer systems under constant review to ensure that the confidentiality requirements of the Data Protection Act are met. For the computer system now being introduced into local offices, we have strict measures in place to limit access to records to authorised users. It would not be prudent to publish details of those security measures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what facilities are to be provided for non-English speakers and for those who are unable to communicate by telephone because of physical disability when local Department of Social Security offices are computerised.

Computerisation of the benefit system, and the relocation of work from some London offices, will not affect the way that people communicate with the Department. Interpretation facilities will be available for telephone calls routed to remote sites.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what safeguards will ensure an adequate service to the public should there be serious problems with the operation of new technology in local Department of Social Security offices.

Improving service to the public is a key objective in providing new technology for local offices. Safeguards have been built into the development of the computer systems to ensure that an adequate service to the public is maintained.The computer programmes have undergone rigorous test programmes which include simulated operations in a model office followed by pilot running in 23 local offices. Resilience has been built into the system to reduce the effects of equipment breakdown and contracts have been established with suppliers to ensure rapid response should breakdowns occur.In the event of a loss of computerisated support by natural disaster or other unavoidable incident, emergency plans are in place to maintain an adequate service to the public using clerical procedures.

Estimated number of recipients by tenure and proportion of dwellings A. Supplementary Benefit (1985 data not available)
	Council Tenants		Private Tenants		Owned Outright		With Mortgage
	Numbers(000)	Per cent.	Numbers(000)	Per cent.	Numbers(000)	Per cent.	Numbers(000)	Per cent.
1980	1,513	23	460	17	330	3	134	1
1981	1,764	27	535	21	348	3	196	2
1982	1,980	31	574	23	388	3	237	2
1983	1,952	32	548	22	424	3	243	2
1984	2,053	34	589	25	442	3	278	2
1986	2,206	37	625	27	437	3	357	3
1987	2,247	39	664	30	418	3	336	2

B. Income support (1988–89 only)
	Council tenants		Private tenants		Owner occupier
	Numbers(000)	Per cent	Numbers(000)	Per cent	Numbers(000)	Per cent
1988	1,850	33	540	25	655	4

C. Housing benefit (from 1983–84 only)
	Council tenants		Private tenants		Owner occupier
	Numbers(000)	Per cent	Numbers(000)	Per cent	Numbers(000)	Per cent
1983	3,735	61	1,015	41	2,581	20
1984	3,745	62	1,080	45	2,540	19
1985	3,710	62	1,150	49	2,403	18

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in what form, and when, the ministerial review of policy on one-parent families will be available; and what relation this review bears to the research carried out by his Department.

The number of lone-parent families has increased from 840,000 in 1979 to just over 1 million in 1986, but their dependence on benefit has increased at an even faster rate. In 1979, 40 per cent. of lone-parent families were dependent on supplementary benefit, but by 1986 the proportion had increased to 60 per cent. No maintenance at all is paid for 77 per cent. of lone parents on income support. In these circumstances the Government must be concerned and examine their own arrangements to see what further can be done to ensure that these fathers meet their responsibilities and to help those lone parents who wish to work to do so.We have commissioned an independent study of the motivations and perceptions of lone parents on benefit and the results will he fully and carefully considered.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate for each year since 1980 the numbers and proportions of (a) council tenants, (b) private tenants, (c) outright owner occupiers arid (d) owner occupiers with mortgages in receipt of supplementary benefit, income support or housing benefit.

The information available is in the table. Detailed information for owner-occupiers is available only for supplementary benefit. Housing benefit did not begin until 1983–84.

	Council tenants		Private tenants		Owner occupier
	Numbers(000)	Per cent	Numbers(000)	Per cent	Numbers(000)	Per cent
1986	3,720	63	1,180	52	2,368	17
1987	3,665	64	1,195	54	2,336	16
1988	3,100	55	925	43	1,260	9

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he has any plans to link the receipt of child benefit and other family-related benefits to certification of completion of a basic child immunisation programme; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's reply to him today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on how many occasions the maximum loan of £1,000 issued from the social fund was to a claimant in (a) Greenock and Port Glasgow, (b) Strathclyde, (c) Scotland and (d) England and Wales in the financial year 1988–89.

I regret that the information is not available in the form requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing the effects on the net income of families receiving family credit of an increase in child benefit; and if he will make a statement.

Child benefit is ignored when assessing family credit in individual cases. Instead, the level of child benefit is taken into account when setting the rates of child credits in family credit. So in April 1989, when child benefit remains unchanged, the new family credit rates included an additional 45p to reflect what would have been the increase in child benefit had it been uprated. This was on top of the increase to restore the value of the child credits and the further 50p added to all the children's rates in the income-related benefits. Increasing child benefit would not therefore have added to the total value of the child credit and child benefit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to arrange for child benefit to be paid in respect of those young people who are aged over 18 years in secondary education who will be required to pay poll tax from April 1990; and if he will make a statement.

No. Child benefit will continue in payment for young people under 19 who are in full-time non-advanced education (ie, up to A-level or equivalent standards) regardless of whether or not they are required to pay the community charge.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will announce the social fund allocation for the new office in New Malden and also the revised allocation for Kingston following the closure of Surbiton local office on 29 June.

[pursuant to his reply, 5 July 1989, column 195]: I regret that the reply does not announce the revised annual allocation for Kingston. The information requested is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the source of the data on real income by decile group referred to in his answer to the hon. Member for Birkenhead on 3 July, Official Report, columns 5–6; and when he expects to make this data available.

The methods and assumptions used can be found in "Households below Average Income: A Statistical Analysis 1981–85", a copy of which is in the Library. Full details were provided in my hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, South (Mr. Griffiths) on 15 November 1988 at columns 629–30. Details are as follows:

Improvements in living standards
Individuals in households
Great Britain 1979–85
Decile	Percentage
Lowest	6
2nd	5
3rd	4
4th	4
5th	4
6th	6
7th	6
8th	9
9th	10
Highest	18
Total	9

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list the money and percentage gains in real income of ech decile group for each year since 1979;(2) when he expects to provide a substantive reply to the question from the hon. Member for Birkenhead on changes in real income by decile group to which he gave a holding answer on 30 June.

[holding answer 30 June 1989]: The available information, which is adjusted for household size and composition, is as follows. Percentage changes in real equivalised household incomes by deciles of all individuals are set out in table I. It is not meaningful to produce results by decile of the whole population without allowing for the size of composition of households. For further discussion of this point the hon. Gentleman should see Cm 523 "The Measurement of Living Standards For Households Below Average Income". What the figures in table I mean in terms of changes in real income for a single person household is set out in table II.