To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what discussion on nuclear power took place between Ministers or officials from his Department and John Harris, chairman of the East Midlands electricity board, on Wednesday 12 July; and if he will make a statement.

Discussions between my right hon. Friend and the area board chairmen are confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what encouragement he is giving to the development or purchase of the safe integral reactor; and if he will make a statement.

Items allocated	To whom allocated	Conditions/wishes expressed
"The Artist's Studio" by Peter Tillemans	Castle Museum, Norwich	Conditional
Bryant letters	Imperial War Museum	Unconditional
Two busts by Roubiliac	National Museums of Scotland	Conditional upon remaining in situ at Mellerstain House
Two portraits by Angelica Kauffman	National Galleries of Scotland	Conditional upon allocation to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
"Fabula" by El Greco	National Galleries of Scotland	Conditional
Rubens Cameo	Ashmolean Museum, Oxford	Conditional
Nine portraits	National Galleries of Scotland	Conditional upon remaining in situ at Cawdor Castle
Naum Gabo Sculpture	Leeds City Art Gallery	Unconditional
Flower painting by Jacob Marrel	Bowes Museum, County Durham	Unconditional
"A Tartar Huntsman" by Rubens	Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge	Wish expressed that it be allocated to Fitzwilliam

Items accepted but not yet allocated	Date of acceptance
"Allée à Chantilly" by Cezanne A press notice is being issued.	23 March 1989

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the deficit in manufactured trade for 1989–90.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Southport (Mr. Fearn) on 21 June at column 138.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 17 July 1989 at column 52.

To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will specify the allocations made to public institutions in the United Kingdom during the half-year ended 30 June of individual works of art and museum objects pre-eminent for national, scientific, historical or artistic interests which have been accepted in satisfaction of inheritance tax or capital transfer tax, together with information, where applicable, as to conditions or wishes expressed by testators or executors in the matter of allocation; whether he will list the works of art and museum objects which are still awaiting allocation, with the respective dates of their acceptance in satisfaction of inheritance tax or capital transfer tax; and whether the customary press notice will be issued from the Office of Arts and Libraries covering the information given in his reply.

[holding answer 12 July 1989]: The information the hon. Member requests is as follows:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give his latest estimate of Britain's end of year trade deficit in 1989 and 1990.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Bootle (Mr. Roberts) on 6 July at columns 217–18.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in deciding what treatments will be permitted under private medical insurance contracts which will be eligible for tax relief from 6 April 1990; and if he will make a statement.

I am pleased to be able to announce the Government's decisions.Our intention is that a comprehensive range of treatments will be permitted under private medical insurance contracts which attract tax relief. Contracts will therefore be permitted to cover charges for medical and surgical procedures (including diagnosis), the purpose of which is the relief of illness or injury, given or personally controlled by a registered medical or dental practitioner in the United Kingdom. Contracts may cover charges or fees, consequent on such procedures, for nursing (including home nursing), physiotherapy, speech therapy, chiropody, equipment, drugs, dressings, prostheses, hospital accommodation, other hospital services, transport, and convalescence in the United Kingdom for up to 14 days after an operation. Specialist fees and theatre fees will also be covered.In addition, contracts will be permitted to cover GP operations, including associated drugs, dressings and so on, but not subsequent prescriptions.The following will not, however, be permitted: "alternative medicine", dental procedures carried out in a general dental practice, general ophthalmic procedures not carried out in hospital, any medical or surgical procedures (other than GP operations) not carried out on an in-patient, outpatient or day patient basis, and cash benefits (except sums of up to £5 per night during private in-patient treatment).Regulations giving effect to these provisions will be laid before the House in the autumn.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report, the amount and share of pre-tax income accruing to (a) the top 1 per cent., (b) the top 5 per cent., (c) the top 10 per cent., (d) the top 25 per cent., (e) the bottom 70 per cent., (f) the bottom 5 per cent. and (g) all taxpayers in the year 1989–90 and the amount and share of tax liability for each of these groups.

[holding answer 19 June 1989]: Information is given in the table. Estimates are based on a projection of the 1986–87 survey of personal incomes and are provisional; they include estimates of occupational pension contributions and investment income not reported to tax offices.I regret that information on the bottom 5 per cent. of taxpayers is not available.

Gross incomes before tax and share of income tax liabilities 1989–90
Group of taxpayers	Gross income before tax	Income tax liabilities
Top 1 per cent.
Amount £ billion	21·0	6·7
Share per cent.	7·0	13·0
Top 5 per cent.
Amount £ billion	56·7	15·1

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the sterling component of the net public sector debt outstanding at (a) the end of December 1988; and (b) the end of the financial year 1988–89.

Figures for public sector financial assets and liabilities at the end of December 1988 will be published in "Financial Statistics" for September as part of a breakdown of financial assets and liabilities for each main sector in the economy. These data do not identify the sterling component explicitly. The net public sector debt at the end of March 1989 will be published in the Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin for November. From these data it will be possible to make an estimate of the sterling component.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the procedures concerning value added tax within free ports; whether he will apply existing customs rules within free ports; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 17 July 1989]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) on 17 December 1987 at columns 651–52.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any proposals to apply the licensing scheme to teachers from Australasia; and if he will make a statement.

As my right hon. Friend announced yesterday, he proposes that overseas-trained teachers, including those from Australasia, should be eligible to be licensed teachers, and in certain cases should obtain qualified teacher status after only one term's service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the number of pupils between the ages of five years and 16 years in 1979; and what is the latest figure.

The numbers of pupils aged¹ 5 to 15 inclusive in January 1979 and January 1988 in all schools in England were as follows:

	Pupils (thousands)
January 1979	8,085·2
January 1988	6,462·3
1 aged at previous 31 August.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has received recent representations from the Napier polytechnic students association, Edinburgh, about student loans; and if he will make a statement.

My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland has forwarded to me a letter from Napier polytechnic students' association. I shall reply in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science by how many the establishment of civil servants in his Department has changed as a consequence of the increased responsibilities of and expenditure on the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council and the Universities Funding Council.

Setting aside the implications of the UFC's employing its own staff, the effect on the Department's staffing of the increased responsibilities of the two funding councils has been offset by the change to funding from the Department's votes for the polytechnics and colleges sector and by the need for transitional arrangements for that transfer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what further plans the Government have to help the inner London boroughs with the cost of assuming responsibility for education.

The Government have decided to make available a transitional grant totalling £100 million in 1990–91 to assist the inner London boroughs and the City as they take on responsibility for education. We plan that the grant will be phased out over a five-year period. The precise profile of the grant and the method of distributing it will be announced in the autumn.

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.

[pursuant to his reply, 20 June 1989, c. 81–82]: Information on the number of teacher vacancies in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in England is now available for all regions. The figures are:

	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	1,305	819
Other South East	617	542
South West	181	161
England	3,116	2,424

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he intends to enact for Northern Ireland the provisions of the Children Bill, currently being enacted for Great Britain; and if he will make a statement.

Preparation of legislation is already in hand to replace the Children and Young Persons A ct (Northern Ireland) 1968 and to revise enactments dealing with family law matters and, in the light of changes to be introduced by the Children Bill, a working party of officials is to give careful consideration to the implications for Northern Ireland. It is hoped that a consultation paper will be issued shortly inviting views.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what conclusions he has reached about the recommendations in the Griffiths report on care in the community; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Health last week announced the Government's conclusions on the recommendations in the Griffiths report. On the same day, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security announced corresponding changes in the benefit system. Full details of the new arrangements, as they will apply to Great Britain, will be published in a White Paper later this year.The Griffiths report did not extend to Northern Ireland, where we already have an integrated administration structure for the health and personal social services. I have asked the health and social services boards in carrying out the current review of their management structures to ensure that their proposals meet the management needs of the personal social services as well as those of the health services, and facilitate the co-ordinated provision of health and social care. I have also kept in close touch with the Government's detailed consideration of the Griffiths recommendations, whose emphasis on the development of care in the community is very much in keeping with our own regional strategy for the health and personal social services.In particular, we are already committed to enabling people who need care to stay in or return to their own homes and neighbourhoods and live there with as much dignity and independence as their disabilities allow. This means making available improved and better co-ordinated services in the community. It means ensuring that members of the public have access to the information and objective professional advice they need to make sensible choices about the way they run their lives. It means ensuring that an extensive range of services is available, including support for the dedicated relatives, friends, neighbours and volunteers who will continue to provide so much care so unselfishly. And it means ensuring that public money is used as effectively and efficiently as possible to meet the needs of clients of the health and personal social services and their informal carers.Substantial resources have been devoted in recent years to improving community care services in Northern Ireland. I will give some concrete examples of the progress that has been made between 1979–80 and 1986–87. Expenditure on community health services rose by 32 per cent. in real terms, and on personal social services by 29 per cent. Attendances by mentally ill people at day hospitals arose by 26 per cent. and at out-patient clinics by 40 per cent. Training centre places for mentally handicapped adults have almost doubled. Day care places for various groups rose by 28 per cent. The number of community psychiatric nurses more than trebled. In addition, Northern Ireland has shared in the rising national expenditure on social security benefits to support individuals in residential and nursing homes and other accommodation.Earlier this month I announced an additional injection of resources amounting to £6 million over the next three years, to be used as bridging finance to support patients discharged from long-stay hospitals. This brought the total bridging funds available to health and social services boards over the five-year period from 1987 to £18 million, all of it specifically targeted towards enabling mentally ill and mentally handicapped people to move out of long-stay institutions and into the community. There remains much more to be done, and I am confident that our health and social services boards will rise to the challenge.At present people who are unable to support themselves and need social care can look to two separate sources of help: to social security offices for payments towards the cost of places in residential and nursing homes and to health and social services boards for home care, day care and residential care services. This arrangement is not consistent with the priority which we wish to give to supporting people at home where that is otherwise possible and desirable. Social security payments for residential and nursing home care are not subject to any assessment of individual need for care.The same changes to the social security system will be introduced in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the United Kingdom, and funds will be transferred on the same basis to the boards. In the longer term, they will become fully responsible for funding the care element of public support for people in private and voluntary residential and nursing homes and for ensuring that services are developed and funds allocated in accordance with their assessment of individuals' care needs.As in Great Britain, residents of private or voluntary residential and nursing homes will from April 1991 be given access to help from the normal income support system and from housing benefit on a similar basis to the help they would receive in their own home.Existing residents of private or voluntary homes who are already in receipt of income support or who may become eligible for such support at any point after that date will continue to be covered by the present arrangements.To derive maximum benefit from establishing boards as a unified source of public funding for community care, priority will be given to the development of assessment procedures so that services can be planned on the basis of full and accurate information about each individual's need and a better balance achieved between residential care and support for people living in their own homes. Close attention will be paid to devising arrangements which will provide members of the public with easily understood access to information about services and help suited to their individual needs. People who are thinking of entering a residential or nursing home, whether on a private basis or with public funding, are particularly likely to benefit from objective advice about any other options available to them.Boards will continue to meet the full cost of accommodating people in statutory homes, subject to their existing powers to charge according to resident's ability to pay. There will be no change in the benefit rules applying to residents in these homes.The new arrangements will clearly have expenditure implications for boards and my Department will take these into account when determining their financial allocations.I will be giving careful consideration to the development of suitable planning and monitoring arrangements to allow me to assess the implementation of the new policy.My Department issued a consultative document last November on the registration and inspection of private and voluntary residential and nursing homes, and is now considering the responses, totalling over 100, which have been received. Proposals for a Registered Homes Order will be brought forward later this year, to consolidate and update existing legislation.In Northern Ireland, the current strategy for the health and personal social services is to reduce the number of occupied beds in mental illness and mental handicap hospitals rather than to promote a programme of hospital closures. The substantial bridging funds to which I have already referred are being allocated against specific schemes identified by the four boards to develop and expand community facilities and services in advance of patients being discharged from hospital. Discharges of long-stay patients, who will have the greatest adjustments to make to life in the community, are already the subject of careful planning. They take place only after the patients concerned have taken part in a programme of rehabilitation and proper services and facilities are in place to support them in the community. Earlier this year, my Department invited tenders for a monitoring and evaluation project which will track all long stay patients discharged into the community over a three-year period; evaluate the care they receive; and focus on their quality of life and that of their informal carers. A paper will be published in the autumn which will spell out in greater detail the implications of these changes for Northern Ireland, and explain how they will fit in with the new arrangements to be introduced on foot of the current review of boards' management structures.I am confident that the Government's proposals, and in particular the establishment of a single source of funding for community care, will enable a higher priority than ever before to be given to the co-ordinated development of services aimed at supporting people in their own homes, at providing more help for families and other informal carers and at developing the part played by voluntary and other interests in achieving these objectives.

To ask the Prime Minister when the conference on European monetary union agreed at Madrid will take place; and if she will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to my statement to the House on 29 June on the outcome of the European Council in Madrid.

To ask the Prime Minister what changes in the policies of Her Majesty's Government are envisaged arising from the increased use of junk bonds in relation to British companies; and if she will make a statement.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assurances about the future regulatory framework for media ownership of satellite services broadcasting to the United Kingdom were given by the Government to satellite broadcasting companies prior to the launch of Sky Television.

Our proposals for regulating ownership in the independent television sector were published in paragraphs 6·48 to 6·53 of the White Paper "Broadcasting in the '90s: Competition, Choice and Quality" (Cm 517), which was presented to Parliament on 7 November 1988. These proposals were amplified in a written answer on 19 May at column 317.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the appeal of Mrs. Fatma Bassau whose date of birth is 1 December 1964 reference B 253061, is scheduled for consideration.

I refer the hon. Member to my letter to him of 2 June. The Home Office explanatory statement will be prepared in its turn as soon as practicable.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to shorten the time taken to deal with applications for British citizenship; and what is the current average time taken to process applications.

The average time taken to process applications completed during June 1989 was 18 months for registrations and 23 months for naturalisations.Despite the provision of a considerable number of additional staff to process citizenship applications, the number of applications received at the end of 1987 was so great that there is no prospect of average processing times being reduced in the immediate future. However, we expect there to be an improvement during 1990–91 when the backlog of registrations has been cleared.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has now received the report of the scrutiny of the magistrates courts service which he announced on 17 January; and what action he proposes to take on it.

I am today publishing the report of the scrutiny, which was completed on 4 July. The report includes wide-ranging proposals for the reconstruction of the magistrates courts service as an executive agency with a number of specific proposals directed towards improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the service while maintaining public confidence in the impartial administration of local justice. The major proposals would require legislation. The report, rightly, accepts as a fundamental principle that judicial decisions in the magistrates courts must be wholly independent of Government direction.I welcome the report's thorough and perceptive analysis of the problems facing the magistrates courts service. I welcome also its recognition of the considerable efforts now being made by the members of the magistrates courts service to improve its performance within the limits imposed by the present system.The proposals raise issues of considerable importance. Before reaching decisions on the scrutiny I should like the interested parties, including the bodies representing the magistracy, justices' clerks and their staff and local authorities, to let me have their considered views, and to provide an opportunity for public comment more generally. Consultations will begin shortly, and it would be helpful if initial comments could be sent to the Home Office (Room 418, Queen Anne's Gate) by 30 September.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted of drink-driving offences in (a) England and (b) Bedfordshire since 1 January 1985.

The available information relates to findings of guilt for driving, etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs and is published annually by police force area in table 16 of "Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales, Supplementary tables"; copies are in the Library. The latest issue relates to 1987; figures for 1988 will be published in the autumn.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many roadside breath tests have been conducted by police officers in (a) England and (b) Bedfordshire since 1 January 1985.

The information requested is published annually in a Home Office statistical bulletin "Statistics of breath tests, England and Wales"; copies are in the Library. Table 5 of issue 8/89 gives the figures for 1987; figures for 1988 will be published in August.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis about the progress of the investigation into the alleged racial attack involving murder upon an Asian family in their home in Flower and Dean walk, Stepney, on Sunday 9 July; and if he will make a statement.

The conduct of the investigation is a matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. I understand that the police are conducting a major investigation into what appears at present to have been an attempted robbery which ended in murder.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning the speed of police response to emergency calls alleging racial attack; and if he will make a statement.

No record of the number of such representations is kept centrally. The report of the interdepartmental racial attacks group published in May 1989 recommends that, where there is public concern about the police response in cases alleging racial attacks, the police should monitor their response times carefully.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will request the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to publish an addendum to the latest edition of his annual report for 1988 on the force order on racial harassment issued in June 1987 which set out guidelines for the police investigating racial harassment and monitoring investigations of racial harassment; and if he will make a statement.

While it is not the general policy of the Commissioner to make public force orders, an exception has been made to the extract from police orders of 26 June 1987 which dealt with racial attacks and harassment. This has been published as annex H of the report of the interdepartmental racial attacks group published in May 1989. Copies of this report are available in the Library of the House. The Government fully support the many initiatives taken by the Metropolitan police to combat racial attacks and harassment.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evaluation there has been of the effectiveness of the force order on racial harassment; whether it will be made public; and if he will make a statement.

An internal management review of force instructions on racial attacks and harassment was carried out in 1988. This showed that all divisions within the Metropolitan police have adopted the minimum requirements set down, with most providing additional services in consultation with their local communities. The review is not being made public, but is being used to spread good practice throughout the force.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was allocated to the Commission for Racial Equality in 1987–88 and 1988–89.

The Commission was allocated grant-in-aid of £10,845,000 in 1987–88 and £11,256,000 (provisional) in 1988–89.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to bring forward proposals to make parents accept responsibility for failing to prevent crimes by their children; and if he will make a statement.

The debate about the proposals put forward earlier this year for increasing parents' responsibility for their children's offending is continuing. Views have been received from a number of interested parties covering matters including parental attendance at juvenile court hearings; parental liability for fines and compensation orders imposed upon their children; and the wider use of existing penalties. We shall decide how to proceed in the light of those and other responses.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of requests for advice or assistance with the preparation of immigration appeals made to the UKIAS in Glasgow in each year since 1979.

[holding answer 6 July 1989]: The United Kingdom Immigrants Advisory Service is an independent organisation and the Home Office keeps no central records of the number of people assisted by the service at its Glasgow office. UKIAS does, however, publish an annual report which gives information on its workload on a regional basis. Copies are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the appellate authority about delays in presenting immigration appeals in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 6 July 1989]: None. Delays in the hearing of appeals are essentially a matter for my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor who has responsibility for the immigration appeals system.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he has received from the European Commissioner for Transport regarding European Economic Community proposals to prevent the deaf and hard of hearing from driving minibuses, light goods vehicles and heavy goods vehicles.

I have been asked to reply.The Commission proposals are unlikely to lead to any change in the existing domestic arrangements for licensing the drivers of heavy goods vehicles, which exclude the deaf.In our negotiations with the Commission we are seeking to preserve our existing licensing arrangements as far as possible. These allow the deaf to drive minibuses and light goods vehicles. There have been no detailed negotiations about the draft directive as a whole so far.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has received from the Anglo-Taiwan trade committee about the opening in Taipei of the British visa-handling office; how many visas were processed on each of the first seven days after it opened for business; how many Taiwan Chinese are expected to apply for and to receive British visas via this office in 1989 and at what approximate annual rate as far as can be estimated; how much is charged in NT dollars for each visa that is issued; and if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the charges made by the United States and by other EEC member countries which issue, or have been issued on their behalf, visas in Taipei.

The Anglo-Taiwan trade committee has given us the following information about the operation of its visa-handling unit:

(i) Visas processed on each of the first seven days after opening
Date	Number
Thursday 1 June	21
Friday 2 June	65
Monday 5 June	129
Tuesday 6 June	73
Wednesday 7 June	71
Thursday 8 June	1Nil
Friday 9 June	188
1National Holiday.

(ii) The Anglo-Taiwan trade committee anticipates that approximately 26,000–27,000 Taiwan Chinese will apply for and receive United Kingdom visas via their office in 1989. It estimates that it will process around 40,000 applications in 1990 and forecasts an upward trend thereafter.(iii) The Anglo-Taiwan trade committee currently charges NT $1,250 for a single entry visa and NT $2,450 for a multiple entry visa.

(iv) Visa charges levied in Taiwan by United States and other EC member countries
Country	NT$ charge
United States	250
Belgium	900–4,000
Denmark	1,500
France	205–410
FRG	660
Greece	1,700
Ireland	3,250
Italy	1,000
Luxembourg	900–4,000
Netherlands	1,000–4,000
Portugal	1,900–3,000
Spain	1,700

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the outcome of the current year's meeting of the committee on the peaceful uses of outer space; and if he will make a statement.

The committee on the peaceful uses of outer space, which met from 5 to 15 June 1989, gave priority consideration to the ways and means of maintaining outer space for peaceful purposes. The Committee recommended that the general assembly endorse the initiative of the international scientific organisations to designate 1992 as international space year. In considering the report of its scientific and technical sub-committee, the committee debated the techniques of remote sensing of the earth from outer space, the uses of nuclear power sources in outer space, space transportation systems and the technical attributes of the geostationary orbit. The elaboration of draft principles relevant to the use of nuclear power sources in outer space was the main item considered by the committee in the debate on the report of its legal sub-committee. We attach considerable importance to the United Nations committee on the peaceful uses of outer space since its inception in 1959 and welcome its role as a focal point for international co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give a breakdown by country of the names of those individuals who are the victims of human rights abuses and upon whose behalf he has made representations to the authorities in the country in question during the last six months; and if he will indicate, where appropriate those cases which have satisfactorily been resolved.

In the last six months we have made representations on behalf of many individuals who are the victims of human rights abuse. Those representations have been made to the authorities in a wide range of countries and, in some instances, have helped to bring about a satisfactory resolution of the cases involved.It would not be in the interests of current or future victims of abuse if we were to make public the details of our representations about individual cases.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council held on 17 July.

The first Foreign Affairs Council of the new French presidency took place in Brussels on 17 July. My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development, and I attended for the United Kingdom.The Council had a procedural discussion on the handling of further work on the economic and monetary issues considered at the European Council in Madrid. It also exchanged views inconclusively on the broadcasting directive.In the light of the discussion of western support for reform in Poland and Hungary at the Paris economic summit, the Council considered appropriate action and noted that the Commission will urgently submit a proposal for the supply of surplus food stocks to Poland, and will convene a meeting of a wider group of interested countries.The Council considered the Community's trade relations with the United States and asked the Commission to continue its efforts to resolve the dispute over hormones in meat.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he has accepted the findings of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council's recent report on chlamydiosis and Q fever; and if he will make a statement.

The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council's report on chlamydiosis and Q fever is published today and a copy has been placed in the Library. The Council concludes that there is sufficient evidence to prescribe Q fever and chlamydiosis as industrial diseases under the terms of section 76(2) of the Social Security Act 1975 and recommends that both be added to the schedule of prescribed diseases. We have accepted these recommendations and regulations have been laid today which will bring them into operation on 9 August 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the effect on the number of families entitled to family credit if all wives in paid work stopped working.

I regret that the information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the average increase in living standards of couples with children whose main source of income is social security benefit since 1979.

[holding answer 10 July 1989]: The latest available information is that from 1979 to 1985, the

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) which of his Department's offices in the county of South Yorkshire have spent more than 100 per cent. of their profile allocation for social fund loans and social fund grants for (a) April, (b) May, and (c) June;(2) which of his Department's offices in the county of South Yorkshire have spent between 90 per cent. and 100 per cent. of their profile allocation for social fund loans and social fund grants for

The information requested is set out in the table. Details of actual expenditure are available in the Library.living standards of supplementary benefit recipient couples with children improved on average by 16 per cent. This estimate uses the methods and assumptions of the "Households Below Average Income" statistics and is based on net income before housing costs ie net income from all sources.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what increases in the capacity of the Docklands light railway are now planned to take place; and if he will make a statement.

London Regional Transport is planning to double the capacity of the railway between Tower Gateway and the Isle of Dogs early next year with the introduction of two-unit trains. A further increase is planned for early 1991 with the delivery of new trains, bringing the capacity of the railway from Tower Gateway to some 6,500 passengers per hour compared with 1,750 at present. Improvements at Tower Gateway station will be completed early in 1990 to match the increased train capacity and to provide better facilities for passengers.The design concept of the Canary Wharf station has been agreed and will be integrated into the construction programme for the railway. The scale of the station development at Canary Wharf and the complexity of construction at Bank station, have caused some delays in the programme.Completion of the first tunnel at Bank station is now scheduled for late 1990. The aim is to provide a single-tunnel service as soon as possible, provided that that can be done satisfactorily in the light of current forecasts of increased passenger demand. Completion of both tunnels is scheduled by late 1991, with full service provision following normal commissioning procedures. I have asked LRT to do everything it can to advance the opening dates for the new services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will announce his decision on the proposal to site a motorway services area on the M11 at Birchanger.

My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Transport expect to announce their decision shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will direct London Underground Limited to publish the hazard analysis report into Tottenham Court Road station; and if he will place a summary of the report in the Library.

The report was commissioned by London Underground Ltd. and publication is for it to consider.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will meet the chairman of London Regional Transport to discuss a date for the completion of the complete study to be made of the movement of passengers through the central underground system to assess properly all risks to staff and passengers to which they may be exposed, and the safe passenger capacity as recommended by the railways inspectorate in its report of an investigation into the management of safety concerning passengers and staff in stations on the London Underground dated 28 April; if he will report the conclusions of these discussions to Parliament; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that London Underground Ltd. hopes shortly to appoint selected consultants to conduct the study. The work will be completed as soon as possible but it is too soon to say when that will be.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list any classes of vehicle that have an entitlement to use blue lamps but are not used for police, fire or ambulance purposes;(2) if he will list those regulations that are currently in force that control the use of blue lamps on police, fire, ambulance or any other types of vehicle;(3) if he will specify what is covered by the terms

In addition to ambulances and motor vehicles used for fire brigade and police purposes, the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1984 allow the following categories of emergency vehicle to use blue lamps:

Motor vehicles owned by a body formed primarily for the purposes of fire salvage and used for those or similar purposes;

Motor vehicles owned by the Forestry Commission or a local authority and used from time to time for the purposes of fighting fires;

Motor vehicles owned by the Secretary of State for Defence and used—

(i) for the purposes of the disposal of bombs or explosives,

(ii) by the Naval Emergency Monitoring Organisation for the purposes of a nuclear accident or an incident involving radio-activity,

(iii) by the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service for the purposes of rescue operations or any other emergencies, or

(iv) by the Royal Air Force Armament Support Unit; motor vehicles primarily used for the purposes of the Blood Transfusion Service provided under the National Health Service Act 1977 or under the National Health (Scotland) Act 1978;

motor vehicles used by Her Majesty's Coastguard Auxiliary Service for the purposes of giving aid to persons in danger or vessels in distress on or near the coast;

motor vehicles owned by the National Coal Board and used for the purposes of rescue operations at mines;

motor vehicles owned by the Royal National Lifeboat institution and used for the purposes of launching lifeboats; and

motor vehicles primarily used for the purposes of conveying any human tissue for transplanting or similar purposes.

Current requirements controlling the use of blue lamps on emergency vehicles are given in regulations 11(2), 13, 15 and 23(6) of the regulations.The regulations specify that a warning beacon means a lamp that is capable of emitting a flashing or rotating beam of light throughout 360° in the horizontal plane. A special warning lamp is defined as a lamp fitted to the front or rear of an emergency vehicle, capable of emitting a blue flashing light and not any other kind of light. Schedule 15 to the Regulations sets out the positioning requirements for warning beacons. There are no specific fitting provisions laid down for special warning lamps.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the newspapers in which the advertisement entitled "If there is a Public Transport Strike Tomorrow" appeared on 11 July; what was the cost of each advertisement; and what was the total cost of the production and displaying of the advertisement.

[holding answer 18 July 1989]: The advertisement appeared on 11 July in southern editions of the Daily Mail, Daily Express, Today, The Star, The Sun, and Daily Mirror; and national editions of The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Financial Times and in the London Evening Standard.The total cost of this advertising including production was £190,733·59. Information about the breakdown of costs by each newspaper, as requested, is commercially confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those programme areas which are eligible for allocations for improved street lighting in residential areas.

I have been asked to reply.All highway authorities are eligible to apply to the Department of Transport for capital allocations in respect of roads, and these may cover expenditure on street lighting schemes in residential and other areas. The 57 local authorities which are eligible to receive urban programme funds are listed in "DOE Inner City Programmes 1987–88", a copy of which is in the Library. The urban programme has supported a number of projects in inner city areas which have included the provision of improved street lighting as part of a package of measures designed to reduce crime and improve the environment. Urban programme resources are not allocated to particular project types. It is for each local authority to decide whether it wishes to include projects involving street lighting improvements in its inner area programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of National Health Service eye tests carried out in Scotland in the last three months and the number carried out over the same period in 1988.

Information about the number of National Health Service sight tests carried out in Scotland between 1 April 1989 and 30 June 1989 is not yet available. The latest figures available show that 337,069 sight tests were undertaken under general ophthalmic services between 1 January and 31 March 1989. The comparable figure for the same period in 1988 is 309,417.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on procedures for the regulation of charities in Scotland in the light of the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Trust (Scotland) case.

My right hon. Friend hopes to make a statement on the regulation of charities in Scotland later this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of Dorran-type houses investigated by the Building Research Establishment were shown to be (a) suffering from current corrosion of steel enforcing bars, (b) sound, and (c) liable to structural defect within the next 30 years; and if he will give a breakdown of the analysis by district council area.

The Building Research Establishment visually inspected a sample of about 100 Dorran two-storey houses and 30 Dorran bungalows in Scotland, and of these one house and one bungalow were examined in detail. Corrosion of reinforcement was found in the ring beam of the houses, but all houses and bungalows were found to be structurally sound at the time of inspection. All components tested showed carbonation of the concrete, and this condition could lead to corrosion of the steel reinforcement within the next 30 years.Information is not available by district council area.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cost of erecting a temporary bridge on the A96; and what is the estimated cost of anticipated repairs to the old Findhorn bridge.

The cost of buying, installing and maintaining the temporary bridge is £235,000. The total cost of the temporary diversion—that is, bridge and approach roads—was £579,000, of which aproximately £120,000 is for re-usable temporary bridging.The cost of strengthening and refurbishing the existing Findhorn bridge is estimated to be £706,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the value of the projects described in the European Commission's publication, "Second Programme of the European Communities to Combat Poverty", and give the reasons for Scotland's exclusion.

Scotland did not take part in the second EC programme to combat poverty because the size of the programme and the net benefit which Scotland could have expected to gain from it did not justify participation. A complete evaluation of the programme is not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the (i) economic, (ii) technical, (iii) safety and (iv) national and international criteria on which his decision not to grant Glasgow airport a gateway status was based.

The criterion against which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport judged the request of BAA plc for a review of the lowland airports policy was that set out in the 1985 White Paper "Airports Policy"; the absence of a steady improvement by 1989 in Prestwick's financial results. The data provided by BAA plc showed that there had been such an improvement, and my right hon. Friend announced accordingly that a review would not take place.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the national and international airlines flying to and from Scotland which support his decision to keep Prestwick as Scotland's only gateway airport.

Representations have been received on Prestwick's long haul gateway status, but it would be for the airlines concerned to make their views public, if they wished.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from the following organisations about his decision to retain Prestwick airport as Scotland's only gateway airport: (i) Confederation of British Industry Scotland, (ii) Glasgow chamber of commerce, (iii) Edinburgh chamber of commerce, (iv) Association of British Travel Agents, (v) Scottish Council (Development and Industry) and (vi) Scottish tourist board; and which supported and which opposed his decision.

Representations to my right hon. and learned Friend about Scottish lowland airports policy have been received from a number of organisations, but it would be for those concerned to make their views public, if they wished.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the results of the annual census of school meals in Scotland held in January; what were the corresponding 1988 results; and if he will make a statement.

the information obtained from the census is set out in the table. The 1989 census is the first following the changes in entitlement to free school meals introduced under the Social Security Act 1986 on 11 April 1988. It

Education Authority Schools (including nursery and special schools)
	1989		1988
	Number	As percentage of pupils present	Number	As percentage of pupils present
Pupils present on Census day	713,034	—	729,505	—
Pupils taking school meals
on payment	223,456	31·3	184,780	25·3
free	105,232	14·8	145,219	19·9
total	328,688	46·1	329,999	45·2
Pupils bringing own food on school premises	104,266	14·6	98,488	13·5

A detailed statement of the returns from education authorities from which these national figures are derived is being placed in the Library.

	Primary		Secondary
	1989 Per cent.	1988 Per cent.	1989 Per cent.	1988 Per cent.
Pupils taking school meals	51·5	50·0	42·1	41·8
Pupils bringing own food	22·2	20·6	5·3	5·3

All authorities provide the fixed traditional 2 course The figures are as follows; meals and cafeteria style meals, with the latter accounting for 64 per cent. of all meals served.

	1989			Percent. of pupils present	1988			Percent of pupils present
	Paid	Free	Total		Paid	Free	Total
Pupils taking fixed meals	74,345	44,327	118,672	16·6	97,635	109,937	207,572	28·5
Pupils taking cafeteria meals	149,111	60,905	210,016	29·5	87,145	35,282	122,427	16·8

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to issue the final circular on staffing in Scottish schools following publication of the draft circular arising from the staffing review in June 1988.

[holding answer 3 May 1989]: I am considering the precise form of final guidance to authorities, taking account of relevant developments since last June.

To ask the Lord President of the Council (1) if he will institute a review of the wording required of petitions in order to make the submission of petitions less likely to be invalid because of petitioners not using a precise form of words; confirms the Government view that these changes would not have a detrimental effect on the uptake of school meals, and the number of pupils taking meals as a percentage of those present is greater than that at the 1988 census. Under the new arrangements the children's rates of family credit include an element to cover the cost of school meals. The significant increase in the number of children taking paid meals, which corresponds with the drop in free meals, suggests that many families are receiving and using family credit for the purpose intended.The following table shows, as percentage of pupils attending their respective sectors, those primary and secondary pupils taking meals or bringing their own food.The figures are as follows;(2) if he will take action to permit the modernisation of the language required to be used on petitions in order to assist potential petitioners.

I have no plans to do so. If the hon. Member can demonstrate that the language required to be used on petitions has caused widespread difficulty for petitioners he should bring the matter to the attention of the Select Committee on Procedure for its consideration. The growth in the number of public petitions presented over the last decade, from 42 in 1979–80 to 356 in 1987–88, suggests that there is no problem and hon. Members may consult the Clerk of Public Petitions when necessary.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will launch an inquiry into the practice of planting questions.

I have no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the cost of producing the communications pack called "Self-Governing Hospitals—An Initial Guide", a Members' briefing and a video.

The estimated cost of the staff communications pack of self-governing hospitals which included "Self-Governing Hospitals—An Initial Guide", "Self-Governing Hospital—Briefing for NHS Managers" and a video, was £300,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will instigate a study to establish whether extending the range of people who are exempt from eye test charges could reduce hospital referrals.

No. We have no reason to believe such a study is necessary. GPs are well aware that only those patients who require diagnosis and treatment of a suspected eye condition should be referred to hospital eye departments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost to (a) a hospital and (b) an ophthalmic medical practitioner to give an eye test; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for any differences.

We do not have centrally information on the average cost of providing sight tests in hospitals. However, the current fee of £8·69 paid to an ophthalmic medical practitioner (OMP) for conducting an NHS sight test includes an expenses element of £2·13 based on the recommendation of the doctors and dentists review body. In framing its recommendation the review body took note of the results of an inquiry, which reported in 1988, into the expenses of OMPs. No comparison between the costs of undertaking sight tests in hospitals and by OMPs has been made.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide for each of the last three available years a breakdown of the number of prescriptions issued by community pharmacists for the following benzodiazepines (a) diazepam, (b) temazepam, (c) lorazepam, (d) nitrazepam and (e) oxazepam.

The information is as follows:

Number of prescriptions dispensed
Millions
England	1985	1986	1987
Diazepam	4·4	4·2	4·1
Temazepam	5·1	5·8	6·2
Lorazepam	2·6	2·6	2·4
Nitrazepam	5·0	4·7	4·4
Oxazepam	0·6	0·6	0·6

The above data are estimates based on a sample of approximately one in 200 prescriptions dispensed by retail pharmacists and drug stores.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the qualified staffing per capita levels in (a) Gateshead district health authority and (b) Newcastle district health authority.

The information which I understand the hon. Member requires is set out in the table.

	Gateshead	Newcastle
	DHA	DHA
1. Enrolled nursing and midwifery staff per 100,000 resident population	146·4	359·0
2. Registered nursing and midwifery staff per 100,000 resident population	273·9	734·7
3. In-patients treated in year ending 31 March 1988	21,729	92,352
Items 1 and 2—Source—Department of Health Annual Census of non-medical manpower (September 1987).
Item 3—Source—Department of Health returns from Health Authorities on number of patient stays year ending 31 March 1988. Form SH3A.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the cyclotron machine for which the Government provided funds will be owned by the National Health Service.

Details of the operational arrangements for the proposed project have yet to be settled in consultation with those concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many responses he has received to date on the White Paper "Working for Patients".

We have received more than 8,500 representations since the White Paper was published on 30 January.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he proposes to take to improve the transfer of patient medical records from one general practitioner to another.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) on 22 June at column 216.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the future of the centre for applied microbiology and research at Porton Down near Salisbury.

The centre for applied microbiology and research (CAM R) is a public body managed by the public health laboratory service (PHLS). As with any body spending public funds, reviews are carried out from time to time on how effectively those funds are being used and whether they are being spent on activities which properly belong within the public sector. The Department and the PHLS are currently carrying out such a review of the arrangements for the management of CAM R. No decisions have yet been made, but we will ensure that the centre's essential public health work continues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will give such details as can be released without breach of confidentiality of any cases in which National Health Service injury benefits compensation has been paid to a worker who had acquired the HIV infection;(2) how many cases of HIV infection alleged to be acquired at work have been, and are currently being investigated to date for National Health Service injury benefit compensation; and how many of these have been accepted.

No benefits have been paid under the National Health Service (Injury Benefits) Regulations in respect of HIV infections. There has been only one occasion where a claim has been made under the injury benefit regulations alleging that a HIV infection was attributable to National Health Service employment. That claim was subsequently withdrawn while still under consideration when the source of the infection was traced to a previous employment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list in the Official Report the amounts of (a) Government and (b) non-Government investment in AIDS research over the latest period for which figures are available.

The Government have allocated the following sums for AIDS research since 1984:

	£ million
1984–85	0·17
1985–86	0·66
1986–87	2·46
1987–88	10·36
1988–89	13·95

We do not hold information about non-Government investment in AIDS research.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role nurses will have on the new family practitioner committees envisaged in "Working for Patients".

The nurse member will be a full member of the newly constituted family practitioner committee in England, contributing to all its intended functions and activities and will bring to the committee special skills and experience bearing on the increasingly important part which nursing plays in modern general practice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial support Her Majesty's Government are giving to the activities of the British Council of Organisations of Disabled People; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Greenwich (Mrs. Barnes) on 14 July at columns 657–58.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what legislation he plans to bring forward. in the light of the National Radiological Protection Board's recommendations in their recently published "Guidance to Restrictions on Exposure to Time-varying Electromagnetic Fields," and the 1988 recommendations of the International Non-ionising Radiation Committee.

The Health and Safety Commission is not planning to propose new legislation on non-ionising electromagnetic fields. However, the Health and Safety Executive will take account of the National Radiological Protection Board's recommendations in any further guidance it issues, but does not expect that any major revision of current guidance will be needed.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Western Isles on 30 June, Official Report, column 585, how many individual farmers as landowners will receive livestock compensatory allowance payments annually; what information he has in respect of how much is paid out in total and how much to individual farmers and landowners in hill livestock compensatory allowance payments; and if he will make a statement.

We estimate that about 65,000 producers in the United Kingdom's less-favoured areas will receive hill livestock compensatory allowances this year, and that total expenditure will be of the order of E 120 million. We do not have a breakdown of these figures between landowners and other claimants.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many whole farms have been set aside from agricultural production under the European Community scheme in each county in England and Wales.

Following are the numbers of participants who have set aside in the crop year 1988–89 the whole area used in the base year 1987–88 for relevant arable crops. This area is not necessarily the whole of the farm concerned.

	Number of participants
England
Avon	6
Bedfordshire	9
Berkshire	5
Buckinghamshire	20
Cambridgeshire	16
Cheshire	5
Cleveland	1
Cornwall	13
Cumbria	1

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate how many full-time and part-time jobs have been lost as a consequence of the set aside scheme for agricultural land in England and Wales; and if he will estimate how many of those job losses are attributable to whole farm set aside.

Losses of agricultural jobs are to be expected as farming adjusts to a more rigorous price policy, but alternative non-agricultural activities on farms will generate new jobs. Set-aside is designed both to work with stabilisers to achieve the adjustment of agricultural production and to provide new opportunities for farmers to use their land for non-agricultural purposes. I will be in a position to form a judgment on the employment effects of set-aside when I have the results of the evaluation of the scheme commissioned by my Department.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, for each of the last three White Papers issued by his Department, for which legislation has been started, he will state the time elapsed between their publication and the First Readings of any Bills connected with them; and if he will do the same for the last three White Papers issued by his Department prior to May 1979.

In recent years it has not been usual practice for my Department to issue White Papers in advance of the publication of bills. Information for the period prior to May 1979 is not readily available.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will press for the discontinuation of the cereals co-responsibility levy in future years.

Yes. I will continue to press for the levy to be replaced by price cuts, which are a far better way of dealing with a surplus.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in the Official Report the declared purpose of funds generated by the cereals co-responsibility levy; and how have they actually been spent.

When the Commission of the European Communities proposed the introduction of the cereals co-responsibility levy in 1986 it declared that the objective of the levy was to make producers more aware of market realities and to make them contribute to financing the burden placed on the European Community budget by surplus production. Income from the levy has been used to offset expenditure in the cereals sector.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many representations he has received over the new arrangements for the testing of imported eggs for salmonella which (a) allege that the safeguards are inadequate or (b) propose that the importer, rather than the taxpayer should pay the cost of testing; and if he will make a statement.

I have received a considerable number of representations about the arrangemens for testing imported eggs for salmonella. However, I am advised that the sampling rate of 60 eggs per lorry load is adequate to enable the risk of infection from imports to be established. There are no powers to charge importers for testing under the Imported Food Regulations 1984.