To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research projects are being carried out in the Trent regional health authority into the pattern of general

National Health Service staff in post in England
Qualified staff—by regional health authority
Occupational therapists and speech therapists at 30 September of each year
1 Whole-time equivalent
Region	1979		1984		1988
	Occupational therapists	Speech therapists	Occupational therapists	Speech therapists	Occupational therapists	Speech therapists
Northern	100	80	130	120	230	160
Yorkshire	160	110	240	130	340	170
Trent	200	120	370	200	550	250
East Anglia	130	70	200	100	250	110
North West Thames	230	140	290	180	340	270
North East Thames	200	100	300	200	370	250
South East Thames	200	140	260	180	320	250
South West Thames	200	120	250	150	320	190
Wessex	170	70	240	100	320	130
Oxford	190	90	240	110	300	140
South Western	200	100	300	150	410	200
West Midlands	220	150	290	210	420	260
Mersey	130	60	180	90	250	110
North Western	160	130	270	210	400	230
London post-graduate special health authorities	50	30	50	20	50	20
England	2,530	1,510	3,610	2,150	4,870	2,730

To ask the Secretary of State for Health in the light of the work of DRG plc in the distribution of medical packaging products to the National Health Service, what consideration his Department has given to the effect of the bid for DRG plc by Pembridge Investments of Bermuda and any resulting sale of DRG Hospital Supplies on competition within the supply of such products to the National Health Service; whether his Department has made a submission to the Office of Fair Trading; and if he will make a statement.

Officials have received representations concerning the bid both from DRG and Pembridge Investments Ltd. At the request of the Office of Fair Trading written comments have been passed to them which will be taken into account with other advice received. I am not aware that the bid will necessarily result in the sale of DRG Hospital Supplies and it would be my intention to ensure as far as possible that effective competition and security of supply was maintained for the NHS in this area of medical packaging.

We do not hold this information centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of Trent regional health authority for the information he requires.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each regional health authority the numbers of occupational and speech therapists in 1979, 1984 and 1988.

The information is shown in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what will be the effect on patient care of the proposals to allow large general practitioners practices to hold their own budgets.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Rochford (Dr. Clark) on 27 June at column 417.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what requirements in respect of experience, competence, or probity he lays down or recommends to the regional or district health authorities in respect of proprietors or managers of private ambulance companies whose vehicles are hired to them at public expense;(2) what requirements in respect of qualifications, experience or health he lays down or recommends to regional or district health authorities in respect of personnel employed by private ambulance companies whose services they use at public expense;(3) what requirements, standards or specifications he lays down or recommends to regional or district health authorities in respect of the minimum standards of private ambulances hired or contracted to them and paid out of public funds.

Health authorities are responsible for the day-to-day management of National Health Service ambulance services. It is for these authorities to arrange the most appropriate, efficient and cost effective means of transport for each of the patients the ambulance service is asked to convey. This may involve the use of private services. Requirements in respect of qualifications and experience are not set centrally: health authorities are responsible for negotiating contracts locally and for setting standards of service, patient care, and safety.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any changes will be made in the cash limits of his Department for 1989–90.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the following changes will be made.The cash limit for class XIV vote 1 (Hospital and community health and other services, England) will be increased by £47,879,000 (from £11,861,947,000 to £11,909,826,000). This increase provides an additional £32,000,000 for expenditure in connection with the implementation of the NHS review; £17,340,000 for the carry forward of underspends under the end year flexibility arrangements as announced by my right hon. Friend and Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 20 July 1989; and £539,000 in respect of a transfer from class XIV, vote 3 (subhead G2) for a management communications programme to inform NHS staff about the NHS review proposals. These increases are partly offset by a reduction of £2,000,000 in respect of a transfer to class XIV, vote 3 (subhead G3) for AIDS publicity.The cash limit for class XIV, vote 3 (Department of Health, administration, miscellaneous health services and personal social services, England) will be increased by £8,891,000 (from £688,170,000 to £677,061,000). This increase provides an additional £7,400,000 for expenditure on Departmental administration in connection with the NHS review; £2,000,000 for a transfer from class XIV, vote 1 for AIDS publicity; and £30,000 for a transfer from class XV, vote 7 to adjust the apportionment of resources following the split of the former Department of Health and Social Security. These increases are partly offset by £539,000 in respect of a transfer to class XIV, vote 1 for a management communications programme to inform NHS staff about the NHS review proposals. As a result of the changes on this vote, the Department's running costs limit is increased by £7,341,000 from £238,815,000 to £246,156,000.The net effect of these changes will be charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has made any changes to both the cash and gross running costs limits for the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys for 1989–90.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class XX, vote 15 will be increased by £1,515,000 from £30,253,000 to £31,768,.000. This increase reflects the carry forward of £192,000 underspend on running costs in 1988–89 under the end-year flexibility scheme and increased provision of £485,000 for work to correct NHS statistics held on the family practitioner committee systems; the carry forward of £323,000 underspend on capital in 1988–89 under the end-year flexibility scheme; an additional £1,000,000 to allow for greater computer capacity for system development work on the 1991 census (this represents a timing change within the overall 1991 census expenditure); increased capital provision of £200,000 for processing the 1991 census of Scotland. The costs to correct the NHS statistics and for processing the 1991 census of Scotland will be met from within the respective existing resources of the Department of Health and the General Register Office (Scotland). Both of these costs will be balanced by an equivalent increase in appropriations-in-aid. The balance of the increase will be charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.The OPCS gross running cost limit for class XX, vote 15 will be increased by £677,000 from £35,377,000 to £36,054,000 as a result of these changes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths and adverse reactions have been reported since the introduction of human insulin; and if he will make a statement.

Since December 1982 the Committee on Safety of Medicines has received just over 100 reports of adverse reactions which may be associated with human insulin. In four of these cases the patient died. A report of a suspected adverse reaction does not necessarily mean there is a causal relationship with the drug so it does not follow, that human insulin was responsible for the reported deaths.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health which companies manufacture human insulin; what warnings they gave to those taking the insulin; whether these were approved by the Committee on Safety of Medicines; and whether the warnings have been changed.

Product licences for human insulin are held by:

• The Wellcome Foundation
• Lilly Industries
• Fisons Ltd.
• Nordisk UK Ltd.
• Novo Laboratories Ltd.
• Novo Industries

Patient information leaflets for human insulin give a range of warnings covering such subjects as pregnancy, illness, taking other medicines, taking physical exercise and drinking alcohol. All patient information leaflets are approved by the licensing authority. All manufacturers of human insulin agreed to include an additional warning that a few patients who experienced hypoglycaemic reactions after transfer to human insulin have reported that the early warning symptoms were less pronounced or different from those experienced with their previous insulin.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what circumstances his Department recommends that whooping cough vaccine should not be given; and what are the recommendations of the manufacturers.

The recommendations of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation, which the Department has accepted and which are published in the memorandum "Immunisation Against Infectious Disease", advise that if a child is suffering from any acute illness, vaccination against whooping cough should be postponed until the child has fully recovered; and that vaccination should not be given to children who have a history of severe local or general reaction to a preceding dose. "Local" and "general" are defined in the memorandum.The JCVI also advises in the memorandum that there are certain groups of children for whom the advisability of whooping cough vaccination requires special consideration because of their own or their families histories. In such children the risk from vaccine may be higher, but the effects of the disease could be more severe. If the doctor is in doubt, he should seek advice from a consultant paediatrician or specialist in community medicine. These groups are:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the typical level of coverage achieved within district health authority areas for cancer screening and immunisation; and what information he has on preventive health performance in other European Community countries.

For cervical cancer screening, the information is not available in the form requested. Following the introduction of a new statistical return from April 1988, it is hoped to be able to give details of levels of coverage for 1988–89 towards the end of this year. Similarly, following the introduction of a new statistical return for breast cancer screening from April 1989, it is hoped to be able to give details of levels of coverage achieved in 1989–90 towards the end of 1990.The United Kingdom is the first country in the European Community to implement nationwide cervical cancer screening based on computerised call and recall. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands are currently implementing similar programmes for breast cancer screening.On immunisation, the coverage for England in 1987–88 (the latest year available) averaged 87 per cent. for diphtheria, tetanus and polio, 76 per cent. for measles and 73 per cent. for whooping cough. In that year nearly 100 of the English health authorities exceeded 90 per cent. for diphtheria, tetanus and polio, and eight also exceeded that figure for measles.Although European Community countries make immunisation uptake data available to the World Health Organisation, only the United Kingdom and the Netherlands use similar calculations to derive uptake. It is not therefore possible to make accurate comparisons.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what administrative costs have so far been incurred at district health authority level in dealing with appeals made in accordance with section 32 of the General Whitley Council handbook against the imposition of particular grades under the new clinical grading structure;(2) what are the projected costs of dealing with appeals made in accordance with section 32 of the General Whitley Council handbook against the imposition of particular grades under the new clinical grading structure made at district, regional and national levels;(3) what extra funds have been set aside to meet the administrative costs of appeals made in accordance with section 32 of the General Whitley Council handbook against the imposition of particular grades under the new clinical grading structure at district, regional and national levels.

Detailed information about health authorities' particular administrative expenditure is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether, in view of the number of clinical grading appeals from nurses, he will instruct Health Service managers to return to the negotiating table to resolve the dispute over the interpretation of the clinical grading criteria of continuing responsibility and supervision.

I understand that these issues were discussed at length in the nursing and midwifery staffs negotiating council last year without agreement being reached between the staff and management sides. We share the yew of the management side that further discussions would not now be a helpful way forward, since the prospect of reaching agreement has not improved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional funding has been made available by the Government to date in respect of successful nurse grading appeals.

In 1988–89 the Government made available to health authorities in England additional funding of £731 million to meet the cost of the nurses pay and regrading exercise. This figure, which was based on health authorities' own estimates, includes the further £98 million announced in October 1988 to meet in full the final cost of the clinical regrading exercise. The total sum has been rolled forward to 1989–90 and this together with the substantial real terms increase in resources announced in the 1988 Autumn Statement provides authorities with sufficient resources to plan flexibly to meet the cost of successful appeals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Newham, South of 20 October, Official Report, column 270, what authority, option, or instruction has been given by him relating to the privatisation, or sub-contracting, of any non-emergency ambulance service in England and Wales.

There are no plans to privatise the ambulance service.Health authorities are responsible for the operational management of the ambulance service. In 1984 the Department published a scrutiny report on the non-emergency sector of the ambulance service when we said that it was open to district health authorities to buy-in part of the ambulance service from the private sector if that is more cost effective and provided the quality of service was maintained. Many NHS ambulance authorities already use private contractors, the hospital car service and voluntary aid societies to transport appropriate NHS patients. This has been the case for many years and helps to ensure that skilled ambulance crews and specialist vehicles are used for those who need the special care and attention which they can provide.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a full copy of the research commissioned by the committee for monitoring agreements on tobacco advertising and sponsorship into compliance with the agreements on advertising and sponsorship between the Government and the tobacco industry.

[holding answer 28 July 1989]: My right hon. and learned Friend the Minister for Health wrote to the hon. Member on 27 September to explain that the independent Committee for Monitoring Agreements on Advertising and Sponsorship (COMATAS) had been consulted about this matter, and that the tobacco industry had objected to the release of this material on various grounds.This matter has been pursued with the industry's representatives with the aim of securing the release of this material but they remain of the view that the research reports should not be made public. They argue that the business of COMATAS is private and confidential to the committee and that the research in question was not intended to be free-standing. They insist also that the reports contain commercially sensitive information.This matter was discussed at a COMATAS meeting on Thursday 5 October. The independent chairman, Sir Peter Lazarus, concluded that since COMATAS is a joint committee consisting of equal representation from the industry and from Government, if one party insisted that the research reports should not be released, this view should prevail. The committee accepted this position.The results of the research projects commissioned by COMATAS are reported in the first and second annual reports of the committee, published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office (ISBNs 0 11 321138 4 and 0 11 321225 9), both of which are in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether, in the 1990 contract (a) "The Public Service" includes schools which have opted out from local education authority control, local education authority schools and further education colleges, (b) in paragraph 13(a) the £400,000 fund is annually refreshed by that amount and for post-graduate teaching only, (c) the definition of sparsely populated areas in paragraph 13(b) is altered; and (d) to qualify under paragraph 26 a general practitioner must be qualified to perform all operations on the list of surgical procedures.

[holding answer 19 October 1989]: The National Health Service (General Medical and Pharmaceutical Services) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1989, laid on 16 October, set out the criteria by which FPCs should determine applications from GPs to work over four instead of five days a week. It will therefore be for the FPC to decide whether the provision of health care services to local education authority schools and further education colleges, whether opted out or not, may justify a GP providing general medical services over four rather than five days. The fund of up to £400,000 a year is recurrent, and will mainly be directed at undergraduate teaching. As regards "sparsely populated areas", no change is being made to the inducement practice scheme. To qualify for inclusion on the minor surgery list, a doctor must demonstrate competence to undertake all the procedures listed in schedule 1B of the amending regulations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether, in the 1990 contract (a) the paragraph 51 general practitioner age limits apply to locums and assistant doctors, (b) time spent by general practitioners on representational work on official bodies can be subtracted from the 26 hours, referred to in paragraph A2, (c) the substantial extra resources referred to in paragraph 58 means resources new to the National Health Service, or resources reallocated within it and (d) proof of posting an offer, paragraph A7 will constitute offering the required services to a post-75 patient; and who bears the cost of paragraph A13 reports.

[holding answer 19 October 1989]: Locums and assistant doctors who are not included in an FPC medical list are not affected by the introduction of a compulsory retirement age. Under the revised terms of service, a doctor will be required to be available to his patients for at least 26 hours over five days a week at times convenient to patients. Provision is made for an FPC to agree that a GP may fulfil this requirement over four instead of five days, provided the GP satisfies the criteria set out in the National Health Service (General Medical and Pharmaceutical Services) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1989.Because a number of fees and allowances will be abolished, it will be necessary to redistribute a considerable proportion of the funds currently expended on general medical services to meet the costs of new payments. The reference to "substantial extra resources" in paragraph 2.6 of the White Paper "Promoting Better Health" and quoted in paragraph 58 of "The 1990 Contracts" referred to extra investments additional to current expenditure. Where a GP makes an offer in writing to a patient aged 75 or over under paragraph 13D of the revised terms of service, proof of posting the written offer will be accepted as discharging the responsibility to make such an offer. Should the patient accept the offer, the GP will be required to carry out the check-up as laid down in those terms of service.The production of annual reports by practices will not be a significant expense and, as with other expenses related to the provision of general medical services, will be reimbursed to the profession indirectly through fees and allowances.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements he has made for the allocation of the marriage allowance following the introduction of separate taxation; and what measures he will take to ensure that the marriage allowance is shared equally between husband and wife.

The married couple's allowance which will be introduced under independent taxation in April 1990 will be given in the first instance to the husband. If he has insufficient income to use part or all of the allowance himself he will be able to transfer the surplus to his wife. Allowing married couples generally to share the married couple's allowance between them would add considerably to the complexity of independent taxation and would delay its introduction. Fewer than one in 300 couples would gain any financial advantage from this additional complexity.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the use by Pembridge Investments of Bermuda of that off-shore tax haven to launch a takeover bid for the Bristol-based company DRG plc and the fact that the tax status of Pembridge Investments would allow it to break up the constituent parts of DRG and sell them free of tax at the corporate level; whether he will be considering legislation to bring the United Kingdom into line with the tax regime as it operates in this respect elsewhere in Europe; and whether he will make a statement.

I cannot comment on the tax aspects of individual takeover bids, but I have noted my hon. Friend's suggestion.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is proposing any change to the Central Statistical Office's cash limits for 1989–90.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class XIX, vote 18 will be increased by £1,615,000, from £13,727,000 to £15,342,000 and the running cost limit by £1,163,000, from £10,804,000 to £11,967,000. Part of the increase reflects further transfers of provision from other Departments following the establishment of the Central Statistical Office as a separate Department: corresponding reductions will be included in supplementary estimates for the Cabinet Office: other services (class XX, vote 2), the Department of Trade and Industry (class V, vote 3) and the Department of Employment (class VII, vote 2). The remainder reflects provision to meet some of the additional administrative and other expenditure which arises for the Central Statistical Office as a separate Department, and to meet expenditure on a share register survey in connection with the Department's work to improve the quality of the national accounts' statistics. These elements (totalling £695,000) will be charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the proposed deals with supermarket chains to build on sites owned by the Metropolitan police in return for providing a free police station; and what other police forces in England and Wales are considering these proposals.

We are prepared to consider proposals for new police stations submitted by police authorities in collaboration with the private sector, provided these offer better value for money than schemes which are totally publicly funded.I understand from the Commissioner of Police of Metropolis that the Metropolitan police are not at present considering any such scheme. I understand, however, that South Yorkshire police authority is doing so; we are not aware that any other police authority in England and Wales is in a similar position.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what sentence, with full remission:, results in (a) post-sentence or (b) a total period of imprisonment of four years; and if he will make a statement.

A sentence of six years imprisonment (with maximum remission but without parole) will result in a total period of four years being served in custody. The total period spent in custody, whether before or after sentence, earns remission. Thus, the length of sentence requiring four years to be served after sentence depends on the amount of pre-sentence detention.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the numbers and names of organisations invited to meet Mr. Colin Harnett and Mr. Satish Malik when they visited Leicester in October;(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the notes taken by his officials during the visit of Mr. Colin Harnett and Mr. Satish Malik to Leicester in October;(3) what was the cost to the taxpayer of the visit to Leicester in October of Mr. Colin Harnett and Mr. Satish Malik; what was the purpose of the visit; what was the number of organisations attending the meetings; and on what date hon. Members for Leicester were informed of the visit;(4) whether Mr. Colin Harnett and Mr. Satish Malik during their visit to Leicester in October 1989, sought the

views of the public concerning

As part of their normal duties (which include visits to all parts of the country), officials from the equal opportunities and general department make occasional visits to regional areas of the Commission for Racial Equality in order to improve their awareness of local community relations. On 17 and 18 October 1989, Mr. Colin Harnett, Mr. Satish Malik and Miss Pamela Johnson made such a visit to the commission's Leicester office. They were joined for the first day only by Mr. Stephen Rimmer of the police department.At the request of the Home Office, the arrangements for the visit were made locally by the commission for Racial Equality and comprised meetings with the commission's staff, the officers and members of the Leicester Council for Racial Justice, officers of Nottingham and Wellingborough community relations councils, and separately with individual members of the Muslim communities. In additon the police arranged a meeting with the deputy chief constable of the Leicestershire constabulary and some of his officers, also attended by officers of the commission and Leicester Council for Racial Equality.Discussions at these meetings covered a broad range of community relations issues at both national and local level. These included the impact of the issue surrounding the publication of the book "The Satanic Verses" and the relations between the police and the ethnic minority communities. I am informed that views about the effectiveness of hon. Members for Leicester were not sought at any time.It would be neither necessary nor appropriate to inform hon. Members in advance of visits by officials in pursuance of their duties and this was not done in this instance. There will be no official report of the visit, which cost £360·80 in officials' expenses. Information on visits made by other officials from this Department to Leicester during October is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current backlog of naturalisation cases.

The number of applications for naturalisation outstanding at 16 October 1989 was 69,139.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current number of outstanding applications for registration for citizenship.

The number of applications for registration of all types outstanding at the end of September 1989 was 70,858.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action his Department is taking over crack; how many seizures have been reported to date; what social background persons successfully prosecuted for using or handling this drug have come from; and if he is planning a prevention advertising campaign in the near future.

We already have a comprehensive programme of action in place to tackle both the supply of and the demand for drugs. Many of the measures being taken or planned, will have an impact on the misuse of cocaine in the form known as crack. These include:

• provision of drug-related assistance to Latin American countries, including a substantial package of training and equipment for Colombia;
• specialist customs teams to combat cocaine smuggling; the stepping up of police action against the supply of crack and
• the provision of a fact sheet on crack for drug education co-ordinators in every local education authority.

Some 75 seizures of crack were reported in the first nine months of 1989. Information is not available about the social background of persons prosecuted for offences involving crack.The ministerial group on the misuse of drugs is considering plans for the next phase of the national drug misuse prevention campaign, which will be aimed at the misuse of all drugs. In addition my right hon. Friend the Member for Whitney (Mr. Hurd) recently announced plans for nine local drug prevention teams which will operate within the community and will help to prevent the spread of the misuse of drugs, including crack.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he intends to publish research commissioned by his Department, on the amount of crime committed to finance drug addiction.

It is usual practice for the authors of research commissioned by the Home Office to publish their findings. A summary of recent research on the links between drug misuse and crime was published in the Home Office Research Bulletin No. 26 (pp 30–33) on 8 May 1989. A copy was placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek a report from Her Majesty's inspectorate of fire brigades on the closure of the London fire control office at Stratford.

Her Majesty's chief inspector of fire services is aware of the decision of the chief fire officer to close the Stratford control room and is monitoring the situation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received any representations about the morale of officers of the control offices of the London fire brigade.

Her Majesty's chief inspector of fire services has received a copy of an unsigned note purporting to have been written by London fire brigade control room staff.

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 as to why the Metropolitan police have withdrawn from joint arrangements with Southwark and Islington councils to provide rape suites in these boroughs.

I understand from the Commissioner that a new examination suite for rape victims has just been opened in Copenhagen street, Islington. Premises offered by Southwark borough council were not considered to be in a suitable location and there are plans instead to use accommodation adjacent to Carter street police station when rebuilding takes place.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to increase the number of specialist units providing treatment for sex offenders in prison.

We have no present plans to do so. The research referred to in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton) on 4 May 1989 at columns 231–32 will, when the results are available, facilitate an assessment of the current provision of help for sex offenders in prison.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide figures for the numbers of applicants who sat the police initial recruitment examinations in the Metropolitan police district in 1986, 1987 and 1988 broken down separately for white and black applicants.

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the relevant information is as follows:

Year	While Candidates	Black and Asian Candidates	Total
1986	1,884	179	2,063
1987	1,859	228	2,087
1988	2,306	127	2,433

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he intends to take with regard to the youth remand wing at Leeds prison, following the publication of the report on teenage suicides at the prison by the Howard League for Penal Reform.

We are studying the report. It has yet to be decided whether any of its recommendations should be pursued.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to improve the pay and conditions of forensic scientists to tackle the shortage of staff at the Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory.

I understand that the Metropolitan police are looking at the case for pay improvements for staff in their forensic science laboratory. We will consider any case as soon as it is submitted.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide information on staffing cover at Whatton young offender institution between 1 October 1988 and 1989.

Total staff in post at Whatton at 1 October 1988 numbered 112, of whom 63 were officers (including senior and principal officers). At I October 1989 there were 116, of whom 65 were officers. Between these dates, total staffing levels varied between 111 and 118 and officer levels between 62 and 68.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what action he is taking to tackle bullying and intimidation amongst inmates at Whatton young offender institution;(2) what preparation and training has been given to staff at Whatton young offender institution to help them to cope with the increasing number of juveniles serving longer sentences and with previous convictions who have been allocated to Whatton since October 1988.

Following the introduction of the unified custodial sentence for young offenders last October, Whatton young offender institution now holds young adults aged 17 to 20 serving sentences of up to four months and juvenile offenders serving sentences of up to 12 months and there have been some control problems asociated with this population.Regional staff have been working closely with the governor and his staff to develop the regime at Whatton. All staff have already been given training in communications, dealing with difficult inmates and resolving conflict. Further guidance on dealing with particular problems associated with the management and control of sentenced juvenile offenders is planned.Violence and bullying in prison service establishments is regarded very seriously and every effort is made to combat it. Converting dormitory into cubicle accommodation can assist and three dormitories at Whatton have recently been converted.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department is undertaking research into crime screening.

The current Home Office research programme includes a study of detective work. The future direction of the study depends on the outcome of preliminary work, but it may well include an investigation into crime screening. Although the introduction and evaluation of crime screening in police forces is an operational matter for chief officers, its use is also examined by Her Majesty's inspectors of constabulary in their annual inspections.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much public money has been spent on adapting the BBC Westerglen transmission station, Falkirk, for possible use in the event of a nuclear war; and where the money came from;(2) what communications he has had with the BBC about the possible use of the Westerglen transmission station, Falkirk, in the event of a nuclear war;(3) what efforts were made by his Department to assess local opinion regarding the adaptation of the Westerglen transmission station, Falkirk, for possible use in the event of a nuclear war;

Planning permission has been obtained from Falkirk district council to build limited emergency facilities at the Westerglen transmitter site and work is expected to begin shortly. Such facilities attract Government grant, but it is not the practice to disclose details in individual cases.I understand that the building work currently being undertaken at the site is to refurbish and upgrade the existing transmitting facilities as part of the BBC's ongoing maintenance programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in the light of the judgment in the case of Lance Corporal Clive Shorters, convicted at Stafford crown court on 14 September 1989 on two counts of arson, he will ask the Falklands Islands Government to reopen the inquiry into the fire at the King Edward Memorial Hospital at Port Stanley in 1984.

I have been asked to reply.The Falkland Islands police force, the Royal Military Police and Staffordshire CID have just completed a further investigation of the incidents leading to the death of eight people in the fire at King Edward the Seventh Memorial Hospital, Port Stanley, in April 1984. Many witnesses, including Mr. Shorters, have been re-interviewed.Once they have considered the results of this investigation, the authorities in Port Stanley will consider whether any further steps should be taken in the Falkland Islands in relation to the fire.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of letters from hon. Members to his Department received a reply (a) in under four weeks, (b) within four to six weeks, (c) within six to eight weeks and (d) over eight weeks, in each of the last three years.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations have been made to the Russian authorities about the case of Moisey Issakovich Volfenson and Maya Issakovna Luthzkaya, their daughter Elena Moiseevna Volfenson and mother Manya Genehovna Lutzkaya of Kiev;(2) what representations have been made to the Russian authorities about the case of Roman and Larissa Litovsky and their children Kosya and Sasha of Kiev.

We have not previously raised these particular cases with the Soviet authorities, but we shall be happy to do so if the hon. Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) will provide the necessary details about each case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he is satisfied that the developer-built premises leased outside the traditional diplomatic district of Brussels as the new British embassy are of the style, quality, location and construction appropriate for a leading member of the European Community.

Her Majesty's proposed new embassy building in Brussels is in an acceptable location being in the same prime diplomatic area as the present embassy. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is in negotiation with the agents for the building and expect to have available shortly full details about the quality of materials and the standard of construction. These aspects will be investigated fully before a legally binding agreement is signed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the governments of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey concerning the treatment of Kurdish people; how often prisons and refugee camps for Kurdish people have been visited by representatives of Her Majesty's Government since January; and what meetings have been held with Kurdish organisations.

The question of human rights and particularly the Kurds has recently been raised with the Turkish Government, who claimed that efforts to solve remaining problems would continue. Members of Her Majesty's embassy in Ankara have visited all three refugee camps since January. Her Majesty's embassy maintains contacts with representatives of a wide political spectrum in Turkey.We regularly make clear to the Iraqi Government our concerns about Iraq's human rights record. We have no diplomatic relations with Iran or Syria and have made no direct representations to them, but we continue to make our views on human rights known to those Governments by our statements at international meetings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what recent occasions he has met Dr. Jonas Savimbi of the Angolan UNITA movement; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs met Dr. Savimbi on 13 October during his recent private visit to Britain. He was accompanied by myself and by FCO officials. We stressed to Dr. Savimbi the urgent need to restore the ceasefire in Angola and to resume negotiations with the Angolan Government without preconditions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the position of refugees in Hong Kong and the compulsory repatriation of people to Vietnam.

There are about 13,000 Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong whom resettlement countries have pledged to resettle within three years. Those who have been determined not to be refugees have no prospect of resettlement and, as agreed by the Geneva conference in June, should return to their country of origin. Repatriation is an internationally accepted method for dealing with illegal immigrants. There is no reason why it should not apply to Vietnamese.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many member states of the Commonwealth are multi-party democracies.

The Commonwealth consists of 49 independent sovereign states, of which 33 are multi-party democracies and six whose parliaments consist of elected independent members.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to make a decision that will enable a head teacher to be appointed at Pyrford county first school.

A decision has been made and the interested parties have been informed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give details of any revised cash limits for his Department's votes.

Subject to parliamentary approval to the necessary Supplementary Estimates, cash limits for the following votes will be revised as follows:

Class and vote	Current cash limit	Change	Revised cash limit
	£	£	£
XXIII. 1	494,136,000	+2,777,000	496,913,000
XII.2	3,123,761,000	+1,026,000	3,124,787,000
XII.4	73,477,000	+3,420,000	76,897,000

The whole of the increases on Class XII, Votes 1 and 2 and £177,000 of the increase on Class XII, Vote 4 are attributable to permitted carry-forward of capital underspends. My Department's overall entitlement to carry-forward under the end-year flexibility scheme was announced by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 20 July 1989 (

To ask he Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the outcome of the meeting of Education Ministers in Luxembourg on 6 October.

Together with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr. Jackson), I attended a Council meeting of the European Community Education Ministers on 6 October. We discussed the Commission communication on guidelines for the medium term in the sphere of education and training and agreed conclusions on co-operation and Community policy in this area in the run up to 1993. These conclusions identify objectives shared by member states as a basis for future co-operation activities. A point of particular concern to us was that the conclusions recognise that future co-operation must have special regard to the principles that the fundamental powers in matters of general education policy lie with member states, that Community action should be subsidiary to action by member states and only undertaken where it can usefully complement it, and that linguistic and cultural diversity should be respected.Ministers agreed to encourage initiatives related to the development of national youth cards and on the co-ordination of national experiments in the public or private sector which might lead eventually to a European youth card.Ministers also discussed Community co-operation in technical and vocational education and proposals to combat failure at school. The Commission gave presentations on the European Schools and the extension to individual EFTA countries of participation in the COMETT programme of co-operation between higher education and industry in technology training.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what considerations he takes into account, when approving or applying for permission to initiate smaller scale schemes of capital improvements to railway infrastructure, not subject to the investment return criteria normally imposed.

British Rail submits certain schemes over £10 million for infrastructure or rolling stock to my right hon. Friend for authorisation. Smaller schemes are approved by British Rail. Schemes are currently appraised using an 8 per cent. discount rate, and we expect to approve schemes which either:

(i) earn a commercial return;

(ii) represent the most cost-effective way of continuing to provide grant-aided services to the agreed quality standards;

(iii) will be worth while because the cost will be less than the revenues to be earned from passengers and the benefits to non-users, eg in relief of road congestion;

(iv) offer land development advantages, where beneficiaries may be expected to make an appropriate contribution to costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on the likely running times in minutes of trains from Brussels, Lille, and Paris to the Cheriton portal of the Channel tunnel, using the fastest routes now authorised and the approximate running times likely from thence to Manchester, Leicester, and Doncaster using (i) existing routes and short new links and (ii) a high speed link from Cheriton to London; and what is his estimate of effect of routing in London via White City and/or Stratford, instead of King's Cross.

British Rail predicts that in 1993 the journey times for through passenger services from the Channel tunnel portal at Cheriton will be one hour 50 minutes to both Paris and Brussels, and 50 minutes to Lille. Some 20 minutes will be saved on the journey time to Brussels with the completion of the new line in Belgium now expected in 1995. The journey time from Cheriton to Manchester will be four hours 25 minutes and three hours 55 minutes to Doncaster. No direct passenger service to Leicester will be technically feasible. With the completion of a new line between Cheriton and London King's Cross, BR expect that passenger services to Manchester would take three hours 55 minutes and Doncaster two hours 55 minutes. The difference in journey time if the through services were to be routed via a new line to Stratford would not be great. BR estimates that, depending on the destination, around six to 10 minutes would be added to journeys. BR considers that the main point about King's Cross is that it would be a far more convenient interchange for passengers from the North and Midlands wishing to connect with the high frequency international services starting in London.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will estimate the amount of public money, other than on essential site-specific environmental work referred to in his answer of 23 October, to be expended on the proposed Severn barrage.

Before a Severn tidal barrage could go ahead, a full environmental impact assessment would need to be carried out over several years. This could cost about £10 to £15 million.Over the next two years only essential work on the Severn barrage will be undertaken. This will include:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what contribution has been made by the United Kingdom to the International Atomic Energy Agency annual operating budget for 1990; what proportion of the total budget this constitutes; and what was the basis on which the United Kingdom contribution was calculated.

The United Kingdom's subscription to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 1990 regular budget will be $7·7 million, equivalent to 4·99 per cent. This subscription will be paid in the financial year 1990–91. The assessment on member states is based on the United Nations formula for the scale of contributions, adjusted to take account of the safeguards and non-safeguards components of the budget.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what estimates his Department had in June from the Central Electricity Generating Board for the remaining operational life for each of the Magnox power stations.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 23 October at column 296.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will consult representatives of local government and relevant professional and other bodies on his determination under part VI of the Local Government and Housing Bill of housing revenue account subsidy for 1990–91; and what proposals he will be making.

My Department is today sending local housing authorities in Wales, the Council of Welsh Districts and other interested bodies, consultation papers on the proposed new housing revenue account subsidy. The papers contain my detailed proposals for a method of calculating the new subsidy for which the Local Government and Housing Bill makes provision. They also include details of the guideline rents, and of the allowances for expenditure on management and maintenance which we propose to take into account in calculating each authority's entitlement to subsidy in 1990–91.Comments are invited within six weeks. I am putting a copy of the consultation papers in the Library together with a list of the guidelines proposed for each authority. For the rent guideline, taking into account prevailing rent levels in Wales, I propose to assume next year an average rent increase of two per cent. above the allowance for inflation.I also propose to use the provisions in part VI of the Bill to allow the aggregate notional rental income for Wales to be apportioned between housing authorities by reference to variations in the aggregate values of local authority dwellings. This leads to different guideline rents for different authorities. A set of rules to limit changes ensures that no guideline rent would represent an increase of more than £4·50 a week over the average rent in any authority this year and permits, at the lower end of the scale, guideline increases which are restricted to the allowance for inflation over an authority's existing rent level.The proposals represent a balanced approach to the establishment of sensible levels of rents in different parts of the Principality.For the management and maintenance expenditure guideline. I propose to assume a 3 per cent. growth per dwelling above the allowance for inflation next year for each housing authority in Wales.The guidelines both for rent and for management and maintenance spending are no more than the assumptions my Department will make in calculating subsidy. Each council will have to decide for itself what level of rents it sets and how much it spends on managing and maintaining its stock.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will decide the future of the community health councils in Wales; if he will give three months consultation period; and if he will make a statement.

We intend to issue very shortly a consultation document on the proposal that there should be one community health council for each DHA area. It is our intention to allow a three month period for comment and decisions on the future community health council structure in Wales will be taken as quickly as possible thereafter.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether any changes will be made to his Department's cash limits and running costs limit for 1989–90.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the cash limit for class V, vote 3 (administration, regulation of domestic trade and industry, and consumer protection) will be increased by £4,951,000 from £243,230,000 to £248,181,000. The increase covers provision of £3,500,000 for the acquisition of a site in Teddington for the National Physical Laboratory (offset by a corresponding reduction in class V, vote 2), and reflects the take-up of entitlement to carry forward provision for an underspending in 1988–89 under the end-year flexibility arrangements as announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 20 July 1989. The full entitlements of £813,000 on capital expenditure and £1,251,000 on running costs are taken up. These increases are partially offset by a net transfer of £613,000 to the Central Statistical Office (CSO) (Class XIX Vote 18) in respect of staff recently transferred to the CSO. As a result of these changes, the running cost limit for the department has been increased by £338,000 from £304,760,000 to £305,098,000. The net effect of these changes will be charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.The cash limit for class V, vote 2 (support for industry) will be reduced by £7,800,000 from £578,637,000 to £570,837,000. This reduction reflects the offset for the increase of £3,500,000 on class V, vote 3 in respect of the Teddington acquisition: it also covers a reduction of £4,000,000 to reflect the transfer of responsibility for city action teams to the Department of the Environment class V, vote 3, and a reduction of £300,000 to reflect the transfer of responsibility for the Government's contribution to a rent subsidy for the international sugar and wheat organisations to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food class IV, vote 4.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the staffing consequences in planning authorities of the proposed quarterly roll-on of private sector housing demand contained in his draft decision letter on the Strathclyde structure plan 1988 update.

A number of planning authorities have commented on this issue in responding to my right hon. and learned Friend's draft modifications, and he will take these comments into account in reaching his decision.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what effect his proposed modifications to the 1988 update of the Strathclyde structure plan 1986 update will be on the green belt, particularly in relation to the evidence submitted to the relevant district councils and the Strathclyde regional liaison committee on housing land targets.

Adjustments of green belt boundaries would only be needed if sufficient suitable sites could not be found elsewhere. It would be for the planning authorities, in consultation with the housebuilders, to find suitable sites. My right hon. and learned Friend will take all objections to his draft modifications into account in reaching his decision on the update.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received regarding the proposed housing development at Crinan old harbour; and what action he intends to take.

My right hon. and learned Friend has received 10 representations about this proposed development. Responsibility for planning matters generally rests with the planning authority, in this case Argyll and Bute district council. It is not the intention of my right hon. and learned Friend to intervene in this matter.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many full-time and part-time dentists are employed to provide for the needs of patients resident in Lennox Castle hospital; and how many full-day and half-sessions each of these categories of dentists undertook each year.

Three dentists are contracted by Greater Glasgow health board to undertake one half-day session each per week at Lennox Castle hospital. Eighty-six sessions have so far been undertaken this year, plus 15 theatres sessions for oral surgery.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many patients are currently resident in Lennox Castle hospital.

The answer is 795.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what costs have been incurred since July for transport for, and on how many occasions such transport was used by, hon. Members on non-ministerial duties; and for what reasons.

Transport is provided and used by Scottish Office Ministers solely to facilitate the efficient conduct of their ministerial duties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what provisions are made for Scottish Office civil servants to copy to hon. Members all background papers and policy proposals arising from such background papers; and if he will make a statement.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is satisfied that the management and purchasing of supplies by Lothian health board is being conducted in a proper manner.

[holding answer 26 October 1989]: This is primarily a matter for the board, which is required under guidance issued by the Scottish Home and Health Department to draw up standing instructions to cover all financial matters and to keep them under review. The relevant procedures and controls are subject to egular internal and external audit checks. The Department's Accounting Office has established that the board is currently reviewing these procedures and systems.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the figures for each Scottish regional health authority for postponement of cancer treatments of children for this year; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 26 October 1989]: Postponement of treatment is likely to be for purely medical considerations and the information is not collected centrally.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish the names of all those so far appointed as members of regional fisheries advisory committees in England and Wales.

Appointments to the regional fisheries advisory committees are made by the National Rivers Authority. Appointments made so far are:

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had at European Community level concerning action to combat illegal drift net fishing in international waters.

I am aware of the concern about the large-scale drift netting operations for tuna in the southern Pacific ocean. There has been no discussion on this matter at European Community level.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he anticipates that the draft European Community regulations on game meat are likely to be extended to apply to the sale of wild salmon and salmon trout.

No. I understand that it is not the Commission's intention to extend to fish its proposals for a regulation on rabbit and game meat.The Commission is developing a separate proposal for fish hygiene which would apply to wild salmon and salmon trout.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will review the membership of his advisory committee on salmon stocks, following the inauguration of the National Rivers Authority.

The initial appointments to the salmon advisory committee were for a three-year term and this expires in November 1989 (chairman) and February 1990 (members). We shall therefore be considering the future membership of the Committee in the coming weeks. Members are appointed on an ad hominem basis, having regard to their own particular knowledge and expertise; they do not represent any particular organisation even though the initial appointments to the committee were drawn from a wide variety of invited nominations from salmon interests.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many eggs produced at the poultry establishment of Our Lady of Passion monastery in Daventry are known to have been contaminated with salmonella in each of the last three years.

This information is not available. The Government's measures introduced in March 1989 on compulsory testing for salmonella are directed towards identifying poultry flocks in which invasive salmonella is present, rather than examination of eggs. I understand that the flock in question was not tested in accordance with these legal requirements and the identification of salmonella typhimurium in the flock, on which the decision to slaughter was based, was made following a report from the local authority of a food poisoning outbreak associated with eggs produced at the monastery.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the 1989 straw survey has been completed; and if he will make a statement.

The 1989 straw survey date was 2 October 1989 and the survey is still in progress. The results of this survey are expected to be published early in December 1989. My right hon. Friend the Minister is currently reviewing the position on straw and stubble burning and will take the results of this year's survey into account.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many sorties were authorised to fly at less than 250 ft in the Borders tactical training area on 1 July 1988, 4 to 8 July 1988, 11 to 15 July 1988 and any subsequent dates.

The information on sorties requested is not available, but the number of movements authorised for flying below 250 ft in the Borders tactical training area in July 1988 was 94 and from 1 August 1988 to 31 July 1989 was 1,912. These figures are not directly comparable with earlier movements figures for the Borders tactical training area which pre-date the extension of the area last year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if flying at less than 250 ft is included in the training syllabus for junior pilots on front-line Royal Air Force strike-attack squadrons.

No. Operational low flying is mainly restricted to essential work-up training for specific exercises in North America and is not included in a general training syllabus.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the effective date and geographical extent of each alteration to the boundaries of the Borders tactical training area since 1979.

I have nothing to add to the letters of my hon. Friend the then Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces of 9 June 1988, 30 June 1988, 5 August 1988 and 30 September 1988 to the hon. Member on this subject.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if interceptor aircraft are permitted to fly at less than 250 ft in the Borders tactical training area; and what is the minimum permitted height and maximum permitted speed for interceptor aircraft during interception manoeuvres within the Borders tactical training area.

There is no requirement for interceptor aircraft to carry out operational low flying training in the United Kingdom. Interceptor aircraft taking part in interception/evasion exercises are authorised to fly no lower than 250 ft minimum separation distance and within the normal speed constraints of the United Kingdom low flying system.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date notification of the disestablishment of the Tees-side low-flying avoidance area was sent by his Department to (a) hon. Members and (b) local authorities in the area; and if he will list the parliamentary constituencies and local authorities concerned.

As the hon. Member will be aware, when significant changes are made to the United Kingdom low flying system hon. Members whose constituencies are affected are given appropriate notification.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration has been given to permitting United States and other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation air forces to fly at less than 250 ft in the three United Kingdom tactical training areas.

There are no records of foreign military aircraft requesting authority to carry out low flying training in the United Kingdom tactical training areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the replies to the hon. Member for Meirionydd Nant Conwy of 9 November 1987, Official Report, columns 36–37, 20 January 1988, Official Report, column 765, and 10 May 1989, Official Report, columns 474–5, on what assumed average number of movements per sortie the figures for low-flying sorties in the years 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988, as recalculated by the pre-1985 method of estimating sorties from numbers of movements, were based; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to the reply of 20 July 19891: The answer is 2·5.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a further statement on the possible procurement of a tactical air-to-surface missile;(2) if he will make a further statement on the procurement options for the possible replacement of the WE177 free-fall nuclear bomb.

I have nothing to add to the reply that I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre (Mr. Mans) on 24 October.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenditure has been incurred to date on the study of procurement options for the possible replacement of the WE177 free-fall nuclear bomb.

I have nothing to add to the reply that I gave the hon. Member on 17 July 1989 at column 71.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Royal Signals research establishment at Malvern was privatised; how much was received for it; who obtained the contract; and what guarantee is in place for the security of sensitive signals and information.

The Royal Signals research establishment at Malvern has not been privatised.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the policy on his Department's land being used for hunting with hounds; what arrangements are made for service personnel, horses, and equipment to be used in this connection; what requirements and regulations are enforced to try to ensure that hunting does not occur on adjoining landowners' land; what recompense is made if this does occur; and what are the locations of his Department's land where hunting is permitted.

It is our policy to permit access to Ministry of Defence land for recreational purposes wherever operational and safety considerations permit, where it is consistent with the interests of our tenants and licensees, and where it does not unreasonably affect local amenities and the environment. Legal activities involving hunting with hounds could be permitted over any MOD land on which those criteria are met.Although hunting is acknowledged as a useful form of training for both horses and riders, only members of mounted units may be permitted to hunt during duty hours, at their commanding officers' discretion. MOD personnel are entitled to hire various items of Government-owned equipment for their own personal use, subject to availability, and a charge is levied which is calculated to recover any cost to the Department arising from that use.The question of access to the property of adjacent landowners and of any recompense would be a matter for the hunt itself.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the height-monitoring radar system Skyguard to begin operating over the transit area that operates over south Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire; and whether he will report on the results of the monitoring.

It is not the intention to publish proposed deployment locations for the Skyguard radar system in the low flying monitoring role in advance, but my Department will be seeking to ensure a wide spread of locations around the United Kingdom. Appropriate follow-up action will be taken after each deployment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of letters from honourable Members to his Department received a reply (a) in under four weeks, (b) within four to six weeks, (c) within six to eight weeks and (d) over eight weeks, in each of the last three years.

I regret that the information is not readily available in the form requested. The aim of all Ministers in the Ministry of Defence is to answer letters from hon. Members within two to four weeks. There are, however, inevitably occasions when this is not possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the hon. Member for Greenock and Port Glasgow can expect to receive a response to his letter, dated 11 August, concerning Private W. McLuskey, 1st Battalion, Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders.

My noble Friend the parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces has written to the hon. Member today.

To ask the Scretary of State for Defence if he will give for the latest year for which records exist and for 1974 the number of ladies (a) under 65 years, (b) between 65 and 69 years, (c) between 70 and 79 years and (d) 80 years and over in receipt of attributable forces family pension.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what definition his Department uses of war widow for pension purposes.

"War widow" is not, as such, a defined term used by the Ministry of Defence for pension purposes. However, for purposes of the attributable family pensions which were introduced into the armed forces pension scheme from 31 March 1973, it is a pre-requisite for the award of a widow's pension that her husband died from causes accepted by the Department of Social Security as being attributable to or aggravated by his service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans to review the levels of risk in the storage of conventional military explosives and ammunition.

In accordance with our policy of keeping these matters under regular review, we have decided to put in hand a full study of risk assessment methodology as related to the storage of conventional explosives and ammunition in MOD depots. A contract has been given to the Safety and Reliability Directorate of UKAEA to conduct the review. This contract will be monitored, and further work undertaken, by an MOD team under the guidance of the Explosives Storage and Transport Committee. In addition, all the work in prospect will be scrutinised by an independent panel of experts chaired by Mr. Bryan Harvey, a former Deputy Director-General of the Health and Safety Executive and a former Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Major Hazards. The panel will include representatives from industry, the academic institutions and the Health and Safety Executive. It will report direct to my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces as necessary.The study is in furtherance of our policy of continuing to update our approach to the safety of explosives and ammunition storage and will draw on the experience of industry as appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new jobs have been assisted by the Industrial Development Board and the Local Enterprise Development Unit in the constituency of Strangford in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.

In the 12-month period to 30 September 1989 the IDB promoted 210 new jobs in the constituency of Strangford. LEDU figures are prepared on a district council basis and in the same period LEDU promoted 93 new jobs in the district council areas of Ards and Castlereagh.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will provide additional finance to enable education and library boards to make special provision for small isolated rural schools and small secondary-community schools, particularly in border areas, when the boards are determining future funding for these schools under local management of schools.

It is envisaged that local management in schools (LMS) schemes will be able to take account of the needs of small schools—including small isolated rural schools—where there is agreement that such schools must be retained. It is not possible to anticipate at this stage the implications of this for the block grant allocations to boards which are based on relative needs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many serving members of the Ulster Defence Regiment have been requested to resign because they were deemed to be a security risk due to the area in which they live.

I have been asked to reply.I am aware of none. However, if the hon. Member has a particular case in mind I shall be happy to look into it.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to increase Overseas Development Administration support for the Centre for World Development Education.

I am pleased to announce an increase from £125,000 to £165,000 in the ODA's annual grant to CWDE. This will be for the three years starting 1 April 1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on United Kingdom policy on development aid to Cambodia.

We do not provide Government-to-Government aid to Cambodia. We have, however, provided £350,000 of humanitarian aid through United Nations agencies for the people of Cambodia, and we are willing to support suitable projects proposed by British non-governmental organisations under our joint funding scheme. Seven such projects have so far been approved involving expenditure of £190,000 from the aid programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received concerning poor housing conditions in Waltham Forest; what his response was; and if he will make a statement.

I have received a number of representations, including one from the hon. Member, about proposed schemes for the redevelopment of four large panel construction estates in Waltham Forest.I hope to meet the hon. Member and representatives of the council shortly to discuss these schemes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many letters he has received from members of the public concerning the Football Spectators Bill since the publication of the interim report of Lord Justice Taylor.

Since the publication on 1 August of Lord Justice Taylor's interim report into the Hillsborough disaster, the Government have received 137 letters about the Football Spectators Bill direct from members of the public, and 26 letters from constituents through their Members of Parliament.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities have made no provisions under the Caravan Sites Act 1968.

The information has been placed in the library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will ask the National Rivers Authority to undertake an urgent review of the effect of licensed abstraction on rivers in England and Wales.

It will be for the NRA, as an independent body, to decide how best to order its priorities in carrying out its functions under the Water Act 1989. I have, however, drawn my right hon. Friend's question to the authority's attention.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the names of all those so far appointed as members of regional rivers advisory committees in England and Wales.

Appointments to the Regional Rivers Advisory Committees are made by the National Rivers Authority. Appointments so far are as follows: