To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what investigations his Department has undertaken into the Matrix Churchill company and the possibility that the company is supplying parts to Iraq which could be used in ballistic missile development.

All export licence applications are examined carefully. I have no reason to believe that the company has contravened United Kingdom export controls.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what efforts he is making to prevent Iraq from acquiring in Britain defence technology which could be used to develop the Condor 2 ballistic missile.

The Export of Goods (Control) Order includes items controlled in accordance with the United Kingdom's obligations under the missile technology control regime. Applications for licences to export controlled goods are carefully considered by the Departments concerned with a view to preventing exports to undesirable end users.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will ask the director of the Office of Fair Trading to investigate the disparity between the margins quoted by the banks for commercial foreign exchange transactions and tourist foreign exchange transactions.

I am not aware of any concern on this matter, but if the right hon. Member has any evidence of anti-competitive behaviour by banks he should bring it to the attention of the Director General of Fair Trading.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has any plans to relocate his Department's offices to the north-west of England; and if he will make a statement.

The Department has a programme of review of activities for possible relocation away from London and the south-east and the north-west is always considered along with other possible locations. We have no plans for relocation of units to the north-west of England at present. Announcements will be made as decisions are taken.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the measures he is taking to assist the British paper and board industry.

There are no assistance schemes specific to the paper and board industry as such, but companies in this, as in other sectors of the economy, may be eligible for assistance under various pan-sectoral schemes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry why agreement was not reached on the European Community telecommunications directive known as the open market provision on 7 November; whether Her Majesty's Government have assessed the proposals to be restrictive; and if he will make a statement on the procedures now to be adopted by the Commission under article 90 of the treaty of Rome.

Proposals for a Commission directive under article 90 of the treaty and Council directive on a framework for open network provision (ONP) of telecommunications services were the principal items for discussion at the Telecommunications Council on 7 November.The issue raised by the article 90 directive is whether the internal market in telecommunications is to be a liberal one or not. The aim of the directive under article 90 is to introduce competition into the Community market for all kinds of telecommunications services with the exception of network infrastructure and voice telephony. A majority of member states wish to limit the scope of the liberalisation envisaged in this directive. The Government strongly support the directive's policy, but have certain reservations about its legal base. The conclusions reached by the European Court of Justice in the case currently before it in respect of an article 90 directive issued in May 1988 on telecommunications terminal equipment will be relevant in this context.Member states did not reach a common position on ONP because a significant minority including the United Kingdom, while acknowledging that the proposal as revised after consideration by the European Parliament is a substantial improvement on the original proposal, believe that further amendment is necessary to secure the right balance between harmonisation and liberalisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many directors have been disqualified from holding office in each year since the present law was introduced as a result of their conduct in connection with the management of an insolvent company; and how many cases are pending.

Since 28 April 1986 the Secretary of State has obtained the following orders under what is now section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualifcation Act 1986, based on reports from practitioners and official receivers in insolvency proceedings.

	Orders obtained (Directors)	Awaiting hearing at 31 October 1989 (Directors)
28 April 1986 to 30 April 1987	30	—
1 May 1987 to 30 April 1988	148	—
1 May 1988 to 30 April 1989	286	—
1 May 1989 to 31 October 1989	124	385
TOTAL	588	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress is being made in the framework programme; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 8 November 1989]: I have been asked to reply.I represented the United Kingdom meetings of the EC Council of Research Ministers on 18 September and 17 October which examined the Commission's proposal for a new framework programme for Community research and development for 1990–94. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 2 November 1989 at

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will relocate the import licensing branch of his Department to Billingham in Cleveland.

[pursuant to his reply, 23 October 1989, c. 294]: A recent study of location options for the import licensing branch concluded that it could operate effectively and at less cost away from London. I have therefore decided that ILB will be relocated to Billingham in Cleveland by the end of 1990 when the lease on the building it currently occupies in central London expires.The move will absorb some of the staff no longer needed to run the regional development grants scheme at the Department's office in Cleveland and some local recruitment will also be necessary in order to fill the 53 posts which will be transferred.

To ask the Attorney-General if he has had any representations concerning allegations that police officers were not co-operating with the Crown prosecution service; and if he will make a statement.

Representations have occasionally been made during my visits to Crown prosecution service areas that some individual police officers had not displayed a co-operative attitude towards the service, particularly when it had just been established. The Association of Chief Police Officers has always given public and private support to the service. As an independent prosecuting service established by statute, the Crown prosecution service of course should receive the proper co-operation of the police service. I am satisfied that in general it does receive it, and that any lack of co-operation on the part of individual police officers would be exceptional.

To ask the Attorney-General whether he will make a statement about elegibility for legal aid.

The Government have been considering eligibility for legal aid in relation to particular proceedings in the course of reviewing the arrangements for civil and family justice. They now propose to carry out a general review of all the financial conditions for the grant of legal aid.It is essential to view need in relation to particular types of proceedings in order to identify those who are prevented by lack of means from bringing or defending proceedings, where it is otherwise reasonable that they should. It is not sufficient for this purpose simply to estimate the percentage of the population who might be eligible for legal aid.The Government have already considered the arrangements for legal aid in care proceedings and action has been taken in the context of the Children Bill to provide for the waiving of the merits test or the means test in suitable cases. Consideration is now being given to legal aid in relation to civil proceedings as improved procedures are introduced following the civil justice review. We have established the need for certain immediate changes which are being announced today.They are as follows:

To ask the Attorney-General (1) if any disciplinary action has been commenced against any fraud squad officer having access to copy No. 26 of the Department of Trade and Industry House of Fraser report; and if he will make a statement;(2) if criminal inquiries are being pursued in respect of the leak of copy No. 26 of the Department of Trade and Industry House of Fraser report; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.Officers of the complaints investigation bureau of the Metropolitan police are carrying out an investigation into the leak of the Department of Trade and Industry report, under the supervision of the Police Complaints Authority. The investigation will examine whether criminal or disciplinary proceedings should be brought against any police officer, and is expected to take some time to complete.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which countries impose a carbon tax.

I am not aware of any countries that impose a tax on emissions of carbon dioxide, or on fuels that produce carbon dioxide, with the intention of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the percentage rate of growth of capital investment in the United Kingdom over the decade 1979 to 1989, and what is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average for the same period.

Gross domestic fixed capital formation in the United Kingdom is estimated to have grown by 34 per cent. at constant 1985 prices over the period 1979 to 1988, the last year for which full figures are available. For the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as a whole, the latest estimates show a growth of 29 per cent. over the same period at constant 1985 prices and exchange rates.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if there are any plans to introduce a car disposal tax along Scandinavian lines.

My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the operation of the Bank of England Act 1946; and if he will make a statement.

The Government have no plans to review the Bank of England Act 1946.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the benefits to the Bank of England of emulating the more independent stances, in relation to their central Governments, of the Bundesbank and the United States Federal Reserve Board.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave to the Leader of the Opposition on 2 November at column 464.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has prepared any estimate of the rate of the exchange against the D-mark at which it would be possible to join the ERM of the EMS to combine an acceptable rate of economic growth with balance of payments equilibrium.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor's statement in the House on 2 November at column 490 which set out the factors that will determine when the United Kingdom will join the exchange rate mechanism.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultations he has undertaken with the Governor of the Bank of England regarding excessive lending to the property sector.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer holds regular meetings with the Governor of the Bank of England at which a variety of subjects are discussed.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the additional revenue accruing to the Exchequer in the next fiscal year of not indexing to the rate of inflation the income tax allowance, assuming an inflation rate of 8 per cent. and no change in the income tax rate.

Estimates of the revenue cost of indexation for 1990–91 will be published in the Autumn Statement later this month.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total per capita public expenditure in England in the past three years, excluding spending on social security.

Although information on public expenditure within the four countries of the United Kingdom is not available from the Treasury's public expenditure database or from the national accounts, a special exercise is carried out each year to collect this data. The results of the 1988 exercise were published in the House of Commons Official Report on 25 October 1988, at columns 120–29.In this annual exercise expenditure is divided into "identifiable" expenditure—that deemed to have been incurred on behalf of the resident of each individual country—and "unidentifiable" expenditure—expenditure incurred on behalf of the United Kingdom as a whole, for example, defence spending. On the basis of the figures published on 25 October 1988 per capita identifiable public expenditure, excluding expenditure spending on social security, in England was as follows:

	£
1985–86	1,102
1986–87	1,166
1987–88	1,247

These figures relate to identifiable expenditure within the public expenditure planning total as defined for the 1988 and earlier public expenditure surveys. As announced in Cm. 441, the definition of the planning total has been changed for the 1989 public expenditure survey. As a consequence, the basis of this annual exercise will be changed to cover general Government expenditure. The results of this year's exercise will be published shortly.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average rate of inflation in each year since 1978–79.

[holding answer 9 November 1989]: The table gives the inflation figures, as measured by the retail prices index, for each year requested.

Retail Price Index
	Annual per cent. change
1978–79	8·4
1979–80	15·8
1980–81	16·3
1981–82	11·5
1982–83	7·1
1983–84	4·7
1984–85	5·0
1985–86	5·9
1986–87	3·2
1987–88	3·9
1988–89	6·0

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is the percentage rate of growth of capital investment in manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom over the decade 1979 to 1989; and what is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average over the same period;(2) what is the percentage rate of growth of capital investment in fixed assets in manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom over the decade 1979 to 1989; and what is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average over the same period.

[holding answer 9 November 1989]: 1988 is the most recent full year for which investment data are available. In that year gross domestic fixed capital formation by United Kingdom manufacturing industry, including leased assets, equalled its 1979 level, at 1985 prices, following average growth of 8¼ per cent. a year from 1983.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the estimated cost to industry and commerce by increasing value added tax to 18 per cent.; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 9 November 1989]: The operation of the VAT system means that businesses making only taxable supplies would he able to deduct the VAT on their costs except in respect of purchases of motor cars and business entertainment. Businesses making exempt supplies would generally bear increased VAT on their purchases. Overall, the additional VAT that would be borne by businesses is estimated to be around £¾billion.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the estimated effect on the retail price index of increasing value added tax from 15 to 18 per cent.; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 9 November 1989]: It is estimated that the effect on the retail prices index of increasing value added tax from 15 to 18 per cent. would be an increase in the index of around 1½ per cent.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the estimated effect, in money terms, on the annual family expenditure budget of (a) a single pensioner whose only income was the state pension, (b) a married pensioner couple whose only income was the state pension,(c) a single parent family earning £6,000 per annum, (d) a married couple with two children earning £10,000 per annum, (e) a married couple with two children earning £12,500 per annum and (f) a married couple earning £18,000 per annum with two children and (g) a married couple on unemployment benefit with two children; if value added tax were increased to 18 per cent.

[holding answer 9 November 1989]: Assuming that their level and pattern of expenditure were unchanged, a married couple with two children with earned income of £12,500 a year would pay about £120 a year more in VAT, if the rate of VAT were raised to 18 per cent. The comparable figure for a similar family with earned income of £18,000 a year would be around £190 a year.No estimates are available for the other family types specified in the question, since data on their expenditure patterns are less reliable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representations he has received from (a) hon. and and right hon. Members and (b) others during the past three months concerning the policy of Her Majesty's Government relating to Cambodia; and if he will make a statement.

We have received more than 600 representations from hon. and right hon. Members, and more than 4,000 from other sources in the last three months.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many letters and telephone inquiries his Department has received from the public on Cambodia since 31 October.

The Department has received over 3,500 letters and approximately 40 telephone inquiries on Cambodia since 31 October.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will propose or sponsor the establishment of an international mission to verify that Vietnamese forces have fully withdrawn from Cambodia.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) on 30 October.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will now make it his policy to support any challenge to the seating at the United Nations of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea when the situation in Cambodia is debated at the United Nations General Assembly on 15 and 16 November;(2) what information he has as to whether Vietnamese forces have now left Cambodia.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Mr. Lester) on 8 November.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what military training and support Her Majesty's Government have given to the forces of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea; what information he has as to co-ordinated attacks on Cambodia by the forces of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea; and if he will make a statement.

I have nothing to add to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Mr. Lester) on 8 November.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if it is his policy to support pp4 of the ASEAN draft resolution on Cambodia, on foreign armed intervention and occupation in Kampuchea; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. We have agreed to co-sponsor this resolution.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government intend to co-sponsor the resolution on Cambodia put forward by ASEAN countries for debate at the United Nations General Assembly on 15 November.

Yes, along with, at the last count, 75 others.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions the United Kingdom has voted to seat the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea at the United Nations; and how many such votes have taken place.

In 1979 the United Kingdom voted in favour of a General Assembly resolution adopting the report of the credentials committee recommending, inter alia, acceptance of the credentials of Democratic Kampuchea. From 1980–82 the United Kingdom voted against challenges to the credentials of Democratic Kampuchea in the General Assembly. There has been no vote since 1982.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has as to the number of Cambodian civilians who died in each year from 1976 to the present.

There are no reliable sources of information on which to base such estimates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the former relations between the ambassador extraordinary and plenipoteniary to the United Nations of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Pol Pot.

The ambassador to the United Nations of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea is Thiounn Prasith. Between 1975 and 1979 he was employed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Democratic Kampuchea.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what sources of information Her Majesty's Government use to assess the political, social and economic situation in Cambodia.

We draw on all sources available to us. These include the reporting of Her Majesty's embassies in Bangkok and elsewhere, the views of non-governmental organisations working inside Cambodia, consultation with our friends and partners and reports in the media.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when there was last a visit by representatives of Her Majesty's Government to Cambodia.

No representative of ours has visited Cambodia since the Vietnamese invasion in 1979.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which is the dominant faction in the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea.

The Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) comprises three factions: Prince Norodom Sihanouk's group (FUNCINPEC), the Kampuchea People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF), and the Khmer Rouge. It is our policy to support the non-Communist resistance (FUNCINPEC and KPNLF) and we are determined that they should not fall under the domination of the Khmer Rouge.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what positive evidence he has that Pol Pot is still actively involved in the direction of the Khmer Rouge.

It is difficult to assess shifts of influence within the Khmer Rouge. We understand that Pol Pot resigned from his one remaining official position, that of Head of the Academy of National Defence, with effect from 3 June 1989. But he is still believed to wield influence behind the scenes.

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 Marat Goldberg of Leningrad;(2) what representations have been made to the Russian authorities about the case of Mila Novik of Moscow and her two children.

We have not previously raised these particular cases with the Soviet authorities but we will be happy to do so if my hon. Friend will provide the details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Russian authorities about the case of Sasha and Irene Sterkin of Moscow and their two sons.

We take every opportunity to press the Soviet authorities on individual refusenik cases such as that of Sasha and Irene Sterkin. My right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised this case when he met Mr. Shevardnadze in New York on 29 September. We shall maintain our pressure until Sasha and Irene Sterkin are given permission to emigrate from the Soviet Union.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Russian authorities about the case of Mark Barenshtein and his wife and two daughters of Moscow.

We take every opportunity to press the Soviet authorities on individual refusenik cases such as that of Mark Barenshtein and his family. The last occasion that we raised this case was on 29 September when my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs met Mr. Shevardnadze in New York. We shall maintain our pressure until this case is resolved satisfactorily.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to relocate his Department's offices to the north-west of England; and if he will make a statement.

There are no plans to relocate the offices of either the diplomatic wing or the aid wing of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the north-west of England. I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Roxborough and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) on 6 November regarding the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's relocation programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Indian Government concerning the arrest on 18 October in Jullundur, India, of Mr. Karnail Singh Khaira and his subsequent detention; and what response he has received from the Indian Government.

The British high commission in New Delhi is pressing the Indian authorities for early consular access to Mr. Khaira, and awaits their response. Mr. Khaira's lawyer entered a writ of habeas corpus on 9 November 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has concerning the training of another group of Indian peacekeeping forces to be based in north Sri Lanka.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the number of the Indian peacekeeping forces based in Sri Lanka at the present time; and when they are due to be withdrawn.

In an agreement announced on 18 September, the Indian and Sri Lankan Governments noted that all efforts would be made to complete withdrawal of the Indian peacekeeping force by 31 December 1989. The process is under way. Our best estimate of the size of the Indian force, based on official announcements, is between 35,000 and 38,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the Indian Government regarding the basing of Indian peacekeeping forces in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

None. We supported the Indo-Sri Lankan accord of 1987, and we welcome the agreement between the two countries announced on 18 September, which provided a framework for implementation of measures to achieve a peaceful settlement in the north and east and the phased withdrawal of the Indian peacekeeping force.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 8 November, if he will identify where the observations in relation to Gibraltar's lack of elected representation in the European Parliament made by the then Home Secretary may be found.

The observations are contained in the Supplement to the Votes and Proceedings No. 175 of 20 June 1984 at column 1455.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government have yet signed and ratified the United Nations convention on the rights of the child; and whether he will specify any reservations that have been entered by Her Majesty's Government on various articles of the convention.

The United Nations draft convention on the rights of the child is likely to be adoped by the United Nations later this month and we intend to ratify as soon as possible thereafter. We may need to enter reservations on various articles but the scope of these has yet to be determined. One area where we may need to enter a reservation would be in relation to our immigration and nationality laws.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice and assistance was offered by his Department to British firms tendering for the construction of the new British embassy in Tokyo.

No new British embassy is proposed for Tokyo. The tender list for the construction of eight houses and a small apartment block in the British embassy compound has not yet been drawn up. My noble Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office has suggested to the Export Group for the Constructional Industries that British firms that are keen to establish a constructional foothold in Japan should forward tender pre-qualification details to the FCO for consideration. At least half the tender list will be reserved for United Kingdom contractors and the tender documents will state that particular attention would be paid to the tenders submitted by British or British/Japanese joint venture companies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his Department's policy towards assisting British firms tendering for contracts to build British embassies in protected foreign markets.

Our policy is to achieve the best value for money for the overseas diplomatic estate's capital construction programme. Tender lists are therefore open both to British and to local firms that express interest in a given project and can meet pre-qualification requirements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government on the issue of German reunification; and if he will make a statement.

It has been the belief of successive British Governments that real and permanent stability in Europe will not be achieved so long as the German nation is divided against its will. As a first step, the people of East Germany should have the right to hold free elections and to self-determination.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British citizens are known to be resident in Afghanistan at the latest available date; and what arrangements have been made for their interests to be looked after.

In February of this year, we were aware of five British nationals in Afghanistan.As my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs said in his reply to the hon. Member's question on 13 March 1989, we informed British nationals before the temporary withdrawal of embassy staff in February 1989 that consular assistance would no longer be available in Afghanistan. British nationals who travel to or remain in the country do so in the knowledge that this is so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the total number of British diplomatic staff at present posted in Afghanistan; and when he expects the British Ambassador there to be appointed and take up post.

There are no British diplomats in Afghanistan. Her Majesty's ambassador was withdrawn in 1980 following the Soviet invasion. There are no current plans to appoint a new ambassador.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those countries where Britain has no diplomatic representation, giving in each case the reason why no such representation is considered necessary.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the then Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 5 May to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn). Since then agreement has been reached with Argentina to re-establish consular relations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will be acting on the recommendations made by Her Majesty's inspector of prisons with regard to Durham prison.

A statement by my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd) setting out the action which was being taken, was published on 19 October 1989 as his response to the report of Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons on Durham prison and a copy was placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suicides there have been in (a) all United Kingdom prisons and (b) Swansea prison in each of the last 10 years; how many were prisoners on remand; and how many were prisoners under the age of 21 years.

The table gives the figures for inmates held in prison establishments in England and Wales in each year since 1980.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases originating in Scotland are pending before the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board; and how many such cases have been dealt with by the board in every year since its inception.

The board had 95,395 cases outstanding on 31 October 1989. No breakdown of this total is kept between English, Scottish and Welsh cases, but over recent years the proportion of Scottish applications has been around 16 per cent. of the total.The number of Scottish cases resolved since the board was set up is given in the table:

Period	Number of cases resolved
1 August 1964 to 31 March 1966	190
Year ended
31 March
1967	536
1968	869
1969	1,522
1970	1,493
1971	1,153
1972	1,828
1973	1,862
1974	2,129
1975	2,304
1976	2,482
1977	2,705
1978	2,898
1979	2,999
1980	3,355
1981	3,864
1982	3,441
1983	4,303
1984	4,753
1985	4,024

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the names and qualifications of the present members of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, and the total length of time they have served as members of the board.

Under the terms of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme members must be legally qualified. Present members, who are listed in the table, with their dates of appointment, are either Queen's Counsel with experience in civil litigation or past presidents of the Law Society.

Name	Date of appointment to the Board
Mr. James Law QC1	29 September 1970
Mr. Charles Whitby QC	20 October 1975
Mr. Barry Chedlow QC	13 January 1976
Mr. David Calcutt QC	5 September 1977
Miss Beryl Cooper QC	12 September 1978
Miss Shirley Ritchie QC	23 June 1980
Sir John Palmer JP	6 March 1981
Mr. Stuart Shields QC	13 March 1981
Sir Denis Marshall	15 September 1982
Mr. Hugh Carlisle QC	22 December 1982
Mr. Colin Fawcett QC	12 April 1983
Mr. Michael Park CBE1	8 July 1983
Mr. Martin Thomas OBE QC	9 April 1985
Mr. John Crowley QC	3 July 1985
Sir Arthur Hoole	30 July 1985
Mr. Michael Bruce QC1	1 January 1986
Mr. Donald Robertson QC1	1 April 1986
Mr. Michael Lewer QC	30 September 1986
Mr. Peter Weitzman QC	8 November 1986
Mr. Conrad Seagroatt QC	15 November 1986
Mr. John Archer QC	2 January 1987
Mr. Owen Thomas QC	18 March 1987
Mr. Leighton Williams QC	26 March 1987
Mr. Graeme Hamilton QC	15 April 1987
Mr. William Gage QC	22 December 1987
Mr. Barry Green QC	24 December 1987
Mrs. Janet Smith QC	29 December 1987
Mr. Thomas Dawson QC1	31 January 1988
Sir Derek Bradbeer OBE	18 April 1988
Mr. Crawford Lindsay QC	19 April 1988
Lord Carlisle of Bucklow PC QC2	1 December 1988
Mrs. Barbara Mills QC	30 October 1988
Mr. Robert Smith QC	7 November 1988
Lord Macaulay of Bragar QC1	12 January 1989
Miss Diana Cotton QC	26 January 1989
Mr. Donald Mackay QC1	6 February 1989
Mr. Evan Stone QC	13 July 1989
Mr. Daniel Brennan QC	21 September 1989
Mr. Timothy Preston QC	25 September 1989
Mr. John Cherry QC	21 October 1989
1 Scottish Member.
2 Chairman from 1 March 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many registered drug addicts are currently on remand or under sentence in prison establishments in England and Wales.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Tom Cox) on 10 November at columns 803–04.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the ethnic composition of the remand and sentenced prison population for the latest date

Population1 of specified Prision Service establishments in England and Wales on 30 June 1989: by establishment, type of prisoner and ethnic origin
Number
	Ethnic origin
Establishment and type of prisoner	White	West Indian, Guyanese, African	Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi	Chinese, Arab, Mixed origin	Other, not recorded (including refusals)	Total number of persons in establishments
Brixton
Untried	440	226	22	19	30	737
Convicted unsentenced	105	36	3	3	1	148
Sentenced	123	33	6	3	5	170
Non-criminal	—	2	—	—	—	2
All prisoners	668	297	31	25	36	1,057
Wormwood Scrubs2
Untried	388	228	17	15	7	655
Convicted unsentenced	—	—	—	—	—	—
Sentenced	320	46	9	7	9	391
Non-criminal	—	—	—	—	—	—
All prisoners	708	274	26	22	16	1,046
Wandsworth
Untried	—	—	—	—	—	—
Convicted unsentenced	29	26	3	1	3	62
Sentenced	1,029	338	54	33	34	1,488
Non-criminal	—	—	—	—	—	—
All prisoners	1,058	364	57	34	37	1,550
Pentonville
Untried	101	51	2	7	7	168
Convicted unsentenced	28	10	2	1	1	42
Sentenced	480	151	21	17	4	673
Non-criminal	11	5	—	10	1	27
All prisoners	620	217	25	35	13	910
Holloway
Untried	116	62	2	8	34	222
Convicted unsentenced	32	8	1	2	11	54
Sentenced	109	61	1	5	19	195
Non-criminal	—	1	—	—	—	1
All prisoners	257	132	4	15	64	472
Manchester3
Untried	423	36	15	27	18	519
Convicted unsentenced	168	5	1	6	8	188
Sentenced	803	32	16	19	9	879
Non-criminal	—	—	—	—	—	—
All prisoners	1,394	73	32	52	35	1,586
Birmingham
Untried	260	74	22	7	12	375
Convicted unsentenced	54	8	7	2	3	74
Sentenced	376	71	26	15	8	496
Non-criminal	1	—	3	1	—	5
All prisoners	691	153	58	25	23	950
Leeds
Untried	490	33	29	13	11	576
Convicted unsentenced	73	5	2	2	2	84
Sentenced	565	22	18	11	6	622
Non-criminal	5	3	—	1	—	9
All prisoners	1,133	63	49	27	19	1,291
1 Provisional. The figures are those recorded centrally and are approximate.
2 Local and closed training prison.
3 Remand centre and local prison.

[holding answer 3 November 1989]: The latest available information is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of male and female remand and sentenced prisoners in England and Wales are known to be derived from an ethnic minority for the latest date available; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 3 November 1989]: The readily available information is given in the table. The

Population1 of prison service establishments in England and Wales on 30 June 1989: by type of prisoner, sex and ethnic origin
Number
	Ethnic origin
Type of prisoner and sex	White	West Indian, Guyanese, African	Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi	Chinese, Arab, Mixed origin	Other, not recorded (including refusals)	Total of persons in establishments
Males
Untried	6,053	1,077	209	175	429	7,943
Convicted unsentenced	1,516	177	32	34	86	1,845
Sentenced	30,748	3,637	1,055	676	618	36,734
Non-criminal	79	41	27	38	69	254
All prisoners	38,396	4,932	1,323	923	1,202	46,776
Females
Untried	245	67	3	13	50	378
Convicted unsentenced	71	9	1	3	14	98
Sentenced	892	267	22	34	64	1,279
Non-criminal	—	1	—	—	—	1
All prisoners	1,208	344	26	50	128	1,756
1 Provisional. The figures are those recorded centrally and are approximate.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers prison governors have to forbid the loan of a postage stamp by one prisoner to another.

[holding answer 10 November 1989]: Powers exist under Standing Order 4 and prison rule 47. One of their purposes is to prevent items, such as postage stamps, from being used as a form of currency within prisons.

To ask the Prime Minister whether she will list the United Kingdom's voting record on the question of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor during the general assemblies of the United Nations held since 1979).

The United Kingdom abstained on all United Nation General Assembly resolutions on East Timor between 1979 and 1982—resolutions 34/49 (1979); 35/27 (1980); 36/50 (1981) and 37/30 (1982). There have been no United Nations resolutions since.

To ask the Prime Minister how many letters and telephone inquiries her office has received from the public on Cambodia since 31 October.

I have received approximately 1,500 letters on Cambodian-related matters.

To ask the Prime Minister what contact she has had with Mr. John Broome CBE since she launched The Battersea in June 1988; and if she will make a statement.

My normal practice is and will continue to be neither to confirm nor deny whether meetings with private individuals have taken place, even in those cases where no such meeting has occurred.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will reconsider his decision to approve a study of the Tapajos area of tropical forest in Brazil in the light of the fact that it has already been the subject of study.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) on 9 November at column 719.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current cost of British overseas aid; and how much of the total is allocated to the dependent territories and how much to each of the dependent territories.

In the current financial year the aid programme stands at £1,500 million. Last financial year we spent £44,095,000 on aid for the dependent territories broken down as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what special financial assistance has been given to Montserrat in consequece of the recent widespread hurricane damage in the dependency; if he will provide a breakdown of the extra expenditure incurred, indicating the purposes for which it was allocated in each case; and how much of the total expenditure has been or will be the responsibility of Ministers in the dependency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance has been given to the island of Montserrat to overcome the damage caused by hurricane Hugo on 17 September.

Immediately following hurricane Hugo Britain made an initial £1 million available for emergency assistance, such as tents, blankets, roofing, medicaments and so on, and also the services of the British armed forces for immediate repairs and the airfreighting of supplies. Most of this assistance was directed to Montserrat. Subsequently, a further £3·2 million for reconstruction aid has been committed. This is being used to finance teams of engineers, linesmen and electricians—some 50 people—from British electricity boards who are repairing the power distribution system and for the supply of equipment and materials for the restoring of essential infrastructure. The funds will he used primarily in Montserrat, which suffered by far the worse damage, but also in Antigua.Officials from the British development division in Barbados and from the United Kingdom have recently completed a review of Montserrat's longer-term reconstruction needs and strategy. We will be discussing these with the Government of Montserrat, and with the multilateral agencies and other donors.The reconstruction work is the responsibility of the Montserrat Government and the public service companies concerned. The British Government will be contributing, and the ODA will monitor the use of aid funds in the usual way.

To ask the Lord President of the Council what quantity of paper, excluding newspapers, in metric tonnes, has been used in the House of Commons within the last 12 months on (a) Members' stationery, (b) the Vote Bundle, (c) the Official Report and (d) production of Bills and other legislative documents; if, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Leicester East (Mr. Vaz), Official Report, 4 April, column 68, he is now in a position to indicate what percentage of the paper is recycled, specifying percentages for each of the four sections; what percentage of each section identified is subsequently recycled; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested is (a) 26 tonnes; (b) 168 tonnes; (c) 158 tonnes and (d) 43 tonnes. Recycled paper is not used for these categories because much of the material is of archival significance, and recycled paper of suitable archival quality is not currently obtainable. Buff envelopes, ruled writing paper, file covers, note books, index books, lavatory paper and waste paper sacks all contain at least 50 per cent. recycled material. All non-confidential waste paper from the House of Commons is collected by a contractor for recycling.

To ask the Lord President of the Council what was the total number of (a) oral and written parliamentary questions put down (i) in the last Session, (ii) five and (iii) 10 years previously; and if he will provide similar figures excluding oral questions to the Prime Minister.

The information¹ available for Sessions 1977–78, 1982–83 and 1987–88 is as follows:

Questions tabled	(a) Oral	Written
1977–78	9,036	28,739
1982–832	6,125	17,095
1987–882	24,940	47,726
1 Statistics for oral questions excluding those tabled for reply by the Prime Minister are not readily available in the form requested.
2 1982–83 was a "short" Session and 1987–88 was "long" Session.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if Kenyan tea or coffee is served in restaurants and cafeterias in the House; and if he will make a statement.

Tea and coffee purchased by the Refreshment Department are blended products originating from more than one country.

To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, what finance and facilities the Church Commissioners are making available (a) to supporters of the ordination of women and (b) opponents of the same; and if he will make a statement.

None. This is a matter for the General Synod.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much time he spends each week on duchy business.

I spend approximately a quarter of my time carrying out my duties as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he has any plans to pay an official visit to the Wyre constituency in the county palatine.

I have no plans to visit the Wyre constituency at present.

Council	Controlled schools	Voluntary and maintained schools	Universities	Colleges of education
	area/hectares	area/hectares	acres	acres
Antrim	36·73	9·86	—	—
Armagh	18·07	22·57	—	—
Ballymena	29·36	25·13	—	—
Ballymoney	10·40	8·04	—	—
Banbridge	17·85	5·74	—	—
Belfast	85·10	75·54	74	12·0
Carrickfergus	30·81	2·51	—	—
Castlereagh	28·89	6·70	—	—
Coleraine	28·44	14·47	60	—
Cookstown	12·77	13·00	—	—
Craigavon	54·19	24·94	—	—
Down	19·25	34·42	—	—
Dungannon	23·10	38·38	—	—
Fermanagh	15·81	24·76	—	—
Larne	10·70	7·22	—	—
Limavady	23·42	7·97	—	—
Lisburn	39·86	20·96	—	—
Londonderry	34·55	41·19	7	—
Magherafelt	10·32	20·74	—	—
Moyle	7·65	5·62	—	—
Newry and Mourne	19·90	43·35	—	—
Newtownabbey	32·28	18·58	40	—
Newtownards	32·12	3·61	—	—
North Down	16·91	15·76	—	—
Omagh	18·06	21·40	—	—
Strabane	20·07	18·15	—	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what are the statutory minimum standards for outdoor playing space in Northern Ireland;(2) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the current level of provision of outdoor playing space in Northern Ireland.

There are no general statutory minimum standards for outdoor playing space in Northern Ireland except for schools whose standards are laid down in the School Premises (Standards) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1973 (SR and O No. 491 (1973)). I have made no overall assessment of the levels of provision for outdoor playing space in Northern Ireland, but I am satisfied with the minimum standards laid down for schools in these regulations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table in the Official Report to show (a) the total amount of outdoor playing space in Northern Ireland, (b) the amount of playing space by district council area, (c) the amount of playing space per head of the population in each council area, (d) the amount of such playing space in each council which is owned by (i) councils, (ii) schools, (iii) recognised sporting clubs and bodies and (iv) others, or as much of such information as is available to him.

Play space at schools and higher education establishments is shown in the table. The other information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the number of young unemployed in the Province at the latest available date.

At 14 September 1989, the latest date for which figures are available, 31,593 unemployed claimants in Northern Ireland were under 25 years old, and 4,739 of these were aged 18 or under.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the unemployment figure among construction workers in the Province at the latest date.

At 14 September 1989, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 17,549 unemployed construction workers in Northern Ireland.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice he has received from the Nature Conservancy Council regarding existing science and policy issues at a national level; and whether he will place a copy of that advice in the Library.

My right hon. Friend has received a variety of representations and advice about the Government's proposals to reorganise the conservation agencies, which were announced in July. Among these was a paper from the Nature Conservancy Council entitled "Proposed Reorganisation of NCC: Policy and Science Issues". With the agreement of the chairman of the council, copies of this paper will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he intends to take to encourage the use of biodegradable plastic containers.

The Government are considering with industry and local authorities how to promote the most environmentally responsible means of dealing with plastics waste, including biodegradability, recycling and reuse. The long-term effects of biodegradable plastics on the environment is to be the subject of research which the Government will be monitoring closely.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any plans to relocate his Department's offices to the north-west of England; and if he will make a statement.

Over 1,500 posts in my Department (including the Property Services Agency) are already located in the north-west. Eleven posts in the Department's rent charges unit will shortly be transferred to Manchester. Information about the Department's review of the scope for further relocation was given in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley (Mr. Cran) on 26 July at column 785.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how he intends to ensure that Her Majesty's Government's contribution to the target figure of replanting the world's forests with 12 million hectares of trees each year from the turn of the century, agreed at Noordwijk, will be achieved.

The Noordwijk declaration makes no apportionment of the suggested 12 million hectares target as between individual countries. However, the United Kingdom already has a creditable record on forestry. As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced in her speech to the United Nations, we intend to increase spending largely on the tropical forest action plan by £100 million over the next three years. This is in addition to the 125 forestry schemes worldwide already being supported directly or jointly with a number of non-governmental organisations. In the United Kingdom the farm woodland scheme has a target of 36,000 hectares of domestic tree planting over a three-year period and the Department of Transport is planting 1 million trees a year in conjunction with its roads programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on British participation at the CITES conference at Lausanne in relation to the American proposals on reviews of research proposals in relation to ivory, fur and reptile skins.

None. I understand, however, that the Japanese Government have indicated that they fully support the decision of the CITES conference to transfer the African elephant from appendix II to appendix I of the convention, and have no intention of entering a reservation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contacts he has had with Japan over the honouring of the CITES Lausanne agreement.

The proposals were not discussed in any of the formal conference sessions. We will study the results of any such work with interest in consultation with our scientific advisers.