To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Malaysian Government concerning the introduction of public whipping for those who have changed from Islam to other faiths.

We are aware that certain Malaysian states, not the federal Government, have introduced laws providing for the whipping of apostates. We know of no cases to date of such whipping being carried out. We have, nonetheless, registered our concern with the Malaysian authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Malaysian Government concerning the censoring of the Bible, and the banning of other Christian literature.

We are aware that some Malaysian states, not the federal Government, have introduced laws for the "Control and Restriction of the Propagation of Non-Islamic Religions" forbidding the use of several religious words and phrases in the Malay language by non-Muslims. We understand that this has led to difficulties in the production and distribution of Bibles published in Malay. We have registered our concern with the Malaysian authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether in considering his support for the application by Cameroon for membership of the Commonwealth he will take into account the human rights record of Cameroon.

Following Cameroon's application, the question of membership of the Commonwealth was referred to a group of 10 Heads of Government appointed in Kuala Lumpur and of which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is a member. The group will report to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in 1991. We welcome the increasing prominence given to the observance of human rights in the Kuala Lumpur communique.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will now make it his policy to answer questions on the export of high-technology equipment that could be used for military purposes.

Our policy in answering such questions remains unchanged.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many abandoned British bases there are in Antarctica; and what steps have been taken to retrieve the waste generated there.

Twelve British bases were abandoned over the period 1946–75. The United Kingdom is urgently developing a strategy to implement the recommendation on waste disposal following the XV Antarctic treaty consultative meeting in Paris in October 1989. We shall start to implement this new policy and, in particular, prepare a timetable for waste disposal in 1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many operating British bases there are in Antarctica.

There are five—Bird Island, Signy, Rothera, Faraday and Hailey.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many contracts over £92,500 have been let by his Department in the 1988–89 financial year and in the current financial year to date; and how many of these were (a) automatically renewed and (b) open to competition by advertisement throughout the European Community.

The number of contracts awarded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and covered by the provisions of the European Community supplies directive, for which the current threshold is £92,000, was 13 in the 1988–89 financial year and seven in the current financial year, to date. Of these, three were awarded following advertisement in the Official Journal of the European Community. The other 17 were let following the use of the "negotiated" procedure laid down by the directive. In these cases there was either only one possible supplier or the contracts were for additional goods that had to be purchased from the original suppliers for technical reasons.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many outside accountancy firms are employed by his Department; whether such employment is subject to any guidelines; and whether he takes steps before employing an accountancy firm to discover whether that firm has been censured by the Department of Trade and Industry in their inquiries under the Companies Acts.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not currently employ any outside accountancy firms.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a representative of Her Majesty's Government was last in Lhasa; and what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to monitor the human rights situation in Tibet.

A member of the British embassy in Peking visited Lhasa from 27 to 30 October. The imposition of martial law in Lhasa has reduced the flow of information, but we use all available channels to follow closely developments in Tibet.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further representations Her Majesty's Government have made to China over its human rights violation in Tibet.

I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 29 November to the hon. Member for Belfast, South (Rev. Martin Smyth).

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many letters have been sent out by his Department in the last 12 months to foreign Governments indicating dissatisfaction with their human rights record; and if he will list the Governments concerned.

We condemn human rights abuses wherever they occur. We have in the last 12 months made many representations, both orally and in writing, bilaterally, with our European Community partners and in international fora, to bring our concerns on human rights to the attention of many countries. The detailed information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received on the operation of the Broadcasting Act in Northern Ireland.

We have recently received representations from the hon. Member and others about questions of taste and decency raised by one programme. The Government do not have powers to intervene in the content of programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the rules concerning circumstances in which pensioners have reduced cost television licences, so as to provide that everyone on a basic state pension and no other income can obtain a reduced price colour television licence.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were refused leave of entrance to the United Kingdom at seaports or airports in 1989 from (a) the Soviet Union, (b) the Democratic Republic of Germany, (c) Poland, (d) Romania, (e) Bulgaria, (f) Hungary, (g) Czechoslovakia, (h) Libya, (i) India, (j) Pakistan, (k) Bangladesh, (l) South Africa and (m) Hong Kong.

The latest available information is given in the table:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's attitude towards requests for the legalislation of soft drugs.

The Government have no intention of legalising any drugs presently controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. I am glad to see that this view was shared by the Home Affairs Committee in its report "Drug trafficking and related serious crime" (HC 370).

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the weekly food cost allowance for inmates in prisons in England and Wales.

The quantity of food for inmates is determined not by reference to cash budgets but to dietary scales designed to meet agreed nutritional requirements. Ingredients are supplied primarily from centrally negotiated contracts and from prison farms and gardens. The notional cost per inmate per week totalled £6·30 in the quarter ended 30 September 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all the prisons in the United Kingdom in order of the number of prisoners they currently hold, stating the numbers they are built to hold and the percentage overcrowding.

The information requested is set out in the table in respect of prison service establishments in England and Wales. Responsibility for prisons in Scotland and Northern Ireland rests with my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Northern Ireland respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he expects to announce his plans for Gaelic broadcasting; and if he will make a statement;(2) when he expects to respond to Comunn na Gaidhlig's proposal for a Gaelic broadcasting council; and if he will make a statement.

Representations for special support for Gaelic broadcasting remain under consideration. We hope to announce our conclusions on this as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information is available to him as to the date on which Detective Chief Superintendent Graham Melvin is expected to retire from the Metropolitan police.

None; this is a personal matter for Mr. Melvin.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will seek to introduce legislation to incorporate the proposals included in the EC Council directive on part-time work (Com. (81) 775 as amended (Com. (82) 830).

No. Northern Ireland legislation on part-time work is in line with that in the rest of the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Antrim, South on 5 December, if he will now carry out, at the earliest possible moment, a traffic census on Killead road, Killead village; and if he will indicate the number of heavy commercial vehicles included in the Ballyrobin road, Killead road and Oldstone road traffic census.

[holding answer 8 December 1989]: Traffic flows between December and March are normally lower than during the rest of the year and may not give a reliable indication. The Department of the Environment does not intend to carry out a traffic census at this location at present.When the last classified traffic census was carried out in 1984 the number of heavy commercial vehicles using these roads was as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the Government's estimate for carbon dioxide emissions from energy use in Britain in 1988; and what are the latest estimates for carbon dioxide emissions in (a) 2000 and (b) 2025.

In 1987, the latest year for which I have estimates, United Kingdom energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, expressed as carbon, were 163 million tonnes.My Department's study, "An Evaluation of Energy Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Measures to Ameliorate Them", estimates emissions in the years 2000 and 2020 for a wide range of scenarios. These figures range between 174 and 206 million tonnes carbon in the year 2000 and between 188 and 316 million tonnes in 2020.The scenarios are not predictions of the future, but are intended to provide a framework for assessing possible response options. They cover a wide range of assumptions on economic growth and world fuel prices. Full details can be found in the report, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what projections the Government have made of the level of carbon dioxide emissions in Britain by the year 2005 from (a) transport, (b) energy, (c) industry and (d) in total.

Future carbon dioxide emissions will depend on many factors such as economic growth and consumer choices. Last month my Department completed a study entitled "An evaluation of Energy Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Measures to Ameliorate Them". That report included a range of possible future emission scenarios and is available in the Library of the House.The figures in the table, for energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide, are taken from that report. They assume a growth rate of 2·25 per cent. per annum and cover two alternative sets of assumptions on world fuel prices. Further details can be found in the report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many contracts over £92,500 have been let by his Department in the 1988–89 financial year and in the present financial year to date; and how many of these were (a) automatically renewed and (b) advertised and therefore open to competition throughout the European Community.

The number of contracts awarded by my Department and covered by the provisions of the EC supplies directive, for which the current threshold is £92,000, was three in the 1988–89 financial year and one in the current financial year to date. Three of the contracts were let, and advertised, in accordance with the EC supplies directive.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will place in the Library the review of the Energy Efficiency Office which led to the announcement of new objectives on 9 June 1988, Official Report, columns 632–33.

The objectives of the EEO are reviewed regularly. It is not normal practice to publish advice to Ministers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what steps are being taken to set aside funds to deal with stage three decommissioning of nuclear power stations.

The nuclear generators will be making provisions in their accounts to deal with the decommissioning of their nuclear power stations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the amount set aside by the Central Electricity Generating Board to deal with the decommissioning costs of the Magnox reactors in (a) 1985, (b) 1986, (c) 1987, (d) 1988 and (e) 1989.

The annual reports and accounts of the Central Electricity Generating Board show the provisions made to meet expenditure on the decommissioning of nuclear facilities, the long-term reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel, and the treatment, storage and disposal of the resulting waste products. These reports are available in the Library of the House.The amount of provisions for decommissioning costs of the Magnox reactors is a matter for CEGB. I will ask the chairman of the CEGB to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority last reviewed the decommissioning costs of Magnox reactors; and if he will publish their figures.

The UKAEA reviewed the CEGB's estimates of the costs of decommissioning its Magnox reactors in May of this year. A report was submitted to the Department. Figures cannot be published because of the report's commercial confidentiality.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when all large power station plants will be fitted with flue gas desulphurisation equipment.

The Government are committed to ensuring that the reductions in SO₂ emissions required by the EC large combustion plant directive are achieved. The CEGB estimates that this will require the fitting of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) equipment to 12GW of capacity, equivalent to six large power stations, at a cost of about £2 billion. There is no requirement that all existing large power stations should be fitted with FGD equipment.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times currencies in the exchange rate mechanism have been adjusted, giving the dates and the currency and its value before and after in each case.

There have been 11 occasions on which exchange rates of currencies in the ERM have been realigned. For the detail I refer the hon. Gentleman to table 6 of "The European Monetary System: Recent Developments", IMF occasional paper number 48, and annex VIII of "The EMS: Ten Years of Progress in European Monetary Co-operation", both of which are in the Library of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the arrangements for reviewing the levels of currencies in the exchange rate mechanisms; and when revaluations take place.

Reviews are carried out through consultation in the appropriate Community bodies. I refer the hon. Gentleman to paragraph 3·2 of the resolution of the European Council of 5 December 1978 on the establishment of the European Monetary System (EMS) and related matters.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what deliberations have been held on the future of stamp duties in the light of the consultative document issued in 1983.

Following the response to the consultative document, numerous changes have been made. Since 1985 we have abolished a number of stamp duties, including capital duty and unit trust instrument duty, and streamlined procedures for those that remain.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to streamline the levying of stamp duty on unit trusts;(2) whether he will consider removing stamp duty from unit trust transactions;(3) whether he will eliminate stamp duty on the sale and re-purchase of trusts within a unit trust.

I cannot anticipate my right hon. Friend's Budget Statement.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the future of stamp duty being levied on unit trusts.

I have received a number of representations from the unit trust industry suggesting altering the stamp duty charge on unit trusts.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what volume of share transactions attract the minimum rate of stamp duty each year.

I regret the information is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the documents produced by his Department available to hon. Members on the subject of the effects of ending (a) income tax allowances and (b) personal income tax allowances.

[holding answer 12 December 19891]: A list of the direct revenue costs of tax allowances and reliefs is given in table 21.1.25 of "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1989–90 to 1991–92" (Cm. 621); but the figures cannot in general be interpreted as the tax yield from withdrawing a particular allowance or relief, because of the difficulty of estimating the behavioural changes which might result from such a move. The Financial Statement and Budget Report sets out the effects of proposed amendments to the tax system each year; and the Autumn Statement sets out the revenue effects of illustrative tax changes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish any notes or correspondence involving the Inland Revenue over the tax affairs of British Aerospace.

[holding answer 12 December 19891]: The tax affairs of British Aerospace are subject to the normal confidentiality rules. However, in order to assist understanding of this matter, arrangements have been made exceptionally, with the agreement of British Aerospace, to provide to the Public Accounts Committee and the Trade and Industry Committee copies of the exchange of letters between the accountants of British Aerospace and the Inland Revenue which is referred to in the letter of 12 July 1988 from the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to the chairman of British Aerospace.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether value added tax is payable for expenditure by charities (i) on indirect publicity, such as cost of adverts and (ii) on direct publicity, such as cost of envelopes for sending educational or fund raising material to inquirers.

Printed media advertising supplied to charities for raising money for their work or for making known their aims and objectives is relieved of value added tax. Zero-rating also applies to envelopes and other stationery items, but only when these are printed with such fund-raising or educational publicity material.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to allocate time in the core curriculum to independence training for special needs pupils and to follow up the programme.

It is for schools themselves to determine how they deliver independence training and other elements of personal and social education. There is scope to do so within the targets and programmes of study of the core and foundation subjects, or as an independent subject, or as a cross-curricular theme.Some pupils with special educational needs (SEN) will have a statement which can modify or disapply the requirements of the national curriculum and so provide an individual curriculum which might include appropriate training for adult life.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the pupil-teacher ratios in Leicestershire primary schools for the years 1978 and 1988.

The pupil-teacher ratios within maintained primary schools in Leicestershire were 24 and 22·9 in 1978 and 1988 respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many outside accountancy firms are employed by his Department; whether such employment is subject to any guidelines; and whether he takes steps before employing an accountancy firm to discover whether that firm has been censured by Department of Trade and Industry inspectors in their inquiries under the Companies Act.

The Department has consultancy contracts with four of the major accountancy firms. All the contracts have been arranged in accordance with the Treasury guidelines for the appointment to audit and other accountancy assignments in the public sector. The Department does not routinely consult the Department of Trade and Industry, but would do so it it were planning to employ a firm whose reputation was not well established.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the spending per pupil for each local education authority in England and Wales for the latest available financial year.

The latest information for local education authorities in England is for 1987–88 and is given in the table. Figures for Wales are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table giving the amounts for England of capital allocations for (a) county and voluntary controlled schools, (b) voluntary aided schools and (c) the total of (a) and (b) for each financial year from and including 1978–79 to 1990–91, expressed in (i) current prices, (ii) constant prices and (iii) an index of (ii) where 1978–79 = 100.

I shall reply to the hon. Member after the allocations for 1990–91 have been announced in the usual way.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table listing (a) the amounts of capital allocations for county and voluntary controlled schools for 1990–91 for which each local education authority in England has bid and (b) the amounts of capital grant for voluntary aided schools in their area which each local authority has asked of his Departments.

The information requested is set out in the table.