Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Thursday 18 January 1990

Church Commissioners

Bishops (Retirement)

To ask the hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, if he will list in the Official Report(a) the names of suffragan bishops and (b) the names of all assistant bishops, appointed since 20 February 1986, with date of appointment and diocese to which attached and (c) the names of suffragan and assistant bishops who have retired since 20 February 1986 with their date of retirement.

The information is as follows:

(a) Suffragan bishops
Diocese and bishop	Suffragan see
Bath and Wells
The Right Revd. N. McCulloch	Taunton
Birmingham
Vacant	Aston
Blackburn
The Right Revd. R. J. Milner	Burnley
The Revd. Canon J. Nicholls¹	Lancaster
Bristol
The Right Revd. P. J. Firth	Malmesbury
Canterbury
The Right Revd. R. H. M. Third	Dover
The Right Revd. D. Smith	Maidstone
Carlisle
The Right Revd. G. L. Hacker	Penrith
Chelmsford
The Right Revd. J. W. Roxburgh	Barking
The Right Revd. M. Vickers	Colchester
The Right Revd. C. D. Bond	Bradwell
Chester
The Right Revd. R. Brown	Birkenhead
The Right Revd. F. P. Sargeant	Stockport
Chichester
The Right Revd. I. C. Docker	Horsham
The Right Revd. P. J. Ball	Lewes
Coventry
The Right Revd. K. A. Arnold	Warwick
Derby
The Right Revd. F. Richmond	Repton
Durham
The Right Revd. M. T. Ball	Jarrow
Ely
The Right Revd. W. G. Roe	Huntingdon
Exeter
The Right Revd. P. E. Coleman	Crediton
The Right Revd. R. S. Hawkins	Plymouth

Diocese and bishop	Suffragan see
Gloucester
The Right Revd. G. Walsh	Tewkesbury
Guildford
The Right Revd. D. P. Wilcox	Dorking
Hereford
The Right Revd. I. Griggs	Ludlow
Lichfield
The Right Revd. J. Davies	Shrewsbury
The Right Revd. M. C. Scott-Joynt	Stafford
The Right Revd. C. J. Mayfield	Wolverhampton
Lincoln
The Right Revd. W. Ind	Grantham
The Right Revd. D. Tustin	Grimsby
Liverpool
The Right Revd. M. Henshall	Warrington
London
The Right Revd. C. J. Klyberg	Fulham
The Right Revd. J. Hughes	Kensington
The Right Revd. J. Thompson	Stepney
The Right Revd. T. Butler	Willesden
The Right Revd. B. Masters	Edmonton
Manchester
The Right Revd. C. J. F. Scott	Hulme
The Right Revd. D. G. Galliford	Bolton
The Right Revd. D. Tytler	Middleton
Norwich
The Right Revd. D. Bentley	Lynn
The Right Revd. T. Dudley-Smith	Thetford
Oxford
The Right Revd. S. Burrows	Buckingham
The Right Revd. A. J. Russell	Dorchester
The Right Revd. J. F. E. Bone	Reading
Peterborough
The Right Revd. P. E. Barber	Brixworth
Ripon
The Right Revd. M. J. Menin	Knaresborough
Rochester
The Right Revd. D. Bartleet	Tonbridge
St. Albans
The Right Revd. D. J. Farmborough	Bedford
The Revd. Canon R. J. N. Smith¹	Hertford
St. E. and I.
The Right Revd. E. Devenport	Dunwich
Salisbury
The Right Revd. P. Vaughan	Ramsbury
The Right Revd. J. Kirkham	Sherborne
Sheffield
The Right Revd. W. Persson	Doncaster
Southwark
The Right Revd. W. Wood	Croydon
The Right Revd. P. Selby	Kingston
The Right Revd. A. P. Hall	Woolwich
Southwell
The Right Revd. A. W. Morgan	Sherwood
Truro
The Right Revd. J. R. A. Llewellin	St. Germans
Wakefield
The Right Revd. T. R. Hare	Pontefract

Diocese and bishop	Suffragan see
Winchester
The Right Revd. M. J. R. Manktelow	Basingstoke
The Right Revd. J. F. Perry	Southampton
Worcester
The Right Revd. A. C. Dumper	Dudley
York
The Right Revd. D. G. Snelgrove	Hull
The Right Revd. C. C. Barker	Selby
The Right Revd. G. Bates	Whitby
Europe
The Right Revd. E. Holland	Bishop in Europe
¹ Designate.

(b) Assistant bishops appointed since 20 February 1986¹
Diocese and bishop	Appointed
Leicester
The Right Revd. G. W. E. C. Ashby	1 July 1988
Bradford
The Right Revd. D. R. J. Evans	1 October 1988
¹ This list includes only full-time stipendiary Assistant Bishops for whose stipends the Commissioners have a responsibility.

(c) Suffragan bishops who have retired since 20 February 1986
Suffragan see and bishop	Date
Europe
The Right Revd. A. W. M. Weekes	1 April 1986
Shrewsbury
The Right Revd. L. L. Rees	30 September 1986
Colchester
The Right Revd. R. N. Coote	31 May 1987
Grantham
The Right Revd. D. G. Hawker	4 July 1987
Ludlow
The Right Revd. S. M. Wood	31 July 1987
Dorchester
The Right Revd. C. J. E. Meyer	31 October 1987
Burnley
The Right Revd. R. C. C. Watson	30 November 1987
Plymouth
The Right Revd. K. A. Newing	30 April 1988
Southampton
The Right Revd. E. D. Cartwright	31 October 1988
Sherwood
The Right Revd. H. R. Darby	28 February 1989
Reading
The Right Revd. R. G. G. Foley	30 June 1989
Hertford
The Right Revd. K. H. Pillar	15 November 1989

(d) Assistant bishops who have retired since 20 February 1986¹
Diocese and bishop	Date
(i) Full-time
Peterborough
The Right Revd. W. A. Franklin	31 August 1986
(ii) Part-time
London
The Right Revd. D. S. Arden	14 April 1986
Southwark/Europe
The Right Revd. E. M. H. Capper	1 June 1986
London/Southwark
The Right Revd. E. G. Knapp-Fisher	31 December 1986
The Right Revd. E. G. Knapp-Fisher	31 January 1987
Leicester
The Right Revd. J. E. L. Mort	2 October 1988
Derby
The Right Revd. C. A. Warren	25 February 1989
¹ This list includes only those Assistant Bishops for whose stipends at sometime the Commissioners had a responsibility in whole or in part.

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

European Single Market

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list which of the 300 steps necessary for the achievement of the single market in 1993 have been transported into legal form in all member states; and which have yet to be dealt with.

I have been asked to reply.Commission Communication (Section (89) 2098 on 4 December 1989) presented to the Internal Market Council on 21 December identified the following 10 directives that have been implemented in all member states. They include a number of measures which have time derogations in limited member states. For a more detailed picture of the state of play on implementation, I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of Tuesday 9 January to my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Mr. Powell).

Various Controls

1. Duty free fuel contained in fuel tanks of commercial motor vehicles Directive 85/347.

Veterinary and phytosanitary controls

2. Hormone growth promoters Directive 85/358.

3. Antibiotic residues Directive 86/469.

—control of residues Directive 469.

4. Control of foot and mouth disease Directive 85/511.

5. Amendments to Directive 77/93 (plant health) Directive 85/547.

6. Amendment of Directive 79/117 (ethylene oxide) Directive 86/355.

Pharmaceuticals and high-technology medicines

7. Amendment to Directive 65/65 concerning medical specialities Directive 87/21.

Food Law

8. Sampling and methods of analysis Directive 85/591.

Capital Movements

9. Operations such as transactions in securities, admission of securities and long-term commercial credits Directive 86/566.

10. Units in collective investment undertakings for transferable securities Directive 85/583.

Romania

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence the Government have about food supplies in Romania; what amount of food and medical aid has been sent to Romania since the revolution; and if he will make a statement.

We do not yet have any reliable statistics on food supplies in Romania. The Romanian authorities have requested several hundred thousand tonnes of food from western countries. A European Commission team examined these needs in Bucharest on 15 and 16 January and we expect proposals for a food aid package soon.Substantial quantities of urgent medical aid have already been sent to Romania from both public and private sources. The United Kingdom is providing immediate help in the form of medical equipment and literature, but figures for the total quantity are not yet available. We are now considering how best we can, in co-operation with other donors, respond to Romania's longer-term needs.

China

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Chinese Government about the lifting of martial law in China and the continuation of martial law in Tibet; and if he will make a statement.

We have suspended normal ministerial contacts with the Chinese Government in line with the declaration on China at the Madrid European Council. We welcome the lifting of martial law in Peking as a positive move in the right direction. We hope the Chinese Government will now take further steps to strengthen the protection of human rights throughout China, including the lifting of martial law in Tibet.

Eastern Europe

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice his Department is giving to those people considering travel to East European countries; and if he will make a statement.

The Department's general advice to those who inquire is that there is no reason not to visit eastern European countries but that visitors should if possible avoid demonstrations and large crowds. Petrol may be in short supply.The Department has published a warning to travellers considering visiting Romania that many facilities, in particular medical facilities, are stretched and may not be readily available.

Hong Kong

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has entered a reservation to CITES on behalf of Hong Kong to allow the current ivory stockpile in the Crown Colony to be placed on the market.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in the House on 17 January.

Transport

Traffic Congestion

65.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has made of the costs to business of traffic congestion in the south-east.

64.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has made of the costs to business of traffic congestion in the south-east.

63.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has made of the costs to business of traffic congestion in the south-east.

There is no way of making accurate overall estimates of the cost to business of traffic congestion in the south-east.

Vehicles (Energy Consumption)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what percentage of total energy consumed by transport in the United Kingdom was accounted for by commercial goods vehicles and vehicles other than private cars annually, for 1985 to 1989 inclusive;(2) what percentage of total energy consumed by transport in the United Kingdom was accounted for by private cars annually for 1985 to 1989 inclusive.

Data for 1989 are not yet available. Estimates for 1985 to 1988 are as follows:

Estimates of energy used by road vehicles as a percentage of all energy used in transport in the United Kingdom
Percentage
Vehicle	1985	1986	1987	1988
Cars	50·4	51·0	51·3	51·4
Goods vehicles	22·7	22·7	23·1	23·7
Other vehicles	6·2	5·9	5·4	4·7

Locomotives

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of total energy consumed by transport in the United Kingdom was accounted for by (a) electrically powered locomotives and (b) diesel-powered locomotives annually, for 1985 to 1989 inclusive.

Data for 1989 are not yet available. Estimates for 1985 to 1988 are as follows:

Energy used by rail as percentage of all energy used in transport in the United Kingdom
Percentage
Energy	1985	1986	1987	1988
Electricity	0·6	0·6	0·6	0·6
Petroleum	2·2	2·0	1·8	1·7

Note: These figures will include some energy which was not used for powering locomotives.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what percentage of the total rail freight traffic was hauled annually by (a) electrically powered locomotives and (b) diesel-powered locomotives for 1985 to 1989 inclusive;(2) what percentage of total rail passenger traffic was hauled annually by

(a) electrically powered locomotives and (b) by diesel-powered locomotives for 1985 to 1989 inclusive.

This information is obtainable from table 3.7 on page 137 of the "1978–88 Transport Statistics Great Britain", a copy of which is held in the Library.

Domestic Flights

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of total energy consumed by transport in the United Kingdom was accounted for by United Kingdom domestic flights annually for 1985 to 1989 inclusive.

This information is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

British Rail

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the objectives of his policy for the future of British Rail.

My right hon. Friend set out the Government's objectives for British Rail in his statement to the House on 19 December.

Road Improvements

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all the trunk road improvement schemes which are due to start in England in 1990–91; and if he will make a statement.

It is too soon to provide a list. The composition of the new starts programme will depend on the completion of outstanding procedures on individual schemes and on price movements over the coming months.

Scottish Lowland Airports

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what considerations of policy he has taken into account in deciding the timing of his forthcoming announcement of the results of his review of Scottish lowland airports policy; and if he will make a statement;(2) when he expects to announce his decision on the review of Scottish lowland airports policy.

My right hon. Friend has said that he expects to be able to announce his decision on future policy for the Scottish lowland airports early this year. That remains the position. We recognise the need to end uncertainty over the policy, but we shall not be reaching a decision until the views expressed in the over 1,100 responses received during the consultation have been carefully considered. My right hon. Friend has written to my hon. Friend to stress that there is no question of external considerations being allowed to affect either the decision itself or its timing.

Household Refuse

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider requiring special licences for the transportation by road or rail of partly decomposed household refuse from controlled local authority tips.

There are no specific guidelines. The road transport of dangerous goods, including wastes, is governed by national regulations and related approved codes of practice. All goods carried by rail are subject to BRS conditions of carriage and conditions of acceptance, which include specific conditions for dangerous goods, including wastes. The Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 will require the registration of any person, unless exempted by regulation, carrying controlled waste, including household waste, in the course of his business.

Railway Lines

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will consult outside interested parties on his proposed terms of reference for his departmental committee to establish a noise standard for new railway lines.

No. The object will be to establish the standard at a level which equitably relates to the standard set by regulation for new highways.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will include outside members on his departmental committee to set a noise standard for railway lines; and whether the committee will consult outside interested parties before reaching its conclusions.

Outside members will be included and there will be consultation. It will be for the committee to decide at what stage to consult outside interested parties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport why he has decided that his Department's new noise standard for railway lines should relate to the standard set for new highways, and what account he has taken of the particular characteristics and pattern of noise from railway lines.

I consider it right to aim for a noise insulation standard for new railway lines which is comparable with the standard currently set by regulation for new highways in order to be even-handed. It would not be right to discriminate in favour of or against people living near new railway lines as opposed to people living near new roads. It will be for the departmental committee to consider and take account of the characteristics and pattern of noise from railway lines.

Test Bores, Eccles

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what purpose test bores 2069, 2070 and 2071 were carried out on land at Grange farm, Eccles, under section 290(3) of the Highways Act 1980.

Preliminary investigations associated with the proposed widening of the M62 between junctions 12 and 18 prior to the White Paper "Roads for Prosperity".

Greater Manchester Relief Road

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many route options were produced by consultants in respect of the M6 to M56 section of the proposed Greater Manchester western and northern relief road.

Five. All but one were eventually rejected for environmental reasons.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total length of new motorway envisaged in each section of the Greater Manchester western and northern relief road, M6 to M56, M56 to M62 and M62 to M66.

The information is as follows:

M6 to M56—6 miles

M56 to M62; M62 to M66—It is too early in the planning process to say what lengths of new motorways are envisaged.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total length of road widening to existing roads envisaged in each section of the Greater Manchester western and northern relief road, M6 to M56, M56 to M62 and M62 to M66.

The information is as follows:

M6 to M56—None

M56 to M62; M62 to M66—It is too early in planning process to quantify the total length of existing roads to be widened.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the consultants' brief in respect of the Greater Manchester western and northern relief road includes consideration of a new motorway crossing of the Manchester ship canal.

Yes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the road widening of the M62 between junctions 12 and 18 is regarded as part of the proposed Greater Manchester western and northern relief road.

We expect there to be a need for a new route on the north side of Manchester.

Oil Spills

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will outline what research is being undertaken in respect of new methods to deal with oil spills; and if he will make a statement.

The marine pollution control unit (MPCU) of the Department of Transport undertakes a continuing programme of counter-pollution research including new or improved methods of dealing with oil slicks. Research is currently being undertaken into the use of demulsifiers as a means of inhibiting formation of emulsions and promoting natural dispersion of oil; satellite remote sensing for the detection of oil slicks; techniques for cleaning oil from shingle beaches; the resources and methods required to clean different types of beach; and possible methods of cleaning contaminated salt marshes and mud flats.These projects are part of the wider overall programme of progressive research into methods of dealing with oil and chemical spills which the MPCU has been undertaking for a number of years at an annual cost of about £1 million. This has resulted in the successful development and introduction into service of aerial dispersant spraying techniques; a mechanical recovery system; increased identification and refinement of the correct techniques to apply in dealing with oil pollution at sea and on various types of shoreline; detailed knowledge of the behaviour of oil at sea; a straw baler machine which produces straw booms for use in protecting sensitive areas of coastline; aerial surveillance; and various information systems and manuals.The results of the research are made available to relevant authorities in the United Kingdom and abroad as part of the United Kingdom's contribution to international co-operation in counter-pollution.

Taxis

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will fund research on the personal security of passengers travelling in private hire cars and taxis.

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is commissioning research into the actual and perceived risks to personal security of travelling in minicabs in London which are not licensed, compared with taxis in London which are licensed: and whether minicab licensing, as practised outside London, alters the position.The trust has sought a contribution from the Government towards funding and I have agreed that the Department of Transport will provide half the cost of the research, up to a ceiling of £20,500. I understand that the other half of the funding will come from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and the Police Foundation which are jointly seeking additional funds from the private sector for that purpose; and that the research should be completed in about a year's time.

Hazardous Chemicals

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will take steps to end the practice of allowing barrels of hazardous chemicals to be carried on open-sided lorries;(2) what steps he has taken to assess the implications for regulations relating to the transport by road of hazardous wastes of the recent accident at Burton-upon-Trent in which sodium cyanide was spilt in a residential area from an open lorry.

The Health and Safety Executive has been made aware of details of the incident. It will consider any change to the procedures as part of the practice of regularly reviewing the relevant regulations.

River Thames

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether any further consideration has been given to a comprehensive set of regulations governing navigation in the tidal Thames following the Marchioness disaster.

The Port of London Authority has already incorporated within its general direction for navigation the main navigational measures recommended by the interim report of the marine accident investigation branch. It is considering, with the Department the further recommendation with respect to the segregation of commercial and passenger traffic on the river.

Education And Science

Examination Results

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list all local education authorities in England in rank order of expenditure per secondary pupil per year, starting with the highest spending authority, together with their position in the table of examination results for school leavers achieving grades A to C at GCSE in 1988 and 1989.

The table gives the net institutional expenditure per secondary school pupil in the financial year 1987–88, and averaged examination results for the three years 1985–86 to 1987–88. The purpose of averaging is to reduce sampling error within the derived percentages. Comparable information is not yet available for 1988–89.

Secondary schools in England: net institutional expenditure per pupil and examination achievements at GCSE¹
		Numbers of leavers with five or more GCSE results atgrades A to C^{4 5}
	Net expenditure per pupil (£ cash)^{2 3}	As percentage of all school leavers	Rank
Local education authorities
ILEA	2,610	16·1	88
Waltham Forest	2,345	11·3	95
Brent	2,195	19·1	75
Newham	1,880	14·3	93
Croydon	1,825	22·7	57
Manchester	1,785	15·9	90
Harrow	1,775	38·2	2
Barking	1,745	11·8	94
Knowsley	1,735	10·0	96
Liverpool	1,730	17·9	81
Newcastle-upon-Tyne	1,725	17·4	84
Kingston-upon-Thames	1,720	34·2	5
Coventry	1,705	20·7	68
Barnet	1,675	41·5	1
Hillingdon	1,675	20·0	70
Hounslow	1,675	21·5	63
Wigan	1,675	29·4	15
Havering	1,670	23·3	53
North Tyneside	1,660	23·2	54
Rochdale	1,650	18·7	78
Bromley	1,645	32·0	9
Walsall	1,645	20·9	67
Sandwell	1,630	14·6	92
Salford	1,625	21·8	62
Bury	1,615	26·4	31
Redbridge	1,600	26·6	28
South Tyneside	1,585	18·3	79
Enfield	1,580	24·7	45
Wolverhampton	1,575	17·8	82
Dudley	1,570	22·3	61
Leicestershire	1,565	23·4	51
Gateshead	1,560	19·8	72
Oxfordshire	1,560	26·2	34
Cleveland	1,545	27·1	26
Nottinghamshire	1,540	21·6	59
Bexley	1,530	27·9	20
Derbyshire	1,530	22·5	60
Tameside	1,525	24·7	44
Trafford	1,525	31·1	10
Cumbria	1,510	26·9	27
St. Helens	1,505	23·3	52
Sunderland	1,505	18·8	77
Buckinghamshire	1,505	33·4	6
Stockport	1,500	24·9	43

		Numbers of leavers with five or more GCSE results at grades A to C^{4 5}
	Net expenditure per pupil (£ cash)^{2 3}	As percentage of all school leavers	Rank
Doncaster	1,500	18·8	76
Wakefield	1,495	17·6	83
Birmingham	1,490	18·3	80
Hertfordshire	1,490	30·3	12
Wirral	1,480	25·9	39
Richmond-upon-Thames	1,475	29·6	14
Merton	1,470	23·5	49
Barnsley	1,470	17·0	87
Salop	1,470	27·7	22
Sefton	1,460	26·3	32
Humberside	1,460	21·5	64
Bedfordshire	1,455	26·0	38
Solihull	1,450	30·8	11
Lancashire	1,450	25·7	40
Rotherham	1,440	19·5	73
Calderdale	1,440	20·0	71
Avon	1,435	26·1	35
Bolton	1,425	26·1	37
Sutton	1,420	34·9	4
Essex	1,420	26·3	33
Staffordshire	1,420	23·4	50
Kirklees	1,415	25·1	42
Surrey	1,415	36·4	3
Bradford	1,410	16·1	89
Durham	1,405	21·0	66
Hampshire	1,405	27·7	21
Warwickshire	1,400	26·6	29
Oldham	1,395	15·5	91
Cheshire	1,390	28·3	19
Northumberland	1,390	29·8	13
East Sussex	1,385	27·4	23
Gloucestershire	1,385	29·1	17
Norfolk	1,385	22·8	55
Devon	1,380	24·4	47
North Yorkshire	1,375	32·8	7
Northamptonshire	1,375	22·7	58
Leeds	1,370	21·3	65
West Sussex	1,360	32·6	8
Somerset	1,355	24·5	46
Isle of Wight	1,350	17·0	86
Wiltshire	1,350	24·0	48
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	1,350	27·3	24
Hereford and Worcester	1,330	28·5	18
Dorset	1,320	27·2	25
Cambridgeshire	1,315	26·1	36
Suffolk	1,305	22·7	56
Kent	1,290	26·5	30
Lincolnshire	1,280	25·3	41
Ealing	n/a	19·1	74
Haringey	n/a	17·3	85
Sheffield	n/a	20·2	69
Berkshire	n/a	29·4	16
¹ The figures in the table have not been adjusted to take account of variations in LEA's socio-economic circumstances.
² Net institutional expenditure includes the cost of salaries and wages, premises, and certain supplies and services. It does not include the cost of school meals, central administration and inspection, debt charges or revenue contributions to capital outlay.
³ The unit spending figures are based on LEA expenditure returns to the Department of the Environment for the financial year 1987–88, and pupil number returns to DES. Data for four authorities are not available.
⁴ The examination data are aggregated from the results of a sample survey for the academic years 1985–86, 1986–87 and 1987–88. The surveyis based on a 10 per cent. sample of pupils in maintained and independent schools (excluding special schools) who have reached the minimum school leaving age. The percentages quoted do not reflect the achievements of pupils at O-level, CSE or GCSE after leaving school; nor their attainments in examinations leading to vocational or other qualifications at school or elsewhere.
⁵ Includes grades A-C at O-level and CSE grade 1.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the number of children sitting (a) GCSE and (b) A-level examinations in each local education authority in England as a percentage of the total number in the relevant year groups for 1988; and if he will list by each local education authority in England the number of children achieving (i) GCSE grades A to C, (ii) GCSE grades C to F and (iii) A-level grades A and E as a percentage of the total number of pupils in the relevant year in 1988 and 1989.

The information is not readily available in the form requested. The table gives sampled examination results for school leavers, averaged over the academic years 1985–86, 1986–87 and 1987–88. The purpose of averaging is to reduce sampling error within the derived percentages. Comparable information is not yet available for 1988–89.

School leavers in England: aggregated examination attempts andgraded results for the academic years 1985–86, 1986–87 and 1987–88 Percentage of school leavers
Local education authorities	One or more examination attempts		One or more examination results
	GCSE¹	A-level²	GCSE grades A-C³	GCSE grades D-G⁴	A-level grades A-E
Barking	82·9	10·6	42·3	39·2	8·3
Barnet	92·0	33·8	66·6	24·9	30·7
Bexley	90·5	19·5	54·6	35·0	17·0
Brent	90·0	16·7	51·6	6·3	13·1
Bromley	93·7	23·0	59·1	34·2	20·3
Croydon	90·0	14·6	54·0	35·1	13·6
Ealing	88·8	15·1	48·6	36·2	12·9
Enfield	92·0	21·3	53·6	36·9	17·7
Haringey	86·1	14·4	46·3	37·8	12·4
Harrow	95·3	16·9	69·3	25·5	15·4
Havering	91·1	15·7	54·7	34·9	13·6
Hillingdon	92·9	15·7	54·0	38·5	13·3
Hounslow	87·3	16·4	50·9	34·2	13·1
Kingston-upon-Thames	91·3	23·2	61·1	29·5	20·1
Merton	86·0	15·2	51·2	34·5	13·9
Newham	81·0	11·8	47·2	30·8	9·0
Redbridge	89·1	21·8	53·1	34·2	19·7
Richmond-upon-Thames	92·8	0·2	61·1	30·7	0·0
Sutton	94·0	26·8	61·0	32·8	25·3
Waltham Forest	86·7	10·3	41·6	40·8	8·2
Birmingham	86·1	13·2	46·0	39·0	11·1
Coventry	90·3	14·9	50·2	39·4	12·1
Dudley	91·3	11·0	51·9	38·8	10·4
Sandwell	85·3	8·2	39·2	45·5	7·3
Solihull	96·9	21·4	60·5	36·1	19·7
Walsall	86·4	16·0	49·6	36·4	14·3
Wolverhampton	87·0	12·1	43·5	42·0	9·5
Knowsley	77·5	5·9	34·2	40·7	4·8
Liverpool	79·9	14·7	41·6	34·8	12·7
St· Helens	86·9	15·9	50·1	35·6	14·6
Sefton	90·6	19·8	55·6	33·5	17·4
Wirral	90·9	19·9	52·6	36·0	17·8
Bolton	90·8	17·0	55·9	34·1	15·2
Bury	92·0	15·1	60·7	30·0	14· 1
Manchester	80·4	15·9	44·0	33·2	13·8
Oldham	87·2	10·5	43·2	42·5	9·3
Rochdale	85·3	15·0	49·7	33·8	11·6
Salford	88·4	14·2	47·9	38·5	12·6
Stockport	92·2	19·7	58·9	30·7	16·8
Tameside	92·2	13·3	52·4	38·7	11·3
Trafford	95·9	17·5	62·0	31·6	16·4
Wigan	94·1	16·0	59·6	33·3	14·5
Barnsley	88·2	10·6	38·5	48·8	10·0
Doncaster	88·1	15·1	44·5	42·3	12·9
Rotherham	89·6	14·8	44·4	43·8	13·5
Sheffield	90·2	12·7	49·7	38·7	11·1
Bradford	83·6	12·6	42·5	39·2	10·6
Calderdale	89·9	16·0	46·6	41·1	12·9

Local education authorities	One or more examination attempts		One or more examination results
	GCSE¹	A-level²	GCSE grades A-C³	GCSE grades D-G⁴	A-level grades A-E
Kirklees	89·9	17·3	50·1	38·7	15·0
Leeds	89·0	13·6	48·7	39·2	12·5
Wakefield	87·0	8·5	44·6	41·4	6·9
Gateshead	84·2	13·1	45·2	38·0	10·8
Newcastle·upon-Tyne	84·5	13·4	41·8	41·5	10·8
North Tyneside	91·3	16·1	50·9	39·7	14·0
South Tyneside	93·6	11·8	45·9	47·0	10·0
Sunderland	91·3	10·1	47·7	43·5	8·1
ILEA	80·3	12·7	44·8	33·5	11·0
Avon	93·9	16·6	55·6	37·1	14·9
Bedfordshire	94·7	18·2	55·9	37·1	16·1
Berkshire	95·7	21·9	57·4	37·0	20·3
Buckinghamshire	94·1	23·7	63·7	29·5	22·4
Cambridgeshire	94·5	14·7	56·5	36·7	13·2
Cheshire	93·2	18·2	56·2	35·7	16·4
Cleveland	89·1	16·2	49·8	38·5	14·8
Cornwall	92·7	16·0	58·5	33·4	14·6
Cumbria	92·6	17·5	56·1	35·5	16·0
Derbyshire	92·9	12·9	50·7	41·1	11·3
Devon	95·3	12·8	55·5	38·5	11·8
Dorset	96·1	14·7	59·9	35·4	13·3
Durham	90·3	11·9	51·4	37·9	10·1
East Sussex	91·4	20·5	56·0	34·8	18·2
Essex	92·7	16·1	57·4	33·9	14·5
Gloucestershire	94·7	18·9	58·6	35·2	16·9
Hampshire	94·6	14·7	58·6	35·6	13·2
Hereford and Worcester	92·5	19·6	57·5	33·7	18·0
Hertfordshire	93·2	21·1	61·0	31·2	19·1
Humberside	90·3	14·4	48·4	40·8	12·9
Isle of Wight	92·8	15·7	47·4	43·0	13·4
Kent	92·7	18·4	53·9	38·2	16·9
Lancashire	90·6	10·9	54·0	35·0	9·9
Leicestershire	89·4	19·7	48·3	39·6	17·1
Lincolnshire	93·3	16·5	53·5	38·0	14·7
Norfolk	87·8	11·3	52·1	34·7	10·5
North Yorkshire	93·4	21·0	59·3	33·0	19·4
Northamptonshire	91·7	15·5	51·3	39·0	13·7
Northumberland	93·4	20·8	60·0	32·9	19·3
Nottinghamshire	92·4	14·3	46·1	45·5	12·7
Oxfordshire	94·8	17·4	57·7	36·1	15·4
Shropshire	92·8	17·2	56·5	35·9	15·3
Somerset	95·5	9·3	54·2	40·3	8·2
Staffordshire	89·4	14·0	51·9	36·8	12·7
Suffolk	93·3	15·6	51·3	40·2	14·0
Surrey	95·0	26·4	64·3	30·0	24·0
Warwickshire	93·1	18·6	56·8	35·8	16·9
West Sussex	95·4	22·0	62·8	32·0	20·2
Wiltshire	94·7	12·3	52·9	40·0	11·3
¹ Including attempts at O-level and CSE.
² Including a small number of leavers with no O-level or CSE attainments recorded.
³ Including O-level grades A-C and CSE grade 1.
⁴ Including O-level grades D-E and CSE grades 2–5.

Council Of National Academic Awards

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the terms of reference of the departmental review of the role of the Council for National Academic Awards; when he expects it to be completed; and whether he will publish the findings and any recommendations.

The terms of reference are to review the justification, role and functions of the council. My right hon. Friend expects to receive the report by the summer, and to publish it.

Student Loans

66.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will provide further details of the costs of the Government's proposals on top-up loans for students announced in his Autumn Statement.

67.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will provide further details of the costs of the Government's proposals on top-up loans for students announced in his Autumn Statement.

68.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will provide further details of the costs of the Government's proposals on top-up loans for students announced in his Autumn Statement.

The Government's spending plans include £109 million in 1990–91, £179 million in 1991–92 and £204 million in 1992–93 for the introduction of the top-up loans scheme from September 1990, subject to the passage of the necessary legislation. Provision for the administration costs of the loans scheme will be added when the figures are available. The loan rates will be as set out in the White Paper "Top-up loans for Students". (Cm. 520).

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much money will be allocated to Durham education authority for student loans in 1990.

Student Loans Company Ltd. will provide loans directly to students. The funds will not be allocated to or through local education authorities.

Polytechnics (North-East)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many members of the governing bodies of (a) Newcastle polytechnic, (b) Sunderland polytechnic and (c) Teesside polytechnic receive remuneration for their position; what is the amount of that remuneration: and what criteria are used to determine that remuneration.

Information is not collected centrally on these matters which are within the discretion of individual higher education corporations under schedule 7 to the Education Reform Act.

Education Support Grant

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what allocations will be made to local education authorities under the education support grants programme for 1990–91; and if he will make a statement.

My Department is today writing to all local education authorities in England to inform them of the level of expenditure which I have approved for each activity in the education support grants (ESG) programme for 1990–91. The programme is summarised in the following table.The expenditure supported by ESGs in 1990–91 will total £141 million. This is over £15 million higher than the 1989–90 programme. Of the £141 million total, £50 million will support new activities and the extension of existing activities, while £91 million will support the continuation of projects begun in earlier rounds.As in previous years, there has been great interest in the education support grants programme, with LEAs submitting a wide range of bids. I am pleased to say that all LEAs in England will be participating in the 1990–91 programme, which is the largest so far.The activities targeted on implementing the Education Reform Act include major programmes to support local management of schools (LMS) and the national curriculum. We will be supporting over £36 million of spending on LMS, helping local authorities to install management information systems in schools, to train staff for their new responsibilities, and to provide central support.A range of other activities will help schools get the national curriculum into place, including those on information technology in schools, English language, primary science, and mathematics, as well as the activity on the basic curriculum and assessment. Together, these activities will support some £55 million of spending.We shall also be allocating grant for a range of other priorities, including schemes to recruit former teachers and mature entrants into teaching, and to help schools cope better with their most difficult pupils.This ESG programme represents a substantial package of assistance for schools, colleges and LEAs. It will help target resources where they are most needed, and particularly on the implementation of the Education Reform Act. In total, ESGs will support over £110 million of spending in 1990–91 on activities related to the ERA.For the future, I want to see the ESG programme focus even more closely on our key priorities. I shall wish in particular to concentrate future support on the implementation of our main ERA reforms, especially in the areas relating to the national curriculum and local management of schools. I shall also wish to consider what more can be done to help authorities to recruit teachers in the light of experience of the programme I am announcing today. The bids for the teacher recruitment activity showed that many authorities have some way to go in developing strategies for stimulating recruitment.

Education support grants programme 1990–91
£1 million
	New expenditure and extensions	Committed and continuing expenditure	Total
Activities related to the implementation of the Education Reform Act
1. Local management of schools	11·2	25·0	36·2
2. Management information systems for FE	4·0	7·1	11·1
3. Training for school governors	1·0	4·2	5·2
4. Training for FE college governors	1·9	—	1·9
5. Planning and delegation to colleges	¹0·1	1·2	1·3
6. Basic curriculum andassessment	9·3	10·0	19·3
7. LEA inspection²	—	3·0	3·0
8. IT in schools	9·0	4·8	13·8
9. English language in the curriculum	—	8·2	8·2

	New expenditure and extensions	Committed and continuing expenditure	Total
10. Primary science andtechnology	—	7·4	7·4
11. Maths in schools	—	3·2	3·2
Other priorities
12. Difficult pupils	2·3	—	2·3
13. Improving school attendance	2·3	—	2·3
14. Combating vandalism and arson	2·0	—	2·0
15. Health education	4·0	—	4·0
16. Teacher recruitment	2·0	—	2·0
17. Workers educational association³	1·0	—	1·0
18. Youth leaders in inner cities	—	4·0	4·0
19. Learning by achievement	—	2·3	2·3
20. Adult literacy	—	1·7	1·7
21. Open learning	—	2·0	2·0
22. Educational guidance	—	1·2	1·2
23. Education for amulti-ethnic society	—	2·2	2·2
24. Portage (support for SEN children under five)	—	1·4	1·4
25. Social responsibility	—	1·3	1·3
26. Rural primary schools	—	0·7	0·7
Total	50·1	90·9	141·0
Grant⁴			83·6
¹ New expenditure under this activity is being allocated to the inner London boroughs only.
² The second tranche of support for LEA inspection is included in the basic curriculum and assessment activity.
³ The activity to support provision made by the Workers' Educational Association was a late addition to the 1990–91 ESG programme. The distribution between LEAs of the funds for this activity will be decided in due course.
⁴ Grant will be paid at 60 per cent. on all activities except: Science and technology in primary schools and maths in schools, where committed expenditure will continue to be paid at the 1989–90 rate of 50 per cent.; and the Workers Educational Association, which will bepaid at 70 per cent.

Teacher Shortages

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what action has been taken by his Department to improve teacher recruitment;(2) what action his Department has taken to improve teacher numbers in shortage subjects.

Since 1986 the Department has undertaken a range of measures to improve teacher supply. These include new initial and in-service training courses; the establishment of the teaching as a career unit to undertake national advertising and publicity; taster courses for those considering a career change; support for local initiatives to attract mature new entrants and former serving teachers; and the licensed and articled teacher schemes.The measures have also included bursaries for initial teacher training students, and retraining courses, which have concentrated on the shortage subject areas.

Action programme on teacher shortage The table shows the principal measures taken since the introductionof our action programme on teacher shortages in 1986, and their costs to date.
Measures	Total Cost £ million
(i) Bursary scheme for trainee teachers in maths, physics, CDT	6·381
(ii) Support for LEAs in-service training in shortage subjects in order to upgrade teachers' skills and conversion of teachers in other subjects to maths, physics and CDT	35·500
(iii) Support for new initiatives in higher education institutions and the Open University for new types of initial and in-service training provision, including distance learning packs and more flexible training arrangements	6·730
(iv) TASC (Teaching as a Career) Unit to promote teaching as a career and improve recruitment practices among local education authorities and initial teacher training institutions	0·725
(v) TASC advertising and publicity campaigns	1·179
(vi) Production of video teaching programmes by the BBC, Thames TV and Yorkshire TV for in-service use	0·435
(vii) Pump priming support for local initiatives to improve supply in shortage subjects	0·050
(viii) Taster courses for mature people and others to encourage entry or return to teaching	0·040
(ix) Regional conferences with the Scientific Technology Regional Organisation (SATRO) on how industry can help to alleviate shortages	0·010

National Finance

Household Incomes

15.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the average household income is devoted to national and local taxation; and what was the comparable percentage in 1979.

A married man with two children on average male earnings will pay approximately 36 per cent. of his earnings in taxes in 1989–90, about one percentage point more than in 1978–79. Over the same period he has enjoyed an increase in real take-home pay of 32 per cent.

Business Investment

16.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest figures indicating the share of gross domestic product taken by business investment.

Business investment as a proportion of gross domestic product was 14·6 per cent. in 1988. The Industry Act forecast projected total business investment to grow by 9¼ per cent. in 1989. As a share of GDP, in 1989 business investment is likely to be one of the highest since the war.

54.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest figures indicating the share of gross domestic product taken by business investment.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given earlier today by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor to my hon. Friend the Member for Dorset, South (Mr. Bruce).

Taxation

17.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the composite rate of tax for 1990–91.

The composite rate of tax for 1990–91 is 22 per cent.

32.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if it remains his policy to achieve lower rates of direct taxation; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral, South (Mr. Porter).

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, pursuant to his answer of 11 January, he will list those reasons which are known to the Inland Revenue other than for the sole or main purpose of avoiding or evading United Kingdom taxation, that United Kingdom-based individuals, companies and trusts enter into transactions with persons or organisations based in tax havens; and whether he will carry out studies with a view to estimating the current loss of revenue through business transactions involving tax havens.

The Inland Revenue does not make judgments as to the motives of individuals, companies or trusts entering into transactions with persons or organisations based in tax havens. There is no reliable means of estimating the tax loss through avoidance and evasion in connection with tax haven transactions.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any proposals to prevent tax avoidance and tax evasion by satellite television companies entering into business transactions with connected or associated companies, individuals and trusts based in (a) Jersey, (b) the Isle of Man, (c) Guernsey, (d) the Netherlands Antilles, (e) the Cayman Islands and (f) Liechtenstein for the sole purpose of avoiding or evading the payment of taxation in the United Kingdom.

If my hon. Friend has evidence of tax avoidance or evasion in this field perhaps he will write to me.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the effect on the total revenue received of abolishing the upper income tax bands.

The 1988 financial statement and budget report estimated the cost of abolishing higher rates above 40 per cent. at £965 million in 1988–89 and £2,070 million in 1989–90. These estimates did not include behavioural effects.

Homelessness

18.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officials in his Department are employed to advise him on the resources needed to tackle homelessness.

Nine.

Balance Of Trade

19.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate for the United Kingdom visible balance of trade.

In the three months to November 1989, there was a deficit on visible trade of £5·2 billion, the smallest deficit since the three months to June 1988.

Investment

20.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the Treasury's forecast for the growth of total investment.

The Autumn Statement forecast projected investment to rise by 5¼ per cent. in 1989 and 1¾ per cent. in 1990. This comes after an average growth of 7¼ per cent. a year between 1983 and 1988.

59.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the growth in total investment since 1983.

Total investment grew by 42 per cent. between 1983 and 1988, an annual average increase of 7¼ per cent. This is far higher than the growth range recorded under the last Labour Government, which averaged ¼ per cent. per year.

Manufacturing Output

21.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the level of manufacturing output in the three months to October 1989; and what it was in the preceding three months.

Manufacturing output in the three months to October 1989 was unchanged from the previous three months at its highest-ever level.

European Monetary Union

22.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he intends to take in preparation for the proposed intergovernmental conference on European economic and monetary union at the end of the year.

60.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he intends to take in preparation for the proposed intergovernmental conference on European economic and monetary union at the end of the year.

We will be working through Ecofin to advance our proposals.

50.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on European economic and monetary union.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle (Mr. Day).

Growth

23.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate for growth in 1990.

The latest forecast for GDP growth in 1990 is 1¼ per cent., as published in the Autumn Statement.

33.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to revise (a) his forecast of growth made in the Autumn Statement, and (b) the assumption upon which he then worked.

48.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to revise (a) his forecast of growth made in the Autumn Statement, and (b) the assumption upon which he then worked.

53.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to revise (a) his forecast of growth made in the Autumn Statement, and (b) the assumption upon which he then worked.

57.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to revise (a) his forecast of growth made in the Autumn Statement, and (b) the assumption upon which he then worked.

An updated forecast of growth and the assumptions on which it is based will be published with the 1990 Budget.

Interest Rates

24.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer wht is the current level of United Kingdom short-term interest rates; and what is the level in West Germany.

On 17 January, three-month money market rates in the United Kingdom were 15·4 per cent., compared with 8·1 per cent. in West Germany.

28.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has received any representation from the Confederation of British Industry on interest rates.

Yes.

44.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the current level of interest rates.

55.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a further statement on the current level of interest rates.

Bank base rates are 15 per cent.

46.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last discussed with other EEC Finance Ministers matters affecting domestic interest rate policies.

The Ecofin Council met in Brussels on 18 December 1989. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer represented the United Kingdom. The Council discussed a range of issues of mutual interest including economic and monetary matters.

61.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on the effect of high interest rates on small businesses.

My right hon. Friend and I have received a number of such representations.

Balance Of Payments

25.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest figures for the balance of payments (a) for visibles and (b) for invisibles; and if he will make a statement.

In the three months to November 1989, the visible trade deficit was £5·2 billion, the smallest deficit since the three months to June 1988. Preliminary estimates for invisibles for the third quarter of 1989, the latest period for which figures are available, show a surplus of £0·2 billion.

Inflation

26.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many European countries have higher inflation rates than the United Kingdom.

Four EC countries have higher inflation rates than the United Kingdom when estimates of owner-occupier housing costs are excluded so as to bring the published figures on to a more comparable basis.

30.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest figure that he has for inflation in the United Kingdom; and what is the average inflation rate For countries that are full members of the European monetary system.

Excluding mortgage interest payments United Kingdom inflation was 6·1 per cent. in November 1989. The latest, more comparable, inflation rate for members of the exchange rate mechanism of the EMS was 4·4 per cent. in October 1989.

67.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the growth of average earnings over the last six months on the rate of inflation.

Excessive pay settlements primarily threaten job prospects. The Government will not bail out employers who do not control their costs.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest inflation figure.

The all-items RPI annual inflation rate in November was 7·7 per cent. The underlying rate of inflation, as measured by the RPI excluding mortgage interest payments, was 6·1 per cent.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest forecast for inflation for the last quarter of 1990.

The Autumn Statement forecast is for RPI annual inflation to fall to 5¾ per cent. by the fourth quarter of 1990.

Medical Insurance

27.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the cost of private medical insurance in a full year.

About £40 million in 1990–91.

Vat

29.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to extend the value added tax unit for small businesses.

My right hon. Friend has no plans at present to extend the headquarters unit in Customs and Excise dealing directly with VAT policy for small businesses. It continues to seek ways of minimising the effects of VAT on small businesses.

Autumn Statement

31.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what response he has made to the report of the Treasury and Civil Service Select Committee on his Autumn Statement.

My right hon. Friend will respond to the Committee's report in due course.

European Community Banking

34.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what work he envisages being undertaken by the joint committee and associated secretariat of central banks of the member nations of the European Community now being established.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett).

G7

35.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the Finance Ministers of the G7 countries; and what subjects were discussed.

The last meeting of Finance Ministers of the Group of Seven countries was in Washington on 23 September before the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. A wide range of topics was discussed.

Capital Gains Tax

36.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received regarding the future of capital gains tax.

The Government have received a number of different representations, which will be borne in mind in the run-up to the Budget.

Share Ownership

37.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the number of shareholders in the United Kingdom has increased during the 1980s.

The joint Treasury and stock exchange survey carried out in January and February 1989 estimated that approximately 9 million people own shares—20 per cent. of the adult population. This represents a threefold increase since 1979.

41.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he intends to introduce any measures to boost participation in share ownership by the small investor.

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

Privatisation

38.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total number of revenues realised from the privatisation of nationalised industries and other public bodies over the past seven years.

The net proceeds from privatisation over the last seven years, that is from April 1983 to date, amount to some £26 billion.

Corporation Tax

39.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost to the Exchequer if a nil rate corporation band was introduced on the first £5,000 of a company's profits, limited to companies registered for value added tax for less than five years and for non-registered companies.

I regret that the information requested is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the corporation tax rate in the United Kingdom and other OECD countries.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, West (Mr. Butterfill) earlier today.

Inward Investment

60.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the United Kingdom economy has benefited from inward investment over the past 10 years.

The United Kingdom economy has benefited from direct and portfolio investment inflows of £94 billion over the past 10 years. Inflows of £52 billion have occurred within the last three years, reflecting the confidence that overseas investors have in our economic policies.

Savings (Taxation)

42.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for reforming the taxation of savings; and if he will make a statement.

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

Energy Conservation

43.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider providing tax relief for investment in energy-saving equipment.

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

Bank Of England

45.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the Governor of the Bank of England; and what matters were discussed.

My right hon. Friend meets the Governor of the Bank of England from time to time to discuss a variety of matters.

Self-Employment

47.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any further plans to encourage self-employment.

Self-employment has increased by over 60 per cent. since 1979 as a result of the Government's policies to encourage enterprise. These policies will ensure continued growth in the future.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any plans to amend the definition of self-employed for taxation purposes.

No. The Government have reviewed on a number of occasions whether there should be a statutory definition of self-employment. The existing criteria laid down by the courts seek essentially to answer the question "Are you in business on your own account?" We believe this is the right approach.

Northern Ireland

49.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last made representations to the European Commission to have the restrictions on the movement of Irish shoppers into Northern Ireland removed.

I assume that the right hon. Member is referring to the Irish Government's withdrawal in March 1987 of travellers' allowances from persons who have been out of the Republic for less than 48 hours. Her Majesty's Government made it clear at the time both to the European Commission and to the Irish Government that they believed these restrictions to be contrary to EC law. The United Kingdom has intervened accordingly in support of the proceedings instituted by the Commission against Ireland in the European Court of Justice. The hearing is due to take place in February.

North-East

51.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the present state of the economy in the north-east of England.

The Government's economic policies have created the conditions for greatly increased prosperity in the north-east. The fall in the unemployment rate over the last year has been one of the fastest in the United Kingdom.

Stamp Duty

52.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to raise the level of property values on which stamp duty is payable.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to abolish stamp duty on home and share purchase.

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

Debt Repayment

56.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the saving in debt interest costs of the public sector debt repayment over the last three years.

In the three years to 1989–90 the Government are expected to make a net public sector debt repayment of £30·4 billion, saving nearly £3 billion a year in debt interest costs.

European Monetary System

58.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average inflation rate of countries participating in the exchange rate mechanism of the European monetary system.

On a more comparable basis, the average inflation rate of members of the exchange rate mechanism of the EMS was 4·4 per cent. in October 1989.

Manufacturing Industry

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was invested in manufacturing industry in the 10 years to January 1979 and the 10 years since, net of capital consumption and expressed in terms of 1985 prices.

In the decade to the end of 1978, gross domestic fixed capital formation by the manufacturing industries is estimated to have been £95 billion at 1985 prices. In the following decade it is estimated to have been £83 billion. These figures exclude capital goods leased from financial sector lessors. Including leased assets, gross domestic fixed capital formation was £94 billion in the decade to the end of 1988. Estimates including leased assets are not available for the preceding decade, when leasing was a less important feature of investment. Estimates of net domestic fixed capital formation must be interpreted with some caution, since they depend on estimates of capital consumption, which are not directly observable and so are based on a series of assumptions. On this basis, net domestic fixed capital formation by the manufacturing industries is estimated to have been £26 billion in the decade to the end of 1978 and for the following decade, including leased assets, £3 billion (minus £2 billion excluding leased assets).

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the increase in private non-residential fixed investment in the period 1987 to 1989 was accounted for by investment in manufacturing industry.

1988 is the last full year for which data are available. The data for 1987 and 1988 may be found in the "United Kingdom National Accounts" 1989 edition (CSO Blue Book).

Manufacturing Investment

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of gross domestic product manufacturing investment represented in (a) 1978 and (b) 1988.

Manufacturing investment, in current prices, as a proportion of gross domestic product at factor cost was 4·1 per cent. in 1978 and 3·2 per cent. in 1988.

Uniform Business Rate

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a forecast of the impact on the rate of inflation of the uniform business rate and revaluation for each of the standard regions.

I have nothing to add to the reply I gave my hon. Friend on 12 January 1990 at column 767.

Population And The Economy

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research he has commissioned into the interactions between the structure of the population and the state of the economy.

Research commissioned into the state of the economy attempts to allow for all relevant influences, including demographic factors where appropriate.

Incomes

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will recalculate the figures given in his reply to the hon. Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett) on 2 November 1989 Official Report column 282 to show percentage annual changes in average real net incomes of (a) pensioners, (b) married men with two children, and (c) single non-retired people, taking into account increases in local authority rates, local authority and other rents, and mortgage costs.

[holding answer 17 January 1990]: The changes in average real net incomes given in the reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett) on 2 November take account of price increases as measured by the retail prices index. This includes increases in housing costs.

Exchange Rate

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the £ sterling has moved against (a) the yen, (b) the US dollar and (c) the deutschmark over the last 10 years.

I refer the right hon. Member to table 13.1 of the Central Statistical Office's "Financial Statistics".

Money Supply

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the average annual percentage increase of broad money, M4, over the last 10 years.

The average annual percentage increases in M4 over the last 10 years are given in the following table:

M4: Average annual percentage growth rate¹
Per cent.
1980	15·5
1981	16·2
1982	12·6
1983	13·5
1984	17·8
1985	13·2
1986	15·1
1987	14·7
1988	17·0
²1989	17·8
¹ Average of quarterly annual growth rates to end Q4 1983, and monthly annual growth rates to end November 1989.
² To end November 1989.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of gross domestic product was accounted for in (a) 1979 and (b) 1988 by manufacturers in (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) the Federal Republic of Germany, (iii) France and (iv) Italy.

GDP/GNP by kind of activity is published for Germany, France and Italy by the OECD in "National Accounts" volume II, 1975–87. For the United Kingdom, data are published by the CSO in "United Kingdom National Accounts" 1989 edition.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of net domestic product was accounted for by wages and salaries in (a) 1979 and (b) the latest available year.

In 1979 wages and salaries accounted for 67 per cent. of net domestic product at factor cost. During 1988, the latest period for which the percentage can be calculated, the proportion was 64·6 per cent.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what, for the latest available year and expressed in deutschmarks, was the per capita gross domestic product of (a) the Federal Republic of Germany, (b) France, (c) Italy and (d) the United Kingdom.

Following is the information requested.

GDP/GNP per capita at purchasing power parities, 1988
Deutschmarks
United Kingdom	23,656
Germany	24,919
France	24,080
Italy	22,831

Source: OECD, IMF.

Endangered Species

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his reply of 18 December, Official Report, column 28, if he will make a statement on his Department's assessment of the consequences of being required to move from London to Southend on the retention in the Customs and Excise of those officers in the animals and birds, tropical fish and reptiles importation unit, who have accumulated the greatest expertise in discerning what creatures coming into London airport are covered by CITES regulations.

The relocation review team, set up by the Board of Customs and Excise to establish those areas of headquarters work which should be moved out of London, carefully considered all the implications of their proposals, including the possibility that some experienced officers might elect not to move with their existing work. Those who wish to do so will be able to remain in London within the Customs and Excise.The position of those HQ staff dealing with endangered species controls has been reviewed in the light of a number of representations. However, we remain satisfied that any necessary staffing changes as a result of relocation can be managed without impairing Customs' enforcement of the CITES controls.

Government Expenditure

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give a breakdown of Government expenditure (a) within the standard regions of England and (b) in Scotland during the financial year 1988–89.

Apart from expenditure which is the responsibility of territorial Departments, all Government expenditure is both planned and controlled on a national basis. Information on expenditure broken down by standard regions within England is thus not available on a consistent basis. For figures giving Government expenditure by territory in 1988–89, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 19 December at column 179–90 to my hon. Friend the Member for Swindon (Mr. Coombs).

Living Standards

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much living standards rose during the 1980s.

Living standards in the 1980s have risen to their highest-ever levels. For example, the real take-home pay of a married man—with two children—on average male earnings has gone up by over 26 per cent. since 1979–80.

Weekly Earnings

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the increase in real weekly earnings of full-time adult male manual workers in manufacturing industry in the decade ending April 1989, and the best estimate he can make for non-manuals employed in the private sector; and if he will provide similar figures for females.

I have been asked to reply.I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 13 December 1989 (

Official Report, columns 658–59) for the figures for male and female manual employees in manufacturing. The figures for male and female non-manuals in the private sector are 43 per cent. and 48 per cent. respectively.

Wage Increases

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the industry and occupational groups which have been awarded wage increases exceeding 10 per cent. in the year ended April 1989.

I have been asked to reply.Pay is a matter for employers and employees to determine. My Department does not hold comprehensive information about pay settlement levels.

Business Rates

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the actual percentage increase in business rates payable will be for businesses with rateable values of (a) over £15,000 and (b) under £15,000 for 1990–91 over 1989–90.

I have been asked to reply.The information is not available in the form requested. However, for properties with new rateable values of £15,000 or more in Greater London and £10,000 or more elsewhere (the thresholds defining large properties under the business rate transitional scheme) the average percentage increase in rates bills in 1990–91 over 1989–90 is expected to be 8·8 per cent. The equivalent percentage for properties with rateable values below those thresholds is 4·4 per cent. Both these figures allow for the effect of inflation between the two years.

Overseas Development

Eastern Europe

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial aid is being provided to (a) Poland, (b) Czechoslovakia, (c) Hungary, (d) Bulgaria, (e) Romania and (f) other central and east European countries.

We have established a £50 million know-how fund for Poland, and a £25 million fund for Hungary. We are also providing additional assistance for Poland: £15 million is being made available for a project in the agricultural sector, and a £64 million contribution has been made to the international stabilisation fund for Poland. We are also making a substantial contribution to the European Community and multilateral programmes for Poland and Hungary. Bilateral financial assistance is not available for other eastern European countries, but we hope they will qualify for such help in due course.

Central America

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on overseas aid for central America.

We have technical co-operation programmes for all central American countries apart from Nicaragua. In addition we are providing financial aid to Belize and Honduras. The Commonwealth Development Corporation invests in Belize, Costa Rica and Honduras. Project support can be provided from the aid and trade provision in appropriate cases. Relief aid can and has been provided in response to natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. We of course also contribute a share of the funds provided to the region through a variety of multilateral programmes including those of the United Nations agencies, the World Bank, the Inter American Development bank and the European Community.

Attorney-General

Contempt Of Court

To ask the Attorney-General if he will introduce legislation to provide compensation for persons sent to prison for contempt who successfully appeal against the decision; and if he will make a statement.

The Government have no plans to do so.

Legal Aid

To ask the Attorney-General approximately how long applicants for legal aid have to wait for an appeal hearing and decisions against the original refusal of the application.

The average time between the receipt of a legal aid applicant's appeal against refusal and the appeal hearing in England and Wales is 28 working days. It takes, on average, a further three working days for the result of the appeal to be sent to the applicant.

Northern Ireland

Public Rights Of Way

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will consider advising district councils to display clear signs at or close to public rights of way so as to ensure that the public are aware of their existence; and if he will arrange for the publication of a rights of way map for the whole of Northern Ireland.

The signposting of public paths is an important aspect of the creation of public access to the countryside. Under the Access to the Countryside (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 the responsibility for asserting and creating public footpaths lies with district councils.The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland encourages councils to undertake this work by offering advice and substantial grant aid not only towards the cost of creating public footpaths but also towards the cost of erecting signs and providing information to the public.The legislation requires councils to compile and preserve maps of public rights of way. The Department has no present plans to produce a map showing public rights of way for the whole of Northern Ireland.

Replacement Dwellings

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will make it his policy in relation to the granting of planning permission for a replacement dwelling to take action to ensure that the new dwelling is not placed closer to the sea shore or to a river or inland lough than the dwelling which it is intended to replace.

No. Each application for planning permission is determined on its merits and the Department of the Environment's policy is that the replacement should be located as close as possible to the site of the original building. Factors such as siting, location and design, particularly where the site is close to natural features, are taken fully into consideration.

Green Currency

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what action has been taken as a result of the meeting with a deputation from the Ulster Farmers Union to discuss the devaluation of the green pound in order to improve support levels and alleviate the disparity in green currency rates between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland;(2) what discussions have taken place about the devaluation of the green pound in order to improve support levels and alleviate the disparity in green currency rates between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

It is usual for discussions on green rate changes to be included in the European Communities' price fixing process. That process will start at the January meeting of European Community Agriculture Ministers.We maintain close links with the Ulster Farmers Union and have regular discussions on green currency rates and other issues of concern.

European Single Market

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assistance is being given to industries, firms and entrepreneurs in South Down to help them take advantage of the internal market in 1992.

The Government fully recognise that the advent of the single European market will present both opportunities and threats to businesses in Northern Ireland. The Department of Economic Development, together with the Industrial Development Board and the Local Enterprise Development Unit, have undertaken a campaign to raise awareness of 1992 throughout the business community in Northern Ireland. In addition, a range of specific initiatives has been developed and LEDU, in co-operation with the IDB and the industrial science division of the Department of Economic Development has recently launched a European information centre which will assist and advise businesses about a range of EC activities. Businesses and individuals in South Down have benefited to no lesser degree than elsewhere from this campaign.

Departmental Relocation

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to decentralise Government Departments to the constituency of South Down.

There are currently no such plans.

Chlorofluorocarbons

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps have been taken by the Department of Economic Development actively to encourage industries to reduce the use of CFC gases.

The industrial science division of the Department has been working with Northern Ireland companies wishing to replace CFC gases in their products and processes in evaluating suitable alternatives. In addition, any company seeking the advice of health and safety inspectors and fire officers concerning the use of CFCs or plant or equipment using CFCs, is encouraged to use a more environmentally acceptable alternative.

Private Nursing Homes

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to introduce closer monitoring of the welfare of residents in private nursing and residential homes.

[holding answer 16 January 1990]: We plan to bring forward proposals for a registered homes order later this year to consolidate and update the existing Northern Ireland legislation on the registration and inspection of private and voluntary residential and nursing homes. A policy paper on care in the community to be issued shortly by the Department of Health and Social Services will also address improvements in monitoring the quality of community care services, including those provided by the private sector.

Firearms (Certificates)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) murders, (b) other deaths, (c) muggings, (d) woundings and (e) attacks on the security forces in which firearms were used have occurred in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years where the firearms (i) were being used by the person legally holding them, and (ii) were stolen from civilians.

[holding answer 9 January 1990]: Statistics are not collated in the form requested, and the information could he provided only at disproportionate cost.

Trade And Industry

Audit Policy

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how, and in consultation with what bodies, he formulates audit policy;(2) if he will list the governmental, non-governmental bodies, committees or institutes which make the audit policy in the United Kingdom.

The audit of company accounts is carried out under the Companies Act 1985 which is to be amended by the Companies Act 1989 to reflect both European Community obligations and certain domestic considerations. Significant changes to this legislative framework are usually the subject of wide consultation. In addition, audit standards and guidelines are promulgated by the members of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies on the basis of proposals developed by its auditing practices committee. The professional accountancy bodies also issue technical guidance to their members.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether, at any time since June 1979, he has communicated concerns about the standards of auditing to any leader of the accountancy profession.

As I explained in the reply I gave on 11 December at column 461 to a question by the hon. Member, my Department normally refers specific complaints about auditors' conduct of statutory audit to the relevant professional body. Last year my Department also took up with the accountancy bodies a number of general issues about the conduct of audit which had come to our notice.

Inspectors' Reports

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the unpublished inspectors' reports which, since June 1979, his Department has given to outside private interest organisations.

No. Unpublished reports have been disclosed where appropriate under the Companies Act 1948 (as amended), under part XIV of the Companies Act 1985 and under the Financial Services Act 1986.

Accountancy

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what actions he takes to promote the accountancy profession.

My Department seeks to promote all United Kingdom business, including accountancy, by fostering a climate of enterprise and prosperity in which business and commerce can flourish.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what powers he has to regulate the accountancy profession.

I have no powers to regulate the accountancy profession as such, although there are statutory provisions for the regulation of certain types of accountancy work, for example company audit, in-solvency and the provision of investment advice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will ask the Director General of Fair Trading to investigate whether major accountancy firms indulge in price fixing.

No, I have no reason to make such a request. If the hon. Member has evidence to cause concern, he should provide it directly to the Director General of Fair Trading.

Peat Marwick Mclintock

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether, in light of the banning of a Peat Marwick McLintock partner from practising by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States of America, he has any plans to examine the firm's standards of work in the United Kingdom.

No.

Batteries And Accumulators

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many alkaline manganese batteries containing more than 0·10 per cent. of mercury by weight were sold in the United Kingdom in each of the last three years.

Sales of alkaline manganese batteries in the United Kingdom during the last three years have averaged 200 million units per year (based on an estimate for 1989). The mercury content of such batteries is being reduced in accordance with a European battery industry reduction programme which began in 1986:

1986 from 1 per cent. to 0·5 per cent.
1988 from 0·5 per cent. to 0·3 per cent.
1990 from 0·3 per cent. to 0·1 per cent.
1992 from 0·1 per cent. to 0·025 per cent.

During 1987 and 1988 all these batteries contained more than 0·1 per cent. of mercury by weight but during 1989 batteries containing less than 0·1 per cent. were introduced to the United Kingdom market and by the end of 1990 all alkaline manganese batteries supplied to the trade are expected to be below this level.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the percentage of batteries and accumulators sold within the United Kingdom that are marked to indicate whether the battery or accumulator must be disposed of separately, can be recycled, or may be disposed of with household refuse.

The information is not available. There is at present no requirement for batteries and accumulators to be so marked, but a modified draft directive covering certain of these products and containing proposals for their labelling has recently been published by the European Commission. Negotiations have yet to begin on the final form of the directive.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has undertaken to promote the marketing of batteries and accumulators containing smaller quantities of dangerous substances or less polluting substances.

Encouraging the production of batteries and accumulators containing lower levels of substances such as lead, mercury and cadmium is one of the objectives of a modified draft directive recently published by the European Commission. Negotiations have yet to begin on the final form of the directive, but it would not be sensible for the Government to act independently and in advance of its completion. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom primary battery industry has made good progress in voluntarily reducing the levels of mercury in many of its products.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that consumers are fully informed about the dangers of uncontrolled disposal of spent batteries and accumulators;(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that consumers are fully informed about the dangers of uncontrolled disposal of spent batteries and accumulators.

Consumer information programmes are proposed in a modified draft directive on batteries and accumulators containing dangerous substances recently published by the European Commission. Negotiations have yet to begin on the final form of the directive, but it would not be sensible for the Government to act independently in advance of its completion.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to inform consumers of the method of removing batteries and accumulators which are built into appliances.

The removability of batteries from appliances is one of the issues covered in a modified draft directive on batteries and accumulators containing dangerous substances recently published by the European Commission. Negotiations have yet to begin on the final form of the directive, but it would not be sensible for the Government to act independently in advance of its completion.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to set up a deposit system for batteries and accumulators.

None. Deposit systems are mooted as a possible means of encouraging the return, for recycling or controlled disposal, of spent batteries and accumulators containing dangerous substances in a modified draft directive recently published by the European Commission. Negotiations have yet to begin on the final form of the directive.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department has taken to reduce the heavy metal content in batteries and accumulators.

Reductions in heavy metal content are among the objectives of a modified draft directive on batteries and accumulators containing dangerous substances recently published by the European Commission. Negotiations have yet to begin on the final form of the directive, the environmental aims of which the Government welcome.

South African Offshore Industry

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the British Government have ever given grants or loans to enable South Africa to study the potential growth of the South African offshore industry.

No.

Export Credits Guarantee Department

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the overall extent of Export Credits Guarantee Department insured credit in pounds sterling supporting United Kingdom exports for the Mossel Bay oil from gas project in South Africa and for how long does Exports Credits Guarantee Department cover last.

It has been the practice of successive Governments not to disclose information about ECGD support for individual cases unless the buyer and exporter wish it to be public.

British Shipbuilders

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on British Shipbuilders' external financing limit for 1989–90.

British Shipbuilders' external finance limit for 1989–90 was provisionally set at £3 million as recorded in "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1989–90 to 1991–92" published in January 1989. I have now set a revised external finance limit for 1989–90 of £35 million to meet the costs associated with the disposal and closure of British Shipbuilders' subsidiaries over this year. This increase is being charged to the Reserve and is within the estimate for the planning total in the Autumn Statement.

Post Office

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and industry what financial and efficiency targets he has set for the Post Office in 1990.

The Secretary of State, in agreement with the Treasury, has set the Post Office a target to achieve an annual average 6·4 per cent. return on mean capital employed over the three years 1989–90 to 1991–92. The profit used when calculating the return will be struck after interest (excluding interest on past surpluses) but before tax. The Post Office, in agreement with the Secretary of State, has set corresponding targets of 6·4 per cent. for the letters business, 5·8 per cent. for the parcels business and 7 per cent. for the counters business.At the Post Office's request, the form of the target has been changed from a return on turnover to a return on capital employed, in line with usual practice in the private sector.The targets are calculated from the following expected returns in each of the three years:

	1989–90 per cent.	1990–91 per cent.	1991–92 per cent.
Post Office	2·4	6·3	10·6
Letters	1·0	6·3	11·8
Parcels	2·5	5·0	10·0
Counters	6·0	7·0	8·0

The returns in the last year of the period are approximately equivalent to the real rate of return of 8 per cent. of capital employed which the Government announced in March 1989 that public sector industries should aim to achieve on their investment. The Government accept that the Post Office should work up to profitability consistent with the new rate of return over the target period.The Secretary of State has agreed that the Post Office does not need to set an efficiency target for parcels, which operates in a competitive market, although he will monitor published tariffs for parcels sent between private people, a market in which parcels is dominant. The Post Office, in agreement with the Secretary of State, has sent the following real unit cost (RUC) targets for the letters and counters businesses.

Cumulative reduction by 1991–2 over 1988–9
Letters—1 per cent.
Counters—2 per cent.

The financial and efficiency targets for the counters business are set for the business as a whole in accordance with the principles of the 1978 White Paper on the nationalised industries (Cmnd. 7131). They are not intended to set a level for prices charged by counters to its individual clients, which are subject to agreements achieved through bilateral commercial negotiations by the parties concerned in the light of the particular circumstances.

Vietnam

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the number of contracts between British and Vietnamese companies for which export credits guarantee cover has (a) been applied and (b) granted during each of the last three years.

[holding answer 15 January 1990]: Since 1982 Export Credits Guarantee Department cover For business with Vietnam has been available only For contracts where payment is to be made on terms of cash against documents out of an irrevocable letter of credit confirmed before shipment by a bank in the United Kingdom. On this basis exports insured in 1987 totalled £30,000 and in 1988, £20,000. No business was covered in 1989.During the past three years only one inquiry for cover on a potential contract on extended credit terms has resulted in a formal application being submitted to ECGD. The United Kingdom company concerned has been advised that ECGD is not prepared to offer cover.

Environment

Pollution (Rivers Don And Rother)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what fines were levied on companies and individuals responsible for polluting (a) the river Don and (b) the river Rother, over the last 10 years.

Detailed information on prosecutions and fines for water pollution offences is not held centrally. However, I understand from the National Rivers Authority (NRA) that prosecutions it has brought since its formation on 1 September 1989 in respect of polluting discharges to the Don and Rother systems have resulted in the following fine:

Name of offender:	Yorkshire Water plc
Watercourse:	Ewden Brook
Fine Imposed:	£1,000

Prior to 1 September last year, the regional water authorities were primarily responsible for enforcement of water pollution controls. From the records kept by the Yorkshire Water Authority (YWA) the NRA has been able to provide the following details of prosecutions brought by the YWA in respect of pollution of the Don and Rother systems:

(a) Prosecutions for Pollution of the Don and its Tributaries (brought by the former Yorkshire Water Authority)
Name of offender	Date of offence	Watercourse	Fine(s) imposed (£s)
National Coal Board	8 June 1979	Went Beck	100
Doncaster Coalite	10 June 1979	Thistle Goit Dyke	300
HSB Fuel Recovery Services	24 March 1980	Owston Common Drain	500
Prosper DeMulder	4 August 1980	River Don	550
National Coal Board	25 February 1981	River Don	200
A. Ogden and Sons	5 October 1981	River Dearne	200
McErlaine Plant	20 October 1980	River Dearne	250
National Coal Board	22 February 1982	Knoll Beck	200
British Tissues	14 May 1982	River Don	1,500
Hatfield Aggregates	25 June 1984	Tributary of River Dearne	500
Eaton and Booth	16 May 1984	River Loxley	50
Coatlite Fuels and Chemicals	19 August 1984	Grimethorpe Dike	1,200
D. C. Cook	20 July 1984	Knoll Beck	400
Rigby Metals	24 July 1985	River Dearne	500
D. C. Cook	9 October 1985	Tributary of River Dearne	250
	23 October 1985	Tributary of River Dearne	750
Firma Chrome	11 February 1986	River Sheaf	500
National Coal Board	8 July 1987	Howell Beck	250
S. H. Brook	4 February 1987	Tributary of River Dearne	200
	9 December 1986	Tributary of River Dearne	200
	16 November 1986	Tributary of River Dearne	200
R. E. Dyson	3 June 1988	Load Brook	250
	4 June 1988	Load Brook	150
Dale Farm Dairy Products	16 August 1988	Roundwood Brook	500
	17 August 1988	Roundwood Brook	500
G. R. Stein Refractories	10 May 1989	River Loxley	500
British Coal	26 May 1989	River Dearne	1,000
South Yorkshire County Council	13 March 1979	Firsby Brook	200
National Coal Board	28 February 1980	Blackingmill Dike	200
British Coal	1 June 1989	Woodlands Lake	600
Dale Farm Dairy Products	26 August 1988	Roundwood Brook	500
	9 September 1988	Roundwood Brook	500
	7 September 1988	Roundwood Brook	500
	5 September 1988	Roundwood Brook	500

(b) Prosecutions for Pollution of the Rother and its Tributaries (brought by the former Yorkshire Water Authority):
Name of offender	Date of offence	Watercourse	Fine(s) imposed (£s)
British Steel Orgreave	15 April 1981	River Rother	200
	8 May 1981	River Rother	200
	8 June 1981	River Rother	200
Glass Bulbs Ltd.	4 November 1981	River Rother	150
J. M. Whitaker/W. Rogers	7 June 1982	River Drone	300
	14 July 1982	River Drone	300
Northern Mining Strip	28 March 1983	River Rother	125
Bradway Farms	20 September 1984	River Drone	750
	1 November 1985	River Drone	1,000
	15 November 1985	River Drone	1,000
	25 June 1987	River Drone	1,500
Transorganics Ltd.	28 February 1985	Hooton Brook	¹800
Raymin Northern Ltd.	31 July 1986	River Drone	200
Chesterfield Cylinders	16 August 1988	River Rother	1,000
	23 August 1988	River Rother	1,000
British Steel Orgreave	5 July 1988	Handsworth Brook	1,000
Coalite Fuels and Chemicals	3 April 1989	River Doe Lea	1,500
¹ 2 offences

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the companies currently given deemed consent to pollute (a) the river Don and (b) the river Rother, stating what pollutants they are empowered to discharge; and on what scale.

I understand from the National Rivers Authority that the following two companies have deemed consents originally issued under the terms of part II of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, to discharge minewater:

(a) into the river Don and its tributaries—British Coal Corporation.

(b) into the river Rother and its tributaries—British Coal Corporation; Moorside Mining Company Limited.

Deemed consents were issued under transitional provisions for bringing many discharges which had not required consent under earlier legislation into the regulatory control system for the first time. As they are progressively reviewed by the National Rivers Authority, deemed consents are being revoked and where appropriate, replaced by a full, conditional consent granted under the Water Act 1989.

The particulars of these consents are held on the register maintained by the Yorkshire region of the National Rivers Authority which is available for inspection by the public during normal office hours.

Nuclear Waste Disposal

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the implications of the findings of the European Commission's PAGIS study into the suitability of British geology for high-level radioactive waste disposal for the search by Nirex to establish a deep disposal facility for intermediate-level and low-level radioactive wastes.

Nirex is not responsible for heat generating or high-level radioactive waste. However, it takes note of the results of studies such as PAGIS. The PAGIS report pointed out the long-term containment benefits that would stem from excavating a repository in hard rock with sedimentary cover as advocated by Nirex.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects Nirex to report on the results of its site investigation work at Dounreay and Sellafield.

At present Nirex is awaiting the result of planning applications for the drilling of boreholes at both Dounreay and Sellafield. If permission is granted, Nirex will need to carry out a drilling programme of 18 months, alongside other detailed site investigation work, before any report is expected.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish an outline timetable relating to the commissioning of a repository for radioactive waste.

I understand that Nirex has a target date of 2005 for the commissioning of a deep repository. This assumes some eight years to excavate and contruct the repository. Therefore between 1990 and 1997 Nirex will have to undertake the necessary site investigations and obtain planning permission to construct a repository. There will be a public inquiry.

Council Homes, Corby

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many council house properties were sold by (a) Corby district council and (b) the New Towns Commission in the Corby district since April 1979;(2) which local authorities have sold 30 per cent. or more of their council house stock since April 1979.

Between April 1979 and June 1989 Corby district council has reported the sale of 5,338 dwellings and the New Towns Commission sales of 12 dwellings in Corby. Corby district council has not yet submitted the return for September 1989.In England 61 authorities have reported sales of 30 per cent. or more of their council house stock between April 1979 and September 1989. These authorities are listed below. In addition three authorities have recently transferred their complete stock to housing associations: Chiltern (in December 1988), Sevenoaks (March 1989) and Newbury (December 1989).I have today laid a table in the Library giving available information on local authority sales up to September 1989. It shows year-by-year information for each authority since 1984–85 together with cumulative figures since April 1979 and the proportion of their stock sold since April 1979.

Authorities reporting sales of 30 per cent. or more of their stock between April 1979 and September 1989

Arun
Aylesbury Vale
Bournemouth
Bracknell Forest
Breckland
Bromley
Bromsgrove
Broxbourne
Broxtowe
Castle Point
Cherwell
City of London
Corby
Crawley
Dacorum
Daventry
Dover
East Hampshire
East Hertfordshire
Eastleigh
Eden
Epping Forest
Fareham
Fenland
Forest Heath
Fylde
Gelding
Havant
Havering
Huntingdonshire
Kingswood
Knowsley
Melton
Mendip
Poole
Ribble Valley
Rochester upon Medway
Rochford
Rushcliffe
Sedgemoor
South Herefordshire
South Lakeland
South Northamptonshire
Spelthorne
Surrey Heath
Tandridge
Teignbridge
Test Valley
Torbay
Torridge
Wandsworth
Wansdyke
Wealden
Welwyn Hatfield
West Devon
West Oxfordshire
Weymouth and Portland
Woking
Woodspring
Wychavon
Wycombe

Housing For Teachers

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any proposals to increase the supply of affordable housing for teachers.

Government policy aims to ensure that decent housing is within the reach of those in greatest need irrespective of their background or employment. It is open to local authorities to provide help for key workers who have difficulty in finding such accommodation.

Local Government Finance

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to publish the estimates of the distributional impact of the community charge on household finance using the figures he published on 6 November 1989.

I will publish estimates based on the assumed community charges announced on 11 January shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish his best estimate of the number of local authorities which he estimates will set poll tax at a level of £278; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 15 January 1990]: If authorities spend in line with our assumptions, the community charge will be at or below £278 in 238 out of 366 areas in England.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what level of grant loss results from the revised standard spending assessment for the London borough of Hillingdon; and on what basis the figures have changed since the assessment made by his Department in November 1989.

[holding answer 17 January 1990]: The standard spending assessment (SSA) for Hillingdon published on 11 January is lower overall than that published on 6 November 1989 primarily because of reductions in its highway maintenance and capital financing SSA elements.The reduction in the estimated revenue support grant entitlement for Hillingdon for 1990–91 (before safety net adjustments) flowing from the reports laid on 11 January as compared with our 6 November proposals is £2·638 million. This is attributable to changes in our figures for adult population as well as to changes in SSA.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the level of the community charge for the London borough of Hillingdon based on the figures published by him on 11 January with the benefit of the safety net; by how much this figure exceeds the Government's estimate of £278 for a standard level of service; what is his estimate of overspending by Hillingdon per adult; what he expects the final level of community charge will be; and if he will make a statement on the basis on which the above figures were calculated.

[holding answer 17 January 1990]: The figures placed in the Library on 11 January show an assumed 1990–91 community charge of £359 in Hillingdon. Hillingdon's assumed spending is £121 per community charge payer higher than its standard spending assessment.The final level of community charges will depend on budget decisions made by local authorities. The spending assumptions underlying the 11 January figures are set out in the transition report (England) laid on that date.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the main factors which determine the levels of community charge to be raised by different authorities spending at their SSA level.

[holding answer 17 January 1990]: Revenue support grant is distributed so that if each notifiable authority were to spend at the level of its standard spending assessment then, subject to qualifications set out in the distribution report (England), all charging authorities could set the same personal community charge—the community charge for standard spending.The community charge for standard spending in 1990–91 will be £277·94.

Waste Paper (Recycling)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements currently exist for the recycling of waste paper disposed of by Government and parliamentary offices.

Each Government Department makes its own arrangements for the disposal of waste in the light of local circumstances and security and other considerations. The Government are currently reviewing the arrangements made for the disposal of waste by Departments with a view to maximising the proportion of waste which is recycled. In the case of Department of the Environment headquarters buildings in Westminster and Lambeth, waste paper and cardboard are collected for recycling by contractors.

English House Condition Survey

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish by (a) tenure, (b) income and (c) age of head of household, the following information gathered for the English house condition survey: the number of homes with rising damp, penetrating damp, slight mould growth, serious mould growth; excessive draughts, the number of houses with seriously defective, defective, just acceptable, satisfactory and unknown dampness and provide written material used in instructing surveyors on how to interpret these categories and on how to decide whether a dwelling was unfit for human habitation under the Housing Act 1955 for reason of dampness or other reason and to tabulate slight and serious mould growth by main types of exterior wall;(2) if he will publish by

(a) tenure, (b) income, (c) age of head of household, (d) employment status, (e) age of dwelling, (f) type of heating system and (g) main fuel type, where applicable, the following information gathered in the interview survey for the English house condition survey (i) questions 19a, 19c, 19d, 19f, (ii) questions 21 to 23c, (iii) questions 24 to 26b, (iv) questions 28 to 42, (v) question 44 and (vi) question 48.

Information on these topics will be included in a supplementary report on the English house condition survey which will be published later this year.

Rented Accommodation

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what further steps he intends to take to establish a free market in rented accommodation.

Part I of the Housing Act 1988 deregulated new lettings by private landlords as from 15 January 1989. We shall be evaluating its impact in due course, but initial indications are encouraging—in particular the estimated 7,000 extra homes for rent being provided under the business expansion scheme. At this stage we see no case for further measures.

Housing Act Ballot

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about the ballot held under part IV of the Housing Act 1988 by the Milton Keynes development corporation; and if he will make a statement.

I understand from the Milton Keynes development corporation that no ballot has taken place under part IV of the Housing Act 1988.

Nature Conservancy Council

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many scientists are employed by the Nature Conservancy Council in England, Scotland and Wales and by individual location.

I am advised by the Nature Conservancy Council that the following number of scientific staff were employed on 16 January in scientific posts at the following locations:

	Permanent	Limited period appointments	Totals
England
Peterborough	67	66	133
Wye	12	11	23
Newbury	11	4	15
Taunton	13	9	22
Norwich	12	8	20
Shrewsbury	16	5	21
Newcastle	12	7	19
Bowness-on-Windermere	12	9	21
TOTAL			274
Scotland
Edinburgh	23·5	26	49·5
Balloch	12	5	17
Aberdeen	10	11	21
Inverness	l4	12	26
TOTAL			113·5
Wales
Bangor	13	10	23
Aberystwyth	8	9	17
Cardiff	6	5	11
TOTAL			51
OVERALL TOTALS	241·5	197	438·5

These figures include officers based at sub-regional offices. Staff with scientific backgrounds also occupy some administrative and other non-scientific posts.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of research projects and related expenditure undertaken by the Nature Conservancy Council into the effects on the marine ecology of British waters of commercial fish farming, broken down into England, Scotland and Wales.

The Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) has commissioned the following research projects related to the effects on marine ecology of commercial fish farming. All were carried out in Scottish waters.

Financial year and title of project	NCC expenditure¹ £
1982–83
Impact of marine fish farming in Scotland	4,981
1983–84
Survey of Mariculture sites in the Western Isles	8,710
1987–88
The reduction of the impact of fish farming on the nature marine environment	8,955
1987–88
Impact of fish farmed salmon on native stocks	3,900

In addition, the NCC contributed to the following projects, funded by other bodies in Scotland:

Financial year/title and other contributors	NCC expenditure¹ £
1985–89
Highlands and Islands Development Board Study on 'Impact of Fish Farming'	15,000
1986–88
Shetland Islands Council and Shetland Salmon Producers' Association 'Shetland Fish-Farming impact survey'	29,630
¹ These figures exclude project management costs (permanent staff salaries and related expenses).

Homelessness

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much of the new money for homelessness will go to the London borough of Newham.

The Government have invited bids from local authorities in London and the south-east, including the borough of Newham, and after assessment appropriate supplementary credit approvals will be given.

Right To Buy

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses have been sold by each local authority in Kent under right-to-buy legislation for each year since 1979; and what proportion of total local authority stock in percentage terms these represent.

A table giving the latest reported information for each local authority based on returns to September 1989 was placed in the Library on 18 January 1990. This gives sales for each year from 1985–86 to 1988–89 and for the first six months of 1989–90. A table giving figures for 1979–80 to 1984–85 was placed in the Library on 15 May 1987.

Cfcs

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities operate schemes and facilities to recover chlorofluorocarbon gas from abandoned or dumped refrigerators; what steps he intends to take to encourage the provision of facilities to recover chlorofluorocarbon gas; and if he will make a statement.

A number of local authorities have pilot schemes for the removal and recycling of the chlorofluorocarbons from the coolant systems of refrigeration equipment that has been delivered to them for disposal. My Department will shortly be conducting a survey of the recycling activities of local authorities and this should establish the full extent of such work. An intensive study of the problems associated with the use and disposal of CFCs has been commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry from Coopers and Lybrand; decisions on the need for further Government action will be taken in the light of this study.

Water

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures are being taken to ensure improvement in standards of equipment for monitoring water quality; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that the National Rivers Authority and certain water undertakers have committed significant funds to support research and development of equipment for monitoring water quality. The work, which is co-ordinated by the Water Research Centre, involves the specification of performance standards for monitoring equipment as well as the development of new monitoring systems.

Nuclear Discharges

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on discharges into the sea and into the air as a result of nuclear power generation.

Radioactive waste may be discharged from nuclear power stations only if an authorisation has been issued under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 jointly by Her Majesty's inspectors of pollution and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Authorisations impose strict conditions and activity limits and are issued only after careful assessment is made of the environmental impact of proposed disposals to ensure that doses to the public are below the maximum permissible limits as recommended by the International Committee on Radiological Protection. Operators are required to use best practicable means to limit discharges of radioactivity. They are also required to monitor discharges, details of which are published annually both by the generating industry and this Department. The premises concerned are subject to scrutiny by inspectors to ensure compliance with the terms of the authorisation.

Energy Efficiency

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will take action to extend to council tenants the grants payable for energy efficiency under the Local Government and Housing Act.

There are no plans to extend the private sector home renovation grant provisions in the 1989 Act to council tenants. Local authorities are able to fund energy efficiency measures for their own stock from within their housing investment programme allocations. In addition, the Secretary of State for Energy has introduced provisions in the Social Security Bill for a grant scheme to assist low income households in the council and private sectors with basic insulation measures through community insulation services.

Qeii Conference Centre Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what specific financial, efficiency and quality of service targets he has approved for the QEII Conference Centre Agency for the current year and for the longer term.

[holding answer 15 January 1990]: Financial targets presently approved for the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre are to achieve an operating surplus of £53,000 in 1989–90, £200,000 in 1990–91 and £320,000 in 1991–92 before interest, depreciation and rate charges are levied. Targets covering the period up to 1994–95 will be set when the five-year corporate plan is approved later this year.The centre's efficiency will be measured broadly by the extent of increases in its occupancy level. This currently stands at 56 per cent. and specific targets will be set within the corporate plan.No specific quality of service target has yet been set but one of the centre's fundamental objectives is continually to improve the standards of service offered to clients. These are monitored through analysis of both client/delegate questionnaires and the volume of bookings, particularly those representing repeat business.

National Housing Forum

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he plans to discuss with the National Housing Forum its statement about the need to build 3 million homes by the end of the century.

[holding answer 15 January 1990]: My right hon. Friend has not received any request to meet the National Housing Forum.

Landfill Gas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to promote energy from landfill gas; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 15 January 1990]: Government policy is that all renewable energy sources should be exploited where economically and environmentally acceptable. The Government through the Department of Energy are funding a major programme of research into landfill gas with a contract value over £1 million. This includes work to optimise the extraction of gas from landfill sites and increase the understanding of the biological processes which generate gas. There are 30 such schemes currently operating in the United Kingdom and over 30 at the construction or planning stage.

Water

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current strength of the new drinking water inspectorate; and if he will make a statement.

The chief inspector of the drinking water inspectorate has been appointed and seven other professional and administrative staff are already in post. A number of professional posts are being advertised.

Wales

Economic Activity (North Wales)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what studies he has made of changes in the levels of economic activity in north Wales over the period 1979–89.

Since 1979 Ministers at the Welsh Office have taken, and will continue to take, a close personal interest in the economic development of all areas of north Wales, working with the Welsh Development Agency, the Development Board for Rural Wales and the Wales Tourist Board. The most recent exercise aimed at sustaining the improvement in the economy of north Wales resulted in the publication on 6 December 1989 of the document "A55—The Road to Opportunity".

Health Provision (South Glamorgan)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he next proposes to meet the South Glamorgan county council to discuss health provision.

We have no plans at present to meet the South Glamorgan county council to discuss health provision.

Labour Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the latest unadjusted figures for unemployment in (a) Newport, (b) Gwent and (c) Wales; and if he will give the equivalent figures for 1979 on the most nearly comparable basis.

On 14 December 1989, the numbers of unemployment claimants in the Newport district, Gwent and Wales were 4,604, 13,475, 87,161 respectively. Unadjusted figures for 1979 are not available on a basis that enables a valid comparison to be made.The hon. Gentleman may like to note, however, that since he first asked me this question on 6 July 1987 the unadjusted unemployment figures for the Newport district, Gwent and Wales have fallen by 47 per cent., 47 per cent. and 43 per cent. respectively.

Drinking Water

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the percentage by volume of drinking water in Wales that is treated by adding (a) chlorine and (b) ozone.

I am informed by Dwr Cymru that the information is as follows: (a) over 99 per cent.; (b) none.

Education Authorities

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list all local education authorities in Wales in rank order of expenditure per secondary pupil per year, starting with the highest spending authority, together with their position in the table of examination results for school leavers achieving grades A to C at GCSE in 1988 and 1989.

The information in respect of 1987–88 is shown in the following table:

	Expenditure per secondary school pupil (£) (1987–88 financial year)	Examination result position (1987–88 academic year)¹
West Glamorgan	1,713	6
Gwent	1,535	7
Powys	1,534	1
Dyfed	1,470	5
Gwynedd	1,469	2
Clwyd	1,431	3
Mid Glamorgan	1,426	8
South Glamorgan	1,402	4
Examination information for 1988–89 is not yet available.
¹ Ranked in order of the percentage of the 1988 school leavers achieving one or more grades A-C at GCSE, A-C at 'O' level or CSE grade 1.

Examinations

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number of children sitting (a) GCSE and (b) A-level examinations in each local education authority in Wales as a percentage of the total number in the relevant year groups for 1988; and if he will list by each local education authority in Wales the total number of children achieving (i) GCSE grades A to C, (ii) GCSE grades C to F and (iii) A-level grades A to E as a percentage of the total number of pupils in the relevant year in 1988 and 1989.

I shall write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Household Refuse Tips

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what guidelines he has issued to Welsh district councils on the treatment of methane seepage from household refuse tips;(2) what guidelines he has issued to Welsh district councils on the minimum distance required between new housebuilding areas and existing methane-generating household refuse tips

(a) with and (b) without methane collection;

(3) what guidelines he has issued to Welsh district councils on the minimum time lapse required before building can be allowed in safety on household refuse tips;

(4) what guidelines he has issued to Welsh local authorities on the extraction of methane from household refuse tips.

Technical guidelines on the monitoring and control of landfill gas are provided in waste management paper No. 27, "The Control of Landfill Gas", which was published by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in 1989, and Welsh Office circular 38/39 which gives advice to local planning authorities about the use of their planning powers in relation to landfill sites which may be generating harmful gases. While not specifying a particular time-lapse before development may commence in safety, circular 38/89 advises local planning authorities to exercise due caution in granting permission for development or redevelopment on or near landfill sites. It advises that planning permission should not be granted unless reliable arrangements can be made to overcome the danger of migrating gas.The circular also refers to the provisions of article 18 of the Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1988 which requires a local planning authority to consult the waste disposal authority before granting planning permission for development within 250 m of land which is (or has been at any time in the 30 years before the relevant application) used for the deposit of waste, and which has been notified to the planning authority by the waste disposal authority. Copies of the circular 38/39 and waste management paper No. 27 have been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what guidelines he has issued to Welsh district councils on the environmental and public safety parameters for the removal of the contents of 10 to 20-year-old household refuse tips;(2) whether he will ask Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution to review the guidelines for the safe excavation and transportation of decayed household refuse tip material of five to 20 years' vintage.

No guidelines have been issued by my right hon. Friend. Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution is available to provide waste disposal authorities with advice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last reviewed the guidelines on the good management of large household refuse landfill tips.

Guidance on landfill practice was given in waste management paper No. 26, published in 1986. Guidance on licensing waste disposal facilities, first published in waste management paper No. 4 in 1976, was revised in a new edition of this paper published in 1988. Copies are in the Library of the House.

Traffic (Pembroke)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received concerning traffic on St. Daniel's Hill, Pembroke; and if he will make a statement.

None. This is a matter for Dyfed county council as the local highway authority.

A44 (Cardiganshire)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when the major improvement scheme on the Cardiganshire section of the A44 trunk road from Aberystwyth to Eisteddfa Curig is due to begin.

A scheme costing nearly £1 million is programmed to start at Capel Bangor in the summer.

Classrooms

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will state in total, and by education authority for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools (i) the number of demountable classrooms in use and (ii) their average age; and if he will make a statement.

Information on the number and age of demountable classrooms in use in primary and secondary schools in Wales is not held centrally.

Business Rates

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 11 January, Official Report, column 725, what is the total amount payable under the new uniform business rate in each case.

The amount payable for each hereditament depends upon both the non-domestic rating multiplier and its rateable value, subject in each case to the operation of the transitional arrangements for non-domestic ratepayers. Rateable values for individual hereditaments are contained in local non-domestic rating lists—they are not held centrally. The calculation of 1990–91 rates bills, having regard to rateable values, the multiplier, the transitional arrangements, and 1989–90 rates bills, is a matter for the relevant charging authority.

Pcbs

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the safety of the open hearth incinerator at the Rechem plant at Pontypool as a method of toxic waste disposal; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer Monday 15 January]: Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has monitored the operation of the Rechem plant since it began operating. Independent assessments of the efficiency of destruction of one of the most stable groups of organic chemicals handled at the site, the PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), indicate that a minimum efficiency of 99·9999 per cent. was, and continues to be, achieved. No other toxic waste disposal site is known which exceeds this performance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give details in parts per billion of the polychlorinated biphenyl levels in foliage readings taken close to the Rechem incinerator at Pontypool from 1979 to the latest available date.

[holding answer 15 January 1990]: PCBs were detected in samples taken from the New Inn area as follows, values in parts per billion:

1986—Her Majesty's industrial air pollution inspectorate Five samples—11·1, 14·8, 19·0, 9·4 and 13·0.
1989—Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution Two samples—221 and 68.
1989—Welsh Office One sample—15

For the results of sampling commissioned by other agencies, in particular Torfaen borough council and Rechem plc, the hon. Gentleman should approach the organisations concerned.

Energy

Wind Energy

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what studies his Department has commissioned to identify suitable sites within the United Kingdom for harnessing wind energy; and if he will make a statement.

My Department has commissioned two studies to estimate the potential number of sites. One study covers the whole of the United Kingdom and the other is making a detailed examination of the north of Scotland where the wind conditions are particularly attractive.

Renewable Energy

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when the next review of priorities renewable energy research and development will take place.

Energy Paper No. 55, "Renewable Energy in the UK: The Way Forward", published in June 1988, laid out proposals for the development of renewable energy technologies. These are reviewed annually.

Landfill Sites

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his most up-to-date estimate of the contribution that may be made by electricity generated from methane from household refuse landfill sites to the non-fossil fuel obligation.

How they meet their respective obligations under the non-fossil fuel obligation will be a matter for the public electricity suppliers, subject to their duty under the Electricity Act 1989 to satisfy the Secretary of State or the Director General of Electricity Supply that they have made appropriate arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he last reviewed the use of methane from household refuse tips as a source of energy.

My Department is supporting a wide range of R and D with a contract value of over £1 million for work on methane from landfill sites. This includes work to optimise the extraction of gas from landfill sites and increase our understanding of the processes that lead to methane generation. We last reviewed our estimates of the contribution that such methane could make to United Kingdom energy supplies in October 1989. The figures, which are necessarily subject to considerable uncertainty, are given in the United Kingdom study for the intergovernmental panel on

	Number of projects at end of September each year			Number of draughtproofing jobs completed in January to September period each year			Number of loft insulation jobs completed in January to September period each year			Number of participant workers/trainees at end of September each year
	1987	1988	1989	1987	1988	1989	1987	1988	1989	1987	1988	1989
East Midlands	35	35	28	7,054	¹—	7,884	351	¹—	50	505	520	271
London	34	33	12	5,562	¹—	941	501	¹—	39	617	610	31
North East	25	26	18	11,365	¹—	7,789	509	¹—	202	493	508	253
North West	48	55	45	12,082	¹—	16,770	467	¹—	148	1,051	1,240	672
Scotland	61	73	71	22,125	¹—	26,785	3,061	¹—	1,374	978	1,122	755
South East	47	48	23	4,934	¹—	3,910	954	¹—	192	566	523	121
South West	34	29	16	7,640	¹—	3,303	1,274	¹—	372	534	461	190

climate change. This report, "An Evaluation of Energy Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Measures to Ameliorate Them", was lodged in the Library of the House last November and will be published shortly as an energy paper.

Energy Conservation

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, further to his answer of 19 December, Official Report, column 117, to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. Morgan) if he will give the number of projects of the building research energy conservation unit which are (a) completed and (b) under way for the domestic sector alone.

The numbers of projects under the energy efficiency demonstration and R and D schemes in the domestic sector which were managed by the building research establishment unit since 1979 are as follows:

(a) Projects completed—37

(b) Projects under way—27

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, further to his answer of 20 December, Official Report, column 310, if he will give details of the initiative taken with the building societies in pursuit of a voluntary approach to energy audits.

My right hon. Friend the Minister of State announced an initiative on 9 June 1988 between the Energy Efficiency Office (EEO) and the Building Societies Association to help building societies promote energy efficiency to their customers. A letter giving details was sent at that time to all hon. Members.The initiative involved the publication of a leaflet by the EEO and the Building Societies Association for building societies to make available to their borrowers. The leaflet gives basic information on energy efficiency measures and finance, and invites recipients to send for "Your Home Energy Survey", a detailed information pack from the EEO which includes a home energy checklist to assist householders in carrying out a simple audit of energy efficiency measures in their homes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give for the nine month periods ended September 1987, September 1988 and September 1989, for each region, the numbers of (a) community insulation projects or schemes, (b) draught-proofing jobs completed under community insulation, (c) loft insulation jobs completed under community insulation and (d) trainees and participant workers.

The following table gives the information that is available in respect of community insulation projects for the periods requested:

	Number of projects at end of September each year			Number of draughtproofing jobs completed in January to September period each year			Number of loft insulation jobs completed in January to September period each year			Number of participant workers/trainees at end of September each year
	1987	1988	1989	1987	1988	1989	1987	1988	1989	1987	1988	1989
Wales	47	46	35	11,201	¹—	10,328	675	¹—	139	1,047	1,001	338
West Midlands	50	56	26	8,822	¹—	8,723	812	¹—	178	775	875	314
Yorkshire and Humberside	34	36	24	12,668	¹—	10,951	1,216	¹—	585	679	724	351
Total	415	437	298	103,453	127,428	97,384	9,820	11,429	3,279	7,245	7,584	3,296
¹ Data could only be supplied at disproportionate cost.

Powergen

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the current status of PowerGen.

PowerGen is currently a division of the Central Electricity Generating Board.

Home Department

Child Pornography

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning the production and distribution of child pornography; what action is being taken to provide extra resources to police forces to deal with this problem; and if he will make a statement.

We have received a number of representations drawing attention to the abhorrent trade in child pornography. The deployment of police resources to particular tasks is an operational matter for chief officers. The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has increased the obscene publications branch from 12 to 18 officers specifically to deal with child pornography. Other officers of the Metropolitan police and other forces also deal with it in the course of other duties.The Protection of Children Act 1978 (as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1988) makes it an offence to produce, possess or show indecent photographs, films or video recordings of children under 16, or to advertise their distribution or showing. The police can obtain warrants to enter and search premises and remove any indecent material. Maximum penalties for child pornography range up to three years' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.There are already strong measures against child pornography, but we are ready to consider proposals for making them more effective.

War Crimes

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to announce the Government's intentions in respect of legislation to enable the prosecution of alleged Nazi war criminals living in the United Kingdom.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 16 January to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) at column 171.

Emergency Control Centres

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report the names of local authorities that do not currently meet guidelines laid down in his Department's circulars for emergency control centres.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from him on 18 December 1989 at columns 18–19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department has a target date for all local authorities to comply with his Department's emergency plans, including the provision of emergency control centres.

No. The requirements for local authorities to make plans and to establish emergency control centres for civil defence purposes are contained in the Civil Defence (General Local Authority Functions) Regulations which came into force in 1983. Progress in meeting these statutory requirements is monitored through the Government's planned programme for implementation of the regulations. As part of this monitoring scheme, targets for related activities are agreed annually with individual local authorities, taking into account the state of their preparedness at the time; priorities which are set on a national basis after consultation with the local authority associations; and the financial provision made centrally for grant in support of the civil defence functions. A report on progress up to October 1988 was published in January 1989 and a copy is in the Library. Advances on the position shown in that report are now being considered in the light of more recent information provided by local authorities.

Blundeston Prison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the disturbances which occurred inside Blundeston prison, Suffolk, on 11 and 12 January.

During the evening of 11 January a demonstration by prisoners in one wing spread quickly to two other wings. Damage was caused to fittings, furniture and windows and prison officers had to withdraw from two wings and the upper part of the third wing for a time, for their own safety. Police were deployed outside the prison, the other emergency services attended and staff from other prisons were sent in support in accordance with contingency plans and were held in readiness but not deployed. No inmates escaped. Prison staff regained control of two wings in about two hours and complete control had been restored by midnight, without injury to staff or inmates or structural damage.The regional director for the south-east region of the prison service is examining the cause of this demonstration, which is not immediately evident. Meanwhile, although no accommodation was lost, 24 inmates have been transferred to other prisons in the region for control reasons and work is almost complete on repairing the damage.This was an unpleasant incident and I should like to pay tribute to the professional way in which it was handled by local management and staff and to the other services concerned for their full and ready assistance.

Risley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to publish the Dunbar report into the Risley incident; if he will place a copy of the report or a summary of findings in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

A summary including the list of recommendations resulting from the inquiry has already been placed in the Library, and action taken as indicated in the reply of my right hon. Friend the Member for Whitney (Mr. Hurd) to a question from the hon. Member for Warrington, North (Mr. Hoyle) on 25 July 1989 at columns 607–08.

Ambulance Services

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his most up-to-date information on which police authorities are involved in providing ambulance services; and what is the number of man hours provided by each police authority.

The readily available information is that up to 12 January police forces had provided approximately the number of man hours shown in the table in assisting the ambulance service in their areas. Derbyshire ceased providing assistance on 3 January.

Approximate number of man hours
	Man hours
Bedfordshire	23,900
Cheshire	1,500
Derbyshire	7,000
Dorset	14,800
Essex	2,000
Hampshire	8,500
Hertfordshire	40,000
Lincolnshire	2,900
Northumbria	27,600
South Yorkshire	38,500
Staffordshire	9,800
Surrey	1,700
Thames Valley	1,000
Warwickshire	1,300
West Mercia	14,500
West Midlands	54,500
West Yorkshire	29,200

I understand that in the Metropolitan police district about 460 officers are usually employed in each 24-hour period assisting the ambulance service.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the acting chief constable of the West Midlands as to the cost per police man hour of deploying the police on ambulance duties within the West Midlands police district.

I understand that in the West Midlands the basic cost per officer per hour is about £16·60. Additionally charges for vehicle running costs, accommodation and overheads will be made.

Street Lighting

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the recommended types of street lighting for use in areas of social stress in cities.

No. It is for highway authorities to satisfy themselves as to the adequacy of street lighting in their areas. However, we are anxious to know more about the link between street lighting and crime, and with the fear of crime, which is why we have contracted Southampton university to conduct a major study into these links in Wandsworth. Interim results from this study are expected to be available during April.

Nottinghamshire Police

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will grant the latest request for Nottinghamshire county police authority for extra numbers of policemen.

My right hon. and learned Friend announced on 23 November 1989 at column 12 that he had approved 26 of the 63 police posts for which the Nottinghamshire police authority applied with effect from 1 April 1990.

Birmingham Pub Bombings

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last discussed the Birmingham pub bombings case with the Director of Public Prosecutions; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend has not discussed this case with the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Shops Act

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to issue new guidelines to local authorities on the Shops Act.

No.

National Television Licence Record Office

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate the work of the national television licence record office at Bristol; and why a letter sent to the centre on 20 November by the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish was still not replied to by 11 January.

I understand that NTVLRO dispatched a reply to the hon. Member on 9 January, and told him this when he telephoned on 10 January. The break for Christmas and the new year did cause some delay in responding, and NTVLRO regrets that the customary interim reply had not been sent in this instance. Its procedures are being reviewed to deal with this.

Immigrants

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the payment made in each year since the Act was brought into effect to local authorities in Wales under sectoion 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 relating to expenditure for Commonwealth immigrants by local authorities.

The amount of grant paid to local authorities in Wales from the financial year 1983–84 onwards (the first year in which grant was claimed) is given in the table. The figures represent 75 per cent. of total section 11 expenditure in each year, the remainder being paid by the local authorities.

Financial Year	Grant (£)
1983–84	63,551
1984–85	118,702
1985–86	156,583
1986–87	210,200
1987–88	227,039
1988–89	252,802

Police Efficiency

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he next expects to meet the Association of Chief Police Officers to discuss improvements in police efficiency.

Improvements in police efficiency is a subject which underlies all my right hon. and learned Friend's discussions with the Association of Chief Police Officers, but he has no plans for a meeting on that subject specifically.

Crime, London

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what factors he ascribes the fall in the overall London crime rate and the rise in the London borough of Newham crime rate.

Comparing the 12 months ending September 1989—the latest period for which figures are available—with the 12 months ending September 1988, shows an 0·8 per cent. increase in all recorded crime for London and a 1·6 per cent. increase for Newham. Only in respect of household burglary do the figures for the London borough of Newham show a notable increase while those for the rest of London show a fall.

Car Phones

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers have been prosecuted for using hand-held car phones while driving in each year since such phones have been available.

The available information relates to proceedings at magistrates' courts for all offences of careless driving and so on and is published annually in table 5 of "Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales Supplementary tables". Information is not collected centrally about the circumstances of these alleged offences.

Police Authority Land, South Yorkshire

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the locations of the proposed deals with supermarket chains to build on sites owned by the South Yorkshire police authority, in return for providing a free police station.

I understand that no such schemes have been agreed. South Yorkshire police authority has, however, discussed informally with property developers in Sheffield and Doncaster the possibility of providing, at the developers' expense, a small amount of accommodation for police use.

Firearms

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, for the most convenient recent period for which figures are available, the source of firearms recovered after their use in criminal activities, showing those (a) stolen from legitimate United Kingdom licence holders, (b) obtained abroad and illegally imported, (c) stolen from the armed services, (d) unlicensed weapons kept as war souvenirs, and (e) firearms legitimately owned by the criminal who possessed a firearms certificate or shotgun certificate relating to the weapon.

The information requested is not collected centrally.

Prime Minister

Canada

Q.87.

To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to pay an official visit to Canada.

I have at present no plans to visit Canada.

Aids

Q208.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on the contribution of the Department of Social Security to the Government's strategy against AIDS and HIV.

Ministers in the Department of Social Security have carefully considered the implications of AIDS and HIV for the relevant benefits in consultation with the Department of Health.AIDS sufferers will benefit from the large number of measures recently announced as part of a package of benefit changes intended to improve the help available to disabled people. In particular, many who are in the advanced stages of the illness will benefit from the removal of the six-month qualifying period for attendance allowance for people with terminal illness. This also means that the income support disability premium may be paid sooner. This premium provides extra help to long-term sick or disabled people, currently £13·70 and increasing above normal uprating to £15·40 in April.In addition to these measures, AIDS sufferers benefit particularly from the special disregard of payments from the Macfarlane Trust.

Whales

To ask the Prime Minister if she discussed the killing of whales in the Antarctic by the Japanese at her recent meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister.

The Japanese Government are well aware of the feelings of the British people about Japan's whaling activities, as was evident from my talks with Prime Minister Kaifu on 12 January.

Japan

To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on her recent meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister.

On 12 January I had talks with the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Kaifu, followed by a working lunch. We discussed bilateral relations between the United Kingdom and Japan, which are excellent, and a range of international issues, including East-West affairs, western assistance to eastern Europe, and developments in China and elsewhere in Asia.

Noise

To ask the Prime Minister what recent representations she has received in relation to noise pollution.

During the last 12 months I have received a number of letters concerning noise. In the main these have been concerned with noisy neighbours, noisy parties, construction noise and the use of motorcycles off the public highway.

Welsh Language

To ask the Prime Minister whether an ability to understand and speak the Welsh language is a factor taken into consideration before any recommendation is made for appointment of Lord Lieutenants for the Welsh-speaking counties of Wales.

Yes, among other factors.

Trinity College, Cambridge

To ask the Prime Minister what considerations she will take into account before making recommendations for the post of Master of Trinity college, Cambridge; what consultations she proposes to undertake; and if she will make a statement.

Recommendations made to the Crown for this appointment, as in other cases, will take account of a range of qualities including intellect, experience and personality, following widely based and confidential consultations.

Ministers (Commercial Interests)

To ask the Prime Minister if she will publish the advice given to Ministers of the Crown on their private commercial and business interests.

The general principle was set out by the then Secretary of the Cabinet in a memorandum to the royal commission on standards of conduct in public life in 1975, a copy of which is in the Library.

Eh101 Helicopter

To ask the Prime Minister if the progress of the anti-submarine warfare version of the EH101 helicopter programme is under regular review by and reporting to the Cabinet Office efficiency unit.

No. The efficiency unit works with all Departments to help secure improvements in the management of the public service, but individual programmes and projects are the responsibility of departmental Ministers.

Engagements

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 January.

This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

Government Achievements

To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on the achievements of Her Majesty's Government during 1989.

Economic growth has continued, although at a slower pace than recently, as domestic demand growth has slowed. The actions taken by the Government to reduce the growth of domestic demand and to bear down on inflation are clearly having their intended effect. Investment continued to rise. Business investment, in particular, grew strongly and reached a new record level as a share of GDP. Net start-ups of new businesses—as measured by VAT registrations—set a new record.The economy has continued to create new jobs; unemployment has continued to fall and is now around two thirds of the average EC level.

The Government have maintained sound public finances and by the end of the current financial year will have repaid £30 billion of debt in just three years, saving nearly £3 billion a year in interest payments.

The Government have increased spending on priority programmes while maintaining a downward trend over time in the ratio of public spending to GDP. In 1988–89, the ratio was under 40 per cent. for the first time in over 20 years.

The Government have made further progress in the drive to improve value for money in public expenditure—for example, in the Civil Service, implementing the next steps initiative.

The Government have continued the programme of tax reform whose aim has been to create a climate in which businesses thrive and individual initiative is rewarded. The 1989 Budget increased incentives for share ownership, reformed the life assurance tax regime and simplified that for pensions. Employees' national insurance contributions were reformed and reduced. The differential between leaded and unleaded petrol was increased, encouraging the use of unleaded petrol whose market share has grown to nearly 30 per cent., compared with under 2 per cent. a year ago.

The privatisation programme has continued with the successful sale of the water industry. As a result of this policy and tax reliefs designed to encourage shareholding, 22 per cent. of the adult population own shares.

The new employment service brings together benefit payment and job placement functions. It has helped hundreds of thousands of unemployed people into training and jobs.

Employment training is now offering high-quality training for employment to over 210,000 previously unemployed people. The new youth training programme has been launched as a locally delivered high-quality training programme to equip our young people for the challenges of the 1990s and beyond. Compacts between schools and local employers are being established throughout the country. The Training Agency was established to be responsible for the implementation of these and other training and enterprise programmes.

Training and enterprise councils (TECs) will give local employers responsibility for the design and delivery of training to meet the needs of local industry and commerce. Alredy 50 TECs, covering more than half the working population, have been established and are receiving development funding.

The Dock Work Act 1989 has removed from the statute book the 40-year-old dock labour scheme which has sustained restrictive practices and surplus labour in our ports, thus reducing their efficiency and discouraging investment.

The Employment Act 1989 promotes equality of opportunity for women in employment, removes unnecessary restrictions on young people at work, and paves the way for the removal of the weight of industrial training board bureaucracy from major sectors of British industry.

The enterprise initiative continues to attract strong interest from small and medium-sized businesses. A total of 40,000 applications have been received since January 1988, with demands spread throughout the United Kingdom and across both manufacturing and service sectors.

The Government have continued to promote innovation in industry. The market for telecommunications has been liberalised further, notably by the decision to license three consortia to operate personal communications networks, a new form of mobile telephone service that will be based on radio technology.

The Companies Act 1989 has introduced a number of improvements to the regulation of and law on companies, financial services, merger control and insolvency.

The White Paper, "Opening Markets: New Policy on Restrictive Trade Practices" set out the Government's plans for dealing more effectively with anti-competitive agreements.

The DTI environmental programme was launched in May to provide information, advice and encouragement to business to help it successfully address emerging environmental challenges and opportunities.

The Electricity Act 1989 provides for the reorganisation and privatisation of the electricity supply industry in England, Wales and Scotland. Substantial progress has been made in reorganising the industry and the Government intend that the CEGB and the area boards will be reconstructed as Companies Act companies at the end of March 1990.

Government policies on taxation and licensing have ensured that 1989 was another successful year for the United Kingdom continental shelf. Drilling activity in 1989 matched the record levels in 1988.

The Energy Efficiency Office's programme secures recurrent annual savings now worth over £500 million per year. In 1989 it introduced a major best practice programme, to advance and spread good practice in energy efficiency. The Electricity Act 1989 will give further impetus to energy efficiency, both from competition in generation and from the requirement on suppliers to provide customers with specific guidance on this subject.

The Government have acted to ensure that Britain's growing transport needs are met safely, efficiently and with proper respect for the environment.

Agreement in principle has been achieved on key elements of a liberalised internal market in aviation in the European Community. The Government have intensified aviation security, and have brought forward the Aviation and Marine Security Bill. The Government have approved investment by the Civil Aviation Authority in a new en-route air traffic control centre that will greatly increase capacity.

The Government have agreed external financing limits which will allow British Rail to undertake 75 per cent. more investment in real terms over the next three years than in the previous three years, and London Regional Transport 70 per cent. more. The go-ahead was announced for the extension of the Jubilee line into docklands.

The White Paper "Roads for Prosperity" announced plans to more than double the road programme in England to over £12 billion. The emphasis will be on widening existing routes so as to deliver extra capacity quickly and with minimum environmental effect. Planned investment in road construction over the next three years is 50 per cent. higher in real terms than in the previous three years. "Roads in Wales: Progress and Plans for the 1990s" set out the major investment programme for Welsh roads. In Scotland it has been announced that provision for new construction and improvements of motorways and trunk roads will by 1992–93 be substantially above the current level, while expenditure on maintenance and construction together will also be significantly higher.

The Green Paper "New Roads by New Means" set out proposals for the private financing of new roads additional to the publicly financed road programme. The Government have announced a range of proposals for tackling traffic congestion in London.

The Government have taken important steps to improve transport safety, through the publication of the White Paper "The Road User and the Law", hard-hitting campaigns to improve road safety and the establishment of the marine accident investigation branch.

The Government have responded promptly and introduced comprehensive measures to deal with several outbreaks of food-borne illness and contamination incidents in order to protect consumers throughout the country. A Food Safety Bill has now been introduced in Parliament to ensure that our food safety laws keep pace with the revolution that is taking place in the way in which food is produced, stored and prepared.

The Government have made further progress in achieving a better balance between agricultural production and the environment notably through new powers to introduce nitrate sensitive areas and the introduction of new capital grants favouring the environment.

At the EC Council of Fisheries Ministers in December, the Government secured the best possible deal under the common fisheries policy for British fishermen consistent with conservation.

The outcome of the European Community's farm price review fully reflected the decision taken on stabilisers during the previous year leading to further downward pressure on prices and expenditure. The Community also reached agreement on the reviews of its regimes for beef and sheepmeat and of the provisions for farm structures.

The Government have maintained and reinforced our commitment to environmental protection both at the national and international level. Internationally, the Government have taken a leading part in efforts to respond to global problems such as ozone depletion and climate change. On 8 November at the United Nations I announced that £100 million of aid has been earmarked over the next three years to help preserve tropical forests. The Government's agreement with Brazil to provide help, especially for the rain forests was the first ever of its kind. Domestically, the Environmental Protection Bill has been introduced which provides for a system of integrated pollution control, reform of the law relating to the regulation of waste disposal, measures to deal with litter, and improvement of the existing system of air pollution control operated by local authorities.

The Water Act 1989 paved the way for the separation of the service and supply functions from the regulatory responsibilities within the water industry. A strong new environmental and economic regulatory framework is provided by two new public sector bodies—the National Rivers Authority and the Directorate General of Water Services. Privatisation has brought the prospect of a better-organised, more efficient industry and will enable the 10 new water service companies to use private sector resources to tackle their essential tasks. The Water Act, for the first time, makes it a specific criminal offence to supply water which is unfit for human consumption. Regulations set strict new standards for drinking water quality which include, and in some cases go further than, the standards required by the EC drinking water directive.

The main provisions of the Housing Act 1988 were implemented during 1989; new private lettings were deregulated, housing association finance has been reformed to allow increased use of private money, powers had been provided to create housing action trusts, and council tenants have been given the right to choose a new landlord.

The Government established Scottish Homes as a vehicle for improving choice and quality in Scottish housing. Housing for Wales became fully operational in April. In both Wales and Scotland the Government launched the flexi-ownership scheme on an experimental basis to allow tenants to buy their homes at about the same outlay as their rent.

The Local Government and Housing Act 1989 reforms the law on local government capital and housing finance and permits improved targeting of public expenditure on the renovation of the housing stock in the public and private sectors. The Act also reinforces the rules on conduct of local authority business, gives local authorities new powers to promote economic development, and regulates their interests in companies.

During the year substantial progress was made in regenerating the inner cities. The Bristol development corporation was established at the start of the year. Private investment in all urban development corporation areas in 1989 exceeded £7·3 billion and city grant has attracted a further £1 billion to inner-city areas. The total Government commitment to the Action for Cities programmes, launched in March 1988, will be nearly £3·5 billion this financial year.

The Football Spectators Act 1989 was passed. It will provide the means to counter the menace of football hooliganism both at home and abroad. The new national football intelligence unit has been established.

The Government's commitment to the National Health Service has been firmly maintained. Resources have continued to expand. An additional £2·6 billion will be made available for 1990–91 representing a real terms increase of 5·5 per cent. More doctors and more nurses are working in the National Health Service and the number of patient treatments has continued to rise. The Government seek to use these resources more effectively and provide patients with even better services with the widest possible choice. Proposals have been put to Parliament for improving the management of health services and also to allow the growing numbers of elderly and physically and mentally disabled people to live in the community with appropriate support. Legislation was introduced to respond to scientific advance in embryology and the treatment of infertility.

In addition to launching the European Year of Information on Cancer last January, the Government have given support to a number of health promotion and prevention schemes. The Human Organ and Transplant Act 1989 prohibits commercial dealing with human organs for transplants and regulates the transplant of organs between persons who are not genetically related.

The Children Act 1989 provides a comprehensive reform of the law and court jurisdiction on the care and upbringing of children, family services and the protection of children from abuse.

The Government have continued to commit greater resources than ever before to social security. In 1989–90 spending will have been 3·2 per cent. higher in real terms than in the previous year, and over one third higher than in 1978–79. We have announced further increases in benefit rates from April 1990 which will bring expenditure on social security to over £1 billion a week for the first time ever, and give greater help to less well-off families, disabled people and carers.

The DSS computerisation programme—one of the largest in the world—is now being steadily introduced into local offices. This, together with the reform and simplification of benefits themselves, is bringing about important improvements in the service the DSS provides to the public. For example, clearance times for income support claims in 1988–89 were on average 22 per cent. better than those for its predecessor, supplementary benefit, in 1987–88.

The Government have continued to implement policies to improve all aspects of the education system in England and Wales and have made important progress in carrying through the provisions of the Education Reform Act 1988. In particular, the national curriculum has begun to be introduced together with arrangements for examinations and assessment in support of it. In higher education the new funding arrangements are beginning to promote greater efficiency and relevance to economic success.

The Government are continuing to create a climate in which the arts will flourish, supported by both the public and private sectors. The Government's three-year programme of funding has been reviewed and increased by 24 per cent. in the next three years. Commercial and individual sponsorship of the arts has continued to rise.

The number of police posts in England and Wales increased by 1,136 during the year, bringing the total to 126,574. The number of civilians supporting the police increased by around 1,300 to 43,600. These increases have been accompanied by action to ensure that the police use their resources effectively.

The Government introduced the Courts and Legal Services Bill to extend choice and improve services to the individual. It will help clients more often to have the advocate of their choice and it will hasten the conveyancing process.

The Government have given high priority to tackling drug misuse through measures to reduce both the supply of and the demand for drugs. Reciprocal agreements or arrangements to trace, freeze and confiscate the proceeds of drug trafficking have been concluded with eight further countries and we have introduced legislation to enable the United Kingdom to ratify the United Nations convention against the illicit traffic in drugs.

Legislation has been passed to strengthen the country's defences against terrorism, to reform section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 and to place the Security Service on a statutory footing. New laws to enhance the controls over the use of firearms have been brought into force. The number of safer cities projects has increased from one to 12. Over £850,000 in grant aid has been approved to fund a number of crime prevention initiatives.

In 1989, work began on six new prison establishments which will provide over 3,000 additional places. Nearly £100 million was spent on major building work at existing establishments, including work on 11 new house blocks which will provide 1,100 new places early in 1990. A new prison for 350 inmates at Banstead in Surrey was brought into use in only 18 months. Work also began on a seven-year programme which will provide integral sanitation in over 6,500 cells in existing establishments.

In Wales, the economy has continued to grow strongly. Inward investment has continued at a very high level with a number of major projects secured in 1989, including Toyota's £140 million engine plant at Deeside, and Bosch's £100 million project at Miskin. Output of the production and construction industries rose by 4·1 per cent. in the year to the second quarter of 1989. The Welsh Development Agency's budget for 1989–90 is the highest ever in real terms, enabling massive programmes of land reclamation and factory building. We have also announced a two-year extension of the highly successful valleys programme. All this has helped to bring about a fall in unemployment in the year to November 1989 of 30,500 (to 86,400) and 2·4 percentage points (to 6·9 per cent.).

Inward investment in Scotland continued strongly. Major investments in 1989 include an expansion by Compaq at Erskine and Stirling, Seiko Instrument's announcement to establish a manufacturing facility in Livingston and the development by Russell Corporation of its Livingston production centre.

In Northern Ireland the Government have continued their efforts to find an agreed basis on which greater responsibility can be devolved to the elected representatives of the people of the Province.

The security forces have continued with dedication and professionalism to combat terrorism in Northern Ireland within the rule of law. The Government have successfully completed a review of the workings of the Anglo-Irish Inter-governmental Conference.

A new Fair Employment Act was approved by Parliament and with it was established a Fair Employment Commission and a new Fair Employment Tribunal. The strong new powers now in force will ensure the basic right of all those in employment or seeking work to be treated fairly irrespective of the community from which they come.

Short Brothers and Harland and Wolff have been returned to the private sector.

The Education Reform (NI) Order 1989, which was recently approved by Parliament, provides for reform of the education system to improve standards and promote integrated education.

The Government announced their decision to support a new Northern Ireland Community Relations Council. This independent body will encourage and support those organisations working to improve relations between the different communities in Northern Ireland.

In foreign affairs, the historic changes now taking place in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe vindicate the policies of sure defence and strong support for human rights which the Government have consistently maintained. The Government have provided substantial financial and practical help for economic and political reform in eastern Europe, both bilaterally and through the European Community and have indeed taken a leading part in formulating Europe's response to these developments. The Government have also continued to give support to the reform policies of President Gorbachev, who paid a very successful visit to the United Kingdom in the course of the year.

At the same time, the Government have continued to assure Britain's sound defence, by maintaining the strength of our conventional forces and providing for the modernisation of our independent nuclear deterrent with Trident. The Government played a full part in devising NATO's comprehensive concept for arms control and defence which was agreed at the NATO summit in May. We have also taken an active and constructive part in the negotiations for reductions in conventional forces in Europe and the elimination of chemical weapons.

Within the European Community, the Government have ensured that Britain remains a leading proponent of completion of the European single market by 1992, as well as being foremost among member states in implementing agreed single market directives.

Significant measures agreed in 1989 included the second banking directive and agreement on a merger control regulation. At the same time the Government have given enthusiastic support to implementation of the first phase of the Delors report on economic and monetary union, while representing strongly the concern felt in all parts of the House about some of the proposals for stages two and three, which would undermine the powers of national Parliaments.

The Government have taken an active part, too, in resolving international disputes. In particular we have contributed to the successful implementation of the United Nations plan for Namibia. We have used our influence to encourage peaceful change in South Africa, welcoming the steps which have already been taken by President De Klerk. The Government declared their full support for the action taken by the United States to enable the democratically elected Government of Panama to take office.

The Government have announced measures to reassure the people of Hong Kong about their future and to give them confidence to remain there. The Government have also worked for a durable and humane solution to the problem of Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong, which recognises that for those who are not genuine refugees, there is no alternative to repatriation to Vietnam.

The Government have maintained a substantial and effective aid programme geared to the promotion of economic and social progress and the alleviation of poverty in developing countries. The Government have provided swift and generous humanitarian assistance and taken the lead in trying to resolve and respond to Ethiopia's problems. We have continued to provide widespread support for countries undergoing economic policy reform, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, including $100 million for programme aid in Nigeria. We have played a major role in the successful outcome of the ninth replenishment of the International Development Association and the Lomé IV renegotiation. We will be providing nearly £620 million for the former and some £1·3 billion for the latter, Britain's largest-ever single aid commitment.

Social Security

Pensioners (Merseyside)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people over pensionable age on Merseyside are reliant on state pension alone; and what percentage this represents of all Merseysiders over pensionable age.

I regret that information is not available on a geographical basis in the form requested. Few individuals are reliant solely on their state pension as the majority of people in that situation would be entitled to income support and housing benefit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people over pensionable age on Merseyside receive disability-related benefits; which benefits they receive; and what percentage of all Merseysiders over pensionable age receive disability-related benefits.

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

Fraud Staff

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the annual amount of expenses paid to his Department's fraud staff; and if he will break down the figure into payments for car allowance, overnight accommodation and other categories.

Central records are maintained of expenses paid to all departmental staff but do not identify those staff employed on fraud work. I regret that the required information could therefore be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what surveillance equipment is used by his Department's fraud staff; and in which areas such equipment is held.

Equipment comprising binoculars, radios, cameras and video cameras is held by teams of fraud investigators employed in the Department's headquarters and regional offices who investigate serious organised fraud against social security payments systems. Radios, photographic cameras and binoculars are sometimes used in the investigation of benefit fraud, but limited to occasions where they are necessary effectively to conduct a fraud drive.

Benefit Rules

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many of the claimants affected by the introduction on 10 December of the new benefits rule on claimants earning more than £43 a week he estimates are (a) married/cohabiting women, (b) lone parents, (c) disabled, (d) men aged 50 to 54 years, (e) men aged 55 to 59 years, (f) women aged 50 to 54 years, (g) women aged 55 to 59 years, (h) claimants with intermittent work patterns due to chronic illness or disability and (i) claimants from ethnic minorities.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on what grounds he rejected the recommendations of the Social Security Advisory Committee which opposed the introduction of the new benefit rules for claimants earning more than £43 in a week.

The report of the Social Security Advisory Committee on the regulations which brought this measure into effect was presented to Parliament on 17 November 1989, prior to the regulations coming into force. The response of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was published with the report (Cm. 923), which is available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to raise the de minimis figure of £12 weekly, following his introduction on 10 December of the new benefit rule on claimants earning more than £43 a week.

The £12 de minimis level was first introduced on 10 December 1989. It is too early to assess its effects and we have no plans to raise the level at present.

Income Support

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest estimate of the number of persons on income support who have debts in excess of £100; and if he will indicate what proportion of the debts of income support claimants is on average down to (i) rent arrears, (ii) fuel debts, and (iii) other specified causes.

I regret that the information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Unemployment Benefit

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) whether he has any plans to introduce a de minimis level on the application for the full extent normal rule for unemployment benefit; and if he will make a statement;(2) whether he has any plans to introduce an upper weekly earnings limit for unemployment benefit; and if he will make a statement.

Both these measures were introduced with effect from 10 December 1989 by the Social Security (Unemployment, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit) Amendment No. 3 Regulations 1989 (SI

	Northern	Yorkshire and Humberside	EastMidlands	London and South East	SouthWest	Wales	WestMidlands.	NorthWest	Scotland	National
(a) Total in job club at 1 April 1989	1,938	2,444	2,133	5,527	1,420	1,653	2,461	4,667	4,530	26,773
(b) Total number joining job club 1 April 1989 to 24 November 1989	6,956	8,990	7,902	21,176	4,569	5,429	8,545	16,037	13,762	93,366
(c) Total number leaving job club 1 April 1989 to 24 November 1989	6,887	8,632	7,445	20,196	4,376	5,354	8,266	15,561	13,994	90,711
(d) Job entries	3,488	5,113	4,573	9,140	2,495	3,134	4,418	8,615	8,050	49,026
(e) Employment training	702	903	782	1,835	412	584	925	1,289	1,318	8,750
(f) Other positive outcomes¹	258	329	444	1,360	241	168	405	882	641	4,728
(g) Total positive outcomes²	4,448	6,345	5,799	12,335	3,148	3,886	5,748	10,786	10,009	62,504
¹ Other positive outcomes include training other than employment training, full-time education and self employment
² Total positive outcomes is the total of lines (d), (e) and (f).

Health And Safety Executive

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 13 December, Official Report, column 661, what percentage of Health and Safety Executive staff, in the years specified, were trainees.

Only two grades of staff in the Health and Safety Executive are designated as training grades: factory inspectors class II (for their first two years) and assistant

1989/2122), and the Social Security (Computation of Earnings) Amendment Regulations 1989 (SI 1989–2123), which were laid before Parliament on 17 November 1989. Copies of these instruments are available in the Library.

Youth Training Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many 16 and 17-year-olds are currently denied benefit for not taking up YTS training in the Durham area.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 18 December at column 69.

Employment

Job Clubs

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment for each region and for Great Britain as a whole how many people (a) were members of job clubs on 1 April 1989, (b) have joined job clubs since 1 April 1989 to the latest possible date and (c) have left job clubs since 1 April 1989 to the latest possible date; what were their destinations showing how many entered jobs; and if he will make a statement.

On 1 April 1989, 26,773 people were members of job clubs. The other figures requested and the required breakdowns are given in the following table.I am very encouraged by the continuing success of job clubs. Over 350,000 people have participated in the programme since it started five years ago. More than 200,000 people have found jobs and over 50,000 have achieved other positive outcomes.The programme will continue to have an important role in helping longer-term unemployed people and we are taking steps to strengthen it further by introducing pilot projects to establish ways of providing effective help to people not at present able to benefit from job clubs, notably those with severe literacy or language problems.agricultural inspectors (first three years). The number of "trainee" inspectors in these grades expressed as a percentage of the total number of factory and agricultural inspectors in post in HSE are as follows (1 April figures):

	Per cent.
1984	0·0
1985	6·4
1986	11·8
1987	14·9
1988	12·0

	Per cent.
1989	12·7
¹1990	14·9
¹ January.

Apart from this a wide range of training is provided (internally or externally) both for new recruits and for more experienced staff, in the various occupational groups employed by HSE.

Unofficial Strikes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how statistics are kept on the number of days lost through unofficial strikes.

Separate statistics on unofficial strikes ceased to be published as a regular series in 1981. However, a limited amount of information from a special exercise was included in the Government's Green Paper "Unofficial Action and the Law", a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library.

Jobcentres, Basingstoke And St Albans

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the highest and lowest rates of pay for jobs advertised in jobcentres at (a) Basingstoke and (b) St. Albans, listing the number of vacancies advertised in each office.

On 11 January the highest rate of pay for a job displayed at the Basingstoke jobcentre was £250 per week and the lowest £76 per week. There were 925 full-time and 260 part-time job vacancy cards displayed. The highest rate of pay for jobs displayed at the St. Albans jobcentre was £187 per week and the lowest £97 per week. There were 277 full-time job and 68 part-time vacancy cards displayed.

Trade Union Members

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many copies of the booklets "Guide for Trade Union Members" and "Short Guide for Trade Union Members" have been printed by the office of the Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members; and to whom they have been distributed.

I am advised by the independent Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members that 55,000 copies of the "Guide for Trade Union Members" have been printed and 50,510 have been distributed to date, while 260,000 copies of the "Short Guide for Trade Union Members" have been printed and 237,400 have been distributed to date. Copies have been distributed to various members of the public, trade unions, law centre offices, colleges of further education, universities, Conservative trade unionists, solicitors, citizens advice bureaux, libraries (including House of Commons), and Department of Employment group offices and journalists. In addition, copies have been distributed to the French and German embassies, Industrial Society, Labour Relations Agency (Northern Ireland), Conservative party central office, Social and Liberal Democratic party Whips' office, Institute of Personnel Management and the Newspaper Society.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff are employed at the office of the Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members; and what are their salaries.

I am advised by the independent Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members that four staff are employed at her office; their respective salaries are £21,098, £14,549, £10,747, and £8,305.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the cost of providing accommodation for the Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members; and if the accommodation is leasehold or freehold.

I am advised by the independent Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members that the initial cost of providing accommodation for the commissioner was £9,073·50. The accommodation is leasehold.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the cost of providing office furniture and equipment for the Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members.

I am advised by the independent Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members that the initial cost of furnishing and equipping the commissioner's office was £13,122·00

Earnings

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table showing the increase in output per head in (a) the manufacturing and (b) the non-manufacturing sectors since June 1979 together with percentage increases between April 1979 and April 1989 in the real earnings of (i) full-time adult male workers in manufacturing and (ii) full-time adult male non-manual workers in the private sector, less manufacturing.

The increases in output per head in manufacturing and non-manufacturing between the second quarter of 1979 and the second quarter of 1989 were 48 per cent. and 12 per cent. respectively.The real increase in the weekly earnings of full-time adult males in manufacturing between April 1979 and April 1989 was 23 per cent. Figures are not readily available for the private sector less manufacturing and would involve disproportionate cost to compile.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, further to his written reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby, dated 11 December 1989, Official Report, column 467–68, concerning increases in weekly and hourly earnings of certain full-time adult male workers, whether he will provide similar information for (a) public sector manual workers, (b) public sector non-manual workers, (c) manufacturing non-manual workers and (d) other private sector non-manual workers.

The available information is provided in the following table. Figures for item (d) are not readily available and would involve disproportionate cost to compile. The "public sector" and "manufacturing" are not. mutually exclusive groupings and are thus not directly comparable.

Percentage increase in weekly and hourly earnings of full-time adult male employees¹
per cent.
	Manual		Non-manual
	Public sector		Public sector		Manufacturing
April of each year	Weekly earnings	Hourly earnings	Weekly earnings	Hourly earnings	Weekly earnings	Hourly earnings
1980²	23·2	26·1	27·2	27·4	23·0	23·3
1981²	11·0	13·2	17·5	16·9	11·7	13·7
1982²	9·4	9·4	8·6	10·2	12·1	11·2
1983³	6·8	8·9	7·8	8·3	8·2	8·4
1984	5·9	5·4	6·7	6·3	10·7	10·4
1985	5·1	4·8	5·6	5·4	8·7	8·2
1986	7·3	6·9	8·0	8·0	10·2	10·1
1987	4·5	4·6	6·7	6·3	7·0	6·7
1988	8·5	7·8	9·2	9·3	9·8	8·9
1989	4·9	4·7	8·3	8·7	10·3	10·3
¹ Average gross weekly and hourly earnings, not affected by absence for those on adult rates; manufacturing as defined in the 1980 SIC (butsee notes ² and ³.
² Males aged 21 and over on all rates; 1968 SIC definition of manufacturing.
³ Males aged 21 and over on all rates; 1980 SIC definition of manufacturing.

Disabled Young People

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will make a statement on the Government's plans for ensuring that young people with disabilities are not placed in unsuitable employment or training once the protection of section 119a of the Factories Act 1961 has been removed;(2) when he will bring into effect, by commencement order, the repeal of the requirement under section 119a of the Factories Act 1961 to notify the careers service when employing a young person.

Following publication of a consultation paper a working group has been set up to consider responses and propose new arrangements to ensure that all young people with disabilities, including those not covered by the Factories Act, are not placed in unsuitable employment or training. The commencement order to repeal the requirement under section 119a of the Factories Act 1961 to notify the careers service when employing a young person will be brought in when alternative arrangements have been made.

Mines And Quarries

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many prosecutions, improvement notices, or prohibition notices relating to the control of noise at work in the years 1981 to 1989 have been initiated by the mines and quarries inspectorate; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the honourable member to the answers given to him on 26 October 1989 (Official Report columns 597 to 599).

Sheltered Placement Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what expenditure levels were reached in the application of the sheltered placement scheme for each year since the scheme started; what is the budget for 1990–91 and what change, in cash, real and percentage terms it reflects; and if he will make a statement.

The information is not available in the form requested. Claims for expenditure are made for the combined expenditure on workshops and sheltered placements. This expenditure, together with an estimate for the current year, is shown in the table. These figures do not include the grants and loans to Remploy Ltd. I will write to the hon. Member when the budget for 1990–91 has been settled.

Year	Cash prices (£000s)
1985–86	21,488
1986–87	24,679
1987–88	27,670
1988–89	29,599
¹1989–90	35,451
¹ Estimate.

Tourism

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total amount of his Department's investment in tourism over each of the past 10 years by year; and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for tourism matters in England and Great Britain as a whole passed from the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to the Secretary of State for Employment in 1985. The totals of the grant-in-aid paid to the British Tourist Authority and the English Tourist Board over the period were as follows:

	£ million
1979–80	23·1
1980–81	25·7
1981–82	28·9
1982–83	33·1
1983–84	31·9
1984–85	34·9
1985–86	33·8
1986–87	40·2
1987–88	45·3
1988–89	49·5

Job Interview Guarantee Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many agreements have been made with employers to operate the job interview guarantee scheme in each of the 20 pilot areas; how many unemployed people have taken part in the scheme in each area; and, of these, how many secured full-time employment with their sponsoring employer.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 10 January 1990 [Official Report, column 675–76.].

Local Offices

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobcentres and how many unemployment benefit offices are earmarked for closure under his plan to transfer the employment service to agency status; how many jobs are likely to be lost and at what grades; and what targets the new agency will be required to achieve.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Boothferry (Mr. Davis) on 1 December 1989 (Official Report, columns 461–62). It is the intention that the employment service (ES) should be launched as an executive agency in April 1990, and will establish a new network of offices, bringing together the full range of employment service activities under one roof wherever possible.Plans are being developed for this new network and when decisions have been taken the local Member of Parliament will be informed.Targets for the employment service in 1990–91 have not yet been finalised and will be published later.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that the new and remodelled employment service offices will be fully accessible to people with disabilities, following the launch of the employment service as an executive agency in April.

The employment service continually reviews its obligations under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 which requires buildings to which the public are admitted to be provided with facilities that meet the needs of disabled members of the public.All new and remodelled employment service offices will be planned to a nationally agreed framework and standards. The design guide will include a section specifically on the requirements of people with disabilities. This will he based on the provisions for people with disabilities already in operation throughout the employment service and will carry forward the recommendations of a recent working group report on employment service local office design. These included:

single reception point for all visitors that is fully accessible to people with disabilities;

signs to be easily visible to all (eg. people in wheelchairs);

hearing loops to be considered where necessary with the signs for these facilities prominently displayed;

the need to provide appropriate seating for people with disabilities is also to be considered.

Trials at three pilot employment service offices include new vacancy display boards designed to be more accessible to people in wheelchairs.

Jobstart

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people have participated in the 50-plus jobstart scheme in each of the pilot areas; what was the average hourly pay earned by participants, excluding their £20 a week allowance; what was the average amount of hours worked per week by participants; and how many participants remained in employment after the allowance had ceased.

Between the start of the 50-plus jobstart pilots on 26 June 1989 and 12 January 1990 a total of 63 people were accepted on to the programme.The breakdown of the number of people on the programme and their average hours and wages by area is as follows:

Area	Participants	Average hourly wage £	Average hours
Dudley and Sandwell	15	2·18	19·7
Leeds	27	2·20	18·7
London South	1	2·00	20·0
Lothian and Borders	20	2·30	16·2

Fifty one people are still in receipt of the allowance. It is not possible to provide information on whether those who have left the programme are in employment.

Action Credit Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Employement how many people have taken part in the action credit scheme in each of the three pilot areas; how many ceased claiming income support to start full-time work; how many ceased claiming income support to start part-time work; how many failed to secure employment after the three-month job search period; and whether he has any plans to extend the scheme.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 12 January 1990, (Official Report, column 786).

Fraud Staff

To ask the Secretary of State for Employement what is the annual amount of expenses paid to his Department's fraud staff; and if he will break down the figure into payments for car allowance, overnight accommodation and other categories.

In the year April 1988 to March 1989 the total amount of expenses paid to 1,300 fraud staff, which includes investigators and administrative support staff, from this Department was £2,202,428.This payment consisted of:

	£
Overnight accommodation and car allowances	1,867,307
Overtime and travelling time	53,402
Equipment (cameras, computers, furniture etc.)	281,719

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what surveillance equipment is used by his Department's fraud staff; and in which areas such equipment is held.

The surveillance equipment used by my Department's fraud investigators is as follows:

Binoculars
Cameras
Radios
Video Cameras

This Department does not collate centrally information on the surveillance equipment held by areas.

Disabled Persons

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the most recent figures for the number of firms (a) satisfying quota obligations under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944, (b) issued with quota exemption permits and (c) not meeting their quota obligations and without quota exemption permits.

[holding answer 16 January 1990]: On 1 June 1989, the latest date for which information is available, the number of firms (a) satisfying quota obligations under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 was 7,276, (b) issued with quota permits was 18,530 and (c) not meeting their quota obligations and without permits was 6,170.

Wage Increases

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the effect on employment of double-digit wage increases in the financial sector; and what is the basis of this estimate.

I have been asked to reply.I do not have an estimate of the effect of high wage increases in the financial sector on its own, but excessive wage increases in any sector of the economy will be harmful to jobs.

Health

Hospitals, Trent

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for the last 12 months by hospital within the Trent regional health authority (a) hospitals that have been on red alert and (b) the duration of the alert.

This information is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to write to the chairman of the Trent regional health authority for the information he seeks.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for the Trent regional health authority, the number of hospitals (a) opened and (b) closed in each year since 1980.

The information is not available centrally. The hon. Member may like to write to the chairman of Trent regional health authority for the information he seeks.

Hamlets Way Residential Unit

To ask the Secretary of State for Health why the Hamlets Way residential unit, at 199 Hamlets way, London E.3, has been designated part III accommodation by his Department; and how many such hostels have been so designated.

The designation of residential establishments managed by local authorities is a matter for the authority concerned and information is not collected centrally. I understand that the Tower Hamlets Way hostel is treated as a local authority-managed residential care home for income support purposes but this is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security. The Department of Health advised local authorities of the changes in the arrangements for paying income support to people in hostels in LAC(89)13 issued in September 1989. A copy of this circular is in the Library.

Ambulance Dispute

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a further statement on the dispute involving ambulance crews.

Duncan Nichol, the NHS chief executive, has written to the trade unions confirming that he would be willing to hold further talks when there is some indication of a significant change in their position.

Elderly And Handicapped People

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if it is his intention to bring forward proposals to amend the existing legal responsibilities of local authorities towards vulnerable elderly or handicapped people.

We have no plans to amend the existing legal responsibilities of local authorities towards these groups other than those announced in the White Paper "Caring for People" and set out in the National Health Service and Community Care Bill.

Self-Governing Hospitals

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received in respect of feasibility studies being carried out by hospitals considering self-governing status.

We have received a small number of representations on this subject. The Department of Health and health authorities are undertaking a wide range of projects designed to inform the implementation of the Government's proposals to improve the Health Service, including the setting up of National Health Service hospital trusts.

Drinking Water

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on studies on the morbidity rates of populations subjected to drinking water which has been chlorinated.

Adequate disinfection by chlorination has had a marked effect in reducing morbidity rates from water-borne infectious diseases. However, this treatment leads to the production of chlorination by-products, some of which have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals when administered in large doses for long periods. Numerous studies of chlorinated water and disease rates, particularly cancer morbidity and mortality have been published, and the Department sought advice from its independent expert advisory committee on the medical aspects of the contamination of air, soil and water. It said:

"We have found no sound reason to conclude that the consumption of the by-products of chlorination in drinking water which has been treated and chlorinated according to current practices, increases the risk of cancer in humans.

The effective disinfection of water supplies is clearly of great importance in maintaining public health. In our opinion, modification of chlorination processes which have proved effective over many years, or the replacement of chlorination by other disinfectants, is not required by the available data on cancer epidemiology, animal carcinogenicity, and mutagenicity in relation to chlorination by-products in drinking water."

This advice was conveyed to water authorities and water companies in England and Wales in DoE/Welsh Office letter WP 12/1986, and republished in annex 1 of "Guidance on Safeguarding the Quality of Public Water Supplies" (HMSO, 1989). Relevant epidemiological and other research is kept under review.

Post-Menopausal Women

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if there are any National Health Service-funded studies to estimate the cost to the National Health Service of treating osteoporosis, heart attacks and strokes in post-menopausal women; and if he will make a statement.

The Department has recently commissioned an economic evaluation of hormone replacement therapy which will look at its costs and benefits in relation to osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. We are also considering the funding of three further projects on osteoporosis and related problems. Comprehensive information about research funded by the National Health Service is not collected centrally.

Waiting Lists

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce hospital waiting lists.

The Government's aim is to reduce the time patients have to wait for treatment, because this, rather than the number waiting at any moment, is a key measure of service in the NHS.In 1986 the Government launched the waiting list initiative to tackle the problem of excessive waiting time. Health authorities and their clinical staff have introduced many improvements both in management—to ensure the most efficient use of resources—and in clinical practice—for example by the greater use of new techniques and day surgery.The waiting list initiative has been backed by a waiting list fund. The Government have invested £119 million over four years in the waiting list fund to tackle particular problems of long waiting times. By April 1990 the fund will have enabled well over 300,000 additional inpatients and day cases and 200,000 additional outpatients to be treated. Many thousands more will be treated in 1990–91.In early 1989 a management team, led by Mr. John Yates of Inter Authority Comparisons and Consultancy, went into the 22 districts with the longest waiting times in the country to find out why the lists there were so long and to suggest how they could be shortened. Part of the waiting list fund was earmarked to finance the team's recommendations, where additional resources, and extra treatments, proved necessary.In the first six months of the team's work the number of patients waiting over a year in the 43 specialties studied reduced by 26 per cent., and further reductions are expected. The team will continue its work in 1990–91 when, backed up by £12 million of the £33 million fund for next year, it will be examining the 100 longest specialty waiting lists with most patients waiting over one year for treatment.

Amniocentesis Tests

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women received an amniocentesis test in the 15th, 16th and 17th weeks of pregnancy.

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make it his policy to commission research on the rate of spontaneous abortion and the rate of miscarriage associated with the amniocentesis test;(2) what figures he has on the number of premature births associated with the amniocentesis test.

A report by the Royal College of Physicians on pre-natal diagnosis and genetic screening published in September 1989 said that there is still some uncertainty about the exact risk to pregnancy from amniocentesis largely because the risk is so low and extremely difficulty to measure. The report noted that studies suggest a 1 per cent. excess risk of spontaneous abortion following amniocentesis and a slight increased incidence of mild respiratory problems in the newborn. The commissioning of further research would be a matter for the Medical Research Council which is responsible for biomedical research.

Miscarriages

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the number of miscarriages by the week of pregnancy in which they occurred from the 15th week to term.

This information is not held centrally.

Selective Reduction Of Pregnancy

To ask the Secretary of State Health how many National Health Service hospitals and private clinics practise selective reduction of pregnancy; and if he will make a statement.

We know of two hospitals where selective termination of pregnancy has recently been performed. The names of the hospitals are not released for reasons of maintaining confidentiality.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the practice of selective reduction of pregnancy; and if he will make a statement.

Selective termination of pregnancy should be performed only if the requirements of the Abortion Act 1967 are fulfilled.

Conductive Education

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what further steps he is taking to encourage conductive education.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Disabled gave my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, South (Mr. Yeo) on 15 December at columns 848–49. The Department is playing an active role in discussions with the Hungarian Government and in the other measures needed to bring conductive edcuation to this country, including support for the Foundation for Conductive Education, Birmingham.

Abortion

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the laws on abortion in each western European country; and if he will give details of the gestational periods equivalent to British gestational calculations during which abortion is permitted in each of those countries with the specific permitted grounds for abortion within each of these periods.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, North-East (Mr. Thurnham) on 11 January at column 716. The survey referred to also covers the law and practice on abortion. I will write to the hon. Member with the information requested as soon as the report is ready.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health upon what date he expects to be able to publish the results of the recent study into post abortion stress disorder.

In view of the large amount of data to be analysed the contract for the joint Royal College of General Practitioners/Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists study "Attitudes to Pregnancy" was recently extended to 31 December 1990. The final report is expected to be submitted to the Department shortly after that date.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any application for a product licence has yet been received in connection with the abortifacient drug RU486.

It is not usual practice to disclose information about whether or not an application for a product licence has been received or the progress of any such application for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

Trust Funds

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to be able to write to the hon. Member for Don Valley as promised in his answer of 16 November 1989, Official Report, columns 421–22, relating to trust funds.

I have written to the hon. Member today.

Aids

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out in the Official Report the terms in which his Chief Medical Officer stated recently that the outcome for HIV carriers is likely to be the same irrespective of cause; and what consideration he has given to its relevance to the claim for financial help for people who acquired the virus from blood transfusions equal to that given to people with haemophilia who contracted the virus after the injection of contaminated blood products under the National Health Service.

There is no known difference in the proportion of people developing AIDS at any given time interval following infection when comparing the different routes of transmission of sexual intercourse, and receipt of infected blood or blood products. This issue has been explored in a number of scientific articles including the Journal of the American Medical Association (3 February 1989, pp 725–727) and AIDS 1988, 2 (supplement 1, S57–63). Apparent differences may be due to the effect of age on the rate of progression to AIDS. The ex-gratia payments given to provide help for haemophiliacs with HIV and their families recognised their wholly exceptional circumstances. Haemophiliacs were already suffering from a disability which affected their employment prospects, insurance and mortgage status. Also the hereditary nature of haemophilia means that more than one member of the family may be infected with HIV.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will be replying to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, of 23 December 1989, on people who have acquired AIDS from blood transfusions under the National Health Service.

My right hon. and learned Friend has now written to the right hon. Member.

Population Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what projections he has of the total numbers and percentage of the United Kingdom population who will be (a) over 60 years old and (b) over 75 years old in the years 2000, 2010 and 2020; and what is the total number and percentage of the United Kingdom population who are currently 50 years of age or older.

The most recent (1988-based) projections of the Government Actuary are as follows:

Thousands
	Aged 60 and over		Aged 75 and over
Year	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1990	11,884	20·7	3,985	6·9
2000	12,017	20·3	4,369	7·4
2010	13,214	22·1	4,461	7·4
2020	14,400	23·7	4,730	7·8

At mid-1988 the United Kingdom population aged 50 or older was estimated to be 17,878,000 or 31·3 per cent.

Lead

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will outline current research into the long-term effects of the ingestion of small amounts of lead on children in respect of neurological damage; and if he will make a statement;(2) what studies are being made of the permanency of effects of the ingestion of small amounts of lead on children; and if he will make a statement.

The Department is aware of recent research, published in the United States, which attributes neurobehavioural deficits in teenagers to their markedly elevated exposure to lead during childhood. The Medical Research Council (MRC) is the main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research in the United Kingdom. The MRC receives its grant-in-aid from the Department of Education and Science. It is not currently funding any research into the long-term effects of the ingestion of small amounts of lead on children in respect of neurological damage. However, the council continues to keep this area under review. It is always willing to look at any sound proposals for research. Other research may be in hand elsewhere, but will not be known of until it is published.Research on the neuropsychological effects of lead in children was reviewed by the Medical Research Council advisory group which reported in June 1988. The group's conclusions were:

"The Group's earlier report in 1983 suggested that any effects of lead at the exposure levels seen in the United Kingdom are very small and cannot be detected with any certainty. This conclusion is still largely applicable, but the evidence for an association between body lead burden and IQ is now stronger.

While observed statistical associations detailed in this review are consistent with the hypothesis that low level lead exposure has a small negative effect on the performance of children in ability and attainment tests, the limitations of epidemiological studies in drawing causal inferences are such that it is not possible to conclude that exposure to lead at current urban levels is definitely harmful. In view of these conclusions, it would be prudent to continue to reduce the environmental lead to which children are exposed."

Since 1974 it has been the policy of successive Governments to contain and reduce exposure to lead wherever practicable. Successful measures have been taken to reduce lead exposure through petrol, water, air, food, industrial emissions, paint, cosmetics, ceramic glazes and toys. Monitoring programmes have shown a continuing fall in blood lead levels in children and adults.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if there are any proposals for regulatory action in respect of the ingestion of small amounts of lead; and if he will make a statement.

There are currently no such proposals. Regulations already in force limit the levels of lead found in the environment, foodstuffs and consumer products. The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989 set a statutory maximum allowable concentration of 50 microgrammes of lead per litre of drinking water. The Lead in Food Regulations provide a maximum permitted general limit of lead content of food of 1·0 milligrammes per kilogramme of food, with individual limits on specified foods.The Pencils and Graphic Instruments (Safety) Regulations 1974 limit the amount of lead in paint and in the lead or colouring materials of pencils or crayons, although under the terms of a voluntary agreement, the industry has already phased out lead in domestic paints. The Glazed Ceramic Ware (Safety) Regulations 1988 specify leaching limits of heavy metals from crockery, and similar regulations apply to cooking utensils. The lead content of toys is limited under the Toy (Safety) Regulations of 1974 and 1989.There are also programmes to reduce lead levels in the atmosphere, and to reduce or eliminate lead exposure through industrial emissions, cosmetics and petrol.

Defibrillators

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total number of defibrillators provided for ambulances out of health authority funds.

This information is not held centrally.

Hospice Funding

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will be in a position to give the amounts of Government funding to St. Ann's hospices at Heald green, Cheshire, and Little Hulton, Greater Manchester.

We shall shortly be notifying health authorities of the allocations they will receive from the additional £8 million we have made available for 1990–91 to enable them to increase the contributions they already make to voluntary hospices and similar organisations. The funding of individual projects is a matter for discussions between the authorities and the organisations concerned.

Welfare Milk Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he plans to monitor negotiations between the constituent parts of the milk industry with respect to the apportionment between them of costs incurred as a result of current proposals for the welfare milk scheme discount; and if he will make a statement.

Regulations introducing a revised reimbursement price structure for the supply of liquid welfare milk reflect the size and value of the purchase. The regulations assist the milk industry voluntarily to use its well-established price negotiating procedures to share the costs equitably throughout all sectors of the trade. It would not be appropriate to monitor these commercial transactions centrally.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 9 January, Official Report, column 572, if he will make a statement on the nature and scope of his new research programme into the vertical transmissibility of BSE.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 18 December 1989, Official Report, Col.30. This is a long-term research project and I have nothing further to add to my previous answer.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what compensation is paid in respect of cattle first identified as bovine spongiform encephalopathy sufferers in markets and abbatoirs; to whom such compensation is paid; and on how many occasions during each of the last four years such compensation has been paid.

Compensation is paid in all cases to the owners of cattle slaughtered at the Ministry's behest in accordance with statutory requirements. Details of individual payments are not held centrally. Animals which have been moved for slaughter from a farm before BSE is suspected are valued as barren animals and no allowance is made for any loss of condition due to BSE or other cause. Such valuation is usually lower than if the same animal had been valued as a BSE suspect on the farm.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has any evidence of cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy occurring in animals too young to have been exposed to infected feed.

No. I am not aware of a single case of BSE in an animal too young to have been exposed to feed containing ruminant protein material. Cases can be expected to occur for several years to come; this is not because the infection is spreading or because of a new source of infection, but because of the long period that can elapse before the symptoms emerge.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is carrying out tests on offal from cattle thought to be free of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to establish whether the bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent is present in the tissue; and if he will make a statement.

Such tests would not be expected to yield a positive result in more than a tiny number of cases. It is a much better approach to ensure that the offal which might carry the BSE agent in apparently healthy animals do not enter the human food chain at all.

Beef

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he proposes to take in the light of the United States Government's ban on the consumption of British beef by United States forces stationed in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

There is no ban. Legislation has been passed in the United States which would introduce subsidies on American meat supplied to United States bases in the Community. As a result those bases could be exclusively supplied with American meat. The European Commission has taken up this matter with the United States authorities.

North Sea

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will place in the Library the letter sent to him by Norway on behalf of the three Nordic signatories calling for an urgent meeting of the scientific and technical working committee on prior justification procedures, following his announcement of three licences for dumping in the North sea.

I have not yet received such a letter, but will place a copy in the Library should I do so.

Knacker Industry

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether his Department intends to support an amendment to the proposed regulation by the European Commission that bans the uplifting of dead stock from farms by licensed knackermen, which would allow the United Kingdom to have the authority to determine its own means of disposal of dead and casualty animals and to continue with the existing national sterilising arrangements.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Field) on 17 January 1990, Official Report, 17 January, column 292.

Coastal Protection Schemes

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the criteria governing approval of applications by local authorities of coastal protection schemes, and the scales of financial grant available; what changes have been made since 1983 in these criteria and whether further changes are envisaged; and if he will make a statement.

The criteria for approval of a proposed coastal protection scheme are that the work will be technically appropriate, cost-effective and environmentally sympathetic, and that any objections to the proposed scheme have been either withdrawn or resolved.Grant is available at up to 70 per cent. of the costs of individual coastal protection schemes; until October 1987 the maximum grant rate was 79 per cent. Criteria for approval are unchanged since 1983.No further changes are envisaged other than minor adjustments arising as a consequence of the new local government finance arrangements.

Waste Dumping

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields of 11 January, Official Report, column 748, whether he will suspend the licences granted to Fisons, Sterling Organics and Orsynthetics pending a reassessment of the basis of the objections raised by the Government of Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, West Germany and Norway; and if he will make a statement.

I am determined that the disposal of industrial waste at sea shall be terminated. More than half the licences in force in 1987 have already been withdrawn.International agreements provide for a continuation of sea disposal of our wastes until acceptable means of land disposal are available. Indeed, to replace sea disposal by the use of environmentally unacceptable means of land disposal would break the terms of the North sea declaration.Information recently received by the Ministry indicates that an acceptable means of disposal other than sea dumping is now available for the Fisons waste. The company has therefore been advised that its licence will not be renewed when it expires in February.I do not propose to suspend the remaining licences. Either production would have to stop or an environmentally unacceptable means of land disposal used. Cessation of production would not only hit employment, it would damage the interests of those many people who need drugs such as paracetemol.

Food Safety

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his answer of 11 January to the hon. Member for South Shields, Official Report, column 738, concerning the Food Safety Bill, if he will list the individual local authorities with which discussions were held with officials from his Ministry; and if he will make a statement.

Pursuant to my reply to the hon. Member for South Shields of 11 January (Official Report, column 738), there were no discussions held between officials and individual local authorities on the resource implications of the Food Safety Bill. The individual officers of local authorities who were present at meetings were representing one or other of the organisations listed in my reply, not their employers.

Illegal Fishing

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received concerning alleged illegal fishing by Spanish trawlers following publication of a letter on this subject in Fishing News, 27 October 1989; and if he will draw the European Community Commissioner's attention to these allegations.

I have received no representations about illegal fishing by Spanish trawlers following publication of the letter in the Fishing News of 27 October 1989. Enforcement of Community legislation is for the member state concerned. But if I receive information about alleged illegal activities by other fishermen, I will of course pass this on to the EC Commission.

Wheat

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the current average prices per tonne for (i) milling wheat and (ii) feed wheat prices in (a) France, Denmark and Holland, (b) Germany, (c) Spain and (d) the United Kingdom; and what steps are being taken to ensure that efficient British cereal growers obtain similar prices to their Continental counterparts.

The national average of market prices provided by the Commission of the European Communities for the week ending Saturday 6 January 1990, converted to £ sterling using spot rate values for 5 January, are set out in the table:

	Breadmaking Wheat		Feed wheat
Country	National currency per tonne	£ per tonne	National currency per tonne	£ per tonne
France	1,275	135	1,296	137
Denmark	1,437	134	n/a	n/a
Netherlands	434	139	434	139
Germany	392	142	384	139
Spain	26,170	146	n/a	n/a
United Kingdom	121	121	118	118

I am considering the Commission's proposals for the 1990 price review, which include provision for devaluation of the green pound.

Soft Fruit

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what effect he estimates the import of soft fruits in bulk will have on the Scottish and United Kingdom soft fruit industries.

The United Kingdom food industry has for a number of years drawn on both home and imported sources for its supplies of semi-processed soft fruit. I am confident that growers of soft fruit both north and south of the border can face fair competition. In this context my noble Friend the Minister of State, Scottish Office, and I met growers' representatives on 16 January and agreed with them the steps to be taken to ensure that the EC Commission implements its recent commitment given within the framework of the extension of the generalised system of preference to Poland and Hungary. The Commission undertook to ensure that the prices agreed annually with our suppliers in eastern Europe are respected by those suppliers in their trade with the Community.

Rabies

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many animals have been kept in quarantine for rabies in each of the last five years; and how many have developed the disease.

The information is not available in the form requested. The number of import licences issued during the past five years was:

	Number
1985	7,628
1986	7,547
1987	8,829
1988	9,091
1989	10,010

No animals developed rabies in quarantine in this period.

End-Of-Lay Hens

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he takes to ensure the humane handling of end-of-lay hens being removed from battery cages; if he will make a statement.

My Department is currently spending £0·8 million each year in research related to the development of more humane handling systems, including studies on broken bones. Additional work is being planned in this subject. We have proposed amendments to the Battery Hens Regulations 1987 and enouraged the industry in the production of its guide to handling end-of-lay hens which has now been sent to producers. Systems for keeping egg-laying hens are similar within Europe and we have therefore asked the Commission to ensure that the problem is tackled in the review of the battery hens directive.

Scotland

Cochlear Implants

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many cochlear implants were carried out in Scotland in the last year or for the latest period for which figures are available; and how many centres provided by the National Health Service in Scotland are offering cochlear implants for the profoundly deaf apart from the unit at Ayr county hospital;(2) if he will consult voluntary organisations representing the profoundly deaf about the cochlear implant programme and its availability in Scotland;(3) what information he has about the number of patients presently on waiting lists for a cochlear implant; and how many people there are in Scotland who might benefit from such treatment;(4) what representations he has had from the Ayrshire and Arran health board about the funding of a centre for cochlear implants;(5) what sums he has made available for a cochlear implant programme for 1990–91 and the two succeeding years; whether he has any plans to ask health boards in Scotland to submit bids for funding to develop a cochlear implant programme locally; and if he will make a statement;(6) whether his Department will be represented at the seminar arranged in March by the Department of Health to discuss the development and provision of cochlear implants.

My hon. Friend the Minister for Health in Scotland announced on 11 January that funding would be made available for a cochlear implant programme in Scotland. Decisions as to the level of funding and location of the programme are currently being considered. I would be glad to have the benefit of any views which voluntary organisations representing the profoundly deaf may wish to offer.To date four cochlear implants have been carried out in Scotland, all at Crosshouse hospital, Kilmarnock, the first one in March 1989. A request for funding of a centre there was received from Ayrshire and Arran health board earlier this week. No other centre in Scotland offers a service, as

	Farm Development Scheme	Livestock Development Scheme	Fish Farming	Infrastructure	Crofter Housing	Total
Shetland	189	274	3	6	9	481
Orkney	520	496	5	2	2	1,025
Argyll and Inverness	236	263	3	4	—	506
Skye	170	337	10	2	1	520
Clyde Islands	127	89	2	—	—	218
	1,242	1,459	23	14	12	2,750

Grant is normally paid on approved cost or actual cost, whichever is the lower, provided that the Department is satisfied after inspection that the cost incurred is not excessive in relation to the works actually undertaken. Details of claims which have had to be restricted are not held centrally.

far as I am aware. Information is not centrally available on the numbers on the waiting list for an implant. nor on the numbers who might benefit.

My Department will be represented at the seminar being held in March by the Department of Health to discuss cochlear implants.

Agriculture Development Programme

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applicants there have been for the agriculture development programme; and how many applications have been refused.

At 12 January 1990, 2,750 applications had been approved. About 100 applications are still under consideration and more may be submitted before the closing date for applications of 28 February 1990. One hundred and sixty-five applications have been refused or were withdrawn prior to approval. A number of the applications which were refused or withdrawn because they failed to meet ADP criteria—mainly the requirement that breeding stock numbers should not increase during the period of the plan—were revised by the applicants, resubmitted and subsequently approved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total budget of the agriculture development programme; and how much he envisages being taken up.

The ADP submission to the European Commission envisaged public expenditure on the programme of about £38 million. It is not possible to indicate the precise level of expenditure over the programme period to March 1993 since the programme is still open for applications and eventual grant payments do not necessarily match exactly the level of expenditure envisaged when applications are approved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many individual schemes are now operational under the agriculture development programme; how many have subsequently had their total grant allocation cut by his Department; and if he will detail this by geographical area.

The total number of applications approved at 12 January 1990 is 2,750. This is broken down by type of measure and island group in the table:

Croft Houses

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland grants were made for croft houses by year over the past 10 years; what was the expenditure in total; and what was the average grant on individual croft houses.

The information is set out in the table:

	Number of grants made¹			Expenditure²
	New house	Improved house	Total	New house £	Improved house £	Total £
1979	148	47	195	⁴590,000	⁵25,000	615,000
1980	192	63	255	698,000	35,000	733,000
1981	147	54	201	558,000	28,000	586,000
1982	133	43	176	522,000	24,000	546,000
1983	77	36	113	314,000	20,000	334,000
1984	132	67	199	665,000	58,000	723,000
1985	143	66	209	836,000	82,000	918,000
1986	113	53	166	709,000	45,000	754,000
1987	119	59	178	882,000	81,000	963,000
1988	95	113	208	—	—	³3,316,000
¹ Number of grants made for new houses or improvements completed.
² Actual expenditure in year.
³ No split available for grant only. Total includes loans for houses.
⁴ The maximum grant available for new houses was £4,000 from 1979, £6,500 from 1982 and £8,700 from 1986
⁵ The maximum grant available for house improvements was £750 from 1979 and £1,500 from 1986.

In general new house construction attracted the maximum grant. The average grant for house improvement was £700.

Fish Farms

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many referrals there have been to his consultative committee on fish farm applications; and how many applications have been refused.

There have been no referrals made to the advisory committee to date. Representatives from the relevant statutory bodies have been invited to serve on the committee. The necessary arrangements for referral of applications for a sea bed licence where a statutory consultee maintains its objection are now operational.

Tourism

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list his Department's total expenditure on tourism in each of the past 10 years.

The information is as follows:

Financial year	Expenditure £ million (Cash)
1979–80	7·9
1980–81	9·8
1981–82	11·2
1982–83	12·9
1983–84	16·7
1984–85	18·5
1985–86	18·0
1986–87	21·5
1987–88	17·3
1988–89	18·7

Notes:

1. The figures are in respect of expenditure on the promotion of tourism by the Scottish Tourist Board, the Highlands and Islands Development Board and the Scottish Development Agency.

2. The figures include expenditure by the Scottish Development Agency for the period 1984–85 to 1988–89 covering loan and equity finance for tourism projects which meet its normal investment criteria and tourist projects under schemes for urban and rural development. Expenditure details for earlier years are not readily available. In addition, a number of feasibility studies, land engineering and property development projects funded by the agency may have tourism benefits.

3. Provision by the Highlands and Islands Development Board is through its marketing and projects programmes and under its section 8 assistance scheme; the figures do not include salary and administration costs incurred by the board.

4. Total expenditure by the Scottish Tourist Board is provided, including salary and administration costs, in performing its statutory functions of promoting Scotland as a tourist destination, both within the United Kingdom and overseas, and encouraging investment in tourism infrastructure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has received the Scottish tourist board's review of training within the industry; and whether he plans to publish the findings.

The review was commissioned by the Scottish tourism co-ordinating group which will consider arrangements for publicising its findings at its meeting on 19 January.

Rural Enterprise Programme

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the areas of the Highlands and Islands which will be eligible for the rural enterprise programme; what are the funding arrangements underpinning the programme; and if he will make a statement.

The whole of the Highlands and Islands Development Board area is eligible for support under the rural enterprise programme. The intention is to target assistance on the areas in greatest need and to concentrate action on a limited number of localities at any one time to ensure that the resources available are applied to best effect.Subject to the European Commission making a contribution as part of its funding of the rural development programme for the Highlands and Islands, the Government have agreed in principle to provide £8·5 million over the period 1990–91 to 1992–93. Funding in the years beyond 1992–93 will be decided in the annual public expenditure negotiations.The programme is intended to boost the rural economy by helping farmers and crofters in the selected areas embark on new economic ventures in addition to their traditional activities. Final details have still to be settled, including the selection of areas in which the programme will operate initially.

Crofting Estates

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has made any decision on the future of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland's crofting estates; and what representations he has received on the issue.

The future of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland's crofting estates is currently under review. My noble Friend the Minister of State has had some discussions with the Crofters Commission and with the Scottish Crofters Union but as yet no proposals for change have been put forward and none will be undertaken before full consultation has taken place with all interested bodies.

Highlands And Islands Development Board

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing (a) the Government's contribution to the Highlands and Islands Development Board, (b) the Highlands and Islands Development Board's income from other sources and (c) the Highlands and Islands Development Board's total expenditure for every year from 1979–80 to 1988–89 in cash terms and at constant 1988–89 prices.

The information is as follows:

Highlands and Islands Development Board Expenditure 1979–80 to 1988–89 (£ million at cash and 1988–89 prices)
	Grant-in-Aid		Receipts		Total expenditure
Year	Cash	1988–89	Cash	1988–89	Cash	1988–89
		prices		prices		prices
1979–80	17·4	32·7	4·0	7·5	21·4	40·2
1980–81	20·0	31·7	3·7	5·9	23·7	37·6
1981–82	22·9	33·1	4·4	6·3	27·3	39·4
1982–83	27·5	37·1	5·2	7·0	32·7	44·1
1983–84	31·3	40·4	6·8	8·8	38·1	49·2
1984–85	34·6	42·5	7·5	9·2	42·1	51·7
1985–86	30·4	35·4	9·3	10·7	39·7	46·1
1986–87	26·3	29·8	9·2	10·3	35·4	40·1
1987–88	26·2	28·1	11·7	12·5	37·9	40·6
1988–89	31·5	31·5	10·5	10·5	42·0	42·0

Regional Aid

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing expenditure on regional preferential assistance to industry in Scotland for each year from 1976–77 to 1988–89 at constant 1988–89 prices.

The information requested is given in the table:

Gross expenditure on regional preferential assistance at constant1988–89 prices
	£ million
1976–77	592·5
1977–78	365·2
1978–79	349·4
1979–80	269·9
1980–81	314·9
1981–82	339·9

	£ million
1982–83	499·2
1983–84	295·3
1984–85	230·3
1985–86	229·9
1986–87	273·9
1987–88	164·4
1988–89	151·2

Note: Includes gross expenditure in Scotland on regional selective assistance, regional development grants, regional enterprise grants, Scottish Development Agency expenditure on land and factory building in assisted areas and Highlands and Islands Development Board expenditure on grants and land and factory building. The figures also include a number of forms of assistance in the years up to 1982 which have been discontinued.

Training

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people were on (a) employment training schemes and (b) YTS schemes in Scotland at the latest date for which figures are available.

On 12 January 1990 there were 25,623 participants in employment training and at the end of December there were 46,074 young people on YTS in Scotland.

Rural Legal Partnerships

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what research has been undertaken to assess the impact of the changes proposed in the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill on the viability of legal partnerships in rural areas.

[holding answer 15 January 1990]: No such research has been commissioned, but two research projects funded by my Department have some relevance. One, which is nearing completion, has examined factors influencing the market for conveyancing services in Scotland with particular emphasis on advertising and fee charging practices. The sample used in the survey was drawn up using the Department of Employment's travel-to-work areas to represent three types of market, namely cities, medium-sized towns, and rural areas plus small towns. The second project, due to start soon, will compare fees charged for conveyancing before and after the abolition of scale fees in 1985. A similar sampling method will be used.

Defence

Death And Injury Compensation

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will state (a) the total deaths and (b) the total injuries in the armed services in (i) 1988 and (ii) 1989; how many of the service men or their next of kin will receive no Ministry of Defence compensation; what is the average compensation his Department will pay per person in relation to (1) death and (2) injury; whether he will make it his policy to arrange for a comprehensive personal insurance cover scheme for all service men and women; and if he will make a statement.

The figures for deaths and medical discharge as the result of injury for United Kingdom regular forces in 1988 and 1989 are as follows:

(a) Deaths
	Number
1988	316
1989	¹336
¹ Provisional.

(b) Medical dischargeas the result of injury
	Number
1988	244
1989	1
¹ Not yet available.

Financial provision in respect of those who die in service, or who are medically discharged as the result of injury, is made under the terms of the armed forces pension scheme. Benefits payable can comprise pensions and/or lump sums, including those payable to eligible dependants in the event of death. The amounts depend upon the circumstances of each case. Relevant factors can include rank, length of service, whether death or injury is attributable to service and, where appropriate, degree of disability. It is not therefore possible to provide an average figure for the total amount which may be paid per person. A benefit will be payable in all cases except where medical discharge is due to causes that are not attributable to service and less than two years' reckonable service has been given.

Where death or medical discharge is attributable to service provision is also made under the terms of the war pensions scheme administered by the Department of Social Security.

I believe these arrangements to be satisfactory.

Raf Finningley

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hardened aircraft shelters have been, or are due to be, constructed at RAF Finningley; and what is their purpose.

There are no hardened aircraft shelters at RAF Finningley, nor do we plan to construct any.

Gibraltar

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to complete his review of the arrangements in Gibraltar for logistics for the garrison; and if he will make a statement.

A review of the logistic support arrangements for all the armed forces in Gibraltar was completed in November 1989 and it is expected that many of the principal recommendations arising from the review will he implemented by October 1990, when the new joint forces headquarters comes into being.

Works Organisation

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what purpose his Department is setting up a works organisation; and what will be the total salary bill.

On 25 May 1988 my right hon. Friend the Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley) announced the Government's decision that as from the 1 April this year the Ministry of Defence would be "untied" from the PSA. This means that the MOD will have new responsibilities both for managing funds and for deciding how to undertake our substantial works programme.The MOD is setting up Defence Works Services at Sutton Coldfield to help in the discharge of these new tasks. It will not, however, directly manage works services. DWS will supply professional, technical and contractual expertise to Ministry of Defence departments and service commands which are the customers for works services so that the best procurement options for the supply of services are identified.Under present plans, the total salary bill for DWS staff for the first full year of operation will be around £3 million at current prices rising to about £4·5 million during 1992–93 and thereafter.

Cavalry Officers

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement as to the benefits to service efficiency of cavalry officers in regiments which do not have a ceremonial role being encouraged to ride; what benefits accrue from riding that do not accrue from other adventure training activities; and what is the cost to public funds per hour of (a) riding and (b) other forms of training.

All Army personnel are encouraged to participate in a range of both sporting and adventurous training activities. Such activities are complementary to other forms of military training in enhancing and developing the personal qualities and soldierly skills required of Army personnel.Some £1·25 million per annum is spent on the provision of adventurous training for the Army. Information regarding the cost of riding cannot be provided without disproportionate effort. It would not be practicable to calculate the cost per hour of adventurous training.

Trident

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent to date on production and development for the Trident programme by the United Kingdom Government, and what percentage of this has been spent (a) in the United Kingdom, (b) in the United States of America and (c) elsewhere.

Actual expenditure figures for the Trident programme as a whole are not available beyond September 1989. The total expenditure for the project up to this point is £2,730 million, of which some £370 million is for development and £2,360 million for production. Seventy-four per cent. of the expenditure has been incurred in the United Kingdom and 26 per cent. in the United States of America. There has been no readily identifiable expenditure elsewhere.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of costs already incurred to the United Kingdom Government, as a result of the decision to purchase the Trident D5 missile system, it has been agreed would be reimbursed by the United States Government, in the eventuality that development and production of the D5 missile system is cancelled by the United States Government.

There is no agreement specifying the reimbursement to the United Kingdom of a particular percentage figure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current Trident deployment schedule.

As previously announced, it remains our intention to deploy Trident into operational service in the mid-1990s.

Dockyards

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those commercial dockyards that have benefited from repair and refit work following the changes in Her Majesty's dockyards.

Following is a list of those firms which have won contracts valued at £10,000 or more for ship refit or ship repair work since the introduction of commercial management at Devonport and Rosyth Royal dockyards in April 1987. All the firms listed have won work from the unallocated programme, which is put out to competition on the open market, with tenders being invited from all suitable shiprepair contractors, including the Royal dockyards.

A & P Appledore (Aberdeen) Ltd.
A & P Appledore (Falmouth) Ltd.
A & P Appledore (Tyne) Ltd.
Ailsa Perth Shipbuilders Ltd.
Appledore Shipbuilders
Babcock Thorn Ltd.
Berthon Boats Ltd.
J. Bolson & Son Ltd.
Bristol Channel Ship Repairers.
British Dredging Ship Repairers Ltd.
Cairds Industrial Services plc.
Camper & Nicholsons
Clyde Dock Engineering Ltd.
Clyde Shipbuilding & Repairing (1987) Ltd.
Cockenzie Ship & Boatyard Ltd.
E. Cole & Sons (Cowes) Ltd.
Cosens & Co. Ltd.
Crissan Marine Ltd.
Devonport Management Ltd.
Emsworth Shipyard
Eyemouth Boat Building Co. Ltd.
Falmouth Shiprepair Ltd.
Forth Estuary Engineering Ltd.
Garvel Dry Dock Co. Ltd.
Globe Engineering (Hull) Ltd.
Hall Russell Ltd.
Halmatic Ltd.
Harland and Wolff plc.
Herd & MacKenzie Ltd.
N. Holman & Sons Ltd.
Holyhead Boatyard Ltd.
Humber Shiprepairers Ltd.
James Adam & Sons (Shiprepairers) Ltd.
James Miller and Sons
Mannings Marine Ltd
Marine & Port Services Ltd.
Mashford Brothers Ltd.
McGruers and Co. Ltd.
Midland Ship Repairers Ltd.
A. H. Moody and Son Ltd.
Odessa Shipyard Ltd.
Ramsgate Marine Ltd.
Richards Shipbuilders Ltd.
RTR Marine Ltd.
Smith Shiprepairers Ltd.
Seaforth Welding Co. Ltd.
Sharpness Shipyard Ltd.
Souter Shipyard Ltd.
Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Ltd.

Tees Dockyard Ltd.
Thew Engineering (Southampton) Ltd.
Timbacraft Ltd.
Tyne Dock Engineering
Tyne Shiprepairers Ltd.
Vosper Thornycroft (UK) Ltd., Portsmouth
Wear Dockyard Ltd.
Wright and Beyer Ltd.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish and tabulate the refit times for auxiliary vessels refitted in (a) Her Majesty's dockyards and (b) commercial shipyards for the last five years.

It is our policy generally to place refit work for RFA and RMAS vessels by competitive tender and most is now undertaken by privately owned commercial shipyards. It is not our practice to publish raw data on timekeeping because refits are rarely comparable in terms of the condition of the vessels and the work undertaken.

Tritium

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action he is taking to assess the security of long-term supply of radioactive tritium for his nuclear warhead production programme.

Arrangements for the supply of tritium are kept under regular review to ensure that the requirements of defence nuclear programmes are fully met.

Disablement Pension

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration has been given to increasing the pre-1973 war disabled pension.

War disablement pensions are paid under the war pensions scheme administered by the Department of Social Security. The rates payable do not differentiate between disabilities originating before, or after, 1973. Pensions may also be payable, under the provisions of the occupational scheme for members of the armed forces, to those who are eligible. The rules of eligibility and the basis for calculating the latter awards were changed with effect from 31 March 1973, but it has not been considered possible to extend those changes retrospectively to include those whose service ended before that date.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current annual cost of the provision of pensions for pre-1973 war disabled.

Figures of expenditure on pensions payable under the armed forces pension scheme to those with a disability attributed to service are not separately maintained.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what would be the total annual cost of increasing pensions by £40 a week for pre-1973 war disabled.

The annual cost of making a payment of £40 per week to all those currently receiving a DSS war disablement pension would be approximately £400 million. Separate figures are not available for those whose service ended before 31 March 1973.

Charm Tank Gun

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if progress on the CHARM tank gun programme is on schedule; and if Royal Ordnance will be able to meet the timescale of the Challenger 2 development programme.

The CHARM gun programme is on schedule to meet the timescale of the Chieftain replacement programme as set out in my right hon. Friend's statement to the House on 20 December 1988 (Official Report, Vol. 144, col. 283).

Ambulance Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the areas of the country in which military personnel have been providing ambulance services and the dates at which they became involved in each area.

As at 17 January, the areas where service personnel have been assisting the police and voluntary services in the provision of an accident and emergency service, together with the date that these services began, are as follows:

Location	Since
London	8 November 1989
Hertfordshire	17 November 1989
Bedfordshire	25 November 1989
Lincolnshire	25 November 1989
South Yorkshire	8 December 1989

Location	Since
West Midlands	15 December 1989
Dorset	18 December 1989
Hereford and Worcester	22 December 1989
Staffordshire	4 January 1990
Surrey	11 January 1990
Essex	11 January 1990
Oxfordshire	12 January 1990
Buckinghamshire	12 January 1990
West Sussex	12 January 1990
Warwickshire	12 January 1990
Berkshire	17 January 1990

Service ambulances also operated in Derbyshire between 24 November and 1 December.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost to date of the forces' operation of the ambulance service.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 9 January to the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) (Official Report, col. 614). Figures for the period ending 31 December 1989 have not yet been finalised.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total number of military personnel and vehicles currently involved in the provision of ambulance services.

Nine hundred and sixty-eight service personnel and 181 service vehicles are involved directly in the provision of an accident and emergency service.

Volume 165: debated on Thursday 18 January 1990

Written Answers To Questions

Church Commissioners

Bishops (Retirement)

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

European Single Market

Romania

China

Eastern Europe

Hong Kong

Transport

Traffic Congestion

Vehicles (Energy Consumption)

Locomotives

Domestic Flights

British Rail

Road Improvements

Scottish Lowland Airports

Household Refuse

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Test Bores, Eccles

Greater Manchester Relief Road

Oil Spills

Taxis

Hazardous Chemicals

River Thames

Education And Science

Examination Results

Council Of National Academic Awards

Student Loans

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Education Support Grant

Teacher Shortages

National Finance

Household Incomes

Business Investment

Taxation

Homelessness

Balance Of Trade

Investment

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Growth

Interest Rates

Balance Of Payments

Inflation

Medical Insurance

Vat

Autumn Statement

European Community Banking

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Share Ownership

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Energy Conservation

Bank Of England

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Stamp Duty

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European Monetary System

Manufacturing Industry

Manufacturing Investment

Uniform Business Rate

Population And The Economy

Incomes

Exchange Rate

Money Supply

Endangered Species

Government Expenditure

Living Standards

Weekly Earnings

Wage Increases

Business Rates

Overseas Development