To ask the Minister for the Arts what recommendations he has made to historic libraries on protecting their collections of books against the Australian spider beetle and the biscuit beetle; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 9 February 1990]: The national preservation office, funded by the British Library, maintains a free inquiry and advice service to libraries in the United Kingdom on all aspects of preservation and security, including the protection of books against beetle.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received concerning the possible renationalisation of privatised industries; and if he will make a statement.

None.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many profit-related pay schemes are linked to the profitability of the firm as a whole rather than to a smaller unit; and how many people are affected.

I regret that the information is not readily available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost to the Exchequer in each year of the profit-related pay scheme.

The information is as follows.

Year	Estimated cost of income tax relief £ million
1987–88	negligible
1988–89	10
1989–90	15

Costs are expected to increase in future.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment has been made of different levels of payroll tax on the costs of industry.

A payroll tax levied as a percentage of total payroll would raise an estimated £1¼ billion for each 0·5 per cent. of the tax rate.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for each year that PEPs have been in operation what is (a) the number of people with PEPs, (b) the average holding per person in a PEP and the distribution of holdings and (c) the distribution of PEP holdings by region.

Information is not available in the form requested. The number of plans taken out since the introduction of personal equity plans is estimated as follows:—

Year	Total
1987	270,000
1988	120,000
1989	300,000
Total	690,000

The average value of the investment in each plan is as follows.

Year	£
1987	1,650
1988	1,800

An estimate for 1989 is not available yet and there is no information available on the distribution of the level of investments or the regional distribution of investors.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what evidence he has on whether the existence of PEPs has increased (a) personal shareholdings and (b) savings.

Personal equity plans offer a simple and cheap way of owning shares and have been very successful in shares and encouraging the spread of share ownership.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the distribution of personal equity plan holdings by income in each year of the scheme's existence.

I regret that the information is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the proportion of (a) non-United Kingdom shares and (b) shares in privatised companies held on average in each PEP and their distribution.

I regret that the information is not available. Non-United Kingdom shares may not be held directly in a PEP.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of PEP savings he estimates are diverted from other forms of savings, and what information he has as to what these other savings are.

I regret that the information requested is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report the amount and share of pre-tax income accruing to (a) the top 1 per cent., (b) the top 5 per cent., (c) the top 10 per cent., (d) the top 25 per cent., (e) the bottom 70 per cent., (f) the bottom 5 per cent. and (g) all taxpayers in each year from 1978–79 to 1989–90 and the amount and share of tax liability for each of these groups.

Estimates are given in the tables for 1978–79 and 1983–84 to 1989–90. Information for other years could

Group of taxpayers1
	Top 1 per cent.		Top 5 per cent.		Top 10 per cent.		Top 25 per cent.		Bottom 70 per cent.		All taxpayers
Year	Amount £ billion	Share per cent.	Amount £ billion	Share per cent.	Amount £ billion	Share per cent.	Amount £ billion	Share per cent.	Amount £ billion	Share per cent.	Amount £ billion
Gross Incomes before tax
1978–79	5·1	5	15·0	15	24·3	24	45·9	45	51·0	50	102·8
1983–84	9·7	6	28·3	16	45·0	26	81·7	47	82·0	47	173·7
1984–85	10·9	6	31·4	17	49·6	26	89·3	47	88·8	47	188·8
1985–86	12·9	6	35·7	17	55·9	26	100·5	47	100·0	47	212·6
1986–87	15·1	7	40·8	17	63·2	27	112·5	48	107·3	46	232·9
1987–88	16·4	6	45·3	18	70·1	28	124·2	49	116·2	46	255·1
1988–892	19·3	7	52·3	18	80·5	28	141·3	49	129·2	45	287·0
1989–902	22·0	7	59·3	18	91·2	28	159·5	50	144·5	45	322·1
Income tax liabilities
1978–79	2·3	11	4·9	24	7·0	34	11·5	57	7·7	38	20·2
1983–84	2·8	11	8·5	26	12·2	36	19·5	58	12·5	38	33·4
1984–85	4·2	12	9·3	26	13·3	38	21·1	60	12·4	35	35·4
1985–86	5·0	13	10·6	27	14·8	38	23·2	60	13·6	35	38·8
1986–87	6·2	14	12·7	29	17·3	40	26·5	61	14·5	34	43·3
1987–88	6·6	15	13·7	30	18·5	41	28·0	62	14·9	33	45·4
1988–892	6·1	13	13·9	29	19·0	41	29·1	62	15·1	32	46·7
1989–902	7·1	13	16·0	30	22·0	42	33·3	63	16·9	32	53·1
1 Married couples and single people.
2 Provisional.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revenues have been received by Government for each year from 1979–80 to the present and in aggregate in real terms from (a) North sea oil, (b) privatisation proceeds and (c) other sales of land or property of central or local government.

Such information as is readily available is included on the CSO database (identified by the database codes) and published in the 1990 public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 1021) as follows:

(a) total north sea taxes—database, code ABLG

(b) privatisation proceeds—Table 21.5.13 of Cm. 1021

(c) sales of land and buildings—Table 21.2.17 of Cm. 1021 implied GDP (at market price) deflator—database code DJDT

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will adopt the Keith committee proposal to require taxpayers to disclose tax avoidance transactions.

The recommendation of the Keith committee that the taxpayer should be obliged to tell the inspector where he has taken the benefit of any doubt whether any item ought to be declared, or any relief or deduction allowed, was rejected, following extensive public consultations, because it was found that it would be both burdensome and impracticable.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he intends to take measures to prevent fringe banks from funding tax avoidance schemes.

No. Banks must be free to decide whether to fund any legitimate activity.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he intends to take to protect the interests of the Inland Revenue in personal bankruptcy cases involving moneys held by Isle of Man or Channel Islands based trusts.

The Inland Revenue will continue to use all measures available to it under the insolvency legislation.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received seeking assistance through the tax system to employers setting up nurseries.

Employers can already obtain tax relief for most of the costs of setting up and running workplace nurseries. As to the provision of any further assistance, I cannot anticipate my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget statement.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he received about the taxation of the use of child care facilities.

I cannot anticipate my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget statement.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of bank provision against less-developed country debt will be accepted for the financial year 1989–90 as appropriate to offset against corporation tax liability.

Banks are entitled to a tax deduction for the proportion of doubtful debt which is estimated to be irrecoverable. The amount will be negotiated between the Inland Revenue and the banks when the banks submit their accounts for the year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has recieved, and from whom, seeking encouragement through the use of the tax system for the development or use of electrically powered road vehicles.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has received few representations concerning tax concessions for the development or use of electrically powered road vehicles.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Inland Revenue has sought the return of any former directors of Day Vee to the United Kingdom to help with its investigations into the company's tax liabilities.

Such information is confidential.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from small businesses regarding the effects of interest rates.

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

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will arrange to meet his West German counterpart to discuss investment policy.

My right hon. Friend regularly meets the West German Finance Minister at the European Community's Economic and Finance Council. In our countries business investment has been buoyant in the last two years: in the United Kingdom it grew by over 30 per cent. in the two years to 1988, owing to the success of the Government's policies in fostering confidence in the future of the United Kingdom economy.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in rank order the total revenue raised from the 21 different forms of taxation.

The information can be found in tables 3.13, 3.14 and 3.15 in "Financial Statistics", published by the Central Statistical Office.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in order of amount collected by the Treasury each of the different and separate forms of taxation in the United Kingdom for 1988–89.

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: The information can be found in tables 3.13, 3.14 and 3.15 in "Financial Statistics", published by the Central Statistical Office.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many persons employed at the Inland Revenue office in Cumbernauld are registered as disabled; and what percentage this represents of the total work force.

The Inland Revenue employs 26 registered disabled staff in its office at Cumbernauld; this represents 2·47 per cent. of the total staff at 9 February 1990.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to move the Paymaster General's office from Crawley.

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: No.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the additional annual cost or yield to the Exchequer in tax relief on mortgage interest payments of every 1 per cent. rise or reduction in mortgage interest rates.

[holding answer 9 February 1990]: An increase or reduction of one percentage point in the level of mortgage interest rates would increase or reduce the annual cost of mortgage interest relief on the current stock of mortgages by about £550 million.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give figures showing total receipts, from capital transfer tax and inheritance tax for each year from 1980 expressed (a) in cash terms at 1990 prices and (b) as a percentage of total Inland Revenue receipts.

[holding answer 9 February 1990]: The receipts of capital transfer tax and inheritance tax for each financial year since 1980–81 are:

Year	Receipts at forecast 1990–91 Prices £ million	Percentage of total Inland Revenue Receipts
1980–81	760	1·3
1981–82	781	1·2
1982–83	758	1·1

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue would be raised if value added tax was levied at (a) 20 per cent. (b) 25 per cent. and (c) 30 per cent. on non-returnable beverage containers.

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: No measurable extra revenue would accrue because beverage containers are normally taxed at the same rate as their contents when the goods are supplied.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost of not taxing company cars at their full value.

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: The benefit of the private use of a company car is taxed by reference to fixed scale charges, but the value of private use to any particular employee depends on a wide range of factors. Information about these is not available, so it is not possible to provide an estimate of the aggregate extent to which the private use of company cars is undertaxed.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the impact on inflation of raising £1 billion from (a) tobacco products, (b) beer, (c) wine and spirits, (d) petrol (e) value added tax and (f) vehicle excise duty.

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: The estimated impact on the retail prices index of raising £1 billion from each of the specific taxes and duties is shown in the table.

Source	Effect on retail price index (per cent.)
Tobacco	0·64
Beer	0·48
Wines and spirits	0·91
Petrol	0·29
VAT	0·32
VED	0·24

These estimates are subject to a considerable margin of error given the large duty changes implied.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the impact on the retail price index of increasing excise duties on petrol by twice what is needed for indexation, and raising excise on the other areas by as much as is necessary to achieve the same overall revenue for the Exchequer as would be achieved by full indexation only of all items.

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: 0·47 per cent.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the annual reduction in income tax for a married man earning (a) £160,000 per year and (b) £260,000 per year as a result of the changes brought in by the 1988 Budget.

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: A married man earning £160,000 in 1989–90 and claiming no reliefs of allowances other than the married man's allowance has income tax liability of £25,045 less than if the allowances and thresholds in 1987–88 had been indexed to 1989–90 and the tax rates had remained unchanged at 1987–88 levels. A married man earning £260,000 would have a corresponding reduction of £45,045.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the general conditions of approval of occupational and personal pension schemes by the Inland Revenue are such as to permit the provision of payments out of such a scheme of an amount related to a person's accrued or prospective retirement pension under the scheme, such payments to be made throughout any period in which that person is entitled to the payment of an invalidity pension from the national insurance fund and to cease at the end of that period.

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: The main purpose of occupational and personal pension schemes is to provide an income in retirement. The tax approval conditions for such schemes allow benefits to be paid before retirement age if a person is incapable of continuing in employment. There is no requirement on schemes to provide a pension before retirement age. Decisions on whether an incapacity pension is payable are matters for the scheme trustees and their criteria might differ from entitlements to invalidity pensions. Incapacity pensions are normally payable for life.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the quality of service performance indicators that have been introduced into HMSO since its establishment as an agency.

[holding answer 12 February 1990]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith) on 15 January 1990 at column 98.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the circumstances under which police records are made available to the authorities concerned with the licensing of hackney-carriage and private hire drivers.

Information from police records is not generally made available for these purposes. In London records are available for the purpose of licensing hackney-carriage drivers, since the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the licensing authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total expenditure of the parliamentary boundary commission for Wales during the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of expenditure was allocated to (a) administration in general, (b) hosting of meetings and conferences, (c) allowances for attending meetings and (d) general allowances given to nominees on the committee.

The parliamentary boundary commissions for England and Wales share a common secretariat and premises. Although work now in hand will enable costs to be identified for each commission separately, at present it is possible to give only the total combined expenditure of the two commissions, which for 1988–89 was £252,160. Members of the parliamentary boundary commissions receive no remuneration or attendance alowance, but are recompensed for any reasonably actual expenses incurred.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received from Scotland concerning any proposed change to British summer time.

A total of 5,475 representations, including signatures on petitions, were received from Scotland.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Gwent as to whether any disciplinary action has been taken against any officer in regard to the renewal of the shotgun certificate of Mr. G. W. Phillips.

I understand from the chief constable that no such disciplinary action has been taken.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Gwent as to whether a receipt was issued for the shotgun, the property of Mr. G. W. Phillips, when it was taken into the possession of the Gwent constabulary.

No. The local administration of the firearms licensing system is a matter for the chief officer of police concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Gwent as to what training has been given to police officers on the procedures for dealing with applications, renewals and variation of firearms and for shotgun certificates under (a) the Firearms Act 1968 and (b) the Firearms Act 1988.

No. Training in the local administration of firearm licensing procedures is a matter for the chief officer of police concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Horne Department whether the security service tribunal is declining to accept complaints against the security service which relate to matters that took place prior to any given date.

The tribunal is subject to paragraph 9 of schedule 1 to the Security Service Act 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will set out the procedure within his Department for authorising transfers of personal data to other Government Departments; and at what level such decisions are authorised;(2) on what grounds decisions are taken to transfer personal data held by his Department to other Government Departments;(3) on what statutory basis transfers of personal data take place from his Department to other Government Departments; and how many such transfers take place each year;(4) what internal guidelines covering the transfer of personal data to other Government Departments are available to staff in his Department; and whether he will place a copy of any such guidelines in the Library;(5) what kind of personal data held by his Department, whether on computer or manually, are transferred to other Government Departments;(6) what plans exist in his Department for the transfer of personal data via the Government data network; and what new procedures have been adopted within the Department to prevent unauthorised transfers of such data;(7) what records are kept of transfers of personal data from his Department to other Government Departments; and whether the Data Protection Registrar has access to the relevant records;(8) whether records will be kept of all personal data transferred to other Government Departments via the Government data network;(9) whether the rules governing the transfer of personal data from his Department to other Government Departments are the same for data held manually as for data held on computer.

Where information comprising personal data is computerised, disclosures are made only as permitted by the appropriate registration under the Data Protection Act 1984 or by one of the statutory exemptions embodied within the Act. The general guidance issued to staff is that dealing with the application of the Data Protection Act 1984, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. This is the position whether or not there is any connection to the Government data network; and there are no plans at present to maintain records of, or issue central guidance dealing with, the transfer of personal data over the Government data network.As regards non-computerised personal data, depending on the nature of the information held appropriate local procedures determine to whom the information may be disclosed, and who may authorise the disclosure. The Home Office holds many millions of records containing personal data, both manual and computerised, on a wide range of subjects: in consequence, the remaining detailed information sought in these questions is not readily available and could not be obtained save at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his proposed international drugs conference in London.

The world ministerial summit to reduce the demand for drugs and to combat the cocaine threat is being organised by Her Majesty's Government in association with the United Nations and will take place in London from 9 to 11 April 1990.It is to be opened by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, who will be joined for the opening session by the President of Colombia and the Secretary General of the United Nations. Expert speakers from around the world will address the working sessions. It is hoped that the summit will strengthen our knowledge of ways to tackle the drug problem and will lead to an even greater commitment internationally to reduce the demand for all drugs and to combat the production and traffic in cocaine.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the contracts his Department has given to outside management consultants in policy areas concerning his Department since January 1985 and the date of completion and cost of each contract.

[pursuant to the reply, 31 January 1990, c. 203]: A contract awarded to Deloitte, Haskins and Sells to investigate the "Practicality of Private Sector Involvement in the Remand System", completed in February 1989 at a cost of £207,865 (exclusive of VAT), should have been included in my right hon. and learned Friend's answer of 31 January 1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of Overseas Development Administration staff are women in (a) all positions within the ODA, (b) ODA staff based in the United Kingdom, (c) ODA staff based overseas, (d) ODA staff at or above the level of grade seven, and (e) ODA staff at or above the level of grade five.

On 2 January 1990 the numbers of women employed in the ODA were:

	Total	Women	per cent.
All grades	1,525	662	43·3
Staff in United Kingdom	1,475	653	44·3
Staff overseas	50	9	18·0
Staff at or above grade 7	259	26	10·0
Staff at or above grade 5	50	5	10·0

These figures exclude casual staff and staff on special leave without pay.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who will be representing Her Majesty's Government at the world conference on education for all in Thailand on 5 to 9 March.

Her Majesty's Government will be represented by the Overseas Development Administration's chief education adviser and by the Under-Secretary for international relations at the Department of Education and Science.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the cost to the Exchequer of developing the Antrim technology park in the period up to 31 March 1989; and how many jobs have been created by the expenditure to date.

The cost of developing the park and constructing the buildings has been £4,405,672. Present employment in companies located at the park is 234.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police services, other than the Royal Ulster Constabulary, operate within Northern Ireland; what is the location of work for each of these services; how many personnel are employed as policemen and policewomen in each of these services; and what is the employing authority for each of these police services.

There are three police services operating within the transport sector in Northern Ireland. They are:

a. Northern Ireland Airports Constabulary; 76 policemen and 7 policewomen; Northern Ireland Airports Ltd.

b. Belfast Harbour Police; 35 policemen, Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

c. Lame Harbour Constabulary; 16 policemen; Larne Harbour Limited.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list for the last three years for which information is available all those occasions when the fire service has had to attend Royal Ulster Constabulary police stations or other facilities, stating whether the incident was due to terrorist action, fire, arson or other cause; and if he will make a statement.

During the years 1987, 1988 and 1989 the brigade attended the following incidents to RUC stations and other police facilities in the Province.

Dale and Location	Reason
6 April 1987—RUC Station, Lisburn Road, Belfast	Explosion
8 September 1988—RUC Station, Main Street, Coagh	Explosion
11 April 1989—RUC Station, Enniskillen	Accidental fire
12 April 1989—RUC Station, Charlotte Street, Warrenpoint	Explosion
8 June 1989—RUC Station, Newtownabbey	Explosion
1 October 1989—RUC Station, Randalstown	Explosion
10 January 1990—RUC Station, Seapark	Accidental fire

It is believed that the explosions as listed above were as a result of terrorist attack.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people the Housing Executive has accepted as homeless since 1 April 1989 to 31 December 1989; and how many people who claimed homelessness in that specified period were refused under the regulations as laid down in the Housing (NI) Order 1988.

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive says that the information is not available in the form requested. Between 1 April 1989 and 31 December 1989, a total of 3,822 applicants were accepted as being either homeless or threatened with homelessness and 763 applicants were considered not to be homeless or threatened with homelessness under the provisions of the Housing (NI) Order 1988. A further 183 applications are still under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received from the Northern Ireland Association of Community

Books and equipment (separate figures for books and equipment not available)
	Primary schools			Secondary schools			Special schools
Year	Cash £	Real terms £	Index	Cash £	Real terms £	Index	Cash £	Real terms £	Index
1978–79	10·40	22·81	100	22·88	50·17	100	24·32	53·33	100
1979–80	12·05	22·67	99	25·24	47·49	94	26·65	50·14	94
1980–81	12·34	19·58	86	25·73	40·82	81	30·96	49·12	92
1981–82	14·37	20·77	91	29·22	42·23	84	38·34	55·42	104
1982–83	14·63	19·74	86	30·62	41·33	82	38·11	51·44	96
1983–84	15·08	19·46	85	31·74	40·95	81	41·83	53·97	101
1984–85	16·37	20·13	88	34·26	42·13	84	46·38	57·04	107
1985–86	17·14	19·96	87	36·40	42·41	84	46·13	53·74	101
1986–87	18·30	20·67	90	42·14	47·59	95	67·77	76·54	129
1987–88	19·94	21·40	94	47·92	51·42	103	84·78	90·97	171
1988–89	20·00	20·00	88	46·55	46·55	93	87·34	87·34	164

I met representatives of the Northern Ireland Association of Community Workshops on 29 January 1990. In response to their representations I have made a number of modifications to the funding arrangements for the youth training programme to meet their concerns. I understand that the association has reacted positively to these changes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether (a) the Fire Authority for Northern Ireland and (b) Mr. Kerr were legally represented at the hearing held by the Fair Employment Agency in the case of Kerr v. Northern Ireland Fire Authority.

These are issues for the fire authority and Mr. Kerr. The fire authority was not legally represented at the hearing held by the Fair Employment Agency. Mr. Kerr was accompanied by his solicitor at the hearing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Fire Authority sought the advice of counsel (a) prior to the decision of the Fair Employment Agency on 6 December and (b) thereafter in the case of Kerr v. Northern Ireland Fire Authority.

This is a matter for the fire authority whose chairman has informed me that the authority did not seek the advice of counsel either prior to the decision of the Fair Employment Agency on 6 December or thereafter. The fire authority took advice from its solicitor in relation to the FEA report and findings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will update to the latest available date the answer given to the hon. Member for Barking (Ms. Richardson), 12 May 1989, Official Report, columns 553–54, on expenditure on books and equipment.

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are employed at the firm of Donaghadee Carpets; how many redundancies there have been at this firm in the last four weeks; whether the firm is receiving the support of the IDB.; and if he will make a statement on future employment prospects with this company.

[holding answer 5 February 1990]: CV Carpets Ltd. employs 460 at Donaghadee. The management and trade union representatives are in discussion about manning levels and working practices, but no redundancies have been made or announced in the last four weeks. The company is in receipt of selective financial assistance from the IDB for a capital investment programme which should provide an increase in employment over the next 18 months; the extent of that support is, as usual, dependent on achievement of the forecast employment levels.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in relation to the fair employment draft guide to effective practice; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 9 February 1990]: Following consultation with a wide range of interested parties, the guide was published in its final form by the Department of Economic Development on 31 December 1989. It provides advice and guidance to employers and others on their responsibilities and obligations under the fair employment legislation and has become the first code of practice under section 8 of the Fair Employment (NI) Act 1989. Copies are available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Prime Minister when she next intends to visit the European Parliament.

In the normal course of events, I would expect to visit the European Parliament during the British presidency of the Community in the second half of 1992.

To ask the Prime Minister when she next intends to make an official visit to a rugby league ground.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister what recent representations she has received on summer time.

The Home Office published a Green Paper entitled "Summer Time—A Consultation Document" (Cm 722) on 27 June 1989 inviting representations on three options for future summer time arrangement. I have received several representations. Over 30,000 have been received at the Home Office.

To ask the Prime Minister what further plans she has to meet homeless people in London.

I have no such plans at present. However, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is taking forward, with urgency, action following our review of the homelessness legislation. This includes the allocation of additional resources to relieve homelessness pressures in London. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and the Minister for Housing and Planning have had a number of meetings with homeless people in London and with voluntary agencies who work with the homeless.

To ask the Prime Minister when she next intends to visit Aberdeen.

I hope to visit Aberdeen during the course of this year.

To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to meet representatives of the Trades Union Congress; and what matters she intends to discuss.

I have at present no plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will pay an official visit to Poland.

I have no plans to visit Poland at present. I had a friendly and useful meeting with the Polish Prime Minister here yesterday.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the question of sterling and its relationship to the exchange rate mechanism of the EMS; and if she will make a statement.

I have no present plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the extent and purpose of the inquiries being initiated by the European Economic Community into the prospects for 1992.

I have no plans to do so, but will not hesitate to discuss the studies, if that is likely to be useful. The 1992 prospects are for both opportunities and challenges to British business, and the outcome will depend on the way in which individual firms and industries respond to those opportunities and challenges.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will invite the next meeting of the European Council to agree that the Commission should not present measures to implement the provisions of the social charter until the charter has been agreed by all member states; and if she will make a statement.

The European Commission has the right to make proposals on any matters that fall within the competence of the Community as set out in the treaty of Rome. As I made clear in my statement following the last meeting of the European Council in Strasbourg in December—Official Report, 12 December 1989, column 858—we do not endorse the text of the social charter and, judging from their comments, I believe that many of my colleagues in Europe will have considerable difficulties with the Commission's specific proposals when they come forward.

To ask the Prime Minister what was the cost of her private office in each of the last five years.

The cost of the Prime Minister's office over the last five years is as follows:

Year	Total cost £
1985–86	4,405,852
1986–87	4,962,950
1987–88	5,418,455
1988–89	6,553,712
1989–90	17,924,979
1 Estimate.

Salaries and wages, notional pension liability and administrative costs and the grant-in-aid to the Chequers Trust are included. My salary as a Cabinet Minister is not included, nor are my pay and allowances as a Member of this House.Since 1985 there have been two developments which have affected the way in which costs are assessed. These are inclusion of costs for office services from 1986–87; and inclusion of the cost of redecoration of certain state rooms and of major security works in 1988–89 and 1989–90. When the effects of these developments are excluded (as far as it is possible to do so) and the results expressed in constant price terms at 1988–89 prices, the cost has increased by 6 per cent. between 1985–86 and 1989–90.

To ask the Prime Minister what was the total number of people employed in her private office in each of the last five years.

The total number of people in my office in each of the last five years is as follows:

Year	Number
1985–86	66
1986–87	66
1987–88	67
1988–89	67
1989–90	68

To ask the Prime Minister if she will institute a wide-ranging inquiry into the dissemination of disinformation relating to public figures by the security services in the last 30 years.

I have nothing to add to the statement I made on 6 May 1987.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has issued a formal invitation to Mr. Nelson Mandela to visit her in Britain.

As we explained in our statement of 2 February I plan to do so now that he is free.

To ask the Prime Minister if she intends to make an official visit to South Africa this year.

I plan to visit South Africa in due course.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on her meeting with the Rev. Jesse Jackson on Monday 6 February.

We had a full discussion on the situation in South Africa. We share the objective of an end to apartheid through peaceful negotiations.

To ask the Prime Minister when was the last time she spoke to President de Klerk of South Africa.

We are in regular contact with the South African Government.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list all representations additional to that made by the Minister for Sport to the chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board on 2 August 1989 made by (a) herself, (b) any of her Ministers and (c) Government officials to dissuade the members of the rebel cricket tour of South Africa frorn undertaking the tour.

The Government's position on the cricket tour to South Africa is set out in my hon. Friend the Minister for Sport's letter of 2 August to the chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board. At my hon. Friend's request, his letter was copied to the players concerned.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 13 February.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 13 February.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 13 February.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 13 February.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today. This evening I shall preside at a dinner in honour of the Prime Minister of Poland.

To ask the Attorney-General if he will take steps to incorporate the international covenant on civil and political rights into domestic law.

I have been asked to reply. No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, pursuant to his reply of 6 February, he will list the cases or proceedings which cause him to treat matters relating to Mr. Lorrain Osman as being sub judice.

Mr. Osman's fourth application for a writ of habeas corpus, launched on 2 February.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy on the WEU Assembly recommendation that the WEU Council work out the prior conditions necessary in the conceptual field for SNF negotiations to be resumed without delay after the implementation of the first CFE agreement.

The comprehensive concept adopted by NATO Heads of State and Government at their summit in May set out the "prior conditions" for SNF negotiations, namely that once the implementation of an agreement on conventional arms is under way

"the United States in consultation with the Allies concerned, is prepared to enter into negotiations to achieve a partial reduction of American and Soviet land-based nuclear missiles of shorter range to equal and verifiable levels."

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's policy on the Western European Union Assembly's recommendation that the Western European Union Council call for (a) a complete review of the COCOM lists in the light of a fundamental reassessment of the current state of Soviet technology, with a view to encouraging maximum opportunities for trade, (b) negotiations with proscribed countries for the introduction of verification procedures to accompany all future sales of western strategic technology in return for the further liberalisation of the COCOM list and (c) the establishment, within the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe framework, of a committee of experts to make recommendations for the sharing of high technology between East and West.

On his first point I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 15 December at column 839 to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Dr. Thomas).On his second point I refer my hon. Friend to the comments made by my hon. Friend during the Adjournment debate on 21 December at column 632. There have already been contacts at official level between COCOM partners and Poland and Hungary. The results of these will inform the review of COCOM and its procedures now under way.Finally, COCOM provides a forum for national experts to discuss the level of technology to be shared with or transferred to the proscribed destinations. Against the background of an existing military threat, this issue will receive increasing scrutiny in the meetings now under way to discuss technology transfer and developments in eastern Europe. The participating states in the CSCE process do not include all the members of COCOM and we would not see the establishment of a separate committee, with the same mandate, as providing any practical benefit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken in the framework of the European Community to enable the European Commission to study security and defence questions.

The political and economic aspects of security are the subject of co-ordination among the member states in European Political Co-operation (EPC). The Commission is fully associated with EPC. The military aspects of security are not the subject of co-ordination in any Community framework.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the post in India will come to a decision on the application by Baron Max Khatchaturian and his family for recognition of their British citizenship and concerning which he has received correspondence from the hon. Member for Caernarfon; and if he will make a statement.

In accordance with the guidelines on the handling of representations by Members of Parliament in immigration cases, issued to Members on 14 December 1988, I have referred the question to the correspondence unit of the migration and visa department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The hon. Member will receive a reply from the unit as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government will protest at the participation of a member of the Khmer Rouge as the representative of Cambodia at the world conference on education for all in Thailand on 5 to 9 March; and if he will make a statement.

The world conference on education for all is being organised and sponsored by four specialised agencies of the United Nations (UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank). We understand that, as Cambodia's representatives at the UN, the National Government of Cambodia (formerly the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea) will have been invited to attend. This is normal practice for such UN-sponsored conferences.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what consideration he has given to the issues raised in "School Effect: A Study of Multi-racial Comprehensives" produced by the Policy Studies Institute and the University of Lancaster, a copy of which has been sent to him; and if he will make a statement.

This study is based on research which followed the progress of 3,000 pupils in 20 urban comprehensives, starting in 1981. The research found striking differences between the schools surveyed in what they did and how they did it. The level of achievement of pupils of similar abilities, regardless of their ethnic or social background, varied markedly according to the school they attended.This study reinforces the Government's determination to press ahead with the implementation of the national curriculum and with the arrangements for assessment and testing so that every child can have the best possible start in life. The study also suggested some profitable further lines of inquiry and my right hon. Friend is considering how best to pursue these.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what research projects are receiving funding from his Department that are designed to contribute to the development of electrically powered road vehicles.

The Science and Engineering Research Council, which is funded by the Department, has supported a number of research programmes in universities which are of relevance to the development of electrically powered vehicles. A collaborative programme between Durham university and Lucas plc, completed in 1987, developed a prototype hybrid electric/diesel vehicle. Two research programmes at Loughborough university, completed in 1989, and ongoing programmes at the university of Newcastle and London university's Imperial college are concerned with aspects of new battery systems.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the number of physical education teachers for each year since 1979.

Information is available only in respect of 1984 and 1988. In 1984 the number of full-time teachers in maintained secondary schools in England who were teaching physical education was 37,900, including 15,600 for whom physical education was their main teaching subject. The equivalent figures for 1988 were 30,300 and 13,300. Over the same period the number of pupils in maintained secondary schools in England fell by about 16 per cent. (from 3·65 million to 3·07 million).

Expenditure per pupil—England
	Primary				Secondary
	Cash	1Real terms	Index 1978–79 = 100	Index year on year increase	Cash	1Real terms	Index 1978–79 = 100	Index year on year increase
	£	£			£	£
Books and equipment
1978–79	12·85	26·34	100	100	24·40	50·04	100	100
1979–80	14·33	25·16	96	96	26·61	46·71	93	93
1980–81	16·05	23·81	90	95	29·26	43·40	87	93
1981–82	18·16	24·54	93	103	32·18	43·48	87	100
1982–83	20·90	26·34	100	107	36·53	46·04	92	106
1983–84	22·79	27·44	104	104	39·21	47·21	94	103
1984–85	23·54	27·01	103	98	42·53	48·78	97	103
1985–86	24·91	27·11	103	100	44·83	48·80	98	100
1986–87	28·04	29·53	112	109	57·15	60·18	120	123

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to the average numbers of hours per year spent in school by schoolchildren in (a) England and Wales and (b) other European Community countries.

Recent school staffing surveys in England indicate that pupils in primary schools spend on average some 860 hours in lessons (excluding registration, assemblies and break time) a year. The comparable figure for secondary pupils is some 900 hours. Figures for Wales are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. European comparisons are not readily available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to the numbers of hours of classroom teaching per year spent by teachers in (a) England and Wales and (b) other European Community countries.

On the basis of information from recent school staffing surveys, we estimate that primary teachers spend on average some 790 hours a year in classroom teaching. The comparable figure for secondary teachers is some 680 hours. These figures exclude time spent in registration, assemblies and supervision. Figures for Wales are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. European comparisons are not readily available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will update to the latest date available the answer given to the hon. Member for Barking (Ms. Richardson), 4 May 1989, Official Report, column 173–74, on expenditure on books and equipment.

The information previously supplied has been updated to take account of latest data on actual local authority spending in 1987–88 as recorded in returns to the Department of the Environment: pupil numbers as recorded in returns to the Department of Education and Science; and price movements as recorded by the GDP deflator. Comparable data on spending in 1988–89 are not yet available. The table has been expanded to show two indices. The first shows the change in real-terms spending for each year compared with the base year 1978–79; the second, also shown in the previous table, shows the change in real-terms spending for each year compared with the previous year.