To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will inquire into the circumstances which caused the power cut in west London on the morning of 8 May; and if he will make a statement.

The National Grid Company was carrying out switching operations at its St. John's Wood substation to release a circuit breaker for maintenance during the morning of 8 May, when at 0653 hours other circuit breakers operated due to some technical problem, leading to a loss of supply to London Electricity. Supplies were rapidly restored within 23 minutes.The National Grid Company is carrying out an urgent investigation into the causes of the operation of these circuit breakers and the Department's engineering inspectorate will be inquiring into the matter as seems appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what representations he has received regarding the power cut in west London and the substation failure at St. John's Wood in the morning of 8 May.

No representations have been received by the Department of Energy regarding the electricity supply failure in west London during the morning of 8 May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) whether future maintenance work at Chapelcross and Calder Hall has any implications for levels of radiation exposure for workers; and if he will make a statement;(2) what steps are being taken to reduce radiation exposure to workers at Chapelcross and Calder Hall; and if he will make a statement.

British Nuclear Fuels plc has a programme of measures designed to reduce radiation doses to workers at the Calder Hall and Chapelcross nuclear installations. The Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate's assessment of British Nuclear Fuel's latest long term safety reviews of the two installations requires British Nuclear Fuel to review radiation doses to its workers, to agree improvements, and to make arrangements to consider progress annually with the nuclear installations inspectorate. The nuclear installations inspectorate's assessment recognised that maintenance operations are a major contributor to radiation exposure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) if he will list those representations he received in favour of extending the operational life of Chapelcross and Calder Hall nuclear power stations, prior to that decision being announced;

I have received no such representations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what is the purpose of extending the operational life of Chapelcross and Calder Hall nuclear power stations; and if he will make a statement;(2) what is the estimated cost of

This is an operational matter for British Nuclear Fuels plc.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the discharge of liquid sodium metal from one of the cooling circuits at Dounreay.

This is an operational matter for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

To ask the Attorney-General what value for money savings have been achieved by the Lord Chancellor's Department in the last year; and how much of this was as a result of advice from the central unit on purchasing.

The return submitted to the central unit on purchasing for 1989–90 shows that the Lord Chancellor's Department achieved overall value for money savings of £3·9 million on the supply of goods and services. In general, it is not possible to attribute particular value for money savings to advice from the central unit on purchasing. The role of the unit is to provide advice and guidance on best purchasing practice and to encourage value for money savings across all departments.

To ask the Attorney-General for each week in financial years 1987–88 and 1988–89, how many cases had to be adjourned in (a) the magistrates courts and (b) the Crown courts because the prosecution witnesses did not appear; and what those adjournments cost were in respect of (a) the Crown prosecution service, (b) defendants and (c) costs of running the courts, giving the figures in respect of (b) separately for those legally aided and those not legally aided.

The information requested about the number of cases adjourned because prosecution witnesses did not appear is not collated centrally and could only be obtained by examining many thousands of case files. Information about the cost of those adjournments to the various parties is not available. Some limited research by the Crown prosecution service and the Home Office has been carried out into the broad reasons for adjournments and the results were presented to the Home Affairs Committee during the conduct of its inquiry into the Crown prosecution service.

To ask the Attorney-General for each of the financial years since the establishment of the Crown prosecution service what was the number of occasions the Crown prosecution service had costs awarded against it; what those costs amounted to for each of those years; and what were the precise grounds on which the costs were awarded in each case.

The number of occasions an award of costs was made against the Crown prosecution service and the amounts of costs paid by the Crown prosecution service since its establishment are as follows:

Year	Number of awards	Amount paid £
1986–87	731	115,324
1987–88	950	85,586
1988–89	525	89,547
1989–90	410	163,949

These figures cover only the 31 areas of the Crown prosecution service and do not include awards of costs made in cases handled by the headquarters casework group. The number of awards made in headquarters casework is not known, but the amounts paid in respect of each financial year were:

Amount paid in headquarter cases
Year	£
1986–87	1
1987–88	1
1988–89	66,537
1989–90	78,346
1 Reliable figures not readily available.

Information as to the precise grounds on which the costs were awarded in each case is only available on the individual case file, but an award of costs may only be made against the Crown prosecution service where a court is satisfied that costs have been incurred as a result of an unnecessary or improper act or omission by or on behalf of the service. Thus an award of costs can be made against the service for act or omissions over which it has no control.

To ask the Attorney-General what is the present day cost for the Crown prosecution service in the areas of each of the former metropolitan counties (a) at today's prices and (b) at 1986 prices.

The cost of the Crown prosecution service in 1989–90 in the areas of each of the former metropolitan counties was as follows:

	Cost
Area	1989–90 prices £	1986–87 prices £
Durham-Northumbria	5,522,286	4,533,907
Greater Manchester	9,522,758	7,818,375
Merseyside	6,132,525	5,034,925
South Yorkshire	3,943,197	3,237,444
West Midlands	7,652,803	6,283,104
West Yorkshire	6,845,423	5,620,229

To ask the Attorney-General if he will list (a) each individual barrister and (b) each firm of solicitors who have received more than £5,000 from the legal aid fund, and the amount paid to each of those people, in each of the last five years; and if he will list each barrister who has received more than £5,000 in fees for acting on behalf of the Crown, and the individual amount paid to each of those people, in each of the last five years.

Information about the income of individuals and individual firms is not kept centrally so far as legal aid records are concerned. Payments made to individuals for services are regarded as private and confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the destination of school leavers from 5th, lower 6th and upper 6th forms into the following categories (a) returned to school, (b) gone to further education, (c) entered employment, (d) on Government schemes and (e) unemployed for each year since 1980 and the predicted destinations of school leavers to the mid 1990s.

The most recent published information on the educational and economic activity of young people in England aged 16, 17 and 18 at the previous 31 August, from 1977–78 to 1987–88, is available in DES Statistical Bulletin 14/88 a copy of which is in the Library. An updated version is due to be published later this summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has on how many Natural Environment Research Council publications were printed on 100 per cent. recycled paper in the last year.

No Natural Environment Research Council publications were printed on 100 per cent. recycled paper in the last year: the council considers that the technology for recycling paper has not yet produced a product of sufficient quality for high definition colour printing. The NERC's "in-house" newspaper is printed on 85 per cent. recycled paper and all NERC's stationery and photocopy paper is either 100 per cent. recycled or based upon recycled paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what lead he is taking to improve environment protection education and training.

The national curriculum includes much that is relevant to the protection of the environment. Science includes learning about human influences on the earth such as activities which can cause pollution and changes in the biosphere, while technology includes understanding something of the environmental consequences of design and technological innovations. Geography, when it is introduced, will be a major vehicle for environmental education, including the area of environmental protection.Provision for further and higher education, including for vocational training, is made by local education authorities or by individual institutions such as universities, polytechnics and colleges of higher education. Our education reforms are ensuring that institutions are increasingly able to respond flexibly to the retraining and updating needs of employers and their employees. In consultation with his colleagues, my right hon. Friend is considering what further action could be taken in the area of further, higher and continuing education.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if the British Antarctic survey airstrip being built at Rothera point will be used for any activity other than that connected with pure science, or by an organisation which is not part of the Natural Environment Research Council; and if he will make a statement.

The Rothera airstrip, which will replace the current ice ski-way, will be used to support the scientific programme of the British Antarctic survey. This programme of fundamental investigation uses the unique natural laboratory conditions in Antarctica both to address problems of global relevance (such as ozone depletion and related atmospheric chemistry and climate history) and to improve the understanding of this least known continent.Under the general requirements of the Antarctic treaty, the airstrip will be available for use by other Antarctic national operations, subject to specific requests, agreed in advance. It will not be available to non-governmental or commercial organisations, except in emergency where life is significantly at risk.

To ask the Lord President of the Council on how many days in the present session the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) has tabled notices of motion relating to a Select Committee on Legal Affairs, the reform of House of Commons procedure, the sittings of the House, and Members' facilities; and what estimate he has made of the total cost to public funds, and the volume of newsprint, that have been involved in the printing of these motions.

To 30 April the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) has tabled the notices of motion in question on 74 days this Session. The estimated cost of printing the 89,000 sheets of A4 paper which have been used is around £10,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to use the overseas aid programme to help the Government of India solve their environmental problems.

In India earlier this month I offered £50 million new aid for energy efficiency projects which, by promoting the more cost-effective generation, distribution and use of power, will reduce environmentally damaging emissions. This offer reflects the high priority I attach to using our aid programme to assist India to tackle its environmental problems which can have both national and global implications. The new aid is in addition to £40 million offered, last year, for environmental projects, in particular for forestry and to develop alternatives to the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). A British aid funded study of the latter will be ready for the meeting in London in June of the parties to the Montreal protocol. Good progress is also being made with the development of a major new project for the conservation of the forests of the Western Ghats.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he now expects to announce the Government's intentions on common land legislation.

My right hon. Friend expects to make an announcement very soon.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will place in the Library a copy of the survey carried out by Hunting Surveys and Consultants Ltd., on landscape change and hedgerow depletion.

A copy of the survey report was deposited in the Library in 1986.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why Mid-Sussex Water has been allowed 20 years in which to deal with the problem of discolouration of drinking water supplies; and if he will make a statement.

The undertaking the Mid-Sussex Water Company has given to my right hon. Friend under section 20 of the Water Act 1989 includes a commitment to carry out a mains refurbishment programme in priority zones over the next five years. Provisional estimates are that this will involve replacing approximately 30 km of mains and relining approximately 207 km. At the end of that period the Drinking Water inspectorate will examine with the company what more needs to be done to its distribution system. Before he accepted an undertaking from the company, my right hon. Friend satisfied himself that it is taking all appropriate steps to remedy breaches of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989, and that these breaches in question do not constitute a hazard to health.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) which organisations previously funded by section 73 of the Housing Act 1985 have recently had their grants terminated; and on what grounds;(2) what was the level of Department of the Environment funding of those organisations previously funded by section 73 of the Housing Act 1985 at the point of termination.

[holding answer 10 May 1990]: This year we have trebled the funds available under section 73 to £2 million. Half will go to a new national advice service based on citizens' advice bureaux and involving Shelter and SHAC. The remaining £1 million goes to a total of 26 bodies providing direct assistance and practical help to single homeless people. Priority in choosing successful applications has been given to projects which will either take single homeless people off the streets or will work directly with young people and persuading them not to leave home and/or come to London.The following organisations which received grant under section 73 in 1989–90 have submitted unsuccessful applications for funding of specific projects in 1990–91:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with British Rail in respect of its ability to accept charter train applications to transport football fans to Wembley and the implications for crowd control and safety; and if he will make a statement in relation to the arrangements for the FA Challenge Trophy cup final.

There are well established procedures for providing and policing trains to Wembley. The British Rail special trains from Manchester travelling to Wembley for the FA Cup Final will be supervised by officers of the British Transport police and as is normal the charter train, hired by the Manchester United football club, will be supervised by the club itself. No alcohol will be permitted on any of these trains. British Transport police will be on duty at Wembley Central station to supervise the arrival of the trains and their departure after the match. British Transport police and the Metropolitan police are satisfied with these arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the voluntary groups within the Doncaster metropolitan borough council area, that have received funding agreed by the Government and how much the Government grant was in each case.

In 1989–90 the voluntary groups within the Doncaster metropolitan borough council area for which funding was agreed by the Government under the urban programme, and the amounts involved in each case were as listed:

1989–90—Doncaster's inner area programme
	Capital £	Revenue £
First Interpreters	25,000	5,000
Doncaster council for voluntary services		33,900
Doncaste under-fives support programme		31,5000
Homestart		22,600
Rape Crisis		15,000
Doncaster Money Advice		15,135
Doncaster inter-agency liaison project		11,663
Punjabi community centre		15,000
Denaby community association	75,000	5,650
Additional staffing/rape crisis centre		11,060
Transport for the disabled	22,000
Manor House project	100,000	10,000
LA community chest		50,000

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to change the circumstances in which buses may be substituted for train services on parts of British Rail's provincial network.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with British Rail about the public and private investment arrangements for the King's Cross railway lands.

None. There is no public financial investment in the King's Cross lands development.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with British Rail about the development policy for the King's Cross railway lands.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with British Rail about a code of compensation for local residents affected by the development of the King's Cross railway lands.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many flights carrying radioactive fuel, spent or otherwise, occurred between Carlisle and Dounreay in 1989; what was the total of fuel transported; what was the purpose of such flights; and if he will make a statement.

Spent fuel has to be transported in packages which are too heavy to be economically transported by air. The Department does not collect data of the kind requested but I understand that an average of around eight flights per year from Carlisle carry fresh fuel to Dounreay to supply the nuclear facility there.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the thermal neutron analysis machine for the detection of explosives in passengers' baggage will be installed at Gatwick; and whether he will make a statement.

A thermal neutron analysis machine made by Science Applications International Corporation of Santa Clara, California will be installed at Gatwick over the next few days for a one year trial. The machine has been lent to the Department by the United States Federal Aviation Administration. I am pleased that we are able to carry out a one-year trial of this explosives detection machine. We have taken many initiatives to improve the security of air travel in the past 16 months and we are exploring new techniques for explosive detection. I am grateful to Mr. Samuel Skinner, the United States Secretary for Transportation, and to the Federal Aviation Administration for offering to let us try one of their first thermal neutron analysis machines in the United Kingdom so that we can see at first hand how effective it is.I am also grateful to British Airports Authority for agreeing to install the machine at Gatwick and for making the necessary arrangements with the manufacturers. I shall watch the progress of the trial with great interest, but of course I cannot say at this stage whether we shall require the use of such machines at our airports in future as part of the national programme of aviation security measures.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many friendly societies are currently registered as having their headquarters in Wales.

There are six friendly societies registered as having their registered office in Wales.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many friendly societies there are currently registered with the registrar of friendly societies; and what is the corresponding figure 10 years previously.

There are 474 friendly societies currently registered. The corresponding figure on 31 December 1979 was 519 societies.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the asset value of those friendly societies which became defunct during the past 10 years; and in what ways those assets were dissipated.

In the 10 years 1980 to 1989 the number of friendly societies (excluding branches of orders) removed from the register following dissolution, cancellation or winding up, totalled 182. The aggregate assets of those societies and method of dissipation are not readily available. In general the assets after meeting all liabilities would have been distributed to the members on an equitable basis determined by an actuary.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total cost of running the department of the registrar of friendly societies; and how many employees there are in this department.

Details of the cost of running the department of the registrar of friendly societies are given on pages 52–54 of Supply Estimates 1990–91, class XVIII, a copy of which is available in the Library.One hundred and forty staff are employed in the department, half of whom are engaged on Building Society Commission work. The remaining 70 employees are engaged in work connected with the 16,500 mutual organisations, 468 of which are friendly societies.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many persons are employed in the office of the registrar for friendly societies for Scotland; and what is the annual cost of running this office.

Three and a half persons are employed in the registry of friendly societies (Scotland). The cost of running this office in 1990–91 is expected to be about £55,000.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many friendly societies are registered with their headquarters in Scotland.

There are currently 85 friendly societies on the register in Scotland.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the amount of tax revenue forgone because of the payment of mortgage interest relief at the higher rate of income tax in the financial years 1988–89 and 1989–90.

The cost of mortgage relief at excess over the basic rate of income tax is provisionally estimated at £310 million in 1988–89 and £430 million in 1989–90.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what legal authority the Inland Revenue has sent to married women a tax return seeking details of their income for the year ended 5 April 1990.

[holding answer 26 April 1990]: Some married women are being sent special forms this year which ask for details of their income for 1989–90. As Inland Revenue booklet IR83 "Independent Taxation—A guide for tax practitioners" explains, this is a transitional arrangement designed to help with the introduction of independent taxation. The forms will give a married women's own tax office information it needs to calculate the correct amount of tax she must pay in 1990–91—in particular where income arising in 1989–90 is assessable on her for 1990–91. The forms also enable married women to claim the allowances due to them for 1990–91.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he intends to take to encourage the Government of Peru to take action to bring to an end the attacks being made upon human rights workers and organisations.

We frequently raise with the Peruvian Government individual cases involving alleged human rights abuses. We are considering with our European partners what further action we may usefully take.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the reservation on behalf of Hong Kong's ivory stock is due to expire; and whether it will be extended.

The six-month reservation entered by the United Kingdom on Hong Kong's behalf will be withdrawn on 18 July 1990. The reservation will not be extended.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received about the illex fishing season in Falkland Islands waters.

I am informed that, after analysis of all available biological and commercial data, the Falkland Islands Government decided to close the fishery for illex squid on 10 May, three weeks early. I understand that this was necessary to meet their scientifically determined conservation goals. This should ensure that sufficient breeding stocks survive for future seasons. Effective conservation is the first priority for the management of the Falkland Islands interim conservation and management zone.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements exist respectively in (a) the Crown Territories of Hong Kong, (b) the Falkland Islands, (c) Belize and (d) Gibraltar for the disposal of (i) hazardous and toxic wastes and (ii) radioactive wastes from medical or industrial uses; and what is the relationship between these arrangements and the environmental standards applying in the United Kingdom.

[holding answer 1 May 1990]: In Hong Kong toxic and hazardous wastes are disposed of together as landfill. Medical or industrial radioactive wastes are either stored, returned to suppliers, or disposed of under the Hong Kong radiation ordinance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he anticipates responding to the application submitted by Highland regional council for grant aid to enable the development of Lochinver harbour.

[holding answer 4 May 1990]: Consideration of this application is now well advanced and I hope that it will be possible to announce a decision shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total expenditure by his Department on grants towards the cost of loft insulation under the homes insulation scheme for (a) 1988–89 and (b) 1989–90.

[holding answer 4 May 1990]: The total expenditure through specific grants made to local authorities under the homes insulation scheme for 1988–89 and 1989–90 was £0·929 million and £0·368 million respectively. This scheme covers the costs of loft, tank and pipe insulation work and it is not possible to identify a figure for loft insulation alone.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what was the cost of paying housing benefit to students in Scotland in the latest year for which figures are available;(2) how many students in Scotland currently receive housing benefit.

Estimates of the numbers of students receiving housing benefit and of the level of expenditure are made on a Great Britain basis and no disaggregation for individual countries is possible. I regret that it is not, therefore, possible to provide information in the form requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he proposes to respond to the request by Clwyd county council for community care grants to those not on income support and affected by the north Wales sea floods; and if he will make a statement.

I wrote to the chief executive of Clwyd on 7 March explaining the help available under the social fund scheme and, in particular, that community care grants are intended to help people re-establish themselves in the community. I will be replying to his further letter shortly. I also explained that our policy of restricting eligibility to the grants to those receiving income support was to target resources on those most in need.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total of hospital beds in each of the past five years within the constituency of Richmond and Barnes.

Information about hospital beds is collected centrally by district health authority, and is not available for individual parliamentary constituencies. The figures for Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton health authority are given in the table. The recent fall is due to the closure of St. John's hospital in Twickenham.

Salmonella from humans—England and Wales
1987		1988		Percentage change	1989		Percentage change
S. Typhimurium	7,660	S. Enteritidis	15,427	+125	S. Enteritidis	15,773	+2·2
S. Enteritidis	6,858	S. Typhimurium	6,444	-15·9	S. Typhimurium	7,306	+13·4
S. Virchow	1,529	S. Virchow	1,120	-26·7	S. Virchow	1,835	+63·8
S. Thompson	409	S. Agona	262	+75·8	S. Hadar	378	+58·8
S. Hadar	297	S. Newport	253	+5·0	S. Infantis	322	+34·2
S. Heidelberg	261	S. Infantis	240	+41·2	S. Newport	299	+18·2
S. Newport	241	S. Hadar	238	-19·9	S. Kedougou	273	+680·0
S. Stanley	180	S. Saint Paul	235	+132·7	S. Panama	259	+43·9
S. Infantis	170	S. Heidelberg	209	-19·9	S. Heidelberg	216	+3·3
S. Montevideo	162	S. Thompson	190	-53·5	S. Agona	161	-38·5
Total 10 serotypes	17,767	Total 10 serotypes	24,618	+38·6	Total 10 serotypes	26,822	+8·9
Other 196 serotypes	2,765	Other 177 serotypes	2,860	+3·4	Other 202 serotypes	3,176	+11·0
Total	20,532	Total 187 serotypes	27,478	+33·8	Total 212 serotypes	29,998	+9·2
S. Agona	149	S. Kedougou	35	These serotypes did not appear amongst the 10 most common until the subsequent year
S. Saint Paul	101	S. Panama	180

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the number of hospital accident and emergency units planned to be closed during 1990;(2) how many hospital accident and emergency units have been closed in the last three years in England and Wales.

Average number of beds available daily: Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton district health authority
Year	Number of beds
1984	916
1985	868
1986	860
1987–88	834
1988–89	684

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the latest figures published for the incidence of salmonella food poisoning of all types; and what is the year on year percentage change for each type.

The latest figures for England and Wales published for the incidence of salmonella infection of all types appear in the PHLS-SVS Update on Salmonella Infection, Edition 3, April 1990 copies of which are available in the Library. These show that there were 3,768 human isolations of salmonella (all serotypes) in the first quarter of 1990; the comparable figure for 1989 is 3,946.There are over 2,200 serotypes of salmonella. Each year in England and Wales about 200 of these different serotypes are isolated from humans. The information requested is given in the table for the 10 most prevalent serotypes in each of the years 1987, 1988 and 1989. The remaining serotypes are isolated in small numbers only and have a negligible contribution to the burden of food poisoning in this country.

The information requested is not collected centrally. Information relating to Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the latest figures for the change in dental check-ups since the introduction of charges and prior to charges.

For England and Wales the total number of dental examinations for which fees were scheduled for payment by the Dental Practice Board was 30·5 million in 1989 by comparison with 31·2 million in 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give details of the wording of the questions asked in the survey of eye tests conducted by NOP on behalf of the Government.

The wording of the questions in the NOP sight test volume survey is as follows:

Question 1. "Have you had your eye sight tested at an opticians—not at a hospital and not at your own doctor's—since Christmas?" If yes,

Question 2. "Was this an NHS sight test or did you pay for a private sight test?"

In framing these questions, the Department took professional advice from NOP's market researchers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give details of the publicity campaign on entitlement to free National Health Service eye tests which his Department intend to launch, the launch date, duration and cost of the campaign.

Arrangements will be finalised after we have received the results of the NOP survey on sight test demand.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement of progress on the Renown management initiative.

We are now more than half way to fulfilling the Government's White Paper commitment announced in January 1989, to have all the larger acute hospitals in the resource management programme by the end of financial year 1991–92. In March 1989 we announced the names of the first 50 hospitals in England to join the programme. The names of 50 more hospitals to join the programme in this financial year were announced in Janaury. These 100 hospitals with the initial six pilot sites were joined by a further 30 announced on 2 May by my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. In this financial year the Government have made available an additional £78 million for resource management.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of births in hospitals have been stillborn in each of the last 10 years.

The percentage of births in hospitals in England and Wales which have been stillborn over the last 10 years are as follows:

Year	Stillbirths as a percentage of all births in hospital
1978	0·84
1979	0·79
1980	0·71

Year	Stillbirths as a percentage of all births in hospital
1981	0·65
1982	0·62
1983	0·57
1984	0·56
1985	0·55
1986	0·53
1987	0·49
1988	0·48

To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the practice of West German state and institutional lottery organisations of sending lottery tickets to United Kingdom citizens in breach of United Kingdom law; and if she will make a statement.

No. As my right hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Home Office explained to my hon. Friend on 8 May at column 30, the measures which we are taking to curtail the postal promotion here of lotteries based in the Federal Republic of Germany contrary to the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 already include bilateral exchanges with relevant authorities in the Federal Republic.

To ask the Prime Minister what measures Her Majesty's Government propose to place on the agenda at the forthcoming conference on security and co-operation in Europe.

Her Majesty's Government want the CSCE summit to be linked to signature of a CFE agreement and to explore the way ahead on arms control in Europe, to establish conciliation machinery within CSCE, to reaffirm the Helsinki Final Act's commitments on frontiers, to enshrine the principles of democracy and the rule of law, to encourage market-oriented economic reforms and to intensify political consultation among the 35 participants.

To ask the Prime Minister when she expects that Ministers will be able to consider a collective response to the recommendations of the joint nautical archaeology committee; and if she will make a statement.

Good progress is being made and Ministers expect to be reaching conclusions during the course of the summer.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list the total amount paid in grants by Government Departments to voluntary bodies during the financial year 1988–89; and if she will make a statement.

Government funding to voluntary organisations in 1988–89 amounted to £2·1 billion. Of this, £1,075 million was payments to housing associations; £510 million was payments under a variety of employment programmes; and £344 million went to support the provision of services and a wide range of activities and projects by a variety of voluntary organisations. The amount spent under individual departmental programmes is as follows:

	£
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	150,811
Defence	6,695,827
Education and Science	5,022,802
Employment
—Direct grants	47,324,589
—Community programme	345,000,000
—Voluntary projects programme	7,620,000
—Employment training	65,100,000
—Youth training scheme	92,000,000
Energy	896,294
Environment
—Direct grants	46,785,788
—Indirect grants total	908,932,000
including the following:
—Urban programme	68,700,000
—Housing associations and societies	809,808,000
—Countryside Commission	1,900,000
—Nature Conservancy Council	2,100,000
—Sports Council	16,174,000
Foreign and Commonwealth Office	1,196,800
Overseas Development Administration	63,024,299
Health
—Direct grants	38,050,333
—Health Education Authority	595,997
Home Office
—Direct grants	24,422,338
—Equal Opportunities Commission	40,269
—Commission for Racial Equality	1,807,670
Lord Chancellor's Department	745,000
Northern Ireland Office
—Direct grants	13,642,973
—Housing associations and societies	45,333,856
Economic Development Grants:
—Action for community employment	41,500,000
—Community workshops	17,152,378
—Community volunteer scheme	798,000
—Youth community project	785,688
—Youth Help	753,313
—Sports Council for Northern Ireland	392,475
Scottish Office
—Direct grants	14,771,542
—Urban programme	27,729,000
—Housing associations and societies	151,000,000
—Countryside Commission for Scotland
	695,692
—Highlands and Islands Development Board
	878,480
—Sports Council for Scotland	1,417,969
Social Security	3,782,736
Trade and Industry	9,576,000
Transport	608,000
Welsh Office
—Direct grants	6,176,552
—Urban programme	2,840,000
—Joint finance	330,000
—Housing associations and societies	69,040,000
—Sports Council for Wales	1,184,977
Grand total	2,065,800,448

Direct grants, other than those under employment programmes and to housing associations and societies, have increased by 17·5 per cent. over the level of provision in 1987–88. In the period between 1979–80 and 1988–89 the level of this Government support for voluntary bodies has risen by 110 per cent. in real terms.I am placing in the Library of the House a list of voluntary bodies funded by Government in 1988–89, other than those funded under employment and housing programmes and the urban programme or via non-departmental public bodies.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will give the energy consumption, broken down by fuel, of the buildings occupied by the Cabinet Office for the latest year available in units of consumption, kilowatt hours, therms and litres.

[holding answer 10 May 1990]: Comprehensive energy consumption figures in the form requested by the hon. Member for each of the buildings occupied by the Cabinet Office are not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on how many occasions in each of the last five years article 36 has been used by other European Community states, and by which countries, to ban imports from the United Kingdom.

This information is not available. There is no general requirement under the treaty of Rome for EC member states to notify the European Commission of prohibitions or restrictions on imports justified on the grounds specified in article 36 of the treaty of Rome. Prohibitions or restrictions on the free movement of goods within the Community normally come to light as a result of complaints by the firms or individuals affected by them. The European Commission examines over a thousand such cases each year, although by no means all of them relate to prohibitions or restrictions justified under article 36 itself.For their part, the Government are keen to promote free movement of goods throughout the Community, and to that end has set up a single market compliance unit within the Department of Trade and Industry. The compliance unit stands ready to pursue vigorously any well-founded complaints about prohibitions or restrictions elsewhere in the Community which affect import from the United Kingdom. In some cases, however, we would accept that certain prohibitions or restrictions, such as those on pornography, are fully justified under article 36 and we would not therefore press for their removal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will describe the manner in which his Department scrutinises the annual report and accounts published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

There is no requirement for the institute to submit its annual report and accounts to my Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consideration he has given to the public interest issues raised by the purchase of (a) Bryanston Insurance and (b) Trident by Mr. Grant Fowler.

Before Trinity Insurance (formerly Trident) and Bryanston Insurance were purchased by Mr. Grant Fowler and companies associated with or controlled by him, prior notice was served on the Department as required by section 61 of the Insurance Companies Act 1982. The Department, in deciding not to object, took fully into account the interests of policyholders.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations his Department has received in relation to the conduct of Bryanston Insurance and the payment of claims over the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has made to the Hong Kong Government concerning the allocation of contracts for the construction of a new airport in Hong Kong.

The award of contracts for the construction of the new airport in Hong Kong is a matter for the Hong Kong Government.United Kingdom firms have outstanding capabilities in this sector. The Hong Kong authorities are well aware of this.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has received any request for assistance from British companies in their submission of tenders to the Hong Kong Government for the new Hong Kong airport.

My Department is fully supporting the efforts of British companies pursuing this project, but particular approaches by companies are regarded as confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about his Department's decision not to participate in the Government's supply index.

Two of the Department's research establishments were early participants in this scheme but found that in practice the contents of the index did not meet their requirements and the benefits were at best marginal. A more targeted modular version of the scheme has been drawn up and is currently under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what steps he has taken to assure himself that written representations to the Accounting Standards Board are placed on public record;

None. These are matters which the Financial Reporting Council and the proposed Accounting Standards Board will no doubt consider.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he proposes to take to inform himself and the House if and when members of accountancy firms criticised in reports by his Department's inspectors are appointed to membership of working parties set up by the Accounting Standards Board.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he proposes to make it his policy that members of the Accounting Standards Board sever links with accountancy firms during their term of office.

[holding answer 8 May 1990]: The terms of appointment of members of the proposed Accounting Standards Board will be a matter for the Financial Reporting Council. It is envisaged that most of the members of the Board will serve on a part-time basis and it would therefore be both unreasonable and impracticable to require members of the board to sever links with the organisations from which they are drawn.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will place a copy of any guidelines that govern potential conflicts of interest between members of the Accounting Standards Board and other firms, partnerships or businesses in the Library.

[holding answer 8 May 1990]: Detailed procedures for dealing with matters of this kind have yet to be determined, but I am sure that the Finance Reporting Council and the proposed Accounting Standards Board will be conscious of the desirability of the greatest possible openness in such matters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether any non-accountants will be represented on the Accounting Standards Board.

[holding answer 8 May 1990]: I understand that the composition of the proposed Accounting Standards Board has yet to be decided.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that the Accounting Standards Board attends to the users and readers of both the conventional and the short corporate reports created under the Companies Act 1989;

[holding answer 8 May 1990]: The ASB does not yet exist but I am sure that the Financial Reporting Council and the chairman designate of the board will have taken note of the hon. Member's question and will consider the issue he addresses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the deliberations of the Accounting Standards Board will be in public; and what guidance he has offered on this point.

[holding answer 8 May 1990]: The procedural arrangements of the proposed Accounting Standards Board will be a matter for the board to decide. I am sure that the board will be fully conscious of the need to maximise public understanding of and involvement in its work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether he will make a statement on the collapse of Atlantic Computers;(2) how and when his Department became aware of the financial difficulties at Atlantic Computers and British and Commonwealth Holdings;(3) whether the Government will offer any financial aid to British and Commonwealth Holdings.

[holding answer 8 May 1990]: My Department became aware of financial difficulties at Atlantic Computers when it was announced early on 17 April that administrators had been appointed by British Commonwealth Holdings. I have no plans to offer financial aid.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make it his policy to compile an annual register of arms exporters to be placed in the Library and made available outside the House.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will state the number of households and numbers of houses in Wales and the ratio between each at the end of each of the five-year periods for the last 30 years.

The available information is as follows:

	Estimated number of households (000's)	Estimate stock of dwellings (000's)	Households as percentage of stock
1961	804	824	97·6
1966	835	897	93·1
1971	910	967	94·1

	Estimated number of households (000's)	Estimate stock of dwellings (000's)	Households as percentage of stock
1976	959	1,029	93·2
1981	1,012	1,089	92·9
1986	1,049	1,128	93·0
1989	1,078	1,159	93·0

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the numbers of the population and the numbers of habitable rooms in Wales and the ratio between each at the end of each of the five-year periods for the last 30 years.

The available information is as follows:

Year	Population1	Number of rooms2 3	Persons per room
1961	2,567,900	4,125,575	0·62
1966	2,594,390	4,717,230	0·55
1971	2,647,015	4,769,835	0·55
1981	2,727,220	5,287,914	0·52

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Cardiff, North, Official Report, column 20, of 26 March, if he will now state in the Official Report for each county and district council in Wales (a) the current community charge, (b) the equivalent of raising the same sum by the rating system and (c) the increase for each of those equivalent rates over last year's rates.

I wrote to my hon. Friend on 3 May 1990 in response to his original question. The table placed in the House of Commons Library contained the figures that he has requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent to date to promote his housing flexi-ownership scheme.

The Department has provided an explanatory booklet, a leaflet and application forms at a cost of some £9,896 and the Development Board for Rural Wales, who administer the scheme, have incurred costs of between £150 and £200, mainly on the delivery of a letter from my right hon. Friend to the tenants.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what are the implications of paragraph 40 of annex A of his letter of 20 April sent by P. R. Gregory to the general managers of Gwynedd health authority for that authority's consideration of further hospital closure programmes; and if he will make a statement;(2) if he will make a statement on paragraph 10 of annex A of his letter sent by P.R. Gregory of his Department to the general manager of Gwynedd health authority concerning changing circumstances causing a delayed implementation of plans for improved provisions of community hospitals in the county; and what circumstances caused this change of policy;(3) if he will take steps to assess the adequacy of arrangements made by general practitioners in Caernarfon for the transfer to them of responsibility for aspects of casualty cover following the proposed closure of Caernarfon cottage hospital before agreeing to the final closure; and if he will make a statement.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what potential deficit Gwynedd health authority has identified for the current financial year; and if he will make a statement.

As noted in my reply to the hon. Gentleman of 9 May, the Gwynedd health authority has identified a deficit of some £4 million on its budget requirements for 1990–91 by comparison with its notified revenue cash allocation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether the non-dental services at the cottage hospital, Caernarfon may be deemed to be closed prior to the three conditions laid down by the Welsh Office being met.

My right hon. Friend would have no objection to Gwynedd health authority closing the non-dental services at the cottage hospital prior to meeting the three conditions relating to dental services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his most up-to-date estimate of the out-turn cost of (a) the A55 Conwy crossing project and (b) its adjoining westward extension to Penry-Clip; and what is his best estimate of the overspend on these contracts.

The estimated total out-turn costs for the A55 Conwy crossing and Pen-y-Clip schemes, as set out in the Welsh Office commentary on public expenditure in Wales 1990–91 to 1992–93, are £170·8 million and £85·3 million respectively. These estimates are in line with expectations at the time the contracts were let.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to his answer of 8 May what penalty clause will be triggered or exacted from IBM UK in request of the computerised management information system ordered in August 1986 for delivery in April 1987 being three years late on stream.

This matter has been settled. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave him on 8 May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he contemplates awarding any further contracts in respect of computerised financial management systems for his Department.

There are no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 8 May, what further payment was made to IBM UK in January for the computerised finance system for his Department.

A total of £102,827 was paid to IBM UK Ltd. in January 1990 for goods and services provided in accordance with the terms of the contract between my Department and the company.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he proposes to respond to the request by Clwyd county council for funding of a social work support team following the flood disaster on the north Wales coast; and if he will make a statement.

Clwyd county council's request for financial assistance towards a social work support team has been discussed with the director of social services. The council is aware that expenditure on social services incurred in dealing with the emergency falls to be considered under the Bellwin arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, pursuant to his answer of 2 May to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Mr. Michie), Official Report, column 564, Ministers are considering recycling confiscated money from drug traffickers towards schemes designed to reduce demand run under the auspices of local health authorities.

Ministers are still considering the detailed arrangements for the proposed scheme and how priorities might best be determined between the possible candidates for the use of such monies.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what new initiatives are being pursued in an effort to prevent the laundering of illegal drug profits by reputable banks and financial institutions in the United Kingdom.

The Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986 created a criminal offence of money laundering, punishable by up to 14 years' imprisonment. The Government recently extended the scope of this offence through new provisions contained in the Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990. The new Act will enable us to ratify the United Nations convention against illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances later this year. It also introduced a new power to prevent evasion of the controls on money laundering by those attempting to import or export the proceeds of drug trafficking as cash. The Act meets a number of specific proposals in the recent Home Affairs Committee report on Drug Trafficking and Related Serious Crime. In response to a further recommendation by the Committee the Government has set up a working party to consider how the provisions on the confiscation of drug traffickers' assets have worked since their introduction, and to identify any changes to the law that may be necessary.In addition to this, we are involved in a number of other initiatives, both domestically and internationally, aimed at ensuring that the measures taken to combat money laundering are as effective as possible.On 19 April my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the publication of the report of the financial action task force on money laundering, a copy of which is in the Library. The United Kingdom were active contributors to the work of the task force; the priority is now on the implementation of its recommendations. In the light of the report a working group has been established, bringing together representatives of banks, building societies and the enforcement agencies, under the chairmanship of the Bank of England, to take forward those recommendations of the task force which relate to banks and building societies.We are seeking to negotiate further international agreements under the 1986 Act to trace, freeze and confiscate the proceeds of drug trafficking. Thirteen such agreements or arrangements have already been concluded. That with the United States of America came into force in April 1989; an Order in Council currently before Parliament will designate the remaining countries with whom agreements of arrangements have already been made, together with the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.Within Europe, the United Kingdom is involved in developing a draft Council of Europe convention on tracing, freezing and confiscating the proceeds of crime. The European Commission has recently published a draft directive on money laundering, and the United Kingdom looks forward to taking an active part in its consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women from Nigeria and Colombia have been convicted for drug smuggling offences in the last five years.

The number of women convicted of unlawful import or export of controlled drugs whose country of birth was recorded as Nigeria and Colombia was as follows:

United Kingdom
Number of women
Country of birth	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988
Nigeria	53	12	23	54	42
Colombia	6	3	2	6	4

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in each of the financial years 1987–88, 1988–89 and 1989–90, how many motorists the Crown prosecution service prosecuted who were acquitted because of a Magill type defence; and how much such cases cost to (a) the Crown prosecution service, (b) the legal aid fund, (c) central funds and (d) the magistrates court.

The information requested is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the number of serious incidents in prisons in England and Wales for 1990 to date.

The following numbers of incidents are recorded as having been reported by prison service establishments between 1 January and 8 May 1990 under the broad headings shown, excluding incidents under headings categorised as minor:

	Number
Escapes	32
Attempted escapes	4
Escapes from escort	35
Attempted escapes from escort	3
Recapture/surrender of escaped inmates	35
Assaults—on staff	24
—on inmates	57
—on others	6
Deaths of inmates believed to be suicide	14
Other deaths of inmates	13
Deaths of staff	2
Fires causing personal injury, or serious and/or extensive damage to property	7
Acts of concerted indiscipline	48
Barricade incidents	7
Rooftop demonstrations	21
Food refusals	28
Key/lock compromises	4
Hostage incidents	8
Bomb threats/explosions	17
Other miscellaneous incidents	25

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Walsall, North of 6 March, 12 March and 22 March, regarding the concessionary television licence fee.

I hope to be able to reply to all three letters shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the disruption to traffic caused by the power cut in west London on the morning of 8 May.

I understand from the commissioner that no significant additional traffic disruption was caused in west London by the power cut on 8 May.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average cost of electronic tagging per offender.

The total cost of the electronic monitoring trials to date is £602,000 and the number of defendants monitored has been 50. But the former figure includes the cost of setting up three different schemes on an experimental basis and the special production of the different equipment needed. It would not be sensible to take the figure yielded by dividing the latter figure into the former as a realistic average cost for the use of electronic monitoring on a larger scale. The evaluation of the trials now being prepared will attempt to identify the factors which ought to be counted for longer-term cost purposes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) service men and (b) civilian employees are based in establishments situated in (i) the former county of Pembroke, (ii) Dyfed and (iii) Wales.

The total numbers of military and civilian personnel in the areas specified, as at 1 January 1990, are as follows:

	Service	Civilian	Total
Former county of Pembroke	763	984·5	1,747·5
Dyfed	790	1,638·5	2,428·5
Wales	5,403	5,395·5	10,798·5

The figures for the former county of Pembroke cover establishments in the Preseli and South Pembrokeshire local authority areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to what extent he makes multiple use of defence lands.

The Ministry of Defence owns or leases 241,000 hectares, of which 110,000 hectares are let to tenants for agricultural use. This is in line with the Department's policy of allowing public access to our land and facilities for recreation, social or commercial purposes wherever this is consistent with operational, safety and security requirements and does not conflict with the interests of tenants or have a detrimental effect on local amenities and the environment.