To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the refusal of the French Government to obey the instruction of the European Economic Community Commission on the reclaiming of substantial sums provided to messrs Renault; and if she will make a statement.

[holding reply 22 May 1990]: I understand that the Commission made a decision on this case yesterday. I do not know what the considered response of the French Government will be. We will continue to watch the case closely.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has made any assessment of the fire risk among the homeless people living in cardboard boxes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has conducted any studies on the risk of fire to people living in cardboard boxes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to deal with the fire risk in cardboard cities.

Assessment of all fire risks is a matter for the professional judgment of chief fire officers. Their contingency plans take into account the risk presented by makeshift habitations and operational arrangements are adjusted to meet any new circumstances.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the full time and part time public appointments for which he is responsible, together with the salary and the date when the appointment is due for renewal.

The available information is published by the Cabinet Office in "Public Bodies 1989", a copy of which is in the Library. The dates when these appointments are due for renewal are subject to change, and are not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how may staff are employed by his Department; and what proportion of them are employed in each of the standard regions.

The table below sets out Home Office staff by region as at 18 May 1990:

	Numbers	Per cent
London region	11,125	26·6
Rest of South-East	7,684	18·3
South-West	2,981	7·1
East Anglia	1,980	4·7
East Midlands	3,086	7·4
West Midlands	3,116	7·4
North-West	4,936	11·8
Yorkshire/Humberside	3,528	8·4
North	2,202	5·3
Wales	943	2·3
Northern Ireland	48	0·1
Scotland	239	0·6
Total	41,868	100

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any changes will be made to the Charity Commission cash limit and running cost limit for 1990–91.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the revised estimate, the cash limit for the Charity Commission's vote (class IX, vote 5) has been reduced by £4 million from £18,302,000 to £14,302,000. This is the result of a new office building being acquired by lease rather than by freehold purchase, as originally proposed. The Commission's running costs limit has been increased by £10,000 from £13,404,000 to £13,414,000. The increase represents part of the cost of a management consultant appointed to co-ordinate a comprehensive programme of change within the Commission. The full cost will be recouped by a contribution from the private sector and by other offsetting savings.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the payment of preliminary expenses in respect of the sale of the Independent Broadcasting Authority transmissions system is being financed.

Parliamentary approval for this service has been sought in the supply estimates for 1990–91. Pending that approval urgent and necessary expenditure estimated at £281,000 will be met by a repayable advance from the contingencies fund.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to introduce statutory minimum training standards for employees of private security firms; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend has no such plans at present. As part of the Training Agency standards programme, representatives from the security industry and users of security industry services are working together to develop training standards and related national vocational qualifications. In addition, the British Standards Institute is developing a British standard code of practice for the operation and management of manned security services, which will include and specify requirements for the training of staff.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the review of the academic research into the links between pornography and sexual crime, announced in January, has been completed; and when he expects that the review will be published.

Good progress is being made. We hope the report will be published in the autumn.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list by year for the last 10 years and by (a) sex and (b) ethnic group the number of children committed under section 53; and if he will make a statement.(2) if he will list by year for the last 12 months for which he has figures and by

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the ethnic origin of those prisoners who died at prison service establishments between 1 January 1989 and 31 March 1990.

Between 1 January 1989 and 31 March 1990, 103 inmates died at prison service establishments. Their ethnic origin was as follows:

Numbers
White	89
West Indian	7
Indian	3
Pakistani	2
African	2

The number of defendants ordered to be detained under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 is given in table A below for the years 1979 to 1988. Data are not available by ethnic origin for orders made by the court. However, for recent years ethnic origin is recorded for receptions to prison service establishments. An analysis for receptions of offenders detained under section 53 is given in table B. To produce such tables for earlier years would involve disproportionate cost.

Table A
Defendants ordered to be detained under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 England and Wales
Year	Males	Females
1979	75	4
1980	80	5
1981	82	6
1982	112	2
1983	84	1
1984	116	5
1985	164	8
1986	166	6
1987	169	4
1988	188	11

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many scientific staff are employed at the Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory; and how many were employed at the laboratory in each of the preceding three years.

The information requested is shown in the table:

	Scientific staff employed
30 April 1987	206
30 April 1988	203
30 April 1989	207
30 April 1990	215

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding outlawing display and use of the orange badge by anyone other than the holder of the badge.

My right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State met a delegation from the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, led by the right hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South (Mr. Ashley), on 24 April to discuss this subject. We are considering carefully the representations which were made at the meeting.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for the counties of Yorkshire and Humberside for the latest date for which he has figures (a) the police stations that are holding inmates from prisons because of a shortage of detention space, (b) the number they are holding and (c) from which prison they were transferred.

On Friday 18 May 1990 there were 155 prisoners held in police stations in Yorkshire. No prisoners were held in Humberside police stations. Not all of these currently held in police stations were at Her Majesty's prison Manchester at the time of the disturbance, but they would have been accommodated in Manchester prison but for the loss of accommodation there.Details of the number of prisoners held in each police station in Yorkshire are as follows:

Police Station	Number of Prisoners
Holmfirth	6
Morley	7
Halifax	13
Weetwood	5
South Kirby	8
Huddersfield	13
Dewsbury	10
Sheffield	29
Doncaster	23
Barnsley	14
Rotherham	16
York	11

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of electronically tagged offenders have breached the conditions of their sentence; and if he will make a statement.

The electronic monitoring trials involved defendants on bail and not sentenced offenders. As at 16 May the number of defendants who have breached their conditions of bail was as follows:

Total Monitored	Breaches
50	28

Electronic monitoring of itself cannot prevent breaches of bail, which are also committed by defendants on bail subject to other conditions, but it does enable even minor breaches to be swiftly detected and recorded.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by individual police force in the United Kingdom, how many officers are authorized to carry firearms on routine patrols while (a) on foot, (b) in a patrol vehicle, (c) horse mounted, (d) in the air and (e) on other patrol.

Details of the number of authorised firearms police officers in England and Wales on 31 December 1989—the latest date for which information is readily available—is contained in the table.

Numbers of authorised firearms officers by force area as at 31 December 1989
Number
Avon and Somerset	110
Bedfordshire	37
Cambridgeshire	45
Cheshire	95
Cleveland	66
City of London	101
Cumbria	125
Derbyshire	98
Devon and Cornwall	141
Dorset	68
Durham	84
Essex	155
Gloucestershire	66
Greater Manchester	194
Hampshire	126
Hertfordshire	91
Humberside	92
Kent	193
Lancashire	191
Leicestershire	100
Lincolnshire	86
Merseyside	135
Metropolitan	2,552
Norfolk	110
Northamptonshire	70
Northumbria	159
North Yorkshire	183
Nottinghamshire	126
South Yorkshire	153
Staffordshire	55
Suffolk	100
Surrey	65
Sussex	198
Thames Valley	264
Warwickshire	55
West Mercia	103
West Midlands	140
West Yorkshire	185
Wiltshire	96
Dyfed Powys	46
Gwent	40
North Wales	67
South Wales	145
Total England and Wales	7,311

The issue of a firearm to an authorised firearms officer requires the further authority of a senior officer. This is given only where there is reason to suppose that the officer may have to face a person who is armed or otherwise so dangerous that he could not safely be restrained without the use of firearms; or for the destruction of dangerous animals.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans the Government have to introduce legislation to remove restrictions on small shopkeepers' opening hours; and if he will make a statement.

So long as opinions differ widely on the subject of Sunday trading, the Government have no plans for early legislation to reform the Shops Act 1950.

To ask the hon. Member for Berwick upon Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to improve the machinery for the provision of services to hon. Members and the House.

The House of Commons Commission has decided to set up a review to examine whether the responsibilities for the management of the House and its facilities, at present divided between itself, the Select Committee on House of Commons (Services), the Department of the Environment and the Leader of the House, can be brought together with a view to ensuring that so far as possible there is a co-ordinated management and decision-taking structure under the control of the House, which can adequately respond to Members' needs and demands for services, and determine priorities between them.Sir Robin Ibbs KBE has been invited to undertake this work and in due course to advise the Commission of his recommendations for change. Members either individually or collectively through the various House Committees and other representative bodies will be consulted during the course of Sir Robin's study, and will be able to make individual representations to him.The House will be advised of the outcome of this review, and of any organisational proposals arising therefrom, after Sir Robin Ibbs has tendered his advice to the Commission.

To ask the Lord President of the Council how many free-range eggs are consumed in the House each week on average; and if he will make a statement.

An average of 10,000 eggs, all of which are free range, are consumed in the House each week.

To ask the Lord President of the Council how many representations he has received from hon. and right hon. Members in the past 12 months concerning the availability of vegetarian and vegan food in the House; and if he will make a statement.

The Refreshment Department has received no requests from Members in respect of the availability of vegetarian and vegan food. Vegetarian dishes are, however, provided on the menus of all outlets in the House; and it is understood that the Refreshment Department responds sympathetically to specific requests for other specialised menus.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has yet made a decision on whether to create authorised practitioners and licensed conveyancers in Northern Ireland along the lines laid down in the Administration of Justice Act and the Courts and Legal Services Bill in England and Wales; and whether he will make a statement.

We are considering the future framework for legal services in Northern Ireland, including the provision of conveyancing, in consultation with my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor. I expect that a policy paper for Northern Ireland will be published in the autumn.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what is the number and percentage of free school meals provided; and if he will make a statement;(2) how many and what percentage of children took school meals in 1989; and if he will make a statement;(3) what is the average price of a school meal; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 22 May 1990]: At the annual census on a day in October 1989, 155,769 pupils took school meals, 47 per cent. of those present. Of the meals taken 74,416, 48 per cent., were free. The average charge for a fixed-priced school meal is 80p.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date his Department received the report of the Stevens inquiry.

[holding answer 21 May 1990]: The Chief Constable of the RUC made a copy of the report available to officials in my Department on 11 April 1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contributions, for each of the years 1988, 1989 and 1990 have been made to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the United Nations Population Fund and the World Health Organisation's special programme on human reproduction.

The following contributions have been made:

£'000
	1988	1989	19901
IPPF	6,000	6,897	7,399
UNFPA	5,250	5,500	6,000
WHO/HRP	2,200	2,200	2,300
Total	13,450	14,597	15,699
1 Pledged contribution.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total expenditure on population activities for each of the years 1989 and 1990; and what percentage this represents of total gross public expenditure on aid for each of the years 1989 and 1990.

In 1989, £17·275 million was spent on population activities: this figure represents 1 per cent. of total gross public expenditure on aid. Figures for 1990 are not yet available. In addition, aid spending on other programmes, including health care and education, especially that benefiting women, helps create the conditions for slowing down the rapid rate of population growth.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial support has been offered to the Government of the Philippines to build a camp for refugees from Vietnam.

We have committed £3 million from the overseas aid programme, within the context of the comprehensive plan of action for dealing with Vietnamese refugees, towards the costs of extending an existing camp at Bataan in the Philippines. This facility, which is being supervised by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, is intended to be used as a processing centre for Vietnamese from Hong Kong who are classified as refugees and are en route to resettlement in other countries. Other donors are also expected to contribute towards its costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes have been made in the cash limit for expenditure by the Overseas Development Administration in 1990–91.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit on the overseas aid vote (class II, vote 5) will be increased by £30,000,000 from £1,441,654,000 to £1,471,654,000. As I announced on 5 April at column 734, the increase enables provision to be taken for a pledge in support of Zambia's economic reform programme and for an increase in the external financing limit of the Commonwealth Development Corporation. The increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the full and part time public appointments for which he is responsible, together with the salary and the date when each appointment is due for renewal.

This information has been provided by the Department to the Women's National Commission for its directory "Women in Public Appointments". The directory is to be published next month and a copy will then be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many staff are employed by his Department; and what proportion of them are employed in each of the standard regions.

This information is available in "Civil Service Statistics 1988–89, table 3" a copy of which is in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has, by year for the last 10 years and by local education authority, on the percentage of pupils leaving school who have literacy problems.

The Department does not collect statistics on pupils leaving school with literacy problems. The attached tables show, for all LEAs in the regions and the larger LEAs individually, for three years, the percentage of pupils leaving school without a graded result in English.

Maintained schools in England Percentage of school leavers with no graded result in English
LEAs	1977–78	1982–83	1987–88
Avon	16·3	11·9	13·2
Bedfordshire	22·2	18·2	15·0
Berkshire	17·7	10·5	10·7
Birmingham	28·6	23·0	20·5
Bolton	29·1	25·4	14·7
Bradford	32·1	23·3	28·5
Buckinghamshire	15·1	8·3	10·4
Cambridgeshire	22·9	17·2	10·3
Cheshire	22·8	18·7	13·7
Cleveland	18·5	15·2	19·4
Cornwall'	22·8	13·0	14·9
Coventry	20·8	18·0	16·1
Cumbria	17·3	15·7	13·5
Derbyshire	23·3	16·1	14·7
Devon	21·7	12·2	11·3
Doncaster	24·2	21·2	21·0
Dorset	18·1	10·7	9·8
Dudley	25·7	13·6	12·1
Durham	20·4	19·0	17·6
East Sussex	20·3	17·2	11·8
Essex	19·6	15·0	13·5
Gloucestershire	20·3	11·6	11·3
Hampshire	20·7	12·1	12·4
Hereford and Worcester	21·5	13·5	12·7
Hertfordshire	15·5	14·4	14·6
Humberside	23·5	20·3	14·5
Inner London	31·6	27·3	28·0
Kent	22·1	12·8	15·6
Kirklees	23·2	15·9	21·0
Lancashire	23·3	19·8	18·3
Leeds	24·2	17·7	20·1
Leicestershire	25·5	18·6	18·1
Lincolnshire	18·5	11·7	13·8
Liverpool	27·9	26·8	34·2
Manchester	28·2	32·1	39·1
Norfolk	27·4	22·1	19·1
North Yorkshire	18·0	14·0	14·9
Northamptonshire	23·6	13·0	17·1
Northumberland	15·6	8·1	12·7
Nottinghamshire	28·1	14·3	13·0
Oxfordshire	19·3	9·6	11·8
Rotherham	23·8	18·6	17·1
Sandwell	35·1	23·4	21·5
Sefton	18·9	17·3	19·6
Sheffield	13·8	17·1	17·0
Shropshire	25·2	13·6	14·7
Somerset	24·8	13·6	8·9
Staffordshire	32·8	18·0	15·9
Stockport	22·8	15·6	15·6
Suffolk	28·6	18·9	13·4
Sunderland	21·4	14·1	19·0
Surrey	16·1	10·1	9·3
Wakefield	30·8	23·8	21·5
Walsall	33·1	20·7	19·9
Warwickshire	20·2	9·2	14·2

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last met the chairman of British Rail to discuss issues regarding rail transportation in Britain and the implications of 1992; and if he will make a statement.

I met the chairman of British Rail on 22 May, when we discussed a variety of railway matters. The single market will present opportunities for rail in Europe, and the Government support policy initiatives by the Commission to increase the competitiveness of the railways.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff are employed by his Department; and what proportion of them are employed in each of the standard regions.

16,560 staff are employed by the Department of Transport and its executive agencies. The regional breakdown of this total is as follows:

Numbers
London area	3,810
South East	2,270
South West	1,180
East Anglia	320
East Midlands	560
West Midlands	810
North West	860
Yorkshire and Humberside	700
Northern	440
Scotland	750
Wales	4,830
Northern Ireland	30
	16,560
Figures derived from computerised staff records and rounded to nearest 10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the full-time and part-time appointments for which he is responsible, together with the salary and the date when the appointment is due for renewal.

The majority of the appointments for which my right hon. Friend is responsible are listed in either "Public Bodies 1989" published by HMSO or "Women into Public Appointments" produced by the Women's National Commission. A copy of the former is available in the Library of the House, and an up-to-date version of the latter will be available there in June. The appointments which are not listed in either document are:

• Acting conservator of the River Mersey (£6,755 per annum).
• Delegate to the Central Rhine Commission (unpaid).
• Chairman and members of the honorary medical advisory panel on driving and diabetes (unpaid).
• Chairman and members of the honorary medical advisory panel for driving and disorders of the nervous system (unpaid).
• Chairman and members of the honorary medical advisory panel on driving and cardiovascular disorders (unpaid).

The further information sought by the hon. Member could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department intends to replace the use of peat with refuse-derived humus in major landscaping projects.

My Department is undertaking trials with alternatives to peat for tree planting. Refuse-based products have so far been rejected because of contamination. If a better formulation can be offered my Department will test it.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many tonnes of peat his Department uses in landscaping programmes each year;(2) how many tons of peat his Department uses each year.

My Department used 7,500 tonnes of peat-based composts in connection with tree and shrub planting in the 1989–90 planting season.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he received Eurorail's proposals for a high speed channel tunnel rail link; and when he proposes to publish his response to them.

A report was received on 2 April on the work Eurorail and British Rail have done together since November 1989, together with financial projections for a joint venture to finance, own and operate international rail passenger services. My right hon. Friend received a presentation from BR and Eurorail on 19 April. The proposals are complex and require careful consideration, but I hope that an announcement can be made shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his reply of 17 May, which Ministers currently in his Department visited the TGV Atlantique route in France; and what were the dates of their visits.

My hon. Friend the Minister for Roads and Traffic visited the TGV Atlantique on 4 April 1990. My hon. Friend the then Minister for Public Transport, now the Minister for Local Government and Inner cities, visited the project on 20 June 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent reports he has received as to the impact of deregulation on the use of buses.

The transport and road research laboratory have produced a wide range of reports on the impact of bus deregulation, copies of which are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what studies his Department has carried out on the effect of bus deregulation in town centres affected by traffic congestion.

Immediately after deregulation, the tranport and road research laboratory carried out an extensive research programme into the effects of deregulation. Copies of its reports are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to be able to respond to the report "South Essex Transport—A Preliminary Report," sent to him by the hon. Member for Billericay in April.

I am considering the report and will write to the hon. Member shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will arrange for a public inquiry into aviation authorities and passenger safety following investigations in the United States regarding the bombing of Pan Am flight 103.

The disaster itself is already the subject of a major police investigation, which covers the handling of the flight at Heathrow, including the aviation security aspects. The air accident investigation branch is investigating the immediate cause of the crash, and the Lord Advocate has announced that it is his view that a fatal accident inquiry should be held into the circumstances of the Lockerbie disaster deaths. In such an inquiry the sheriff is required to make findings as to the cause of the accident and any reasonable precautions whereby the deaths and accident might have been avoided, so far as they have been established to his satisfaction. Since the disaster, the Department has carried out a thorough review of its aviation security requirements, and a number of far-reaching improvements have been introduced or are in train. In addition the Transport Select Committee has examined airport security in the light of the disaster and published a very full report. In the circumstances, I do not consider any further inquiry to be necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those ports which in 1989 were used for the import or export of radioactive material.

The Department does not collect data of the kind requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether passenger ferries are permitted to carry nuclear fuel, and if he will make a statement.

The carriage of spent nuclear fuel on passenger ferries is permitted within the conditions prescribed for such transport in the international maritime dangerous goods code.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many oil-carrying vessels are not registered in a state which is a signatory to the international convention on civil liability for oil pollution damage, navigate the English channel each year.

There are no mandatory requirements for oil tankers to report their passage through the English Channel to United Kingdom authorities; the information requested is not therefore available. However, if a laden tanker not registered in a state signatory to the civil liability convention spills oil and causes damage to the United Kingdom or United Kingdom interests, compensation for pollution, including clean-up costs, can be obtained under the convention on the establishment of an international fund for compensation for oil pollution damage 1971 and the 1976 protocol thereto, to which the United Kingdom is a signatory. This compensation fund is financed by the major oil importers in member states.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his Department's assessment of the need and urgency of (a) new underground lines and (b) extension of existing lines to solve peak hour passenger congestion in London.

I refer the hon. Member to the report of the central London rail study published in January 1989, a copy of which is in the Library, and to the reply my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) on 16 November 1989, concerning the central and east London rail studies, at columns 398–99.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list for each of the last 10 years the number of acres of rural land that has been lost to road schemes.

I regret that the information requested cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the accident rate per lorry mile travelled within the United Kingdom.

In 1988, goods vehicles with unladen weight of 1·5 tonnes or more were involved in 13,219 accidents involving personal injury in the United Kingdom. Total traffic for the same class of vehicle was around 27·4 billion vehicle-kilometres, giving a rate of roughly one injury accident for every 2 million vehicle-kilometres. Information on non-injury accidents is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department is currently conducting, or intends to conduct, into the use of daytime motorcycle headlights as a conspicuity aid.

[holding answer 21 May 1990]: The transport and road research laboratory has conducted a considerable amount of research into motor cycle conspicuity, with regard to both running lights, and to the riders' clothing. The results of this research have been reported in TRRL report LR1137 and, most recently, in a paper to the 1990 Society of Automobile Engineers conference.I am sending a copy to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his Department's responsibilities in respect of the environmental protection of Antarctica.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible for environmental aspects of the Antarctic treaty system. These include the agreed measures for the conservation of Antarctic fauna and flora, the convention for the conservation of Antarctic seals, the convention for the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources, the convention on the regulation of Antarctic mineral resource activities and a large number of recommendations adopted under the Antarctic treaty.

Public body	Number of appointments	Full/part time	Salary	Renewal date
Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine	2	Part-time	Nil	March 1992
Imperial War Museum (Board of Trustees)	2	Part-time	Nil	1991 and 1993
British Council Board	2	Part-time	Nil	Indefinite
Imperial College of Science and Technology (Governing Body)	1	Part-time	Nil	Permanent
Great Britain China Centre	1	Part-time	Nil	Permanent
Great Britain East Europe Centre	1	Part-time	Nil	Permanent
Great Britain USSR Association	1	Part-time	Nil	Permanent Observer Status
Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission	10	Part-time	Nil	Various dates between October 1990 and February 1992
Universities China Committee	1	Part-time	Nil	Permanent
School of Oriental and African Studies (Governing Body)	3	Part-time	Nil	1 August 1991, 2 August 1995

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations he has had with the East German authorities to enable British passport holders to visit East Germany without the necessity of obtaining a visa.

Officials are now negotiating the text of a reciprocal visa abolition agreement with the embassy of the German Democratic Republic.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff are employed by his Department; and what proportion of them are employed in each of the standard regions.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (diplomatic wing and ODA) has 7,853 staff on its establishment. Of these, 5,109 are employed in the United Kingdom and 2,744 overseas.The United Kingdom staff are divided between the south-east (including London) 4,582, and Scotland 527. Of the staff in the south-east, approximately 1,600 work outside inner London.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the full-time and part-time public appointments for which he is responsible, together with the salary and the date when each appointment is due for renewal.

The most recent information available for public appointments for which the diplomatic and aid wings of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are responsible is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the outstanding points in the second report of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Session 1988–89, on Hong Kong.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the outstanding points in the second report of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Hong Kong.

We will publish our further observations on the report at 1530 hours on 23 May 1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made in implementing the Foreign Compensation (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) (Distribution) Order 1987.

The Foreign Compensation Commission, which has been assisted in the performance of administrative tasks by Price Waterhouse, will on 1 June begin making final payments from the Russian fund amounting to approximately £28·2 million, representing 24·78 per cent. of the value assigned to a claim, to successful claimants against the fund. Taking into account the two previous interim payments, the total sum paid to claimants from the fund will amount to approximately £62·4 million, representing 54·78 per cent. of the assessed value of successful claims. The disbursements commencing on 1 June will exhaust the balance in the fund.

To ask the Minister for the civil service if he has made any changes in civil service departmental procedures on personal files held on members of staff of staff as a result of the Colin Wallace affair.

No.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what was the level of interchange between the civil service and outside organisations in 1989.

My Department's report on the interchange of staff between the civil service and other organisations in 1989 shows that the number of long-term secondments—that is, those of at least three months' duration—between the civil service and industrial or commercial organisations increased by 24 per cent. in 1989 to 627. There was also an increase—of 6 per cent.—in the number of long-term secondments between the civil service and non-business organisations, of which there were 530 in 1989.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the role of his Department in drawing up the statutes for the European bank for reconstruction and development.

Her Majesty's Treasury took part in international negotiations to draw up the statutes of the European bank of reconstruction and development, consulting other departments as necessary.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the annual amount of direct and indirect taxation raised in Wales.

Information is readily available only for income tax and local authority rates. For income tax the information is available only in terms of tax liabilities.The income tax liability of residents of Wales in 1987–88, the latest available year, is estimated to have been £1·5 billion. Local authority rates in 1988–89 are estimated to have been £660 million.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much he estimates will be saved by the introduction of TESSAs.

The estimated direct revenue cost of £200 million for the TESSA scheme in 1991–92 in the Financial Statement and Budget Report is consistent with TESSA deposits averaging some £6 billion for that year. Both estimates are highly tentative.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what expertise Customs and Excise has in determining whether objects may be used for a military purpose.

It is not the responsibility of Customs and Excise to decide whether objects may be used for a military purpose, but it is required to consult with the Department of Trade and Industry whenever it considers that objects may require an export licence.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely effect of proposed price increases in the gas and electricity industries on the average household budget.

The announced increases in gas and electricity prices for this financial year will add about 0·4 per cent. to the retail prices index once the tariffs have been fully implemented.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the Hammersmith and Fulham swaps case on the reputation of the United Kingdom as a financial centre; and if he intends to introduce any legislation to deal with the consequences of the case.

Further legal proceedings are outstanding in this case. The Government will need to study the House of Lords judgment very carefully before deciding what, if any, action is required.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a reduction in car tax for new cars fitted with catalytic converters.

My right hon. Friend has no plans to introduce a lower rate of car tax for new cars fitted with catalytic converters. European Community rules on emissions will almost certainly make catalysts essential by 1 January 1993 and a tax change for such a short interim period cannot be justified.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any changes are proposed in the cash limit and running cost limit for 1990–91 for the Inland Revenue.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class XVIII, vote 7 will be increased by £29 million from £1,348,913,000 to £1,377,913,000 and the Department's running cost limit by £25 million from £1,291,363,000 to £1,316,363,000. The change in running costs arises from work consequent on the decision to introduce new arrangements for the taxation of bank and building society interest in 1991–92 and other work necessary to enable the Department to meet its forecast workloads. The change in the cash limit also includes amounts for capital expenditure for computers and accommodation for the new bank and building society interest arrangements partially offset by a consequential reduction in other planned expenditure on computer equipment. This increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the revision of the European Community financial perspective.

Under article 12 of the inter-institutional agreement (IIA), a substantive revision of the financial perspective requires a joint decision of the Council and the European Parliament. On 21 May, the Council approved a revision based on texts negotiated by the Presidency and representatives of the Parliament. Final ratification by the Parliament will now be sought.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the numbers of married women who have savings of (a) under £3,000, (b) under £10,000 and (c) under £16,000.

[holding answer 21 May 1990]: Direct estimates of the savings held by married women are not available. Estimates based on a projection of levels of investment income reported in the 1987–88 survey of

	Professionally qualified staff in post as at 30 September 1989 (whole-time equivalents)			Vacancies for professionally qualified staff (whole-time equivalents) as at 30 September 1988
Health authority	Speech therapists	Occupational therapists	Physiotherapists1	Speech therapists	Occupational therapists	Physiotherapists1
Clwyd	24·3	35·7	81·0	4·0	6·0	6·0
East Dyfed	15·3	16·4	39·6	—	6·9	7·2
Gwent	15·4	48·0	80·8	9·3	16·1	3·6
Gwynedd	11·7	22·3	48·6	0·5	4·0	1·3
Mid Glamorgan	18·0	38·6	70·2	2·7	9·7	10·6
Pembrokeshire	5·0	7·5	19·3	—	3·2	2·9
Powys	8·9	11·1	28·2	1·5	9·0	—
South Glamorgan	30·8	75·5	146·2	9·0	14·5	—
West Glamorgan	20·9	33·3	70·8	2·5	12·4	9·9
1Includes remedial gymnasts.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria govern the selection of chief executives of "next steps" executive agencies; and what pay arrangements have been made for these appointments.

The first priority in selecting chief executives and other key staff for agencies must be to get the right person for the job. This principle is crucial to the success of agencies. In each case the starting point is to define the job to be done. Then it is necessary to examine what skills will be required for the job; to consider where those skills can best be found; to take account of what is needed to attract, motivate and retain somewone with those skills; and then choose the most appropriate method of selection. Open competition will be considered in every case as a potential means of attracting talented people from inside and outside the service. Pay is usually based on normal civil service arrangements but more is offered if this is necessary to secure the right person. In any case there is usually a significant performance based element. Next Steps is an evolving initiative, and those arrangements will progressively develop.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for the most recent available date the number of professionally qualified people in post in each health authority area in Wales and the number of vacancies that exist within the same disciplines as (a) speech therapists, (b) occupational therapists and (c) physiotherapists.

The latest information is given in the table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps are being taken to improve training facilities for speech therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists in Wales.

The question of training provision and training facilities for speech therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists in Wales is being considered in the context of the Department's consultation paper "The Health Service in Wales Towards 2000: Manpower Planning, Education and Training", responses to which are currently being considered.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total number of nursing staff employed in private hospitals, homes and clinics in Wales at the most recent available date; and what was the corresponding number five years previously.

At 31 March 1989, there were 6,389 (4,495·5 whole-time equivalent) nursing staff working in private hospitals, nursing homes and clinics in Wales, of these 2,364 (1,602·7 WTE) had nursing qualifications. At 31 December 1983, the figures were 1,180 (861·7 WTE) and 494 (369·3 WTE) respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy regarding the use of closed circuit television cameras in public sector and private sector nursing homes and residential homes.

No specific guidance has been issued on the use of closed circuit television cameras in nursing homes and residential homes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the criteria used for determining his distribution to district health authorities in Wales of (a) revenue grants and (b) capital allocation; and if he will indicate for each such criterion the weighting which is attached to it.

Revenue allocations to health authorities are historically based on the levels of expenditure on services taken over in 1974. Each year, these allocations are enhanced in respect of recurrent development funds and allowance for inflation. Those recurrent development funds which are earmarked for centrally directed developments are allocated in accordance with criteria that are specific to each category of centrally financed development eg treatment centres, regional services developments, mental health developments, information technology developments etc.Other recurrent growth funding is distributed for the discretionary use of authorities and its distribution is weighted in favour of those authorities which are shown by the revenue formula assessment to be below their target shares of available resources. The formula is based on weighted population shares because it is recognised that the demographic factors are the prime determinants of relative need. Target shares are accordingly calculated on the basis of the latest estimates of crude population adjusted to reflect age, sex, morbidity, sparsity and seasonal variation as a result of tourism.The formula consists of five components for non-psychiatric in-patients, non-psychiatric out-patients, community health services, the ambulance service and accident and emergency services. These components are combined in proportion to the all-Wales expenditure on the five categories of service and the resultant adjusted population shares are compared with the distribution of recurrent revenue resources (net of expenditure on regional and psychiatric services, various other supra-district services and the service costs of medical and dental teaching) to indicate relative under or over-provision.The weighting attached to each category of service in the most recent (1990–91) formula assessment is non-psychiatric in-patients 64.48: non-psychiatric outpatients 12.01: community health services 15.70: ambulance services 4.42: accident and emergency services 3.39. These weightings, which derive from the 1988–89 annual accounts, can vary from year to year as they are dependant on annual variations in the level of all-Wales expenditure on these categories of service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the number of cases of meningitis newly diagnosed in Wales in each of the past 10 years, if possible by the various categories of meningitis which are indentifiable.

The available data are given in the following table:

Notifications of Acute Meningitis to Office of Population Census and Surveys
	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	11989
Meningococcal	42	41	23	32	34	39	67	71	102	91
Pneumococcal	2..	2..	6	4	7	7	9	6	9	12
Influenzal	2..	2..	12	19	13	11	28	29	34	41
Viral	2..	2..	10	5	10	13	21	9	21	8
Other Specified	75	28	17	9	7	6	12	13	34	27
Other Unspecified	36	15	6	2	7	8	10	10	13	8