To ask the Attorney-General how many cases involving lenient sentences he has referred to the Court of Appeal for review; and if he will make a statement.

Since 1 February 1989, when this power took effect, I have applied for leave to refer the sentencing in 15 cases to the Court of Appeal. Four cases have not yet been heard, and I have withdrawn two cases in the light of further information. Leave has been granted in eight of the remaining nine cases, and sentences have been increased in seven of the cases. I have referred one case to the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland; the sentence in that case was also increased.

To ask the Attorney-General what was the smallest amount paid in legal aid in the past year; and if he will make a statement.

There is no minimum sum below which a claim for legal aid will not be met. Details of legal aid fund expenditure are contained in the legal aid annual report, a copy of which is placed in the Library each year.

To ask the Attorney-General if he will discuss with the Director of Public Prosecutions the arrangements for promoting prosecutions on breaches of company law, in the light of the publication of the House of Fraser report.

Primary responsibility for the enforcement of company law rests with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The Crown prosecution service prosecutes Companies Act offences where they are relevant to other proceedings which they have brought. The relevant principles are clearly established, and I have no present plans to discuss them with the DPP.

To ask the Attorney-General if he has any proposals to lower the retirement age for judges.

No.

To ask the Attorney-General when he last discussed the Maguire case with the Director of Public Prosecutions.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply today to the hon. Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Mr. Sedgemore).

To ask the Attorney-General if he will list the studies conducted inside his Department by management consultants over the last 10 years, naming the consultancy, the cost, the subject and the outcome in each instance.

No such studies have been conducted within the legal secretariat to the Law Officers or the Serious Fraud Office. In the case of the Treasury Solicitor's Department the firm of Peat Marwick McLintock advised on the installation of a computerised time recording and billing system. The cost of this consultation was £86,337·63 and the system has now been installed.Since the service was created in 1986, the following studies by management consultants have been carried out in the Crown prosecution service.

To ask the Attorney-General how many licensed conveyancers are presently registered to practise in England and Wales.

There are presently 766 licensed conveyancers holding licenses, of whom 270 are practicing on their own account. The remaining 496 are employed as conveyancers.

To ask the Attorney-General what educational requirements and what technical educational qualifications are required before an applicant can be accepted as a licensed conveyancer.

To be- accepted as a licensed conveyancer a person must have successfully completed or obtained exemption from the Council for Licensed Conveyancers' examinations and the prescribed practical training. Information about the educational requirements and training for licensed conveyancers is available from the Council for Licensed Conveyancers at Golden Cross house, Duncannon street, London WC2N 4JF.

To ask the Attorney-General when he expects legislation concerning leaseholders to be presented to Parliament.

The Lord Chancellor announced in June 1988 that the Government had arranged for draft legislation to be prepared at the Law Commission to give effect to the proposals contained in the report of the working group on commonhold (Cm. 179) under the chairmanship of Mr. T. M. Aldridge. That work is taking longer to complete than was originally expected and a number of important issues remain to be resolved. No final decision has yet been taken about the implementation of the report, nor can I give any indication of when legislation on commonhold may be introduced.

To ask the Attorney-General, pursuant to his answer of 13 June to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, whether the Director of Public Prosecutions has yet received a reply to his letter of 19 January to the chief constable of Greater Manchester.

Yes. The terms of the reply are confidential between the chief constable and the DPP. The right hon. Member will, however, be aware of the announcement by the chief constable of Greater Manchester that he has decided to ask a senior officer from another police force to investigate the issues raised by the DPP.

To ask the Attorney-General what steps have been taken to reduce delays in deciding appeals to the social security commissioners and in notifying claimants of commissioners' decisions and what effect those steps have had or are expected to have on the average length of such delays.

The following steps have been taken within the last month by the Lord Chancellor's Department and local management of the office of social security commissioners (OSSC):

To ask the Attorney-General how much legal aid for divorce cases cost in the latest year for which figures are available; and how much this cost in 1985.

The latest year for which figures are available is 1988–89. The cost of full civil legal aid in all matrimonial cases was £116·91 million in 1988–89 and £74·88 million in 1984–85.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what studies have been made of the impact of British aid on the growth rate of recipient countries.

The ODA's own evaluation studies examine the specific impact of our aid projects and programmes. There have been many other studies of the impact of global aid flows on the economies of aid-recipient countries, but I am not aware of any which focused on the relationship between British aid and the growth rate of recipients.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the last meeting of European Community Development Ministers.

European Community Development Ministers last met on 29 May. We discussed the direction of the Community's aid to Asia and Latin America. I emphasised the importance of focusing on poor countries and poorest sectors of the population. We agreed on a resolution stressing the importance of environmental aspects of development. I gained the support of all partners to my call for reform of the tropical forestry action plan and for further discussion on completion of the review. We also discussed food aid policy; the role of women in development; and evaluation of projects.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the European Community Council of Development Ministers meeting of 29 May.

At the European Community Development Ministers meeting on 29 May we discussed the direction of the Community's aid to Asia and Latin America. I emphasised the importance of focusing on poor countries and poorest sectors of the population. We agreed on a resolution stressing the importance of environmental aspects of development, and I repeated my call for reform of the tropical forestry action plan. We also discussed food aid policy; the role of women in development; and evaluation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he plans to take as a result of the Bergen ministerial declaration; and if he will make a statement.

The Bergen ministerial declaration will be helpful in informing the Government's views on the global aspects of implementing sustainable development. Where appropriate we shall be following up in the relevant fora, especially in the preparations for the UN conference on environment and development in Brazil in 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has recently had with representatives of the Vietnamese Government on the subject of aid relief to Vietnam.

During the visit of my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Hanoi from 18 to 21 February the possibility of British aid was discussed in the context of a satisfactory overall settlement to the problem of returning all non-refugees from Hong Kong to their country of origin.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to visit Vietnam to discuss with the Government of Vietnam future aid programmes to that country.

I have no current plans to visit Vietnam.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to establish a government-to-government bilateral aid programme with Vietnam.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration he is giving to establishing a government-to-government bilateral aid programme in Vietnam.

I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Mr. Lester) on 17 May. The Government have made it clear that the provision of direct bilateral aid would depend on the co-operation of the Vietnamese Government in reaching a satisfactory solution to the Hong Kong boat people and on a continuing commitment to economic reform.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with non-governmental organisations about aid for people in southern Africa; and if he will make a statement.

I have regular meetings with representatives of non-governmental organisations, and aid to southern Africa is often discussed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what resources have now been committed by the Overseas Development Administration to help developing countries to combat the spread of AIDS.

To date we have provided £16·83 million as our contribution to the global programme on AIDS being run by WHO. We have also committed £6·58 million to help finance a number of individual country AIDS control programmes in Africa and the Caribbean; these have been formulated under the umbrella of the WHO global programme.In addition, we have contributed £2·98 million over six years to the International Planned Parenthood Federation's AIDS programme; and £3 million for AIDS-related research studies in developing countries in a number of key fields by a range of British institutions and experts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to help relieve the debts incurred by Namibia before independence.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the hon. Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney) on 14 May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the application of African, Caribbean and Pacific trade preferences to Namibia was discussed at the meeting of the European Community Development Council on 29 May; and if he will make a statement.

Namibia's application for accession to the Lomé convention was not discussed at the Development Council. The Commission is in con tact with the Namibian Government and will be making proposals for accession arrangements which will cover trade preferences. The United Kingdom Government have told the Namibian Government that we will view their application sympathetically, and we hope their accession will be formalised as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on how his Department is monitoring the impact of Britain's bilateral aid programme on global warming.

It is not possible to monitor specifically the overall impact of the bilateral aid programme on global warming. The ODA's manual of environmental appraisal guides managers in assessing environmental issues in all bilateral projects and programmes.Our programmes in forestry and energy efficiency are designed to help developing countries pursue their development objectives while limiting their contribution to global warming.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much of the current Overseas Development Administration budget is directed towards chlorofluorocarbon and carbon dioxide reductions in developing countries.

We have so far committed over £340,000 to assist developing countries to phase out substances that deplete the ozone layer. This support covered a study of the options open to India for phasing out these substances; funding for an international conference on tropical ozone and atmospheric change which was held in Penang, Malaysia in February; and help to enable developing countries take an active part in international meetings of the Montreal protocol.It is not possible to monitor specifically how much of the current aid budget is directed towards carbon dioxide reductions in developing countries. However, key programme activities like our tropical forestry initiative and our energy efficiency initiative are designed to help developing countries pursue their development objectives, while limiting their contribution to global warming through reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. During my visit to India last month I announced a new aid package under the energy efficiency initiative which will provide £50 million to improve energy efficiency in India.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action the Government are taking to protect the livelihoods of Caribbean banana workers when the European single market comes into effect.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what effect he expects the European single market to have on the economies of the main banana-producing Caribbean states.

The European Commission has not yet come forward with a proposal for the arrangements to apply for bananas post-1992. It is not possible at present to say what impact the creation of the single European market will have on Caribbean banana-producing countries. However, we are encouraging the Commission and other member states to ensure that any new arrangements fulfil our commitments to our Commonwealth Caribbean suppliers, and that they take account of consumer interests and the competition and efficiency objectives of the single market initiative.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the British Government are contributing to the fund to help developing countries participate in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The Overseas Development Administration and the Department of the Environment have each contributed £25,000, and the Overseas Development Administration has offered a further £25,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to discuss the position of refugees; and if he will make a statement.

I met the new High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Stoltenberg, in Geneva on 5 June. We had a most useful and wide-ranging discussion, focusing particularly on Mr. Stoltenberg's plans for reorganising UNHCR and improving its operational effectiveness. I also announced new British contributions totalling £5 million which will help UNHCR over its current financial difficulties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to establish a bilateral aid programme with Cambodia.

Britain has no relations with the Hun Sen regime. This rules out the provision of normal bilateral aid. We are, however, committed to providing humanitarian assistance inside Cambodia through British non-governmental organisations and UN agencies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the effect of developments in eastern Europe on the global availability of funds from multilateral institutions.

OECD member Governments are agreed that assistance to eastern Europe must not detract from the high priority placed on international co-operation with the developing countries; and this was reaffirmed in the declaration by the UN special session on international economic co-operation held from 23 April to 1 May.European Community aid to eastern Europe has not been at the expense of any other development assistance. Any increase in World Bank lending would be funded from borrowings in the financial markets. Additional funds will be made available for eastern Europe through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the latest information he has on the famine situation in Ethiopia.

Although the situation remains critical, it has so far been possible to avert mass starvation and mass migration of people in search of food. There are some grounds for hope that the threat can be contained, provided that relief operations are not further disrupted by the civil conflict and that there is good rainfall over the coming months.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to ensure that food supplies reach northern Tigray and Eritrea.

We are providing both food and logistical support for the southern line operation which, by the end of May, had delivered more than 15,000 tonnes of food to the famine-affected areas of northern Wollo and Tigray. We are also providing support for deliveries of relief supplies from Sudan into Eritrea and Tigray, and for the United Nations-organised airlift of supplies for vulnerable groups in Asmara, the besieged capital city of Eritrea. We have also been pressing for the reopening of the port of Massawa and welcome recent reports of the Ethiopian Government's willingness in principle to agree to this.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further plans he has to make funds available to help HIV-infected babies in Romania.

The Government have already given 1 million disposable syringes and a quantity of HIV testing equipment to Romania; and we have paid for the transport to Romania of disposable gloves, syringes and other supplies generously donated by British companies. We have also asked the World Health Organisation to use for AIDS work a substantial part of the £500,000 we recently gave to the World Health Organisation's programme of aid to the Romanian health services. We have no plans for further aid at present.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by how much he estimates developing countries have benefited from the Brady plan for third world debt.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Corbett) on 14 May at column 340.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what he estimates the benefit to have been to developing countries of the Toronto plan for the poorest indebted countries.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to the hon. Members for Manchester, Blackley (Mr. Eastham) and for Glasgow, Pollok (Mr. Dunnachie) on 14 May at column 340.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proposals the Government have made to the World Bank about the cancellation of debt owed by the poorest developing countries.

Britain has taken the lead in international efforts to assist the poorest debtors. We have cancelled over £1 billion-worth of old aid loans. On other official debt, we proposed concessions which were agreed at the 1988 Toronto economic summit. We regularly review the debt strategy with the management and other members of the IMF and World Bank.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money was given in aid by the United Kingdom to universities during (a) 1988–89 and (b) 1989–90 in (i) South Africa, (ii) Malawi and (iii) Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement.

The figures in the table represent the cost of the following activities—

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on British support for SADCC.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) on 24 May at column 368.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what priorities Her Majesty's Government use in their aid programme for Zambia.

Our main priority is support for Zambia's structural adjustment programme, which is being monitored by the International Monetary Fund, and to which we have pledged £30 million in balance of payments support. In addition we are spending over £14 million per annum, largely on manpower support projects involving some 200 aid personnel in Zambia and training for over 300 Zambians in the United Kingdom; and on the strengthening of institutional capacity at district level in the northern and central provinces.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what new measures he proposes to take to ensure an integrated and comprehensive approach to aid designed to protect Amazonian forests.

The United Kingdom is supporting the development of effective tropical forestry action plans in the Amazon countries as an important means of encouraging an integrated and comprehensive approach towards protection of the Amazonian rain forests. We are doing this both by seeking reforms of the tropical forestry action plans mechanism in general and by helping in specific countries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on British aid to black South Africans.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 March to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Hughes) at column 431.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what help has been given during the last 12 months to extend the services of the British Council in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

The British Council has not contemplated an extension of its services in Sri Lanka over the last 12 months in view of the security situation in the country. Help for this purpose has neither been sought from, nor offered by the Government. When the security situation permits, further assistance for English language teaching is one of a number of possibilities that we are prepared to consider under our bilateral aid programme to Sri Lanka.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans further to assist forestry projects overseas; and if he will make a statement.

The Overseas Development Administration is currently implementing a forestry initiative with the aim to commit a further £100 million bilaterally to assist forestry activities over the next three years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much will be made available by his Department for animal conservation schemes in 1990–91.

We expect to spend over £2 million. This includes projects jointly funded by the ODA and non-governmental organisations which concentrate on environmental issues and their impact on local communities, but which are expected to have an indirect but distinctly beneficial effect on animal conservation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what he is doing to fund research designed to increase the productivity of tropical forests, particularly non-timber products.

We are funding 40 projects at a total cost of £6·2 million under the forestry research programme managed for the ODA by the Oxford Forestry Institute. These include projects on, for example, agro-forestry and buffer zones. The Natureal Resources Institute is considering research on the economic potential of rain forest products.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the new projects in preparation which will be financed from the new £100 million for rain forest-related projects.

As the Prime Minister told the hon. Member on 11 December 1989, at column 459, details of particular projects will be made known when formal agreement has been reached with the country concerned. I summarised recent developments in my speech to the rain forest harvest conference on 17 May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to strengthen forestry departments of tropical countries, where they are charged with conservation and management.

An ODA report on forestry projects of November 1989, a copy of which is in the Library, lists ongoing bilateral forestry projects aiming to strengthen forest departments in tropical countries. Many of the projects in preparation also have this as a major aim. I gave examples in my speech to the rain forest harvest conference on 17 May, a copy of which is also in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the contract with Professor Malcolm Wilkins, regius professor of botany at the university of Glasgow, on the development of space-based monitoring of rain forest.

Professor Wilkins has recommended that the ODA should contact the European Space Agency and the British National Space Centre. Officials will do this.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will list the airline used and the destination of each of the overseas visits undertaken by the Select Committee on Employment for the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Since April 1989 the Committee has undertaken two visits overseas. The first, in July 1989, was to Copenhagen and Amsterdam, using British Airways flights except for the flight between Copenhagen and Amsterdam (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines) and one Member's return flight to Manchester (NLM Dutch Airlines). The second, in October/November 1989, was to Rome and Bordeaux; the flight to Rome was by British Airways; from Rome to Bordeaux by Air France and Air Inter; from Bordeaux to London by Air France.

To ask the Lord President of the Council what representations he has received from the Royal National Institute for the Deaf concerning sign language inserts on broadcasts of Parliament.

I have received no recent representations from the Royal National Institute for the Deaf on the subject of sign language inserts. However, the Select Committee on Televising of Proceedings of the House, which I chair, has been examining the issue as part of its monitoring of the experiment, during the course of which evidence has been received from the RNID and other organisations representing the deaf. A closed-circuit trial with the signing of Prime Minister's questions was arranged by the Select Committee during the first two weeks after the Whitsun Adjournment and the relevant tapes were shown in the Division Lobby. The Select Committee's report, which will cover this aspect of the experiment, is expected to be published by about early July.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to extend the eastern European know-how fund to Romania.

We have no plans to do so at present.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received any offers of help from the Government of Syria with regard to the Lockerbie air disaster.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representations he has received calling for his Department to put pressure on the Turkish Government to release Demetrios Leuka and Christalis Savvides; and if he will make a statement.

Nineteen. We have made it clear to the parties concerned that neither incursions into territory controlled by the Turkish Cypriots, nor the continued detention of the two youths, contributes to the creation of the right atmosphere for progress towards a settlement of the Cyprus problem.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the reasons for his approval of the BBC's decision to end World Service broadcasts in Japanese and Malay.

The BBC and the FCO have jointly reviewed new broadcasting opportunities against the effectiveness of world service output. It was agreed, subject to the outcome of the 1990 public expenditure survey, to increase broadcasts in Russian, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese, as well as programmes in English for south-east Asia, the Indian sub-continent and west Europe.The review identified offsetting savings, including the ending of broadcasts in Japanese and Malay. In both countries, audiences for these services are small and there are many other sources of news and information from Britain, including the world service in English.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department is party to the discussions between the United States Government and central European Governments on relaxations in the COCOM rules.

Following an agreement reached at the COCOM high-level meeting on 6 and 7 June, we and other COCOM member Governments will be discussing with certain eastern and central European countries a more favourable application of the COCOM rules. These discussions will build upon earlier soundings carried out by the United States and other COCOM partners.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the Government of Israel following the gas grenade attack on the United Nations health centre in Gaza city on 12 June; what information he has as to the number and ages of the casualties; and if he will make a statement.

We condemn any use of excessive force by the Israeli Defence Force.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on regrading for dental hygienists in the national health service.

The pay and grading of dental hygienists are matters for negotiation in the professional and technical staffs B Whitley council. The management side of the council recently carried out a review of all dental auxiliary grades in order to inform this year's negotiations on pay. I understand that negotiations on the staff side's claim are expected to begin shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total number of hospital beds available in each of the past five years within the constituency of Norfolk, North-West.

Information about hospital beds is collected centrally by district health authority, and is not available for individual parliamentary constituencies. The figures for West Norfolk and Wisbech health authority are given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the number of cases prescribed by statute as requiring the attention of social workers which are not currently receiving appropriate attention.

This information is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when sections 1 and 2 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 will be implemented.

No decisions on the implementation of these sections can be taken until we have established their resource and service implications. We are consulting the local authority associations on these issues and are currently awaiting their preliminary assessments as a basis for discussion.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the second report of the steering group on undergraduate medical and dental education will be published; and if he will make a statement.

The report is published today, and is available in the Library. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science and I are sending copies of the second report to all interested parties under cover of a message which reads as follows:

The report from the Steering Group on Undergraduate Medical and Dental Education has been prepared in response to the remit which our predecessors gave the Group to consider how the current arrangements for undergraduate medical (and subsequently dental) education can be improved to ensure that the policies and programmes of the bodies concerned are properly co-ordinated and directed. The Group was later invited to assess the implications for these matters of the proposed NHS reforms, and to make recommendations. The present report subsumes the Interim Report which was published in June 1989.

We welcome, and endorse, this new report. We are grateful to the members of the Steering Group, and to the organisations which have been associated with it, for working effectively together to support the common purpose of the NHS and the universities in maintaining and improving standards of undergraduate medical and dental education.

The organisational and financial arrangements must encourage those responsible in both the universities and the NHS to work together to teach students, advance knowledge through research and provide and develop services for patients. These three functions are integral, something as true in the reformed NHS as it is today. That is why the Steering Group has emphasised the essential common purpose of the universities and the NHS in the fostering of medical knowledge and skills, an emphasis which we support. The ten key principles proposed by the Steering Group to underpin jointly agreed working arrangements have already been promulgated with our endorsement. The sense of common purpose will be strengthened by the new provision in the NHS and Community Care Bill regarding university membership of those health authorities and NHS Trusts having significant involvement in medical and dental education.

The Steering Group has given close attention to certain details of finance and management. It has proposed revised procedures for the distribution of the Service Increment For Teaching (SIFT) which again have been promulgated, and are being implemented, with our support. It has made proposals for handling the relationship known as "knock for knock", emphasising the importance of changing only by agreement the balance of expenditure between co-operating institutions. It has also suggested that the flexibility essential to the management of the job plans of clinical academics who are honorary consultants in the NHS might be achieved through a tightly defined package of clinical service commitments, to be delivered by university staff under the management of heads of clinical academic departments in consultation with NHS managers. We endorse these proposals, which encourage an agreed approach to the management of those areas in which the universities and the NHS must engage together in responsibilities which neither can discharge alone.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people on family credit or income support received free eye tests in England (a) in each quarter in 1988–89 and (b) in each quarter in 1989–90.

Statistics prior to 1 April 1989 were not broken down by patient group. Since then, family practitioner committees have collected data on sight tests paid for under the general ophthalmic services on a six-montly basis. A tota of 530,660 national health service sight tests for adults receiving income support for family credit were paid for in England during the period 1 April to 30 September 1989. This figure is based on a 2 per cent. sample of NHS sight test application forms processed by family practitioner committees. It does not take into account sight tests paid for after 1 April but conducted before that period.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what method statistics relating to the collection of information on the number of (i) national health service eye tests and (ii) non-national health service eye tests have been collected.

Information on NHS sight tests is collected from family practitioner committees. The data are obtained from a count of the forms signed by patients at the time of their sight test and forwarded by the optician to the family practitioner committee for payment. Routine statistics on non-NHS sight tests are not collected. The NOP survey, the results of which were made available to the House on 6 June, was commissioned by the Department to provide an independent measure of total volume during the first quarter of 1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will consider appointing to the Committee on Safety of Medicines a consultant specialising in allergic diseases, such as hay fever and asthma.

Appointments and reappointments to the Committee on Safety of Medicines and its sub-committees were made as from 1 January 1990: members include specialists in allergic diseases. Additional experts in this or other fields may be consulted or appointed as temporary members as necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from local authorities on the provision of nursing home care; and if he will make a statement.

Ministers and officials have frequent meetings with representatives of local authorities at which this and other aspects of community care are discussed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultation has taken place with local authority organisations on the additional staff required to carry out the necessary assessment for the provision of community care; and if he will make a statement.

We are not aware of any specific consultations with local authority organisations on this matter although there have been frequent discussions with local authority associations on the implementation of the proposals in the White Paper "Caring for People". It is for individual local authorities to determine their own staffing needs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has as to how many extra social workers and support staff are being appointed; what training provisions have been made to implement the proposed community care programme; and if he will make a statement.

Information on the number of appointments of social workers and support staff is not collected centrally. The White Paper "Caring for People" recognises that its proposals have implications for the training of staff involved in community care. The social services inspectorate has established a community care training strategy group to identify and address these needs. We have increased this year's training support programme to £19·4 million in grant to local authorities, £2 million of which is targeted towards the training of management staff in social services departments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the general practitioner practices in Manchester which have indicated that they wish to become fund-holders.

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds were operational at Stepping Hill hospital, Stockport on (a) 1 June 1979 and (b) June 1989.

The number of available beds at Stepping Hill hospital, Stockport on 21 June 1979 and 1 June 1989 was 589 and 791 respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) trained and (b) untrained nursing staff were employed at Stepping Hill hospital, Stockport on 1 June 1979 and 1 June 1989.

The number of trained and untrained nursing staff at Stepping Hill hospital, Stockport on 1 June 1989 was 432 and 116 respectively. Comparable figures for 1 June 1979 are not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to establish whether children in the Camelford area have suffered any intellectual impairment as a result of the water pollution incident there on 6 July 1988; and if he will make a statement.

The report of the Lowermoor incident health advisory group, which was published in July 1989, a copy of which is available in the Library, concluded that no long-term effects on the health of people in the Camelford area were expected. It is for the district health authority to take any further measures it thinks necessary for the health of the population.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many ambulance services have expressed an interest in becoming self-governing trusts; and if he will list them.

Five ambulance services have expressed interest in NHS trust status including two which are incorporated in other units. The units are:

• Northumbrian Ambulance Service
• Lincolnshire Ambulance Service
• Norfolk Ambulances
• Cornwall Community Services
• Swindon Health Authority—All District Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the income generated from a contract under the National Health Service and Community Care Bill by a district health authority-managed hospital will be credited specifically to that hospital.

Yes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms exist in his Department for identifying and tracking value-for-money savings in its operations.

[holding answer 5 June 1990]: The Government's policy is to secure significant improvements in value for money within the NHS through the reforms contained in the NHS and Community Care Bill. The NHS management executive has also established a value for money unit to stimulate—in collaboration with local NHS management—opportunities for improving value for money within the NHS.The Department has various mechanisms for improving value for money within its own operations. The departmental accounting system, the public expenditure survey and the Department's management plan all place heavy emphasis on value for money and are supplemented by other mechanisms such as internal audit, staff inspection and consultancy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the value-for-money savings in his Department's operations identified by internal audit and internal efficiency arrangements, and by external audit and by management consultants retained by his Department between 1983–84 and 1988–89; and what is the amount of those savings fulfilled to date.

[holding answer 5 June 1990]: I refer to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security on 12 June 1990 at column 166.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of total cost of storm damage to health authority property in England and Wales since 1987; and what consideration he is giving to enabling health authorities to insure against future risks of this sort.

[holding answer 15 June 1990]: No central estimate has been made. NHS property is not covered by commercial insurance and authorities are expected to make provision within their allocations to meet such contingencies. While there are no plans to alter the current policy on commercial insurance, we are seeking powers in the National Health Service and Community Care Bill which would enable us to establish a scheme for meeting the losses and liabilities to health authorities and NHS trusts. However, no decision has yet been taken on when such a scheme would be implemented.

To ask the Prime Minister what steps she has taken since 26 October 1989 to improve co-ordination at ministerial level in the formulation and implementation of economic policy.

Economic policy is co-ordinated in the usual way at ministerial level with meetings between Ministers, including discussion at Cabinet.

To ask the Prime Minister what steps she has taken since 27 October 1989 to ensure the confidentiality of official information relating to the conduct of the Government's economic policies.

The normal rules of confidentiality for official information apply to information relating to the conduct of the Government's economic policies.

To ask the Prime Minister what steps she has taken since 26 October 1989 to remove obstacles to the efficiency of communication within Government in respect of developments in economic policy.

I am entirely satisfied with the degree of consultation and communication between Ministers on matters of economic policy.

To ask the Prime Minister what has been the cost of hospitality given at No. 10 Downing street since 31 March to visitors other than representatives of overseas governments and representatives of official bodies from within the United Kingdom; and if she will list each such visitor and the identifiable costs of associated hospitality.

This information is not available in the form requested.

To ask the Prime Minister when she hopes to complete her consideration of what role Britain might best play in the ecological research centre the Soviet Union is proposing to establish at Lake Baikal.

We are in close consultation on this with interested scientific bodies. We will also be pursuing contacts with the appropriate Soviet authorities in the near future.

To ask the Prime Minister in what capacity, in what role and at whose expense the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster accompanied her on her visit to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; and what duties he performed.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster accompanied me for part of my visit to the Soviet Union, and did so as a member of Her Majesty's Government. The principal reason for my right hon. Friend's visit was to attend the opening of the Lord Byron school in Armenia, a gift from the British people following the Armenian earthquake tragedy of December 1988. My right hon. Friend was Secretary of State for Education and Science when the offer to build the school was made. The idea was his.There was no cost to the taxpayer for my right hon. Friend's visit.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her (a) paid and (b) unpaid economic advisers.

The provision of economic advice is primarily a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and other ministerial colleagues and their staff. In addition, members of my policy unit also provide economic advice. There is no shortage of unpaid economic advice which comes from a wide variety of sources.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to her statement of 12 June, Official Report, column 138, concerning the establishment of new lectureships in Soviet studies at British universities, whether any of the lectureships will be established in Bradford university; and if she will make a statement.

The British Council will be given funds for the financial years 1991–92 to 1993–94 inclusive to enable it to contribute to the cost of additional lectureships in Soviet and east European studies in this three-year period. The aim is to establish 10 posts, the costs to be shared with the universities, polytechnics and other sources including the private sector. A committee of leading academics will be set up by the British Council to help decide how the funds should be used.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take steps to ensure that information is provided by his Department when someone returns to employment as to their entitlement to make up full contributions for any missing time.

The Department writes automatically to relevant groups of contributors following the end of any year in which their contribution record is insufficient to count towards basic retirement pension. Full information is always provided to contributors on request. No change to these arrangements is proposed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to rename income support refugee support in cases where it is awarded to non-British nationals claiming political asylum in the United Kingdom.

We have no plans to make such a change.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will raise the level of funding for the independent living fund to £20 million per year.

Provision for the fund in the current year was already set at £24 million. Following my announcement to the House on 3 April, a further £8 million is to be made available bringing the provision for the fund to £32 million in 1990–91.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement as to the reasons for the subtraction of the state earnings-related pension scheme from the entitlement of persons in receipt of invalidity benefit when they reach 65 years of age.

Where an invalidity pensioner who reaches pension age—65 for men, 60 for women—chooses not to retire, the amount of invalidity benefit payable is determined by the amount of retirement pension that would have been payable had he retired.The earnings-related additional pension—AP—element of retirement pension can be paid either by the state or through an occupational pension scheme, which is contracted-out of the state scheme. Persons in contracted-out schemes and their employers pay a lower national insurance contribution and in return the employer is required to provide a guaranteed minimum pension— GMP—to the employee from age 65—or 60. Up to pension age, AP is paid with invalidity benefit, but thereafter the amount of any AP payable is reduced by the amount of the GMP received from the employer. This ensures that people contracted out of the state scheme are not treated more favourably than those who are not.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many refugees from overseas are currently in receipt of income support.

People from other countries who have been granted a right of abode in the United Kingdom are not separately identifiable for income support purposes. People arrived in the United Kingdom whose applications for refugee status are under consideration are eligible for income support at a reduced rate. We estimate that there are approximately some 8,000 such claimants at present.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what moneys were provided as grant allowances, pensions or loans through the Wath upon Dearne office of his Department in 1989–90.

Information regarding the numbers of and amounts paid as community care grants and budgeting loans for each local office is placed in the Library. I regret that neither information about the numbers of, nor the amount paid to, pensioners residing in a particular locality is recorded.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in what circumstances his Department contributes towards the costs of the care of a person in an unregistered private home.

Some independent residential care homes are not required to be registered under the Registered Homes Act 1984. Adjudication officers may decide to treat claimants for income support purposes in such homes in the same way as those in registered homes if the accommodation has fewer than four residents and provides board and personal care and satisfies certain conditions defined by regulation, or is run by the Abbeyfield Society, or is managed or provided by a body set up by Act of Parliament or incorporated by royal charter, or in Scotland is run by a housing association registered with the Housing Corporation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many doctors are employed by his Department for the purpose of assessing attendance allowance and mobility allowance claims in each region; on what basis they are employed; what salaries or fees they receive; and whether such payments are affected by the number of claimants they see.

On average there are between 600 and 700 doctors in each region who carry out examinations in connection with attendance allowance and mobility allowance claims. The work is of a casual nature, the available cases being allocated among the doctors who are available and have been trained in the work. Payment is from a scale of fees agreed between the Treasury and the medical profession's representatives. A fee is paid for each case completed, individual case fees depending on the time taken to deal with that case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement about the fraudulent use of national insurance numbers.

The Department makes every effort to ensure that members of the public have correctly issued national insurance numbers and that others cannot use them to make fraudulent claims to benefit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for the last available year the number of (a) national insurance numbers used by more than one person and (b) credits made by employers to false or non-existent national insurance numbers.

The information regarding the misuse of NI numbers is not available. Employers cannot credit NI accounts. Contributions paid by employers on behalf of themselves and their employees are subject to strict accounting controls.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in Lambeth are entitled to community charge rebate based on claims for refund of rebate received from Lambeth council; what percentage of charge payers this represents; and what was the percentage of ratepayers who received housing benefit for rates in 1989–90.

Information in the detail requested for community charge benefit is not yet available from the local authority. However, approximately a quarter of domestic ratepayers received rate rebates in 1989–90.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps his Department is taking to rectify the shortage of leaflets and benefit application forms in offices; and how widespread and severe this problem is.

We are aware that difficulties have been experienced this year in obtaining bulk supplies of some benefit application forms. The Department has been in discussion with HMSO to remedy this. However, we are satisfied on information available that local offices in all areas have sufficient supplies of benefit application forms and leaflets to meet the needs of our customers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to reply to the questions of the hon. Member for Oldham, West of 23 April and 17 May relating to further information pursuant to an answer of 4 April, and to the question of the hon. Member for Oldham, West of 17 May concerning the estimated income rises of the poorest tenth of the population.

I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave to him today and on Thursday 14 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if, further to his reply of 4 April, Official Report, columns 689–90, he will (a) provide a breakdown of tables 1 and 2 differentiating SERPS as a separate source of income, (b) indicate what is covered in table 2 by related benefits and other benefits, (c) state the average annual percentage increase implied in the last two columns of tables 1, 2 and 3 and (d) provide whatever similar information is available for 1988–89;(2) if he will set out the actual incomes in pounds sterling and pence which underlie his answer to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) on 4 April,

[holding answers 23 April and 6 June 1990]: The source for the figures used in this and the previous reply is the family expenditure survey. The information on SERPS is not available; it is not separately identified from state retirement pension in the source data. Information is not available beyond the latest available family expenditure survey data of 1987.The term "RP and related benefits" in table 2 refers to the state retirement pension, supplementary benefit and housing benefit. The term "Other benefits" refers to all other social security benefits than those listed above.The annual average percentages implied in the last two columns of table 1 of the reply given to the hon. Member on 4 April,