To ask the Attorney-General whether his Department will take positive steps to discuss with the Data Protection Registrar all his Department's legislation that impacts on the use, collection, processing or holding of personal data; and whether he will make a statement.

I am reminding my officials of the need to consult the registrar about proposed legislation which might affect or be affected by the Data Protection Act 1984.

To ask the Attorney-General in the light of the High Court judgment of 18 July relating to the Shops Act 1950, what guidance he will be giving to local authorities and courts to enable them to enforce the law in a consistent manner.

I do not propose to give any guidance to local authorities, and it would be improper for me to offer guidance to the courts.The judgment of Mr. Justice Hoffmann in Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Norwich City Council

To ask the Attorney-General what consideration has been given by the Director of Public Prosecutions to the contents of the document published by the Conservative party entitled "Offer from the Conservative Party", relating to registration of proxies by overseas voters, with respect of its compliance with electoral law.

I have invited the right hon. Member to forward a copy of the document to which he refers to the Director of Public Prosecutions indicating any criminal offence he believes may have been committed. The Director will then consider whether any action on his part is appropriate.

To ask the Attorney-General what consideration he has given to prosecuting Ministry of Defence officials over their handling of the case of Mr. Colin Wallace.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has received a letter from solicitors acting on behalf of Mr. Colin Wallace requesting that he initiate a criminal investigation and he is considering the matters raised.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what damage was caused to (1) dwellings and (2) farmland and crops as a result of the breach in the river Roe floodbanks on Saturday, 6 October and what is his estimate of the sums required to (a) repair the banks and (b) restore the loss of (i) farmers crops and land damage and (ii) dwellings and household furniture and goods.

As a result of a breach in the left floodbank approximately 160 hectares of land were flooded. There have been no reports of damage to dwellings received.The cost of repairing the floodbank is estimated to be of the order of £11,000.As the Government do not meet the cost of losses due to accidental flooding of farmland, crops or dwellings, no estimate of these costs has been made.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further economic help Her Majesty's Government proposes to give to Namibia in both the context of the European Community and the United Kingdom.

On 21 March I announced in this House that Britain would be providing £10 million of aid for Namibia, for commitment over three years. Technical assistance is already being provided for education, public sector reform and police training and the scope for assistance in certain other sectors is being explored with the Namibian Government. Military training is also being provided under separate arrangements. The European Community is meanwhile considering the terms of Namibia's accession to the Lomé Convention and Britain is working to ensure a speedy and favourable outcome to this consideration. Pending accession, the Community is providing an interim package of aid totalling 19 million ecu (£13·24 million) in 1990, of which our share is about one fifth.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if Her Majesty's Government will ratify the 1970 UNESCO convention on illicit trade in cultural property; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 15 October 1990]: Her Majesty's Government have no plans to ratify the 1970 UNESCO convention. While supporting the principles and objectives laid down in the convention, we consider that the convention's definition of cultural property is unduly wide. In addition, the requirements of the convention on imported and exported goods would impose a heavy administrative burden on both the Government and the art trade with, for example, the requirement for all dealers to keep registers of the material bought and sold. Implementation of the provision on restitution and prohibition of imports would require new legislation and allocation of substantial additional administrative resources, and the identification and verification of claims made against items imported into the United Kingdom would not be straightforward.United Kingdom museums and the art trade already subscribe to codes of practice on the handling of items of dubious provenance, which help to uphold the objectives of the convention.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has concerning the number of serious or fatal accidents where a hand-held car telephone was an element; what assessment he has made of the road safety aspects of such instruments; and what consideration he has given to alternatives not requiring use of either hand for conversation.

There is no information available on such accidents. The use of hand-held telephones while driving constitutes a potential road safety hazard and rule 54 of the highway code states that drivers should not use a hand-held telephone while their vehicle is moving. Drivers who need a car telephone should use hand-free equipment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will state the proportion of serious or fatal road accidents occasioned by right turns; and what action he is taking to reduce their occurrence.

A total of 17 per cent. of all fatal or serious road accidents involve a vehicle turning right. The highway code advises motorists on the correct procedure for making a right turn and this advice is reinforced in my Department's publicity programme. Many of the small-scale engineering works to improve road safety address this problem. The expanded national road building programme will create new higher-quality roads which are generally safer and on which right-turning accidents are less common.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many outstanding approvals there are for the provision of light-controlled right turns that eliminate conflicting movement; what delay has occured in their installation; and what plans he has to eliminate significant delay.

The provision of signal-controlled right turns that eliminate conflicting traffic movements is within the scope of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1981. Equipment for this purpose is already type approved by the Department and does not require specific approval. Technical advice has been published showing correct layout of signals, signing and roadmarkings. In the case of trunk roads the Department's policy is to provide signal-controlled right turns where appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the European Council over developments in environmental aspects of transport policy following the publication of the White Paper on the environment (Cm. 1200) in September.

None. But following consultation between our Departments, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment will press for the introduction of tight emission controls for cars of all sizes at the European Council of Environment Ministers on 29 October. At a later stage he will press for the adoption by the Council of the tighest practicable emission standards for heavy diesel vehicles, and I understand that the European Commission expects to submit shortly to the Council of Transport Ministers proposals on transport and the environment generally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what investment plans he has approved for British Rail Network SouthEast with particular reference to new rolling stock for the north-east Kent routes; and when he expects delivery of such stock.

British Rail has not yet put to us investment proposals relating to new rolling stock to be deployed in north-east Kent. Last year we approved proposals for 400 vehicles for inner suburban services in south-east London and north-west Kent. We have approved in principle further vehicles and infrastructure works for this area. The whole scheme will cost £700 million in total. The new trains will begin operation from 1992 onwards.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what further representations he has received, and what meetings he has had, with east midlands local authorities, regarding the midland line electrification; and if he will make a statement.

I have received a number of representations about electrification of the midland main line and I recently met representatives from Leicestershire county council, Northamptonshire county council and Kettering borough council, to discuss this issue. British Rail has not so far identified a robust commercial case for electrification; but I hope that the local authorities will continue to discuss their plans with BR.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the official report into the cause of the accident to a Boeing 737 near Kegworth on 8 February 1989 will be published.

The report of the Department's air accidents investigation branch (AAIB) into the accident, which occurred on 8 January 1989, is being published today. Copies have been placed in the Library.The report contains 31 safety recommendations addressed, directly or indirectly, to the Civil Aviation Authority which has the statutory responsibility for the safety regulation of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. The AAIB's recommendations are passed to the CAA as soon as they are determined and I understand that the CAA has already completed action or put research into train as a result.The report is very detailed and comprehensive and the AAIB is to be congratulated on a most thorough investigation into circumstances surrounding this accident.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has taken any decisions that will result in the delayed introduction of the new networker trains to serve the Kent coast routes; and whether he will make a statement.

[holding answer 17 October 1990]: Decisions on the provision of external finance for British Rail for the three years to 31 March 1994 will be announced at the time of the autumn statement. It is for British Rail to decide its investment priorities in the light of the external and internal funds available to it; and it will be updating its plans in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many reviews of mobility allowance claims were conducted during the last year for which statistics are available.

During 1989, the medical questions were reconsidered, on review, in 720 claims for mobility allowance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many reviews of attendance allowance claims were conducted during the last year for which statistics were available.

In 1989, the total number of decisions reviewed was 66,574.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of people currently retiring will receive the basic rate by way of retirement pension.

In the six-month period ending March 1989, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 317,000 claims for retirement pension; 244,940 awards were made of which 79·45 per cent. received the full rate basic retirement pension.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he received the report of Messrs. Price Waterhouse on the costs of residential care in charitable and proprietorial homes for elderly persons; and if he will place a copy in the Library of the House of Commons.

The report was received on 20 September. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be making a statement shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to review the 75-plus age disqualification for access to assistance from the independent living fund.

The decision to restrict eligibility to those aged between 16 and 74 and who also receive attendance allowance at the higher rate was taken by the trustees in the light of the resources made available for this financial year. We understand that they are keeping this decision under review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what information the Government collect about the number of people suffering from mesothelioma; and what action the Government have taken to support and compensate all victims.

The Health and Safety Executive collects figures from death certificates mentioning mesothelioma and the Department keeps records of the number of industrial injuries claims made for this disease. Industrial injuries benefit and war disablement pensions can be awarded to claimants with mesothelioma and additional benefits can be paid depending on other needs. In addition, the Pneumoconiosis (Workers Compensation) Act 1979 provides some measure of compensation to those people or their dependants who cannot sue their employer because he has gone out of business.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are receiving the reduced personal allowance due to downrating after over six weeks hospitalisation and are still liable for community charge.

Information is not available in the form requested. All hospital patients who are receiving Income Support, and who are not exempted from paying the community charge, are entitled to maximum community charge benefit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the estimated total number of carers looking after disabled, sick or elderly people in the United Kingdom; how many carers claimed (a) invalid care allowance and (b) income support in 1989; and if he will launch a review of carers' incomes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the estimated total number of carers looking after disabled, sick or elderly people in Wales; and how many of these receive (a) invalid care allowance or (b) income support.

[holding answer 17 October 1990]: The information is not available in the form requested.Any estimate of the number of carers of disabled people has to make certain assumptions on the amount of care provided. The 1985 general household survey suggested that there were 1·4 million adults in Great Britain caring for disabled people for at least 20 hours a week.The numbers of carers in Great Britain in receipt of invalid care allowance (which is intended for people who forgo work opportunities to care for an attendance allowance recipient for at least 35 hours a week) was 119,000 on 30 June 1989. On 31 May 1989, 23,000 people were receiving income support who were also receiving invalid care allowance, or whose partners were.A report based on research commissioned by the Department into the effectiveness of invalid care allowance as an income maintenance benefit is expected to be published in the next few months.

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

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

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

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

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

To ask the Prime Minister if she will now introduce legislation to ensure that husbands and wives are assessed separately for social security and community charge.

No. All the income-related benefits including community charge benefit, follow the principle that couples share their income and capital resources, and their claims for benefit are assessed jointly. The Government believe that it is right for couples to share the responsibility of running their homes and paying their bills. There is no good reason why community charge benefit should differ from other income-related benefits in this respect.

To ask the Prime Minister whether she has any plans to visit Macclesfield.

I have at present no plans to do so.

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

I visited the United Nations earlier this month. I have at present no plans for a further visit.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will estimate what proportion of (a) the value of personal tax allowances of people under retirement age, (b) the value of mortgage interest tax relief of people under retirement age and (c) child benefit goes to individuals or families with incomes of more than £20,000 a year.

The latest estimates in respect of 1990–91 are as follows:

Percentage benefiting single people or married couples with incomes over £20,000
	Percentage
(a) Personal tax allowances1	35
(b) Mortgage interest tax relief1	50
(c) Child benefit	35
1 The percentages benefiting individual taxpayers with incomes over £20,000 are 20 per cent. and 30 per cent. for (a) and (b) respectively.

To ask the Prime Minister if she will give updated estimates of the cost of achieving a £2 post-tax increase in the income of a two-child family by (a) increasing child benefit, (b) increasing the married man's allowance and (c) increasing the average level of male earnings.

Increasing the average level of earnings depends on the performance of the economy, as indeed does any general improvement in living standards. The estimated direct costs of increasing child benefit or the married couples' allowance to give an additional £2 per week to most two-child families are as follows, but it should be noted that the increase in income a family derives from them depends also on its individual circumstances.

(a) an increase in child benefit of £1 a week would have a gross cost of around £630 million a year.

(b) Increasing the married couple's allowance (together with the additional personal allowance) by £416 would have a gross cost of around £1,150 million a year.

To ask the Prime Minister (1) if it remains her policy that the level of the child cash allowance may still be dealt with in the Budget:(2) if, while retaining the Department of Social Security to administer the child allowance scheme, she will limit the responsibility for determining the level of the child cash allowance to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and herself.

The Social Security Act 1986 requires the Secretary of State for Social Security to review the level of child benefit each year having regard to the national economic situation and any other matters which he considers relevant. This duty is most appropriately discharged as part of the annual review of social security matters.

To ask the Prime Minister what is the current level of electoral registration; and what steps Her Majesty's Government proposes to increase the level of electoral registration before the closing date for entries.

The numbers of parliamentary elec tors on the 1990 electoral register for each part of the United Kingdom, together with the corresponding figures for 1989, are given in the table. The Home Office has continued to assist electoral registration officers in their statutory duty of preparing the electoral register in a number of ways. It has again this year conducted a nationwide advertising campaign designed to encourage people to complete and return the electoral registration form; and has produced publicity and an explanatory leaflet aimed at encouraging young people to register.Research into the working methods of electoral registration officers is undertaken annually, and the results are used to inform Home Office guidance on best practice. It also amends and improves the electoral registration form, form A, where necessary, and is producing revised and updated practice notes for electoral registration officers. The most recent of these covers the effective use, at each stage of the compilation of the electoral register, of the electoral registration officer's statutory right of access to the community charge register.

Parliamentary electors
	1989	1990
England	36,365,916	36,388,575
Wales	2,194,625	2,207,542
Scotland	3,932,911	3,936,704
Northern Ireland	1,120,508	1,130,602

To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to discuss with her European Economic Community counterparts the normalisation of relations with China; and if she will make a statement.

Policy towards China has been regularly discussed within the Community and the measures adopted last year have been kept under review. We have been advocating for some time a steady resumption of normal relations. The subject is likely to be discussed again at the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on 22–23 October.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to allow her Ministers to resume normal visits to China; and if she will make a statement.

I hope that we can agree shortly with our Community partners on a steady resumption of normal Ministerial visits to and from China. Our partners have of course also always accepted our special need to maintain contact with China over Hong Kong.

To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to seek to persuade the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to resume normal lending to China; and if she will make a statement.

China has not sought recently to borrow from the IMF. We fully supported the decision taken at the Houston economic summit in July to consider World Bank loans to China that would contribute to the reform of the Chinese economy, especially loans that would address environmental concerns.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will convene a conference at Mold, Clwyd, to consider future industrial development in north-east Wales with Clwyd local authorities, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress and others.

No. Ministers held extensive consultations with local authorities and the representative bodies prior to the publication last December of the document "A55: The Road of Opportunity", which sets out a range of policies and proposals to ensure the future success of North Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received opposing the sale of the Llwyn Mawr site owned by West Glamorgan county council.

Since he issued the direction to the county council on 22 August, my right hon. Friend has received 27 letters and one petition.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he received, and how many were from developers, asking him to require West Glamorgan county council to sell the Llwyn Mawr site; and on what dates these representations were received.

My right hon. Friend received one representation from a private developer on 20 April 1988 requesting that a direction be served on West Glamorgan county council to sell the land.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales in how many cases since June 1979 his Department has instructed an education authority to sell land being held for future school development.

One.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the percentage of those waiting for non-urgent operations who wait longer than for one year, in each of the health authorities in Wales.

The percentage of people who were waiting for non-urgent operations in hospitals in each of the Welsh district health authorities as at 31 March 1990, and had waited for a year or more, is given in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has as to which hospitals have been able to reduce the number of patients waiting for non-urgent operations; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to table 6 of the Welsh hospital waiting list bulletin 1990, No. 2, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.In addition, the following hospitals also reduced the numbers waiting for non-urgent treatment:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the rise in the number of people waiting for non-urgent operations, as a percentage and as a number; and if he will make a statement.

At 31 March 1990, the non-urgent waiting list was 42,685, a rise of 11 per cent. or 4,214 on the previous year. During 1989, in-patient and day case throughout increased by 7,549 to 534,478, a rise of 1·4 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy concerning the need to cut down the waiting time for non-urgent surgery.

Health authorities are well aware of the importance which the Government places on the need to address the time people have to wait to receive treatment or diagnosis, whether urgent or non-urgent.Record resources have been made to the NHS in Wales in response to increased demand and to reflect higher activity levels. In addition, central funding continues to be available to support the initiative launched in 1986 to tackle the more problematic lists and three treatment centres have been set up to ensure speedier treatment for those who suffer from specific key disabling conditions.For the future, all health authorities will be expected to pay particular attention to waiting lists in the contracts which they negotiate with their providers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet Alyn-Deeside council, Clwyd county council, Queensferry community council, Shotton town council, Connah's Quay town council and Hawarden town council to discuss matters relating to the need for a new crossing of the River Dee.

The Dee crossing scheme was conditionally accepted for transport grant support in 1990–91. An application from Clwyd county council for continued conditional acceptance in 1991–92 is under consideration. Progress on the scheme is a matter for the county council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with British Urban Development concerning its proposed development project in Swansea.

I discussed progress on the Tawe Vale project with the deputy chairman of the BUD on 26 July and offered to meet him when specific detailed proposals were available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list for each facility in Wales providing secure accommodation for young persons for each of the years 1975, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989, the number of admissions and discharges according to the sex and age of young persons accommodated and according to the legal basis on which they were accommodated;(2) if he will list for each facility in Wales providing secure accommodation for young persons for each of the years 1975, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989, the number of places available; whether such places were available for boys and-or girls; and what was the age range for which such places were available.

I will write to the hon. Gentleman, and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales why paragraphs 46, 47 and 48 of the Department of Education and Science circular "Grants for Education Support and Training" are omitted from the Welsh Office equivalent circular; what are the respective numbers of educational psychologists in relation to pupil numbers in Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland; what are the equivalent figures for each Welsh county; how many posts are unfilled; and whether any bilingual posts are unfilled.

Paragraph 47 of the Department of Education and Science circular is dealt with under activity 12(91) of the equivalent Welsh Office circular. The initial training of educational psychologists has not been classed as a national priority area within the Welsh Office programme for education support and training in 1991–92, because of the many and competing demands on available resources. Local authorities are free to train educational psychologists from their own resources for that year. The Welsh Office will be keeping the situation under review and will consider future support in the light of local demand and priorities.Details of the numbers of educational psychologists in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are set out in the following table. No comparable statistics are available for Wales but, as part of the review mentioned above, the Welsh Office will be seeking specific information from local authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to make use of the credit note issued by IBM UK to his Department in respect of its under-performance in completing the contract for the financial systems computer software installation.

Use has already been made of the credit note, and it is expected that it will be fully expended before the end of the current financial year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the new members of the Clwyd health authority giving any appropriate qualifications.

With effect from 17 September 1990, the memberships of Clwyd district health authority is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will order an investigation into the discharge of untreated sewage from the pathology laboratory at Ysbyty Gwynedd via Pen Rhos Garnedd into the Menai Straits; and if he will make a statement.

No. I am advised by Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig that the discharge from Ysbyty Gwynedd receives treatment at Treborth sewage works.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list the woodland grant scheme applications made since 1 June 1989 in respect of land in the study area covered by the Highland regional council's examination of forestry in Caithness and Sutherland, indicating into which of the four zones identified by the Highland regional council's report these applications fell and the result of the application in each case;(2) if he will list the woodland grant scheme applications made since 1 June 1989 in respect of land in the study area covered by the Highland regional council's examination of forestry in Caithness and Sutherland in cases where the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds had not been consulted, indicating the total land area of proposed forestry in each case.

The information is set out in the following tables, which cover the period 1 June 1989-1 October 1990.The Nature Conservancy Council and the Highland regional council—but not the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds—have been, or will be, consulted directly by the Forestry Commission over each of these applications.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the amount of money spent by his Department, separate from that employed by the regional councils and islands councils, on publicising the system of children's hearings in each of the past 10 years.

The Scottish Office has arranged and funded over the past nine years national press advertising to assist in the annual recruitment of new members to children's hearings system. Expenditure has been as follows:

Year	£
1982	25,000
1983	20,000
1985	22,000
1986	16,000
1987	26,000
1988	30,000

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what consideration he has given to the introduction of vouchers into Scottish education;(2) whether he has any plans to introduce education vouchers into Scotland.

My right hon. and learned Friend has no immediate plans to introduce a voucher scheme in Scotland. A pilot scheme to provide students in further education with training credits is being tested in Grampian region.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the initiatives in education policy he has under consideration.

My right hon. and learned Friend gives high priority to the implementation of initiatives in education policy already in hand, such as curriculum assessment review, development of the effectiveness of school boards, staff development and appraisal; the development of Scottish vocational qualifications; wider access to post school education; and improvement in the management of further and higher education. New initiatives in education policy will be announced when it is appropriate to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received concerning the actions of Greater Glasgow health board in seeking to require junior doctors at Southern general hospital, Glasgow, to work 115 hours per week; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 15 October 1990]: None. The employment of junior doctors at the Southern general hospital is a matter for Greater Glasgow health board. In two cases which have recently received extensive publicity, I understand that the junior doctors concerned had contracted to work from 1 August 1990 a one in three rota, with prospective cover. This meant that their normal period of duty of 88 hours a week rose to 115 hours, including time spent on call, when covering while their colleagues are on holiday and study leave, and they were paid accordingly from the start of their contract. Greater Glasgow health board is currently examining ways of reducing the hours of work of all its junior staff, including those at the Southern general hospital, who are on rotas more onerous than one in three.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the latest figures of self-employed people in Roxburgh and Berwickshire.

[holding answer 15 October 1990]: The latest information on this is from the 1981 Census of population, which shows that there were 1,314 self-employed residents in Berwickshire and 1,732 self-employed residents in Roxburgh in Spring 1981. Information on self-employment from the 1991 census of population is expected to become available in 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many trees have been planted in Scotland under planting schemes aided by Her Majesty's Government; and what expenditure is involved;(2) how many trees have been planted in England and Wales under planting schemes financed by Her Majesty's Government; and what expenditure has been involved.

(holding answer 17 October 1990): The areas grant-aided by the Forestry Commission in the ten years to 31 March 1990 are given in the table.

hectares1
	New planting	Restocking
Scotland	145,600	14,400
England	14,700	23,400
Wales	8,300	2,500
1 The figures have been rounded to the nearest 100 hectares.

The Forestry Commission paid out £68·3 million in grants over this period; the breakdown of this figure by country is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to publish the results of his consideration of the Monopolies and Mergers Commissions investigation into the Grand Met/Alders deal.

[holding answer 17 October 1990]: The Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the merger situations between Elders IXL Ltd. and Grand Metropolitan plc was published on Tuesday 16 October.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he intends to publish the data on plutonium production set out in recommendation 3 of the Barnes report on the Hinkley C inquiry, detailed at page 960 in volume 3, to which he agreed in his decision letter; and if he will make it his policy to publish the said data in the Official Report.

The information requested is being published today and copies of the press release will be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what consideration he gave to seeking a parliamentary debate on the recommendations of the Barnes report on the Hinkley Point C public inquiry, before his statement granting consent which was issued in his reply to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson), Official Report, 6 September, column 604.

In fairness to all concerned with this decision. My right hon. Friend wanted to make a prompt announcement of his decision on the recommendations of the Barnes report on the Hinkley Point C public inquiry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson), Official Report, 6 September, column 604 (i) how many copies of the full inspector's report of the Hinkley inquiry have been printed. (ii) to whom they have been distributed, (iii) what is the sale price of the full report; (iv) what has been the cost to date of printing the report and (v) how many copies of the summary report and decision letter have been (a) published and (b) distributed and to whom.

The information requested is as follows:

(i) 1,800;

(ii) Parliament, the relevant planning authorities, Government Departments, Nuclear Electric and all those objectors who appeared at the inquiry and requested a copy of the report;

(iii) £80;

(iv) £134,000. The final amount will be recovered from the applicant, Nuclear Electric plc; and

(v)(a) 5,000 of the summary report and 1,100 of the decision letter; and

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether any public expenditure is involved in the proposed hydro-electric barrage between Hurst Castle and the Isle of Wight.

My Department has not been approached about this proposal and the project is not included in the renewable energy research and development programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will meet the Fosters brewing company to discuss adherence to the British brewers' voluntary self-denial about sponsoring motor racing and racing cars.

I have no plans to meet the Fosters brewing company.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the construction contracts entered into by the Property Services Agency since September 1988 in respect of which no competitive tenders have been sought.

No. In the period referred to, the Property Services Agency placed in excess of 5,000 contracts for building and construction work in this category.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance is given to local authorities on the criteria for deciding land suitable for use as residential gipsy traveller sites; and whether these or other criteria relate to land designated for housing purposes.

Circular 28/77 and the site design guide, which is currently being revised, give guidance to local authorities on the criteria which they should follow in selecting land as suitable for gipsy sites. The criteria do not refer to whether the land in question is designated for housing purposes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent estimate has been made of the shortfall in the provision of residential sites for gipsy and traveller people; and in which ways local authorities are encouraged to meet their obligations to provide sites.

A spot count of gipsy caravans is undertaken on behalf of my Department by metropolitan-district councils in England every six months. At the time of the count in July 1990 a total of 11,967 caravans were recorded, of which 4,610 (38·5 per cent.) were on unauthorised sites.The Caravan Sites Act 1968 placed a duty on county councils, metropolitan districts and London boroughs to provide sites for gipsies residing in or resorting to their area. The Government provide 100 per cent. grant aid towards the reasonable capital costs of construction of sites.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 15 October, if he will name the consultants who have been employed to advise on the development of financial and management systems.

The names requested are as follows:

• KPMG Peat Marwick McLintock
• Mr. K. Worthy
• Spicers Consulting Group (now called Spicer Oppenheim)
• SPT Management Consultants
• Touche Ross

Some of these have worked on more than one project.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any proposals to turn public rented housing accommodation into a compulsory mortgage scheme.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table setting out the top 20 local authorities whose rent arrears are the greatest.

I will write to my hon. Friend shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the report of the noise review working party; and if he will make a statement.

The report of the working party is being published today and copies are being made available in the Library.The working party was chaired by Mr. W. J. S. Batho and included representatives of local government, industry and voluntary bodies. I am most grateful for their efforts and pleased with the outcome.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many Government-owned empty properties there are in (a) Glasgow, (b) Strathclyde Region and (c) Scotland.

[holding answer 16 October 1990]: There are no Government-owned empty properties in Glasgow. There are seven vacant in Strathclyde and a total of 15 throughout Scotland of which all but two are up for disposal.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if any building or alteration works connected with the proposals made by the development group took place in county hall before 8 October.

[holding answer 16 October 1990]: I have no knowledge of any such works.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the future of county hall.

[holding answer 16 October 1990]: Following publication on 24 July of the inspector's report of an inquiry into planning appeals to the proposed redevelopment of county hall my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has invited the applicants to submit amendments to the planning application by 7 November. If there is occasion to do so he will reopen the inquiry before determining the application. It remains the responsibility of the London residuary body to dispose of the property in the interests of London charge payers.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has anything to add to his statement of 26 March, Official Report, column 116, about the conditions required to be met for entry to the exchange rate mechanism.

I have nothing to add to the statement my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made on 15 October at column 928–29.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement outlining the effect the decision to join the exchange rate mechanism of the exchange rate mechanism will have on the United Kingdom's trade balance with the European Economic Community.

[holding answer 17 October 1990]: Future movements in the United Kingdom's trade balance with the EC will be influenced by a number of different factors. ERM entry will reinforce counter-inflationary policy and provide a better framework for British industry to control costs.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present practice of the board of Inland Revenue with regard to instituting criminal proceedings in case of suspected tax fraud.

The practice of the board of Inland Revenue in cases of fraud in relation to tax is as follows:

1. The board may accept a money settlement instead of instituting criminal proceedings in respect of fraud alleged to have been committed by a taxpayer.

2. It can give no undertaking that it will accept a money settlement and refrain from instituting criminal proceedings, even if the taxpayer has made a full confession and has given full facilities for investigation of the facts. It reserves to itself full discretion in all cases as to the course it pursues.

3. Nevertheless, in considering whether to accept a money settlement or to institute criminal proceedings, its decision is influenced by the fact that the taxpayer has made a full confession and has given full facilities for investigastion into his affairs and for examination of such books, papers, documents or information as the board may consider necessary.

The purpose of this statement is to clarify the former statement—given by the then Chancellor Sir John Anderson—and to bring its language up to date. It is not intended to make any substantive changes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact on voluntary organisations in England and Wales of any harmonisation of value added tax which would end the zero-rating concessions at present in force.