To ask the Attorney-General how he intends to consult Parliament about changes in county court procedure for rent arrears and possession actions.

The proposed changes in procedure follow recommendations of the civil justice review, which was presented to Parliament in June 1988. The Lord Chancellor announced his acceptance of them in April 1989. Public consultation on the proposed new rent action took place from the end of September to 19 November 1990. The Government are now considering how to proceed in the light of responses. Reforms to the existing procedure in possession cases are planned for July 1992, and the Lord Chancellor will be issuing a consultation paper on the proposed new rules.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimates have been made of the amount of aid needed for reconstruction in South Africa, once apartheid has been dismantled, and in Mozambique and Angola, once peace is achieved.

It is too early to assess how much aid will be needed for these purposes. Britain remains committed to the creation of a prosperous and just southern Africa. This commitment underlies our current involvement in the region, and will continue to do so as appropriate and as circumstances change.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the size and purpose of (a) British and (b) EC aid for black South Africans.

The purpose of the British aid programme is to encourage the process of change in South Africa and to help black South Africans improve their abilities to play their rightful role in Government and economic and social development. In 1990–91 we expect to spend around £8 million from the bilateral programme, a figure that is set to rise in the years ahead.The European Community aims to assist those disadvantaged by apartheid through projects which promote non-racialism, encourage democratic practices, and enjoy community support; and through non-violent organisations working for peaceful change. The European Community's South African programme amounts to the equivalent of approximately £20 million in 1990, of which our share will be about £4 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of all aid committed to the countries of Southern Africa and to SADCC in 1989 and 1990, stating the purpose of each allocation.

British bilateral aid commitments for the countries of southern Africa and SADCC cover a wide range of development activities, for expenditure in 1989 and 1990 and, in a number of cases, for the years beyond. They range from formal obligations to capital projects both large, such as the rehabilitation of Limpopo railway, and small, expenditure on which often stretches over several years, to technical co-operation where we are committed to the provision of expatriate expertise and training for local officers. The numbers of technical co-operation officers and trainees from the region both run into hundreds.The most prominent commitments we have are for the SADCC projects and for the provision of programme aid in particular countries. Our commitment to SADCC amounts in total to £70 million, of which £10 million was pledged in 1990 and £15 million was committed in 1989 to finance the second phase of the Limpopo railway project. Programme aid pledges in 1989 and 1990, taken together, were made for Malawi (£10·5 million); Mozambique (£10 million); Tanzania (£17·5 million); and Zambia (£30 million).In addition, Britain has pledged £10 million for Namibia, for commitment over three years from 1990, and an extra £10 million for our aid programme for black South Africans, for expenditure over four years. A pledge of £10 million was made to Zimbabwe in 1989, again for expenditure over a number of years.Details of actual expenditure in 1989 can be obtained from "British Aid Statistics".

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the meeting between an official of his Department and Mr. Keochlin and Miss Sandys of Pachamama.

Mr. Keochlin and Miss Sandys of the Pachamama Society of Peru visited my Department on 28 November and provided information on the objectives and organisation of the society to one of my officials. There was a discussion of the United Kingdom's bilateral aid programme to Peru and in Latin America in general, with particular emphasis on environmental matters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the estimated annual cost of Her Majesty's inspectorate of education in England.

The estimated net recurrent cost of Her Majesty's inspectorate of education in England in 1990–91 is £28·1 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the number of books procured for university libraries and polytechnics libraries in 1970, 1980 and 1990.

This information is not collected centrally. Book and other purchases are for individual institutions to determine within their total resources.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the provision of Government funding for books at universities and polytechnics in 1979 and 1989, respectively (a) overall, at constant prices and (b) per student, at constant prices; and what has been the average increase in the cost of such text books in this period.

The higher education funding councils do not reserve part of their funding for book provision. It is for individual institutions to determine their expenditure within the total resources at their disposal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the total take-up of student loans over the past 12 months; and if he will list the take-up of individual loans as a percentage of student funding in each university and polytechnic.

As at 12 December 1990, over 66,000 students had applied for loans, representing 10.5 per cent. of the estimated number of eligible students in the United Kingdom.Figures showing the take-up of individual loans as a percentage of student funding in each university and polytechnic are not available. For a student who lives away from home, but not in London, and who receives the basic maintenance grant, the full-year loan facility in 1990–91 is nearly 16 per cent. of the total resources available from the uprated grant and the loan combined.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many research grants will be funded in 1990–91 as a result of the Science and Engineering Research Council settlement.

The total number of research grants being supported by the Science and Engineering Research Council in December 1990 was 5,019.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many universities and polytechnics are known to his Department to have cash flow problems; if he will list them; and if he will make a statement on the practice of funds being made available three months in arrears.

The management of cash flow is for individual universities, polytechnics and colleges. Detailed information is not collected centrally. Under the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1990, local education authorities must pay termly instalments of tuition fees promptly. The funding councils aim to take the general incidence of fee and other income into account in determining the profiles for their monthly payments of grant.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much of the available EC money for science park development has been taken up by universities and polytechnics in the United Kingdom.

The development of science parks is not specifically funded through the EC framework programme and, to date, no funds have been made available for that purpose.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many universities and polytechnics administer hardship funds; how much money has been paid out from these funds; and to what extent they are oversubscribed.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to access funds, which were introduced for the first time this academic year. All universities and polytechnics have had allocations from total Great Britain provision of £25 million. Detailed information about the operation of the scheme will not be available until after the end of the academic year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what obligations the governors of schools which obtain grant-maintained status are under to honour the terms of existing dual-use agreements, in particular the obligation to reimburse a dual-use partner part of its capital investment in the event of the governors' serving notice to terminate the agreement; and if he will make a statement.

The education assets board is responsible for identifying the property rights and liabilities of the former maintaining LEA and the former governing body which transfer to the governing body of the grant-maintained school in accordance with section 74 of the Education Reform Act 1988. Schedule 10 to the 1988 Act provides for circumstances where the interests in property are shared between the grant-maintained school and either the local education authority or a third party. The obligations upon the partners in dual-use schemes depend upon the terms of the agreement between the parties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what measures he will take to ensure that the management of out-of-hours use of school premises does not discourage investment by third parties in dual-use projects; and if he will make a statement.

We are considering urgently the possibility of amending section 42 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 so as to resolve the potential problem to which the hon. Member refers. I have placed a copy in the Library of an official letter from the Department of Education and Science which has just been issued explaining the position.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many universities registered deficits on their last year's accounts; and will he list them and the sums involved.

Universities' financial years end on 31 July. Accounts for 1989–90 are now being received by the Universities Funding Council which will analyse them early in 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what consideration has been given to the reduction of nursery provision for staff in universities and the obligation of institutions of higher education to make provision under the terms of equal opportunities legislation.

This is for university managements to determine.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to ensure that computer equipment in universities is replaced at a rate which maintains the credibility of courses.

This is a matter for individual universities, with the assistance of substantial public funds from the computer board for the universities and research councils and from the Universities Funding Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to alter the format of community charge bills as proposed by the southern regional council of the Association of District Councils.

Draft regulations are being issued today to charging authorities on the form of the community charge bill for 1991–92. This will enable authorities to amend their computer programmes and arrange their printing requirements so that bills can be sent out in good time when charges have been set in March. A copy of the draft regulations have been placed in the Library. The form of the bill will be on the lines set out in the

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will undertake a review of the provisions of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 as they relate to (a) local authority finance and (b) political restrictions;(2) if he has any plans to exempt elderly people being cared for at home by friends or relatives from the poll tax for 1991–92;(3) if he has any plans to exempt non-working partners from the poll tax for 1991–92;(4) if he has any plans to end the 20 per cent. contribution rule applying to all poll tax payers whatever their income for 1991–92;(5) if he has any plans to exempt

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him of 10 December, Official Report, column 263.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements exist for the provision of an occupational health service for employees within his Department, stating (a) how many staff are employed to provide occupational health services, (b) how many of those staff are qualified nurses and (c) how many employees work in his Department in total.

All civil service departments and agencies have access to the services of the Civil Service Occupational Health Service which employs some 100 fully qualified occupational health professionals—doctors, nurses and hygiene and safety advisers. It operates via a network of regional offices throughout the United Kingdom and also provides on-site medical advice to Departments. My Department has some 7,000 employees.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the dates and circumstances in the last five years when an application for gravel extraction has been refused by his Department.

The information requested has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the initiatives taken by the Government to improve access for people with disabilities in both new and existing buildings of all types and in the built environment generally since the passage of the Disabled Persons Act 1981; and if he will make a statement.

The Government have an impressive record over recent years on the promotion of initiatives aimed at improving the accessibility for people with disabilities of buildings and the built environment. As well as initiatives prompted directly by Government Ministers they include initiatives which Government Departments have promoted in co-operation with a range of statutory and voluntary agencies and organisations, both national and local. I shall be placing in the Library a list of initiatives with which my Department and other Government Departments have been directly concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his Department's estimate of the number of people sleeping on the streets in London.

Having consulted front-line voluntary organisations, my Department estimates that some 2,000 to 3,000 people sleep on the streets in London. A count of persons sleeping rough is to be carried out as part of the 1991 population census.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will call in all planning applications made on land and open spaces sold by Liverpool city council to private developers.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to do so. His policy is to be very selective about calling in applications and he is unlikely to intervene on any of those in question unless they raise planning issues of more than local importance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he has taken to consult the providers of existing services in Wales and in each county in Wales in respect of alcohol abuse about the most effective use of available cash and resources, both in respect of the £150,000 announced by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales on Drinkwise day in June and generally.

As a follow-up to Welsh Office circular 8/89; WHC89(14) on alcohol misuse, the Welsh Office wrote to interested organisations on 10 October 1990 inviting their views on how the £150,000 earmarked for 1990–91 might be utilised to best meet their needs. Responses received were fully taken into account in drawing up the guidance issued in WHC(90)78 and WHC(90)79.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money was set aside in his Department's budget for the treatment centres initiative in 1989–90 and 1990–91; how much was spent in 1989–90; and how much was spent in each quarter of the 1990–91 financial year to date.

Funding for treatment centres is not allocated or released on a quarterly basis. The annual cost of each centre is considered in advance with the relevant health authority and is the subject of a contractual agreement. A total of £508,500 was released in 1989–90 to meet the initial cost of the setting up of the three all-Wales centres. A total of some £1·2 million has been allocated to fund treatment centres in 1990–91 of which some £598,000 has been released.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales against what criteria he intends to judge the success or failure of his Department's treatment centres initiative.

Among other factors, the evaluation of the treatment centre initiative will consider the extent to which each centre has met its contractual target on throughput and established an all-Wales referral pattern thus reducing the time patients might otherwise have to wait for treatment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will undertake an investigation into the difficulties faced by tenants in the private rented sector, particularly in regard to the most vulnerable people in Welsh society.

Recent legislation has strengthened the law against harassment and illegal eviction. Local authorities are encouraged to make full use of their wide powers to control houses in multiple occupation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he now proposes to have with his German opposite number regarding their joint approach to the case of the European Commission v. the German Government before the European Court of Justice regarding Leybucht bay, subsequent to the Advocate-General's opinion.

Until we have received the Advocate-General's opinion and considered its contents I am unable to say whether discussions by the United Kingdom Government will be necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer on 10 December, if he will indicate which aspects of the staff inspection report into the national library of Wales were satisfactory and which were not.

Staff inspection reports are internal management documents and the normal procedures for dealing with them were indicated in my reply to the hon. Member for Torfaen (Mr. Murphy) on 31 October. The consultation procedure is in progress and no decisions have been made on any of the recommendations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what change has taken place, in real terms, in actual expenditure on education in Wales since 1979–80 (a) excluding school meals and milk and (b) including school meals and milk; and what percentage per annum each change represents.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to publish the report of the Devon and Cornwall police into the conviction of Paul and Wayne Darvell; and what further action he proposes in the light of the report's conclusions.

No. It is not the practice to publish the reports of police investigations. The report was received at the end of November. We will consider it and the representations we have received about the case in order to decide whether to intervene.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners absconded from open prisons in 1987;(2) how many prisoners absconded from open prisons in 1988;(3) how many prisoners absconded from open prisons in 1989;(4) how many prisoners who absconded from open prisons in 1987 were recaptured;(5) how many prisoners who absconded from open prisons in 1988 were recaptured;(6) how many prisoners who absconded from open prisons in 1989 were recaptured;(7) how many abscondees from open prisons in 1987 were on drug-related offences;(8) how many abscondees from open prisons in 1988 were on drug-related offences;

The information on absconds during 1987 and the first five months of 1988 was not recorded in such a way as to enable absconds from open prisons to be distinguished from those who go missing from outside working parties of closed prisons or who abscond while allowed out of closed prisons on trust.A new method of recording information was introduced in June 1988; from that date until December 1988, a total of 311 inmates absconded from open prisons. During 1989 a total of 682 inmates absconded from open prisons.The information requested about recapture and the offences for which the inmates concerned had been imprisoned is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the policy of his Department towards the use of subliminal techniques in all types of communication media; and what estimate he has made of any possible dangers to the public from exposure to subliminal techniques.

The Government oppose the use of subliminal techniques in broadcasting. Because of the danger of unacceptable exploitation of the public, they have been prohibited for many years and will remain so.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of notifiable offences for each uniformed member of the police establishment in each police authority in England and Wales for each year from 1986 to 1989.

[holding answer 11 December 1990]: The information requested is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the computerised national register of missing persons.

[holding answer 11 December 1990]: Consideration is at present being given to the establishment of a small co-ordinating bureau which will handle inquiries about missing persons from the public and the media. In the longer term, plans for the new police national computer will greatly assist the follow-up to such inquiries, but this is unlikely to be fully effective until 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information, other than statistical information, he requires from registrars of births, deaths and marriages; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.We do not directly require any information from registrars of births, deaths and marriages. Registrars, by law, are required to send copies to the Registrar-General of all register entries made in the area for which they are responsible. The form of these register entries is prescribed by regulations made by the Registrar-General which require my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's approval. In addition, the information contained in each birth, stillbirth and death register is also required to be returned to the prescribed medical officer of the district health authority for the place in which the event occurred under the provisions of the National Health Service Act 1977.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been treated for major heart surgery at St. George's hospital, Tooting, in the period January to November 1990.

The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to write to Dr. Enid Vincent. the chairman of the Wandsworth district health authority, who may be able to provide this information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance in respect of elderly people's homes his Department will be giving to Nottinghamshire county council arising from the visit of Councillor Joan Taylor to the Minister on 11 December.

Decisions on the use of resources available to social services authorities are a matter for local determination.It was announced this week that Nottinghamshire is being given on annual capital guideline for personal social services of £2·03 million for 1991–92, which represents an increase of £0·514 million, or 34 per cent., over 1990–91.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he has received any communication from either of the authors of the report cited in the replies to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, on 23 June 1989, Official Report, columns 278–79 and 8 December 1989, Official Report, column 420, on the cost of diets for people with AIDS or HIV infection; and if he will make a statement;(2) if he has received any further advice on the cost of diets for people with AIDS or HIV infection further to those cited in the reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe of 2 April,

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many haemophiliacs,who contracted the AIDS virus through blood transfusions, have died since 1986.

Since the beginning of 1986 up to the end of November 1990, the number of deaths of haemophiliacs with the AIDS virus reported to the communicable disease surveillance centre and the communicable diseases (Scotland) unit has been 140. Haemophiliacs contracted the AIDS virus through contaminated blood products and not blood transfusions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the annual level of his Department's budget on (i) supplementary benefit/income support, (ii) housing benefit and (iii) other means-tested benefits for each year since 1979, both at current and 1990 prices.

The information requested is in the table

I am not aware of any communications from either of the authors referred to. The advice we have received on diets for people with AIDS or HIV infection remains unchanged.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to publish his comments on the Social Security Advisory Committee's report on the draft regulations on housing benefit.

The report of the Social Security Advisory Committee on the draft Housing Benefit (General) Amendment No. 3 Regulations 1990 has been received and its contents are currently under consideration. The report and the Government's response will be published in the usual way when the regulations are laid.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many families with children in receipt of housing benefit are also receiving family credit, broken down into couples and lone parents.

Excluding community charge rebate cases in Scotland, at 31 May 1989 there were an estimated 38,000 couples and 22,000 lone parents receiving both housing benefit and family credit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents living on income support have earnings, broken down between those with children aged under 11 years and those with children aged 11 to 15 years.

The information is not available in the form requested. The number of lone parents who are receiving income support and have earnings, broken down by reference to the age of the youngest child is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents living on income support have help with their mortgage interest payments; and what the average value of such help is for each lone parent family.

There are some 68,000 lone parents receiving income support which includes help with mortgage interest payments. The average weekly amount for mortgage interest taken into account in the assessment of income support is £30·45.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the criteria under which pensioners qualify for a severe weather payment; and how many such payments were made in each of the past five years.

A payment of £5 is available from the social fund for any period of seven consecutive days when the average temperature is 0 deg or below. Pensioners who receive income support are eligible to claim, and savings over £1,000 are taken into account on a pound-for-pound basis.Information on the number of payments made to pensioners over the past five years is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the places at which temperatures are measured in order to determine whether cold weather payments should be made available; and if he will state in each case the area relating to these trigger points for this purpose.

I refer the hon. Member to the schedule to the Social Fund Cold Weather Payments General (Amendment) Regulations 1990 (SI 2302/1990), which were laid before the House on 21 November and came into force on 12 December. These regulations list all the national climatological message weather stations which act as trigger points, and state which areas are linked to each message station.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the annual cost of fees and reimbursements to people appointed to (a) public, (b) non-governmental and (c) other bodies by his Department.

[holding answer 5 December 1990]: People appointed to (a) public, (b) non-governmental and (c) other bodies were paid the following fees and reimbursements during the 1989–90 financial year:

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the cost of enabling people who qualify for the lower rate of mobility component of the disability living allowance before the age of 65 years to receive the higher rate if their mobility needs increase after that age; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 6 December 1990]: The extent to which those qualifying for the lower rate of the mobility component would be likely to become entitled to the higher rate after reaching age 65 cannot be predicted with certainty. It is estimated, however, that the eventual cost would be in the order of up to £20 million a year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the railway inspectorate has made an assessment of the effectiveness of automatic couplings on the express 158s.

I understand that the deputy chief inspecting officer inspected a class 158 unit before these vehicles entered service in Scotland, and that the automatic couplings fitted to class 158 units are fitted to other BR trains on which they have been operating without difficulty. The Health and Safety Executive's railway inspectorate will await the outcome of BR's internal inquiry into the recent incidents in which class 158 units have become uncoupled in service before deciding whether any action on its part is required.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date he expects work on repairs to the sliproads between Tyburn road and the Aston expressway, Birmingham, to start; whether he will detail the way in which repairs are to be undertaken; how long they are contracted to take; which company is to carry them out; what is the value of the contract; and whether it includes a bonus clause for early completion or a penalty clause for late completion.

Advance works have already begun and demolition work is due to start before Christmas. The slip roads should be reopened in the summer.The damaged structure will be demolished first followed by repairs to the approach spans and columns and finally reconstruction of the main deck. A number of contracts will be let for which tendering procedures are on-going. They will not include a bonus clause for early completion because the unusual nature of the work makes one inappropriate, but they will include a liquidated damages clause for late completion. The contracts will specify very tight programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what research he has commissioned to assess the effectiveness of the R-plate scheme; and if he will make a statement.

The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland is assessing a recent proposal from an academic institution for research into the comparative experience of newly qualified drivers in Great Britain where there is no R-plate system and Northern Ireland. A decision will be taken shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the estimated number of homeless persons in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested is not available prior to April 1989 when the Northern Ireland Housing Executive was given responsibility for dealing with the accommodation needs of all homeless people under the Housing (NI) Order 1988.I am advised by the chairman of the Housing Executive that the number of applicants accepted as being either homeless or threatened with homelessness since 1 April 1989 is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will take steps to have Hazelbank park on the northern side of Belfast lough declared an area of outstanding natural beauty and an area of special control.1986

No. The area is already shown in the Belfast urban area plan 2001 as lands reserved for landscape amenity or recreation use.

To ask the Secretary of State for Forekgn and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all visits of Government Ministers and officials to Romania since 1979.

The following Government Ministers and senior officials have visited Romania since 1979:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what current measures there are to help the process of economic and political reform in Romania;(2) if he will list all offers of aid made by Her Majesty's Government to Romania in each year since 1979.

No offers of aid were made by Her Majesty's Government to Romania between 1979 and December 1989. Since then we have sent humanitarian aid, bilaterally and through the European Community, totalling some £6·5 million. We have spent or are spending about £190,000 on measures to promote political and economic reform in Romania. We shall also be responsible for a proportion of the cost of an EC programme to aid Romanian children's homes, which has already committed over £9 million. I am arranging for full details to be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will assist Bulgaria with urgent medical aid.

We are contributing to the European Community's recently approved mother and child health care programme for Bulgaria. Additional requests received during the EC-Bulgaria joint commission on 30 November are now being considered, and will be discussed at the 14 to 15 December European Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made by the Government encouraging the European Commission to consider Bulgarian requests for food assistance.

Bulgarian requests for food assistance were discussed during the meeting of the EC-Bulgaria joint commission in Sofia on 30 November, and will next be discussed at the 14 to 15 December European Council. We have made it clear that we would support such assistance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the arrangements which will be made for the dispatch of food and medical aid to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; how much will be involved; who will undertake the distribution; and what advice he is giving to members of the public keen to help.

We have not yet taken a decision on the provision of food or medical aid to the Soviet Union. We will be discussing the matter with our European partners at this week's European Council. We believe it is important to tackle the underlying problems of distribution and, with British companies, are making specific efforts to this end. Members of the public who wish to help may send parcels to the Soviet embassy at 18 Kensington Palace gardens, London W8 4QX, or make out a cheque to "Aid to the Soviet People", account No. 00107301, held at Barclays bank, Marble Arch branch. The first consignment of parcels was dispatched from Stansted airport on 12 December.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received about the infringements of the human rights of the Romanian bishop, Laslo Tokes; and if he will make a statement.

We have received no representations about Pastor Tokes. We are investigating allegations about infringements of his human rights. I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to reply to the letter sent to his predecessor, the right hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh, Pentlands (Mr. Rifkind), on 19 September, by the hon. Member for East Lothian about Government policy on the A1 road.

I intend to write to the hon. Member very shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken to resolve the dispute between the Scottish prison service and the Scottish Prison Officers Association.

I am concerned to ensure that the industrial action threatened by the Scottish Prison Officers Association is avoided if at all possible. Such action can result only in an adverse effect on both members of staff and the service as a whole.Discussions on the issues involved have been under way for some time now between prison service management and the trade union side, which includes the association, and further meetings are being held before Christmas. I am kept fully abreast of developments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is now in a position to name the membership of the Gaelic Broadcasting Committee.

No. The terms of the Broadcasting Act 1990 place responsibility for appointing the membership of the Gaelic Television Committee on the Independent Television Commission.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has for shipping subsidies for sea transport services in Scotland in 1991–92; and if he will make a statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the estimates I propose to make available in 1991–92 total subsidy provision of £12·9 million compared with £11·7 million in 1990–91. The deficit subsidy for Caledonian MacBrayne will be £5·8 million. Tariff rebates subsidies of up to £5·5 million will be available for P and 0 services to Orkney and Shetland; and of £1·6 million for coastal shippers.The total of subsidies available will maintain support in real terms. This reflects the Government's continuing commitment to assisting the essential sea transport services to the western and northern isles.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what work has been undertaken by Collins, printers (Glasgow) for his Department within the past 12 months.

HMSO, which acts on behalf of the Ministry of Defence in placing printing work, has not placed any work with Harper Collins, Printers (Glasgow) during the past 12 months for the Ministry of Defence.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what administrative arrangements have been made in the event of reintroduction of conscription in anticipation of military escalation in the Gulf.

None. We have no plans to reintroduce conscription.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements exist for the provision of an occupational health service for employees within his Department, stating (a) how many staff are employed to provide occupational health services, (b) how many of those staff are qualified nurses and (c) how many employees work in his Department in total.

All civil service departmental and agencies have access to the Civil Service Occupational Health Service, which employs some 100 fully qualified occupational health professionals. Separate to this, the Surgeon General is responsible for routine occupational health care for all civilians and the referral of casework for the industrial grades, in service establishments. The Ministry of Defence employs 116 civilian medical practitioners and 327 civilian nurses, for the occupational health care of civilian and service personnel. At 31 October 1990, the Ministry of Defence employed 302,454 service personnel, 90,048 non-industrial and 50,289 industrial civil servants.Occupational health provision for service personnel is included as part of the full primary and secondary ca re they receive within their conditions of service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the NATO policy on the permanent basing of NATO tactical air-to-surface missiles on the European mainland.

NATO's policy remains as set out in the July 1990 London declaration, where it is stated that, to keep the peace, the alliance must maintain for the foreseeable future an appropriate mix of nuclear and conventional forces, based in Europe, and kept up to date where necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy on the maintenance of the projected number of Trident submarines, launch tubes and missile warheads for so long as other states possess, or are seeking to acquire, a nuclear weapons capability; and if he will make a statement.

As my right hon. Friend made clear in his statement on "Options for Change" on 25 July, we shall retain our strategic deterrent with a four-boat Trident force.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the privatisations with which his Department has been involved since 1979, indicating in each case the date of the sale, the proceeds of the sale and the estimated current value of the company.

The only privatisation my Department has undertaken since 1979 was the sale of Royal Ordnance plc, following an open competition, to British Aerospace plc in April 1987. The net proceeds from the sale were £185 million.My Department has no means of estimating the current market value of the company, since its shares are not publicly quoted and its assets are not separately identified in the accounts of its parent company.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future at 32 base workshop, Bicester.

A wide-ranging review of the Army's base repair organisation is under way. Consultants have provided early advice specific to the future of 32 base workshop, Bicester. They assess that the facilities and capacity there are surplus to the requirements of the base repair organisation and recommend that the workshop should close as soon as possible. We are consulting the trade unions on this recommendation in accordance with agreed procedures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received from service personnel concerning nuclear safety.

[holding answer 7 December 1990]: We have received no formal representations from service personnel on this matter.

To ask the Lord President of the Council what estimate has been made of the cost of the most expensive parliamentary answers; and what guidelines are used by Government Departments in assessing whether it is too expensive to reply to a parliamentary question.

Records of the actual cost of the most expensive parliamentary answers are not kept centrally. It is, however, estimated that some 1 to 2 per cent. of all parliamentary questions are likely to exceed the disproportionate cost threshold (currently £250). Any questions thought likely to fall into in this category are drawn to the attention of the relevant Ministers for decision before any significant expenditure is incurred. It is for the Minister to decide whether to decline to answer on the grounds of disproportionate cost or whether it is in the public interest for a full or partial reply to be given.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if, pursuant to his answer of 12 December concerning the availability of the Official Report on compact disc, he will take steps to ensure that following its commencement in that form a copy on compact disc will be available from the Vote Office to those hon. Members who request it.

I shall invite the relevant authorities of the House to consider the implications of making a CD Rom version of the Official Report available from the Vote Office.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the numbers of people on employment training in Chatham and Sunderland at 30 March, and in Avon, Chatham and Sunderland at 30 September 1989 and the numbers that have not had a place on a training scheme or found employment on leaving employment training in the areas and at the dates stated above.

The information requested for Avon and Sunderland is given in the table. Information for Chatham is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what reasons have been given for failure to submit AR21 returns to the trade union certification officer, by those trade unions which have so failed to submit them; and if he will make a statement;(2) how many trade unions have failed to submit their AR21s by 1 June 1990 to the certification officer for trade unions and employer associations as required by the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974; and if he will list them.

Monitoring trade unions' compliance with the provisions of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 as regards the submission of annual returns is a matter for the certification officer, an independent statutory authority. I have referred the questions to the certification officer who will be replying shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment. if he will list the privatisations with which his Department has been involved since 1979, indicating in each case the date of the sale, the proceeds of the sale and the estimated current value of the company.

Professional and Executive Recruitment (PER) was privatised in September 1988. The net proceeds of the sale were £5·1 million. It is now a privately owned company and it is not possible, nor appropriate, for my Department to estimate the current value of the company.The other privatisation in which my Department has been involved is that of the Skills Training Agency (STA). Some of STA's property interests are still on the market so it is not yet possible to state the final proceeds of the sale.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much of the available EEC money for science park development has been taken up by universities and polytechnics in this country and other agencies.

The Department of Employment is responsible for the European social fund, which provides money to support the running costs of vocational training schemes and employment measures.Information about ESF projects in science parks is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any proposals to extend the provisions of the Hotel Proprietors Act 1956 relating to loss of or damage to a guest's property to all places which offer accommodation to paying guests.

There are no such plans.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the privatisations with which his Department has been involved since 1979, indicating in each case the date of the sale, the proceeds of the sale and the estimated current value of the company.

The privatisations with which my Department has been involved since 1979 are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what advantages accrue to a publication which is registered at the Post Office as a newspaper; who controls registration; and what criteria have to be fulfilled to achieve registration.

Operational matters of this kind fall within the responsibility of the Post Office. However, I understand that publishers of any publication registered at the Post Office as a newspaper may send newspapers by first-class mail at the second-class postage rate. Registration, which costs £6 per annum, is carried out by the Royal Mail's district offices. The principal criteria for registration are that not less than one third of the publication consists of news or current topics or articles relating thereto; the publication is published at intervals of not more than seven days and is printed and published in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Commonwealth, or the EC; and that it has the full title and date printed prominently on the first page.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consideration of the draft proposals from the European Commission on postal services has taken place (a) by United Kingdom Ministers, and (b) in the United Kingdom Parliament.

The European Commission has not yet published its draft proposals on postal services, and does not expect to do so until next year. United Kingdom Ministers and officials have, however, played, and will continue to play, an active part in the appropriate EC fora in the development of proposals for the Commission's Green Paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade a nd Industry what future discussions will take place on proposals from the European Community on postal services.

The European Commission expects to publish its Green Paper on postal services in the new year. This will be followed by a period for consultation during which all interested parties will be encouraged to express their views.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department has received an invitation to participate in the conference on environmental agenda for management development to be held at Brunel university on 10 December.

[holding answer 10 December 1990]: Yes. The conference organisers contacted my Department, and I am glad to say that we were represented at it.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received advocating the extension of payment of civil service widows' pensions to the widows of post-retirement marriages with civil servants who retired before April 1978.

Since my hon. Friend, the former Paymaster General, replied to a similar question from my hon. Friend on 15 October this year, at column 716, the civil service unions have submitted a claim for improvements in the provision made by the civil service pension scheme for the widows of post-retirement marriages.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will reconsider his decision not to amend the civil service pension scheme to provide for the payment of pensions to the widows of post-retirement marriages whose husbands retired before 6 April 1978.

The Government have no plans to extend the present arrangements so that account is taken of pensionable service before 6 April 1978.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total income to the Exchequer from North Sea oil revenue (a) between 1974 and 1979 and (b) since 1979.

Total tax revenues from North sea oil production in the financial years from 1973–74 to 1978–79 amounted to £944 million and from 1979–80 to 1990–91 are forecast at £70,200 million.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the latest balance of payments figures (a) including and (b) excluding trade in oil.

The information is available in table Al of the monthly review of external trade statistics, available in the Library of the House, or on the Central Statistical Office database, which may also be accessed through the Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the latest meeting of the European Community's Economic and Finance Council.

The ECOFIN Council met in Brussels on 10 December. I represented the United Kingdom.Discussion focused on the economic situation in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, and the response that the Community might make towards assisting their progress towards developing market economies and appropriate adjustment programmes. There was discussion of the possible methods of providing such assistance to the Soviet Union, in particular technical assistance, and the most appropriate Community response to the problems of food distribution, as preparation for the European Council.The Council also discussed the question of G24 financial assistance for the countries of eastern Europe. It agreed that it was important that any such assistance should be in support of IMF programmes with appropriate conditionality and that contributions should be obtained from countries outside the EC.It was agreed that a proposal to disburse the second tranche of the $1 billion medium-term loan to Hungary, agreed earlier this year, should be referred to the 17 December ECOFIN Council for decision.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Inland Revenue will comment on draft employee share ownership trust deeds submitted to it.