To ask the Attorney-General whether it is the practice of the Serious Fraud Office to monitor funds offering to guarantee above-market interest rates.

No. The role of the Serious Fraud Office is to investigate and prosecute serious and complex fraud. Regulation of investment business is the responsibility of the Securities and Investments Board together with the self-regulating organisations recognised by the Securities and Investments Board in accordance with the Financial Services Act 1986.

To ask the Attorney-General when the Crown prosecution service received the file on the King's college baby case from Scotland Yard; and when a decision will be taken on prosecution.

The Crown prosecution service is currently considering a report received from the Metropolitan police on 4 December 1990. That report requires careful consideration and further inquiries may be requested. It is not therefore possible at this stage to give a firm indication of when a decision on whether to institute criminal proceedings will be taken. Once a decision has been taken I will write to the hon. Member informing him of that decision.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he proposes to introduce legislation to give protection and compensation to householders and landowners whose homes and land are blighted by coal mining subsidence.

The Government are committed to introducing a Bill to reform the arrangements for repair and compensation where property and land are damaged by coal mining subsidence. This will be done as soon as parliamentary time permits.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to be able to give a regional breakdown of the applications made for shares in each of the regional electricity companies.

The information is not available in the form requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his answer of 13 December, if he will provide statistics of what the number of applicant customers on the customer priority application forms is expressed as a percentage of all domestic customers in the franchise area for each of the 12 regional electricity companies of England and Wales.

Statistics on the numbers of customers applying on customer priority application forms are not available on a basis consistent with statistics on the total number of domestic customers for each regional electricity company.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he has called for an analysis of who sold and bought regional electricity company shares on the first day of trading.

My Department will consider carefully the dealings in the regional electricity company shares during the early aftermarket with a view to applying this knowledge as appropriate to the generator flotation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give his most up-to-date estimate of the percentage of total share capital allocated to overseas investors in the flotation of the 12 regional electricity companies which have been sold on the United Kingdom stock market in the first 48 hours of trading.

No such estimate is available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy who were the lead underwriters for the flotation of the regional electricity companies; and whether they advised on the price of the shares.

The lead underwriters for the flotation of the regional electricity companies were J. Henry Schroder Wagg and Co. Ltd. which, among others, advised the Government on pricing of the shares.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his total expenditure to date in the current year on electricity privatisation.

Total costs of privatisation will be published in the appropriation accounts once flotations have been completed. Expenditure to the end of March 1990 amounted to £18·7 million and provision has been made for £34·5 million for the current year. Latest forecasts of requirements for 1990–91 will be published as part of the spring supplementary estimates early next year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to be in a position to state how many applications for shares in one or more regional electricity companies were received from households involving more than one applicant.

The information will not be available in the form requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his most up-to-date estimate of the percentage loss to the atmosphere of unburnt methane from (a) industrial boilers, (b) commercial boilers, (c) domestic central heating boilers, (d) gas stoves and (e) gas fires.

The percentage leakage of unburnt methane from gas appliances is generally very low, but will depend on both the kind of device and the state of its maintenance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to review the connection between the Office of Electricity Regulation and the Office of Fair Trading in relation to monopoly and competition issues in the electricity supply industry.

I have no such plans. The respective functions of the Director General of Electricity Supply and the Director General of Fair Trading are set out in the legislation; liaison is a matter for the two directors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what evidence he has of concert parties in the acquisition of shares in (a) South Wales Electricity or (b) any other of the 12 regional electricity companies.

My Department is not aware of any evidence that two or more organisations have acted in concert to acquire shares in any regional electricity company.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions he has had with the Director General of OFFER regarding stake-building in the 12 regional electricity companies.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he will announce the price of the shares in National Power and PowerGen; and when trading in those shares will commence.

The flotation of National Power and PowerGen will take place in February. The precise dates of the offer will be announced closer to the time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he intends to retain the same advisers for the sale of National Power and PowerGen as advised him on the sale of the regional electricity companies.

Most of my advisers for the sale of National Power and PowerGen have been appointed for some months. Some of them are the same as for the sale of the regional electricity companies, and some are different.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what is his policy on mergers and takeovers of or among regional electricity companies; and if he will make a statement;(2) what discussions he has had with the 12 regional electricity companies' chairmen regarding mergers and takeovers within the electricity distribution industry;(3) whether he expects to review the 15 per cent. maximum on individual shareholdings in the 12 regional electricity companies in the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's policy with regard to the special share they hold in each of the 12 regional electricity companies is set out in section 1, chapter 1 of the prospectus for the 12 regional electricity companies dated 21 November 1990. Any merger or takeover would in addition be subject to the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what representations he has received about the delay in restoring electricity supplies by East Midlands Electricity.

I have received representations from a group of hon. Members and have agreed to meet them to discuss their concerns. I understand that the electricity supply situation in the east midlands has substantially improved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his reply of 23 November, Official Report, column 251, whether any restrictions have been placed on Mr. Robert Malpas accepting directorships in companies.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Mr. Baldry) on 30 November 1990, Official Report, column 517.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to bring forward proposals to give the power to undertake prosecutions for regulatory offences to the Financial Reporting Council; and whether he intends that power of prosecution to be limited to offences committed after the power was granted.

I assume that the hon. Member has in mind the power under section 245C of the Companies Act 1985, as inserted by the Companies Act 1989, to authorise a person to apply to the court under section 245B of the 1985 Act for a declaration that the annual accounts of a company do not comply with the requirements of the 1985 Act, and for an order requiring the directors of the company to prepare revised accounts. I expect in the near future to be able to make a statutory instrument designating the Financial Reporting Review Panel Ltd, established under the auspices of the Financial Reporting Council, for those purposes, once satisfied about the matters set out in section 245C(1). If so, the panel will be able to exercise this power only in respect of accounts for years beginning on or after 23 December 1989 as a result of transitional provisions applicable to section 245B of the 1985 Act. Neither the Financial Reporting Council nor its subsidiary bodies expect to prosecute offences under the Companies Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last discussed its disciplinary scheme with the institutions representing the accountancy profession.

My right hon. Friend has not discussed their disciplinary arrangements with representatives of the accountancy profession. However, before he can recognise supervisory bodies under part II of the Companies Act 1989 he will need to be satisfied that they have adequate arrangements and resources for the effective monitoring and enforcement of compliance with their rules, including those relating to the discipline and expulsion of members.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to commence provisions of the Companies Act 1989.

Yesterday I signed an order which commences certain provisions of the Act. Section 7, in so far as it inserts new section 233(5) into the 1985 Act—approval of defective accounts—and section 12—revision of defective accounts—will commence on 7 January 1991 but will apply with respect to accounts for financial years commencing on or after 23 December 1989. Sections 125 and 127(1), (2) and (4)—delivery of documents to the registrar—will commence on 7 January 1991. Section 135—the power to make regulations on orders imposing restrictions on shares—will come into force on 7 January 1991. Paragraph 10 of schedule 19—removal of restriction on transfer of shares—will commence on 7 January 1991. Sections 108 to 112—company's capacity; ultra vires—and paragraph 11 of schedule 19—protection of company's members against unfair prejudice—will commence on 4 February 1991.I have placed a copy of the order in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of the deregulation initiative.

The deregulation initiative serves as a means of ensuring scrutiny of new and existing regulation and the proper assessment of compliance costs for business. Its next phase which I am announcing today focuses on a number of key areas, including some where Government Departments will be targeting attention on certain outdated or burdensome requirements which business has identified as causing difficulty.In addition the specialist deregulation unit in my Department will support the initiative as a whole by taking the lead on certain general issues, and by continuing to work with business to identify regulatory burdens and to co-operate with departments to achieve good deregulatory outcomes on particular issues.The new programme of work includes action in the following areas: continuing development and evaluation of disciplines and techniques for counting compliance costs to business and securing good regulatory practice across Whitehall—deregulation unit, DTI; promotion of good regulatory practice in the European Community—deregulation unit, DTI; the administration of rules affecting the workplace, employment conditions, PAYE, national insurance; new integrated guidance for employers and individuals involved in flexible forms of work—Department of Employment; new integrated guidance for the establishment of workplace creches—Department of Employment; review of requirements for annual renewal of exemption certificates for certain NI contributors— Department of Social Security; review scope for eliminating some of the differences in definitions of earnings and expenses for PAYE and NIC purposes—Department of Social Security and Inland Revenue.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what letters there are on the Iraqi contract, now known to be for a gun, between his Department and Sheffield Forgemasters; and if he will list the dates of them.

[holding answer 11 December 1990]: There are two letters to my Department from Forgemasters Engineering dated 18 July 1988 and 2 August 1989, and two letters from my Department to Forgemasters Engineering dated 27 July 1988 and 3 November 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance was provided by his Department to British companies seeking to supply machine tools and propellants to Iraq in the late 1980s.

[holding answer 17 December 1990]: My Department provides assistance to exporters in many ways and Iraq was no different from any other market in this respect. Assistance from my Department does not, however, relieve exporters of the obligation to comply with export licensing requirements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what advice was given by his Department to exporters of sensitive material to Iraq in the late 1980s.

[holding answer 17 December 1990]: Guidelines on sensitive exports to Iraq were published in October 1985.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was his Department's response to COM (90) 176 "Guidelines for Co-operation with the Developing Countries in Latin America and Asia".

We warmly welcome the emphasis in the Asia/Latin America guidelines on help for the poorest countries; on measures for the protection of the environment, including tropical forests; on support for the fight against drugs; and on human rights. The guidelines have been discussed at length—including in two Development Councils—since they were first produced in June 1990. Decisions on the financial package are likely to be taken shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the financial value of development aid from the EC member countries to the Latin America and Asia developing countries (i) in total, (ii) direct financial aid, (iii) technical co-operation and (iv) food aid from 1979 to 1989.

Total net overseas development assistance to the developing countries of Asia and Latin America through the EC for the years 1979 to 1988, the latest year for which figures are available, is as follows:

	£ million
1979	79·67
1980	83·72
1981	161·89
1982	124·96
1983	130·82
1984	188·77
1985	133·91
1986	156·67
1987	176·62
1988	233·78

The United Kingdom share of this assistance was approximately 20 per cent.The further breakdown requested by the hon. Member is not published by the European Commission.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 18 December.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today. This evening I hope to have an audience of Her Majesty the Queen.

To ask the Prime Minister what proposals Her Majesty's Government have to protect the feeding grounds of breeding sea birds in United Kingdom waters under European Economic Community directive 79/49 on the conservation of wild birds; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's scientific adviser, the Nature Conservancy Council, is in the process of identifying the most important sea bird and gathering grounds in United Kingdom waters. It has published survey results for the North sea and the west of Britain. The final phase, now under way, will cover the English channel and south-west approaches. The Department of the Environment will consider the most appropriate measures to safeguard these areas when the NCC has completed its studies and has advised the Department accordingly.

To ask the Prime Minister if, pursuant to his reply, 10 December, Official Report, column 261, he will publish the number of beds, or bed spaces, at each of the military hospitals referred to.

These hospitals are equipped, manned and financed by the United States Government, to whom all inquiries should be directed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the immigration department has reversed its original decision to refuse entry following representations since the new system commenced; and what percentage of total cases where representations are made this represents.

The information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the total number of overseas voters registered for proxy votes as at the latest available date for the United Kingdom and for each constituency within the United Kingdom.

A total of 1,237 overseas electors are included in the current electoral register, which remains in force until 15 February 1991. A breakdown of this figure by parliamentary constituency is not available. Lists of overseas electors who will be included in the 1991–92 register were published by individual electoral registration officers on 28 November. We shall make the figures known to the House in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the prisons he has visited in England and Wales since his appointment.

I have visited Her Majesty's prisons Gloucester and Wandsworth, and Her Majesty's prison and young offender institution Glen Parva. I shall be visiting a young offender institution later this week and have further visits to prison service establishments planned in the new year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners served a sentence in prison as a result of refusal to pay all or part of their income tax in each year from 1980 onwards.

The information requested is no longer recorded centrally. Figures for persons received into prison service custody in the years 1980 to 1987 following committal for non-payment of income tax were published in table 6.3 of "Prison statistics England and Wales 1987"—Cm. 547—a copy of which is in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the capacity and the numbers of inmates in Durham prison on 26 November and 18 December.

On both dates, the certified normal accommodation and operational capacity of Her Majesty's prison Durham were 651 and 951 respectively. On 26 November, 949 inmates were held. On Monday 17 December, the latest date for which figures are available, 931 inmates were held.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the daily cost of maintaining a prisoner in Durham prison in December 1990.

Figures for December 1990 are not yet readily available. A full range of operating cost figures for 1989–90 have been published in appendix 6 of the "Report on the work of the Prison Department April 1989—March 1990"—Cm. 302—a copy of which is available in the Library. These indicate that the daily cost of maintaining a prisoner in Durham prison during that period was £37·14 per day.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases have been brought under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 in each year; how many cases were successfully prosecuted each year; and how many of such cases were based on the contents of directors' reports and company returns.

The information on the number of prosecutions and convictions is given in the table. We cannot identify from the information held centrally the number of cases which were based on the contents of directors' reports and company returns.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average weekly cost to public funds of keeping someone in prison; whether there are major divergences for particular types of prisons; and if he will make a statement.

The average weekly operating cost per inmate during 1989–90 was £321. The average cost varied from £218—adult open prisons—to £554—dispersal prisons. Full details of these costs are contained in the 1989–90 report on the work of the prison service, a copy of which is in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 10 December, Official Report, column 251, if he will list the courts comprising the 89 per cent. of justices' clerks from whom responses have been received relating to the number of poll tax liability orders; if he will list the number of orders granted, by the end of September at each of those courts; when the returns are expected from the other 11 per cent. of clerks; and if he will provide a similar overall analysis of liability orders monthly or quarterly, and place such returns in the Library.

The information requested is set out in the table, which reflects information provided by justices' clerks since the reply given on 10 December. Returns for the period up to 30 September are expected to be complete by the end of December. Further information is being requested on a quarterly basis and I shall arrange for a copy of complete returns to be placed in the Library as soon as they become available.

Community Charge Enforcement:
Number of people against whom liability orders made as at 30 September 19901
	Number
1012 Bath	0
1013 Bristol	0
1019 Weston-Super-Mare	0
1020 Avon North	0
1051 North Bedfordshire	182
1055 Luton	1,621
1066 Forest	75
1072 Slough	0
1075 West Berkshire	4,895
1076 Reading and Sonning	2,006
1114 Burnham	177
1124 Milton Keynes	0

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas domestic workers have been deported from the United Kingdom each year since 1980 as a result of leaving the employ of visitors with whom they were originally admitted.

The information requested is not separately identified and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how long a domestic worker must have been in the employ of overseas visitors to the United Kingdom to be admitted as a visitor together with their employer; and what checks are carried out in the employer's country of origin.

Under current arrangements there is no minimum qualifying period. Under the new arrangements announced by my right hon. and noble Friend Lord Ferrers in another place on 24 July at columns 1449–50, which are to take effect shortly, a domestic worker must have been in continuous paid employment with the employer abroad for at least 12 months before accompanying or joining a visitor here. Entry clearance will be required in all cases so that the bona fides of the arrangement can be checked before the domestic worker sets out for the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for the balance between the number of large and the number of small independent Channel 3 television companies; what proposals he has regarding the ownership of contiguous franchises; what consultations have taken place recently with the interests involved; when such consultations were initiated; and when they are expected to be concluded.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department announced proposals for the content of the supplementary ownership rules to be made under powers in the Broadcasting Act 1990 in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett) on 4 December at columns 85–87. The draft order, which is subject to affirmative resolution by both Houses of Parliament, will be laid as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policy he announced during the 1989–90 Session of Parliament during proceedings on the Broadcasting Bill in respect of the ownership of contiguous Channel 3 franchises; and if he will make a statement.

Ministers indicated during the passage of the Broadcasting Bill that they envisaged that no one person should be allowed to own two large Channel 3 franchises, or two franchises for contiguous areas, except in circumstances where one area had become non-viable and only the adjacent licensee was prepared to take over the area in question. But this was in the context of the underlying policy objectives that the separate regional identities of individual Channel 3 licence areas should be preserved, and that regional programming obligations should be fully discharged. In the light of the strengthening of the regional requirements in the Bill, and of our decision to designate nine of the 15 licence areas as "large" for these purposes, we concluded that it was no longer necessary to provide for an additional restriction on ownership to contiguous licences.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been spent by his Department on public safety campaigns encouraging the use of domestic smoke alarms in each of the last five years; how much money is budgeted for the current year; and if he will make a statement.

The Home Office first carried out publicity specifically related to smoke alarms in the financial year 1987–88. A breakdown of expenditure for that year and all subsequent years is given in the table.

£ million
Year	Advertising	Other publicity (including print)	Total
1987–88	0·50	0·041	0·541
1988–89	0·55	0·115	0·665
1989–90	1·00	0·091	1·091
11990–91	1·05	0·109	1·159
1 Estimated.

In 1987, before the Home Office carried out any publicity, research indicated that ownership of domestic smoke alarms in England and Wales was at 6 per cent. Following the national advertising carried out in January 1990, research indicated that ownership had increased to 35 per cent. The Home Office has a target of increasing ownership to 70 per cent. by 1994.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many places are currently provided in Her Majesty's prisons; and what is the total prison population at the latest convenient date.

The uncrowded capacity of the prison estate in England and Wales on Friday 14 December 1990 was 44,346, but this figure includes accommodation temporarily taken out of use for refurbishment. The prison population on the same date was 44,911, including 674 prisoners held in police cells.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the outcome of the meetings of Trevi and European Community Immigration Ministers in Rome on 6 and 7 December.

The meeting of Trevi Ministers endorsed the good progress made under the Italian presidency in developing further measures to strengthen practical police co-operation, in particular as regards work towards the creation of a European drugs intelligence unit, work on the establishment of a European police information system to help combat the most serious forms of crime, and an initiative to provide joint training to police officers from drug producer and transit countries which has already resulted in a three-week pilot course. We also agreed in principle to the establishment of a permanent secretariat for Trevi, and asked for detailed work on this to be carried out during the Luxembourg presidency.The meeting of Ministers concerned with immigration was the ninth in the series of meetings held towards the end of each presidency since 1986 and the first which I have myself attended. Ministers had before them a report from senior officials which set out the work undertaken during the Italian presidency.In particular, we welcomed the progress that had been made on the draft convention on the crossing of the external borders of the member states of the Community and invited the ad hoc group on immigration to complete consideration of the remaining issues. We also invited the ad hoc group to consider what measures are necessary to implement article 8A of the treaty of Rome as regards frontiers. Both my predecessor and I have continued to make clear during the Italian presidency the United Kingdom's profound reservation as to the complete abolition of immigration controls at internal Community borders. We shall, however, participate actively in the study of measures for the implementation of article 8A.Ministers also discussed the question of migration from central and eastern Europe in readiness for the Council of Europe ministerial conference to be held in Vienna in January 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many changes of underpants male prisoners are given each week; and whether there are any plans to increase this.

Current issue scales allow for a minimum of two changes of underpants each week. Following a review of the range and style of prison clothing, this is being increased to a minimum of four changes a week through a phased programme between January and the end of 1991. The first inmates to benefit will be those in establishments in Kent and the north-east.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Her Majesty's Government intend to renew their acceptance of the right of individual petition to the European Commission of Human Rights and of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.

We have decided to renew for a period of five years from 14 January 1991 our acceptance of the right of individual petition to the European Commission of Human Rights and of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has given consideration to the development programmes involving voluntary organisations such as the Samaritans in suicide prevention schemes.

I have been asked to reply.The Department has grant-aided the Samaritans for several years. The grant in the current year is £155,000; we therefore know and support their valuable work in assisting those considering suicide.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received urging him to exempt from value added tax the provision of home care goods and services.

The Government have received a number of representations on this matter, but, owing to the constraints of EC VAT law, are unable to exempt domiciliary care unless it is provided by a charity or public body.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will seek to make special arrangements for those returning United Kingdom hostages and refugees from Kuwait and Iraq whose expected entitlement to income tax exemptions has been lost because they have been obliged to return to the United Kingdom early.

I am considering this matter carefully in the light of information about the particular circumstances of those affected by the Gulf crisis.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what savings his Department would make were no notice given of oral questions to Ministers and they were answered without civil service time being used on briefings.

No savings would be made and costs would almost certainly increase significantly. If the oral question is known in advance briefing can be tightly focused, thus avoiding the cost of producing a detailed brief, covering all subjects that could possibly arise.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average length of time taken and the average cost involved of officials' time in his Department preparing ministerial briefs for oral parliamentary questions.

The time taken in preparing ministerial briefs for oral parliamentary questions is not routinely recorded in Her Majesty's Treasury. Estimates are, however, made where there is a likelihood of exceeding the disproportionate cost threshold (currently £250). However, following an interdepartmental exercise in 1972 in which the Treasury participated an assessment was made of the average cost throughout all Departments of answering an oral question. This assessment was based on staff time, using average rates of pay and associated costs for the grades concerned, together with a share of the cost of parliamentary sections and any substantial non-staff costs such as computer usage. This assessed figure is regularly updated and currently stands at £99.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) for what reasons London weighting for civil servants has not been altered for the last two years;(2) whether he intends to increase London weighting for civil servants;(3) whether the civil servants' claim for additional London weighting will be submitted for independent arbitration;(4) whether it is his intention to end London weighting payments to civil servants.

The Government's general policy is that pay should be based on what is required to recruit, retain and motivate within what is affordable. Over the past two years, over £87 million has been spent enhancing London pay, in addition to national pay increases. This represents an increase of over 50 per cent. in the London element of the pay bill. The money has been spent on special London pay points for most civil servants in the capital and on local pay additions which focus on particular locations experiencing recruitment and retention difficulties. Unlike London weighting, both are targeted to ensure that public money is used most cost-effectively. Over the past two years, recruitment and retention rates in London have improved very significantly.Against this background, there was no justification for an additional across-the-board increase in London weighting in either 1989 or 1990. The Government's intention is to continue the policy of setting London pay in accordance with what is required to recruit, retain and motivate and, where appropriate, to target increases in the London element of pay to ensure that they produce the best value for money for the taxpayer. There are no plans to end London weighting.I have agreed to meet the Council of Civil Service Unions in the new year to discuss its request for arbitration on its 1990 London weighting claim.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will show (a) the quantities of relief during 1989–90 that was accounted for by house owners who in that year did not either move or enter the tenure and (b) the quantum of relief provided to 1989–90 first-time purchasers during that year.

This information is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any proposals to make about the method of calculating repayments of National Savings products.

National Savings practice is to date repayments at the expected date of receipt by customers. This has also been the date used for valuing the amounts to be repaid or for other rights, such as participation in premium bond prize draws. In this way customers benefit from their savings until the date they are expected to receive their money.National Savings has now received new legal advice on the regulations governing savings certificates, premium bonds and the National Savings bank ordinary account. This is that repayments should be determined at the date of posting, not the date of receipt.For premium bonds, National Savings has therefore changed its administrative practice to fit with the regulations without any disadvantage to customers.For savings certificates and ordinary account, if National Savings had valued the repayment warrants at the date they were posted rather than the expected date of receipt, many customers would have been deprived of their final increments, bonuses and other benefits. These additional payments for savings certificates are estimated at £300 million—this is not a precise figure as over 70 years of transactions are involved. National Savings will not be seeking to recover any of the payments made to customers as the amounts paid to them were in accordance with long-standing practice and customers' expectations.The Government intend to seek parliamentary authority in the next Finance Bill to validate the payments that have been made out of the national loans fund, the Consolidated Fund and the National Savings bank ordinary deposits. Meanwhile payments in accordance with current practice—which is to the benefit of savers—will continue to be made pending the necessary provisions in the Finance Bill.For the future, National Savings intends to continue the practice which has meant that customers receive payment as near as possible to the date they expect it. National Savings is considering with its legal advisers what consequential changes should be made to the relevant regulations. Amending regulations will be laid as soon as practicable.A small number of past customers have legal entitlements to additional payments. First, some customers who had their index-linked certificates repaid at a time that was affected by a fall in the RPI would have received a larger payment, averaging £1·50, if the certificates had been valued at the date of posting. National Savings is sending the extra payments with interest to compensate for delay to all the holders concerned.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in pursuing, with other members of the Paris Club, the proposals made by the previous Chancellor of the Exchequer on 19 September to improve concessions made to third-world countries and the Toronto terms; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 17 December 1990]: The United Kingdom's Trinidad proposals are currently being discussed by the members of the Paris Club as part of a general review of the treatment of the poorest, highly indebted countries. Naturally, other creditors have ideas of their own, many of which would be complementary to the United Kingdom proposals. It is too early to say what the result of the review will be. However, we remain confident that a new package incorporating many of the important features of the Trinidad terms will be agreed during 1991.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current economic balance between the United Kingdom and Poland; and if he has any proposals to alleviate the burden of debt upon Poland.

[holding answer 17 December 1990]: United Kingdom exports to Poland in 1990 H1 were $142 million. United Kingdom imports from Poland during 1990 H1 were $310 million. The Paris Club of official bilateral creditors is currently working with the Polish authorities in order to find a long-term solution to the Polish debt problem. United Kingdom officials are taking an active and constructive role in these discussions.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for discontinuation of the leasing by borough or district councils of private houses for temporary accommodation for homeless persons; what consultation he has had with boroughs principally affected; and what study he has made concerning the effects of implementing his proposal.

On 22 October 1990, the Department consulted all local housing authorities about proposals for housing revenue account subsidy in 1991–92. There was no proposal to discontinue leasing. We are now considering the responses received as a result of our consultations and final decisions will be made shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for action in relation to homeless single people in London, additional to that announced in his reply of 22 June, Official Report, column 752.

[pursuant to the reply, 26 November 1990, c. 256–57]: I am announcing today that I have given the go-ahead for 1,000 new bedspaces in hostel and long-term accommodation under the single homelessness initiative to tackle rough sleeping in central London. The new hostel spaces will be run by front-line voluntary groups.We are working on this high priority task in close co-operation with voluntary organisations. I am delighted that Nick Hardwick, director of Centrepoint, Soho, is to be working closely on this project with me. Together we will be developing strategies to ensure particularly that people sleeping in concentrations such as those in London's Bullring and Victoria will make use of the hostels that are available to them.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information his Department had, before announcing proposals to reduce the 100 per cent. subsidy for leasing housing from private landlords, on the likely increase in the number of families in bed-and-breakfast accommodation in (a) London and (b) elsewhere.

It is for local authorities to decide what type of temporary accommodation to use to meet their homelessness duties. Local authorities report to my Department on a quarterly basis the number of homeless households they have placed in bed-and-breakfast accommodation. As there is considerable variation between areas in the use made of such accommodation, my Department does not make forecasts of likely future usage.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any intention to amend planning regulations to restrict high fencing in national park areas.

My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so.