To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) when he expects to meet representatives of the Football League in order to discuss the need to ensure consistency of treatment of clubs who make illegal payments to their players; and if he will make a statement;(2) what information he has concerning the policy of the Football League towards the determination of penalties relating to illegal payments to players; what representations he has received on this matter; and if he will make a statement.

I condemn attempts by any club to gain unfair advantage over others. However, the question of the appropriate action to take when breaches of Football League regulations occur is for the football authorities which I understand consider all such cases on their merits. I have no plans to meet the League to discuss this matter.Last year my hon. Friend the previous Minister for Sport received a substantial number of representations, mainly from Swindon Town FC supporters, concerning the penalty imposed by the League on the club for making illegal payments to players.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what percentage of young people in the northern region entered higher education year by year since 1985.

The table shows, for school leavers in the north of England and for England as a whole, the percentage whose intended destination was either degree or teacher training courses.

Percentage of leavers going to degree or teacher training courses
Academic year	North of England	All England
1984–85	7·2	7·8
1985–86	7·1	7·8
1986–87	7·2	7·7
1987–88	7·9	9·1
1988–89	9·5	10·2

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what initiatives he is taking to reduce the shortage of teachers in primary schools in Leicestershire.

Leicestershire local education authority is to receive grant support for £150,000 of expenditure on teacher recruitment in 1991–92. This is part of an overall allocation of £7·7 million between 86 LEAs, the average grant support being £90,000. A similar sum will be available in 1992–93. In addition, Leicestershire LEA will benefit from £80,000 allocated to support a licensed teacher scheme. This funding reflects the Department's commitment to assist authorities in the development of initiatives to improve teacher recruitment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what measures he is taking to ensure the security of (a) his Department's computers in-house and (b) lap-top personal computers when used by civil servants outside his Department's offices.

It is not Government policy to disclose details of the protective security measures for safeguarding computers used for official purposes. To do so would be of assistance to potential attackers and therefore reduce the effectiveness of the measures. These measures are kept under review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what special arrangements he has now made for the marking of GCSE exam papers where the pupil has dyslexia; and whether he will make a statement.

The GCSE examining group have a well-established common policy, drawn up in consultation with various national organisations, to deal with handicapped candidates, including those who are recognised as dyslexic. There are also appeals procedures available for those candidates who feel that such special circumstances have not been taken into account in the marking of their examinations. No changes to this provision have been proposed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, following the statement by his predecessor, the hon. Member for Norfolk, South (Mr. MacGregor) how much extra capital moneys have been allocated for educational purposes in 1990–91; and what proportion of these have been allocated to (a) England and (b) Wales.

With the exception of universities, the Department's expenditure programme does not cover education capital expenditure in Wales.Provision in the DES programme for capital expenditure on schools, colleges and PCFC institutions in England in 1990–91 was some £109 million higher than in 1989–90. Details are set out in the 1990 public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 1011).

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list all local education authorities in England in rank order showing the proportions of school-leavers with five or more GCSE results at grades A to C.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list all local education authorities in England in rank order showing the proportions of school leavers with five or more GCSE results at grades A to C.

The information requested is set out in the table.

LEA	Rank	Proportion of leavers with 5 or more GCSE results at Grades A-C as percentage of all school leavers1
Sutton	1	39·1
Barnet	2	38·9
Harrow	3	38·6
Surrey	4	38·0
Buckinghamshire	5	36·0
West Sussex	6	35·5
North Yorkshire	7	34·5
Richmond	8	32·4
Berkshire	9	32·3
Kingston upon Thames	10	32·2
Hertfordshire	11	31·9
Solihull	12	31·7
East Sussex	13	31·4
Gloucestershire	14	31·2
Trafford	15	30·7
Northumberland	15	30·7
Shropshire	17	30·3
Wigan	18	30·2
Bromley	19	29·9
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	19	29·9
Hampshire	21	29·6
Hereford and Worcester	22	29·2
Cheshire	23	29·1
Bolton	24	28·7
Stockport	25	28·6
Bexley	26	28·5
Sefton	26	28·5
Warwickshire	26	28·5
Cambridgeshire	29	28·0
Cumbria	29	28·0
Wirral	31	27·8
Avon	31	27·8
Bury	33	27·7
Oxfordshire	33	27·7
Dorset	35	27·6
North Tyneside	36	27·5
Essex	37	27·4
Kent	38	27·3
Tameside	39	27·1
Somerset	39	27·1
Enfield	41	26·9
Lancashire	42	26·8
Cleveland	43	26·5
Devon	44	26·3
Wiltshire	45	25·9
Kirklees	46	25·6
Redbridge	47	25·5
Dudley	47	25·5
Hounslow	49	25·2
Lincolnshire	49	25·2
Leicestershire	51	25·1
Bedfordshire	52	24·9
Staffordshire	52	24·9
Merton	54	24·6
Derbyshire	54	24·6
Norfolk	56	24·5
Havering	57	24·4
Suffolk	58	24·2
Walsall	59	23·4
Durham	59	23·4
Nottinghamshire	59	23·4
Salford	62	23·2
Rotherham	63	23·0
Northamptonshire	64	22·8

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those local education authorities in England which achieved average or better examination results for school leavers on the basis of the latest information available and are budgeting to spend no more than 5 per cent. above the education component of their 1990–91 standard spending assessment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those local authorities in England which achieved average or better examination results for school leavers on the basis of the latest information available and which are budgeting to spend no more than 5 per cent. above the education component of their 1990–91 standard spending assessment.

The information requested is set out in the table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those local education authorities in England which achieved below-average examination results for school-leavers in the latest year for which information is available and are budgeting to spend more than 7·5 per cent. above the education component of their 1990–91 standard spending assessment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those local education authorities in England which achieved below-average examination results for school leavers in the latest year for which information is available and which are budgeting to spend more than 7·5 per cent. above the education component of their 1990–91 standard spending assessment.

The information requested is set out in the table:

LEA	1986–87 to 1988–89 Numbers of leavers with 5 or more GCSE A-C as percentage of all School Leavers	Indexed budgeted overspend on education element of 1990–91 SSA (100 = Parity)
Hounslow	25·2	110
Leicestershire	25·1	110
Merton	24·6	109
Derbyshire	24·6	124
Havering	24·4	109
Suffolk	24·2	109
Walsall	23·4	112
Durham	23·4	110

To ask the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, why the cleaners in the House of Commons itself and other associated buildings were requested to work on Monday 24 December.

For a number of staff of the House, Christmas eve was a normal non-sitting working day, although only a proportion of the House's directly employed cleaning staff was required for work that day.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing his estimates of how much will be saved in community charge benefit subsidy in 1990–91 for each local authority which is a housing benefit authority as a result of charge-capping.

All authorities have until 30 September 1991 to submit claims to community charge benefit subsidy in respect of 1990–91. These claims will reflect community charge benefit expenditure incurred after the application of budget substitution, but it will not be possible reliably to estimate what the level of that expenditure would otherwise have been.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the deductions that may be made from income support benefit before a claimant receives it.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) on 26 November at cols. 306–08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost of a 1991 Christmas bonus for pensioners at (a) £10·00 per pensioner, (b) £15·00 per pensioner and (c) £20·00 per pensioner.

The estimated cost of paying the pensioners' Christmas bonus in 1991–92 is approximately £114 million. If the payment was increased to £15 per pensioner, the cost would be about £171 million; if the payment was increased to £20 per pensioner, the cost would be £228 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security 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 could increase because officials would have to brief Ministers on the whole range of subjects which could possibly arise.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security 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 to prepare ministerial briefs for oral parliamentary questions is not routinely recorded in this Department, although estimates would be made if the disproportionate cost threshold, currently £250, were likely to be exceeded for an individual question. However, the current estimate of the average cost throughout all Departments of answering an oral question if £99, on the basis set out in the reply of my right hon. Friend the Lord President to the hon. Member on 19 December 1990 at column 163.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide illustrative examples of people who would be (a) better off and (b) worse off claiming the disability working allowance compared with their current situation.

[holding answer 16 January 1991]: Some illustrative examples of the level of income that disability working allowance (DWA) recipients will have were included in the note published on 12 November, a copy of which is in the Library. All recipients who claim more than eight weeks after starting work will be better off than if they did not have DWA. Most other potential recipients earning more than about £30 a week will be better off with DWA than they would be if they remained on an incapacity benefit.A small number of people in the circumstances listed might be worse off if they decided to take a job at a very low rate of pay. However, no one will be obliged to claim DWA and, if they choose to take a job and claim DWA, all of them will be better off than if DWA were not available to supplement their earnings.The level of earnings below which people in the categories listed would be worse off would depend on the incapacity benefit to which they would be entitled if they were not working, the size and composition of their family and, in the case of

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will make a statement on the funding and future of the Liverpool Playhouse.

The funding of the Liverpool Playhouse is a matter for the Arts Council, and for the Merseyside local authorities and other local interests. However, I met hon. Members from Merseyside on 16 January to discuss the financial position of the company. I am well aware of the affection and loyalty that is felt for this famous theatre, and of the widespread concern for its future. The Arts Council has long shared that concern, and it is continuing to discuss funding arrangements with the Merseyside local authorities with a view to the local authorities aiming nearer to the level of financial contribution made by the Arts Council. I hope that there will be a successful outcome.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the manpower figures for each part of nationalised industry in 1978–79 and 1988–89, showing the reduction or increase in each case and also the decrease in each sector due to denationalisation.

Outturn data for the nationalised industries for 1978–79 and 1988–89 were published in appendix D of chapter 21 of the 1990 public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 1021). Over that period manpower fell by 1,062,000 from 1,843,000 to 781,000, a reduction of 57·6 per cent. Nationalised industries that were privatised between 1978–79 and 1988–89 employed about 650,000 people at the time of privatisation. Information on manpower figures for each nationalised industry for the years 1978–79 and 1988–89 can be found in the annual report and accounts of each industry for these years.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it remains Government policy that harmonisaton of alcohol and tobacco duties must involve either effective restrictions or high minimum duty rates.

The Government's view on harmonisation remains that centrally determined duty rates are not necessary for completion of the single market, but that alcohol and tobacco need to be treated as special cases under an approach based on the free operation of market forces.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what conclusions he has come on the future structure of the beer duty following the recent consultation exercise with the trade; and if he will make a statement.

Trade responses to the Customs and Excise consultative paper have not revealed any major obstacles to the introduction of an end-product duty on beer. I have therefore decided to replace in due course the present worts-based duty by a duty on the finished beer, subject to satisfactory arrangements being devised following further consultation with trade interests. I have asked Customs and Excise to begin discussions on the details of a new system.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures he is taking to ensure the security of (a) Her Majesty's Treasury's computers in-house and (b) lap-top personal computers when used by civil servants outside his Department's offices.

It is not Government policy to disclose details of the protective security measures for safeguarding computers used for official purposes. To do so would be of assistance to potential attackers and would therefore reduce the effectiveness of the measures. These measures are kept under review.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which sectors of the British economy were in balance of payments surplus in 1979 and for the latest available date.

[holding answer 16 January 1991]: Industrial sector data of imports and exports on a balance of payments basis are normally available only for years in which input-output tables are compiled. Input-output tables exist for 1979 and 1984, and a simple update of 1984 to 1985 was carried out. For these years, the energy and services industrial sectors were in balance of payments surplus. The table gives the relevant data for these and the other main sectors of the economy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the names of all Government-appointed nominees to the Northern Ireland Sports Council since its formation, giving the year of appointment and the length of service in each case.

[holding answer 16 January 1991]: The information requested is set out in the table with names in alphabetical order. Length of service of members still serving is taken as up to January 1991.

Name	Year of appointment	Length of service
Allen, D. F.	1990	4 months
Allen, J. H.	1974	16 years
Allen, R.	1981	1 year
Andrews, D. G.	1986	4 years, 4 months
Barr, J. W. S.	1977	3 years
Bell, Mrs. M.	1976	4 years
Bloomfield, Lady	1989	1 year, 10 months
Boyd, Mrs. D. M.	1981	1 year
Burns, K. F.	1977	4 years
Caldwell, W. A.	1981	7 years
Cannon, J. F.	1974	2 years
Carey, J.	1977	4 years
Carlin, A.	1990	4 years, 4 months
Clarke, Ms. A.	1990	4 months
Clarke, A. N.	1977	4 years
Close, S. A.	1977	3 years
Colhoun, R. S.	1974	3 years
Comerton, Mrs. E.	1988	3 years
Conlon, Dr. W. A.	1974	7 years
Connolly, B.	1976	1 year
Connor, R.	1982	6 years
Corry, W. C.	1974	3 years
Craig, Rev. R. G.	1977	3 years
Crozier, E.	1977	3 years
Dixon, T. R. V.	1981	5 years
Donnelly, T.	1981	1 year
Edwards, B. G.	1981	1 year
Faulkner, H.	1980	1 year
Farrington, L. W.	1981	1 year
Gallogly, S.	1986	4 years
Ginn, G. J.	1981	5 years
Girvan, A. H.	1974	3 years
Glancy, Dr. B.	1989	1 year 10 months

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list in the Official Report the names of all those members of the House of Lords nominated to sit therein since 1 August 1987, together with the dates upon which they took their seats.

Peerages created since 1 August 1987 are as follows, together with the dates on which the holders were introduced.

To ask the Prime Minister (1) how many official histories have been commissioned by the Government since 1960; what are their titles; when each was commenced; when each was completed; who were the authors; and what was the cost of each;(2) how many Government-sponsored official histories are currently in preparation; when they were commissioned; who are the authors; what are the estimated dates of completion; and what is the estimated cost of each.

Title	Author	Commissioned	Completion Publication
Table A
SOE in France	M. R. D. Foot	1960	1966
SOE in the Far East2	C. Cruickshank	1980	1983
SOE in Scandinavia2	C. Cruickshank	1984	1986
SOE in Greece2	R. R. M. Clogg	1984	Estimated completion 1991
SOE in the Low Countries2	M. R. D. Foot	1987	Estimated completion 1991
SOE in Yugoslavia2	M. C. Wheeler	1987	Estimated completion 1992
SOE in Italy	C. M. Woods	1989	Estimated completion 1992–93
Table B
British Intelligence in the Second World War, vol I	Professor Sir Harry Hinsley and others	1971	1979
British Intelligence in the Second World War, vol II	Professor Sir Harry Hinsley and others	1971	1981
British Intelligence in the Second Word War, vol III	Professor Sir Harry Hinsley and others	1971	1984
(Part I)	Professor Sir Harry Hinsley and others
British Intelligence in the Second World War, vol III	Professor Sir Harry Hinsley and others	1971	1988
(Part II)	Professor Sir Harry Hinsley and others
British Intelligence in the Second World War, vol IV	Professor Sir Harry Hinsley and C. A. G. Simkins	1971	1990
British Intelligence in the Second World War, vol V	Professor Sir Michael Howard	1971	1990
Table C

The original programme of official histories commissioned by the War Cabinet covered the military and civil history of the second world war.Subsequently two further groups of wartime histories were commissioned, tables A and B;On 9 March 1966 the then Prime Minister announced that the official programme would be extended to include selected periods or episodes of peacetime history. The following were commissioned, table C.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list in ranked order and by name the numbers of overseas trips undertaken by Ministers since June 1987.

This information is not held centrally and could not be produced without incurring disproportionate costs.

To ask the Prime Minister what criteria have been adopted to judge the success of the application of sanctions upon Iraq imposed under the authorisation of the United Nations.

The test of the effectiveness of sanctions is whether they persuade Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. After nearly six months this has not been achieved.

To ask the Prime Minister what guidance is issued to Ministers on answering questions from right hon. and hon. Members on matters affecting security during periods of armed conflict.

Normal procedures for answering questions on matters affecting security continue to apply.

To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has made on behalf of Ian Richter, a British citizen presently held in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

We remain concerned about the position of Mr. Ian Richter. We have regularly raised his case with the Iraqi authorities and our ambassador did so again shortly before he left Baghdad earlier this month.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to improve the overseas marketing of tourism within Wales.

The overseas promotion of Wales as a tourist destination is a statutory responsibility of the British Tourist Authority, although the Wales tourist board can, with the agreement of the BTA, act on its behalf.Following a meeting I had with the chairman of the WTB last June, the board commissioned a study intended to identify ways of improving the effectiveness of the overseas marketing of Wales, within the existing legal framework.I understand that the report is expected very shortly. I assure my hon. Friend that Ministers will consider its findings very carefully.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will call an all-Wales conference of Her Majesty's inspectors, local education authority parent-teacher associations and teachers to discuss the reading standards of seven-year-olds in Wales.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 17 January 1991, column 569–70.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report a list of all sites where a total quantity of 25 tonnes or more of dangerous substances are present, quoting the ordnance survey eight-figure grid reference number for each site.

I have been asked to reply.This information is not available in the format requested. Each Health and Safety Executive area office keeps available for public inspection lists of premises in its area, by name and address, where dangerous substances are present and where notification required under certain legislation has been received by the Health and Safety Executive.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the number and value of eggs (a) imported into the United Kingdom and (b) exported from the United Kingdom, between (i) September 1988 and August 1989 and (ii) September 1989 and August 1990.

The information requested is as follows:

	Number of eggs	Value £
(a) Eggs imported into the United Kingdom
(i) 1 September 1988 to 31 August 1989	276,432	9,339,648
(ii) 1 September 1989 to 31 August 1990	684,988	29,039,383
(b) Eggs exported from the United Kingdom
(i) 1 September 1988 to 31 August 1989	395,018	13,583,133
(ii) 1 September 1989 to 31 Auguest 1990	100,371	4,549,383

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Norfolk, North dated 20 December 1990, Official Report, column 296, on CAP expenditure, if he will state the total net cost to the Exchequer of support for agriculture and the common agricultural policy, after deducting any relevant refunds and grants received; and if he will also show the amount per head of the population of the United Kingdom which this net figure represents.

The total figures, and the equivalent per head of United Kingdom population, which my hon. Friend has requested, are as follows:

Estimate for 1990–91	Total (£ million)	£/head
Exchequer expenditure on the common agricultural policy in the United Kingdom	1,900	33
Receipts from the European Community in the relation to agriculture	1,600	28
Total Exchequer expenditure on agricultural grants and subsidies in the United Kingdom (EC and national)	1,950	34
Cost to the Exchequer of the United Kingdom's net contribution to the total Community budget (all EC expenditure including agriculture)	2,100	37

It would be misleading to net off EC receipts in relation to agriculture from Exchequer expenditure on the CAP, because the United Kingdom is a net contributor to the EC budget. It is not possible, for the reasons given in the previous reply, to estimate the cost of the United Kingdom's contribution to agricultural expenditure elsewhere in the Community.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Norfolk North dated 13 November 1990, Official Report, column 118, if he will now include with the information already given the expenditure on food at 1989 prices for 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1989.

The information requested is given in the table.

Consumers' expenditure on household food in the United Kingdom
	Household expenditure on food at current prices £ million	Expenditure on food as a percentage of total consumers expenditure per cent.	1Household expenditure on food in real terms £ million
1960	4,228	25·0	38,789
1970	6,369	20·0	39,559
1980	23,655	16·9	40,785
1989	39,181	11·9	39,181
1 United Kingdom household expenditure on food at current prices deflated by the Retail Price Index (all items) 1989= 100.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the sheep subsidy and hill cow payments will be made; what delays there have been in payment; and if he will make a statement.

The Government are not yet in a position to announce the arrangements for payment of hill livestock compensatory allowances in 1991. This is because problems have arisen over the detailed implementation of a new EC ceiling on payments of 1·4 livestock units per hectare. Claim forms and explanatory leaflets will be issued to producers as quickly as possible, once These problems have been resolved. The Government are well aware of the importance of making the HLCA payments in the early part of the year and every effort will be made to ensure that payments commence quickly.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to implement the EC Council of Fisheries Ministers decision to have an eight consecutive days tie-up period in each month.

I expect implementing regulation to be laid before Parliament before the end of this month and to come into force on 1 February.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what inquiries have been received from the European Commission concerning the implementation by the United Kingdom of the 1985 EC product liability directive; what replies have been sent by his Department; and whether he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to his earlier question on the same subject, Official Report, 19 December 1990, column 187. The position is unchanged.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has on the relative cost to British machinery manufacturers wishing to exhibit at international exhibitions abroad or arranging space bookings, stand building, etc. (a) directly with the exhibition and (b) through the governmental system.

Under my Department's export initiative, companies participating as a British group at the overseas trade fair are provided with space, a shell stand and essential display aids at 50 per cent. of the estimated cost. Assistance towards the cost of travel is also available for group members exhibiting outside western Europe. This support is provided generally on three occasions in any one country.No subsidy is available for independent exhibitors. Such companies negotiate the presentation standard they require with exhibition organisers and stand contractors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the United Kingdom's relative position in world textile machinery exports in (a) 1970 and (b) 1990; and if he will make a statement.

Information is readily available only for the OECD countries and in a form which includes leather working machinery. On this basis the United Kingdom was the second-largest OECD exporter of textile machines to world markets in 1970 and the seventh largest in 1988, the latest year for which data are obtainable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what request his Department received to supply support to Camber International Ltd. of Leicester at the recent international textile manufacturing exhibition in China; what response was made; and if he will make a statement.

On 23 February 1990 my Department formally offered to provide financial support to a group of British companies recruited by the British Textile Machinery Association to participate in this exhibition. An application from Camber International Ltd. to join the supported group was received early in May 1990. The association was informed on 10 May 1990 that the company was not eligible. This was because DTI trade fair assistance is restricted to three participations in any country, and Camber International had benefited from such support on three previous occasions in China.The company subsequently appealed against the decision on the grounds that it had been subject of successive takeovers and that in its new form the company had not previously exhibited in China. The appeal was rejected because it was considered that the reconstituted company was still producing broadly the same range of equipment as had benefited from the previous supported exhibition participations in China.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with his United States counterpart concerning the so-called Super 301 provision of the United States Trade Act 1988; and if he will make a statement.

We have taken frequent opportunities over the past two years to make clear to our United States counterparts our opposition to the provisions of the United States Trade Act which permit unilateral GATT-illegal action. Fortunately, the legislative authority permitting new actions under the "Super 301" provision has now time-expired.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with EEC countries on review of the multi-fibre arrangement.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, together with EC colleagues, attended the GATT ministerial meeting in Brussels last month which discussed, among other things, how best to phase out the multi-fibre arrangement as part of a general settlement of the Uruguay round, including the strengthening of GATT rules and disciplines. The Government hope that the talks, which were suspended over the question of agriculture, will soon reconvene.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give a detailed breakdown of the £50 million reduction in central Government expenditure by his Department for 1991–92 as announced in the autumn statement as against the plans announced in the January 1990 public expenditure White Paper.

This information will be published next month in the new Trade and Industry departmental report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to make all forms of public transport more accessible to people in wheelchairs.

We are working on the development and introduction of low-floor buses that can accommodate wheelchair users on regular services. We hope to start trials of such vehicles later this year.British Rail has already made considerable progress in making its rolling stock accessible. All new Intercity trains are accessible in both first and standard class carriages and are also fitted with accessible toilet facilities.Access to public transport infrastructure is also being improved. Where new facilities are being provided, or when older ones are being refurbished, the public transport authorities are providing access wherever reasonably practicable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to assist local authorities to lower pavement heights and kerbs to enable people in wheelchairs to move freely along main public thorough-fares and footpaths.

In 1986, the Department issued advice to local authorities on the provision of dropped kerbs to help wheelchair users in conjunction with tactile surfaces to guide blind and partially sighted people at uncontrolled crossings.We hope to issue similar advice for uncontrolled crossings and side streets shortly.In both cases local authorities can install these facilities as part of their planned maintenance programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether he will list the items of personal and vehicle information that will be transferred to the new police national computer; and whether he will make a statement;(2) whether he received advice from, or had meetings with, the Data Protection Registrar before deciding upon the nature of the closer links between the DVLA and the new police national computer;(3) whether he intends to inform drivers of the items of personal information they provide that could be transferred to the new police national computer; and whether he will make a statement.

DVLA has for many years passed to the police national computer organisation descriptive vehicle information and the names and addresses of vehicle keepers. No changes are planned to these arrangements. The information released at present from the driver record relates specifically to details about drivers who are disqualified. As a result of recommendations made by the road traffic law review committee, it is planned that details of all drivers on the DVLA record will be provided to the police national computer during 1992.The DVLA registrations under the Data Protection Act 1984 indicate that details from both the vehicle and driver registers are given to the police. The planned changes in the arrangements for providing additional details from the driver record do not require consultation with the Data Protection Registrar. The information on the police national computer facilitates law enforcement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he proposes to ensure that the benefits of the channel tunnel are shared by people and industry in Swindon and the south-west.

British Rail has the statutory responsibility for planning and running rail services in the United Kingdom, including those which will use the channel tunnel. Its initial response to the recent proposal from the Transport Users Consultative Committee for western England for a major upgrading of the Reading-Ashford route for channel tunnel services to and from the west indicated that it is confident that its current plans for such services for 1993 will meet the needs of the west country.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in descending order the London boroughs by proportion of cycle lanes to total highway in each borough.

This information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has estimated the cost and if he has plans to provide additional finance to enable local authorities to introduce 20 mph speed limit zones in accordance with his Department's recent guidelines.