To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what representations British Aerospace plc has made to his Department about the extent to which Woodford aerodrome in Greater Manchester is functioning within the standards set down by the Civil Aviation Authority; and if he will make a statement;(2) whether he has any plans to review the standards laid down by the Civil Aviation Authority governing the use and operating limits of individual aerodromes;(3) if he will cite the relevant legislation under which the Civil Aviation Authority is empowered to vary or authorise a temporary derogation from the standards laid down governing the use and operating limits of individual aerodromes; and whether he monitors such variations or derogations.

I have received no representations from British Aerospace about Woodford aerodrome. The statutory responsibility for regulating the safety of civil aviation in the United Kingdom rests with the Civil Aviation Authority in accordance with the Air Navigation Order 1989. This includes the granting of aerodrome licences to persons or organisations who are deemed by the authority to be fit and competent to hold such licences. I have no plans to review the standards laid down.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) for which aerodromes he has appointed British Aerospace plc a statutory undertaker; what was the date of the appointment in each case; and how long he expects the appointments to last;(2) if he will list the circumstances in which a plc may be appointed statutory undertaker and cite the principal, relevant legislation governing its conduct thereafter.

The status of certain operators as statutory undertakers is governed by section 57 of the Airports Act 1986. In the main the airports specified are those which are subject to economic regulation under part IV of the Act. Airports specified in this section are deemed to be statutory undertakers for the purposes of other legislation specified in schedule 2 of the Act.British Aerospace, through its wholly owned subsidiary British Aerospace (Liverpool Airport) Ltd., owns 76 per cent. of Liverpool Airport plc, which is a statutory undertaker under the 1986 Act. No other airport owned by British Aerospace is a statutory undertaker.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 30 January 1991 at col. 520, what information he has on the numbers of (i) diesel locomotives over 20 years old, (ii) electric locomotives over 20 years old, (iii) high-speed trains over 15 years old and (iv) coaching vehicles over 20 years old, in use by British Rail.

Neither the Department of Transport nor Her Majesty's railway inspectorate holds this information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will introduce an emissions check in the MOT testing scheme for cars.

The regulations implementing a carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions check will be made at the earliest opportunity, subject to notification to the EC. I hope that checking will start on 1 November 1991.If vehicles are to pass the MOT test, they will need to be properly tuned so that carbon monoxide (CO) emissions are kept as low as possible. The standards we will be setting for carbon monoxide levels are realistic, but they will be only minimum standards and motorists should aim to have their vehicles tuned to manufacturers' specifications wherever possible. The hydrocarbon emissions check will enable MOT testers to be sure the engine is running normally before they carry out the carbon monoxide check.This will be a first step in in-service emissions checking. It is our intention that the standards in the test should reflect future improvements in engine technology and developing international standards.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will list the people who were consulted when the consultative report on attainment targets in geography was revised over Christmas 1990; and how many of these were geographers or geography teachers;(2) why he decided to remove inquiry skills and land-use conflicts from the attainment targets in geography.

My right hon. and learned Friend received advice from the National Curriculum Council in the form of its report on consultation and recommendations for both attainment targets and programmes of study in geography. He accepted the greater part of this advice, but made a number of changes in publishing the draft order for geography. At that time, he explained his view that the main emphasis of the attainment targets should be on the assessment of pupils' knowledge and understanding of aspects of geography, and that less emphasis should be placed on the assessment of skills which are not particular to geography and the study of people's attitudes and opinions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what requests he has received from Lancashire county council to discuss the 1991–92 capital allocation.

My right hon. and learned Friend has received no such requests.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the principal achievements of his Department since June 1987.

We have made rapid progress in implementing the important changes introduced by Parliament in 1988 to improve standards and choice.The Education Reform Act (ERA) includes measures to provide a national curriculum for pupils of compulsory school age, comprising a range of subjects for which targets, programmes of study and testing are being established; to widen the choice available to parents; to ensure that schools can admit pupils up to the limit of their capacity; to require all local education authorities to develop schemes for the local management of their schools, with budgets largely determined by reference to pupil numbers; to offer all schools the opportunity to opt out of local authority control and have grant-maintained status; to establish a number of city technology colleges; to establish polytechnics and other major colleges as independent institutions; to reform the government and management of further education colleges; and to reform the finance and management of the university system.In addition, the Government continue to seek to improve teaching quality. They are continuing to provide substantial funds through direct grant to support in-service training. The criteria to which courses of initial teacher training must conform have been improved. Regulations are being prepared under which the performance of all teachers in maintained schools will be appraised on a two-year cycle. A range of initiatives has been taken on the supply and recruitment of teachers, and new arrangements for teachers' pay have been brought forward.The Government have reformed the examination system for 16-year-olds, through the introduction of the GCSE based on national criteria, resulting in a significant increase in attainment: the proportion of school leavers in England with five or more grades A to C at GCSE—O-level—CSE rose from 26·4 per cent. in 1987 to 31·9 per cent. in 1989 and the proportion of 18-year-olds in England achieving two or more A-levels rose from 15· 7 per cent. in 1987 to 17·4 per cent. in 1989. The proportion of 16-year-olds participating in full-time education in England rose from 48·4 per cent. in 1987–88 to 55·4 per cent. in 1989–90.Participation in higher education has increased, with the proportion of 18 to 19-year-olds in Great Britain entering higher education rising from 14·6 per cent. in 1987–88 to nearly 19 per cent. in 1990–91, with every prospect of increasing still further. A student loans scheme, unique in the world in combining universal entitlement with a substantial interest subsidy, has been successfully introduced.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress Her Majesty's inspectorate have made in their role as assessors to the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education and to local committees as set out in Department of Education and Science circular 24/89.

Her Majesty's inspectorate attend all meetings of the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education and as many meetings of the local committees as their other duties permit. Her Majesty's inspectorate comment on proposals for new and revised post-graduate certificate of education (PGCE) and bachelors of education (BEd) courses and contribute as necessary to the work of the committees. Her Majesty's inspectorate assessors are currently evaluating the work of the local committees and their progress during the first year of operation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much extra money was given to the funding councils in respect of the new criteria and accreditation procedures for teacher training, as per circular 24/89.

Grant to the funding councils took account in both 1990–91 and 1991–92 of the costs associated with the new arrangements for initial teacher training announced in circular 24/89. In neither year were funds earmarked within the total grant made available. It is for the funding councils to determine how to reflect the changes in their allocation of funds to individual institutions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when the interim report of the national curriculum working group for music will be published.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I will publish the report tomorrow, together with my letter to the chairman of the group, Sir John Manduell. Copies of this initial advice, including my letter, will be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of (a) public highways and thoroughfares, (b) private houses and (c) local authority houses that were lost in the development of the London Docklands development scheme; and what resources have been made available to local and family historians to trace such lost communities.

Developments in London docklands have not led to the loss of any public highways or thoroughfares.LDDC has sought to minimise the loss of existing public and private housing. Some demolition is unavoidable in connection with the LDDC's Limehouse link road and a small number of smaller schemes. Over 500 households have recently been rehoused in connection with the link. The rehousing options offered by LDDC included three attractive newly built estates to help retain existing communities as well as providing a wide choice of homes in or near the area.LDDC has also helped a number of docklands organisations involved with local history, including some £32,000 in grants over the past two years for the Island History Trust, the Rotherhithe heritage museum, and Bermondsey memories.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each category of those eligible for poll tax exemption in 1990–91 his estimates of (a) the number exempted and (b) the cost to central Government.

The estimated numbers exempt from the personal community charge in England at 1 June 1990 are as follows:

	Number
People whose sole or main residence is in a residential care home, nursing home, private hospital, or hostel providing care, who are receiving care	321,000
Patients whose main residence is an NITS hospital	42,000
Severely mentally handicapped	97,000
Residential care workers employed at a very low salary	1,500
Aged 18 and in receipt of child benefit, or aged 18 or 19 and in full-time education	179,000
Full time students whose term address is in Scotland or Northern Ireland	2,500
Members of religious communities	11,000
Residents of certain crown buildings (mainly military training colleges) for whom the crown makes contributions in aid to local authorities	4,000
Members of visiting forces, international headquarters and defence organisations and their dependents and diplomats	40,000
Contributors to the collective community charge	20,000
In detention (Source: Home Office)	45,000

Reliable information on persons without fixed abodes and living in short-stay hostels is not available.There is no cost to Government as a result of these exemptions since these groups have never been liable to the community charge under the Local Government Finance Act 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate how many non-domestic ratepayers in England will have faced rates increases in cash of 50 per cent. or more when comparing 1991–92 bills with those of 1989–90.

I estimate that approximately 700,000 non-domestic properties in England will attract rate bills in 1991–92 which will be more than 50 per cent. higher in cash terms than in 1989–90. This estimate takes no account of any changes in rateable values as a result of appeals.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the increase in percentage terms in the average rate bill paid by (a) shops, (b) hotels and (c) all non-domestic properties between (i) 1989–90 and 1990–91 and (ii) 1990–91 and 1991–92.

The average percentage increases in rate bills for shops and hotels in England are estimated to be:

	1989–90 to 1990–91	1990–91 to 1991–92
Shops	13	15·3
Hotels	23·7	26·4

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the increase in the average non-domestic rate poundage in England in each year from 1981–82 to 1991–92.

The percentage increases in the average non-domestic rate poundage are shown in the table:

	Per cent.
1981–82	20·7
1982–83	13·0
1983–84	6·5
1984–85	5·3
1985–86	7·2
1986–87	10·3
1987–88	5·3
1988–89	7·0
1989–90	7·8
1990–91	17·6
1991–92	1109
1 The figures given are the RPI figures for September 1989 and September 1990 used in setting the non-domestic rate multipliers for 1990–91 and 1991–92.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give figures for (a) rate support grant per head, (b) business rate income per head and (c) total aggregate external finance for each local authority in England.

[holding answer 8 February 1991]: I have today arranged for the available information to be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to announce his proposals for capping of the joint police authorities for 1991–92; what representations he has received concerning the impact of capped police budgets on the recruitment and retention of police officers; and if he will make a statement.

We have received a number of comments and representations on our intentions for charge capping for 1991–92, including those made separately to my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and to my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State, Home Office when they met a number of police authority representatives to hear their views. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State told the House on 29 January, we stand firmly by our intentions for capping, which are, however, necessarily provisional, since under the statute capping decisions cannot be made until authorities have set their budgets.It is now for each authority to set its budgets having regard to all relevant considerations including its statutory duties, the approved level of police manpower, our intended capping criteria, the need as appropriate for expenditure restraint and the scope for greater efficiency.My right hon. Friend intends to take his capping decisions as soon as reasonably practicable after authorities have set their budgets. When he comes to do so he will take account of all appropriate considerations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to replicate the principal civil service pension scheme in the Property Services Agency Government-owned company and to make provision for its replication in the privatised companies.

The Government have made it clear that if PSA is incorporated as a Government-owned company, or sold, steps will be taken to provide transferring employees with pension arrangements that are broadly comparable, and redundancy entitlements that are as far as possible identical, to those they have in the civil service.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if it remains Government policy that the Property Services Agency projects will be sold to the private sector this year.

No decisions have been taken on the form or timing of sale.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if it is his intention to proceed with the establishment of the Property Services Agency as a Government-owned company on 1 July; and what plans he has to establish separate Government-owned companies for Property Services Agency Building Management, Property Services Agency Projects, and Property Services Agency Special Services.

No decisions have been taken on whether PSA should trade as a Government-owned company or companies before sale, but a number of companies have been established to protect names.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from his Department in the last three years for which information is available; and what was the value of each item.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from his Department in the last three years for which information is available; and what was the value of each item.

Information is not available in precisely the form requested. The Department's losses and special payments register, from which the note to the appropriation accounts on losses is prepared, contains the following details for losses by fraud, theft, arson, sabotage, malicious damage and culpable negligence:

	Number of items	Value £
1987–88	16	43,570
1988–89	44	23,070
1989–90	13	8,440

It is not possible without disproportionate cost to extract details for individual items or for loss by theft alone.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on progress of his Department's estate action work at Wyrley Birch, Birmingham, and give an indication of expected date of completion.

The Wyrley Birch estate action scheme was approved by the Department on 24 November 1989 and was scheduled for completion in 1991–92. The £45 million package of works involves nearly 300 flats and maisonettes, which will benefit from refurbishment works, new security measures including a concierge scheme and environmental works. We understand that the works, which are being undertaken by Birmingham city council, are progressing satisfactorily.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to introduce a requirement that building regulations on the construction of new housing and offices should specify higher levels of energy conservation.

Higher thermal insulation standards and other energy conservation measures were incorporated in the amendments to the building regulations and supporting approved documents which took effect on 1 April 1990. We shall be examining the scope for further measures of this kind once we have been able to monitor how the current requirements are working in practice, and in particular whether they are giving rise to any technical problems.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the recent visit of the Minister for Inner Cities to Liverpool.

My most recent visit to Merseyside was on 10 December 1990. On that day I visited Widnes where I met the leader of Halton borough council at the chemical museum, followed by a tour of derelict land sites and the town centre Victoria square refurbishment. In Birkenhead I performed a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the commencement of an office development at the Pier hotel. During a river crossing from Birkenhead to Liverpool I was appraised of the revitalisation of the Mersey ferries by Merseytravel, and in Liverpool I received a presentation by the Mersey Barrage Company on its proposals.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will give details of the regional distribution of the Housing Corporation's approved development programme for 1991–92.

In my reply on 17 December to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Hughes), Official Report, Vol. 183, column 24, I gave details of the overall shape of the Housing Corporation's approved development programme for 1991–92. Total net expenditure for that year is set at £1·4 billion, principally for the provision of new housing for rent, but with a significant proportion for low-cost home ownership and with the aim, overall, of tackling homelessness as a priority need.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with the EC Commission regarding the state of British bathing waters.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State spoke to Commissioner Ripa di Meana on 19 December 1990 about the revised proposals for improving the United Kingdom's bathing waters that we had sent to the EC Commission last November.The Commissioner was pleased both about the progress we are making in improving standards and about our plans for increased investment in the future. They agreed that United Kingdom and EC Commission officials should study the United Kingdom's proposals in detail so that the Commission could satisfy itself that bathing waters were being improved as quickly as practicable. That work is currently under way.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action has been taken on outstanding matters following Sir John Garlick's inquiry into the running of Sheffield development corporation.

As I told the House on 15 October, the Garlick report contained several criticisms. Action has been taken since then on all these, as follows:(i)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each authority in England his estimate of the turnover in the community charge register, expressed as a percentage, that will take place during the current financial year; and what is the national figure.

[holding answer 8 February 1991]: No estimates of the turnover in community charge registers are currently available. My Department is making arrangements to collect information on the changes to the registers in the year up to 1 June 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he intends to require waste disposal authorities to implement least-cost options where proposals for waste recycling or waste into energy projects are identified as cheaper than landfill;(2) if he plans to require waste disposal authorities to seek tenders for waste disposal by landfill, waste recycling and energy from waste in parallel.

[holding answer 12 February 1991]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has no power to require waste disposal authorities to choose one particular waste disposal option over any other. However, part II of schedule 2 to the Environmental Protection Act 1990 will require those authorities to subject waste disposal to competitive tendering and it will empower them to consider maximising recycling and minimising pollution, as well as value for money, when assessing tenders for waste disposal contracts.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what capital funds and grants are available to a waste disposal authority for the construction of waste recycling centres as part of an energy-from-waste scheme using refuse-derived fuel, in a public-private sector partnership.

[holding answer 12 February 1991]: The sources from which local authority capital commitments can be financed are:

(i) credit approvals which permit capital expenditure to be financed by borrowing or by credit arrangements or specified grants to be taken up;

(ii) usable capital receipts;

(iii) Exchequer capital grants or contributions (other than European Community and specified capital grants) and capital grants and contributions from other persons; and

(iv) revenue contributions.

A waste disposal authority may draw on any of these sources of finance for a scheme of the type described by my hon. Friend.

Country	Project	Company	Export value £ million	ATP element £ million	Date authorised
Indonesia	Jabotabek Railway Study	L· H· Manderstam	1·000	1·000	June 1984
Malaysia	Ulu Jelai Hydro Feasibility Study	WLPU/Ewbank	1·850	1·850	April 1984
Thailand	Mini Hydros Pilot Plant	Balfour Beatty	2·500	2·500	June 1983
Indonesia	Ombilin Coal Mining Training	Dowty Meco	0·655	0·655	September 1982
Thailand	Post-Harvest Ground Nut Study: Phase II	Rural Investment Overseas	0·499	0·499	April 1984
Indonesia	Jabotabek Feasibility Study	Manderstam/F· Wheeler	0·007	0·007	September 1986
China	Cosco Ships	British Shipbuilders	44·300	13·578	July 1986
Indonesia	Steel Bridging	Mabey & Johnson	10·702	6·846	April 1987
Indonesia	Navigational Aids	Pharos Marine	9·906	7·007	April 1987
Malaysia	Liwagu Hydroelectric Study	Watermeyer/Ewbank	0·850	0·850	October 1986
Malaysia	Rural water supervision	John Taylor	3·000	3·000	October 1985
Panama	Gas Turbine Power Station	JBE	14·222	6·727	October 1987
Seychelles	Mahe Water Consultancy	Sir A· Gibb	0·122	0·122	July 1987
Zimbabwe	Harare Airport	Sir A· Gibb	0·257	0·257	May 1985
China	Bohai Aluminium Phase I	Davey McKee (Poole)	27·750	8·786	April 1988
China	Yue Yang Coal Power Station	GEC	171·718	51·417	July 1987
China	Yue Yang Third Party Inspection	Kennedy and Donkin	0·324	0·324	August 1988
China	Yue Yang Monitoring	Hattersley	0·273	0·273	May 1988
Egypt	Leak Detection Equipment	Palmer Environmental	0·251	0·251	April 1987
Indonesia	Cigading Port	Tarmac Consortium	17·280	13·173	March 1989
Indonesia	Bandung TV Studio	Quantel-Link Systems	11·735	9·201	October 1988
Indonesia	Scattered Diesels	GEC	6·887	5·421	January 1989
Indonesia	Airport Security Systems	Holmes Aviation	0·020	0·020	March 1989
Indonesia	Forest Radio Communications	Phillips Radio Communications	0·228	0·138	April 1988
Kenya	Chemeilil Sugar Mill	Crown Agents	0·003	0·003	April 1985
Kenya	Power Distribution	Private Consultant	0·007	0·007	November 1988
Kenya	Mombasa Causeway	Sir A· Gibb	0·412	0·315	April 1989
Malaysia	Privatisation Programme	J· H· Schroder Wagg & Co·	0·642	0·194	June 1987
Thailand	Laem Chabang Port	Port of Felixstowe Int·	0·151	0·151	May 1986
Zimbabwe	Zisco Monitoring	W· S· Atkins	0·048	0·048	October 1987
Egypt	Maghara Coal Mine	Babcocks	0·080	0·080	October 1988
Indonesia	Radio Studios	David Whittle Associates	0·390	0·390	March 1988
Indonesia	Aircraft Simulator	CAA	0·050	0·050	January 1990

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the 42 projects classified in departmental records as negotiated contracts funded out of aid and trade provision monies since 1979; and if he will give the date on which such funding was authorised in each case.

The projects are listed in the table. It should be noted that there are 41 projects listed rather than 42 as given in my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade's previous answer, 24 October 1990, Official Report, columns 205–6. This was because of double counting in the previous answer which has now been corrected.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which representative bodies responded to the Government's consultative document, "Competition and Choice: Telecommunications Policy for the 1990s"; and if he will publish their responses.

The representative bodies listed in the table have responded to the consultative document. Unless respondents have indicated otherwise, the Government intend to make public the responses when announcing the conclusions of the review.

• Action with Communities in Rural England
• Advisory Committee on Telecommunications for Disabled and Elderly People
• Advisory Committee on Telecommunications for Small Businesses
• Age Concern England
• Association for Information Management (Aslib)
• Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland
• Association of Independent Radio Contractors
• Association of the Electronics, Telecommunications and Business Equipment Industries (EEA)
• British Computer Society
• British Motorship Owners Association
• British Telecommunications Unions Committee
• Cable Television Association
• Computing Services Association
• Confederation of Information Communication Industries
• Consumers' Association
• Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council
• English Advisory Committee on Telecommunications
• Federation of Communications Services (Cellular Service Providers Group)
• Federation of Communications Services (Duopoly review working party)
• Gandalf Users Forum
• General Council of British Shipping
• Gingerbread
• Greater London Association for Disabled People
• Hull City Council
• Institution of Electrical Engineers
• Joint Radio Committee of the fuel and power industries
• Kent County Council
• London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• National Association of Victims Support Schemes
• National Consumer Council
• National Council for One Parent Families
• National Federation of Retirement Pensions Associations
• Network Operators Committee (Band III)
• Newspaper Society
• Northern Ireland Advisory Committee on Telecommunications
• Northern Region Councils Association
• OFTEL Working Group on Telecommunications for the Hearing Impaired
• Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation
• Royal National Institute for the Deaf
• Samaritans
• Scottish Advisory Committee on Telecommunications
• Scottish Council Development and Industry
• Sheffield City Council
• Specialised Satellite Services Operators Group
• Telecommunications Industry Association
• Telecommunications Managers Association
• Telecommunications Users' Association
• UK Offshore Operators Association
• UK Paging Operators Association
• US Council for International Business
• Welsh Advisory Committee on Telecommunications

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the Patent Office.

It is important that the financial framework for the Patent Office enables it to provide a high-quality service as economically as possible. However, at present there is no clear relationship between the level of resources allocated to the Patent Office and customer demand. In order to provide such a relationship the Patent Office will move to a net running cost regime from 1 April. While this provides a close link between customer demand and current resources, restrictions will remain, for example, on transferring funds between financial years. Additional flexibilities, which the Patent Office believes would enable it to improve the service provided to customers, would be available to a trading fund established under the Government Trading Act 1990. As announced in the trade and industry expenditure plan report (Cm. 1504) published this week, I hope that the Patent Office will achieve trading fund status later in the 1991–92 financial year. The Patent Office is today opening a consultation process on this proposal, seeking comments by 12 April. I have placed a copy of this letter in the Library.As part of the process of approving the 1991–92 Patent Office corporate plan a review has been conducted of he performance of the Patent Office against the targets for t he period 1990–91 to 1994–95 announced by the then Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley), on 1 March 1990, at column

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what changes are planned to the financial regime under which Companies House operates.

Companies House currently operates on a net running cost regime. Although this makes it possible to match resources to fluctuations in workload, it does not enable the agency to work in a fully commercial manner. For example, there are restrictions on transferring funds between financial years.Companies House plans to take advantage of the greater financial flexibilities which should be available as a trading fund under the Government Trading Act 1990. The aim is to enable the agency to operate more efficiently, so that its many customers can enjoy an even better service representing improved value for money. I hope that Companies House will achieve trading fund status later in 1991–92, as described in the trade and industry expenditure plans report (Cm 1504) published this week.Companies House is today issuing a consultative letter on these proposals, seeking comments by 12 April. A copy of this letter will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which members of his Department were on the British delegation to the November 1990 Antarctic treaty meeting; and whether his Department will be represented at the April 1991 meeting of the Antarctic treaty parties.

[holding answer 8 February 1991]: An official from my Department was a member of the British delegation to the Antarctic treaty meeting in November 1990, and one will attend the meeting scheduled for April 1991

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contribution was made by his Department to discussions on environmental protection measures by the Antarctic treaty parties in Chile in 1990.

[holding answer 8 February 1991]: An official from my Department was a member of the British delegation to the Antarctic treaty meeting in November 1990 which took an active part in the discussions on a draft protocol to the Antarctic treaty for the protection of the Antarctic environment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has on the level of Government provision of film screen finance since 1987 in (a) Britain, (b) France, (c) Germany, (d) Italy and (e) Spain.

[holding answer 11 February 1991]: I have no annual information on the level of Government screen finance in France, Germany, Italy or Spain over this period. In Britain, the Government have provided £2 million a year to British Screen Finance Ltd. The Government also provide funding for the British Film Institute, which supports a number of activities, including film production.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has on the number of British films made in each year since 1980.

[holding answer 12 February 1991]: The number of films registered as British for the purposes of the Eady levy in the years 1980 to 1985 was as follows:

	Films
1980	41
1981	32
1982	27
1983	36
1984	37
1985	118
1Up to 23 May.

Registration ended with the implementation of the Films Act on 23 May 1985, and no official statistics on the number of British films have been collected since that date.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department has taken over the past 12 months to promote new British films overseas.

[holding answer 12 February 1991]: My Department provided financial support to enable 10 film companies to attend the Cannes festival last May, and is providing support for a further 10 companies attending a festival in Los Angeles later this month.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the numbers of women who have earnings below (a) the tax threshold and (b) the national insurance threshold, broken down into married women, lone parents and single women at the latest date.

Provisional estimates for 1990–91, based on projections from the 1988 and 1989 family expenditure surveys, are as follows:

Numbers (million)
	Women with earnings below
	Tax threshold	National Insurance lower earnings limit
Single women	0·5	0·4
Lone parents	0·2	0·1
Married women	2·2	1·6

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects his Budget to be announced.

As the Chancellor told my hon. Friend the Member for Dorset, South (Mr. Bruce) on 31 January, column 1095, he intends to make his Budget statement on 19 March.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of fees paid to, charges incurred and expenses claimed by the acting returning officer for the Wrexham constituency for the 1987 general election.

The expenses of the Wrexham parliamentary constituency, met from the consolidated fund, were as follows:

	£
Acting Returning Officer's fee	1,073
Presiding Officers' fees	4,225
Poll Clerks' fees	5,330
Clerical assistance	3,050
Renting and adaptation of buildings	6,173
Miscellaneous expenses	4,542
	24,393

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the total number of administrative staff employed by the Government in Scotland for each year since 1975, indicating by which Departments they were employed.

Details of the numbers of staff—both non-industrial and industrial—employed in Scotland, by Department, are to be found in the annual Treasury publication "Civil Service Statistics", copies of which may be seen in the statistical unit of the House of Commons Library. (Figures for 1975 and 1976 will be found in the 1976 edition.)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the financial year ended 31 March 1990, how many raids were made by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise on non-profit-making clubs for the purpose of checking that the correct bingo duty had been paid; and how much revenue was raised as a result of such raids.

In exercise of their legal responsibility for the care and management of a range of indirect taxes, Customs and Excise make inquiries of, and visit, a variety of businesses and organisations including non-profit making members' clubs which may incur liability to bingo duty. No central record of these inquiries and visits is maintained, or of their effect on the revenue yield from bingo duty. This information could be provided only at the cost of disproportionate time and effort.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider introducing financial measures to encourage manufacturers to introduce new processes and plants to recycle waste products.

I cannot anticipate my right hon. Friend's Budget statement.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the likely increase in tax receipts in the year 1991–92 in the event that higher rate tax relief on mortgages were to be disallowed.

[holding answer 11 February 1991]: The direct revenue cost of mortgage interest relief for 1990–91 at a rate in excess of the basic rate is provisionally estimated to be £470 million. A little over half this accrual cost is reflected in 1990–91 receipts. The estimate is based on the assumption that interest rates remain at their current levels.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the net financial transfer of resources from the United Kingdom to the 17 most indebted countries for the last year for which figures are available.

[holding answer 12 February 1991]: The data requested are neither collected nor published by individual country.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made towards establishing Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue as "next steps" agencies.

[pursuant to the reply, 31 January 1991, c. 573]: On 25 July 1990 my predecessor announced that changes would be made in Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to enable it to operate fully on "next steps" lines, columns 239–41. The key element of these changes is that 30 commands performing the bulk of the Department's operational and service activities will become executive units. These include the 21 regional collections, the investigation division and certain units at present organised as headquarters divisions.The head of each unit will be appointed by the chairman of Customs and Excise and will be more personally accountable for the performance of the unit against agreed plans and targets, in return for substantial new freedoms to manage and innovate. This will increase the direct involvement of the head of the unit and all its staff in the tasks to be done, and improve their effectiveness and their personal satisfaction in the unit's achievements. I expect these changes to lead to further advances in the efficiency of the units and the Department as a whole, and the quality of service provided.These changes are set out in the framework document for the Department, "Next Steps: A Framework for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise", which has been published today, together with framework documents for East Midlands and Manchester collections and the VAT central unit, as the first three in the series of executive unit framework documents which describe the responsibilities, freedoms and accountabilities in individual units. The departmental framework document contains a programme of action which includes the introduction of significant additional personnel and financial freedoms over the next two to three years. Copies have been placed in the Library.Framework documents for the remaining executive units will be published before the House rises for the Easter recess. The arrangements proposed for executive units will take effect from 1 April 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the non-governmental organisations associated with overseas development which received financial support from his Department in 1988–89, the total sum received by each organisation in that year and the breakdown of the total sum received by each organisation to show separately the sums received (a) under the joint funding scheme, (b) for emergency relief and (c) other.

My right hon. Friend will recall the reply I gave to his question on 16 November last year, column 407, in which contributions to 116 non-governmental organisations in 1988–89 were set out. They totalled £63,214,364, including £11,667,912 from the joint funding scheme and £29,540,580 for emergency relief (disasters, refugees and food aid).

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the individual amounts granted to United Kingdom nongovernmental organisations by the European Community in each of the years 1989 and 1990 (a) for projects in developing countries, (b) for development education and (c) other.

Under its non-governmental organisations programme the European Community co-finances projects in developing countries and development education projects with European non-governmental organisations. Normally the Community contributes 50 per cent. of the costs of individual projects. In 1989, the latest year for which figures are available, amounts granted to United Kingdom non-governmental organisations were as follows:

	£000's
(A) For projects in developing countries
Acord	75
Action Aid	107
Action of Disability Development	83
Aga Khan Foundation	302
Britain-Tanzania Association	15
British Red Cross	292
Catholic Fund for Overseas Development	336
Catholic Institute for International Relations	355
Christian Aid	625
Church Missionary Society	53
Commonwealth Trade Union Council	37
Cooperation for Development	549
Concern Universal	63
Find Your Feet	17
Harvest Help	93
Health Unlimited	78
Help the Aged	185
Indian Volunteers for Community Development	68
Intermediate Technology Development Group	19
Joe Homan Trust	17

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those major capital projects completed over the last two years which were financed by the Overseas Development Administration in Africa.

[holding answer Tuesday 12 February]: The most recent years for which the information requested is available are 1987 and 1988. The list of capital projects completed in those financial years from ODA's bilateral country programme funds and by the Commonwealth Development Corporation is as follows:

Country	Title
1987
Overseas Development Administration
Kenya	Provision of grain storage facilities.
Malawi	Periodic maintenance of a road linking Liwonde and the port of Monkey Bay.
Mozambique	Provision of trucks, trailers buses, Land Rovers and spare parts from Leyland UK.
Sudan	Red Sea fisheries project to improve catches and design of boats for fishermen.
Swaziland	Rehabilitation of community and Government schools damaged by storms in 1987.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 28 January, Official Report, columns 409–10, if he has discussed with the chairman of Tai Cymru its reasons for approving the mortgage application under section 9 of the Housing Associations Act 1985 by Corlan Housing Association for the land that it acquired from Helical Bar Ltd.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if Welsh local authorities will continue to provide social housing in Wales.

Although local authorities are no longer the principal providers of new social housing they will continue to play a vital enabling role, in partnership with housing associations and the private sector, and in ensuring that the housing requirements of their areas are appropriately tackled.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy concerning council housing; and if he will make a statement.

It is that council housing should be managed and maintained effectively, economically, and in accordance with local housing authorities' statutory obligations; that council tenants should have the opportunity to purchase their homes under statute; that they should also have a genuine choice of landlord; and that housing associations should continue to be the main providers of new subsidised homes for rent, working in close partnership with local authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list, by county, the number of confirmed redundancies in Wales in the third quarter of each financial year since 1978–79; and if he will make a statement.

Figures from 1978–79 to 1980–81 are not available by county. The information from 1981–82 to 1990–91 is set out in the tables.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met representatives from the Association of District Councils to discuss their proposals for (a) an elected Welsh Assembly and (b) a single tier of local government in Wales; and whether he will make a statement on both issues.

I met representatives of the Council of Welsh Districts, together with representatives of the Assembly of Welsh Counties, on 7 January. I am considering the Council of Welsh District's proposals both for an elected Welsh assembly and for a single tier of local government in Wales, and will also be considering other proposals on these matters. I will make my decisions known in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans the Development Board for Rural Wales has to build advance factories in Cardigan during the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

The Development Board for Rural Wales has the following plans for building advance factories in Cardigan:

Year	Units	Note
		Subject to Welsh
1991–92	2 × 3,000 sq ft	Office approval
1992–93	4 × 1,500 sq ft	In draft programme
1993–94	1 × 1,500 sq ft	In draft programme
1994–95	2 × 3,000 sq ft	In draft programme

The development board works to a five-year "outline" industrial development programme, which is modified and reviewed on an ongoing basis. Therefore, any specific proposals beyond 1991–92 are subject to possible alteration and change according to circumstances.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the latest developments regarding the building of advance factories at New Quay, Cardiganshire; and if he will make a statement.

The Development Board for Rural Wales has no definite plans to construct units at New Quay at the present time and has no local land holdings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will next attend a meeting of the European Council of Ministers to discuss the problems now facing Welsh farmers; and if he will make a statement.

In line with long-established practice, my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food takes the lead in European Community discussions and negotiations. I know that my right hon. Friend has the interests of Welsh farmers clearly in mind in that context, and I am in regular contact with him.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had in the current year with the National Farmers Union in Wales about livestock compensatory allowances; and if he will make a statement.

I met the National Farmers Union of Wales on Monday 28 January 1991 to discuss, among other issues, hill livestock compensatory allowances.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many times he has visited the national sports centre for Wales;

My right hon. Friend has not yet had the opportunity to visit the national sports centre for Wales, Cardiff, or the national watersports centre, Plas Menai.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many county council homes for the elderly there are in each of the counties of Wales.

The information requested is shown in the table:

County	Number of homes for elderly people1
Clwyd	20
Dyfed	29
Gwent	24
Gwynedd	27
Mid Glamorgan	34
Powys	14
South Glamorgan	21
West Glamorgan	21
Wales	190
1 As at 31 March 1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what policy initiatives he proposes for the running of county council homes for the elderly in Wales.

My right hon. Friend's proposals for the further improvement of services for elderly people in Wales is set out in chapter 11 of the White Paper "Caring for People—Community Care in the Next Decade and Beyond" (Cm 849). As regards county council-run homes, the White Paper makes it clear that we intend that their standard should be at least on a par with those expected by county councils of the private and voluntary sectors, and that those standards should be monitored and controlled by the inspection units which authorities are required to set up by 1 April 1991. In drawing up their plans for social care, which are to be published by 1 April 1992, social services authorities will need to review, in the light of their assessment of local needs and circumstances, the extent and nature of the residential care they provide. They will need to do this in terms of the balance with wider patterns of domiciliary and day care and also with regard to the need to maximise choice from a variety of sources of care.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) private nursing homes and (b) private residential homes there are in each of the counties of Wales.

The information requested is shown in the following tables:

County	Number of private nursing homes1
Clwyd	70
Dyfed	25
Gwent	51

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy concerning private nursing and residential homes in Wales.

My right hon. Friend's proposals for the further improvement of all forms of social care are set out in chapter 11 of the White Paper "Caring for People—Community Care in the Next Decade and Beyond.' (Cm 849). The Government believe that people should enter residential and nursing home care as a positive choice. Social services authorities, working closely with health authorities and other interests, should ensure the development of adequate networks of domiciliary, day and residential care in the private, voluntary and public sectors which maximise choice and ensure high quality in all aspects of provision.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements he is making for implementing the EC surplus food scheme in the United Kingdom for 1991; and if he will make a statement.

The European Commission has reviewed the operation of this scheme in 1988 and 1989, and its report is awaited. In the meantime the Commission has decided to continue the distribution of surplus food from intervention stocks to the most deprived citizens of the Community. I have to say that the Government's view remains that the scheme is an inefficient method of dealing with surpluses and of assisting those whom it should help. Nevertheless, as in the past, the Government do not wish to deprive eligible United Kingdom citizens of an opportunity available to their counterparts elsewhere in the Community.The Commission has allocated some 150 million ecu to the European Community for this purpose, the same as in 1990. The United Kingdom has maintained its share of the

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Fisheries Council held in Brussels on 19 and 20 December.

[pursuant to his reply, 14 January 1991, Official Report, col. 388]: I am pleased to announce that the Commission has agreed that the United Kingdom may exempt from the days in port requirement any vessel which satisfies the Fisheries Departments that it will carry only longlines or nets having a mesh size equal to or greater than 110 mm, with or without a 100 mm square mesh panel. Regulations to amend the Sea Fishing (Days in Port) Regulations 1991 (SI 1991/139) will be laid before Parliament shortly.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice he has received from the National Rivers Authority concerning burial of BSE-affected cattle by farmers under their own land.

The National Rivers Authority has provided advice on the burial of carcases generally which has been incorporated into the revised "Guidance of Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Water" which was published in draft on 15 January. Copies are available in the Library of the House.