To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what estimates he has available to him of the effect on potential first-time share buyers of the use of well-known recent television series characters in the flotation advertising campaigns for the electricity (a) distribution and (b) generating companies.

No estimates of the effect of the advertising campaigns on first-time share buyers have been made. The purpose of the advertising campaigns has been to inform members of the general public about the flotations, whether or not they have bought shares before.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to ensure that all prisoners writing to their hon. Members from any of Her Majesty's prison establishments give their home address in the letter in order that any hon. Member receiving the letter is immediately able to confirm that the writer is in fact a constituent.

Prison standing order 5D3, a copy of which is in the Library, states that prisoners should be advised that letters to hon. Members should show the home address, if the prisoner has one. This is now covered in the information booklets for prisoners. It is not generally practicable, however, to ensure that prisoners comply with the recommended procedure as the routine reading of prisoners' mail has been abolished for category D prisoners and reduced to a small sample for category C prisoners.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used to decide what figures are kept for those from (a) India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and (b) non-EC Europe and North America who are refused entry into the United Kingdom under primary purpose rules.

The collection of data on persons outside the Indian sub-continent applying for entry clearance for settlement in the United Kingdom was terminated at the end of 1979 because it was considered that its usefulness did not justify the resources required to undertake it. Information continues to be collected on persons applying in the sub-continent because of the large number of applications there. Since 1983 this information has included the reason(s) for refusal for spouses and fiancé(e)s refused entry clearance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what EC funds for 1991–92 have been allocated to assist (a) economic, (b) environmental, (c) social, (d) scientific, (e) technical and (f) cultural programmes in (i) Africa, (ii) Asia and (iii) Latin America.

The countries of Africa included in the Lomé convention have been allocated 4,685·5 million ecu (about £3,245 million) for the period 1990 to 1995. This figure is not allocated in advance as between individual years or categories of aid. The European Community's approved budget for 1991 does not distinguish between the categories of aid required. The total payments provision for 1991 for Asia is 175·9 million ecu (about £122 million), and for Latin America 111·2 million ecu (about £77 million).

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to extend the scope of the know-how fund for central and eastern European countries to include the education and training of non-governmental organisations in the monitoring of human rights and the practical experience of international law; and if he will make a statement.

The main priorities of the know-how fund are to facilitate the transition to a market economy and a plural democracy. We have no immediate plans to extend the scope of the know-how fund as the hon. Gentleman suggests.

To ask the Secretary of State For Transport whether he will postpone the public inquiry into the proposed Falmouth Harbour Revision Order to allow fishermen's organisations time to make full representations.

Not at this late stage. The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations registered an objection to the proposed order on 12 November 1990 after it had been advertised, and were notified on 10 January 1991 that the inquiry would take place on 21 February 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of alcohol tests on drivers each week and the numbers (a) above twice the legal limit, (b) above the legal limit but below twice the limit and (c) below the legal limit.

I have been asked to reply.Statistics of breath tests for England and Wales are published in Home Office statistical bulletins. The most recent detailed statistics, for 1989, were published in issue number 25/90. A copy of this bulletin is in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the total costs of the Property Services Agency Thesis computer system.

The net cost of the PSA Thesis computer system was £8·6 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate how many non-domestic properties in England had rate increases of (a) 10 per cent. and above and (b) 20 per cent. and above in each year from 1986–87 to 1991–92.

Estimates of the number of non-domestic properties in England subject to increases in rate bills of 10 per cent. and over and 20 per cent. and over are shown in the table.

Non-domestic properties with rate increases
Thousands
	10 per cent. and over	20 per cent. and over
1986–87	2,700	660
1987–88	520	70
1988–89	1,430	20
1989–90	1,100	70
1990–91	1,000	890
1991–92	1,200	720

Due to a change in the definition of non-domestic properties, following the introduction of the new system of local government finance, estimates for 1990–91 and 1991–92 are not comparable with earlier years.The estimates for 1986–87 to 1989–90 take no account of increases in rate bills as a result of changes in rateable values following alterations of the valuation list in those years.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the holder of his office last attended a meeting of the royal commissioners for the exhibition of 1851.

No Secretary of State for the Environment has attended a meeting of the royal commissioners. The then Minister for Public Buildings and Works attended a meeting on 12 December 1962.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish a table showing, for each local authority, the impact on the rates and community charge of the net running costs of leisure centres as a percentage of the relevant sum for the years 1989–90 and 1990–91.

The total of net current expenditure, debt charges and expenditure on other non-current items (such as flood defence payments to the National Rivers Authority) represents spending to be funded by revenue support grant, community charges, non-domestic rates, specific grants, interest receipts and appropriation from financial reserves in 1990–91; and by block grant, rates, specific grants, interest receipts and appropriation from financial reserves in 1989–90. Authorities are free to decide, within these constraints, how spending on individual services will be allocated. The impact on the rates and community charge of spending on leisure centres cannot therefore be quantified.The impact on net current expenditure of spending on swimming pools, sports and recreation grounds can however be shown by expressing it as a percentage of net current expenditure. I have arranged for the available information for individual authorities to be laid in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he or officials of his Department received an invitation to attend the conference on radioactive waste issues for local authorities, on 12 February.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next plans to visit Sellafield; and for what purpose.

My right hon. Friend plans to visit Sellafield on 26 February to open the Windscale vitrification plant.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to arrange a subscription for his departmental library for the new magazine "Greening the Planet".

No. The contents of the first issue add nothing new to discussion on environmental matters.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what the housing investment programme allocation for Kirklees metropolitan council is for 1991–92; and what it was for each of the preceding five years.

The total housing investment programme allocation for Kirklees metropolitan council for 1991–92 is currently £10·690 million. This may increase if Kirklees is successful in attracting further targeted allocations from the estate action programme or from other targeted sources. The council has been invited to work up one estate action scheme which could attract an allocation of £0·300 million in 1991–92 and a continuation allocation of £0·860 million in 1992–93. The equivalent amounts, including all estate action and other supplementary allocations, for the financial years 1986–87 to 1990–91 were:

	£ million
1986–87	8·478
1987–88	9·067
1988–89	9·041
1989–90	9·323
1990–91	12·410

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what loan facilities or other financial assistance he has approved to enable the Newcastle urban development corporation to finance the public sector contribution to the east Newcastle quayside development.

To date Tyne and Wear Development Corporation has been given approval for expenditure totalling £12·6 million in connection with the redevelopment of the east Quayside area of which it has so far spent about £5 million. In addition, land is being acquired through vesting orders approved by Parliament, on which it has spent £473,000. The Department is currently considering the full project submission.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether an assessment has been made on the effects on the ecology of the Bristol channel resulting from the dropping of unused bombs from B52 bombers off the north Devon coast.

No formal assessment has been made of the environmental effect of the aircraft emergency procedure for the jettisoning of unused B52 bombs in the military danger area of Hartland point. Such bombs would have been made safe before being jettisoned, and would be unlikely to have any significant environmental effect.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 30 January, Official Report, column 932, if he will include in his review of ways of improving land registers, the various categories which exclude land from the register with a view to including them.

I can confirm that our review covers how far the present exclusions might sensibly be reduced. Any detailed proposals would take account of the responses on this point to last year's consultation paper, and would be the subject of further consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the amount of vacant, derelict, dormant, underused and under-utilised land excluded from the register because of exceptions from the rule.

[holding answer 14 February 1991]: There is no basis for making any such estimate. Whether a site falls within any of the exemptions will depend on circumstances peculiar to that site—for example, the timing of acquisition, planning decisions taken, or the site's physical characteristics.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the 10 largest local authority owners of vacant, dormant, derelict, underused and under-utilised land on the register.

[holding answer 14 February 1991]: Information on local authority holdings of unused and underused land is held on individual authorities' registers. Complete up-to-date information is not available centrally. Information on total local authority holdings of derelict land in each area is contained in the "Survey of Derelict Land in England 1988" but the total holdings of individual authorities are not identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a one-off payment to local authorities for extra expenditure for the clearance of roads and for the provision of heating for the elderly and accommodation for the homeless during the present cold spell.

[holding answer 14 February 1991]: At present, we have no intention to do so. Local authorities' standard spending assessments include an allowance for the costs of clearing snow and gritting roads, and we would expect authorities to budget for snow clearance. However, if any authority can demonstrate an unusual financial burden in relation to snow clearance or other costs incurred as a result of the cold spell, they should let my Department have the details so that we may consider whether special financial assistance is justified.The Government are meeting the costs of local authorities and voluntary bodies in relation to emergency shelters for 700 rough sleepers in London.Finally, as my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced in the House on 12 February, the waiver of the 0 deg C temperature to qualify for a social fund cold weather payment has been extended for a further week in respect of the seven days ending on 14 February.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern ireland what arrears in the values of rates are estimated as due for each of the past five years for Dundonald international ice bowl.

Rates for the years 1986–87 and 1987–88 have been paid in full. The total arrears due are £167,233·46 made up of £5,911·64 for 1988–89, £77,900·04 for 1989–90 and £83,421·78 for 1990–91.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many homes the Northern Ireland Housing Executive own at Windmills Gardens, Millisle, County Down; when these homes were built; how many of these homes are occupied by persons of pensionable age; how many of these homes have full or partial heating; and what proposals there are for the provision of central heating in these homes.

This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, but I have been advised by the chief executive that the Housing Executive owns nine dwellings at Windmill gardens, Millisle, County Down. These dwellings were built in 1965 and two are occupied by persons of pensionable age. Full central heating has been installed in two dwellings and all nine dwellings will be included in a comprehensive improvement scheme scheduled for early 1993 which will include the provision of full central heating.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list in the Official Report all chemical weapons precursors which are subject to United Kingdom export controls.

Chemical weapons precursors subject to control are listed in the Export of Goods (Control) (Amendment No. 6) Order 1990 made on 20 December. A copy is available in the Library.The export of any chemical is subject to control if the exporter knows or has grounds for suspecting that it is intended for, or likely to be used in, the production of chemical weapons.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what orders he has made since 1979 in regard to Syria, Egypt, Israel, Libya, Iraq and Iran, in terms of a statutory instrument prohibiting the export of goods under the Import, Export and Customs Powers (Defence) Act 1939.

[holding answer 12 February 1991]: Export of Goods (Control) Orders were made in 1981, 1985, 1987 and 1989 under the powers of the Import, Export and Customs Powers (Defence) Act 1939, each order replacing the previous order. These orders were subject to amendment orders to add or delete goods from export control. The Export of Goods (Control) (Iraq and Kuwait Sanctions) Order 1990 (S.I. 1640) was also made under the powers of the Act. These orders prohibit the export of specified goods without a licence to all or certain destinations, including Syria, Egypt, Israel, Libya, Iraq and Iran, as appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the goods permitted for export under the open general export licence (chemicals) of 21 December 1990.

[holding answer 12 February 1991]: These goods are listed in the open general export licence (chemicals) which came into force on 31 December 1990. I am arranging for a copy to be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will ensure that civil servants currently employed in the ECGD have freedom of choice as to whether they remain in the civil service or transfer to the proposed privatised company.

[holding answer 12 February 1991]: I refer to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State on 18 December 1989 at cols 23–24:

"ECGD staff will be asked whether they wish to remain within the Civil Service, or to transfer to the new company. ECGD will use its best endeavours to meet their wishes where these are consistent with the business needs of ECGD and the company."

This remains the Government's intention.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what training and development opportunities he will make available to civil servants currently employed within the ECGD who decide that their future choice is to continue in the civil service rather than moving into a privatised company.

[holding answer 12 February 1991]: All staff who remain within ECGD will continue to benefit from that Department's training and career development facilities, including appropriate training if any change of job is involved. Other civil service departments would provide similar facilities for anyone who might transfer from ECGD.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many statutory instruments and codes of practice are provided for in the Companies Act 1989.

[holding answer 13 February 1991]: The Companies Act 1989 contains 46 powers exercisable by statutory instrument, and one provision recognising compliance with a code of practice as conduct expected of persons authorised to carry on investment business.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list all Government Departments and non-departmental public bodies with an interest in the coastal zone.

All Government Departments may have an interest in the coast or coastal waters in the exercise of their normal duties. The same will apply to many non-departmental public bodies.

To ask the Prime Minister which Department will be responsible for funding the new Social Services Department secure units required under the proposals to abolish prison remand of juveniles.

The Department of Health already has powers to make grants to local authorities to meet the capital cost of new secure units, and intends to meet the local authority associations to discuss the nature and extent of any further secure provision required for remanded juveniles.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that the rundown and closure of hospitals for the mentally ill does not proceed faster than the establishment of adequate resettlement and community care for the discharged patients; and if he will make a statement.

In a recent circular HC(90)23/ HASSL(90)11, a copy of which is in the Library, health authorities were asked to ensure that any reduction in the number of hospital beds does not outpace the development of alternative community services. The White Paper "Caring for People", states that we

"will not approve the closure of any mental hospital unless it can be demonstrated that adequate alternatives have been developed".

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provisions are made by his Department to recompense local authorities social services departments for the cost implications of taking over the running of private care homes which are de-registered.

No separate central provision for such contingencies is made. The very few instances of local authorities assuming temporary responsibility for the management of private care homes seem to have occurred where deregulation has been ordered by a justice of the peace. Local authority returns show that only seven such orders were made in 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his response to the recent Care and Counsel report on privacy in private and voluntary residential homes, a copy of which he has been sent.

Our community care proposals stress that frail and vulnerable people are entitled to a good quality of residential care and nursing home care. This includes the right to privacy and dignity. We aim to help ensure that this is achieved by the introduction in six weeks' time of inspection units which will monitor standards in both public and independent sector residential care homes, by the introduction of a new complaints system, and by the provision of a 25 per cent. increase in the training support grant for 1991–92. Community care purchaser contracts will further reinforce the requirement that good quality services are provided.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the standard spending assessment for social services for Kirklees metropolitan council for 1991–92; and what it was for 1990–91.

The information requested is as follows:

	£ million
1990–91	28·1
1991–92	34·2

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each region and for England as a whole the number of (a) special and intensive care cots, (b) special and/or intensive care cots closed during 1990–91 for financial reasons, (c) vacancies for fully-trained neonatal nurses, (d) training places for neonatal nurses available in each year from 1987 and (e) training places for neonatal nurses filled in each year from 1987.

The information requested at parts (b) to (e) is not collected centrally. The latest information on the daily average numbers of neonatal cots which are not in a maternity unit is set out in the table. It should be noted, however, that some health authorities also provide intensive care facilities within maternity units.

Special and neonatal intensive care cots by regional health authority England, 1988–89 to 1989–90
	1988–89	11989–90
Regional health authority
Northern	260	262
Yorkshire	282	280
Trent	310	302
East Anglian	135	132
North West Thames	269	249
North East Thames	291	291
South East Thames	282	278
South West Thames	188	189
Wessex	182	183
Oxford	193	183
South Western	166	168
West Midlands	402	387
Mersey	175	172
North Western	332	334
Special health authority
Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's	46	41
ENGLAND	3,513	3,451
1 Provisional.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will outline his plans for introducing an arbitration procedure for cases in which negligence must be proven; and if he will make a statement further to his remarks during the debate on second reading of the Health Service (Compensation) Bill.

On 1 February I announced that I would be prepared to undertake consultations on whether an arbitration procedure could be established within the national health service which may provide quicker, cheaper and simpler avenues for the informal resolution of disputes. I shall bring forward proposals in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will circulate a copy of his reply to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West on 22 January, Official Report, column 162, on anti-salmonella guidelines to all national health service district managers.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average time his Department takes to answer letters from hon. and right hon. Members.

Twenty-nine days for the 7,600 letters dealt with in the last six months.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what sums of money have been provided by his Department towards funding Cyclosporin and AZT.

The costs of providing Cyclosporin and AZT within the health service are not available centrally. It is for health authorities to identify needs for the drugs and make suitable provision.Funds for treating AIDS patients are allocated to regions on the basis of the number of live AIDS cases within the region and the cost of AZT is met from those allocations. Unlike transplants, the treatment of AIDS has been concentrated in certain regions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his response to the contents of the recent report on the causes and consequences of the community care delays, published jointly by the King's Fund Institute, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Nuffield Institute, a copy of which he has been sent.

I reaffirm the Governments commitment to the policy as set out in the White Paper "Caring for People". The timetable for its implementation will remain as stated to the House by my right hon. and learned Friend the then Secretary of State in July 1990. We welcome the continued enthusiasm of the authors of the report for our policy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has given to national health service district general managers on the use of pasteurised eggs in recipes for lightly cooked egg products.

Guidance given in our press release of 21 November 1988 notifies the procedures that should be adopted when producing lightly cooked eggs. This coupled with our earlier advice, in our circular letter EL(88)P/136 of 29 July 1988, on storage and on the use of raw shell eggs in recipes is still extant, a copy is available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 5 February to the hon. Member for Wakefield, Official Report, column 96, if health authorities are empowered to charge for the supply of incontinence pads to individual residents in private nursing homes.

While Departmental guidance to health authorities is that they should not supply incontinence pads to private nursing home residents, there is nothing in law to prevent it. If health authorities were to supply them, they would not be allowed to charge.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are currently awaiting a kidney transplant, a heart transplant, a heart and lung transplant, a lung transplant, a liver transplant and any other form of transplant; and what is the present supply situation for each of these categories.

According to information provided by the United Kingdom transplant service the number of patients awaiting transplants as at 11 February 1991 were:

	Number
Kidney	3,678
Pancreas	5
Kidney and pancreas	16
Heart	241
Lung	67
Heart and lung	225
Liver	69
Cornea	579

The number of organs retrieved for transplant were:

	1989	1990 (provisional)	Percentage change
Kidney	1,923	1,932	<1
Heart	281	305	+9
Heart and lung	86	95	+10
Lung	31	51	+65
Liver	345	406	+17
Cornea	2,729	2,966	+9

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will be replying to the letter from the hon. Member for Newbury of 16 January about a meeting with officers of the National Federation of Kidney Patients Associations.

As my hon. Friend knows from my letter to him of 13 February, I never received his letter of 16 January.My office will, of course, be in touch with him about a meeting.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there are any reported cases of poisoning as a result of the consumption of smoked fish sent through the post in the last 25 years.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave him on 21 January at column 76.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those member countries of the Council of Europe which have contributed to the International Institute for Democracy since its establishment in 1988, stating the total amount pledged to the most recent date.

As at 12 February 1991 the following Council of Europe member states had contributed to the International Institute for Democracy:

• Belgium
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Iceland
• Italy
• Liechtenstein
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey

The total pledged to date amounts to FF563,072·64, including contributions from Australia and the Centre for Democracy, Washington.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Her Majesty's Government propose to contribute to the work of the International Institute for Democracy established by the Council of Europe in 1988; and what size of contribution he has in mind.

We have no plans to contribute to the work of this institute.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what provisions control the circumstances in which entry to a foreign mission in the United Kingdom can be authorised in order to check for the presence of illegal arms or ammunition.

Article 22 of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations provides that the premises of the mission shall be inviolable, and that the agents of the receiving state may not enter them except with consent of the head of mission.The same article provides that the receiving state is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the limitations on the powers of the police to apprehend and search for arms and ammunition foreign diplomats leaving their foreign mission in the United Kingdom.

Article 29 of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations provides that the person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable and that he shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. Article 41 of the convention provides that it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state.We have made clear to all missions in London that it is the duty of the police to prevent the unauthorised carriage of firearms, and that persons suspected of carrying firearms are likely to be questioned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is the practice when diplomatic relations have been terminated with a foreign country for Her Majesty's Government to accept the nomination of any other foreign country with a recognised mission in the United Kingdom as protector of the interests of the first country; and what freedom to decline to accept such arrangements is available to Her Majesty's Government.

In accordance with articles 45 and 46 of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, when diplomatic relations have been broken off with a foreign country, Her Majesty's Government as the receiving state, will consider the nomination by the sending state, of a third state to assume the role of a protecting power. It is for Her Majesty's Government alone to decide whether or not the nomination is acceptable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date the United Kingdom presented its statement to the plenary session of the recent amendment conference of states who are parties to the treaty banning muclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and underwater; who led the United Kingdom delegation; what response was made to the United Kingdom statement by other participating delegations; to whom the statement has been circulated; what was the total cost of United Kingdom participation in the conference; what meetings were held with non-governmental organisations in attendance as observers; and what representations from non-governmental organisations were received by the United Kingdom delegation to the conference.

The United Kingdom statement to the plenary session was delivered on 11 January; the United Kingdom delegation was led by the deputy head of the United Kingdom delegation to the conference on disarmament at Geneva; the statement was the last to be delivered to the plenary session and produced no subsequent response in the committee of the whole; it was circulated to participating delegations, non-governmental organisations and the press; the total cost of United Kingdom participation was approximately £20,000; an informal session of the conference was allocated for NGOs to state their views; the United Kingdom delegation received several representations from NGOs and held informal meetings with as many as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations he has had with the appropriate Saudi Arabian authorities concerning arrangements for British Muslims wishing to visit holy places during Hadj; and if he will make a statement.

The question of pass quotas for pilgrims is a matter for the Saudi Ministry of the Hadj, who assess quotas on a country-by country basis. We have asked the British embassy in Riyadh to contact the Ministry to find out what plans have been made for this year's pilgrimage. I will tell the hon. Member of the outcome.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken to prevent the supply of Rolls-Royce engines, via Yugoslavia, to the security forces in Myanmar.

We have made representations to the Yugoslav authorities about the re-export of this equipment to Burma.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to Hong Kong on the need to ensure that the existing de facto abolition of the death penalty in Hong Kong is confirmed in legislation for the territory before 1997.

There are no plans to change the present situation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance was offered by his Department to the RSPCA team visiting the Gulf to assist in the cleaning of oil-damaged seabirds and mammals.

We are pleased to say that this Department was able to pay the return air fares of the RSPCA experts vising Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Gulf affected by this monstrous act of environmental terrorism. In consultation with the Saudi authorities through the British embassy in Riyadh, this Department also assisted with a number of administrative arrangements prior to the team's departure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the statement of October 1990 about a black market operating in nuclear materials outside of safeguards controls, if he will make it his policy to seek further information from the chairman of Argentina's Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica.

[holding answer 31 January 1991]: Since 1985, it has been the declared policy of the Government of Argentina to insist that IAEA safeguards are applied to all nuclear material and equipment exported from Argentina.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to review the effect of the recently introduced restrictions in catching opportunities imposed on the Scottish inshore fleet by the recent EC tie-up scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Monitoring of the uptake of the United Kingdom quotas is carried out by Fisheries Departments as a matter of course throughout the year. We will continue to monitor the effects of the requirement for vessels to remain in port for eight consecutive days per month. In addition, discussions have now been concluded successfully with the European Commission to enable fishermen to use more selective fishing gear as an alternative to remaining in port.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the special measures taken by Her Majesty's Government to protect homeless people in Scotland from the recent bad weather conditions; and if he will make it his policy to collect urgently and centrally information about the number of people sleeping rough.

Local authorities, with their statutory responsibilities for helping the homeless and for dealing with emergencies, are best placed to determine the measures needed in their areas and to take appropriate action. Local authority housing and social work departments have not given us evidence to indicate that sleeping rough is a significant problem in their areas; while precise figures on the number of people sleeping rough are not available, advice from local authorities and voluntary bodies is that the number in Scotland at any one time is very small. Arrangements are being made to enumerate those sleeping rough on census night, 21 April 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the level of housing support grant paid by his Department to each local authority in Scotland in (a) cash terms, and (b) real terms at 1991–92 prices.

The housing support grant entitlements of individual local authorities, in cash terms and at 1991–92 prices, are shown in the following tables.