To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the reasons for the delay of four months in Bow county court case No. 9005276 in paying out of court money paid into court and accepted in settlement.

The delay in payment to the plaintiff of money held in court was the result of a regrettable administrative error in the office at Bow county court.The defendant made an offer of settlement before a hearing date had been allocated. The offer was accepted by the plaintiff but not processed by the court until prompted by the plaintiff's solicitors.The court funds office then made payment on 30 January 1991. Exceptionally, the payment included interest to take account of any inconvenience the plaintiff may have suffered as a result of the delay.

To ask the Attorney-General how many stipendiary magistrates there were in April 1988; what is the current position; what is the number of new stipendiary magistrates who have been appointed on a part-time or shared basis since the beginning of April 1988; whether they operate in several courts; what steps he intends to take to ensure that the commitment of lay magistrates is not reduced by their relegation to adjudication on a restricted range of routine offences; and if he will make a statement.

On 1 March 1988 there were 63 stipendiary magistrates, including 14 in the provinces. On 1 March 1991 there will be 68 stipendiary magistrates, including 19 in the provinces. No stipendiary magistrates have been appointed on a part-time or shared basis since 1 April 1988; however for particular reasons, such as to avoid delays, most stipendiaries sit from time to time outside their own commission areas and suitably qualified lawyers are appointed to act as stipendiaries in various courts as required.Stipendiary magistrates are asked to deal with the whole range of cases coming before the magistrates courts. They are there to support lay magistrates, not to supplant them.

To ask the Lord President of the Council whether it is the policy of his Department to mark property with an indelible mark or similar means of identification.

It is not the general policy of the Privy Council Office to mark its property, but items of value are appropriately inventoried.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will list, for each year since 1979, the number of statutory instruments reported as ultra vires by the Select Committee on Statutory Instruments.

This information which is available in the Library is kept only on a sessional basis. The numbers of instruments reported because of a doubt as to vires both by the Joint Committee and the Select Committee since Session 1978–79 are as follows:

	Joint	Select
1978–79	1	0
1979–80	5	0
1980–81	4	0
1981–82	2	0
1982–83	5	1
1983–84	8	0
1984–85	3	0
1985–86	14	1
1986–87	19	2
1987–88	34	2
1988–89	29	0
11989–90	40	6
1Includes instruments reported on by reason of unusual or unexpected use of powers.

To ask the Lord President of the Council what steps he is taking to encourage the use of low-energy light bulbs in the Palace of Westminster.

The Parliamentary Works Office, which has responsibility for such matters, are fitting low-energy light bulbs wherever possible. Many chandeliers and lighting globes have been converted, including those in the Members Tea Room, the Grand Committee Room and Westminster Hall. Work has taken place also to convert inefficient fluorescent lighting in other areas of the Palace including the stranger's corridor and Whips Offices. It is estimated that these measures will save some £10,000 per annum in energy costs.

To ask the Lord President of the Council whether he intends to supply irradiated food in (a) the restaurants and (b) the cafeterias of the House; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 25 February 1991]: I am referring the matter to the Catering Sub-Committee to make recommendations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what progress has been made by his Department in achieving the adoption by the European Community of a scheme to label electrical appliances with information regarding energy efficiency; and if he will propose that any adopted scheme be mandatory.

Since the publication of the White Paper on the environment "This Common Inheritance"—Cm. 1200—the Energy Efficiency Office has consulted extensively on the practicality of appliance labelling schemes and encouraged the European Commission in its own consultative work on drawing up a proposal for a directive, on which agreement is expected shortly. We hope to introduce a voluntary scheme in the United Kingdom in advance of an EC scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what assessment has been made of the risk of explosion of the Sizewell B pressurised water reactor pressure vessel if there were an external crack;(2) if he will publish the studies conducted into the consequences of an explosion of the reactor pressure vessel of the Sizewell B power station in property damage and land denial; and whether any assessment has been made of the costs thereof.

The reports of the Sizewell B and Hinkley Point C inquiries and the examination by the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate of the safety cases made by the Central Electricity Generating Board on the two proposed pressurised water reactors demonstrate the very full assessment that has been made of the risk of pressure vessel failure including the question of risk from external cracks. In the light of the evidence presented at both inquiries, the respective inspectors concluded that the risk of explosion is extremely remote. No studies have, therefore, been made of the consequences of such an explosion.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether it is the policy of his Department to mark property with an indelible mark or similar means of identification.

It is the practice of my Department to mark all non-fixed items of equipment of a significant value with means of identification.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the agencies, organisations and individuals who have communicated with his Department concerning the plume of soot and smoke from burning oil over Iraq heading in the direction of the south and east.

Concern has been expressed to me, in particular by hon. Members, about the possible effects of burning oil in the Gulf region; a copy of the Meteorological Office report assessing these effects has already been placed in the Library of the House. I am, however, not aware of any communications to my Department specifically about a plume of soot and smoke from burning oil over Iraq heading in the direction of the south and east, to which the hon. Member refers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are being taken in assessing future transport infrastructure to improve forecasting methods and to take account of generated traffic.

The Department has a substantial programme of research aimed at improving its understanding of travel behaviour and its traffic forecasting and assessment methods. The standing advisory committee on trunk road assessment will start a review later this year of the evidence on travel responses to trunk road improvements, including trip generation, and will advise the Department accordingly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many mitigated penalty offers were made by the vehicle registration office to vehicle owners without valid excise licences in each of the last three years; how many such offers have been (a) accepted and (b) refused; and what was the net expenditure of such offers in each of the last three years.

The number of mitigated penalties offered and accepted for the last three calendar years were:

	Offered	Accepted
1988	399,799	185,131
1989	377,122	184,131
1990	450,809	216,277

Where offers to settle out of court are not accepted, it is the Department's policy to take prosecution action wherever possible against evaders. The total amounts recovered in fines, penalties and costs ordered by the courts as well as in accepted mitigated penalties for the last three years were:

	Fines, penalties and costs £ million	Accepted mitigated penalties £ million
1988	25·6	7·2
1989	25·6	7·2
1990	27·3	8·5

The direct staff costs incurred by the Department's officials in enforcing the payment of vehicle excise duty were approximately £10 million per year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when his Department will reimburse the Camsley Grange group of the Riding for the Disabled Association for its reasonable costs in reinstating its riding track on land away from the Thelwall viaduct widening works.

As soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the current regulations concerning roadside furniture; and whether he has any plans to change them.

The current regulations relating to traffic signs on the public highway are the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1981 (SI 1981/859), as amended, and the Traffic Signs (Speed Limits) Regulations and General Directions 1969 (SI 1969/1487), as amended. It is intended that new regulations combining and updating the two documents will be laid before Parliament later this year.Powers to provide street lighting and safety fences are contained in the Highways Act 1980. Part VIIA of the same Act provides for the placing on certain classes of highway objects or structures for enhancing the amenity of the highway and its environs, or for providing a service for the benefit of the public. Advertisement displays are subject to the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1989 (SI 1989/670). Control of parking equipment such as meters and pay and display machines is covered by section 51 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, as amended. Most other forms of street furniture, such as bus shelters, seats and litter bins are not covered by specific regulations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department is considering trials at British airports of the American back scatter machine.

Yes, but the manufacturer has not yet been able to provide a machine for us to trial.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the cost of maintenance and repairs for motorways and roads for each year from 1979 to 1991 in 1979 prices.

The information is as follows:

£ million at 1979 prices (cash prices in brackets)
	Capital	Current	Total
1979–80	41 (41)	37 (37)	78 (78)
1980–81	52 (64)	30 (36)	82 (100)
1981–82	77(101)	36 (47)	113 (148)
1982–83	92 (133)	33 (48)	125(181)
1983–84	79 (118)	34 (51)	113 (169)
1984–85	89 (144)	35 (57)	124 (201)
1985–86	93 (164)	44(77)	137 (241)
1986–87	133 (218)	57 (93)	190 (311)
1987–88	157 (264)	50 (84)	207 (348)
1988–89	114 (190)	61 (102)	175 (292)
1989–90	190 (329)	59 (103)	249 (432)
11990–91	235 (419)	60 (106)	295 (525)
1 Forecast outturn.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make it his policy to encourage vehicle manufacturers to provide effective seat belts for all permanent seating positions and anchorage points for child safety seats and harnesses.

Yes. All the seats of new cars already have to be fitted with approved belts and anchorage points and suitable child restraints to fit these seats are widely available. New minibuses and coaches are also required to have belts fitted on the front seats and exposed forward facing seats respectively. We consider that the more widespread fitting of belts in coaches and minibuses would enhance safety. We shall continue to encourage vehicle manufacturers to fit effective belts in them.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to initiate a study of road accidents and their elimination by remedial and traffic engineering methods.

The Department's Transport and Road Research Laboratory's programme of research includes development and assessment of highway engineering and traffic management techniques for reducing casualties. Recent publications have included the results of the "Urban Safety Projects" in five towns which have shown that, if those techniques were applied nationally, road accidents could be reduced by some 5 per cent. Copies of the report are in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to undertake a study on the safety aspects of the size and weight of heavy and lengthy vehicles on the road infrastructure.

I have no plans to institute a new study specifically on this subject.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to introduce regulations to require heavy vehicles and trailers to be fitted with effective spray guards.

Regulations were introduced in 1984 in the United Kingdom requiring all new heavy motor vehicles and trailers to be fitted with spray suppression devices complying with BS AU200. The Council of Ministers ha.s now agreed a European Community directive on spray suppression closely modelled on our existing requirements in the UK. But the minimum efficiency required has been raised compared with that required in 1984, reflecting improvements in spray suppression technology.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to promote the development of more fuel-efficient motor vehicles.

The Government's strategy for encouraging fuel efficiency is outlined in chapter 5 of the Government's White Paper "This Common Inheritance"—Cm. 1200. My Department is currently promoting research into improvements in fuel efficiency and is also encouraging industry to do the same.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what undertakings about funding he has given to the Cleveland light rail transit system; and if he will make a statement.

We have given no undertakings. If the promoters put a full case to us for resources for their project, we will consider this on its merits. No final decision could however be taken before the necessary statutory powers have been obtained.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the proposed cost of the Cleveland light rail transit.

Cleveland county council has given us an estimate for the first phase of between £55 million and £85million, depending on which route is chosen.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received about the Cleveland light rail transit; and what replies have been given.

Cleveland county council sent preliminary work on the project to the Department in 1989, and was told in June 1990 that on the evidence then available it looked unlikely to qualify for the central Government support. The council has since informed us that it is pursuing the project but has not yet put forward a case for resources.We have also received expressions of concern from the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Hartlepool and from Shildon town council about the effect of the proposal on the Bishop Auckland—Teesside railway service. Both were informed that it was for the county council to decide what scheme to promote.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether it is the policy of his Department to mark property with an indelible mark or similar means of identification.

Wherever practicable and worthwhile.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has reconsidered the terms of private finance competitions regarding transport infrastructure, in the light of comments made by potential promoters.

In taking forward the Government's initiative aimed at encouraging private sector involvement in the financing, building and operation of transport infrastructure, I held meetings last year with representatives of the construction industry, financial institutions and consultancy firms. Following these discussions, I have reconsidered some aspects of the Department's practice in the holding of competitions, and have written to those who attended the meetings. The text of my letter has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will institute a study into the costs and benefits of providing workshop-based vocational education courses at further education and higher education level (a) separately in further education and higher education colleges and (b) jointly in one college.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list for each local education authority the total capital bids for voluntary-aided schools submitted in September 1990 and the allocations made in December 1990.

Total capital bids for voluntary-aided schools submitted in September 1990, and allocations announced in December 1990, are as follows:

LEA allocation	Total bid	Total
	£000	£000
	1991–92	1991–92
City of London	97	—
Camden	1,055	226
Greenwich	201	36
Hackney	162	195
Hammersmith and Fulham	1,357	1,295
Islington	181	173
Kensington and Chelsea	3,580	2,640
Lambeth	937	70
Lewisham	329	65
Southwark	1,616	861
Tower Hamlets	597	334
Wandsworth	130	49
Westminster	346	324
Barking	1,955	1,955
Barnet	3,605	718
Bexley	2,341	305
Brent	193	35
Bromley	429	198
Croydon	3,051	1,814
Ealing	315	—
Enfield	812	302
Haringey	1,412	1,163
Harrow	172	—
Havering	159	147
Hillingdon	905	20
Hounslow	236	53
Kingston upon Thames	646	—
Merton	228	98
Newham	284	134
Redbridge	3,399	116
Richmond upon Thames	902	195
Sutton	3,374	2,354
Waltham Forest	1,800	300
Birmingham	3,539	1,113
Coventry	1,570	1,369
Dudley	2,385	2,006
Sandwell	351	7
Solihull	687	55
Walsall	400	—
Wolverhampton	614	61
Knowsley	1,329	571
Liverpool	8,180	4,493
St. Helens	2,299	2,149
Sefton	2,233	1,750
Wirral	1,017	631
Bolton	984	436
Bury	830	574
Manchester	1,305	827
Oldham	609	174
Rochdale	756	436
Salford	567	343
Stockport	341	291
Tameside	136	35
Trafford	140	715
Wigan	2,126	1,108
Barnsley	25	25

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will defer his decision to make an order under the Education Act 1973 regarding Barkestone Church of England school and its attendant property until he has received further representations on this matter from the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton.

The Secretary of State expects to make the order towards the end of March 1991. My right hon. and learned Friend will be happy to consider further representations from my hon. Friend regarding the inclusion of Barkestone Church of England school provided these are received before then.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what parental contributions will be payable towards mandatory student awards in the academic year 1991–92.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary regulations, the existing parental contribution scales for mandatory awards for students from England and Wales will be adjusted for academic year 1991–92 in line with movements in average earnings. The effect will be that, for a parent whose residual income rises by 10 per cent. between financial years 1989–90 and 1990–91, the assessed contribution in 1991–92 will generally be the same in cash as in 1990–91. This fulfils the Government's commitment to begin reducing the real cost of the parental contribution. Similar adjustments will be made to the spouse's contribution scale and to the scales used for equivalent awards elsewhere in the United Kingdom. As previously announced, the basic maintenance award rates in 1991–92 will be held at their 1990–91 levels. The following are the new parental contribution scales:

Rental contribution scales for 1991–92
Residual income	Scale 1 contribution	Scale 2 contribution
12,650	60	45
13,000	105	79
14,000	235	176
15,000	365	274
16,000	495	371
16,170	517	388
17,000	667	501
18,000	849	638
19,000	1,031	775
20,000	1,213	912
21,000	1,395	1,049
22,000	1,577	1,186
23,000	1,758	1,323
23,760	1,897	1,423
24,000	1,951	1,464
25,000	2,178	1,634
26,000	2,406	1,805
27,000	2,633	1,976
28,000	2,860	2,147
29,000	3,087	2,318
30,000	3,315	2,489
31,000	3,542	2,660
32,000	3,769	2,831
33,000	3,997	3,020
34,000	4,224	3,173
35,000	4,451	3,344
36,000	4,678	3,515
37,000	4,906	3,686
38,000	5,113	3,857
39,000	5,360	4,028
40,000	5,587	4,199
40,935	5,800	4,358
41,000	—	4,370
42,000	—	4,540
43,000	—	4,711
44,000	—	4,882
45,000	—	5,053
46,000	—	5,224
47,000	—	5,395

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what changes for the 1991–92 financial year he has decided to make in the arrangements for calculating annual maintenance grant for grant-maintained schools.

I have today laid before Parliament the Education (Grant-Maintained Schools (Finance) Regulations 1991. These set out the method of calculating annual maintenance grant—AMG—for grant-maintained schools for the 1991–92 financial year.The principal changes compared to the 1990 regulations are:

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has had about the closure of Stormseal UPVC Windows Ltd; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 26 February 1991]: It is not the practice to comment on the affairs of individual companies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with the German economics office concerning co-operation over halting the export from the European Community of sensitive military-useable materials and technologies.

[holding answer 27 February 1991]: My officials regularly meet their counterparts in the German Federal Ministry of Economics to discuss matters of common interest concerning export controls on sensitive goods and technology. There was a meeting last month hosted by the German Government of experts from member countries of the missile technology control regime as part of the continuing efforts to co-operate in preventing the proliferation of missile technology.

To ask the Prime Minister whether he will make a statement on the conflict in the Gulf.

I refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made earlier today.

To ask the Prime Minister at what times on 22 February Her Majesty's Government first obtained the text of (a) the first Soviet plan and (b) the revised Soviet plan for Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait; and from what source this text was obtained.

In the evening of 18 February I received a personal message from President Gorbachev in which he set out the proposals he had put to the Iraqis. Details of the revised plan were received in the morning of 22 February from Moscow; the Soviet Government put it to the United Nations Security Council in the morning—New York time—of 23 February.

To ask the Prime Minister what communications he or his officials had with his counterparts in member states of the allied coalition in the Gulf on 22 February; and what matters were discussed.

We had extensive consultations on 22 February with partners in the allied coalition, and with the Soviet Union, predominantly on the terms under which Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait and comply with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

To ask the Prime Minister what consideration was given to the effects of the damage done to bridges and roads in Kuwait and in southern Iraq by the allied bombing sorties when the time period for Iraqi military withdrawal from Kuwait was set on 22 February.

The allied deadline took account of circumstances at the time and was intended to ensure that Iraq ended its occupation of Kuwait in the shortest possible time.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to submit proposals to the United Nations and to the allied Governments for the establishment of a free and autonomous nation, with a democratic government, in Kuwait on the completion of its liberation.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) on 26 February at column 463.

To ask the Prime Minister if, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Provan (Mr. Wray), Official Report, 17 January, column 572, he will set out the proposals that have been submitted by the United Kingdom to the conference on disarmament in Geneva in each year since 1979 on the matter of nuclear testing.

The United Kingdom has participated fully in the relevant ad hoc committee and in the group of scientific experts which is considering the subject.

To ask the Prime Minister what information he possesses on the present health and whereabouts of Mr. Ian Richter, a British citizen held in jail in Iraq.

Mr. Richter was last visited in Abu Ghraib prison by Her Majesty's consul general in Baghdad on 2 January shortly before the withdrawal of our staff from Iraq. Mr. Richter was then in good health, had sufficient supplies to last some time and well understood why the embassy staff were withdrawing.We are using all possible channels, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, to check that Mr. Richter is safe. We remain in close touch with his family.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Newport, West concerning the meeting with the Norwegian Prime Minister, Official Report, 21 February 1991, column 223, what matters were raised during the discussions on developments in Europe.

Mrs. Brundtland and I exchanged views on NATO, the European Community and on the negotiations toward a European economic area.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 28 February.

This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has given to Medway health authority about purchasing patient care facilities from outwith the authority area.

Like all district health authorities—DHAs—Medway health authority's key task will be to secure, through contracts, a package of services to reflect the health needs of its resident population. DHAs will be able to commission services from units which they consider to offer the best quality and value for money, both inside and outside their district boundaries. In placing contracts, all DHAs will need to consider their residents' access to services.Guidance on these and other aspects of contracts has been published in "Contracts for Health Services: Operational Principles" (EL(89)169) and "Contracts for Health Services: Operating Contracts" (EL(90)MB24), copies of which are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many training places are available per year in the Crewe district health authority for neonatal nurses and how many have been filled;(2) what health instruction programmes for the prevention of ischaemic heart disease are available in the Crewe and Nantwich area;(3) how many special and/or intensive care cots there are in the Crewe district health authority.

This information is not collected centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. J. Taylor, the chairman of Crewe health authority, for details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the number of national health service (a) total operations and (b) heart operations in the current financial year which were (i) undertaken and (ii) planned; if he will instruct health authorities to reinstate the previously planned number of operations; and if he will make a statement.

Information on numbers of operations planned is not held centrally. Statistics of operations carried out are collected for full financial years and those for the current year are not, therefore, yet available.In the year ending March 1989 an estimated 3·27 million operations were performed in NHS hospitals in England, of which an estimated 57,000 were heart operations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he intends to take to minimise the time taken to inform care authorities of doubts about the safety of a fostered child.

Government guidance to agencies on the protection of children from abuse contained in the document "Working Together" a copy of which is available in the Library, applies equally to all children, whether in foster care, at home with parents or in residential accommodation. Under the Boarding-out of Children (Foster Placement) Regulations 1988 local authorities are required to make regular supervisory visits to each foster home and also to regularly review the child's welfare and progress, including health, physical, educational and social development. The child must be seen alone whenever the person authorised to visit considers this appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he intends to take to implement a national framework for foster parent training.

The current Government guidance on foster care refers to the kinds of training needed by all

Deaths from ischaemic heart disease (ICD 410–414)
		1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
England
Males	Number	85,340	83,035	81,037	79,036	77,095
	Rate	3·72	3·6	3·51	3·41	3·31
Females	Number	66,868	65,086	63,824	63,797	63,414
	Rate	2·77	2·69	2·63	2·62	2·6
Wales
Males	Number	5,852	5,584	5,492	5,419	5,344
	Rate	4·29	4·08	3·99	3·91	3·83
Females	Number	4,413	4,300	4,251	4,233	4,342
	Rate	3·05	2·96	2·91	2·88	2·93
England, Wales and elsewhere
Males	Number	91,626	89,073	86,978	84,880	82,847
	Rate	3·77	3·65	3·55	3·45	3·36
Females	Number	71,478	69,594	68,257	68,204	67,947
	Rate	2·79	2·71	2·65	2·64	2·62
Mersey Regional Health Authority
Males	Number	4,717	4,543	4,315	4,361	4,208
	Rate	4·02	3·89	3·7	3·74	3·6
Females	Number	3,815	3,604	3,530	3,558	3,655
	Rate	3·05	2·89	2·84	2·87	2·95
Crewe District Health Authority
Males	Number	487	481	456	498	468
	Rate	4·04	3·97	3·74	4·08	3·76
Females	Number	389	404	332	383	376
	Rate	3·11	3·22	2·63	3·03	2·93

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate how many additional junior hospital doctors would be needed to reduce the working hours of junior doctors to 60 hours per week.

Increasing the number of junior doctors is not the way to solve the problem of the long hours worked by some junior hospital doctors. It would be counter to our policy set out in "Achieving a Balance—Plan for Action", a copy of which is available in the Library, to improve both patient care and career prospects for junior doctors by expanding the consultant grade and controlling the numbers in training.Our approach to reducing hours is set out in the heads of agreement on junior doctors' hours, a copy of which is foster carers and on ways in which these can be provided. It is for each local authority to identify and agree with the foster parent the specific training needed in individual cases. Training packages from the National Foster Care Association, which the Government help to fund, have proved valuable in training programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the average death rates for ischaemic heart disease, from 1985 to 1989, for males and females (a) in the Crewe health authority, (b) in the Mersey regional health authority, and (c) in England and Wales.

The information requested is given in the table.available in the Library. To support the initiative, the Government are funding 200 new consultant and 50 new staff grade posts in England in the financial year 1991–92.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the annual number of child deaths due to bedding fires in each of the last five years.

The figures for the latest available five years are set out in the table.

Death from burning bed-clothes (ICD code E898.0), age 0–14 years, England and Wales, 1985–1989.
Year	Number
1985	2
1986	8
1987	2

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has sought to obtain any evidence of a link between sudden infant death syndrome and the use of fire-retardant materials in mattresses for young children.

The chief medical officer has established an expert working group to consider the hypothesis that toxic gases may be released by fungal action on components of mattresses, including antimony and phosphorous based fire retardants, and that this may be a cause of sudden infant death syndrome. Their report is expected shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he has taken to satisfy himself that the consultative process for the closure of St. Paul's eye hospital, Liverpool is being carried out correctly by the Mersey regional health authority; and if he will make a statement;(2) whether the consultation process set down by his Department for the closure of St. Paul's eye hospital, Liverpool requires South Sefton health authority to produce a consultative document on the eye services to be transferred from St. Paul's.

Consultation on this closure is a matter for the Liverpool health authority. It is for the South Sefton health authority to decide if it needs to comment on changes affecting its services. We issued guidance last year on the procedure for consultation. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. M. Emberton, the chairman of Liverpool health authority or Mr. D. Tod, the chairman of South Sefton health authority, for details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many compensation claims remain to be settled in the cases of faulty cancer smear tests undertaken by Liverpool area health authority; what is the average time it has taken to settle claims; and what is the average sum payable.

This information is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. M. Emberton., the chairman of Liverpool health authority, for details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when nursing staff employed by national health service trust hospitals are to receive the 1991 pay award made to national health service nursing staff; and if he will make a statement.

Staff transferring from health authority to trust employment retain all their contractual and related rights on transfer. They continue to be subject to nationally negotiated agreements unless or until their contracts are changed to exclude this. The Government announced on 31 January 1991 that they had accepted in full the recommendations of the independent pay review body for nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff. Nursing staff transferring to NHS trusts and retaining their existing terms and conditions of employment will receive this award, the first stage of which is payable from 1 April 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the current electorates for each constituency in the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the numbers of registered elector's on 16 February for each parliamentary constituency in Greater London.

Information about the 1991 electoral registers, which came into effect on 16 February, is currently being collected from local electoral registration offices. The OPCS expects to place figures relating to parliamentary constituencies in the Library by 10 May, prior to their publication in "Electoral Statistics 1991"—Series EL No. 18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he will make of the financial and staff implications of an amalgamated centralised health authority of North Devon, Exeter and Torbay.

If any regional health authority formally submits to my right hon. Friend a proposal to amalgamate neighbouring district health authorities, we shall consider most carefully all their arguments and the results of local consultation, as well as the financial and staffing implications. We shall need to see clear evidence that any amalgamation is in the interests of the residents of the districts concerned and of the health service generally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health which groups of people can currently receive a free eyesight test; and what changes in criteria are proposed.

Since 1 April 1989 the groups entitled to a free NHS sight tests have been:

• Children under 16.
• Full time students under 19.
• People on Income Support or Family Credit and their partners.
• Holders of exemption certificate AG2.
• People who are registered blind or partially sighted.
• Those who- need certain complex lenses.
• Diagnosed diabetics and glaucoma sufferers.
• Close relatives aged 40 or over of diagnosed glaucoma sufferers.
• Patients of the Hospital Eye Service.

These groups cover approximately one-third of the population. There are no plans to alter these criteria.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a table showing the figures in table 3 of Cm. 1513 adjusted for changes in input unit costs.

[holding answer 19 February 1991]: The information requested for the hospital and community health services, family health services and for the health service as a whole for the years 1985–86 to 1989–90 is given in the table. This information measures changes in total inputs at constant factor cost but ignores the continuing success of national health service management in

Health Services, England
£m, adjusted to 1989–90 base
	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90
NHS hospital, community health, family health (cash limited) and related services
Current expenditure
Gross	13,902	13,983	14,239	14,292	14,306
Net	13,503	13,576	13,836	13,887	13,880
Capital expenditure
Gross	1,255	1,292	1,287	1,313	1,438
Net	1,145	1,110	1,055	1,007	1,206
NHS family health services (non-cash limited)
Current/total expenditure
Gross	4,435	4,535	4,686	4,836	4,811
Net	3,974	4,048	4,193	4,310	4,228
Total Health Services
Current expenditure
Gross	18,885	19,072	19,481	19,644	19,677
Net	17,986	18,145	18,552	18,686	18,645
Capital expenditure
Gross	1,290	1,331	1,314	1,342	1,462
Net	1,181	1,150	1,078	1,014	1,230
Total expenditure
Gross	20,165	20,396	20,785	20,978	21,139
Net	19,155	19,282	19,617	19,698	19,875

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what criteria the definition of poorer countries as countries with annual average incomes of less than $700 per head was chosen; and what is the definition of a low-income country used by the World bank and by the United Nations.

The $700 income per head upper boundary for low-income countries reflects the banding values currently adopted by the development assistance committee of the OECD. The classification of low-income countries used in the World bank's latest world development report is based on income per head under $545 in 1988. The United Nations has no generally agreed definition. It primarily uses the category of Least Developed Countries, which is based on income, manufacturing base and literacy at the time of the particular country's inclusion on the list. The United Nations Development Programme, at its governing council's special session, on 19 to 22 February 1991 agreed a classification of low income which for most developing countries is based on 1989 gross national product per head under $750.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a table showing, for each country receiving British bilateral aid, the amount of old aid loans that have been converted into grants, and the amount of aid loans still outstanding.

The figures are as follows:

£ million
	Aid loans converted into grants	Aid loans outstanding (principal) as at 1 August 1990
Afghanistan	0·98
Antigua		0·04
Bangladesh	15·36
Barbados		0·47
Belize		21·24
Bolivia		0·15
Botswana	20·68
Brazil		3·26
Cameroon		0·07
Cayman Islands		0·79
Colombia		2·19
Costa Rica		3·21
Cote D'Ivoire		3·66
Cyprus		0·31
Dominica		9·99
East African Community	2·33
Ecuador		7·53
Egypt	17·57	7·02
Ethiopia	2·50
Falkland Islands		0·16
Fiji		1·53
Gambia	5·15

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Government policy on targeting aid on the poorest people within developing countries.

We are committed to using the aid programme to alleviate poverty in developing countries. To this end, we contribute both to activities specifically targeted on the poorest people and to activities more generally designed to promote sustainable economic growth.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) which companies had money allocated to them under the aid and trade provision in 1989–90, or the nearest convenient year; and how much they each received;(2) how much money was allocated under the aid and trade provision in 1989–90, or the most recent convenient year.

In 1989–90 we entered into aid and trade provision agreements to help developing country Governments to finance agreed development projects as follows: