Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Thursday 7 March 1991

Attorney-General

Equal Opportunities

To ask the Attorney-General what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment in the Law Officers Department.

	(a) Women		(b) Ethnic minorities
Grade	Numbers	Percentage	Numbers	Percentage
Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers
3	1	100·0	0	0·0
4	0	0·0	0	0·0
5	2	50·0	1	25·0
6	0	0·0	0	0·0
7	0	0·0	0	0·0
Overall	6	32·0	3	16·0
Treasury Solicitor's Department
1	0	0·0	0	0·0
2	0	0·0	0	0·0
3	0	0·0	0	0·0
4	No post holders
5	5	13·0	0	0·0
6	14	23·0	4	7·0
7	12	23·0	8	15·0
Overall	173	39·0	96	21·0
Crown Prosecution Service
1	0	0·0	Figures on ethnic minorities do not cover all staff as they are derived from a voluntary questionnaire. Current records indicate that about 5 per cent, of staff in grades 1 to 7 are from ethnic minority backgrounds. Overall, records indicate that about 5·5 per cent are from ethnic minorities
2	0	0·0
3	0	0·0
4	0	0·0
5	2	4·0
6	24	13·0
7	583	38·0
Overall	3,245	59·0
Serious Fraud Office
1	0	0·0	0	0·0
2	0	0·0	0	0·0
3	0	0·0	0	0·0
4	0	0·0	0	0·0
5	2	20·0	0	0·0
6	3	21·0	1	7·0
7	0	0·0	0	0·0
Overall	83	38·5	7	8·4

To ask the Attorney-General when the Law Officers Department last conducted a survey of the ethnic origins of its employees; when it next plans to do so; and whether he will make a statement.

The Departments for which I am responsible, other than the Crown prosecution service and the Serious Fraud Office, took part in the nationwide survey of non-industrial civil servants which was completed in 1988.The Crown prosecution service conducted a survey in January 1990.The Serious Fraud Office has not previously undertaken a monitoring exercise because the origins of

Recruitment at senior grades in the civil service is carried out by the Civil Service Commission. The Commission has taken various steps to aid recruitment of members of the ethnic minorities.ER

To ask the Attorney-General how many and what percentage of officers in each grade (1–7) and overall in the Law Officers Department are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities, respectively.

In the Departments for which I am responsible the number and percentage of officers in each grade from 1 to 7 and overall who are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities respectively as at 1 April 1990 (4 March 1991 in the case of the Crown prosecution service) are as follows:the individuals have been known to management, due to the small size of the Department. In the Serious Fraud Office the setting up of an equal opportunities review will be undertaken by the recently appointed grade 7 head of finance and establishment officer. As a result, it is expected that a formal monitoring and review system will be in place by the summer of this year.In the other Departments, information on the ethnic origins of staff has been kept up to date.

Mortgage Repossessions

To ask the Attorney-General how many court actions relating to mortgage repossessions occurred in the Selby and York county court in each year since 1979.

The number of mortgage actions for possession entered and orders made for possession in York county court in each year since 1986, the first year for which figures are available, are shown in the table.

Year	Number of Mortgage possession actions entered	Number of mortgage possession orders entered
1986	452	299
1987	335	269
1988	327	238
1989	368	193
1990	505	145

Education And Science

Student Loans

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total number of students attending all designated courses for student loans who are potentially eligible for student loans in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Separate figures for England and for Wales are not available. The Department recently estimated that 547,000 students domiciled in England and Wales are eligible for a loan in the academic year 1990–91. The estimate may be revised as further data become available.

Grant-Maintained Schools

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what would be the total cost in payment of capital grants, assuming that the present average payment was maintained, if every local education authority school opted for grant-maintained status;(2) what would be the total cost in payment of special purpose grants, assuming that the present average payment was maintained, if every local education authority school opted for grant-maintained status;(3) what would be the total cost in payment of transitional grants, assuming that the present average payment was maintained, if every local education authority school opted for grant-maintained status.

The levels of these grants are reviewed annually in the light of the Government's spending priorities for education and other services. It is not therefore possible to project a figure for the total cost if every local authority school opted for grant-maintained status.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average amount paid per school in (a) transitional grants, (b) special purpose grants and (c) capital grants for those schools that have opted for grant-maintained status.

The table sets out the total amount of these grants paid to grant-maintained schools in 1989–90, the only year in respect of which final figures are available.

	£K
Transitional grants	746
Special purpose grants	455
Capital grants	2,013

The actual grants paid to each GM school reflect the particular circumstance of an individual school, including its size, and the date within the financial year on which it became grant-maintained.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the amount paid in capital grants for each school that has opted for grant-maintained status.

Final figures are only available in respect of the 1989–90 financial year. The total amount paid in capital grants in that year to GM schools was as follows:

Schools incorporated in September 1989	£K
London Oratory School	1,039·7
Old Swinford Hospital	750·1
Skegness Grammar School	180·2
Wilson's School	42·8

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the amount paid in transitional grants to each school that has opted for grant-maintained status.

Transitional grants are available to help with preparing for and taking on grant-maintained status. The transitional grants paid to grant-maintained schools incorporated on or before September 1990 are as follows:

	£ thousands
Schools incorporated in September 1989
Audenshaw High School	25·9
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School	26·1
Baverstock Grant-Maintained School	29·7
Castle Hall Grant-Maintained School	21·0
Colyton Grammar School	21·5
Heckmondwike Grammar School	23·5
Hendon School	27·5
London Oratory School	30·0
Old Swinford Hospital	23·2
Queen Elizabeth's Grant-Maintained Grammar School	19·9
Queen Elizabeth's Grant-Maintained School for Boys	30·0
Queensbury School	24·6
Skegness Grammar School	23·5
Small Heath School	26·5
St. James' Church of England School, Bolton	24·9
The Grammar School for Girls, Wilmington	21·8
The Kings School, Grantham	26·2
Wilsons School	25·9
Schools incorporated in January 1990
Bankfield High School	21·5
St. Francis Xavier's College	30·0
Schools incorporated in April 1990
Beechen Cliff School	28·0
Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School	23·9
Claremont High School	28·5
Lancaster Royal Grammar School	27·7
London Nautical School	20·9
Netherthorpe School	23·2

	£ thousands
Ribston Hall High School	25·3
Southfield School for Girls	24·2
Southlands School	23·1
Schools incorporated in August/September 1990
Adams' Grammar School	21·7
Bishopshalt School	28·8
Bournemouth Grammar School	28·0
Bridgewater Hall School	30·0
Brindley Hall School	30·0
Carre's Grammar School	20·7
Ecclesbourne School	30·0
Guildford County School	26·0
Long Field High School	17·1
Marling School	25·9
Pate's Grammar School	30·0
Rickmansworth School	29·0
Stroud High School	25·5
Watford Boys Grammar School	30·0
Wolverhampton High School for Girls	23·4

Notes:

1. A further 20 schools have yet to submit their final bids for transitional grant. Of these, six schools were incorporated as grant-maintained schools on 1 January 1991, 12 schools will be incorporated in April 1991 and two schools will be incorporated on 1 September 1991.

2. Schools incorporated as grant-maintained schools on or before September 1990 were eligible to apply for transitional grant of £15,000 plus £15 per pupil up to a ceiling of £30,000. This grant could only be paid prior to the date of incorporation.

3. It was announced on 10 October 1990 that all secondary schools and primary schools with 200 or more pupils incorporated from 1 January 1991 would be eligible to apply for £30,000 plus £30 per pupil in transitional grant. Smaller primary schools will be eligible to receive £20,000 plus £30 per pupil. Financial regulations have now been laid before the House allowing schools to spend grant after incorporation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the amount paid in special purpose grants to each school that has opted for grant-maintained status.

Final figures are available only in respect of the 1989–90 financial year. The total amount paid in special purpose grants in that year to GM schools was as follows:

	£'000
Schools incorporated in September 1989
Audenshaw High School	19·1
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School	22·3
Baverstock Grant-Maintained School	20·9
Castle Hall Grant-Maintained School	6·7
Colyton Grammar School	12·4
Heckmondwike Grammar School	16·5
Hendon School	32·2
London Oratory School	71·0
Old Swinford Hospital	24·7
Queen Elizabeth's GM Grammar School	13·7
Queen Elizabeth's GM School For Boys	36·7
Queensbury School	9·1
Skegness Grammar School	19·3
Small Heath School	14·2
St. James' CE School Bolton	25·6
The Grammar School For Girls Wilmington	10·6
The Kings School Grantham	33·6
Wilsons School	42·0
Schools incorporated in January 1990
Bankfield High School	5·4
St. Francis Xavier's College	18·8

Higher Education

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what discussions he has had with the chairman of the Universities Funding Council about future capital expenditure programmes on academic buildings and student accommodation for the expansion of higher education up to the year 2000.

My right hon. and learned Friend and I meet the chairmen of both funding councils from time to time to discuss a range of higher education issues, including capital funding for teaching and research in higher education. Provision of student accommodation is a matter for institutions.

Standard Assessment Test

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he is giving to local education authorities and to schools in England regarding those pupils whose parents are refusing to allow them to take the standard assessment test at key stage 1.

Parents do not have a right to withdraw their children from any part of the national curriculum, including the standard assessment tasks at key stage 1.If children are absent from school without leave, local education authorities may need to investigate, through their established procedures, whether a breach of the parental duty to secure regular attendance is taking place.

Overseas Development

Palestinians

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid Her Majesty's Government are giving, and proposing to give, to the Palestinians in the occupied territories.

In 1990–91 we are providing about £1·2 million in support of United Kingdom voluntary agency activities in the west bank and Gaza strip and for training awards in the United Kingdom for Palestinians. We hope to maintain at least the same level of support in 1991–92. In addition we are contributing to UNRWA's activities in the occupied territories—United Kingdom contribution of £5·5 million in 1990 and £6·0 million in 1991—and through the EC budget which in 1991 has provision for 102 million ecu for food aid, project assistance, and emergency relief to the Palestinians. The United Kingdom share of this will be around £12 million.

Wales

The Arts

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the level of arts services budgets in each local authority in Wales for each year between 1980 and 1990.

Available expenditure information is given in the following tables. It is not possible to give figures separately for theatres and civic halls.

Local Authority gross expenditure on theatres and civic halls
£000
	1981–82		1982–83		1983–84		1984–85		1985–86		1986–87		1987–88		1988–89
	(a) Capital	Current	(a) Capital	Current(	(a) Capital	Current	(a) Capital	Current	(a) Capital	Current	(a) Capital	Current	(b) Capital	Current	(b) Capital	Current
Alyn and Deeside	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Colwyn	0	65	0	60	3	66	0	80	39	83	10	101	0	95	0	102
Delyn	30	0	19	88	33	90	191	82	198	81	12	75	0	63	0	76
Glyndwr	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	56	0	64	0	105	0	120	0	171
Rhuddlan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wrexham Maelor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Carmarthen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	48	0	54	0
Ceredigion	0	85	41	50	12	33	43	52	9	65	21	70	0	80	0	85
Dinefwr	0	34	0	33	5	43	7	40	0	35	20	42	0	32	0	26
Llanelli	1	294	0	315	0	293	0	266	0	287	1	320	10	333	0	369
Preseli Pembrokeshire	0	33	1	35	1	36	31	40	0	46	0	51	0	51	0	57
South Pembroke	0	0	0	0	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Blaenau Gwent	8	245	0	225	0	206	0	248	0	255	0	299	0	331	0	312
Islwyn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monmouth	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Newport	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Torfaen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	10	0	13
Aberconwy	799	0	113	92	312	423	20	423	6	459	11	363	3	498	0	649
Arfon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dwyfor	23	61	61	53	41	71	0	53	0	63	1	72	5	80	0	71
Meirionnydd	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ynys Mon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cynon Valley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Merthyr Tydfil	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ogwr	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rhondda	0	149	10	155	128	173	31	160	11	182	6	192	10	225	173	198
Rhymney Valley	215	259	0	220	0	278	0	248	0	289	0	299	0	286	0	247
Taff Ely	69	31	174	30	324	38	31	49	14	70	0	63	0	61	69	91
Brecknock	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Montgomeryshire	0	0	0	0	27	13	4	14	0	15	0	11	0	14	0	14
Radnorshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cardiff	4,128	252	0	2,147	542	3,405	814	3,499	186	3,341	84	5,297	3,494	4,648	506	6,305
Vale of Glamorgan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lliw Valley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Port Talbot	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neath	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Swansea	181	869	826	849	2,025	710	1,469	1,286	408	1,547	2,087	1,227	408	1,731	211	1,958
Clwyd	8	1,105	4	1,167	10	1,249	40	1,458	223	1,729	211	1,973	249	2,306	177	2,346
Dyfed	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	47	0	0	0
Gwent	0	27	0	50	0	55	0	42	0	49	0	27	0	26	0	24
Gwynedd	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mid Glamorgan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Powys	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Glamorgan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
West Glamorgan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total Wales	5,462	3,508	1,250	5,570	3,479	7,183	2,681	8,097	1,095	8,659	2,464	10,595	4,274	10,990	1,190	13,114
(a) Theatres, civic halls and restaurants
(b) Theatres only.

Equal Opportunities

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at the Welsh Office.

The Civil Service Commission is responsible for most recruitment into senior grades in the Welsh Office. It has introduced a number of initiatives to encourage applications from members of ethnic minorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what percentage of officers in each grade (1–7) and overall in the Department are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities, respectively.

The details are as follows:

	Women¹
	Number	Percentage
Grade 1	—	—
Grade 2	—	—
Grade 3	1·0	9

	Women¹
Grade 4	1·0	17
Grade 5	7·5	13
Grade 6	15·0	17
Grade 7	15·0	10
Department	1,042·0	48
¹ Total as at April 1990.

	Members of Ethnic Minorities
	Number	Percentage
Grades 1–6	—	—
Grade 7	2	1·4
Departmental Total	24	1·1

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when his Department last conducted a survey of the ethnic origins of its employees; when it next plans to do so; and whether he will make a statement.

My Department carried out a survey of the ethnic origin of its employees in May 1988. The ethnic origin of all new entrants and leavers is monitored and I have no plans for another survey. Since 1990 my Department has been concentrating on the implementation of a programme of action to consolidate the equality of opportunity offered to people of ethnic minority origin.

Housing Repairs, Merthyr

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library a list of local authority properties surveyed under the Welsh housing conditions survey to determine the level of repair costs to Merthyr borough council.

I have today placed a copy of the list in the Library of the House.

Corlan Housing Association

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the inquiry commissioned by Tai Cymru into the affairs of the Corlan housing association.

On 25 May 1990, and exercising its powers under section 28 of the Housing Associations Act 1985, Tai Cymru asked the Housing Association Consultancy and Advisory Service (HACAS) to conduct an inquiry into the affairs of Corlan housing association. Tai Cymru had already established by that date that Corlan faced significant difficulty. The HACAS report expresses concern in four main areas. First, it points to instances of what appear to have been overvaluations of site work and premature claims for housing association grants. Secondly, the report suggests that Corlan's internal administrative and other arrangements were not sufficiently robust to ensure that a development programme of the scale and nature undertaken by the association could be managed with appropriate care and thoroughness. Thirdly, shortcomings in the management of development projects were apparently compounded by deficiencies of financial control. Lastly, it is suggested that the association allowed uncertainties to arise over establishing the delegated responsibilities and development control mechanisms essential to good management in any organisation.The report concludes that the committee of management believed that management mechanisms needed to be consolidated and were making efforts to bring this about. It also makes it clear that the Committee was completely unaware of any overvaluation or overclaiming—and would not in any circumstances have approved if such proposals had been put to it. The inquiry found no evidence to suggest that any individual staff member had sought to benefit financially from what occurred. The report has been prepared for issue by Tai Cymru, notably to chairmen and committees of management; and I understand that copies are being placed in the Library of the House.With the help of Wales and West housing association, Tai Cymru was able to devise arrangements to secure the position of all Corlan's tenants, and to retain the association's housing stock, including those sites under development. Tai Cymru also set out to ensure that the relevant lessons had been learnt from what took place at Corlan. Following its creation in April 1989, Tai Cymru had already taken steps to introduce performance monitoring procedures for housing associations of greater breadth than those associated with conventional financial audit. After it became clear that Corlan faced serious difficulties, Tai Cymru took the following further measures. In addition to submitting audited annual accounts, all housing associations were required to present management accounts, balance sheets and 12-month cashflow forecasts on a quarterly basis. Special arrangements were made to scrutinise these new submissions from housing associations: as an additional safeguard, Tai Cymru made it clear that grant payments could be automatically suspended if the submissions were not returned to timetable. The procedures for validating grant claims and for preventing overclaiming were strengthened. New technical guidance was issued on the treatment of valuations. In addition, and following detailed discussions with the Welsh Federation of Housing Associations, a fixed charge is to be applied to all new schemes in order to provide additional security for public assets.As for committees of management, Tai Cymru is to organise a programme of seminars this year to help members in tackling their financial and management responsibilities. In the light of discussion at those seminars they will make recommendations on whether any other support, such as the provision of special training, might be of assistance to members. Officials of Tai Cymru and the Welsh Office will set up a joint working group to review those new measures and consider whether any additional steps need to be taken in the light of what happened at Corlan. I am confident that the measures already taken by Tai Cymru will strengthen the capacity and performance of housing associations in Wales to the considerable benefit of the movement, now and for the future.

Operations (Statistics)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list (a) for each health district in Wales and (b) for each of the last three years (i) the number of scheduled sessions held in operating theatres, (ii) the number of scheduled sessions that were cancelled, (iii) the number of cases operated on in scheduled sessions, (iv) the number of cases operated on outside scheduled sessions and (v) the total number of cases operated on.

I shall write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Leybucht Bay

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with (a) the National Rivers Authority and (b) the Countryside Council for Wales concerning the decision in the Leybucht bay case determined by the European Court of Justice on 28 February.

None.

Environment

Homelessness

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many additional units of accommodation have been provided for homeless households under the homeless initiative for housing associations in 1990–91 by (a) the local authority area in which they have been provided, (b) the number of units provided through repairs to empty housing association homes, (c) the number of units provided through off the shelf purchasing by housing associations and (d) the number of homes becoming available through tenants incentive scheme payments.

This is a matter for the Housing Corporation. I have therefore asked the corporation to respond to the hon. Member direct.

Yorkshire, Humberside And Leeds

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, North-West (Dr. Hampson) of 21 February,

Breakdown (by programme) of DOE Expenditure in Y & H Region (£ million) at 1990–91 prices
	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	¹1990–91 forecast outturn	1991–92 estimated
Rate Support Grant/ Revenue Support	15,29·0	1,575·6	1,522·6	1,410·3	888·1	n/a
Percentage	172	177	171	159	100
Housing Investment Programme Allocations	162·9	153·2	142·1	114·8	186·7	178·2
Percentage	87	82	76	61	100	95
Housing Subsidies	0·38	0·33	nil	nil	²56·73	n/a
Percentage	0·7	0·5			100
UDG/URG/City Grant (grant approvals)	2·72	4·52	38·28	8·14	³7·74	n/a
Percentage	35	58	494	105	100
Urban Programme	n/a	29·68	27·69	29·03	27·96	27·66
Percentage					100	99
Urban Development Corporation	n/a	n/a	12·18	19·71	33·0	23·59
Percentage			37	60	10	71
Gypsy Grants	0·89	0·38	0·80	0·28	1·45	1·89
Percentage	61	26	55	19	100	130
City Action Team	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0·76	0·80
Percentage					100	105
Derelict Land Grant (DLG)	4·29	10·97	11·12	11·38	14·11	14·70
Percentage	30	78	79	81	100	104
Private Sector DLG	1·74	1·02	4·69	1·76	0·55	1·14
Percentage	316	185	852	320	100	207
¹1990·91 saw the introduction of a new capital control system and new financial regime.
² This is the Housing element of the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy.
³ City Grant approvals to date.

Breakdown (by programme) of DoE expenditure in Leeds metropolitan district (£ million) at 1990–91 prices
	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	¹1990–91 forecast outturn	1991–92 estimated
Rate Support Grant/	176·0	178·5	167·5	149·9	137·7	N.A.
Revenue Support	(128 per cent.)	(130 per cent.)	(122 per cent.)	(109 per cent.)	(100 per cent.)
Housing Investment	29·1	26·9	23·9	18·3	33·6	30·1
Programme Allocations	(86 per cent.)	(80 per cent.)	(71 per cent.)	(54 per cent.)	(100 per cent.)	(90 per cent.)
Housing Subsidies	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	²8·35	N.A.
					(100 per cent.)
UDG/URG/City Grant	1·04	2·96	0·23	0·08	0·05	N.A.
(grant approvals)	(2,080 percent.)	(5,920 percent.)	(460 per cent.)	(160 per cent.)	(100 per cent.)
Urban Programme	N.A.	4·7	5·4	5·1	5·3	5·1
		(89 per cent.)	(102 per cent.)	(96 per cent.)	(100 per cent.)	(96 per cent.)
Urban Development	N.A.	N.A.	2·99	9·45	14 ·0	11·3
Corporation			(21 per cent)	(68 per cent.)	(100 per cent.)	(28 per cent.
Gypsy Grants	Nil	Nil	0·47	0·038	0·76	0·16
			(62 per cent.)	(5 per cent.)	(100 per cent.)	(21 per cent.)
City Action Team	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.	0·37	0·38
					(100 per cent.)	(103 per cent.)
Derelict Land Grant	0·048	0·163	0·194	0·245	0·750	0·708
(DLG)	(6 per cent.)	(22 per cent.)	(25 per cent.)	(33 per cent.)	(100 per cent.)	(94 per cent.)
Private Sector DLG	Nil	Nil	0·34	0·36	³Nil	Nil

Official Report, column 196, if he will provide a breakdown by programme of his Department's expenditure in (i) Yorkshire and Humberside and (ii) the metropolitan district of Leeds at (a) 1990–91 prices and (b) as a percentage of the 1990–91 expenditure.

A breakdown of the Department's main programmes is given in the table for the years 1986–87 to date, at 1990–91 prices, (a) for Yorkshire and Humberside region and (b) for the metropolitan district of Leeds. The figures are also expressed as a percentage of the 1990–91 expenditure. Changes in programme definition and the introduction of new capital and revenue support systems mean that figures for individual years may not be directly comparable.

Notes:

¹ 1990–91 saw the introduction of a new capital control system and new financial regime.

² This is the Housing element of the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy.

³ PRIVATE SECTOR DLG no longer available in Leeds following the introduction of City Grant.

Hostel Deficit Grant

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether new hostel deficit grant approvals will be issued after 1 April in respect of any eligible schemes in respect of hostel deficit grant receiving project approval before that date but not having been processed due to Housing Corporation delays; and whether he will keep the situation under review and issue a further progress report in March;(2) what is the current backlog of schemes awaiting budget approval from the Housing Corporation in respect of hostel deficit grant; and when the backlog will be cleared;(3) what monthly target the Housing Corporation would need to meet to eliminate the backlog of schemes awaiting budget approval in respect of hostel deficit grant by the due date; what performance is currently being maintained against this target; and how many schemes have been approved and how many rejected in each of the last three calendar months.

The Housing Corporation does not have a backlog of new projects awaiting HDG budget approval and it will be able to give in principle budget approval, as appropriate, for all schemes which receive project approval during 1990–91.In the last three months the corporation has dealt with the following new HDG budget applications:

Month	Approved	Rejected
December	14	11
January	20	17
February	13	8

Council Land

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of applications submitted in each of the years since 1980 by Walsall metropolitan borough council, for the sale of council land, under section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972; and how many of these were approved, rejected or withdrawn.

Derelict land grant: Nottinghamshire and the Sherwood constituency Local authority expenditure on approved derelict land grant schemes 1980–81 to 1989–90
£million
	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	Total
Ashfield	—	—	0·08	0·06	—	—	0·04	0·04	—	0·10	0·32
Bassetlaw	0·03	—	—	—	0£01	—	—	—	—	—	0·04
Broxtowe	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0·00
Gedling	0·01	0·01	0·18	0·31	0·08	0·07	0·04	—	—	—	0·70
Mansfield	—	—	0·16	0·10	0·05	0·31	0·40	0·53	0·21	0·09	1·85
Newark and Sherwood	—	—	0·03	0·06	0·04	0·08	0·07	—	0·25	0·36	0·89
Nottingham City	0·47	0·19	0·18	0·11	0·01	0·10	0·20	0·80	—	—	2·06
Nottinghamshire	1·25	0·51	1·25	1·47	1·53	1·06	1·62	1·25	2·07	1·89	13·90
Rushcliffe	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0·00
Total	1·76	0·71	1·88	2·11	1·72	1·62	2·37	2·62	2·53	2·44	19·76

Note: Expenditure lower than £10,000 is not shown.

Since 1980, Walsall metropolitan borough council has applied twice to the Secretary of State for his consent under section 123(2) of the Local Government Act 1972 to dispose of land at less than the best consideration that can reasonably be obtained. Both applications were in 1985: one was withdrawn; and, in the second case, consent was granted for disposal of land for a community centre.

Ec Environment Research Budget

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment has been made of the benefits accruing to the United Kingdom from the allocation to the European Commission's joint research centre at Ispra as a supplement to the EC's environment research budget 1990 to 1994.

The activities of the joint research centre under the third framework programme on research and technological development (1990 to 1994), including those relating to environmental matters, will be the subject of a Council decision later in the year. The Government will assess the merits of the Commission's proposal when this becomes available and will make a full contribution to the decision-making process relating to it.

Derelict Land

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the annual amount of grant given to local authorities in Nottinghamshire and Sherwood constituency during the past 10 years for regeneration and cleaning up derelict land.

Records of derelict land grant payments to local authorities in Nottinghamshire and the Sherwood constituency are not available for the full period covered by the question. However, the expenditure incurred by those authorities on derelict land grant-approved schemes in the same period was as follows:

Local Government Finance

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has of the number of domestic heriditaments in the London borough of Hackney in which the rates payable in 1989–90 were less than £720.

No information is available centrally on the number of domestic hereditaments in the London borough of Hackney in which the rates payable in 1989–90 were less than £720.

Street Lighting

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will include a provision specifically for street lighting in the urban programme.

Urban programme resources are not allocated to particular project types. It is for each local authority to decide whether it wishes to include projects involving street lighting improvements in its individual programme. However, the recently published guidance for urban programmes for 1992–93 indicates that UP resources may be used to good effect to support lighting schemes in residential areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the relationship between the quality of urban living and the effectiveness of street lighting.

Our action for cities objectives acknowledge the relationship between the quality of life in inner cities and reducing crime in these areas. Current research commissioned and being carried out by the Home Office is assessing the effect of improved street lighting on crime and the fear of crime. Additionally, this Department is currently undertaking a review of known research and information about a wide range of housing-related crime prevention measures. This includes a more detailed analysis of the effects of street lighting improvements on the incidence of robbery and autocrime in inner urban areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will include an assessment of the energy efficiency savings of new public street lighting when considering applications under the inner area programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will include an assessment of the impact of improved street lighting on the reduction of the fear of crime and actual crime when considering bids under the inner area programme.

Applications for urban programme funding are considered on their merits in the light of the policy framework set out in annual programme guidance. Projects will only be approved for funding which have direct benefits for those who live and work in inner city areas. The Home Office are currently considering the results of research undertaken by the university of Southampton to assess the impact of improved street lighting on crime and the fear of crime in the London borough of Wandsworth. In addition, they are monitoring the link between lighting improvements and crime in four other urban programme areas in England.

Guidance Notes

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those companies which have been contracted to work for Her Majesty's inspectors of pollution on the preparation of guidance notes for implementation of part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

No companies have been specifically contracted to work on the production of guidance notes. However, the following companies have been contracted to undertake research which will be of use in the preparation of the notes:

DTI Warren Spring Laboratory
UKAEA
Cremer & Warner Ltd
Clayton Environmental Consultants
Ove Arup & Partners
Dames & Moore International
ECOTEC Research & Consultancy Ltd
Environmental Resources Ltd
Aspinwall & Company
W. S. Atkins Consultants Ltd
Chemex International
Gibb Environmental Sciences
Sir William Halcrow & Partners
PA Consulting Group
March Consulting Group

Sulphur Dioxide

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give figures for sulphur dioxide emissions from Formalloys and Metals Ltd., Glossop, for each month since June 1990.

Figures for sulphur dioxide emissions are shown in the table:

	Tonnes of sulphur dioxide
June 1990	212
July 1990	217
August 1990	179
September 1990	126
October 1990	163
November 1990	227
December 1990	151
January 1991	0
February 1991	0

During January and February 1991 the plant did not operate.

Badgers

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice he has given to planning authorities concerning the conservation of badger setts during the consideration of planning applications.

Advice to planning authorities on all aspects of nature conservation is contained in DOE circular 27/87, a copy of which is in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has concerning the number of badgers and the current number of active badger setts in England; how many such setts have been destroyed during the last three years; and for what reasons.

The Nature Conservancy Council has recently published a book entitled "The History, Distribution, Status, and Habitat Requirements of the Badger in Britain" which gives these figures for England, as well as for Scotland and Wales. A copy of this book is in the Library.

Sites Of Special Scientific Interest

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of sites of special scientific interest which were originally notified under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and the number awaiting re-notification under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

The numbers are 4,026 and 119 respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what assessment he has made of the impact of the Leybucht Bay judgment of the European Court of Justice on 28 February on the economic and recreational development proposals affecting sites of special scientific interest in the United Kingdom;(2) what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Nature Conservancy Council regarding the Leybucht Bay judgment in the European Court of Justice; and if he will make a statement.

An official English translation of the judgment is not yet available. Careful consideration will be given to its implications in due course. No consultations have taken place with the chairman of NCC regarding the judgment.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of sites of special scientific interest which have been damaged by operations granted planning permission in each of the last three years.

This information is set out in the NCC's annual reports, copies of which are in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total number of staff who were employed by the Nature Conservancy Council on a contract basis since 1981 in order to assist with the re-notification of sites of special scientific interest.

The information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Game Birds

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to secure the future survival and status of the red grouse and other game birds in the United Kingdom.

The Nature Conservancy Council undertakes research into the populations of all game birds on an annual basis. In addition, they are involved in several studies relating to the survival of the red grouse and other game bird species, and to the effective management of their habitats. The results of the studies will be made available to the Department.

Blackpool Beach

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether European Court action against the United Kingdom over Blackpool beach is still active.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Dover (Mr. Shaw) on 13 February, Official Report, columns 471–72.

London Zoo

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to increase the financial reserves available to London Zoo; and if he will make a statement.

No. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside to the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Dr. Howells) on 7 February, Official Report, columns 223–24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about communications and discussions between his Department and London zoo about the zoo's future.

No. The future of London zoo is a matter for the Zoological Society of London.

Business Rates

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will explain how parish councils receive income from the unified business rates; if he will publish the formula; and if he will make a statement.

Under the new system of local government finance, business rates are paid into the national non-domestic rates pool and redistributed on the basis of adult population. Together with revenue support grant, special grants and community charges, the amounts of business rates received from the pool are paid into charging authorities' collection funds, out of which are met precepts and the charging authorities' own demands for revenue. To the extent that the precept of a parish and the demand of the charging authority on its collection fund are together equal to or less than the charging authority's standard spending assessment (SSA) per head, that expenditure is met in part from redistributed business rates. Spending above SSA is met entirely from community charges.

Leeds Development Corporation

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much of the Leeds development corporation budget has been spent in every year since its establishment in (1) west Leeds, (2) south Leeds and (3) Leeds central (a) in total and (b) broken down into (i) grants to existing employees, (ii) assistance with relocation, (iii) development of land, (iv) development of property, (v) environmental improvements, (vi) administration, (vii) publicity, (viii) job creation at 1991 prices and (ix) other.

Information is not available in this form. Urban development corporations produce annual reports of their activities and copies of these are placed in the House of Commons Library. The hon. Member may also wish to speak to the chairman of the Leeds development corporation.

Dereliction

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what sum will be provided from central funds to assist the clearance of dereliction in 1991–92.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning on 7 February 1991 to my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Mr. Favell), Official Report, column 226. Further resources for the clearance of dereliction will be available through city grant, but it is not possible accurately to identify the proportion devoted to the reclamation of derelict land. It is estimated that £23 million will be spent under the urban programme on derelict and vacant land improvement and £48 million is earmarked to be spent in the urban development corporations on land reclamation and site preparation.

Water Research Centre

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has reviewed the arrangements by which copies of reports produced by the Water Research Centre for his Department are placed in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

In an answer given to the hon. Member for Woolwich (Mr. Cartwright) on 16 February 1984, an undertaking was given to place in the Library of the House copies of reports of studies commissioned by the Department from the Water Research Centre (WRC). The usefulness of this arrangement was to be reviewed.A review rather later than envisaged discloses that there does not seen to be sufficient interest shown in the Water Research Centre's reports to warrant the continuation of this special arrangement. In addition the Water Research Centre has since become a private company and it would not be equitable for their reports to be treated differently from those of their competitors.For these reasons, I propose to terminate this arrangement and I have today written to the hon. Member accordingly.

Effluent Discharges

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress the National Rivers Authority has made towards introducing a scheme of charges for consents to discharge effluent to water.

The National Rivers Authority introduced charges for applications for discharge consents from 1 October last year. It has now put forward proposals for annual charges to be levied on consent holders from 1 July this year. Copies of the proposals have been placed in the Library. Interested parties have until 30 April to comment on the proposals, which can be put into effect only if approved by my right hon. Friend.

Rural Housing

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will announce the allocation of resources to local authorities under his Department's rural housing programme for 1991–92.

Local authorities which have been successful in bidding for resources under my Department's rural housing programme for 1991–92 are being informed today.The response from authorities has been excellent, and the £50 million of supplementary credit approvals are being targeted on those local authorities in rural areas with the greatest need for low-cost rented housing. All the schemes will be undertaken by housing associations, and this programme will complement the Housing Corporation's own programmes for shared ownership and rented housing in rural areas.The allocations which I am announcing today should result in the creation of 1,422 new housing units in 1991–92, from 187 schemes in 119 local authorities.A schedule of allocations has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

European Political Union

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals the United Kingdom will be putting forward to the inter-governmental conference on European political union for strengthening the environmental dimension of European Community policy.

The United Kingdom has made two proposals designed to strengthen the link between the Community's environmental policy and its other policies. First, we have proposed an amendment to article 2 of the treaty of Rome which sets out the Community's fundamental objectives. Those objectives derive from an era when environmental considerations were not seen as a constraint on economic activity, and currently take no account of the subsequent development of EC environmental policy. We have therefore proposed adding a new objective of

"promoting throughout the Community sustainable growth which respects the environment."

Secondly, we have called for an agreement that in future new proposals for Community legislation or action, in whatever field, should include a statement on the environmental effects of the proposed measures. This is intended to ensure that environmental requirements and implications are taken properly into account in the formulation of all areas of Community policy.In our White Paper "This Common Inheritance" we stressed the need to improve Community environment policies. We believe these ideas would be of important practical value in ensuring that different areas of Community policy do not act in conflict, and that environmental considerations are given the priority they require.

Woodlands (Disposal)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his present policy in respect of the disposal of woodlands by the Forestry Commission; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.

Our policy on the disposal of Forestry Commission woodlands was set out by my right hon. and learned Friend the then Secretary of State for Scotland on 16 June 1989, Official Report, columns 544–45.

Prime Minister

The Gulf

To ask the Prime Minister if Her Majesty's Government have made any assessment of the number of (a) Iraqi military, (b) Kuwaitis, (c) Palestinians and (d) other nationals who were killed by Allied forces on the Kuwait to Basra road in the retreating convoy before a ceasefire was declared.

Allied forces had instructions to attack retreating Iraqi units which could continue to pose a threat. We have no information on casualties sustained in these attacks.

To ask the Prime Minister when he expects all prisoners of war held in (a) Iraq and (b) the United Kingdom to be released.

[holding answer 5 March 1991]: Further coalition prisoners of war were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross yesterday and we hope that all Kuwaiti and third-country nationals will be released as soon as possible. Arrangements are being made with the International Committee of the Red Cross for those Iraqis being held in the United Kingdom to be released as soon as possible.

To ask the Prime Minister what consideration Her Majesty's Government gave to securing the release of prisoners of war before agreeing to a ceasefire in the Gulf conflict.

[holding answer 5 March 1991]: Allied offensive operations in the Gulf are currently suspended. The release of all prisoners of war remains a top priority before a formal ceasefire is declared. In adopting resolution 686., the United Nations Security Council has called on Iraq immediately to arrange access to and release of all prisoners of war and detainees, under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Engagements

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 7 March.

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.

Missile Technology Control Regime

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his statement on the commitment to be sought from Iraq to destroy its ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction, Official Report, 28 February, column 1117, if he will make available to the United Nations appropriate resources and technical expertise to permit the supervision to which he refers.

We are considering what type of international supervision would be necessary for the destruction of such weapons. We would be willing to consider making available appropriate resources a nd technical expertise if necessary.

To ask the Prime Minister if, pursuant to his statement of 28 February, Official Report, column 1117, he will make it his policy to give consideration to inviting Iraq to join the missile technology control regime.

We have no plans to do so.

Immigrant Workers, Kuwait

To ask the Prime Minister what steps Her Majesty's Government intend to take to alleviate economic hardship of immigrant workers in Kuwait made redundant by the Gulf war.

British nationals returning to the United Kingdom from Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion were eligible to receive travel grants and loans, and where appropriate, other assistance from the Department of Social Security. Assistance for those returning to their homes in other countries is a matter for their own Governments.

Gulf Casualties

To ask the Prime Minister if he will appoint a Minister, with special responsibility for co-ordinating the provision of essentials services to service personnel disabled in the Gulf including counselling, psychiatric care, rehabilitation, social services, jobs and adapted housing.

[holding answer 5 March 1991]: No. There are well-established arrangements for providing advice and assistance to personnel disabled in the course of their military service.

Economic And Political Union

To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on progress on the intergovernmental conferences on (a) economic and monetary union and (b) political union; and if he will make it his policy to place the submissions made by each member state or the European Commission on (a) and (b) in the Library within one week of their being available to Her Majesty's Government.

[holding answer 6 March 1991]: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer reported to the House on 1 March on progress in the EMU intergovernmental conference, and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary reported to the House yesterday on the progress in the political union intergovernmental conference. The proceedings and documents of these conferences are confidential as was the case for the intergovernmental conference that resulted in the Single European Act.

Trade And Industry

Mobility Allowance

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what checks are made to ensure that car dealers who advertise special discounts to people in receipt of mobility allowance grant these discounts in addition to those generally available; and if he will make a statement.

No official checks are made by the Department with regard to the advertising of special discounts to people in receipt of a mobility allowance.If an advertisement is suspected of being misleading under part III of the Consumer Protection Act 1987, which deals with misleading price indications, it should be referred to the local trading standards department.In addition, the Advertising Standards Authority, which regulates advertising in the United Kingdom for the print, cinema, poster and direct mail media, stipulates in its code of practice that all advertisements should be legal, decent. honest and truthful. Any complaint against an advertiser may also be brought to the attention of the ASA.

Regional Development

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has yet considered the business plans of the English regional development organisations; and what level of financial support he proposes for 1991–92.

I have studied the current performance and future plans of the five English regional development organisations. I am pleased to say that they continue to make a significant contribution to the overall success of the United Kingdom in attracting inward investment. In recognition of this, I have today offered the five English regional development organisations the full allocation of £4·5 million of grant aid for their inward investment promotion activities for 1991–92, £500,000 more than in 1990–91. This increase in funding, added to the extra £1 million allocated last year, is to enable the United Kingdom to remain competitive in promoting its locational advantages in the face of competition from the rest of Europe for mobile inward investment in the single European market. I have allocated the grant aid as follows:

RDO	1991–92 Grant £'000	Per cent. share of total grant
Northern Development Company (NDC)	1,330	29·5
INWARD Ltd. (in the North West)	990	22
Yorkshire and Humberside Development Association	970	21·5
West Midlands Development Agency (WMDA)	670	15
Devon and Cornwall Development Bureau (DCDB)	540	12

Grant is offered on an annual basis according to past performance and ability to absorb additional funding effectively, and for an agreed programme of future activities, with proper regard to value for money. It is Government policy to encourage direct inward investment to the United Kingdom because it contributes significantly to economic growth. Inward investment brings benefits to the country as a whole and more specifically to the assisted areas.

Disabled Employees

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of those employed in his Department are disabled.

[holding answer 6 March 1991]: The proportion of the Department's staff who are known to be disabled is 1·5 per cent. This figure includes both registered and unregistered disabled officers.

Transport

British Rail

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total amount of public money spent on British Rail in the period 1961 to 1990.

The total of external finance required by British Rail, from 1976–77 to 1990–91 inclusive, was some £11·2 billion in cash, equivalent to around £18·8 billion in current prices. There are no readily available figures for earlier years which cover Government grants arid net borrowing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the British Rail establishments which have been closed since 1961 broken down by (a) size of establishment and (b) number of employees.

This information is not held by the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Roads Expenditure

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total amount of public money spent on (a) roads and (b) motorways from 1961 to the present date.

The total amount spent on all public roads in England from 1961–62 to 1989–90 was £39 billion—£96 billion at 1989–90 prices. It is not possible, except at disproportionate cost, to produce a comparable figure for motorways.

Motorways

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to remove litter from and clean up the motorways.

We are reviewing current practices to ensure that the standards set out in the code of practice for litter and refuse are achieved and that the duties placed on the Department of Transport by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 are fully discharged.

Br, Swinton

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has received any proposals from BR to close the railway station at Swinton near Rotherham; and if he will meet the chairman of British Rail to discuss means of securing its future.

No proposals have been received concerning Swinton. My right hon. and learned Friend has regular meetings with the chairman of BR.

Al-M1 Link

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport by what date he expects the Al-MI link road to be completed, and what type of road he considers to be appropriate in this case.

I understand that the hon. Member is referring to the A635 Dearne towns link road proposed by Barnsley metropolitan borough council. I have recently made resources available which will enable the council to begin construction of one phase of this scheme in September 1991. The council hopes to complete the scheme by 1996 and progress would depend on the whole scheme being accepted for transport supplementary grant. The council has proposed that the road should be a 7–3 m single carriageway with local widenings at junctions and crawler lanes.

Channel Tunnel

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to meet his French counterpart to discuss freight transport facilities from the United Kingdom to the continent through the channel tunnel.

I plan to have discussions with the French Ministry in April.

War Risk Re-Insurance

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the war risk re-insurance he has been providing for British aircraft under the Marine and Aviation (War Risks) Act 1952.

Copies of agreements concluded under section 1 of the Marine and Aviation (War Risks) Act 1952, covering aircraft owned by British Airways plc and Magec Aviation Ltd. have been laid before each House of Parliament. The agreement in respect of British Airways facilitated the maintenance of scheduled flights to the Gulf area before and during the recent hostilities. With the improvement in the situation in the Gulf, it is no longer necessary for the Government to reinsure aircraft, and the two agreements were accordingly terminated on 5 March. No claims have arisen in respect of aircraft reinsured.

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

The Gulf

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what additional costs were incurred by the United Kingdom missions to the United Nations in (a) New York and (b) Geneva, since 2 August as a result of the invasion and liberation of Kuwait; and what consideration has been given to increasing the resources available to United Kingdom diplomatic missions to the United Nations.

Increases in local costs at the two posts have been offset by savings made elsewhere in their local budgets. Additional staff have been provided on a temporary basis to the missions to help them deal with short-term increases in work load, and we have improved security and communications facilities where necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to offer economic assistance to the families of men from the Indian sub-continent killed accidentally by allied military activity in the Gulf war, where evidence exists that the dead civilians were the sole economic provider for the families in Kuwait or the sub-continent.

No, although we naturally regret all civilian casualties resulting from the recent hostilities in the Gulf. Security Council resolution 674, which has now been accepted by the Government of Iraq, reminded Iraq of its liability for any loss, damage or injury ensuing in regard to Kuwait and third states and their nationals as a result of its invasion and illegal occupation of Kuwait.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what initiatives the United Kingdom intends to take at the United Nations arising from the Gulf war.

We are working to ensure the restoration of international peace and security in the area in keeping with the relevant Security Council resolutions.

Arms Sales

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list (a) all resolutions initiated by the United Kingdom, (b) all resolutions supported by the United Kingdom and (c) all resolutions put forward at the General Assembly of the United Nations since 1979, on the restriction or prohibition of arms sales and military equipment; and if he will indicate, where applicable, the reasons why the United Kingdom did not support resolutions on arms sales.

(a) No resolutions on the restrictions or prohibition of arms sales have been initiated by the United Kingdom since 1979.

(b) The United Kingdom has voted in favour of:

(i) UNGA 43 first committee resolution 43/751 of 7 December 1988 entitled "International Arms Transfers" which the United Kingdom also co-sponsored.

(ii) UNGA 44 first committee resolution 44/116N of 15 December 1989 entitled "International Arms Transfers".

(iii) UNGA 45 first committee decision 45/415 of 4 December 1990 entitled "International Arms Transfers".

(iv) The three resolutions above are all those brought to a vote at the United Nations General Assembly on the restriction or prohibition of arms sales since 1979.

Non-Proliferation Treaty

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, pursuant to his answer on Iraqi nuclear capability to the hon. Member for Bradford, South, (Mr. Cryer) Official Report, 28 February, column 582, he will set out the occasions on which Her Majesty's Government made representations to (a) the Iraqi Government, (b) the United Nations and (c) the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency concerning Iraqi violations of its non-proliferation treaty commitments.

We have made clear our concern about possible violations by non-nuclear weapon states of their non-proliferation treaty commitments.

Somalia

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals he has for improving relations with the Government and people of Somalia.

There is at present no established nationwide Government in Somalia, but Britain's record there is a good one. We took a lead in denouncing human rights violations by the previous regime and have given refuge to large numbers of Somalis.

Bananas

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what agreement Britain has to buy Windward Island bananas.

I have been asked to reply.The United Kingdom has a long-standing commitment reflected in protocols of successive Lomé conventions to give preferential access to the United Kingdom banana market for our traditional African, Caribbean and Pacific suppliers, which include the Windward Islands.

National Finance

Interest Rates

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average level of real interest rates, mimimum lending rate, in each year since 1978.

There is no agreed definition of the real interest rate, nor is mimimum lending rate any longer in continuous use. The table shows the annual average of the three-month interbank rate since 1978 and the average three-month interbank rate deflated by the 12-month all-items retail price index for each year.

	Average three-month interbank rate	'Real' interest rate
1978	9·24	+0·9
1979	13·67	+0·2
1980	16·62	-1·0
1981	13·92	+1·8
1982	12·28	+3·4
1983	10·13	+5·3
1984	9·95	+4·7
1985	12·24	+5·8
1986	10·95	+7·3
1987	9·70	+5·3
1988	10·31	+5·2
1989	13·89	+5·6
1990	14·77	+4·8

Labour Statistics

202.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average number of employees per establishment in industrial firms in the United Kingdom in (a) 1990, (b) 1980, (c) 1970 and (d) 1961.

Changes in the definition of the establishment and in the coverage of statistical registers inhibit valid long-term comparisons. The table provides the available information from the censuses of production.

Manufacturing industry²
	Employees per establishment¹
1963	89·5
1970	91·4
1980	59·7

	Employees per establishment¹
1983	49·6
³1984	37·2
1988	33·4

Note: A comparison of the above series with alternative information on larger manufacturing sites corroborates the significant fall in employees per unit.

¹ Employment includes both employees and working proprietors, and the self employed.

² Figures for 1988 and 1980 cover manufacturing industry as defined by Divisions 2–4 of the 1980 Standard Industrial Classification. Figures for 1970 cover manufacturing industry as defined by Orders III-XIX of the 1968 Standard Industrial Classification. Figures for 1963 cover manufacturing industry as defined by Orders III-XIX of the 1958 Standard Industrial Classification. There have been minor changes in the coverage of the census with the adoption of each new Standard Industrial Classification.

³ Figures for 1984 based upon new register with more complete coverage of smaller businesses.

The Gulf

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman) of 26 February, Official Report, column 442, he is in a position to update his estimates of the costs of Britain's contribution to the Gulf war in the light of the cessation of hostilities; and if he has any information to add about assistance promised from other countries towards the meeting of Britain's costs.

At this stage I have nothing further to add to the information given in my right hon. Friend's reply of 26 February to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman), and mine to the hon. Members for Northampton, North (Mr. Marlow) and for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) on 4 March.

Official Visits

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many overseas visits were made in an official capacity in 1990 by (a) the Chancellor, (b) the Chief Secretary, (c) the Financial Secretary, (d) the Paymaster General and (e) the Economic Secretary including, in each case, those visits made in connection with European Community matters.

Following is the information requested for the calendar year 1990:

(a) Twenty, of which 16 were related to European Community matters;

(b) Nil;

(c) Thirteen, of which 12 were related to European Community matters;

(d) and (e) Five and three respectively, all of which were related to European Community matters.

Beneficial Loans

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what assumed rate of interest employees of banks and building societies who are in receipt of beneficial loans are currently paying tax on the difference between the rate of interest on beneficial loans and that rate; and what considerations are taken into account in deciding against which rate to assess this benefit.

[holding answer 6 March 1991]: The taxable benefit, if any, of a loan made by an employer to an employee is determined using the "official rate" of interest which is 14·5 per cent. from 6 March 1991. The statutory formula which governs the "official rate" of interest is contained in Treasury regulations and is, broadly, the average base rate of six named banks plus 1·5 per cent.

Manufacturing Investment

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give for each year since 1979 the level of investment in United Kingdom manufacturing industry expressed as a percentage of the amount required to cover depreciation of existing capital stock.

[holding answer 6 March 1991]: Available estimates of gross fixed capital formation as a percentage of capital consumption for the manufacturing industries, including assets leased from the financial industries, are as follows:

	per cent.
1979	130
1980	111
1981	86
1982	84
1983	83
1984	97
1985	111
1986	103
1987	108
1988	118
1989	127

Estimates of capital consumption, and hence these percentages, must be interpreted with some caution. Capital consumption is not directly observable and so the estimates made are based on a series of assumptions.

Autumn Statement

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library the statistics supporting his chart number 2.10 in the autumn statement.

[holding answer 1 March 1991]: The figures are as follows:

United Kingdom share of world trade in manufactures
	Volume per cent.	Value per cent.
1970	9·3	9·1
1971	9·4	9·3
1972	8·4	8·2
1973	8·6	8·7
1974	8·3	7·4
1975	8·3	7·6
1976	8·1	7·1
1977	8·2	7·5
1978	7·6	7·3
1979	7·1	7·4
1980	7·0	8·0
1981	6·3	7·0
1982	6·5	6·8
1983	6·1	6·2
1984	6·0	5·9
1985	6·1	6·1
1986	6·1	5·8
1987	6·1	6·1
1988	5·9	6·1

	Volume per cent.	Value per cent.
1989	6·0	6·0
¹1990	6·2	6·2
²1991	6·1	6·2
¹ Estimate.
² Forecast.

Sources: World trade: Based on data published in United Nations Monthly Bulletin of Statistics.

United Kingdom exports: Central Statistical Office.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Sheep

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many outbreaks of sheep scab have been confirmed this year to date; and what was the corresponding figure for 1990 and 1989.

There have been 26 confirmed outbreaks of sheep scab so far this year, compared with 20 in 1990 and 16 in 1989.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the Association of County Councils concerning the enforcement of compulsory sheep dipping; and what is his estimate of the number of farmers who have not complied with the latest regulations.

Comments have been received from some county councils which show that there have been enforcement difficulties, but no formal representations have been made by the Association of County Councils. The review of the 1990 dip is not yet complete and until the various responses have been analysed it is not possible to assess the level of compliance.

Badgers

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many live tests for bovine tuberculosis in badgers have now been conducted; what were the results of such tests; how long the current pilot study will continue; if any non-tested badgers have been killed during the duration of the tests; and if he will make a statement on his preliminary findings of the study.

Field trials on the live test have only just started, having been delayed by bad weather. The trial is expected to last 12 months. Not all badger removal operations will be included and therefore some badgers killed will not have been tested.

Harvest Returns

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the size of the United Kingdom harvest in (a) tonnes and (b) value, at actual and at 1990 prices in each year since 1979.

The size of the cereals harvest and the value of cereal sales off farms are shown below.

Year	Cereal harvest (000 tonnes)	Value of output (£ million)	Value of output at constant 1985 prices(£ million)
1979	17,416	1,184	1,302
1980	19,472	1,463	1,550
1981	19,621	1,693	1,649
1982	21,913	2,062	1,890
1983	21,307	1,996	1,671
1984	26,602	2,420	2,321
1985	22,466	2,281	2,281
1986	24,489	2,184	2,171
1987	21,675	2,038	2,042
1988	21,028	1,881	1,979
1989	22,685	2,061	2,145
¹1990	22,533	2,062	2,068
¹ Forecast.

It should be noted that the size of the harvest does not correspond exactly to the value of output—sales off farms —even when this is measured at constant prices. This is partly because some of the harvest is used on farms for animal feed and because some of each year's harvest is sold off farms in the next calendar year. Valuations at constant 1985 prices have been used in the third column since these are more readily available and comparable with other published figures, than valuations at 1990 prices.

Bananas

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the quantities and cost of bananas imported from the Windward Islands each year since 1980.

The quantities and cost of bananas imported from the Windward Islands each year since 1980 are as follows:

	Tonnes	Value (£)
1980	69,909	20,249,027
1981	103,389	32,849,653
1982	104,287	37,758,070
1983	114,932	48,006,383
1984	130,091	58,712,038
1985	163,168	85,285,560
1986	204,920	108,315,977
1987	183,456	97,820,191
1988	231,338	104,866,452
1989	218,222	100,833,517
1990	244,785	117,153,927

Source: Her Majesty's Customs General Trade Statistics.

Energy

Hydro-Electric Generators

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will undertake an efficiency and effectiveness survey of the Office of Electricity Regulation, the Non-Fossil Fuel Purchasing Agency Ltd. and Her Majesty's Government in encouraging small and medium hydro-electric generators.

The non-fossil fuel obligation has proved an effective vehicle for stimulating a variety of renewables technologies. Twenty-six hydro-electric projects, with a declared net capacity of 12 MW, contracted with the regional electricity companies under the 1990 renewables order. My right hon. Friend has announced that he has it in mind to introduce a reserved tranche for hydro projects under the 1991 renewables order. In these circmstances, I do not consider an efficiency and effectiveness survey of the kind proposed by the hon. Member to be necessary.

Electricity

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what assessment he has made of the effect on competition in the electricity generation market of the increase in bulk gas prices for electricity generating purposes announced by British Gas on 1 March.

It is too early to say what the implications of the new bulk gas prices may be for competition in the electricity generation market in the longer term.

The Arts

Arts Council

To ask the Minister for the Arts when he plans to meet the chair of the Welsh Arts Council to discuss the funding of the Association of Artists and Designers in Wales.

I have no plans to do so, as this is very much a matter for the Welsh Arts Council to determine in the light of its artistic policies and priorities.

Health

Waiting Lists, Leicester

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the current waiting list for each specialty in Leicester health authority and the number of people who have waited (a) for over one year and (b) for more than two years.

The latest available information, at 31 March 1990, is given in the table. It is the time people wait which is important, not total numbers on the list. The number of patients waiting over one year for in-patient treatment in Leiecester health authority has fallen by 61 per cent. since 1979 and by 14 per cent. in the 12 months to March 1990. In addition, the number of in-patients treated in Leicester in 1989–90 has increased by 49 per cent. since 1979.

Waiting lists Leicester health district—March 1989–90
Specialty	Number waiting¹	Waiting over one year	Waiting over two years
Ordinary admissions
General Surgery	1,135	29	8
Urology	330	4	0
Trauma and Orthopaedics	1,601	152	57
ENT	1,950	249	33
Ophthalmology	438	1	1
Oral Surgery	508	14	0
Neurosurgery	14	0	0
Plastic Surgery	874	480	271
Cardiothoracic Surgery	560	71	21
Accident and Emergency	24	0	0
General Medicine	5	0	0

Specialty	Number waiting¹	Waiting over one year	Waiting over two years
Gastroenterology	0	0	0
Cardiology	336	16	4
Dermatology	0	0	0
Nephrology	5	0	0
Neurology	8	8	8
Rheumatology	16	0	0
Paedriatrics	2	0	0
Geriatric Medicine	10	0	0
Gynaecology	1,082	47	12
GP other than Maternity	147	0	0
Mental Handicap	30	24	20
Mental Illness	18	5	2
Forensic Psychiatry	0	1	1
Radiology	5	0	0
Total	9,098	1,101	438
Day cases
General Surgery	840	64	27
Urology	130	4	1
Trauma and Orthopaedics	41	3	2
ENT	48	0	0
Ophthalmology	328	0	0
Oral Surgery	23	0	0
Neurosurgery	14	0	0
Plastic Surgery	766	319	298
Cardiothoracic Surgery	0	0	0
Accident and Emergency	15	0	0
General Medicine	0	0	0
Gastroenterology	62	0	0
Cardiology	0	0	0
Nephrology	0	0	0
Neurology	0	0	0
Rheumatology	3	0	0
Paedriatrics	0	0	0
Gynaecology	0	0	0
GP other than Maternity	41	0	0
Radiotherapy	7	0	0
Community Medicine	30	0	0
Total	2,438	390	318
¹Gross less self-deferred

Source: KHO6, KHO7, KHO7A

Mental Health Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the latest available figures of cost per patient per week of in-patients at each mental handicap and mental illness hospital in the Northern region.

As a result of the implementation of the recommendations of the steering group on national health services information—the Korner committee—the costing information submitted by authorities from 1987–88 is no longer compiled on the basis of type of hospital but focuses on district-based treatment costs by specialty/specialty groups within all hospitals.Information relating to the Northern region for the financial year 1988–89, the latest currently available, is shown in the table.

Average specialty costs per patient day—patients using a bed 1988–89
District	Mental handicap £ (cash)	Other psychiatric specialties¹ £ (cash)
Hartlepool	39·98	49·01
North Tees	80·94	62·52
South Tees	65·21	50·67
East Cumbria	41·92	29·08
South Cumbria	42·80	35·43
West Cumbria	30·98	46·05
Darlington	23·56	59·78
Durham	33·21	34·72
North West Durham	—	34·88
South West Durham	—	29·93
Northumberland	28·11	30·63
Gateshead	52·15	26·94
Newcastle-upon-Tyne	57·04	46·05
North Tyneside	—	53·48
South Tyneside	25·85	27·47
Sunderland	64·42	28·75
¹ Includes, where applicable, mental illness, child and adolescent psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, psychotherapy and old-age psychiatry.

Notes:

1. The figures may include treatments provided both to in-patients and day cases (those who occupy a bed for at least a period of time but do not stay overnight) under the recommended Korner definition "patients using a bed".

2. The figures cover direct treatment costs only. Expenditure incurred on general services, overheads and capital is excluded.

Liverpool Aha

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations and operating sessions were cancelled during 1990 by Liverpool area health authority; how many hospital beds are available (a) currently and (b) in 1980; and how many hospitals are open (i) currently and (ii) in 1980.

We do not collect centrally information about the number of cancelled operations. In the year ending March 1990, 582–4 per cent. of the total—scheduled theatre sessions were cancelled in the Liverpool health authority. These sessions may have been taken up by other consultant specialties.Details of the number of beds available and the number of hospitals open are given in the table.

	1980	1989–90
Number of available beds	5,443	2,990
Number of hospitals	18	15
Number of day cases	15,272	18,900
Number of in-patients treated	85,674	103,911

Source: SH3 return 1980.

KHO3 return 1989–90.

Note:

Due to restructuring of the Health Service in 1981, information prior to 1982 is not directly comparable with subsequent years.

Health Authorities (Capital Valuations)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the dates and amounts of the latest capital valuation for each district health authority and national health service trust in England and Wales.

The latest capital valuation of land and buildings occupied by district health authorities in England and Wales was carried out as at 31 December 1989. A concurrent exercise was carried out in Scotland and Northern Ireland.The totals of worth for existing use were:

	£
England	23,256,449,000
Wales	1,089,041,000

These figures have been provided by the chief valuer, Inland Revenue, from centrally held returns. A summary by regions and districts is expected to be placed in the Library by 15 March 1991 and will include figures for Scotland.At the date of this valuation (December 1989) there were no national health service trusts and property which would in due course be vested in NHSTs was not separately identified. It is included in the figures for district health authorities.

Prescriptions

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many domiciliary deliveries of prescriptions are made annually on average by pharmacists in the United Kingdom; and what arrangements exist to compensate pharmacists for these additional service costs and to encourage domiciliary deliveries of prescriptions to the elderly and disabled when necessary.

The information requested is not available. Only those providing a domiciliary oxygen service are specifically remunerated for the service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to allow doctors to indicate on prescription forms that the pharmacist can supply a therapeutically equivalent product in place of a brand name product.

We encourage general practitioners to prescribe drugs by their generic name because it is good professional practice and because of the opportunities for savings such prescribing creates. Many hospitals already routinely supply generic products against prescriptions.

Census

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information will be available to the public from the 1991 census, additional to that available to the public from the 1981 census.

Results from the 1991 census, like those from the 1981 census, will be available as published statistical reports to be laid before Parliament and as abstracts of statistical information supplied on request, as authorised under section 4 of the Census Act 1920.The results will include statistical information from new questions on ethnic group, limiting long-term illness, term-time address of students and schoolchildren, hours worked weekly, availability of central heating and a count of dwellings by geographical area and type, Statistical information will be available, for the first time in England and Wales, for geographical areas specified as groups of postcodes.Two new types of abstract are in preparation. The Registrars-General have agreed in principle to supply the

Economic and Social Research Council with two samples of anonymised records from the 1991 census, as announced in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler), on 19 July 1990, column

707. The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys is also planning to produce a directory showing which postcodes are located in each census enumeration district.

All census output will be designed to guard against disclosing information about identifiable people or households. Information on the plans for the production of reports and abstracts is given in census newsletters, copies of which are in the Library. Further details will be available in prospectuses issued by OPCS.

Cervical Smear Tests

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (I) if he will identify those district health authorities which contract out the processing of cervical smear tests to private laboratories; and the number of tests involved for each district;(2) if he will give the average cost of processing each cervical smear test within the National Health Service; and the average cost for the smear test contracted out to laboratories outside the National Health Service.

This information is not held centrally.

Thousands
	Population aged 65 or more²	Residential care places³			Independent sector nursing beds⁴
Year		Local authority	Voluntary	Private
1979	6,978·0	113·6	33·9	32·0	—
1980	7,067·2	114·1	35·0	35·8	—
1981	7,107·7	114·9	36·9	39·3	—
1982	7,107·5	115·5	36·7	44·3	18·2
1983	7,061·2	115·9	37·6	51·8	22·5
1984	7,033·9	116·4	38·2	63·1	27·3
¹1985	7,184·4	102·5	26·4	73·6	33·9
1986	7,294·9	101·5	25·6	86·9	41·6
1987	7,407·4	112·4	28·4	105·8	—
1988	7,465·4	110·6	28·5	115·9	57·0
1989	7,522·6	107·4	28·6	134·6	73·6

Note: All figures are rounded to one decimal place.

¹ Figures for places in residential care from 1985 are for elderly people only. Earlier years include places for younger physically handicaped.

² Mid-year OPCS figures.

³ Figures are for year-ending 31 March.

⁴ The numbers of beds in private hospitals and clinics and private and voluntary nursing homes are not collected separately. Figures are for calendar year ending up till 31 December 1986, and for year-ending 31 March from 1987–88. Figures before 1982 are not available.

Christie Hospital, Manchester

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the names of the board of directors for the Christie hospital trust in south Manchester.

Trust boards are made up of equal numbers of executive and non-executive directors and a chairman. Non-executive directors are chosen for the personal contribution they can make to the effective management of the trust. Two are drawn from the local community and the remainder appointed by my right hon.

Hospitals, Bradford

To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many days in January and February hospitals within the Bradford hospitals trust were refusing to admit patients requiring cold surgery; on whose authority or instructions these decisions were taken; are those patients requiring non-emergency, long-stay operations being admitted now; and if he will make a statement.

Until 1 April 1991, the hospitals in the Bradford hospitals National Health Service trust are under health authority management. Bradford health authority was required as part of contingency plans for the Gulf war to make beds available in the event of casualties. Throughout this period short-stay cases were admitted and throughput went up. Long-stay patients are now being admitted as usual for treatment.

Retired People

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the number of persons over retirement age in each of the last 10 years; and what were the number of (a) local authority care home places, (b) private residential home places and (c) private nursing home places in each of those years.

The number of persons aged 65 or over in each of the years 1979–89, together with the numbers of places in local authority, voluntary and private residential accommodation catering primarily for elderly people are set out in the following table. The table also shows the number of independent sector nursing beds for elderly patients for the years 1982–89.Friend the Secretary of State. Executive directors include the chief executive, director of finance and, in the majority of cases, a medical and nursing director. Following is a list of the chairman and non-executive membership for the Christie hospital national health service trust:

Sir John Page
Professor Roger Green
Mrs. Rayna Dean
Sir Richard Baker-Wilbraham
Mrs. June Rosen
Mr. Robert Shepherd

Social Services Inspectorate

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the reasons for the decision to reduce the salary level of the post of head of his social services inspectorate.

The chief inspector, social services inspectorate, post was advertised recently at a salary level up to the top of the grade 3 pay scale with the possibility of a higher amount for an exceptionally well qualified candidate. The new grade reflects the findings of an internal review of the Department's senior posts which included an examination of the duties of the chief inspector post. It does not affect in any way the postholder's reporting arrangements within the Department or his—or her—access to Ministers.

Salmonella

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce new measures to combat the incidence of salmonellosis.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food gave my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr. Gill) on 14 January, columns 392–4.The Chief Medical Officer has also issued public advice that everybody should avoid eating raw eggs or uncooked dishes made from them, and that vulnerable groups should cook eggs until the white and yolk are solid. Copies of the advice are in the Library.

Nursing Homes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice is given by his Department to health authorities with regard to the maximum number of beds that may be permitted in a nursing home.

It is a statutory requirement that each nursing home patient has adequate accommodation and space. The maximum number of beds in any one home is constrained by the needs of the residents. Guidance issued by the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts and endorsed by the Department provides that all long-stay patients should enjoy a lifestyle as non-institutional as possible, and sets out certain minimum standards for bedroom, sitting or day room areas.

Abortion

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he is yet in a position to announce the date for the implementation of section 37 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

The changes to the Abortion Act 1967 contained in section 37 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 will be implemented on 1 April 1991. The Secretary of State for Health has made an order, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provision) Order 1991, SI 480 C. 10, to bring into force section 37 of the Act and to make transitional provision for a period of one month, and laid before the House the Abortion Regulations 1991, SI 499. The Secretary of State for Scotland has simultaneously laid the Abortion (Scotland) Regulations 1991, SI 460 S. 41.Copies are available in the Vote Office and Library.

Northern Ireland

Landfill Site, Carrickfergus

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the conditions of approval for the land fill site at Sullatober Mill, Marshalltown road, Carrickfergus have been complied with; what monitoring has taken place on site since approval was granted; whether the present condition of the site merits revocation of the licence; and if he will make a statement.

The site has been monitored frequently since 1984, when planning permission was first granted. In the period between 1985 and 1987, three breaches were detected and remedied. No further breach was detected until March 1990 and it, too, was remedied. Two further breaches have been detected and enforcement action has commenced. The question of revocation of the site licence is one for consideration by Carrickfergus borough council.

Slatt Crossing Inquiry

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the inquiry into the railway accident at the Slatt crossing is to be resumed.

This is a matter for the inspector. I understand that he will make an announcement shortly.

Housing Developments

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action he is taking in (a) the Antrim borough council area and (b) the Newtownabbey borough council area to tidy up and maintain green areas provided in private and public housing developments at the insistence of the Department of Environment planning service.

It is not the practice of the Department of Environment for Northern Ireland, as planning authority, when granting planning permission for housing developments, to impose conditions requiring the provision of open space areas for public use. Where a developer provides open space at his own initiative the responsibility for maintenance would rest with him. He is normally advised to make maintenance arrangements with the local council. The Department of Environment for Northern Ireland therefore does not take action to tidy up areas such as this. The responsibility for maintaining any open space areas in public housing estates lies with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

Census Enumerators (Donaghadee)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications were received for the position of census enumerators in the Donaghadee district by the closing date of 22 February; how many appointments will be made for the Donaghadee district; and how many of these appointees were selected prior to the closing date for applications on 22 February.

Eighty applications were received by the closing date of 22 February and 52 appointments will be made. Thirty-four appointments were made from the first phase of the recruitment campaign, which ran from 1 November to 14 December 1990. No appointments have yet been made from the second phase, which ran from 3 January to 22 February. Interviews are being held to fill the remaining 18 vacancies.

Departmental Policies (Environmental Implications)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what actions have been taken since the appointment of a Minister in his Department to consider the environmental implications of his Department's policies; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 1 March 1991]: The Northern Ireland Departments, like all others, have been active in implementing and developing the commitments made in the Environment White Paper, "This Common Inheritance", since its publication in September 1990.The Northern Ireland departmental report, published on 15 February, recorded progress with a wide range of initiatives, reflecting the White Paper's comprehensive review of policy affecting the environment. Additional resources have been secured substantially to extend water quality monitoring and to carry out estuarine studies in environmentally sensitive coastal waters; to extend smoke control areas; to accelerate the survey and declaration of areas of special scientific interest; and to expand the environment service of the Department of Environment for Northern Ireland. The report also records the Department of Agriculture's commitment to the implementation of the countryside management strategy, giving particular emphasis to the prevention of farm sourced pollution and the encouragement of environmentally sensitive farming. The Department of Economic Development has published a consultative paper on energy efficiency with a view to implementing an extensive programme of energy conservation measures outlined in that paper. The Department of Education is taking steps to ensure that environmental issues are given sufficient weight in the programmes of study for the compulsory subjects of the Northern Ireland curriculum.

Home Department

Overseas Voters

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on overseas registration of voters.

Figures published on 13 February showed that 31,001 overseas electors were included in the draft electoral register for 1991–92. This figure does not include valid applications which were received too late for inclusion in the draft register. Final figures for the 1991–92 register, which will be higher, will be published, in the summer.

Teenage Crime

15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to reduce the amounts of crime carried out by teenagers.

The Government are continuously developing their programmes to divert young people from crime. The Home Office safer cities programme includes schemes directed at reducing young people's involvement in criminal activity. Local activities for young people will be an important feature of the national crime prevention week to be held in April. We are also working with the Department of Education and Science who are considering measures to reduce truancy. However, some parents could do more to influence and control their children's behaviour, and the emphasis on parental responsibility in the Criminal Justice Bill will encourage them to do so.

Merseyside Police

16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the chief constable for Merseyside on the present manning levels of the Merseyside police force.

The Merseyside police authority made an application for 49 additional police posts in 1991–92. On the advice of Her Majesty's chief inspector of constabulary, I have approved five extra police posts from 1 October 1991.

19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what will be the implications of the 1991–92 Merseyside police authority budget settlement on the police establishment.

The establishment of the Merseyside police, as I authorised, will not be affected by the police authority's budget settlement. It is for the authority to decide how many posts in the establishment should be filled.

Racial Attacks

17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action is being taken to reduce racially motivated attacks.

Racially motivated attacks are wholly unacceptable in a civilised society. The Government are urging the police and other agencies to tackle such attacks vigorously and has issued detailed guidance to those involved. Ethnic minority communities can have full confidence in the police's determination to prosecute the perpetrators of racial attacks.

Nottingham Police

18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what request he has received for funding to enable the Nottingham police force to be brought up to strength; and what response he has made.

The Nottinghamshire police authority did not seek an increase in establishment for 1991–92 following the 26 posts which my right hon. Friend approved for 1990–91. At the end of December the strength of the Nottinghamshire constabulary was 2,342, which is only two short of the authorised establishment.

Shoplifting

20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men and how many women have been acquitted of shoplifting charges during the last five years for which records are available.

The information requested can be found in the relevant "Criminal Statistics for England and Wales, Supplementary Volumes I and II", copies of which are in the Library. Table 1.1A deals with magistrates courts and shows that in 1989 a total of 3,594 males and 1,788 females of all ages were either found not guilty or, for various reasons, the case was not proceeded with. Table 2.1A gives equivalent figures in the Crown court of 410 males and 235 females. I am arranging for the statistics for 1985–88 to be sent to the hon. and learned Member.

Police (Inner Cities)

21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will next meet the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers to discuss inner city areas.

My right hon. Friend meets chief officers of police on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of policing matters, but he has no present plans for a meeting with the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers to discuss inner-city areas.

Electorates

22.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the size of constituency electorates in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In the past 12 months, we have seen three letters on this subject from hon. Members. A question was asked in the House in January 1989.

Model Guns

23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning the sale of model guns which are outside the Firearms Act.

None recently.

Alcohol Licensing

24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to bring forward the reform of the licensing system.

We have no plans to introduce any further legislation on liquor licensing in England and Wales for the time being. I see a good case, in due course, for reviewing the liquor licensing laws as a whole with a view to its reform and modernisation.

Northumbria Police Force

25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the funding and establishment of the Northumbria police force.

The establishment of the Northumbria police is 3,552. Following an application for 87 additional police posts in 1991–92, my right hon. Friend has approved 26 with effect from 10 October 1991 provided that the police authority is prepared to meet its share of the cost of these posts.

Community Radio

26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to extend community radio.

Since 1 January 1991 the development of all forms of independent local radio, including community radio, has been the responsibility of the new Radio Authority established under the Broadcasting Act 1990. I understand that the authority aims to issue licences for 20 to 30 new independent local radio stations each year.

Immigration

27.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the implications of the 1992 programme for the national control of immigration and visitors; and if he will make a statement.

Discussions on the movement of people within the Community after 1992 are continuing. We have made it clear that we intend to continue to exercise immigration controls at our frontiers.

Crime, Leicestershire

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what percentage reported crime has increased in Leicestershire since 1 January 1990.

In the first nine months of 1990 recorded crime in Leicestershire increased by 32 per cent. over the corresponding period in 1989.

Police Budgets

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provisions are made by the Home Office to reimburse local police forces for unbudgeted security operations or for exceptional investigations.

The Home Office meets 51 per cent. of police authority expenditure on revenue costs through specific grant, whatever the origin of the expenditure.

Wrongful Imprisonment

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many grants of compensation for wrongful imprisonment were made in each of the last two years (a) under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and (b) under the ex-gratia scheme.

The following information relates to payments of compensation in respect of imprisonment as a result of wrongful conviction, and is based on the date upon which the final payment of compensation was made. A number of interim payments, pending final assessment of compensation, have also been made during the period.

Year	Ex-gratia payment	Section 133 payment	Total number of payment
1989	8	—	8
1990	4	1	5

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what amounts were paid in compensation for wrongful imprisonment in each of the last two years.

The following information relates to payments of compensation in respect of imprisonment as a result of wrongful conviction and is based upon the date on which the final payment of compensation was made. A number of interim payments, pending final assessment of compensation, have also been made during this period.

Amount of compensation paid in resolved cases
Year	£
1989	77,477
1990	73,121

Prisoners

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were put into canvas restraint jackets in each of the years from 1986 to 1990.

Information on the number of applications of loose canvas jackets to male prisoners in

Persons in prison service establishments in England and Wales on prison rule 43 and young offender institution rule 46 on 30 June 1990: by type of prisoner, period of segregation, age group and sex
		Males		Females
Type of prisoner	All persons	Aged under 21	Adults	Aged under 21	Adults
All held on prison rule 43 or young offender institution rule 46	2,282	220	2,036	3	23
Own interest (own protection)	1,980	152	1,805	2	21
Current period of segregation
Up to 1 month	408	57	347	1	3
Over 1 month up to 3 months	451	43	403	—	5
Over 3 months up to 12 months	885	48	831	1	5
Over 12 months	236	4	224	—	8
Good order or discipline	302	68	231	1	2
Current period of segregation
Up to 1 month	222	59	160	1	2
Over 1 month up to 3 months	59	3	56	—	—
Over 3 months	21	6	15	—	—

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners experienced more than one 10/74 transfer in each year for 1986 to 1990;(2) how many prisoners experienced in each year from 1986 to 1990, (i) more than three 10/74 transfers (ii) more than three transfers under good order and discipline procedures and (iii) more than three transfers for other reasons, including Home Office directives;(3) how many 10/74 transfers were authorised by governors in each year from 1986 to 1990.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were kept in a body belt for over 24 hours in each of the years from 1986 to 1990, and in which prisons.

The readily available information is given in the table.

the years 1986 to 1989 was published in table 10.3 of "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (Cm. 1221), a copy of which is in the Library.

According to the records held centrally, the number of different inmates who were so restrained was four in 1987, two in 1988 and one in 1989.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners in each of the years 1986–1990 were held in segregation units for (i) over six months, (ii) over a year and (iii) over two years;(2) how many prisoners were kept in segregation units for a continuous period of over 13 weeks in each of the years 1986–1990.

Information is not available in the form requested. The available data relate to the population of inmates removed from association with other inmates under prison rule 43 and young offender institution rule 46. Figures for 30 June 1989 were published in table 10.1 of "Prison Statistics England and Wales 1989" (Cm. 1221), a copy of which is in the Library. Provisional figures for 30 June 1990 are given in the table.

Prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales restrained by means of a body belt for periods over 24 hours: by establishment, 1988 and 1989
Establishment	1988	1989
Local prisons
Birmingham	2	—
Durham	1	—
Hull	—	2
Leicester	1	—
Wandsworth	1	—
Training prisons
Cookham Wood	—	1
Frankland	1	—
Full Sutton	1	—
Young offender institution
Dover	—	1

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were put into segregation in each year between 1986 and 1990 (i) under good order and discipline, (ii) pending adjudication, (iii) on punishment, (iv) for any other reason and (v) on rule 43(a).

An inmate may be removed from association with other inmates where this appears desirable for the maintenance of good order or discipline or in his own interests, under prison rule 43 or young offender institution rule 46. The readily available information is that the following numbers of prisoners were removed from association under these rules on 30 June:

	1989	1990
Good order and discipline	238	302
Own interests	2,213	1,980

Information is not recorded centrally on the number of inmates who, under prison rule 48(2) or young offender institution rule 51(2), are kept apart from other inmates pending adjudication.Inmates were awarded cellular or room confinement following adjudication or disciplinary offences on the following number of occasions:

Body bells applied to violent or refractory prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales: by establishment, 1987 to 1989
	1987		1988		1989
Establishment	Applications	Prisoners	Applications	Prisoners	Applications	Prisoners
Local prisons and remand centres
Ashford	—	—	—	—	1	1
Bedford	1	1	1	1	1	1
Birmingham	—	—	8	5	2	2
Brixton	—	—	—	—	2	2
Camp Hill	—	—	—	—	5	5
Canterbury	2	2	—	—	—	—
Cardiff	—	—	1	1	2	2
Chelmsford	1	1	1	1	1	1
Durham	—	—	1	1	—	—
Hull	7	7	4	4	9	9
Leeds	1	1	1	1	—	—
Leicester	6	6	14	11	2	1
Lewes	—	—	1	1	3	2
Lincoln	—	—	4	4	3	3
Oxford	1	1	1	1	—	—
Pentonville	2	2	1	1	—	—
Reading	1	1	1	1	2	2
Rochester	—	—	—	—	1	1
Wandsworth	6	5	10	8	6	6
Wormwood Scrubs	3	3	1	1	2	2
Training prisons
Acklington	—	—	—	—	2	2
Albany	1	1	—	—	1	1
Blundeston	1	1	—	—	—	—
Camp Hill	—	—	4	3	—	—
Chelmsford	1	1	—	—	—	—
Cookham Wood	—	—	—	—	1	1
Frankland	6	5	6	5	3	2
Full Sutton	—	—	7	6	9	8
Garth	—	—	1	1	—	—
Haverigg	—	—	—	—	1	1
Lindholme	1	1	3	3	2	2
Long Lartin	4	3	2	1	—	—
Parkhurst	5	5	—	—	8	8
Preston	—	—	—	—	1	1
Shepton Mallet	—	—	2	2	—	—
Stafford	3	3	—	—	1	1

Year	Number
1986	7,342
1987	6,904
1988	6,317
1989	6,269

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria were used for deciding which cases involving allegations of assault by prison officers should be settled by ex-gratia payments and which should be contested.

There are no standard criteria and the decision about whether to contest a civil claim must reflect all the circumstances of the case. A decision to make an ex-gratia payment will not necessarily reflect doubts about the conduct of the member of staff concerned or a belief that the allegation is true.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions and in which prisons, a body belt was used in Her Majesty's prisons in each year from 1986 to 1990; and on how many prisoners was the body belt used in each year from 1986 to 1990.

The readily available information is given in the table.

	1987		1988		1989
Establishment	Applications	Prisoners	Applications	Prisoners	Applications	Prisoners
Wakefield	2	2	—	—	—	—
Young offender institutions
Aylesbury	—	—	1	1	3	3
Dover	7	7	—	—	5	5
Glen Parva	1	1	1	1	—	—
Guys Marsh	1	1	—	—	—	—
Hollesley Bay	1	1	—	—	—	—
Northallerton	1	1	—	—	—	—
Onley	1	1	—	—	—	—
Rochester	7	7	—	—	—	—

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many doubled door cells there are in Her Majesty's prisons; and how many times double door cells were used in each of the years from 1986 to 1990.

In England and Wales the current prison design standards provide that a special cell for the temporary confinement of a refractory or violent inmate, or a protective room in a prison hospital for the temporary confinement of an inmate who is disturbed or is otherwise a danger to himself or herself or to others, should have inner and outer doors. Not all special cells and protective rooms at present designated as such are so equipped. Reliable information about the total number of special cells and protective rooms is not available centrally. The readily available information about the total number of occasions on which special cells and protective rooms designated as such have been used is as follows:

Year	Special cells	Protective rooms
1986	1,662	n.a.
1987	1,491	507
1988	1,453	623
1989	1,739	593
n.a.—not available.

Figures for 1990 are not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many ex-gratia payments were made to prisoners who claimed to have been attacked in jail by prison officers in each year for 1986 to 1990; in which prison the incidents occurred; how many prison officers were disciplined; and on what grounds it was decided not to discipline prison officers in these cases.

Central records are kept only of allegations made by prisoners of assault by staff when these result in civil litigation. Of the 20 such claims received during this period, six have been concluded, and in one case compensation has been paid. This was for a negotiated settlement relating to an alleged assault which was fully investigated and on which it was decided that no disciplinary action would be taken. The settlement was accepted by the plaintiff without any admission of liability on the part of the Department or individual members of staff.

Electoral Register

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much is spent by electoral registration officers in each of the London boroughs on compiling the electoral register and keeping it up to date; and if he will give comparable figures for Birmingham, Cornwall, Kent and Lancashire.

I regret that the information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Security Service

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish the Security Service Commissioner's annual report for the year ended December 1990.

As soon as is practicable.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints against the Security Service were received, and how many actually investigated by the Security Service Tribunal in the 12 months ending December 1990.

The Security Service Tribunal operates independently under the provisions of the Security Service Act 1989. I do not propose to make available details of its work. It will be for the Security Service Commissioner to decide in consultation with the tribunal what information might be included about the tribunal in his annual report to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.

Traffic Wardens, London

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to devolve recruitment and control of traffic wardens to individual London boroughs; and if he will make a statement.

We have no plans to devolve the recruitment and control of traffic wardens to the London boroughs. Under the provisions of the Road Traffic Bill, the London boroughs will be able to recruit their own parking attendants to undertake the enforcement of certain breaches of parking controls.

Charities

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the income of charities for the financial year 1989–90.

This information is not available centrally, but statistics compiled by the Charities Aid Foundation suggest that the current annual turnover of the whole charitable sector in England and Wales is in the region of £15 billion.

Crime, North Yorkshire

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current level of crime in north Yorkshire; and what it was at the same time in 1990.

North Yorkshire police recorded a total of 44,590 offences during 1990, compared with 35,774 in 1989. The number of offences detected in 1990 was 17,726 compared with 12,092 in 1989. These are the most recent figures on which a comparison can be made.

Mr Joseph Barker

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the treatment of Joseph Arthur Lewis Barker, prisoner CJ0124 in Her Majesty's prison, Liverpool stating why he has been moved to the hospital prison, what injuries he has and what treatment he is being given.

For reasons of medical confidentiality it is not our practice to disclose publicly information about the medical condition or treatment of individual prisoners.I shall be writing to my hon. Friend.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to release prisoner CJ0124, Joseph Arthur Lewis Barker from prison; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Barker's earliest date of release from prison is 16 February 1993. He will be eligible to be considered for parole from 19 October 1991.

Scotland

Equal Opportunities

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of officers in each grade (1 to 7) and overall in the Scottish Office are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities, respectively.

The number and percentage of women officers in grades 1 to 7 and overall in the Scottish Office and associated Departments at 1 April 1990 are shown in the table:

Grade (and equivalents)	Women	Percentage
1	—	—
2	—	—
3	2	6·5
4	—	—
5	17	11·3
6	36	16·2
7	64	13·2
Overall	2,967	39·6

None of the staff in grades 1 to 7 at 1 April 1990 described themselves as belonging to an ethnic minority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the Scottish Office last conducted a survey of the ethnic origins of its employees; when it next plans to do so; and whether he will make a statement.

My Department conducted a voluntary survey of the ethnic origins of staff in 1987, a reminder exercise in 1989, and thereafter all new entrants have been invited to complete questionnaires. I have no plans to conduct a further survey.We achieved an 87 per cent. response from the exercise, and 0·3 per cent. of staff have described themselves as belonging to an ethnic minority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at the Scottish Office.

My Department does not conduct recruitment for top grades.

Recycling

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to introduce a scheme for local authorities in Scotland comparable to that announced by the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Baldry) on 2 January.

We have no plans to introduce in Scotland a system of supplementary credit approvals for local authority investment in recycling projects. The arrangements for handling recycling investment through local authority capital expenditure allocations are given in my reply of 24 January 1991 to my honourable Friend the Member for Erewash (Mr. Rost), at columns 306–7.

Employment Training

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many employment training places in Scotland in 1990–91 were taken up by trainees in the categories of (i) all 18 to 24-year-olds unemployed for at least six months and (ii) those between 18 and 50 years unemployed for two years or more.

Precise information about numbers of trainees is not available in the form requested. Information about people who take up employment training places is obtained from returns submitted by training managers and is incomplete. However, from these returns it is estimated that, in Scotland, from 1 April 1990 to 4 January 1991, 14·7 per cent. of all starts were aged 18 to 24 years and unemployed for at least six months and 24·4 per cent. were aged between 18 and 50 years and unemployed for two years or more.

Forestry Commission

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all land which was owned by the Forestry Commission and has been sold, for which local authorities have been able to enter into an access agreement; and if he will make a statement.

The arrangements for access agreements which my right hon. and learned Friend, the then Secretary of State for Scotland, announced on 21 November 1990, Official Report, columns 164–66, have not yet been introduced.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library a list of all land currently owned by the Forestry Commission on a county by county basis, giving the area of the land and stating the type of woodland or other type of countryside.

The Forestry Commission is organised administratively into seven conservancies and 57 forest districts; information cannot therefore be given by counties except at disproportionate cost. A summary of the land currently managed by the Forestry Commission is given by forest districts in tables 15, 16 and 17 of appendix XI to the commission's 1989–90 annual report, a copy of which is in the Library.

Lothian Health Board

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how much of the 1991–92 revenue allocation to Lothian health board is allotted to (a) hospital services, (b) community units, (c) special projects, (d) general practitioners and (e) projected efficiency savings in (i) cash and (ii) percentage terms;(2) if he will list the special projects funded by the 1991–92 Lothian health board revenue allocation and the money allotted to each of them from the allocation.

Lothian health board has been allocated £346·505 million for hospital and community health revenue expenditure for 1991–92. Within this total, specific sums of £7·706 million—2·2 per cent.—and £2·124 million—0.6 per cent.-were made available for AIDS-related services and Project 2000 respectively and a general allocation of £2·457 million—0·7 per cent.—was given for other services such as drug misuse and breast cancer screening. The board will set its own priorities in regard to expenditure on hospital services and community units. The board has been asked to find an additional 1 per cent. of its HCH revenue allocation, or £3·465 million, from cash releasing efficiency saving which will be available to improve patient care.In addition to the hospital and community health allocation, Lothian was allocated £5·923 million for general practice team staff and £2·3 million for general practice premises.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money was allotted to general practitioners from the 1989–90 revenue allocation to Lothian health board; and what was Lothian health board's revenue expenditure on general practitioners in that year.

In 1989–90, funds for general medical services were not cash limited and therefore no specific allocations were made to health boards. In that year, expenditure by Lothian health board on general medical services was £27·748 million.

Nurses

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nurses are registered with the bank nursing scheme in each of the health board regions (a) at each grade and (b) in total.

This information is not held centrally.

Mortgage Repossessions

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many mortgage repossession orders have been made in (a) Inverclyde, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland as a whole in each of the last five years, and for each of the last 12 months.

[holding answer 6 March 1991]: This information is not available.

Revenue Support Grant

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the amount of revenue support grant allocated to each Scottish district council on a per capita basis; if he will explain the formulae applied in calculation of these grants; and if he will make a statement.

The figures are set out in the table.A full explanation of the methodology applied in determining the revenue support grant for all authorities, including district councils, for 1991–92 is set out in the report on the Revenue Support Grant (Scotland) Order 1991, which was laid before the House of Commons on 30 January and approved on 13 February.The principles used in distributing RSG are agreed between the Scottish Office and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities through the distribution committee of the working party on local government finance.RSG forms only part of aggregate external finance, the other components of which are specific grants and non-domestic rate income. Meaningful comparison between districts is only possible in terms of AEF as a whole.

Revenue Support Grant 1991–92 per head of population
District Councils	£
Berwickshire	56·83
Ettrick and Lauderdale	48·42
Roxburgh	61·42
Tweeddale	58·81
Clackmannan	45·98
Falkirk	26·51
Stirling	30·88
Annandale and Eskdale	40·09
Nithsdale	37·54
Stewartry	47·79
Wigtown	64·38
Dunfermline	23·31
Kirkcaldy	22·43
North East Fife	57·08
Aberdeen City	38·84
Banff and Buchan	35·89
Gordon	61·39
Kincardine and Deeside	53·21
Moray	48·63
Badenoch and Strathspey	44·85
Caithness	54·41
Inverness	27·18
Lochaber	50·29
Nairn	60·06
Ross and Cromarty	69·10
Skye and Lochalsh	116·48
Sutherland	91·20
East Lothian	36·50
Edinburgh City	52·68
Midlothian	56·68
West Lothian	46·40
Argyll and Bute	93·85
Bearsden and Milngavie	63·63
Clydebank	82·24
Clydesdale	61·82
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	37·50
Cumnock and Doon Valley	64·01
Cunninghame	16·32
Dumbarton	33·83
East Kilbride	21·34
Eastwood	55·87
Glasgow City	73·37
Hamilton	53·29
Inverclyde	72·33

District Councils	£
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	46·11
Kyle and Carrick	39·51
Monklands	78·13
Motherwell	59·49
Renfrew	53·07
Strathkelvin	69·66
Angus	52·31
Dundee City	65·69
Perth and Kinross	50·24

Social Security

Family Credit

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what his Department is doing to improve the publicity for family credit.

Since 1989 a series of advertising campaigns and other publicity has led to a high level of awareness of family credit. But there is a high turnover of families within the eligible population, as people move into and out of eligibility as their family circumstances change. It is necessary therefore to ensure that those who become newly eligible are aware of the benefit and that they may qualify.So that all families with children are made aware of family credit and are able to see whether they might be entitled, a personalised message about family credit now appears in child benefit order books, and on the appropriate award notices where child benefit is paid direct into a bank or building society. This tells the family that they may be able to get family credit if their income is less than the figure quoted in the message, which is individual to that family. A new advertising campaign, using television commercials to draw attention to the message in child benefit order books, began on 11 February. A poster has also been produced for display in post offices.Other publicity measures which have been undertaken recently include a mailing, last August, of specially prepared material to some 80,000 advisers, including citizens advice bureaux, ministers of religion and others, and the inclusion of a leaflet about family credit in "Bounty Bags" which mothers of new-born babies receive in hospital.

Cold Weather Payments

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his reply of 25 February, Official Report, column 402, regarding cold weather payments, if he will inform the hon. Member for Oldham, West when the information is placed in the Library.

Yes, I will inform the hon. Member when information for February is placed in the Library. However, a full and accurate picture of cold weather payments claims and expenditure will not emerge until later because claims can be made up to three months after the period of cold weather.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 21 February, Official Report, column 265, whether immediate payments of cold weather claims can be approved on the telephone by local offices without personal attendance or written application by the claimant.

No. Claims for social fund cold weather payments, in common with other social security benefits, must be made in writing. A telephone call can alert the office to the likelihood of a claim, but payment will depend on written confirmation made either in person or through the post.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his most up-to-date estimate of the numbers of (a) applicants and (b) recipients of the special cold weather payments for the first two weeks of February.

Estimates of cold weather payment claims and payments for the first two weeks of February could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. When details of actual claims and payments become available, they will be placed in the Library.

Young People (Benefits)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the total numbers of those in receipt of (a) supplementary benefit and (b) income support aged (i) 16 years, (ii) 17 years and (iii) 18 years in each year between 1978 and 1980 in Wales.

The information requested for supplementary benefit is in the table. Income support was introduced in April 1988.

Supplementary benefit recipients in Wales
	1978	1979	1980
Aged 16	4,000	4,000	5,000
Aged 17	4,000	3,000	5,000
Aged 18	3,000	3,000	5,000

Source: Annual Statistical Enquiries 1978–80.

Residential And Nursing Homes

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what account he took of the increase in the number of residents of residential and nursing homes claiming housing benefit in deciding to reduce the scope of the entitlement of such residents to housing benefit.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Sir G. Finsberg) on 29 October 1990 at columns 368–70.

Disabled Workers

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the lifting of Crown immunity from Government Departments in respect of the 3 per cent. quota of jobs for disabled people.

We have always aimed to meet the quota of 3 per cent.

Water Charges

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he has any proposals to uprate social security benefits to take account of the increases in water charges that will be implemented as a consequence of the Water Act 1989.

Income-related benefits are considered for uprating each year and we seek to take account of all relevant factors.

Income Support

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the reasons for the adoption by benefit offices in the Isle of Wight and Somerset of differing policies in relation to the payment of income support to residents transferred from local authority care to independent homes.

Eligibility for income support is defined by regulations and is available in respect of fees, up to certain limits, to residents of registered residential care homes and in certain other types of homes. Adjudication officers receive guidance on their interpretation of the regulations by the chief adjudication officer in the adjudication officers' guide, a copy of which is available in the Library. It is for individual adjudication officers to make decisions in any given case.

Disablement Allowances

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each of the last three years the number and percentage of people awarded mobility allowance whose terms of award was insufficient for them to take advantage of the motability scheme; and if he will make a statement.

People whose awards of mobility allowance are for two years or less are not eligible for any of the motability schemes. The precise information requested is not available, but the numbers of such people receiving mobility allowance on specified dates are in the table.

	Awards of two years or less	Total live load	Percentage
On 30 December 1988	46,101	555,975	8·3
On 28 December 1989	50,774	599,268	8·5
On 27 December 1990	51,013	640,658	8·0

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list all the statutory instruments which will be superseded by regulations made under the disability living allowance and Disability Working Allowance Bill.

A number of sets of regulations will be made under the Disability Living Allowance and Disability Working Allowance Bill. The introduction of disability living allowance will, for example, require amendments to be made to all the regulations relating to attendance allowance and mobility allowance and to a range of other sets of regulations covering general matters such as claims and payments and the inter-relationship between benefits. Work is continuing on the drafting of the regulations and it is not yet clear how many sets of regulations will need to be amended.

Single Payments

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the cost of administering single payments for each year of the scheme from 1980 to 1988 expressed (a) in money terms, (b) as a proportion of the total value of single payment expenditure that year and (c) at 1991 prices.

Single payments were part of the supplementary benefit scheme and administration costs were not separately identified.

Severe Hardship Payments

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to publish the research commissioned by his Department on severe hardship payments for 16 and 17-year-olds.

We expect to publish the research on such payments in the near future.

Pension Book

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will review the layout and terminology of the current pension book to make it more user-friendly.

A number of options for a redesigned benefit order book are currently under consideration.

Pensions

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what additional benefits are due to a pensioner couple in receipt of £83·25 state pension, £27·80 attendance allowance and occupational pension of £25·80.

The extent to which this pensioner couple might be eligible for additional benefits would depend on a range of factors, including the amount of any other income or capital they possess, the size of their family and household composition, their housing costs, if any, and the amount of community charge payable.

Transitional Additions

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people were in receipt of transitional additions for each category for which such additions are payable at the latest date for which figures are available.

Shortly after the 1990 uprating, the number of people in each category who were in receipt of income support transitional additions were as follows:

	Number
Pensioners	42,000
Long-term sick and disabled	8,000
Families with children	7,000
Others	52,000

Social Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether the independent research commissioned from the social security research unit of the University of York to examine whether the social fund is meeting its objectives will be available for publication in either completed or interim form prior to the establishment of the benefits agency; and if he will make a statement.

The research into the operation of the social fund by the social policy research unit is not expected to be completed until the end of December 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what procedures exist for his Department to monitor the local priority categories used for allocating grants from the social fund and changes which take place in those priorities.

There are no centrally imposed procedures for monitoring local priority categories, or changes which take place in those priorities.This function is the responsibility of the relevant local manager who, as the appointed area social fund officer and budget holder, is required to issue guidance on matters specified by the Secretary of State. That guidance must take account of local factors in specifying priority needs for grants and loans and the levels of priority which may be met from the expenditure allocation for the local social fund officers for the relevant period. The area social fund officer is also required to monitor and review at least monthly the planned level of expenditure and the priority needs and levels for his locality and to revise them as

Claimants in receipt of unemployment benefit, unemployment benefit and supplementary benefit/income support and supplementary benefit/income support only 1987 to 1990 (Figures are for November each year).
	Unemployment benefit	Benefit Unemployment benefit and supplementary benefit/income support	Supplementary benefit/income support only
	Table 1(a)
1987
Great Britain	548,772	126,609	1,407,222
South East	124,000	28,804	335,009
East Anglia	15,185	3,700	30,160
South West	39,757	9,127	76,010
West Midlands	51,953	12,215	164,632
East Midlands	38,478	7,938	80,837
Yorkshire and Humberside	56,558	13,633	141,867
North West	70,279	17,698	218,740
Northern	45,124	10,819	105,359
Wales	31,312	8,002	77,895
Scotland	76,126	14,673	176,713
	Table 1(b)
1988
Great Britain	384,769	114,902	1,065,930
London East	27,040	9,406	102,854
London South	27,301	8,831	93,460
London West	22,224	5,548	46,168
South West	27,696	6,893	54,087
West Midlands	34,987	10,334	117,850
East Midlands	35,853	9,180	79,457
Yorkshire and Humberside	42,300	12,135	108,953
North West	56,629	17,849	180,284
Northern	31,268	9,661	77,918
Wales	24,547	7,988	59,346
Scotland	54,924	17,077	145,553
	Table 1(c)
1989
Great Britain	210,325	78,457	918,924
London East	15,974	6,832	83,952
London South	16,074	6,624	77,078
London West	12,882	4,346	36,771
South West	14,294	4,875	45,814
West Midlands	18,465	6,801	95,783
East Midlands	20,722	6,997	67,333
Yorkshire and Humberside	23,018	8,225	97,727
North West	30,389	11,485	158,546
Northern	15,771	5,879	71,903
Wales	12,512	5,017	50,383
Scotland	30,224	11,376	133,634

necessary. It follows that this guidance can vary from one local area to another, thus ensuring that the highest priority needs in a community are met.

Unemployed Claimants

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each of the past four years the total cost and number of unemployed claiming (a) unemployment benefit, (b) unemployment benefit and income support and (c) income support for Great Britain and each of the standard regions.

The information is not available in the form requested. The numbers of unemployed receiving benefits in November of each year are set out in tables 1(a) to 1(d). Total benefit expenditure for Great Britain on income support, unemployment benefit, rate rebates and community charge benefits paid to unemployed people is shown in table 2.

	Unemployment benefit	Benefit Unemployment benefit and supplementary benefit/income support	Supplementary benefit/income support only
	Table 1(d)
1990
Great Britain	282,726	60,225	969,315
London and South East	71,674	16,017	232,998
South West	20,491	4,453	56,875
West Midlands	25,420	5,953	97,022
East Midlands	28,096	6,336	77,672
Yorkshire and Humberside	29,725	6,441	99,043
North West	38,514	7,728	157,971
Northern	19,273	4,069	70,649
Wales	15,348	3,694	53,243
Scotland	34,185	5,534	123,842

Note: Standard region changed in 1988 and 1990.

Table 2
Expenditure on unemployed people 1986–87 to 1989–90
	£ million
1986–87	7,310
1987–88	6,650
1988–89	5,240
1989–90	4,280

Housing Benefit

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he plans to publish the research by the social policy research unit into the operation of housing benefit review procedures.

I have today placed a copy of the report in the Library. We shall be studying the research findings with care and considering whether there is a need to make changes to the current arrangements.The report will be published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office and is expected to be available:in the early summer.

Employment

Manufacturing Jobs

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobs have been lost in manufacturing in each of the last twelve months.

Changes in the number of employees in manufacturing industries are supplied in the table.

Employees in employment in manufacturing industries Great Britain Seasonally adjusted
1990	Net monthly change (Thousands)
January	4·1
February	-13·7
March	-13·0
April	-7·6
May	-6·0
June	11·0
July	2·3
August	-2·0
September	-22·9
October	-18·6
November	-15·6
December	-30·4

Duty Workers

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report(a) the number of detached duty workers recruited and the numbers now operating in the south-east and south-west of England dealing with unemployed people claiming benefit, (b) the standard regions from which the detached workers were recruited and (c) the total costs, including travel, overnight allowances and any other premium payments, for each quarter between 1 January 1988 and 31 January 1991.

Questions on operational matters in the Employment Service Executive Agency are the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the agency's chief executive, to whom I have referred this question for reply.

Employment Service

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps are being taken by the employment service to deal with the increased numbers of unemployed people claiming benefit in the south-east and south-west regions of England; and if he will make a statement.

Questions on operational matters in the Employment Service Executive Agency are the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the agency's chief executive, to whom I have referred this question for reply.

Training

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give for employment training in each of the years 1988–89 and 1989–90 (a) the total outturn and planned expenditure in both cash and real terms and (b) the total number of places provided for Great Britain and each of the standard regions.

The total outturn and planned expenditure on youth training in cash and constant prices for 1988–89 and 1989–90 is shown in table (a). Table (b) gives the total number of youth training (YTS) places provided for Great Britain and each of the standard regions in 1988–89 and 1989–90.

Table (a)
£ million
	Outturn		Planned expenditure
	Cash prices	Constant prices¹	Cash prices	Constant prices²
1988–89	993	1,056	1,141	1,214
1989–90	976	976	1,039	1,039
¹ Cash figures adjusted to 1989–90 price levels by excluding the effect of general inflation measured by the GDP deflator shown in the Chancellor's autumn statement.
² Figures exclude community industry.

Table (b)
Training Places	1988–90	1989–90
Great Britain	391,950	359,469
South East	40,008	38,613
London	21,207	20,660
South West	30,503	28,043
West Midlands	43,609	39,394
East Midlands and Eastern	46,633	42,592
Yorkshire and Humberside	45,228	41,151
North West	60,703	53,412
Northern	30,484	27,790
Wales	23,779	22,665
Scotland	49,796	45,149

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give for youth training in each of the years 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93 and 1993–94 (a) the total estimated planned expenditure and for 1990–91 the estimated outturn expenditure, in both cash and real terms, (b) the total estimated planned expenditure for credits included in the above and (c) the total estimated number of youth training places provided for Great Britain and each of the standard regions.

The total estimated planned expenditure on youth training (YT) and training credits in 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93 and 1993–94 in cash and constant prices is shown in the table. The estimated outturn expenditure for YT in 1990–91 is £833 million, which is equivalent to £771 million in constant prices¹. Information on the number of places provided is not available.

£ million
	Youth training		Training credits
	Cash prices	Constant prices¹	Cash prices	Constant prices¹
1990–91	²814	754	—	—
1991–92	³844	737	115	100
1992–93	842	702	120	100
1993–94	831	669	118	95
¹ Cash figures adjusted to 1989–90 price levels by excluding the effect of general inflation measured by the GDP deflator shown in the Chancellor's autumn statement.
² As shown in the 1991 spring supplementary estimate published in February 1991.
³ Cash prices for 1991–92 onwards published in departmental report (Cm. 1501–1519).

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for employment training in each of the years 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93 and 1993–94 (a) the total estimated planned expenditure in both cash and real terms and (b) the total number of planned places, for Great Britain and each standard region; and what is the estimated outturn expenditure for 1990–91 employment training in 1990–91 for Great Britain and each standard region.

Total planned expenditure on employment training in cash and constant prices in 1990–91 to 1993–94 is shown in the table. Information on the total number of planned places is not available. Estimated outturn expenditure in Great Britain for employment training in 1990–91 is £1,062 million. Regional expenditure forecasts are for internal management purposes only.

£ million
	Cash	Constant
1990–91	1,074	995
1991–91	877	766
1992–93	792	661
1993–94	881	654

Notes:

(1) Cash figures for 1991–92 to 1993–94 are taken from the departmental report (Cm. 1501 to 1519) and adjusted to take account of recent additions to planned expenditure in 1991–92.

(2) Cash figure for 1990–91 is the spring supplementary estimate published in February 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for youth training in each of the years 1988–89 and 1989–90 (a) the total outturn and planned expenditure in both cash and real terms and (b) the total number of places provided for Great Britain and each of the standard regions.

The following table (a) shows the total outturn and planned expenditure on employment training in both cash and constant prices in 1988–89 and 1989–90. Table (b) shows the average number of filled places provided for Great Britain and each region in 1988–89 and 1989–90.

Table (a)
	Outturn		Planned Expenditure
	Cash prices £ million	Constant prices¹ £ million	Cash prices £ million	Constant prices¹ £ million
1988–89	²425	²452	494	526
1989–90	1,107	1,107	1,210	1,210
¹ Cash prices adjusted to 1989–90 price levels by excluding the effect of general inflation as measured by the gross domestic product deflator shown in the Chancellor's autumn statement.
² These figures do not include wages for those who continued on community programme terms and conditions. ET was launched in September 1988, therefore these figures are only for six months of operation.

Table (b)
	1988–89	1989–90
South East	7,200	13,800
London	10,900	20,100
South West	7,000	11,900
West Midlands	12,700	22,800
East Midlands and Eastern	9,100	16,300
Yorkshire and Humberside	16,500	25,100
North West	15,900	28,500
Northern	12,200	23,600
Wales	7,800	15,800
Scotland	12,100	24,800
Great Britain¹	111,400	203,200
¹ Great Britain total includes a small number of trainees at residential training colleges and large contractors not included in regional figures.

Rochdale Tec

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list (a) the directors of Rochdale training and enterprise council and (b) any resignations which have taken place since the board was established.

An up-to-date list of TEC directors including those of Rochdale TEC is held in the House of Commons Library. Resignations are a matter for the TEC.

Defence

Equal Opportunities

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department last conducted a survey of the ethnic origins of its employees; when it next plans to do so; and whether he will make a statement.

The last such survey was conducted in 1988. A further survey is being conducted at the moment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of officers in each grade (1 to 7) and overall in the Department are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities, respectively.

The information on ethnic minorities is based on a voluntary survey conducted since 1988 to which not all staff responded. The figures as at January 1991 are as follows:

	Women		Ethnic minorities
	Number	per cent.	Number	per cent.
Grade 1	0	—	0	—
Grade 2	0	—	0	—
Grade 3	1	1·6	0	—
Grade 4	0	—	0	—
Grade 5	8	2·5	0	—
Grade 6	10	1·2	4	0·5
Grade 7	85	2·9	18	0·6
Overall	40,202	28·7	1,847	1·3

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at his Ministry.

Recruitment at grade 7 level is undertaken by the Civil Service Commission on behalf of the MOD. Entry to grades above grade 7 is normally through internal promotion procedures.

Table A
Regiment/Corps	Recruiting area
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys)	Scotland
Queens Royal Irish Hussars	Northern Ireland, Surrey, Sussex, London
14th/20th Kings Hussars	Lancashire (including Greater Manchester), Isle of Man
16th/5th The Queens Royal Lancers	Staffordshire
Queens Dragoon Guards	Wales, Shropshire, Herefordshire
2 Field Regiment Royal Artillery	Greater Manchester
12 Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery	Cumbria, Lancashire
26 Field Regiment Royal Artillery	Surrey, Sussex
32 Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery	Cheshire, Isle of Man, Merseyside
39 Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery	West Midlands, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire
40 Field Regiment Royal Artillery	Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Ayrshire

Challenger Ii Tank

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral answers of 19 February, Official Report, columns 137–38, when he now expects to make a decision on the Challenger II tank contract bid.

I hope that a decision on the equipment for our future main battle tank fleet will not have to be delayed too long.

Territorial Army

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what decision he has reached about the future size of the Territorial Army; and whether he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Fife, North-East (Mr. Campbell) on 20 February 1991 at column 192.

The Gulf

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Gulf support groups are known to his Department; and what advice and back-up support has been given to them.

We know of 70 support groups. The Gulf amenities desk telephone line, which is open 24 hours a day, is available to provide information and advice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in which areas of the country from which men and women now serving in the Gulf have been recruited there is no Gulf support group.

Information on areas of the country from which personnel now serving in the Gulf have been recruited is not held centrally, and we are not necessarily aware of all the Gulf support groups operating in the United Kingdom. The question could not, therefore, be answered without incurring disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the regiments serving in the Gulf and, in each case, indicate from which area of the country the majority of the men and women have been recruited.

The principal recruiting areas of the British Army regiments and corps serving in the Gulf are listed in table A. Regiments and corps which draw their recruits from across the country are listed in table B.

Regiment/Corps	Recruiting area
1 Armoured Division Signal Regiment	Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside
30 Signal Regiment	Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Avon, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall
2 Squadron 14 Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare)	Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Avon, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall
1st Battalion Scots Guards	Scotland, Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Isle of Man
1st Battalion Royal Scots	Edinburgh, Lothian, Peebles
3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers	Northumberland, Lancashire, Birmingham, London, Warwickshire
1st Battalion Royal Highland Fusiliers	Ayr, Glasgow
1st Battalion Kings Own Scottish Borderers	Dumfries, Galloway, Borders
1st Battalion The Staffordshire Regiment	Staffordshire and Birmingham
1st Battalion Queens Own Highlanders	Scottish Highlands
28 Ambulance Squadron Gurkha Transport Regiment	Nepal
205 General Hospital (Volunteer)	Glasgow

Table B

Regiments and corps which recruit nationwide

Army Air Corps

Corps of Royal Engineers

Coldstream Guards

Royal Army Ordnance Corps

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

Royal Corps of Transport

Royal Pioneer Corps

Royal Military Police

Womens Royal Army Corps

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to arrange for the clean up of military detritus, toxic wastes and redundant equipment in Kuwait, southern Iraq and northern Saudi Arabia as a result of Operation Granby.

British forces are currently assisting in clearing hazards from the battlefield.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures his Department has taken to ensure the general welfare of the families of military personnel serving in the Gulf.

[holding answer 6 March 1991]: In addition to the normal welfare facilities provided by each service for the support of families and dependants, special arrangements have been made to provide help and support during Operation Granby, including the provision of a Gulf helpline service at military establishments, specialist counselling where needed, the issue of fact sheets and briefings to disseminate information and answer queries. Those who are remote from military establishments are kept in contact by regular telephone calls and information bulletins.

Taylorplan Services Ltd

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts have been awarded by his Department to Taylorplan Services Ltd.; what hourly rates of pay were advertised by the company for any contract awarded by his Department; what complaints he has received about pay rates offered by the company or its quality of work; and whether the company has any current contracts with his Department.

A total of 20 Ministry of Defence contracts for catering and cleaning work have been awarded to Taylorplan Services Limited; 18 of these are still current.The rates of pay offered by contractors for employment on their service contracts with the Ministry are a matter for the companies themselves. We have received no complaints about Taylorplan, either in relation to their pay rates or their contract performance.

Volume 187: debated on Thursday 7 March 1991

Written Answers To Questions

Attorney-General

Equal Opportunities

Mortgage Repossessions

Education And Science

Student Loans

Grant-Maintained Schools

Higher Education

Standard Assessment Test

Overseas Development

Palestinians

Wales

The Arts

Equal Opportunities

Housing Repairs, Merthyr

Corlan Housing Association

Operations (Statistics)

Leybucht Bay

Environment

Homelessness

Yorkshire, Humberside And Leeds

Hostel Deficit Grant

Council Land

Ec Environment Research Budget

Derelict Land

Local Government Finance

Street Lighting

Guidance Notes

Sulphur Dioxide

Badgers

Sites Of Special Scientific Interest

Game Birds

Blackpool Beach

London Zoo

Business Rates

Leeds Development Corporation

Dereliction

Water Research Centre

Effluent Discharges

Rural Housing

European Political Union

Woodlands (Disposal)

Prime Minister

The Gulf

Engagements

Missile Technology Control Regime

Immigrant Workers, Kuwait

Gulf Casualties

Economic And Political Union

Trade And Industry

Mobility Allowance

Regional Development

Disabled Employees

Transport

British Rail

Roads Expenditure

Motorways

Br, Swinton

Al-M1 Link

Channel Tunnel

War Risk Re-Insurance

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

The Gulf

Arms Sales

Non-Proliferation Treaty

Somalia

Bananas

National Finance

Interest Rates

Labour Statistics

The Gulf

Official Visits

Beneficial Loans

Manufacturing Investment

Autumn Statement

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Sheep

Badgers