To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by year for the last 10 years, and by location, the number of incidents of piracy at sea involving United Kingdom merchant seafarers.

Shipowners, flag states and coastal states are encouraged to report incidents of piracy to the International Maritime Organisation. When we are advised of incidents involving British ships we report them to the International Maritime Organisation. However, it is not mandatory to report incidents of piracy so records may be incomplete. Nor is it possible to identify from the reports that are made if British seafarers serving on foreign flag vessels were victims of piracy. The reports made to the International Maritime Organisation indicate that since 1984 there were 11 incidents of piracy involving British ships:

Year	Number	Location
1984	2	Singapore (2)
1985	1	Singapore
1987	6	Singapore (4)
		Indonesia
		India
1988	1	Brazil
1989	1	Sri Lanka

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by year for the last 10 years, and by location, the number of United Kingdom merchant seafarers who have been (a) killed, (b) injured and (c) reported missing after attacks of piracy on the high seas.

No British seafarer serving on a British ship has been reported killed or missing as the result of an act of piracy in recent years. Information regarding injuries or about British seafarers serving on foreign flag vessels is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last had discussions with officials of the International Maritime Bureau; what was discussed; when he next expects to have discussions with officials from the International Maritime Bureau; and if he will make a statement.

I have not met the International Maritime Bureau and have no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will meet the chairman of British Rail to discuss measures to ensure that the inquiry into the derailment of a freight train carrying inflammable goods at Bradford on Tone on 16 May proceeds with expedition and the steps which will be taken to ensure that hon. Members are notified of any preliminary conclusion from this inquiry as soon as possible.

British Rail is carrying out an internal inquiry into this derailment. It will send a full report to the Health and Safety Executive's railway inspectorate, which is also holding a technical investigation into the accident. BR reports, and those of investigations under section 20 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, are not normally published, but I have asked the chief inspecting officer to let me know the conclusions of the investigations. I will write to the hon. Member in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans for the use of Northolt airport by civil aircraft.

RAF Northolt is used by both military and civil aircraft. There are no plans to alter this arrangement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he intends taking following the Clapham rail crash to ensure that the safety lessons learnt in one section of the transport world are passed on to other travel modes.

We shall continue to ensure that accidents are thoroughly investigated and that any wider lessons are identified and applied across the modes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on any delays caused by Madrid air controllers to flights between London and Gibraltar that can be attributed to non-operational reasons.

I am not aware of any such delays.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research there is available to his Department into passenger safety on ferries; and which of these receive funds from Government.

[holding answer 1 July 1991]: The Secretary of State sponsored a comprehensive research programme in 1988 aimed at enhancing the survivability standards of roll on/roll off passenger ferries. The initial phase of that programme was completed last year. Copies of the reports were sent to interested parties and a report giving an overview of the whole programme was placed in the House of Commons Library.Government-funded research has also been undertaken in recent years to study the effect of damage to roll on/roll off passenger ferries in shallow waters, to investigate the evacuation of passengers from roll on/roll off passenger ships and to produce a risk analysis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give (a) the total number of ferries using British ports, (b) those over 10 years old and (c) those over 25 years old for each of the past 10 years.

[holding answer 1 July 1991]: Figures for 1990–91 for roll on/roll off passenger ferries using United Kingdom ports are set out below. Figures for earlier years are not readily available and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

	1990	1991
Over 10 years old	185	189
Over 25 years old	8	9
Total	113	110
1 Figure includes vessels over 25 years old.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many reported shipping accidents there were (a) in British waters and (b) involving British ships; and if he will give the number and percentage of those involving ferries for each of the past 10 years.

[holding answer 1 July 1991]: The information requested is as follows:

(a) The statistics maintained do not distinguish between shipping accidents in United Kingdom and non-United Kingdom territorial waters.

(b) The number of reported accidents worldwide involving United Kingdom registered merchant vessels over 100 gross tonnes for the period 1981 to 1990 is:

Year	Number of United Kingdom vessel accidents
1981	430
1982	413
1983	284
1984	269
1985	237
1986	188
1987	152
1988	190
1989	210
1990	183

The number of reported accidents involving United Kingdom registered passenger and/or cargo ro-ro ferries worldwide for 1989 and 1990 (the only years for which figures are readily obtainable) is:

	1989	1990
Number of ro-ro ferry accidents	42	44
Number of United Kingdom vessel accidents	210	183
Percentage of United Kingdom vessel accidents	20·00	24·04

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the Government risk analysis figures for United Kingdom ferry travel for (a) collisions involving a ferry, (b) a collision induced capsize, (c) flooding and (d) ferry fires for each of the past 10 years.

[holding answer 1 July 1991]: The information is not available in the form requested. However, the number of accidents on United Kingdom passenger ferries recorded in a recent risk analysis study for the period 1 January 1978 to 30 April 1988 was as follows:

(a) four collisions; 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1987

(b) one collision leading to capsize; 1982

(c) one flooding; 1987, and

(d) seven serious fires; 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983 (two) and 1988 (two).

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the topics of each television advertising campaign to be carried out by his Department and any other publicity campaign costing more than £100,000.

[holding answer 1 July 1991]: The following topics are expected to be the subject of television campaigns in the current financial year:

• Child road safety
• Drinking and driving

The following other topics are expected to be the subject of campaigns costing over £100,000 in the current financial year:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the British Coal complaint to the European Commission on the dumping of coal in the Community.

It is for the European Commission to consider British Coal's complaint and take action if necessary. The Commission has not, at this stage, reached a decision on whether to launch a formal investigation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will place in the Library details of the advice he received from Coopers and Lybrand between July 1989 and April 1990 on salaries appropriate for the privatised electricity industry.

No. Advice given to the Secretary of State is confidential.

To ask the Attorney-General if he will extend legal aid to discrimination cases involving race relations; and if he will make a statement.

Legal advice and assistance from a solicitor is available under the green form scheme, subject to the normal financial conditions, where there is no reasonable expectation of an applicant obtaining help from an alternative source such as a trade union or the Commission for Racial Equality.In addition, where civil remedies are sought under the Race Relations Act 1976, legal aid is available for legal representation in county court proceedings, under the normal conditions.

To ask the Attorney-General if he will arrange for a copy of the Maguire judgment to be placed in the House of Commons Library.

The approved transcript of the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the Maguire case is not yet available. I will cause copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament as soon as it is received.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide the latest available information on inward and outward capital flows between the United Kingdom and other EC member states and the United Kingdom and north America for each year from 1979 to the latest available date.

Information by country on direct investment abroad by United Kingdom companies and by overseas companies in the United Kingdom is given in tables 5 and 9 of CSO Bulletin 33/91 "Overseas Direct Investment 1989". Figures for earlier years are given in the "Business Monitor MA4 (Overseas Transactions)". Copies of these publications are in the Library.Some additional information on capital transactions with countries and institutions of the European Community is given in the published annual Pink Books on the United Kingdom balance of payments and is available from the CSO databank, both of which are available in the Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which advertising agencies were on the Central Office of Information approved list in 1986; which have been added in each year since 1986; and if he will make a statement on how the system works.

The Central Office of Information does not keep a list of approved advertising agencies. Advertising agencies are appointed to work for Government following competitions between agencies nominated by the Advisory Committee on Advertising. The advisory committee is an independent group of media and marketing professionals appointed to advise on the nomination of suitable advertising agencies for Government work.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on which day or days, in any hearing, counsel for the Inland Revenue challenged the Woolwich tax model of the effects of regulations 3 and 11 (1985).

The Inland Revenue's response, challenging the conclusions of the Woolwich building society based on its hypothetical tax model, was set out in affidavits which were in evidence in all the courts up to the House of Lords.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will list the provincial amateur orchestras encouraged by his Department.

Last year no fewer than 132 amateur orchestras, as listed, received support from the English regional arts associations and the Scottish and Welsh Arts Councils.Support for amateur orchestras by the regional arts associations and the Scottish and Welsh Arts Councils is usually through the payment of the fees of professionals working with the orchestras. Some organisations pay support directly to the orchestras; others channel the support through independently constituted bodies like the Welsh Amateur Music Federation.I have listed the orchestras supported in this way by the original funding agency.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will make a statement on the progress of the new British Library building at St. Pancras.

I am happy to announce the timely completion of the first of a number of major handover targets which will be taking place over the next 18 months at St. Pancras. Basement 4, the deepest of the book storage basements, is essentially ready for occupation by the British Library. This achievement reflects great credit on PSA services and its design and construction teams as well as on all those who are associated with the construction of this magnificent building. The project is thus on schedule and the present prediction is that it will be completed within budget.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities have adequate resources to compile registers on contaminated land sites.

The estimated costs of compiling registers of land which may be contaminated will be taken into consideration in the local authority finance settlement for 1992–93.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the effect on pollution of the decision to delay the implementation of the new system of integrated pollution control under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Integrated pollution control was introduced by part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, for which Royal Assent had originally been expected by July 1990. In the event, there was some slippage in the legislative process, mainly as a result of extended consideration at Committee stage in this House, and Royal Assent was not obtained until November.When it became apparent that Royal Assent would be later than had been anticipated, we announced that implementation of the IPC system, originally planned for 2 January 1991, would be delayed to allow an adequate period for consultation with interested parties and the public on guidance notes and regulations to be issued.My right hon. Friend has made no estimate of the effect that this slight delay in implementation has had on pollution; IPC came into operation on 1 April 1991, and all the prescribed processes will be phased into the system over the next five years.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to establish a selective catalytic reduction system in the United Kingdom.

Selective catalytic reduction is one of a number of techniques for reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide from combustion plant, and guidance to inspectors from the chief inspector, Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution suggests that it is one of the abatement options which operators of large combustion plant should consider.

Permanent dwellings completed: London Borough of Tower Hamlets1
(number of dwellings)
	Private sector	Local authority		Housing associations and other public sector5	All dwellings
		Tower Hamlets2	Greater London Council3 4
1961	19	251	ֵ	0	ֵ
1962	13	278	ֵ	0	ֵ
1963	3	446	ֵ	0	ֵ
1964	14	469	ֵ	0	ֵ
1965	26	271	ֵ	0	ֵ
1966	12	355	489	0	856
1967	12	359	767	48	1,186
1968	20	911	1,209	5	2,145
1969	14	905	1,024	8	1,951
1970	23	869	811	11	1,714
1971	43	361	708	15	1,127
1972	113	708	610	4	1,435
1973	56	249	425	52	782
1974	111	575	704	1	1,391
1975	6	225	787	0	1,018
1976	16	286	682	0	984
1977	3	1,267	598	2	1,870
1978	0	203	726	0	929
1979	0	280	424	0	704
1980	0	405	509	0	914
1981	0	376	504	0	880
1982	43	35	239	0	317

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what amount of hazardous and toxic waste is (a) produced and (b) processed by each member country of the EC.

There are at present no reliable figures on the production and processing of hazardous and toxic waste in member states of the EC. However, authoritative figures should be available in the future. EC directive 91/156 requires the competent authority or authorities of member states to draw up waste management plans indicating, among other things, the type, quantity and origin of waste to be recovered or disposed of; any special arrangements for particular wastes; and suitable disposal sites or installations. The directive will come into force on 1 April 1993. In addition, the statistical office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT) is undertaking a study on waste statistics as part of its current four-year work programme. It is estimated that in 1989–90 the United Kingdom generated between 2 and 2·5 million tonnes of special waste—the United Kingdom definition of hazardous and toxic waste—which were disposed of outside the premises of production.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many housing units were built in Tower Hamlets each year from 1961 to 1990 by (a) boroughs, (b) London-wide authorities, (c) housing associations, (d) other public sector and (e) the private sector.

The London borough of Tower Hamlets has not sent the Department any statistical returns about housebuilding in its area since 1984. The available information is shown in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received on the management of sheltered leasehold housing.

Since 1 January we have received 15 letters from hon. Members and five from leaseholders themselves. These have dealt with various matters relating to the management of sheltered housing; the most common issue has been the freeholder's selection of managing agents.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last met representatives of the National Alliance of Retirement Leaseholders; and what points were discussed.

I with my hon. Friend the Member for Southend, East (Sir. T. Taylor) met representatives of the National Alliance of Private Retirement Leaseholders on 15 May. We discussed the management of sheltered accommodation, and, in particular, problems arising from the appointment of managing agents by the landlord and the feasibility of giving leaseholders a right to appoint managers themselves.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people currently hold politically restricted posts as defined by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

My Department does not collect this information. I understand, however, that there are in the region of 35,000 politically restricted posts in the local government service in England.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his decision to call in the planning application submitted on behalf of Lincolnshire county council for the erection of dwellings at South Park school, Lincoln, application No. LHO4/0219/91; and if he will make a statement.

The Secretary of State has not called in this application. On 20 June the Department's east midlands regional office issued an article 14 direction preventing the county council from granting itself deemed consent for this proposal without special authorisation. This was done to enable the Secretary of State to examine the proposal in detail before deciding whether or not to call it in for his own determination.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy that mentally handicapped adults and children moving into a local authority area shall carry with them a sum of money for local authority grant purposes taken from the area they have left and transferred to their new local authority in the year after they have moved; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 1 July 1991]: In cases where a local authority has responsibility for such persons, financial arrangements resulting from moves to another area are a matter for the authorities concerned. A local authority's standard assessment will reflect, in due course, changes which influence the cost of providing a standard level of social services, including those for people with learning disabilities.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will show for each local authority (a) the budgeted increase or reduction in financial reserves for 1990–91 and 1991–92, expressed both in million pounds and pounds per adult, using the appropriate figure for relevant population and (b) political control in each of the above financial years.

[holding answer 1 July 1991]: I have today arranged for the available information to be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many inland waterways have been designated as safe for swimming by Her Majesty's Government under the European Commission bathing water directive.

[holding answer 1 July 1991]: The criteria set for the identification of bathing waters in the EC directive are the number of bathers using the waters, and the provision of facilities such as car parks, toilets and changing facilities. No inland waters meet the definition of bathing water in the directive or the criteria for identification developed since the adoption of the directive.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate for local authority usable receipts in 1991–92 and 1992–93.

[holding answer 1 July 1991]: I have made no estimate of local authority usable capital receipts for 1992–93. Local authorities have been asked to provide forecasts for 1991–92 and an estimate based on the available returns will be made shortly. I will provide this information as soon as it is available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to promote the recycling of household waste.

My right hon. Friend is bringing into force the duty on waste collection authorities to produce recycling plans on 1 August 1991. Authorities are being asked to submit their plans to him in draft by 1 August 1992.We will be sending a copy of waste management paper No. 28 on recycling to all local authorities next week. The paper provides guidance on preparing recycling strategies and drawing up recycling plans. It will be available through HMSO.We will also start consultation on our proposals for recycling credits next week. Copies of the consultation paper and the waste management paper will be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, further to his answer of 24 June, Official Report, columns 390–91, if he will make a statement on the available data on volumes of exports for (a) Portugal and (b) Luxembourg.

My Department is not aware of any publication which provides export volume figures for Portugal or Luxembourg on an internationally comparable basis.Eurostats calculates the volume series for member countries for internal Commission use, but they do not show Luxembourg separately because its trade figures are combined with Belgium.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what sources of statistical data on trade figures of other EC member countries are available to his Department.

The following sources of trade statistics for EC member countries are available to the Department: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the statistical office of the European Communities, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the national statistics of each member country.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much public funding was originally earmarked for the Link initiative when it was launched in 1986; how much was provided in the estimates for that and for each succeeding financial year; on which votes these estimates have been carried; how much has been disbursed on each such vote in each such financial year; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply to this question on Link funding and expenditure, although the question as put cannot be answered without disproportionate cost. When the Link initiative was announced on 10 December 1986 by the then Prime Minister, the Government contribution was to be £210 million spread over five years. This assumed a roughly linear build-up to a steady-state Government funding target of £85 million per annum; the agreed planning figures for Departments are shown in table A. The first five programmes were announced in February 1988, and currently there are 28 programmes in existence; the Government commitment to them is £175 million, and table B shows the funding commitment of individual Departments to programmes.Table C shows expenditure to date, which significantly lags work under way because participants are very slow in submitting claims for reimbursement. The total spent will be approximately double the Government expenditure by virtue of industry's own expenditure. There are now over 150 projects under way and nearly 100 more approved, at a total value of around £150 million. After a slow start, Link is now making good progress.

Table A
Link
Department targets	1992–93 £ million	1988–89 to 1992–93 £ million
DTI	25	62·5
DES (Research Councils)	25	62·5
MoD	15	36·0
DEn	5	12·0
MAFF	4	9·5
DoE	2	5·0
DTp	1	2·5
DH	1	2·5
SO, WO, NIO	7	17·0

Table C
Link				£000
Departmental spend (FY)	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	Total
DTI	50·6	1,767·1	3,543·5	5,361·2
DES (research councils)	117·8	783·5	3,186·9	4,088·2
MoD	—	—	—	18·1
DEn	—	—	—	—
MAFF	—	10·0	166·6	176·6
DoE	30–0	43·8	6·5	80·3
DTp	—	—	24·1	24·1
DH	—	—	—	—
SO, WO, NIO	—	—	0·2	0·2
			(SOAFD)
TOTAL	198·4	2,604·4	6,927·8	9,748·7

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on his plans for new legislation on industrial design.

New legislation on the protection of industrial design came into force on 1 August 1989 as part of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, when the Government introduced a wholly new kind of protection in the form of an unregistered design right. Some changes were also made to the existing registered design system. The European Commission is currently examining the question of design protection with a view to issuing a consultative document.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what plans he has for action in relation to trade marks infringements;(2) what plans he has to update the Trade Marks Act 1938.

The Government's proposals for updating the law on trade marks, including the provisions concerning infringement of trade marks, were set out in

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his most recent response to representations from the pharmaceutical industry for extension of its patent rights in the bracket of 10 to 20 years.

On 12 June I confirmed to European Standing Committee B that the Government support the EC Commission's proposal to give supplementary protection certificates to patented medicinal products but with a maximum extension of five years and a limit of 13 years on the resulting effective protection.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many children aged under 16 years were (a) injured and (b) killed by (i) dogs and (ii) other animals in 1990.

National estimates for numbers of injured children under 16 for 1988, the last year for which figures are available, are as follows:

	Number
Injuries from dog bites	56,000
Injuries involving other animals	34,000

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance has been given by Her Majesty's Government to British companies since 1987 seeking contracts in Egypt.

The full range of DTI export services is available to British companies wishing to do business in Egypt. ECGD cover for short-term business (up to 180 days) is available subject to payments being secured by an irrevocable letter of credit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation on phasing out the use of imperial units following the adoption of the 1989 amendment to the units of measurement directive; and if he will make a statement.

Having considered the replies to my Department's consultation paper, I intend to amend the legislation on the units of measurement authorised for use in the United Kingdom, generally taking maximum advantage of the transitional arrangements in the directive, and accordingly to:

(i) cease to authorise after 31 December 1994, imperial units used for economic, public health, public safety and administrative purposes except for the units used for the purposes set out in (ii) and (iii);

(ii) cease to authorise after 31 December 1999:

(a) the pound and ounce for goods sold loose from bulk;

(b) the pint and fluid ounce for beer, cider, waters, lemonades and fruit juices in returnable containers;

(c) the fathom for marine navigation; and

(d) the therm for gas supply;

(iii) authorise the continued use, without time limit, of:

(a)the mile, yard, foot and inch for road traffic signs and related distances and speed measurement;

(b) the pint for dispensing draught beer and cider and for milk in returnable containers;

(c) the troy ounce for transactions in precious metals; and

(d) the acre for land registration purposes.

Metric units will continue to be authorised for use in the United Kingdom for economic, public health, public safety and administrative purposes.Changes to other legislation which refers to imperial units of measurement will be a matter for the Government Departments and other bodies responsible for that legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what communication his Department ha .s had with local authorities concerning the application of the European Community's Stride programme on the possibilities for conversion or technological reorientation of regional defence industries.

[holding answer 13 June 1991]: At the moment, the details of the allocation of Stride money in the United Kingdom are still being agreed with the European Commission. Once this is finalised, the possible use of Stride for regional projects such as the reorientation of defence industries, will be discussed in the programme committee on which local authorities will be represented.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the implementation of projects sponsored by the European Community's Sprint programme in the United Kingdom; how many companies and organisations are presently receiving support; and what assessment he has made of the benefit to the United Kingdom economy of the Sprint initiative.

[holding answer 13 June 1991]: Sprint aims to stimulate technology transfer within the European Community. The programme has been in operation for six years. Over 100 United Kingdom companies and organisations are actively involved in Sprint, more than any other EC country. It is too early to judge the full benefits to the United Kingdom economy, but already over 260 agreements to transfer technology have been signed. United Kingdom companies are involved in a significant number of those agreements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the increase in the prices of output since October 1990 in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) Germany.

[holding answer 25 June 1991]: I have been asked to reply.Between 1990 quarter 3 and 1991 quarter 1 the implied deflator of United Kingdom GDP rose by 2¼ per cent. and the implied deflator of GNP in Germany rose by 1 per cent. Both these figures are measured at market prices. The implied deflator of GDP measures the prices of the net output of total goods and services in the economy. Figures based on GNP have been used for Germany because they are the most comparable available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what arrangements are being made by his Department to ensure that examination papers for the GCSE are available in Braille;(2) what is his Department's policy on ensuring that blind and partially sighted students have adequate access to the examination process.

The responsibility for administering the examination process rests with individual examining boards. The joint council for the GCSE have issued guidance common to all examing groups to deal with pupils with disabilities such as a visual impairment. The Welsh Joint Education Committee issues GCSE and A-level papers in Braille when requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to ensure that adults with learning difficulties in Wales are given adequate opportunities for employment training.

The responsibility for ensuring appropriate provision under employment training now rests with training and enterprise councils (TECs). All TECs are required to address the need of adults with learning difficulties in their corporate and business plans. The additional resources for employment training announced on 19 June 1991 will be targeted on people with special training needs, in particular those with literacy and numeracy difficulties. In addition negotiations are taking place with two TECs in Wales to pilot centres to encourage trainees to improve basic literacy and numeracy and promote the use of City and Guilds Certificates in word power and number power.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out the criteria by which he determines what level of compensation to pay to people who have been wrongfully imprisoned; and whether he has any plans to alter these criteria.

When my right hon. Friend has determined that payment of compensation following a wrongful conviction is justified, the amount to be paid is assessed by an independent assessor. The assessor applies principles analogous to those governing the assessment of damages for civil wrongs.The assessment takes account of both pecuniary and non-pecuniary loss arising from the conviction and/or loss of liberty, including matters such as damage to character or reputation, hardship (including mental suffering) and inconvenience, loss of earnings and future earning capacity, legal costs, and other additional expenses arising in consequence of detention including expenses incurred by the immediate familyWe have no plans at present to amend these arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will outline the procedures used by the Metropolitan police to vet taxi drivers, describe the offences for which licenses are refused and outline the appeals procedure open to the driver; and if he will make a statement.

Applicants for cab drivers' licences are required to declare any previous convictions to the Public Carriage Office of the Metropolitan police. Appliations are checked against the national collection of criminal records. In considering whether or not to grant a licence regard is paid to the seriousness of any offences and to how long ago they were committed. A right of appeal against the refusal of a licence is contained in section 17 of the Transport Act 1985.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what legislation is required to implement the police national computer network, the new criminal record system or the integration of police criminal information systems in general; and whether he will make a statement.

The need for legislation is one of the matters which is considered in preparing the case for new national information services for the police. It is presently being considered in relation to both a police national network and a new national criminal records system and would need to be examined in any proposal for the integration of police criminal information systems.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current size of each category found in the wanted and missing persons index of the police national computer; and whether he can include in these statistics an indication of the minimum and maximum size of each category in the index over the year.

The information requested is as follows:

Category	Current
Wanted	33,192
Fails to Appear	36,544
Suspect	21
Impending Prosecution	77
Deserter	1,367
Locate	51,582
Missing	2,460
Found	15
Absconder—from care	484
—from hospital	81
—from detention	4
—from youth custody	112
—from prison	1,140
—from remand	11
—from school	36
Recall —from detention	0
—from youth custody	2
—from prison	319

Figures on the minimum and maximum size of each category over the past year are not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many subject access requests were made under the Data Protection Act 1984 to the Metropolitan police for each year since 1987; and what proportion were made to criminal records.

I understand that the number of subject access requests made to the Metropolitan police in each year since 1987 was as follows:

Year	Number
1987	23
1988	423
1989	1,131
1990	1,647
11991	399
1 March.

Statistics are not kept on the proportion of requests which relate to criminal records, but it is estimated that the vast majority of requests were for this purpose.The vast majority sought access to criminal names.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current size of each index of the police national computer; and whether he can include in these statistics an indication of the minimum and maximum size of each index over the last year.

The information requested is as follows:

Intex	Current size
Vehicle owners	39,017,200
Stolen vehicles	547,332
Chassis-engine numbers	914,274
Wanted/missing persons	131,948
Cross reference	706,363
Disqualified drivers	382,298
Convictions	3,827,885
Criminal names	5,783,622
Fingerprints	4,270,292
Crime pattern analysis	110,059
Extremists crime index	1,152
Major investigations	330,939

Information on the minimum and maximum size of each index over the last year has not been collected because of other essential work on preparing the database for its transfer to the new police national computer.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has as to the number of accesses made to the police national computer by each constabulary in Great Britain over the last year; and whether he can give the proportion of access requests made to the vehicle indexes of the police national computer.

The information requested is as follows:

Force	Numbers of transactions for the year up to May 1991	Proportion of transactions made to vehicle indices
Avon and Somerset	994,287	64·8
Bedfordshire	398,709	70·1
British Transport Police	161,730	43·1
Cambridgeshire	388,925	64·0
Central	159,990	52·9
Cheshire	440,291	60·2
City of London	99,339	64·6
Cleveland	357,058	60·7
Cumbria	386,831	62·8
Derbyshire	463,873	68·4
Devon and Cornwall	783,853	61·1
Dorset	515,411	59·2
Dumfries and Galloway	106,396	54·6
Durham	362,429	55·4
Dyfed-Powys	223,378	52·1
Essex	859,664	60·1
Fife	140,848	48·7
Gloucestershire	343,580	68·1
Grampian	290,132	54·0
Greater Manchester	2,436,529	60·6
Guernsey	16,491	6·5
Gwent	232,584	51·5
Hampshire	908,148	60·0
Hertfordshire	451,152	64·7
Humberside	548,998	60·2
Isle of Man	10,234	28·4
Jersey	35,232	5·4
Kent	1,139,038	64·1
Lancashire	1,172,783	57·2
Leicestershire	432,221	64·3
Lincolnshire	288,829	62·8

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what statistics he has as to the number of subject access requests made to criminal records held by the Metropolitan police or the police national computer that have been made for vetting purposes; and whether he will make a statement.

No statistics are available on this matter as applicants seeking subject access do not have to give reasons for their requests.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accesses were made to each index of the police national computer over the last year; and whether he will include in these statistics an indication of the number of access requests that could search more than one index.

The total number of accesses to each of the indices of the police national computer in the year to 31 May 1991 was as follows:

	Index	Number of accesses
1.	Stolen and Suspect Vehicles	22,771,400
2.	Vehicle Owners
3.	Chassis/Engine Numbers
4.	Fingerprints	194,074
5.	Fingerprints (Scenes of Crime)	13,021
6.	Criminal Names1	2,017,903
7.	Wanted/Missing Persons	2,144,1(13
8.	Disqualified Drivers	725,448
9.	Convictions	956,352
10.	Major Investigations	1,302
11.	Crime Pattern Analysis	296,535

There have also been the following joint accesses:

	Number
To indices 6 and 92	2,017,903
To indices 6, 7 and 9	1,534,343
To indices 6, 7, 8 and 9	8,460,357
To indices 4, 6 and 9	606,569

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current size of each category found in the stolen and suspect vehicle index of the police national computer; and whether he can include in these statistics an indication of the minimum and maximum size of each category in the index over the year.

Information requested is as follows:

Category	Current
Confirmed lost or obtained by deception	437,847
Lost or stolen	447,634
Obtained by deception	18
Found	31,712
Removed	16,764
Street to street	152
Repossessed by finance company	0
Suspect	42
Police vehicle	3,037
Blocked	6,980
Information	20,486
Seen	8,021

Information on the minimum and maximum of each category over the last year has not been collected because of other essential work on preparing the database for transfer to the new police national computer.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many subject access requests were made under the Data Protection Act 1984 to the police national computer for each year since 1987; and what proportion were made to the criminal names index.

The information requested is as follows:

	Number
1987	82
1988	2,628
1989	8,758
1990	13,848
11991	8,413
1 31 May.

Nearly all were made of the criminal names index, save in 1987 when the proportion was under 50 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when the decision was taken to send passport applications from Peterborough to Belfast;(2) how many unopened letters are there on a daily basis at each of the passport offices;(3) how many unopened passport applications there are at the Peterborough office.

These questions have been passed to the chief executive of the United Kingdom Passport Agency who will reply shortly. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on his Department's funding for the building of the new police station in Oakham, Rutland; and when it is scheduled to be completed.

I understand that work on the new police station at Oakham began in April and is expected to be completed in October 1992 at a cost of £1,125,000. This expenditure will be eligible for Home Office grant of 51 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward legislation to extend the provisions of the Race Relations Act to all areas of governmental and regulatory activity, including the immigration, police and prison services; and if he will make a statement.

Section 75 of the Race Relations Act 1976 states that the provisions of the Act as a whole apply to actions done by Ministers and Government Departments, and to actions done on their behalf, in the same way as they apply to the actions of a private person. It is for the courts to decide how the provisions should be interpreted.If an on-duty police officer treats a person improperly on the grounds of that person's colour, race, nationality, or ethnic or national origin, he is committing an offence of racially discriminatory behaviour and can be disciplined under paragraph 9 of the police discipline code, which is set out in schedule 1 to the Police (Discipline) Regulations 1985.The Commission for Racial Equality has recently launched a review of the 1976 Act; we will, of course, consider any recommendations which come out of the review, but at present we have no plans for legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests he has received this year from local authorities for guidance on the enforcement of Sunday trading legislation.

Between I January and 27 June this year inclusive we received, either directly or via hon. Members, 31 letters from local authorities about Sunday trading. Two of these specifically requested guidance on the enforcement of the Sunday trading provisions of the Shops Act 1950.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the terms of reference for the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England, fourth general review; what is its timetable; and what is its progress to date.

The Boundary Commission for England is carrying out its fourth general review of constituencies under the provisions of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986. Under the Act, it is required to submit reports on all the constituencies in England to the Secretary of State not less than 10 nor more than 15 years after the submission of the previous such reports. The Commission is therefore required to report between February 1993 and February 1998.Since the start of the review, in February, the Commission has obtained ward electorates from the 1991 electoral register. These have been updated to take account of ward changes up to 1 April. A list giving the electorate for each ward has been placed in the Library.Later this month, the Commission will be considering its provisional recommendations for Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset; these will be published later this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list biographical details of each member of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England.

The information requested is as follows: The chairman of the Commission is the Speaker of the House of Commons.The deputy chairman is Sir John Knox. He was called to the Bar in 1953, became a QC in 1979, and was appointed a judge of the Chancery Division of the High Court in 1985. He is also a member of the Lord Chancellor's Law Reform Committee.Miss Sheila Cameron QC was called to the Bar in 1957 and became a QC in 1983. She is a deputy High Court judge, recorder, and vicar-general of the province of Canterbury and a member of the parliamentary, planning and local government Bar.Mr. David Macklin CBE is a former chief executive of Devon county council and has also held local government posts in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what response has been made to the recommendations of the Employment Select Committee's first report of Session 1990–91 on disability and employment; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the Chairman of the Select Committee on 15 January to express his pleasure at the participation of the Committee in the consultative process, to say that the Committee's comments will be given full consideration along with all others received and to commit himself to keeping the Committee informed on progress on all the issues they raised.My right hon. and learned Friend wrote again on 17 April, to inform the Committee of the decision about the future development of the specialist services for people with disabilities which are provided by the Employment Services and to say that he believed that the changes which he announced would help to meet the concerns about disablement resettlement officers (DROs) expressed in the Committee's report.The Committee will continue to be informed of appropriate decisions in line with the Secretary of State's commitment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 10 June, Official Report, column 435–38; if he will provide the same information given in percentage form in terms of the absolute number of employees affected in each category.

The information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many YOP, YTS and youth training places were available in Lancashire for each year since 1978 to 1990.

The information requested is given in the following table. Information prior to 1985–86 is not readily available.

Youth training
Number of agreed places in Lancashire
At 31 March	Number
1986	7,100
1987	11,400
1988	15,800
1989	15,000
1990	13,900

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that adults with learning difficulties are given adequate opportunities for employment training.

Training and enterprise councils are required to set out in their business plans how they intend to offer suitable training to people with special needs, including learning difficulties. These plans form the basis of their contract with the Department. Those people joining employment training from the Government's guarantee and aim groups for long-term unemployed people will include substantial numbers of people with special training needs.On 19 June the Secretary of State announced a package of measures including an additional £35 million for employment training, in particular to support training for people with special needs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will announce the membership of the new National Advisory Council on the Employment. of People with Disabilities.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State has appointed 12 new members and reappointed four existing members to the National Advisory Council on Employment of People with Disabilities for a period of three years from 1 July 1991. The chairman of the council is Mr. Alan Smith MBE, FIPM, FBIM, FinstD. His appointment runs until 31 December 1992, and has not been affected by the new appointments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what measures he intends to take to encourage the creation of alternative employment for textile and footwear workers who have been made redundant, with particular reference to the east midlands;(2) what measures he intends to take to reverse the employment trends that have occurred in the textile and footwear industry since 1979.

[holding answer 1 July 1991]: It is the private sector that will create alternative employment for textile and footwear workers made redundant in the east midlands or elsewhere. The work force in employment in the east midlands rose by 263,000 in the period March 1983 to December 1990.The Department supports a number of initiatives in the textile and footwear industries aimed at increasing skill levels, meeting skill shortages, and strengthening the industries' ability to export.The full range of services and facilities of the Department, the employment service, and the training and enterprise councils is available to assist employees who lose their jobs in the textile and footwear industry and other industries to find, and train for, alternative employment.

Maternity beds and special care baby cots per thousand births by District Health Authority of occurrence, National Health Service hospitals, England 1989–90
	Total maternity beds			Special care baby cots not in maternity wards
Regional/District Health Authority	Live births (thousands)	Average daily number	Number per 1,000 births	Average daily number	Number per 1,000 births
Northern RHA	38·95	1,058	27·2	262	6·7
Hartlepool	1·80	52	28·9	15	8·3
North Tees	2·27	74	32·6	19	8·4
South Tees	4·58	92	20·1	20	4·4

To ask the Prime Minister whether he will remind all Ministers of the requirement that with all ministerial replies to Members' letters, a copy of the Minister's letter must always be enclosed.

I have asked my hon. Friend the Patronage Secretary to write to Ministers' offices.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for 2 July.

This morning 1 had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will meet Sir Edward Parkes, chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals, to discuss university funding.

I have told the CVCP that I am ready to meet them in due course to discuss their proposals for achieving the desired expansion of higher education with greater efficiency.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the information bulletin on the activities of the United Kingdom delegation to the parliamentary assemblies of the Council of Europe and the assembly of the Western European Union which has been sent to him.

I have done so today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many maternity beds are available in each district health authority per 1,000 births;(2) what is the number of special care baby cots in each district health authority per 1,000 births.

The available information is given in the following table. It should be noted that some health authorities provide special care facilities for neonates within maternity units. In these cases the cots are not counted separately and are therefore not included in the table.