To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will state the number of bus companies in the United Kingdom for each year since 1985 and the number of mergers and takeovers of bus companies for each year since 1985.

The approximate numbers of bus and coach operators in Great Britain are given in the table. The Department of Transport does not collect this information for Northern Ireland.

	Number
March 1986	5,800
March 1987	5,900
March 1988	5,900
March 1989	6,000
March 1990	6,200
March 1991	6,400

These figures are based on the total number of PSV operators' licences issued by the traffic area offices. There is considerable uncertainty about the number of smaller operators because of the high rate at which such operators enter and leave the industry.A comprehensive register of mergers and takeovers is not maintained by the Department. However, table 10.3 in the recently published transport statistics report "Bus and Coach Statistics Great Britain 1990/91" illustrates the increasing importance of consortia in the provision of local bus services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many light railways or tramways are now under construction or planned in the United Kingdom; and what funding and grants are available for constructing them.

Light railways are under construction in Manchester and Sheffield and some 40 other light rapid transit schemes have been proposed or are being considered. We are prepared to grant-aid worth while schemes under section 56 of the Transport Act 1968 subject to the availability of resources.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last met representatives of the Mobility Alliance to discuss the development of community transport projects.

My Department works closely with the Mobility Alliance on all aspects of community transport operations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what investment proposals London Regional Transport has for improving the Northern line.

I understand that improvements to stations at the southern end of the Northern line costing around £45 million are likely to be in London Underground's investment programme over the next three years, as are major track and structural renewals throughout the system, amounting to some £55 million. During 1992–93, London Underground intends to spend around £10 million on escalator refurbishments, including those at Clapham North, Clapham South, Tooting Broadway and Tooting Bec. The modernisation of the Northern line remains London Underground's next major line improvement priority after the Central line scheme is completed in 1995.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to publish the terms of reference for the Local Government Commission.

Clause 13 of the Local Government Bill provides for the Local Government Commission to recommend the structural, boundary or electoral changes which appear to it desirable, having regard to the need to reflect the identities and interests of local communities and to secure effective and convenient local government.A paper on the Government's draft guidance to the Local Government Commission for England was issued for consultation on 25 November. Copies were sent to the local authority associations and other interested organisations and placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to ratify the European charter for local government.

The Government do not intend to sign the European charter of local self-government. Local government is not a suitable subject for regulation by an international convention.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what bids he has received from the London borough of Hackney for the estate action programme 1992–93; what estates were covered by the bid and at what cost to each; and what order of priority was identified by Hackney council in the bid.

Hackney has set its estate action bids for 1992–93 in the context of the strategy of its comprehensive estates initiative, which covers five of its worst large panel system-built estates.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress his Department is making with the management of underwater archaeological sites since taking over responsibility for administering the relevant sections of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894.

The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 remains the responsibility of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, but in April this year my Department took over responsibility for the operation of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 in English waters.Since then we have taken a number of steps to ensure that important underwater archaeological sites are adequately protected.In May we moved quickly to protect a site in the Erme estuary, south Devon and have licensed archaeological work on that and a further eight protected sites this season.Since the majority of protected sites were discovered by amateur divers, it is important that they should understand the basics of archaeology and to that end we have granted the Nautical Archaeology Society almost £30,000 in 1991–92, with similar levels likely in the following two years, to expand its training and education programme.Protection can be effective only for known sites. We have therefore expanded the programme of our contractors, the archeological diving unit of St. Andrews university, to examine further sites which might merit protection and increased the resources of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England for the preparation of a central record of historic wrecks, as proposed in the environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance".My Department has also been working in conjunction with the joint nautical archaeology policy committee on an explanatory note for divers to remove misconceptions about the operations of the legislation affecting wrecks and a draft code of practice for seabed developers whose operations might affect archaeological sites.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the eligibility of the Elm energy and recycling project, Wolverhampton for a city grant; when he expects a final decision on the project's eligibility to be made; what procedures have been used in assessing the project; and if he will make a statement.

No formal application for city grant has been made to the Department. Representatives of the firm will be meeting my officials to discuss their proposals next week. Following that meeting the Department will be able to advise Elm Energy on whether an application for city grant is likely to be successful.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many drought orders his Department has granted in each year since records began.

Since 1976, when the Drought Act 1976 brought in the present drought order powers, the Secretary of State for the Environment has made the following numbers of drought orders:

	Number
1976	116
1977	nil
1978	17
1979	nil
1980	2
1981	nil
1982	13
1983	5
1984	82
1985	nil
1986	nil
1987	nil
1988	1
1989	74
1990	65
11991	28
1To date.

This table corrects a misprint in my answer to the hon. Member of 7 November 1991,

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to make new regulations about declaration of financial interests by councillors and senior officials of local authorities; and when such regulations will come into operation.

Regulations will be made and will come into operation as soon as possible; they will not concern officials' financial interests.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the 1989–90 rates bill and his estimate of the 1991–92 council tax bill for a couple and two 1991–92 community charges for a two bedroom flat in a council tower block and a two-bedroom turn-of-century terraced house in (a) Barnet, (b) Brent, (c) Croydon, (d) Hackney, (e) Harrow, (f) Havering, (g) Kensington and Chelsea, (h) Lewisham, (i) Southwark and (j) Waltham Forest.

[holding answer 26 November 1991]: The information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of gross national product is accounted for by public spending on housing.

[holding answer 28 November 1991]: The latest available outturn figure for gross expenditure on housing in Great Britain, including spending from receipts and on housing benefits, relates to 1989–90 when it accounted for 2·2 per cent. of gross domestic product.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out to date the conclusions and agreements he has reached in the Trevi series of intergovernmental meetings.

Ministers of Interior/Justice of the member states of the European Community are scheduled to meet on 2 and 3 December. At the present time, therefore, no conclusions have been reached or agreements made following the intergovernmental meetings which have taken place during the Dutch presidency.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he was informed of the recent Staffordshire police operation in Brixton gaol;(2) if the involvement of Staffordshire police inside Brixton prison was made known to Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons when preparing his report.

The allegations on which the questions appear to be based fall to be considered by Mr. Colin Bailey, whose appointment was announced by the chief constable of Staffordshire on 20 November. As I made clear in my reply to the hon. Member on 21 November at column 265, information relating to the prisoners' intention to escape was not reported to Ministers until after the escape. It was made available to prison service headquarters and to the governor of HM prison Brixton in February 1991 and to HM chief inspector of prisons in the context of his inquiry into the escape.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate the alleged break-in to Brixton prison three days prior to the escape of two suspected IRA terrorists.

The allegations have been looked into. There is no evidence to substantiate them.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what facilities exist in Brixton prison to screen incoming packages.

Primarily x-ray facilities and metal detectors.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 22 November, Official Report, column 330, if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the reason for the presence of 24 police officers in the vicinity of Wandsworth prison on 7 July 1991.

On 7 July 1991 the governor at Wandsworth received information that an escape attempt might be made from the prison. In accordance with standard procedures, the governor informed the Metropolitan police. A decision was made by the police to attend.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young offenders were transferred from Hewell Grange to the young offender institution at Finnamore Wood camp during September 1991.

Twenty-one.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if, when considering whether to approve the closure of the magistrates court in Winchester, he will take into account the extra transport costs which such closure would impose on the inhabitants of Winchester;(2) what information he has on the specific information, including details of the accountancy formula used, on which Hampshire magistrates court committee has based its proposed decision to close Winchester magistrates court.

These questions do not arise because I understand that the Hampshire magistrates courts committee has as yet taken no decision about the Winchester courthouse. The Home Secretary's approval for the closure of any magistrates courthouse is required only if there is an appeal to him by the paying local authority concerned under section 56 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1979 against a courts committee's decision to close it. If there were to be an appeal in the case of Winchester full account would be taken of all the relevant arguments including the circumstances of court users.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 22 October to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State regarding an application by a citizen of Sudan.

A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 27 November.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes are proposed to the executive powers of the executive co-ordinator of the regional crime squads; and whether the executive co-ordinator is to be given overall control of the regional criminal intelligence offices and the technical support units.

When the new national criminal intelligence service is established in 1992, the executive co-ordinator of the regional crime squads will become one of its two deputy directors. There will be no change to the existing situation in which the executive co-ordinator has no executive authority in relation to either the regional criminal intelligence offices or the technical support units.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will (a) list the titles of the branches and squads for the Metropolitan police specialist operations department, and (b) state how the creation of the national criminal intelligence service will affect these units.

The information requested is as follows:

SO1	International and Organised Crime Branch
	1 Squad. Major investigation pool
	2 Squad. National office for the suppression of counterfeit currency
	3 Squad. Extradition, passport and illegal immigration-deportation
	5 Squad. Central cheque squad
	6 Squad. Stolen motor vehicle investigation squad
SO2	Crime support branch
SO3	Scenes of crime branch
SO4	National identification bureau
SO5	Miscellaneous force indexes
SO6	Metropolitan and City police company fraud squad
SO7	Metropolitan police forensic science laboratory
SO8	Serious crime branch (flying squad)
SO9	Regional crime squad
SO10	1Crime operations group
SO11	1 Metropolitan police criminal intelligence branch
SO12	Special branch
SO13	Anti-terrorist branch
SO14	Royalty protection branch
SO15	Royal palaces division
SO16	Diplomatic protection group
SO17	PNC bureau
SO18	Palace of Westminster
1 It is presently intended that parts of these units will become part of the national criminal intelligence service.
2 The commercial criminal intelligence bureau (presently part of SO6) will become part of the national criminal intelligence service.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the transitional and full "cut over" date for users of the integrated national criminal intelligence system;(2) which existing databases will form the basis for the integrated national criminal intelligence system;(3) if he will list the location of all the regional criminal intelligence offices; and indicate which offices

There are currently nine regional criminal intelligence offices, none of which is fully computerised and all of which interface with the police national computer. Their locations are:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if there are any plans to create a DNA database as part of the national criminal intelligence system or on the new PNC 2 computer.

There are no such plans. The question of establishing a DNA database has been put to the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give details not involving national security of the Metropolitan police C department computer, including (a) a description of the indexes held and number of entries, (b) the number of terminals attached to the system, and (c) the number of officers qualified to use the system.

I understand from the Commissioner that C Department of the Metropolitan police ceased to exist with the reorganisation of the service in 1987.Following reorganisation, a number of C department branches amalgamated with other branches to form specialist operations department.There are 123 separate computer systems in specialist operations department. Information regarding the indexes held, the number of entries, the number of terminals attached to the systems and the number of officers authorised to use them is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will give brief details of the computer systems in use and those planned for the Metropolitan police force;(2) if he will give details of the new computer facilities that are planned for all users of the Metropolitan police specialist operations department computer.

I understand from the Commissioner that the Metropolitan police service uses computer systems for criminal intelligence, financial management, equipment management, word processing, desk top publishing, computer-aided dispatch messages, and management and personnel information. In addition, the service uses the PNC and HOLMES systems.There are plans to bring into operation within the next few years a crime report and information system (CRIS), a computer-based accounting system (FINESSE) and a system for the police estate (PREMSYS).

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will detail which indexes have migrated from the police national computer on to the new facilities of PNC 2, and if he will list, and give the projected size of, the indexes planned for PNC 2.

The following information is now on PNC2:

• Criminal names
• Fingerprints
• Wanted and missing persons
• Disqualified drivers
• Convictions
• Cross references
• Vehicle owners
• Vehicle reports
• Stolen property
• Police directories

Further applications are being planned for PNC2 including a national criminal records system and a national criminal intelligence system. The sizes of the databases for these applications have not yet been decided.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he received a complaints form from Mr. Terry Foster of Winson Green prison; and on what date an official acknowledgement was sent in reply.

Mr. Foster submitted a request/complaint to the governor of Birmingham prison on 30 October. On the following day a member of staff explained matters to Mr. Foster orally and on 4 November he was sent an acknowledgement. A written reply was given on 20 November.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what were the ages of people applying for citizenship, in each of the last five years, who were born in the United Kingdom but not registered at the time;(2) how many applications he has received in each of the last five years for citizenship from people born in the United Kingdom whose birth was not registered at the time.

This information is not available. Registration of a person's birth is not directly relevant to their entitlement to British citizenship.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the establishment and present strength of each regional crime squad in England and Wales; and whether any decision has been made on the proposals of the executive co-ordinator of regional crime squads for their restructuring made in his report of January 1990;(2) if the Metropolitan police's squads for serious crime are to be integrated into the south-east England regional crime squad.

The information requested is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to introduce a new machine-readable jumbo passport.

I am pleased to announce that the computerisation of the Passport Agency's regional offices is now complete. We are therefore introducing a new machine-readable jumbo passport, for use by frequent travellers. The Privy Council has approved an Order in Council, the Consular Fees (Amendment)(No. 3)Order 1991, which gives authority for the issue of a machine-readable 48-page jumbo passport at a fee of £22·50, compared with a fee of £15 for a standard 32-page passport. The order will come into effect on 2 December, and the Passport Agency will begin to issue the new passport once stocks of the old blue jumbo passports are exhausted.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Staffordshire on how many police officers in his force have been removed from normal duties in the past two years and the reasons for such removals.

We understand from the chief constable that two police officers were required to resign in 1989 for criminal conduct and neglect of duty and one in 1990 for neglect of duty. We understand that a further nine officers in 1989 and eight in 1990 were charged with offences against the discipline code. The chief constable does not publicly discuss the offences with which the individual officers were charged.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has put in place to keep under review the breeds of dog on which he might wish to exercise his powers under section 2 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

Home Office officials closely monitor the nature and circumstances of dog attacks brought to their attention by a variety of means. My right hon. Friend and I receive regular reports from them both about specific incidents and more generally about the operation of the existing measures to deal with dangerous dogs.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will privatise the office of the directorate of telecomunications; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's objective is to achieve better quality and value for money in the delivery of Government services by introducing competition. In line with this objective, the directorate now charges police forces and others for its services in direct competition with the private sector. DTELS, as it is now called, is also implementing a programme of extensive management change aimed at producing a viable commercial operation. Its position in the public sector will then be reviewed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures Her Majesty's Government are taking to ensure that in any reform of the Shops Act 1950, the position of small shops is protected.

As I indicated in my reply on 26 November to an earlier question from my hon. Friend at columns 446–47, proposals that small shops should be allowed legally to trade longer into the evenings, and in the full range of their goods on Sundays, are being taken fully into account in our consideration of the reform of the Shops Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will instigate a system of reporting and recording information from the health services, coroners' courts, and the police on the scale of fatalities among the homeless and itinerants.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had with Outlets Providing for Everyday Needs about the small shops' campaign for Sunday trading.

I met representatives of OPEN on 30 May, in my programme of discussions with a wide range of interest groups on possible ways of reforming the law on Sunday trading in England and Wales; and on 7 August, when at their invitation I visited a typical small convenience store. OPEN have since corresponded with me about their proposals for reform.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate proposed competition with private sector manufacturers on the production of sonic motorcycle repeater equipment by the directorate of telecommunications; and if he will make a statement.

The provision of equipment for police forces is the responsibility of police authorities. Versions of the motorcycle repeater unit, which is available from DTELS, have been in use by forces for some years. It is for police authorities, advised by chief constables, to decide whether to purchase these or any other units.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the Charities Bill [Lords].

Since publication of the Bill we have received one letter from an hon. Member forwarding correspondence from his constituent; about 10 from Peers; and a dozen letters from charities and professional bodies. The majority of correspondents have expressed general support for the aims of the Bill.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the number of life-sentenced prisoners, excluding terrorist cases, held in British prisons for each year since 1979.

Information on offences committed by terrorists is recorded centrally only for prisoners sentenced to life for homicide. The readily available information is given in the table.

Population of life sentence prisoners in prison service establishments in England and Wales on 30 June: by year, 1979–90
Year	Number1
1979	1,431
1980	1,569
1981	1,660
1982	1,773
1983	1,807
1984	1,902
1985	2,032
1986	2,174
1987	2,320
1988	2,484
1989	2,656
21990	2,778
1 Excluding terrorists sentenced for murder or manslaughter.
2 Provisional figures.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give details of the number of mandatory and discretionary life-sentenced prisoners, excluding terrorist cases, that have been released from British prisons for each year since 1979.

Information on offences committed by terrorists is recorded centrally only for prisoners sentenced to life for homicide. The readily available information is given in the table.

Persons1 released from prison service establishments in England and Wales on life licence, 1979–90
Year of release	Murder2	Manslaughter2	Other offence3
1979	62	6	3
1980	33	10	6
1981	57	10	10
1982	79	5	17
1983	83	5	14
1984	52	7	7
1985	51	3	6
1986	37	3	4
1987	46	2	3
1988	54	8	3
1989	62	4	1
41990	48	9	7
1Excluding persons released following a recall.
2Excluding terrorists.
3Including terrorists.
1Provisional figures.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list those measures brought in since December 1990 which are aimed at bringing about a classless society.

Government policies are designed to improve society by the removal of barriers to choice and by the provision of opportunity.A key element in our approach is the citizens charter, which is intended to ensure that everyone, whoever and wherever they are, will have access to the same high-quality public services. This approach is reflected in our legislative programme and other measures that we are taking.Our education policies will raise standards and improve parental choice. We have introduced legislation to provide parents with more information about the performance of schools; to improve school inspection; to widen access to an expanded higher education system; to abolish the distinction between universities and polytechnics; and to raise the status of vocational education and of further education colleges.Our health policies are designed to achieve a more efficient health service with higher quality of health care for all, underpinned by a new approach of setting targets for the improvement of health in key areas, as proposed in the recent consultative document "The Health of the Nation" and its Scottish and Welsh equivalents. Legislation has been introduced this Session aimed at improving the standards of local government services with increased powers for local authority auditors and provision to extend competition to a wider range of services.In the housing field we have introduced pilot rent-to-mortgage schemes to extend tenants' present opportunities to buy their own homes. We are preparing a revised tenants charter for local authority tenants and a new right to repair. We have brought in new arrangements to ensure that tenants are actively consulted in local authorities' housing plans.We are providing more effective training opportunities and better help for the unemployed in obtaining new jobs. Our policies continue to provide strong support for people in the inner cities, and the new initiative of city challenge announced earlier this year gives the whole community an opportunity to bring imaginative and innovative approaches to regenerating their cities.We attach particular significance to support for families through the provision of increased child benefit, and the establishment of the Child Support Agency, for which legislation was introduced and enacted earlier this year, to improve the enforcement and collection of child maintenance. We are continuing to improve the opportunities for disabled people to play an independent part in society. This year we enacted legislation to introduce two new social security benefits for disabled people.We have taken steps, through support of Opportunity 2000 and in other ways, to increase opportunities for women and people from the ethnic minorities to play their full part in public and national life.These policies, and many others, will contribute to the development of a society with fewer divisions, in which talent and initiatives are rewarded.

To ask the Prime Minister what is his normal practice for dealing with mail addressed to him by right hon. and hon. Members; and if he will make a statement.

I receive an enormous number of letters every week—currently some 5,000—from Members of Parliament and others. It is not possible for me to deal with all these letters personally and I must accordingly refer most of them to the Minister and the Department with the responsibility for the policy in question.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will amend his Department's guidance to health authorities on appointment to community health councils to remove the advice that appointing bodies should not appoint people over the age of 70 years without special reasons.

We have no plans to amend the Department's advice on the eligibility and criteria for appointment to community health councils.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the dangers to public health in the United Kingdom from the sale of creamed coconut contaminated with salmonella.

Properly produced creamed coconut poses no danger to public health in the United Kingdom. However, there have been a small number of instances recently where either the raw dessicated coconut or the processed product itself has been shown on routine testing to be contaminated with salmonella organisms. The Department has been actively involved in ensuring affected products have been withdrawn from the food chain. No cases of human illness associated with consumption of creamed coconut have been identified.Manufacturers of this product should purchase raw materials only from reliable sources and take the necessary precautions in accordance with good manufacturing practice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a table showing both the number and the percentage of the potential population of children registered as national health service patients with dentists in each family health service authority.

The information is shown in the table. Since the new dental contract was introduced in October last year, almost 6 million children in England have been registered with a dentist.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to which United Kingdom companies money under the aid and trade provision has already been allocated in the current financial year.

Aid agreements involving aid and trade provision funds have been concluded with Governments of developing countries in the current financial year for projects for which the following companies are lead United Kingdom contractors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the United Kingdom accepted the United Nations official aid target; and when the Government expect to meet that target.

We accepted the 0·7 per cent. target in principle in 1974. Successive Governments have declined to set down a timetable for meeting the target. The levels of aid depend upon our economic circumstances and on other calls on public resources. The aid programme has grown by 10 per cent. in real terms since 1987–88 and is planned to continue to do so. It is of high quality, well targeted and effective.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what achievements his Department has recorded in the environmental field since the appointment of a Minister with special responsibility for the environment was nominated for the social security team; and if he will make a statement.

The Department is committed to making the fullest possible contribution to achieving the aims of the Environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance".My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State was appointed the Department's environmental Minister in September 1990 and has established an environment steering group within the Department to undertake a comprehensive review of the environmental implications of all areas of departmental business and administration. This steering group is now being taken forward by the Benefits Agency.The Department is participating in the Government's campaign to reduce its energy consumption by 15 per cent. by April 1996. Additional staff have been appointed and trained to offer specialist advice on energy savings and over £0·5 million has been made available for investing in energy efficient measures. This has enabled offices to introduce water saving devices, high-frequency, low-energy fluorescent lighting and more effective lighting controls.To raise energy awareness issues among departmental staff, the April 1991 edition of the staff magazine featured a centre page spread on the environment. A further article covering environmental issues will appear in the February 1992 edition of the DSS quarterly journal.Since January 1991 officially acquired vehicles have either been propelled by diesel fuel or petrol engines with catalytic converters fitted. The number of vehicles operating on leaded fuel has been reduced to 4·8 per cent. of the fleet and replacement policy aims to reduce this figure to zero by mid-1992.In March an "unleaded petrol" only card was introduced for the purchases of fuel for appropriate cars.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will update to 1988 his reply to the right hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham, Official Report, 1 February 1990, column 348–50, showing the numbers of working and out-of-work families with children at different levels of income, according to the family size, distinguishing between one-parent and two-parent families and between one-earner and two-earner families; and showing the benefits on which the out-of-work families depended.

The information requested is set out in the following tables.These tables should be used only as free-standing income analyses and not for any time series or trend analyses.Some of the sample sizes in the tables are too small to be statistically reliable and robust conclusions cannot be drawn.