To ask the Prime Minister if he will set out the commitments of the United Kingdom under the declaration of the conference within article C of the provisions of a common foreign and security policy of the draft treaty on European union.

The declaration has no legally binding effect. It does not alter the fact that unanimous decisions will still require the unanimous support of all member states. It is similar to the provision in the Single European Act calling upon partners to refrain from impeding the formation of a consensus.

To ask the Prime Minister if, in relation to article E of the provisions of a common foreign and security policy of the draft treaty on European union with regard to matters coming within the common foreign and security policy, he will state within which international organisations and international conferences the United Kingdom will retain its own representation rather than be represented by the presidency of the European union.

The United Kingdom will retain the membership and representation in all international organisations and international conferences it enjoys at present.

To ask the Prime Minister (1) when he last met Sir Basil Feldman on official business; and what subjects were discussed;(2) how many times he has met Sir Basil Feldman in the last 12 months; and whether Sunday trading has been discussed.

My normal practice is to neither confirm nor deny whether meetings with private individuals have taken place.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will give the cost of running his office in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

The cost in 1990–91 was £8,225,816. The cost in 1989–90 was £7,669,276.

Note: Salaries and wages, notional pension liability, administration costs, the costs of office services and the grant-in-aid to the Chequers Trust are included in the costs. The Prime Minister's salary is excluded.

To ask the Prime Minister whether he has any proposals to recognise businesses who improve their environmental performance.

The Government's environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance", and last year's first anniversary report on it stressed that all parts of society have a role to play in securing environmental improvements. This applies not least to business.The Government want to create the right conditions to encourage business to improve its environmental performance and to recognise and reward those businesses which rise successfully to the challenge. On my recommendation, Her Majesty the Queen has given her approval in principle to the introduction of a new Queen's award for environmental achievement.The new award will recognise product and process development which has major benefits for the environment and which is commercially successful. It will form part of the established Queen's awards scheme alongside business awards for export and technology achievement. It is planned that applications will be sought in June and that the first environment awards will be made on the Queen's birthday on 21 April 1993.The addition of environment achievement to the Queen's awards builds on the pioneering work of the Royal Society of Arts whose better environment awards for industry have led the way and generated invaluable experience in awards for business in the environmental field. The RSA plans to continue activity in this area in a way which will complement the new Queen's award.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the lord lieutenants with the dates of their appointment and expected retirement.

A list of lord lieutenants, together with the dates of their appointment and expected retirement, is set out in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list all the confirmed cases of BSE in Northern Ireland (a) in 1991 and (b) before 1991 on a county basis.

Following is the information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give the location, including the county, of the incinerators which dispose of BSE-infected cattle that are currently operating in Northern Ireland and in each case give the potential capacity and actual capacity for through put each week of infected cattle; whether he has plans to introduce new incinerators; and if he will make a statement.

There are two incinerators currently operating in Northern Ireland, one at Dundonald, County Down, and one at Omagh, Co. Tyrone. These incinerators both of which are owned by the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland are used for the disposal of a wide range of pathological material, for example, clinical material submitted for diagnostic investigations and post-mortem examination. The Department is currently installing a new incinerator in County Down. The potential capacity—based on 24 hours a day, five days a week operation—and actual throughputs are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list for the financial years (a) 1989–90, (b) 1990–91, (c) 1991–92, (d) 1992–93 and (e) 1993–94 actual or projected expenditure on (i) print and (ii) audio-visual media advertising by (1) British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., (2) the Atomic Energy Authority, (3) Nuclear Electric and (4) Scottish Nuclear.

This is a commercial matter for the bodies in question.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether the United Kingdom has submitted any amendments to the secretariat of the review conference for the convention on the physical protection of nuclear materials to be held in Vienna in July.

No. The United Kingdom does not see any need to propose changes in the current international convention.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East on 9 December 1991, Official Report, column 336, he will set out the criteria used in choosing the appointees to the Euratom scientific and technical committee.

The scientific and technical committee must be consulted on any matters where the Euratom treaty so provides. The main areas in question are nuclear research, radiation protection and hazardous waste management. United Kingdom members are chosen for their expertise in these fields.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether, following the reply given by the EC Energy Commissioner to Mr. Llewelyn Smith MEP on 23 July 1991, European Parliament written question 958/91 EN, on United Kingdom plutonium stocks, he will now give the EC Commission permission to make public the amount of plutonium offered to Euratom on the United Kingdom's accession to the treaty of Rome on 1 January 1973.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has regarding the implications for future Japanese reprocessing contracts for Sellafield of the decision taken on 28 November 1991 by the Japanese Government's Science and Technology Agency to survey the safety and requirements to transport plutonium from the United Kingdom to Japan following reprocessing; and if Her Majesty's Government have been contacted by the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum Inc., which is conducting the survey.

I am not aware of any such decision.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions he has had with the Union of Democratic Mineworkers and Lloyds merchant bank about their proposals to apply for all or part of a privatised coal industry and to enable employees in the industry to become shareholders.

I have met the Union of Democratic Mineworkers and Lloyds merchant bank to discuss their proposals concerning the coal industry. However, no decisions as to the form or timing of the sale will be made until after the next election.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many inspector grade personnel who inspected offshore installations in the Department of Energy prior to 1 April 1991, have not taken up posts in the Health and Safety Executive's offshore division.

All such staff who were in post on 31 March transferred to the Health and Safety Executive's offshore division on 1 April 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make it his policy that an amount equal to that spent on fusion research should be spent on research into non-nuclear renewable energies; and if he will make a statement.

It is the Government's policy to allocate resources to research on energy sources in accordance with the needs of individual technologies and taking due account of their state of development. There is no merit in simply imposing arbitrary equality.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will obtain for his departmental library a copy of the Linkohr report to the European Parliament regarding European Community expenditure on fusion research.

A copy of this report is in the Department's library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place in the Western European Union concerning the deployment of French troops along the Djibouti-Eritrean border; and if he will make it his policy to request the removal of all foreign troops from the region.

There have been no discussions in the Western European Union on Djibouti. The deployment of French troops within that country is a bilateral matter for the Djibouti and French Governments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he, Ministers or officials of his Department, held any consultations with his United States counterpart over the content of the recent intergovernmental agreement concluded with South Korea to sign contracts with British Nuclear Fuels plc on nuclear fuel services for South Korea's nuclear industry.

Yes, there was contact at official level, subsequent to the announcement of the agreement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact which negotiations among members of the Commonwealth of Independent States on the deployment and control of their military forces is likely to have on international commitments previously entered into by the governments of the former Soviet Union.

Russia, as the continuing state, takes on all rights and obligations of the former Soviet Union. We have, however, also urged the other former republics to take on those rights and obligations as far as they can apply to them.The Minsk agreement on armed forces and border troops confirms the legal right of states to create their own armed forces. A high-level working group has been set up at NATO headquarters in Brussels to work with the new states to ensure that they uphold their responsibilities under the CFE treaty.The Alma Ata agreement on nuclear weapons and the Minsk agreement on strategic forces will have implications for the strategic arms reduction talks agreement between the US and former Soviet Union and the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, NPT. We and our allies are actively pursuing with the former republics the means to ensure that these agreements are fully honoured and that all former republics other than Russia accede to the NPT as non-nuclear weapons states as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 9 December 1991, Official Report, column 321 on Iraqi nuclear scientists, if he will list the categories used by his Department for recording entry visas issued to people from Iraq from 1979 onwards.

Records are maintained according to the category of visa issued—that is, visit, settlement, and categories. In cases where visit or student visas are issued, application forms are retained for two years and then destroyed. No separate record is kept of an applicant's personal details or profession. In cases where visas are issued to settlement or other long-term applicants, application forms, and index cards recording the applicant's personal details—but not profession—are retained for 10 years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a further statement on discussions with his United States counterpart on the terms of the possible accession of Byelorussia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

We strongly support accession to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty of these republics as soon as they are in a position to observe the treaty obligations. We have been in close touch with the United States and with out European partners on these matters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met the Secretary-General of the United Nations; what matters were discussed; and what agreements were reached.

I had valuable talks with the new United Nations Secretary-General, Dr. Boutros Ghali, during his visit to London on 13 January. We discussed a range of issues on the UN's current agenda including my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's proposal to convene a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on 31 January, which Dr. Boutros Ghali welcomed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 9 December, Official Report, column 321, if he will state the name of the Norwegian company concerned; and if he will make a statement about United Kingdom assistance once the Norwegian authorities have completed their investigations.

No. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Treasury proposes to make a statement when investigations have been completed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings have occurred between Ministers of Her Majesty's Government and Indonesian Ministers during 1991; and what matters were discussed.

Six Ministers met their Indonesian counterparts in 1991, either in London or in Jakarta. The Prime Minister also met the Indonesian Minister for Research. Discussions covered a wide range of issues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the Government contracts between Indonesia and Britain since 1975.

British companies have signed many contracts with Indonesia since 1975. Details are a matter for the companies involved. In terms of Governmental contracts, we sold obsolete tribal class frigates to Indonesia in the early 1980s.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has concerning the numbers of East Timorese (a) killed, (b) tortured, (c) missing feared killed or imprisoned and (d) arrested by the Indonesian security forces, since the occupation.

Accurate figures are very difficult to obtain. We believe a figure of 100,000 killed or died of starvation is credible. We have no credible figures of the number tortured, missing or arrested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action Her Majesty's Government have taken following the Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor; and if he will make a statement.

We have made representations to the Indonesians on several occasions here in London and in Jakarta. Our position has also been clearly set out in EC and Council of Europe declarations and in the EC presidency statement to the third committee of the UN General Assembly.We are also in close touch with our partners with the aim of supporting the efforts of the UN Secretary-General in this area.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from the Parliamentary Human Rights Group concerning the Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor.

We have received the report of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group on the recent shooting incident in East Timor. Members of the group have also raised with us their concern about the events in Dili.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the reasons for the United Kingdom's abstention on United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning the invasion of East Timor since 1975.

The United Kingdom, along with most other European Community partners, abstained on all resolutions passed in debate in the United Nations General Assembly between 1976 and 1982. We took the view that by so doing, in the company of other countries, we could help the process of reconciliation and the search for a diplomatic solution between Indonesia and Portugal. We continue to hold this view.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his (a) Portuguese and (b) Dutch counterparts concerning East Timor.

My right hon. Friend has held several discussions with his EC counterparts on East Timor, before and after the events in Dili in November.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action his Department has taken regarding those East Timorese missing after the Santa Cruz massacre.

The Indonesians are well aware of our concerns about those reported missing after shootings. We look to the Indonesian Government to investigate the fate of the missing fully and promptly, as they have promised to do. A further commission has been set up partly for this purpose.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost in 1992–93 of (a) cutting the basic rate of income tax by 1 per cent., (b) increasing the maximum for mortgage interest relief by £5,000, (c) increasing each personal and marriage allowance, including age-related allowance by £1,000 and (d) removing value added tax from granny flats.

The information is as follows:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has given evidence to the Bingham inquiry.

Yes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met Mr. David Mulford, the United States Treasury Under-Secretary for International Affairs; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer last met Mr. Mulford on 8 January 1992, when he briefed him on the Japan-United States joint communiqué on world economic growth issued by President Bush and Prime Minister Miyazawa. A copy of the communiqué is in the Library of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of requiring that all temporary service in the civil service count in full for pension, as recommended by the Priestley commission in 1956; how many persons would be affected; and at what ranks.

An estimate of the cost of allowing unestablished service rendered before 14 July 1949 to reckon in full for civil service pension purposes, including the cost of arrears of pension and increased lump sums, is not available. Information about the number of persons who would be affected and their ranks could only be provided at a disproportionate cost. If only those with such service who qualified for a pension are considered, and no arrears of pension were paid or change made in the basis of calculating lump sum retirement benefits, it was estimated in 1989 that some 100,000 pensioners would benefit at a cost over the next 25 years of the order of £400 million for the civil service alone.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any further proposals to privatise more industries.

Work is in hand on the planned privatisation of Northern Ireland Electricity, British Coal and British Rail. The Government continue to look for new opportunities for returning public sector industry and services to the private sector. Announcements of new candidates will be made in due course.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the levels of manufacturing output in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

Indices of United Kingdom manufacturing output can be found on the CSO databank which can be accessed by the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue has been raised from the increase in duty on pipe tobacco announced in the 1991 Budget; and what proportion this increase represents to the total increased revenue from all tobacco products arising from the 1991 Budget.

The increase in duty on pipe tobacco announced in the 1991 Budget will raise an estimated £5 million in 1991–92. This represents about 1 per cent. of the estimated total increase in revenue from all tobacco products.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the chair of the Finance and General Purposes Committee of Derbyshire county council concerning the statements of the Financial Secretary 18 November, Official Report, column 32, concerning Derbyshire county council; and if he will make a statement.

I have received a letter.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what would be the cost in a full year of increasing the ceiling for mortgage interest tax relief to £48,000;(2) what would be the level today of mortgage interest tax relief if it had been indexed for inflation

If the mortgage interest tax relief ceiling had been indexed in line with the retail prices index since 1979, it would be £63,000 in 1991–92. With indexation since its inception in 1974 the ceiling would be £131,000. The costs in 1991–92 of increasing the ceiling on mortgage interest tax relief are shown in the table.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the liquidators of BCCI concerning the emergence of further evidence relevant to his answer of 16 October, Official Report, column 159, concerning employees of BCCI; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has received no representations from the liquidators of BCCI concerning the employees since my answer of 16 October 1991, at column 159.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many members there are on the Deposit Protection Board; if he will list the members of the Deposit Protection Board; and what is the budget of the Deposit Protection Board.

There are, at present, six members of the Deposit Protection Board. There are three ex-officio members—the Governor of the Bank of England, the deputy governor, and the chief cashier—plus three ordinary members appointed by the Governor. They are Mr. B. Quinn, Mr. R. T. Fox and Mr. T. P. Frost. The appointment of a fourth ordinary member is outstanding, following the resignation of Mr. A. S. Park.In the year to 28 February 1991, the operating costs of the board were £314,000. For 1991–92, the original operating costs budget was £200,000, but this will clearly be exceeded due to the extra resources required to deal with BCCI.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next expects to meet representatives of the bloodstock industry to discuss liability for VAT after 1993.

My right hon. Friend has no appointment to meet representatives of the bloodstock industry to discuss value added tax. However, I am always ready to meet representatives of the bloodstock industry to discuss these issues and expect to arrange a meeting shortly.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the aggregate balance of payments in the original six EC countries in each year since 1962, in the EC nine as a whole, after 1973, and in the EC 12 as a whole since 1986, both in value and as a percentage of their total gross national product.

Comprehensive data are not readily available. Details on the balance of payments current account of the European Community individual countries and in total from 1988 are given in the EUROSTAT publication "External Trade Monthly Statistics, Theme 6, Series B, December 1991" a copy of which is in the Library. Further details from the Community's statistical office will be forwarded to the hon. Member when available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the achievements since 1979 of the funding of research and development in universities and polytechnics by (a) the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, formerly the Chemical Defence Establishment, and (b) the Atomic Weapons Establishment, formerly the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment.

It is not our policy to make available detailed information on the outcome of contracts and agreements between the Atomic Weapons Establishment and universities and polytechnics. The director general of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment will be writing to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many research and development contracts and agreements in universities and polytechnics are currently being funded by (a) the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment and (b) the Atomic Weapons Establishment; at how many universities and polytechnics; and what is the total value of these contracts and agreements.

The AWE currently has 24 research and development contracts or agreements with 15 universities or polytechnics, with a total value of £2.03 million. The director general of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment will be writing to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many research and development contracts, agreements and projects his Department is currently funding in universities and other institutions of higher education in Britain; what is their total value; and how many of them are classified secret.

The MOD is currently funding in universities and other institutions of higher education in Britain 791 research contracts and agreements with a total value of £71.2 million. One is classified secret.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money his Department is giving to the Interdisciplinary Research Centre into semiconductor materials; and for how long this funding is due to last.

The MOD has committed £600,000 to the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on semiconductor materials through the joint grant scheme with the research councils. This is for the three years to March 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many undergraduates and postgraduates from universities and other institutions of higher education are employed during the summer vacation at (a) the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment at Porton Down and (b) the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston; and for what purposes.

During the 1991 summer vacation there were 33 students employed at the Atomic Weapons Establishment. The director general of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment will be writing to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken by the Defence Research Agency to encourage universities and polytechnics to bid for his Department's research contracts.

I have asked the chief executive of the Defence Research Agency to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many agreements exist between Britain and the United States of America for the exchange of information about chemical and biological warfare; what are the titles of these agreements; how long each agreement has existed; what is the nature of each agreement; and which other countries are involved in each of these agreements.

The United Kingdom abandoned all offensive chemical and biological weapons in the late 1950s. Since then the United Kingdom has been wholly concerned with chemical and biological defence, that is, the provision of effective protective measures for the United Kingdom armed forces.Regular liaison and exchange of information takes place between the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as well as other allies, in the field of chemical and biological defence under a number of general defence agreements. A United Kingdom-United States of America-Canada memorandum of understanding on chemical and biological defence was signed in 1980, addressing exchange of information on chemical and biological defence research and development, and on production and procurement of chemical and biological defence equipment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many formal links exist between his Department and universities and polytechnics to reflect commonality of particular research interests; what is the nature of these links; which universities and polytechnics are involved; and how long these links have existed.

The Ministry of Defence has links with a wide range of universities and polytechnics including contracts and agreements for technical and non-technical research, involvement in Link projects, and funding for joint grants made with the research councils. The Ministry also supports the Centre for Defence Studies at the university of London.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at how many (a) polytechnics and (b) universities his Department has funded research in the last three years.

Eleven polytechnics and 43 universities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what formal links exist between universities and other institutions of higher education and (a) the Atomic Weapons Establishment and (b) the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, other than the awarding of research contracts and agreements.

Staff from the Atomic Weapons Establishment, as from other establishments, may be appointed as careers liaison officers to a university. When an undergraduate is taking advantage of MOD-funded bursary schemes, he or she may be allocated a tutor from an establishment, including AWE, with knowledge of the discipline being pursued.The director general of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment will be writing to the hon. Member about that establishment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money his Department is contributing towards the Link collaborative research scheme; which programmes are being funded by his Department; and to what purpose.

So far the MOD has committed £635,000 to Link projects. The programmes being funded are concerned with advanced semiconductor materials, nanotechnology and optoelectronic systems. The MOD participates in areas of work which are relevant to the defence research programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) service personnel, (b) service dependants and (c) national health service patients were treated as either (i) in-patients or (ii) out-patients at the Queen Elizabeth military hospital, Woolwich, during (1) 1990 and (2) 1991.

The table shows the number of service personnel, dependants and other NHS patients who have been treated as in-patients and out-patients at the Queen Elizabeth military hospital in 1990. Figures for 1991 are not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide details of the facilities charge paid by United Kingdom forces stationed overseas; whether there are exceptions to the payment of this tax for troops stationed at NATO, the United Nations and other bases which are not run directly by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Service accommodation charges worldwide formerly included elements for domestic rates, which were removed on the introduction of the community charge. Overseas, rates elements were superseded by the facilities charge, representing a contribution to the cost of facilities and amenities available to personnel and their families, from which they continue to derive the same benefit as before. The facilities charge currently ranges from £62 to £276 per annum, or double this in married quarters, depending on the type of accommodation occupied. The average payable is £208 per person per annum.Personnel serving overseas with international organisations normally occupy rented accommodation, and receive allowances to cover the costs. Rates of these allowances are reduced to take account of the accommodation charge, including facilities charge, that would be payable in service accommodation. Personnel on loan service or exchange postings are subject to special arrangements reflecting local conditions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the document issued to submarine commanding officers in respect of fishing vessel avoidance; and if he will make a statement.

No. Guidance on the avoidance of fishing vessels forms part of general submarine instructions which are classified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a recommendation to submarine commanding officers that a record is taken of each breach of the suggested separation zone of 3,000 yd between submarines and fishing vessels; if he will place a record of these annually in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

I will examine this proposal as part of the wider consideration being given to the safety of fishing vessels and submarines.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he intends to expand the notification scheme between fishermen and the Royal Navy to all United Kingdom waters; what progress has been made on discussions into this matter; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes) on 15 January 1992, Official Report, column 643.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made regarding the recommendation of the fatal accident inquiry into the sinking of the Antares in respect of giving urgent consideration to a separation zone between submarines and fishing vessels of 4,000 yd; and if he will make a statement.

All the recommendations of the sheriff principal are being considered, including increasing the separation zone to 4,000 yd for dived submarines. I will make an announcement on this as soon as our consideration and consultation with fishing industry representatives have been completed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans to revise the document issued to submarine commanding officers in respect of fishing vessel avoidance; whether he will seek advice on the matter; and if he will make a statement.

Advice issued to submarine commanders on this subject was reviewed and amended following the loss of the fishing vessel Antares. It is, in any case, kept under constant review and is revised as and when necessary, taking into account operating experience.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has about the security and safety arrangements in place at the Arzamas-16 weapons research facility near Orenberg in Russia for tactical nuclear warheads withdrawn from deployment.

Arzamas-16 is a former Soviet, now Russian, nuclear research and development facility. Appropriate physical and technical security and safety arrangements are believed to be in place.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) of 12 December Official Report, column 543, any unsafeguarded uranium used to fuel the BNFL reactors at Calder Hall and Chapelcross has ever subsequently been put under safeguards during or after reprocessing of the fuel.

There have been occasions when, for operational reasons, uranium used to fuel the Calder Hall and Chapelcross reactors has been brought into safeguards during and after reprocessing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement concerning a meeting between representatives of the Ministry of Defence and representatives of the fishing industry held on 9 December 1991.

This was the first meeting of a sub-group of the fishing industry safety group, set up to consider submarine operations and fishing vessel safety. The meeting was chaired by the Department of Transport and attended by representatives of the fishermen's organisations, of the Ministry of Defence and of the fisheries departments. There was a useful exchange of views and a further meeting is planned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement concerning plans to equip all Royal Navy submarines with devices to scan VHF channels.

VHF scanning transceivers have now been fitted to all operational Royal Navy submarines.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the nuclear weapons safety review being conducted by his Department has been completed; and what has been the cost to date to support the review.

The review is almost complete, and a statement on its outcome will be made in due course. Costs for the conduct and support of the review have not been logged separately from other continuing work in the Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now make it his policy to publish the annual operating budget of the atomic co-ordinating office in Washington DC.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will make it his policy to give the military commanders of each state in the Commonwealth of Independent States a full inventory of United Kingdom nuclear weapons by age, deployment status and location in exchange for comparable information from the CIS.

Successive Governments have taken the view that nuclear deterrence would not be served by divulging information of this kind.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department expects to respond to the telephone messages left by the hon. Member for Nottingham, North at his Department's First Avenue House office regarding the case of Simon Brittain.

Attempts were made to respond to the message which the hon. Member left with the switchboard. I replied on 17 January 1992, Official Report, column 698 to the question the hon. Member tabled about Captain Simon Brittain.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, further to his answer of 13 January, Official Report, column 514, on President of the Service Institute or President of the Regiment Institute shops, what monitoring is made of decisions of commanding officers in relation to the PSI and PSR, being in competition with the NAAFI; and if he will outline the channels through which NAAFI managers may express their concern on the trading practices of these shops.

No specific machinery is considered necessary to monitor such decisions. NAAFI managers may express concerns either to the commanding officer or through the committees that exist for liaison purposes at local and other levels.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his written reply to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Dr. Thomas), Official Report, 9 December 1991, columns 281–82, if he will set out the terms of the paper on wind energy presented by the Ministry's Agricultural Development and Advisory Service.

The paper covered the farm and conservation grant scheme available to farmers. Particular attention was paid to energy saving grants the aims of which are to encourage farmers to use renewable sources of energy, to help cut energy loss or to recover energy which would otherwise go to waste. They include, among others, the supply and installation of:

• Wind or water powered generators in excess of 5 kW.
• Wind powered pumps for field drainage.
• Solar Heating panels.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many animal test certificates for bovine somatotropin are currently in operation in the United Kingdom; how many sites and how many cows are affected; in which counties or regions they are operational; and if he will make a statement.

Three companies have current animal test certificates authorising trials using bovine somatotropin products. Together, these permit companies to administer a BST product to a maximum of 1,287 cows on 23 sites, but no cows are currently being treated.As the hon. Member is already aware, section 118 of the Medicines Act 1968 precludes me from disclosing further details.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been Her Majesty's Government's contribution to date to the EC project Marina on the radiation effects of nuclear waste disposal in coastal waters, in each year since Marina was established; what have been the main findings of the project; and what are the comparative concentrations of radioactivity in waters surrounding the United Kingdom with the waters bordering the shores of each other EC country with a coastline.

Staff from this Department provided data, advice and written contributions to technical reports and scientific papers between the start of the project in 1985 and its completion in 1989.The project, which studies sources of radioactivity in north European waters, concluded that environmental monitoring data in the EC from nuclear site operators, governments and other resources was entirely adequate for demonstrating compliance with dose limits, that maximum individual doses from controlled sources were all within the dose limits recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection, and that population exposure rates due to discharges from civil nuclear sites were a factor of 1,000 less than those due to natural radioactivity.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list each EC country where food irradiation is permitted and the products which can be irradiated in each case; what information he has on irradiation of products from non-EC countries imported into the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the following list of food irradiation approvals. The Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations 1990 establish that irradiated foods may only be imported from countries outside the Community which have legislative controls and enforcement arrangements at least equivalent to those in Great Britain. No country has been approved to supply the Great Britain market with irradiated food.Foodstuffs listed as approved for irradiation in the EC

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many planning applications affecting grade I agricultural land have been objected to by his Ministry since 1980; and if he will make a statement.

The records currently show that a total of 1,993 individual planning applications were objected to in England and Wales during the period 1980 to 1990. However, the records do not show how many of these objections involved grade 1 land.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the confirmed cases of BSE in England (a) in 1991 and (b) before 1991 on a county basis.

The information is as follows: