To ask the Attorney-General what files held at the Public Records Office relating to the operation and enforcement of the 1931 Asbestos Regulations, or other relevant health and safety legislation, or other forms of regulation of the asbestos industry, are still closed, other than under the 30-year rule.

The Public Record Office holds Home Office and Ministry of Labour headquarters records concerning the work of the factory inspectorate in operating and enforcing factory and safety legislation, including the Asbestos Industry Regulations 1931. Very few local and individual case records of the inspectorate, for the period up to 1961, have been selected for permanent preservation. None of the records identified above have been closed for longer than 30 years.

To ask the Attorney-General what files held at the Public Records Office relating to compensation for asbestos-related disease under the industrial injuries scheme or its predecessors, or to the workings of the pneumoconiosis medical boards and panels, are still closed, other than under the 30-year rule.

Records of the Home Office and of the Ministry of National Insurance and its successors relating to workmen's compensation schemes and to the industrial injuries scheme introduced in 1946 are held by the Public Record Office. The records of the Ministry of National Insurance include records of the Pneumoconiosis and Byssinosis Benefits Board. Records among those described above which contain medical details or information relating to the personal circumstances of identifiable individuals are closed for longer than 30 years under the provisions of section 5(1) of the Public Records Act 1958, the period of closure depending upon the ages of the persons concerned.

To ask the Attorney-General what is the average number of default cases processed per hour using county court default systems, up to and including the making of instalment orders.

Throughout the county court system in England and Wales approximately 1,800 summonses were issued per working hour in 1991. Some of these would have resulted in payment at the issue stage, some would have resulted in judgment by default, some would have resulted in orders for judgment by instalments, and others would have been defended on their merits. Statistics as to the outcome of cases are not collected in this form.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East on plutonium transport, 20 January, Official Report, column 63, he will set out the categories of cases where movements of radioactive materials have to be notified by his Department;(2) in cases of the movement of radioactive materials, which Government Departments have to be notified; and in what sets of circumstances.

Consignments of radioactive material which must be notified to the Department of Transport before each shipment are:

Type B(U) packages containing radioactive material with an activity greater than 3 x 10^3A1 or 3 x 10^3A2, as appropriate, or 1000 terabecquerels (20 kilocuries), whichever is the lower;

Type B(M) packages; transport under Special Arrangement.

The terms used are defined in International Atomic Agency safety series No. 6: "Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material", a copy of which is held in the Library of the House.An export licence must be obtained from the Department of Trade and Industry for the export of radioactive materials specified in the Export of Goods (Control) Order.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the road works on Westway and the A40(M) in Paddington to be completed; what work will have been done and at what cost; and if he will make a statement.

Phase I of the rewaterproofing of the A40(M) Westway, which started in September 1991, should be completed by the end of February 1992, providing there are no periods of adverse weather. By then, almost three fifths of Westway will have been rewaterproofed and resurfaced. The estimated cost of phase I is £4·25 million.Phase II is planned to start in June 1992 and take about five months. It will complete the resurfacing of Westway and include the rewaterproofing of the A40(M)/M41 roundabout and the Wood lane flyover.When the works are completed, major resurfacing on Westway will not be necessary for many years, and the waterproofing should last for at least 20 years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to his answer of 23 January, Official Report, column 270, when the inclining experiment will be carried out on the Cornelis Johanna.

Arrangements are being made to conduct the inclining experiment as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 17 January, Official Report, column 656, on research undertaken into accidents caused by motorists falling asleep, whether any of the research has been funded or commissioned by Her Majesty's Government; and if he will make a statement.

The Loughborough study was not funded by the Government.The Welsh Office however has funded a study by Bangor university of driver fatigue, the report of which, "The Long-Distance Driver", was published in 1990.Driver fatigue was one of the elements of the extensive programme of accident causation studies carried out by the Department's Transport and Road Research Laboratory during the 1970s and early 1980s.In order to assess future research needs, my Department has commissioned a further review of research from the medical commission on accident prevention at the Royal College of Surgeons.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the expected central Government expenditure on the roads programme in the North-West in 1991-92 and in each of the following five years.

The forecast outturn roads programme expenditure in the Department's north-west region in 1991–92 is £174 million. This includes new construction and maintenance. The budget for next year—1992–93—has not yet been finalised. Expenditure in subsequent years is dependent on future public expenditure settlements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many automatic speed limit enforcement equipment experiments are being conducted in Britain; and if he will make a statement on their effectiveness and the proposals he may have for extending the schemes.

Small-scale trials are being carried out to test the equipment and evaluate its operational use in enforcing speed limits. When suitable equipment has been granted type approval by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, it will be deployed more widely and its effectiveness in reducing accidents will be evaluated by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will review the 10-day time limit for transferring registration of motor vehicles; if he will make it his policy to ensure that any vehicle requiring transfer of registration be subject to the signature of the registered owner; and if he will make a statement.

The 10-day delay period applies where there is a doubt about the propriety of the transfer application, and is intended to assist in the detection of car-related crime. There are about 1.9 million applications for change of registration each year and it would be impracticable to require the signature of the registered keeper before allowing any change.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many applications to transfer registration documents have been made under form V712/1 to DVLC Swansea in respect of stolen vehicles.

About 10,000 V712 letters are issued weekly by DVLA. Since the system was introduced in 1986 more than 1,200 arrests have been made and more than 3,400 stolen vehicles recovered as a direct result of this procedure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people in the rear of motor vehicles and wearing lap seat belts only have been killed and injured, respectively, in the United Kingdom, during the past five years for which records are available.

The information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will announce his Department's preferred route for the A38 trunk road improvement between Liskeard and Bodmin.

[holding answer 20 January 1992]: I have written to my hon. Friend.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the period over which the London Docklands development corporation has funded the Dockland Forum; if he has given any instructions or advice concerning its continuation in the financial year 1992–93; and if he will make a statement.

The LDDC has approved grant aid to Docklands Forum over the period 1982–1992. The LDDC has advised the forum that this grant aid will come to an end in March 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to phase out the disposal of all types of waste in the sea.

Dumping of solid waste at sea is a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Dumping of sewage sludge at sea will be phased out by the end of 1998. The United Kingdom is voluntarily refraining from dumping radioactive waste at sea. All waste water discharges in England and Wales are subject to regulation by the appropriate regulatory authorities. They must meet specified international and domestic standards and may be subject to conditions to ensure that those standards are met, so that discharges do not cause unacceptable harm to the environment.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to bring forward proposals to require contractors undertaking work on behalf of water companies to maintain the same standards as the water companies are required to maintain in order to prevent environmental damage and pollution.

Every company holding an appointment as a water or sewerage undertaker has in place a code of practice, approved by the Secretary of State, covering the use of its works powers on private land. These codes apply equally to any employees, agents and contractors carrying out works on behalf of the company, and cover environmental considerations and reinstatement among other matters. An undertaker may be liable to pay compensation for damage caused in the carrying out of its works, either by itself or by contractors acting on its behalf; and the Director General of Water Services can direct it to do so in a particular case. Other environmental legislation also generally applies in the same way to a water, or water and sewerage, company and to contractors working for it.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now set out the basis on which the Rural Development Commission will receive Government funding after the programme of workshop sales has been completed.

We recognise the one-off nature of the portfolio disposal receipts. We will take this into account in deciding the basis of the Rural Development Commission funding in future years.

National Parks Supplementary grant
		Dartmoor	Exmoor	Lake District	Northumberland	North Yorkshire Moors	Peak District	Yorkshire Dales	England	Inflation rate (GDP deflator)
1983–84	£'000s	597·8	492·8	1,048·7	343·1	631·1	1,492·3	659·2	5,265·0	100
1984–85	£'000s	630·1	505·6	1,104·9	353·3	661·6	1,566·3	678·2	5,500·0	105
Percentage increase		5·4	2·6	5·4	3·0	4·8	5·0	2·9	4·5	—
1985–86	£'000s	663·0	538·9	1,179·8	379·4	706·3	1,664·4	713·2	5,845·0	111
Percentage increase		5·2	6·6	6·8	7·4	6·8	6·3	5·2	6·3	—
1986–87	£'000s	747·4	615·4	1,279·5	405·4	776·5	1,828·6	777·2	6,430·0	114
Percentage increase		12·7	14·2	8·5	6·8	9·9	9·9	9·0	10·0	—
1987–88	£'000s	861·7	721·7	1,431·0	446·2	884·2	2,051·2	888·0	7,284·0	121
Percentage increase		15·3	17·3	11·8	10·1	13·9	12·2	14·2	13·3	—
1988–89	£'000s	991·3	809·0	1,567·4	507·8	990·0	2,231·6	1,031·9	8,129·0	129
Percentage increase		15·0	12·1	9·5	13·8	12·0	8·8	16·2	11·6	—
1989–90	£'000s	1,116·8	916·0	1,741·7	560·2	1,111·9	2,461·9	1,155·5	9,064·0	138
Percentage increase		12·7	13·2	11·1	10·3	12·3	10·3	12·0	11·5	—
1990–91	£'000s	1,237·3	1,012·3	1,932·9	610·5	1,231·7	2,685·3	1,260·0	9,970·0	149
Percentage increase		10·8	10·5	11·0	9·0	10·8	9·1	9·0	10·0	—
1991–92	£'000s	1,481·9	1,217·4	2,311·9	734·6	1,486·3	3,261·2	1,514·7	12,008·0	160
Percentage increase		19·8	20·3	19·6	20·3	20·7	21·4	20·2	20·4	—
1992–93	£'000s	1,728·7	1,451·2	3,415·5	881·3	1,783·5	3,921·0	1,818·8	15,000·0	167
Percentage increase		16·7	19·2	47·7	20·0	20·0	20·2	20·1	24·9	—

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council-owned properties within Easington have structural defects which would qualify under the defective housing regulations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance is issued to local authorities regarding the humane control of Canada geese; and if he will make a statement.

Subject to the requirements of the EC birds directive and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is for the local authorities who wish to control Canada geese to decide what methods may be appropriate, but they can seek technical advice from the Agricultural Development Advisory Service—ADAS—or English Nature.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the budget for each of the national parks over the last 10 years, giving the percentage increase for each year over the previous year, including an overall figure for the whole period, together with the rate of inflation over the same period.

National parks supplementary grant—NPSG—meets 75 per cent. of national parks' approved expenditure, the balance being funded by each park's constituent county and metropolitan district councils. Information on NPSG allocated to each of the English national parks for the financial years 1983–84 to 1992–93 and the percentage increase each year over the previous year together with the inflation rate for the period is given in the table:

Easington district council reports ownership of 133 dwellings designated as inherently defective under the housing defects legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many homeowners in Peterlee who live in homes which have structural and design defects have been successful in obtaining grants to repair such defects.

This information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by year since 1985 the housing investment programme bid by Easington district council to his Department and the housing investment programme allocation for each of those years.

The table provides the information requested.

	HIP bid	HIP allocation £ thousands	EA allocation
1985–86	17,420	4,525	—
1986–87	20,952	3,860	—
1987–88	n/a	3,632	—
1988–89	n/a	3,894	433,218
1989–90	24,417	3,197	391,988
New capital finance system1
1990–91	33,892	4,731	12,000
1991–92	33,137	25,585	393,000
1992–93	27,556	26,205	460,000
1Under the new capital finance system, introduced in 1990–91, the HIP allocation does not convey borrowing approval directly.
2These figures are not final. Additional supplementary credit approvals are expected to be issued in the course of each financial year.

Since 1981–82 authorities have been able to augment the borrowing power of their HIP allocations by using the prescribed proportion of their capital receipts.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what questions he has received about the number of environmental health officers employed by local authorities to combat noise nuisance between neighbours.

I have received no specific questions on this. Local environmental health officers carry out a wide range of functions and I am aware that the number of complaints to local authorities about neighbourhood noise is increasing. However, it remains for each local authority to determine its own priorities in deploying its environmental health officers, having regard to their statutory duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the available resources and needs of their community.Non-statutory action, such as dispute mediation by third parties and community codes on noise behaviour, may help to relieve the pressure on environmental health officers and also achieve a more effective and longer lasting solution. My Department is therefore part-funding a mediation scheme in Bristol. We are also funding a pilot neighbourhood noise awareness scheme in Forest Hill, London. The scheme incorporates a community code suggesting ways of keeping noise down and being a considerate neighbour.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received requesting changes in planning regulations to restrict or further regulate alleged overcrowding in privately rented accommodation.

Under part X of the Housing Act 1985 a person who permits a dwelling to be overcrowded commits a criminal offence. The enforcement duty lies with local authorities.Authorities also have discretionary powers to control overcrowding in houses in multiple occupation by serving notice requiring the number of people accommodated to be reduced.The control of overcrowding in dwellings is not a matter for the planning system, and I am not aware of any recent representations that it should be.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has concerning the cost to local authorities of homelessness for reasons of mortgage repossessions for each year 1979 to 1991, inclusive.

The information available to the Department about local authorities' costs associated with homelessness is not broken down according to the cause.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the application for city grant by 3D Ltd. for the west end scheme in Bradford has been completely considered; whether a decision has been made; and what section of the scheme is under consideration.

My Department received a revised application for city grant from 3D on 15 October 1991. It relates to a first phase of the west end scheme, comprising offices in Aldermanbury, a European pavilion and a multi-storey car park. Several meetings have been held with the applicants, but additional information is awaited before a decision can be made.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from Arthur Ford Ltd. of Nottingham regarding its loss on a departmental contract where the original contractor has gone into receivership; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 20 January 1992]: Arthur Ford Ltd. was a sub-contractor on Turriff Ltd. on a project which the Property Services Agency is managing on behalf of the Ministry of Defence at RAF Cosford. It has made representations to PSA concerning moneys owed to it by Turriff which is now in receivership.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the increase in the allowance to members serving on local authorities will be made; and what will be the total increase.

[holding answer 28 January 1992]: We are currently reviewing the spending limits on allowances paid by local authorities and will let them know shortly the limits which will apply from 1 April 1992.

To ask the Minister for the Arts which events in the Japan festival 1991 he attended in his official capacity; and if he will make a statement.

I attended the following events:

• 28 August 1991: "Contemporary Art from Japan" Exhibition at the Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh;
• 16 September 1991: The Royal Opening of the Japan Festival at the Victoria and Albert Museum;
• 16 September 1991: The "Visions of Japan" Exhibition, also at the Victoria and Albert Museum;
• 17 September 1991: The Royal Opening of the Kamakura Exhibition at the British Museum;
• 22 October 1991: The exhibition "Japan and Britain: An Aesthetic Dialogue 1850–1930" at the Barbican.

I also attended receptions for sponsors at Lancaster House and in Cardiff and Newcastle. The Japan Festival 1991 has been the largest celebration of another country's culture ever held in the United Kingdom.The festival has attracted very wide support, and hundreds of highly successful and varied events have taken place nationwide. It will, I am sure, make a valuable and lasting contribution to relations between our two countries and to the understanding and appreciation of Japanese culture in the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, further to his answer of 20 January, Official Report, column 7, if he will now provide details on the amount of plutonium offered to Euratom on the United Kingdom's accession to the treaty of Rome on 1 January 1973; and if he will make a statement.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Ukraine authorities about their failure to grant an exit visa to Motvei Goishpan of Kharkov and to Vladimir Kofman of Kiev.

We can certainly raise the cases of refuseniks Motvei Goishpan of Kharkov and Vladimir Kofman of Kiev with the Ukrainian authorities, but in order to make our representations most effective we shall need further details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, further to his answer of 21 January, Official Report, column 101, to the hon.

The text made available to Parliament on 16 December was in two parts, covering political union and economic and monetary union. In preparing this agreed text for signature these sections have been combined to form a single treaty text, the numbering of the articles of the text has been brought into line with those of the treaty of Rome and translations have been prepared. The final text of the treaty will be made available to Parliament immediately following signature.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he intends to take on the resolutions of the parliamentary assemblies of the Council of Europe and of the Western European Union in respect of East Timor; and if he will make a statement.

We have noted the resolutions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further representations he has made to the Government of Cameroon about human rights.

We have made representations to the Cameroon Government about human rights on several occasions. The most recent was in October 1991, both in Yaoundè and to the Cameroon ambassador in London. We shall continue to monitor the situation carefully.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonweath Affairs if he will make a statement on the action taken by the United Nations Security Council regarding the situation in Somalia.

On 23 January the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution, No. 733, requesting the secretary general to appoint a co-ordinator to oversee the effective delivery of increased United Nations humanitarian assistance, in liaison with other international agencies. The Security Council also requested the secretary-general to co-operate with the Organisation of African Unity and the League of Arab States in contacting the parties to the Somali conflict to try to secure a ceasefire, the distribution of humanitarian assistance, and a political settlement to the conflict. The Security Council also agreed to an immediate embargo on all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Somalia.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will order an inquiry into Armley prison following the further suicide; and if he will make a statement.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the death of Mr. Melvyn Hodgson at Leeds prison on 28 December last year. I shall decide what form of inquiry into the circumstances may be appropriate, once the inquest into Mr. Hodgson's death has been concluded.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the safeguards and rights of appeal under extradition treaties concluded, to date, by Her Majesty's Government.

The safeguards and rights of appeal are contained in the Extradition Act 1989, particularly parts II and III, and paragraphs 1, 8, and 10 of schedule 1.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with how many countries Her Majesty's Government have (a) concluded an extradition treaty, (b) is currently negotiating an extradition treaty and (c) no extradition treaty or limited extradition arrangements.

(a) The United Kingdom has extradition arrangements with the following Commonwealth countries listed in schedule 1 to the Extradition (Designated Commonwealth Countries) Order 1991–1991 No. 1700:

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Australia
• The Bahamas
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belize
• Botswana
• Brunei
• Canada
• Dominica
• Fiji
• The Gambia
• Ghana
• Grenada
• Guyana
• India
• Jamaica
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Malta
• Mauritius
• Nauru
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Papua New Guinea
• Saint Christopher and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Solomon Islands
• Sri Lanka
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Tonga
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Tuvalu
• Uganda
• Vanuatu
• Western Samoa
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe;

with the parties to the European convention on extradition, listed in schedule 2, part 1 to the European Convention on Extradition Order 1990–1990 No. 1507:

• Austria
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany, Federal Republic of
• Greece
• Iceland
• Israel
• Italy
• Liechtenstein
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey;

and through bilateral treaties, not all of which are currently operative, with the following foreign states:

• Albania
• Argentina
• Belgium
• Bolivia
• Chile
• Colombia
• Cuba
• Czechoslovakia
• Ecuador
• Guatemala
• Haiti
• Iraq
• Liberia
• Mexico
• Monaco
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Poland
• Romania
• Salvador
• San Marino
• Thailand
• United States of America
• Uruguay
• Yugoslavia

Arrangements with the Republic of Ireland are based on the reciprocal backing of warrants.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he proposes to continue funding the United Kingdom Immigrants Advisory Service.

UKIAS currently receives grant-in-aid so that it may provide advice and representation before the immigration appellate authorities in cases where an application to enter or remain in the United Kingdom or a claim to asylum has been refused. The Government have a high regard for the service which UKIAS's staff provide to their clients. We are not, however, satisfied with the manner in which UKIAS's general council and executive committee oversee the service and we have repeatedly pressed them to make changes to conform with the standards expected of a body receiving grant-in-aid. In particular, we expect the organisation to become more broadly based, with a wider range of representation. We think that anybody who is paid by UKIAS or otherwise has a personal pecuniary interest in the provision of immigration advice should not be able to serve on the general council or executive committee, and that the role of those committees should be restricted to general policy and senior staff appointments. We also expect UKIAS to account for the funds they receive by improving their corporate planning and performance measurement.UKIAS has not so far accepted or implemented these changes. On 20 January I met the executive committee to discuss this. I gave notice that the current situation in UKIAS was such that the Government could not properly provide additional funds for the expansion of their refugee unit to meet the extra work created by the increase in asylum applications and the introduction of new rights of appeal in the Asylum Bill. The London representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees who attended the meeting and who hitherto has provided 75 per cent. of the refugee unit's funds, expressed similar concern. The refugee unit now needs to expand without further delay and so that this can proceed both the Government and the UNHCR intend to transfer the funds for refugee work from UKIAS to a new body which will supervise the refugee unit temporarily. The transfer will take place as soon as the new body is established, we hope by the end of February 1992.I also gave the executive committee notice that continued payment of the grant for general immigration work depended on their making the required changes within three months. If changes are made to meet the conditions we and the London representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have set out, the grant for immigration work will continue and we will discuss the reattachment of the refugee unit to UKIAS. If, however, the necessary changes are not made, we have given notice that we shall feel bound to terminate the grant to UKIAS and fund a new organisation to provide these services.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Cryer) of 23 January, Official Report, column 315, if he is now in a position to decide whether any action on his part is appropriate in the case of Derek Bentley.

No. The case is receiving careful consideration. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will announce his decision once the review is complete.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what positive action is being taken by his Department to encourage inmates to return to normal prison location from rule 43; and if he will make a statement.

Detailed guidance was provided to governors in 1990 on the arrangements that should be made for the removal of inmates from association under prison rule 43 and young offender institution rule 46, and for the management of vulnerable prisoners. The White Paper "Custody, Care and Justice"—Cm 1647—presented to Parliament last September, stated that no prisoner should be segregated for longer than is absolutely necessary. It described the development of policies directed to provide a climate in prisons in which inmates could be removed from segregation and located more appropriately. In particular, the Government accepted a proposal in the Woolf report that the existing rules should be amended. Later this year, separate rules will he introduced to make clear the responsibilities and powers of governors in respect of vulnerable prisoners.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider extending the requirement to comply with fire regulations to include all bed-and-breakfast accommodation premises with less than six bed spaces.

Hotels and hoarding houses with sleeping accommodation for more than six persons—or with some sleeping accommodation above the first floor or below ground-floor level—require a fire certificate under a designation order made under section 1 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971. We have no plans to designate smaller hotels and boarding houses.We nevertheless intend to make regulations under section 12 of the Act to implement the fire safety requirements of European Community directives relating to the health and safety of workers at work. These will generally apply to every place in which one or more persons work and will take effect on 1 January 1993.In accordance with the directives, the regulations will place the primary responsibility for ensuring fire safety on employers. Enforcement of these regulations will be by fire authorities and, for Crown premises, by HM inspectorate of fire services. Detailed consideration is currently being given to how they will be applied to places of work, including bed-and-breakfast accommodation establishments outside the scope of the designated order.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set up a committee containing representatives of the police throughout the United Kingdom to consider the provision of a national memorial to all police officers who have been killed in the line of police duty in the United Kingdom.

My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so. The Police Memorial Trust already has approved to erect a memorial to police officers killed on duty in the United Kingdom. The site is at Cambridge green, between Horseguards Parade road and the Mall. Construction work on the memorial, the design for which has been approved by the Royal Fine Arts Commission, is expected to begin later this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to make a custodial sentence mandatory for those convicted of inflicting bodily harm on police officers.

The courts have strong powers to deal with those who harm police officers and the Court of Appeal has made it clear that they should use them. We have conducted a six-month survey of the sentences given for assaults against police officers during the period to December 1991. We will consider whether any action is needed in the light of a careful analysis of the results of the survey and will announce our conclusions.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what notices are displayed by the immigration service at Gatwick airport to identify the channel for passengers holding passports issued by members of the European Community.

Signs directing European Community nationals to the designated area of the immigration arrivals control are provided by Gatwick Airport Limited at 17 locations in the south terminal and four locations in the north terminal.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vacancies for prison officers there are at Her Majesty's prisons, Elvert, Durham and Franklands, Durham.

In the prison officer class overall Her Majesty's prison Durham has a shortfall of four officers below its target staffing figure of 423 and Her Majesty's prison Frankland has a surplus of three officers above its target staffing figure of 405. Within these totals, there are vacancies at both prisons in the principal, senior officer and hospital officer grades, and there is a vacancy for a principal works officers at Her Majesty's prison Durham.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what level of funding was granted to the Peterlee sub-division for crime prevention and neighbourhood watch schemes in the years 1985 to 1991.

None. It would not be possible to provide central funds for every local crime prevention initiative. Between 1986 and 1988 a civilian neighbourhood watch assistant in the sub-division was appointed under the community programme. Since January 1991 there has been a similar placement under the employment training programme. I understand from Durham constabulary that local funding of a permanent neighbourhood watch assistant in the area is under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations his Department have received, and on what dates, regarding the passport application of Mrs. M. P. Williams of Blaengwynfi.

The right hon. and learned Member wrote to me on 20 December 1990 concerning Mrs. Williams' eligibility for a passport. He wrote again on 11 November 1991 about the application for citizenship which she lodged on 30 September 1991. I have today written to the right hon. and learned Member about the case.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will be in a position to publish the food surveillance report on dioxins.

I am pleased to announce that the report, food surveillance paper No. 31, "Dioxins in Food" is published today.The key finding is that levels of dioxins in United Kingdom food are so low that only the most sophisticated analytical techniques, capable of measuring accurately to 10 parts in a quadrillion—one thousand million million—can detect them. The report also records that the estimated average intake of dioxins via the diet is less than one quarter of the World Health Organisation tolerable daily intake. Any risk to health from these chemicals in food is therefore likely to be remote.Other important findings were that levels of dioxins in milk were generally very low, especially at retail level and consumers' intake of dioxins from milk were consequently also low; levels of dioxins in all the samples of fruit, vegetables and eggs were extremely low and intakes from these foods were also very low; levels of dioxins in foods such as meat, fats and oils, and fish were, as expected, slightly higher than in the other foods tested—dioxins are known to accumulate in fatty tissues. Nevertheless, intakes from these products were still less than one tenth of the WHO tolerable daily intake.The report also presents detailed results of the work carried out on milk from two farms near Bolsover in Derbyshire, previously announced on 26 June 1991, which was found to contain high levels of dioxins. Although retail milk in the area was found to be perfectly acceptable, action was taken last June as soon as the results became available to prevent milk from these premises entering the public supply thereby ensuring that consumers remained fully protected. The results from a special research programme currently being carried out on these farms will be published as soon as the work has been completed.The report has been considered by independent expert committees, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment, and the Food Advisory Committee. These committees welcomed the work carried out, and confirmed the remoteness of any health risk. Surveillance work will, however, continue as recommended by the committees.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the approximate size of the fox population in the United Kingdom; whether the animal carries disease; and what percentage of foxes are killed by hunting, shooting and gassing.

[holding answer 24 January 1992]: The size of the fox population varies depending on the time of year, with an estimated 500,000 foxes in England, Scotland and Wales at the end of the summer, falling to 250,000 by the end of winter. Foxes can act as vectors for a number of diseases, most notably rabies on mainland Europe, and also a number of parasites such as Echinococcus granulosus, which can cause hydatid disease in man. It is estimated that 12,500 foxes are killed each year by hunting, while approximately 100,000 are killed by other means, including shooting. No products for gassing foxes are currently approved under the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any plans to introduce charges to users of statistics produced by the Central Statistical Office.

The Central Statistical Office is funded by vote to provide certain statistical services to Parliament, Government Departments and international organisations without charge. There is no plan to change these arrangements. The CSO will also continue to charge other

(a) Excise Duties in Ecus (latest available)
	Beer	Cider		wine	Spirits
	(at 12.52 Plato) per hlpa1	(at 5 per cent. abv)2 per hl			per hlpa1
		Table (at 11.5 per cent. abv) per hlpa		Fortified (at 18 per cent. abv) per hl
Belgium	267	4	302	65	1,502
Denmark	1,355	103	1,197	211	3,976
France	55	1	27	179	1,120
Germany	146	26	nil	50	1,242
Greece	126	nil	nil	152	314
Ireland	2,256	21	2,311	387	2,617
Italy	413	nil	nil	16	608
Luxembourg	130	3	123	44	899
Netherlands	493	4	311	67	1,374
Portugal	170	nil	nil	nil	559
Spain	78	nil	nil	34	566
United Kingdom	1,520	29	1,503	293	2,710
1Hectolitres of pure alcohol.
2Alcohol by Volume.

(b) There are no agreed reference rates as yet. There are so target dates for convergence.The Danish Government have reduced duties on beer by 10.6 per cent., and on 13.3 per cent. No matching action is required from the United Kingdom.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all those companies where the Government retain a golden share together with any restrictions on the use of such shares.

The table shows all the companies in which the Government holds special or "golden" shares. The only restriction as to the exercising of the rights attached to a special share is where such a share is time limited. Where this is applicable, the table shows the expiry date on or before which the Government may redeem a special share.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out (a) the present rates of excise duty, expressed in ecus, charged by the respective EC member nations on beer, cider, table wine, fortified wine and spirits, (b) the agreed reference rates of excise duty on these products and the target dates for convergence by all member nations and (c) the changes that would need to be made in United Kingdom excise duties to match the action already taken in Denmark.

The information is as follows:

Companies in which special shares are held
Company	Expiry date
Cable and Wireless
Sealink
BT
British Aerospace
VSEL Consortium
British Gas
Rolls-Royce
BAA
British Steel	31 December 1993
Anglian Water	31 December 1994
Northumbrian Water Group	31 December 1994
North West Water Group	31 December 1994
Severn Trent	31 December 1994
Southern Water	31 December 1994
South West Water	31 December 1994
Thames Water	31 December 1994
Welsh Water	31 December 1994
Wessex Water	31 December 1994
Yorkshire Water	31 December 1994
Mersey Docks and Harbour Company
Eastern Electricity	31 December 1995

Company	Expiry date
East Midlands Electricity	31 December 1995
London Electricity	31 December 1995
Manweb	31 December 1995
Midlands Electricity	31 December 1995
Northern Electric	31 December 1995
Norweb	31 December 1995
Seeboard	31 December 1995
Southern Electricity	31 December 1995
South Wales Electricity	31 December 1995
South Western Electricity	31 December 1995
Yorkshire Electricity Group	31 December 1995
National Grid Company
National Grid Holding
National Power
PowerGen
Scottish Power
Scottish Hydro-Electric

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claim forms have been received by the deposit protection board from BCCI depositors.

As at 24 January 1992, a total of 12,818 forms have been received by the Deposit Protection Board from BCCI depositors.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the estimated amount of payments under the deposit protection scheme for the BCCI depositors.

The amount which the deposit protection scheme will pay out to BCCI depositors will depend on how many depositors make valid claims under the scheme. The estimated maximum amount of payments would be some £88 million, on the information presently available, if all eligible sterling depositors were to make valid claims against the board.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many forms were sent out to BCCI depositors under the deposit protection scheme.

As at 24 January 1992, a total of 39,687 forms have been sent out to BCCI depositors. In addition, 13,676 forms have not yet been dispatched, as no correspondence addresses for depositors were maintained by BCCI, and the depositors have not themselves requested forms.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of staffing at Inland Revenue offices in Torbay; and whether there are sufficient personnel to handle inquiries relating to the non-registration for uniform business rate by bed-and-breakfast premises.

Staffing levels in the Inland Revenue Valuation Office Agency are considered adequate to meet its statutory duties.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total amount of debt written off in privatisations since 1988 giving the figures by company privatised.

The table attached shows the debt written off in privatization since 1988 by company and type of debt.

Debt Written Off in Privatisations Since 1988
Company	Amount £	Type of Debt
		Public Dividend
British Steel	500,000,000	Capital
		Borrowing under
		Iron and Steel
British Steel	3,480,000,000	Act 1982
Water Holding
Companies	4,526,069,946	National Loans Fund
Water Holding		Public Works Loan
Companies	447,258,437	Board
South of Scotland
Electricity Board1	1,368,390,398	National Loans Fund
	10,321,718,780
1 Following reorganisation of the Scottish Electricity Companies prior to privatisation, this debt was transferred to Scottish Nuclear Ltd. and subsequently written off.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his answer of 20 January, Official Report, column 13, when he replied to the letter he received; and if he will make a further statement concerning Derbyshire county council's policies on competitive tendering.

I have received a letter.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Government will start the consultation on the legislation proposed for the tax treatment of groups of companies.

The Inland Revenue is today publishing draft clauses on groups of companies that the Government intend to introduce in the next Finance Bill. As I announced on 15 November 1991, the legislation, if passed by Parliament, will be effective from that date. Comments are invited by 28 February. Copies of the draft clauses have been placed in the Library of both Houses of Parliament.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to equalise for VAT purposes the charges made for qualified nurses for in-home care and those made for nurses who are not fully qualified and registered only as carers.

[holding answer on 28 January 1992]: The Government keep VAT law under constant review. I would not wish to anticipate my right hon. Friend the Chancellor's Budget Statement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to extend the application of its know-how funds to new categories of enterprises in the Baltic states.

There are no immediate plans to extend the know-how fund in the Baltic states beyond the following four priority sectors: food processing and distribution, financial services, small business creation and energy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answers to the hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) on 20 November, Official Report, column 204 and 28 November, Official Report, column 583, what percentage of British aid in 1989 was untied; and if he will make a statement.

My answer to the hon. Member for Workington on 20 November related to total aid commitments. My answer on 28 November related to bilateral aid expenditure. The latest estimate of untied aid as a percentage of total aid commitments for 1989 is 34.8 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the percentage change in overseas aid was in real terms between 1979 and 1990.

Gross public expenditure on aid was 17 per cent. lower in real terms in 1990 compared with 1979. However, the aid programme is managed on a financial year basis and patterns of disbursements within financial years may not be reflected in calendar year statistics. Compared with 1979–80 gross public expenditure on aid in 1990–91 was 8 per cent. lower in real terms.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he intends to make any adjustments to local authorities' 1990–91 contributions to the Welsh non-domestic rates pool.

I can confirm that following receipt of audited returns, my Department has written to 33 of the 37 district councils in Wales informing them of the adjustments I will be making to the contributions they made into the non-domestic rates pool during 1990–91. Authorities whose contributions to the pool were too high will receive repayments amounting to some £5,566,030, while authorities whose contributions were too low will be making additional payments amounting to £3,612,501. My Department will be writing to the remaining four district councils once queries associated with their audited returns have been resolved.Parliamentary approval of this new expenditure is being sought in a spring supplementary estimate on class XVI, vote 11. Pending that approval, expenditure on repayments to local authorities will be met by a repayable advance from the Contingencies Fund.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has yet completed his review of the role and organisation of Her Majesty's inspectorate of schools in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Yes. I propose an important and powerful role for Her Majesty's Inspectorate—HMI—which takes full account of the distinctive features of the education service in Wales. The Education (Schools) Bill now before Parliament establishes an independent office of Her Majesty's chief inspector—HMCI—of schools for Wales to oversee arrangements for a new system of regular school inspections and to provide me with advice on the quality of education provided by schools and the educational standards achieved by them, and whether the financial resources made available to schools are managed efficiently.The new arrangements set out in the Education (Schools) Bill give effect to the Government's commitment in the citizens charter, and in the charter for parents in Wales that I published at the end of September, to give parents much more comprehensive and regular information about the standard of education in the schools their children attend. In future all schools will be inspected at regular intervals by inspectors who will be required to be registered for that purpose with HMCI. For the first time, parents will have the right—set out in legislation—to meet those undertaking the inspection and make their own views known. Parents will be sent a summary of the published inspection report; school governors will be required to prepare an action plan in the light of the report, send it to parents and report to parents on the implementation of that action plan. The proposals will lead to published reports on a much larger number of schools and on a much more frequent basis than under current arrangements. Together with the proposals for the publication of comparative information on examination results, attendance rates and the destinations of school leavers, these arrangements will give parents a far better picture of the education available in their locality and enable them to become more effective partners in the education of their children.HMCI will be able to attach conditions to the registration of inspectors and will also have responsibility for monitoring their performance, approving or providing their training and giving guidance on good practice in school inspection. In addition, HMCI will be required to make an annual report to the Secretary of State, which will be laid before Parliament, and will undertake such other functions in connection with schools as may be assigned to him by the Secretary of State.The powers available to this new statutory, independent office of HMCI will be considerable. I would expect them to be used to the full to ensure that school inspection in Wales will be of high standard and will reflect and safeguard distinctive features of the education system in Wales, notably Welsh-medium education and the teaching of the Welsh language and Welsh history and culture.I shall shortly be announcing my intentions as regards the date when the new school inspection arrangements should come into operation in Wales, and also the frequency of inspections, taking account of the timetable for the progressive introduction of delegated budgets for schools and of the arrangements envisaged in England. HMI will continue its programme of inspection of schools until such time as the new arrangements come into effect.The Education (Schools) Bill makes provision for HMI to have a continuing role in the direct inspection of schools in England and Wales. I believe this role to be important, especially in the initial stages of the new arrangements, in setting high standards of inspecting and reporting, monitoring the work of the new inspection agencies and providing a valuable source of evidence for advising on the maintenance of educational standards. HMI will also continue to inspect independent schools and advise me on schools that give cause for complaint in both the public and independent sectors.The Further and Higher Education Bill provides for the transfer of important responsibilities in relation to further education, including quality assurance, to a Further Education Funding Council and it will be for the council to decide how to obtain the quality assessment services it will require; provision is being made in the Bill to enable it to obtain those services from HMCI if it wishes to do so. In view of the small numbers of staff involved in Wales and the consequent need for the maximum flexibility of operation, such an arrangement would offer clear advantages. The Bill provides for HMCI to undertake inspections of local authority maintained and assisted institutions providing further education courses, including adult education courses, and to provide me with advice. The Bill also provides that quality assessment in higher education should become the responsibility of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales. Consequently, HMI will cease to inspect most areas of provision in this sector. However, they will continue to inspect initial teacher training and provide advice to the Secretary of State based on their reports.I am strengthening the independence of HMI by creating a separate department headed by HMCI. HMI will no longer be members of the Welsh Office but will remain civil servants, retaining their existing terms and conditions of service. In the past the close working relationship between HMI and the Welsh Office Education Department has ensured that I have received the best possible advice based on up-to-date assessments of what schools and colleges are doing. HMI will continue to provide such advice for the benefit of all working in education in Wales.Overall the new arrangements will necessitate a considerable change in the balance of the duties undertaken by HMI. I expect that in due course there will be some overall reduction in the numbers of HMI engaged in work related to schools but it is not possible to be precise at this stage; much will depend upon the rate at which local authority advisory and inspection services are able to adapt to the requirements of the new system, and upon the availability of independent registered inspectors able to work in Wales. I intend to keep the situation under review.I would like to pay tribute to the work of HMI. They are universally respected as independent arbitrators of educational standards who have a key role to play in the reforms we are introducing in the education field. The new measures I have proposed will strengthen their independence and I know they will respond to the challenge of their new role.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the sectors of activity, in addition to the inspection of schools, of Her Majesty's inspectors of education in Wales; and what is the proportion of their time and resources devoted to each sector.

About 65 per cent. of the time of Her Majesty's inspectorate (Wales) is spent on inspecting and reporting; the remaining 35 per cent. is devoted to advising the Welsh Office/Ministers on current and emerging issues, providing advice to the educational system generally through assessorships, publications and courses/conferences and keeping up to date with educational developments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in Wales were inspected by Her Majesty's inspectors of education during 1990–91; and how long it would take for all primary and secondary schools to be inspected at the same rate of inspection.

During 1990–91 Her Majesty's inspectorate visited more than 40 per cent. of primary schools and all secondary schools in Wales to inspect some aspect of their provision. These inspections include formal inspections of individual schools, national and county surveys of aspects of education—for example, mathematics, Welsh, English, science and technology—and visits by general inspectors to obtain information and assessments which contribute to the national picture. Each of the 230 secondary schools is thus visited annually and each of the 1,717 primary schools at least once every three years. Of the inspections undertaken in 1990–91, 33 were full inspections of primary schools and six were full inspections of secondary schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will agree the application for grant aid from Ryan Mining International to re-open Pentreclwydau pit in the Vale of Neath in order to fund a new rail link and associated infrastructure to take coal traffic off the highways.

An in-depth appraisal of Ryan Mining International's application for a freight facilities grant is under way and I shall make my decision when this work has been completed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many applications for sheep annual premium scheme allocations completed by farmers in Wales were rejected during 1991 due to the forms being incorrectly completed; what was the total number of appeals submitted as a result of the refusals; and how many of these appeals were successful.

Of 17,384 claims for sheep annual premium in Wales in 1991, 76 had to be rejected owing to forms being incorrectly completed. The number of appeals submitted as a result is 46. None has been successful to date.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met representatives from the Institution of Environmental Health Officers to discuss levels of radon gas in Wales.

Until the results of the National Radiological Protection Board survey are available such a meeting would be premature. To date the Welsh Office-commissioned survey and that carried out by the National Radiological Protection Board have not revealed any towns or villages in which there may be significant effect on housing arising from radon.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the estimated number of homes in Wales with a radon gas level of 200 bq/m³ or over.

It is not possible to estimate the number of homes in Wales with radon levels above 200 bq/m³ until the full results of the National Radiological Protection Board survey are known.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which areas of Wales are covered by the free on demand measurement service for householders in areas with high radon levels; how many applications have been forthcoming under the scheme; and what are the main findings of the research undertaken.

Any householder in Wales concerned about radon can ask for a free measurement. To date, 195 surveys have been requested. The results of the National Radiological Protection Board survey are not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to ensure that all new houses built in Wales incorporate (a) a radon-proof polythene membrane and (b) radon sump and extract pump or ventilated subfloor void.

I will consider what measures, if any, may be needed when the full results of the National Radiological Protection Board survey become available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Cardiff, North of 20 January, Official Report, columns 177–79, what information he has on (a) the cost and (b) the length of time required for the completion of a study of the application of de-watering pumps to the reduction of side-effects on property affected by the proposed Cardiff bay barrage.

My Department has no firm views at present on the length of time or cost of this study.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what is his best estimate of the civilian job losses that will arise in the local community as a consequence of the closure of the Royal Navy armaments depot, Trecwn; and when these will take place;(2) what is his estimate of the civilian job losses that will arise in the local community as a consequence of the closure of RAF Brawdy; and when the jobs will go.

Around 80 direct jobs will be lost at RAF Brawdy and 415 direct jobs are affected at RNAD, Trecwn which is to close in 1996. The wider effects of these decisions will be considered by the task force which I announced on 24 January.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the cash contribution currently made to the local economy as a result of the employment provided at the Royal Navy armaments depot, Trecwn.

No official estimate is available of the cash contribution of RNAD, Trecwn to the local economy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the cash contribution currently made to the local economy as a result of the employment provided at RAF Brawdy.

No official estimate is available of the cash contribution made to the local economy by RAF Brawdy. I am, however, aware that the local authorities and the Transport and General Workers Union published figures in their social and economic study of RAF Brawdy in March last year. This report will be taken into consideration by the task force which I announced on 24 January. Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether he will take steps to launch an initiative to provide new jobs in the local economy to replace those being lost as a result of the proposed closure of the Royal Navy armaments depot, Trecwn;(2) whether he will take steps to launch an initiative to provide new jobs in the local economy to replace those being lost as a result of the proposed closure of RAF Brawdy.

In the light of the Secretary of State for Defence's announcement on 24 January that RNAD, Trecwn is to be progressively run down and closed in March 1996 and that flying training at RAF Brawdy is to end on 31 August 1992, I have announced that a special task force for the area is to be established with immediate effect. It will be the responsibility of the task force to: consider and make recommendations on short-term measures to alleviate the impact of these decisions; study the economic potential of the area affected, identify its strengths and weaknesses and make recommendations on measures to secure the economic regeneration of the area; seek alternative uses, including possible defence uses, for the site at RAF Brawdy; and to consider alternative uses for the site at RNAD, Trecwn following its closure; and review the co-ordination of the activities and plans of central and local government and of the principal agencies in the area.In addition, I also propose to chair a strategy group, comprising the chairmen of all the relevant organisations, to launch the task force programme and monitor its progress.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many jobs were lost to the local area as a result of the closure of the Royal Navy armaments depot, Milford.

The Ministry of Defence announced in March 1988 that the Royal Navy armaments depot at Milford Haven would be gradually run down and close by March 1991. At the time of the announcement 175 people were employed at the base. Of these, 79 transferred to RNAD, Trecwn; 11 to other Government Departments; 12 were lost through natural wastage and 73 were made redundant.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the financial contribution made by the Royal Navy armaments depot, Milford to the local economy, directly and indirectly (a) when operating at its height and (b) in the year prior to closure, expressed in 1992 prices.

I am not aware of any official assessment of the financial contribution made by the RNAD, Milford to the local economy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he took to launch an initiative to provide new jobs in the local economy to counteract the effect on jobs, the local economy and the local community arising from the closure of the Royal Navy armaments depot, Milford.

Following the announcement in 1988 that RNAD, Milford Haven would close in 1991, my predecessor met a delegation, led by my hon. Friend the Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett). Subsequently the Milford Haven business initiative was established under the auspices of the Welsh Development Agency. Under the initiative and assocaited programmes a total of £2.5 million actual and approved expenditure has been spent in the town to date by the WDA on improvements.Since the depot closed on 31 March 1991, the MOD has sold the site for a variety of industrial and housing purposes, including a £35 million jetty to handle super-tankers for Gulf Oil.There is also a wide range of measures available through my Department and the other agencies, including the West Wales training and enterprise council which became operational on 27 March last year, to assist those made redundant to secure alternative employment and to stimulate job creation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list, for each of the last four years, each company or organisation which has (a) shed jobs or (b) closed a unit in Pembrokeshire, together with the number of jobs involved in each case; and what action he has taken to counteract the effects of those specific job losses in each case.

The number of confirmed redundancies for the last four years for the Haverfordwest, Fishguard and South Pembrokeshire travel-to-work areas are: 113 (1988), 106 (1989), 295 (1990) and 166 in 1991. The details of the individual companies cannot be provided for reasons of confidentiality.Unemployment rates for the three travel-to-work areas were as follows in December 1985 and December 1991:

	December 1985 Percentage	December 1991 Percentage
South Pembrokeshire	20·1	14·8
Haverfordwest	16·8	11·1
Fishguard	14·6	9·2

There is a wide range of measures available through my Department and the other agencies to assist those who are unemployed and to stimulate job creation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many quangos have been set up in Wales since 9 June 1979; and if he will list each of them with the year in whch they were set up.

[holding answer 21 January 1992]: Five non-departmental public bodies have been set up in Wales since 9 June 1979. Their names and the year in which each was set up are shown as follows:

Body	Year set up
Welsh National Board for Nursing Midwifery and Health Visiting	1983
Cardiff Bay Development Corporation	1987
Curriculum Council for Wales	1988
Housing for Wales	1989
Countryside Council for Wales	1991

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation to abolish nominee shareholdings.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many registered auditors there are in the United Kingdom; and what information he has on the number of registered auditors in Germany.

At 14 January some 27,800 individuals were registered with supervisory bodies under the Companies Act 1989 as being eligible for appointment as company auditors or responsible for company audit work on behalf of registered audit firms. I understand that there are two categories of auditors in Germany: about 12,000 Wirtschaftspruefer, who audit the accounts of large companies, and about 52,000 Steuerberater, who normally act for individuals and small companies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his Department's policy on implementation of the recent EC decision on the level of intervention funding allowed to smaller ships.

Following the decision of the European Commission, notified to member states on 7 January 1992, I have decided to reduce the maximum level of support for large merchant ships from 13 to 9 per cent. with effect from 1 January 1992. I have similarly decided that maximum support for small ships will be reduced from 9 to 4.5 per cent. from the same date. The new levels, which are the maximum permitted by the European Commission are inclusive of shipbuilders relief at 2 per cent. A sliding scale will no longer be applied to applications for aid in respect of small ships. In addition, the United Kingdom definition of "small ship" will be amended to

"a ship costing less than the equivalent of ECU10 million to build"

thus aligning it with the EC definition. Vessels costing less than £1 million will no longer be eligible for shipbuilding intervention fund support.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give in respect of each privatisation since 1979 (a) the loss or profit of each company in the five years prior to privatisation and (b) any grants or loans made over the same period.

The figures for the major privatisations undertaken by my Department are as follows:

Rolls-Royce
£ million
	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986
Profit/(loss)	(93)	(115)	26	81	120
Launch aid (net of receipts)	41·0	64·8	8·2	6·6	7·1
Other grants (including offers)	1·2	8·4	0·2	0	1·3

BT
£ million
	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984
Profit	317	570	936	1,031	990
HMG loans	2,196	2,949	3,057	2,944	2,790
ERDF payments	0	0	4·0	20·2	15·2

Cable and Wireless
£ million
	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983
Profit (No grants or loans during the period)	59·5	61·0	62·0	89·2	156·7

British Steel
£ million
	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988
Profit/(loss)	(229)	(378)	42	177	419
Grants/subsidies	425	701	565	0	0

Jaguar
£ million
	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984
Profit/(loss) (No grants or loans during the period)	(47·3)	(31·7)	9·6	50·0	91·5

Rover
£ million
	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988
Profit/(loss) (No grants or loans during the period)	(73·3)	(125·3)	(455·0)	(9·3)	985·6

British Aerospace
£ million
	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985
Profit	71	85	82	120	150
Grants/loans	0·29	40·0	2·9	1·28	1·19
Launch aid (net payments/(receipts))	(0·4)	(0·4)	(0·4)	(0·4)	46·1

ECGD Insurance Services Group ("ISG")Prior to privatisation, no separate audited financial statements were prepared for ISG, although some financial details of the ISG business are contained in ECGD's annual trading accounts, copies of which are held in the Libraries of the House.For the purposes of inviting tenders for ISG, illustrative pro forma financial information concerning the business was compiled by ECGD's accountancy advisers on the sale. Copies of this information were provided to the Library of the House in April and May 1991.ECGD did not receive grants or loans during the period 1986 to 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has any plans to vary the terms of the golden share he holds in Cable and Wireless.

I have no such plans.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list all those companies where the Government have the right to appoint directors to company boards, and publish a list of all such directors appointed since 1987.

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the number of applications granted for regional selective assistance and total amount of grant allocated in the district of West Lancashire in 1990–91 and 1991–92 to date.

In the financial year 1990–91 the Department made offers totalling £647,000 on six applications for regional selective assistance in the local authority district of West Lancashire. Between 1 April 1991 and 23 January 1992 a further nine offers were made with a total value of £1,006,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West of 22 January, Official Report, column 243 when the cost per job limit for regional selective assistance was last altered.

The cost per job limit is an administrative criterion which forms part of the terms under which Treasury authority to make financial assistance available under section 7(1) of the Industrial Development Act 1982 is delegated to the Secretary of State. The terms of the delegated powers are subject to regular review; the cost per job limit has remained unchanged since 1984.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will investigate the supply of equipment by British companies for use for execution or torture.

I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave on 23 January, Official Report, columns 29–-94.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what quantity of steel and engineering steel was produced in the United Kingdom in the last quarter of 1991 and in the same period in 1988 and 1989.

Information on crude steel production is regularly published in "Economic Trends" which is available in the Library of the House. "Engineering steel" cannot be separately identified in production statistics.