To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss human rights in Peru when he meets President Fujimori of Peru on 5 February.

My discussions with President Fujimori covered a wide range of issues of common interest, including human rights.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the names of hon. Members to whom his Department has afforded a briefing in advance of visits to the former Soviet Union since 1979.

We do not hold this information. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has given briefing to a very large number of hon. Members visiting the former Soviet Union over the past 13 years, and of course stands ready to do so in the future.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes he proposes to make in his Department's diplomatic wing cash limits and running costs limits for 1991–92.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the following changes will be made: The cash limit for class II, vote 1 (overseas representation) will be increased by £8,209,000 from £629,076,000 to £637,285,000. The running costs limit on vote 1 will be decreased by £1,781,000 from £480,647,000 to £487,866,000. These changes take account of increased local staff salaries overseas and the adverse effect of overseas price movements which are partially offset by reduced running costs on the home estate, local budgets and information services.The cash limit for class II, vote 2 (other external relations) will be increased by £27,939,000 from £165,431,000 to £193,370,000. This change takes account of expenditure on Vietnamese boat people; international peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia and Cambodia; the United Nations Angola verification mission; a grant-in-aid towards the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; a payment to the Iranian Government under the United Kingdom/Iran compensation agreement and higher than forecast expenditure on United Kingdom contributions to international organisations due to the adverse effect of overseas price movements.The cash limit for class II, vote 4 (The British Council) will be increased by £463,000 from £89,944,000 to £90,407,000 to take account of the adverse effect of overseas price movements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes he proposes to make to the cash limits and running costs limits for his Department.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the following changes will be made:

Class and Vote	Current cash limit	Changes	Revised cash limit
VII, 1	1,953,664,000	1-21,435,000	1,932,229,000
2	234,438,000	23,176,000	237,614,000
4	148,254,000	8,660,000	156,914,000
5	349,585,000	37,600,000	357,185,000
1 Transfers of £2,835,000 for research and development to class VII, vote 2, £8,850,000 for the Black Country spine road to class VIII, vote 3, £8,660,000 to class VII, vote 4 in respect of reduced appropriations in aid. There is a further reduction of £1,090,000 as a result of the demand financing arrangements for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.
2 An increase of £451,000 for railways inspectorate service from Department of Employment (class VI, vote 3). There is also a reduction of £110,000 in the running costs on this vote.
3 It was announced on 1 July 1991 (Official Report column 6) that I would seek to introduce at an early opportunity legislation to write off or suspend those parts of the debt of the Humber Bridge Board that cannot be financed from the board's revenues. The board's borrowings are from the Public Works Loan Commissioners and from my Department. Until powers to write off or suspend debt are available, it would be inappropriate for further loans to be made by my Department to the board as there is no reasonable expectation of those loans being properly serviced and repaid and I understand that the Public Works Loan Commissioners have also decided that it would be inappropriate to make further advances to the board. To enable the board to meet its commitments I propose to make grants to it amounting to £7,600,000. These grants will be made on the sole authority of the estimate and the subsequent Appropriation Act.

My Department's running costs limit has been reduced by £110,000 from £378,984,000 to £378,874,000.The changes described will not add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made in installing a permanent noise and track keeping system at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports.

I am delighted that my noble Friend has announced in another place that BAA has now committed itself to purchasing a system that should be installed by early autumn. The system will be one of the most modern in the world, and will have considerable flexibility in the ways it can be used. It will be used to enforce noise and track requirements and also to provide a lot more information about the performance of aircraft and their impact on surrounding communities.The noise monitoring will be carried out by a total of 36 noise monitors. There will be 12 fixed noise monitors in total at the three airports, primarily to monitor noise against predetermined limits, and 24 mobile monitors that can be deployed to collect data on aircraft noise from any area near the airports. The monitors will be able to record the noise made by individual aircraft and will also be able to store data so that they can be analysed in a variety of ways. This will enable a review of noise limits to be carried out at the three airports with a view to introducing tougher limits more appropriate to modern aircraft. The noise monitoring installation should be completed by the early summer.The track monitoring will require provision of radar data feed to the system. I understand that this should be available so as to allow installation of the track monitoring by early autumn. Again, the system will be able to identify the tracks followed by individual aircraft as well as to allow analysis of track data in different ways. This will be used to improve the accuracy with which aircraft follow noise preferential routes from the airports.I am pleased to report that BAA is keen to involve local people through the local airport consultative committees in considering how best to use the system. It has great potential for ensuring that aircraft are operated in a way that minimises noise nuisance for surrounding communities. But the most effective use of the system will be developed only with experience: the contribution from local people and from the airlines to that development will be invaluable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the safety improvements promised for Holborn station to be carried out.

The timing of particular underground schemes is a matter for London Underground Limited.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what inquiry will be undertaken by his Department into the events which led to the Bow Trader colliding with two bridges on the Thames on the night of 31 January;(2) if he will ask Mr. John Hayes, the head of the independent inquiry into river safety, to consider the collision of Friday 31 January of the Bow Trader into two bridges on the River Thames.

The Department's Marine Accident Investigation Branch is involved with the Port of London Authority in an investigation into the incident. The MAIB will provide Mr. John Hayes with early advice on the initial findings of the investigation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the minimum manning level for a dredger such as the Bow Trader, operating on the River Thames at night.

The minimum manning level of United Kingdom-registered ships is assessed on an individual basis. In the case of the Bow Trader the minimum number of crew would be eight. The composition of the watch when operating on the River Thames at night should not be less than one qualified officer on the bridge, a helmsman, a lookout and an engineer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the level of manning on the Bow Trader on the night of 31 January; whether lookouts were maintained in compliance with his Department's standards; and if they were equipped with two way radios.

These matters will be addressed during the investigation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the initiatives taken by his Department to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and indicate the estimated reduction for each initiative by (a) 2000 and (b) 2005.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment gave earlier today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to his answer of 28 January, Official Report, column 501, if he will give details of any provision by which third parties affected by the abolition of the dock labour scheme may seek redress.

The Dock Work Act 1989 made no provision in respect of creditors and non-docker employees of stevedoring firms, since their rights, in the event of a liquidation, were already governed respectively by the general legislation on insolvencies and employment protection.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of the recommendations made by the marine accident investigation branch in the Marchioness/Bowbelle report have been fully implemented; and if he will list those recommendations which remain to be implemented, and the target implementation date.

The 27 recommendations in the marine accident investigation branch report were published, separately from the report, in July 1990. The Secretary of State for Transport immediately accepted them all. So far 20 recommendations have been fully implemented.Of those outstanding, five are to be the subject of regulations, and, as required by the Merchant Shipping Act 1979, consultative documents have been circulated for public comment. It is planned that sets of regulations, based on three recommendations will be in force by this summer. The recommendations to be covered by these regulations will be:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will include on the application form for a provisional driving licence a notice informing applicants that they may receive direct mail from private organisations; and if he will provide for applicants for provisional driving licences to opt out of the receipt of direct mail consequent on their completion of the form.

Further consideration is being given to the use of DVLA's database for commercial purposes. The concerns of individuals receiving third party mail has been recognised and any decision will take account of this and of the requirements of the Data Protection Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement concerning the inclusion of photographs on driving licences; whether the photograph will be digitised and sent to the police national computer; and whether the photograph will be used for official or unofficial identification purposes.

The DVLA is undertaking a feasibility study to determine how best to proceed with the initiative of including photographs on driving licences. Several strategic and administrative issues are being addressed including the technology available, costs and the data protection implications. The DVLA will seek the advice of the data protection registrar.Police have access to the driver licensing records for law enforcement purposes under the terms of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Schedule 34(5)a of the Data Protection Act 1984 removes any data protection restriction on such statutory disclosure. If photographs of drivers were to form part of those records, then the police will have access to them under the same terms, subject to consultation with the data protection registrar.A driving licence is a document which indicates an individual's entitlement to drive. It is not, nor is it intended that it should be, an identity document. The law does not require drivers to carry their licence with them and there are no plans to change this.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will show the number of car accidents involving drivers aged (a) 17 to 20 years, (b) 21 to 30 years, (c) 31 to 40 years, (d) 41 to 50 years, (e) 51 to 60 years, (f) 61 to 70 years and (g) 70 years and older both as a figure and as a percentage of all drivers in the relevant age category.

The information requested is given in the table. Information on the proportion of driving licence holders who are active drivers is not available. This may vary between age groups.

Number of car drivers involved in injury accidents by age: GB 1990
Number of injury accidents involving car drivers of different ages:
GB 1990 Percentage of the driving population involved in injury accidents by age: GB 1990
	Number of injury accidents involving car drivers in each age group1	Number of car drivers involved in injury accidents	Estimate of number of persons holding a full car driving licence2(millions)	Percentage of all car drivers who involved in injury accidents
17-20	42,763	45,131	1·3	3·6
21-30	89,487	101,674	6·3	1·6
31-40	57,773	63,225	5·9	1·1
41-50	42,250	45,056	5·5	0·8
51-60	25,554	26,579	3·8	0·7
61-70	14,655	15,013	2·8	0·5
71 and over	9,226	9,469	1·6	0·6
Total3	222,772	330,181	27·2	1·2
1 Accidents involving drivers in more than one age group are included in each relevant row.
2 Estimate based on population date for 1990 from OPCS and GRO(S) and data on the percentage of the population holding driving licences from the 1988–90 National Travel Survey.
3 Including younger ages and unknown ages.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to improve maintenance on motorways and to speed up the backlog of essential repairs.

We shall be announcing plans later this month.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will specify the consultations including dates of meetings and correspondence on the review of Her Majesty's coastguard in Cornwall with (a) local authorities, (b) coastguard staff and (c) the public.

The regional controller of Falmouth search and rescue region consulted all regular coastguard officers and auxiliary coastguards in charge of rescue companies within the region, which includes Cornwall, by means of a first draft regional implementation plan on 5 February 1991. Elements of this plan were widely discussed in Cornwall—we received 33 letters from individuals and organisations between 7 February and 20 March 1991.The proposals of over 40 regular and auxiliary coastguards were incorporated into the final plan which, as intended, very much reflected local opinion.The regional controller also personally briefed the hon. Member for St. Ives (Mr. Harris) on 8 February 1991, and the hon. Member for Truro on 6 July 1991 about the background to the review, as well as five Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidates for Cornish constituencies between 19 February 1991 and January 1992.The county emergency planning officer for Cornwall was briefed about the review early in February 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has undertaken on the causes of accidents on motorways.

The main causes of motorway accidents, driving too fast and too close to the vehicle in front, have been established for some years. Current departmental research is aimed at developing solutions and includes experiments with chevron markings; yellow bar markings on slip roads; automatic fog and incident detection equipment and advanced variable message signs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has undertaken on the effectiveness of cycle helmet wearing.

A hospital-based study carried out by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory indicated that cycle helmets reduce the risk of cranial injury by 16 per cent. and of serious cranial injury by 30 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has for developing pollution reduction strategies for key transport pollutants in areas where repeated breaches occur.

[holding answer 3 February 1992]: Severe air pollution occurs rarely, and is normally associated with unusual weather conditions. During such periods we advise individuals to use public transport whenever possible, share cars and cut out less important journeys.We have set in train a number of far reaching measures to reduce motor traffic pollution. New European standards for new cars and heavy diesel vehicles will bring major gains, with tough limits becoming mandatory from the end of the year. The new emissions check in the MOT test should ensure substantial reductions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. We intend to introduce a metered smoke test in the annual test for heavy diesels.We are also taking measures to deal with traffic and congestion. These are a mix of traffic management, parking controls and better public transport. We are supporting high levels of investment in British Rail and the underground, and we have recently produced, in conjunction with the bus industry and the local authorities, advice as to how buses can help ease congestion. We also issue guidance to local authorities on how to help cyclists and pedestrians. We are setting up a programme of research into urban road congestion, which will include an assessment of the potential role of road pricing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many dentist, in the constituency of South Down operate within the national health service; how many operate privately; and what were the figures on 1 January 1987.

The information is available only in respect of those units of management in the Eastern and Southern boards which form all or part of the South Down constituency. The figures for 1 January 1992 also reflect the amalgamation of the Lisburn and Down units of management with effect from 1 April 1990. Details are as follows:

Unit of management	Health service dentists	Private dentists
1 January 1987
Down	14	—
Newry and Mourne	19	—
Craigavon and Banbridge	23	—
1 January 1992
Lisburn and Down	44	—
Newry and Mourne	25	1
Craigavon and Banbridge	32	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of the students from the Republic of Ireland who have obtained places at university in Northern Ireland in 1990–91 and 1991–92 have passed the Irish language leaving certificate.

The numbers with higher level Irish language leaving certificate were as follows:

	Number
1990–91	168
1991–92	160

Numbers for those with lower level leaving certificates in Irish language are not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) district nurses and (b) health visitors are employed in each of the units of management of each health and social services board in Northern Ireland; and what were the figures on 1 January 1987.

The information requested is set out in the following tables:

(a) 31 December 1986
Unit of management		District nurses		Health visitors
Eastern Board
Eastern Board HQ	17	(17·00)	5	(5·00)
South Belfast Community	24	(23·10)	31	(30·06)
East Belfast and Castlereagh Community	43	(40·84)	47	(44·64)
North and West Belfast Community	70	(65·62)	57	(55·46)

Unit of management		District nurses		Health visitors
Lisburn1	39	(37·74)	31	(29·34)
North Down and Ards1	61	(56·03)	49	(44·03)
Down1	31	(30·50)	19	(18·66)
Northern Board
Coleraine, Ballymoney and Moyle1	40	(38·58)	25	(22·75)
Carrickfergus, Larne and Newtownabbey1	43	(42·53)	40	(38·38)
Magherafelt and Cookstown:1	24	(24·00)	16	(15·60)
Antrim and Ballymena	40	(39·00)	29	(27·07)
Southern Board
Armagh and Dungannon1	37	(36·05)	35	(28·34)
Banbridge and Craigavon1	35	(33·60)	37	(34·51)
Newry and Mourne1	51	(30·50)	27	(27·00)
Western Board
Londonderry, Limavady and Strabane1	55	(42·46)	40	(39·00)
Omagh1	18	(17·22)	15	(13·97)
Fermanagh1	25	(25·00)	18	(15·69)
1 Includes combined District Nurse/Midwives.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has yet received a schedule of accommodation from South Eastern education and library board for the proposed New Comber high school; and if he will make a statement about the progress of this scheme.

A schedule of accommodation was received by the Department of Education for Northern Ireland in October 1991. A revised schedule has been approved by the Department and returned to the board to enable it to draw up outline plans for the new school.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the revenue expenditure of each regional health authority on health service facilities for patients with a mental handicap for each year since 1981, in cash terms and at 1991 prices.

The information for Northern Ireland is as follows:

Year	Net hospital running costs £	1991 prices £
1980–81	12,732,578	23,380,546
1981–82	14,327,360	23,992,497
1982–83	15,271,295	23,872,588
1983–84	15,970,537	23,860,126
1984–85	16,686,465	23,741,822
1985–86	17,391,292	23,450,724
1986–87	17,831,572	23,278,814
1987–88	18,560,576	22,980,964
1988–89	19,944,274	23,039,651
1989–90	20,541,719	22,284,597
1990–91	21,258,075	21,258,075

The figures do not include increasing levels of expenditure on health care in the community for such patients.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on cash and running cost limits for the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland departmental services in 1991–92.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, it is proposed that the cash limit for class 17 vote 1 (the Northern Ireland Office) will be increased by £11,236,000 from £773,396,000 to £784,632,000. This is principally to meet additional expenditure on compensation and police costs.The cash limit for most Northern Ireland departmental services (NIDI) for 1991–92 will be decreased by £47,820,000 from £3,119,703,000 to £3,071,883,000. This decrease arises from the transfer to the Northern Ireland Office cash limit (NIO1) of £10,581,000, the transfer to the Northern Ireland independent living fund (NID2) of £726,000 and other technical changes of £36,513,000 (net), including transfers to non-cash limited areas within the Northern Ireland Departments and a surrender of cash limit cover as a result of repayment of loans.The cash limit for the Northern Ireland independent living fund (NID2) for 1991–92 will be increased by £726,000 from £2,870,000 to £3,596,000. This increase arises from a revision in the assumptions on which payments from the fund are based.The Running Cost Limit for Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments will be increased by £3,895,000 from £652,593,000 to £656,488,000 primarily reflecting the take-up of £1,199,000 of the end-year flexibility entitlement announced by the Chief Secretary to

the Treasury on 17 July 1991,

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the effect multi-seat fires may have on means of escape; and what account has been taken of this within the new Building Regulations.

The means of escape provisions of the Building Regulations have always been based on the assumption that there is unlikely to be more than one seat of fire. Accidental multi-seat fires in buildings are so unlikely that it would not be reasonable to make special provision for them under the regulations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the extent to which the removal of requirements for non-combustible materials and materials of limited combustibility will affect smoke levels and fire load in buildings and the unseen spread of fire and smoke within concealed spaces.

The changes to the guidance on the use of non combustible materials and materials of limited combustibility are not expected to have any significant effect on the smoke levels in buildings, which are determined primarily by the smoke produced by their contents, such as furniture and fittings. Likewise, these changes to the guidance are unlikely to affect the unseen spread of smoke and fire, which is prevented by cavity barriers. The new guidance has not dispensed with controls over the positioning of these barriers, and it takes account of the material lining the cavity.The fire load is likely to be increased in some buildings where more combustible materials are used in the construction of fire resisting walls and floors. However this is not likely to be of any significance for the overall levels of safety. Because they are fire resisting these elements of construction are unlikely to be heavily involved in a fire until an advanced stage is reached, by which time evacuation would have had to have been completed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what effect he expects the deletion of structural non-combustibility requirements from the new building regulations to have on (a) levels of (i) fire severity, (ii) smoke and toxic fumes and (b) likelihood of premature collapse of structures in fires in buildings constructed to the new regulations.

On points (a) (i) and (ii) I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave today to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway).The likelihood of premature collapse should not be affected by the use of combustible materials in the circumstances described in the new guidance to the building regulations. Regardless of their composition fire resisting floors and walls that perform a load bearing function have to maintain that function for the designated test period.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what account was taken in drawing up the building regulations tabled on 10 December of the problem of the increasing number of multi-seat fires of deliberate and terrorist origin; and if he will make a statement.

While the value of active fire suppression systems against attacks of deliberate and terrorist origin has been highlighted by the recent spate of incidents, and the new building regulation guidance would have the effect of increasing the number of such installations, the regulations are not an efficient way of countering this problem, compared with good management practices tailored to the particular circumstances, and the vigilance of all concerned. There is a long lead time between changes to the regulations and changes to a significant proportion of the building stock, by which time the nature of the problem may well have changed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the total outstanding housing revenue debt at 31 March 1991, the unredeemed reserved part of capital receipts at 31 March 1990 and 31 March 1991 and the total of housing revenue account 1990–91 in year receipts applied to debt redemption in that year.

The reserved part of capital receipts was £4·2 billion at 31 March 1990 and £5·1 billion at 31 March 1991. Information about the total outstanding housing revenue account debt at 31 March 1991 is not yet complete. It is not possible to say how much of the in-year receipts are applied to debt redemption because there is no need for authorities' accounts to relate debt redemption to particular receipts.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the level of rents in (a) Wakefield, (b) Leeds, (c) Kirklees, (d) Bradford and (e) Calderdale.

The latest available information on average local authority rents per dwelling for the financial year 1991–92 is as follows:

	£ per week
Wakefield	20·22
Leeds	18·70
Kirkless	24·36
Bradford	25·98
Calderdale	24·93

Average annual rents for fair rent tenancies reregistered in 1990–91 and the first quarter 1991 for the West Yorkshire area are published in Department of the Environment Statistical Bulletin (91)3, which is in the Library. This publication also gives details of rents in housing benefit cases referred to rent officers under the Housing Act 1988.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many appeals were settled since 1 April 1990 in respect of (a) the pre-national non-domestic rates valuations and (b) the NNDR valuations; and how many rating appeals in each category are still outstanding.

The information concerning appeals to valuation and community charge tribunals in England is as follows:

	Cleared between 1 April 1990 and 31 December 1991	Outstanding at 31 December 1991
1973 Rating appeals	182,000	4,000
1990 Non-domestic rating appeals	142,000	589,000

Appeals cleared relate to those heard and decided by tribunals or withdrawn or agreed prior to or after hearing.Many of the 4,000 outstanding 1973 appeals were awaiting decisions by the Court of Appeal in related cases. Most of the 1990 non-domestic rating appeals were not received in tribunals until towards the end of 1990–91.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how much public expenditure has been incurred on Leigh Barton; and for how many years it has been in his ownership;(2) how many years Leigh Barton, near Churstow has been closed to the public; and when it is planned to be reopened.

Leigh Barton was purchased from Devon county council by the Secretary of State for the Environment in April 1974, at a cost of £4,850, and has been in English Heritage's guardianship since 1984. To date, the total estimated costs of maintenance and repair at the property amount to about £300,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about the methodology used by his Department in calculating the standard spending assessment for Cumbria; and if he will make a statement.

Cumbria submitted detailed written representations about the proposals for 1992–93 and also brought a delegation to see my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. The points made by Cumbria were given careful consideration, as were all other representations. Cumbria's standard spending assessment increased by £0·266 million between that issued for consultation purposes and the settlement figure.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for England and Wales the number of species of (a) flora and (b) fauna that have become extinct since the introduction of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

It is probable that no species of flora and five species of fauna have become extinct in England and Wales since the introduction of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the future of (a) the 100 acre site of special scientific interest at Birkham wood, Harrogate, (b) the 25 acre site of special scientific interest at Shirley Pool and Rushley Moor wetlands, (c) the 2,000 acre site of special scientific interest at Ingleborough moors, Yorkshire and (d) the 1,000 acre site of special scientific interest at Yorkshire Wolds Chalk Grasslands.

I will write to the hon. Member with the details requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to prevent any developments which damage sites of special scientific interest.

Additional safeguards for SSSIs were announced in DOE circular 1/92. These measures together with other statutory provisions set out in the Countryside Act 1968, Wildlife and Countryside Acts of 1981 and 1985 and the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ensure that the special interest of these sites is taken fully into account when development proposals are considered.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all research and advice commissioned by his Department from external organisations or consultants, in connection with part II of the Local Government Bill indicating (a) the terms of reference, (b) the cost, (c) when the work was completed and (d) if the work will be published.

We have commissioned CSL Ltd. to advise on the costs and benefits the Local Government Commission might take into account in assessing cases for structural change, and the means by which such costs and benefits could be measured. We hope to make CSL's report available soon.We have also commissioned social researcher Mr. Alan Hedges to look at means of developing and refining criteria which might be applied to the assessment of community identity and loyalties, and which might be amenable to testing by means of surveys of public habits and attitudes in a given local area; and the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies in Newcastle university to consider the application of geographical information systems in the definition of community boundaries with a view to developing a suitable methodology which the Commission might use. We will decide how to disseminate the results of those studies when we have the final reports.It is not our policy to reveal the value of individual contracts.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure correlation between local authority community care plans and future standard spending assessments for personal social services.

Standard spending assessments are the Government's measure of the cost of providing a standard level of service across all local authorities taking account of their social, geographic and demographic characteristics and the services for which they are responsible. Community care plans reflect locally determined service priorities within available resources.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue a planning policy guidance note along the lines proposed by the Horticultural Traders Association dealing with soft landscaping in association with development proposals.

Trees, plants and shrubs can enhance the appearance of developments and I commend the action of the Horticultural Traders Association in bringing this to the attention of local planning authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what account is taken of specific needs which have to be met on a regional rather than local level in the calculation of standard spending assessments for personal social services.

A personal social services standard spending assessment is allocated to each social services authority in England based on its social and demographic characteristics. The standard spending assessment covers the full range of social services not supported by specific grant.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what account he takes of existing levels of service in the calculation of standard spending assessments for the personal social services.

The standard spending assessment for personal social services is based on demographic and social indicators which best reflect the cost of providing a standard level of service. It takes no direct account of existing levels of service provision.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what was the deadline by which large combustion plants should have been granted their licence from Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution under the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and how many plants had been licensed by that date;(2) how many power stations owned by PowerGen and National Power have received the required licence from Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution under the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and if he will make a statement;(3) if he will list all large combustion plants covered by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 indicating the owners; and whether they have been granted the licence, required under the Act from Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.

Applications for authorisation of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution under part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 were received for 203 combustion processes of which 150 are large combustion plants; a list of these plants has been placed in the Library of the House. These should be determined within four months of receipt, or within such longer period as may be agreed with the applicant. But, in cases where commercial confidentiality has been claimed in respect of information contained in an application, this period of four months does not begin until that matter has been resolved, at which time public advertisement and consultation can take place.On receipt of the applications, HMIP found that additional information was required from all applicants, including PowerGen and National Power, to enable the determination of their authorisation to proceed. In seeking such information, in accordance with schedule 1 of the 1990 Act, the four-month deadline for determining applications was extended, by varying periods. Nineteen authorisations for large combustion plant had been granted by 4 February 1992. PowerGen and National Power originally requested information in 34 of their applications (14 PowerGen and 20 National Power) to be considered as commercially confidential. HMIP refused these requests and the applicants appealed to the Secretary of State against the decision. Appeals (by National Power) in two cases were withdrawn at the end of 1991 and determination of those applications is now proceeding. Thirty-two cases remain subject to appeal.Until the applications are determined, all existing plants remain subject to control by HMIP under existing air pollution legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the measures undertaken by his Department to achieve the target set for the proportion of household waste to be recycled by 2000; and what is the estimated impact of each measure.

I refer the hon. Member to the document "This Common Inheritance—The First Year Report", published in September 1991. Since then we have published a report on deposit and refund systems for beverage containers and batteries. We have commissioned a major study of economic instruments necessary to encourage the recovery of resources from waste. These reports, together with the waste recycling plans now being prepared by every waste collection authority in the country, will enable us to assess the extent of any further action that we will need to take in order to achieve our aim of minimising waste and the target of recycling 25 per cent. of household waste by the end of the decade.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the initiatives undertaken by his Department to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and indicate the estimated reduction for each initiative by (a) 2000 and (b) 2005.

The Environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance" (Cm 1200) set out the Government's strategy and a first tranche of measures towards Britain's conditional target of returning CO₂ emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2005. The first year report (Cm 1655) set out progress with this strategy.The savings from this first tranche of measures have been taken into account in the latest scenarios for United Kingdom CO

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on what date he will publish his consultation paper on extending compulsory competitive tendering to housing management.

I expect to publish it shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the rent arrears of each local housing authority in the county of Kent, as a percentage and in cash terms; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for Housing and Planning on 3 February 1992 to my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) at column 4.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities do not accept housing applications from young single people.

The available information on local authority waiting lists does not separately identify young single people. Under the homelessness legislation, local authorities have a duty to accept responsibility to secure accommodation for young single people who are unintentionally homeless and judged to be in priority need because they are vulnerable. In addition, in the last two quarters a total of 62 local authorities reported securing permanent accommodation under the homelessness legislation, for other young single people.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if there are any proposals to change the 1991–92 cash limit and the net running cost limit for ordnance survey.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary spring supplementary estimate, the cash limit for ordnance survey, class VIII, vote 12 will be increased by £500,000 from £21,089,000 to £21,589,000. The increase will be charged to the reserve and not therefore added to the planned total of public expenditure. The increase to the cash limit is due to a greater payover of value added tax (VAT) to Her Majesty's Customs and Excise caused by a reduction in capital and running cost expenditure for which OS can reclaim VAT together with the higher sales of OS products which attract VAT.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any changes to announce to his Department's cash limits and running costs limits for 1991–92.

Yes. Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the following changes will be made:

(i) The cash limit for class VIII, vote 2 (miscellaneous housing administration and grants) will be increased by £1,700,000 from £195,907,000 to £197,607,000. The increase reflects a transfer a £1,700,000 from the non-voted provision for housing action trusts for borrowing from the national loans funds to grant-in-aid which is voted in estimates. In additions, the running costs provision for rent assessment panels will he increased by £43,000 to £1,904,000 to support the provision of information technology to the panels. This increase in running costs provision will be met from equivalent savings within the running costs provision on class VIII, vote 8, so that the Department's running costs limit remains unaffected by this change;

(ii) The DOE/HC non-voted cash limit will be increased by £950,000 from £1,520,925,000 to £1,521,875,000. This increase results from full take up of entitlement of £950,000 under the end year flexibility scheme for capital projects concerned with schemes for the homeless;

(iii) The DOE/UA non-voted cash limit will be increased by £6,617,000 from £883,814,000 to £890,431,000. This includes increased grant-in-aid of £8,850,000 to the Black Country development corporation for the black country spine road. This increase will be offset by a corresponding reduction in the Department of Transport's cash limit for class VII, vote 1 (national roads, England). In addition, £13,280,000 is required for various projects for other development corporations, to increase resources for local authority sector derelict land grant, and to make payments of urban programme grant and city action team grant where works have progressed faster than anticipated. The costs will be met, in part, from offsetting savings of £12,000,000 on the city grant programme and other savings totalling £3,513,000 from non local authority derelict land grant, urban development grant and inner cities research.

(iv) The cash limit for class VIII, vote 5 (central environmental services, etx) will be reduced by £9,000,000 from £317,840,000 to £308,840,000. The decrease reflects reduced grant-in-aid requirements by the National Rivers Authority.

(v) The cash limit for class VIII, vote 6, (royal palaces, royal parks, historic buildings, etc) will be increased by £71,000 from £176,484,000 to £176,555,000. The increase of £71,000 is required to cover the cost of new charges by the Civil Service Commission for services provided to the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, and by the Treasury solicitors for services provided to the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission. These increases are offset by equivalent transfers of provision from class VIII, vote 8 (Department of the Environment: administration). In addition, the running costs provision for royal parks will be increased by £600,000 mainly to meet the redundancy and consultancy costs associated with contracting out gardening services. This increase in provision for royal parks will be met from savings within the vote, but the running cost provision on class VIII, vote 8 will be reduced by an equivalent amount so the Department's running cost limit remains unaffected by this change;

(vi) The cash limit for class VIII, vote 8 (Department of the Environment: administration) will be increased by £201,000 from £188,417,000 to £188,618,000. This increase includes a transfer of £200,000 from class VIII, vote 3 (urban aid and derelict land reclamation, England) for costs associated with Manchester's bid for Olympics in the year 2000, and a transfer of £71,000 to class VIII, vote 6 (royal palaces, royal parks, historic buildings, etc) as outlined above. The Department's running cost limit will be reduced by £4,541,000 from £190,061,000 to £185,520,000. The decrease includes reallocation of resources from running costs to non-running costs within this vote, and the equivalent offset to the running cost increases for rent assessment panels on class VIII, vote 2 and for royal parks on class VIII, vote 6, as outlined above;

(vii) The cash limit for class VIII, vote 9 (revenue support grant, payment of non-domestic rates, valuation office rating and valuation services, etc., England) will be decreased by £52,686,000 from £22,759,344,000 to £22,706,658,000. The decrease reflects lower costs in payments to the valuation office, for implementation work on the council tax: and

(viii) The DOE/LACAP non-voted cash limit will be increased by £2,710,000 from £3,016,492,000 to £3,019,202,000. This represents an increase of £3,000,000 for projects to help the homeless, partly offset by a decrease of £290,000 due to lower than expected take up of estate action grant.

These increases will be charged to the reserve and not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has reached a decision on the future of 2 Marsham street, London; and if he will make a statement.

We have decided to knock it down. No. 2 Marsham street is a Crown building which houses most of the headquarters staff of my Department and of the Department of Transport. The building is in need of major repair. Following detailed technical studies I am satisfied that repairs on the scale necessary would not be desirable. I have therefore decided that the existing building should be demolished. Options for the future of the site including sale, are now being considered.The decision to demolish 2 Marsham street means that alternative accommodation has to be found for some 3,000 staff in my Department and the Department of Transport. The Secretary of State for Transport and I are considering our Departments' needs and how they can best be met. For my part, I have asked my officials to draw up proposals for moving a substantial number of the present Department of the Environment Headquarters posts to other locations, reducing my Department's requirement for accommodation in the central Westminster area. I have asked them particularly to examine the opportunities and value for money of relocation to docklands, where I am considering establishing a significant Departmental presence.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what resources are being made available under the derelict land grant programme in 1992–93; and if he will make a statement.

The resources available in 1992–93 for derelict land reclamation under the derelict land grant programme will be £106 million. This represents an increase of 21 per cent. on this year's provision. £9 million of this total has been earmarked for reclamation schemes carried out by private sector companies and voluntary organisations such as groundwork trusts. The remainder has been allocated for reclamation schemes operated by local authorities.The reclamation of derelict and often seriously contaminated land plays a vital role in recycling previously developed land and returning it to beneficial use. This helps to improve the environment and ensure that the use of greenfield sites for development is kept to a minimum. Since 1979 DLG has funded the reclamation of 15,500 hectares and I expect a further 1,500 hectares to be reclaimed next year.New priorities and guidelines for DLG were announced in May 1991 introducing greater flexibility in the type of reclamation schemes which can be supported by DLG throughout England. Local authorities applying for DLG are being encouraged to prepare reclamation strategies which are expected to show an increased emphasis on reclamation for environmental and amenity improvement.In urban and inner city areas we will continue to give priority to reclaiming sites for use by industry and commerce, and for housing provision; providing a demand for these sites has been clearly demonstrated. But environmental improvement can also make an important contribution to urban regeneration and a large number of DLG reclamation schemes designed to provide a new amenity and recreational provision in urban areas is planned to start in 1992–93.On the urban fringe and in rural areas, DLG will also be widely used for environmental improvement. A range of such schemes is planned for next year which will include the use of derelict land for community forests, the reclamation of derelict canals for amenity use and the conversion of derelict railways into long distance footpaths and cycleways.I have also decided how the total resources available for DLG should be divided between regions and this distribution is given in the table. Most DLG will go to the northern and midland regions where the concentration of dereliction is greatest. The north-west region and Yorkshire and Humberside will receive £21 million each, (representing increases of 15 per cent. and 25 per cent. respectively compared with last year's allocations). The west midlands wil also receive £20·5 million (14 per cent. up on last year), including £9·21 million for investigative and infilling work in connection with the disused limestone mines in that region.

Table 1 Derelict Land Grant Programme:
Distribution of resources by region for 1992–93
Region	Allocation for 1992–93 (£ million)	Percentage increase on this year's allocation
Northern	12·4	14
North West	21·0	15
Merseyside	8·6	13
Yorkshire and Humberside	21·0	25
West Midlands	20·5	14
East Midlands	13·0	21
London	2·0	43
South West	4·5	72
South East	1·2	77
Eastern	1·0	19
Unallocated	0·8	—
Total	106·0	21

The number of rolling programmes of reclamation has also been substantially increased for 1992–93. In total there will be 26 in operation accounting for £50·5 million of DLG expenditure, with five new programmes starting in Northumberland, Sunderland, Durham, the Croal/Irwell valley and St Helens. Also project Furness will be extended to the whole of the local authority area. Rolling programmes are subject to a review after three years of operation and, following such reviews this year, the Leeds/Liverpool canal corridor programme will be extended to include Rossendale and the major programme at Salford quays will be extended for another three years to complete reclamation there.Reclamation in areas subject to colliery closures has been an important priority for DLG and will continue to be so in 1992–93. £21 million of DLG resources are planned to be spent in coalfield areas. DLG is now being used in these areas to concentrate on collieries closed before March 1990. British Coal has agreed to take financial responsibility for the reclamation of collieries closing since then and the combined effect of these twin programmes will add increased momentum to the pace of reclamation and regeneration in the coalfields.Priority is also being given under the DLG programme to dealing with derelict sites which are also badly contaminated. The reclamation costs for such sites are often much higher than average, but need to be dealt with urgently for reasons of public health and safety. In total it is likely that about £25 million of DLG will be committed towards such major schemes, involving seriously contaminated sites, on which work is likely to start next year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which 20 local authorities have the most outstanding community charge payments; and what are the figures.

[holding answer 4 February 1992]: Information is available about the arrears of community charge at 31 March 1991 for 358 out of 366 charging authorities. Of those authorities for which information is available the following have the highest arrears in terms of amounts outstanding.

	£ million
Birmingham	60·4
Lambeth	50·1
Brent	32·4
Bristol	31·2
Leeds	31·2
Hackney	27·7
Sheffield	26·0
Haringey	23·7
Leicester	23·3
Ealing	22·1
Southwark	21·6
Newham	21·5
Islington	20·3
Nottingham	18·2
Waltham Forest	17·4
Camden	16·5
Sandwell	16·3
Wirral	15·5
Newcastle upon Tyne	14·4
Walsall	13·9

It should be noted that no information is available for Liverpool, Manchester, Coventry, Northampton, Oxford, Derwentside, Newbury and Oswestry.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a right of appeal to a landowner or occupier from the decision of a local authority including his land on a register of potentially contaminated sites and for deregistration to be undertaken in the event of appropriate clean-up measures having been taken.

[holding answer 4 February 1992]: Local authorities compiling registers under section 143 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 will be required to record all land which is, or has been, subject to specific contaminative uses to be listed in regulations. An objection to the registration of a site could thus be based only on a factual question concerning the site's use, and therefore no formal appeal procedure is considered necessary. However, an authority which refused to correct an error would lay itself open to judicial review or civil legal action.Under section 143 sites cannot be deregistered after treatment, but registers will record details of any investigation or treatment which may have been carried out. Treatment rarely removes all contamination, and purchasers, planners and developers will continue to require information on the history and treatment of sites. Contamination from a site may also affect other land or water, and purchasers of affected land and bodies responsible for environmental protection will need to refer to registers for information on the sources of such contamination.In addition, deregistration of sites after treatment would have to be carried out by the local authorities responsible for registers. They would thus give an implicit assurance that the site in question was free from contamination. This would raise questions of liability if contamination was later found still to be present. It is unlikely that many authorities would be willing to give such an undertaking.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many successful prosecutions the National Rivers Authority has achieved since its inception, for pollution of (a) the River Trent and (b) other rivers and seas; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that between 1 September 1989 and 30 November 1991 the National Rivers Authority—NRA—brought 1,104 successful prosecutions for water pollution offences in England and Wales. Of these 239 arose in the Severn Trent region. Information on prosecutions for pollution of individual rivers is not centrally available, although details could be obtained from the NBA's regional office.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which company or companies were the beneficiaries of the aid and trade provision made available for projects involving (a) Turkey, (b) Morocco, (c) Panama, (d) Jordan, (e) India, (f) China and (g) Malaysia for 1991.

In 1991 aid and trade provision funds were disbursed in respect of projects in these countries involving United Kingdom lead companies:

(a) Turkey

• British Gas
• Amec International Construction
• TQ International
• Hallam Associates
• Thames Water International

(b) Morocco

• John Brown Engineering

(c) Panama

• John Brown Engineering

(d) Jordan

• Ransome and Rapier

(e) India

• GEC Turbine Generators
• Boving

(f) China

• GEC Turbine Generators
• Plessey Controls
• The MVA Consultancy
• Dunlop International Projects
• Balfour Beatty
• Metrotec Group
• Mott MacDonald
• Davy McKee (Poole)
• British Shipbuilders
• Platt Saco Lowell UK
• GPT International
• Snamprogetti

(g) Malaysia

• John Laing International
• Balfour Beatty
• Sir William Halcrow and Partners
• Acer John Taylor
• Transmark International
• Knight Piesold and Partners

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what Government publications are designed to explain to companies the purpose and the benefits of the aid trade provision; and from which government department these government publications can be procured.

The purpose and benefits of the aid and trade provision are explained in the ATP "Guidelines for Applicants" booklet. This may be obtained from the Projects and Export Policy division of the Department of Trade and Industry or from the Crown Agents, CDC and ATP Department of the Overseas Development Administration. Copies of the booklet have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many full-time agricultural specialists the Overseas Development Agency has overseas at present; and how many of them are women.

The Overseas Development Administration has 10 headquarters staff members working as full-time agricultural specialists overseas, of whom one is a woman. In addition we have a total of 106 contract officers employed overseas on technical co-operation assignments of whom 10 are women. This figure includes 16 staff from our agency, the Natural Resources Institute, all of whom are men.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes have been made in the 1991–92 cash limit for expenditure by the Overseas Development Administration.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate the cash limit on the Overseas Aid Vote (class II vote 5) will be increased by £22,188,000 from £1,638,342,000 to £1,660,530,000. The increase primarily provides for additional bilateral assistance to the former Soviet Union. The supplementary also provides for an increase of £900,000 in the net running costs limit of the Natural Resources Institute. The increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will indicate the provisions (a) under which the EC could propose an increase in the VAT rate in the United Kingdom and (b) under which the United Kingdom may veto the proposal.

No such proposal exists. Under the provisions of article 99 of the treaty of Rome, the Commission of the European Community could, in theory, propose for example, a minimum standard rate higher than that in the United Kingdom. However any such proposal, in common with all fiscal matters under article 99 of the treaty, would be subject to unanimity and thus the United Kingdom retains an absolute right of veto.

To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the President of Peru on biodiversity in the Peruvian rain-forest and its protection.

I discussed with President Fujimori the forthcoming UN Conference on Environment and Development. I emphasised the importance we attach to effective conventions on climate change and biodiversity, as well as an agreement on principles for the sustainable use and management of all types of forest.

To ask the Prime Minister if Her Majesty's Government will make a study of the differences in United Kingdom and Italian practice in the use of regional funds, such as RECHAR.

Members of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Community visited Italy in October 1991 during their inquiry into EEC regional development policy. Their report has been published and is available in the Library.Italy is not eligible for RECHAR.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list all meetings by (a) Ministers and (b) officials of Her Majesty's Government with (i) Ministers, (ii) diplomats and (iii) other Communist party officials of the former Soviet Union since May 1979 in (1) the United Kingdom and (2) elsewhere; and what were the purposes of the ministerial and diplomatic meetings.

Detailed information of this kind is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. There are, however, frequent contacts with Ministers and officials of the former Soviet Union at all levels on questions of mutual interest.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will obtain for the library at 10 Downing street a copy of the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs topical paper No. 5 (1991), "Conversion: Economic Adjustments in an Era of Arms Reductions" (Volume II).

The publication is available from the United Nations documents section in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from where copies will be obtained as required.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 6 February.

This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, pursuant to his answer of 28 January, Official Report, column 505, whether Schroder Wagg's appointment as head underwriters to the regional electricity companies sale was by competitive tender.

Yes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy further to his answer of 28 January, Official Report, column 505, if he will list those advisers whose appointments were not subject to competitive tender.

The five appointments referred to in that answer as not subject to competitive tender were:

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (AGR output).

J. Henry Schroder Wagg (Trade sale).

John Chiene (Pricing).

Professor Littlechild (Regulatory).

R. L. Associates (Setting X for Area Boards).

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the initiatives taken by his Department to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and indicate the estimated reduction for each initiative by (a) 2000 and (b) 2005.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given today by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list all benefits payable to those with incomes over £25,000 a year; how many in this income category receive them; what is the total cost of each benefit to persons with these incomes; and what is the average value of the benefit to those above this income level.

The main social security benefits which are not income-related, and could therefore be payable, provided other criteria are met, to benefit units with incomes over £25,000 a year, are as follows:

• Retirement pension
• Christmas Bonus
• Widows' Benefits
• Unemployment Benefit¹
• Sickness Benefit
• Statutory Sick Pay
• Invalidity Benefit
• Industrial Disablement Benefit
• Industrial Death Benefit
• Maternity Allowance
• Statutory Maternity Pay
• Non-contributory Retirement Pension
• Invalid Care Allowance
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Attendance Allowance²
• Mobility Allowance
• Child Benefit
• One Parent Benefit
• War Disablement Pension
• War Widows' Pension

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will increase the £3,000 capital disregard on income support and housing benefit.

The limit below which capital is completely ignored continues to be kept under review, as with all aspects of the benefit system, but there are no plans to change it at present.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will state for each year since 1979 the numbers of claimants of supplementary benefit or income support towards the cost of private residential care who have subsequently claimed benefit towards the costs of private nursing care and then again claimed towards the cost of private residential care.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants in the Wakefield benefit office's area are currently claiming towards the cost of (a) private nursing care, (b) private residential care and (c) voluntary nursing or residential care.

I understand from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will meet the Building Societies Association to discuss the imposition of charges on small accounts and the implications for pensioners and other recipients of state benefits paid direct into such accounts.

We have already been in contact with the Building Societies Association (BSA). I understand that the Halifax building society is the only BSA member currently planning to make such charges. People who wish their benefits payments to be made into an account at another building society should contact their local social security office and with details of the new account. The procedure involved is a simple one and the staff there will be happy to help them.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether there have been any changes in the cash limits or running costs limits of his Department for 1991–92.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate the cash limit for class XIV, vote 4 (administration and miscellaneous services) will be increased by £22,716,000 from £1,901,217,000 to £1,923,933,000. The revision takes account of the additional administrative expenditure arising from new procedures for the payment of mortgage interest in respect of income support recipients (£10,881,000), an increase in agency payments to Department of Employment (class VI, vote 2)(£30,000,000), a transfer to Department of Health and Social Services (Northern Ireland) vote 3 of £1,161,000, a transfer from Department of Health (class XIII, vote 3) of £819,000, a transfer from Property Services Agency of the Department of the Environment (class VIII, vote 13) of £260,000, a transfer from Department of Employment: Employment Service (class VI, vote 2) of £657,000, a transfer to Department of Health (class XIII, vote 3) of £50,000 and a transfer to Scottish Office (class XV, vote 20) of £35,000). The additional requirements are partially offset by an increase in receipts of £18,655,000 and the balance (£2,226,000) will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.In addition to the running cost increases included above there is also an increase of £6,790,000 to take account of expenditure previously classified as capital now being regarded as running costs.As a result of these changes the running costs limit of the Department of Social Security will be increased by £9,145,000 from £2,149,908,000 to £2,159,053,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for each of the last three years, (a) how many children have been brought into the United Kingdom for adoption through private or unauthorised channels, (b) out of that total how many of these adoptions were found to be unsuitable and (c) what was the average waiting time for adoption/immigration authorisation relating to children from (i) Romania, (ii) Brazil and (iii) Colombia.

Only very limited information is available except in relation to Romanian children brought here during the last two years. In 1990, 83, and in 1991, 13 Romanian children were brought to the United Kingdom without entry clearance with a view to adoption. No Romanian children have been brought to the United Kingdom without entry clearance so far this year. The average waiting time for decisions on entry clearance applications made on behalf of Romanian children for the purpose of adoption was approximately six weeks in 1991. Information is not held centrally on the progress and outcome of subsequent adoption proceedings in the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many black powder licences were issued in each of the last three years, by county, for the purpose of punt-gunning.

Information on the numbers of black powder licences—which were superseded on 1 November 1991 by explosives certificates—issued by chief officers, and their purpose, is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state for each of the last five years for which figures are available the number of persons granted right of permanent stay broken down by country of origin.

Information on persons accepted for settlement in the United Kingdom in the years 1986–90, by nationality, is published in table 14 of the Home Office Command Paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 1990" (Cm 1571), a copy of which is in the Library. Corresponding information for 1991 is not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reach a decision regarding the case of Mr. J. Kamara, a constituent of the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside, who is serving a prison sentence.

I expect to receive a police report on the many inquiries conducted in this case very soon. I will then be in a position to decide whether any action on my part is appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the names of the people who have written to him concerning the case of John Kamara, a prisoner; and if he will make a statement.

No. It is not our practice to publish the names of persons who have contacted us about individual cases. We have received many letters including more than 100 from Members of Parliament and Members of the European Parliament.

To ask the Secretary of State For the Home Department what proposals he has for changes to the 1991–92 cash limits within his responsibilities and to his Department's running costs limit.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit on class IX, vote 2, prisons, England and Wales, will be increased by £137,000,000 which, after the surrender of the increase of £3,949,000 for end-year flexibility announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on 17 July 1991, Official Report, columns 185-88, will increase from £1,332,391,000 to £1,469,391,000. The additional provision is necessary because of the continuing need to pay for the cost of keeping prisoners in police cells. Extra provision is also necessary to meet the construction costs of new prisons and for the accelerated integral sanitation programme. The increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.The cash limit on class IX, vote 3 will be reduced by £19,000,000 from £890,952,000 to £871,952,000, to reflect a transfer of resources to class IX, vote 1 for the purpose of criminal injuries compensations payments and a special grant to the Northumbria police authority.The Home Office running cost limit will remain unchanged at £1,304,000,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of (a) full-time firemen and (b) part-time firemen employed in the United Kingdom for each year since 1981.

The information for England and Wales is given in the table. Questions relating to the fire service in other parts of the United Kingdom are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Year	Number of full-time firefighters	Number of part-time (retained) firefighters1
1981	34,223	15,745
1982	34,117	15,535
1983	34,206	15,887
1984	34,536	16,129
1985	34,575	16,144
1986	34,783	16,138
1987	34,515	15,984
1988	35,011	16,126
1989	34,784	15,861
1990	35,002	15,959
1991	35,162	16,025
1 These figures include wholetime firefighters with retained obligations

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what representations he has received concerning the consultative document on the evening opening of licensed betting offices; and when he hopes to make a statement on his conclusions;(2) how many letters he has received for, and how many letters against, the evening opening of betting offices; and for how long he is prepared to consider further representations.

Since issuing our consultation document on the evening opening hours of licensed betting offices on 14 October, we have received representations on both the principle and the practicalities of evening opening of licensed betting offices. We have received 27 letters in favour of evening opening and 518 letters against it, as well as a petition against evening opening with some 1,650 signatures. A number of the letters on both sides represent the views of trade associations or other interest groups.We are now considering the representations received, in the light of which some further consultations may be necessary. It is not possible to predict at this stage how quickly that work can be completed, but we are prepared to consider further representations in the meantime.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he is giving to the precise times of evening opening of betting offices and days of the week and, specifically, the opening of betting offices on Sundays.

Our consultation document set out the main options for regulating the times and days of evening opening. We are considering the views expressed in response to that document before deciding whether betting offices should be allowed to open in the evenings and, if so, at what times. The consultation exercise does not extend to Sunday opening of betting offices on which we have no present plans to legislate.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the figures for deaths on public streets in (i) London, (ii) Manchester, (iii) Birmingham, (iv) Liverpool and (v) England and Wales due to causes other than violence or road traffic accidents for the periods 1 October 1990 to 30 April 1991; and for the year ended 31 December 1991.

I understand from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys that to answer this question would involve disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about visa requirements relating to Poland; and if he will make a statement.

Last year about 120 representations were received from right hon. and hon. Members about the visa requirement for Polish nationals, and about 50 letters from members of the public.A recent review of the visa requirement has led my right hon. Friend to conclude that it is too soon to assess the experience of some of our European partners who have abolished visas for polish nationals. My right hon. Friend has decided therefore to look again at the need for this requirement in the summer when the effect of visa abolition on other member states of the Community should be clearer.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate allegations by the Criminal Law Solicitors Association that telephone calls from solicitors to prisoners held by the City of London police are recorded and stored on tape.

I understand from the Commissioner of Police for the City of London that until recently all telephone calls to custody suites were tape recorded at a point after they had left the public network. This was done for operational purposes and overlooked the fact that privileged conversations between solicitors and their clients were also covered. Recordings of privileged conversations were never listened to by police officers and the tapes were held centrally in conditions of strict security, with access controlled by a senior officer and requiring knowledge of confidential codes. As soon as it was realised that privileged conversations were on tape, separate telephone lines which are not subject to tape recording were installed in custody suites.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has made a formal complaint to the appellate authorities at their failure to formally advise his Department of their refusal to grant leave to appeal to the IAT in the case of Mrs. Bushra Ahmed (IMP A399195/2); what prompted the file to come to light in May 1991; and for what reasons Mrs. Ahmed, to date, has not been issued with a visa following his advice to the post to issue her with a visa on 31 May 1991.

[holding answer 23 January 1992]: The records kept by the immigration appellate authorities show that copies of the immigration appeals tribunal's determination refusing the Home Office leave to appeal against the adjudicator's decision to allow Mrs. Ahmed's appeal were sent out on 30 January 1990. It appears, however, that the determination was not at that stage received by the Home Office presenting officer. He noticed this in December 1990 when the file was brought forward by the procedures intended to track the progress of appeals. Unfortunately there was then some further delay within the Immigration and Nationality Department, which despite investigation cannot be accounted for, before the determination was forwarded to the high commission in Islamabad on 31 May 1991. I understand that the adjudicator's determination allowing Mrs. Ahmed's appeal arrived at the high commission on 12 June 1991 but there was then a clerical error and the papers were put away before a visa was issued.The high commission wrote to Mrs. Ahmed on 16 December 1991 inviting her to call in to collect her visa. To date she has not done so and a further invitation was sent on 23 January.I greatly regret the combination of errors which led to the issue of a visa to Mrs. Ahmed being so badly delayed. Officials are examining the procedures which are followed in such cases, in order to prevent any recurrence.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to announce his conclusions following the review of the recent studies of offending on bail.

[pursuant to his reply, 23 January, col. 314]: My Department has published today research and planning unit paper 65 "Offending while on bail: a survey of recent studies". A copy has been placed in the Library. The Government are considering, in the light of the survey, what further action is needed to reduce offending on bail, and we will make an announcement shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the total number of business premises that have been damaged by fires caused by (a) arson, (b) accident and (c) unknown causes during each of the past 10 years for which figures are available.

[holding answer 3 February 1992]: The available information relates to fires attended by local authority fire brigades and is shown in the following table.

Fires in business premises1 attended by local authority fire brigades by supposed cause of fire, 1981–90
United Kingdom
Year	Number of fires in business premises1 attended by local authority fire brigades
	Total	(a)	(b)	(c)
		Deliberate or possibly deliberate3	Accidental	Unknown
1981	18,077	3,018	13,614	1,445
1982	18,282	3,196	13,926	1,160
1983	18,310	3,505	13,784	1,021
1984	19,317	4,044	14,283	990
1985	19,316	3,971	14,559	786
1986	18,970	4,002	14,214	754
1987	18,542	3,608	14,297	637

21987	20,228	3,866	15,663	699
21988	20,717	4,027	16,008	682
21989	21,145	4,004	16,578	563
P1990	20,800	4,270	16,030	500

_P Provisional.