To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the total estimated full cost (a) in cash and (b) at constant 1992 prices of (i) the Jubilee line extension, (ii) east-west crossrail and (iii) other currently agreed new rail developments in London.

The information requested is as follows:

£ million
	Cash	1992 prices
Jubilee Line Extension	1,811	1,699
CrossRail	2,376	1,939
Croydon Tramlink	166	141
Chelsea-Hackney Line	1—	2,000
DLR Lewisham Extension	1—	150
Heathrow Express	1—	250–300
1 Project expenditure profiles not available.

These projects are at different stages of planning and approval. Construction of the Jubilee line extension is expected to begin shortly after Royal Assent. Construction of crossrail is expected to begin in 1995–96. The route of the Chelsea-Hackney line has been safeguarded, but no decision has been taken about when or whether the project should proceed. The Croydon tramlink, the DLR Lewisham extension and the Heathrow express are all projects which the Government expect to be taken forward by the private sector.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 18 February, Official Report, column 99, what are his reasons for maintaining the high-level road bridge at Portrack.

A new crossing at a lower level is not economically justified and it would be unreasonable to divert traffic via the existing Cannon Park lifting bridge.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of rail routes are electrified in Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The percentage of rail routes electrified is as follows:

	Total route miles	Electrified route miles	Percentage electrified
Scotland	1,705	389	22·8
England	7,969	2,663	33·4
Wales	631	0	0
Northern Ireland	210	0	0
Total United Kingdom	10,515	3,052	29·0

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what rate of return on investment: he requires from projects for electrification of main railway lines in Scotland;(2) if he will take social and economic cost benefits into account in reaching his decision on the electrification of the railway line from Edinburgh to Aberdeen.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on Monday 2 March 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the results of the survey of infringements of regulated airspace in the first half of 1990.

Matters of flight safety are the responsibility of the Civil Aviation Authority. I have asked the chairman of the authority to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has for the future administration of navigation and shipping on the River Thames.

There are no plans to change the existing arrangements for the administration of navigation and shipping on the River Thames.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will review his policy of excluding certain tugs from regulations requiring safe manning certificates; and if he will make a statement.

The new Safe Manning Document Regulations will give effect to an amendment to the international convention for the safety of life at sea 19'74 and will require all United Kingdom sea-going ships of 500 tonnes or over to be provided with a document specifying the level of manning considered necessary to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the ship. Sea-going tugs of 500 tonnes or over will be included and the voluntary safe manning document scheme currently in place will be retained for all vessels under 500 tonnes. In addition, Department surveyors are able to assess the minimum manning requirements of a vessel during any inspection.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many railway engines and new or used rolling stock have been imported into the United Kingdom in the last five years; and what were the countries of origin.

This information is not collected by the Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether provisional certificates of training issued under EC directive 89/684 EC issued by his Department to meet the requirements of the directive will be recognised by the other EC member states.

They can only be used in the country of issue.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take urgent action in relation to EC directive 89/684 EEC to ensure that British LGV drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous substances will not be stopped from entering other European Community states by not having in their possession the certificates and documentation required by the directive when it comes into effect on 1 July.

Administrative arrangements are in hand for training courses to run from April 1992 enabling drivers of road tankers, tank containers and vehicle carrying explosives to obtain the certificates before 1 July.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when Her Majesty's Government intend to raise the external financing limit for British Rail.

In June 1991 we raised British Rail's external financing limit for 1991–92 by £400 million, to a revised total of £1,522 million. The limit for 1992–93 was set in the autumn statement at £2,041 million, in real terms the highest ever figure and an increase of 28 per cent. over 1991–92.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total cost to the Exchequer of the competition for a new privately funded route from Birmingham to Manchester; how many proposals were received; and what studies have been carried out on the M6 widening scheme.

It is not possible to disaggregate departmental staff costs for this competition from those for other privately financed road schemes. The Department obtained financial advice from consultants at a cost of approximately £50,000.Four groups responded to the invitation for privately financed proposals.Since the M6 widening scheme entered the trunk road programme in 1989, a detailed study of options for widening has been undertaken by consultants commissioned by the Department. The study has included engineering, environmental, traffic and economic assessments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those parts of his Department, including executive agencies, carrying out reviews over the last 12 months into the pay and grading of staff; and the firm of consultants engaged, where appropriate.

Pay and grading reviews have been carried out during the past 12 months in the following parts of the Department, including executive agencies: The Air Accident Inspection Branch (Inspector grades); The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency;The Driving Standards Agency (Senior Driving Examiner grades).Consultants Price Waterhouse were involved in the DVLA review. Private consultants were not used in either of the other reviews.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what figures his Department holds showing the number of people owning cars for the years 1991 and 1992.

Information on car ownership is given in "Transport Statistics Great Britain". Table 2.14 of the 1991 edition showed that, in 1989, 66 per cent. of households, or 14·3 million households, in Great Britain had the regular use of a car. Figures for 1990 will be available in mid-1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with British Rail about its investment priorities for 1992–93.

Investment priorities are regularly discussed with British Rail. BR is currently finalising its investment programme for the coming year as part of its budget, within the external finance limit of £2,041 million for 1992–93—the highest ever figure in real terms.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of successful applications for inland waterways freight facilities grants, section 36 grants, since they were set up in 1981.

The Government have awarded seven inland waterway freight facilities grants under section 36 of the Transport Act 1981. The awards have been as follows:-

	£
Millgate Investments Ltd, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire	369,340
Varma Services Ltd, Deptford, London SE	859,200
Sheffield Haulage and Storage Ltd, Rotherham	61,375
West Country Fuels Ltd, Gloucester	26,950
Colwick Petroleum Ltd, Nottingham	63,494
Sand & Gravel (Leeds) Ltd	20,640
Wimpey Hobbs Ltd, Greenwich, London SE	402,832

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what figures his Department holds showing the amount of money spent on building, maintaining and policing roads in 1991.

The Department of Transport's report for 1992—Cm 1907—contains outturn figures for 1990–91 and provisional outturn figures for 1991–92 for:—

(a) Capital expenditure on new construction and improvement of national roads—those for which the Secretary of State is the highway authority,

(b) capital expenditure on structural maintenance of national roads,

(c) current expenditure on national roads,

(d) expenditure on priority routes in London,

(e) current expenditure on local roads—those for which local authorities are the highway authorities, and

(f) capital expenditure on local roads.

These figures relate to England. Roads in Scotland and Wales are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Wales.Information from the Home Office on the costs of policing roads in 1991 is not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport at how many road junctions secondary traffic signals have been removed, pursuant to his departmental advice note TA/18/81; what extension of this scheme is proposed; and if he will make a statement.

It is for individual highway authorities to decide on the layouts of their traffic signals. The information requested is not available centrally. The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1981 define the essential requirements and these are supplemented by departmental advice. There are no plans to revise departmental advice note TA/18/81 in respect of the provision of secondary signals.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will meet the chairman of British Midland to discuss the proposed withdrawal of the service betwen Liverpool and London.

The chairman of British Midland has not requested a meeting. The decision to suspend air services between Liverpool and London was a matter for the company to determine in the light of its commercial judgment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce an agreement for the construction of the Birmingham northern relief road; and if he will make a statement on the timetable he envisages.

I am pleased to announce that we have been able to complete with Midlands Expressway Ltd. the concession agreement for the Birmingham northern relief road. This will be the first privately financed toll motorway in the United Kingdom and the first road authorised under the provisions of the New Road and Street Works Act 1991. This project has been strongly backed by Midlands Expressway Ltd.'s parent companies, Trafalgar House and Iritecna of Italy.The new road, which should be opened in the late 1990s, will provide welcome relief to the M6 and to local traffic in the A5/A38 corridor. The agreement provides for a concession of 53 years and the concessionaire envisages that, on opening, tolls will be about £1·50 for cars and £3 for lorries at 1990 prices. The cost of engineering the Birmingham northern relief road will be some £270 million, including substantial measures for the mitigation of environmental impact.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements he is making to ensure the building of a bypass for the village of Wilmington on the A35 at the earliest possible moment.

[holding answer 20 February 1992]: We shall be inviting bids from consulting engineers for the design work on this scheme soon.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the total of revenue expenditure on (a) trunk roads and (b) all other roads in (i) Greater London and (ii) England for each year from 1980–81 to 1990–91.

[holding answer 28 February 1992]: Total current expenditure by central Government and local authorities in £ million was as follows:

(i) Greater London
	£ million
Trunk Roads (including Motorways):
1980–81	n.a.
1981–82	n.a.
1982–83	8·3
1983–84	6·4
1984–85	5·6
1985–86	6·8
1986–87	12·0
1987–88	13·4
1988–89	14·9
1989–90	16·9
1990–91	17·6
All Other Roads:
1980–81	n.a.
1981–82	n.a.
1982–83	60·8
1983–84	63·0
1984–85	74·1
1985–86	70·7
1986–87	79·0
1987–88	78·1
1988–89	94·7
1989–90	101·5
1990–91	n.a.

(ii) England
Year	£ million
Trunk Roads (including Motorways):
1980–81	50
1981–82	69
1982–83	60
1983–84	64
1984–85	78
1985–86	77
1986–87	93
1987–88	84
1988–89	102

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the total of capital investment in (a) trunk roads and (b) all other roads in (i) Greater London and (ii) England for each year from 1980–81 to 1990–91.

[holding answer 28 February 1992]: Total capital investment by central Government and local authorities in £ millions was as follows:

(i) Greater London
Year	£ million
Trunk Roads (including Motorways):
1980–81	N/A
1981–82	N/A
1982–83	30·4
1983–84	22·6
1984–85	22·1
1985–86	59·6
1986–87	92·2
1987–88	97·2
1988–89	73·9
1989–90	135·7
1990–91	166·1
All Other Roads
1980–81	N/A
1981–82	N/A
1982–83	139·5
1983–84	150·0
1984–85	147·1
1985–86	175·0
1986–87	174·6
1987–88	166·5
1988–89	198·0
1989–90	263·5
1990–91	N/A

(ii) England:
	£ million
Trunk Roads (including Motorways):
1980–81	472
1981–82	557
1982–83	672
1983–84	641
1984–85	718
1985–86	734
1986–87	766
1987–88	872

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the traffic generated on other roads as a result of the building of the M25 motorway.

[holding answer 28 February 1992]: It is estimated that the amount of heavy goods vehicle traffic in central London has declined by 20 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the latest figures for (a) how many and (b) what proportion of (i) new cars use unleaded fuel and (ii) car owners have converted their cars to unleaded fuel and what proportion this is of cars that can be converted, (iii) new cars have a catalytic converter, (iv) new cars made in the United Kingdom have catalytic converters and (v) car owners have had a catalytic converter fitted.

[holding answer 2 March 1992]: The Information for (i) and (ii) is not available in the form requested although the hon. Gentleman may also wish to know that in December 1991, 43 per cent. of petrol sold in the United Kingdom was unleaded.According to a recent survey of barriers against further uptake of unleaded petrol, carried out by the Department of the Environment, some relevant information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on (a) discussions undertaken and (b) decisions agreed on toxic waste exports, at the recent European Environment Council meeting in Estoril.

The topic of toxic waste exports was not on the agenda for the recent informal meeting of EC Environment Ministers in Estoril.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the rainfall in each National Rivers Authority region during the last six month period for which figures are available; what is the normal average rainfall for each region; and if he will make a statement.

The monthly rainfall, and the monthly average over the period 1941–1970, for each region of the national Rivers Authority to October 1991 is published by the Water Services Association in "Waterfacts 1991". More recent information is available from the Meteorological Office.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the level of funding made from the National Heritage Memorial Fund for the purposes of safeguarding landscape features and wildlife habitats in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Grants made available by the trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund to assist in the acquisition, maintenance or preservation of land of scenic and/or scientific interest over the last five financial years were as follows:

	£ million
1986–87	1·429
1987–88	1·500
1988–89	1·157
1989–90	5·887
1990–91	1·071

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the county councils that are now free of long-term debt.

Returns to the Department indicate that at 31 March 1991, Dorset, Lincolnshire, Suffolk and West Sussex were free of long-term debt.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he received the representation from Nottinghamshire county council regarding the establishment of a permanent gipsy site at Fox Covert, Worksop; and what is the reason for the delay in announcing his decision.

Outstanding supporting information was received from Nottinghamshire county council on 3 January. The issues raised by all parties require very careful consideration, but the Secretary of State expects to issue his decision shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average cost of acquisition by a local authority of a home in (a) London, (b) metropolitan districts and (c) non-metropolitan districts.

[holding answer 27 February 1992]: Local authorities acquire relatively few dwellings for continued housing use. Reliable information from which to derive unit costs of acquisition is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to ratify European conventions on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage.

[holding answer 2 March 1992]: We shall ratify this convention at the earliest opportunity.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when he intends to publish details of how local authorities are to apply the new publicity arrangements for planning applications; and if he will make a statement;(2) if he intends to issue guidelines as to the procedures to be carried out by local authorities for compulsory publicity for all planning applications; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 2 March 1992]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Mr. Porter) on 5 February 1992, Official Report, column 166.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next expects to attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Co-operation Council to discuss nuclear proliferation; and whether he will make a statement.

The NACC will meet on 10 March in order to admit members of the CIS. There are no other formal items on the agenda. I will represent my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.We are working closely with our allies in NATO on ways to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, materials and expertise from the former Soviet Union, some of which may be raised at the meeting.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise with the presidency troika under European political co-operation, the banning by the Government of Indonesia of the Portuguese ship Expresso Lucitania; and if he will deliver a protest to the Indonesian embassy in London over the banning.

We have no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to answer the letter sent to him by the Merseyside fire and civil defence authority dated 10 February.

The Department replied on 25 February to Merseyside fire and civil defence authority's letter.

To ask the Attorney-General what steps are being taken to review and protect the position of those who sell commercial or private leases on property from liability if the purchaser of the lease defaults; and if he will make a statement.

In 1988 the Law Commission published its report," Landlord and Tenant Law: Privity of Contract and Estate", Law Com No. 174. It recommended that all the obligations created by leases should bind the parties who for the time being are interested in the land and that those parties should cease to have any liability when they part with those interests, except in cases in which it is objectively reasonable that their liability continue. It is envisaged that in many cases a landlord consenting to an assignment by a tenant of his interest will be able to impose a condition that the tenant guarantees the performance of the lease covenants by his successor, but only until any subsequent assignment. The Lord Chancellor is actively considering the report's recommendations and hopes to be able to make an announcement about them in the near future.

To ask the Attorney-General how many recorders and circuit judges are (a) men and (b) women.

As at 1 March there were 795 recorders in office, of whom 752 were men and 43 were women. There were also 469 circuit judges, of whom 447 were men and 22 were women.

To ask the Attorney-General how many county court judges are (a) men and (b) women.

County court judges comprise circuit judges and district judges. As at 1 March there were 469 circuit judges in office, of whom 447 were men and 22 were women. There were also 232 district judges, of whom 220 were men and 12 were women.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what was the expenditure of public libraries in Cheshire on book provision for the last 10 years at constant prices.

Statistics about the public library service are collected and published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Real terms costs in Cheshire for the 10-year period up to 1990, the latest date for which figures are available, are:

Year	Expenditure on books per 1,000 population £
1980–81	1,205
1981–82	1,298
1982–83	1,318
1983–84	1,377
1984–85	1,204
1985–86	1,367
1986–87	1,291
1987–88	1,479
1988–89	1,324
1989–90	1,362

To ask the Minister for the Arts how many librarians were employed by Cheshire county council on (a) a full-time basis and (b) a part-time basis in 1979 and 1991.

This information is not available. However, staff numbers in English library authorities as a whole have remained constant over the last 10 years.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what proposals he has for dealing with the problems encountered in the last report of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art; and when he proposes to announce his intentions.

Following the examination of the system of controls on the export of works of art by the reviewing committee, I have consulted widely on the alternative approaches which would enable pre-eminent works of art to be retained in the United Kingdom. I have asked to receive representations before the end of March. I can assure my right hon. Friend that these representations, involving difficult and complex issues, will be fully taken into account before I take any decisions.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will list each private sector consultancy firm which has been retained by each agency within his Department, and for his Department as a whole, for the purposes of advising on the market testing programme; and whether the appointment in each case was the result of competitive tendering.

Ernst and Young have been engaged to advise on the market testing programme for my Department and its agencies. The appointment was by single tender.

To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will list those parts of his Department, including executive agencies, carrying out reviews over the last 12 months into the pay and grading of staff; and the firm of consultants engaged, where appropriate.

During the last 12 months, two pay and grading reviews have been undertaken in my Department, one in the Recruitment and Assessment Services Agency, the other in the Civil Service Occupational Health Service. Outside consultants were not engaged in either case.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were recorded in Wales in 1979 and 1983 and the latest year available.

The number of notifiable offences recorded in Wales was 127,467 in 1979, 160,882 in 1983 and 229,248 in 1990 which is the latest available year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answers of 26 February, Official Report, column 515 and 5 February, Official Report, column 163, for what reasons information about the number of officers engaged in obtaining voluntary admissions during 1990–91 is available from the Chief Constable of Northumbria, but not from other forces, where more than 20 per cent. of their clear-up rate is accounted for by this practice.

Information on the number of detectives employed in obtaining voluntary admissions in Northumbria was available because of a special study reviewing this practice which was undertaken in that force. Such studies are at the discretion of the chief officer.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the compensation for wrongful imprisonment so far paid to (a) the four people convicted of the Guildford and Woolwich bombings, (b) Mrs. Maguire and her six co-defendants and (c) the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings; and when he expects to reach a final settlement in each case.

My right hon. Friend has paid interim awards of compensation to each of those concerned, on the advice of the independent assessor, but it is not our practice to publish details of individual payments to applicants for compensation. We are in touch with those representing the applicants in these cases and will make final payments as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposes to reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Islington, North dated 8 March 1989, 12 May 1989, 4 April 1990, 5 September 1990 and 17 October 1991, regarding his constituent Ki Tang and the question of rights of appeal for his family who applied to join Ki Tang under the provisions of the United Nations convention on refugees (family reunion).

I very much regret the combination of circumstances which has caused this delay and shall reply to the hon. Member very shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of overseas voters registered for each parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom.

Final figures for the electoral register for 1992–93 will be published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in the summer; available figures will be published immediately before the general election, should it take place before then. The numbers of overseas electors included in the draft electoral register for 1992–93, together with totals for each constituent part of the United Kingdom, are set out in the table. The figures do riot include valid applications which were received too late for inclusion in the draft register, which was published on 28 November 1991.

Overseas electors included in the draft electoral register published on 28 November 1991 by parliamentary constituency
	Number
England	28,179
Aldershot	113
Aldridge-Brownhills	23
Altrincham and Sale	64
Amber Valley	15
Arundel	70
Ashfield	8
Ashford	69
Ashton-under-Lyne	13
Aylesbury	93
Banbury	51
Barking	9
Barnsley, Central	2
Barnsley, East	4
Barnsley, West and Penistone	14
Barrow and Furness	28
Basildon	35
Basingstoke	78
Bassetlaw	19
Bath	89
Batley and Spen	27
Battersea	142
Beaconsfield	110
Beckenham	86
Berwick-upon-Tweed	25
Bethnal Green and Stepney	27
Beverley	55
Bexhill and Battle	92
Bexleyheath	33
Billericay	60
Birkenhead	30
Birmingham, Edgbaston	58
Birmingham, Erdington	8
Birmingham, Hall Green	12
Birmingham, Hodge Hill	4
Birmingham, Ladywood	15
Birmingham, Northfield	31
Birmingham, Perry Barr	14
Birmingham, Selly Oak	79
Birmingham, Small Heath	7
Birmingham, Sparkbrook	23
Birmingham, Yardley	11
Bishop Auckland	16
Blaby	45
Blackburn	26