To ask the Attorney-General if he will list the provisions which define the areas of exclusive competence of the European Community, as contained in article 3b of the draft treaty on European union, in the event of that treaty coming into force.

The hon. Member asked a question on 20 December 1991 about the exclusive jurisdiction of the European Community to which my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office replied on 13 January 1992, at column 438. The term

"exclusive jurisdiction of the European Community"

in article 3b has now been replaced by

"exclusive competence of the European Community",

in accordance with the usual translation of the French word "competence". The answer to the hon. Member's question about exclusive competence is the same as to his question about exclusive jurisdiction, mutatis mutandis: the European Community has exclusive competence where that is conferred upon it by treaty provision or measures taken under the treaty. Current examples include the common agricultural policy, the common commercial policy and the external tariff.

To ask the Attorney-General how many prosecutions have been brought for the rape of a male victim in each year since 1987.

I have been asked to reply.The figures given in the table are for acts of non-consensual buggery.

England and Wales
Buggery by a man with a male person of the age of 16 or over without consent.
Offence/Year	Prosecutions
1987	19
1988	30
1989	24
1990	25

Attempt by a man to commit buggery with a male person of the age of 16 or over without consent
Offence/Year	Prosecutions
1987	3
1988	3
1989	2
1990	5

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the torture of prisoners in Drapchi prison, Tibet; and if he will make a statement.

Two members of the British embassy in Peking visited Drapchi prison in July 1991, but were denied access to any prisoners. We cannot, therefore, corroborate allegations of torture there. Regrettably, reports of torture and physical abuse in Tibet are not uncommon. We deplore human rights abuses in Tibet and, indeed, throughout China. We take every opportunity to make our concern over such issues known to the Chinese authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outstanding Kuwaiti hostages held by Iraq.

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs made clear at the meeting of the EC-Gulf Co-operation Council in Kuwait on 16 May, we are maintaining pressure on Iraq to fulfil all its obligations under United Nations Security Council resolutions, including the return of missing Kuwaiti and other nationals.We fully support Kuwait's efforts through the International Committee of the Red Cross to establish the whereabouts of its missing citizens, of which some 800 are believed to be in Iraq. We raise this question at each Security Council review of sanctions and will continue to do so until all Iraq's obligations are met.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the applicability of the United Kingdom's international obligations under international human rights conventions to Jersey.

International human rights conventions are extended to Jersey as and when requested by the Jersey authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made of the effect of the United States national security directive No. 26 on United Kingdom relations with Iraq in trade and technology assistance up to August 1990.

I have been asked to reply.None. The directive referred to was an internal US Administration document, and I understand that is was concerned solely with US policy towards Iraq and the Gulf.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when he intends to introduce primary legislation to establish internal trading accounts within local authorities; and if he will make a statement;(2) when he intends to publish the Government's final proposals following the publication of "Competing for Quality—Competition in the Provision of Local Services"; and if he will make a statement;(3) if he will publish a list of those local authority white collar services he intends to subject to compulsory competitive tendering, giving details of deadlines for competition; and if he will make a statement.

A list of those who responded to the consultation paper has been deposited in the House library, and copies of the responses have been placed in the library of my Department.The Government intend to bring forward in the autumn regulations and guidance under section 9 of the Local Government Act 1992 to secure a clearer framework for compulsory competitive tendering. Announcements will be made in due course about the proposals for extending the list of activities subject to the compulsory competition provisions of the Local Government Act 1988, and on the timetable for implementation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends that the register of contaminated land should include reference to sites subject to clay pigeon shooting.

The duty envisaged under section 143 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 is for local authorities to compile registers of land which may be contaminated, in accordance with regulations. The regulations will specify contaminative uses of land. Consideration has been given to the inclusion of any use of land which results in its being contaminated with lead, including land used for clay pigeon shooting. However, implementation of section 143 has been delayed to enable further consideration to be given to the detail of the proposals and further consultation to be undertaken.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to encourage the establishment of a worldwide organisation to monitor the implementation of sustainable living and to prevent serious breaches in securing this goal.

I will be working at the Earth summit to promote international arrangements for the effective follow-up of the agreements reached in Rio, building as far as possible on existing institutional arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish his Department's definition of the concepts of (a) sustainable growth, (b) sustainable use and (c) sustainable development.

Paragraphs 1.14 and 4.4 of the White Paper "This Common Inheritance", Cm 1200. contain definitions of sustainable development. Paragraph 1.5 of the same White Paper deals with the need to integrate economic growth within these principles. The definitions of sustainable development embody a definition of sustainable use.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he plans to publish plans for an environment agency; and if he will make a statement.

We are currently examining the results of our recent consultation exercise and will announce our plans for the environment agency as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when his Department plan to announce the outcome of the recent review of the disabled facilities grant system; and if he will make a statement.

The findings of the review of the house renovation grant system, including disablement facilities grants, are currently under consideration. We hope to make an announcement shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the two reportable radiological incidents that occurred in April at Sellafield involving the release of radioactive liquid in the former case and radioactive gases in the latter.

British Nuclear Fuels plc reported two incidents to my Department that occurred in April at Sellafield, neither of which involved a release of radioactivity to the environment.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent meetings his Department has had with building societies regarding the effect on property development of concrete contaminated by mundic mining soil.

Officials from my Department met representatives of the building societies and of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors on 6 April 1992 to discuss problems arising with houses constructed from mundic concrete.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contribution his Department made to the development of the British Standards Institute BS-7750 on environmental management systems; and whether he has any plans to promote the standard at the next European Council as part of harmonisation procedures for the single European market.

Officials from my Department and the Department of Trade and Industry have liaised closely with the British Standards Institute on the development of BS 7750, in particular to ensure its compatibility with the EC ecu-audit proposals.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures exist to prohibit the illicit discharge of toxic chemicals with explosive gas generating potential from factories or workshops into the sewerage system.

Under the Water Industry Act 1991 it is for sewerage undertakers, and, in the case of special category effluent, for the Secretary of State, to consent to discharges of trade effluent to sewers and to set appropriate consent conditions. These are designed to prohibit substances which by themselves, or in reaction with other substances, may give rise to explosive gases or vapours in the sewerage system.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what response he intends to make to the report by the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation on disabled people's housing entitled "Housing: a Question of Influence".

The report and its recommendations provide a helpful contribution to the debate on the provision of housing for disabled people. My Department has commissioned a major programme of research into the housing needs of elderly arid disabled people which is due to be completed in September this year. The issues raised by RADAR's report will be considered in the light of the results of this research.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide funding for the establishment of a national housing and disability group.

The Department has considered this idea previously. We are not convinced that such an organisation is necessary. The Access Committee for England, the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation and the Disabled Persons Housing Service are already active in this area.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list the number of (a) big water pollution incidents and (b) other water pollution incidents, in each year since 1981, showing the proportion of these caused by (i) oil and (ii) sewage and the proportion in each case caused by farmers;(2) if he will list, by area, the number of

Detailed information in this form is not held centrally by my Department or by the National Rivers Authority. The latest information available relating to pollution incidents is that published in the NRA's report "Water Pollution Incidents in England and Wales 1990".

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent he is encouraging the waste disposal industry to incinerate waste rather than to landfill.

Both landfill and incineration have important roles to play as methods of waste disposal. What is appropriate in any area will depend on the particular circumstances, and type of waste to be disposed of. The Secretary of State is currently drawing up a planning policy guidance note on planning and pollution control, which will give advice to local authorities on the criteria they should apply in considering planning applications for waste disposal facilities, and in drawing up their development plans.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress is being made towards achieving the Government's targets for recycling of household waste; and how these targets will be affected by current EC proposals.

Since the Government set their target of recycling half of all recyclable household waste by the year 2000, we have introduced a range of measures to promote recycling, including a requirement on waste collection authorities to produce recycling plans; and the introduction of the recycling credits scheme on 1 April this year. There has been progress in a number of materials sectors, including the following.Aluminium can recycling has increased from 5 per cent. in 1990 to 11 per cent in 1991; the industry has set itself a target of recycling 50 per cent of aluminium cans by 1995.The number of glass banks has increased from 5,800 in 1990 to 7,155 in 1991; the industry has set itself a target of 10,000 banks by 1995.The number of save-a-can banks—which accept steel and aluminium cans—has increased from 200 in 1990 to about 625 in 1991; the industry has set a target of 1,000 save-a-can banks by 1994.As part of an agreement with the Government, the newspaper publishers recently published figures showing that 27 per cent. of newsprint used in their publications in 1990 was made from waste paper. Figures for 1991 are not yet available. The publishers have agreed to a target of 40 per cent. recycled newsprint by the year 2000.The Government are developing a national household waste analysis project, the first results of which will be available later this year. Together with a new survey of local authority waste collection and disposal practices being produced by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, that should provide more precise information to measure progress towards the Government's target.The European Commission has not yet finalised its proposal for a directive on packaging and packaging waste. It is therefore premature to speculate on the relationship between this or other measures and the Government's recycling target.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to receive the final report of the study commissioned by his Department and the DTI on economic instruments to encourage the recovery of resources from waste; and if he will make a statement.

My Department and the Department of Trade and Industry have commissioned a study of economic instruments to inform the development of our policy on the recovery of resources from waste. The study has been commissioned because the Government believe that environmental policies should be soundly based, making use of the best available information. A draft of the final report is expected shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to announce the Government's target for energy recovery from used packaging.

The Government have no plans to introduce a target for energy recovery specifically from used packaging.The Government are considering a range of possible targets for energy recovery from household waste. Decisions on them will be taken in the context of the Government's wider review of their renewable energy strategy.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what powers the Director General of Water Services has to restrain price increases in water bills; and if he will make a statement on the progress the Office of Water Services has made so far as a regulator.

Water companies are not permitted to increase the tarriff basket, which includes the bulk of water and sewerage charges, each year by more in total than the increase in the retail price index plus a K factor specified for each company. K factors were set initially by the Secretaries of State; the director general is now making preparation to set revised K factors for the period beginning in April 1995. An interim determination of K can also be made for an individual company if there has been a material change of circumstances.From April 1992 most companies agreed to increase their charge by less than RPI + K, so saving customers an average of 1 per cent. or a total of £40 million in 1992–93.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the real terms and percentage increases made in water bills for each privatised water company since privatisation occurred; and if he will make a statement.

The annual increases in charges for each water supply and water and sewerage company are contained in the OFWAT leaflets "Water and Sewerage Bills 1991/92" and "Water and Sewerage Bills 1992/93", copies of which I have placed in the Library, together with a list of the increases in 1990–91.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now make available maps showing the sensitivity of fresh waters in Great Britain to acid rain damage and the present and prospective extent of the areas liable to damage.

I am issuing today a report to my Department by the United Kingdom critical loads advisory group entitled "Critical and Target Loads Maps for Freshwaters in Great Britain". This complements earlier work by the group on the sensitivity of soils in Great Britain, and supersedes earlier provisional maps relating to freshwaters in Scotland. I am arranging for copies to be placed in the Library.This work will help to inform the consideration of policy on acid rain in the United Kingdom and the preparation of a new agreement in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on the abatement of sulphur dioxide.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if his Department has undertaken or sponsored any research into the mutagenic effects of strontium-90 and caesium-137.

[holding answer 14 May 1992]: This Department has not undertaken or sponsored research into the mutagenic effects of radionuclides, as this lies outside our responsibilities.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many part B processes have applied for authorisation under the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and how many of these have applied for and been granted commercial confidentiality.

[holding answer 18 May 1992]: Provisional figures up to the end of December 1991 show that 2,809 applications for authorisation had been made to local authorities. The Department does not collect information on requests for commercial confidentiality.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to initiate a new review of the planning guidelines on opencast coal mining.

[holding answer 18 May 1992]: The current guidelines are contained in minerals planning guidance note 3—MPG3—published in 1988. As part of a monitoring exercise on the effectiveness of the guidelines, my Department has recently completed a wide ranging consultation exercise on their practical operation. I shall consider whether there is any need for revision of MPG3 in the light of that.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects to receive a final report from the Medical Research Council concerning the findings of the research study by the Institute of Psychiatry which is investigating chronic fatigue.

The Medical Research Council annually submits to Ministers a report on the exercise of its functions which is laid before the House, but reports to Ministers on individual projects or programmes funded from the science budget are not normally expected. None is expected on the Institute of Psychiatry study of chronic fatigue syndrome. I understand that the study is due to be completed at the end of March next year and that the findings will in due course be published.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he plans to introduce any new citizens charters.

[holding answer 18 May 1992]: The Citizen's Charter White Paper (Cm 1599) includes a commitment to publish a charter for London Underground customers. This will be published shortly.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will revise the elements of the retail prices index to eliminate the effect of movement in mortgage rates.

I have now decided to ask the Retail Prices Index Advisory Committee to review the treatment of owner-occupiers' housing costs in the retail prices index. The terms of reference for this committee are being amended accordingly and will now be as follows:

"To advise the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the implication for the RPI of the abolition of the community charge and its replacement by the council tax; to review progress on implementing the Committee's previous recommendation on the inclusion in the index of expenditure on holidays; and to review the present treatment in the index of owner-occupiers' housing costs and new cars. In framing its recommendations the Committee is asked to take account of the practices in other European Community countries."

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the realignments in the exchange rate mechanism since it was established together with the percentage change in each currency changed at the time; and what representations have been made to him for a new realignment.

The table lists the ERM percentage realignments that have taken place.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what rate of interest was credited to the premium bond prize pool each month in 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992.

The rate has remained unchanged at 6·5 per annum since July 1988.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will initiate a departmental investigation into the commercial sales by the now defunct Allivane Company of Cumbernauld, Glasgow, of artillery fuses to Iraq in contravention of the export control restrictions;(2) what assessment his Department has made of the sale of militarily sensitive materials to Iraq by the Aero Technologies Company of Glasgow;(3) what assessment his Department has made of the commercial sales agreements between the Allivane Company of Cumbernauld, Glasgow, and the Space Research Corporation of Belgium in regard to provision of militarily useful materials to Iraq.

Investigation and related assessment of possible export licensing offences are matters for the Commissioners of Customs and Excise. They carry out their inquiries thoroughly and expeditiously. It would not be appropriate for information relating to any particular investigation or related assessment to be made public other than in the course of court proceedings.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what categories of information requested by the Customs and Excise authorities from Government departments relating to the illegal commercial dealing by British-based or owned companies and Iraq, either directly or indirectly, have not been supplied to those authorities; and what are the reasons in each case.

There is frequent liaison between Customs and Excise and other Government Departments about exports from the United Kingdom to Iraq and, indeed, other countries. The nature of any information requested by or passed to Customs for the conduct of their statutory enforcement responsibilities is clearly a matter of investigative and commercial confidentiality and I can give no details.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make proposals to the European Commission to substantially raise the tax threshold of VAT for small businesses; and if he will make a statement.

The Government support the Commission's proposal for a VAT directive for small and medium-sized enterprises. However, the Government would wish to see a significant increase in the optional higher threshold which, as currently proposed, is below the United Kingdom threshold, which is the highest in the EC.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intends to publish the Bingham report.

[holding answer 14 May 1992]: Lord Justice Bingham will report as soon as he is ready. The Prime Minister has assured the House on 22 July 1991, Official Report, column 757, that the conclusions will be made public and the Chancellor has also stated on 19 July 1991, Official Report, column 721, that as much as possible of the report should be published.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many branches of clearing banks there are in the United Kingdom (a) at present and (b) in 1972, 1977, 1982 and 1987.

[holding answer 15 May 1992]: The latest figures available are for the end of 1991, at which time there were 13,035 branches of clearing banks in the United Kingdom. The figures for the previous years are:

	Number
End 1972	13,414
End 1977	13,179
End 1982	15,333
End 1987	14,480

The banks included in these figures are: Natwest, Lloyds, Midland, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale—all years—and Yorkshire, TSB, Co-op and Abbey National, from 1982 onwards.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he is taking to establish and fund a recognised Welsh cystic fibrosis centre to cater for the current and future treatment of the patients who presently attend clinics in Heath and Llandough hospitals.

In 1986–87 and 1988–89, funds were made available to the University hospital of Wales and Llandough hospital under the centrally funded developments programme to employ medical staff engaged in the treatment of patients with cystic fibrosis. These funds have since been built-in to South Glamorgan health authority's recurrent revenue allocation.Since the introduction of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 responsibility for the continued provision of such services rests with providing units in consultation with health authorities and trusts. Funding is allocated to health authorities to enable them to purchase appropriate levels of service for their residents in accordance with their local strategies and priorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the number of houses purchased by housing associations for rehabilitation and letting for rent in Wales in 1979, 1987 and 1991.

The information requested is not separately available for Wales prior to 1 April 1989. In 1991–92 housing associations in Wales purchased 288 dwellings for rehabilitation and 93 for letting for rent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales

(1) what was the average rent of local authority-owned housing in Wales in 1987; and what are the average rents of local authority housing currently in Blaenau Gwent;

(2) what was the average rent of local authority-owned housing in Blaenau Gwent in 1987; and what are the average rents of local authority housing currently in Blaenau Gwent.

The average weekly rent in 1987 of local authority owned housing in Wales and Blaenau Gwent as reported by CIPFA was £17·91 and £22·14 respectively. In 1992–93 the average weekly rent reported by the borough of Blaenau Gwent is £30·77.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are on the waiting list of local authorities and housing associations for rented homes in Wales currently; and what were the figures for 1979 and 1987.

The information requested is not centrally available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many homes for rent built by the local authority in Blaenau Gwent were occupied in 1979, 1987 and at the latest available date.

The readily available information requested is given in the table:

Local authority occupied dwellings at 1 April
	Blaenau Gwent
1987	10,871
1991	9,774

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the totals of jobs lost to Wales from Inmos at Newport, Parke Davis, Pontypool, and the London Rubber Company, Llanelli, and potential and real jobs lost at Cwmbran following the decision of the Renishaw company not to locate in Wales.

I am aware of the following company announcements of job losses in Wales—220 at Parke Davis, March 1992; 300 at London International, September 1991; and 16 at Renishaw, April 1992. The Welsh Office is currently in discussion with Inmos regarding its announcement in March of the planned closure of its Newport plant with the potential loss of 450 jobs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he is taking to ensure national health service treatment is available in their community for those dental patients whose dentists have ended national health service dental treatment.

The community dental service is obliged to provide a safety net for patients who are unable to obtain treatment under the general dental services. It is for the district health authorities, in consultation with family health services authorities, to determine what services community dental services provide.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many dentists in Dyfed have since April 1991 (a) ceased treating all patients, (b) ceased providing national health service treatment for adult patients, (c) ceased providing national health service treatment for all their patients and (d) opened new practices;

The information is not available in the form requested. The majority of dentists are continuing to provide NHS treatment for all patients. Nearly one and a half million patients were registered with dentists in Wales as at 31 March 1992. In the first year of the new contract there was a net decrease of five dentists practising in the general dental service in Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will instruct family health services authorities in Wales to negotiate contracts with health trusts and directly managed community health service units to provide national health service dental treatment in areas where it is not available locally from independent contract dentists;(2) if he will fund family health service authorities to purchase national health service dental care from health trusts and directly managed community health service units to provide national health service dental treatment in those areas where national health service treatment is not available from independent contracting dentists.

The powers of the family health services authorities to administer general dental services are set out within the terms of the NHS Act 1977 and these proposals appear to fall outside the scope of the Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many houses were specifically built for the elderly by local authorities and housing associations in (a) Wales and (b) Blaenau Gwent in 1979, 1987 and 1991.

The number of dwellings specifically built for the elderly are given in the table. 1979 information is not centrally available.

	Blaenau Gwent	Wales
1987
Local Authority	25	438
Housing Association	35	238
1991
Local Authority	2	131
Housing Association	104	345

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for each technical and further education college in Wales the numbers of students obtaining an ordinary national diploma, a higher national diploma or a B.Tech. qualification during the last academic year.

Figures for students obtaining an ordinary national diploma are not collected centrally. The numbers of students obtaining a B.Tech higher national diploma during the 1990–91 academic year are listed in the table:

Number of B.Tech Higher National Diploma passes1
College	Number
North East Wales Institute	238
Llandrillo Technical College	21
Carmarthen College of Technology and Art	50
Welsh Agricultural College	8
Gwent College of Higher Education	121
The Polytechnic of Wales	308
Cardiff Institute of Higher Education	255
Swansea Institute of Higher Education	244
Total for Wales	1,245
1 Includes distinctions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the further education and technical colleges which will be funded by the new funding council, indicating (a) the number of students in each college enrolled in September 1991 and (b) the capital and current expenditure of each college during the last financial year.

Information on capital and current expenditure for further education is not held centrally. Reliable data for student enrolments are not yet available for 1991. The total number of students enrolled at November 1990 in further education and technical colleges are listed in the table. The figures include both further education and higher education enrolments. The Further Education Funding Council for Wales will determine only the number of further education enrolments to be funded from the 1 April 1993.

Number of enrolments at November 1990
College	Number
Clwyd
North East Wales Institute	8,923
Llandrillo Technical College	5,633
Welsh College of Horticulture	288
Llysfasi College of Agriculture	367
Dyfed
Carmarthen College of Technology and Art	4,214
Pembrokeshire College of Further Education	2,411
Ceredigion College of Further Education	1,740
Welsh Agricultural College	207
Gwent
Newport College of Further Education	4,395
Crosskeys College	3,740
Pontypool College	3,157
Ebbw Vale College of Further Education	1,613
Usk Agricultural College	395
Gwynedd
Gwynedd Technical College	3,247
Coleg Pencraig	1,018
Coleg Meirionydd	996
Coleg Glynllifon	109
Mid Glamorgan
Merthyr Tydfil College	2,434
Aberdare College	1,515
Bridgend College	4,331
Rhondda College	1,782
Ystrad Mynach College	2,588
Pontypridd College	4,003
Pencoed College	593
Powys
Coleg Powys	3,889

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for each technical and further education college in Wales how many students obtained A levels with grades A to C during the last academic year.

The information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales why the AG1 forms for patients claiming part or full remission of health service fees are not available; and when they will be.

Forms AG1 are supplied to family health services authorities in Wales which are responsible for its distribution to the general ophthalmic, dental and medical services. Adequate stocks are maintained centrally to meet all orders for these forms.The form has recently been revised and the new version has been issued to all FHSAs in Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many official gipsy sites there are in each of the counties of Wales.

The information is given in the table:

Official gipsy sites
County	Number
Clwyd	1
Dyfed	6
Gwent	2
Gwynedd	1
Mid Glamorgan	1
Powys	1
South Glamorgan	2
West Glamorgan	3
Total	17

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of official gipsy sites proposed by each of the counties of Wales; and what are their locations.

Proposals currently notified to me by county councils are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on his policies concerning gipsy sites.

My policy is to encourage local authorities to meet their existing obligations under the Caravan Sites Act 1968. The Government have undertaken to review the current legislation and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and I hope to issue soon a public consultation paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will visit the gipsy sites proposed by Clwyd county council.

The location of gipsy sites is a matter for the county council, in consultation with the district councils. In view of my statutory responsibilities under the Caravan Sites and Planning Acts regarding proposals which are opposed by the local authorities, it would not be appropriate for me to visit the sites proposed by Clwyd county council.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what representations he has received over pensioners paying the full television licence fee while others in the same housing complex pay the concessionary sum; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 14 May 1992]: We have received no correspondence on this subject since the general election. As I indicated in reply to a question by the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) on 14 May, Official Report, columns 172–73, my right hon. and learned Friend and I have no plans to change the present concessionary arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the United Kingdom benefits which are not available to the wives and families of British service men overseas; and if he will bring forward proposals to provide an equivalent level of social security for those wives and families.

The only benefits not available are income support and disability working allowance. We have no plans to change the present arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is his estimate of the cost of extending eligibility for severe disability premium by disregarding any non-dependant in receipt of either mobility component of disability living allowance; and if he will make a statement;(2) if he will extend the criteria for eligibility for severe disability premium as recommended by the social security advisory committee in its eighth report; and if he will make a statement;

We have always made it plain that we intended the severe disability premium to be payable to people on income-related benefits, getting attendance allowance—or the middle or upper rate care component of disability living allowance—who live independently with no one receiving invalid care allowance for looking after them. Nonetheless, the committee has produced a carefully balanced set of proposals for extension of the premium. These proposals merit serious consideration, which they will receive, although I can give the right hon. Member no assurances about the outcome of our deliberations.The estimated cost of extending eligibility to the premium as recommended by the committee is in the order of £25 million to £30 million.The estimated costs of extending eligibility by disregarding each of the specified groups of non-dependants are shown in the table.

Non-dependants to be disregarded	Estimated cost £ million
Those in receipt of either rate of mobility component of disability allowance	2
Those in receipt of lower care component of disability living allowance	1
Those registered blind	less than 1
Those over the age of 75	15 to 20
Those in receipt of severe disablement allowance	2
Those in receipt of invalidity benefit	4
Those who have been in receipt of invalidity benefit immediately prior to becoming eligible for retirement pension	1—
Note: All costs are in 1991–92 prices.
1 No reliable information on which to base an estimate

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made regarding the impact of disability living allowance on income of sufferers from myalgic encephalomyelitis who were previously in receipt of mobility allowance.

People receiving mobility allowance were transferred automatically to the higher rate of the mobility component of disability living allowance. If they were not already receiving attendance allowance they were invited also to claim either the care component of disability living allowance or, if over 65, attendance allowance.Like attendance allowance and mobility allowance, disability living allowance is awarded with regard to a person's care or mobility needs, not on the basis of a aparticular medical condition.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to publish proposals for the privatisation of local authority ports, airports and public transport companies; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's intention to privatise the remaining local authority bus companies and to encourage local authorities to sell their airports was set out in the Conservative party's manifesto for the recent general election.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a timetable for the privatisation of local authority ports, airports and public transport companies; and if he will make a statement.

No. This will depend on the circumstances of individual undertakings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will review his decision to charge hon. Members for his Department's statistics bulletins.

Copies of all the Department's statistics bulletins are available in the Library for reference. If an hon. Member requires a specific publication for more detailed work, on application to the statistics directorate of my Department, a copy will be provided free of charge.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many properties British Rail has bought along the safeguarded route for the channel tunnel rail link since 1 April 1991; how many have been sold; how many let; and how many are vacant.

I understand from British Rail that, along the safeguarded route for the rail link, it has since 1 April 1991 bought 79 properties; sold two and let 43. Thirty-four properties are at present unoccupied, of which 22 have been identified as suitable for sale as and when market conditions are appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the current progress of the new A20 road between Dover and Folkestone.

The A20 Folkestone-Dover scheme is being constructed in three contract lengths. They are all expected to be completed by summer 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to employ as accountancy or auditing firms in relation to the privatisation of British Rail only such firms as have not been subject to criticism in reports from Department of Trade and Industry inspectors.

When making such appointments, we take account of all relevant considerations and make such inquiries as are appropriate to establish the competence of the firm concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has now given his approval to the sale of London Coaches; who won the bid; and if he will make a full statement.

My right hon. Friend gave his consent to the sale by London Buses Ltd. of London Coaches Ltd. to a management buy-out team on 11 May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what factors were included in the valuation of the port of Tilbury.

The valuation was based on a three-year projection of the operations of the port of Tilbury and an analysis of quoted companies and of recent corporate transactions involving ports.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who conducted the valuation of the port of Tilbury prior to its sale.

The valuation was made for the board of the Port of London Authority by S. G. Warburg and Co. Ltd.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what infrastructure and capital works including new buildings and roads were constructed, and at what cost during the five years prior to the sale of the port of Tilbury.

This is a commercial matter for the Port of London Authority, but there is relevant information in the annual reports which are laid before Parliament. Those for 1986–90 were placed in the Library of the House. The 1991 report will be published shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who is responsible for paying the legal fees of the management side in the various industrial tribunal and employment appeal tribunals' cases which commenced prior to the sale of the port of Tilbury and continue after the sale.

Costs arising from the abolition of the dock labour scheme, including those associated with the industrial tribunal, have been entered as extraordinary items, separate from the operational expenditure of the Tilbury and other divisions, in the accounts of the Port of London Authority. Any further liabilities in this connection, following the sale of the port of Tilbury, remain with the authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what input his Department has made to Her Majesty's Government's proposals for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June.

My Department has played a full part in determining the Government's position during the preparations for the conference.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on current Government policy concerning the redistribution of road freight to rail.

We continue to support BR participation in joint ventures with the private sector, to back investment in BR's new channel tunnel services, and to encourage companies to take advantage of the recently improved criteria for freight facilities grants.We intend to liberalise access to the rail network and return BR's freight businesses to the private sector as soon as practicable, in order to widen customer choice and further encourage rail freight.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the number of school buses involved in road accidents in Great Britain for each year since 1979;(2) if he will list the number and severity of injuries relating to road accidents involving school buses for each year since 1979.

I regret that the information is not available. The standard report form on which police collect information on road injury accidents records the type of vehicles involved, but not the use to which they were put to at the time of accident.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the average child-to-seat ratio for peak period school buses in the United Kingdom.

The information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of overseas development aid is currently spent on (a) science and technology usage and (b) education and training programmes.

We do not record aggregate expenditure on science and technology as such, but the application of new scientific and technological developments to developing country problems through the research and development programmes which ODA supports accounts for approximately 4 per cent. of our total gross aid programme. Support for education and training programmes accounts for approximately 8 per cent. of the gross aid programme, excluding training activities carried out by the multilateral agencies which cannot be identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department has considered an application for an exhibition relating to Kurdistan to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.

I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Services Committee, arrangements have been made with the authorities of the House for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from 6 to 10 July 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money was spent by the Overseas Development Administration on monitoring and evaluation of aid projects for each year from 1985 to date.

Expenditure on ex-post project evaluation, which is the responsibility of the ODA's evaluation department, has been as follows:

	£'000
1985	222
1986	399
1987	269
1988	608
1989	456
1990	426
1991	580

Expenditure on monitoring is the responsibility of the ODA's operational departments managing the projects concerned, and is not recorded separately in the ODA's expenditure records. Details of monitoring expenditure could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list (a) the amount of overseas aid in the form of grants and (b) the amount of overseas aid in the form of loans to be (i) directed towards Africa and (ii) directed towards eastern Europe; what were the corresponding figures for each of the past three years; and by how much these figures are to be increased over the next financial year.

[holding answer 15 May 1992]: The information is as follows:

£ thousand
		of which
Bilateral aid to Africa	Total aid expenditure	Grants	Loans
1988–89	328,949	326,738	2,211
1989–90	371,949	369,209	2,740
1990–91	418,374	417,248	1,126

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what extra measures Her Majesty's Government are taking to help to relieve the effects of the drought in central and southern Africa.

My right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development has announced two packages of aid, on 4 March and 29 April, totalling £30 million. These include food, balance of payments aid, technical assistance and support for the activities of the voluntary agencies. In addition, Britain will be paying around £27·5 million towards the cost of the recently approved European Community special food aid programme which will provide an additional 800,000 tonnes of food aid, mostly for Africa.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in discussions with Brazilian authorities with regard to providing further support for Brazilian research on rain forest problems.

Since signing a Memorandum of Understanding on environmental co-operation with the Government of Brazil in July 1989, under which we are supporting a range of research activities in forest management in the Amazon, we have discussed with the Brazilian authorities and have approved a total of nine forestry projects for which we are providing £11·5 million. Additional project proposals are under discussion. We are also contributing £1·5 million to the core fund of the pilot programme for the conservation of the Brazilian rain forests, to be managed by the World bank in liaison with the European Commission.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will lay down guidelines for the counselling and care of male victims of rape and other serious sexual assaults; and if he will make a statement.

No. The police have been issued with guidance on the reception and treatment of victims of rape. While there is a presumption that most victims of sexual offences will be female, I am confident that the principles set out in the guidance will be observed regardless of the victim's gender.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will list for each parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom the number of registered overseas voters and their countries of residence.

The number of overseas voters included in the electoral register for each parliamentary constituency will be published in the summer by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in the annual reference volume "Electoral Statistics 1992", series EL 19. However, prior to the publication, details of the figures have been placed in the Library. Information on the country of residence of overseas electors is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the estimated cost, in 1992 prices, of detaining Judith Ward since 1974.

At 1992 prices, the average cost of detaining a female prisoner from November 1974 to May 1992 would be £424,000. Figures are not collected for particular individuals.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been (a) the total funding and (b) the established number of full-time officers of the North Wales police force in each of the past five years; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding to meet the public demands of this service.

Over the last five years expenditure and the police establishment of the North Wales police have been increased as follows:

Year	Expenditure £ million	Establishments
1987–88	32·96	1,316
1988–89	36·81	1,326
1989–90	41·1	1,330
1990–91	46·0	1,352
1991–92	153·1	21,352
1992–93	3—	1,369
1 Estimated.
2 No application made for establishment increase.
3 Not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was donated to charity in Britain in 1979, 1981, 1986, 1989 and 1990.

This information is not available centrally, but figures published by the Charities Aid Foundation show that the voluntary income of the top 200 charities in England and Wales for the years mentioned was:

	£ million
1979–80	293
1980–81	329
1985–86	721
1988–89	1,058
1989–90	1,184

Government support for the voluntary sector has increased regularly and is now around £2·4 billion per year, an increase in real terms of 114 per cent, over the period in question.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the cost of the prison chaplaincy service in the last financial year for which figures are available; and how this was broken down by (a) chaplaincy salaries, (b) salaries of chaplaincy support staff, (c) chaplaincy budget, (d) expenses for visiting Christian chaplains and (e) expenses for visiting non-Christian ministers.

The cost of the Prison Service chaplaincy in 1991–92 was £4·9 million. This can be broken down as follows:

	£
Salaries and related costs of all permanent staff	3,145,327
Fees and travelling for all visiting staff	1,191,603
Travelling expenses of volunteers	17,874
Other miscellaneous running costs	584,110
	4,938,914

There is no separate chaplaincy budget figure.