To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage whether any changes will be made to his Department's cash limit and running costs limit for 1992–93.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the following changes will be made.The running cost limit for class XII, vote 4 of £2,410,000 will be increased by £3,164,000 to £5,574,000. The running cost limit for class VIII, vote 6, will be £8,356,000 as before on the transfer of responsibility for that vote from the Department of the Environment to the Department of National Heritage. The total running cost limit therefore becomes £13,930,000.The increase gives effect to the creation of the new Department of National Heritage. It takes provisions in respect of the functions transferred from the Office of Arts and Libraries, the Department of the Environment, the Home Office, the Department of Employment, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Education to form the new Department. The increase will be met by payments from these Departments and will not, therefore, add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if there is to be a reconsideration of the policy towards the all-seating requirement at football matches.

The Government keep under continual scrutiny the safety of sports grounds. We continue to support the principles of improved spectator safety and comfort which were set out by Lord Justice Taylor in his final report on the Hillsborough stadium disaster. In recent months we have been examining the all-seating requirement for Football League grounds in the context of the representations that have been made and our concern to ensure the highest standards of safety given all the factors involved, including the size of particular grounds, league status and the financial health of the clubs concerned. However, the safety of our sports grounds must remain paramount.We have decided that it would be wrong to review either the principle or the timetable for all seating at first division grounds in the Football League, the new premier league. It is essential that our top clubs meet the standards necessary to compete in Europe and make full use of the resources available to them to provide grounds of which we can all be proud. We also remain firmly committed to the principle of all-seating for the great majority of second division clubs.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will increase the amount of money available to research councils and similar bodies for funding postgraduate student awards.

The five research councils, the Royal Society and the Fellowship of Engineering receive substantial funding through the science budget to develop and maintain a world competitive United Kingdom science base. Within the resources available to them, the research councils are free to determine the numbers of postgraduate awards they make and the level of tax-free maintenance grant paid to students.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what percentage of the total work force of the civil service are registered as disabled; what steps he is taking to encourage the employment of disabled people within the civil service; and if he will make a statement.

A total of 1·4 per cent. of civil servants are registered as disabled. This is above the proportion —1·2 per cent.—of people registered disabled in the work force as a whole. In addition, the civil service employs many people with disabilities who have chosen not to register. Progress on the employment of people with disabilities in the civil service is reported on annually in the OMCS publication "Independent", copies of which are placed in the Library of the House.My Department issues a revised code of practice on the employment of people with disabilities in the civil service in 1990 and will continue to develop and spread best practice and to monitor progress. A recent initiative is the development by the Civil Service college of positive action training for staff with disabilities.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if there are any proposals to change the 1992–93 cash limit for the Office of the Minister for the Civil Service.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate the cash limit for the Office of the Minister for the Civil Service—class XIX, vote 1—will be increased by £436,000 from £38,023,000 to £38,459,000. The Department's running costs limit will be increased by £3,759,000 from £45,339,000 to £49,098,000.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what targets have been set for his Department's executive agencies in 1992–93.

The Cabinet Office (Office of the Minister for the Civil Service) has three executive agencies; the Civil Service college, the Civil Service Occupational Health Service and Recruitment and Assessment Services. The primary target for each agency is to cover its costs in trading terms from income. In addition, the following key targets have been set for each agency in 1992–93.Civil Service College

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which responsibilities have been transferred from the Department of the Environment to the Department of National Heritage in relation to compulsory competitive tendering; and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for sport, including policy on compulsory competitive tendering for the management of sports and leisure facilities, was transferred from my Department to the Department of Education and Science in November 1990, and thence to the Department of National Heritage when it was established, in April 1992. My Department retains responsibility for compulsory competitive tendering generally and for implementation of the relevant legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will give the total expenditure by his Department on press and public relations in 1979–80 and in each following year up to and including 1991–92; and if he will give an estimate for 1992–93;(2) if he will give separate figures for the spending by his Department on

The information in respect of paid publicity and associated staff costs for my Department (including agencies) is:

	£ million
1985–86	3·5
1986–87	4·2
1987–88	4·8
1988–89	6·9
1989–90	31·5
1990–91	7·5
1991–92	8·1
1992–93	117·7
1 Estimate.

Expenditure is not broken down between different publicity media. Information relating to financial years 1979–20 to 1984–25 inclusive is not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the English local authorities in receipt of part of the £15 million allocation of supplementary credit approvals for recycling investment during 1992–23 and the total amount allocated to each authority.

The information requested is set out in the table:

Authority	Amount £'000
London authorities
Camden	177·365
Croydon	180·000
Ealing	460·000
Greenwich	86·000
Hammersmith and Fulham	86·000
Haringey	18·000
Havering	11·000
Hounslow	80·861
Kingston upon Thames	13·000
Lambeth	20·000
Merton	50·000
North London Waste Authority	600·000
Richmond upon Thames	40·000

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to enable local authorities to play a more active role in the facilitation of the building of new homes by housing associations.

My Department has recently issued a consultation paper which includes proposals aimed at co-ordinating decisions on the initial allocations of Housing Corporation funding with local authorities' housing strategies. The paper builds on authorities' role as enablers, which involves facilitating the development of social housing by housing associations or other providers, for example by the use of planning powers, or by providing land for housing. It proposes a framework for discussions on housing needs, and the allocation of resources to meet these needs. These discussions will involve housing authorities; the regional offices of the Housing Corporation, who are the main providers of public funding for new social housing; and the regional offices of my Department.Copies of the consultation paper, which is entitled "The Development of the Local Authority Housing Investment Programme Process", are in the Library; responses are invited by 26 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans have been made to establish a governmental body responsible for the strategic and co-ordinated approach to the planning and regulation of activities in the coastal and marine environment.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Ceredigion and Pembroke North on 14 May [Official Report, column 197].

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will re-establish grants for energy conservation in the domestic sector.

The Department provides grants to householders on low incomes for energy efficiency measures through the home energy efficiency scheme. Finance to encourage energy efficiency measures in housing is also made available through house renovation grants and minor works assistance, local authorities' council housing repair and improvement programmes, the green house demonstration programme and estate action.The Energy Savings Trust announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 13 May

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the report of the public inquiry into the application for an opencast coal mine at Baddesley Ensor in north Warwickshire to be published.

The inspector's report is being considered, and will be published as soon as a decision has been issued. I shall ensure that the hon. Member is sent a copy at the same time.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he will take to ensure that the production of all ozone-destroying chemicals such as CFCs, HFCs, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and halons will be stopped; and if he will make a statement.

The Montreal Protocol, which phases out the production and supply of CFCs, halons, carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform, will be reviewed in November. The United Kingdom is co-chairing the official level negotiations towards that review. The United Kingdom Government and the EC are committed to phasing out these substances by the end of 1995 at the latest and are urging other parties to the protocol to do the same. Both United Kingdom CFC producers will cease production no later than that date. HFCs do not deplete ozone and cannot, therefore be controlled by the protocol.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to start publication of council tax property valuations so that appeals can begin; and what pattern publication will follow.

Valuation lists for all billing authorities will be compiled at 1 April 1993 and will be deposited at the billing authority's principal office for public inspection, as well as being available at the local valuation office. Taxpayers who wish to appeal will be able to do so after 1 April 1993.The first council tax bills will include a notification of the band of the property. Occupiers of those properties which are exempt from the tax and who therefore would not receive a bill will be sent a separate notification of the band of the property.Draft lists will be provided to billing authorities between 15 November and 1 December 1992 and will also be available for public inspection.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of homes have been valued by estate agents for the new council tax; when the operation will be completed; what is his estimate of the total cost; and how much of this cost will be borne by central Government.

The Valuation Office Agency have contracted private sector valuers to assist them with the valuation of 57 per cent. of homes in England. The contracts required the work to be completed by 31 May 1992. The cost of the contracts in England is under £18 million, entirely borne by central Government.

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 1992–93.

Yes. Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, I propose to make the following changes;

(i) the cash limit for Class VIII, Vote 5 (central environmental services etc.) will be reduced by £659,000 from £315,931,000 to £315,272,000, to enable £660,000 of additional resources to be transferred to Class VIII, Vote 8 for research by her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.

(ii) the running cost limit for Class VIII, Vote 7 (Property Holdings and Central Support Services) will be reduced by £8,643,000 from £56,844,000 to £48,201,000. This is as a result of the transfer of administration costs to Class VIII, Vote 8 in respect of a part of the Directorate of Central Support Services which has been absorbed into the Department's Construction Directorate and the transfer of administration costs of Parliamentary Works staff to the House of Commons and House of Lords' Votes.

(iii) the cash limit for Class VIII, Vote 9 (Revenue Support Grant, payments of non-domestic rates, Valuation Offices services, etc. England) will be increased by £56,500,000 from £29,473,833,000 to £29,530,333,000. The increase will provide for payments of additional grant for local education authorities in respect of the extra costs associated with the teachers' pay award, as announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 10 February.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to lay the special grant report covering the payment of grant for the costs of preparing for the council tax.

I have today laid before the House the special grant report which provides details of the grant I propose to pay to billing authorities for their revenue costs in preparing for the council tax. The amount of grant is £85·975 million. This grant will help authorities in the smooth implementation of the council tax.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he proposes to make any change to the running cost limit on PSA Services Vote in 1992–93.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the running cost limit for Class VIII, Vote 12 will be reduced by £33,748,000 from £50,195,000 to £16,447,000 mainly due to the re-ordering of appropriation in aid provision between certain subheads to reflect a better classification of receipts.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he has decided to take against Waveney district council following the issue of a notice under part I of the Local Government Act 1988 on 24 July 1991 in respect of building cleaning work.

My right hon. Friend has given careful consideration the response which Waveney district council has made to the notice served on the authority on 24 July 1991, and has today given a direction under section 14 of the Local Government Act 1988 in respect of their building cleaning work. The effect of this direction is to preclude the authority from carrying out building cleaning work after 31 March 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list (a) those authorities whose expenditure servicing capital exceeds the relevant forecast standard spending assessment for the year 1991–92, stating for each that figure, the amount actually spent and the deficit as a percentage of that sum and (b) a second, or integrated, list of those authorities likely to be in that category for the year 1992–93 together with the relevant standard spending assessment estimated expenditure and percentage deficit.

[holding answer 14 May 1992]: The information requested for 1991–92 has been placed in the Library. It is not yet possible to produce comparable figures for 1992–93.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 15 May, Official Report, column 238–39, if he will make a statement following his meeting with the Council of Mortgage Lenders on 2 June; and what is his latest estimate of the number of households (a) assisted to date and (b) likely to be assisted in the whole of 1992 by mortgage rescue schemes initiated by members of the Council of Mortgage Lenders as part of the package agreed in December 1991.

[holding answer 3 June 1992]: Ministers met mortgage lenders yesterday to review progress on tackling repossessions. They were encouraged to hear the lenders' assessment that repossessions in 1992 will be significantly lower than they would have been without the package of measures announced by the Chancellor last December.The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that measures taken since December will save some 55,000 repossessions this year: 40,000 as a result of new procedures for dealing with arrears cases; and 15,000 as a result of the direct payment to lenders of the mortgage interest element of income support.The Government welcome the lenders' recognition that further efforts are necessary to tackle the arrears and repossessions problem. It agrees that lenders should continue to look at the whole range of options available for addressing this problem, including formal mortgage to rent schemes, shared equity arrangements and more generous repayment terms.The Government continue to regard the level of repossessions as an important issue and will follow closely the progress lenders are making in tackling it.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he proposes to make a statement concerning the provisional revenue support grant for the year 1993–94.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave on 22 May to the hon. Member for Clwyd, North-West (Mr. Richards) at column 277.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) males and (b) females were on day or block release in Wales in the latest year for which figures are available.

Figures for higher education corporations, voluntary colleges, and further education institutions maintained by local education authorities are given in the following table for the year 1990–91. Comparable information is not available for the University of Wales as students on part-time courses are not enrolled as day release or block release.

Students enrolled on part-time day/block release courses
	Number
Males	19,121
Females	8,054

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of (a) up to two year-olds and (b) over three year-olds are currently in publicly-funded child care places in Wales.

The information held centrally relates to children under 5. The numbers of publicly funded child care places in Wales at 31 March 1991 are shown in the following table:

	Full day care	Sessional care
Provided by the local authority	275	275
Children in private or voluntary facilities paid for by the local authority	211	731
	486	1,006
Rate per 1,000 population aged 0–4	2·5	5·3

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has under the heading of capital allocations to enable the replacement of Queensferry county primary school, Deeside, Clwyd, to be built by the 1993–94 financial year.

The statutory responsibility for the provision, repair and maintenance of school buildings rests with the local education authority. It is for Clwyd county council to determine its own priorities for capital spending between the various services from within the resources at its disposal as well as on the projects within those services in the light of its own assessment of needs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will visit Queensferry county primary school;(2) if he will meet the staff and governors of Queensferry county primary school;(3) if he will meet the parent teacher association of Queensferry county primary school.

I have no present plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to announce his proposals for the payment of grant in respect of council tax preparation costs incurred by billing authorities in Wales.

I have today laid before the House the special grant report for 1992–93 which sets out my proposals for the payment of grant towards the revenue cost of implementing the council tax. The report sets out grant allocations to individual billing authorities and the conditions that I intend to impose on the payment of grant. A copy of the report is being sent to all local authorities in Wales today.I have also made credit approvals available to billing authorities to cover the estimated capital cost of preparation work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether any changes will be made to the cash limits of his Department in 1992–93.

Yes. Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the cash limit for class XVI, vote 8 will be increased by £5,447,000, from £1,265,078,000 to £1,270,525,000.This increase allows for an additional £4,941,000 to help provide, from 1 April 1992, for the pay awards recommended by the Reports of the review bodies for nursing staff, midwives, health visitors and professions allied to medicine, and on doctors' and dentists' remuneration, as announced on 10 February 1992. The increase also covers a transfer of £506,000 from class XIII, vote 1 for the cost of Welsh patients treated in spinal injury units.The £4,941,000 for the pay awards recommendations will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales the total amount of money which has been allocated in career development loans in Wales in the latest year for which figures are available; and how much has been allocated to (a) males and (b) females.

I have been asked to reply. The total value of the loans issued in Wales during the year ending 31 March 1992 was £1,048,280—£655,156 for males and £393,124 for females.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what colours were used on the Industrial Development Board's promotional material in the May edition of the German magazine, "Automobil Produktion"; what is his policy on using the colours of the Republic of Ireland's flag in such material; and if he will make a statement.

Due to a mistake admitted by the German publisher, the colours orange, white and green were used in the IDB's promotional supplement in the German automotive magazine. Fewer than 40 copies of the magazine were distributed, and the publisher has undertaken to remove the colours and reprint the supplement at his own expense before general circulation to the German automotive industry. It is not the policy of the IDB to use the national colours of the Republic of Ireland in any of its promotional literature.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if the Anglo-Irish secretariat at Maryfield is operational during the present inter-party talks at Stormont; what is its function; and if he will make a statement.

The British and Irish Governments announced at an Intergovernmental Conference on 27 April that no further meetings of the conference would be held before the week beginning 27 July. As envisaged in the statement of 26 March 1991, the secretariat at Maryfield is accordingly not required for that period to discharge its normal role of servicing conference meetings provided for in article 3 of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, and is not doing so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when a business plan for the Compensation Agency will be published.

The Compensation Agency's business plan for 1992–93 will be published today. The plan explains the agency's business and organisation and sets out assumptions about work loads and resources which underpin the plans and targets identified for the agency this year. I have made arrangements for copies to be placed in the library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects Lord Colville's report on the operation of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991 to be available.

I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total sum paid out in fees by his Department to management consultants in 1979–80 and in each following year up to and including 1991–92; and what is his estimate for 1992–93.

The information for 1979–80 to 1983–84 is only available at disproportionate cost. Information for the years 1984–85 onwards is as follows:

	£
1984–85	2,352,311
1985–86	2,427,200
1986–87	2,742,192
1987–88	3,363,213
1988–89	4,260,116
1989–90	4,835,757
1990–91	4,239,223
1991–92	4,246,115
1992–93	15,368,383
1 Estimate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims have been made for disability living allowances and attendance allowance for each month since February.

The latest available figures for claims¹ registered for disability living allowance were:

	Number
February	72,407
March	123,985
April	67,888
TOTAL	264,280
1 These numbers include new claims, "top-up" claims from existing recipients of attendance allowance and mobility allowance and claims made on the grounds of terminal illness.

The latest available figures for claims received for attendance allowance were:

	Number
February	59,871
March	71,084
April	51,816
TOTAL	182,771

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for social fund loans in the London borough of Lambeth were refused on the grounds of inability to pay; and if he will show this figure as a percentage of all applications for loans in Lambeth.

The administration of the social fund is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will undertake a survey to discover the number of people who are in receipt of respite care.

I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to him on 15 May at columns 223–24. As no distinction is made in the level of income support paid between temporary and permanent residence in a residential care or nursing home, there would be no advantage for social security purposes in collecting such data and it would not justify the cost involved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide further assistance to citizens advice bureaux to enable the staff to deal with applications for disability living allowance and attendance allowance.

We have worked closely with the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and other organisations of and for disabled people on the introduction of disability living allowance and disability working allowance and the new claims process for attendance allowance. As part of our continuing commitment to help staff in citizens advice bureaux provide advice and information, we have offered suggestions on the training material and guidance NACAB issued to all its CABs and provided them with free copies of the disability handbook, as well as arranging for every individual citizens advice bureaux to hold stocks of the claim packs. We have also helped to fund the purchase of the Sweet and Maxwell guide on the new disability benefits.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take such action as necessary to simplify forms DLA 1(A) and DLA 2(A) relating to disability living allowance.

The introduction of the new claims process for disability living allowance has been widely welcomed by disabled people and their organisations. Indeed, they were both closely involved in developing and testing the claim pack DLA 1(A). Nevertheless, we are closely monitoring the effectiveness of the claim pack and are currently undertaking a review of the current draft and are making improvements where necessary to ensure that it continues to be as user-friendly as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Birkenhead on behalf of his constituent Mr. M. Ritchie of 11 Highfield crescent, Birkenhead, on his claim for mobility allowance.

There is no record of any correspondence from the hon. Member to Ministers concerning his constituent's claim. However, I understand from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, that the hon. Member recently wrote direct to the mobility allowance unit concerning this matter, and a reply was sent to him on 1 June 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress has been made towards securing agreement across EC member states on the adoption of the European senior's pass.

It has not yet been possible to secure Communitywide agreement to the adoption of the EC over, 60s card. No member state has yet implemented the card and officials are continuing their discussions with their counterparts in the Commission and other member states in an effort to resolve outstanding problems.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what recent discussions have been held between officials from his Department and representatives of the Australian Government concerning the uprating of pensions paid to British pensioners residing in Australia;(2) if he will make a statement on the recent meetings held in Canberra between representatives of the Australian Government, and officials from his Department on arrangements for the payment of pensions to British pensioners residing in Australia.

Officials of the Department met their counterparts from the Australian Department of Social Security in October 1991 and in March 1992 to discuss issues relating to pensions paid to United Kingdom pensioners living in Australia. In view of the substantial costs involved, the Government are unable to make any commitment, at this stage, to change their policy of not uprating pensions paid to British pensioners living in Australia.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his Department's policy on the payment of pensions to British pensioners living overseas in countries with which there is no reciprocal social security agreement.

British pensioners living abroad in countries, outside the European Community, with which the United Kingdom does not have a reciprocal social security agreement providing for annual upratings of benefit receive their state retirement pensions at the rate current when they left this country or when they became entitled if they were living abroad at the time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many claims for attendance allowance on grounds of terminal illness were received in the first three months of 1992; how many of these claims are still outstanding; what was the average length of time taken to process successful claims; and if he will make a statement;(2) how many claims for attendance allowance were received in the first three months of 1992; how many of these claims are still outstanding; what was the average length of time taken to process successful claims; and if he will make a statement.

Pursuant to my reply of 12 May, at column 100, I regret that the following information was incorrect:

A total of 164,412 claims for attendance allowance were received in the first three months of this year. The number of these claims made on the grounds of terminal illness is not available.

The correct information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many applications for voluntary-aided status have been received from (a) Anglican schools, (b) Catholic schools, (c) Jewish schools and (d) Muslim schools since 1979; and how many applications in each category have been granted.

The complete information requested is not readily available. The following table gives the information requested in respect of applications decided since November 1988 and includes one lapsed application in respect of a Muslim school. This excludes schools formed by the amalgamation of existing voluntary schools.

	Number of applications	Number approved
Church of England	6	2
Church of England/Methodist	2	1
Roman Catholic	7	4
Jewish	4	2
Muslim	2	0

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what efforts are being undertaken by his Department to ensure that women are granted adequate training and have equality of access to be selected as school governors.

Women have equal opportunity to become school governors and the majority of school governors —53 per cent.—are women. The same training opportunities are open to all governors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to establish mechanisms to ensure that equal opportunities issues are taken into account as part of the school inspection strategy.

The detailed arrangements for school inspections under the Education (Schools) Act 1992 will be a matter for Her Majesty's chief inspectors for schools.

To ask the Secretary of Slate for Education how many full-time equivalent academic staff are employed at (a) each institution funded by the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council and (b) each institution funded by the Universities Funding Council; and how many students are enrolled at each.

Numbers of full-time equivalent academic staff and students in each institution funded by the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council are given in table G6 of the "Annual Monitoring Survey of Further and Higher Education Student: Staff Ratios—Academic Year 1989–90—Interim Report" published by the Department of Education and Science and lodged in the Library.Numbers of full-time and part-time academic staff and students in each institution funded by the Universities Funding Council are given in tables 14, 15 and 31 of "University Statistics 1989–90—Volume One: Students and Staff" published by the Universities' Statistical Record and lodged in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the percentage change in real terms of the salaries of academic staff in polytechnics between 1979 and 1991.

The percentage change in real terms of the salaries of academic staff in polytechnics between 1979 and 1990 was 24·2 per cent. Information for 1991 is not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many full-time staff there were in institutions funded by the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council, or its earlier equivalent, in 1979 and at the last count.

The Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council annual record of staff and students shows that 58,283 full-time equivalent staff were in institutions funded by the council in academic year 1990–91, the latest year for which data are available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he has any changes to announce to cash limits on Votes within his responsibility for 1992–93.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class XI, vote 1, Schools, research and miscellaneous services, will be increased by £50,000 from £766,485,000 to £766,535,000.The increase represents the transfer from the Home Office of £50,000 from the Government seized assets fund for educational projects in connection with drug abuse. The increase will he charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the outcome of the meeting of the EC Education Ministers in Luxembourg on Monday 1 June.

I attended the meeting on Monday 1 June of the Council and the Ministers for Education meeting within the Council, together with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Higher Education. The Council and the Ministers adopted conclusions on the development of environmental education and open and distance learning; and the Council adopted conclusions on the evaluation of future Community programmes concerning education and training. The Council and the Ministers discussed issues arising from the implementation of the LINGUA programme and the proposed amendment of the convention defining the statute of the European schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the provisions obliging local authority social services departments to provide home help services to all elderly people in their area who are in need of such services.

The statutory basis for the provision of home help service to elderly people is contained in the following legislation:

Section 29 of the National Assistance Act 1948;

Section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970;

Section 45 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968;

Section 21 and Schedule 8 of the National Health Service Act 1977.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Sir T. Arnold) on 12 May, Official Report, column 85, whether the Health Department and the general dental services committee have now reconsidered the appropriate fee scale for 1992–93; and if she will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Sir T. Arnold), on 2 June at columns 466–67.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any changes will be made to the cash limits and running cost limit of her Department in 1992–93.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the following changes will be made:The cash limit for class XIII, vote 1 (hospital, community health, family health services (part) and related services, England) will be increased by £20,190,000 (from £18,544,309,000 to £18,564,499,000). This increase allows for an additional £76,258,000 to help provide, from 1 April 1992, for the pay awards recommended by the reports of the review bodies for nursing staff, midwives, health visitors and professions allied to medicine, and on doctors' and dentists' remuneration, as announced on 10 February 1992. This is partly offset by transfers of £49,562,000 to class XIII, vote 4, (family health services (part) and NHS trusts' external financing etc., England), reflecting an increase in the NHS trusts' aggregate external financing limit; £6,000,000 to class XIII, vote 3 (see below) for payments to and on behalf of recipients of blood and tissue infected with HIV and £506,000 to class XVI, vote 8 (hospital, community health, family health services (part) and related services, Wales) for Welsh patients treated in spinal injury units. The remainder will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.The cash limit for class XIII, vote 3 (Department of Health, administration, miscellaneous health services and personal social services, England) will be increased by £21,428,000 (from £801,053,000 to £822,481,000). These increases provide for £14,936,000 for the Department's London accommodation strategy; £742,000 to meet, from 1 April 1992, the review body recommendations mentioned above and £6,000,000 from class XIII, vote 1 for payments to and on behalf of recipients of blood and tissue infected with HIV. These are partly offset by a transfer of £250,000 to the Department of Social Security national insurance fund for the Stillbirth (Definition) Bill, while the remainder will be charged to the reserve.The Department's gross running cost limit control is increased by £1,851,000 from £267,385,000 to £269,236,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she has any changes to announce to the running cost limit for the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys for 1992–93.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the running cost limit for class XIII, vote 6 (Office of Population Censuses and Surveys) will be increased by £261,000 from £45,741,000 to £46,002,000. This reflects an increase in running costs provision of £96,000 in the national health central register area for additional services to the family health service central unit, and £165,000 for the childhood cancer birth linkage study. The increases will be matched by an increase in appropriations in aid and will be met from within the existing resources of the Department of Health (class XIII. vote 3).

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded in the latest year for which figures are available, by people who were on bail at the time those offences were committed.

The information as requested is not available. The Home Office is discussing with the police, through the ACPO crime committee, how best to ensure the regular collection of data from police forces on offences committed by people on bail. Home Office research and planning unit paper 65 "Offending while on bail: a survey of recent studies", which is in the Library, gives estimates of the rate of offending by people on bail and of the number of offences committed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress which Her Majesty's Government hope to make, and the goals which they hope to achieve, during their presidency of the European Communities, as regards the work programme on migration policy set out in the report from the Ministers responsible for immigration to the European Council meeting in Maastricht on immigration and asylum policy dated 3 December 1991.

We are fully committed to carrying forward the work programme during the United Kingdom presidency, and are currently considering to what aspects of it we should give priority. We will reach final decisions in the light of the ministerial discussions at the conclusion of the Portuguese presidency.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made so far under the Portuguese presidency of the European Communities as regards the work programme on migration policy set out in the report from Ministers responsible for immigration to the European Council meeting on immigration and asylum policy on 3 December 1991.

Discussions have been held under the Portuguese presidency on a number of matters which are included in the work programme adopted by EC Ministers concerned with immigration in December 1991 and subsequently approved by the European Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Her Majesty's Government intend to sign the convention applying the Schengen agreement of 14 June 1985 between the governments of the states of the Benelux economic union, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for changes to his Department's running costs limits.

To reflect a number of machinery of government changes affecting my Department, the Home Office running costs limit will be reduced by £588,000, from £1,450,608,000 to £1,450,020,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the number of (a) juveniles and (b) young adult offenders in Feltham young offenders institution who, at the end of the week ending 1 May 1992, had been on remand for (a) more than three months, (b) more than six months and (c) more than one year;(2) how many

[holding answer 13 May 1992]: The information requested is not recorded centrally. The latest readily available information is for 31 March 1992 and is given in the table.

Untried and convicted unsentenced prisoners aged under 21 held in Feltham on 31 March 1992: by age group and length of time since first reception into a Prison Service establishment1
Number of prisoners2
	Initial remand into Prison Service establishment
	Feltham		Other3
Length of time since first remand into a Prison Service establishment	Aged under 17	Aged 17 and under 21	Aged under 17	Aged 17 and under 21
Up to 1 week	5	35	—	—
Over 1 up to 2 weeks	—	34	—	—
Over 2 weeks up to 1 month	1	57	—	2
Over 1 up to 3 months	1	92	3	5
Over 3 up to 6 months	4	58	—	4
Over 6 up to 9 months	—	6	—	—
Over 9 months up to 1 year	—	3	—	1
Over 1 year	—	3	—	1
All lengths	11	288	3	13
1 This includes any intervening time spent on bail, but excludes any time spent in police cells beforehand.
2 Provisional figures.
3 Those initially remanded to another establishment.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) juveniles and (b) young adult offenders had been held on remand in custody in England and Wales on the latest date for which figures are available for (i) over three months, (ii) over six months and (iii) over one year.

[holding answer 13 May 1992]: The information requested is not recorded centrally. The latest readily available information is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prosecutions for soliciting for immoral purposes were issued in the Portswood division of the Hampshire Constabulary in 1990 and 1991; how many were successful; and what was the average fine;(2) how many cautions for kerb crawling were successfully undertaken by the Portswood division of the Hampshire Constabulary in 1990 and in 1991; and how many were issued to people living

[holding answer 22 May 1992]: Information available centrally, relates only to the court proceedings for Southampton and other petty sessional divisions in Hampshire and to cautions for the NA hole of Hampshire police force area. Information for 1991 is not yet available.No males were prosecuted for soliciting in Southampton petty sessional division in either 1989 or 1990. There was only one prosecution for kerb-crawling in 1989 and none in 1990. The person was acquitted.Information on kerb crawling for Hampshire police force area and England and Wales is given in the attached table below.

Table
Number of males, prosecuted, found guilty and cautioned for kerb-crawling in Hampshire police force area and England and Wales, 1989 and 1990
	Number of males
	Hampshire police force area	England and Wales
Prosecutions
1989	2	992
1990	—	1,360
Convictions
1989	1	891
1990	—	1,215
Cautions
1989	—	243
1990	5	227

To ask the Prime Minister how and when he discovered the names of the American pilots involved in the friendly fire incident in the Gulf war; and if he will make a statement.

I do not know, nor do I believe it necessary for me to know, the names of the pilots.

To ask the Prime Minister if there are any proposals to change the 1992–93 running costs limit for the Cabinet Office: Other Services Vote.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the running costs limit for the Cabinet Office: other services (class XIX, vote 2) will be reduced by £2,482,000 from £22,892,000 to £20,410,000. This reflects the machinery of government changes announced after the general election.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to encourage the Chinese authorities to facilitate a visit by the Dalai Lama to Tibet; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 2 June 1992]: We continue to urge the Chinese Government to start a dialogue with the Tibetan people, including the Dalai Lama. We hope that such a dialogue would open the way for the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what efforts have been made by her Department to ensure equality of access to training programmes for both men and women.

Training and enterprise councils (TECs) have a contractual requirement to ensure equality of opportunity in all their activities. TECs have flexibility to tailor training to meet individuals' needs in both content and delivery, both to ensure equality of opportunity and so that people may continue to meet their domestic commitments while training. Furthermore, they are required to pay necessary child care costs to those in the employment training and youth training guarantee groups.Equality of training opportunity will be recognised and encouraged by a new national training award recently introduced to be awarded for the training of women.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make it her policy to ensure that the Health and Safety Commission produces bilingual leaflets and posters for mass distribution within Wales.

Decisions on the publication of guidance on health and safety in languages other than English are for the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They are very conscious of the needs of Welsh speakers and are seeking to improve the services they provide to Welsh speakers in Wales.A Welsh language version of the poster, "Health and Safety Law—What You Should Know", and three leaflets in the agricultural series are already available in Welsh.The development of HSC's and HSE's policy on Welsh language will naturally take into account the measures to be enacted in the new Welsh Language Bill which was announced in the Queen's speech.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make it her policy to extend equal employment protection to part-time workers and to institute pro rata benefits for women and men in part-time work.

Many important rights—including those relating to sex and race discrimination, trade union membership/non-membership and health and safety—already apply equally to all employees, irrespective of hours of work. All union members also have important statutory protections against misuse of union powers. Extending all employment protection rights to employees regardless of their hours of work or on a pro rata basis, however, would place excessive burdens on employers and reduce opportunities for part-time work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps are being taken by her Department to encourage the employment of women returners.

It is for women themselves to choose whether or not to return to work, but my colleagues and I take every opportunity to encourage employers to adopt working arrangements which allow all parents to balance their employment and family responsibilities. These include flexible hours and holidays, job sharing, career breaks, part-time working and, where appropriate, help with child care. Many employment service and training and enterprise council programmes have inbuilt flexibility which benefits women returners. Our commitment to encouraging more out of school and holiday child care schemes will particularly benefit women who wish to resume work when their children start school.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make it her policy to ensure that the equal value regulations of the Equal Pay Act 1970 are implemented in full.

The Equal Pay (Amendment) Regulations 1983 have been fully in operation since 1 January 1984.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make it her policy to revise the Equal Pay Act 1970 to ensure that women in sex-segregated industries are not prevented from benefiting from the Act.

The Equal Pay Act 1970, as amended, provides that a woman who is employed on like work, work rated as equivalent under a job evaluation study, or work of equal value, to a man employed by the same or an associated employer is entitled to equality with him in the terms of her contract of employment. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to extend the scope of the Act in the way suggested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make it her policy to assist the pursuit of equal pay claims by women employees through taking steps to minimise the expenses incurred by the claimant and the delays in application.

Industrial tribunals are intended to provide a cheap, speedy and relatively informal means of resolving disputes arising out of the employment relationship, including the Equal Pay Act. In consequence under part IV of the Legal Aid Act 1988, legal aid is not available for representation before industrial tribunals. However, according to an applicant's financial circumstances he or she may be able to obtain from a solicitor, without cost, legal advice and assistance with preparation of an application to an industrial tribunal.The Equal Opportunities Commission has made a number of recommendations for changes to the Equal Pay Act 1970 some of which, the commission states, will reduce the time taken to deal with equal value applications. These recommendations are currently under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to increase the funds allocated for political education purposes for the Equal Opportunities Commission.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no such plans. The Equal Opportunities Commission receives grant in aid from the Government to work toward the elimination of discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity between men and women generally, and to keep under review the working of the Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Acts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average length of time spent by the chairmen of the training and enterprise councils in their posts; and if she will make a statement on the length of time she expects chairmen to serve.

Less than one third of TECs have had a change of chairman since becoming operational. It would therefore be inappropriate at this stage to calculate an average length of time that individuals spend as TEC chairmen.As long as an individual remains eligible for the position of TEC chairman, there is no present length of service expected.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether, following the House of Lords decision in Delaney v. Staples, she will now introduce regulations to extend the jurisdiction of industrial tribunals.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 22 May 1992, Official Report, col. 347.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether any changes will be made to her Department's cash limits or running costs limits for 1992–93.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the following changes will be made:

The running costs provision for class VI, vote 1 will be decreased by £1,378,000 from £329,474,000 to £328,096,000 changing the departmental running costs limits from £1,206,423,000 to £1,205,045,000. This change is the net effect of transfers to the Department of Trade and Industry (class IV, vote 2) and the Department of National Heritage (class XII, vote 4), and transfers from the Home Office (class IX, vote 3) and the Cabinet Office (class XIX, vote 2), reflecting the transfers of various responsibilities between these Departments and my own.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received regarding the proposal to develop a quarry at Windyhill farm, Elderslie.

The hon. Member wrote to my hon. Friend on this matter on 2 August 1991. A reply to that letter was sent on 21 August. No other representations have been made.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he intends residences not fit for human habitation, as defined in Wylmac v. Community Charges Registration Officer, Strathclyde, to be subject to local council tax.

I intend to make an order shortly, under the Local Government Finance Act 1992, which will define those dwellings which will be exempt from the council tax. As far as dwellings such as that which was the subject of Wylmac v. Community Charges Registration Officer, Strathclyde, are concerned, it is our intention to exempt from the council tax those which would currently be exempt from the standard community charge.