To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what is his policy towards Heveningham hall.

My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, when he was responsible for this matter as the Secretary of State for the Environment, decided on 10 December 1991 not to exercise his right to purchase Heveningham hall. I fully share his view about the outstanding importance of this grade I building and the need to maintain the integrity of the house, its decorative scheme and the grounds, and firmly believe that these objectives should be met, where possible, by responsible private ownership. It is for the official receivers to explore this possibility and I understand that they intend to market the hall later this summer. The hall will remain subject to the full rigour of planning and listed building controls and to advice from English Heritage and the local planning authorities. The costs of restoration work to the house and the grounds which is still outstanding should be well within the financial capacity of a new owner.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much is being spent on sport by his Department, compared with May 1979, in real and cash terms; and if he will make a statement.

My Department is responsible for grant in aid to the Sports Council (GB). The table shows that there has been a significant increase in grant in aid to the council in both real and cash terms.

Grant in aid to the Sports Council (Great Britain)
£ million
Year	Cash	At 1992–93 prices
1979–80	15.580	37.798
1992–93	48.762	48.762

In addition to this, a new business sponsorship scheme for sport, which will provide £3 million per annum for sport in England, is to be established this year.A further £55 million, to be channelled through the Department of the Environment, has been committed to sport in support of the Manchester Olympic bid. Government funding for sport is also provided through unhypothecated revenue support grant to local authorities and the Department of the Environment's inner-city programmes. The three territorial sports councils also receive grant in aid from their respective sponsoring Departments.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest trend in the United Kingdom's share of world trade in manufactured goods.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest trend in the United Kingdom share of world trade in manufactured goods.

I am pleased to report that decades of decline have been halted. The United Kingdom's volume share of world trade in manufactured exports was estimated in the Financial Statement and Budget Report to have risen in 1991 for the third successive year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes he proposes in the regulation of financial services following the transfer of responsibilities to his Department.

No changes are proposed in the way financial services are regulated as a result of the transfer.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the public spending planning total for 1993–94.

The public expenditure planning total for 1993–94 has been set at £244.5 billion.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the total of Government spending for the current financial year which is statutorily or otherwise determined by reference to the retail prices index.

The principal areas of Government expenditure determined by reference to the retail prices index are certain social security benefits and expenditure on public service pensions. For 1992–93, the total of this expenditure falling within the planning total that can be readily identified is £53.1 billion, 23£4 per cent. of the planning total.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the tax position of names in the Lloyd's insurance market.

I have no plans to make such a statement.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the small business sector on the effect of interest rates; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has received a number of such representations.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to diminish allowances against income tax as a means of reducing the basic rate.

Our objective remains to move towards a basic rate of 20p when it is prudent to do so.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the public sector borrowing requirement excluding privatisation receipts in 1991–92.

The public sector borrowing requirement excluding privatisation proceeds in 1991–92 was £21.8 billion.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when was the last year in which Britain's manufacturing trade was in surplus.

The United Kingdom's balance of trade in manufactures is published by the Central Statistical Office in the "Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics", May 1992.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest assessment of the outlook for inflation.

My right hon. Friend's Budget forecast was for RPI inflation to fall to 3¾ per cent. by the fourth quarter of 1992 and to 3¼ per cent. by the second quarter of 1993.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current level of inflation.

In April the headline rate of RPI inflation was 4.3 per cent.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received concerning national press advertisements placed by City Trading Ltd. for a publication described as the Official Directory of Government Auctions; and if he will make a statement.

None. Several Government Departments use actions for the occasional disposal of goods and each Department makes its own arrangements. There is no official directory of Government auctions.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has held with the Data Protection Registrar with respect to the integration of the existing system customs enforcement network or customs information system within the European Community; whether the system forms part of the Schengen or Trevi arrangements; and whether he will make a statement.

Her Majesty's Customs and Excise have consulted the Data Protection Registrar on several occasions during the development of a Community-wide customs information system, an enhancement of the current system customs enforcement network. The system does not form part of either the Schengen or Trevi arrangements.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessments the Government have made of the impact and additional costs on companies after 1993 of the additional requirements for (a) VAT returns, (b) INTRASTAT, (c) appointment of fiscal agents and (d) the United Kingdom's adoption of the maximum limit of £70,000 for fiscal agents.

The abolition of routine and systematic formalities at internal frontiers after 1992 means that, overall, United Kingdom industry will benefit from a reduction in business compliance costs incurred currently in intra-EC trade.Compliance cost assessments—CCA—have not been produced for individual single market requirements owing to difficulties in identifying the different elements of the costs associated with a single administrative document.Some of the new requirements have only recently been agreed and Customs and Excise are now in the course of preparing a global CCA covering indirect tax, statistical and customs issues.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will arrange for (a) Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to carry out sampling of all imports of drugs as a matter of routine and (b) all drug imports to have documentation certifying their manufacture; and if he will make a statement.

Customs and Excise check imports of drugs on behalf of the Department of Health's Medicines Control Agency. Where appropriate these checks include sampling. Routine sampling and extended documentary requirements for all consignments, however, are not considered necessary by the agency. Testing is also carried out to the agency's standards in the country of origin or after importation.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made towards the complete write-off of official debts of lower income countries to the United Kingdom.

To date, five countries have benefited from the Prime Minister's Trinidad terms debt reduction initiative—Benin, Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Nicaragua, and Tanzania. A number of other heavily indebted, low-income countries are expected to receive Trinidad terms in the coming months. Under current Trinidad terms agreements, 50 per cent. of eligible debt is written off, and creditors commit to consider reducing the whole stock of debt in three to four years' time if the debtor country keeps to its agreements with the International Monetary Fund and the Paris club. The Government also participated in a Paris club agreement in 1991 to write off 50 per cent. of the whole stock of Egypt's official bilateral debt.The Government believe that Trinidad terms should be further developed, along the lines of the Prime Minister's original proposals for the poorest and most heavily indebted countries—all creditors should participate in debt reduction, debt reduction should be increased from 50 per cent. to a benchmark of two thirds, and debt stock reductions should be brought forward. While the Government do not believe that it is necessary, or in the long-term interests of the debtors themselves, to write off their debts completely, the Overseas Development Administration has cancelled most of the debt of the poorest countries arising from aid loans.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to look at the feasibility of debt-for-nature swaps as a part of the debt retirement process

The Government welcome debt-for-nature swaps as an innovative approach to market-based debt reduction in cases where additional resources are made available for environmental projects. As far as the Government's own programmes are concerned, we have to date judged it more effective to deal with debt relief and assistance for environmental projects overseas separately, through the Paris club and through our aid programme.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make a statement as to why writs issued by his Department last December to financial advisers concerning James Ferguson Holdings of Bradford had not been served within the four-month time limit;(2) how many Yorkshire and Humberside-based companies face being sued by his Department in connection with the Barlow Clowes affair.

I cannot comment on individual cases.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much manufactured exports have changed between 1981 and 1991.

The value of UK exports of manufactures was £86 billion in 1991, £51 billion more than in 1981.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assistance with regard to housing costs is provided for civil servants posted overseas.

Civil servants posted overseas are provided with rent-free accommodation appropriate to their grade or status.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those non-departmental public bodies which are annually and comprehensively audited (a) by the National Audit Office and (b) by private firms of accountants; if he will list the criteria on which such accountants are selected and for what length of time they are appointed; and if he will make a statement.

The Treasury does not maintain a central list of the auditors of non-departmental public bodies. The publication "Public Bodies 1991" prepared by the Cabinet Office lists the non-departmental public bodies by sponsoring department and indicates those executive bodies which are subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The legislation governing the individual bodies will normally determine whether the Comptroller and Auditor General is the statutory auditor or whether a firm of accountants is to be appointed. In the latter case, the appointment is normally the responsibility of the sponsoring Department.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amount, in cash, the bottom quintile of households, ranked by unadjusted disposable income, paid out in income tax; and what they paid out in value added tax in 1989.

In 1989, the average payments for households in the bottom quintile ranked by unadjusted disposable income were about £95 in income tax, and £270 in VAT.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what agreement has been reached with the British Greyhound Racing Board and the off-course betting industry on how the allocation of greyhound racing's proportion of the 0.25 per cent. reduction in general betting duty will be administered;(2) what is his estimate of the proportion of the £15 million resulting from the reduction in general betting duty in 1992–93 which would be returned to greyhound racing.

I have been asked to reply.The size and administration of any voluntary payments by bookmakers to greyhound racing following the reduction in general betting duty are matters for negotiation between the two industries. We understand that those negotiations are under way and have asked to be informed of the outcome in due course.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest forecast for gross domestic product growth in 1992.

At Budget time the Chancellor forecast that GDP would grow by 1 per cent. in 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about funding arrangements relating to the acquisition of rolling stock for the Leeds-Bradford rail electrification project.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on 9 June, at column 116.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's arrangements for consulting the Data Protection Registrar during the planning stage of any initiative involving the collection, use or disclosure of personal data; and if he will make a statement.

The Department's officials are aware of the need to consult the registrar at the appropriate stage of any initiative involving personal data, to establish whether there will be a need for registration. It is the practice to remind directorates from time to time of their responsibilities under the Act. I am satisfied that these arrangements are effective.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he is likely to come to a decision with regard to the minor road closures in and around Blackheath.

The Secretary of State for Transport has received an application from the London borough of Lewisham to stop up lengths of London Pond road, Whitfield road and Duke Humphrey road. The borough council has been asked to provide further information relating to the application. The Secretary of State is unable to decide upon the application until this information has been received.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has received the consultants' report into the possible splitting of Greater Manchester Buses Ltd.; and if he will make a statement.

We have received the consultants' report into the possible splitting of Greater Manchester Buses Ltd. It is now being carefully considered. I propose to discuss the report with the Greater Manchester passenger transport authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the level of Government investment in British Rail provided in (a) million pounds, (b) the amount needed to equal the 1979 allocation in real terms and (c) the percentage excess or shortfall compared to the 1979 allocation in real terms; and if he will provide a breakdown by the following (i) investment ceiling, (ii) total investment by BR and subsidiaries and (iii) railways for each year since 1979.

[holding answer 8 June 1992] British Rail's investment ceiling for 1992–93 is currently set at £983 million for the existing railway and at £755 million for the new railway. The combined ceiling for both existing and new railways therefore stands at £1,738 million. Rail investment by BR in 1979 was £620 million in 1992–93 prices. The ceiling for 1992–93 therefore represents an increase of 180 per cent. on the figure for 1979.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration are disseminated within his Department.

Reports prepared by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration are always shown to the permanent secretary and seen by the Department's senior managers. Where necessary, local managers are asked to comment on the matters raised by the Parliamentary Commissioner.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many investigations have been initiated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in connection with the work of his Department for each year since 1986; and how many complaints have been upheld in whole or in part in each of those years.

The jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration was extended on 1 January 1991 by section 110 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 to include administrative duties carried out by staff of courts and tribunals appointed by the Lord Chancellor.Three cases had been referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner in 1986; one in 1987; seven in 1988; eight in 1989, and three in 1990 of which it was decided 14 fell outside his jurisdiction. The remaining seven did not result in recommendations. In 1991, nine cases were investigated of which five resulted in findings against the Department. During 1992 three cases have been referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner, but none of those investigations has yet been completed.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what disciplinary action has been taken by his Department in relation to matters referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in each year since 1986.

No disciplinary action has been found necessary as the result of a case being referred to the Parliamentary Commission for Administration during the period from 1986.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list for each year since 1986 in respect of the reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration where financial payment or payments will or should be made by his Department as directed or indicated, (a) aggregate amount for all investigations, (b) the highest amounts for any one investigation, (c) the length of time taken between his Department indicating that a payment will be made or informing that a payment should be made and such payments being made and (d) how many such payments were not made within seven days and what reasons there are for such delays.

No payments were recommended by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in the years 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990 and 1992. In 1989 one payment of £75 was made and in 1991 payments totalling £1,467.61 were made. The largest of these payments was £1,009.42.The time taken between acknowledging the Parliamentary Commissioner's recommendation and making payment is kept to a minimum.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary Lord Chancellor's Department what costs were incurred in (a) court fees, (b) counsel fees, (c) agents, (d) expense rates, (e) charging rate, (f) additional costs and (g) total claimed by any solicitor or the Treasury Solicitor, in relation to matters involving the administration of the courts on the northern circuit, the northern circuit administrator or members of his staff in each year since 1986.

The information in the form requested could he obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department on how many occasions solicitors or the Treasury Solicitor have been instructed to advise or act for his Department, and by whom, in respect of matters relating to the northern circuit administrator, his staff or any matter involving the administration of the courts on the northern circuit, in each year since 1986.

The information is not collected in the form requested and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the number of vehicles clamped by private companies operating under the jurisdiction of the police in each of the last three years for which complete figures are available; and what payments were made to the companies.

I understand from the commissioner that the information requested is as follows:

Financial Year	Clamps applied	Total payment £
1989–90	157,401	1,680,289
1990–91	149,766	1,512,093
1991–92	128,079	1,322,155

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each of the last five years the date on which he received each report from his inspector of prisons and the date on which each report was published.

Details covering the last five years can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The dates of all reports delivered to the Secretary of State from January 1991 are given in the tables.

Establishment	Date report submitted to Secretary of State	Dale report published
Short Inspections1
Swinfen Hall	24 January 1991	20 June 1991
Castington	15 February 1991	25 July 1991
Liverpool	8 March 1991	6 August 1991
Pentonville	11 March 1991	6 August 1991
Downview	25 March 1991	15 October 1991
Ford	26 March 1991	27 August 1991
Drake Hall	25 April 1991	27 August 1991
Send	3 May 1991	8 October 1991
Shrewsbury	8 May 1991	9 January 1992
Northeye	20 May 1991	9 January 1992
Deerbolt	8 July 1991	31 march 1992
Parkhurst	11 July 1991	6 February 1992
Hull	15 July 1991	11 February 1992
Camp Hill	6 September 1991	2 June 1992
Huntercombe	23 September 1991	—
Risley	23 October 1991	2 June 1992
Rudgate	8 November 1991	2 April 1992
Werrington House	8 November 1991	2 April 1992
Stanford Hill	13 January 1992	—
Feltham	11 February 1992	28 may 1992
Leyhill	11 February 1992	—
Stoke Heath	14 February 1992	—
Styal	26 February 1992	—
Birmingham	5 March 1992	—
Latchmere House	24 March 1992	—
Stafford	15 April 1992	—
Manchester	15 April 1992	—
Wymott	30 April 1992	—
Full Inspections1
Stafford	17 January 1991	9 July 1991
Thorp Arch	11 February 1991	6 August 1991
The Verne	14 February 1991	25 July 1991
Hollesley Bay Colony	28 February 1991	24 September 1991
North Sea Camp	14 March 1991	24 September 1991
Littlehey	25 March 1991	5 September 1991
Full Sutton	17 April 1991	17 December 1991
Swaleside	30 April 1991	6 February 1992
Wormwood Scrubs	14 May 1991	19 December 1991
Lindholme	30 May 1991	30 January 1992
New Hall	10 June 1991	20 February 1992
Canterbury	10 September 1991	9 January 1992
Garth	26 September 1991	11 February 1992

Establishment	Date report submitted to Secretary of State	Date report published
Haverigg	18 September 1991	27 February 1992
Aylesbury	30 September 1991	2—
Bedford	11 October 1991	31 March 1992
Dartmoor	31 October 1991	2 June 1992
Holloway	31 October 1991	11 March 1992
Frankland	25 November 1991	2 April 1992
Glen Parva	29 November 1991	—
Wakefield	31 January 1992	—
Grendon	13 February 1992	—
Leicester	12 March 1992	—
Sudbury	31 March 1992	—
Lewes	30 April 1992	—
Long Lartin	29 May 1992	—
Other Reports
HMCIP's Annual Report	7 November 1991	11 December 1991
Report by HMCIP into the escape by two category A inmates from HMP Brixton	31 July 1991	5 August 1991
1 Once publication has been approved it normally takes a month to arrange.
2 To be published on 25 June 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were (a) the number and length of detentions in Britain under the Prevention of Terrorism Acts since 1 January and (b) the number and length of detentions in Greater Manchester since 1 January.

Statistics on the number of people detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 in Great Britain during the first quarter of 1992 are published in "Home Office Statistical Bulletin 9/92". A copy of this bulletin is in the Library. Details of the length of detentions for all detainees from 1 January to 9 June are given in the table:

Persons detained under the Prevention of Terrorism legislation by length of detention
Great Britain, 1 January-9 June 1992	Number of Persons
Less than 2 hours	2
2 hours and less than 4	4
4 hours and less than 8	20
8 hours and less than 12	7
12 hours and less than 24	18
24 hours and less than 36	9
36 hours and less than 48	7
Total under 48 hours	67
2 days and less than 3	3

Population of Nottingham closed training prison on 31 March 1979–1992 Adult sentenced males
Year	Up to and including 18 months	Over 18 months and up to 4 years	Over 4 years	Total as at 31 March
	Sentence length
1979	4	188	64	256
1980	1	168	89	258
1981	4	170	81	255
1982	7	159	84	250
1983	10	159	89	258
1984	5	185	108	298
1985	3	151	124	278
1986	2	133	157	292
1987	1	111	179	291
1988	3	100	191	294

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total sum of fines issued to carriers since the introduction of the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 1987; and what is the total in outstanding fines.

The total sum is £44.01 million, of which £21.78 million is outstanding.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make arrangements for Housing Services for the Elderly to have free access to fire control ex-directory telephone numbers.

I have no reason to believe that the current arrangements whereby emergency telephone calls are routed through the public telephone operators are unsatisfactory. Exceptionally, fire control ex-directory numbers may be made available by a chief fire officer to high-risk establishments and to emergency alarm receiving companies at their expense in order to receive calls directly in the brigade area.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give figures for the total number of prisoners held in HMP Nottingham in 1979 and in each following year until 1992; and what category of prisoner they were.

The readily available information is given in the table. The population has been taken as at 31 March for each of the years requested in order to include the latest figures for 1992. All inmates held were in the category adult sentenced males.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by prison establishment for the past 12 months, the number of inmates that have had self-inflicted wounds; and what was the comparative figure for (a) 24 months, (b) 36 months and (c) 48 months previously.

The number of self-inflicted injuries at each prison service establishment in 1991 is listed in the table. Information for earlier years is not available.

Incidents of self-injury in prison service establishments during 1991
Establishment	Total
Acklington	4
Albany	—
Aldington	—
Ashwell	2
Askham Grange	1
Aylesbury	19
Bedford	20
Belmarsh	6
Birmingham	48
Blantyre House	—
Blundeston	7
Brinsford	10
Bristol	5
Brixton	29
Brockhill	35
Bullwood Hall	29
Camp Hill	11
Canterbury	15
Cardiff	29
Castington	3
Channings Wood	5
Chelmsford	17
Coldingley	1
Cookham Wood	33
Dartmoor	29
Deerbolt	23
Dorchester	I
Dover	20
Downview
Drake Hall	2
Durham	66
East Sutton Park	—
Eastwood Park	1
Elmley	—
Erlestoke House	4
Everthorpe	20
Exeter	35
Featherstone	10
Feltham	106
Ford	—
Frank land	18
Full Sutton	20
Garth	8
Gartree	5
Glen Parva	76
Gloucester	17
Grendon	38
Guys Marsh	2
Haslar	2
Hatfield	1
Haverigg	3
Hewell Grange	—
Highpoint	10
Hindley	70
Hollesley Bay	15

Establishment	Total
Holloway	95
Hull	116
Huntercombe	21
Kingston	—
Kirkham	1
Kirklevington Grange	15
Lancaster	5
Latchmere House	—
Leeds	130
Leicester	27
Lewes	25
Leyhill	3
Lincoln	117
Lindholme	12
Littlehey	13
Liverpool	74
Long Lartin	22
Low Newton (Male)	55
Low Newton (Female)	3
Maidstone	6
Manchester	35
Moorland	117
Morton Hall	2
The Mount	1
New Hall	113
Northallerton	17
Northeye	2
North Sea Camp	—
Norwich	6
Nottingham	4
Onley	34
Oxford	14
Parkhurst	2
Pentonville	8
Portland	39
Preston	7
Pucklechurch (Female)	112
Ranby	4
Reading	9
Risley (Male)	—
Risley (Female)	50
Rochester	68
Rudgate	1
Send	—
Shepton Mallet	4
Shrewsbury	34
Stafford	36
Standford Hill	1
Stocken	8
Stoke Heath	29
Styal	304
Sudbury	5
Swaleside	2
Swansea	10
Swinfen Hall	4
Thorn Cross	4
Thorp Arch	—
Usk	3
The Verne	3
Wakefield	12
Wandsworth	9
Wayland	7
Wellingborough	—
Werrington	3
Wetherby	19
Whatton	1
Whitemoor	—
Winchester	10

Establishment	Total
Wormwood Scrubs	32
Wymott	9
Total	1,615

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action is being taken on applicants for asylum who have received paragraph 101 refusals on the basis of non-appearance at interviews; and how many of those refused since 1 December 1991 have been served with removal or deportation orders.

Unless an asylum applicant refused under paragraph 101 of the immigration rules is subsequently in touch with the Department, he remains liable to arrest and administrative action to enforce his departure. Information about the numbers subject to such action is not collected in the form requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list in rank order for each police force in England and Wales, the number of females who have reported being raped during the last 12 months.

The available information held centrally relates to the number of notifiable offences of rape recorded by the police and is given in the table. Although there are no figures for the number of offences reported, recent Home Office research shows that 61 per cent. of allegations of rape were recorded by the police in 1989.

Notifiable offences of rape recorded by the police by police force area—1991
England and Wales
Police force area	Number of offences
Metropolitan police district	1,158
Greater Manchester	227
West Midlands	214
West Yorkshire	213
Hampshire	136
Kent	115
Nottinghamshire	111
Thames Valley	99
Avon and Somerset	98
Northumbria	93
South Wales	91
Essex	83
South Yorkshire	74
Sussex	73
Merseyside	63
Cambridgeshire	62
Norfolk	62
Suffolk	61
Humberside	61
Devon and Cornwall	60
Lancashire	58
North Wales	55
Staffordshire	53
West Mercia	50
Dorset	49
Dyfed-Powys	47
Cleveland	47
Wiltshire	46
Bedfordshire	46
Hertfordshire	46
Durham	45
Northamptonshire	44

Police force area	Number of offences
Surrey	41
Gwent	38
Lincolnshire	38
Leicestershire	38
Cheshire	37
Derbyshire	34
Gloucestershire	23
Cumbria	19
North Yorkshire	19
Warwickshire	18
City of London	—
England and Wales	4,045

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the responsibilities and duties of his Department and any agency which reports to his Department in relation to inshore waters, intertidal areas and maritime land; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the Government's memorandum on this subject which was submitted to the Environment Committee of this House in the previous Session. It has now been published by HMSO as part of the Environment Committee's report on coastal zone protection and planning, volume II, minutes of evidence and appendices.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement, in the form that does not jeopardise national security, on the criteria used by the Security Service to help it decide whether personal data should be retained by it; and how such criteria have varied since 1989.

I have nothing to add to the Security Service Commissioner's report on Security Service record-keeping policy in his annual report for 1991 and his conclusion that the general policy on retention of records was acceptable.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide, in a form that does not jeopardise national security, generalised examples of subversive activities that do not involve law breaking; and whether he will make a statement.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what means and through what channels section 11 resources will be allocated to colleges of further education following their removal from local authority control.

After further education and sixth form colleges leave local authority control on 1 April 1993, they will be eligible to receive, and to apply for, section 11 grant direct. Posts already approved for funding from 1 April 1992 will continue to be eligible for grant, with the contribution previously made by the local authority being met by the Further Education Funding Council. Detailed administrative arrangements are under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the circumstances under which pensioners may be asked to pay for eye tests.

Pensioners as a group have never been automatically exempted from payment of optical costs, including those for sight tests. Pensioners who receive income support are entitled to free NHS sight tests. Pensioners on a low income can claim help with their optical costs under the NHS low-income scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how spending on health and community health services (a) for elderly people and (b) for mentally ill people has changed since 1979.

Available data are given in the table. Estimated spending on services for elderly people does not include spending on the acute hospital services which are used by people in all age groups including elderly people.

Estimated Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) spending on services for elderly people and for mentally ill people 1979–80 and 1990–91.
	Spending(£ million cash)		Real terms increase 1
	1979–80	1990–91	(per cent.)
Services for elderly people	651	1,927.6	36.5
Services for mentally ill people	592.8	1,763.5	37.1
Total HCHS expenditure (excluding joint finance)	5,309.5	14,745.8	28.0
1 After allowing for changes in general inflation as measured by the GDP deflator.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the clinical trials at London's Royal Marsden hospital that are planned to discover if patients suffering from breast cancer would benefit from hormone replacement therapy; and when she expects the results will be published.

There are no firm plans to hold such a trial at the Royal Marsden hospital.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been carried out into the effects of organophosphates on the human body and methods of entry into the human body; who carried out that research; and who is carrying out research currently.

Organophosphate toxicology is a very heavily researched area and many papers reporting such research are published each month in the world's scientific journals. Organophosphate research was recently reviewed by Ballantyne and Marrs—"Clinicaland experimental toxicology of organophosphates and carbamates", published by Butterworth—Heinemann, Oxford, 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list all trust hospitals together with their postal addresses and the names of their chief executives.

The information requested has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing beds within the private sector there are within the Seaham, Murton, Easington, Peterlee, Shotton, Horden, Blackhall and South Hetton area.

Information is not available in the form requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give the membership and remuneration of the members of the Dental Estimates Board.

The Dental Practice Board—DPB— previously known as the Dental Estimates Board, comprises five dental members, two lay members and the chief executive, who is also a lay member. Current membership is as follows:Chairman (dentist)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she last met the Association of Directors of Social Services to discuss community care.

My hon. Friend the Minister for Health last met the Association of Directors of Social Services on 4 June.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to improve child care provision, following the EC child care recommendations.

The EC child care recommendation, adopted on 31 March 1992, will contribute to the continuing debate on child care. The Department's latest statistics, "Children's day care facilities at 31 March 1991, England."; a copy of which is available in the Library, show that in England between 1988 and 1991 registered day nursery places grew by 112 per cent. from 36,000 to 77,000 and the number of registered child-minders by 42 per cent. from 73,600 to 104,900. The Children Act 1989 gives a new duty to local authorities to review the child-care services used by children aged under eight in their area every three years and publish a report. This requirement gives local authorities a strategic role in child care and provides a legal framework for production of a local child care plan which will result in sensible expansion and development.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients had been waiting for hospital treatment (a) under one year, (b) one to two years and (c) over two years at the latest date for which figures are available.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Shersby), on 10 June at columns 219-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the current review of community psychiatric nursing will be completed; and if she will make a statement.

[holding answer 9 June 1992]: The review of mental health nursing was announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in her speech to the Royal College of Nursing congress on 27 April 1992.The precise terms of reference, the chairmanship and membership of the steering group for the review, together with its method of working, are being finalised.The review will be concerned with all aspects of mental health nursing including community psychiatric nursing and will examine practice, leadership and education.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's arrangements for consulting the Data Protection Registrar during the planning stage of any initiative involving the collection, use or disclosure of personal data; and if he will make a statement.

Officials are aware of the need to consult the registrar about proposed legislation or other initiatives which might affect or be affected by the Data Protection Act 1984, and will consult him as necessary when planning the collection, use or disclosure of automated personal data.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what policies Her Majesty's Government pursue to promote trade between developing nations and the EC.

I have been asked to reply.The Government support the Community's efforts, as in the current GATT Uruguay round negotiations, to create open trading conditions which will increase trade with all countries, including the developing nations. In addition, the European Community gives preferential access to most products from developing countries under its generalised system of preferences scheme. This provides especially generous treatment for the least developed. The trade provisions of the Lomé convention also provide access to Community markets at zero duty for most products from the African, Caribbean and Pacific states.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the position of the United Kingdom Government regarding the import of Bangladeshi textiles and clothing into the EC after the creation of the single market; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.Regulation of textiles and clothing imports from Bangladesh into the European Community is governed by the multi-fibre arrangement bilateral agreement on trade in textiles between the two parties, the provisions of which are unlikely to be significantly affected by completion of the single market.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the current quotas for textile and clothing imports into the United Kingdom from countries covered by the multi-fibre arrangement.

I have been asked to reply.I refer the hon. Member to EC regulation 369/92 published in the "Official Journal of the European Communities", No. L45 of 20 February 1992, copies of which are in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the cost of producing and distributing "student grants and loans"; and how many copies are being produced.

We plan to produce and distribute at least 900,000 copies of "Student Grants and Loans: A brief guide 1992–93" at an estimated cost of about £88,000. We shall produce additional copies if there is sufficient demand.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 19 May, Official Report, column 104, how many of the representations he has received about the MetroPower proposals to redevelop Greenwich generating station have supported the proposal and how many have objected to it.

Under the Electricity (Applications for Consent) Regulations 1990 an opportunity must be given for objections to the MetroPower proposals to be registered with my Department. More than 100 objections were so registered by the date specified under the regulations. The regulations do not provide for support for proposals to be registered.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make it his policy to prepare a United Kingdom-wide strategy for the commercial energy industry covering extraction, conversion, transport and waste over the next 30 years.

No. The Government have set out their policy designed to ensure that consumers obtain energy efficiently. Strategy blueprints on the lines proposed by the hon. Member do not work and have been rejected even by the former socialist economies.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action is being undertaken by his Department to reduce the flaming of natural gas in the oil extraction process.

My consent is required to the flaring of any gas produced in association with oil in the United Kingdom. In granting such consents, my policy is to ensure that flaring is restricted to the minimum amounts which are consistent with maintaining safe and economic operations.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much has been allocated during each of the last five years by his Department to fund research and development on (a) energy produced from fossil fuel sources and (b) the development of energy from renewable sources.

Following is the information requested:

(a)
	£ million
>1987–88	9.8
>1988–89	7.9
>1989–90	5.6
>1990–91	15.9
>1991–92	8.4

(b)
>	£ million
>1987–88	16.1
>1988–89	16.3
>1989–90	17.9
>1990–91	20.9
>1991–92	24.0

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what were the tonnages of coal imports into the ports of Sunderland, Seaham, Hartlepool and Teesside during the years 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91; and what were the points of origin.

Coal imports for these areas are shown in the table. Imports at Seaham are recorded under the port of Sunderland. Imports at Teesside are shown for the port of Middlesbrough.

Thousand tonnes1
	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91
Sunderland
United States	58	109	63
Australia	184	35	0
Venezuela	104	34	9
Soviet Union	49	0	56
Canada	29	9	22
Germany	16	24	7
Other countries	64	41	42
Total	503	251	198
Hartlepool
Colombia	22	44	101
Poland	67	25	14
Soviet Union	57	5	0
Australia	51	2	0
Other countries	26	5	0
Total	224	82	115
Middlesbrough
Australia	1,393	1,254	1,407
United States	1,130	1,106	722
Poland	322	71	20

	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91
Canada	117	169	25
Other countries	48	181	215
Total	3,010	2,781	2,388
1 Figures are rounded independently and a total may therefore differ from the sum of its constituent parts.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to announce the public inquiry into the Cory waste-to-energy incinerator proposal in Belvedere; and if he will make a statement.

Arrangements for the public inquiry are nearing completion and I expect to announce the details shortly. I will write to my hon. Friend once they are finalised.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if the United Kingdom has set a target for the percentage of total electricity supply from renewable resources.

The Government are working towards the establishment of 1,000 MW of new renewables-based electricity generation capacity in the United Kingdom by the year 2000. Targets for the exploitation of renewable energy resources are under consideration, as part of the current review of the Government's renewable energy programme.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the impact for fuel choice and generating plant capacity, investment, mothballing and permanent retirement of treaty undertakings on global warming on offer at the Rio de Janeiro Earth summit conference; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 9 June 1992]: The Government's commitments to the control of carbon dioxide emissions under the framework convention on climate change will take into account a wide range of issues, which in the electricity sector include the expected installation of high-efficiency gas-fired plant, the fostering of renewables under the non-fossil fuel obligation, and the retirement of some existing generating plant.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the result to date of the writs issued by his Department to the Midland bank and other financial intermediaries in respect of the Barlow Clowes affair.

I have been asked to reply.A number of proceedings have been commenced following the statement by the Secretary of State to the House on 19 December 1989. I cannot comment on individual cases.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the last date on which he considers it would be reasonable to indicate that his plans for local government reorganisation will go forward in a time scale that woud make it convenient to cancel the county council elections currently planned for May 1993.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on Friday 5 June 1992, at column 662.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether it is his intention to introduce legislation to give effect to his plans for local governmnent reorganisation in Wales during the current session of Parliament.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on Wednesday 10 June, at column 182.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the reasons for the bridge repairs at Rosset, near Wrexham on the A483; and who is to pay for them.

The bridge is not being repaired. Concrete sections of the bridge are being treated with a chemical to protect the surfaces from the harmful effects of winter salting. The Welsh Office will pay for the work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will announce his decision about the night casualty service at Singleton hospital, Swansea.

As soon as possible.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 11 June.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 11 June.

I have been asked to reply.My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is in Rio de Janeiro to attend the Earth summit and will have bilateral meetings later today with various Heads of Government.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to increase the number of women in the Cabinet.

I have been asked to reply.My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister considers all the excellent candidates available on merit at the appropriate times.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the actions he intends to take to promote the interests of women.