Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Wednesday 28 October 1992

Home Department

Magistrates

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how judges and magistrates will be advised to treat aggravating or mitigating factors when determining the seriousness of any offence.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to his similar question on 27 October, at column 578.

Table showing the strength of polices forces in England and Wales³
Force	31 March 1979	31 March 1990	Percentage change	31 March 1991	Percentage change	31 March 1992	Percentage change
Avon and Somerset	2,825	3,094	9.52	3,092	-0.06	3,081	-0.36
Bedfordshire	902	1,050	16.41	1,105	5.24	1,093	-1.09
Cambridgeshire	1,064	1,193	12.12	1,201	0.67	1,250	4.08
Cheshire	1,778	1,870	5.17	1,895	1.34	1,874	-1.11
Cleveland	1,334	1,467	9.97	1,489	1.50	1,477	-0.81
Cumbria	1,056	1,166	10.42	1,184	1.54	1,179	-0.42
Derbyshire	1,563	1,795	14.84	1,741	-3.01	1,706	-2.01
Devon and Cornwall	2,660	2,852	7.22	2,873	0.74	2,898	0.87
Dorset	1,128	1,269	12.50	1,281	0.95	1,289	0.62
Durham	1,312	1,375	4.80	1,368	-0.51	1,389	1.54
Dyfed-Powys	910	935	2.75	935	0.00	947	1.28
Essex	2,461	2,822	14.67	2,889	2.37	2,898	0.31
Gloucestershire	1,076	1,170	8.74	1,162	-0.68	1,174	1.03
Greater Manchester	6,419	6,992	8.93	7,014	0.31	7,061	0.67
Gwent	965	1,008	4.46	999	-0.89	1,009	1.00
Hampshire	2,949	3,154	6.95	3,179	0.79	3,211	1.01
Hertfordshire	1,462	1,657	13.34	1,666	0.54	1,695	1.74
Humberside	1,849	1,995	7.90	1,998	0.15	2,026	1.40
Kent	2,724	2,984	9.54	3,005	0.70	3,074	2.30
Lancashire	3,097	3,201	3.36	3,212	0.34	3,198	-0.44
Leicestershire	1,701	1,769	4.00	1,818	2.77	1,845	1.49
Lincolnshire	1,171	1,188	1.45	1,209	1.77	1,196	-1.08
Merseyside	4,427	4,714	6.48	4,689	-0.53	4,621	-1.45
Norfolk	1,223	1,363	11.45	1,405	3.08	1,414	0.64
Northamptonshire	905	1,126	24.42	1,139	1.15	1,158	1.67
Northumbria	3,272	3,529	7.85	3,541	0.34	3,464	-2.17
North Wales	1,268	1,337	5.44	1,349	0.90	1,347	-0.15
North Yorkshire	1,342	1,379	2.76	1,387	0.58	1,398	0.79
Nottinghamshire	2,117	2,316	9.40	2,336	0.86	2,331	-0.21
South Wales	2,936	3,135	6.78	3,137	0.06	3,168	0.99
South Yorkshire	2,546	2,923	14.81	2,991	2.33	3,008	0.57
Staffordshire	1,978	2,187	10.57	2,217	1.37	2,176	-1.85
Suffolk	1,064	1,194	12.22	1,209	1.26	1,218	0.74
Surrey	1,440	1,645	14.24	1,657	0.73	1,706	2.96
Sussex	2,758	2,949	6.93	2,969	0.68	2,984	0.51
Thames Valley	2,639	3,659	38.65	3,714	1.50	3,772	1.56
Warwickshire	841	975	15.93	1,020	4.62	990	-2.94
West Mercia	1,743	1,991	14.23	2,026	1.76	2,034	0.39
West Midlands	5,981	6,855	14.61	6,876	0.31	6,941	0.95
West Yorkshire	4,727	5,260	11.28	5,268	0.15	5,087	-3.44
Wiltshire	997	1,130	13.34	1,165	3.10	1,221	4.81
Metropolitan	22,214	28,362	27.68	28,312	-0.18	28,381	0.24
City	829	799	-3.62	813	1.75	808	-0.62
Total	109,653	124,834	13.84	125,535	0.56	125,797	0.21
¹Figures for 1 April are not available; 31 March figures have therefore been provided.

Police Officers

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a table showing for each police force area in England and Wales and for the whole of England and Wales the number of police officers actually in post at (a) 1 April 1979, (b) 1 April 1990, (c) 1 April 1991 and (d) 1 April 1992, and the percentage increase in each case.

The information requested is set out in the table.

Samuel Kulasingham And Prem Sivalingham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he expects to make a decision as to whether he will exercise his power under section 17 of the Criminal Appeals Act 1968 to refer to the Court of Appeal the case of Samuel Kulasingham and Prem Sivalingham;(2) when he received an interim or final report from the Essex police inquiry team, established in April 1992 to investigate the circumstances surrounding the convictions of Samuel Kulasingham and Prem Sivalingham;(3) whether the Essex police inquiry team, established in April 1992 to investigate the circumstances surrounding the convictions of Samuel Kulasingham and Prem Sivalingham, have obtained transcripts of any Metropolitan police interviews with the two chief prosecution witnesses at the 1988 trial, Indrakumar Thiyegaral and Muralee Tharan Arulkodnenthan, which took place prior to their statements as witnesses.

The Essex police are continuing their inquiries into this case and I expect to receive their report shortly. I shall then be in a position to decide, after proper consideration of all the relevant information, whether there are grounds for referring either conviction to the Court of Appeal.I understand that the inquiry team has established that both the two chief prosecution witnesses were interviewed by officers of the Metropolitan police before statements were taken from them as witnesses, but that no record was made of either of these interviews.

Probation Service

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the resource implications of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 for the probation service; and what is his best estimate of the additional costs involved for the probation service in England and Wales.

Increased central Government support for the probation service was set out in the Home Office annual report published in February 1992 as follows:

	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95
Central Government support (£ million)	290	314	338
Provision for total staff numbers	14,234	14,713	15,100
(Including year-on-year staff increases of;)	560	398	376

The additional staff and resources are primarily for the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 1991; these represent the current best estimates of the additional resources needed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what remuneration has been offered to probation staff to enable them to undertake new duties in respect of the Criminal Justice Act 1991.

[holding answer 27 October 1992]: The Criminal Justice Act will involve new responsibility for the probation service. To respond to this we have provided for a substantial increase in the numbers of probation officers. In addition, we recognise that there will be an impact on the work of some existing probation officers. As a consequence, probation employers have responded to this by offering a system of local pay flexibility to reflect the increased responsibilities which individuals might undertake. Discussions over the details of this offer are continuing.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what fianancial penalties will be invoked if any probation staff refuse to under-take new duties implicit in the Criminal Justice Act 1991.

Probation staff who refuse to undertake duties in the context of the current industrial action in support of their pay claim are being asked to sign an undertaking that they will work normally and to return this undertaking within two working days. If an officer refuses to sign the undertaking, the probations committee will reduce that officer's pay by 15 per cent. while he or she continues to refuse to work normally.Any staff who were to refuse to undertake duties in other circumstances would be subject to normal disciplinary proceedings, including financial penalties.

Court Reports

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many additional court reports will be written per annum under the provisions contained in the Criminal Justice Act 1991.

On the basis of pilot trials run in five Crown court centres between May and December 1991, it is expected that between 20,000 and 29,000 additional reports will be required each year.

Prisoners (Towels)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will consider increasing the number of towels issued weekly to prisoners.

The range of items issued to inmates is subject to regular review. The number of towels currently issued each week is normally two but, because of a high incidence of vandalism, it is necessary to issue some 400,000 towels each year to meet the needs of the 45,000 inmates held in custody; this restricts the capacity of the prison service to increase the level of issue for individual prisoners. However, in an effort to improve the efficiency and acceptability of the item, the existing white towel is in the process of being replaced by one of larger size in deep-dyed colours.

Drug Prevention

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to renew the funding for each of the drug prevention projects currently funded by his Department as it reaches the end date of the period for which funds have been approved to date.

As I stated in my written answer of 27 October 1992, at column 578, in response to earlier questions from the hon. Member, funding for the 20 local drugs prevention teams has been agreed initially for three years in each case and active consideration is currently being given to the position of the teams beyond that period.

Car Phones

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what guidelines are given to the Metropolitan police about stopping motorists who drive while using a car or mobile phone.(2) how many charges and convictions have been obtained by the Metropolitan police concerning the use of car phones while driving.

No such guidelines have been issued to the Metropolitan police. The police may take action against drivers in such cases for the offences of driving without due care and attention or driving without proper control of the vehicle. No figures are available to show the number of charges or convictions obtained by the Metropolitan police for such offences involving the use of telephones.

Asylum

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what target date he has set his Department to clear the backlog of asylum applications.

No specific date has been set. The increase in the number of asylum division staff to 500, together with streamlined administrative procedures, is already having a considerable impact on the current backlog. Further progress will be influenced by the rate of new applications and the impact on procedures of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Bill.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 15 July, Official Report, column 775, to the hon. Member for Norwood (Mr. Fraser) (a) which concepts used in the convention are the subject of common interpretation and (b) what is the common interpretation referred to.

Article 1 of the Dublin convention of 15 June 1990—Cm 1623—defines for the purposes of the convention the meaning of: an alien; an applicaation for asylum; an examination of an appliction for asylum; a residence permit; an entry visa; and a transit visa.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 15 July, Official Report, column 775, to the hon. Member for Norwood (Mr. Fraser) whether any definition has been reached in respect of first host country.

No. This matter is still under discussion between member states.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 15 July, Official Report, column 775, to the hon. Member for Norwood (Mr. Fraser) (a) to which third countries it is intended to extend the system of the convention by means of parallel convention and (b) with which countries negotiations have commenced in respect of that convention.

Formal negotiations on extending the provisions of the Dublin convention will not be undertaken until the convention has been ratified by all member states. Extension to third countries will be by the unanimous agreement of the member states.

Security Service

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will publish, in any form that does not jeopardise national security, the number of entries in the names index and in the organisations index of the main security service computer system and provide a description of the kinds of information held;(2) whether he will publish, in any form that does not jeopardise national security, the approximate total number of files held by the Security Service, the approximate number of red, amber and green files, and the proportion of files that are temporary; and whether he will make a statement.

The Security Service holds only information which it needs in order to carry out the functions conferred upon it by the Security Service Act 1989. The service's record-keeping policy was described in the Security Service Commissioner's annual report for 1991. It would not he in the interests of national security to provide the detailed information requested.

Mr John Samuels

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester on the operation on Friday, 11 September which resulted in the complaint by Mr. John Samuels.

No. These are operational matters which are the responsibility of the chief constable.

Charities

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures the Charity Commission uses when deciding whether or not to register charities formed to assist with specific disasters and emergencies and which require accelerated registration procedures to enable them to operate in good time; and if he will make a statement.

In deciding whether to register an organisation as a charity the Charity Commissioners consider whether the object for which the organisation is established are exclusively charitable in law, accurately reflect the intended activities of the organisation and whether the activities proposed are acceptable for a body with charitable status.Where it is strongly represented to the commissioners by the promoters of an organisation, which is formed to assist with a specific disaster or emergency, that any degree of delay in registering the charity would be harmful to the intended beneficiaries, the commissioners give priority consideration to that application for registration.

External Frontiers Convention

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements he has made for the public distribution of the draft convention on external frontiers.

Copies of the draft convention between the member states of the European Communities on the crossing of their external frontiers were placed in the Libraries of both Houses in July.

Worcester Kurdish Refugee Association

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Charity Commissioners expect to complete their investigation into the Worcester Kurdish Refugee Association; and if he will make a statement.

The Charity Commissioners expect to complete their inquiry into the affairs of the Worcester Kurdish Refugee Association in January 1993.

Hostels

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current cost level for repairs, additions or equipment in a hostel site which represents the dividing line between his Department's capital grant and operational expenditure.

Major refurbishment works, new building or extension costs, and the purchase of specific items of equipment which are expected to be in use for a number of years attract capital grant. The operational or revenue budget covers more basic redecoration and routine maintenance and the purchase of smaller items. There are items which from time to time do not easily fall into either of these categories and where judgments are made on a case by case basis as to the most appropriate form of funding.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances a probation hostel or a bail hostel can refuse to accept as a resident a person whom the court wishes to let out on bail.

The Approved Probation and Bail Hostel Rules 1976 provide that, once a court has granted bail subject to a condition of residence in an approved hostel, admission can be refused only if there is no place available; or if the person falls outside the categories for which the hostel is approved; or if the defendant is suffering from severe subnormality or a psychopathic disorder; or with the consent of the Secretary of State.Before the court reaches its decision, a probation officer may, through advice to the court, indicate that, in the circumstances of the individual case, a defendant would not be suitable for a place in an approved hostel, in line with the considerations set out in paragraph 16 of the "National Standard for the Management of Approved Probation and Bail Hostels". I will send my right hon. Friend a copy of the relevant section of these standards.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are normally on duty in probation and bail hostels in England and Wales (a) from 6 pm till midnight, (b) from midnight till 6 am and (c) at weekends.

[holding answer 27 October 1992]: All approved probation and bail hostels in England and Wales have 24-hour a day staff cover. The funding of a number of hostels was increased this year to ensure that there is provision for at least two members of staff to be on duty at night in any hostel. Since the deployment of staff is a matter for probation or voluntary management commit-tees, detailed information on staff rotas is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners (Learning Difficulties)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish figures showing the current percentage of prison inmates in England and Wales who are known to have learning difficulties.

[holding answer 26 October 1992]: Records of the number of prisoners with learning difficulties are not held centrally. In the White Paper, "Custody, Care and Justice"—Cm 1647—the Government stressed that the first priority for education programmes in prison must be to identify and provide help for those prisoners who have difficulty reading or writing and who are unable to do simple arithmetic. The national prison survey undertaken in 1991 indicated that 43 per cent. of prisoners had left school before the age of 16, prisoners had higher truancy rates than the general population, and 43 per cent. of prisoners had no qualification when they came into prison.

Criminal Justice Act 1991

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters he has received on the workings of the Criminal Justice Act 1991; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 27 October 1992]: I regret that it is not possible to identify from central records of correspondence received from all sources how many of the several thousand letters dealt with in different parts of the Home Office each month refer to the workings of the Act, either as a single subject, or as one among several others. However, it is beyond question that many correspondents are referring to the Act and these referrals have increased since 1 October when the vast majority of its provisions came into effect.

Combination Orders

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many combination orders he estimates will be made under provisions contained in the Criminal Justice Act 1991.

[holding answer 27 October 1992]: The power to make a combination order was introduced by section 11 of the Criminal Justice Act which came into effect on 1 October 1992. The criteria for the use of the power are set out in the section, but sentencing in any individual case is a matter for the sentencer alone. There is, at present, no basis on which to estimate the number of occasions upon which courts may exercise this power.

Computer Projects

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table setting out for the period since 9 April (a) each tender issued by his Department for projects requiring the supply of (i) computer hardware and (ii) computer software, (b) a description of the services required, (c) the number of companies who were invited to tender, (d) the number of companies who submitted a bid without prior invitation by his Department, (e) which company was awarded the contract, (f) the value of each contract and (g) the length of period over which the contract will run.

[holding answer 27 October 1992]: The table provides information about tender invitations issued by my Department for projects requiring the supply of computer hardware and computer software since 9 April.

Invitations to tender (ITT) issued for projects requiring computer hardware-software since 9 April 1992
(a) ITT's issued for projects			(b) Description of services required	(c) Number of companies invited to tender	(d) Number of companies who submitted a bid without prior invitation	(e) Company awarded the contract	(f) Value of contract	(g) Duration of contract
(i) Computer hardware	(ii) Computer software	(iii) Hardware and software			See covering reply		See covering reply	See note 1
^*			Network Cabling for HMP Woodhill	1		Lancare
^*			Clothing and Textile CAD system for Prison Service Industries and Farms	3		Gerber Garment Technology
^*			Computer network cabling infrastructure	3		Misys Communications
^*			UNIX system for Immigration and Nationality Department (bought under HOUSE 1 contract)	l		International Computers Ltd.
	^*		Finance and Accounting software for UNIX system above	6		TABS
^*			Networking equipment for new DTELS HQ	5		Gandalf Digital Communications
		^*	Message Handling System for Emergency Planning	18		Not yet awarded
^*			Cabling for HMP Foston Hall-Prescoed	3		Lancare
^*			Extra Hard Disks for Police National Computer Organisation (PNC2)	7		Not yet awarded

Note:

1. All the contracts are one off supplies.

Car Theft

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list for each police authority area the number of offences of (a) theft of and (b) unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle and (c) the combined total of the two committed by juveniles in each of the last five years for which figures are available and what percentage this was of the total number of offences in this category;(2) if he will state for each police authority area and for England and Wales as a whole how many offences of theft from a vehicle were committed by juveniles in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what percentage this was of the total number of offences in this category in each case;(3) if he will state for each police authority area and for England and Wales as a whole, how many offences of theft

Table 1
Number and percentage of juveniles and young adults found guilty or cautioned for offences of theft of a motor vehicles, unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle and theft from a vehicle 1986
Police force area		Theft of and unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle								Theft from a vehicle
		Juveniles				Young adults					Juveniles		Young adults
	Tolal all ages ( = 100%)	Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft		Theft
				Number	Per cent.			Number	Per cent.		Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Avon and Somerset	851	29	277	306	36	61	277	338	40	217	67	31	86	40
Bedfordshire	332	11	86	97	29	30	127	157	47	172	35	20	77	45
Cambridgeshire	265	24	85	109	41	26	68	94	35	258	80	31	111	43
Cheshire	528	18	181	199	38	35	170	205	39	375	72	19	163	43
Cleveland	547	38	198	236	43	31	181	212	39	36	13	36	16	44
Cumbria	307	21	83	104	34	18	121	139	45	77	33	43	28	36
Derbyshire	417	30	112	142	34	26	149	175	42	225	78	35	89	40
Devon and Cornwall	578	10	133	143	25	22	241	263	46	314	111	35	105	33

The value of each project is a matter of commercial and contractual confidentiality. Information about the number of companies who submitted a bid without prior invitation by my Department is not readily available.

or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle were committed by young adults in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what percentage this was of the total number of offences of this category;

(4) if he will state for each police authority area and for England and Wales as a whole how many offences of theft from a vehicle were committed by young adults in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what percentage this was in each case of the total number of offences in this category.

[holding answer 20 October 1992]: The data in the table relate to the number of "known" offenders —persons found guilty, or cautioned—by offence category, specific age groups and police force area 1986 to 1990. Provisional data for 1991 will not be available before the end of 1992.

Police force area		Theft of and unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle									Theft from a vehicle
		Juveniles				Young adults					Juveniles		Young adults
	Tolal all ages ( = 100%)	Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft		Theft
				Number	Per cent.			Number	Per cent.		Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Dorset	344	17	119	136	40	20	121	141	41	130	25	19	50	38
Durham	429	28	156	184	43	20	124	144	34	193	51	26	83	43
Essex	764	74	219	293	38	63	245	308	40	466	126	27	203	44
Gloucestershire	240	5	77	82	34	13	97	110	46	150	46	31	68	45
Greater Manchester	3,000	128	1,193	1,321	44	109	1,051	1,160	39	614	240	39	208	34
Hampshire	1,012	58	320	378	37	68	339	407	40	330	108	33	128	39
Hertfordshire	477	16	151	167	35	21	179	200	42	211	56	27	104	49
Humberside	547	35	226	261	48	38	161	199	36	256	70	27	108	42
Kent	728	26	202	228	31	54	264	318	44	425	82	19	231	54
Lancashire	776	36	262	298	38	21	273	294	38	274	63	23	116	42
Leicestershire	560	26	134	160	29	34	251	285	51	205	76	37	71	35
Lincolnshire	268	13	93	106	40	12	94	106	40	198	45	23	81	41
London, City of	42	—	8	8	19	1	16	17	40	29	4	14	10	34
Merseyside	907	10	372	382	42	22	320	342	38	259	119	46	84	32
Metropolitan Police District	5,509	91	1,912	2,003	36	188	1,975	2,163	39	1,738	547	31	738	42
Norfolk	320	9	114	123	38	20	83	103	32	215	44	20	93	43
Northamptonshire	388	27	110	137	35	24	127	151	39	194	52	27	94	48
Northumbria	1,089	77	293	370	34	51	409	460	42	666	194	29	264	40
North Yorkshire	295	29	71	100	34	21	107	128	43	187	36	19	74	411
Nottinghamshire	629	37	212	249	40	39	213	252	40	408	108	26	166	41
South Yorkshire	914	84	267	351	38	63	315	378	41	257	70	27	110	43
Staffordshire	380	11	96	107	28	26	160	186	49	41	13	32	11	27
Suffolk	203	8	74	82	40	14	63	77	38	119	34	29	58	49
Surrey	284	17	61	78	27	34	92	126	44	96	23	24	44	46
Sussex	558	8	160	168	30	33	205	238	43	295	75	25	134	45
Thames Valley	929	74	259	333	36	74	321	395	43	495	145	29	228	46
Warwickshire	173	38	34	72	42	10	52	62	36	123	42	34	46	37
West Mercia	494	20	136	156	32	33	176	209	42	247	105	43	78	32
West Midlands	2,359	206	677	883	37	91	900	991	42	881	332	38	312	35
West Yorkshire	1,493	86	468	554	37	85	500	585	39	571	164	29	228	40
Wiltshire	313	6	123	129	41	10	115	125	40	175	42	24	79	45
Dyfed-Powys	149	1	53	54	36	1	54	55	37	162	23	14	101	62
Gwent	319	14	93	107	34	19	126	145	45	40	15	38	14	35
North Wales	369	11	147	158	43	13	108	121	33	177	45	25	72	41
South Wales	993	46	323	369	37	53	341	394	40	254	97	38	76	30
England and Wales	32,079	1,553	10,370	11,923	37	1,647	11,311	12,958	40	12,755	3,806	30	5,240	41

Table 2
Number and percentage of juveniles and young adults found guilty or cautioned for offences of theft of a motor vehicle, unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle and theft from a vehicle 1987
Police force area		Theft of and unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle									Theft from a vehicle
		Juveniles				Young adults					Juveniles		Young adults
	Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft		Theft
				Number	Per cent.			Number	Per cent.		Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Avon and Somerset	858	¹—	¹—	340	40	¹—	¹—	329	38	298	131	44	103	35
Bedfordshire	388	¹—	¹—	147	38	¹—	¹—	165	43	245	93	38	95	39
Cambridgeshire	298	¹—	¹—	89	30	¹—	¹—	127	43	219	75	34	88	40
Cheshire	669	¹—	¹—	302	45	¹—	¹—	222	33	370	101	27	145	39
Cleveland	521	¹—	¹—	235	45	¹—	¹—	187	36	65	36	55	20	31
Cumbria	298	¹—	¹—	112	38	¹—	¹—	116	39	85	43	51	25	29
Derbyshire	454	¹—	¹—	134	30	¹—	¹—	192	42	252	89	35	89	35
Devon and Cornwall	660	¹—	¹—	165	25	¹—	¹—	290	44	213	14	7	104	49
Dorset	347	¹—	¹—	122	35	¹—	¹—	143	41	119	38	32	48	40
Durham	468	¹—	¹—	213	46	¹—	¹—	153	33	167	60	36	65	39
Essex	850	¹—	¹—	310	36	¹—	¹—	350	45	570	221	39	219	38
Gloucestershire	258	¹—	¹—	98	38	¹—	¹—	111	43	154	59	38	52	34
Greater Manchester	2,945	¹—	¹—	1,156	39	¹—	¹—	1,190	40	894	402	45	266	30
Hampshire	1,036	¹—	¹—	407	39	¹—	¹—	403	39	448	223	50	136	30
Hertfordshire	400	¹—	¹—	134	34	¹—	¹—	167	42	298	123	41	120	40
Humberside	609	¹—	¹—	287	47	¹—	¹—	207	34	308	109	35	107	35
Kent	741	¹—	¹—	239	32	¹—	¹—	299	40	662	256	39	253	38
Lancashire	867	¹—	¹—	292	34	¹—	¹—	367	42	312	88	28	143	46
Leicestershire	568	¹—	¹—	221	39	¹—	¹—	228	40	739	598	81	91	12
Lincolnshire	285	¹—	¹—	92	32	¹—	¹—	114	40	225	67	30	95	42
London, City of	40	¹—	¹—	5	13	¹—	¹—	18	45	32	3	9	13	41
Merseyside	986	¹—	¹—	373	38	¹—	¹—	383	39	341	177	52	100	29
Metropolitan Police District	5,031	¹—	¹—	1,702	34	¹—	¹—	1,960	39	2,076	928	45	731	35
Norfolk	341	¹—	¹—	117	34	¹—	¹—	127	37	289	98	34	108	37
Northamptonshire	430	¹—	¹—	181	42	¹—	¹—	160	37	222	72	32	94	42
Northumbria	1,295	¹—	¹—	515	40	¹—	¹—	506	39	696	250	36	260	37
North Yorkshire	272	¹—	¹—	75	28	¹—	¹—	121	44	228	90	39	80	35
Nottinghamshire	705	¹—	¹—	307	44	¹—	¹—	245	35	494	214	43	160	32
South Yorkshire	941	¹—	¹—	369	39	¹—	¹—	388	41	342	98	29	150	44
Staffordshire	443	¹—	¹—	133	30	¹—	¹—	195	44	89	54	61	23	26
Suffolk	264	¹—	¹—	97	37	¹—	¹—	84	32	144	51	35	62	43
Surrey	367	¹—	¹—	123	34	¹—	¹—	155	42	134	63	47	38	28
Sussex	516	¹—	¹—	167	32	¹—	¹—	231	45	380	130	34	155	41
Thames Valley	1,061	¹—	¹—	427	40	¹—	¹—	390	37	544	161	30	247	45
Warwickshire	217	¹—	¹—	79	36	¹—	¹—	96	44	199	65	33	75	38

Police force area		Theft of and unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle									Theft from a vehicle
		Juveniles				Young adults					Juveniles		Young adults
	Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft		Theft
				Number	Per cent.			Number	Per cent.		Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
West Mercia	528	¹—	¹—	171	32	¹—	¹—	220	42	273	144	53	77	28
West Midlands	2,460	¹—	¹—	925	38	¹—	¹—	1,057	43	1,246	582	47	390	31
West Yorkshire	1,754	¹—	¹—	716	41	¹—	¹—	679	38	949	404	43	302	32
Wiltshire	223	¹—	¹—	81	36	¹—	¹—	77	35	234	82	35	81	35
Dyfed-Powys	166	¹—	¹—	47	38	¹—	¹—	71	43	148	57	39	41	28
Gwent	339	¹—	¹—	126	37	¹—	¹—	131	39	61	33	54	23	38
North Wales	385	¹—	¹—	148	38	¹—	¹—	152	39	176	62	35	61	35
South Wales	1,117	¹—	¹—	403	36	¹—	¹—	445	40	354	136	38	103	29
England and Wales	33,411	¹—	¹—	12,382	37	¹—	¹—	13,281	40	16,294	6,780	42	5,638	35
¹ Not available separately

Table 3
Number and percentage of juveniles and young adults found guilty or cautioned for offences of theft of a motor vehicles, unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle and theft from a vehicle 1988
Police force area		Theft of and unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle									Theft from a vehicle
		Juveniles				Young adults					Juveniles		Young adults
	Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft		Theft
				Number	Per cent.			Number	Per cent.		Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Avon and Somerset	877	¹—	¹—	332	38	¹—	¹—	327	37	375	173	46	127	34
Bedfordshire	326	¹—	¹—	122	37	¹—	¹—	149	46	307	95	46	68	33
Cambridgeshire	337	¹—	¹—	142	42	¹—	¹—	98	29	221	115	52	56	25
Cheshire	652	¹—	¹—	279	43	¹—	¹—	248	38	315	98	31	118	37
Cleveland	665	¹—	¹—	283	43	¹—	¹—	268	40	144	58	40	71	49
Cumbria	327	¹—	¹—	139	43	¹—	¹—	114	35	79	34	43	28	35
Derbyshire	390	¹—	¹—	131	34	¹—	¹—	154	39	385	159	41	142	37
Devon and Cornwall	713	¹—	¹—	229	32	¹—	¹—	297	42	107	14	13	49	46
Dorset	274	¹—	¹—	82	30	¹—	¹—	102	37	136	57	42	39	29
Durham	385	¹—	¹—	134	35	¹—	¹—	159	41	203	117	58	45	22
Essex	801	¹—	¹—	315	39	¹—	¹—	303	38	457	160	35	184	40
Gloucestershire	233	¹—	¹—	101	43	¹—	¹—	80	34	182	78	43	73	40
Greater Manchester	2,761	¹—	¹—	1,125	41	¹—	¹—	1,098	40	839	442	53	258	31
Hampshire	967	¹—	¹—	382	40	¹—	¹—	388	40	463	205	44	162	35
Hertfordshire	465	¹—	¹—	165	35	¹—	¹—	190	41	283	124	44	112	40
Humberside	662	¹—	¹—	297	45	¹—	¹—	252	38	349	163	47	95	27
Kent	716	¹—	¹—	248	35	¹—	¹—	292	41	1,082	707	65	238	22
Lancashire	865	¹—	¹—	271	31	¹—	¹—	371	43	786	601	76	116	15
Leicestershire	494	¹—	¹—	203	41	¹—	¹—	174	35	339	108	32	153	45
Lincolnshire	272	¹—	¹—	95	35	¹—	¹—	109	40	275	127	46	103	37
London, City of	28	¹—	¹—	3	11	¹—	¹—	7	25	12	3	25	5	42
Merseyside	1,018	¹—	¹—	359	35	¹—	¹—	435	43	359	190	53	104	29
Metropolitan Police District	4,119	¹—	¹—	1,513	37	¹—	¹—	1,506	37	1,555	641	41	544	35
Norfolk	357	¹—	¹—	131	37	¹—	¹—	140	39	271	137	51	80	30
Northamptonshire	345	¹—	¹—	107	31	¹—	¹—	139	40	214	78	36	86	40
Northumbria	1,240	¹—	¹—	471	38	¹—	¹—	511	41	681	244	36	251	37
North Yorkshire	293	¹—	¹—	94	32	¹—	¹—	142	45	242	100	41	86	36
Nottinghamshire	700	¹—	¹—	276	39	¹—	¹—	262	37	537	229	43	172	32
South Yorkshire	1,024	¹—	¹—	361	35	¹—	¹—	442	43	449	187	42	177	39
Staffordshire	641	¹—	¹—	220	34	¹—	¹—	242	38	264	237	90	14	5
Suffolk	213	¹—	¹—	85	43	¹—	¹—	68	32	183	112	61	39	21
Surrey	327	¹—	¹—	107	33	¹—	¹—	137	42	150	65	43	50	33
Sussex	494	¹—	¹—	156	32	¹—	¹—	194	39	142	100	29	152	44
Thames Valley	931	¹—	¹—	349	37	¹—	¹—	374	40	458	156	34	211	46
Warwickshire	268	¹—	¹—	103	33	¹—	¹—	116	43	197	97	49	55	28
West Mercia	489	¹—	¹—	192	39	¹—	¹—	205	42	367	260	71	63	17
West Midlands	2,158	¹—	¹—	785	36	¹—	¹—	937	43	1,207	628	52	337	28
West Yorkshire	1,758	¹—	¹—	664	38	¹—	¹—	709	40	1,216	762	63	296	24
Wiltshire	287	¹—	¹—	94	33	¹—	¹—	113	39	227	104	46	66	29
Dyfed-Powys	172	¹—	¹—	45	26	¹—	¹—	74	43	141	89	63	34	24
Gwent	328	¹—	¹—	134	41	¹—	¹—	127	39	123	63	51	40	33
North Wales	381	¹—	¹—	139	36	¹—	¹—	142	37	214	84	39	73	34
South Wales	1,309	¹—	¹—	477	36	¹—	¹—	566	43	421	207	49	130	31
England and Wales	32,062	¹—	¹—	11,940	37	¹—	¹—	12,761	40	17,057	8,408	49	5,302	31
¹ Not available separately.

Table 4
Number and percentage of juveniles and young adults found guilty or cautioned for offences of theft of a motor vehicles, unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle and theft from a vehicle 1989
Police force area		Theft of and unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle									Theft from a vehicle
		Juveniles				Young adults					Juveniles		Young adults
	Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft		Theft
				Number	Per cent.			Number	Per cent.		Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Avon and Somerset	861	70	254	324	38	53	312	365	42	273	74	27	123	45
Bedfordshire	365	26	116	142	39	23	126	149	41	152	45	30	68	45
Cambridgeshire	263	39	51	90	34	42	58	100	38	157	52	33	67	43
Cheshire	590	28	205	233	39	40	176	216	37	258	40	16	142	55
Cleveland	623	54	253	307	49	35	196	231	37	215	69	32	108	50
Cumbria	260	12	87	99	38	12	92	104	40	104	49	47	33	32
Derbyshire	415	24	132	156	38	20	150	170	41	333	62	19	176	53
Devon and Cornwall	562	10	157	167	30	42	193	235	42	151	29	19	57	38
Dorset	259	6	105	111	43	11	71	82	32	104	40	38	34	33
Durham	344	32	91	123	36	30	120	150	44	193	43	22	93	48
Essex	758	73	232	305	40	50	215	265	35	361	90	25	187	52
Gloucestershire	262	14	109	123	47	16	69	85	32	123	28	23	57	46
Greater Manchester	2,782	83	1,011	1,094	39	116	1,007	1,123	40	711	294	41	246	35
Hampshire	854	33	269	302	35	73	291	364	43	328	103	31	136	41
Hertfordshire	370	18	129	147	40	22	118	140	38	195	38	19	109	56
Humberside	723	77	303	380	53	70	179	249	34	356	134	38	132	37
Kent	605	64	155	219	36	55	173	228	38	422	113	27	204	48
Lancashire	830	24	260	284	34	41	297	338	41	258	103	40	100	39
Leicestershire	574	23	229	252	44	28	177	205	36	323	127	39	129	40
Lincolnshire	297	7	104	111	37	17	94	111	37	236	70	30	99	42
London, City of	12	1	1	2	17	—	3	3	25	10	4	40	3	30
Merseyside	1,046	23	363	386	37	24	423	447	43	325	213	66	62	19
Metropolitan Police District	3,467	88	1,068	1,156	33	92	1,245	1,337	39	1,443	550	38	561	39
Norfolk	328	17	109	126	38	21	91	112	34	182	52	29	83	46
Northamptonshire	318	13	69	82	26	22	117	139	44	128	12	9	75	59
Northumbria	1,211	62	414	476	39	57	459	516	43	659	210	32	285	43
North Yorkshire	231	7	61	68	29	17	75	92	40	155	42	27	59	38
Nottinghamshire	823	42	292	334	41	53	276	329	40	440	125	28	196	45
South Yorkshire	895	102	231	333	37	95	270	365	41	329	107	33	147	45
Staffordshire	578	18	226	244	42	25	190	215	37	121	79	65	22	18
Suffolk	226	17	73	90	40	19	55	74	33	125	34	27	50	40
Surrey	304	24	90	114	38	12	98	110	36	87	23	26	38	44
Sussex	487	44	123	167	34	16	174	190	39	248	49	20	136	55
Thames Valley	1,030	68	415	483	47	47	328	375	36	402	135	34	180	45
Warwickshire	246	18	68	86	35	15	93	108	44	112	20	18	62	55
West Mercia	474	34	187	221	47	25	146	171	36	175	99	57	47	27
West Midlands	2,083	152	730	882	42	102	691	793	38	857	462	54	239	28
West Yorkshire	1,666	132	547	679	41	131	541	672	40	868	409	47	265	31
Wiltshire	288	22	88	110	38	20	90	110	38	140	39	28	59	42
Dyfed-Powys	164	2	48	50	30	4	64	68	41	65	30	46	21	32
Gwent	317	17	114	131	41	14	109	123	39	129	48	37	55	43
North Wales	362	19	104	123	34	15	121	136	38	134	45	34	52	39
South Wales	1,147	37	41,8	455	40	55	384	439	38	348	154	44	129	37
England and Wales	30,300	1,676	10,091	11,767	39	1,677	10,157	11,834	39	12,735	4,544	36	5,126	40

Table 5
Number and percentage of juveniles and young adults found guilty or cautioned foroffences of theft of a motor vehicle, unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle and theft from a vehicle 1990
Police force area		Theft of and unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle									Theft from a vehicle
		Juveniles				Young adults					Juveniles		Young adults
	Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Theft	Unauthorised taking	Theft and unauthorised taking		Total all ages ( = 100%)	Theft		Theft
				Number	Per cent.			Number	Per cent.		Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Avon and Somerset	755	54	174	288	30	45	288	333	44	312	82	26	168	54
Bedfordshire	456	50	122	172	38	31	172	203	45	180	65	36	82	46
Cambridgeshire	317	42	64	106	33	35	91	126	40	211	61	29	109	52
Cheshire	738	16	319	335	45	53	218	271	37	312	95	30	141	45
Cleveland	670	61	228	289	43	49	232	281	42	246	97	39	113	46
Cumbria	300	11	97	108	36	12	102	114	38	84	42	50	31	37
Derbyshire	434	25	127	152	35	24	146	170	39	332	115	35	141	42
Devon and Cornwall	658	20	167	187	28	35	225	260	40	195	52	27	80	41
Dorset	267	19	78	97	36	19	83	102	38	96	29	30	37	39
Durham	400	42	85	127	32	47	133	180	45	271	82	30	121	45
Essex	747	99	208	307	41	77	193	270	36	398	121	30	201	51
Gloucestershire	208	6	67	73	35	17	72	89	43	161	50	31	70	43
Greater Manchester	3,041	133	1,227	1,360	45	87	1,052	1,139	37	904	417	46	301	33
Hampshire	987	50	330	380	39	62	324	386	39	544	186	34	205	38
Hertfordshire	462	52	143	195	42	28	150	178	39	259	93	36	127	49
Humberside	668	96	267	363	54	43	167	210	31	371	134	36	144	39
Kent	717	83	143	226	32	111	187	298	42	481	99	21	248	52
Lancashire	865	34	241	275	32	57	309	366	42	263	105	40	102	39
Leicestershire	694	29	239	268	39	46	252	298	43	304	89	29	158	52
Lincolnshire	316	18	107	125	40	17	102	119	38	218	59	27	102	47
London, City of	21	—	1	1	5	2	8	10	48	9	4	44	3	33
	976	9	314	323	33	20	441	461	47	261	147	56	78	30
Metropolitan Police District	3,517	81	1,345	1,426	41	91	1,191	1,282	36	1,733	844	49	523	30
Norfolk	336	23	106	129	38	30	89	119	35	189	62	33	91	48
Northamptonshire	287	8	32	40	13	17	129	146	49	103	15	15	70	68
Northumbria	1,242	71	443	514	41	77	432	509	41	662	244	37	273	41
North Yorkshire	277	19	69	88	32	22	93	115	42	225	61	27	102	45
Nottinghamshire	988	57	365	422	43	55	344	399	40	474	140	30	227	48
South Yorkshire	968	95	243	338	35	90	351	441	46	506	137	27	240	47
Staffordshire	621	56	167	223	36	46	231	277	45	179	121	68	43	24
Suffolk	273	14	99	113	41	25	71	96	35	142	43	30	67	47
Surrey	257	17	84	101	39	16	79	95	37	82	23	28	39	48
Sussex	455	50	96	146	32	14	185	199	44	318	63	20	160	50
Thames Valley	1,204	91	419	510	42	79	383	462	38	375	158	42	155	41
Warwickshire	270	36	64	100	37	33	75	108	40	143	30	21	79	55
West Mercia	539	43	161	204	38	41	175	216	40	141	58	41	57	40
West Midlands	2,375	182	838	1,020	43	89	833	922	39	864	540	63	192	22
West Yorkshire	1,886	133	629	762	40	112	635	747	40	855	404	47	299	35
Wiltshire	292	17	88	105	36	14	117	131	45	142	30	21	69	49
Dyfed-Powys	174	4	54	58	33	14	58	72	41	52	25	48	21	40
Gwent	330	12	127	139	42	25	98	123	37	98	34	35	46	47
North Wales	292	13	84	97	33	8	104	112	38	156	51	33	64	41
South Wales	1,302	38	486	524	40	55	507	562	43	349	145	42	144	41
England and Wales	32,592	2,009	10,747	12,756	39	1,870	11,127	12,997	40	14,200	5,452	38	5,723	40

Ronnie Kray

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what treatment Ronnie Kray received at Heatherwood hospital, Ascot on 15 October; how many members of staff from Broadmoor hospital escorted him there on his visit; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.Information about the treatment of individual patients is confidential between the hospital and the patient concerned. The provision of escorts for special hospital patients is an operational matter about which the hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of the Special Hospitals Service Authority, Dr. David Edmond.

Lord Chancellor's Department

Magistrates

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much was spent on training and retraining magistrates in the financial years 1979–80, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92 and the planned expenditure for 1992–93.

Statutory responsibility for providing training and retraining magistrates lies with the 105 magistrates courts committees in England and Wales. This is funded 80 per cent. from central Government grant and 20 per cent. from local funds. At this stage it is not possible to identify the amounts that have been spent by magistrates courts committees on training and retraining magistrates in the years in question, but measures are in hand to ensure that this information is recorded in future.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the names of those responsible for choosing magistrates for the borough of Sandwell and their length of service in each case.

The ultimate choice is that of the Lord Chancellor. He is advised by the Lord Chancellor's advisory committees, the members of which are as follows:

Name	Date of Appointment
Warley Advisory Committee
Mrs. D. Cox, JP (Chairman)	1985
D. L. Crump, Esq. JP	1987
Mrs. W. V. Dyke, JP	1991
Miss B. Fletcher, JP	1991
Mrs. F. J. Groves, JP	1981

Name	Date of Appointment
F. D. Head, Esq., JP	1987
Miss J. E. H. Marshall, JP	1987
H. E. Nottingham, Esq., JP	1991
C. G. Simmonds, Esq., JP	1991
J. Southall, Esq., JP	1981
R. G. Trigg, Esq.	1991
West Bromwich Advisory Committee
P. J. Elliott, Esq., JP (Chairman)	1977
Dr. A. R. M. Evans, JP	1991
D. A. Hamilton, Esq. JP	1991
A. Mandley, Esq., JP	1988
J. A. Neale, Esq., JP	1984
J. F. Nicklin, Esq.,	1988
D. Parish, Esq, JP	1981
D. B. Peakman, Esq.,	1991
A. Pitt, Esq., JP	1988
Mrs. S. M. Smith, JP	1991
Mrs. M. Wilkes, JP	1984
Mrs. D. M. Wills, JP	1991

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will give the political balance of magistrates for the borough of Sandwell.

The political allegiances of the magistrates, at the time of their appointment, were as follows;

	Number
Warley
Conservative	70
Labour	54
Liberal Democrat	15
Independent and not known	16
West Bromwich
Conservative	79
Labour	43
Liberal Democrat	11
Independent and not known	13

The Lord Chancellor has asked the West Bromwich advisory committee to seek additional appointments to improve the political balance.

Transport

Channel Tunnel

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to undertake public consultations about substituting the channel tunnel high speed link running between Stratford and King's Cross for the North London line; and if he will make a statement.

The Government expects to receive the report of Union Railways on the channel tunnel rail link by the end of December. We shall consider carefully its proposals and options, and will then announce a route for public consultation. We shall aim to do this as soon as possible.

M20

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in connection with the widening of the M20 between junctions 3 and 5 (a) how many dwellings he has acquired under the discretionary power in section 62 of the Planning and Compensations Act 1991, (b) how many dwellings he has agreed to acquire under section 62 but where completion has not yet taken place, (c) how many applications to purchase under section 62 are still awaiting his decision and (d) what is the average acquisition cost to his Department per dwelling of the houses acquired under section 62.

(a) one dwelling has been acquired under the discretionary power contained in section 62 of the Planning and Compensation Act 1991; (b) further 17 are in the process of acquisition following acceptance of their application for discretionary purchase; (c) there are 32 outstanding applications for discretionary purchase awaiting decision; (d) the average cost per dwelling is expected to be in the region of £92,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in connection with the widening of the M20 between junctions 3 and 5 (a) how many dwellings he has acquired under the blight notice procedures, (b) how many dwellings he has the acquisition still to complete under those procedures, (c) what is the average acquisition cost to his Department per dwelling and (d) how many of the dwellings already acquired, and to be acquired, are on land that is now actually required for this road widening scheme.

(a) 264 dwellings have been acquired to date under the blight provisions; (b) a further 28 are in the process of acquisition following acceptance of blight notices; (c) the average cost per dwelling is in the region of £92,000; (d) 57 dwellings are on land that is expected to be physically affected by the widening scheme.

British Transport Police

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will undertake that after the privatisation of British Rail the British Transport police will remain as a unified force, independent of the metropolitan and county forces.

The Government have no plans to end the present arrangement under which the British Transport police, as a separate service independent of the county police forces, have responsibility for security and the enforcement of law and order on the railways.

Railways, United States

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which railways' rapid transports he visited in the United States of America this summer.

Unfortunately I had to cut short my visit to the United States, and so could not undertake my planned visit to see commuter services provided by the private sector in the Chicago conurbation.

Norbreck Parade, London

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement detailing the reasons why his Department directed the local planning authority to refuse the application for permission to construct an access to Norbreck parade, London NW10, from the north circular road, and which was the subject of appeal proceedings on 14 October at the Ealing town hall.

The Department directed refusal of this application in order to safeguard the safety and free flow of traffic on the north circular road.

Marshalling Yards, Doncaster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with British Rail concerning the future of Doncaster's marshalling yards; and if he will make a statement.

This is a commercial matter for British Rail.

Jubilee Line

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now authorise the construction of the Jubilee line extension.

	Period of appointment
Civil Service Appeal Board
Mr. R. M. Hastie-Smith CB	1 July, 1992–30 June, 1994
Mr. P. D. Jones	1 June, 1992–27 December, 1992
Mr. N. F. Ledsome CB (reappointed)	1 May, 1992–30 April, 1994
Mr. J. Pennington (reappointed)	15 August, 1992–14 August, 1994
Mr. A. Stem	15 August, 1992–14 August, 1994
All Board members are appointed on the basis of their past experience of Civil Service personnel matters.
Members receive a fee of £110 per day of attendance, plus expenses.
Agricultural and Food Research Council
Professor T. Mansfield FIBiol, PhD, FRS (reappointed)	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1993
Mr. David George, OBE (reappointed)	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1994
Members receive an honorarium of £4,420.
Economic and Social Research Council
Professor Victoria Bruce PhD	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1996
Mr. William W. Daniel BA(Hons), MScTech	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1996
Mr. Norman Glass BA, DIP, ICES (Amsterdam)	1 August, 1992–31 July 1996
Dr. Jeremy Harbison BA, MSC, DPhil	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1996
Dr. Paul Judge BA	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1996
Ms. Jennifer Abramsky, BA(Hons)	1 October, 1992–31 July, 1995
Members receive an honorarium of £4,420.
Medical Research Council
Professor A. M. Breckenridge MD, FRCP, FRSE	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1996
Professor J. R. Pattison MA, BSc, DM, MRCPath	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1996
Professor Sir David Weatherall MD, FRCP, FRCPath, FRS	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1996
Members receive an honorarium of £4,420.
National Environment Research Council
Dr. I. J. Graham-Bryce DPhil, FRSC (reappointed)	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1995
Dr. R. J. Pentreath PhD, DSc, FRS	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1995
Professor J. R. L. Allen DSc, FRS	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1995
Dr. G. W. Robinson BSc, PhD	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1996
Members receive an honorarium of £4,597 with the exception of Dr. Robinson who receives no remuneration.
Science and Engineering Research Council
Professor A. W. Wolfendale BSc, PhD, DSc, FInstP, FRAS, FRS (reappointed)	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1993
Professor Oxburgh PhD, FRS (reappointed)	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1993
Dr. G. W. Robinson BSc, PhD	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1996
Professor R. Smallman FRS, FEng	1 August, 1992–31 July, 1996
Professor Wolfendale receives an honorarium of £5,900. Professor Smallman receives an honorarium of £4,420. Professor Oxburgh and Dr. Robinson receive no remuneration.
Advisory Board for the Research Councils
Professor R. L. Gardner, FRS (reappointed)	1 July, 1992–31 March, 1994
Sir Eric Ash, CBE, FRS (reappointed)	1 July, 1992–31 March, 1993
Professor David Currie BSc, MSocSci, Econs, PhD	1 July, 1992–31 March, 1994
Members receive an honorarium of £4,420.

No. Discussions with the private sector continue.

Duchy Of Lancaster

Appointments

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list all the names of public appointments that he has made, giving the period for which the appointment was made, relevant qualifications of the appointees and what remuneration each currently receives.

The information, listed by public body, is as follows

Environment

Leasehold Enfranchisement

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to separate the leasehold enfranchisement elements of the Housing, Land and Urban Development Bill from the other parts of the Bill and to present them as a separate Bill.

No.

Urban Regeneration Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will meet Stoke on Trent city council to discuss its response to the Urban Regeneration Agency consultation paper.

The consultation exercise on our proposals on the Urban Regeneration Agency closed on 21 September. The Department took note of Stoke-on-Trent's response, along with the many others we received, in preparing the details of the agency in the Housing and Urban Development Bill which was introduced to the House on 22 October. It is too late to take receipt of further formal comments but I would be happy to discuss our plans for the agency when I visit Stoke-on-Trent on 13 November.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it is policy that any future arrangements for the proposed Urban Regeneration Agency will not discriminate against those authorities currently in receipt of derelict land grant but currently without assisted area and other status.

The Housing and Urban Development Bill makes provision for a new unified grant regime for the Urban Regeneration Agency which will replace derelict land grant and the other grants to be transferred to it. The Government will take account of the current priorities for these grants, including derelict land grant, when constructing the new unified regime.

Council Tax

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what account is taken of home improve-ments in valuation of households for the council tax.

The band shown in the valuation list compiled on 1 April 1993 should reflect the size, layout and character of each dwelling on that day. If there has been a change to a dwelling since it was valued, and before 1 April 1993, the banding of the dwelling may be reconsidered by the listing officer. In all cases, the banding will reflect the open market value of the dwelling, including any subsequent improvement, as at 1 April 1991.After 1 April 1993, home improvements and other factors which lead to a material increase in the value of a dwelling will only be taken into account when it is subsequently sold.

Eco-Labelling Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made in implementing the eco-labelling scheme; and how it will be funded in 1992–93.

The Government have laid regulations before both Houses of Parliament which are due to come into force on 1 November establishing the United Kingdom Ecolabelling Board as a non-departmental public body and giving it responsibility for administering and promoting the EC eco-labelling scheme in the United Kingdom.The board was set up in an advisory capacity in July under the chair of Dr. Elizabeth Nelson. It has already made a good start in preparing the ground for implementation of the scheme and developing plans for a communications strategy. On 23 October the board and European Commission jointly hosted in the first meeting of competent bodies from EC member states, in London, to discuss issues of common interest.Unfortunately there have been delays at the Commission in setting in place the necessary administrative arrangements for the scheme. The United Kingdom has played and will continue to play a leading role in the development of the eco-labelling scheme. Through our presidency of the European Community we are pressing the Commission to implement the scheme speedily and asking that other member states show the same commitment to it as we are showing. The board remains hopeful that the first eco-labels will start appearing on goods in the shops in the early part of 1993.Parliamentary approval of this new expenditure will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the central environmental services vote—class VIII vote 5. Pending the approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £550,000 will be met by repayable advances from the contingencies fund.

Transfer Of Undertakings And Acquired Rights

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the advice he has issued to local authorities over the transfer of undertakings and acquired rights directive.

The Directive was implemented in the United Kingdom by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981. We are at present consulting interested parties on a draft of guidance to be issued under section 9 of the Local Government Act 1992, which states our view that it would be most unusual for the Regulations to apply to a normal contract let under the compulsory competitive tendering legislation. However the interpretation of the law in individual cases is a matter for the courts.

Computer Projects

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table setting out for the period since 9 April (a) each tender issued by his Department for projects requiring the supply of (i) computer hardware and (ii) computer software, (b) a description of the services required, (c) the number of companies who were invited to tenders, (d) the number of companies who submitted a bid without prior invitation by his Department, (e) which company was awarded the contract, (f) the value of each contract and (g) the length of period over which the contract will run.

The following major contracts have been awarded by my department since 9 April 1992 for the supply of computer hardware and software. No companies submitted a bid without prior invitation.

(a) Provision of computer hardware

Description of services: Provision of hardware and software to enable the department to perform automatic security back ups of its computer bureau systems.

Number of companies invited to tender:—3

Company awarded the contract: Digital Equipment Corporation

Value of contract:—£116,736

Duration of Contract:—Not applicable

(b) Provision of computer software

(i) Description of Services: Provision of a personal computer version of library periodicals software formerly provided by Comshare as part of their bureau service.

Number of companies invited to tender:—1

Company awarded the contract:—Comshare Ltd.

Value of contract:—£36,450

Duration of contract:—4 months

(ii) Description of services: Provision of computer system design software.

Number of companies invited to tender:—1

Company awarded the contract:—LBMS

Value of Contract:—£24,300

Duration of contract:—Not applicable

(iii) Description of services: IEF software

Number of companies invited to tender:—1

Company awarded the contract:—JMA Information Engineering

Value of contract:—£8,500

Duration of contract:—Not applicable

(iv) Description of services: Helpdesk software for VAX VMS system.

Number of companies invited to tender: 1

Company awarded the contract:—Intercom Data Systems

Value of contract:—£l7,000

Duration of contract:—Not applicable

(v) Description of services: Diskeeper Plus Software (defragmentation)

Number of companies invited to tender:–1

Company awarded the contract:—Executive Software

Value of contract:—£4,700

Duration of contract: Not applicable

In addition, during the same period my department issued 1,471 orders for minor items of computer hardware, software and associated consumables, over half of which were from "call-off" contracts that were placed before 9 April 1992. The combined value of these orders is £1,238,000.

Nuclear Waste

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contribution United Kingdom nuclear fuel cycle experts have made to the International Atomic Agency's RADWASS programme on developing safety standards for nuclear waste management.

The United Kingdom plays a major part in the planning a nd development of the Radioactive Waste Safety Standards programme of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Disabled Facilities Grants

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to the reply to the right hon Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe of 3 July, Official Report, column 719, what information is available to him on the numbers of disabled people who receive no disabled facilities grants because the income or capital or family members is deemed excessive; what proportion of these do not consequently obtain the adaptations they require; if all such cases are automatically referred to the Department of Social Security for consideration of their duties under section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970; and if he will make a further statement.

The Department does not collect details of applicants for disabled facilities grant who do not qualify for assistance under the means test, because of the financial circumstances of family members, and who subsequently do not obtain the adaptations they need. There is no automatic referral procedure to social services departments. However, the Department jointly with the Department of Health, has reminded social services authorities of their responsibilities under the 1970 Act to provide financial assistance in cases where a disabled person will otherwise face hardship in meeting their share of the cost of adaptations.

Education

Funding

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will reconsider the fifth report of Session 1990–91 from the Education, Science and Arts Committee, and the first report of the School Teachers Review Body and take steps to clarify the arrangements for the funding of education.

The Government do not accept that there is any lack of clarity about the current arrangements for funding education. Under these arrangements the great bulk of central Government support for local authority expenditure is through revenue support grant which is not earmarked for particular services. Central Government are accountable for its overall support for local government spending through revenue support grant, while individual local authorities are accountable to their electorates for the decisions they take both about their overall spending and the balance of that spending between and within services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what response he has made to the evidence submitted to his Department by the Association of County Councils on the likely vulnerability of shared local education authority/funding agency transitional arrangements.

The ACC's comments on the proposals in the White Paper have been carefully considered. In addition, my right hon. Friend has had a meeting with representatives of the ACC.

Ozone Depletion

To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what guidance he has issued to grant-maintained schools on leakages of chlorofluorocar-bons and other ozone-destroying chemicals; and if he will make a statement;(2) what steps he is taking to advise local education authorities on replacing halons in school fire extinguishing systems with non-ozone depleting substances; and if he will make a statement.

The Department does not at present issue specific guidance on the use of ozone friendly or CFC-free materials in school buildings. However, the Department is currently reviewing the scope and content of its guidance on environmental standards for educational buildings.

Grant-Maintained Schools

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received from Birmingham local education authority about parental choice and grant-maintained schools; and if he will make a statement.

No recent representations have been received from Birmingham local education authority specifically about parental choice and grant-maintained schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the sources and evidence on which the statement made at paragraph 13.3 of the White Paper, "Choice and Diversity: A New Framework for Schools", that grant-maintained schools secure better value for money is based.

Her Majesty's inspectorate has observed that grant-maintained schools have generally deployed their resources to good effect. The majority of respondents to a survey of grant-maintained schools conducted by the Grant-Maintained Schools Centre reported increased ability to focus spending on delivery of education in the classroom.

Appointments

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list all the names of public appointments that he has made, giving the period for which the appointment was made, relevant qualifications of the appointees, and what remuneration each currently receives.

The details requested are given in the table. Information on the qualifications of appointees is not kept centrally, but we are satisfied that the qualifications of appointees to this Department's public bodies fully meet the standards required.

Names of appointments to public bodies	Period of appointment	Remuneration
Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges
Mr. D. A. L. Every¹	3 years	—
Dr. R. Rix¹	4 years	—
Mrs. S. Greenfield¹	4 years	—
Mr. R. Bailess¹	2 years	—
Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research
Mr. J. Beale¹	2 years	—
Ms. J. Little	2 years	—
Ms. M. Ryan	2 years	—
Professor G. Thomas¹	2 years	—
Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education
Professor A. J. Alexander¹	2 years	—
Mr. J. Burn¹	2 years	—
Sr. V. Duggan	2 years	—
Dr. M. Frazer, CBE¹	2 years	—
Professor A. O'Hear¹	2 years	—
Education Assets Board
Sir Tom MacDonald¹ (Ch. PT)	1 year	£23,365 pa

Names of appointments to public bodies	Period of appointment	Remuneration
Mr. H. S. Hoare¹ (Ch. Ex. FT)	2.5 years	£46,000 pa
Mr. B. C. Arthur¹	2.5 years	²£153
Mr. K. J. Bridge¹	3 years
Ms. K. Buckley	3 years
Mr. H. E. Couch¹	2.5 years
Mr. J. M. Edwards¹	3 years
Miss A. Lees¹	3 years
Mr. P. S. Lewis	3 years
Mr. G. Locke	3 years
Mr. A. N. Solomons¹	2.5 years
Fulbright Commission
Professor M. Edwards¹	4 years	—
Higher Education Funding Council, England
Professor C. Campbell	3 years	⁴£4,000
Professor B. K. Follett³	2 years
Mr. R. Gunn³	2 years
Professor Kay Tee Khaw	3 years
Sir Idris Pearce³	2 years
Sir David Phillips³	2 years
Professor J. Shaw³	2 years
Sir Robert Scholey	3 years
Dr. R. Telfer	3 years
Miss J. Trotter	3 years
Further Education Funding Council
Mr. N. Bennett	3 years	⁵£4,000
Mr. A. Cann	3 years
Dr. J. Capey	3 years
Mr. A. Close	3 years
Mrs. M. Davey	3 years
Mrs. P. Haikin	3 years
Mrs. M. Hobrough	3 years
Mr. C. Jonas	3 years
Cllr. L. Lawrence	3 years
Mr. M. Lickiss	3 years
Mr. M. Rowarth	3 years
Dr. A. Wright	3 years
The Further Education Unit⁶
Mr. A. Ainsworth¹ (Ch.)	4 years	—
Mr. M. Cross¹	4 years	—
Mr. K. Franklin¹	2 years	—
Ms. A. Limb¹	1 year	—
Mr. G. M. Rowarth, OBE¹	1 year	—
Mr. C. K. Rowland¹	1 year	—
Ms. J. Scribbins¹	1 year	—
Mr. B. D. Short¹	6 years	—
National Curriculum Council
Mr. D. Pascall¹ (Ch. PT)	1 year	⁷£285 pd
Mr. J. Burn	3 years	—
Dr. J. Marks	3 years	—
Professor A. Smithers	3 years	—
Mrs. J. Wisker¹	1 year	—
National Council for Educational Technology
Mr. J. Richards (Ch.)	3 years	—
Ms. S. Davies	2.5 years	—
Dr. D. Laurillard	2.5 years	—
Ms. U. Malik	2.5 years	—
Ms. L. Menon	2.5 years	—
Mr. K. Satchwell	2.5 years	—
Mr. R. Scarth	2.5 years	—
Mr. J. Young	2.5 years	—
School Examinations and Assessment Council
Dr. J. Marenbon	3 years	—
Dr. S. Nepaulsingh¹	3 years	—
Mr. A. Pellegrini	3 years	—
Lord Sidelsky	3 years	—
Ms. K. Tattershall	3 years	—
Mr. P. Wood	3 years	—
¹ Members of public bodies who have been re-appointed.
² Members receive an honorarium of £153 paid for attendance at

each monthly board meeting.
³ Members who have previously served on the Universities Funding Council or the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council.
⁴ Membership of the Higher Education Funding Council, England carries with it an honorarium of £4,000 per annum.
⁵ Members of the Further Education Funding Council receive an honorarium of £4,000 per annum.
⁶ Members of the Further Education Unit have had their periods of office extended from the original expiry date of 31 March 1993 (30 April in the case of Mr. Ainsworth) to 31 March 1994.
⁷ Mr. Pascall receives remuneration of £285 per day for the time spend on National Curriculum Council business. This is reimbursed to his employer.

A-Levels

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils obtained three or more A-levels in (a) 1982 and (b) 1992.

The estimated number of school leavers in England who obtained three or more A-levels was 72,600 in 1982 and 86,700 in 1991, the latest year for which information is available.

Schools

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is current per capita spending on education in schools in England and Wales; and what it was in 1982.

The latest year for which actual spending information is available is 1990–91. In that year, school-based funding available per nursery, primary and secondary pupil in England was some £1,620 per pupil. This figure includes unspent balances held by schools at the year end under local management schemes. In 1981–82, school-based funding in England was some £740 per pupil, which represents some £1,240 per pupil at 1990–91 prices. There was a real-terms increase in funding per pupil between 1981–82 and 1990–91 of 31 per cent. Expenditure on schools in Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Teachers Pensions Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list for the last 12 months, the titles of papers published by the Teachers Pensions Agency.

The Teachers Pensions Agency was established on 1 April 1992. Since that date, the following papers and guides have been issued:

The TPA Business Plan and Framework documents
A guide to Teachers Superannuation for Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges
Two Teachers' Superannuation Scheme Fact Sheets
A Guide for employers to the TPA
A Guide for teachers to the TPA
The first TPA newsletter

In addition, many of the explanatory and option leaflets in daily use by employers and scheme members have been redesigned and reissued.

Trade And Industry

Coal Imports

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many tonnes of coal were imported from the Netherlands in 1991; what was the pithead cost of that coal; and if he will make it his policy to impose an anti-dumping duty on such coal.

The Netherlands has closed all its mines and now produces no coal. In 1991 the statistics recorded 6,000 tones of coal originated in the Netherlands. It is assumed that these 6,000 tonnes were first imported into the Netherlands from other countries, processed there, and subsequently re-exported to the United Kingdom. The statistics also record that in 1991, 4.713 million tonnes of coal, destined to the United Kingdom, passed through the Netherlands in consignment.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list for each port in the United Kingdom, the tonnages of coal imports by year for the last four years; and what were the points of origin.

Breakdowns of coal imports by port of entry, and by country of origin, for the last four years and for the current year to date, are as follows:

	1988	1989	1990	1991	¹1992
Port of entry
Med way	565	652	855	1,989	2,249
Immingham	999	1,268	2,182	3,177	2,206
Middlesbrough	2,570	2,812	2,385	2,894	1,914
Port Talbot	1,997	2,610	2,885	2,655	1,716
London (including Tilbury)	743	782	2,104	3,016	1,596
Greenock	1,164	1,162	1,027	1,209	1,363
Liverpool	31	286	948	1,308	1,152
Belfast	192	182	332	387	536
Hull	1	44	152	416	322
Cardiff	294	229	410	491	292
Swansea	92	134	162	422	140
Others	3,036	1,975	1,340	1,527	983
Total	11,685	12,137	14,783	19,491	14,469
Country of origin
United States of America²	4,073	4,874	6,176	8,132	5,375
Australia²	3,416	2,676	3,044	4,654	3,304
Colombia²	574	874	1,506	2,447	2,505
Canada	553	729	986	760	653
South Africa	276	346	356	579	621
Poland	1,270	1,055	1,043	557	588
USSR	375	181	592	900	574
China	319	450	69	294	162
Germany³	191	288	249	220	160
Venezuela	92	86	169	230	160
Belgium	122	78	60	231	12
Others²	425	501	533	488	354
Total	11,685	12,137	14,783	19,491	14,469
Because of rounding the sum of the constituent items may not agree with the totals shown.
¹ January to August.
² Some imports previously recorded by Customs and Excise as originating in the Netherlands have been re-allocated to the other countries indicated or, where revised country or origin data is not available, included in the residual entry "Others". This re-allocation has been carried out for 1991 and estimates of such imports previously classified to the Netherlands have been included for 1990. Figures for earlier years have not been re-allocated to individual countries.

³ Includes imports previously recorded separately for the German Democratic Republic.

Source: Customs and Excise.

Coal Stocks

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what plans he has to sell existing coal stocks (a) in the EEC and (b) outside the EEC at a reduced price to ease the burden on the Exchequer;(2) what proposals he has to auction the entire stock of coal above ground to the highest overseas bidder.

The sale of coal stocks is a matter for the owners of the stocks. More generally as my right hon. Friend indicated to the House on 21 October, I will report on the level of coal stocks and whether plans to run them down are sensibly phased as part of the current review of coal policy.

Electricity Privatisation

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make it his policy to re-examine the recommendations numbered 13, 23, 36, 43, 44, 45, 48 and 49 in the second report of the Energy Committee, Session 1991–92, on the consequences of electricity privatisation.

My right hon. Friend announced on 26 October, Official Report, columns 522–23, the scope of the review which we will be conducting of the proposed closure of 21 pits, within the context of the Government's energy policy.

Divisional Papers

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list, for the last 12 months, the titles of papers published by the heads of division of (a) the business task force 1, (b) the companies investigation branch, (c) the competition policy division, (d) the financial services division, (e) the insurance division, (f) the manufacturing technology division and (g) the telecommunications and posts division, respectively.

The details¹ are as follows:

Business Task Force 1²

None

Companies Investigation Branch

(Investigations under section 432(2) of the Companies Act 1985)

The Milford Docks Company
BOM Holdings plc.
Blue Arrow plc.

Competition Policy Division

(Various Monopolies and Mergers Commission reports)

Havas/Brunton Curtis
Unichem/McCarthy and Lloyds/McCarthy
AAH Holdings/Medicopharma
Hillsdown/ABF
Allied Lyons/Carlsberg
Sara Lee Corporation/Reckitt and Colman
Bond/British Helicopters
Scottish and Universal Newspapers Ltd./Trinity International Holdings plc.
EMAP/United Newspapers
Supply of Indirect Electrostatic Photocopiers
Supply of Cross Solent Ferry Services
Supply of Matches and Disposable Lighters
Supply of New Motor Cars

Supply of Motor Car Parts
Television Broadcasting Services
The Commonwealth Development Corporation
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Insurance Division

Insurance Annual Report 1991

(CONSULTATIVE DOCUMENTS)

Implementation in the United Kingdom of the Second Council Directive on Direct Life Assurance

Implementation in the United Kingdom of the EC Council Directive on the accounts of insurance undertakings Implementation in the United Kingdom of Council directive 90/618/EEC of 8 November 1990, amending Directives 73/239/EEC and 88/357/EEC, particularly as regards Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance

Implementation in the United Kingdom of Second Council Directive on Direct Life Insurance—The Life Services Directive—Draft Regulations

Manufacturing Technology Division²

Industrial Materials for the Future? (Jointly sponsored by SERC and DTI)
Five-year Forward Look for Measurement Technology and Standards Work in Materials

(Papers were also circulated to consult industry on EC proposals to remove technical barriers to trade, and to inform industry of new or impending Directives and UK regulations to implement them).

Telecommunications and Posts Division

(CONSULTATIVE DOCUMENTS)

Telecommunications Terminal Equipment: Draft UK Regulations
The Satellite Broadcasting of Television Signals Regulations 1992: Draft UK Regulations

Responsibility for the former DTI financial services division was transferred to Her Majesty's Treasury earlier this year.

¹ Publicity and promotional publications excluded.

² Much of the Business Task Force 1 has been subsumed within the Department's Environment Division, and the Manufacturing Technology Division within the Information and Manufacturing Technology Division.

Coal Exports

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list for each port in the United Kingdom, the tonnages of coal exports by year for the last four years; and what were the points of destination.

Breakdowns of coal exports by port and by country of destination, for the last four years and for the current year to date, are as follows:

Exports by port	1988	1989	1990	1991	¹1992
Swansea	277	187	410	616	189
Sunderland	39	78	82	149	71
Irish Land Boundary	90	81	95	117	63
Leith (including Granton)	90	99	213	118	56
Blyth	392	442	192	279	52
Workington	326	242	108	32	38
Tyne	270	607	869	285	33
Others	255	336	338	217	156
Total	1,737	2,072	2,307	1,813	658

Country of destination	1988	1989	1990	1991	¹1992
Irish Republic	359	331	248	268	154
France	256	210	271	346	102
Belgium	13	46	103	106	95
Spain	—	33	138	256	81
Denmark	426	521	366	175	60

Exports by port	1988	1989	1990	1991	¹1992
Norway	106	128	145	73	55
Germany²	107	93	214	244	48
Portugal	170	154	190	118	33
Morocco	144	282	282	103	11
Others	155	274	351	124	18
Total	1,737	2,072	2,307	1,813	658
¹ January to August.
² Included imports previously recorded separately for the German Democratic Republic.

Source: Customs and Excise

Because of rounding the sum of the constituent items may not agree with the totals shown.

Rechar

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects the initial instalment of RECHAR programme moneys to be specifically allocated to the projects; and if he will make a statement on the reasons for the delay in the payments.

In accordance with the standard procedure for the European Community structural funds, the allocation is made by 11 area committees, each of which includes central and local government and European Commission representatives. So far, grant of £11.6 million has been committed to 129 projects, and a further £29.5 million of grant has been approved in principle to 359 projects. Further committee meetings will be held shortly.In accordance with the standard procedures grant is, for financial control reasons, not generally paid on to final beneficiaries until they certify their own expenditure. So far grant of £96,000 has been paid to two projects.

Nuclear Industry

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what criteria he has used in his Department's monthly publication, Energy Trends, to exclude natural uranium, enriched uranium and plutonium from the table of imports and exports of fuels.

The exclusion of natural uranium, enriched uranium and plutonium from the data on imports and exports of fuels in Energy Trends follows internationally accepted practices for the compilation of energy statistics. There are difficulties in compiling aggregate energy statistics that include nuclear fuels, including the technical problems associated with converting data to a common unit of measurement that can be compared with other fuels.

Clean Coal Technology

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what investments his Department, and predecessor Departments, have made annually since 1979, to support research, development and demonstration projects in clean coal technology; and if he will make a statement on the criteria adopted in deciding upon investment.

The estimated annual investment by my Department and the former Department of Energy in support of coal research and development is as follows:

1991 prices
	£ million
1979–80	5.3
1980–81	5.7
1981–82	8.3
1982–83	6.0
1983–84	5.3
1984–85	1.3
1985–86	1.1
1986–87	2.5
1987–88	1.7
1988–89	1.1
1989–90	2.2
1990–91	11.8
1991–92	5.1

Total public sector expenditure on coal R and D over the period 1981–92 was approximately £1,000 million, at 1991 prices, of which around half was associated with the development of clean coal technology.The Department's coal R and D programme is primarily focussed on the development of new clean coal technologies that improve the environmental performance of coal utilisation. The criteria for assessing the desirability of specific project proposals are set out within a document prepared by the Department's coal task force in August 1991. Factors include the degree of novelty, relevance to the overall objectives of the R and D programme, and the potential for exploitability. If the objective of the work is commercial, the potential benefit to United Kingdom company competitiveness is also taken into account.

Natural Gas

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what quantity of natural gas is currently consumed annually in the United Kingdom (a) by electricity generators and (b) by other customers; and what quantity his Department estimates will be consumed by electricity generators and other customers in (a) 1995, (b) 2000, (c) 2010, (d) 2020, (e) 2030, (f) 2040 and (g) 2050, respectively.

Natural gas sales to (a) electricity generators and (b) other customers in 1991 and for the first half of 1992 in Gigawatt hours were as follows:

	Electricity generators	Other customers
1991	13,686	581,072
1992 (January-June)	7,239	305,556

Source: Energy Trends (Table 9).

An indication of the likely range of gas requirements in some possible future energy scenarios can be obtained from "Energy Paper No. 59", which was recently published by this Department. A copy of this paper has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what quantity of natural gas in the British sector of the North sea his Department estimates (a) is in gas fields currently being exploited, (b) is in gas fields identified as economically exploitable but not currently being exploited and (c) is yet to be discovered in economically exploitable gas fields.

My Department's most recent estimate of recoverable gas reserves remaining in the United Kingdom were published in the Brown Book—"Development of the Oil and Gas Resources of the United Kingdom"—in April 1992. Reserves so far identified as economically exploitable are as follows:

Billion cubic metres
	Proven	Proven plus probable	Maximum possible
Fields in production and approved for development	540	805	985
Other discovered fields identified as economically exploitable	0	430	820
Total	540	1,235	1,805

In addition, reserves in unappraised discoveries and undrilled prospects are estimated at between 395 and 1,557 billion cu m.

Electricity Costs

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the current costs of producing a unit of electricity by (a) coal, (b) gas, (c) nuclear and (d) wind, respectively: and what are the projected costs over the next decade.

The comparable capital and full fuel costs per kilowatt-hour of power stations using coal, gas and nuclear fuels depend significantly upon the contractual terms of fuel purchase, and the contractual terms under which the power station is to be constructed and operated. These are commercial matters for the companies concerned. As far as electricity is concerned it is up to the Director General of Electricity Supply to ensure that the regional electricity companies comply with their economic purchasing obligations. My Department will, however, be assessing the evidence available on the comparative economics of coal as against other sources as part of the Government's review.Cost data for wind energy are likely to be given in the report of the Renewable Energy Advisory Group, which I hope to receive shortly, and which I expect to be published soon afterwards.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the cost of electricity for manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom and in each of the other European Community countries.

[holding answer 26 October 1992]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) on 26 October, Official Report, columns 518–20.

Boreholes

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will direct British Coal to provide information to the British Geological Survey about its 1958 to 1965 and 1973 to 1985 drilling programmes to establish the undersea extension of the Northumberland and Durham coalfield; and if he will ensure that the academic community has access to this information.

I understand that British Coal already provides information to the British Geological Survey in accordance with statutory requirements.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what information he has on the number of boreholes drilled between Acklington Whin Dyke and the Grange Park fault in the Northumberland and Durham coalfield; and if he will list the borehole numbers, their co-ordinates, the coal sections and the depths to each coal section.

The Department does not keep information on boreholes. This is a matter for British Coal.

Sectoral Divisions

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the sectoral divisions he has created in his Department; for each what are their current work programme priorities and recent contacts; and if he will list the studies, projects and research reports they have commissioned.

In the reorganisation of the Department which my right hon. Friend announced on 3 July he said that the Department would be adopting a more directly sectoral approach in the industries for which it is responsible. Seven new sectoral divisions were created to cover the key sectors not previously dealt with in this way:

Chemicals and biotechnology
Steel, metals and minerals
Vehicles (also covering shipbuilding)
Aerospace
Electronic and electrical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Textiles and retailing

The sectoral divisions, both new and old, have been given the explicit role of sponsoring their industries, not uncritically, but as the basis for an informed dialogue and a constructive partnership between the Government and business. In addition, the new industrial competitiveness division is examining what lessons can be learnt from the leading industrialised countries and ensuring that policies of all Government Departments take due account of the need to promote the competitiveness of United Kingdom industry and commerce.All sectoral divisions are taking forward my right hon. Friend's initiative and developing their contacts with their industries. My right hon. Friend will be reviewing their current work priorities and progress made during the MINIS discussions which he will be holding with his officials over the next few months.

Halons

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what research or evaluations his Department has conducted or commissioned on new gases which could replace ozone-destroying halons in fire-fighting applica-tions; and if he will make a statement.

None. My Department and the Department of the Environment are willing to consider requests from industry for support for collaborative research into alternative gases and technologies. However, halons are only one of five commonly used fire extinguishing media and many businesses are finding that they can use water, foam, powder or CO₂ instead.

Electricity

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total capacity of electricity supplied to the United Kingdom from French sources in the years 1990, 1991 and to the third quarter of 1992.

The quantity of electricity supplied to the United Kingdom from French sources in the years 1990, 1991 and in the first three quarters of 1992 is set out in the table.

	Electricity supplied from France (Gigawatt hours)
1990	11,990
1991	16,422
First three quarters of 1992	12,412

Source: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics and Energy Trends.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total capacity of electricity supplied to France from United Kingdom sources in the years 1990, 1991 and to the third quarter of 1992.

The quantity of electricity supplied to France from United Kingdom sources in the years 1990, 1991 and in the first three quarters of 1992 is set out in the table.

	Electricity supplied to France (Gigawatt hours)
1990	47
1991	15
First three quarters of 1992	20

Source: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics and Energy Trends.

Pit Closures

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the cost to the Government of maintaining output at the 31 pits scheduled in his announcement of 13 October to be closed; whether this includes the market value of the coal being stockpiled; and whether he will publish a table showing exactly how the £100 million per month referred to in that announcement is made up by item of expenditure.

[holding answer 27 October 1992] British Coal has said that it cannot expect to sell more than 40 million tonnes of coal to the electricity supply industry next year. This is 25 million tonnes less than in the current year.The cash operating costs of the pits concerned are about £100 million per month. This excludes stocking costs.The coal produced could only be sold at distressed prices, over an extended period, if at all.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many pits have been subject to the consultative review procedure on redundancies in the last decade; and how many have remained open following the review.

[holding answer 26 October 1992]: The issue which the hon. Member has raised is a matter for British Coal.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will request National Power and PowerGen to announce no further station closures during the moratorium on pit closures; and if he will make a statement.

The procedure governing power station closures by National Power and PowerGen is prescribed by a licence condition. The Director General of Electricity Supply announced last week that he has decided to appoint an independent assessor to examine the issues in relation to their power station closures.

Power Stations

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the expected rate of depletion of reserves of natural gas within United Kingdom or European Community ownership, at those volumes of gas contracted to be burned by gas-powered power stations in operation, or likely to be approved, stated in approximate volume, time and percentage terms.

[holding answer 22 October 1992] My Department's latest estimates of United Kingdom gas reserves are set out in the Brown Book "Development of Oil and Gas Resources of the United Kingdom". The rate at which gas reserves are depleted will depend on many factors including demand, development costs, prices, levels of imports and technological developments. I am not aware of any plans to import gas from European Community countries.As my right hon. Friend told the House on 21 October, we will be producing for the House the conclusions we draw from our estimates of reserves, and will report on the scale of gas-generated power stations in production, in build and in the planning process.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Beef Premium

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give details of the arrangements for payment of beef premium from 1 January 1993.

Commission legislation giving effect to the new premium scheme is still in the course of preparation and arrangements for its application in the United Kingdom cannot therefore be finalised. I recognise the need for some form of transitional arrangement so that the provision of animals for slaughter is not interrupted in the early months of the year, but this is still to be negotiated.

Agriculture Council

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Agriculture Council held on 26 and 27 October.

I chaired the meeting of the Council of Agriculture Ministers in Luxembourg on 26 and 27 October. My hon. Friends the Minister of State in my Department and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Scotland represented the United Kingdom.Following a short discussion on GATT I confirmed on behalf of the Community, that the Commission should attempt urgently to seek an accommodation with the United States on the Uruguay round and the oilseeds dispute following the mandates already given by the Council and using the Commission's powers under the treaty of Rome. I understand talks will resume shortly.Progress was made on a wide range of other issues dealing with the implementation of CAP reform and of the single market. Decisions will be needed on these before the end of year.

Bananas

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the relationship between the single market for bananas and (a) the Lome convention and (b) GATT negotiations in the Uruguay round.

The Government are determined that the arrangements for the single market in bananas should meet its Lomé convention obligations, whilst being compatible with a successful outcome to the GATT Uruguay round.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the division of licences on the single market for bananas amongst (a) Latin American producers, (b) the Association of Caribbean Producers and (c) European Community producers.

Negotiations are continuing on single market arrangements for bananas. No agreement has yet been reached. The Commission proposal would require licensing of all fruit from non-EC and non-ACP sources and of imports from ACP origins that exceed traditional volumes of trade. The detailed provisions for licence allocation are complex but would broadly distribute 66.5 per cent. of the total on the basis of past trade in non-EC and non-ACP fruit; 30 per cent. would be available to operators who undertook to market a related quantity of EC or ACP fruit; 3.5 per cent. would be available to newcomers to the trade.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement concerning the level of banana exports to the European Community in 1993 from (a) Caribbean exporters and (b) Latin American exporters.

The precise level of banana exports to the European Community in 1993 will depend on many factors. Negotiations on the bananas dossier are continuing and it is therefore not possible, at this stage, to forecast the level of imports in 1993 from either the Caribbean or Latin America.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent (a) Caribbean, (b) Latin American and (c) European Community producers will have access to banana markets under the single market system.

Negotiations are continuing on single market arrangements for bananas. The Commission's proposals would apply a quota to all imports of bananas from non-EC and non-ACP sources, including Latin America; non-traditional volumes from ACP sources would also be covered; EC and ACP supplies would continue free of duty; all others would face a 20 per cent. duty. No agreement has so far been reached regarding the single market arrangements.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans Her Majesty's Government have for the maintenance of an orderly market at the start of 1993 if the single market for bananas is not fully in place.

The Government are working hard to secure agreement on a common organisation of the market in bananas by the end of this year. We shall be discussing with the Commission and other member states what arrangements may be necessary at the start of 1993 in the light of developments in the negotiations.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the responsibilities of Her Majesty's Government to Commonwealth banana exporters as a result of the Lomé convention.

The Lomé convention imposes obligations on all EC member states. In particular, article 1 of protocol 5 of that convention states:

"In respect of its banana exports to the Community markets, no ACP State shall be placed, as regards access to its traditional markets and its advantages on those markets, in a less favourable situation than in the past or at present."

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement concerning the establishment of a quota system under the single market for bananas.

The Commission has proposed a system for the common organisation of the Community banana market based on an absolute quota on imports from non-EC and non-ACP sources, and on ACP supplies above traditional levels. This proposal provides the basis for the negotiations between member states that are currently under way.

Geopathie Stress

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department is currently carrying out into geopathic stress; and if he will make a statement.

The Department currently spends about £50 million a year on agricultural research relevant to environmental problems. Details are given in the MAFF publication "Scientific Research and Development: The Environment", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

Cap Reforms

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what consideration was given to introducing the common agricultural policy reforms over more than one year; and if he will make a statement;(2) when more information about the detail of the common agricultural policy reforms will be made available to farmers;(3) what representations he has received about the speed of the common agricultural policy reforms.

The Ministry is in regular contact with representatives of consumer, farming and environmental organisations to discuss all aspects of the common agricultural policy reforms, which are being phased in over a four-year period. An explanatory booklet on the arable scheme was sent to farmers at the beginning of September; a copy was placed in the Library of the House. Discussion of detailed rules for the reformed beef and sheepmeat regimes is still continuing; farmers will be given information on these as soon as it is available.

Eggs

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to introduce salmonella testing on eggs imported into the United Kingdom from the EC and marketed in the United Kingdom as packed in the United Kingdom, before such eggs are introduced into the retail market.

Imported eggs are already subject to salmonella testing and where positive results are found these are pursued with the exporting member state. To delay the distribution of such eggs would be a clear breach of European Community law.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to fix a date for ending salmonella testing on laying flocks to bring the United Kingdom into line with the rest of the EC.

The package of' measures introduced by the Government to combat salmonella in poultry, including the testing of laying flocks, has been an important factor in helping to restore confidence in British eggs.We shall continue to keep these measures under review, taking account of the progress being made in Brussels towards the introduction of Communitywide measures for the control of salmonella in poultry.

Suckler Cows And Sheep

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what will be the base year for suckler cows and sheep used to establish the quota for herds and flocks.

For suckler cow premium, the Government have chosen to base quotas on claims in respect of the 1992 marketing year.For ewe premium, individual producers will receive quota equal to their eligible sheep numbers in 1991, provided they also made a valid claim in 1992. However, the total quota available to the United Kingdom industry will be based on the number of eligible animals in the national flock in 1990. The difference between the 1991 and 1990 numbers—some 320,000 ewes—will be used to create the national ewe premium quota reserve.These decisions provide the United Kingdom suckler cow and sheep industries with the maximum quota permitted under the Council regulations.

Milk

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements he intends to make to fund the individual farmer for milk recording under the new system in place of the milk marketing board.

I understand that the Milk Marketing Board envisages that its proposed successor co-operative would continue to offer a milk recording service. This would be available to non-members on a commercial basis. It will be open to other organisations to offer competing services.

Prime Minister

Libya

To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with President Bush over the circumstances surrounding the imposition of sanctions by the United Nations against Libya; and what plans Her Majesty's Government have to raise the issues surrounding Lockerbie at the United Nations.

The Government have worked closely with the American administration on all aspects of the Lockerbie case, including United Nations Security Council resolutions 731 and 748.

Bloodstock

To ask the Prime Minister if he will institute an interdepartmental review of the case for reducing the level of value added tax on bloodstock in the United Kingdom to reduce the difference between the United Kingdom rate and the rates levied in France and Ireland.

[holding answer 26 October 1992]: The Government recognise the regional economic importance of the bloodstock industry. My right hon. Friend the Paymaster General has worked hard with industry representatives to ensure that it is not significantly disadvantaged by the continued difference in VAT rates between member states. The introduction of the flat rate farmers' scheme and a 0.75 per cent. cut in betting duty in the 1992 Budget will help to secure the right environment in which the industry can compete successfully.Ministers receive many well-argued cases for tax relief, many of which appear at least as deserving of a reduced rate as bloodstock. The Government believe that their long-standing policy of a VAT system based on a zero rate and a single positive rate is simple for all traders and cheap to administer.

Pit Closures

To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received from the General Secretary of the TUC about pit closures; and what reply he is sending.

[holding answer 26 October 1992]: Following British Coal's announcement of pit closures on 13 October the General Secretary of the TUC, Mr. Willis, wrote to me on 15, 17 and 20 October.In replying, I noted that the issues he raised had been addressed in Parliament on a number of occasions and that we looked forward to the TUC's contribution to the widespread consultation announced by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.Mr. Willis also wrote to me twice on 26 October. I shall reply to these letters shortly.

National Heritage

Departmental Offices

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement about (a) the timetable, (h) the location, (c) the space requirement and (d) the cost of the provision of new office accommodation for his Department.

My right hon. Friend is considering the future location of the Department, which requires approximately 70,000 sq ft of useable space. He expects to make an announcement on the matter in due course and the Department will then move to its new headquarters as soon as possible.

Appointments

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list all the names of public appointments that he has made, giving the period for which the appointment was made, relevant qualifications of the appointee and what remuneration each currently receives.

The Department of National Heritage is still in the process of setting up central records and the information required to answer this question is not yet centrally available.

National Lottery

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage whether a national lottery will be classified by the Government as gambling.

	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991
Tower of London	2,289,400	2,181,700	2,214,000	2,298,700	1,923,500
Hampton Court	590,600	533,000	538,800	521,000	502,400
Cutty Sark, Greenwich	375,700	401,000	360,100	411,000	437,500
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich	442,000	707,400	423,800	563,000	587,900
Figures rounded to the nearest hundred.

There are no projected figures for the period 1992 to 1994.

National Finance

Home Carers

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to exempt home carers from obligations for classified business miles payments, for education purposes.

I am very much aware of the important and valuable service provided by home carers. If carers receive motor mileage allowances in respect of business journeys or volunteer driving, no tax is payable if the allowances do no more than cover their costs. The allowances are liable to tax only if the allowances exceed actual costs and so result in a profit. If, however, the hon. Member is concerned about the tax treatment given in a particular case, I would be happy to look into it if he would let me have the usual details.

The Government made it quite clear in the White Paper "A National Lottery: Raising Money for Good Causes", Cm. 1861, that lotteries, including the national lottery, represent the "softest" form of gambling. Properly regulated, the national lottery will provide a harmless form of entertainment.

Exhibition, Upper Waiting Hall

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if his Department has considered an application for an exhibition relating to the Royal Armouries' new museum in Leeds to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.

I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Administration Committee, arrangements have been made with the authorities of the House for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from 26 to 30 October 1992.

Tourism

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many (a) foreign and (b) domestic visitors are estimated to have been to (i) the Tower of London, (ii) Hampton Court and (iii) Greenwich in each of the years from 1987 to 1991; and how many are expected to visit each in 1992, 1993 and 1994.

The figures for estimates of the number of visitors to the Tower of London, Hampton Court and Greenwich are published annually by the British tourist authority and the English tourist board. These figures, which are set out in the table, are not compiled on a foreign/domestic visitor basis.

Fraud

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department has saved from the investigation of fraud in the latest year for which figures are available; and what are the targeted savings for the next financial year.

Such information is not available. But in the year 1991–92 the direct yield from Inland Revenue counter-evasion work was some 1.4 billion, excluding any future or deterrent effects.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the number of people prosecuted for fraud by his Department in the latest year for which figures are available.

The number of successful Inland Revenue prosecutions for false accounts or returns of income, false claims to personal allowances, deductions or repayments, false PAYE returns, and sub-contractor exemption certificate frauds, in the year 1991–92 was 167.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the number of whole-time equivalent staff employed by the Inland Revenue to detect and prosecute fraud; and what is the cost of their employment.

During the year 1991–92 a total of 3,600 staff units were employed by the Inland Revenue in the detection and prosecution of possible or actual tax evasion, including fraud. The cost of their employment was some £115 million.

Mortgages (Negative Equity)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of mortgages in England with negative equity, and the number who will benefit directly from the recently announced changes in limits to unsecured loans and MIRAS entitlement.

Estimates of the number of households with negative equity have varied considerably. A figure of around 1 million for the United Kingdom was published in the August edition of the "Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin".The number of those who will benefit directly from the measures recently announced by the Government will depend on a range of factors, including the proportion of them who wish to move; the way in which they choose to go about it; their personal circumstances; the attitude of their lender; and the extent to which mortgage indemnity insurance can be transferred. In practice, the number of potential beneficiaries is likely to be in the tens of thousands.

Ec Contributors

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the net contributors to the EC and the amount they each contribute; and if he will list the net recipients of funds from the EC and how much each receives.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Southend, East (Sir T. Taylor) on 22 June 1992, at column 5.

Research And Development

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated amount currently being spent on all forms of research and development excluding defence; and what were the comparable figures for 1982 and 1972.

The available information for 1990 is given in table 2.2.2 of the "Annual Review of Government Funded Research and Development 1992", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. Figures for 1989 were published in the 1991 edition. Information for 1982 and 1972 on a comparable basis is not available.

Housing Associations

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what response he has made to representations from the National Federation of Housing Associations about the retention of the £2 billion grant for housing associations; and if he will make it his policy that no cuts in expenditure will be made to the budget for the west midlands.

It would not be appropriate for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor to respond in detail to representations in advance of his autumn statement on 12 November.

Fact-Finding Visits

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the fact-finding visits made in the last 12 months by the chief executive of each executive agency for which he is responsible; and what were the findings resulting from each visit.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executives of the Royal Mint, Central Statistical Office and Valuation Office executive agencies. I have asked each of them to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from W. McLennan chief executive of the Central Statistical Office to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 28 October 1992.

I have been asked to reply direct to question No. 49, which you tabled for answer on 26 October 1992.

Neither I, nor my predecessor, Sir Jack Hibbert, have made any official fact-finding visits in the last twelve months.

Letter from R. R. B. Shutter, chief executive of the Valuation Office Agency to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 27 October 1992

In your question to the Chancellor ref: 3/0470 you ask for a note of the factfinding visits made in the last year by Chief Executives:

The principal factfinding visits made by me are as follows:

Visit	Objective
Visits to Annual Conference and other meetings of the Trade Unions representing Agency staff.	To hear staff views on pay, conditions of service and other issues, and to make "state of affairs" speech at the Conference.
Visits to regional meetings of managers and staff in the network	To give an account of issues facing the Agency and to hear staff views.
Visits to meetings of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, other professional bodies and management seminars.	To give an Agency view on technical and management matters; to present prizes and awards and give advice to students.
Visits to meetings of other Chief Executives.	To give an Agency view on public sector management issues and to hear views of colleagues.
Visits to (and with) various Management Consultants.	On customer relations (attitude survey of VO customers), on Council Tax (tendering ar-rangements and also financial appraisal of tendering firms) and on pay and performance management (in preparation for new pay agreement with Unions).

I am at your disposal if further assistance is required.

Letter from A. D. Garrett, chief executive of the Royal Mint, to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 26 October 1992.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to respond to your Written Questions.

I can confirm that I have made no factfinding visits and have published no papers in the last 12 months.

Executive Agencies

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list, for the last 12 months, the titles of papers published by the chief executive of each executive agency for which he is responsible.

Letter from R. R. B. Shutter, chief executive of the Valuation Agency, to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 27 October 1992.

In your question to the Chancellor ref: 3/0458 you ask for a note of the papers given or published by Chief Executives during the last year.

Apart from speeches to professional bodies, the only articles or papers written by me are:

"Keeping an eye on the recession"
(advice to students) GTI Surveying Journal

"Spread of experience"
(article for students on career progression) GTI Surveying Journal

(GTI = Graduates to Industry)

Valuation Office, Business Plan 1992–93 (my plans for the Agency, the current year)

Annual Report 1991–92 (my appreciation of the outturn for last year)

Please let me know if I can assist further.

Letter from W. McLennan, chief executive of the Central Statistical Office, to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 28 October 1992.

I have been asked to reply direct to question no. 75 which you tabled for answer on 23 October 1992.

2. A paper titled Official Statistics in the UK: is there cause for concern, by my predecessor Sir Jack Hibbert, was published in Statistical News No. 96, Spring 1992.

Letter from A. D. Garrett, chief executive of the Royal Mint, to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 26 October 1992

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to respond to your Written Questions.

I can confirm that I have made no factfinding visits and have published no papers in the last 12 months.

Tax Revenue

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the loss in tax revenue, based on average income figures and direct taxation, resulting from unemployment in the financial years 1990–91 and 1991–92.

The loss in tax revenue would depend on the particular circumstances of the people concerned. It is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate.

Inland Revenue (Information Technology)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for the provision of Inland Revenue information technology services in response to the White Paper "Competing for Quality", Cm 1730.

The Government have authorised the Inland Revenue to proceed with a competitive tender to test the benefit available from a strategic contract with a major private sector computing supplier. If the tender reveals benefit to the Inland Revenue the aim will be to have a contract in place by the end of 1993.

Taxpayers Charter

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultations were undertaken with service users in the course of the production of the taxpayers charter (Inland Revenue) and the taxpayers charter (Customs and Excise).

[holding answer 26 October 1992]: The taxpayers charter was issued to provide a public statement of the standard of service at which the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise aim. There were no formal consultations.

Northern Ireland

Road Building

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what is the revised timetable for construction of the proposed Comber bypass; and if he will make a statement;(2) what is the revised programme for the Forter Green road junction scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Any revised timetable for the implementa-tion of these schemes will only be known after the outcome of the current annual review of the Government's expenditure plans has been determined.

Forensic Science Laboratory, Newtownbreda

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to re-open Newtownbreda road following the recent bomb explosions at the forensic science laboratory; and if he will make a statement.

The explosion at the Northern Ireland forensic science laboratory cratered the road which was subseqently closed in the interests of public safety and to facilitate forensic examinations. These examinations have now been completed and the road is currently being repaired.

Maghaberry Prison

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why no crèche facilities are provided for vistors to the women's section of Maghaberry prison; and why the visiting room is smaller than the men's section.

The provision of a crèche facility in the female visits area is presently under consideration. The decision will await the result of an efficiency scrutiny into childcare services in Maghaberry prison.The size of the visits room reflects the overall requirements of Maghaberry prison—317 male prisoners and 42 females at 26 October 1992. Major improvements are, however, under way to construct a second visits room on the female side.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why the men's section of Maghaberry prison is subject to different evening exercise arrangements from the women's section.

Unlike the male section of Maghaberry prison, where the exercise yards are immediately adjacent to the living accommodation, allowing easy access and supervision, the exercise yards in the female section are slightly apart. For security reasons, the yards on the female side are not available for evening association periods during the winter months.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why there are fewer recreational facilities available for women in Maghaberry prison than there are for men.

Both male and female prisoners have access to the gym on a regular basis and participate in a wide range of recreational pursuits. An exercise bike and pool table for each association room in the female section of Maghaberry prison is under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why evening classes have been withdrawn from the women's section of Maghaberry prison, while remaining available to prisoners in the men's section.

Reassessment of evening classes showed that the classes were too small to be viable. However, the day programme for female prisoners has been enhanced to take account of the non-provision of evening classes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why no inter-wing association beween women prisoners in Maghaberry prison is permitted, as compared with men.

The privilege of inter-wing association was withdrawn from female prisoners in July 1991 for operational reasons. However, it has now been reintroduced for some prisoners and will be kept under review.

Royal Ulster Constabulary

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table showing the number and ranks of officers presently serving in the RUC fraud squad; what formal qualifications such officers have in accountancy and law; and what further expertise in these fields would normally be available to them.

[holding answer 27 October 1992]: I understand that at present the established strength of the squad is 17 officers. Their ranks are as follows:

	Number
Chief Inspector	1
Inspector	2
Sergeant	5
Constable	9

Fraud squad officers are not required to have formal qualifications in accountancy or law, although one officer has a degree in accountancy; but those in and selected for the squad must have an aptitude for this type of investigatory work. All officers attached to the RUC fraud squad receive the training necessary for their duties and members of the squad regularly attend comprehensive training courses organised at United Kingdom level.Expertise from other relevant professional organisa-tions, including the accountancy and legal professions, is drawn upon whenever necessary to ensure the fullest possible investigation of suspected fraud.

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

Indonesia

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on United Kingdom relations with Indonesia.

The United Kingdom maintains friendly and constructive relations with Indonesia. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State paid a successful visit there earlier this month.

Latin America

21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to visit Latin America to discuss regional security in that area.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs looks forward to visiting Latin America again soon and to discussing a wide range of issues.

East Timor

23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a further statement about the state of human rights in East Timor.

We continue to monitor the situation in East Timor. During my right hon. Friend the Minister of State's visit to Indonesia earlier this month, he stressed the importance we attach to full respect for human rights in East Timor. We welcome the resumption of dialogue between Indonesia and Portugal about East Timor.

Libya

24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reconsideration he has given to the imposition of sanctions against Libya, and the issue of the origins of the Lockerbie crime.

The United Nations Security Council reviewed the sanctions against Libya on 12 August, and agreed that there was no justification for lifting them. The Lockerbie investigation continues, but no evidence has come to light which would justify the issue of further warrants.

Yugloslavia

25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current circumstances surrounding the peace-keeping role of the United Nations in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

UNPROFOR. the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the former Yugoslavia is mandated to carry out a number of specific tasks. These include ceasefire monitoring in Croatia—Security Council resolution 743—overseeing the demilitarisation of the Prevlaka Peninsula—SCR 779—reopening and securing Sarajevo airport—SCR 764—support for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' efforts to deliver humanitarian relief throughout Bosnia—SCR 776 —and monitoring compliance with the ban on military flights in Bosnia—SCR 781. The United Kingdom is contributing forces to UNPROFOR operations in both Croatia and Bosnia.

"An Agenda For Peace"

26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he received a copy of the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, "An Agenda for Peace"; and if he will make a statement.

The Secretary-General's report, "An Agenda for Peace" was published on 17 June this year. In my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs' speech to the United Nations General Assembly on 22 September he welcomed the report on behalf of the EC and its members as a very important collection of proposals which all United Nations bodies, but notably the General Assembly and the Security Council, should follow up swiftly. I have asked for a copy of this speech to be placed in the Library of the House of Commons.

Cyprus

27.

:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will meet the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, to discuss the situation in Cyprus.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has no plans to meet the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr. Denktash, who claims to be the head of a state which we do not recognise. We have regular contacts with him at senior official level.

29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the talks on Cyprus recently held in New York under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

31.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the latest position with regard to the talks on Cyprus.

President Vassiliou and Mr. Denktash held a series of separate meetings with the United Nations Secretary-General from 15 July to 11 August. Sufficient progress was made to allow a change of format to direct negotiation between the two, under the Secretary-General's chairmanship, from 12 to 14 August.

These talks reconvened in the new format in New York on 26 October. Security Council resolution 774 makes plain that the international community expects this round to lead to the agreement of an outline settlement on the basis of the United Nations Secretary-General's "set of ideas" as set out in his report of 21 August.

32.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's relations with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

In line with Security Council resolution 541, we do not recognise the so-called "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus". Nor does any state other than Turkey. We support the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General in seeking a solution to the Cyprus dispute on the basis of a single, federal, bizonal and bicommunal state.

Direct negotiations, under the United Nations Secretary-General's chairmanship reconverted in New York on the 26 October. Security Council resolution 774 makes plain that the international community expects this round to lead to the agreement of an outline settlement on the basis of the United Nations Secretary-General's "set of ideas" as set out in his report of 21 August.

Maastricht Treaty

28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to review with his counterparts in the European Community the methods by which member states are ratifying the Maastricht treaty.

None. Article R of the treaty states that member states shall ratify the treaty in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements. These requirements differ from one member state to another.

India

30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement regarding relations between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of India.

Our relations with India are excellent.

Central America

33.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on United Kingdom relations with the countries of central America.

The United Kingdom enjoys good relations with all the countries of central America. We support their efforts to consolidate democracy and promote economic development, primarily through our active participation in the San José dialogue between the European Community and its member states and the central American countries.

Occupied Countries

34.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will urge Israel to withdraw from all of the territories it has occupied since 1967 as part of a lasting and binding peace settlement; and if he will make a statement.

We have constantly restated our policy that Israel should withdraw from territories occupied in 1967 as part of a comprehensive peace settlement, and meanwhile administer them in compliance with international law and human rights standards.

Western Sahara

35.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Morocco on the western Sahara.

We have taken every opportunity to underline the need for the parties to the dispute to co-operate fully with the Secretary-General in the implementation of his settlement plan. This continues to offer the best hope for a fair and lasting solution.

Languages

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representa-tions to the Council of Ministers encouraging the inclusion of the main European lesser-used languages within the Lingua programme.

I have been asked to reply.The Government have no plans to encourage an increase in number of the languages covered by the Lingua programme.

Kashmir

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement as to what diplomatic measures he is taking to force India to implement the resolutions of the United Nations and the European Parliament calling for a peaceful settlement in Kashmir; and if he will consider imposing (a) economic sanctions and (b) an arms embargo.

We are deeply concerned to see a resolution to the Kashmir dispute and are ready to help if both sides would like us to play a role. We take every opportunity to urge India and Pakistan to agree a peaceful means of resolving the dispute as they committed themselves to do in the 1972 Simla agreement. The United Nations resolutions of 1948 and 1949 set out a possible framework, but neither side fully implemented those resolutions and they have, to some extent, been overtaken by events.

United Nations (Members' Participation)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements his Department has made to assist right hon. and hon. Members to participate in the working of United Nations institutions.

We welcome the participation of parliamentarians in the work of the United Nations. There are particular areas in which the extensive experience and tradition of democracy of the hon. and right hon. Members of this House can be of benefit. I am thinking of the growing significance of the United Nation's role in election monitoring and in providing support to emerging parliaments. We are pleased to see an example of this in the assistance the Inter-Parliamentary Union has given to the United Nations Development Programme. We remain willing to assist hon. Members of this House to participate in such areas. In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office arranges an annual visit for Members of Parliament to the United Nations General Assembly. The next visit will take place early in 1993.

Aku Suki Maru

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will inquire of the Governor of Hong Kong the reasons for the invoking of legislation prohibiting the plutonium ship Akat Suki Maru from entering its territorial waters; and if he will make a statement.

The Hong Kong Government have not invoked legislation prohibiting the ship Akat Suki Maru from entering Hong Kong waters. Hong Kong is aware of its international obligations as regards navigation through its waters. There is no reason to expect that the ship will enter Hong Kong waters.

European Single Market

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 23 October, Official Report, column 409, which aspects of the common commercial policy of the European Community are not contained within its policy for a single market; and what aspects of the single market programme are not contained within the EC common commercial policy.

The common commercial policy was established by a separate chapter—articles 110 to 116—of the treaty of Rome. It governs the Community's trade relations with third countries, as distinct from the single market provisions, which deal with intra-Community trade.Although the functioning of the single market depends, among other things, upon the existence of a common customs tariff, the articles of the treaty, as amended by the Single European Act, which govern the establishment of the single market have no direct bearing on those governing the common commercial policy.

Southern Africa

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his most recent assessment of the economic and political situation in southern Africa.

Despite tragic setbacks, the countries of the region are still going through potentially a most hopeful period of political and economic change. This difficult process is worsened by the worst drought in living memory. However, we remain optimistic.

Wales

Capital Expenditure

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what policy considerations will govern the choice of priorities for capital projects in his departmental budget in the year 1993–94 (a) if the Barnett formula is continued and (b) if it is discontinued;(2) what evaluation he has carried out of the priority to be given to all of the capital expenditure projects in his departmental programme in relation to the proposed impact of the Barnett formula agreements.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 19 October, Official Report, column 149. In due course, I shall allocate the resources of the Welsh Office block to individual programmes and projects according to my assessment of priorities.

Environmental Network

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the companies from (a) north Wales, (b) south-west Wales and (c) south-east Wales which have joined his Department's environmental network to date; and if he will list both the events organised to date by the network and proposed events for the future.

Since the launch in July, 51 organisations have joined the environmental managers network. Of these, 15 are from north Wales, six are from south-west Wales and 30 are from south-east Wales, as detailed in the list. I expect many more to join shortly and arrangements are in hand for updated lists of the network's members to be placed in the Library of the House every three months.MEMBERSHIP LISTENVIRONMENTAL MANAGERS NETWORK

North Wales Region

Kimberly Clark Ltd.
Simon Petroleum Technology Ltd.
Pilkington Insulation products
Peboc Ltd.
Iceland Frozen Foods Ltd.
Ferodo Caernarfon Ltd.
Alfred McAlpine Quarry Products Ltd.
Celtest Ltd.
Castle Cement Padestow Ltd.
Envirocheck
Hotpoint Ltd.
Deeside Titanium Ltd.
Hoya Lens (UK) Ltd.
GS Packaging Ltd.
Continental Can (Europe) Ltd.

South West Wales

Alcoa Manufacturing (GB) Ltd.
Wynnstay and Clwyd Farmers plc
Kaye (Presteigne) Ltd.
Ina Bearing Co. Ltd.
Marine and Port Services Ltd.
3M (UK) Ltd.

South East Wales

Parke Davies and Co. Ltd.
Hoover plc
ENVOTEK Chemical Environmental Consultants
Arjo Wiggins Carbonless Papers Ltd.
England Environmental Ltd.
Mid Glamorgan TEC
Western Labels
BP Chemicals
Amersham International plc

Dow Chemical Co. Ltd.
MEP Ltd.
Scott Manning Associates
EMMS Wales Ltd.
Monsanto plc
Sheer Pride Ltd.
Purolite International Ltd.
Sony (UK) Ltd.
Anacomp Data Products Ltd.
Touche Ross and Co.
Severnside Waste Paper Ltd.
South Wales Electricity plc
Allied Steel and Wire plc
Plastics Engineers Ltd.
IEP Doncasters Ltd.
Rockwool Ltd.
Star Sheet Metal Works Ltd.
Pilkington Insulation Ltd.
Biotal Ltd.
Oakdale Batteries Ltd.

Since the launch, a seminar on environmental auditing has taken place. Others are planned on wast minimisation, technology transfer, grant assistance, product appraisal and life cycle analysis and environmental awareness.

Welcome Host Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people have undertaken training under the welcome host scheme to date.

To date 3,564 individuals have undertaken training under the welcome host scheme.

Surplus School Places

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the effect the plan to eliminate surplus school places in Wales will have upon the Government commitment to support parental choice in education.

The Government remain committed to the principle of parental choice. The elimination of surplus places will release resources that may be deployed elsewhere in the education service to improve facilities and raise educational standards in schools, both of which are key considerations in parents' exercise of their choice of school.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what criteria he will apply in considering the removal of surplus school places by implementing school closure.

My criteria for considering proposals for school closures by local education authorities are set out in Welsh Office circular 20/88, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

Welsh Development Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will grant additional resources to the Welsh Development Agency specifically to develop urban regeneration programmes in conjunction with local authorities in the south Wales valleys.

I have already approved a record budget for 1992–93 of £19 million for the WDA's urban development programme. This represents a 90 per cent. increase on the previous year's budget.

Birds

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many sites in Wales currently qualify for protection under the EC birds directive; and how many of these sites have been designated to date.

To date, eight sites in Wales have been designated as special protection areas (SPAs) under the EC directive on the conservation of wild birds (79/409/EEC). In addition, a further six sites are proposed SPAs and as such are afforded similar protection to designated SPAs.

Housing (Disabled People)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total local authority housing stock in each local authority area in Wales; and if he will indicate the proportion of the stock which is (a) wheelchair standard and (b) mobility standard in each instance.

The total local authority housing stock is given in the table. Information on the stock of local authority dwellings which are (a) wheelchair standard and (b) mobility standard is not available.

Total Local Authority stock at 1 April 1992
	Number
Aberconwy	2,468
Alyn and Deeside	4,873
Arfon	4,802
Blaenau Gwent	9,626
Brecknock	2,559
Cardiff	18,125
Carmarthen	3,275
Ceredigion	3,169
Colwyn	2,432
Cynon Valley	4,760
Delyn	4,454
Dinefwr	2,386
Dwyfor	1,396
Glyndwr	2,727
Islwyn	5,723
Llanelli	6,490
Lliw Valley	4,697
Meirionnydd	1,915
Merthyr Tydfil	6,383
Monmouth	4,613
Montgomeryshire¹	3,741
Neath	5,188
Newport	12,739
Ogwr	8,888
Port Talbot/Afan	5,298
Preseli Pembrokeshire	5,121
Radnorshire	1,110
Rhondda	4,505
Rhuddlan	2,604
Rhymney Valley	9,357
South Pembrokeshire	2,619
Swansea	15,682
Taff-Ely	6,586
Torfaen	12,424
Vale of Glamorgan	5,700
Wrexham Maelor	14,718
Ynys Mon	5,194
Wales	218,347
¹ Includes 1,111 rented new town dwellings in Newtown.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the average time taken by each local authority social services department in Wales to (a) assess and (b) implement and deliver applications for house renovations to disabled persons' households.

The information requested is not available centrally.

Hip And Knee Joint Operations

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the South Glamorgan health authority concerning the request made in September for quotations from the South Birmingham health authority for artificial hip and knee joint operations for residents of South Glamorgan.

I have had no consultations with South Glamorgan district health authority regarding this matter.

Examination Results

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what weight will be attached to examination performance in assessing whether a school should be closed.

Each case is considered on its merits taking all relevant considerations, including examination performance, into account.

Cadw

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list, for the last 12 months, the titles of papers published by the chief executive of the Cadw (Welsh Historic Monuments).

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments under its chief executive, Mr. John Carr. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library of the House.

Letter from Mr. J. Carr to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated October 1992:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent PQ which asked if he would list for the last 12 months the titles of papers that I have published as Cadw's Chief Executive.

The principal document published by me in this period has been Cadw's first Annual Report and Accounts for the years 1991–92. I attach a copy. A copy is also available in the Library of the House.

In addition to its Annual Report the Agency has produced a wide variety of publications ranging from guidebooks in respect of monuments in the care of the Secretary of State to lists of buildings afforded statutory protection under the provisions of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

If you would like details of any of these I would be glad to provide this.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for the last 12 months the fact-finding visits the chief executive of the Cadw (Welsh Historic Monuments) has made; what were his findings; and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for the subject of the question had been delegated to Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments under its chief executive, Mr. John Carr. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library of the House.

Letter from Mr. J. Carr to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated October 1992:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question which asked if he would list for the last 12 months the fact finding visits that I have made and my findings.

You will have seen that the Agency's first Annual Report which I have sent you sets out the mission statement of the Agency which is to protect, to conserve and to promote the built heritage of Wales. As part of my responsibilities as Agency Chief Executive I made a number of visits in Britain and occasionally overseas to help further promote these objectives. As the Annual Report highlight, a key responsibility I have as Chief Executive is to encourage greater numbers of visitors particularly from overseas to visit the monuments of outstanding international importance that are in Cadw's care. In December 1991 I made a visit to the United States, and participated in a workshop sponsored by the Council of Europe in Romania in September 1992.

In the day to day conduct of my responsibilities I have not as such undertaken fact finding missions but as Chief Executive of the Agency since April 1991, and Director of Cadw prior to that, I have established close associations with other built heritage managers and with others involved in Britain's tourism industry.

Overseas Development

Development Policy

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy at the Development conference on 18 November to seek the amendment of the EC White Paper on development to ensure that the chief aims of the development policy are the elimination of poverty and the fostering of sustainable development.

We hope to see adopted by Ministers on 18 November a resolution setting out as the central objectives of development co-operation policy, the sustainable social and economic development of the developing countries, and more particularly the most disadvantaged among them; the smooth and gradual integration of the developing countries into the world economy; and the campaign against poverty in developing countries.

Rain Forests

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations the Government have made in the United Nations with regard to securing a coherent and sustainable long-term policy supported internationally to preserve rain forests in those countries where they are now under threat; and if he will make a statement.

At the United Nations conference on environment and development in June we played a leading role in getting agreement to a statement of principles on the sustainable management of the world's forests. This is the first international consensus on their value. We are working to ensure that it is followed up by an effective international review process. We are proposing in the United Nations General Assembly that this should be through the sustainable development commission.

Somalia

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he, another Minister or Foreign Office official intend to visit the area of the former British Somalia.

Neither the Foreign Secretary nor other Ministers have any plans at present to visit the area of the former British protectorate of Somaliland. The British ambassador to Ethiopia is likely to do so in the near future, though no date has yet been set.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the performance of the UN and its agencies, the EC and Her Majesty's Government in response to the crisis in Somalia; and whether he has any proposals for improvement.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and my noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development have visited Somalia recently as part of EC Troika missions. While there is general recognition, including by the UN itself, that the relief effort was slow to get off the ground, both were generally impressed by the excellent work being done in extremely difficult and often harrowing circumstances by the UN agencies and non-government organisations. The most urgent need is to improve the security situation. We have continued to press the UN to take the further action necessary to ensure the prompt distribution of relief supplies and the safety of aid personnel. The Government have given almost £27 million to the relief effort.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the decision was taken by the United Nations Security Council to send 500 troops to Somalia; and when these troops were actually deployed in Mogadishu.

The UN Security Council agreed in principle to the deployment of troops in Mogadishu on 24 April 1992, subject to further discussion between the UN and local military factions. The Security Council on 14 August agreed that deployment should proceed. The first troops arrived on 14 September.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action (a) the World Health Organisation and (b) the Food and Agriculture Organisation have taken in Somalia.

During the first half of 1992 the World Health Organisation (WHO) funded medical and health supplies to a value of US$1.744 million for international and local non-government organisations in Somalia. WHO is raising an additional US$6.1 million to strengthen and expand its activities. The Food and Agricultural Organisation is providing an emergency supply of seeds, tools and pesticides and assistance for animal health projects.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what instructions were given to his Department's staff in Nairobi about visits to Somalia; and what were the reasons for those instructions in the period since the end of the civil war.

Since January 1991, the Foreign Office has advised British nationals against visiting Somalia. British officials have been required to follow this advice, and have only visited Somalia when there was a specific need to do so. Humanitarian aid issues have been fully dealt with in Nairobi, Geneva and elsewhere. A member of the British High Commission staff in Nairobi has special responsibility for liaison with non-governmental organisations in the south of Somalia, and visits as necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the outcome of the UN conference on Somalia held in Geneva; and if he will make a statement.

My noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development attended the conference of donors to Somalia held in Geneva on 13 and 14 October. The conference formally established the UN 100-day action plan to accelerate the relief effort to Somalia. The Government strongly support the plan. The new pledge of £7.5 million of humanitarian aid for Somalia which we announced in September is being used to support the aims of the plan.

Ec Overseas Development Budget

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what decisions have been taken recently by the EC on the size of its future overseas development budget; and what are the real and constant price change from the budget for the current year and in 1991.

EC Development Aid is financed partly by the European development fund and partly by the EC budget. The draft 1993 EC budget, including the provisions for development cooperation, is still under discussion. We expect a final decision by the end of the year. The information for 1991 and 1992 is as follows:

	1991	1992
Current prices (mecu)
Commitment	1,477	1,770
Percentage increase		19.8
Constant (1991) prices
Commitment	1,477	1,689
Percentage increase		14.3

Note: In 1991, 500 mecu aid was also provided for countries most affected by the Gulf crisis.

Un Conference On Environment And Development

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the assistance given to assist other countries to fulfil their obligations arising from agreements made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

The biodiversity and climate change conventions were each signed by over 150 countries at Rio. We have contributed over £40 million to the global environment facility, the interim funding mechanism for the conventions. Our contribution was separate from and additional to our aid programme for developing countries. We want to see the GEF established as the permanent funding mechanism for both conventions.

Poland (Know-How Funds)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to spend the balance of the know-how fund for Poland; for what purposes it will be spent; what sum of money is involved; and if he will make a statement.

Since the inception of the know-how fund for Poland in 1989, expenditure has amounted to £24 million of our £50 million know-how fund pledge. On current plans the large part of the remainder will be spent by the end of the 1994–95 financial year. The bulk of the money is committed in the priority areas of banking and financial services (including accountancy and privatisation), management development and assistance with economic and industrial restructuring. There are also substantial initiatives in the areas of energy efficiency and local government.

Famine In Africa

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with other EC ministers regarding the famine in Africa.

We discuss the continuing crisis in Africa and humanitarian needs regularly with other Community Ministers. We were prominent in discussions culminating in the Community's decision to launch this year's special food aid programme and have recently led EC troika fact-finding missions to Africa, including Somalia. EC Ministers will review the situation on 18 November at the Development Council, which will be chaired by my noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development.

United Nations World Population Conference

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what preparations have been made for the United Kingdom input to the 1994 United Nations world population conference; which Government Department will be responsible for these preparations; and what plans there are to draw on non-governmental organisations contributions to this conference on the lines of the NGO involvement in the June 1992 Earth summit.

We will participate fully in preparatory meetings for the United Nations 1994 international conference on population and development. We will also participate in the European population conference in March 1993 which will provide a European regional contribution to the preparations. The questions of which Government Department will take the prime responsibility for the preparations and the arrangements for drawing on NGO contributions are under consideration.

Defence

Sea King Helicopters

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has agreed a contract with Westland for the additional six Sea King helicopters announced by the then Minister of State for Defence Procurement on 19 February.

Following the successful conclusion of negotiations with Westland Helicopters Ltd., a contract for six new Sea King MK3 helicopters has been placed today. The contract is worth some £60 million.

Euroflag

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he intends further involvement in the Euroflag consortium in relation to United Kingdom tactical military transport requirements; and if he will act to ensure the involvement of United Kingdom companies in potential projects resulting from the work of the consortium.

We will continue to follow developments on the European future large aircraft project, and will consider aircraft which may result from the Euroflag consortium alongside other available options when we need to update our transport fleet.

Research Programmes

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number of personnel in, the number of projects in and the value of MOD contributions to LINK and EC research programmes in the Defence Research Agency for the last three financial years and projected for the current year.

This is a matter delegated to the Defence Research Agency under its framework document. I have therefore asked the chief executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Letter from Mr. John Chisholm to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 23 October 1992:

In his written reply of Wednesday 28 October the Secretary of State for Defence informed you that I would be replying directly to the following question:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the number of personnel in, the number of projects in and the value of MOD contributions to LINK and EC Research programmes in the Defence Research Agency for the last three financial years and projected for the current year.

The information you requested is set out below:

EC Research Programmes
Year	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93
Number of Projects	8	9	10	17
Number of Personnel	5.8	11.6	10.5	13.0
Value of DRA Contribution £K	220	550	510	700
LINK Programmes
Number of Projects	0	2	3	6
Number of Personnel	0	2.1	3.1	4.9
Value of DRA Contribution £K	0	150	220	320

Note: The number of projects shown is cumulative so if a project runs for three years it has been shown in three columns.

I hope you will find this helpful.

Filipino Entrants

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Filipino wives/fianceés have entered the United Kingdom with the Gloucestershire regiment which has recently returned from Saudi Arabia.

There are no records of any members of the Gloucestershire regiment being married to Filipino women. Records of fianceés are not held.

Romania

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contacts the United Kingdom has with the defence forces of Romania; and what liaison or help is extended over training and exchange visits.

In keeping with the Government's policy of building closer ties with all the countries of central and eastern Europe, the Ministry of Defence has over the past 12 months established contacts with the Romanian armed forces, mostly about hydrography. We have also recently agreed a modest training package which includes English language training and attendance at selected courses run by the three services.

Operation Granby

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the amount of money received to date from each country towards the cost of Operation Granby; if he will give the amounts due from each country; and if he will make a statement.

The Government received generous support from a number of countries towards Operation Granby. Contributions in cash, amounting to some £2,049 million, were given as follows:

	£ million
Belgium	15
Germany	274
Hong Kong	16
Japan	192
Kuwait	660
Saudi Arabia	582
South Korea	18
United Arab Emirates	278
Other	14

In addition to these cash contributions the United Kingdom also received considerable host nation support and various types of assistance in kind from 20 countries, including some countries which also made cash contributions, for operations in the Gulf.

Operation Grapple

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give the amount allocated by his Department for Operation Grapple for 1992–93 and 1993–94 and the amount involved in setting up the initial deployment; whether the overall budget for his Department has been increased for 1992–93 for this operation; and if he will make a statement.

It is estimated that the additional cost of Operation Grapple for the first 12 months amounts to some £110 million, VAT exclusive, of which 17.5 million relates to the initial deployment. It is too early to provide an accurate breakdown of costs between financial years. Although costs initially fall to the defence budget they are subsequently refunded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which, under the normal rules, has vote responsibility for such operations.

Scotland

Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the projects relating to research into paralytic shellfish poisoning and associated problems to which his Department has contributed in the last three years or plans to support in the present financial year; and if he will indicate the amount contributed or to be contributed in each case.

Two projects relating to research into paralytic shellfish poisoning—PSP for short—and associated problems are undertaken at my Department's marine laboratory, Aberdeen. They are:

1. Monitoring of algal blooms and microbiological factors in respect of fish and shellfish monitoring.

2. Nitrogen cycling in coastal ecosystems.

The full economic costs met, or to be met, by my Department between April 1989 and March 1993 amount to £132,000 for the PSP toxin monitoring component of the first project, and £1.321 million for the second project which deals with the basic processes which give rise to algal blooms.

Feus

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to change the law relating to the rights of feu superiors when a feu has been bought out.

The Scottish Law Commission is currently reviewing property law in Scotland. As part of this review, the commission published a discussion paper in July 1991 seeking comments on various proposals for reform of the feudal system. The commission is now analysing the responses to the discussion paper and will submit a report in due course. I will wish to have an opportunity to consider the report in detail before determining whether any change in the law may be required.

Hospitals

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the progress of plans to replace East Fortune hospital with a new unit for continuing care at Roodlands hospital in Haddington.

[holding answer of 27 October 1992]: The progress of plans for the replacement of East Fortune hospital is a matter for Lothian health board.

Roads

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the effects of the traffic calming measures at Gateside, Fife.

[holding answer of 27 October 1992]: Traffic speed surveys carried out prior to and following installation of the traffic calming measures at Gateside indicate a slight decrease in the speed of traffic. It is signifiant, however, that in the three-year period before the traffic calming measures were introduced there were two serious injury accidents and 12 non-injury accidents at this location whereas in the year since the traffic calming measures were completed there has been one slight injury accident and one non-injury accident. Early indications, therefore, are encouraging although the situation will continue to be monitored.

Council Tax

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the expected annual costs of administering the council tax in each local authority in Scotland; and what costs have been incurred to date.

[holding answer 27 October 1992]: It is for local authorities themselves to determine the expenditure required to administer the council tax, although the Government expect the costs involved to be significantly less than those for administering the community charge. Overall authorities budgeted to spend £7.5 million in the current financial year preparing for the tax. Their budget estimates for 1993–94 will not be available until next spring.

Local Government Reorganisation

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the cost to date of the consultation exercise for local government reforms in Scotland.

[holding answer 27 October 1992]: The costs incurred to date by the Scottish Office on the current consultation exercise on local government reform amount to approximately £170,000.

Competitive Tendering

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans there are to halt the loss of the jurisdiction of the Commissioners for Local

Great Britain training expenditure (cash prices)¹
£ million
	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92
YT²	1,008	1,020	1,002	844	846
ET³	380	615	1,107	1,076	842
Enterprise allowance scheme/business and enterprise support⁴	193	250	212	184	184
¹ The figures quoted are cash prices. The data necessary to adjust these figures for inflation (ie retail prices index—all items) can be found in table 6.4 of the Employment Gazette for April 1992 and in table 26 of the annual supplement to Economic Trends for April of earlier years. These publications are available in the Library.
² Youth training includes expenditure on training credits from April 1991.
³ ET was introduced from September 1988. Figures for the period prior to that date include expenditure on training measures which were replaced by ET, but do not include employment measures such as the community programme.
⁴ It is not possible to distinguish expenditure on EAS from other enterprise and business support programmes delivered since 1987–88.

Average seasonally adjusted unemployment figures
Great Britain	Thousands
	Number
1987–88	2,554.9
1988–89	2,030.4
1989–90	1,599.4
1990–91	1,660.3
1991–92	2,346.8

The Department's employment and training programmes are aimed at supporting economic growth by promoting a competitive, efficient and flexible labour market. Our commitment to helping unemployed people through the opportunities provided will continue to be met through the employment service and through the training and enterprise councils.

Administration in Scotland following the introduction of compulsory competitive tendering and the provision of local government services by outside agencies.

[holding answer 27 October 1992]: Although the commissioner has no jurisdiction over the activities of private companies undertaking local authority services, the ultimate statutory responsibility for the provision of such services rests with local authorities. In such circumstances the powers of the commissioner to investigate complaints by members of the public are not diminished. The Government keep the commissioner's powers under regular review.

Forth Valley Health Board

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will dismiss the chairperson of the Forth Valley health board.

[holding answer 26 October 1992.]: No.

Employment

Employment And Training

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will state the individual programme costs at constant prices, for each of the years 1987–88 to 1991–92 for employment training and its predecessor programmes youth training and the enterprise allowance scheme and the numbers out of work for each of the years during the same period; and if she will make a statement on the Government's future intentions for Government employment and training measures.

The information requested is contained in the tables:

Labour Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of constituencies in Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England has lower percentage unemployment than in June 1987; and what proportion of constituencies that have had coal mines closed in the past six years has lower percentage unemployment now than in June 1987 compared with other constituencies.

Unemployment rates are not available below the level of travel-to-work area (TTWA). In September 1992, the latest date for which claimant unemployment figures are available, the proportions of travel-to-work areas that had lower percentage rates of unemployment than in June 1987 were as follows: 100 per cent. in Northern Ireland, 97 per cent. in Wales, 97 per cent. in Scotland and 51 per cent. in England.Information categorising coal mine closures by their TTWA is currently available only for the past four years; 95 per cent. of TTWAs which have had coal mines closed over the past four years had lower unemployment rates in September 1992 than in June 1987. The corresponding proportion for other TTWAs was 62 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if she will publish the average percentage rate of unemployment for 1991–92 for each travel-to-work area in the United Kingdom;(2) if she will publish the average percentage rate of unemployment during the five-year period commencing August 1987 to August 1992 for each travel-to-work area in the United Kingdom.

The information requested can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the Library.

Disability (Training)

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will take steps to make disability equality training a compulsory component of training undertaken by careers advisers, careers officers and teachers responsible for careers information.

Local education authorities are required by statutory guidance given under the Employment and Training Act 1973 to make arrange-ments to identify the training needs of their careers service staff and make arrangements to meet those needs.This guidance requires careers officers to obtain the diploma in careers guidance. The diploma covers equal opportunities training, including provision for people with disabilities.The training of careers teachers is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Education and for Wales as appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what efforts are currently undertaken by her Department to ensure that all publicity material produced by her Department concerning training programmes relating to disabled people promotes positive images of disabled people.

The Employment Department no longer produces national publicity material on training programmes. This is now the responsibility of individual training and enterprise councils (TECs). TECs are responsible for the planning and delivery of training programmes and are contractually bound to ensure equality of opportunity for all trainees.The Employment Department, however, produces advisory material on a range of issues for TECs, and others. Material concerning people with disabilities is quality checked by a specialist team in the Department.

Fraud

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many people were prosecuted for fraud by her Department in the latest year for which figures are available;

(2) what is the number of whole-time equivalent staff employed by her Department and its agencies to detect and prosecute suspected fraud; and what is the cost of their employment;

(3) how much her Department has saved from the investigation of fraud in the latest year for which figures are available; and what are the targeted savings for the next financial year.

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. G. Johnson to Mr. Donald Dewar, dated 28 October 1992:

As the Employment service is an Executive Agency, it is the responsibility of Mike Fogden the Agency's Chief Executive to answer Parliamentary Questions about relevant operational matters. In his absence, I am replying to your questions to the Secretary of State for Employment:

i. how many people were prosecuted for fraud by the Department in the latest year for which figures are available,

ii. what is the number of whole time equivalent staff employed to detect and prosecute suspected fraud, and what is the cost of their employment,

iii. how much the Department has saved from the investigation of fraud in the latest year for which figures are available, and what are the targeted savings for the next financial year.

The latest year for which figures are available is that of the financial year ending 31 March 1992 during which a total of 2,265 people were prosecuted for fraud. We currently have 1,300 people, of whom 780 are Inspectors, employed in the detection and prosecution of benefit fraud. The total cost of our fraud operations amounted to £13.34 million. The net savings from our investigations into benefit fraud amounted to £34.34m. We do not set targets for benefit savings accrued from benefit fraud investigation. Our performance is measured by the number of claims withdrawn following investigation by Inspectors and our target is for 58,000 such claims to be withdrawn by the end of the present financial year.

As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

Engineering Construction Industry Training Board

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many appeals by firms against paying the industrial training levy demanded by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board were heard by an industrial tribunal in (a) 1988, (b) 1989, (c) 1990 and (d) 1991, respectively; and how many were (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful.

Prior to July 1991, engineering construction was covered by the Engineering Industry Training Board (EITB). That board was re-named the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) on 23 July 1991 when the engineering manufacturing sector moved its training arrangements to a non-statutory basis.In 1988 one appeal against the EITB was heard and was successful. No further appeals have been heard against either the EITB or the ECITB.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will place in the Library a list of all the companies who paid the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board levy in (a) 1989, (b) 1990 and (c) 1991.

This information is not available to me. It is held only by Engineering Construction Industry Training Board and I have no power to require the board to supply me with such information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what future plans she has for the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board.

My right hon. and learned Friend, the previous Secretary of State, appointed the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board in July 1991 for a three-year period up to 22 July 1994. As with all non-Departmental public bodies, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State shall review the need for its continuance before any decision is made on its reconstitution.

Financial Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make a statement on trends in employment in the financial services sector between now and the end of 1993.

The Department does not publish predictions of employment in particular sectors.

Disabled People (Careers Guidance)

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what monitoring is currently undertaken by her Department on the quality of careers guidance given to disabled people.

The careers service inspectorate of the Department undertakes inspections of LEA careers services and pays particular attention to the quality of careers guidance given to people with special needs.

"Hard Labour"

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what consideration her Department has given to implementing the recommendations of the 1990 report of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, entitled "Hard Labour".

The Government have considered the recommendations of this report. We have already announced our intention to introduce legislation to confer additional rights on individual employees, including extending the right to receive written particulars of employment terms to all employees working at least eight hours a week, which is in line with the report's recommendations.

Wages Councils

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will estimate the range of employment effects of abolishing wages councils.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave him on 14 July 1992, Official Report, column 626.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many respondents to the 1988 consultation document on the future of wages councils then supported the retention of wages councils, either wholly or in some form; whether the Government have recently contacted these respondents to inquire whether their views have altered; and if she will make a statement.

In the 1988 consultation 320 respondents favoured the retention of a wages councils system. Over 60 per cent. of employers and employers' organisations, who responded, supported abolition of the councils. There has been no exercise to contact those who responded in 1988, but employers have continued to make clear the damage done by the councils.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to the oral answer of the Minister of State on 7 July, Offical Report, column 169, if she will publish evidence to show that two-thirds of the people covered by wages councils are paid more than the minimum wage set by the councils.

The estimate is based on an analysis of employers' wage records checked by the wages inspectorate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list those individuals or organisations who have written to her concerning the proposed abolition of wages councils indicating which are for the proposal and which against.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State received 71 written representations about the future of the wages councils from April to September 1992. Of these, 17 favoured abolition, 50 supported retention and four did not come down clearly on one side or the other. It would not be appropriate for me to publish the names of those who have written to the Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is her estimate of the number of people with disabilities whose employment is covered by a wages council order.

I regret that the information is not available.

Appointments

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list all the names of public appointments that she has made, giving the period for which the appointment was made, relevant qualifications of the appointees, and what remuneration each currently receives.

This information is not held centrally within the Department. We will, however, collect the information and my noble Friend Viscount Ullswater will write to the hon. Member.

Youth Training

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many youth training places are currently available in the Doncaster area; and what was the figure (a) six months and (b) 12 months ago.

The information is not available in the form requested.At 13 September 1992 there were 3,865 young people on youth training in the Barnsley and Doncaster area. Six months and 12 months previously, the figure was 3,676 and 4,403 respectively. These figures reflect seasonal fluctuations and the demographic downturn in school leavers.Barnsley/Doncaster TEC is confident that the Government's guarantee of a training place to eligible young people will be met.

Crown Immunity

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether she will now introduce legislation to remove Crown immunity in respect of infringements of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974.

No decisions will be made about introducing legislation until the Health and Safety Commission has considered the review of current procedures and put any proposals to Ministers.

Wages Inspectorate

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans she has to increase the enforcement powers of the wages inspectorate.

None. The wages inspectorate has adequate powers to enforce wages council orders effectively.

Job Interview Guarantee Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment for each region and for Great Britain as a whole how many agreements have been made with employers to operate the job interview guarantee scheme since it was extended nationally in April 1991; how many unemployed people have taken part in the scheme in each area; and how many participants have secured full-time employment with their sponsoring employer.

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Ms. Clare Short, dated 28 October 1992;

As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to her about the Job Interview Guarantee (JIG) initiative. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

You asked for each Region and for Great Britain as a whole how many agreements have been made with employers to operate the job interview guarantee scheme since it was extended nationally in April 1991, how many unemployed people have taken part in the scheme in each area, and how many participants have secured full-time employment with their sponsoring employer.

We no longer ask regions for information on the number of agreements made with employers as we do not require it to monitor the success of the programme.

Information on people taking part in the scheme, and those securing full-time employment is shown at Annex A. The information is broken down by region. At a national level we do not collect information by area.

As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

Annex A From April 1991 to 2 October 1992
Region	Unemployed people assisted	Unemployed people placed
Northern	10,484	3,170
Yorkshire & Humberside	11,762	4,027
East Midlands & Eastern	12,704	4,178
London & South East	87,435	27,159
South West	18,910	6,408
Wales	15,121	4,875
West Midlands	24,542	7,379
North West	18,555	7,747
Scotland	25,839	10,665
Total	225,352	75,608

Job Clubs

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment for each region and for Great Britain as a whole since April 1991 how many people have joined job clubs, and how many have left; how many leavers got jobs, and how many entered another positive outcome; and if she will give the information broken down by the ethnic origin and gender of participants.

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. G. Johnson to Ms. Clare Short, dated 28 October 1992:

As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, it is the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the Agency's Chief Executive to answer Parliamentary Questions about relevant operational matters. In his absence, I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Employment about how many people have attended a Restart Interview since 1 April 1991; and what were the results of those interviews.

Mike Fogden last wrote to you on this subject on 25 February 1992. However we have changed the way we collect some of our statistics which means that although the information on the number of people joining and leaving Jobclubs is available up to September 1992, the breakdown by ethnic origin and gender of participants is only available up to March 1992. The figures for 1992–93 will be collected at the end of the operational year.

Table 'A' attached shows for each region and nationally the numbers who have joined Jobclubs between 1 April 1991 and 27 March 1992 together with the same period of those members leaving. Leavers who are shown as going into other positive outcomes have gone on either to training, full-time education or self-employment.

Table 'B' attached shows the estimated performance between 1 April 1991 and 27 March 1992 for male and female Jobclub members and by ethnic origin separated on a regional basis and for Great Britain as a whole. This has been derived from the quarterly surveys which were carried out during the period.

Table 'C' shows similar statistics to 'A', but covers the period 30 March 1992 to 25 September 1992. On the ethnic background and male/female characteristics of Jobclub leavers is now collected on an annual sample survey basis. As a result of this change, Service programmes and which should improve accuracy, the breakdown of male and female membership and ethnic origin is not yet available for the 1992–93 period.

I hope this is helpful.

As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written

Table A Jobclub Entrants & Leavers Information 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
Region	Jobclub entrants	Jobclub leavers	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Leavers into positive outcomes
				Per cent.		Per cent.
Northern	12,659	12,379	4,731	38	1,444	50
Yorkshire and Humberside	16,115	15,314	6,463	42	2,349	58
East Midlands	16,807	15,193	7,355	48	2,625	66
London and South East	51,840	46,048	17,826	39	7,253	54
South West	13,034	11,954	5,986	50	1,866	66
Wales	11,165	10,400	5,179	50	1,397	63
West Midlands	19,285	16,931	7,669	45	3,006	63
North West	29,298	28,176	12,576	45	3,468	57
Scotland	19,914	19,745	9,046	46	2,674	59
Nationally	190,117	176,140	76,831	44	26,082	58

Table B Jobclub leavers information by ethnic group and male/female characteristics 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
National	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Total leavers
White	67,544	21,285	153,167
Black/Afro Caribbean	3,889	1,804	8,856
Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladesh/Sri Lanken	4,170	2,444	10,966
None of the above	816	472	2,196
Preferred not to say	412	77	955
Total	76,831	26,082	176,140
Male	58,853	20,593	140,470
Female	17,978	5,489	35,670
Totals	76,831	26,082	176,140

Table B Jobclub leavers information by ethnic group and male/female characteristics 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
Northern	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Total leavers
White	4.641	1,393	12,140
Black/Afro Caribbean	12	31	68
Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladesh/Sri Lanken	48	10	114
None of the above	12	0	23
Preferred not to say	12	10	34
Total	4,731	1,444	12,379
Male	3,728	1,249	10,432
Female	1,003	195	1,947
Totals	4,731	1,444	12,379

Parlimentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report.I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

Table B Jobclub leavers information by ethnic group and male/female characteristics 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
Yorkshire and Humberside	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Total leavers
White	5,905	2,070	13,883
Black/Afro Caribbean	73	63	219
Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladesh/Sri Lanken	376	216	1,032
None of the above	73	0	141
Preferred not to say	36	0	39
Total	6,463	2,349	15,314
Male	4,972	1,955	12,602
Female	1,491	394	2,712
Totals	6,463	2,349	15,314

Table B Jobclub leavers information by ethnic group and male/female characteristics 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
East Midland and Eastern	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Total leavers
White	6,710	2,170	13,600
Black/Afro Caribbean	139	202	379
Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladesh/Sri Lanken	491	202	1,088
None of the above	15	51	110
Preferred not to say	0	0	16
Total	7,355	2,625	15,193
Male	5,792	1,969	12,211
Female	1,563	656	2,982
Totals	7,355	2,625	15,193

Table B Jobclub leavers information by ethnic group and male/female characteristics 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
London and South East	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Total leavers
White	12,241	4.405	31,731
Black/Afro Caribbean	2,941	1,236	6,587
Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladesh/Sri Lanken	1,970	1,221	5,627
None of the above	446	360	1,494
Preferred not to say	228	31	609
Total	17,826	7,253	46,048
Male	12,739	5,344	34,697
Female	5,087	1,909	11,351
Totals	17,826	7,253	46,048

Table B Jobclub leavers information by ethnic group and male/female characteristics 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
South West	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Total leavers
White	5,705	1,709	11,420
Black/Afro Caribbean	146	13	182
Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladesh/Sri Lanken	90	131	279
None of the above	45	13	73
Preferred not to say	0	0	0
Total	5,986	1,866	11,954
Male	4,670	1,459	9,529
Female	1,316	407	2,425
Totals	5,986	1,866	11,954

Table B Jobclub leavers information by ethnic group and male/female characteristics 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
Wales	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Total leavers
White	5,018	1,357	10,097
Black/Afro Caribbean	40	27	101
Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladesh/Sri Lanken	67	13	130
None of the above	54	0	72
Preferred not to say	0	0	0
Total	5,179	1,397	10,400
Male	4,132	1,209	8,453
Female	1,047	188	1,947
Totals	5,179	1,397	10,400

Table B Jobclub leavers information by ethnic group and male/female characteristics 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
West Midlands	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Total leavers
White	6,524	2.264	14,189
Black/Afro Caribbean	310	195	882
Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladesh/Sri Lanken	716	487	1,655
None of the above	95	36	133
Preferred not to say	24	24	72
Total	7,669	3,006	16,931
Male	5,796	2,349	13,332
Female	1,873	657	3,599
Totals	7,669	3,006	16,931

Table B Jobclub leavers information by ethnic group and male/female characteristics 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
North West	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Total leavers
White	11,910	3.282	26,706
Black/Afro Caribbean	174	37	357
Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladesh/Sri Lanken	376	125	879
None of the above	58	12	110
Preferred not to say	58	12	124
Total	12,576	3,468	28,176
Male	9,740	2,844	23,107
Female	2,836	624	5,069
Totals	12,576	3,468	28,176

Table B Jobclub leavers information by ethnic group and male)female characteristics 1 April 1991 to 27 March 1992
Scotland	Leavers into jobs	Leavers into other positive outcomes	Total leavers
White	8,884	2,635	19,401
Black/Afro Caribbean	54	0	81
Indian/Pakistani/ Bangladesh/Sri Lanken	36	39	162
None of the above	18	0	40
Preferred not to say	54	0	61
Total	9,046	2,674	19,745
Male	7,284	2,215	16,107
Female	1,762	459	3,638
Totals	9,046	2,674	19,745

Table C Jobclub Entrants & Leavers Information 30 March 1992 to 25 September 1992
Region	Jobclub entrants	Jobclub leavers	Leavers into jobs	leavers into jobs Per cent.	leavers into other positive outcomes	Leavers into positive outcomes Per cent.
Northern	6,826	7,182	3,018	42	828	54
Yorkshire and Humberside	9,251	9,152	4,383	48	1,359	63
East Midlands	9,468	9,934	4,827	49	1,590	65
London and South East	33,163	31,906	13,273	42	4,708	56
South West	7,683	7,893	3,889	49	1,155	64
Wales	6,324	6,108	3,296	54	842	68
West Midlands	10,877	10,945	4,756	43	1,790	60
North West	15,718	16,086	7,269	45	1,897	57
Scotland	10,683	10,731	5,288	49	1,479	63
Nationally	109,993	109,937	49,999	45	15,648	60

Actively-Seeking-Work Test

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether claimants or their representatives are entitled to a copy of the UB672 form completed by Employment Service officials when there are doubts about an unemployed person's availability for work or whether they are actively seeking work; and if she will make a statement.

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. G. Johnson to Ms. Clare Short, dated 28 October 1992:

As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, it is the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the Agency's Chief Executive to answer parliamentary questions about relevant operational matters. In his absence, I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Employment about whether claimants or their representatives are entitled to a copy of the UB672 form completed by ES officials when there are doubts about an unemployed person's availability for work or whether they are actively seeking work.

Form UB672 is an internal document used by the Employment Service when acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, to refer a claim for benefit to the independent adjudication authorities for a decision on entitlement. As a matter of policy the form is not supplied to a claimant at that stage. If however the claim is disallowed and the claimant appeals against the adjudication officer's decision, a copy of the form would be included in the appeal papers copied to the claimant by the Appeals Tribunal.

As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

Employment Service

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what progress the employment service has made in meeting the targets outlined in the 1992–93 agency agreement; and if she will show for the latest possible date the (a) total unemployed job placings and variance from target, (b) long-term unemployed job placings and variance from target, (c) people with disabilities job placings and variance from target, (d) inner-city job placings and variance from target, (e) number of claims not pursued following initial contact and variance from profiled annual reference level, (f) number of claimants moved from unemployment benefit to another benefit and variance from annual reference level and (g) number of people who withdrew their claim to benefit after contact with fraud investigators and variance from annual reference level.

I am informed by the chief executive of the Employment Service that in the period April to June 1992, the Employment Service placed a total of 350,000 unemployed people into jobs, against an annual target of 1.425 million. 24.6 per cent. of these placings were long-term claimants, 2.8 per cent. were people with disabilities and 33 per cent. were unemployed people in inner cities against annual targets of 19 per cent., 2.5 per cent. and 36 per cent. respectively. Over the same period new claims not pursued following initial contact were at the annual target level of 10 per cent. The number of people who withdrew their claim to benefit after contact with fraud investigators was 17,100 against an annual target of 58,000. The number of claimants helped to move from unemployment benefits to a more appropriate benefit is not a reference level under the annual performance agreement for 1992–93.

Unemployment

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what action she is taking to reduce long-term unemployment.

We have in place a wider than ever range of measures to help unemployed people find jobs as quickly as possible. We are firmly committed to helping long-term unemployed people in particular get back to work, and offer special help for them, including help with finding a job through job clubs and the job interview guarantee, training, and opportunities to undertake temporary work of benefit to the local community.

State Redundancy Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will provide total spending figures from the state redundancy fund for 1990–91 and 1991–92.

The redundancy fund was merged with the national insurance fund in February 1991. Total spending under the redundancy and insolvency provisions of the employment protection legislation amounted to £144 million in 1990–91 and £283 million in 1991–92.

Health

Health Service Mergers

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received regarding proposals to merge (a) Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale health authority and Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley health authority and (b) Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale community health council and Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley community health council; and if she will make a statement.

I have received no such representations. Any merger proposals would be the subject of public consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are laid down by her Department regarding the necessary consultation procedures involved in (a) mergers of community health councils and (b) mergers of health authorities; and if she will make a statement.

My hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Mr. Dorrell) wrote to regional chairmen last year stating that where district health authorities are being merged regions should not consider merging community health councils (CHCs) without first consulting them and other local community interests. Regions should consider whether maintaining the existing CHCs will help promote better accountability, local sensitivity and local responsiveness and so outweigh any advantages to be gained from merging. Although the region's decision will be final, it is expected to take the CHC's views fully into account.Where the merger of district health authorities is envisaged, there is agreement that regional health authorities consult, first informally, then if the Secretary of State agrees, formally with all relevant parties. Formal consultation normally runs for about three months, and should provide opportunities for public debate.

Disabled People

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will amend community care proposals to allow local authorities to make direct payments to disabled people.

There are no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations he has received from local authorities seeking power to make direct payments to disabled people.

No such representations have recently been received.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring procedures have been established by her Department to check on the application of section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, by local authority social services departments.

Prime responsibility for monitoring the implementation of the Act rests with local authorities themselves, to ensure that their policies are compatible with their legal obligations. The Department receives regular returns on certain services provided by local authorities under the Act, as well as information from other sources including the social services inspectorate. We follow up specific cases, referred to the Department, where it is alleged that a local authority is in breach of its statutory duties.

Tobacco Advertising

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will now publish her Department's report on the effect of advertising on tobacco consumption; and if she will make a statement.

The report by the Department of Health's economics and operational research division is being published today as a discussion document. Copies are available in the Vote Office.The report raises a good many questions which interested parties will want to consider. I am therefore inviting comments on the methodology, analysis and content of the report over the next three months. We shall take all comments into account as we work towards the tough targets for reducing smoking set out in the White Paper "The Health of the Nation".

Information Technology

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the actual and budgeted annual expenditure, by region, on the training of NHS staff in the use of information technology systems in each year since 1989.

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many skilled computer staff are employed in each national health service region and in total by the NHS.

Detailed information as requested is not held centrally. Based on sample information of staff receiving automatic data processing allowances, we estimate that there was a total of 3,800 skilled computer staff directly employed in the NHS in Great Britain at June 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to monitor the number of NHS staff receiving information technology training each year.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health which pilot projects for hospital information support systems have now been evaluated; and if she will make a statement.

All hospital information support systems (HISS) projects include a project evaluation framework as part of the standard project management processes. Evaluations are conducted at appropriate project stages. These regular evaluations include a general review of timeliness and budgetary compliance, as well as relevant detailed assessment of, for example, quality and completeness of data capture, adequacy of procedures and training, and system outputs.No end of project evaluation has as yet been possible, since all sites are still, as planned, in the implementation phase. Mid-stage assessments have been conducted, and have in some instances resulted in changes in scope, phasing or resourcing of the project. The end of implementation evaluations will include assessment of timescales, total costs, benefits already realised, further potential benefits, organisational impact, technical adequacy and lessons learned.The economics and operational research (EOR) division of the Department of Health is considering some of the work already conducted on evaluation by the three original HISS projects at Darlington memorial hospital, Greenwich district hospital and Nottingham city hospital NHS Trust, with a view to developing national guidance material on project evaluation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to monitor the expenditure on computer hardware and software and related management salaries and consultancy fees for trust hospitals.

The National Health Service Management Executive does not intend to monitor expenditure on computer hardware and software or associated consultancy fees separately from the general arrangements for accounting for capital expenditure in trusts. Trusts determine their own capital investment strategies but have to make business cases to support them which are reviewed by the NHS Management Executive to ensure they are appropriate and affordable by purchasers. Trusts account for actual capital expenditure in their annual accounts which are subject to audit and published. I am satisfied that these arrangements provide a suitable framework for ensuring that all capital investment by trusts is properly controlled.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total expenditure on consultancy fees in connection with the purchase of information technology systems by each regional health authority in each year since 1987–88.

The information requested is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of whether the purchasing procedures and audit mechanisms operating in the NHS are adequate to ensure the efficient and effective use of NHS funds for the purpose of purchasing and developing information technology systems; and if she will make a statement.

All national health service bodies have standing orders and standing financial orders to follow to ensure that they comply with best practice in public procurement policies. To ensure better use of national health service resources for purchasing and developing information technology systems, the existing advice on procurement has been reviewed and updated by NHS Supplies. This thorough assessment has resulted in the development and introduction of new guidelines, procurement of information systems effectively (POISE). These will be issued to those responsible within the NHS for IT procurement and will help hospitals, trusts, units and health authorities match systems accurately to their individual needs in a cost-effective manner. These guidelines, in addition to others encompassing information management and technology, will be launched later this year and will improve further the NHS's utilisation of information technology.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the costs of hardware, software, and consultancy fees for the CARE information system purchased by Guy's hospital in London.

This information is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Peter Griffiths, the chief executive of the Guy's and Lewisham NHS Trust.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the costs of hardware, software and consultancy fees for the GIANT information system purchased by Guy's hospital in London.

This information is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Peter Griffiths, the chief executive of the Guy's and Lewisham NHS Trust.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the contracts for the supply of information technology systems to the NHS of a value of more than £2 million in each year since 1987–88 by region, title of the project and supplier.

The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on progress made towards the implementation of the targets for the development of information systems in the NHS established in the document, "Framework for Information Systems: The Next Steps".

Good progress has been made in taking forward the wide ranging objectives set out in "Framework for Information Systems: The Next Steps".

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the anticipated expenditure on computer hardware and software in each NHS region, in each of the years from 1992–93 to 1994–95.

Health authorities are required to produce annual accounts which are submitted to the Department. These accounts do not incorporate details of anticipated expenditure.The monitoring of health authorities' anticipated expenditure is restricted to broad measures, in which computer expenditure is not separately identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health information support systems projects have been initiated; and what is the cost of each project to date.

A large number of hospital sites have been implementing computer systems that provide integrated facilities. It is estimated that some 40 sites have either procured, or are in the process of procuring health information support systems (HISS) solutions. In addition, there are perhaps another 60 or so sites who have already achieved a degree of integration amongst their operational systems. Often, this reflects regional initiatives, and the situation is therefore localised rather than evenly spread.

Information as to the cost of HISS within the national health service at large is not held centrally. Under EC legislation, however, there is a requirement for all purchases made under competitive tendering rules to be published in the Official Journal of the European Community within 48 days of contract award.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions since 1985 the purchase of information technology systems by regional and district health authorities and hospital trusts has been the subject of audit inquiries by the district audit service, the National Audit Office or other auditors appointed by Her Majesty's Government or regional or district health authorities for that specific purpose; and whether she will list (a) those published and (b) those yet to be published.

Auditors selectively review expenditure, including that on information technology, as part of their annual certification process. It is therefore not possible to provide figures on the number of inquiries carried out. Where inquiries by statutory auditors have led to formal reports, these have been recorded centrally. Reports in which procurement of information technology was identified as a main criticism were issued in respect of the following health authorities:

North Western RHA
Tunbridge Wells HA
Wessex RHA
South Western RHA
The former Leeds Eastern HA

The list refers to statutory audit reports issued in respect of financial years 1985–86 to 1991–92. In some cases, the auditor issued more than one report on the same authority. Reports by internal auditors are excluded.The National Audit Office published a report entitled "Managing Computer Projects in the National Health Services" in November 1990. This included a review of procurement arrangements in a sample of health authorities.We do not have comprehensive information on matters under examination by statutory auditors.

Wessex Regional Health Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she will make a statement on the report of the district audit service on the purchase of the regional information systems plan by the Wessex regional health authority.

The district audit service undertook an investigation of the regional information systems plan at the request of Wessex regional health authority. Its report acknowledged that the regional health authority has taken both comprehensive steps to deal with the consequences of past decisions and remedial actions to improve its budgetary, financial and management arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the regional health authorities and hospital trusts which have transferred operational responsibility for, information technology systems to private or arm's-length companies.

Five regional health authorities have wholly transferred the operational responsibility for their information technology systems to private or arm's-length companies. They are Northern, Yorkshire, Trent, East Anglian and Wessex. Six regions—North East Thames, South East Thames, South West Thames, South Western, Oxford and North Western have set up separate NHS trading arms to operate their information technology systems. North West Thames, West Midlands and Mersey regions have transferred only part of their operational responsibility to private companies. We do not hold information centrally for NHS hospital trusts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS staff in each year have been trained in the use of information technology systems since the launch of the NHS training authority strategy in 1989.

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures she has taken to remedy the low level of existing information technology skills and knowledge, especially among senior managers in the NHS, which was identified by the National Audit Office in 1990; and if she will make a statement on the level of such skills and knowledge amongst NHS staff.

There are a number of measures currently being taken to address the IT training and awareness needs of national health service senior managers. One example is the information management and technology for managers programme. This has been developed and is now being delivered by the Institute of Health Service Management, the NHS training directorate and the information management group of the management executive, working closely with NHS staff at all levels. The programme is successfully reaching chief executives, general managers and chairs through briefing events, focused learning sets and training courses.Another example is the development and dissemination of NHS specific computer-assisted learning (CAL) packages designed to equip managerial and clinical staff with knowledge and skills in information management and systems.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to publish the information strategy for the NHS; how much it will cost to implement; and what additional funds will be made available to the NHS to cover the cost of implementation.

The information management and technology strategy for the national health service will be published very soon and follows an extensive period of consultation both within the NHS and with suppliers. The implementation of the strategy will be a local responsibility. A major thrust of the strategy will be to ensure that maximum benefit is gained from existing levels of local investment in information management and technology. The availability of any additional funds to support priority areas is dependent upon the outcome of PES negotiations with Treasury.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether she will list those contracts associated with the Wessex regional health authority/regional information systems plan project which have been identified by the district auditor as having been associated with overcharging, having exploited weaknesses in the management of the Wessex regional health authority, or having undertaken work under contracts which were possibly unlawful or not validly authorised;

(2) how much was the annual expenditure on the Wessex regional health authority/regional information systems plan project in each of the years from 1985–86 to 1991–92.

The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Sir Robin Buchanan, the Wessex regional health authority chairman for details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she is satisfied that Wessex regional health authority has taken all necessary steps to recover funds from all companies which undertook work on the regional information systems plan project and have been identified by the district auditor as having been associated with overcharging, having exploited weaknesses in the management of the Wessex regional health authority, or having undertaken work under contracts which were possibly unlawful and not validly authorised; and if she will make a statement.

I understand that Wessex regional health authority has already concluded an agreement with AT&T (Istel) following legal action and subsequent negotiations. Legal action is under way in respect of the WIS contracts. The authority's legal advisers are examining all relevant material to decide whether further steps should be taken.

Islington And Camden Health Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she proposes to announce the new health authority for Islington and Camden; and who will be the new members of it.

The proposed merger of Bloomsbury and Islington health authority and Hampstead health authority is the subject of a public consultation exercise which ends on 30 November. The Secretary of State will consider the results of this exercise before taking any decision on the proposal. The appointment of a chairman of any new authority is a matter for the Secretary of State; non-executive members of a district health authority are appointed by the appropriate regional health authority.

Unregistered Children's Establishments

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her estimate of (a) the current number of unregistered children's establishments and (b) the number of children placed in such establishments.

Information on the number of children's homes still to be registered has been collected as part of the Children Act monitoring survey, the results of which are due to be the subject of a report to Parliament in the new year. Some information on the numbers of children placed by local authorities in homes which fall to be registered has now been collected and will be available in time for inclusion in the report to Parliament. Information on the number of children in unregistered establishments is not collected centrally.

Tomlinson Inquiry

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the total cost of the Tomlinson inquiry into London's health needs; and what fee has been paid to Sir Bernard Tomlinson and other members of the inquiry.

The direct cost of the inquiry by Sir Bernard Tomlinson into London's health services, medical education and research will amount to about £250,000. Within that sum, fees totalling £23,660 will have been paid to Sir Bernard Tomlinson—equivalent to the remunera-tion of a regional health authority chairman—and fees totalling £8,750 to the team of advisers who have assisted him.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health who she plans to consult over the Tomlinson report's proposal to close St. Bartholomew's hospital.

There will be wide consultation on any proposal for the closure of a hospital site arising from Sir Bernard Tomlinson's report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what directions she has given to the Tomlinson implementation team regarding ring fencing of moneys saved from hospital closures to community care.

None. I have not yet constituted the London implementation group.

Hospice Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a table showing the value in cash and percentage terms of the contributions of all NHS purchasing authorities towards the revenue costs of hospice services in 1991–92 and in the current financial year; and if she will make a statement.

[holding answer 27 October 1992]: Information is not available in the form requested. The table shows the amounts of central funds allocated to regional health authorities in 1991–92 and 1992–93 for the specific purpose of enabling purchasing authorities to increase their contributions to the revenue costs of hospices for adult patients run by voluntary organisations. Additional sums of £3.2 million in 1991–92 and £5.5 million in 1992–93 were allocated to regional health authorities as part of a trial scheme to enable hospices to obtain drugs for their in-patients free of charge.Purchasing authorities also contribute to the revenue costs of hospices from their main allocations. For 1991–92, it is estimated that combined Department of Health and NHS funds met 41 per cent. of the revenue costs of adult hospices. We remain committed to reaching a position where the value of health authorities' contributions to hospices' agreed revenue costs matches that of voluntary giving.

Regional Health Authority	Allocation 1991–92 £ million	Allocation 1992–93 £ million
Northern	1.124	2.052
Yorkshire	1.276	2.409
Trent	1.603	3.109
East Anglian	0.672	1.491
North West Thames	1.263	2.094
North East Thames	1.478	2.332
South East Thames	1.395	2.582
South West Thames	1.102	2.046
Wessex	0.979	2.157
Oxford	0.774	1.462
South Western	1.128	2.493
West Midlands	1.798	3.353
Mersey	0.890	1.551

Regional Health Authority	Allocation 1991–92 £ million	Allocation 1992–93 £ million
North Western	1.478	2.592
Total	16.960	31.723

Value of child support¹ for each child in standard rate tax—paying families expressed at April 1992²
Prices (£)
Date³	Children under age 11			Children aged 11 to 15			Children aged 16 and over
	1st child	2nd child	3rd child	1st child	2nd child	3rd child	1st child	2nd child	3rd child
April 1962	7.73	10.51	11.34	9.58	12.47	13.19	11.54	14.33	15.15
April 1963	8.69	11.41	12.22	10.50	13.43	14.04	12.42	15.25	16.04
April 1964	8.51	11.19	11.97	10.29	13.16	13.75	12.17	14.94	15.64
April 1965	8.53	11.16	11.72	10.41	12.94	13.60	12.28	14.82	15.48
April 1966	8.24	10.77	11.31	10.05	12.49	13.13	11.86	14.31	14.94
April 1967	7.94	10.46	10.78	9.76	12.13	12.74	11.51	13.89	14.51
April 1968	7.65	9.59	10.18	9.34	11.27	11.78	11.02	12.88	13.46
April 1969	7.26	9.49	10.04	8.85	11.09	11.64	10.45	12.68	13.16
April 1970	6.87	8.99	9.51	8.38	10.49	11.02	9.90	12.00	12.46
April 1971	8.01	10.15	10.63	9.25	11.45	11.94	10.55	12.70	13.18
April 1972	7.53	9.54	10.00	8.70	10.77	11.23	9.93	11.94	12.40
April 1973	6.83	8.56	8.98	8.08	9.75	10.17	9.09	10.76	11.17
April 1974	7.84	9.29	9.65	9.03	10.38	10.78	10.01	11.36	11.76
April 1975	6.87	9.50	9.50	7.84	10.48	10.48	8.70	11.37	11.37
April 1976	7.21	9.45	9.45	8.03	10.27	10.27	8.77	10.99	10.99
April 1977	6.92	7.93	7.93	7.62	8.62	8.62	8.23	9.20	9.20
April 1978	8.25	8.25	8.25	8.90	8.90	8.90	9.43	9.43	9.43
April 1979	10.23	10.23	10.23	10.23	10.23	10.23	10.23	10.23	10.23
November 1980	9.49	9.49	9.49	9.49	9.49	9.49	9.49	9.49	9.49
November 1981	9.36	9.36	9.36	9.36	9.36	9.36	9.36	9.36	9.36
November 1982	9.82	9.82	9.82	9.82	9.82	9.82	9.82	9.82	9.82
November 1983	10.41	10.41	10.41	10.41	10.41	10.41	10.41	10.41	10.41
November 1984	10.45	10.45	10.45	10.45	10.45	10.45	10.45	10.45	10.45
November 1985	10.13	10.13	10.13	10.13	10.13	10.13	10.13	10.13	10.13
July 1986	10.10	10.10	10.10	10.10	10.10	10.10	10.10	10.10	10.10
April 1987	9.89	9.89	9.89	9.89	9.89	9.89	9.89	9.89	9.89
April 1988	9.51	9.51	9.51	9.51	9.51	9.51	9.51	9.51	9.51
April 1989	8.80	8.80	8.80	8.80	8.80	8.80	8.80	8.80	8.80
April 1990	8.04	8.04	8.04	8.04	8.04	8.04	8.04	8.04	8.04
April 1991	8.60	7.56	7.56	8.60	7.56	7.56	8.60	7.56	7.56
October 1991	9.50	7.71	7.71	9.50	7.71	7.71	9.50	7.71	7.71
April 1992	9.65	7.80	7.80	9.65	7.80	7.80	9.65	7.80	7.80
¹ The combined value of child tax allowance after clawback and family allowance/child benefit.
² Based on the movement in the general index of retail prices at April 1992.
³ Child tax allowance ceased after the 1978.79 tax year and uprating dates are shown from 1979 onwards.
⁴ And subsequent children.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the organisations and individuals who responded to the Government's proposals for the child support regulations.

The list is as follows:

APACS
Association of Magisterial Officers
Association of Metropolitan Authorities
Bar of Northern Ireland
Barnardos
Belfast Law Centre
Bolton Magistrates' Court
Borders Regional Council
British Bankers Association
The Building Societies Association
Cardiff Gypsy Site Group
Catholic Family Care Society
CBI

Social Security

Child Support

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the value of child support for each child in a standard rate tax paying family, expressed in 1992–93 prices, for each year from 1962 to 1992–93.

The information requested is in the table. While child benefit helps all families with children, there is a comprehensive range of other social security benefits which can provide additional help for some families according to their circumstances.

CBI—Northern Ireland
C Croydon
Chessington Computer Centre
Child Care
Child Poverty Action Group
The Children's Society
Citizen's Advice Bureau
Citizen's Advice Scotland
City of Manchester Welfare Rights Unit
Commission for Racial Equality
The Committee of Scottish Clearing Banks
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
Council on Tribunals P T Dawes
Department of Economic Development—Netherleigh Northern Ireland
DSS—Benefits Agency, Five Ways Complex
DSS—Benefits Agency, Newbury Office
DSS—Benefits Agency, South Gwent and Islwyn District
DSS—Clyde Valley District Office

DSS—Eston Local Office
DSS—Highlands and Islands District Office
DSS—North Tees District
DSS—Nottingham
DSS—West Notts District Office
Dudley Magistrates' Court
Earl Russell
Faculty of Advocates
Families Need Fathers
Family Law Bar Association
The Forum of Private Business
Gillian Cumberlidge—LRO—South Derbyshire District Gingerbread
Greater Manchester Probation Service
D Green—Solicitor
Hammersmith and Fulham Council for Racial Equality
P Hancock—Benefits Agency, Dudley, West Midlands Justices Clerks Society
The Law Society
The Law Society of Northern Ireland
Law Society of Scotland
Leicester City Council
Lincolnshire Magistrates' Court Committee
The Lord President of the Courts of Session
The Magistrates' Association
MENCAP
NACAB
NaCOPF
National Council of Women of Great Britain
Northern Ireland Resident Magistrates' Association
Northern Ireland Solicitors Family Law Association
Northumbria Probation Service
Norwich City Council
NSPCC
Office of the Master for the Enforcement of Judgements —Northern Ireland
Payroll Alliance
Peterborough Software
The President of the Social Security and Medical Appeal Tribunals—Northern Ireland
The Principal Registry of the Family Division Relate
Relate—Northern Ireland
RSSPCC
Scottish Association of Family Conciliation Services
Scottish Child Law Centre
Scottish Council for Single Parents
Scottish Consumer Council
Scottish Women's Aid
A. M. Shelley
Single Parent Action Network
P. Small
Social Security Advisory Committee
Social Security Commissioners—Northern Ireland
South Manchester Law Centre
Dr. D. Spiegelhalter
J. Spragg
Strathclyde Regional Council
T. J. Sullivan
R. P. Tinsdell
TUC
TUS
University of Leicester—Faculty of Law
Wages for Housework Campaign
Women's Aid Federation
Women's National Commission
A. Yates

Mortgage Interest Payments

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest estimate of the likely expenditure in 1992–93 on the payment of mortgage interest for households in receipt of income support, the number of households receiving such assistance, and the average monthly payment per household.

The latest available information is contained in the Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiry for May 1991. The total amount was £949 million for 411,000 customers. The average weekly amount for those receiving full mortgage interest was £46.34, and for those receiving half mortgage interest (to which payments are restricted during the first 16 weeks of the claim for customers under age 60) was £35.61.

Incomes

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the number of persons and the percentage of the total population, who were living on incomes less than 60 per cent. of the national average, in (a) 1985, (b) 1990, (c) 1991 and (d) the current year, respectively, or in those years nearest to these dates where information is available.

Such information as is available is taken from the Households Below Average Income series. Households Below Average Incomes does not cover 1985 and, at present, only goes up to 1988–89. The available years closest to those requested are 1981, 1987 and 1988–89. The figures, both before and after housing costs, are in the table.

Number and percentage of people in the United Kingdom with less than 60 per cent, of average income.
	1981	1987	1988–89
Before housing costs
Number of people (millions)	10.6	14.6	16
Percentage of people	19	26	29
After housing costs
Number of people (millions)	11.9	16.2	16.8
Percentage of people	22	29	30

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the mean net disposable income for 1979 and for each of the two years 1988 and 1989, at April 1992 prices, of the richest and poorest 20 per cent. of households, based on the equivalised income data collected for the latest households below average income analysis, distinguishing between the mean and the median.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to her on 16 July 1992, Official Report, columns 946–47.As recommended in the Households Below Average Income stocktaking report, only the median is used as the average measure for subdivisions of the income distribution.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 13 July, Official Report, column 454, if he will list the factors which prevent the publication of 1990–91 data from the households below average income analysis before mid-1993; and how much delay is accounted for by each factor.

1991 Family Expenditure Survey data is received by the Department in a form suitable for HBAI data preparation in October 1992. Some four to five months are then needed to set up consistent data files and a further four to five months to produce accurate and robust results, tables and analysis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how the full value of free and subsidised school meals affects calculations of the mean, and the median, net disposable income of the poorest 20 per cent. of (i) all households and (ii) households with children in each of the single years 1979 and 1989., using the information collected in the latest housholds below average income stocking report at April 1992 prices.

As recommended in the Households Below Average Income stocktaking report only the median is used to represent subdivisions of the income distribution and 1988 and 1989 are always combined. For part (i) of the question I therefore refer the hon. Member to my reply to her on 16 July 1992, Official Report, columns 947–48. The table answers part (ii) of the question:

Average equivalised income at April 1992 prices for the bottom 20 per cent, of individuals in households of families with children
	1979 £	1988–89 £
Before housing costs:
Excluding free school meals	96	96
Including free school meals	99	98
After housing costs:
Excluding free school meals	78	74
Including free school meals	82	76

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was, for each type of household En the Family Expenditure Survey, the average disposable income at April 1992 prices, including the value of free and subsidised school meals, of the poorest 10 per cent. and poorest 20 per cent. of households, equivalised for household size and composition, after taking account of housing costs, for each of the two years 1988 and 1989.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to her on 16 July 1992, Official Report, columns 947–48.

Disability

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what information he can give about trends in the levels of disposable income of the 6 million people with disabilities, taking account of the latest households below average income stocktaking report.

The latest and most reliable information about the incomes of people with disabilities is contained in the reports of the OPCS surveys of disabled people carried out between 1985 and 1988, copies of which are in the library.The Family Expenditure Survey, the principal data source for Households Below Average Income, does not record whether an individual has a disability.

Unemployment

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has for the number of persons seeking employment and not entitled to unemployment benefits in each month during 1990–91 and 1991–92.

The table shows the Employment Department's seasonally adjusted Great Britain unemployment figures for each month of the financial years 1990–91 and 1991–92, together with the numbers of unemployed claimants for each quarter receiving neither unemployment benefit nor income support.

Month	Unemployed Persons Thousands (Seasonally Adjusted)	Unemployed Claimants receiving neither Unemployment Benefit nor Income Support Thousands (See note)
1990/91
April	1,498	—
May	1,503	220
June	1,514	—
July	1,527	—
August	1,556	253
September	1,585	—
October	1,628	—
November	1,681	246
December	1,756	—
January	1,796	—
February	1,888	295
March	1,990	—
1991/92
April	2,067	—
May	2,133	280
June	2,193	—
July	2,262	—
August	2,321	302
September	2,356	—
October	2,375	—
November	2,415	301
December	2,448	—
January	2,503	—
February	2,541	328
March	2,548	—

Note:

Source is the Quarterly Analysis of Unemployed Claimants.

The figures include some persons who had claimed benefit but whose entitlement had not been established on the day of the count.

No details are available of the numbers of job seekers who do not register unemployed, or of their entitlement to unemployment benefit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total numbers of (a) unemployed job seekers eligible to claim unemployment benefit and (b) persons seeking employment in each year since 1979–80.

The table shows the Employment Department's seasonally adjusted GB unemployment figures for each of the financial years from 1979 to 1991 together with the average numbers of persons receiving unemployment benefit:

Financial year	Recipients of unemployment benefit Thousands¹	Unemployed persons (seasonally adjusted) Thousands
1979–80	480	1,019
1980–81	858	1,501
1981–82	²	2,210
1982–83	987	2,518
1983–84	940	2,715
1984–85	²	2,840
1985–86	²	2,935
1986–87	923	2,950
1987–88	733	2,555
1988–89	540	2,030
1989–90	329	1,599
1990–91	358	1,660

¹ Source: Quarterly analysis of unemployed claimants.

² Data for more than one quarter not available due to industrial action in these years.

No details are available of the numbers of job seekers who do not register unemployed or whether they are eligible for unemployment benefit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what were the administrative costs for paying out national insurance unemployment benefits for each year since 1987–88;(2) what were the administrative costs for paying out social security benefits to unemployed families during each year since 1987–88.

Details of the administrative costs of social security benefits, of which unemployed families may be in receipt are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.The administrative costs of paying unemployment benefit for the years 1987–88 to 1990–91, the latest year for which figures are available, are as follows:

	£ million
1987–88	166
1988–89	172
1989–90	176
1990–91	182

Disability Allowances

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if applications for mobility allowance and attendance allowance, preceding the introduction of disability living allowance, are dealt with under legislation applicable at the time of application.

The administration of disability benefits is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. David Hinchliffe, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking if applications for Mobility Allowance (MobA) and Attendance Allowance (AA), preceding the introduction of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), are dealt with under legislation applicable at the time of application.

I can confirm that all such claims made before 16 March 1992 were dealt with under the legislation appropriate to those benefits. Claims made on or after 16 March 1992 have been dealt with under the same legislation but using the new adjudication structure for DLA. All claims outstanding at 6 April 1992, regardless of when they were received, were dealt with under the new adjudication provisions, although the MobA and AA criteria apply.

I hope this reply will be of help to you. A copy of this letter will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many applications were refused for (a) attendance allowance, (b) mobility allowance and (c) disability living allowance in 1992, to 30 September;(2) how many outstanding

(a) applications, (b) reviews and (c) appeals were ongoing for attendance allowance on 1 April;

(3) how many outstanding (a) applications, (b) reviews and (c) appeals were ongoing for mobility allowance on 1 April;

(4) how many persons were employed dealing with (a) disability living allowance, (b) attendance allowance and (c) mobility allowance on 1 October;

(5) how many applicants for (a) attendance allowance, (b) mobility allowance and (c) disability living allowance have not received payment for a successful claim six months after their application, from 1 October 1991 to 1 October 1992;

(6) how many persons were employed dealing with (a) disability living allowance, (b) attendance allowance and (c) mobility allowance on 1 April;

(7) how many persons have claimed (a) attendance allowance, (b) mobility allowance and (c) disability living allowance in 1992 to 30 September;

(8) what was the training budget for personnel involved in (a) disability living allowance and (b) disability working allowance.

The administration of disability benefits is a matter for Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. David Hinchliffe, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance (AA) and Mobility Allowance (MOBA).

It will perhaps be helpful if I explain a little about the changes which took place with the onset of the new adjudication structure. With the introduction of the DLA from 6 April 1992, all outstanding AA claims, reviews and appeals in respect of people under 65 were transferred to DLA for processing under the new adjudication system introduced at the same time. This was because any award of AA spanning 6 April for people under 65 would automatically become the Care Component of DLA at that time.

Cases in respect of people aged 65 or over would not be subject to the change to DLA, but would continue to receive or apply for AA. The change in the adjudication system which applied to DLA was however also introduced for AA.

Outstanding AA and MOBA claims, reviews and appeals

The major transfer of work to DLA with its introduction in April involved in excess of 70,000 cases.

Of this total there were approximately 23,000 claims to MOBA which were transferred to the DLA Unit for processing under the new rules, with a further 11,500 or so reviews and appeals.

In the region of 20,000 claims to AA from people under the age of 65 were also transferred to the new adjudication structure along with just over 16,000 reviews and appeals.

In addition to those cases which fell to be considered as DLA, there remain those cases from people aged over 65, which are still administered as AA. At the beginning of April, just over 101,000 such claims were outstanding in the DBCs, with around 30,000 appeals and reviews at the Fylde AA Unit.

Number of claims made and refused

I should first explain that claims to DLA are administered by ten Disability Benefit Centres (DBCs) around the country and the DLA Unit at Fylde. Claim forms are specially designed to direct customers to return the claim to the DBC nearest their home address. The Centre is then responsible for the claim, obtaining any other relevant information and making the decision on entitlement.

In addition there are also applications from people currently getting either AA or MOBA but who may also be entitled to an additional amount under the DLA rules. These applications, known as "Top-up" claims, are dealt with at a special unit at Preston.

The following table shows the number of claims received and the number refused from February to September:

DLA

Top-up

Number of claims made

386,000

303,000

195,000

Refusals

88,000

86,000

23,000

Staffing and Training

As part of the preparation for the launch of DLA and the introduction of the revised adjudication structure for AA, there was a major comprehensive training programme in 1991–92. Manpower costs for this programme were in the region of £2 million. For Disability Working Allowance, the comparative figure was just below £200,000.

Although the Agency had expected the initial launch of the new benefits to generate large numbers of claims in the early months, the success of the advertising campaign and the widespread interest from disabled people meant that the numbers we received in total, exceeded our expectations in the early stages.

This sudden surge coupled with the extensive recruitment and training programme, for staff who were still adjusting to the new benefit processes, meant that a backlog of cases built up in the weeks following the launch.

In direct response to this situation, extra staff have been deployed, and overtime is being worked to a considerable extent. The staff in post numbers for all DLA and AA operations at the Fylde and DBC offices have therefore been increased from around 3,300 in April to over 4,600 at the beginning of October. These figures include all AA staff for dealing with claims reviews and appeals etc. from people over age 65 and work for MOBA and AA (below 65) which of course were subsumed within DLA from its introduction.

Delays in payment

You asked about the numbers of applicants who have not received payment for a successful claim six months after their application. This information is not available in the format you requested. I should explain, however, that payment authorization is despatched within 24 or 48 hours of the decision on the case being recorded.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what response his Department makes to a complaint from an applicant concerning failure to respond to an application for mobility allowance or disability living allowance, where the applicant gives notice that he or she will contact his or her hon. Member if no response is received within 28 days.

The administration of the disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Alun Michael dated 27 October 1992.

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the response made to a customer who gives notice that they will contact their honourable member if their claim for Disability Living Allowance (DLA,) or Mobility Allowance is not processed within 28 days.

I wrote to all MPs on 19 October explaining in detail the significant problems encountered with the launch of DLA and the measures introduced to deal with the backlog which resulted.

The extent and speed of the response to the launch of the new benefit has meant that we have been unable to process claims as quickly as we would have liked. In order to keep customers informed of any delays we automatically send notification of progress 6 weeks after the claim is registered. I understand that customers may sometimes feel that contacting their MP will help to speed up the processing of their claim and whilst we appreciate their frustration, it is our policy always to deal with claims as quickly as possible.

I regret that customers are experiencing delays and I am by no means complacent about the number of applications still to be processed. I am currently monitoring the situation closely and I am confident that we will have reached a steady state shortly for new claims and by the end of November for "top-up" claims.

I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is the number and percentage of requests for a medical examination by people claiming (a) disability living allowance and (b) attendance allowance since the introduction of the new self-assessment claiming system;(2) when he expects the target clearance rate for new disability living allowance claims to be met; what targets have been set for reviews of decisions on

(a) new disability living allowance, (b) outstanding mobility allowance or (c) attendance allowance; and when he expects each of these targets to be met;

(3) what was the total number and percentage of claims for disability living allowance where the adjudicating officer required further evidence; and what were the number and percentage requiring (a) an EMP report, (b) evidence other than an EMP report and (c) both;

(4) how many requests for reviews of disability living allowance have been received by his Department; and what number and percentage of these (a) resulted in an increase in the amount of benefit payable, (b) resulted in an original award being maintained, (c) resulted in a reduction in benefit and (d) remain outstanding;

(5) what is the number and percentage of (a) new claims and (b) top-up claims for disability living allowance to date that have either (i) resulted in an award or (ii) been rejected, broken down by whether (1) EMP evidence was provided and (2) the claim was decided solely on the statement of disability evidence provided by the claimant;

(6) how many (a) new and (b) top-up claims for the disability living allowance have been received by his Department to date; if he will provide a breakdown by (i) the number and percentage of these that resulted in an award, (ii) the number and percentage of these that were refused broken down by grounds for refusal and (iii) the number and percentage of these that are awaiting a decision; and if he will provide totals for the country as a whole and by each of the regions covered by the 10 disability benefit centres;

(7) what are the national average clearance times for (a) new and (b) top-up claims for disability living allowance for (i) each month since February and (ii) the period from the beginning of April to September inclusive; and if he will provide a breakdown by disability benefit centre.

The administration of disability benefit is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Richard to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about claims to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and requests for review of DLA and Attendance Allowance (AA) claims. I will deal with each of your points in turn:

Numbers and percentage of requests for a medical examination by people claiming DLA and AA

One of the primary aims of the introduction of DLA and AA for people aged 65 or over was to reduce the need for medical examinations. New self assessment procedures place more reliance on information provided by customers. The DLA and AA claim packs do not direct applicants to request an examination. The information you require as to the number of cases where people have opted to undergo a medical examination is therefore not available.

Claims adjudicated upon on receipt and those requiring further medical evidence

From February to the end of September almost 190,000 decisions on new claim were made, over 117,000 of the decisions made were awards with around 72,000 unsuccessful. A breakdown of the numbers of decisions based upon the information provided on the claim form and those requiring further medical evidence or opinion is at Annex 1.

Number of claims made, decided and outstanding

You asked for the number of new claims and "top-up" claims that have been made to DLA, together with the number and percentage of awards and refusals. A breakdown of claims received, decided and the numbers outstanding at each of the Disability Benefit Centres (DBCs) is given at Annex 2. I should explain that it is not possible to show the figures for "top-up" claims in the same format as new claims as they are processed at a special unit in Preston. Figures for "top-up" claims are shown at Annex 3.

National average clearance times

The Benefits Agency introduced a standard performance measure across benefits some time ago. This is expressed in terms of clearance targets days rather than average clearance times as was previously the case.

Annex 1
Claims adjudicated upon on receipt and those requiring further evidence
	Total number of decisions made	Decision based on claim pack	Reflected as a percentage of total	Decision based on medical examination	Reflected as a percentage of total	Decision based on other evidence	Reflected as a percentage of total
New claims
Awards	117,300	61,100	52	23,200	20	33,000	28
Rejections	72,500	29,600	41	14,600	20	28,400	39
Top-up claims
Awards	98,000	78,000	80	12,000	12	8,000	8
Rejections	21,100	15,600	74	2,200	10	3,300	16

Annex 2
Analysis of adjudication officer decisions on new claims (February to September)
Figures rounded to nearest hundred
	Total received	Total awards		Rejections				Total rejections		Total adjudication		Total cleared		Number outstanding
				Medical grounds		Lay grounds (1)
		Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage
Edinburgh	36,300	10,300	28	7,200	20	1,300	4	8,500	23	18,800	52	18,500	51	17,800	49
Newcastle	19,800	7,500	38	8,100	41	700	3	8,800	44	16,300	82	16,000	81	3,800	19
Leeds	34,900	16,700	48	8,600	25	1,400	4	10,000	29	26,700	77	26,900	77	8,000	23
Manchester	24,300	8,500	35	9,900	41	900	4	10,800	45	19,300	79	19,500	80	4,800	20
Bootle	26,400	11,100	42	6,000	23	900	3	6,900	26	18,000	68	17,700	67	8,800	33
Birmingham	46,000	17,000	37	7,400	16	1,400	3	8,800	19	25,800	56	25,200	55	20,800	45
Bristol	17,800	9,200	52	4,300	24	800	5	5,100	29	14,400	81	14,400	81	3,400	19
Cardiff	24,400	11,000	45	6,900	28	900	4	7,700	32	18,700	77	18,500	76	5,800	24
Wembley	36,100	18,000	50	7,400	21	1,800	5	9,200	26	27,300	76	26,800	74	9,200	26

Since the launch of DLA in February 1992 the performance to date has shown a 31 % clearance rate against the primary target of 30 days. The latest performance for the month of September also shows 31 % of claims cleared within 30 days. The table at Annex 4 shows the clearance times for each DBC between February and September inclusive for new DLA claims, but not those made under the special rules, for both the primary target (60% in 30 days) and secondary target (95% in 55 days). The clearance of "top-up" claims is shown at Annex 5.

The success of the advertising campaign and the policy initiatives surrounding the launch of the benefits, attracted a much larger number of applicants in the early stages than was expected. Backlogs of work arose as a result and this has undoubtedly affected our ability to meet the clearance targets which are intended to represent the on-going situation.

Significant inroads have now been made into these backlogs and whilst there will always be a certain number of cases in action at any one time, I would expect this to reduce to manageable proportions shortly.

Reviews of decisions on DLA, and outstanding MobA and AA.

You asked how many requests for review of DLA have been received, the outcomes of those determined, and the numbers still outstanding. Since the benefit's launch in February, just over 18,000 requests for review have been received, with less than 15,000, which represents approximately 80%, remaining outstanding at the end of September.

I should explain, however, that over 6,500 were received in September alone. These review requests relate to decisions on new DLA/AA and MobA claims and to requests for reviews of existing MobA and AA awards. The targets for clearance of all types of reviews are to clear 60% in 55 days and 95% in 75 days. For the continuing AA scheme, the comparable figures are 60% in 61 days and 95% in 81 days. Reliable information is not yet available about the outcome of applications for reviews. These targets are intended to represent the situation in stable running; currently much effort is being channelled into clearing these unadjudicated cases outstanding at April 1992. As I said in my letter of 19 October to all Members, these cases will be cleared by the end of December, and I would expect that clearance times of applications for reviews will improve thereafter.

All figures quoted are provisional and may therefore be subject to amendment.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

	Total received	Total awards		Rejections				Total rejections		Total adjudication officer decisions		Total cleared		Number outstanding
				Medical grounds		Lay grounds (1)
		Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage	Number	As a percentage
Sutton	31,400	14,400	46	7,900	25	1,600	5	9,400	30	23,800	76	23,800	76	7,600	24
All regions¹	297,400	123,700	42	73,800	25	11,500	4	85,300	29	209,000	70	207,300	70	90,100	30
Great Britain	303,400	126,100	42	74,300	24	11,900	4	86,200	28	212,000	70	213,800	70	89,700	30
¹ Figures differ from national due to business conducted at North Fylde.

Annex 3
Analysis of adjudication officer decisions on top-up claims(February to September)
	Figures rounded to nearest thousand
Total received	195,000
Total awards	98,000
as percentage	61
Total rejections¹	23,000
as percentage	12
Total AO decisions	121,000

Annex 4
Performance indicators for new claims by DBC (Percentage)
	Days	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	Overall
Edinburgh	30	99	96	42	14	9	10	12	22	19
	55	99	99	98	78	33	34	28	41	44
Newcastle	30	99	96	67	25	19	26	20	35	37
	55	99	99	99	87	56	50	48	63	69
Leeds	30	99	98	78	37	6	7	30	44	33
	55	99	99	99	90	42	55	64	66	66
Manchester	30	90	95	58	23	11	25	26	38	32
	55	99	99	99	88	54	52	53	60	62
Bootle	30	99	97	44	9	10	7	18	27	21
	55	99	99	99	76	31	28	52	52	51
Birmingham	30	99	98	69	29	12	17	19	21	25
	55	99	99	99	83	47	38	41	39	49
Bristol	30	99	97	75	38	17	6	11	32	31
	55	99	98	98	91	64	22	50	69	62
Cardiff	30	99	97	63	13	13	13	27	34	30
	55	99	99	99	82	62	44	56	60	63
Wembley	30	99	97	70	34	23	36	34	36	44
	55	99	98	98	85	65	66	63	63	73
Sutton	30	99	97	78	36	19	28	35	33	40
	55	99	98	99	92	57	57	58	59	66

Annex 5
Performance indicators for top-up claims conversion unit (percentage)
Days	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	Sept	Overall
55	99	99	95	55	14	6	6	15	21
70	99	99	98	92	43	17	12	22	35

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what were the average fees paid by his Department to doctors for (a) mobility allowance and (b) attendance allowance claims; what was the total amount spent by his Department on payment of such fees to doctors; and what were the numbers of cases involved in each of the previous three years;(2) how many doctors are currently employed by his Department for dealing with disability and attendance

	Figures rounded to nearest thousand
as percentage	62
Total cleared	137,000
as percentage	70
Number outstanding	58,000
as percentage	30
¹ These are almost all medical; 108 for other reasons.

Note:

No regional figures available since all conversion done at North Fylde.

allowance claims; and how many doctors were employed by his Department for dealing with mobility and attendance allowance claims in each of the previous three years;

(3) what is the average fee paid by his Department to doctors for an examination required by a claim for disability living allowance or attendance allowance; and in how many cases an examination has taken place and the total amount spent on such fees to date.

The use of doctors to examine claimants and the cost of gathering medical evidence for social security benefits 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 a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Mr. Bichard to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security concerning doctors employed by the Department who are dealing with claims for Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance (AA) and Mobility Allowance (MobA). I will answer each of your points in turn. Average fees paid to doctors for MobA and AA claims.

The average fees paid for combined MobA/AA examinations including an average for travelling expenses is as follows:

	Over 2.5 hours
1989	88
1990	81
1991	75

The total amount spent on fees in 1991–92 was £27 million. It is not possible to identify the specific administrative costs incurred in paying these fees. Similarly, the figures for the number of cases involved in each of the last three years are not readily available and could only be obtained at dispropor-tionate cost.

Average fees paid to doctors for examinations on DLA or AA claims.

The average fee paid for DLA/AA65 + examinations is £83 per 3.5 hours which includes an average for travelling expenses.

To date the total amount spent on such fees is £4 million and examinations have occurred in approximately 52,000 cases.

Number of doctors employed

There are currently 66 doctors employed by the Agency for DLA/AA65 + claims. The number of doctors employed for AA/MobA claims at the end of each of the previous three years is as follows:

	Number of limes subject covered in calls		Percentage of total subjects		¹ Number of calls abandoned
Month	Disability living allowance	Attendance allowance	Disability living allowance	Attendance allowance
February	49,431	8,249	66	11	37,943
March	55,230	7,247	68	9	11,474
April	57,455	20,983	52	19	11,370
May	33,133	16,159	45	22	10,438
June	45,917	20,350	45	20	11,019
July	30,233	10,979	44	16	11,551
August	25,010	9,065	44	16	9,290
September	23,460	8,880	40	15	8,793
¹ The number of abandoned calls are relevant to the whole service provided by the Benefit Enquiry Line.

I hope you find the reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what additional resources, excluding any redeployment of existing resources the Benefits Agency has at its disposal, have been made available to the Benefits Agency to enable it to clear the backlog of disability living allowance claims and reviews and any outstanding reviews and renewal claims for mobility allowance and attendance allowance.

	Number
1989–90	39
1990–91	39
1991–92	41

The reason that full-time Medical Officer requirements increased for DLA/AA65 + was partly due to the higher workload forecast compared to AA/MobA, and partly by the use of full-time Medical Officers instead of fee paid doctors. I should explain that this has resulted in a net saving of £865,000.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what number and percentage of all inquiries received by the benefits inquiry line related to disability living allowance and attendance allowance in each month since February; and how many calls were recorded but not able to get through on this line over the same period.

The administration of disability living allowance and attendance allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking what number and percentage of all enquiries received by the Benefits Enquiry Line related to Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance in each month since February; and how many calls were recorded but not able to get through on this line over the same period.

The information requested is shown below:

The administration of disability benefits is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking what additional resources are available to clear the backlog of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claims and reviews and any outstanding reviews and renewals claims for Mobility Allowance (MobA) and Attendance Allowance (AA).

The Agency launched DLA in February, with an extensive publicity campaign. As part of this campaign, we wrote to all existing MobA and AA beneficiaries, in the region of 1 million, explaining the changes and, where appropriate, inviting them to claim extra money under the new DLA rules. In the meantime other take up campaigns were being run outside the organisation to encourage claims.

We had expected the initial launch of the new benefit to generate large numbers of claims in the months surrounding the benefit's introduction, and we calculated that around 2,000 staff would be required to process the claims for DLA. However, whilst we had planned for some increase in applications, the success of the advertising campaign and the widespread interest from disabled people, attracted a much larger number of applications in the early stages than was expected. There was also a huge increase in the numbers of claims to AA during the same period.

This sudden surge coupled with extensive recruitment and training programmes of 2,000 staff who were still adjusting to the new benefit processes meant that a backlog of cases built up in the weeks following the introduction of DLA. The transfer of outstanding MobA and AA renewal claims, reviews and appeals from 6 April to a completely new adjudication structure, was in itself, a major exercise.

As a result, over 800 extra staff have been recruited and trained and are now in place dealing with DLA and AA. There has been extensive overtime working across the ten Disability Benefit Centres and the DLA Unit at Fylde. As I am only given the resources to cope with the forecast workload, and this has in total been exceeded, I have had to find these resources from elsewhere in the Agency.

In addition the backlog of cases has generated further enquiries from customers seeking advice and information about their claim. Extra staff have therefore been taken on to handle telephone enquiries received at the DLA Central Enquiry Handling Service at Fylde.

As a result of these and other measures, significant inroads have been made into the backlog of work. Of course, there will always be a certain number of cases in action at any one time, but I am now confident that this will shortly have reduced to manageable proportions.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims to date for the disability living allowance have been completed (a) with the assistance of telephone calls and (b) with the assistance of visits made by the forms completion service staff in the disability benefits centres.

The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many claims to date for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) have been completed (a) with the assistance of telephone calls and (b) with the assistance of visits made by the forms completion service staff in the Disability Benefit Centres.

Since the launch of the benefit on 3 February until 25 September 1992, nearly 43,000 claims were completed with the assistance of telephone calls and approximately 1,650 visits had been made by the Forms Completion Staff in the Disability Benefit Centres.

This information differs from that I provided in my letter to you of 13 July 1992.

I hope that you will find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will hold an inquiry into the extent to which the administrative delays experienced by applicants for mobility allowance, attendance allowance and disability living allowance are incompatible with the citizens charter; and if he will make a statement.

No. The chief executive of the Benefits Agency is responsible for the assessment of claims, reviewing entitlements to and arranging payments of social security benefits. He wrote to all hon. Members on 6 July and again on 19 October setting out the progress that has been made in this area by the agency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what additional capital resources have been made available to introduce disability living allowance.

The provision of capital resources for the Benefits Agency is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Mr. M. Bichard to Mr. David Hinchliffe, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking what additional capital resources have been made available to introduce Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

A total of £19m has been made available for the introduction of DLA. This sum takes account of expenditure on the purchase of computer equipment, telecom equipment, office machines and furnishings and the refurbishment or redevelopment of the ten locations throughout the country within which are housed the staff administering DLA.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

Agoraphobia

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what arrangements are made for those who suffer from agoraphobia to apply for sickness benefit provided they satisfy the benefit eligibility rules; and if he will make a statement.

The administration of sickness benefit is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Max Madden, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking what arrangements are made for those who suffer from agoraphobia to apply for sickness benefit providing they satisfy the benefit eligibility rules.

There are no specific arrangements for dealing with customers who are agoraphobic. Existing procedures allow for claims to Sickness Benefit to be dealt with through the post, although home visits can be made upon request. Every effort is made to make home visits to those customers who, for one reason or another, are unable to leave their homes. Any customer who is agoraphobic should receive a home visit from one of our staff if requested.

Customers who are agoraphobic normally need to complete a self certificate (form SCI) which can be obtained from Benefits Agency offices by post, or from their doctors' surgery. If they need to obtain a Doctors' statement, then they will need to arrange to see their Doctor in the normal way.

I should explain that it is the aim of the Agency to identify and respond, wherever possible, to its customers' needs. Our Customer Charter states that we want to make it easier for our customers to contact us, whether they choose to call in at one of our offices, phone or write. The Charter states that "Where it is necessary for you we can visit you at home".

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

Deaf Claimants

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what guidance has been issued, or is planned to be issued to the Benefits Agency in respect of provision of appropriate communication support/technical device to assist deaf and hard of hearing claimants attending local benefit offices.

The provision of service in local benefit offices for deaf and hard of hearing customers is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Keith Bradley, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security concerning guidance in respect of provision of appropriate communication support/technical devices to assist deaf and hard of hearing claimants attending local benefit offices.

The Agency is committed to an equal opportunities policy. For our customers with disabilities, this means that wherever possible we will ensure that their dealings with us should not be limited by reason of their disabilities. Training packages on customer care take account of awareness of the needs of disabled people.

We have set up an effective liaison with the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, and we are looking at a number of their services with a view to publicising them through our network of District Information Officers and Customer Service Managers in local benefit offices. For example, we hope staff will be able to make use of the RNID's Deaf Awareness Courses.

We are compiling a database of customer service initiatives, and this will be made available to all local offices. For example, some offices have sent staff on training courses to learn sign language. In one office nine members of staff have completed a 20 week course (two hours a week), and refresher meetings have been arranged. The scheme has been so successful that a further seven volunteers have come forward. The office has informed all local welfare groups and advice centres about the initiative. In another office, two volunteers have attended a local school for the deaf, while some offices have run their own training sessions about sign language.

The Manchester South District, which falls within your constituency, has made particular progress in this area; all the receptionists have attended night school classes in signing.

Other initiatives are being taken forward at a local level to improve service to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. For example, many offices—including those in the Manchester South District—have installed induction loop systems. This provides a link between the interviewer and the customer, and eliminates background noise. Most hearing aids can easily be switched over to the loop.

The Agency subscribes to the Sympathetic Hearing Scheme, and information packs have been distributed to all offices. Some offices have an electronic visual display unit which, sited in the reception area, has proved useful for getting messages over to the hard of hearing. Others use a portable terminal with a display screen and a memory facility for creating and storing messages.

We have issued a video for the deaf and hard of hearing giving information about benefits.

We are also interested in the Minicom system, although this is only available at present in a small number of offices, together with our freephone Benefit Enquiry Line service for disabled customers. The RNID advocate Super-tel, an advanced Minicom system. As a long term aim, we would like to be able to offer this facility at local offices, although clearly resources are a factor.

Research is currently under way into the service and information needs of disabled customers. The findings and recommendations will be fed into our overall equal opportunities strategy.

As the Agency's Customer Charter makes clear, we are committed to providing a service which is accessible for all our customers. We recognise that disabled people may have particular needs and we will continue to look for ways to make our service easier to use.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

Benefits, Newham

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the latest annual figures for the London borough of Newham for the number of recipients of income support, direct payments, social fund, child support and housing benefit; and what were the comparable figures for each of the past 10 years.

The administration of income support 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 a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Ron Leighton, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security, asking what were the latest annual figures for the London Borough of Newham for the number of recipients of Income Support, Direct Payments, Social Fund, Child Support and Housing Benefit; and what were the comparable figures for each of the past 10 years.

The complete range of information is not available except at a disproportionate cost. This is because statistics of a local nature are destroyed at regular intervals in accordance with standing instructions.

I have listed below the information available on each subject requested.

Housing Benefit

The administration of Housing Benefit is a matter for Local Authorities. The tabled information shows the number of cases in receipt of Housing Benefit in the London Borough of Newham. The data has been obtained from the Housing Benefit Management Information System. The figure for February 1990 includes 2,877 customers in receipt of a rate rebate which altered to Community Charge Benefit by February 1991.

Number of recipients of Housing Benefit

February 1990

February 1991

February 1992

32,000

28,193

30,139

Income Support

The figures quoted are for the areas covered by the Plaistow, Canning Town and Stratford offices, which make up the Benefits Agency's Newham District. It is not possible to provide a more detailed breakdown because the District boundary does not correspond with that of the Borough of Newham.

February 1991

February 1992

Recipients of income support

37,692

41,628

Direct payments made from benefit to third parties

3,116

5,132

Social Fund

Social Fund statistics relate to the number of applications made rather than the number of actual applicants.

March 1991

March 1992

Number of applications

1,156

2,282

Number of awards

709

1,235

Child Support

Child support statistics relate to the number of Income Support cases in which there may be a liability to child support rather than the actual numbers where child support is actually in payment.

February 1991	2,752
February 1992	3,225

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

Benefits Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what efficiency savings were made by the Benefits Agency during its first year of operations; and what target for savings has been set for the financial year 1992–93.

The achievement of efficiency savings in the Benefits Agency is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Mr. Richard to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the efficiency savings made by the Benefits Agency during its first year of operation; and what target for savings has been set for the financial year 1992–93.

The Benefits Agency made a total of £116m of efficiency savings in 91–92, mainly through the implementation of our computerisation programme. This, together with £80m carried forward from previous years, made a cumulative total of £196m compared with the target of £182m set for the Agency.

The Agency has been set a target of £53.7m for 92–93 which we expect to achieve, again, mainly through computerisation.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

Fraud

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how much his Department has saved from the investigation of fraud in the latest year for which figures are available; and what are the targeted savings for the next financial year;

(2) what is the number of whole time equivalent staff employed by his Department to detect and prosecute suspected fraud; and what is the cost of their employment;

(3) how many people were prosecuted for fraud by his Department in the latest year for which figures are available.

The investigation of social security fraud is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy' will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Donald Dewar, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the investigation of social security fraud.

You asked how much has been saved from the investigation of fraud and how many people were prosecuted for fraud in the latest year for which figures are available; what are the targeted savings for 1992–93; and what is the number and cost of whole time equivalent staff employed to detect and prosecute fraud.

In the year ending 31 March 1992 the estimated savings that accrued from the investigation of fraud totalled £427 million. During the same period there were 4,379 people prosecuted by the Agency which led to 3,916 convictions.

The number of staff employed to detect and prosecute fraud in the year ending 31 March 1992 was 2,873 at a cost of £62.5 million.

The targeted savings from the investigation of fraud for the year ending 31 March 1993 is £460 million.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

Terminal Illness

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what advice he has issued to doctors, required to identify persons under special rules payments, who have not advised their patients of a terminal condition, or duration of a terminal condition.

The administration of special rules payments is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. David Hinchliffe, dated 27 October 1992:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about advice given to doctors in connection with claims made under the special rules procedures.

As you know, the term "Special Rules" refers to the arrangements under which persons who are terminally ill can claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA). The procedures ensure that people with a limited life expectancy of six months or less are automatically awarded the highest rate of the care component of DLA or the higher rate of AA.

A claim for payment under the special rules procedures may be made by the sick or disabled person or by a third party on their behalf. The claim form requires the person applying for the benefit to indicate that the claim is being made under Special Rules procedures and to ask their local doctor to complete a form DS1500, which provides factual medical evidence in order to streamline the process and avoid delays in payment.

Doctors were advised of these arrangements when they were introduced. The DS1500 report is brief and easy to complete asking only three questions, it does not mention terminal illness nor does it ask for an opinion on prognosis. No specific advice is given to the doctor about what he should tell his patients about their illnesses. This must be a matter for his own judgment.

It is appreciated that this is an area which causes considerable distress to patients when they realise that Special Rules apply to people with a limited life expectancy. It is also difficult and distressing for the relatives and the doctor involved. The Benefits Agency in consultation with the Department has accordingly tried to make the claims process as easy and as sensitive as possible within the necessary legal constraints.

In order for Special Rules cases to be recognised at the outset and therefore processed quickly it is essential that the claim form identifies that the claim is made under these Rules and is accompanied by a DS1500 from the doctor treating the terminally ill person. If the claim has not come in as a Special Rules claim, or in some cases, a Special Rules claim is not accompanied by a form DS 1500, it is necessary to contact the doctor concerned to obtain confirmation as to whether or not the patient is terminally ill and whether they are claiming under Special Rules.

I can assure you that the aim of both medical and lay staff is to deal with these cases in a caring and prompt manner.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of the reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.

Volume 212: debated on Wednesday 28 October 1992

Written Answers To Questions

Home Department

Magistrates

Police Officers

Samuel Kulasingham And Prem Sivalingham

Probation Service

Court Reports

Prisoners (Towels)

Drug Prevention

Car Phones

Asylum

Security Service

Mr John Samuels

Charities

External Frontiers Convention

Worcester Kurdish Refugee Association

Hostels

Prisoners (Learning Difficulties)

Criminal Justice Act 1991

Combination Orders

Computer Projects

Car Theft

Ronnie Kray

Lord Chancellor's Department

Magistrates

Transport

Channel Tunnel

M20

British Transport Police

Railways, United States

Norbreck Parade, London

Marshalling Yards, Doncaster

Jubilee Line

Duchy Of Lancaster

Appointments

Environment

Leasehold Enfranchisement

Urban Regeneration Agency

Council Tax

Eco-Labelling Scheme

Transfer Of Undertakings And Acquired Rights

Computer Projects

Nuclear Waste

Disabled Facilities Grants

Education

Funding

Ozone Depletion

Grant-Maintained Schools

Appointments

A-Levels

Schools

Teachers Pensions Agency

Trade And Industry

Coal Imports

Coal Stocks

Electricity Privatisation

Divisional Papers

Coal Exports

Rechar

Nuclear Industry

Clean Coal Technology

Natural Gas

Electricity Costs

Boreholes

Sectoral Divisions

Halons

Electricity

Pit Closures

Power Stations

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Beef Premium

Agriculture Council

Bananas

Geopathie Stress

Cap Reforms

Eggs

Suckler Cows And Sheep

Milk