To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many ministers of religion have appealed against refusal to grant a visa to enter the United Kingdom in each year since 1987; and how many such appeals were (a) upheld and (b) refused.

The independent appellate authority does not keep a separate record of the occupation or professional qualifications of individual appellants, and therefore the information requested is not available.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether he will publish the external advice given to the Lord Chancellor on his proposed changes in legal aid.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the annual cost of magistrates courts in Wales.

The total cost of magistrates' courts in Wales for 1991–92, the latest date for which information is available, was £16,102,630. This comprises both central and local government provision, and both revenue and capital expenditure.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received concerning his new policies on legal aid; and if he will make a statement.

The Lord Chancellor and I have received a number of such representations.

I have received a number of representations since I announced these proposals. The extent to which these are published is a matter for the organizations and individuals concerned.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the total number of (a) Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, (b) Lords Justices of Appeal, (c) heads of division, (d) High Court judges, (e) circuit judges, (f) recorders, (g) assistant recorders, (h) stipendiary magistrates and (i) full time chairmen; what is the average age of each category; and how many are (i) men, (ii) women, (iii) barristers, (iv) solicitors, (v) black or Asian (vi) ex-independent school and (vii) ex-Oxford or Cambridge, for the latest year for which figures are available.

The available information (as at 1 January 1993) is set out in the table. The figures for black or Asian office holders are believed to be correct, but the formal recording of the ethnic background of applicants for judicial office began only on 1 October 1991, so such information may be incomplete. Aggregated information relating to the school and university background of judges is not readily available. However, the results of a recent special exercise in relation to the university background of the more senior judges are included in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps his Department has taken to implement the recommendations of "Tourism in the United Kingdom: Realising the Potential" as it applies to his Department's responsibilities; and if he will make a statement.

Those issues in "Tourism in the United Kingdom" which are the responsibility of my Department are being taken forward in collaboration with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The Tourism (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 which came into operation on 1 April 1992 provides enhanced powers for the board and places it in the pivotal role to promote, market and develop Northen Ireland as a tourist destination.A corporate plan for 1992 to 1995 published by the board develops in detail the guidelines outlined in the 1989–90 strategic review of tourism in Northern Ireland. The statutory public consultative mechanism for tourism is in operation and the principles of the citizens charter are applied to the board's activities. The board will publish in the spring a report on "sustainable tourism" and open public consultation on the subject of tourism and the environment.A new selective financial assistance scheme has been introduced for the tourism industry which can assist both the public and private sector to develop and market areas prioritised in the strategic plan which aims to create jobs in tourism and add to the economy taking into account the effects on the environment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what priority is being given to (a) upgrading the Larne to Belfast road and (b) submitting an application to the European Commission for funding improved transport links between Northern Ireland and Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland recognises the importance of the A8 Larne to Belfast road and a £2.5 million scheme to convert a further section of the road to dual carriageway has been included in the current five-year major road works programme.Under the Northern Ireland transportation programme 1989–93 the European Commission has made available some £120 million European regional development fund grant to support transport infrastructure projects in Northern Ireland. Of this amount £4·4 million is being allocated in respect of a number of projects at the port of Larne from which there are direct shipping services to Ardrossan, Cairnryan and Stranraer. In addition the port of Belfast has been allocated £0·75 million grant towards the provision of facilities to accommodate the Seacat service to Stranraer. Belfast city and Belfast international airports, which provide services to Scottish airports, have both received grant support under the transportation programme for a range of projects.It is expected that the present transportation programme will continue under the next round of funding post-1993, and will form an important part of the draft community support framework for Northern Ireland to be submitted to Brussels later this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a list of all legislation presently applicable in Great Britain which is intended to be applied to Northern Ireland.

I keep the legislative needs of Northern Ireland constantly under review in the light of developments in legislation for the rest of the United Kingdom. In the current parliamentary Session planned legislation reflecting those developments includes provision on the subject of access to health records, fire safety, the civil service, social security, environment and safety information, and criminal justice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many suckler cow premium application forms were processed during each month of 1992; and what was (a) the shortest period and (b) the longest period to elapse between receipt of the application and payment of the claim.

The number of applications processed in 1992 was as follows:

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 29 January, Official Report, column 896, what checks he will make on whether a fishing vessel applying for decommissioning is owned abroad; if vessels which have been registered overseas at any stop will be eligible for British decommissioning; what steps he intends to take to check where beneficial ownership lies; and if he will make a statement on the application of Community law to payments of decommissioning grants.

As I said in my answer of 29 January, the scheme will be confined to fishing vessels registered and licensed in this country. Checks will be made to ensure that this and all other conditions for payment under the scheme are satisfied. The rules of the scheme will be set out in a statutory instrument that the Government will shortly lay before Parliament. These will be in full accordance with Community law.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the market tests that have taken place in his Department since November 1991; whether the result was the maintenance of in-house provision or whether the service was contracted out; what was the name of the successful contractor where appropriate; and if he will make a statement.

Of the market tests completed since November 1991, only two have involved the comparison of bids from internal and external service providers. These were:

Headquarters reprographic services;

Headquarters photographic services.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the firms of consultants used by his Department as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 together with the total cost; and if he will make a statement.

The following firms of consultants have been used by the Department as part of its market testing programme since November 1991:

• Amtec Consulting;
• Coopers and Lybrand;
• Gould Consultants;
• Hoskyns Group;
• Leopold Joseph and Sons Ltd.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from persons in the Stoke-on-Trent, North constituency about eligibility for free EC beef and butter; and what response he has made.

My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has received a petition on behalf of the Bentilee Volunteers, Stoke-on-Trent seeking the inclusion of people in receipt of state pension, long-term invalidity benefit and unemployment benefit as eligible groups for the receipt of food under the EC surplus food scheme. The inclusion of such groups would reduce per capita allocations to 0·21 kg of butter and 0·18 kg of beef per year. To distribute such amounts would be impracticable and would be of little benefit.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will extend the rules for eligibility for persons to whom designated organisations may distribute free butter and beef to include pensioners.

Those pensioners in receipt of income support or family credit or disability working allowance or who are homeless and destitute or living in welfare hostels are eligible for free food. To extend the scheme to all pensioners would reduce per capita annual allocations in the United Kingdom to approximately 0·24 kg of butter and 0·20 kg of beef per year. To distribute such amounts would be impracticable and would be of little benefit.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what bio-chemical studies are undertaken of (a) beaches contaminated by oil spillages and (b) beaches adjacent to areas affected by oil spillages.

The need for studies following oil spillages is considered on a case by case basis.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) on what basis he assesses the toxicity to marine life of dispersants used in the marine environment to disperse oil from oil spillages;

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace) on 20 January at column 289. Full details of the toxicity testing procedures for oil dispersants are contained in the Fisheries Research Technical Report No. 39 which is available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the latest figure for the annual running cost of each of the service schools of music, broken down into principal categories of expenditure; what is the annual intake of each of the service schools of music; and what is the (a) civilian and (b) service teaching complement.

The net cash budget for the Royal Marines School of Music in 1992–93 is £6,693,000, of which £4,598,000 is for pay and allowances. This includes the cost of the 65 personnel of the Royal Marines band located at the school. The 1992 intake of trainees was 35 musicians and six buglers. The staff of the school comprises 47 personnel. Of these, 10 service personnel provide military training, and 23 service and 14 part-time civilian personnel carry out musical training.The forecast running costs for the Royal Military School of Music in 1992–93 are £1,730,000, which will be offset by estimated receipts of £192,000. Personnel costs account for £1,173,000. The annual intake capacity for initial musical training is 140, including 30 foreign and Commonwealth personnel. The teaching staff comprises six military and 11 civilian full-time instructors and 13 part-time civilian tutors.The RAF school of music is collocated with headquarters RAF music services and the two units' operating costs are not recorded separately. In the most recent year for which records are available (1991–92) the combined operating costs were £3,947,000. The 1992 intake of trainees was 14 new entrants, plus 19 for advanced training. The teaching complement comprises one officer, four non-commissioned officers and one civilian.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current established strength of each type of band in each of the services; and in each case what are the ranks of the band members, the number of each type of instrument established and the annual running cost.

The available information which is not necessarily in the same format for each service, is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many DROPS vehicles are still outstanding from the order placed by his Department with Leyland DAF company.

On 5 February 1993, 349 DROPS vehicles were still outstanding from the order placed with Leyland DAF.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of Leyland DAF company being placed in receivership on the British Army.

A preliminary assessment has been made but it is not possible to be definitive until the receiver has determined the company's future.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many 4-tonne trucks are outstanding from the order placed by the British Army with the Leyland DAF company.

On 5 February 1993, 2,080 4-tonne trucks were outstanding from the order placed with Leyland DAF.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the firms of consultants used by his Department as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 together with the total cost; and if he will make a statement.

It is open to individual management areas within the Department to employ consultants as necessary, within the limits of their budgets. Information on these contracts and their value is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken to assist the redeployment in civil research and development of scientists losing their jobs because of closure of defence research establishments.

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 my hon. Friend.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what changes he plans for the status and activities of the seven military hospitals.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Woolwich (Mr. Austin-Walker) on 4 February Official Report, column 267.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 1 February, Official Report, column 37, if he will list the movements and locations of the royal yacht Britannia during the Falklands' conflict; and what press releases or press advice were issued about its role during the conflict.

During the period in question, HMY Britannia left her home port of Portsmouth to visit St. Nazaire between 22 and 27 April 1982, and Dover between 7 and 11 June 1982, in support of official royal engagements. It is not possible to provide the rest of the information requested without disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when and where his Department first announced that the royal yacht Britannia was no longer considered necessary as a possible hospital ship.

The Ministry of Defence concluded during late 1992 that there was no longer a requirement for Britannia to fulfil the war role of a hospital ship. We have confirmed this decision in response to specific inquiries, the first instance being by my Department's press office on 20 January 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many nights in 1992 crew members of royal flights were found accommodation overseas; what was the cost; and what were the locations involved.

Whenever practical, aircraft of the Queen's Flight which have carried out tasks to overseas destinations recover to the United Kingdom, thus enabling them to undertake other tasks. When this is not practical, crew members are accommodated in hotels in accordance with the standard regulations which apply to all air transport crews. In 1992, 266 nights were spent away from RAF Benson as a result of flights in the United Kingdom or overseas. The estimate for travel and subsistence for financial year 1992–93 is some £264,000 which covers nights spent away in both the United Kingdom and overseas. Details of individual occurrences could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, what policies are pursued to ensure that people from the ethnic minorities are recruited as Officers of the House.

In recruiting all staff to the House of Commons service, it is the Commission's policy that all eligible persons shall have equal opportunities for employment and advancement on the basis of their ability, qualifications and fitness for the work and that there shall be no discrimination on any other grounds. The Commission has appointed an equal opportunities officer whose responsibility it is to monitor the Commission's policy of equal opportunity and to provide relevant advice to management and staff of the House.Members of selection boards are provided with written guidance as to the conduct of interviews. This makes it clear that there must be no discrimination on grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins, sex or marital status.The Commission monitors its policy on racial equality by asking candidates to complete a questionnaire indicating their ethnic origin. This is voluntary and it is explained in the accompanying literature that the ethnic information is confidential to the equal opportunities officer and is not available to those involved in the selection process.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if schools are permitted to charge the Office for Standards in Education for the time and materials used in providing the essential information and statistics which independent inspectors need to make their inspections.

No. The information which registered inspectors will need to carry out an inspection will be readily available in all schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many people have been enrolled in Open university courses for each year since 1979;(2) how many Open university degrees have been awarded in each year since 1979.

In 1979–80 there were 70,000 enrolments and 5,800 degrees awarded. Details of Open university enrolment and degrees awarded for later years up to 1990–91 are contained in statistical bulletin 8/92, copies of which are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of a standard rate of VAT on books and magazines on the reading patterns of primary and secondary school children.

My right hon. Friend has made no such assessment. Books and magazines are zero rated for VAT.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to encourage reading among young people.

This is already an essential element of our policy. The current review of national curriculum English, on which the National Curriculum Council is expected to report soon, has been addressing the need to ensure that pupils are encouraged to develop the habit of reading widely, and are introduced to the richness of great literature.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the number of students with special educational needs who gained entry to university and polytechnics for each year since 1982.

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is (a) the number and (b) the proportion

Information about pupils with statements of special educational needs in maintained middle, secondary and special schools in each local education authority in England in January 1992 is shown in the table. The numbers of pupils with statements in maintained primary schools in 1992 are not available. In January 1991, the latest year for which reliable figures are available, there were over 30,000 pupils with statements in maintained primary schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the number of pre-school and nursery school children with statements of special educational needs in each local education authority area.

The number of pupils with statements of special educational needs in maintained nursery schools in each local education authority in England in January 1992 is shown in the table. Information about pre-school children who have statements is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to grant governmental funding to the national library for the handicapped child.

We have no plans to fund the national library for the handicapped child.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 27 January, Official Report, column 744, if he will conduct a survey of higher education institutions on the advantages of a single organisation fowarding tuition fees to them.

My right hon. Friend has no plans to undertake such a survey.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 27 January, Official Report, column 744, if he will bring forward proposals that local authorities forwarding tuition fees to higher education institutions after the specified date should add a payment for interest.

My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on representations he has received from and on behalf of higher education institutions in respect of late payment of the tuition fees from his Department via local authorities.

Representations have recently been received from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals and from two individual institutions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many professors of general practice there are in each medical school in England.

I have been asked to reply.This information is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the levels of reduction in debt service achieved by countries that have benefited from the relief of old aid loans granted by the United Kingdom.

Since 1979 we have written off over £450 million, through retrospective terms adjustment, of aid loans to the poorest countries. In the period 1979–91 this, together with the rescheduling of other aid loans, translated into a £410 million reduction in debt service for the countries concerned.We recently announced that we would also write off £56 million of aid loans to Zambia from 1 April 1993, provided their economic reform programme stays on track. In addition, we agreed to provide India with local cost aid for projects to offset repayments of past aid loans amounting to £560 million. Thus, the Government have, overall, relieved the burden of aid loans to developing countries by about £1 billion. Twenty-four countries have benefited from these measures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what specific measures were undertaken to ensure that aid is targeted to the poorest people in areas where the forests are facing the severest threats.

Britain's aid in all sectors is targeted predominantly to the poorest countries and our forestry programmes are focused on countries, and parts of countries, where forestry and deforestation are important issues such as in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. Some relatively better off countries such as Brazil and Malaysia also receive our forestry aid because of the particular problems they face in this sector.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those logging activities recognised by the Overseas Development Administration as promoting sustainable forest use for the benefit of traditional and other forest dwellers.

The logging activities most likely to promote sustainable forest use for the benefit of forest dwellers are those in which they participate directly.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in his Department are assigned to the market testing programme; how much the programme has cost his Department since November 1991; and if he will make a statement.

Work on market testing is combined with other duties and it is not possible to give a figure for the number of people assigned to the market testing programme. We broadly estimate that the cost of the programme to date is £155,000. This includes the cost of support for the in-house teams and other consultancy work. It does not include the cost of the in-house teams themselves.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review tax welfare alongside the review of spending Departments.

The tax system is reviewed each year in the run-up to the Budget.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of employees in his Department is registered disabled.

On 1 January 1993, the latest date for which this information is available, 0.9 per cent. of Treasury staff were registered disabled. The Department employs a number of people with disabilities who have chosen not to register as disabled.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what common procedures are being used by Government departments in relation to (a) the 1993 public expenditure survey, (b) plans for reductions in years beyond 1993–94 and (c) plans for 1996–97; what figure is being used to calculate reductions in 1996–97 from the 1995–96 baseline; and what information he has on the effect on real terms of reductions of (i) 2½ per cent. and (ii) 5 per cent. below the 1993–94 baseline for each Department.

Procedures for the 1993 public expenditure survey are currently under discussion. No decisions have been taken.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the publishing industry about the possible imposition of VAT on reading matter.

My right hon. Friend has received many representations on Budget-related matters. As is usual, I cannot anticipate his Budget statement.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the right hon. Member for Swansea, West can expect a reply to his letter of 12 January, concerning taxation of the monarch.

I shall be replying to the right hon. Member's letter of 12 January very shortly.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average output per head for each county in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years.

[holding answer 11 February 1993]: The latest available information, relating to gross domestic product by county for 1987 and 1989, was published in the December 1991 issue of "Economic Trends". Estimates for Scottish regions have recently been revised, reflecting improved methodology, and these are as follows.

To ask the Attorney-General if he will list the firms of consultants used by his Department as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 together with the total cost; and if he will make a statement.

The Crown prosecution service has used consultants PE International and Price Waterhouse in its market testing programme at a cost of £12,800. The legal secretariat to the Law Officers, the Treasury Solicitor's Department and the Serious Fraud Office have not used any firm of consultants.