Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Friday 26 March 1993

Lord Chancellor's Department

Legal Aid

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much was spent on legal aid in net terms in each year since 1988.

Net expenditure on legal aid in each year since 1988 was as follows:

	£ million
1988–89	475
1989–90	564
1990–91	682
1991–92	906

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much value added tax was collected as a result of charges on the properties of litigants who were legally aided in 1985, 1990, 1991 and 1992.

No additional VAT liability arises from placing a charge on property. The charge will relate to costs incurred which themselves will in the vast majority of cases bear VAT—this will have been reported as part of the total legal aid expenditure.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much interest was accrued on charges on the property of litigants receiving legal aid in 1985, 1990, 1991 and 1992.

The scheme for accrual of interest was introduced with effect from 1 December 1988, so no interest accrued on charges on property before that date. A small amount of interest accrued on such charges during 1989–90, but no detailed figures are available. At the end of the financial year 1990–91, interest accrued to date on quantified charges was £824,311 less £26,174 received to date, leaving a balance of £798,137 outstanding. At the end of the financial year 1991–92, interest accrued to date on quantified charges was £4,018,132 less £313,900 received to date, leaving a balance of £3,704,232 outstanding.

Overseas Development Administration

Uganda

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Ugandan authorities in respect of the state commission on the activities of Idi Amin when president; and if he will make a statement.

We are not aware of a commission specifically to look into the activities of former President Amin. The Ugandan Government have, however, set up a human rights commission to investigate human rights abuses which occurred prior to President Museveni coming to power in 1986. We welcome this in the context of Uganda's commitment to upholding better human rights standards; its record in this respect is recently much improved.

Tanzania

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance he is currently giving to the Tanzanian authorities to reduce elephant poaching and illegal ivory trading in that country: and if he will make a statement.

We are currently supporting the following conservation projects in Tanzania, which contribute directly or indirectly to elephant conservation:

Elephant conservation in the Rungwa-Kizigo research complex (£80,000).
Integrated conservation programme for the Lake Manyara catchment basin (£42,000)
Conservation and management of the Selous game reserve (£100,000)
Community-based conservation programme in the Serengeti national park (£33,800)
Ruaha ecosystem wildlife management project (£800,000)

Wages Councils

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many representations she has received since 5 November 1992 concerning abolition of wages councils; and how many of these (a) favoured abolition and (b) opposed abolition.

We have received 1,213 representations concerning abolition of wages councils, of which 144 are in favour of abolition and 1,069 are against, including prepared postcards.

Dock Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many dock workers have been found to have been unfairly dismissed since 1989; how many have been reinstated; how many dock workers are currently claiming unfair dismissal; and in which ports they are employed.

I regret that the information is not readily available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Health And Safety

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment she has made of the implementation of the EC directive on health and safety in the workplace since 1 January.

The directive was implemented in Great Britain by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. Although these came into force on 1 January 1993, they do not take effect in existing workplaces, until 1 January 1996 except where any modification is made to the workplace.

In the meantime the Health and Safety Executive will be assessing the implementation of the directive on an informal basis through its day-to-day contacts with industry.

Noise At Work

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many improvement notices were issued against employers in 1990–91 and 1991–92 relating to the control of noise at work for each of the geographical areas

Requirements made under the Noise at Work Regulations on Improvement Notices issued against employers by the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Factory, Agricultural and Quarries Inspectorates during 1990–91 and 1991–92¹
Health and Safety Executive area	Factory inspectorate		Agricultural inspectorate		Quarries inspectorate
	1990–91	1991–92²	1990–91	1991–92²	1990–91	1991–92²
South West	52	17	0	0	2	0
South	8	14	0	1	0	0
South East	14	11	0	3	0	3
Greater London	35	35	0	0	0	0
East Anglia	16	26	0	0	3	0
Northern Home Counties	9	11	0	0	1	1
East Midlands	57	25	2	1	0	0
West Midlands	25	22	0	0	0	0
Wales	5	5	2	10	0	0
Marches	23	26	0	2	0	0
North Midlands	22	20	0	0	0	0
South Yorkshire and Humberside	25	31	0	0	0	0
West and North Yorkshire	39	21	0	0	0	0
Greater Manchester	39	36	0	0	1	0
Merseyside	13	13	0	0	0	0
North West	17	7	0	0	0	0
North East	38	45	0	0	1	1
Scotland East	21	27		2	0	9
Scotland West	31	30	0	0	0	6
Total	489	422	4	19	8	20
¹ Years commencing 1 April.
² Provisional.

Unemployment Benefit Disqualification

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list for each standard region and for the United Kingdom as a whole, for each month from January 1990, the number of claimants subject to unemployment benefit disqualification broken down on the same basis as in the answer to the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on 28 January, Official Report, columns 849–51.

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 Angela Eagle, dated March 1993:

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1990
March	3,501	1,273	43	42	—	—	15
June	3,167	1,070	46	35	1	37	12
September	3,653	1,142	47	30	—	10	11
December	3,943	1,281	17	27	762	—	3
1991
March	3,267	1,233	11	29	—	6	—
June	3,082	1,252	9	33	—	12	—
September	2,677	1,007	7	31	—	—	—

of (a) the factory inspectorate, (b) the agricultural inspectorate and (c) the quarries inspectorate; and what were the penalties in each case.

Improvement notices do not impose explicit penalties. They require action to be taken to comply with the relevant statutory provisions within a specified period of time.The following requirements were made on improvement notices issued during the period 1990–91 and 1991–92.

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 about the number of claimants subject to unemployment benefit disqualifications listed monthly for each standard region and for the United Kingdom as a whole. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

Unfortunately, the information is not available in the form you have requested. Information on disqualifications is compiled on a quarterly and annual basis only. The statistical tables attached give the number of disqualifications imposed quarterly for each region and for Great Britain. Information for Northern Ireland is not collected.

I hope this is helpful.

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.

The number of people disqualified in west midlands region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows:

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
December	2,767	1,000	3	27	—	1	—
1992
March	2,387	1,051	2	34	—	3	—
June	2,014	996	2	20	—	12	—
September	2,160	909	1	48	—	4	—
December	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Code: L V—Leaving Voluntarily; Misc.—Misconduct; R E—Refusal of Employment; Neg. to Avail—Neglect to Avail oneself of an offer of Employment; Ref W I—Refusal to Comply with Written Instructions; T D—Trade Disputes; R T—Refusal or Premature Termination of Training.

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1990
March	4,498	1,439	68	110	—	—	37
June	4,983	1,691	61	97	—	—	21
September	4,495	1,400	71	119	1	—	10
December	5,049	1,401	44	76	1	—	7
1991
March	4,007	1,725	24	92	—	—	2
June	3,530	1,570	6	121	—	1	—
September	3,169	1,328	8	88	—	—	—
December	3,609	1,607	30	110	—	—	—
1992
March	3,084	1,446	8	105	—	—	—
June	2,842	1,413	8	79	—	—	—
September	3,122	1,404	2	121	—	—	—
December	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1990
March	4,513	1,477	27	66	1	34	10
June	3,941	1,156	17	62	1	—	7
September	3,836	1,115	18	44	—	—	5
December	4,841	1,183	16	31	1	—	7
1991
March	3,442	1,090	5	35	—	—	1
June	3,937	1,151	6	42	—	—	—
September	3,275	1,024	2	40	—	1	—
December	3,462	1,035	5	59	—	—
1992
March	2,841	1,008	4	45	—	—	—
June	2,459	893	3	35	—	—	—
September	2,649	960	3	51	—	—	—
December	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1990
March	1,858	560	19	35	—	—	22
June	1,688	498	17	24	—	5	6
September	1,774	463	17	26	2	1	9
December	1,923	520	16	29	—	—	1

The number of people disqualified in east midlands and eastern region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows:

The number of people disqualified in south western region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows:

The number of people disqualified in northern region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows:

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1991
March	1,539	592	9	52	—	—	1
June	1,499	536	—	34	—	25	—
September	1,537	526	6	49	—	11	—
December	1,444	491	4	41	—	—	—
1992
March	1,219	511	1	32	—	9	—
June	1,227	504	1	23	—	1	—
September	1,287	491	1	44	—	4	—
December	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1990
March	7,074	2,508	33	52	2	22	80
June	6,538	2,247	30	19	1	46	23
September	6,420	2,114	30	32	272	1	159
December	7,378	2,258	24	23	3	25	20
1991
March	4,852	1,899	14	15	2,064	22	—
June	5,523	2,023	20	23	—	12	—
September	5,188	1,960	17	40	—	36	—
December	5,026	1,936	25	27	1	16	—
1992
March	3,808	1,930	15	32	—	—	—
June	3,775	1,672	7	23	—	27	—
September	3,938	1,612	16	16	—	31	—
December	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1990
March	4,840	1,549	60	48	4	7	50
June	4,803	1,546	42	35	6	16	43
September	4,594	1,314	40	22	2	—	47
December	4,350	1,142	20	14	17	6	30
1991
March	3,228	1,163	16	49	5	—	9
June	3,026	1,205	14	22	—	1	—
September	2,900	1,052	10	19	—	—	—
December	3,035	1,145	7	29	—	—	—
1992
March	2,409	1,254	6	26	—	—	—
June	2,581	1,242	3	24	—	1	—
September	2,651	1,140	9	29	—	—	—
December	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

The number of people disqualified in north western region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows:

The number of people disqualified in Yorkshire and Humberside region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows:

The number of people disqualified in Scotland office for each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows:

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1990
March	4,184	1,128	17	34	1	11	7
June	4,207	1,231	25	27	8	57	25
September	4,110	1,367	25	56	1	4	6
December	4,680	1,409	12	19	9	307	31
1991
March	3,704	1,158	15	27	110	3	15
June	3,419	1,062	3	16	—	22	—
September	3,231	1,010	11	19	—	32	—
December	3,515	1,032	8	14	—	2	—
1992
March	2,804	934	1	12	—	17	—
June	2,836	966	4	25	—	15	—
September	2,626	986	4	21	—	—	—
December	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1990
March	1,854	589	22	15	2	1	1
June	1,652	549	17	3	1	5	6
September	1,658	539	17	3	—	1	4
December	1,843	562	13	5	1	—	1
1991
March	1,540	514	3	2	—	1	1
June	1,366	546	9	3	—	—	—
September	1,331	526	5	2	—	1	—
December	1,399	544	2	4	—	—	—
1992
March	1,207	498	4	7	—	—	—
June	1,135	512	3	4	—	—	—
September	1,180	454	1	8	—	—	—
December	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1990
March	8,454	2,726	275	68	6	1	8
June	12,343	3,931	389	54	19	1	8
September	11,596	3,211	272	33	6	—	7
December	11,929	3,452	235	22	7	—	9
1991
March	11,647	3,563	89	27	175	—	4
June	12,451	4,923	63	27	573	145	—
September	12,866	5,049	74	25	—	6	—
December	11,936	4,326	38	35	—	—	—
1992
March	10,766	4,507	26	34	1	—	—
June	9,327	4,073	25	54	1	—	—
September	9,406	4,004	27	47	—	—	—
December	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

The number of people disqualified in office for Wales each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows:

The number of people disqualified in London and south-eastern region each statistical quarter since 1990 is as follows:

The number of people disqualified nationally each statistical since 1990 is as follows:

Quarter ending	L V	Misc.	R E	Neg. to Avail	Ref W I	T D	R T
1990
March	43,032	13,973	646	476	16	76	230
June	43,322	13,919	644	356	37	167	151
September	42,496	12,665	537	365	284	17	258
December	45,936	13,208	397	246	801	338	109
1991
March	37,226	12,937	186	328	2,354	32	33
June	37,833	14,268	130	321	573	218	—
September	36,174	13,482	140	313	—	87	—
December	36,193	13,116	121	346	1	19	—
1992
March	30,525	13,139	67	327	1	29	—
June	28,196	12,271	56	287	1	56	—
September	29,019	11,960	—	385	—	39	—
December	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Notes:

1. Decisions on absence from Great Britain; imprisonment or detention on legal custody; and, from April 1991, those relating to training are not separately identified in the statistical summary of decisions made and have not been included above.

2. The figures for December 1992 are not yet published.

Prime Minister

Public Appointments

To ask the Prime Minister what steps he is taking to ensure that more posts on public bodies are advertised; and if he will make it his policy to secure that the post of chairperson of each public body is advertised.

Responsibility for deciding how to fill the 40,000 ministerial appointments to public bodies rests with the individual Ministers and Departments concerned. Central guidance encourages the use of advertisement where appropriate, but it would not be cost-effective for all the 3,500 people chairing public bodies.

Security

To ask the Prime Minister when he will reply to the letter of 3 February from the hon. Member for Darlington on security matters.

My office can find no trace of any such letter.

Pit Closures

To ask the Prime Minister whether he will list the membership of the ministerial and Cabinet committees which have considered the future of the coal industry and the pit closures.

The terms of reference of all ministerial committees of the Cabinet were given in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Mr. Hayes) on 19 May 1992 at columns 110–18 and my subsequent reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor and Maidenhead (Mr. Trend) on 1 February 1993 at columns 46–47. I do not propose to give details of the topics discussed by individual committees or their procedures.

National Heritage

Hospital Radio

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on his policy towards assigning an FM frequency for hospital radio broadcasts.

The Radio Authority is responsible for determining its own procedures and priorities for licensing services on the frequencies which have been assigned to it.

National Music Library

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his oral answer of 22 March, Official Report, column 597, if he will consider the creation of a national music library to take on the work and collection of Westminster city council.

I shall certainly consider how national co-operation to meet users' needs can best be enhanced.My Department is already jointly funding a study for a library and information plan for music. This study is investigating the provision of music scores and music information across the country and is expected to be completed this June. It will produce an action plan for improvements in services.One of the current applications for funding from the Department's public library development incentive scheme is for the establishment of a national music lending service, based on the present collections of the Yorkshire Humberside joint library service and the British library. A final decision on this application will be taken in September.Although Westminster city council plans to reduce the opening hours of the central music library and make commensurate staff savings, its service will remain exceptional. The library will still be open six days of the week, for a total of 37 hours; the new opening hours will be tailored to match user demand and there are no plans to reduce the existing, extremely extensive, stock.

Items In Lieu Of Tax

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if there have been any items accepted in lieu of tax or allocated since his last announcement on 16 February, Official Report, column 145.

Since my last announcement on 16 February, Official Report, column 145, I am pleased to inform the House of the acceptance of two items offered in lieu of taxation. The items consist of the Corbridge Lanx Roman silver dish which will satisfy £1,832,000 tax, and a painting "Joseph and Potiphar's Wife" by Guido Reni which will satisfy £2,492,875 tax. The acceptance of both these items has been made possible by a call on the Reserve. The Corbridge Lanx will be allocated to the British museum in accordance with the condition on which the offer was made. As with previous "hybrid" offers, the recipient institution, in this case the British museum has agreed to pay the estate concerned the difference between the tax liability and the special price. The Reni painting will be allocated to the Fitzwilliam museum and will remain in situ at Holkham hall, in accordance with the condition on which the offer was made.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Ec Agri-Environmental Regulation

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are his plans for implementing the EC agri-environment regulation 2078/92; and if he will make a statement.

I am today issuing for public consultation a major package of six new proposals for implementing the agri-environment regulation in England. My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are carrying out parallel consultations on their proposals.The agri-environment regulation was agreed as part of last year's reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) and commits all member states to offering incentives to farmers to farm in environmentally beneficial ways going beyond normal good argicultural practice. This develops and extends the principle of environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs) which we pioneered in the United Kingdom. It is an important step in bringing environmental considerations to the heart of the CAP.ESAs help farmers to conserve and enhance special habitats, landscapes and features of historic interest. They have been widely acclaimed by both farmers and environmentalists. The package being issued today includes proposals for a new incentive to build on the success of the ESA scheme by opening particularly suitable ESA farmland for new public access to create greater opportunities for public enjoyment of some of our most beautiful countryside.Secondly, I am now issuing proposals on the boundaries, aims and operation of six new environmentally sensitive areas in the Blackdown hills, the Cotswold hills, Dartmoor, the Essex coast, the Shropshire hills and the upper Thames tributaries. The areas proposed will add some 319,000 hectares to the 832,000 hectares already covered by ESAs in England and annual expenditure on the scheme is now set to rise to £43 million by 1995–96.

Thirdly, I am proposing a new moorland scheme to encourage a targeted reduction in the number of livestock grazing moorland outside ESAs where this can result in improvements in heather, other semi-natural vegetation and associated wildlife habitats of moorland.

Fourthly, I am proposing a new meadowland scheme to encourage the creation of new public access opportunities on particularly suitable set-aside land. At the same time, I am issuing comprehensive proposals for the management of rotational and non-rotational set-aside land from the 1993–94 crop year, in ways which would exploit the considerable potential for environmental gains from set-aside. The options proposed, subject to EC rules, include wildlife corridors along field margins and watersides, woodland planting and wild bird cover, as well as more specialist options aimed at particular species such as migratory geese, otters and rare ground nesting birds.

Fifthly, I am proposing a new habitat improvement scheme to encourage the creation or improvement of a range of valuable wildlife habitats such as coastal saltmarsh and water-fringes along particularly vulnerable watercourses, through the removal of carefully selected areas of land from agricultural production for 20 years.

Sixthly, I am making proposals for a new organic aid scheme to encourage organic farming, both to benefit the environment and to encourage a type of food production for which there is a clear consumer demand.

Proposals for new measures to help protect groundwater catchments affected by high nitrate levels will also be issued for public consultation shortly.

In addition to the increased expenditure on ESAs, a further £19 million per annum will be spent on the other measures by 1995–96. The proposals complement the range of environmental incentives already available to farmers and reflect the Government's continuing commitment to caring for the countryside and to integrating environmental objectives into agricultural policy. I am making copies of the consultation documents available in the Library of the House.

Detailed arrangements for the new schemes will be finalised this summer after the results of the consultation have been analysed, and individual schemes will open for applications towards the end of this year or in 1994.

Transport

Mv Derbyshire

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider holding a further formal inquiry into the case of the loss at sea of the MV Derbyshire in 1980.

I have no plans to order a further formal investigation into the loss of the MV Derbyshire.

Rail Passengers (Electrical Appliances)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the electrical appliances that passengers on British Rail trains are forbidden to use on safety grounds.

Most modern InterCity passenger vehicles are fitted with a 13 amp socket outlet, for the use of cleaning staff only. The sockets are not designed for use while vehicles are in passenger service. Each socket has a sign warning "This plug socket is not for public use".

There are no restrictions, on safety grounds, for portable devices driven by batteries.

Crewe-Holyhead Rail Line

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the investment made in each of the last 10 years on maintaining and improving passenger services on the Crewe to Holyhead rail line.

My Department does not hold this information. Investment and maintenance programmes for individual stretches of line are a matter for the British Railways Board.

Lyme Bay (Inquiry)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set up a marine accident investigation branch inquiry to determine what lessons can be learnt following the canoeing disaster off Lyme bay on 22 March.

In light of the investigation into the whole incident by the police authorities, the marine accident investigation branch will not be starting its own investigation. However, the matter is being kept under review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the shortest times for trains to travel between London and the channel tunnel for the present proposals for a high-speed rail link and for all previous proposals.

The information available is as follows:

March 1989 outline proposals
Southerly approach route terminating at King's Cross—around 40 minutes.

1990–91 comparison of route options
Southerly approach route terminating at King's Cross—35·5 minutes.
Southerly approach route terminating at Stratford—35 minutes.
Ove Arup route to an intermediate stop at Stratford—33 minutes.
Ove Arup route terminating at King's Cross—40.5 minutes, including a stop at Stratford.
Rail Europe route terminating at Stratford—35.5 minutes.

1993 route for consultation
Easterly approach route terminating at St. Pancras or King's Cross—37 minutes.

Handsworth Driving Test Centre

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will make a statement about the future of the Handsworth driving test centre in Sheffield.

[holding answer 23 March 1993]: Following discussions with the relevant landlords, the Driving Standards Agency's preferred option for reducing its capacity in the Sheffield area is to retain the driving test centre at Handsworth and to close the centre at Manor Top. The agency will now consult the Members of Parliament for the constituencies affected and representatives of approved driving instructors.

Wales

Youth Training

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the key evaluation targets for youth training in Wales for the financial year 1993–94.

The key evaluation targets are:

The provision of sufficient places to meet the guarantee of a YT place for all 16 and 17-year-olds who are not in employment or full-time education.

That no young person should wait more than eight weeks for an offer of a suitable training place.

That each trainee should have an individual training plan leading to an approved vocational qualification at generally national vocational qualification level II or higher.

Gp Fund Holders

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been paid out of health service funds to general practitioners' fund-holding practices and how much to non-fund-holding practitioners on a per capita basis within Clwyd family health services authority district.

In 1992–93 allocations to the 10 Clwyd general practice fund holders amount to an average of some £138 per patient.There are no comparable figures for non-fund-holding practices whose hospital services are purchased by the health authority.

Breast Screening

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he received the bid from the mammography screening service for an additional post for Mid Glamorgan; and when he will decide on the bid.

A request for a contribution from central funds towards the cost of two consultant posts, in general surgey and radiology, was made in November for the financial year 1993–94. An announcement is due to be made shortly.

European Regional Development Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many applications were received from local authorities in Wales for European regional development fund funding in the years 1992–93 and 1991–92; what percentage of their applications were successful; and how many of the successful applications reached completion.

The structural funds programmes in Wales do not operate on a financial year basis. Four programmes are currently in progress in Wales, all of which include expenditure incurred in 1991–92 and 1992–93.Of the 374 applications submitted by local authorities to date, 88 have been approved. Applications in respect of the remaining eligible projects are expected to be approved by the programme monitoring committees by the end of 1993.Projects approved under these programmes do not have to be completed until 1995 and it is therefore too early to comment on the successful completion of these applications.

Homelessness

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list figures by district for (a) the number of people who presented as homeless and (b) the number of people accepted as homeless for 1991 and 1992.

Information on the number of people who apply as homeless to local authorities is not available centrally. The numbers of persons in households accepted as homeless by local authorities under part III of the Housing Act 1985 are shown in the table:

Persons accepted as homeless
	1991	1992
Aberconwy	104	151
Alyn and Deeside	499	633
Arfon	93	103
Blaenau Gwent	761	417
Brecknock	318	318
Cardiff	4,052	4,555
Carmarthen	227	363
Ceredigion	373	340
Colwyn	178	176
Cynon Valley	1,017	543
Delyn	683	503
Dinefwr	410	542
Dwyfor	127	104
Glyndwr	87	70
Islwyn	399	414
Llanelli	383	284
Lliw Valley	284	325
Meirionnydd	257	174
Merthyr Tydfil	365	238
Monmouth	388	286
Montgomeryshire	259	296
Neath	656	757
Newport	2,936	2,283
Ogwr	1,809	2,095
Port Talbot	340	369
Preseli	255	359
Radnorshire	45	82
Rhondda	358	374
Rhuddlan	177	91
Rhymney Valley	395	335
South Pembrokeshire	205	171
Swansea	1,779	1,622
Taff-Ely	743	770
Torfaen	1,038	952
Vale of Glamorgan	1,184	1,139
Wrexham Maelor	730	864
Ynys Môn	111	204

Source: Welsh Office local authority returns.

Scotland

Organ Donor Cards

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will institute a freephone number for callers to request organ donor card registration forms; and if he will make it his policy to run the advertisements on television channels in Scotland for the same number of weeks as in England.

[holding answer 10 March 1993]: For the first time in Scotland, a television advertisement will shortly be shown to promote organ donation. The advertisement will encourage would-be donors both to carry a card and to discuss their wishes with relatives, since in many cases family objections have prevented the use of suitable organs. A freephone number will be available so that callers can request donor cards.The advertisement will appear for two consecutive weeks. We shall be assessing its impact to determine whether arrangements should be made for further screenings.

Community Care

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of total funding for health and social care during the years 1993–94 and 1994–95 is to be spent on community care; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 15 March 1993]: Information in the form requested is not available. Information on planned expenditure by the NHS is not attributed to particular services but health boards contribute significantly to the provision of community care through their community health services, bridging finance, support finance and other means.A large part of local authority social work departments' expenditure is devoted to community care. Precise figures are not available: expenditure in the current year is likely to be of the order of £350 million to £400 million. For 1993–94 and 1994–95 we are providing, additionally, £64 million and £113 million respectively under our community care reforms. This is made up of a transfer of funds from the Department of Social Security and additional funds to enable local authorities to develop services.

Secure Units

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to place a secure unit at Woodilee hospital; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: None. The management of the state hospital, Carstairs has been in touch with health boards, including Greater Glasgow, as part of a feasibility study on the merits or otherwise of establishing local in-patient forensic psychiatry facilities in Scotland. Consideration of that study continues.

Nurses

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nurses are currently employed by each health board in Scotland; and what this number represents as a percentage total of qualified nurses employed in the NHS in each board.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: The information requested is set out in the table.

Nursing staff in the NHS in Scotland (excluding Project 2000 nurses in training)Headcount as at 30 September 1992 (provisional)
	Total	Qualified	Unqualified	In Training	Qualified as percentage of Total
SCOTLAND	73,717	43,173	22,540	8,004	58·6
Argyll and Clyde	5,727	3,220	2,031	476	56·2
Ayrshire and Arran	3,991	2,436	1,186	369	61·0
Borders	1,369	830	385	154	60·6
Dumfries and Galloway	2,342	1,352	735	255	57·7
Fife	3,990	2,517	1,088	385	63·1
Forth Valley	4,443	2,475	1,604	364	55·7
Grampian	7,743	4,709	2,398	636	60·8
Greater Glasgow	16,083	8,649	5,484	1,950	53·8
Highland	2,794	1,843	701	250	66·0
Lanarkshire	6,141	3,810	1,691	640	62·0
Lothian	10,594	6,083	2,819	1,692	57·4
Orkney	272	188	73	11	69·1
Shetland	254	187	56	11	73·6
Tayside	6,888	4,242	1,847	799	61·6
Western Isles	446	300	134	12	67·3
CSA	308	58	250	—	18·8
State hospital	332	274	58	—	82·5

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nurses currently are employed in Scotland on short-term contracts in the NHS by each health board.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: The information requested is not available centrally. The table shows the average whole time equivalents for agency nurses, the only non-permanent nursing staff for whom data are available.

Agency nursing staff: average WTE Six months ending 30 September 1992
Health Board	Average WTE¹
Scotland²	299·4
Argyll and Clyde	0·1
Ayrshire and Arran³	0·2
Borders	0·0
Dumfries and Galloway	0·4
Fife	0·6
Forth Valley	0·0
Grampian⁴	35·3
Greater Glasgow	148·7
Highland	—
Lanarkshire	—
Lothian	64·0
Orkney	—
Shetland	—
Tayside	—
Western Isles	—
¹ To calculate the average, I WTE is taken as a contribution of 37·5 hours per week x 26 = 975 hours per half year.
² Rounding of individual figures may produce slight differences between the sum of constituent items and total.
³ Ayrshire and Arran health board includes agency hours at the South Ayrshire hospitals NHS trust.
⁴Grampian health board includes agency hours at Aberdeen royal hospitals NHS trust.

Northern Ireland

Senior Citizens (Free Transport)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the estimated cost to his Department of subsidising (a) Citybus, (b) Ulsterbus and (c) Northern Ireland Railways to extend free transport to senior citizens within Northern Ireland.

This information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Environment

Climate Change Convention

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his policy on the adoption of 30 June as an appropriate deadline for the ratification of the framework convention on climate change by the member states of the European Community.

At this week's Environment Council all member states agreed to take the measures necessary to enable them to ratify the convention not later than the end of 1993. This matches the United Kingdom's earlier commitment, along with our Group of Seven partners, to ratify the convention by the end of 1993.

Education Spending

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which 10 education authorities have the highest standard spending assessment per pupil; and which 10 education authorities have the lowest standard spending assessment per pupil.

The table shows the education standard spending assessment for primary, secondary and post-16 education expressed in pounds per pupil for primary, secondary and pupils aged over 16. These figures exclude provision for under-fives and the other education element for which there are no pupil numbers.

Local authority	Education SSA, per pupil £
First 10
Isles of Scilly	3,882
Hackney	3,797
City of London	3,777
Lambeth	3,694
Tower Hamlets	3,662
Hammersmith and Fulham	3,412
Islington	3,411
Westminster	3,369
Kensington and Chelsea	3,350
Camden	3,338
Last 10
Cheshire	2,159
Wakefield	2,157
Derbyshire	2,146
Staffordshire	2,145
Hereford and Worcester	2,144
Solihull	2,140
Wigan	2,102
Dudley	2,098
Stockport	2,070
Bury	2,049

Equal Opportunities

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he has taken to recruit women, members of ethnic minorities and disabled people, respectively, in top grades of employment at his Department.

Recruitment to my Department at grade 8 and above is always by means of public open competition. Applicants are considered entirely on their suitability for the post in question under the supervision of the Office of the Civil Service Commissioners irrespective of gender, ethnic origin or disablement.

Environment Council

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Environment Council on 22 and 23 March.

I and my hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside represented the United Kingdom at this Council.The Council agreed a decision which establishes a monitoring mechanism for emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions within the Community as a whole. This will require all member states to prepare and regularly update national programmes to limit these emissions. The programmes are needed to contribute to fulfilment by the Community as a whole of the requirement, in the UN framework convention on climate change, to aim to return emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions to their 1990 levels by the year 2000, and of related Community commitments. Secondly, the Council reached political agreement on a measure which will enable the Community to ratify the climate change convention. There was also a general discussion of progress on the Community's strategy during which we described the significant announcements that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made in his Budget speech last week.

The Council reached full agreement on the Community eco-management and audit regulation. This proposal was a priority of the United Kingdom's presidency, but a few matters remained to be resolved following the broad political agreement reached last December. The regulation will establish a voluntary scheme to encourage the effective environmental management of industrial operations and public disclosure of information on environmental impacts.

The Council noted the good progress which had been made on the Commission's proposal for a revision of controls on the wildlife trade—the "Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Regulation"—and invited the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) to take the discussion forward.

Further to its agreement on the text of the relevant decision last December, the Council agreed that the Community and its member states would ratify no later than 6 February 1994 the United Nations Environment Programme Basel convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. The Council also invited the Commission to examine the circumstances that have given rise to a call for a ban on exports of hazardous recoverable waste to developing countries and to submit appropriate proposals to the Council.

The Council noted the Commission's intention of making a proposal by the end of April for further Community measures to implement the updated provisions of the Montreal protocol on ozone-depleting substances, including in particular those which relate to hydrochlorofluorocarbons and methyl bromide.

The Council examined for the first time a proposal from the Commission for a directive on the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations—the so-called "Stage I" directive. This directive will control evaporative emissions of petrol and so help to reduce the formation of ozone at ground level. Due to the large number of remaining technical issues needing resolution, the proposal was remitted to COREPER for further discussion.

The Council held a brief discussion on the state of the Community's follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, and invited COREPER to report to the next Council in June.

The Council also held an exchange of views on the state of preparations for the pan-European ministerial conference on the environment to be held in Lucerne from 28 to 30 April.

The Council welcomed the Commission's communication on "A Common Policy for Safe Seas", on measures to improve maritime safety and guard against marine pollution. It agreed on the need for early decisions after careful study of the Commission's proposals.

The Council took note of a progress report on a proposed directive on the incineration of hazardous waste, designed to prevent or minimise the negative effects of such incineration, and invited COREPER to pursue work on the proposal.

The Commission introduced its proposal for a directive on further measures on air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles, to take account of the best technology which will be available for relevant vehicles after 1996, and invited the Council to reach a decision on the proposal as soon as possible.

The Council took note of the adoption by the Commission of a Green Paper on civil liability for environmental damage and agreed to discuss it in due course.

The United Kingdom, with support from other delegations, urged the presidency to press ahead with negotiations on the draft directive on packaging and packaging waste.

Private Housing (Renovation Grants)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make available results from the 1991 English house condition survey to inform the planned consultation paper on the future of the private house renovation grant system.

We plan to publish a preliminary report on unfit dwellings at the same time as the consultation paper is issued. The main report of the survey will be published in two parts, the first in July and the second before the end of the year.

Ec Directives

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to issue the second consultation paper on the implementation of the urban waste water treatment directive and the nitrates directive.

We have today issued a consultation paper on the methodology for identifying sensitive areas—urban waste water treatment directive—and designating vulnerable zones—nitrates directive. This is the second in a series of such papers, the first of which covered the criteria and procedures for identifying sensitive areas and less sensitive areas—urban waste water treatment directive—and "polluted waters"—nitrates directive. The Government response to comments received on the first consultation paper has been included as an annex to the second.

Council Tax

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimate of the number of disabled people who live in band A homes under the council tax in each region.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to introduce a band A-minus under the council tax.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: We have no such plans. The scheme of council tax reductions for people with disabilities will ensure that no one pays more council tax in respect of additional accommodation which he or she needs because of a disability. If a dwelling is allocated to band A, any additional accommodation cannot have resulted in an increase in council tax liability, and no reduction is therefore appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is his estimate for the value of the average disabled person's reduction under the council tax;

(2) what is his estimate of the number of people who qualify for the disabled person's reduction under the council tax.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: We do not know how many dwellings will qualify for disabled persons' reductions, or the council tax bands and local authority areas in which they will fall. It is therefore not possible to make a precise estimate of the average value of such reductions. But on the assumption that such dwellings are distributed among bands and areas in the same way as other dwellings, the average reduction might be about £60, before discounts, transitional reductions and benefits are taken into account.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the current estimate of each authority's entitlement to transitional reduction grant in 1993–94, showing for each authority the necessary assumptions about numbers of single people in each council tax band and the present entitlements to community charge transitional relief.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: Authorities have been invited to submit claims for council tax transitional reduction scheme grant for 1993–94. Details of discounts are not required by the Department, but will be examined by auditors when claims are certified. We have no estimates of the amount of each authority's grant entitlement. A list of the amounts of community charge reduction scheme grant for 1992–93 claimed by each authority has been placed in the Library of the House.

Seal Culling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has made to the Government of Namibia concerning the practice of seal culling.

I have been asked to reply.The British high commission in Windhoek has periodic discussions with the Namibian authorities about seal culling and has passed on the public concern in the United Kingdom about it.

Trade And Industry

Isobutyl Nitrate

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will issue a prohibition order in respect of isobutyl nitrate party poppers.

The Government are keeping this matter under close review, in order to assess whether measures in the future to control isobutyl nitrate party poppers might be appropriate.

Loan Guarantee Scheme

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received calling for the loan guarantee scheme to be made more attractive to small and medium-sized companies; and if he will make a statement.

The President of the Board of Trade receives many representations on the loan guarantee scheme and other measures to assist small firms. I refer to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget statement of 16 March in which he announced changes to the loan guarantee scheme which will offer real additional benefits to small firms.

Metrication

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has had on standardising metric measurement in the manufacturing and retail sectors; and if he will make a statement.

Although there have been many representations aobut metrication, only a small number have been about standardising metric measurements. The Government consider that manufacturers and retailers should normally be allowed to choose which metric units to use.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action he intends to take to allow retailers to go metric prior to 1995 and to show prices in metric units without also having to show prices in imperial units; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: Retailers are allowed to show prices for all goods and services in metric units. However, if they show food prices in metric units, they are required to show the price in imperial units. Following representations from retail interests, the Government are reassessing the costs and benefits of this requirement.

Eco-Labelling

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken to amend section 8 of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 to take account of the European Community's eco-labelling scheme.

There are no plans to amend this section of the Act.

Carpet Manufacturers

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assistance he is giving British carpet manufacturers in obtaining evidence of illegal subsidies to the Belgian carpet manufacturing industry; and if he will request the European Commission to institute an official investigation into subsidies applied by national and regional authorities for Belgium.

I have received allegations from British carpet and textile organisations of financial assistance to textile companies in Wallonia recently and am seeking to clarify the factual position. If the allegations are verified, I will ask the Commission to take action.

Directors (Disqualification)

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many directors have been disqualified in each year since the passing of the Insolvency Act 1986.

The number of disqualification orders notified to the Secretary of State since 1986, on a financial year basis—April to March—are as follows:

	Number
1986–87	108
1987–88	224
1988–89	408
1989–90	445
1990–91	419
1991–92	459

Maritime Disputes

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will estimate the foreign earnings associated with the use of English courts and arbitrators for international maritime dispute resolution.

The Central Statistical Office balance of payments year book estimates that total foreign legal earnings for commercial legal advice and advocacy are £425 million per year. There is no detailed breakdown of the different types of commercial matters available. It is not therefore possible to estimate the percentage of this figure which relates to maritime disputes.

Leyland Daf

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent contact he and his Department have had with the Dutch Government on Leyland DAF.

My right hon. Friend the Minister for Industry has had a number of further discussions with Mr. Koos Andriessen, the Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs. There have also been continuing contacts at official level.

Merseyside (Ec Funds)

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list for each year since 1987 (a) total European regional development fund receipts allocated to Merseyside and (b) total United Kingdom public expenditure cover for those receipts.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: European regional development fund receipts allocated to Merseyside for each year since 1987 are shown below. Public expenditure cover has been made available for all these receipts.

Current Prices
£ million
Year	Allocations
1987	5·58
1988	1·91
1989	8·70
1990	22·47
1991	21·76
1992	13·12
1993	44·54

One-Stop Shops

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 16 March to the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Mr. Hill), Official Report, column 203, if he will list the organisations that have bid to establish one-stop shops; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 23 March 1993]: In the one-stop shop prospectus my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade asked training and enterprise councils to co-ordinate bids on behalf of local partnerships and organisations. These included chambers of commerce, enterprise agencies and local authorities. Fifty seven training and enterprise councils submitted bids on behalf of local partnerships. A list of those training and enterprise councils is attached:

Bids Received from Training and Enterprise Councils to become a Pilot One Stop Shop
	Enterprise Councils
1.	Avon
2.	AZTEC (Kingston, Merton, Wandsworth)
3.	Birmingham
4.	Calderdale and Kirklees
5.	CAMBSTEC (Cambridge)
6.	CEWTEC (Chester, Ellesmere Port and Wirral)
7.	Cumbria
8.	Devon and Cornwall
9.	Barnsley and Doncaster (Doncaster)
10.	Dorset
11.	Dudley
12.	East Lancashire
13.	East Suffolk
14.	LETEC (London East)
15.	Essex
16.	Gloucestershire
17.	Greater Nottingham
18.	Hampshire
19.	Hereford and Worcester
20.	Hertfordshire
21.	Kent
22.	LAWTEC—Lancaster and District
23.	LAWTEC—Preston
24.	Leicestershire
25.	Lincolnshire
26.	Manchester
27.	Merseyside
28.	METROTEC (Wigan)
29.	NORMID (Halton)
30.	North Derbyshire
31.	Northamptonshire
32.	North Nottinghamshire
33.	Northumberland
34.	Oldham
35.	QUALITIC (St. Helens)
36.	Rochdale
37.	Rotherham
38.	Sandwell
39.	Sheffield
40.	Shropshire
41.	Somerset
42.	South Thames (Pan-London bid)
43.	South and East Cheshire
44.	(SOLOTEC) South London
45.	Southern Derbyshire
46.	Staffordshire
47.	Surrey
48.	Sussex
49.	Teeside (Cleveland)
50.	Thames Valley Enterprise
51.	Tyneside
52.	Walsall
53.	Wearside
54.	West London
55.	West Suffolk
56.	Wiltshire
57.	Wolverhampton

Cable Television

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many cabling franchises have been awarded to date; how many properties these franchises cover; how many properties have been cabled to date; and how many properties he expects will be cabled in each of the next three years.

[holding answer 23 March 1993]: The answer is:

(a) 135 cable franchises have been awarded, of which eight have been subsequently handed back of revoked;

(b) The franchises awarded covered around 14·5 million properties; excluding the eight lapsed franchises this figure falls to around 14·2 million;

(c) Approximately 2,213,000 properties have been cabled passed to date and of these, around 454,000 properties have been connected to cable services;

(d) The Department does not itself issue forecasts in this area. Independent forecasts suggest that some 700,000 additional properties will be cabled passed in 1993, 1,200,000 in 1994 and 1,500,000 in 1995. Clearly, only a proportion of these properties will subscribe to cable services.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action he intends to take against those companies awarded cabling franchises which have made no significant progress in cabling properties to date.

[holding answer 23 March 1993]: Responsibility for monitoring and, if appropriate, enforcing compliance with build obligations contained in cable operators' licences issued under the Telecommunications Act 1984 is a matter for the Director General of Telecommunications.

999 Calls

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will require telephone companies to publish the waiting time for 999 calls from the point the telephone call is made until the point where it is answered by an emergency service.

[holding answer 22 March 1993]: It would fall to the Director General of Telecommunications to require the production by telephone companies of such data and to provide for their publication. He has no plans to do so at present. The provision of 999 call handling services is, however, kept under active review by the relevant parties.

Animal Experimentation

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent representations he has had about British and EC regulations to cut the testing of cosmetics on animals; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 22 March 1993]: Since adoption of a common position to ban the testing of ingredients in cosmetics on animals by 1998—subject to a viable alternative—proposed in the sixth Council amendment to directive 76/768/EEC, some 250 letters have been received about ending such testing.

Free Flights Offers

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what powers he has to investigate complaints about sales promotions which offer free flights to accompany the sale of goods or services; and what recent complaints he has received.

[holding answer 16 March 1993]: I have no such powers. I have recently received four complaints.

National Finance

Tax Relief (Dividends)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the effect of restricting tax relief on dividends to 25 per cent. in 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96.

When a United Kingdom resident company pays a dividend to a United Kingdom resident shareholder, the shareholder receives a tax credit from the Exchequer. Under the Chancellor's Budget proposals, the value of the tax credit is being reduced, for dividends paid after 5 April 1993, from 25 per cent. of the value of the dividend and credit to 20 per cent. The effect of this proposal is described in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" and the Inland Revenue Budget day press release.Dividends are not deductible in calculating profits liable to corporation tax, but the advance corporation tax a company pays when it pays a dividend can be set off against the corporation tax on its profits. Under the Chancellor's Budget proposals, that set off will be reduced to 22·5 per cent. in 1993–94 of taxable profits, and to 20 per cent. for 1994–95 and subsequent years.

Domestic Fuel

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures showing the revenue yield in (a) 1994–95 and (b) 1995–96 from value added tax on domestic fuel and power, giving figures separately for value added tax on (i) oil, (ii) piped gas, (iii) cylinder gas, (iv) electricity and (v) coal.

Table 4.1 of the 1993–94 FSBR provides an estimate of the total yield in 1994–95 and 1995–96 from introducing VAT on domestic fuel and power. No separate figures are available for the VAT yield from particular types of fuel and power.

Women (Unpaid Work)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps are being taken by his Department to develop means of measuring the economic value of unpaid work undertaken by women.

The Government recognise the contribution of women—and men—who undertake work caring for others in the home. For example, home responsibilities protection (HRP) is designed to protect the state pension position of both women and men who are unable to work regularly because they are required to stay at home to look after a child or sick or disabled person. Home responsibilities protection reduces the number of qualifying years a person needs to qualify for a full basic pension.

Mileage Allowance

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the Inland Revenue guidelines on tax-free mileage rates paid by employers; and what is the formula now used to arrive at those rates.

The tax-free rates for 1993–94 were announced on 23 March 1993 in an Inland Revenue press release and are set out below, with the 1992–93 rates in brackets. The formula used to arrive at the tax-free mileage rates ensures that, for drivers who do typical private mileages, the rates reflect tax-allowable business costs as closely as possible whatever the level of business mileage.

	Up to 4,000 miles	Over 4,000 miles
Cars up to 1,000 cc	26p (25p)	15p (14p)
Cars 1,001 to 1,500 cc	32p (30p)	18p (17p)
Cars 1,501 to 2,000 cc	40p (38p)	22p (21p)
Cars over 2,000 cc	54p (51p)	30p (27p)

Cycle Helmets

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in attempts to zero-rate child cycle helmets for value added tax.

Customs and Excise have recently completed a review of the zero-rating currently available for children's cycle helmets. A decision on the outcome will be announced shortly.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what grounds value added tax is applied to cycle helmets and not to motor cycle helmets; and if he will make a statement.

Zero rating of cycle helmets is limited to those which qualify under the provisions available for young children's clothing and footwear. Legislation was introduced in 1974 to provide zero rating specifically for protective boots and helmets for industrial use and helmets meeting state safety standards for use by persons driving or riding a motor bicycle. There are no VAT reliefs for safety items generally.

Domestic Fuel

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the proposed new VAT charges on domestic fuel will apply to the standing charges.

Standing charges are regarded as part of the payment for the supply of fuel and power and will therefore be subject to the VAT changes announced in the Budget statement.

Tax Liability

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate (a) the average and (b) the total tax liability of taxpayers in each region of the United Kingdom in 1993–94 compared with the indexed 1987–88 income tax regime.

I regret that this information is not available on a regional basis.

Tax Liability

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has of the United Kingdom tax burden, in percentage averge terms in (a) 1993–94 and (b) 1995–96; and if he will make a statement.

An estimate of the tax burden in 1993–94, and a projection for 1995–96, is provided in table 2B.2 of the 1993–94 "Financial Statement and Budget Report".

Mortgage Interest Tax Relief

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the cost of mortgage interest tax relief in 1993–94 and the number of borrowers who will benefit from it.

The cost of mortgage interest tax relief is provisionally estimated to be £4.3 billion in 1993–94 based on the conventional assumption that interest rates remain at their current levels.The estimated number of single people or married couples benefiting from mortgage interest relief in 1993–94 is 9·9 million.

Pensioners (Income Tax)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the (a) number and (b) percentage of people in receipt of the state retirement pension who will be liable to pay income tax in 1993–94.

The latest estimate is that 3·4 million of those receiving state retirement pension—about one third of the total—will be liable to income tax in 1993–94.

Investment

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what percentage rate (a) investment and (b) business investment is expected to grow as a result of the measures in his Budget, and if he will make a statement.

The "Financial Statement and Budget Report" 1993–94, published along with the Budget, set out the forecast for total and business investment.

Petroleum Revenue Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the likely effect of Budget changes to petroleum revenue tax on exploration activity in the North sea; and what assessment his Department has made of the likely effect on offshore investment of the changes announced in both petroleum revenue tax and advance corporation tax.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: Doubling the marginal rate of return should encourage investment in, and extend the life of, existing PRT-paying fields. For the future, finding and producing oil will be taken completely out of PRT. As with any tax cut, that will both increase after-tax costs and increase after-tax profits that would have been subject to PRT. Commercially viable exploration should continue unaffected, except by the greater scope for companies to benefit from success.

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

Yugoslavia

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what resources are being made available by Her Majesty's Government to the Commission established by Security Council resolution 780 investigating alleged war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

The Commission is currently being funded from the UN regular budget to which we contribute. It has plans to set up a trust fund to provide for its future requirements. We shall be considering how best we might contribute.

Sri Lanka

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the British high commissioner to Sri Lanka last visited the Jaffna area of Sri Lanka; how long his visit lasted; who accompanied him; what areas of Jaffna he visited; and if he will list the people the high commissioner met on his visit.

The British high commissioner visited Jaffna on 18 February for one day. He was accompanied by General Ranatunga, the secretary of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence, and the Australian high commissioner. He saw Palali air base and the Navy base at Karainagar. He met General R. de S. Daluwatte and Brigadier Wijendra at Palali and Commodore Sandagri at Karainagar.

Nuclear And Chemical Weapons

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will make it their policy to deny places on science graduate and postgraduate courses to students from countries which fail to sign or ratify international protocols relating to nuclear or chemical weapons.

I have been asked to reply.The Government are determined to block potential avenues for the poliferation of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. We are discussing with representatives of the universities and colleges, which are responsible for the admission of students to courses, the most effective means of ensuring that postgraduate students and researchers from countries where there is a proliferation concern cannot gain access to relevant technologies through study or research in United Kingdom higher education.

Health

Health Authorities

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost of running, and the number of staff employed by each regional health authority and management executive outpost in each of the last five years.

The cost of running regional health authorities is shown in table 1.

Information on the numbers of staff employed by regional health authorities given in table 2 are not directly comparable as they include centrally managed functions—see note 4 to table. Figures for 1991 are not available centrally. For information for 1992 I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr. Gill) on 4 March at column 221 which

Table 1. Total Revenue Expenditure of Regional Health Authorities (RHAs)
£000 (cash)
RHA	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92
Northern	20,978	22,455	25,813	27,479	63,474
Yorkshire	30,709	31,733	34,349	42,094	65,093
Trent	26,612	28,158	29,354	21,982	174,283
East Anglian	10,898	12,664	14,103	19,694	45,648
North-West Thames	8,672	12,454	14,529	18,672	57,619
North-East Thames	17,678	20,723	22,791	26,710	189,715
South-East Thames	17,374	20,816	25,964	32,250	250,032
South-West Thames	59,311	63,240	72,403	70,499	149,077
Wessex	9,468	10,019	11,992	14,665	25,017
Oxford	9,897	10,871	13,189	15,816	49,363
South Western	12,114	13,229	15,612	13,756	86,185
West Midlands	37,060	38,811	47,626	53,917	111,013
Mersey	19,023	10,660	12,773	14,706	23,961
North Western	41,133	40,314	42,576	26,804	65,151

Source: Annual accounts of regional health authorities (RHAs) 1987–88 to 1991–92.

Notes:

1. The figures cover the total revenue expenditure of the authorities including that incurred on headquarters administration and on the management and provision of services in the years concerned.

2. The extent to which RHAs are involved in directly managing and accounting for ambulance and other services varies from region to region. The expenditure of individual RHAs is also influenced by other factors including variations in the size of the total populations served and the number of district health authorities comprising each region.

3. The figures for 1991–92 are not comparable to those for the earlier years, which predate the NHS reforms. In particular, many RHAs are directly involved in the purchase of healthcare and related services for their region and their 1991–92 expenditure includes substantial costs for patient treatment incurred under contracts with health care providers.

Table 2
Staff employed by regional health authority headquarters and headquarter units as at 30 September
Whole-time equivalents
	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990
Northern	2,630	2,670	2,710	2,710	2,740
Yorkshire	3,090	3,160	3,130	3,190	3,050
Trent	3,340	3,070	3,440	3,380	3,340
East Anglian	1,180	1,290	1,320	1,320	1,330
North West Thames	1,540	2,300	1,530	1,560	1,750
North East Thames	2,370	2,450	2,600	2,650	2,710
South East Thames	2,070	2,120	2,140	2,130	2,210
South West Thames	1,790	1,790	1,830	1,900	2,080
Wessex	1,310	1,350	1,360	1,300	1,430
Oxford	2,630	1,650	1,630	1,600	1,670
South Western	1,710	1,680	1,710	1,680	1,800
West Midlands	4,430	4,920	4,850	4,860	4,640
Mersey	2,260	2,300	1,690	1,730	1,740
North Western	3,870	4,140	4,250	4,210	3,130
TOTAL	34,210	34,890	34,190	34,230	33,650

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

2. Figures are expressed as whole-time equivalents.

3. Consultants and senior registrars, whose contracts are held by the regional health authority, are also included in the figures.

4. The services provided by each regional health authority headquarters can be different. Some have the blood transfusion service, ambulance services etc. centralised, whereas in other regions these services are devolved to district health authorities. In some cases, these services may be centralised in some years and devolved in others.

Table 3
Outpost	Number of staff
North West	8
North East	8
East	11
South	10

gives figures for staff employed on core regional services produced by a special exercise conducted in mid 1992. Similar figures are not available for earlier years.

The management executive outposts have been operational only since April 1992. Their running cost budget for 1992–93 is £3 million and they currently have 56 staff in post as shown in table 3.

Outpost	Number of staff
South West	10
Midlands	9
Total	56

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she treats information held by the NHS management executive as being information held centrally when answering parliamentary questions.

All validated information held by the national health service management executive is regarded as information held centrally.

Gp Fund Holding

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost of first and second wave general practitioner fund-holding in 1991–92, broken down into (a) general practitioner fund-holding management fee, (b) general practitioner fund-holding underspend, (c) general practitioner fund-holding computer costs, (d) administrative costs to the (i) family health services authority, (ii) district health authority, (iii) regional health authority and (iv) her Department and the management executive (e) administrative costs to trusts, (f) Audit Commission costs and (g) the cost of primary care team time.

The information available centrally isas follows:

(a) £14 million in fund holders' management allowance costs was reimbursed in 1991–92.

(b) Fund holder underspends are not a cost but a saving from the fund-holding budget. These savings will be spent for the benefit of patients. They amounted to some £17 million in 1991–92, of which £3·5 million has been channelled into extra funds for district health authorities to spend on all patients.

(d) (e) and (f) These costs are not separately available for fund holding.

(g) The cost of primary care team time is already allowed for in the management allowance.

Health Forums

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration she has given to including a patients' representative on the London health service development forum, the Lodon implementation group executive or the primary health care forum.

The London health service development forum, the London implementation group executive and the primary health care forum are small executive or advisory bodies charged with implementing our policy document "Making London Better". Patients' organisations are not represented on these bodies, but will, of course, be consulted whenever appropriate.Representing the consumers of health care services continues to be the role of health authority purchasers, family health service authorities and community health councils. Their views will be taken fully into account.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the estimated cost of servicing the London implementation group in the year 1993–94; and whether this cost is included in the £43·5 million additional money set aside for investment in primary care.

The support costs of the London implementation group (LIG) will not be financed from the £43·5 million announced in "Making London Better", which is additional money for primary care in London. LIG is operating through, and being serviced by, the existing health agencies wherever possible. The cost of any additional support will be met by the Department and the four Thames regions.

Accident And Emergency Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration has been given to the desirability of locating obstetric, gynaecology and children's services on site so that they are readily accessible by hospital accident and emergency services.

Accident and emergency departments should only be located in major hospitals, supported by a range of specialties on site and have good communications with specialties which are not on site. It is for purchasers and provider units to determine the most effective configuration of local provision for paediatric, obstetric and gynaecology services, which take full account of the needs of the local population and ensures that timely support is available to the accident and emergency service where appropriate.

Prescription Charges

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to phase out the exemption of prescription charges for the conditions that are currently listed as benefiting from free prescriptions.

The Government's policy is that people who can afford to do so should contribute towards the cost of national health service pharmaceutical services by paying prescription charges. Help with such charges is directed towards those likely to have the greatest difficulty in paying. The way in which the extensive exemptions on grounds of health or status may best contribute to this policy is kept under review.

Drug Prescribing

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 17 March, Official Report, column 303, when she expects the Advisory Committee on National Health Service Drugs to specify which existing products in the 10 new categories to be covered by the selected list regulations it will formally consider; and on what basis the selection will be made.

The Advisory Committee on National Health Service Drugs has set up sub-groups to undertake preliminary consideration, in the light of the committee's terms of reference, of the range of drugs within each of the new therapeutic categories. These sub-groups will report to the full committee, which will decide which drugs should be formally considered. The committee has not set dates for the reviews of particular categories, but relevant manufacturers will be informed in advance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a list of the names of each product in each of the 10 therapeutic categories to be considered for inclusion in the selected list by the Advisory Committee on NHS Drugs.

I cannot add to my reply to the hon. Member on 17 March at column 303.

Dentists

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists are now being employed directly by family health service authorities.

At 31 December 1992 there were 71 salaried dentists employed by family health service authorities.

Bowel Cancer

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has made for the establishment and funding of a national sigmoidoscopy screening programme for bowel cancer.

There are no current plans to establish and fund a screening programme for bowel cancer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence has been received by her Department of the effect on public health and economic benefits of a national sigmoidoscopy screening programme for bowel cancer.

The value of screening for colorectal or bowel cancer is uncertain. The Department is considering initiatives, including progress of a trial being undertaken at Nottingham on faecal occult blood testing; the potential for flexible sigmoidoscopy as compared to faecal occult blood testing; and other possible screening options.

Counterfeit Drugs

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are taken to reassure patients that dispensed drugs are authentic rather than counterfeit drugs.

All dispensed medicines are strictly controlled by the Medicines Act 1968. Compliance with the requirements of this Act by those who manufacture, import, wholesale and dispense medicines in the United Kingdom is continuously monitored and enforced by the Medicines Control Agency and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.The Medicines Control Agency also operates a round-the-clock service by which any suspected defective medicinal product, including counterfeits, can be reported to the agency. The report is investigated with the licence holder and any other parties involved. Any necessary action can be implemented quickly. The agency is supported by laboratories equipped to investigate any suspected counterfeit products.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to prevent counterfeiting and reimportation of drugs.

The Medicines Control Agency fully investigates all alleged reports of counterfeiting and illegal re-importation of drugs and takes prompt action, including prosecution where appropriate to stop illegal activity. The United Kingdom licensing system covering the import—sale and production—of medicinal products is continually kept under review to ensure that appropriate safeguards against counterfeit products are maintained.

Ambulance Service

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each ambulance service (a) the proportion of ambulance service responses which are a result of doctors' urgent calls, (b) the average response time for such calls and (c) the targets she has set for response times; and if she will make a statement.

Urgent calls for an ambulance may be made by people other than doctors—for example, expectant mothers. Information on urgent patient journeys does not distinguish between types of caller. The proportion of patient journeys classified as urgent is set out in the table for each ambulance authority in England. Information on average response times for urgent calls is not available centrally. Ninety-five per cent. of urgent responses should arrive at the hospital within 15 minutes of the time agreed between the doctor and the ambulance authority.

Ambulance services 1991–92 England Urgent patient journeys as a proportion of all patient journeys¹
	Total patient journeys (thousands)	Urgent patient journeys (thousands)	Urgent journeys as total journeys (percentage)
Non-metropolitan authorities
Cleveland	216·0	24·2	11
Cumbria	250·0	14·0	6
Durham	332·6	14·4	4
Humberside	417·9	22·6	5
North Yorkshire	274·1	21·5	8
Derbyshire	318·1	23·7	7
Leicestershire	290·6	26·0	9
Lincolnshire (NHS Trust)	190·0	18·5	10
Nottinghamshire	443·0	25·3	6
Cambridgeshire	272·8	11·9	4
Norfolk (NHS Trust)	304·1	20·9	7
Suffolk	264·0	10·2	4
Bedfordshire	148·8	9·3	6
Hertfordshire	189·9	15·5	8
Essex	550·1	27·3	5
East Sussex	393·7	20·0	5
Kent	352·9	29·1	8
Surrey	437·4	18·8	4
West Sussex	267·1	15·0	6
Dorset	322·5	19·5	6
Hampshire	212·7	30·6	14
Wiltshire	276·6	16·3	6
Isle of Wight	45·8	2·8	6
Berkshire	190·1	12·8	7
Buckinghamshire	167·7	11·5	7
Northamptonshire	160·1	14·0	9
Oxfordshire	181·5	10·4	6
Avon	308·5	23·2	8
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly(NHS Trust)	107·6	13·8	13
Devon	574·8	32·8	6
Gloucestershire	185·7	14·4	8
Somerset	172·3	14·1	8
Hereford and Worcestershire	216·9	14·5	7
Shropshire	93·6	11·3	12
Staffordshire	305·6	20·4	7
Warwickshire	96·2	16·7	17
Cheshire	243·2	21·5	9
Lancashire	528·8	30·9	6
Metropolitan authorities
Northumbria Met (NHS Trust)	764·2	53·1	7
West Yorkshire Met	1,048·3	63·5	6
South Yorkshire Met	578·5	33·1	6
London Ambulance Service	1,639·5	76·6	5
West Midlands Met	762·8	86·4	11
Mersey Met	701·5	38·4	5
Greater Manchester Met	1,067·6	70·0	7
¹ Figures are provisional

Nhs Administration

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the total numbers of staff employed in each of the various management/administrator grades of the national health service; and what were the comparable numbers and grades of administrators employed in each year since 1975.

[holding answer 10 March 1993]: The information is not available centrally in the form requested. The total numbers of staff employed in administrative and clerical grades and the total numbers of general and senior managers are given in the table. Management still accounts for less than 1·7 per cent. of the national health service work force.

	Administrative and clerical¹	General/Senior managers²
1975	91,870	န
1976	98,510	န
1977	99,040	န
1978	100,300	န
1979	102,960	န
1980	105,430	န
1981	108,800	န
1982	108,800	န
1983	109,970	န
1984	110,300	န
1985	110,940	110
1986	110,840	510
1987	113,900	700
1988	114,720	1,240
1989	116,840	4,610
1990	120,040	9,680
1991³	127,370	13,340
¹ All figures are for England, are in whole-time eqivalents and are rounded to the nearest 10.
² General and senior managers were introduced in phases from 1985 following the Griffiths report (1983).
³ Includes staff in the NHS trusts.

Defence

Redundant Personnel (Rents)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the average level of rents payable in England by redundant service personnel remaining in married quarters.

Redundant service personnel pay the appropriate quartering charge for the type and grade of quarter occupied until they leave the service. After leaving the service they pay a market rent appropriate to the size of the property and the locality. Calculating the average amount payable could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Properties

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's former properties have been leased by local authorities for each year from 1979 to 1993.

Details of married quarters leased to other organisations have only been collected centrally since 1986. As at 31 March of each year the following properties were on lease to local authorities.

	Number
1986	497
1987	405
1988	378
1989	508
1990	595
1991	616
1992	848
1993	832

In addition to the properties on lease to local authorities, a further 112 are on lease at present to other organisations or individuals and additional leases are under negotiation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 8 March, Official Report, column 452, how many of his Department's properties sold under the discount scheme in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 were purchased (a) by housing associations, (b) under do-it-yourself shared ownership schemes, (c) under shared ownership schemes and (d) by private developers.

None. Only service personnel are eligible to purchase property under the discount scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications have been received from service personnel for do-it-yourself shared ownership schemes in the current financial year.

As of 24 March, 408 applications from service personnel had been submitted through the joint service housing advice office in the current financial year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give the number of his Department's residential properties which have been sold as a proportion of (a) those which are unoccupied and (b) those which are occupied by redundant service personnel remaining in married quarters.

The information is not available in the form requested. My Department has a rolling programme to dispose of all properties that are surplus to its long-term requirements.

Maternity Units

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list his Department's hospitals (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) abroad which have maternity units; and how many maternity beds and special and intensive care baby cots were available in each of those hospitals in the most recent available year.

My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence will write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many women delivered in maternity units in his Department's hospitals in the most recent available year (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere; and what was the percentage in each case of women whose deliveries were (i) spontaneous, including abnormal presentation of head and breech spontaneous, (ii) instrumental including forceps, vacuum and breech extractions and (iii) by Caesarean section;

(2) what percentage of women delivering in maternity units in his Department's hospitals in the most recent available year (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere has episiotomies;

(3) what was the percentage of women delivering in maternity units in his Department's hospitals in the most recent available year (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere (i) whose labours were induced, (ii) whose labours were of spontaneous onset and (iii) who had elective Caesarean sections;

(4) how many babies were born in his Department's hospitals (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere in the most recent available year; and what were the numbers of live births, still births, deaths at 0 to six days after live birth and deaths at seven to 27 days after live birth of babies weighing (i) under 1,500g, (ii) 1,500g to 2,499g, (iii) 2,500g and over and (iv) babies whose birthweight was unstated (y) in the United Kingdom and (z) abroad.

This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Advance Of Pay Scheme

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of extending the Royal Navy's long service advance of pay scheme to the Army and RAF.

An estimate was prepared in 1991–92. Although the figures were never fully refined, the cost over a 10-year period was held to be of the order of £6.6 million for the Army and £12.8 million for the RAF.

Yugoslavia

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to increasing the size of the British contribution to UNPROFOR II; and if he will make a statement.

The size and composition of the British contribution to the Bosnia-Herzegovina command is determined by its role and tasks within the overall UNPROFOR deployment and by conditions in-country. The overall size of the battalion group and its supporting elements was reviewed as part of our roulement planning process.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to changing the rules of engagement for British forces deployed with UNPROFOR II; and if he will make a statement.

Rules of engagement under which British troops and other UN troops operate in the former Yugoslavia enable them to defend themselves and to carry out their mission. Rules of engagement would be reviewed if there was any significant change in the circumstances of the deployment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what decisions he has made about the length of tours of duty for British service personnel deployed with UNPROFOR Bosnia-Herzegovina command; and if he will make a statement.

The length of tour for British personnel deployed with the UN protection force in the former Yugoslavia is six months. This length of tour is consistent with the practice of other UNPROFOR troop contributors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answers of 26 February, Official Report, column 739, what are the reasons for the reduction in the number of British service personnel deployed with UNPROFOR Bosnia-Herzegovina command after the current units are replaced; and if he will make a statement.

The reduction in numbers between the strength currently deployed and the planned strength after roulement is due mainly to the withdrawal of the Royal Engineer surge capability required to establish the United Kingdom forces in the region. That task will have been compelted by the time of the roulement.

Trucks

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to order trucks or truck spare parts over the next three years.

Our existing contracts for trucks and truck spare parts, worth approximately £165 million, will continue until well into 1995. Thereafter, my Department's long-term costing contains further provision for additional orders for truck spares and replacement vehicles. It is not our practice to disclose specific details of future programmes.

Ex-Raf Pilots

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 20 January, Official Report, column 307, what steps he is taking to increase the current numbers of ex-RAF pilots participating in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on 20 January, Official Report, column 307.

Nato Defence Force

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what type of RAF assets will be assigned to the NATO main defence force.

All front-line aircraft are assigned to NATO or could be made available in support of NATO operations. Our contribution to the NATO main defence force will comprise most of the RAF assets not assigned to the reaction force (air). It will thus include strike/attack and reconnaisance assets, a comprehensive air defence capability and, to reflect the increased emphasis on flexibility of deployment, comprehensive transport, air-to-air refuelling and support helicopter forces. RAF regiment assets will also be assigned.

Matrix Churchill

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he had, at the time of signing public interest certificates on the Matrix Churchill case on (a) work undertaken on behalf of Her Majesty's Government by defendants in the case, (b) previous work carried out by his officials relating to export licence applications by Matrix Churchill and (c) policies relating to the export of military equipment to Iraq prior to 2 August 1990; and if he will make a statement.

These are matters for Lord Justice Scott's inquiry to consider.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any of the official documents relating to the Scott inquiry have been lost or destroyed; and if he will make a statement.

It is my Department's policy routinely to review and, where appropriate, destroy documents, usually after five years. Following the announcement of Lord Justice Scott's inquiry, instructions were issued prohibiting the destruction of any relevant papers. I am advised there are very few documents requested by the inquiry which my Department has been unable to provide.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what documents his Department has been asked to provide to Lord Justice Scott; what documents his Department has supplied; and if he will make a statement.

Lord Justice Scott has asked for a wide range of documents, held by my Department and relevant to this inquiry. The papers supplied to the inquiry to date amount to more than 18,000 pages.

Naval Bases

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 8 February, Official Report, column 498, if he will list each of the reasons for not publishing the details of the various proposals which could have implications for naval bases.

It is not our practice to publish details of the many proposals examined as part of MOD's internal planning process. To announce at the outset details of every proposal which might affect one or more naval bases would create uncertainty for civilian MOD employees and their families, others working at the base, local communities and service personnel. Such uncertainty could also affect the efficiency of the establishment. In addition, there may be security or commercial sensitivities attached to particular proposals.

Nuclear Submarines

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 8 February, Official Report, column 498, what estimates have been made of the cost of final disposal for nuclear submarines.

The policy for the final disposal of decommissioned nuclear submarines remains under consideration; the cost of disposal is one of the factors which will be taken into account.

Nato Rapid Reaction Corps

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in the development of the NATO rapid reaction corps; and if he will make a statement.

The headquarters of the Allied Command Europe rapid reaction corps was established on 3 October 1992 and full operational capability will be achieved by 1995.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 20 January, Official Report, column 306, what is the minimum number of aircraft that the RAF will be contributing to the reaction force (air).

The RAF will be making a contribution of up to 80 aircraft to the reaction force (air). There is no minimum as such; the number of aircraft deployed in any given situation will depend on the operational requirements at the time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has received from his German, Dutch and Belgian counterparts relating to their contributions to the rapid reaction corps; and if he will make a statement.

The German, Dutch and Belgian MODs have provisionally agreed to assign forces to the ACE rapid reaction corps and these are most welcome. Details of national contributions have yet to be finalised.

Defence Expenditure

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts regarding their plans for defence expenditure; and if he will make a statement.

NATO Defence Ministers last considered the spending plans of alliance nations at the defence planning committee meeting on 11 December 1992, as part of the annual review of national defence planning.

Leyland Daf

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide details of all of the current orders he has with Leyland DAF.

The Department has 36 current contracts with Leyland DAF. Thesee are as follows:

(1) Five vehicle contracts comprising DROPS MMLC, four tonne 4 x 4 truck cargo, 4 tonne 4 x 2 truck cargo, eight-tonne 4 x 2 truck cargo, and 21-tonne truck cargo;

(2) 24 spares contracts;

(3) Two post-design services contracts for DROPS and four tonne;

(4) Five general contracts e.g. running contracts and testing.

It is not our policy to disclose prices as these are commercially confidential.

Surplus Married Quarters

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the amount and value of surplus married quarters that have been bought by housing associations in the last three years.

Six hundred and twenty-five surplus married quarters have been sold direct to housing associations over the last three years at a total value of £24·171 million. Two further sales involving 150 properties are expected to be completed before the end of this month and sales of a further 561 properties to housing associations are under negotiation.

Iraq

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what changes he has made to his policy relating to the release of information concerning the export of military equipment to Iraq in the last three years; if he will now change his policy relating to the release of such information; and if he will make a statement.

It has been the policy of successive Administrations to treat information about the export of specific equipments as commercially confidential. There are no plans to change this policy. In the special circumstances of Iraq, information which is not commercially sensitive has exceptionally been made public since the Gulf conflict. Since the conflict our policy has been to support the United Nations embargo on exports to Iraq.

Redundancies

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officers on short service commissions have been isssued with compulsory redundancy notices since the start of 1993.

A total of 109 Army officers serving on short service (late entry) commissions were notified on 25 February 1993 that they had been selected for compulsory redundancy under phase 2 of the Army's redundancy programme. No short service officers in either the Royal Navy or the Royal Air Force have been issued with compulsory redundancy notices since the start of 1993.

Home Department

Fire Officers

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will update the information provided in his answer of 13 March, Official Report, columns 507–9; and if he will rank the annual pay rates of all grades of fire officer and retained fire officer and the arrangements and value of pensions and London weighting allowances; and if he will make a statement.

The National Joint Council for Local Authorities' Fire Brigades has provided the following information relating to pay scales for all ranks of whole-time and retained firefighter, which updates the information contained in the reply given on 13 March 1991.The annual pay rates of chief fire officers are determined at the discretion of the employing authority, but are normally determined in relation to the population within the brigade area. The table gives details of population ranges and corresponding salary ranges:

Annual pay rates for Chief Fire Officers by population range
	Salary range
Population range	Minimum £	Maximum £	Higher maximum for metropolitan brigades¹ £
Up to 240,000	38,385	51,849	—
240,001 to 360,000	39,384	53,934	—
360,001 to 460,000	40,815	56,025	—

	Salary range
Population range	Minimum £	Maximum £	Higher maximum for metropolitan brigades¹ £
460,001 to 600,000	42,336	57,438	—
600,001 to 760,000	43,878	59,484	—
760,001 to 940,000	45,414	62,040	—
940,001 to 1,200,000	46,116	63,705	66,600
1,200,001 to 1,700,000	48,372	65,163	68,124
1,700,001 to 2,300,00	49,932	67,116	70,170
2,300,001 and over	51,642	69,075	72,213
London	59,388	79,431	83,046
¹At the discretion of the employing authority.

The annual pay rates for assistant chief officers except those appointed as deputy chief fire officers, are determined in the same way as those for chief fire officers. The salary ranges are set at 75 per cent. of those for chief fire officers for the equivalent population ranges, subject to an underpinning minimum of £38,139. Salary ranges for those appointed as deputy chief fire officers are set at 80 per cent. of those for chief fire officers for the equivalent population ranges, subject to an underpinning minimum of £38,997.

The annual rates of whole-time ranks from firefighter up to senior divisional officer are set out in the table:

Annual pay rates of whole-time ranks: Firefighter up to and including Senior Divisional Officer
Rank	Minimum £	Maximum £
Senior Divisional Officer	28,896	¹31,173
Divisional Officer I	26,844	¹28,776
Divisional Officer II	24,306	¹26,940
Divisional Officer III	22,890	¹24,540
Assistant Divisional Officer	21,369	¹23,364
Station Officer	20,274	¹21,864
Sub-officer	17,478	18,852
Leading Firefighter	17,046	17,745
Firefighter	12,531	²15,921
¹ Ranks at station officer and above may attract a flexible duty supplement of 20 per cent.
² Subject to being fully qualified.

The annual retainers for retained firefighters are set out in the table:

Annual retainers for retained firefighters
Rank	One to three years¹ service £	More than three years¹ service £
Station Officer and above	1,902	2,154
Sub-officer	¹1,563	¹1,683
Leading firefighter	1,521	1,563
Firefighter	1,392	1,521
¹ Enhanced payments are made to Sub-officers in charge of fire stations. In addition, retained firefighters are paid fees for attendance at incidents, attendance at drill nights and extra duties. Retained firefighters are also eligible for payments under the long service bounty scheme.

All staff employed by the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority receive a London weighting allowance of £2,511 per annum.

The arrangements for the payment of pensions are as set out in the reply given on 13 March 1991, with the exception that the pension contribution rate has increased to 11 per cent. following the introduction of a lump sum death grant in respect of firefighters who die in service.

Child Abduction

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the grant for Reunite; the National Council for Abducted Children.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: Reunite has been funded by the Home Office voluntary services unit since November 1989 at an annual rate of around £23,000. This arrangement was due to end on 31 March 1993 as indicated, but I am pleased to say that agreement has now been reached with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on a joint funding scheme to apply beyond that date. We will maintain Reunite's grant at its existing level in 1993–94 and we are prepared to consider the possibility of continued funding, subject to satisfactory discussions but on a tapering basis, for the two following years.

Metropolitan Police

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the divisions of the Metropolitan police service by borough, together with the number of police officers working in each division and the population served by each division.

[holding answer 25 March 1993]: The information in respect of the London boroughs is as follows:

London borough	Number of officers	Population of borough
INNER LONDON
Camden		170,444
Holborn	248
Hampstead	262
Kentish Town	214
Hackney		181,248
Stoke Newington	330
Hackney	285
Hammersmith and Fulham		148,502
Fulham	202
Hammersmith	337
Haringey		202,204
Tottenham	286
Hornsey	267
Westminster		174,814
Belgravia	358
West End Central	372
Charing Cross	422
Paddington Green	283
Marylebone	257
Harrow Road	219
OUTER LONDON
Barking and Dagenham		143,681
Dagenham		292
Barnet		293,564
Golders Green	211
West Hendon	240
Bexley		215,615
Bexleyheath	278

London borough	Number of officers	Population of borough
Brent		243,025
Wembley	248
Kilburn	378
Bromley		290,609
Orpington	213
Bromley	260
Croydon		313,510
Croydon	280
South Norwood	310
Islington		164,686
Islington	290
Holloway	268
Kensington/Chelsea		138,394
Chelsea	185
Kensington	221
Notting Hill	223
Lambeth		244,834
Brixton	299
Kennington	181
Clapham	229
Streatham	261
Newham		212,170
Newham	582
Southwark		218,541
Southwark	283
Peckham	300
Carter Street	237
Tower Hamlets		161,064
Bethnal Green	188
Leman Street	202
Limehouse	308
Wandsworth		252,425
Battersea	230
Tooting	233
Wandsworth	209
Ealing		275,257
Ealing	346
Southall	281
Enfield		257,417
Edmonton	251
Greenwich		207,650
Plumstead	282
Greenwich	262
Harrow		200,100
Harrow	271
Havering		229,492
Havering	372
Hillingdon		231,602
Hillingdon	460
Hounslow		204,397
Chiswick	191
Hounslow	263
Kingston on Thames		132,996
Kingston	380
Merton		168,470
Merton	293
Redbridge		226,218
Ilford	247

London borough	Number of officers	Population of borough
Richmond on Thames		160,732
Twickenham	304
Waltham Forest		212,033
Leyton	234
Chingford	247

Gambling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will outline the statutory or licensing restrictions which apply to gambling in pubs or other licensed premises; and what consideration is being given to amending them.

[pursuant to his reply, 18 March 1993, c. 319]: Section 6 of the Gaming Act 1968 permits, in public houses and hotels licensed for the sale of liquor, the playing of dominoes, cribbage and any other form of equal chance game authorised by the appropriate liquor licensing authorities. To prevent abuse, the justices are empowered as a safeguard to impose conditions that forbid play for high stakes or stop the gaming from becoming a primary inducement to custom; and people under 18 are debarred from play.Under section 34 of the 1968 Act, the holder of a justices' on-licence may also apply to the justices for a permit to provide one or more amusements-with-prizes machines offering prizes up to £3 in cash or £6 in tokens against a maximum stake of 20p.There are at present no plans to amend these restrictions.

Weapons Advertising

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 22 March, Official Report, column 450, whether he is willing to receive a deputation led by the hon. Member for Dumbarton on the publication and distribution of the magazine referred to in relation to public safety.

My right hon. and learned Friend will consider this if the hon. Member for Dumbarton writes to him with details of the purpose of the proposed deputation.

Education

Departmental Contracts

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list, for each of the last five years, the duration, value and nature of contracts awarded by his Department to Arthur Andersen, Andersen Consulting, KPMG Peat Marwick McLintock, Touche Ross, Ernst and Young and Price Waterhouse.

The information in the form requested is available only for the years 1991–92 and 1992–93.For the three previous years, no central records of the duration of contracts were held.

Contract Description	Value £
1988–89 Financial Year
Peat Marwick McLintock
Study of Requirements for an integrated Vote and	81,304
Management accounting system
Ernst and Young
Management System for HMI travelling and	26,141
subsistence
1989–90 Financial Year
Peat Marwick McLintock
Financial Survey of SERC	18,055
Financial Computer System	49,910
Student Loans	244,493
1990–91 Financial Year
Touche Ross
Advice on extension of LMS to special schools	40,000
Management Consultancy Survey of NERC	23,800
Ernst and Young
Financial Management Review of CCPR	35,420
KPMG
Pensions Administration System	102,476
Commercial Funding of Workshop Materials	55,192
IS Branch Annual Business Plan	22,902
Review of Teachers Superannuation scheme	74,587
Training Needs Analysis for TPA	11,873
Price Waterhouse
Financial Controls for NCC	47,000

Contract description	Value £	Duration Days
1991–92 Financial year
Touche Ross
Assistance in preparing colleges for independence from Local Authority control	62,000	105
Provision of operational research assistance	58,595	172
Tender budgeting and accounting methods	24,000	40
Ernst and Young
Study of telecommunications and distance working for the Department	25,565	26
Financial management survey of Purchasing procedures	25,200	40
FEFC relocation study	15,000	34
KPMG Peat Marwick McLintock
Customer Survey for the Teachers Pensions Agency	19,000	14
Review of a Data Collection Processing System	21,500	35
Identification of a Market Testing Programme	29,325	35
Commercial funding of workshop materials	12,338	¹—
Price Waterhouse
Capital equipment survey	52,954	108
Financial management survey	13,120	15
1992–93 Financial year
Touche Ross
Assistance on file storage, file retrieval and document retention	23,522	34
Provision of operational research assistance	31,820	93

Contract description	Value £	Duration Days
KPMG Peat Marwick McLintock
Follow up work to the Customer Survey for the Teachers Pensions Agency	19,500	26
Financial Management Review of Research Council contracts with other Government Department	28,000	34
Project Audit of the Pensions Administration System (PAS) for the Teacher Pensions Agency	16,250	20
Study on Payments made to GM Schools	9,500	15
Price Waterhouse
Financial consultancy review	14,000	17
Accountancy review	8,500	12
¹ Extension of previous contract.

University Students

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many students have taken part in the Erasmus scheme to study at EC universities; which students are eligible; and what is the total number of places in the scheme.

Approximately 120,000 students, including 19,000 from the United Kingdom, have taken part in the Erasmus programme during the first five years of its existence—1987–88 to 1991–92. Eligibility extends to students at higher education institutions which, together with partner institutions in other participating countries, have made a successful application to the European Commission to form an inter-university co-operation programme (ICP). Selection of individual students to take part in a student exchange is a matter for the home institution. The level of student mobility within an ICP is decided by the institutions involved.

London Education Bodies

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many bodies, elected or appointed organisations or groups currently deal with responsibilities previously discharged by the Inner London education authority; and if he will list each with its area of activity.

The Department does not maintain a central record of the detailed information requested.

Social Security

Domestic Violence

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many women requested social fund loans, community care grants and crisis loans, as a result of escaping a violent partner, for the last two years for which figures are available; what was the average amount granted for each of the above; and what was the number of domestic violence victims whose applications were refused.

The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Pensioners

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners in (a) the Chelmsford constituency and (b) the United Kingdom are in receipt of income support.

The administration of income support is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Simon Burns, dated 25 March 1993:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many pensioners in (a) the Chelmsford constituency and (b) the United Kingdom are in receipt of Income Support.

The constituency of Chelmsford is covered by the Benefits Agency's Essex and South East District, which consists of Southend-on-Sea and Chelmsford offices. The information is not available in the format requested because the boundaries of the district do not correspond exactly with those of the constituency. Additionally, for Income Support purposes all customers are classified as pensioners at age 60.

However, as at 28 February 1993, the latest date for which information is available, 11,144 customers aged 60 or over in the Benefits Agency's Essex South East District office were claiming Income Support. The equivalent figure for the United Kingdom as a whole is 1,630,511.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this letter will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Chronic Bronchitis And Emphysema

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will respond to the report by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council on chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

We hope to announce our response shortly.

Benefits (Overpayment)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the maximum length of time in arrears after which overpayment of state benefits may be recovered.

The law prescribes no time limit for the calculation or recovery of overpaid benefits.

Income Support

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what income support rates were in each year since 1988–89.

The information is in table A2.36 on page 41 of "Social Security Statistics 1992", published by HMSO. A copy of which is in the Library.

Retirement Pension

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the maximum length of time in arrears after which the state retirement pension may be claimed.

Arrears of state retirement pension may be paid for a maximum period of 12 months before the date of the claim.

Automated Credit Transfer

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received about advice being given to those about to retire about pensions being paid through automated credit transfer; and if he will make a statement.

We have received a number of representations on this subject both from hon. Members and outside interests. All representations are being given full and due consideration.

Volume 221: debated on Friday 26 March 1993

Written Answers To Questions

Lord Chancellor's Department

Legal Aid

Overseas Development Administration

Uganda

Tanzania

Wages Councils

Dock Labour

Health And Safety

Noise At Work

Unemployment Benefit Disqualification

Prime Minister

Public Appointments

Security

Pit Closures

National Heritage

Hospital Radio

National Music Library

Items In Lieu Of Tax

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Ec Agri-Environmental Regulation

Transport

Mv Derbyshire

Rail Passengers (Electrical Appliances)

Crewe-Holyhead Rail Line

Lyme Bay (Inquiry)

Handsworth Driving Test Centre

Wales

Youth Training

Gp Fund Holders

Breast Screening

European Regional Development Fund

Homelessness

Scotland

Organ Donor Cards

Community Care

Secure Units

Nurses

Northern Ireland

Senior Citizens (Free Transport)

Environment

Climate Change Convention

Education Spending

Equal Opportunities

Environment Council

Private Housing (Renovation Grants)

Ec Directives

Council Tax

Seal Culling

Trade And Industry

Isobutyl Nitrate

Loan Guarantee Scheme

Metrication

Eco-Labelling

Carpet Manufacturers

Directors (Disqualification)

Maritime Disputes

Leyland Daf

Merseyside (Ec Funds)

One-Stop Shops

Cable Television

999 Calls

Animal Experimentation

Free Flights Offers

National Finance

Tax Relief (Dividends)

Domestic Fuel

Women (Unpaid Work)

Mileage Allowance

Cycle Helmets

Domestic Fuel

Tax Liability

Tax Liability

Mortgage Interest Tax Relief

Pensioners (Income Tax)

Investment

Petroleum Revenue Tax

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs